Here are two reasons for the move. But before I mention that, I want to thank Google Blogger for all their support. Thank you Google.
My main 2 reasons for the move:
1. I actually will have a dot com website. So it will be easily recognizable and easy to remember.
2. I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm going to make the comment section much more palatable. You'll actually be able to edit your comments, even after posting (within a certain time limit).
Ted Turner says that the climate bill is about life and death.
Ed Driscoll states:
If it’s life and death, then act that way, Ted. Time to retire the private jet. Since self-described climate experts have claimed that “meat [is] making global warming worse,” time to close the giant bison ranch and restaurants. There’s a stadium in Atlanta with your name on it. Demand that they disable their lights.
After nearly 10 years of marriage that produced five children, Mufleh Mohammed of Saudi Arabia still has not seen his wife's face. Mohammed Hilal, another Saudi husband, could not identify his wife who was killed in a road crash until her veil was put back on her face.
Mufleh and Mohammed are among many Saudi men who have never seen the face of their wives as they insist on sticking to ancient tradition of keeping their face covered even in front of their relatives or husbands in defiance of ongoing changes brought about by the advent of oil and a massive foreign influx.
"It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol," Reuters reported Gore saying during a green energy summit in Athens. "First generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small."
Cereal grains are currently the most important nutritional component of the human diet—and for thousands of years grains have been recognized as staples—necessary foods—and extolled as “the staff of life.” In Roman times Ceres was the goddess of agriculture.1 The gifts offered to Ceres at festivals were referred to as cerealia. Since the most important gifts offered were wheat and barley, these grains naturally became known as cerealia or cereal. The value of grains is reflected by common sayings such as: “The greatest thing since sliced bread,” signifying the absolute best, “bread and circuses” refers to keeping people happy, “cash” is called bread or dough, and “breaking bread” speaks of a sense of sharing.
It may surprise you to learn that after this long association of grains with goodness that this staple food is now under attack. I hear:
1) Don’t eat rice and other grains because they turn to sugar, which will make you fat. Even the tiniest bite of a grain will trigger your body to crave more and you will become obese. After all, grains are used for fattening livestock, and they will do the same to you.
2) If you don't soak your grains before cooking, they will “steal” nutrients from your body—this is due to phytic acid and other anti-nutrients in the grains.
3) Millions of people are intolerant to the protein in grains, causing problems from arthritis to cancer, for most people, not just those few with celiac disease.
4) Grains harbor toxic fungi that can cause cancer.
5) Grains have drug-like substances in them that create addiction. If you eat them, you will become hooked on grains.
Separating the wheat from the chaff—fact from fiction—begins by knowing that cereal grains provide an abundance of our most important nutrient: starch—70% to 83% of the calories found in grains are in the form of this clean burning carbohydrate fuel.
Grains are the seeds of grasses. Globally, the most important cereal grains include wheat, rice, and corn, whereas the minor grains include oats, rye, barley, triticale, sorghum, and millet. Triticale is a hybrid between rye and wheat. Wheat accounts for one-third of the total worldwide grain production and rice accounts for one-fourth. In order to bring out their nutrition and flavor, grains are almost always consumed after cooking and/or grinding (milling). Rice and sorghum are grown in warm climates; whereas wheat, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and spelt are grown in colder seasonal, temperate regions. Amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat are pseudocereals derived from broadleaf plants, not grasses, however, they are used much like cereal grains.
Starch is a “complex carbohydrate” made up of long chains of sugar molecules, stored in the plant’s parts for the future. This stockpile is used for survival overwinter, to regrow the next year, and to reproduce. In the case of grains, the starch stored in the seedling provides the energy for the first few hours of life, before the leaves begin their own photosynthesis. Starchy plant food-parts, are simply called “starches.” Tubers (potatoes, sweet potato, cassava), winter squashes, legumes (beans), and grains serve as organs for storing starch. In contrast, green and yellow vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus, accumulate relatively little starch, and fruit sugars are simple sugars, not starch.
People Are Obligate Starch-Eaters
For the past 35 years I have been teaching a “starch-based diet” as the fundamental means to health and healing. This is different from a “vegan diet,” which could be at its worst, colas and potato chips; and different from a “plant-food-based diet,” which could focus on low-calorie broccoli and apples, or high-calorie nuts and avocados. Most people—lay and professional—fail to grasp this simple lifesaving premise: people are starch-eaters. And they suffer horribly from this unawareness.
The most important support for my conclusion that we are starch-eaters is based on an observation that you can easily validate for yourself: All large populations of trim, healthy people, throughout written human history, have obtained the bulk of their calories from starch. Examples of thriving people include, Japanese and Chinese in Asia eating sweet potatoes, buckwheat, and/or rice, Incas in South America eating potatoes, Mayans and Aztecs in Central America eating corn, and Egyptians in the Middle East eating wheat.
There have been small communities of people living at the extremes of the environment, such as the traditional Eskimos of Greenland, who have lived on a diet low in starches (high in meat). Over the past century there has been an escalating trend in Western societies of people abandoning starchy plant-foods for low-carbohydrate meat and dairy foods. A worldwide epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer has followed this dietary change. Thus, there are no exceptions—all large populations of healthy, trim people have lived on starch-based diets. We are obliged to eat starch, and failure to eat this way, means failure to thrive—both as individuals and as civilizations.
Historical Examples of Grain-Based, Starch-Based, Diets
Barley – Middle East for 11,000 years
Corn – Central and South America for 7000 years
Millet – Africa for 6,000 years
Oats – Middle East for 11,000 years
Sorghum – East Africa for 6,000 years
Rice – Asia for more than 10,000 years
Rye – Asia for 5000 years
Wheat – Near East for 10,000 years
DNA Science Proves Starch-Based Diet for People
Through genetic testing scientists have proven that we are obligate starch-eaters.2 Examination of the number of copies of the gene for the production of amylase, an enzyme in our saliva that digests starch, has found an average of 6 copies in humans (range of 2 to 15 copies), compared to only 2 copies of this gene in great apes. This amplified number of gene copies allowed early humans to thrive on starchy foods that “lesser” primates ignored. The diets of great apes, like those of chimpanzees, our closest relative, are nearly pure vegetarian in composition; consisting largely of fruits, and in the dry seasons when fruit is scarce, they eat tree seeds, flowers, soft pith, and bark; with termites and small mammals making a very small contribution all year long. Chimpanzees eat very little starch.
Human and chimp DNA is roughly 99% identical, but that 1% difference, which includes genes to digest much more starch, proved crucial for the evolution of humanity's earliest ancestors. More salivary, starch-digesting, amylase produced by more copies of the gene opened up a reliable supply of sugar for our early ancestors, which allowed their sugar-fueled brains to develop. Twenty percent of our daily food intake is used to energize our brains; and brain tissues preferentially burn sugar for fuel. The theory that the addition of meat or fish to our ancestor’s’ diet was the critical factor for the development of our ancestors’ brains is obviously incorrect based on our physiology and genetics.3-5 Furthermore, since most early humans ate meat only sporadically, meat alone could not have supplied the extraordinary amount of energy needed for the brain to grow from monkey-size to human-size (three times difference).3-5
Apparent Imperfections of Grains
No single food is always perfect for every person: Beans may be a little too high in protein, especially for people with inadequate kidneys, white potatoes are classified as nightshades that can contain a toxin called solanine, winter squashes may be too low in calories for athletes, corn may cause food allergies in sensitive people, and wheat has gluten which causes celiac disease in a few people. Recently, several writers, who by no coincidence also recommend diets high in meat, fish and/or dairy products, have misled the public by stretching the truth—overstating the importance of the imperfections and minimizing the benefits of grains.6-8 Some of their claims are:
Grains Will Make You Fat—Not So!
Really: Obesity is unknown among more than 3 billion people who currently live on grain-based diets and the billions more who have done so in the past. Grains are low in calories, low in fat, and high in appetite-satisfying carbohydrates. While overfeeding with grains can easily fatten food-animals, like cows and pigs; the human body only reluctantly converts carbohydrates, like those found in grains, into body fat.9
Grains Rob You of Nutrients—Not Important
Really: Grains are loaded with minerals; therefore, the more grains you eat the more minerals you consume. Phytic acid, also plentiful in grains, is considered an anti-nutrient because of its ability to bind with minerals, such as zinc and calcium, and prevent their absorption. Two often-cited examples of zinc deficiency are among people living in small communities in rural Iran and Australia (Aborigines).10-11 Multiple nutritional factors, not just phytic acid, were involved in both examples. Consumption of large amounts of unleavened bread seemed central to the development of zinc deficiency. Once the bread is leavened, then the activity of phytic acid is reduced, and zinc becomes readily available.12 Soaking, germination, boiling, cooking, and fermentation all inactivate phytic acid and free up minerals for absorption. In real-life situations, for otherwise healthy people, the consumption of grains in recommended amounts has had no adverse effect on mineral status.13
Phytic acid actually has many beneficial health effects—you won’t want it out of your diet. It acts as a powerful antioxidant and has been shown to reduce blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides.14 Phytic acid is linked to a reduction in heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases in people.13,14
Grains Cause Human Disease—Some Do
Really: Some people (at most 1% of people) are intolerant of a protein, called gluten, found in some grains. High concentrations of gluten are found in wheat, barley, and rye (but not in rice, corn, oats, sorghum, and millet). (See my September 2005 newsletter article.) The condition, called celiac disease, can result in malnutrition, autoimmune diseases and cancer.
Grains are slightly acidic; therefore, theoretically, they may cause loss of minerals, including calcium, from the body. (The relative acid load of grains is about +1, compared to the very high acid loads of cheese +10, fish +9.3, chicken +7 and red meat +6.3).15 Limited research shows grains do not increase calcium loss,16 and grain-consuming populations, such as the Japanese and Chinese, have very low rates of osteoporosis.17,18
Food allergies to wheat and corn do occur in less than 1% of people, but allergies to rice are very uncommon;19 this is one reason rice is an accepted food in elimination diets designed to test and treat food allergies.
Fungi on Grains Will Poison You—So Don’t Eat Spoiled Food
Really: Aflatoxins are naturally occurring toxins that are produced by many species of Aspergillus, a fungus. The toxin-producing fungi grow as the grains spoil in storage. Aflatoxins are toxic and carcinogenic. High-levels of aflatoxin exposure can produce acute tissue necrosis, cirrhosis, and carcinoma of the liver. This potential and serious problem should cause us to avoid spoiled grains. Boiling and pressure-cooking reduce the activity of this toxin.20, 21
You Will Become Addicted to Grains—Yes!
Really: Just like you have become addicted to water and the oxygen in air. The human body is designed to enjoy and become satiated by carbohydrate—both simple and complex sugars (starches)—not surprising since this substance is our intended fuel. Consider the tips of our tongues have sweet-tasting taste buds. We are designed to seek and enjoy this flavor. There are no similar sensors on our tongues for fat or protein. (A cat has taste buds for protein.) Once consumed, carbohydrate causes changes in bodily hormones and brain chemistry, resulting in satisfaction of the appetite—our reward for eating correctly. Failure to eat sufficient carbohydrate, when people consume beef, chicken, fish and cheese, all containing almost no carbohydrate, leaves them wanting sugars, which may cause some people to conclude that they are addicted to carbohydrate.
Top Nutrition in Grains
Grains are derived from the seeds of grasses. They contain all the energy (starch), protein, and minerals needed to germinate a seedling, therefore they are inherently nutritious. Grains contain no cholesterol, are low in fat, and are high in dietary fiber. Although grains are low in fat they are well supplied with the few kinds of fat (linolenic and linoleic acid) that are essential for our health. The ingredients in single grains easily meet our nutritional needs, except for vitamins A and C. Thus, people cannot live on grains alone; they must also include a fruit and/or a green or yellow vegetable to supply these two essential vitamins. (In contrast, vegetables, like potatoes and sweet potatoes supply all necessary nutrients and can serve as sole sources of food. Qualified exceptions to this statement of completeness are vitamins B12 and D – see my September and November 2007 McDougall Newsletters.)
Established Benefits of Eating Whole Grains
Lowers Cholesterol
Lowers Blood Sugar
Lowers Insulin Levels
Lowers IGF-1 Levels
Reduces Risk of Thrombosis
Reduces Heart Attack Risk
Reduces Risk of Type-2 Diabetes
Reduces Risk of Obesity
Reduces Insulin Resistance
Lowers Colon Cancer Risk
Lowers Gastric Cancer Risk
Improves Bowel Function
Accelerates Bowel Transit Time
Delays Gastric Emptying
Relieves Constipation
Increases “Good” Bowel Bacteria (bifidobacteria)
Decreases ”Bad” Bowel Bacteria (E. Coli)
Provides Anti-oxidant Activity
Thousands of scientific studies confirm the healthful benefits of whole grains. (Unfortunately, most of this research has been funded by the cereal industries.22)
Can I Eat Flour Products, Like in Bread?
Although cereal grains at the farm gate are very nutritious, the processing and refining steps that follow usually turn them into packaged products that are now stripped of their nutrients (fiber, vitamins, and minerals) and loaded with salt, oils, sugars, dairy- derivitives, and chemicals. Whereas, whole grains reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity, that box of sugar puffs in your pantry may be doing just the opposite. In general, the more original and unadulterated the grain, the better for you.
I am often asked if there is any harm in using a home-bread-machine to make bread—after all, nothing is added or removed in the processing. For most people whole grain breads are an excellent choice, but it is not the same as eating whole grains. Beating the whole grain more than 1000 times with the whirling steel blade of the bread machine converts the kernel into a powder, known as flour. The intact cell wall of the kernel has been destroyed and now the digestive enzymes (amylase) easily digest the inner nutrients. In addition, the flour has a much larger surface area to volume ratio than did the whole grain, making digestion and absorption much more rapid. For you this physical change may translate into easier weight gain, and higher blood levels of glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. The amount of insulin released by the pancreas into the blood is also increased as grains are processed from whole grains to cracked grains to coarse flour to fine flour.23 More insulin can mean more weight gain, and maybe, more risk of diabetes and heart disease. However, compared to animal-foods, free-oils, and plant-parts processed beyond recognition, whole wheat bread is definitely health food.
Can I Eat White Rice?
If you must. As a young doctor, I began my practice in Hawaii. Ancestors of many of my patients had recently emigrated from countries, like Japan, China, and the Philippines, where rice was their staple food. That is white rice. In these cultures, eating brown, whole grain, rice was a social disgrace; because it was cheaper, brown rice was consumed by the lower class, financially poorer, people. Thus, a social prejudice existed: refined people eat refined rice. I could not overcome this irrational bias, so I sanctioned eating the McDougall diet with white rice—and my patients still became healthier, lost weight, and stopped their medications. Why? Because white rice replaced their meat, cheese, and ice cream. One of the most successful diet therapies ever used to treat sick people has been the Kempner Diet from Duke University. The founder, Walter Kempner, MD, fed his patients mostly white rice and fruits. This treatment quickly and effectively reversed hypertension, type-2 diabetes, diabetic eye damage, arthritis, heart failure (cardiomegaly and EKG changes), kidney disease, and obesity.24
Think Simple. Think Starch.
The two most important dietary messages I want you to learn are:
1) Health and personal appearance change dramatically by simply changing the composition of the foods consumed. When cheeseburgers, pork chops, chicken wings, and cheese are the daily fare, then people are fat and sick. Filling the dinner plate with whole grains, legumes, tubers, green and yellow vegetables, and fruit results in robust health. Don’t complicate matters by focusing on secondary issues, like heredity, exercise, stress, etc.
2) Starches, not green and yellow vegetables and fruits, must make up the bulk of the meals for satisfaction and proper nutrition. Grains are an excellent source of starch.
If we admit it, watching football really is quite boring. What makes it exciting is when trick plays are used and pulled off. But once a trick play is done enough, it's no longer a trick play.
The Seattle Seahawks when they were a young franchise, used a number of trick plays. They were a fun team that often out-performed their superior competition.
I'm sure we could all come up with ideas that could lead to success without following the conventional path. Here's just one I have: Have four quarterbacks on the same team rotate on each set of downs. The quarterback must be able to pass and run. Therefore you have both a runningback and a passer. And being that the quarterback is only in the game so often, he will give his peak performance. Also, since one man isn't the star of the show, he won't be paid as much, and if he gets hurt, the others can fill the void. That's just one idea, there have got to be a 1000 good ideas.
Many conservatives like this man. But the complaint is that he's a RINO (Republican in name only). They say he's pro illegal immigration, believes in global warming and cap and trade.
Here's what I say: I care, but I don't care. What's most important to me is the American economy and especially our budget deficits. It kills me that America is so poor. And that we have to create money to pay our debts. We need to buckle down and get responsible. This man is the only person I see that is up to the challenge.
And help me out on this: Did Reagan turn America from the world's greatest lending nation to the world's greatest debtor nation?
When I voted for McCain, I voted holding my nose. This man, Chris Christie, would excite me to no end being our president. I've never seen a politician with as much common sense and courage.
After years in which every looming financial crisis has been met with a government bailout, you might think that the same solution awaits California, as well as all the other states that have huge obligations that they can't afford to meet.
But this time that may not happen, says Chris Whalen, a financial industry analyst and Managing Director of Institutional Risk Analytics.
In fact, Whalen thinks that California will default on its debt--hammering all the pension funds and other investors who have loaded up on apparently safe state bonds
The first application of the chip-in-a-pill -- or as it is officially known, the Ingestible Event Marker (IEM) -- is expected to be for transplant patients, to help avoid organ rejection. A common problem that occurs after transplant operations is the dose and timing of taking anti-rejection drugs has to be monitored and frequently adjusted to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ, such as a kidney. The microchip would overcome this problem since it would closely monitor the patients to determine if the drugs are being taken at the right time, and in the correct dosage.
But the real political problem lies in Sacramento, the state capital, which is run not so much by politicians as by the unions they've sold out to - state employees, nurses, teachers and prison guards.
For their part, politicians have largely ignored the state's crumbling infrastructure, failing schools and dismal job market. And it's about to get worse.
Voters also approved a new measure requiring a simple legislative majority to approve a state budget. It previously took two-thirds, giving Republicans far more leverage. Democrats, in other words, will now find it even easier to spend money they don't have.
Moreover, as its tax base shrivels, the state is lurching ever closer to fiscal insolvency. At some point, it will ask Congress for a bailout, and how likely is that with the new Republican majority?
Worse is the feeling among the state's businesses of an entrenched, almost pathological antipathy toward any job-creating activity.
So why do I no longer feel sorry for Californians? Because they absolutely refuse to change it. The election just concluded gave Golden Staters one more chance to fix some of our problems and prevent a few others. And what did you do, California? You blew it, big time. You reelected Jerry Brown, a guy who earned the moniker "Moonbeam" when he was the Guv in the seventies. He appointed Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. She overturned 62 death penalty cases, every single one that came before her, including the Manson Family killers. He signed the legislation that permitted collective bargaining for public employee unions, which now threatens our State's very economic existence
A comment I read:
and hypocrisy and is best left to its own self destruction. And I hate to say that with a passion as I too use to love going to the state to see all its wonders. The state gave me my favorite president, one of my favorite pastors, and IMO, the best drug and alcohol treatment guide in the business which I became certified in so that I could use the program in my state/church. That being said…
Here is a state racked with debt, corruption, union control, unemployment out of the ying yang, etc all caused by the leftist they have allowed to run their state. They have the two leftist congress folk in the business and could have rid themselves of them, but they chose not too. Then they get even dumber and bring back moonbeam which just blew my mind. It does not take a genius to know that if one thing has not worked, get rid of it and try something else, yet they do the opposite. And in a matter of months or a year at most, the state will be broke and asking the rest of the country to bail them out. I hope when that day comes, we give them the finger and sell that state to Mexico.
Many years ago, I swore I would never cross the border into that state again. It is a disgusting state that was once a great state. The last time I was there, I saw what had to be the most disgusting sight ever. NAMBA in a gay parade, which by itself was disgusting ( not so much for the parade, but for the way they acted, dressed, and carried themselves) with little boys riding their shoulders and/or walking hand in hand with them all while the perverts proclaimed the holiness of child love. They did this with the full support of the populace and the government of the area/state. This was enough for me, but then came along the whole sanctuary cities debacle, the boycott of Arizona, the push in the state to force BS greenie laws on all of us, etc. That was the nail in the coffin. Now all they offer this country is radicalism, debt, and Pelosi/Boxer. It is high time we write them off and let their ship sink. All the good guys out there should pack their bags, shake the dirt off their shoes at the border, and join the rest of us in real land in another state. Let them sink to the bottom, then go in and take over. Outside of that, I see no hope for that state.
What was once a proud and beautiful state is now nothing more than the poop tank for all that is progressive. Yet they could not even find in it themselves to make weed legal. While it is the way I would have it, it made no sense for such a progressive state and one that is so deep in debt. Only right thing they did in that election yet it made no sense at all.
In order to regain our government as it was intended to be, we must demand the the government recognize the power lies with the people and it is not them that rule this country, it is the people who rule the government.
California officials acknowledged last Thursday that the state faces $20 billion deficits every year from now to 2016. At the same time, California's state Treasurer entered bond markets to sell some $14 billion in "revenue anticipation notes" over the next two weeks. Worst of all, economic sanity lost out in what may have been the most important election on Nov. 2—and, no, I'm not talking about the gubernatorial or senate races.
This was the California referendum to repeal Assembly Bill 32, the so-called Global Warming Solutions Act, which ratchets the state's economy back to 1990 levels of greenhouse gases by 2020. That's a 30% drop followed by a mandated 80% overall drop by 2050. Together with a $500 billion public-pension overhang, the new energy cap dooms the state to bankruptcy.
Without Keith, I don't have someone informing me how misguided I am. I miss him already.
On a more serious note, I don't think it's right that Mr Olbermann was removed from the airwaves. Just one of the things that makes America great is the freedom to express one's ideas. And while I don't like what Mr Olbermann says, he certainly has the right to say them in this great country. What's odd though, but not really odd at all, is that the left would like to remove FOX. The left doesn't want to allow dissenting opinion. Because the left is about control, not respect for individual rights.
U.S. politicians may dream of one day sinking into the presidential bed aboard Air Force One. David Cameron, returning last night from his first trip to the U.S. as British prime minister, took a business-class seat on board a scheduled British Airways flight.
What good is “dialogue” with stubborn, delusional, uneducated, compulsive liars?
The answer is: it makes the “dialog-ees” — the progressive Jews and Christians — feel both worldly and virtuous, which is a rare combination and therefore an intoxicating feeling. Frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t come up with a new colored ribbon for “interfaith dialogue.” Give it time.
You COEXISTERS can keep on calling me a SIXHIRB--sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, homophobic, islamophobic, racist, bigot. By calling me names, you don't have to actually debate, which would be beneath you, actually discussing issues with someone so beneath you. Yes sir, I'm a SIXHIRB.
During the 1950s, Blacklisters like the George Soros-funded Media Matters, Keith Olbermann, the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Talking Points Memo would’ve screamed Commie! to silence, marginalize and Alinsky those they disagree with. Today, the new Commie is Intolerance, Racist, and any and all variations of the same. But the insidious goal of this tactic hasn’t changed one bit — to silence, toxify and effectively blacklist political opponents by falsely accusing them of the worst sins of the day.
This is our main stream media. And I believe it's pervasive. It's an open conspiracy to take over conservative principles. The MSM does not care about this country. They want to force feed their socialist agenda upon the American people.
And, to state the obvious, this is the real story. But the MSM will not report it until it's backed into a corner. And then when it gets fully exposed, they'll come out like they're some hard hitting no nonsense journalists. But it's going to be people like Andrew Breitbart and bloggers who expose the MSM. Just like it was bloggers who exposed Dan Rather at CBS when he tried to take down George Bush during his presidential election with fake documents.
With lists supplied by college administrators, student volunteers at Dartmouth College and Cornell University circulated the names of students who had not donated to senior-gift drives. The programs relied on students to single out their peers to meet high participation goals. Not everyone participated happily. The single student from Dartmouth's 1,123-student Class of 2010 who did not contribute this year was criticized in a column in the college newspaper and on a popular blog, which posted her name and photograph.
In a radio interview that aired Monday on Univision, President Obama chided Latinos who "sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.' " Quite a uniter, urging Hispanics to go to the polls to exact political revenge on their enemies - presumably, for example, the near-60 percent of Americans who support the new Arizona immigration law.
This from a president who won't even use "enemies" to describe an Iranian regime that is helping kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. This from a man who rose to prominence thunderously declaring that we were not blue states or red states, not black America or white America or Latino America - but the United States of America.
This midterm election could very well be the most important election in American history. We have a president that wants to fundamentally change America. He refuses to call terrorism Islamofascism. And has the audacity to tell the American people to vote "Democrat" so he can further his agenda.
Don't be lulled into complacency. Obama, besides saying that republicans can sit in the back of the bus, has been quiet this historic election. And even laughed at on the Jon Stewart show. Articles are written that Obama is like Clinton during his midterm election when he became president. Or that Obama is as Carter. Or that after the election, he will now focus on the economy.
Folks, the comparisons are window dressing. Obama is not like Clinton or Carter. This is a man that has a political agenda that is not in line with America's founding principles. Oh if he could really be honest and tell Americans what he really believes.
Obama is dangerous. By Republicans winning back the House, at least the American people have a way to stall these proposals. No cap and trade. No value added tax. No shutting down conservative radio.
This country is in a deep mess. Winning back the House is only the beginning. I love this country and the principles on which it was founded.
The Constitution of US--Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The NFL’s PAC also contributed to other incumbent Democratic senators facing viable challengers this year, giving $5,000 to Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; $5,000 to Russ Feingold of Wisconsin; $5,000 to Barbara Boxer of California; $5,000 to Michael Bennet of Colorado; and $5,000 to Patty Murray of Washington. In none of these races did the NFL’s PAC contribute to the Republican challenger.
We are witnessing the unmistakable collapse of an American presidency. While this may not yet be irreversible, it certainly was predictable and preventable. Chief among its causes has been the unbridled hubris that prompted this president to force Obamacare, the government takeover of the finest health care system in the world, against the clear will of "we the people" while turning his back on the free-market principles that once made us the most prosperous nation on earth. A diminished president, even - or perhaps especially - if his fate is self-inflicted, is not good for America and should not be pleasing to any patriot regardless of his or her political leanings. It certainly is not pleasing to me, as this president is my cousin. But as a physician who took an inviolate oath to my patients, I am duty-bound to take this stand, particularly after watching Barack Obama make so many unkeepable Obamacare promises: c Obamacare would reduce our deficit. We were to believe that millions of Americans would be added to the insurance rolls, that medical care would not suffer, and somehow, almost magically, costs would go down. We might as well promise it will never rain on weekends. Gravity caught up to this wishful thinking, and even the president's own actuary now admits the overhaul will increase, not decrease, the deficit.
Is God reason, or logos, as the Greeks would say? If God himself is reason, then it is hard to close the mind because one would then be closing oneself to God. This, in fact, was the view of the first fully-developed theological school in Islam, the Mu‘tazilites. The Mu‘tazalites asserted the primacy of reason, and that one’s first duty is to engage in reason and, through it, to come to know God. They held that reason is a gift from God given to come to know Him through the order of his creation. All men have this gift, not only Muslims. Therefore, they were disposed to accept Greek philosophy and the moral truths it contained.
However, the school of theology that arose to oppose the Mu’tazilites, the Ash‘arites, held the opposite. Unfortunately, by the end of the ninth century, they prevailed and became the formative influence in Sunni Islam. For the Ash‘arites, God is not reason, but pure will and absolute power. He is not bound by anything, including his own word. Since God is pure will, He has no reasons for his acts. Thus what He does cannot be understood by man. One of the things that God does is create the world, which also cannot be understood.
To protect their notion of God’s omnipotence, the Ash‘arites denied cause and effect in the natural world. For God to be omnipotent, nothing else can be so much as potent. Therefore, fire does not burn cotton; God does. Gravity does not make the rock fall; God does. God is the direct cause of everything and there are no secondary causes. To say otherwise is blasphemy – comparing something to the incomparable God. Everything therefore becomes the equivalent of a miracle. By their very nature, miracles cannot be understood. Without causality in the natural order, anything can come of anything, and nothing necessarily follows. The world becomes incomprehensible because it is without a continuing narrative of cause and effect.
This is almost too difficult to believe. But we need to be serious about this. If you read my blog and come to the conclusion I'm some right wing ding bat, maybe I am. But please, at least look at the facts. Don't dismiss reality by stereotyping me.
I just don't think this article can be denied its importance.
The mortgage market is completely dependent on government guarantees and quasi-Government purchases of securitized mortgages. If the mortgage market were truly socialized, then the Central State would own the banks which originate, service and own the mortgages. But then the private owners and managers of the "too big to fail" banks would not be reaping hundreds of billions in profits and bonuses. And since the banking industry has effectively captured the processes of governance (that is, Congress and the various regulatory agencies), then what we have is a system of private ownership of the revenue and profits generated by the mortgage industry and public absorption of the risks and losses. Could anything be sweeter for the big banks? No. The incestuous nature of the system is breathtaking. The Fed creates the credit which enables the mortgages, the Treasury guarantees the mortgages via Fannie, Freddie and FHA, the Fed buys the mortgages ($1.3 trillion in mortgages are on their balance sheet) and the private banks collect the fees and profits.
Below is a piece written by David Kotak on mortgage backed security mess--he puts all the pieces of the puzzle together for everyone to see:
"Homeowners can only be foreclosed and evicted from their homes by the person or institution who actually has the loan paper...only the note-holder has legal standing to ask a court to foreclose and evict. Not the mortgage, the note, which is the actual IOU that people sign, promising to pay back the mortgage loan "Before mortgage-backed securities, most mortgage loans were issued by the local savings & loan. So the note usually didn't go anywhere: it stayed in the offices of the S&L down the street. "But once mortgage loan securitization happened, things got sloppy...they got sloppy by the very nature of mortgage-backed securities. "The whole purpose of MBSs was for different investors to have their different risk appetites satiated with different bonds. Some bond customers wanted super-safe bonds with low returns, some others wanted riskier bonds with correspondingly higher rates of return. "Therefore, as everyone knows, the loans were 'bundled' into REMICs (Real-Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits, a special vehicle designed to hold the loans for tax purposes), and then "sliced & diced"...split up and put into tranches, according to their likelihood of default, their interest rates, and other characteristics. "This slicing and dicing created 'senior tranches,' where the loans would likely be paid in full, if the past history of mortgage loan statistics was to be believed. And it also created 'junior tranches,' where the loans might well default, again according to past history and statistics. (A whole range of tranches was created, of course, but for the purposes of this discussion we can ignore all those countless other variations.) "These various tranches were sold to different investors, according to their risk appetite. That's why some of the MBS bonds were rated as safe as Treasury bonds, and others were rated by the ratings agencies as risky as junk bonds. "But here's the key issue: When an MBS was first created, all the mortgages were pristine...none had defaulted yet, because they were all brand-new loans. Statistically, some would default and some others would be paid back in full...but which ones specifically would default? No one knew, of course. If I toss a coin 1,000 times, statistically, 500 tosses the coin will land heads...but what will the result be of, say, the 723rd toss? No one knows. "Same with mortgages. "So in fact, it wasn't that the riskier loans were in junior tranches and the safer ones were in senior tranches: rather, all the loans were in the REMIC, and if and when a mortgage in a given bundle of mortgages defaulted, the junior tranche holders would take the losses first, and the senior tranche holder last. "But who were the owners of the junior-tranche bond and the senior-tranche bonds? Two different people. Therefore, the mortgage note was not actually signed over to the bond holder. In fact, it couldn't be signed over. Because, again, since no one knew which mortgage would default first, it was impossible to assign a specific mortgage to a specific bond. "Therefore, how to make sure the safe mortgage loan stayed with the safe MBS tranche, and the risky and/or defaulting mortgage went to the riskier tranche? "Enter stage right the famed MERS...the Mortgage Electronic Registration System. "MERS was the repository of these digitized mortgage notes that the banks originated from the actual mortgage loans signed by homebuyers. MERS was jointly owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (yes, those two again ...I know, I know: like the chlamydia and the gonorrhea of the financial world...you cure 'em, but they just keep coming back). "The purpose of MERS was to help in the securitization process. Basically, MERS directed defaulting mortgages to the appropriate tranches of mortgage bonds. MERS was essentially where the digitized mortgage notes were sliced and diced and rearranged so as to create the mortgage-backed securities. Think of MERS as Dr. Frankenstein's operating table, where the beast got put together. "However, legally...and this is the important part...MERS didn't hold any mortgage notes: the true owner of the mortgage notes should have been the REMICs. "But the REMICs didn't own the notes either, because of a fluke of the ratings agencies: the REMICs had to be "bankruptcy remote," in order to get the precious ratings needed to peddle mortgage-backed Securities to institutional investors. "So somewhere between the REMICs and MERS, the chain of title was broken. "Now, what does 'broken chain of title' mean? Simple: when a homebuyer signs a mortgage, the key document is the note. As I said before, it's the actual IOU. In order for the mortgage note to be sold or transferred to someone else (and therefore turned into a mortgage-backed security), this document has to be physically endorsed to the next person. All of these signatures on the note are called the 'chain of title.' "You can endorse the note as many times as you please...but you have to have a clear chain of title right on the actual note: I sold the note to Moe, who sold it to Larry, who sold it to Curly, and all our notarized signatures are actually, physically, on the note, one after the other. "If for whatever reason any of these signatures is skipped, then the chain of title is said to be broken. Therefore, legally, the mortgage note is no longer valid. That is, the person who took out the mortgage loan to pay for the house no longer owes the loan, because he no longer knows whom to pay. "To repeat: if the chain of title of the note is broken, then the borrower no longer owes any money on the loan. "Read that last sentence again, please. Don't worry, I'll wait. "You read it again? Good: Now you see the can of worms that's opening up. "The broken chain of title might not have been an issue if there hadn't been an unusual number of foreclosures. Before the housing bubble collapse, the people who defaulted on their mortgages wouldn't have bothered to check to see that the paperwork was in order. "But as everyone knows, following the housing collapse of 2007-'10-and-counting, there has been a boatload of foreclosures...and foreclosures on a lot of people who weren't sloppy bums who skipped out on their mortgage payments, but smart and cautious people who got squeezed by circumstances. "These people started contesting their foreclosures and evictions, and so started looking into the chain-of-title issue, and that's when the paperwork became important. So the chain of title became crucial and the botched paperwork became a nontrivial issue. "Now, the banks had hired 'foreclosure mills'...law firms that specialized in foreclosures...in order to handle the massive volume of foreclosures and evictions that occurred because of the housing crisis. The foreclosure mills, as one would expect, were the first to spot the broken chain of titles. "Well, what do you know, it turns out that these foreclosure mills might have faked and falsified documentation, so as to fraudulently repair the chain-of-title issue, thereby 'proving' that the banks had judicial standing to foreclose on delinquent mortgages. These foreclosure mills might have even forged the loan note itself... "Wait, why am I hedging? The foreclosure mills did actually, deliberately, and categorically fake and falsify documents, in order to expedite these foreclosures and evictions. Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, who has been all over this story, put up a price list for this 'service' from a company called DocX...yes, a price list for forged documents. Talk about your one-stop shopping! "So in other words, a massive fraud was carried out, with the inevitable innocent bystanders getting caught up in the fraud: the guy who got foreclosed and evicted from his home in Florida, even though he didn't actually have a mortgage, and in fact owned his house free -and clear. The family that was foreclosed and evicted, even though they had a perfect mortgage payment record. Et cetera, depressing et cetera. "Now, the reason this all came to light is not because too many people were getting screwed by the banks or the government or someone with some power saw what was going on and decided to put a stop to it...that would have been nice, to see a shining knight in armor, riding on a white horse. "But that's not how America works nowadays. "No, alarm bells started going off when the title insurance companies started to refuse to insure the titles. "In every sale, a title insurance company insures that the title is free -and clear ...that the prospective buyer is in fact buying a properly vetted house, with its title issues all in order. Title insurance companies stopped providing their service because...of course...they didn't want to expose themselves to the risk that the chain of title had been broken, and that the bank had illegally foreclosed on the previous owner. "That's when things started getting interesting: that's when the attorneys general of various states started snooping around and making noises (elections are coming up, after all). "The fact that Ally Financial (formerly GMAC), JP Morgan Chase, and now Bank of America have suspended foreclosures signals that this is a serious problem...obviously. Banks that size, with that much exposure to foreclosed properties, don't suspend foreclosures just because they're good corporate citizens who want to do the right thing, and who have all their paperwork in strict order...they're halting their foreclosures for a reason. "The move by the United States Congress last week, to sneak by the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act? That was all the banking lobby. They wanted to shove down that law, so that their foreclosure mills' forged and fraudulent documents would not be scrutinized by out-of-state judges. (The spineless cowards in the Senate carried out their master's will by a voice vote...so that there would be no registry of who had voted for it, and therefore no accountability.) "And President Obama's pocket veto of the measure? He had to veto it...if he'd signed it, there would have been political hell to pay, plus it would have been challenged almost immediately, and likely overturned as unconstitutional in short order. (But he didn't have the gumption to come right out and veto it...he pocket vetoed it.) "As soon as the White House announced the pocket veto...the very next day!...Bank of America halted all foreclosures, nationwide. "Why do you think that happened? Because the banks are in trouble...again. Over the same thing as last time...the damned mortgage-backed securities! "The reason the banks are in the tank again is, if they've been foreclosing on people they didn't have the legal right to foreclose on, then those people have the right to get their houses back. And the people who bought those foreclosed houses from the bank might not actually own the houses they paid for. "And it won't matter if a particular case...or even most cases...were on the up -and up: It won't matter if most of the foreclosures and evictions were truly due to the homeowner failing to pay his mortgage. The fraud committed by the foreclosure mills casts enough doubt that, now, all foreclosures come into question. Not only that, all mortgages come into question. "People still haven't figured out what all this means. But I'll tell you: if enough mortgage-paying homeowners realize that they may be able to get out of their mortgage loans and keep their houses, scott-free? That's basically a license to halt payments right now, thank you. That's basically a license to tell the banks to take a hike. "What are the banks going to do...try to foreclose and then evict you? Show me the paper, Mr. Banker, will be all you need to say. "This is a major, major crisis. The Lehman bankruptcy could be a spring rain compared to this hurricane. And if this isn't handled right...and handled right quick, in the next couple of weeks at the outside...this crisis could also spell the end of the mortgage business altogether. Of banking altogether. Hell, of civil society. What do you think happens in a country when the citizens realize they don't need to pay their debts?" (I am not sure who wrote this, but if you want your 15 minutes of fame, I will be glad to credit you next week. - John) Some Foreclosure Takeaways
Let me add a few thoughts. (This is John Mauldin speaking) First, I agree, this is very serious. It has the possibility of seriously hurting the housing market, which as we saw in the first section is already on the ropes. But at the end of the day, there is a cure. Someone borrowed money for a mortgage. Some entity is cashing a check if that person is paying. That entity should have the title until it is paid off. If someone is not making their mortgage payments, they should be removed from the house and it should be sold to the benefit of the ultimately correct and what everyone thought was the proper title holder. If you took out a mortgage and now the title is in some doubt because the investment banks and mortgage banks and all the middle guys screwed up (big-time!) because they wanted to save some bucks and make some commissions, you did not win the lottery. That is not America as I know it. You can't pay the mortgage, I am sorry. But you do not get to keep the house. The people who (thought) they bought the mortgage in a fair deal need to end up with that mortgage. If you pay your mortgage, you get to have the American Dream. We CANNOT allow this debacle to continue. It will bring the system down. Who will want to buy a mortgage that is in a securitized package with no clear title? Who will get title insurance? Some judge somewhere is going to make a ruling that is going to petrify every title company, and the whole thing grinds to a halt. Let's be very clear. If we cannot securitize mortgages, there is no mortgage market. We cannot go back to where lenders warehoused the notes. It would take a decade to build that infrastructure. In the meantime, housing prices are devastated. Whatever wealth effect remains from housing gets worse, and the economy rolls over. This is beyond my pay grade, but there have to be some adults who can make everyone play nice in the sandbox. Ideally, someone in authority at the Treasury, with bipartisan support steps in and says everyone follow these rules, whatever these rules need to be. I had a very spirited conversation with good friend Barry Ritholtz today (of The Big Picture). Barry runs money but is also a lawyer and has a somewhat different perspective. He thinks we do not need any legislation and there is a legal cure. He says that real trained people (lawyers and paralegals) need to look at each mortgage and figure it out, and that it can get resolved. It is expensive to the banks; but I agree, if it is just dollars I don't care. Fix it. But that is a maybe. Other people I talk to disagree. Some think we need some regulatory fixes. Some think we will need a legislative cure. But if we need to, there need be no finger pointing, no partisan BS. This needs to get solved. Someone took out a mortgage. Some entity thinks they are owed money. Fix the damn paper trail so that happens, whether in a legal if time-consuming manner, in a regulatory fix, or with legislation. Now, that is not to say the people who did this stuff did not commit felonies and such. We can sort that out over time. The longer we wait the worse it will get. Fix the problem and then go round up the bad guys. There are bigger issues in play here. (I know this will be somewhat controversial. Oh well.) I get the fraud being done here. I am regulated by FINRA, the NFA, various states, the British FSA, and ultimately the SEC. If I did something in my business like the stuff described above, someone would come in and justifiably shut me down, fine me, and ban me from the securities business. Oh, wait. These guys ARE regulated by the above groups. Finally on this topic, I shake my head when I think that the FDIC is now running several of the banks (think IndyMac) that are part of this foreclosure crisis. These are the guys who are supposed to be preventing something like this. Again, where are the adults?
During all of the non-stop coverage of the preparation and execution of the rescue, one crucial fact was largely overlooked by the mainstream media. If it were not for courageous Americans who came forward to offer their sweat and ingenuity, we would not be witnessing the happy ending so many have prayed for.
It needs to be said. The rescue of the Chilean miners is a smashing victory for free-market capitalism.
Amid the boundless human joy of the miners' liberation, it may seem churlish to make such a claim. It is churlish. These are churlish times, and the stakes are high.
Written by: Gary Hubbell: The Redneck tree hugger, from the Aspen Times
In the time of Barack Obama, Black Panther members stand outside polling places in black commando uniforms, slapping truncheons into their palms. ACORN — a taxpayer-supported organization — is given a role in taking the census, even after its members were caught on tape offering advice to set up child prostitution rings. A former Communist is given a paid government position in the White House as an advisor to the president. Auto companies are taken over by the government, and the auto workers' union — whose contracts are completely insupportable in any economic sense — is rewarded with a stake in the company. Government bails out Wall Street investment bankers and insurance companies, who pay their executives outrageous bonuses as thanks for the public support. Terrorists are read their Miranda rights and given free lawyers. And, despite overwhelming public disapproval, Barack Obama has pushed forward with a health care plan that would re-structure one-sixth of the American economy.
I love to read blogs about living simply, saving money, and perpetual travelers. Their take on life is freshening.
Yesterday, I read a blog about a couple who saved money so that they could bike around the world. What was cool was how they turned their dream into a reality.
I was amazed how it came down to him sleepless the last two nights finalizing his dream. He had to get all in order. After realizing having sold his car, mobile home, and turning over his house to a property management company, that he now owned no keys. That really struck me. He had no keys to maneuver through life.
I thought how radical and how brave. But then today walking my dog, I realized I experienced that once--having no keys. I was living in Seattle and decided to hitchhike around the United States. I gave away all my belongings, and hit the road. I didn't have any keys in my possession, but to be honest, I never even gave it a passing thought until this morning.
When I hitchhiked, it was in the later 1970s, so it was a time when hitchhikers were still picked up. What I'd do is hitchhike only during the day. And every other night, I'd sleep in a motel, and the other nights off the side of the road.
It sounds pretty radical, but it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. When travelling with people you don't know, and will never see again, it gave great opportunity to be open and share some inner thoughts. For the most part, people were extremely varied, and wonderful. I'll never remember who those people were, nevertheless, I made friends.
Here’s how I recall the wonderful story that sets the theme for my remarks today: At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, the author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch 22 over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have . . . Enough.”
Who doesn’t love a good sale? But when bargain-hunting, coupon clipping, or mastering the deal becomes the objective, you and your budget are likely headed for big trouble. I can’t tell you the number of people who have said, “But it was such a deal!” Really? You spent the money you need to have available to pay off your credit card balance in full — but it was a deal? Hmmm.
If you’re spending money you don’t have — if you’re putting it on credit and not paying it off in full by the end of the month — it’s not a deal. If you’re buying something you don’t need, it’s not a deal. If it takes you three weeks, three months, or never to put what you bought to use, it’s not a deal.
Definition of apologize: An acknowledgment expressing regret or asking pardon for a fault or offense
I drove by the Kaiser hospital being built. This will be a state of the art facility that will enhance the community and save lives.
But Kaiser is concerned that I'm in any way inconvenienced. So much so that on one side of the construction project the above sign was posted in three different places. They are serious in expressing regret for a fault or offense.
So let's say as I'm driving by their construction sight and I hear a hammer in use. And I'm inconvenienced because I wanted to hear quiet. Is Kaiser apologizing to me?
If they are, not only does Kaiser have a problem, but I do too. Kaiser would do well to tell me that they don't give a rat's ass. In fact, if they told me to take that rat and stick it up my ass, they're within their rights.
This land of political correctness, not offending anyone has got to stop. If someone walks in a restaurant and that person finds the music offensive, does management then turn off the music so no one else can listen? If on an airplane and someone complains of the cold, does the pilot turn off the ac for the whole airplane?
Because I'm offended you should do something about it? I think not. If I'm offended, maybe I should grow up. Maybe I'm the problem, not you.
And if you don't like this post....well, I'm offended.
The media will portray Mr Wilders as a far right extremest. By doing so, he's now a bigot, not deserving debate of his ideas. The Left sees multiculturism and tolerance as progressive. Of course the Left will be exposed for their hypocrisy one more time, made evident so clearly by the MSM. Sadly, this will only show the great divide between the people and the elites.
AMSTERDAM — Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders went on trial Monday for alleged hate speech, even as his popularity and influence in the Netherlands are near all time highs. Prosecutors say Wilders incited hatred against Muslims with remarks comparing Islam to Naziism and by calling for a ban on the Quran. Wilders argues he has a right to freedom of speech and his remarks were within the bounds of the law.
Kudos to John King of CNN. I must say I'm astonished coming from CNN. I"m sure Ted Turner abhors this kind of reporting.
If we actually start to get real news from a few of the reporters from the MSM, then we can really watch Obama's ratings be where they should be. But sadly, Obama could call for Stalinesque purges and still get 30% approval ratings.
Debt is one of the most aggressively marketed products in the world. It has permeated nearly every aspect of our lives. Even many churches are willing to accept offerings via credit cards, and Monopoly TM accepts credit card branding in their games.
The primary consequence is that debt is so ingrained into our culture that it hard for many to even conceive of purchasing a car or going to school without a loan. Unfortunately, consumer debts (i.e. student loans, credit cards, and car loans) such as these are exactly the worse kinds of debt to get into. These debts are designed to ensnare consumers into lifetimes of leveraged consumption.
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