Is anybody paying attention?; Ron Paul is a Libertarian!

What's the deal? Why is Ron Paul running on the Republican ticket? How is it, that everyone seems to have forgotten that he is a Libertarian and not a Republican?? It seems like we all knew this years before and forgot it--just like erratic voters and political promoters seemed to have forgotten Herman Cain had absolutely NO political experience and Newt Gingrich had a lot of baggage(personal and political) that made him unsuitable as a candidate in a general election.

Back to Paul: The facts are clear; Ron Paul espouses the views of a hard line Libertarian and if he wishes to run for President he should run representing that party, not confuse the already muddled voters by trying to pass himself off as a 'conservative republican'.

I sure wish the voters and the commentators would do their homework and really look at these candidates. I notice a lot of people commenting that they like Paul--except for his isolationist views. Well, that's what makes him a LIBERTARIAN and NOT a Republican. sheesh!!

Pres. Obama, a Muslim?

Okaaay. I got one of those emails that are sent around about Obama being a Muslim because he wasn't wearing his wedding ring during Ramadan. Soooo, I decided to check it out. It was true, and his explanation was that it was in for repairs. I can accept that. Besides, I sometimes forget to wear my ring and I often change it out for other rings (I love jewelry too much to be constrained to only one ring for all my married life!) so I don't take that seriously.

But no Christmas and Birthday presents??? Now, that's something that can't be explained away so easily.

While browsing, I found reported in a People Magazine interview from 2008 that the Obamas stated they don't give their daughters Birthday or Christmas presents. THAT, if you ask me, is the nail that closes this coffin. I have relatives by marriage who are Muslim and they do not give Birthday and Christmas presents. If you ask me, that's a bigger piece of evidence to suggest that he is indeed a practicing Muslim. One would expect that if he was a Christian, he would celebrate Christmas in the traditional way--and the no Birthday presents thing too?--that's Muslim.

It's no secret that he was raised Muslim in his early years and I suspect if he is at all religious, he's Muslim. His 'conversion' to Christianity was most likely to help him in his community organizing career.

Frankly, I don't have a problem with a Muslim President, but I do have a problem with one who is deceptive about his religion. I'm sure one day we'll know the truth, but I think I already know it.

Collapse the system so it can be replaced;

The debt crisis is over and the media claims the Tea Party won. Huh? They raised the debt limit 2.4 trillion. Of course, they didn't touch the base line budgeting so that means the budget will continue to grow and essentially, they're cutting nothing. There is also nothing to encourage a balanced budget. And we have the real threat of higher taxes. So, how did the Tea Party win?

The FACT is, they didn't. The media believes that Americans don't pay any attention to what's actually going on and will believe whatever they read in the headlines.

What happened is that our legislators sold us what they wanted to sell us all along--business as usual. They continue to spend, we continue to pay, the media continues to spin and nothing changes. There were some who tried to stop this, but they are still too few. Hopefully we'll patiently work to continue to replace members in the Senate and Congress with people who won't continue 'business as usual', who don't put their own re-election needs first and who won't be afraid. If we can get enough, maybe we can go back to how the country was supposed to be run.

The Congress had power. They gave it up because they took the deal, but the deal was a sham. Now, we're back where we started. The President and Democrats spend out of control, reward their cronies, pet projects, unions, and ignore the warnings, with little real opposition.

Some can't imagine that Progressive Democrats and the President would continue on a course they know will collapse the system. But how else does the President follow through on his promise to 'fundamentally transform' the country? Cloward and Piven showed that if you put enough pressure on a system, you can collapse it. Then the way is clear to remake it as you choose. The President can't replace our present system while it's still working, but if it breaks, the way is clear.

The Republicans had a chance to throw a wrench in his plans and they were too afraid to use it. So we continue at full speed on a course towards destruction.

"Stand Firm!"

During a critical battle between the British and Napolean's forces, the Duke of Wellington was sent a message that unless his troops withdrew they would lose. He gave the order to "Stand firm!". His Officer replied, "But we shall all perish!", to which the Duke replied once again, "Stand firm". His forces followed his orders and miraculously, they were the victors.

This is the advice that I would give members of Congress who are being pressured to accept a political fix to the United States Budget crisis. You know what is right so 'stand firm'.

It is wrong to engage in out of control spending, borrowing and taxing. It weakens our Nation and harms its citizens. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, I listen to our Prophet and he and those before him have always counseled us to: 1. Get and stay out of debt. 2. Live within our means. 3. Be self-reliant 4. Adhere to moral principles of right and wrong.
This is the advice I give Congress, if they truly want to see the United States of America thrive and prosper:
1. Help us get out of debt--not just on paper, but for real. Propose and support real debt reduction plans, even if you believe they don't have a chance of passing. If you stand firm to your principles and take seriously your oath, you'll forget about party politics, elections and do the job you were sent to Washington to do, "though all Hell rage against you".
2. Help us as a nation live within our means. Help us balance the budget and not spend beyond what we take in. We are in a precarious position because of these dangerous practices and they need to be stopped.
3. Help us be self reliant by not borrowing from others and by limiting our dependence on other nations, especially foreign ones who might use our dependence to control us and take away our liberties.
4. Help us get back to the principles which made America the greatest nation ever to exist. Uphold our Constitution and the principles of government it promotes. Help us get out from under a bloated and ballooning federal bureaucratic government which slowly erodes our freedoms and destroys the American Dream for future generations.

If you'll do this, America will be the victor.

Betrayal by a loving(?) husband;Joshua Powell

Joshua Powell, the husband of missing woman, Susan Cox Powell published a letter written by a friend he'd found in Susan's journal from her teens. He did it to 'show the world' that her mother was emotionally abusive. Now he's going a step further; he is planning to publish her journal. These are not the actions of a loving, grieving husband. These are the actions of a dark, vicious person who would hurt his wife's mother and invade her daughter's privacy, all in an attempt to evade obvious suspicion.

Joshua Powell has been and still is THE BEST suspect in the case of his missing wife and through the bungling actions of him and his father, he remains the prime suspect. Joshua and his father behave in such a spiteful, desperate way that it is clear that Joshua was involved in his wife's disappearance and his father is complicit in trying to divert attention away from the facts. What they seem to be unaware of is that their actions speak much louder than their words. We see the vindictiveness, the bitterness and the seething anger that is hidden behind the facade of 'concern' for Susan.

My heart goes out to Susan's family and I am amazed by their dignity in response to the appalling behavior of Joshua and his father. I hope that the father and son will realize that in this threat, they have gone too far. Publishing his wife's private journals for their own personal gain is offensive, if not disturbed. It tells more about the man she married as well as her father-in-law than all their platitudinous statements.

I will end with a word of advice for Joshua; This doesn't make you look good. It doesn't make you look less guilty. It makes you look like an abusive, cruel, controlling, jerk--someone who strikes out blindly without thinking of consequences. It makes you look like someone that might be capable of killing his wife in the heat of passion, covering the crime up and then putting forth a story that she ran away. It makes you look desperate to try and give support to your side of the story that you would stoop to besmirching you wife's reputation and character and invading her privacy by publishing her childhood journals.

But she wasn't just your wife--she is the mother of your two sons and though they may be young now, one day they will be able to see what you did, how you acted and what you said about their mother and they'll have to face the question of whether you were capable of killing her.

Joshua, if you want ANYONE to believe you had nothing to do with Susan's disappearance--as well as her death (sooner or later they will find her remains).... stop acting guilty.

Protests in Cairo

I'm worried. As I watch the coverage of the protests in Cairo over Mubarak I don't see any women in the crowds. Now, I understand that there is a large Muslim population and women are often sequestered from public life, but still, NO women? What's going on? This is ominous to me as the protests grow larger and more violent and seem to be made up of crowds of young males. The danger is that what may have started out as a protest against Mubarak's rule and a desire for reforms has now been taken over by radical Muslim interests who's aim is to turn Egypt into a Muslim Theocracy like Iran or Afghanistan before the Taliban was toppled.
I fear that they have moved in to take advantage of the instability within the country to put their own government in place. The problem is that their form of government would be far more oppressive and harsh than Mubarak's.

No Bailouts for States

There is a problem looming in the future for these United States. Some of the big states, California, New York, and a couple others I can't remember now, are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Since the US govt. has set a precedent of bailing out businesses they deemed 'too big to fail' there is no doubt that these states will turn to the Federal Govt. for help to protect them from going under financially.
We must not do this. These states have been run by liberal, democrat leaders who have used their policies to create these difficulties and the only way for the voters to have a clear choice as to what works and what doesn't is to keep the playing field fair. These elected officials must stand on their own, prove their policies work, or admit that they don't work and make changes; the kind of changes conservative wish to make.
Last summer as we drove through Southern California for our annual beach trip, I was struck by large number of expensive cars around me. I'm from the humble state of Utah and had just driven through an equally humble state, Nevada. The average citizen in these states does not have anywhere near the money that the average citizen in California has. There was so much money driving around me, so much money in their stores, businesses, homes, entertainment, etc. The thought that California would DARE ask for money from poorer states to pay for the expensive services and pensions they've put in place is an outrage.
So, I say, if California citizens wish to continue spending money at this rate, fine. But they should pay for it themselves and not ask for any money from the rest of us. And, they'd better pay back the millions of dollars a day that they are presently borrowing from the Federal Government as well.

Religion and Politics coexisting together....?

Religion and Politics are two subjects that can be touchy--and when they are mixed, they can be volatile. I used to post and read a religious message board on a regular basis which had a 'no politics' stance. If a poster brought politics into a discussion the moderators would close the thread and bark in red ink and caps 'NO POLITICS'. As is usual among boards, exceptions were made if the person was one of the favored posters; a scholar or long time member--but for the average participant, this was strictly verbotin. They felt, as many others do that we were incapable of discussing religion and politics together without the conversation descending into name calling and vitriol. My hope is that in my posts here, I can do better.