22 October 2008
22 October 2008
WHAT THEY SAID…
0852 by Jeff HessIt’s possible that Jewish-American reluctance toward Obama has less to do with him as an individual than it does with the differences in the ways that Jewish Americans and African Americans view the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Many African Americans sympathize with Palestinians, not based on ideology or culture, but because many African Americans perceive ordinary Palestinians (not their leadership) as a people in distress. African Americans tend to believe that the world can do better for Palestinians, and perhaps ironically, this sentiment stems from the same humanitarianism that for many years has underpinned Jewish support for African-American civil rights.
But with regard to Israel, Obama’s feelings are clear. In a key interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Obama outlined his view that “the idea of a secure Jewish state is a fundamentally just idea, and a necessary idea, given not only world history but the active existence of anti-Semitism, the potential vulnerability that the Jewish people could still experience.” At the same time, he staked out an independent position on the Middle East stating, “I’m not going to blindly adhere to whatever the most hawkish position is just because that’s the safest ground politically.”
22 October 2008
22 October 2008
GOING OFF YOUR MEDS…
0844 by Jeff HessFor the first time in at least a decade, the nation”s consumers are trying to get by on fewer prescription drugs. As people around the country respond to financial and economic hard times by juggling the cost of necessities like groceries and housing, drugs are sometimes having to wait.
“People are having to choose between gas, meals and medication,” said Dr. James King, the chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a national professional group. He also runs his own family practice in rural Selmer, Tenn.
“I”ve seen patients today who said they stopped taking their Lipitor, their cholesterol-lowering medicine, because they can”t afford it,” Dr. King said one recent morning.
“I have patients who have stopped taking their osteoporosis medication.”
On Tuesday, the drug giant Pfizer, which makes Lipitor, the world”s top-selling prescription medicine, said United States sales of that drug were down 13 percent in the third quarter of this year.
Just how many billions of tax dollars has the administration of Republican President George Bush given to the pharmaceutical companies through the Senior Drug Benefit boondoggle?
22 October 2008
AND I THOUGHT I’D SEEN SOME WHACKY EMAILS…
0758 by Jeff HessDear friends:
THIS IS EXTREMELY SERIOUS.
Minutes ago I spoke with friend Dr. Norman G. Marvin, M.D. and he is so concerned at what he has learned about Barack Obama’s family in Kenya that he is calling a special prayer meeting in his home to pray against the witchcraft curses attempted by them against John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Dr. Marvin sent me the below e-mail from Flo Ellers. Flo is credentialed with the International Fellowship of Ministries which is based in Washington State. She is also a member of EndTime Handmaidens and Servants of Jasper, Arkansas.
IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, PLEASE PRAY TODAY AND CONTINUALLY THAT ALL SUCH CURSES BE BROKEN AND SATAN’S PLAN FOR AMERICA BE DEFEATED, IN JESUS’ NAME. PRAY AND COVER MCCAIN AND PALIN WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO SPIRITUAL WARFARE, IT IS TIME YOU LEARN!!!
Jim
______________________________________From Flo Ellers. Excerpt. (Emphasis supplied in bold and underlines.)
Two days ago, I listened to a 9-6-08 message by Bree Keyton, a young woman evangelist who had just traveled to Kenya and visited Obama’s home village and what she found out about his relations with his tribal people was chilling. And his “cousin” Odinga was dreadful. She said the witches, warlocks and those involved in satanism and the occult get up daily at 3 a.m. to release curses against McCain and Palin so B. Hussein Obama is elected.
Bree Keyton told the tribal “Christians” you are NOT Christian if you practice “tribalism” where they do voodoo to conjure up a goddess spirit or a “genie” and then come to church on Sunday to worship Jesus! What she discovered there is apparent in most churches around the world; namely, mixture in the church. Some renounced their devilish practices of blood covenant by killing sheep, goats, humans to be inducted into the tribe or to get a wife or to get revenge.
She said the current president of Kenya is a Christian. However, Obama’s cousin Odinga ran aganist him and said he rigged the election and stirred up the masses to rape woman and boys, kill and burn and torture Christians, etc. until Obama contacted Condeleeza Rice and she granted Obama the right to contact Odinga and other ruling elders and he “convinced” them to stop terrorizing the Christians. Bree Keyton said the current Christian President was forced by our government (!) to “create” an office for Odinga (to make “peace”) so he was made the Prime Minister (!) to make peace between the Christians and Odinga’s Muslim religion!
Bree Keyton went and visited Obama’s tribal people and she found out Obama is 75% Arab and his family are Muslims. Odinga is strill trying to become the President of Kenya. If he does, he will make a law forbidding all public preaching and institute Sharia Law. Bree K. said Odinga has made a pact with satan. Bree K. also said when Obama visited his tribe in ’06 and as late as Jan. ’08 he went to every elder’s home which has a “shrine” inside to worship the genie and asked for their blessing. She was told Obama and Odinga were both “destined” before they were born to be president/leader of their nation. They say “he is the chosen one”. She said Obama’s grandmother sacrificed a black and a white chicken to the “goddess of the river” so both whites and blacks will vote for Obama. All Islam loves and worships Obama.
The world is mesmerized by him. Oprah’s 200 million followers are out to elect Obama. Also, Dick Morris of Fox News was sent to Kenya to help Odinga run his campaign! I find that unbelievable.
The occultists are “weaving lazy 8’s around McCain’s mind to make him look confused and like an idiot”. Bree K. said we need to break these curses off of him that are being sent from Kenya.
I read a portion of “Obama Nation” book and looked at several websites and found most of this information to be true, all except the curses part, of course….
End of excerpt.
Can such people be saved?
22 October 2008
THE KIDS ARE PISSED AND TAKING ACTION…
0750 by Jeff HessA friend told me this week about her freshman college student who is going on a Get Out The Vote For Obama road trip this weekend to Montana. Yes. Montana.
For the first time since 1972 I’m feeling as if the 18-25 cohort is going to make a difference.
The news from Michigan shows why Republican presidential candidate John McCain has bailed from that state.
Kalamazoo County has a record number of registered voters for the Nov. 4 election, and County Clerk Tim Snow said it is likely the county will see its highest ballot total ever.
As of Monday morning, the county had 191,717 registered voters, almost 8 percent more than in 2004, the last presidential election. About 120,000 county residents cast ballots that November for a turnout of about 68 percent.
Snow is predicting a turnout this fall of between 70 percent and 75 percent, which translates into 134,000 to 144,000 voters.
Snow and local election officials say most of the county’s new voters are local college students, driving up numbers primarily in the city of Kalamazoo as well as in Kalamazoo and Oshtemo townships.
If I were a college professor I think I’d stand at the door of my classroom and shake the hand of every student who walked into my class on 4 November wearing an I Voted Today sticker.
22 October 2008
REMEMBER JOHN EDWARD’S $400 HAIRCUT…?
0724 by Jeff HessLast year I listened while a group of Republicans lamented how they didn’t think anyone who would pay $400 for a haircut should even be considered for the office of president.
I really like to know how they feel about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s $4,716.49 hair and make-up bill for September. Not to mention her Saks 5th Avenue bill of $49,425.74 and a one-day shopping spree at Neiman Marcus that cost the Republican National Committee a further $75,072.63.
It really makes you nostaligic for Pat Nixon;s respectable Republican cloth coat, doesn’t it?
21 October 2008
WHY COLLIN POWELL MATTERS…
1648 by Jeff HessPowell did us the service of telling us about a brave, courageous man – Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. I hadn”t heard of him before yesterday. When I heard Powell”s words, I was moved in a way I haven”t been since Obama”s speech on race in March. Powell”s statement was one of those rare acts of moral courage that we so rarely see from our politicians. In March, Obama spoke to what makes America a truly exceptional country. And, yesterday, Powell did the same.
So I read into Karim”s story. I saw this picture. And I had to hold back tears. This picture captures everything America is and everything I hope it still can be.
Via Daily Dish…
21 October 2008
THIS IS NOT FROM JON STEWART OR THE ONION…
1437 by Jeff Hess21 October 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1430 by Jeff Hess
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is 100 Thing Challenge.
21 October 2008
21 October 2008
THE POETRY OF SARAH PALIN…
1200 by Jeff Hess“Secret Conversation”
I asked President Karzai:
“Is that what you are seeking, also?
“That strategy that has worked in Iraq?
“That John McCain had pushed for?
“More troops?
“A counterinsurgency strategy?”
And he said, “Yes.”
(To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008)
Via Slate…
21 October 2008
21 October 2008
WHEN LAWYERS WRITE…
0832 by Jeff HessFrom an email I recieved this morning from special education attorney Aimee Gilman:
She will also discuss how parents, collectively, can effectuate change in their school district.
Groan.
21 October 2008
OUR SHRINKING MEANS…
0809 by Jeff HessBut this story leaves out one very important fact. Since the year 2000, median family income has been dropping, adjusted for inflation. One of the main reasons the typical family has taken on more debt has been to maintain its living standards in the face of these declining real incomes.
It’s not as if the typical family suddenly went on a spending binge — buying yachts and fancy cars and taking ocean cruises. No, the typical family just tried to keep going as it had before. But with real incomes dropping, and the costs of necessities like gas, heating oil, food, health insurance, and even college tuitions all soaring, the only way to keep going as before was to borrow more. You might see this as a moral failure, but I think it’s more accurate to view it as an ongoing struggle to stay afloat when the boat’s sinking.
21 October 2008
21 October 2008
MY COMMENTS…
0743 by Jeff Hess21 October 2008
NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT’S PRINTED ON…
0705 by Jeff Hess[T]he problem is that lenders and investors don’t trust they’ll get their money back because no one trusts that the numbers that purport to value securities are anything but wishful thinking. The trouble, in a nutshell, is that the financial entrepreneurship of recent years — the derivatives, credit default swaps, collateralized debt instruments, and so on — has undermined all notion of true value.
21 October 2008
LET ME THEN FALL DOWN, TREMBLE AND WRITE…
0645 by Jeff HessPlato, in Apology, writes:
Not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them.
