POST SCRIPTS

by Jack Lee

The stock market had a nice climb on all the stimulus money fueling a false economy, but that money is spent. It's effect is looking dangerously temporary. Now all the reports of unwise stimulus spending, mispending, waste and fraud is starting to sink in. Thats weighing on Wall Street. Also, the market doesn't like these high unemployment numbers and our massive deficit. This is causing the sell off.

There is no Plan B if this bailout stuff doesn't take hold. We're really out of bailout money and interest rates are at record low, so there's no place to run. If we don't pull out soon the current rate of spending is more than enough to drag the market down even further.

The red flag has been raised weeks ago when this sell off began and this has now turned into a very sharp sell off and such things are of concern to money managers. So, if those guys are starting to worry, you better pay close attention to your portfolio! Be ready to cash in if we don't see the sell off slow soon and level out.

Remember, it's only been a year since we were starring total economic collapse in the face. We're far from seeing a full-on recovery and many analysts are predicting big up and down swings in 2010. Fasten seat belts, it's going to be a rough ride!

One bright spot is the overall growth of GDP which should be between 4.5 and 6% by years end. The DOW closed Monday at 9808 and thats a big drop in a short time from 10700!

by Jack Lee

Suppose you could pick a time from today back to the begining of human history, in what period would you choose to live and who would you be and what would you be doing?

Would you be Napoleon escaping from the Island of Elba? How about being a Roman Senator or a highly advanced Minoan living in a utopian society on what is known as modern day Crete? Perhaps you would like to be a character from the Bible?

Anything, anyone, anytime... explain please! Results will be collected and posted here in a few days. Try to keep it brief, under 100 words.

Click on the picture and watch this story. It's all about taking care of your friends. Story by John Stossel.

by Jack Lee

The Credit Card Act will take effect in about two weeks. The new rules will make it a lot tougher to surprise you with rate hikes and hidden fees. For instance the card issuer can't up the interest rate in the first 12 months after you sign up.

If they do change the rate then that new rate only applies to the amount you charge [ after ] the new rate is in effect, it does not apply to your old balance! I've always had a problem with card companies doing this because otherwise its like changing the terms of the loan midstream. Well, at least now you will know the rate you're paying before you charge.

They've also made it more difficult to market cards to teens and young adults with little or no credit experience.

Credit card bills must now include how long it will take to pay off your loan with a minimum payment.

Thse changes are the most significant change to credit cards since there has been credit cards, but there is not reason to celebrate. As fast as the reforms to former abuses go into place new ones pop up. The new rules will not change the rules for business and corporate cards.

Even with these changes the best idea is simply don't use a credit card, use your versatele card, you'll be a lot better off.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/show/with/2346008881/

These are all models, hard to believe, but true!

The Sunday Message

by OneVike

Millions of Americans are getting ready to watch the Super Bowl today and like others, I'll will be watching it with my family. It does make me wonder, though, about what we are teaching our children.

Throughout history men have worshiped many false gods, and today is no different. Probably the most popular false god of modern times would be the "sports god". Think about the way we raise our children to worship this false god. We will spend more time and effort to get them involved and interested in sports then we do in teaching them the Word of God. In essence we are telling them, "this is what is really important." We will rush around with more excitement and punctuality to get them to participate in practice and the game than we ever would to get them to church, not to mention the fact that Americans are rarely so strict about our children devoting a moment of the day to devotional reading of the Bible. Fact is, most families in the US have lives that revolve around their childrens' sports programs more than their spiritual life.

Americans are spending billions on sports. Many cities have vast sport stadiums that have become the equivalent of modern cathedrals. While these edifices are large and grossly expensive, chances are most cities involved are even planning even bigger and more expensive stadiums to worship their "sports god". If aliens came from another planet to visit us they would no doubt conclude that these vast sports complexes are the
primary places of worship for our metropolitan areas.

Now don't get me wrong, God does not frown upon sports. It's my belief that He invented sports as a diversion for us to pass time, get exercise, and learn to work together. However He does not want humans to replace worship for Him with worship for sports, and sports heroes.

"It Will Be as if the American Founding Never Happened" - Heritage Foundation

Forget George Washington, James Madison, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln--nothing meaningful happened in America before 1877. ** That's the lesson North Carolina public high schools may start teaching. Under proposed changes in their high school history curriculum, the U.S. History course (which seniors take) will cover events from 1877 forward only. ** It will be as if the American Founding never happened. ** According to Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the goal of this change is to teach what students will feel connected to, "where they see the big idea, where they are able to make connections and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present day." ** By implication, nothing before 1877 has any meaning to students: the Declaration of Independence that proclaims the self evident truths of equality, natural rights, and consent of the governed; the Constitution that establishes the rule of law and the framework in which we exercise our liberty; the Civil War in which Abraham Lincoln defended the principles of the American Founding and ended the institution of slavery. These events are irrelevant for today's students.

Now what left-wing, revisionist, anti-American, living Constitution progressive came up with this idea?

If anyone is interested in the difference between the left and right sides of the aisle READ THIS ARTICLE and then follow the links within it to read all about the progressive movement in America, it's goals and ambitions. Here's a couple of excerpts from one of them:

In this story:

• Terrorist attack expected within 6 months.
• High level permission needed to kill American citizens in Al Qaeda
• Imam caught smuggling razor blades into jail

Intelligernce Update: Terrorist attack is expected within 6 months. Five senior leaders of the U.S. intelligence community told a Senate panel Tuesday they are "certain" that terrorists will attempt another attack on the United States in the next three to six months.

The warning came during the annual threat briefing to Congress in response to questions from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, who asked, "What is the likelihood of another terrorist-attempted attack on the U.S homeland in the next three to six months? High or low?"

"An attempted attack, the priority is certain, I would say," said Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, a retired admiral.

Four other intelligence agency leaders who appeared at the hearing with Adm. Blair said they agreed with the assessment.

For the $2600 for two of us to take a commuter hop to Sacramento and back, wow, I think I'll drive my car! Oh, and look how long it takes to get there and back! Sure is great to have a communter service here in Chico isn't it? I take a chartered jet for this price!

by Jack Lee

The American's with Disabilities Act of 1990 needs some reform. Too many shyster lawyers are making a pretty good living just driving around towns looking for the slightest violation at business and then they sue. For instance a local grocery store was sued and the lawyer suing made thousands in fine money and fees just because the handicapped railings in the restroom stall was a mere one inch too high, they also had to tear up a sidewalk because it was just 1.5 degrees out of compliance, this was a $50,000 renovation. The shyster who cashed in on the error made off with the fine money and court fees.

Thanks to the ADA we've got these scum sucking predator lawyers driving around with a camera and a measuring tape just looking for the slightest infraction. It could be the empty disability parking spaces were too narrow by an inch or two, it's rediculous what they have come up with and it's not right. Too many businesses in Chico have been victimized by sleezy lawyers exploiting the ADA rules.

A notorious case in the north state was the Squeeze Inn, a burger joint known for their delicious hamburgers cooked in a tiny restaurant barely big enough for half dozen customers standing. The owner installed a buzzer outside in a patio area for wheel chair customers and they took their order from there, but that wasn't good enough. After 32 years of business, today is their last day, thanks to the latest ADA lawsuit. They were ordered to make hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ADA improvements that cost more than their building was worth.

You know what folks, we just can't cater to everyone with a special need. It just can't be done without killing ourselves in the process. The last thing California businesses need is a lawyers suing them because their sidewalk is one degree in violation of the ADA Act. This needs to be fixed and I'm kinda surprised that the GOP candidates running for election haven't jumped all over this one. All we need to do is remove the easy monitary incentives for lawyers and we could bring this under control.

http://www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm

by Jack Lee

Despite the $500 price tag and it being a "for profit" event, it hasn't hurt the attendance at the first Tea Party Convention. Yes, a lot of members questioned the high cost of entry, saying it was not in keeping with the spirit of the grass roots theme and they were not pleased that Sarah Palin will be paid $100,000 for her speaking fee. However, it is widely rumored that Mrs. Palin will donate that $100k right back to this conservative movement. Sometimes it takes an entrepenuer who started this event to make a few bucks to get it going. And it's certainly going! Now the full story:

January 28, 2010 - The AP reports that Michele Bachmann has cancelled her appearance at the National Tea Party convention in Nashville. "2 lawmakers drop out of Tea Party Convention." If you still trust the liberal news media to tell you the truth about Tea Party groups, you're in the wrong place. The statists are doing their best to stir up trouble. Don't fall for it.

Posted by Tina

Most stories about how our stimulus money is being "spread around" reveal certain absurdites in terms of wisdom, economic recovery, or job creation but this one offers all three:

"DeKalb Schools Spending $382K On Hollywood Conference," WSBTV

Channel 2 Action News has learned that nearly 200 DeKalb County school employees will be boarding flights to Los Angeles this week to attend an education conference that will cost taxpayers nearly $400,000. The money isn't coming from local tax dollars but from federal dollars that came to the county as part of the Obama administration's 2009 stimulus package. ** Stimulus money from Washington is often discussed in terms of "shovel ready" construction projects that are supposed to create jobs for unemployed Americans. But the DeKalb County School System has decided to use stimulus money to attend a four-day conference sponsored by America's Choice, which a schools spokesman calls "a great thing."

Stimulus money spent for this purpose offers nothing in terms of economic recovery or job creation. In fact, even in terms of children getting value from a dollar spent, it is a complete waste during a time of economic shortage. Anyone want to debate the wisdom behind such a choice?

by Roy Exum

R.C. Soles, at age 74, is the longest serving lawmaker in North Carolina, and, perhaps in anticipation of the fact he might soon be indicted, the august state senator announced at the first of this year he would not seek re-election after 42 years in the state legislature. Many wish for his sake it would be that easy.

You see, Soles has been a longtime advocate of gun control, an outspoken critic of a citizen's right to bear arms. So when he shot an ex-con who was trying to kick down his door at his home in tiny Tabor City on Aug. 23 last year, eyebrows were raised across the state. The fact the staunch Democrat used a firearm himself to protect his property was absolutely delightful to those across the nation who stand on the other side of the firearms issue.

Unfortunately for the senator, after a lifetime of what he thought was best for the citizenry of the southeastern part of the state, his life then started unraveling faster than a quick cat can unroll a ball of yarn. Forget that he was among the most powerful politicians in the Tar Heel State; an investigation of the now-questionable shooting sent the matter to the grand jury and Soles was indicted on a felony charge about three weeks ago.

Have you ever thought about running for public office? Have you ever wondered what it takes to run? This is a great opportunity for you to educate yourself. The speakers are top rated in their field. I hope some of our readers will take advantage of this class, it's really good information to know. Jack Lee

by Tina Grazier

WARNING: This posting contains explicit information about the expansion of sexual content on television.

I have wondered for a long time when the good citizens of America will finally get to the point where they've had enough; today that question ratcheted up another notch. Will full frontal male nudity and fornication between assorted combinations of participants on TV be the final straw? I fear not, but I think it's important to declare war and hopefully bring sufficient peer pressure to bear against the continuing assault on our children and society. Sleaze and porn have been shoved into the main stream for far too long. USA Today brings us the story:

"Sex on TV: It's increasingly uncut -- and unavoidable," by Gary Strauss - USA Today

Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely -- if ever -- seen on mainstream TV. And that's just on pay-cable Starz's fornication-heavy, 13-episode Spartacus: Blood and Sand (premieres Friday, 10 ET/PT), a 300-meets-Caligula epic about the Roman Empire's notorious slave/gladiator. ** MTV plans a June launch of The Hard Times of RJ Berger, a scripted comedy about a nerdy 15-year-old whose cool quotient heats up when his anatomical gift is accidentally exposed. And basic-cable network Spike's just-launched raunchy college-sports comedy Blue Mountain State (Tuesdays, 10 ET/PT) showed a masturbating school mascot on the Jan. 12 premiere, while last night's episode featured a scene suggesting oral sex between a coed and jock before the opening credits. ** "You need to get eyeballs. You need to be loud," says Spike programming chief Kevin Kay, who is pairing Blue Mountain with reruns of HBO's sex-centric Entourage. "Our viewers are experiencing content on other cable channels or the Web. Movies and video games are going after this audience, too."

The creators and producers of "smut TV", as some call it, offer the usual lame retort to objections:

...Fordham University media observer Paul Levinson, say(s) TV merely mirrors life. "It sounds radical, but this is healthy for popular culture," Levinson says. "Mainstream TV has been frozen in a very puritanical position by Congress, the FCC and the Supreme Court -- all who don't seem to understand the First Amendment. Sex is part of life. If people are offended, there's a simple remedy: Don't watch."

Oh what arrogance and ineptitude. Freedom doesn't give us license to peddle porn anywhere anytime. You need to be put back in a sleaze cage...time and place matter.

by Jack Lee

The Keene for Senate campaign disclosed today that when adjusted for debt, Keene reports having right at 1 million dollars cash to spend on the race compared to Doug LaMalfa's $479,168. My question is, where did the million bucks come from? It sure wasn't in 10 and 20 dollar donations from the people in his district. So, who is giving him that kind of money and why? (We'll dislcose at least part of this soon)

"The ability you have to communicate your message to the voters at election time is the only real issue funding demonstrates when it comes to assessing a winning campaign," said Keene.

by Jack Lee

Janet Napolitano was instructed to report before a Congressional Committee reviewing the attempted airliner bombing on Christmas day. But, her assistant showed up instead. He said the Homeland boss was out of the country. Only problem was she was not out of the country, she was around but ducked out because she did not want to subject herself to the probing questions surrounding her mishandling of the incident where she said, "The system worked." Napolitano is known for not doing well before people questioning her. Just wait till they get their hands on her now, is she in for it! The women needs to resign, if not, she should be fired.

Next, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs recently said, "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and he'll meet his maker!" and "He's going to be found guilty and executed." This prejudicial comment will surely come up during the trial when they move for dismissal. Why would he say that? They're (B.O. Adminsistration) the ones so concerned about fairness and justice, right? So they closed down Gitmo and forced us to hold expensive civilian trials and now Gibbs is saying the verdict is a forgone conclusion. Wow, during the show trials of the Vietnam war even the commies we're that obvious. As you might expect, the Arab world has not been please by this proclamation of guilt before trial. Our avowed enemies are sure to make the most of it. (Dumb.)

The President of the United States and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, (shown left) both thought the people of New York would love to have the 9/11 plotters tried in their fair city at a cost of many tens of millions.

They were stunned when they learned that not only did New Yorkers not want the 9/11 trial in their city, they were mad as Hell at them for even suggesting it! The flak over this has been overwhelming and Holder was forced into a change of venue, thus proving once again that this administration is out of touch with the mainstream.

The citizens of NY feared the trial would attract another terrorist event (highly reasonable thinking), but they also didn't want it because it dredged up painful memories and it was also seen as a big drain on their rescources during very tough economic times.

Holder is now shopping around for another city and is offering cash incentives for the taker. Obama said his critics over holding a civilian trial as opposed to a military tribunal would be singing a different tune once these men were found guilty. (Dumber)

by Jack Lee

Trying to do away with free parking in California? Yep, they are at it again. The sponsor of this wacky bill is Sen. Alan Lowenthal-D (shown at left) from the 27th district.

He says he is just trying to give businesses and even government offices more "flexibility" so they don't have to provide too much free parking as may now be required by local statute. There are monetary incentives if people opt to take up his offer of "flexibility" and this is the extortion twist government so often does to get compliance. They're either offering you money or threatening to take it away.

In other words, this democrat wants you to take the bus. In his thinking it will reduce green house gases and combat...you guessed it, global warming! We are being hammered relentlessly by law makers trying to force their global warming frenzy on us by any and all means whenever they can...even if it means taking away your parking space at the DMV.

WWII photos at Iwo Jima:

http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299163150448181842

Posted by Tina

We have all experienced the awe and majesty of the world we've been given to inhabit. Whether sitting by the ocean, enjoying the vista from atop a South Western mesa, hiking in the deep woods, or breathing in the delicate fragrance of a rose in our own gardens we have had moments to appreciate this miracle of abundant, sustaining life. Evidence abounds that our world adapts to changes. Here's an example:

Forests by the Chesapeake Bay are growing two to four times faster than expected these days, researchers have found - a signal that rising carbon dioxide in our atmosphere might be triggering noticeable changes in ecosystems in the Mid-Atlantic. And though scientists warn it's no panacea, the accelerated growth in stands of hardwoods monitored for the past 22 years is an indication that forests might dampen or delay the impact of climate change. - Baltimore Sun

There are forces much greater than mans at work in our universe. Alternative energy is a good idea for many reasons, and we should continue to explore every possible avenue that is promising, but pushing green alternatives from a position of panic is folly and has nothing to do with saving the planet. It is a recipe for continued high unemployment and an economic disaster for this and future generations. A leader, head of a corporation, or head of a household must respond to problems with good judgment and a reasonable approach that includes interrelated areas of concern. The approach our current administration is taking toward the questionable theory of global warming shows careless disregard for the overall well being of the nation and her citizens.

As evidence that AGW has been grossly overstated piles up even former big supporters of the GW movement are pausing and stepping back. In a blog post at The American Interest Online, Walter Russell Mead, who sits on the board of the Acra Foundation, an organization that funds eco-groups like the Tides Foundation, the Earth Island Institute and the National Resources Defense Council, had this to say in his post titled, "Global warming is Dead":

"After years in which global warming activists had lectured everyone about the overwhelming nature of the scientific evidence, it turned out that the most prestigious agencies in the global warming movement were breaking laws, hiding data, and making inflated, bogus claims resting on, in some cases, no scientific basis at all."

Source of Mead quote: The Death of Global Warming?

We should all step back and indeed demand accurate scientific evidence. Regardless the findings a reasonable approach to alternative energy would also be wise.