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John Edwards " Corporate Greed Message"? Is this a winning message ? The low end jobs we give to illegals the high end jobs are either given to people with visa's from other countries that work here and they can pay them less or they ship American jobs to other countries so they have less taxes,less building cost and less pay for technical positions, Corporate GREED. Selling out America both the Republicans and Democrats. We don't make anything anymore, most products made in China. Example a executive of a company did such a poor job he was fired with 45 million dollar severance pay, health insurance for his family and himself for life, perks like private executive plane travel etc. but the same company lays off 5,000 employees. Company AD ( removed corporate Bank name ) We’re hiring for our new technology resource facility in Hyderabad, India "Banking Company" India Solutions is a new facility that aims to meet our need for application development, testing and other technical functions, and is an integral part of the Technology Information Group in the U.S. We plan to employ up to 450 team members by the end of 2007. If you are an Indian citizen or a foreign national lawfully authorized to work in India, we may have an opportunity for you. Broadening our search for technical talent As we move forward with state-of-the-art technology and security solutions to serve our increasingly diverse and global business, we must broaden the scope of our search for technical talent. The talent pool in India is a key success factor in moving us into the future, and further strengthening our customers’ . Here’s what Managing Director of "bank Company" India Solutions, has to say: “We are extremely pleased to announce the formal inauguration of our technology development centre here in Hyderabad. India’s vast and highly-talented technical work force, combined with local government support for business, has made Hyderabad a very attractive location to support our future growth.”

Do airlines sell corporate vouchers? These vouchers are sold from the airline at a predetermined amount and are good on any flight, prior to a given time period. Basically an airline ticket for small businesses or a group of 10 airline tickets which I or my employees can use for travel in a given time period (IE ONE YEAR). If there is something like this, how do i contact them.

what is the best way? What is the best /most effective way to ask for corporate sponsorships for either a group or an individual? My daughter's band will be traveling to perform in South Africa in 2009 and with it also being her senior year - i just cannot see how we can afford to pay her way. we managed(barely) to send her on the China trip last summer & it was awesome for her so we want her to be able to go to the next one. i need to know how to approach a company and any suggestions of actual companies would be greatly appreciated i dont know if you need to know - but her school band plays college level & provessional level work --- take a look psband.org

how can i tell if this is a scam http://www.adams.co.uk/? Hello, How do you do? My name is Dr. Clive Drysdale, Group Finance Director, Adams Kids. I just came about your email address online on the careercast website and I would be very interested in offering you a part-time paying job in which you could earn a lot. This job would be based on contract and commission terms, it is a part-time job and would involve quite a handful of trust and honesty. If you would be interested in including a good-paying, part time job to your daily list of activities and earning up to $4000. As I have previously informed you, my name is Dr. Clive Drysdale , 40 years of age, 2 kids, a lovely girl and a troublesome boy, and the love of my life, my wife. I am a somewhat multitalented man and I do quite a lot of traveling and get to meet quite a lot of people who need my services. I reside in London, England and even though I have lived most of my life in other parts of the world, I am fully residing in London even though I get to do a lot of traveling though. Being the Group Finance Director of Adams Kids, the Kids clothes specialist. A company described with great history and strong believe on the note ''children are the leaders of tomorrow'' , with examples of clothing ranges and special offer which includes online employment opportunities. Over the years the Ambition of the company has gone beyond the making of cloth and literarily extended to rendering helps and supports on humanitarian services pretty much on orphanage homes and giving proper education on child abuse, sex education and subsidized medication for good health most especially in the developing world. At Adams kids, we work hard to support the community. As a brand, we aim to help improve the quality of life for children and their families. This is demonstrated in our role as corporate sponsor for the Well Child charity with money raised going towards helping sick children and their families In the UK and fundraising for Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, a charity supported by our stores In Eire. Presently, I have just been granted a funding to head a charity support project in the tropical regions of West Africa regarding Poverty Alleviation , Provision of clothing materials to all kids in rural areas, extending to the war zones of Africa and more counseling on the HIV AIDS which is increasing at an alarming rate and provision of basic amenities in support to humanitarian services to the third world nations and this would be commencing very soon. However, my funding were by my American counterparts which sent me the bunch of payments mostly in US based money orders. Getting an accountant in the states or opening an account would have been my best choice but I have a deadline to meet and taking any of those choices would cost me time and a whole lot of other requirements I am not ready to deal with as I would be traveling a lot in the meantime. I would be willing to employ you on contract basis to be my Payment Representative back in the states. This way I could issue and make these Payments(Money Orders) out to you, you could then cash them easily, deduct ten percent( 10%) of the total amount on these money orders as your commission for the great service you have rendered in support to saving life's in the third world and then have the rest wired to Organization via Western Union Money Transfer. The Western Union Service fee should also be deducted alongside your 10% service charge before having the rest wired via Western Union. I would be glad if you accept my proposal and I intend to commence on the project as soon as you are ready. If you are interested, please email me back so we could make concluding arrangements. Thank You and God Bless . Dr. Clive Drysdale, Adams Children's wear Limited, www.adams.co.uk

I received an offer of employment from Western Geco Ltd. How can I know if this is a scam or not?

What do you think of this? Scary stuff? Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent whom the movie "Munich" was about... He was Golda Meir's bodyguard and she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games. In a lecture in NYC a few weeks ago he shared information that EVERY American needs to know but our government has not shared. His bio is below, his book is "Staying Safe". First, I am going to share what he discussed in regard to the Bush Administration, 9/11 and Iraq and then I will share his predictions for the next attack on the U.S. He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week - O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show and unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack occurred. Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in Israel and the Middle East) to the Bush Administration about 9/11 a month before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. The Administration ridiculed him and refused to respond. Congress has since hired him as a security consultant - but still the Administration does not listen to him. He didn't agree with going into Iraq - said it didn't make sense if we wanted terrorists responsible for 9/11 (and also he believes in Golda Meir's approach which was to bring justice to the terrorists but do not take down civilians - killing civilians only creates more terrorists - but similar to Bush, Israel's subsequent leaders were not as insightful as Golda Meir) - however, when we did decide to invade Iraq we should have learned from Israel's past mistakes. He very articulately stated that Israel's greatest mistake against their war on terror was to invade the West Bank and Gaza and stay there... He said they should have done the proven anti-terrorist strategy which was "Hit and Leave" instead of "Hit and Stay." Now we are stuck in Iraq and it is worse than Vietnam - Iraq is the U.S.'s West Bank/ Gaza. He doesn't think we will ever be able to truly leave because even when we are able to pull our troops back we will still have to go back regularly which will keep us quagmired. We should have hit hard and left immediately. Now for the scary stuff.... He predicts the next attack on the U.S. Is coming within the next few months. Forget hijacking airplanes because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as the people on the plane will not go down quietly. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke- we are being reactionary versus looking at strategies that are effective. 1) our machines are outdated. They look for metal and the new explosives are made of plastic 2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire - we now have to take off our shoes, a group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives - now we can't bring liquids on board. He is waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on their underwear and light up in a plane or in the terminal and then we will all have to travel naked! 3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates, he says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will target busy times and on the front end when people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. Israel checks bags before people can enter the airport. Now, back to his predictions: He says the next attack will come in a few months and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places that people congregate: Disneyland, Las Vegas, Big Cities (NY, SFO, Chicago, etc...) and there it will be shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, casinos, etc.. As well as rural America (Wyoming, Montana, etc...). The attack will be simultaneous detonations around the country (they like big impact) 5-8 cities including rural areas. They won't need to use suicide bombers because at largely populated places like the MGM Grand in Vegas - they can simply valet park! He says this is well known in intelligence circles but our government does not want to alarm Americans. However, he also said that the US will attack Iran and Syria before Bush leaves office. In addition, since we don't have enough troops The US will likely use small, strategic nuclear weapons regardless that the headlines the next day will read "US Nukes Islamic World" and the world will be a different place to such an extent that global warming will be irrelevant. He travels regularly to the Middle East and he knows his stuff. On a good note - he says we don't have to worry about being nuked - he says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons - they like suicide as the frontline approach. He also says the next level of terrorists will not be coming from abroad, but will be homegrown - having attended our schools and universities - but will have traveled frequently back and forth to the Middle East. They will know and understand Americans but we won't understand them - we still only have a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks and we need that to change he said... What can we do? From an intelligence perspective he says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence but follow Israel, Ireland and England's example of human intelligence both from an infiltration perspective as well as trust citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens but our government treats us like babies and thinks we can't handle it and will panic. He did a test for Congress recently putting an empty briefcase in 5 major spots in 5 US cities and not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago - someone tried to steal it! In Israel an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds with a citizen shouting "Unattended Bag" and the area cleared slowly, calmly and immediately by the people themselves. Unfortunately, we haven't hurt enough yet for us to be that concerned.... He also discussed how many children were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11 without parents to pick them up and the schools did not have a plan. Do you have a plan with your kids, schools and families if you cannot reach each other by phone? If you cannot return to your house? If you cannot get to your child's school - do they know what to do? We should all have a plan. He said that our government's plan after the next attack is to immediately cut-off EVERYONE's ability to use their telephone, cell phone, blackberry because they don't want terrorists to be able to talk to one another - do you have a plan if you cannot communicate directly with those that you love? Last week the Today Show began with a segment that Al Qaeda was resurfacing - the same kind of action on the Pakistani border occurred before 9/11... It is scary, but we do not have panic, we just need to be aware.... Unfortunately, the current Administration has not been helpful and we can not change things until 2008. Bio follows: Juval Aviv holds an M.A. in Business from Tel Aviv University and is President and CEO of Interfor, Inc., an international corporate intelligence and investigations firm. Juval Aviv is President and CEO of Interfor, Inc. Based in New York with offices around the world, founded in 1979, Interfor provides foreign and domestic intelligence services to the legal, corporate and financial communities and conducts investigations around the world. In addition, Mr. Aviv serves as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress and other policy makers on issues of terrorism, fraud and money laundering. A leading authority on terrorist networks, Mr. Aviv served as lead investigator for Pan Am Airways into the Pan Am 103-Lockerbie terrorist bombing. He was featured in the recent film, Munich, as the leader of the Israeli team that tracked down the terrorists who kidnapped the Israeli Olympic team. Interfor's services encompass white-collar crime investigations, asset search and recovery, corporate due diligence, litigation support, fraud investigations, internal compliance investigations, security and vulnerability assessments. Since its inception, Interfors asset investigation services have recovered over $2 billion worldwide for its clients. Before founding Interfor, Mr. Aviv served as an officer in the Israel Defense Force (Major, retired) leading an elite Commando/Intelligence Unit, and was later selected by the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad) to participate in a number of intelligence and special operations in many countries in the late 1960s and 1970s. While working as a consultant with El Al, Mr. Aviv surveyed the existing security measures in place and updated El Al's security program, making El Al the safest airline in business today. Most recently, Mr. Aviv wrote Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business,(2004,Harper Resource). He has been a guest on ABC Nightline, FOX News, CNN, BBC Newsnight, ZDF (German National Television) and RAI (Italian National Television) and has been featured in numerous articles in major magazines and newspapers worldwide. Sorry this was so long, but I didn't have a link to post.

kamal karna roy, a us presidential hopeful and demanding to be nominated gop presidential candidate:do u know? Hello LISANROY Change Preferences | Sign Out Sign In | Register Now Print Edition | Subscribe NewsNation Investigations Education Photos & Video World Technology KidsPost Discussions Metro Entertainment Religion Corrections Business Health Post Magazine Archives PoliticsPolitics Blogs House/Senate Votes White House Congress 2008 Campaign In Depth Polls In the Loop DC | MD | VA OpinionsOpinions Home Toles Cartoons On Faith Blogs Telnaes Animations PostGlobal Feedback Outlook Discussion Groups LocalMetro News Weather Local Explorer Jobs Education Traffic Community Guides Cars DC | MD | VACrime The Extras Real Estate Columns/Blogs Obituaries Local Business Yellow Pages SportsRedskins D.C. 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Will CommentsLISANROY wrote: obama. hillary and mcCain all three have shown their deficits in public image which create deep concern among we the people in usa to investgate/ reopen investigations on female lobbyist pleasure pursuit for influence pedalling (felony charg)against, i r s tax fraud by obama for easy and convinient financing of r /e deal involving obamas house in illinois , in assistance of rezco but obama criminally did not report to i r s for his gain in money in sweet_heart financing on the deal, even gain in illegal conduct on this , the shrewed obama , as reported did not report gain to irs, and that a felony; similarly hillary 1/2 successfully evaded issue of corruption in her involvement in white water r/e scandal , which she temporarily delayed or evaded in wearing cloak of a clintonian first woman. she is not wearing any defence cloak, so f b i et al lawfully and easily punish her for her abusive tendency to common we the people. many in arkansas lost money for hillary's high handed orruption . We the people in usa should not reawad her with u s presidency and we the people would like to see her established in a correction house for her corruption if proved in laws of u s court and bar her for a federal full time job of u s president w e f 1.20. 2009' poor saps who bought Brokaw's story--like me--don't fret. So did Rep. Lacy Clay, Obama’s Missouri co-chairman and pledged Obama superdelegate himself. Clay told the Columbia Missourian yesterday that the 50 superdelegates would come out of the closet "later this week"--and then took the stats one step further, claiming that "the campaign is Obama’s." “[Sen. Clinton] will not make up those numbers,” Clay said. “This race is over.” Which wouldn't have been true in any case--an additional 200 or so superdelegates would've still remained uncommitted, and Clinton and Obama would've been roughly tied among these party leaders. But it's even less true today. Now that Clinton's death-defying wins in Texas and Ohio have prolonged the contest and slowed Obama's momentum among party poobahs, there's a bigger story to watch: an increasing willingness among superdelegates to band together and seek concessions from the presidential candidates in return for votes at the convention. Last night, the Politico reported that bloc of uncommitted Ohio supers--perhaps including Reps. March Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan, Zack Space, Betty Sutton and Charlie Wilson, and Sen. Sherrod Brown--is "withholding endorsements from Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton until one or the other offers a concrete proposal to protect American jobs," according to two state Democrats. At this point, everyone knows that Obama and Clinton need superdelegate support to put them over the top--the superdelegates included. With the contest now likely to continue until the convention, I suspect it won't be long before others start making similar demands 3/16/2008 11:35:01 AM Recommend (0) Report Abuse Discussion Policy markrw wrote: Ahh, George! You were so close! You and this conflation of speech and money. While you may be in line with the current courts, as someone obsessed with original intent, do you really believe that the founding fathers defined speech in such a way that would dis-proportionally award more speech (and therefore influence) to some and not others? Isn’t speech the very quality that a person has idependant of status and money? In the fusion of democracy and capitalism that currently defines American life, speech is the only freedom left that transcends class, but when you say that money is speech, then you disenfranchize all those without it – surely not an original intent. Oh, and where does the constitution directly say that money is speech? As a strict constructionist, isn’t that a problem? 3/16/2008 11:34:33 AM Recommend (0) Report Abuse Discussion Policy LISANROY wrote: 3.16. 2008 opinion of dr the reverend kamal karna karuna roy aka and was born as joseph geronimk jr a guam us born clergy on vow of poverty, i r s rule, and pursuant to u s act 1978 a u s born citizen afor guam born people who were living in mainland usa on day of effective enforcement of law for guam island born people as u s born people status . dr roy as a child becam orphan (dob 3.31.2008 when parents were visiting as religious workers in east city of british india viz dacca city in a religious biased area pro islamic:in religious riot , then was frequent those days in dacca region of britisn india.: ColumnsYour Comments On... Arizona's Booster Socialism A new imbroglio about an old and discredited practice. - By George F. Will CommentsLISANROY wrote: obama. hillary and mcCain all three have shown their deficits in public image which create deep concern among we the people in usa to investgate/ reopen investigations on female lobbyist pleasure pursuit for influence pedalling (felony charg)against, i r s tax fraud by obama for easy and convinient financing of r /e deal involving obamas house in illinois , in assistance of rezco but obama criminally did not report to i r s for his gain in money in sweet_heart financing on the deal, even gain in illegal conduct on this , the shrewed obama , as reported did not report gain to irs, and that a felony; similarly hillary 1/2 successfully evaded issue of corruption in her involvement in white water r/e scandal , which she temporarily delayed or evaded in wearing cloak of a clintonian first woman. she is not wearing any defence cloak, so f b i et al lawfully and easily punish her for her abusive tendency to common we the people. many in arkansas lost money for hillary's high handed orruption . We the people in usa should not reawad her with u s presidency and we the people would like to see her established in a correction house for her corruption if proved in laws of u s court and bar her for a federal full time job of u s president w e f 1.20. 2009' poor saps who bought Brokaw's story--like me--don't fret. So did Rep. Lacy Clay, Obama’s Missouri co-chairman and pledged Obama superdelegate himself. Clay told the Columbia Missourian yesterday that the 50 superdelegates would come out of the closet "later this week"--and then took the stats one step further, claiming that "the campaign is Obama’s." “[Sen. Clinton] will not make up those numbers,” Clay said. “This race is over.” Which wouldn't have been true in any case--an additional 200 or so superdelegates would've still remained uncommitted, and Clinton and Obama would've been roughly tied among these party leaders. But it's even less true today. Now that Clinton's death-defying wins in Texas and Ohio have prolonged the contest and slowed Obama's momentum among party poobahs, there's a bigger story to watch: an increasing willingness among superdelegates to band together and seek concessions from the presidential candidates in return for votes at the convention. Last night, the Politico reported that bloc of uncommitted Ohio supers--perhaps including Reps. March Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan, Zack Space, Betty Sutton and Charlie Wilson, and Sen. Sherrod Brown--is "withholding endorsements from Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton until one or the other offers a concrete proposal to protect American jobs," according to two state Democrats. At this point, everyone knows that Obama and Clinton need superdelegate support to put them over the top--the superdelegates included. With the contest now likely to continue until the convention, I suspect it won't be long before others start making similar demands. dr roy now an ordained clergy registere with manhattan, city pof new york at 1 chamber strrt, new york new york since 1992 with world religions group priest and has been on vow of poverty declared under i r s rule since 1984 as a clergy of goup noeted. a theme of world religions doctrine is any person ofliving human existence can hold multiple religions and name_shake may god/s in any time in single body and soul of a person. thatis to say you could be chritian, a muslim , a hindu et el and follower of jesus, islam, hindu god/ gods BNrha, Vishnu, shjiva/ al in same body and soul , in giving simple notice of your faiths to public arpound you and or any approved public or court notifications and/or affidavits. a so called person with say christian faith onverted to world religions shall keep original faith as religion and all other religions as addititional faithe, and each the religions shall be beneficially covered for thje sid person viz multle marital rights for muslim males shall be covered for all peole who embraced world religions faith by declaration befoe a clergy or notifications in public. additionally marital benefits and equities of religions and marital rules shall be same i e women in islamic fiths et al is declared to be entitled to multiple marriages on need demand. 3/16/2008 11:29:15 AM Recommend (0) Report Abuse Discussion Policy pgr88 wrote: Socialists will never understand - when the Gov't is in the business of handing out subsidies, tax breaks and making regulations - who wins? It is the big corporations, who have the lawyers and lobbyists. 3/16/2008 11:28:44 AM Recommend (0) Report Abuse Discussion Policy 1bernice wrote: As Citizens for Tax Justice (www.ctj.org) reported a few years ago, many corporations accept incentives from state and city governments without ever meeting the conditions they agreed to (number of jobs created, for instance). For these companies, the incentive is merely added to the bottom line without so much as a "thank you" to the taxpayers who gave it to them. I say NO incentives, ever. It is not our role as taxpayers to assume corporate risks of any kind. 3/16/2008 11:14:29 AM Recommend (0) Report Abuse Discussion Policy TedFrier wrote: Booster SOCIALISM? Come on, George, that is really beneath you. Call it by its real name -- croney capitalism or corporate welfare. Don't engage in Kafka-like political framing by using words you know people will associate with liberalism. What you describe is a failing of conservatism, of the Right. Yet the words you chose -- socialism -- make it seem like a sin of the Left. That really is dishonest and you know it. 3/16/2008 11:03:45 AM Recommend (2) Report Abuse Discussion Policy LISANROY wrote: obama. hillary and mcCain all three have shown their deficits in public image which create deep concern among we the people in usa to investgate/ reopen investigations on female lobbyist pleasure pursuit for influence pedalling (felony charg)against, i r s tax fraud by obama for easy and convinient financing of r /e deal involving obamas house in illinois , in assistance of rezco but obama criminally did not report to i r s for his gain in money in sweet_heart financing on the deal, even gain in illegal conduct on this , the shrewed obama , as reported did not report gain to irs, and that a felony; similarly hillary 1/2 successfully evaded issue of corruption in her involvement in white water r/e scandal , which she temporarily delayed or evaded in wearing cloak of a clintonian first woman. she is not wearing any defence cloak, so f b i et al lawfully and easily punish her for her abusive tendency to common we the people. many in arkansas lost money for hillary's high handed orruption . We the people in usa should not reawad her with u s presidency and we the people would like to see her established in a correction house for her corruption if proved in laws of u s court and bar her for a federal full time job of u s president w e f 1.20. 2009' poor saps who bought Brokaw's story--like me--don't fret. So did Rep. Lacy Clay, Obama’s Missouri co-chairman and pledged Obama superdelegate himself

What's worse: Joining the Air Force or continuing for a Master's Degree? After finishing my first Bachelor's I am undecided about staying to work with a company in the city while I do my Master's degree or joining the Air Force where I would also do my Master's degree but would move me away from the possibility of growing in a major company to make a lot of money. At my age, middle twenties, I have come to realize that a job here in the city will pretty much pay a high salary and work enough years for a pension and simply take my life out of the ordinary whenever I have vacation. However, I wonder what it would be like in the Air Force (forget the other military branches): Will I travel? learn different kind of experiences? What is out there that can outrun the benefits of the city and corporate life? Will the Air Force offer the excitement and unstability that would make my life adventurous? I will I do there something where I can really contribute to humanity in general and not just to a group of millionaries under a firm to become richer?

Who still believes Global Warming is caused by man? Global warming ethics, pork and profits By Paul Driessen web posted February 12, 2007 The ink has barely dried on its new code of conduct, and already Congress is redefining ethics and pork to fit a global warming agenda. As Will Rogers observed, "with Congress, every time they make a joke, it's a law. And every time they make a law, it's a joke." However, life-altering, economy-wrecking climate bills are no laughing matter. That's why we need to recognize that the Kyoto Protocol and proposed "climate protection" laws will not stabilize the climate, even if CO2 is to blame. It's why we must acknowledge that money to be made, and power to be gained, from climate alarmism and symbolism is a major reason so many are getting on the climate "consensus" bandwagon. In accusing ExxonMobil of giving "more than $19 million since the late 1990s" to public policy institutes that promote climate holocaust "denial," Senate Inquisitors Olympia Snowe and Jay Rockefeller slandered both the donor and recipients. Moreover, this is less than half of what Pew Charitable Trusts and allied foundations contributed to the Pew Center on Climate Change alone over the same period. It's a pittance compared to what US environmental groups spent propagating climate chaos scare stories. It amounts to 30 cents for every $1,000 that the US, EU and UN spent since 1993 (some $80 billion all together) on global warming catastrophe research. And it ignores the fact that the Exxon grants also supported malaria control, Third World economic development and many other efforts. Aside from honest, if unfounded, fears of climate disasters, why might others support climate alarmism? Scientists who use climate change to explain environmental changes improve their chances of getting research grants from foundations, corporations – and US government programs that budget a whopping $6.5 billion for global warming in 2007. They also increase the likelihood of getting headlines and quotes in news stories: "Climate change threatens extinction of rare frogs, scientist says." Climate disaster skeptics face an uphill battle on grants, headlines and quotes. Politicians get to grandstand green credentials, cement relationships with activists who can support reelection campaigns and higher aspirations, magically transform $14-billion in alternative energy pork into ethical planetary protection, and promote policies that otherwise would raise serious eyebrows. Corporate actions that cause even one death are dealt with severely; but praise is heaped on federal mileage standards that cause hundreds of deaths, as cars are downsized and plasticized to save fuel and reduce emissions. High energy prices are denounced at congressional hearings, if due to market forces – but praised if imposed by government "to prevent climate change." Drilling in the Arctic or off our coasts is condemned, even to create jobs, tax revenues and enhanced security; but subsidizing wind power to generate 2% of our electricity is lauded, even if giant turbines despoil millions of acres and kill millions of birds. Alarmist rhetoric has also redefined corporate social responsibility, created the Climate Action Partnership and launched the emerging Enviro-Industrial Complex. Environmental activists have turned climate fears into successful fund-raising tools – and a brilliant strategy for achieving their dream of controlling global resource use, technological change and economic development, through laws, treaties, regulations and pressure campaigns. Recent developments promise to supercharge these efforts. Environmental Defense is collaborating with Morgan Stanley, to promote emission trading systems and other climate change initiatives – giving ED direct monetary and policy stakes in the banking, investment and political arenas, and in any carbon allowance or cap-and-trade programs Congress might enact. Other environmental groups, companies and Wall Street firms will no doubt follow their lead. ED designed and led the disingenuous campaign that persuaded many healthcare agencies to ban DDT, resulting in millions of deaths from malaria. Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, ED and other groups still post deceitful claims about DDT on their websites, further delaying progress against this killer disease. By blaming climate change for malaria, they deflect criticism for their vile actions. Climate catastrophe claims enable activists to gain official advisory status with companies and governments on environmental issues. They also make it "ethical" for Rainforest Action Network and other pressure groups to oppose power generation in Third World countries, where few have access to electricity – and thereby keep communities perpetually impoverished. Meanwhile, Prince Charles gets lionized for appropriating 62 first class jetliner seats for his entourage of 20, on a trans-Atlantic trip to receive an environmental prize and lecture Americans on saving the Earth – because at least he didn't use his private jet. Companies in the CAP and EIC can develop and promote new product lines, using tax breaks, subsidies, legal mandates and regulatory provisions to gain competitive advantages. They get favorable coverage from the media, and kid-glove treatment from members of Congress who routinely pillory climate chaos skeptics. Some worry that this could become a license to further redefine corporate ethics, present self-interest as planet-saving altruism, and profit from questionable arrangements with environmental groups and Congress. Certainly, cap-and-trade rules will create valuable property rights and reward companies that reduce CO2 emissions, often by replacing old, inefficient, high-polluting plants that they want to retire anyway. DuPont and BP will get money for biofuels, GE for its portfolio of climate protection equipment, ADM for ethanol, Lehman Brothers for emission trading and other deals. Environmental activists will be able to influence corporate, state and federal policy, and rake in still more cash. Insurance companies can blame global warming for rate increases and coverage denials. Lobbying and deal-brokering will enter a new era. As Thenardier the innkeeper observed in Les Miserables, "When it comes to fixing prices, there are lots of tricks he knows. Jees, it's just amazing how it grows." Indeed, the opportunities to "game the system" will be limited only by one's "eco-magination." To determine the losers, look in the mirror. Activists and politicians are creating a Frankenstein climate monster on steroids. Were it real, we'd need to dismantle our economy and living standards to slay the beast. How else could we eliminate 80–90% of US and EU fossil fuel emissions by 2050, to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions and (theoretically) a climate that has always been anything but stable? Think lifestyles circa 1900, or earlier. Ponder the British environment minister's latest prescription: World War II rationing, no meat or cheese, restrictions on air travel, no veggies that aren't grown locally. France wants a new government agency that would single out, police and penalize countries that "abuse the Earth." Others want to put little solar panels on African huts, while kleptocratic dictators get millions of dollars for trading away their people's right to generate electricity and emit CO2. We should improve energy efficiency, reduce pollution, and develop new energy technologies. But when we demand immediate action to prevent exaggerated or imaginary crises, we stifle debate, railroad through programs that don't work, create enough pork to fill 50 Chicago stockyards, and impose horrendous unintended consequences on countless families. That is shortsighted and immoral.

Is this why the libs hate BUSH?

Would the situation have been different if the sadhu had been a well-dressed Western woman? Why or why not? After encountering a dying pilgrim on a climbing trip in the Himalayas, a businessman panders the difference between individual and corporate ethics. Last year, as the first participant in the new six-month sabbatical program that Morgan Stanley has adopted, I enjoyed a rare opportunity to collect my thoughts as well as do some traveling. I spent the first three months in Nepal, walking 600 miles through 200 villages in the Himalayas and climbing some 120,000 vertical feet. My sole Western companion on the trip was an anthropologist who shed light on the cultural patterns of the villages that we passed through. During the Nepal hike, something occurred that has had a powerful impact on my thinking about corporate ethics. Although some might argue that the experience has no relevance to business, it was a situation in which a basic ethical dilemma suddenly intruded into the lives of a group of individuals. How the group responded holds a lesson for all organizations, no matter how defined. The Sadhu The Nepal experience was more rugged than I had anticipated. Most commercial treks last two or three weeks and cover a quarter of the distance we traveled. My friend Stephen, the anthropologist, and I were halfway through the 60-day Himalayan part of the trip when we reached the high point, an 18,000-foot pass over a crest that we'd have to traverse to reach the village of Muklinath, an ancient holy place for pilgrims. Six years earlier, I had suffered pulmonary edema, an acute form of altitude sickness, at 16,500 feet in the vicinity of Everest base camp--so we were understandably concerned about what would happen at 18,000 feet. Moreover, the Himalayas were having their wettest spring in 20 years; hip-deep powder and ice had already driven us off one ridge. If we failed to cross the pass, I feared that the last half of our once-in-a-lifetime trip would be ruined. The night before we would try the pass, we camped in a hut at 14,500 feet. In the photos taken at that camp, my face appears wan. The last village we'd passed through was a sturdy two-day walk below us, and I was tired. During the late afternoon, four back packers from New Zealand joined us, and we spent most of the night awake, anticipating the climb. Below, we could see the tents of two other parties, which turned out to be two Swiss couples and a Japanese hiking club. During the late afternoon, four back packers from New Zealand joined us, and we spent most of the night awake, anticipating the climb. Below, we could see the tents of two other parties, which turned out to be two Swiss couples and a Japanese hiking club. To get over the steep part of the climb before the sun melted the steps cut in the ice, we departed at 3:30 A.M. The New Zealanders left first, followed by Stephen and myself, outporters and Sherpas, and then the Swiss. The Japanese lingered in their camp. The sky was clear, and we were confident that no spring storm would corrupt that day to close the pass. At 15,500 feet, it looked to me as it Stephen was shuffling and staggering a bit, which are symptoms of altitude sickness. (The initial stage of altitude sickness brings a headache and nausea. As the condition worsens, a climber may encounter difficult breathing, disorientation, aphasia, and paralysis) I felt strong my adrenaline was flowing, but I was very concerned about my ultimate ability to get across. A couple of our porters were also suffering from the height, and Pasang, our Sherpa sirdar (leader), was worried. Just after daybreak, while we rested at 15,500 feet, one of the New Zealanders, who had gone ahead, came staggering down toward us with a body slung across his shoulders. He dumped the almost naked, barefoot body of an Indian holy man, a sadhu, at my feet. He had found the pilgrim lying on the ice, shivering and suffering from hypothermia. I cradled the sadhu's head and laid him out on the rocks. The New Zealander was angry. He wanted to get across the pass before the bright sun melted the snow. He said, "Look, I've done what I can. You have porters and Sherpa guides. You care for him. We're going on!" He turned and went back up the mountain to join his friends. I took a carotid pulse and found that the sadhu was still alive. We figured he had probably visited the holy shrines at Muklmath and was on his way home. It was fruitless to question why he had chosen this desperately high route instead of the safe, heavily traveled caravan route through the Kali Gandaki gorge. Or why he was shoeless and almost naked, or how long he had been lying in the pass. The answers weren't going to solve our problem.

How would you answer the following questions posed by McCoy in this article:? a. Are we our brother’s keeper? What is the nature of our responsibility to our fellow human beings if we consider ourselves to be ethical persons? b. Is there an art of management that is transportable? After encountering a dying pilgrim on a climbing trip in the Himalayas, a businessman panders the difference between individual and corporate ethics. Last year, as the first participant in the new six-month sabbatical program that Morgan Stanley has adopted, I enjoyed a rare opportunity to collect my thoughts as well as do some traveling. I spent the first three months in Nepal, walking 600 miles through 200 villages in the Himalayas and climbing some 120,000 vertical feet. My sole Western companion on the trip was an anthropologist who shed light on the cultural patterns of the villages that we passed through. During the Nepal hike, something occurred that has had a powerful impact on my thinking about corporate ethics. Although some might argue that the experience has no relevance to business, it was a situation in which a basic ethical dilemma suddenly intruded into the lives of a group of individuals. How the group responded holds a lesson for all organizations, no matter how defined. The Sadhu The Nepal experience was more rugged than I had anticipated. Most commercial treks last two or three weeks and cover a quarter of the distance we traveled. My friend Stephen, the anthropologist, and I were halfway through the 60-day Himalayan part of the trip when we reached the high point, an 18,000-foot pass over a crest that we'd have to traverse to reach the village of Muklinath, an ancient holy place for pilgrims. Six years earlier, I had suffered pulmonary edema, an acute form of altitude sickness, at 16,500 feet in the vicinity of Everest base camp--so we were understandably concerned about what would happen at 18,000 feet. Moreover, the Himalayas were having their wettest spring in 20 years; hip-deep powder and ice had already driven us off one ridge. If we failed to cross the pass, I feared that the last half of our once-in-a-lifetime trip would be ruined. The night before we would try the pass, we camped in a hut at 14,500 feet. In the photos taken at that camp, my face appears wan. The last village we'd passed through was a sturdy two-day walk below us, and I was tired. During the late afternoon, four back packers from New Zealand joined us, and we spent most of the night awake, anticipating the climb. Below, we could see the tents of two other parties, which turned out to be two Swiss couples and a Japanese hiking club. To get over the steep part of the climb before the sun melted the steps cut in the ice, we departed at 3:30 A.M. The New Zealanders left first, followed by Stephen and myself, outporters and Sherpas, and then the Swiss. The Japanese lingered in their camp. The sky was clear, and we were confident that no spring storm would corrupt that day to close the pass. At 15,500 feet, it looked to me as it Stephen was shuffling and staggering a bit, which are symptoms of altitude sickness. (The initial stage of altitude sickness brings a headache and nausea. As the condition worsens, a climber may encounter difficult breathing, disorientation, aphasia, and paralysis) I felt strong my adrenaline was flowing, but I was very concerned about my ultimate ability to get across. A couple of our porters were also suffering from the height, and Pasang, our Sherpa sirdar (leader), was worried. Just after daybreak, while we rested at 15,500 feet, one of the New Zealanders, who had gone ahead, came staggering down toward us with a body slung across his shoulders. He dumped the almost naked, barefoot body of an Indian holy man, a sadhu, at my feet. He had found the pilgrim lying on the ice, shivering and suffering from hypothermia. I cradled the sadhu's head and laid him out on the rocks. The New Zealander was angry. He wanted to get across the pass before the bright sun melted the snow. He said, "Look, I've done what I can. You have porters and Sherpa guides. You care for him. We're going on!" He turned and went back up the mountain to join his friends. I took a carotid pulse and found that the sadhu was still alive. We figured he had probably visited the holy shrines at Muklmath and was on his way home. It was fruitless to question why he had chosen this desperately high route instead of the safe, heavily traveled caravan route through the Kali Gandaki gorge. Or why he was shoeless and almost naked, or how long he had been lying in the pass. The answers weren't going to solve our problem. Stephen and the four Swiss began stripping off their outer clothing and opening their packs. The sadhu was soon clothed from head to foot. He was not able to walk, but he was very much alive. I looked down the mountain and spotted the Japanese climbers, marching up with a horse. Without a great deal of thought, I told Stephen and Pasang that I was concerned about withstanding the heights to come and wanted to get over the pass. I took off after several of our porters who had gone ahead

How Many Times Has BUSH LIED ? Bush & Al Qaeda – By The Numbers 0 – Number of meetings held by Vice President Cheney’s counterterrorism task force (which was created in May 2001) 0 – References to Al Qaeda in Dr. Rice’s 2000 Foreign Affairs article listing Bush’s top foreign affairs priorities 0 – References to Al Qaeda in Secretary Rumsfeld 2001 memo outlining national security priorities 0 – References to terrorism is Justice Department's top seven goals for 2001 0 – Number of National Security Council meetings held by Bush administration before invasion of Iraq was discussed (i.e., it was discussed at the very first meeting) 1 – Number of times the Bush administration mentioned al Qaeda prior to 9-11. This was in a notice continuing an executive order issued by President Clinton. 1 – Number of hours President Bush and Vice President Cheney agreed to allow in their joint meeting with the 9-11 panel. 2 – Number of National Security Council meetings Facts From Fiction STICK AROUND FOR MORE BUSH FACTS, NOT FOX NEWS FICTION

Why do libs avoid President Bush's Accomplishments? President Bush's Accomplishments Spotted at Rightnation.us and GOPUSA.com reprinted here for your pleasure. I encourage people who support Bush to learn how effective our President has been, and liberals ought to browse this too. Just remember, the liberal media can't cover up the truth of his accomplishments. The Bush Administration 2001-2004 Abortion & Traditional Values 1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs. Budget, Taxes & Economy 1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year. Character & Conduct as President 1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days: Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing." On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation. Education & Employment Training 1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers. Environment & Energy 1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species. Defense & Foreign Policy 1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed. Globalization & Internationalism 1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." Government Reform 1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals. Health 1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes: A 10-year privatization option. Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine. More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors. New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford. Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration 1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack. Judiciary & Tort Reform 1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims. Politics 1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes. Second Amendment 1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism. Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism 1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself." 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles: Equal Justice Freedom of Speech Limited Government Power Private Property Rights Religious Tolerance Respect for Women Rule of Law

OBAMA speech in full? http://www.drudgereport.com/flashos.htm After read this, how in the world are people still hating on this Man??? There is really no hope for us, if we continue to be sheep, unity should be our mission

Liberals are followers and Bush is a leader. Its better to be right than popular? President Bush's Accomplishments Abortion & Traditional Values 1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs. Budget, Taxes & Economy 1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year. Character & Conduct as President 1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days: Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing." On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation. Education & Employment Training 1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers. Environment & Energy 1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species. Defense & Foreign Policy 1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed. Globalization & Internationalism 1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." Government Reform 1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals. Health 1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes: A 10-year privatization option. Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine. More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors. New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford. Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration 1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack. Judiciary & Tort Reform 1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims. Politics 1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes. Second Amendment 1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism. Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism 1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself." 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles: Equal Justice Freedom of Speech Limited Government Power Private Property Rights Religious Tolerance Respect for Women Rule of Law

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What do you think about this soldiers letter? From: J.D. Englehart, (Former) SPC. 1st Infantry Division Sent: January 14, 2006 People often ask me, "If you are so against the war and couldn't stand the army, why did you ever join in the first place?" I have answered the same every time, that perhaps I was naïve, that I wanted a chance to see the world and earn college money. Or that I felt trapped in a dead-end town and needed a chance to escape, or that I was curious to live life as a soldier and gain military knowledge. These answers are never enough for some people, yet so many young Americans end up in the military the same exact way. I understand that I joined just prior to September 11, 2001. Indeed, I was naïve then to think that we lived in a somewhat peaceful world. Soldiers at that time joined for other reasons. Maybe soldiers who join now are ones who want to fight in a war. After much personal debate, I have learned that my resistance to war and empire was forged by the army itself. Since the very beginning of my four year military experience, I was simply a very different soldier. In basic training, instead of attending church service with the rest of the privates for two hours of relaxation, I was in the barracks mopping the floors and cleaning toilets. I would not fake a belief in god for petty rewards. While other soldiers were marching in rank and file to eat chow, I was off to the side, being smoked by a drill sergeant--doing pushups and flutter-kicks--for refusing to yell out cadence like a dopey high school cheerleader. As time went by, it never got any easier. I had a very hard time with the concept of conformity. While other soldiers in the barracks were watching porno's and hitting the beer bong with their frat-buddies, I was sitting on my bunk in a dark corner of a room reading Noam Chomsky. Instead of spending endless hours spit-shining my boots or ironing my BDU's, I was playing punk riffs on my guitar or perhaps writing poetry. I would routinely skip out on company "mandatory fun days" and go back to my room and sleep. Beetle Bailey was my hero. Instead of spending every weekend going to the same mundane hip-hop clubs and discos, starting fights and trying to get laid, I was backpacking across Europe with other like-minded friends. We traveled way beyond the limits that a mileage pass would allow. We were openly learning about other cultures, exploring a great unknown, and living life to the fullest while we had it. Instead of hating Iraqis for their strange ways and resentful behavior, I was trying to imagine the world in which they lived, even before an unwelcome US occupation forced them to live in a war zone. While other soldiers were bragging about how many hajis they had waxed in the last engagement, I was carefully pondering what the longtime ramifications would be for such inane bloodshed. Instead of coming back from missions and going straight to the PlayStation, I was writing what I saw and how I felt on this blog. It is true that I was a very different breed in the army. However, there were others like me. We were far and few between, we were misfits in an olive-drab green hell. We solidified, became friends, and became brothers. Most of the soldiers in my platoon were this way, outcasts. We opposed the war, sometimes openly. We were never persecuted for our beliefs because, although we were angry, we were a whole. We were a group of covert-subverts and our chain of command hated it. I came home from Iraq and was awarded combat spurs, a glorious achievement for a cavalry scout. I contemplated the true meaning of these spurs, this icon of war. Spurs that were worn by soldiers on horses; who rode with General Custer and decimated the American Indian population. Spurs painted with the blood of five major wars of the 20th century, some wars to fight empire and others to promote it. What would I do with these spurs? I decided to hold on to them. They meant much more than archaic tradition and a turbulent history. Somehow they meant comradery and friendship. My brothers-in-arms and I had earned them together, and they symbolize a token of deep understanding of a past we will share together, until the day we die. Today's public thinks that every American soldier fighting in Iraq supports the war and that his/her morale and trust in command is very high. However, in my experience, this was simply not true. I encountered dissent on many levels (For one example, see post below: Free Speech for Soldiers, Sept.21, 2004). Even soldiers who supported the army and loved their job hated being in a conflict they could not understand. Some soldiers did understand, and were resentful for it. The morale for the majority of our brigade was relatively low. I rarely met anyone who wanted to fight in Iraq, and the only ones who truly wanted to stay were the high echelon officers who seemed more concerned about their careers than the overall mission. Some may wonder where these disgruntled soldiers are. I believe that they are a part of every social fabric of our country. I've certainly met more angry veterans than I have boastful ones. Some missing limbs, some missing friends, others missing innocence. Angry and confused. Cannot find the healthcare they need. Cannot find jobs. Can no longer find a place to fit in our society. Some of these soldiers are still in the military and fear repercussions of speaking out. Soldiers who served several missions in Iraq and want no more. Soldiers tied to the war machine with no hope of escape. They wait for their day of freedom, hoping to avoid another stop-loss. They want out before death takes them first. So many silent voices and whispered stories. I know one veteran who refuses to talk about his experience because he thinks no one will understand and it won't change anything anyways. Another veteran I know candy-coats his experience so he won't disappoint his conservative family members. These soldiers are everywhere, but choose to remain silent because they fear ostracism from a war crazed, jingoistic public. The media plays with everyone's mind, convincing everyone that everything is okay as long as you trust in the government's overall plans for victory in Iraq. But when one asks a veteran for the truth, this optimistic fairy tale of ultimate victory seems a hard pill to swallow. I am not trying to speak for every soldier and veteran. I know that there are those out there who support the war effort and feel good about being in Iraq. However, in my experience, I have not met too many who feel this way. There is a rising tide of antiwar sentiments growing in this country. Fifty-two percent of America now feels it was not worth going to war with Iraq, while fifty-eight percent disapprove of Bush's handling of the war, and now a whopping fifty-three percent actually support a Bush impeachment. (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll/Zogby Poll. Jan. 6-8, 2006). One would have to wonder how these polls might look if more and more soldier accounts were brought to the public's attention. There is a truth that lies buried under the Pentagon propaganda machine and the misinformation provided by corporate media and a dishonest administration, and that truth lies in the experience of combat soldiers. In the end I know that my experience may have been different, or that maybe I was a very different kind of soldier. But it was the army that molded my contempt for authority and distrust of a feudalistic government that pulls the strings. Through my army involvement I met others like me who felt much of the same way. We were dissidents, but never un-American. On the contrary, we knew the difference between following orders and thinking for ourselves. Ultimately, there is no difference between love for one's country and the willingness to oppose a government that institutes war, fear and oppression on any level. There are many soldiers and veterans who share the same feelings as me and others I met along the way. Some are even in the ranks of the military. Someday all the soldiers will come home and when they do, their stories and sentiments will follow. Only then will a better understanding of the truth be known. -- J.D. Englehart

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I am trying to find a list of phone numbers for corporate travel departments at Fortune 500 companies? I own and operate a number of villas in Costa Rica providing all inclusive vacation getaways. I would like to start catering to corporate retreat and/or incentive travel since we are able to handle large groups and was wondering if anyone knew of a phone list showing contact information for the travel departments at the Fortune 500 companies.

when your husband gets fired from a great job & even though it's not his fault? (corporate politics involved) ..whats the best way to help him through it? He's so depressed & has already been to our Dr for anti-anxiety pills. It was a unique job w/travel & a good income that he's had for years & since he's been let go (1 month ago), he's lost all focus. I may file a wrongful discharge since he was the oldest sales person in his group (only 49) but had one of the highest sales records. Any ideas? ggraves1, thankyou for sharing your experiences & such great advice. So appreciate it!

Can somebody help me to interpret my dream? I was in a sort of indoor forest, traveling with a group of people. I don't remember who they were, or if they were significant. The forest looked as if it had recently been damaged, trees were burnt, and I could see the glass ceiling in the gaps where no foliage grew. We were looking for trees that didn't have any damage to them, so we decided that we'd try checking the forest that was located above the one we were in. Everybody in the group got onto an elevator. It was huge, the size of a large room complete with school cafeteria style tables. I suggested that we not press the second or third floor levels, because I thought that the bottom forest had trees that were at least three stories tall, and there wouldn't be enough room for the other tress to grow. Everybody agreed, and somebody in the group pressed a button that was labeled "To get from east to west". The elevator started going up very quickly, and my knees went shaky, and I had to sit at one of the tables. I could see through the clear glass of the elevator walls, and it reminded me of the scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, where the the glass elevator was ejected into the sky. When we didn't stop where I thought we would, but kept going, I got very scared, and held onto the table for my life. It finally stopped at the very top floor, and I got out. The top floor was some sort of corporate office building, and there were lots of people milling about. Somebody was giving me a tour, telling me that all the people who worked there also lived there and never left. They had places to sleep and exerciserooms. For some reason I recall seeing a mattress under a desk or a small table and thinking there were probably lots of places to hide here.

Analysing following article using management theories? Could someone please read the following article and analyse it using management theories ? eg using The context of management, HRM, planning, desicion making, leading and motivating, organising, controlling. "VERY POLITE" is how Mary Berner describes the corporate culture she discovered when she took the top job at the venerable Reader's Digest Association (RDA) in March 2007. By polite, of course, Berner means far too polite. Others, for instance, have called the 86-yearold publisher of the famously feel-good, pocket-sized magazine (and a clutch of other lifestyle titles around the world) a "retirement home". So Berner, the rapid-fire chief who famously juggles three BlackBerries and a crazy schedule crammed with meetings and travel, very quickly knocked the manners out of the genteel publisher. In weeks she implemented a massive cost-cutting program, took an axe to a quarter of top management and regrouped RDA's 90-plus titles into "communities of interest". "I am not saying everyone should run around and be impolite but it was to the point there was no transparency about anything," Berner tells AFR BOSS in an interview at her Madison Avenue office in New York. She says in the past the company "would rather have been polite to somebody and have them not perform for 20 years rather than put people in who will [perform]". Suffice to say, it is not the sort of culture that was ever going to gel with the straightshooting Berner or, for that matter, RDA's new private equity owners. Berner, 49, the former chief executive of Fairchild Publications (part of the Condé Nast media empire) and a former publisher of the then New Corp-owned TV Guide, seems to have easily assumed the urgency that tends to be associated with private equity. RDA, founded by DeWitt and Lila Bell Wallace in 1922 and based on a sleepy campus in Chappaqua (Pleasantville is also often named as the address) in what might be called "downstate" New York, had been bleeding losses as a New York Stock Exchange listed company. Berner came on board after Ripplewood Holdings, a New York private equity firm better known for turning around Japanese banks and telcos, paid $US2.4 billion for the company. Almost $US1 billion of that was debt. The flagship Reader's Digest easily remains the biggest circulation magazine in the world, selling eight million copies in the US alone, plus 50 editions in 60 countries (including Australia). As impressive as its circulation sounds, it has actually fallen from 17 million in 1985. But these days, while the Digest is the cornerstone of the company, it only accounts for about 15 per cent of RDA's $US2.9 billion annual revenue. RDA is one of many media companies trying to adapt to a changing market that has left many traditional outlets struggling with falling readership and the challenge of monetising their digital presence, compounded by the current tough times facing the US advertising market. Berner and Ripplewood agreed that the key to lifting the company's performance was changing the cultures, or giving it a new "FACE", as Berner says (it stands for fast, accountable, candid and engaged). She immediately announced a three-year $US220- million cost-cutting program, including a $US130-million-a-year savings by outsourcing RDA's printing and direct-mail marketing to the UK's Williams Lea. The Digest's huge directmail campaigns, which it uses to drive subscriptions, are among it's biggest costs. 2 In an effort to lift ad revenue selling opportunities, Berner also regrouped the company's 90-plus titles into "communities of interest", including health and wellness, home and garden, food and entertaining, school and educational services and, of course, the RD "community". These are magazines that seem to sell. Every Day with Rachael Ray, the cooking magazine launched with the eponymous US TV personality in 2006, already has a circulation of 1.7 million. "We are running a company of many brands and each brand will have a different set of customers and each one of those customers will want their information and entertainment in different ways," says Berner. "Reader's Digest the magazine is one part of Reader's Digest the brand. People who are part of the RD community might want books or a web component." Her shake-up also extended to replacing 25 per cent of the group's top 200 executives within the first six months, luring many of them to the campus-style Pleasantville HQ. This site houses about 850 of the company's 5000 global staff, including Reader's Digest's editorial staff. Berner, who lives in Manhattan with her husband and four children, usually works out of the New York offices. DOWN IN THE TRENCHES Change, Berner admits, has been a shock at RDA where many staff were 20-year-plus veterans. But she is a big believer in the notion that turnover is actually good for an organisation. "One of the good, and the bad, things about this place was that no