Political Commentary & Cartoons

Saturday, September 19, 2009

IS MARKETING TO SELFISHNESS AS EFFECTIVE AS IT SEEMS?

Something is wrong with what is happening in America. There are two very opposite teams which have formed and each is passionate. I typically feel that there would be a little bit of right and a little bit of wrong on both sides. The stakes are very high and I believe that we complicate things more than we need to because we can then go with our feelings rather than a logical analysis.


The YouTube clips at the end of this post present a possible explanation of the purpose of the marketing program for healthcare.

Do we really want to make decisions which give us good feelings without looking at the long term consequences to our nation and let those who follow pay the price for our desires? The question, "Are we so selfish that we don't care enough to analyze where we are going and how we make our decisions?" has a very uncomfortable answer for one of the two teams. The obvious answer to that question is answered by, "Which team is unwilling to discuss it on a factual basis?" There is enough factual basis available for each of us to review our position and determine which team is the target of the marketers with motives different from what they claim.

Is the Constructionist leaning or the Progressive team going to take America where we want to go and give us a country which we are proud of and which has a good impact on the world?

I see a Maslow's Heirarchy for a nation which should be considered on a logical basis to develop a philosophy:

1. Our country's existance - where we put our resources and our nation's attitude toward dangers will determine whether we continue to have a country or not. Take a moment to think about the judgements which just came into your mind and question the basis of those judgements. Look carefully at why you feel that way and what impact your desires would have on our country's continued existance.

2. Our Nation's economy and whether we will continue to or should continue to lead the world in innovation and economic expansion. This is relative to economic growth and stability rather than the manner in how we do it. If we feel we shouldn't do it, the how is irrelevant. If we feel that we should, the how should be contemplated to decide what the best course taking into account what that decision's impact on the world will be.

3. Our educational system - are we teaching our children to question what is presented to them, analyze and verify it or are we indoctrinating them? An educated voter is the best input for a country to make good decisions. Do we question that which is presented to us in light of its validity and the presenter's objectives?

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.” -- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
"The opinion of 10000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject." Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 121-180 AD

The above quotes describe uninformed voters resulting in the relegation of power to a small group with the best marketing program. I had a sixth grade teacher who gave us examples and taught us to question whatever we heard, read and saw regardless of whether it came from us or them. It was one of the most valuable times in my schooling. Is that happening now? I hear about "An Inconvenient Truth" and a "Capitalism is bad" cartoon presentation being shown to children. Are the children given the opportunity to analyze and discuss the points made in the film or are the points given as gospel and the child is expected to be programmed? This would be an incredible opportunity to develop their abilities to become an informed and capable voter by presenting an opposing view point, analyzing and discussing the subject. If it is programming and not developing analytical skills, what is the agenda and why do we want people with underdeveloped analytical abilities? An even more important question is, "Why would a parent want to diminish rather than develop their child's mental abilities?"

4. Having taken care of the basic three levels puts the nation in a position to determine priorities and deal with its other programs. Not dealing with the three basic levels will decrease the probability of the nation's existance.




HEALTH CARE REFORM MARKETING:


The biggest question I have is, "If we were in the worst financial crisis since the depression and the unemployment rate is still higher than projected, why would we want to do something which could destabilize the American economy worse than it is before it recovered?" This does not make sense to me when there are so many things which could be done to make progress as we bring the American economy back on a stable footing." This question and why we ignore some basic questions such as where are all of the medical personnel required coming from to make this reform possible from a manpower standpoint is possibly answered in some videos from several years ago.


Some of the available, safe steps are:


1. Portable insurance plans which go with the employee rather than being provided by the employer


2. Competition between insurance companies across state lines.


3. Tort reform

4. Reviewing government regulations for ease of compliance by the affected entity


5. Use the Massachusetts state system which is currently having problems as a model, tune it up, test it and scale it up to a national level once it operates in a fiscally safe manner.

I have some Investor's Business Daily references which provide some insite into the healthcare issues including those of some physicians fed up with the status quo.

1. Should they upon whom we will depend for healthcare have some input? 33% in favor and 65% opposed according to, "The poll contradicts the claims of not only the White House, but also doctors' own lobby — the powerful American Medical Association — both of which suggest the medical profession is behind the proposed overhaul.
It also calls into question whether an overhaul is even doable; 72% of the doctors polled disagree with the administration's claim that the government can cover 47 million more people with better-quality care at lower cost."

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=506199

2. "09/23/2009 07:09 PM ET - Nearly half of doctors say tort reform is key to getting U.S. health care costs under control, according to the IBD/TIPP Poll on which this series is based. Of the 1,376 doctors who responded to our survey, 48% mentioned tort reform as the best way to slow the rise in medical costs."

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/SpecialReport.aspx?id=506106

3. We could look at this as, "Just talking points by the people who perform unnecessary procedures for higher income." Do you want to analyze an argument with an outcome you may not be able to LIVE WITH without more thought? If you were contemplating going into medicine and looking at the amount of time, energy and money which you would have to commit to accomplish it, would you be more or less likely to do it under a government program? This is the question which we must ask. There are doctors now who will not deal with government programs because it is not worth it to them. Put yourself in the medical professional's shoes and ask yourself whether we will have enough people to provide the manpower required for our resulting program. IBD - "Litigation: The Founding Fathers envisioned the states as laboratories for ideas and choices. If the administration needs a demonstration project for successful tort reform, it need look no further than Mississippi." The predominantly legal profession legislators appear more concerned with the legal profession's welfare than the medical profession's welfare by maintianing the liability of doctors for the benefit of some attorneys.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=506980

This is so obvious - if you increase workload, decrease or limit reward, why would anyone commit to the time, hard work and sacrifice to go into medicine? We need more psychiatric workers to deal with OBLIVION.

2. YOUTUBE VIDEOS REGARDING THE PLAN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs

Mind blowing speech by Robert Welch in 1958 predicting Insiders plans to destroy America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZU0c8DAIU4

I echo Dennis Prager's query regarding healthcare, "What? Are you crazy? Do you think that I don't want good healthcare?" and ask the question, "If it is so good for America, why does it have to be marketed so deceptively.

Intimidation of a major healthcare company by a congressman and a gag order for a good program?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6rY3rxb60k&feature=player_embedded

AARP behind plan because they will profit from it and are not included in the gag order. Government does not want you to have a complete understanding of the Healthcare Plan. What does that say to you?

http://www.breitbart.tv/is-the-aarp-getting-kickbacks-from-obamacare/

The question which I have is - Is SELFISHNESS the answer? The challenging question of how can smart people not see the corruption and the direction that the Obama administration is taking America? Entities like the fringe media are explainable as business prostitutes, but the American citizens? I believe that the WIIers (Willfully Ignorant Intellectuals) are so selfish that they want the good feeling they get supporting the fantasy so much that they will enslave future generations rather than come out of the fantasy and check out reality. Pitiful excuse for an American citizen if I am correct in why people stay in emotion and refuse to look at facts. Could be that we need analytical thinking presented early in school rather than indoctrination programs.


http://conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

Friday, September 11, 2009

ARE HUMANS THE EXCEPTION TO NATURES RULE - THE FITTEST SURVIVE?

The following is something which I hope gives a perspective on my call to check out and discuss where we are and what we are doing. I think I give the wrong impression that it is about my beliefs, which generate my email and blog posts. It is not to convince, but to say here is what I perceive as reality and, if it appears to be inaccurate to someone, be challenged in my perception so that we both travel the road to a clearer understanding of what we are doing. I appreciate the input from several of you in this regard and as you might rightly conclude, this email and blog post is to a very good friend with a very different perception.

The following is an email which I sent to someone who I can count on. I almost never have him not make me think about my beliefs.

Finally slowing down a little bit before I get into 9/11 and getting back through my emails. I have been going 60 miles per hour.

One of my issues pointed out by a similar thinking person on DIGG was that I make too broad a category with my [Big Business/Big Union/Politicians/Soros] grabbing power giving the wrong impression. I can see that that discounts my thinking - broad, general statements are an indication of shallow analysis. It is obvious that not everyone in those categories is in that group. I, in my
I AM CONCERNED ABOUT HOW GULLIBLE SOME PEOPLE ARE - HOW DO WE SELL EACHOTHER ON PROGRAMS?
http://factsforreality.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-was-told-by-bright-liberal-friend.html
have three sections -
1. Conservatives with expertise ranging from law, economics, politics and entertainment who happen to be black - qualifications for a conservative do not include skin color - question boldly those who would say that opposition to a program based on facts is racist. I am open to question and input, but as of this moment, I feel that they have to be racist to make that claim and I explain why.
2. Quotes which point out that we are not in new times. Humans have recycled different methods of government throughout history and the book, The 5000 Year Leap, makes the point that America is unique and puts forth the authors consclusions as to what caused it. We started out communally in Jamestown and that did not work, even on a small community scale.
3. Definitions and an illustration in simple terms of what conservatives fear. The "liberals are racist point", was not including thinking people like I perceive you to be. This is not to be construed as my thinking that you are pure, but I don't see you as someone who cannot see the racist comment as a propaganda strategy rather than what is real. If I am wrong, disregard the previous sentences of this paragraph. This is an instance of my broad, general categorizatons creating the opposite effect to my intentions. The reason for my blog post at I AM CONCERNED ABOUT HOW GULLIBLE SOME PEOPLE ARE - HOW DO WE SELL EACHOTHER ON PROGRAMS?

http://factsforreality.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-was-told-by-bright-liberal-friend.html

is that I had heard this and discounted the perception as being of little real consequence until a good friend of mine emphatically said that it was real and that the black people would be nowhere if it were not for the Democrats. I need to check what I have heard from Larry Elder against that because he puts forth a different perspective. I also received a very neat story which Snoped as untrue, but it conveyed a great message about an arrogant white person verses black with the stewardess on the plane providing a great lesson to the bigot. The timing seemed like it might be for an emotional set up prior to the speech before congress regarding healthcare. I have had one fight in my adult life and it was with white trash upset with me for evicting them for disturbing a very desireable black family. Even if I were not strongly opposed to prejudice, I would have done the same thing because it was good business to keep the quality tenant and not let the undesireable tenant drive them out, decreasing the quality of my clientele. It took three people to get me off of him after he cold cocked me because, as I told him, "You are going to die." I don't like to be punched and I despise racists - not opposed to the death penalty even I have to be the executioner. That is where the incredibly strong feelings and not so clear response to what screams at me as manipulation which perpetuates the problem of racism. The two black economists point out their opinion of the harm done by the liberal agenda to blacks and it appears to me that the Democrats use race for political advantage successfully and want to keep the concept alive rather than relegate it to the mistakes we made as our country was on the journey to the present. Be clear that the previous sentence does not say that it exists - only that it will continue to exist a higher level until we adjust our perspective.I am obviously inept at my goal of having everyone discuss what is critical to the life and death of the American way and I am very suspicious of anyone who must deceive in order to accomplish what they want whether it is for the good of our country or not. A benevolent dictator might be good for some countries, but it is precarious and our country was built with rough times along the way on individual initiative, freedom and reward. You have ranted, raved and called me stupid with me having to finish your sentences so that I could respond to the point which I had just made along with you. I think that same way way when I am by myself and challenge my views, because, if I am insecure in them, they are probably not valid.I need some futher discussion with Lee because I have evolved past the point of laughing at the World Order Chicken Littles and have rethought my perception about something like this happening. I have only an inkling that something like it, seems to be hapening but if that is the case, it is better to deal with it early, rather than after it is more well entrenched unless it is a good change. I actually have a blog entry WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE HAD OBAMA ELECTED IN THIS LAST ELECTION - WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE HAD OBAMA ELECTED IN THIS LAST ELECTION -

http://factsforreality.blogspot.com/2009/08/we-are-very-fortunate-to-have-had-obama.html

which points this out. There is a link to a discussion group with rules which look a little different than the image conveyed by manipulators who want us to keep fighting with eachother while they loot the bank. Does - [Although we stand opposed to the agenda of Mr. Obama, we welcome honest and constructive debate with those who hold an opposing viewpoint. Everyone here is expected to discuss the issues in an intelligent, respectful manner and avoid mindless groupthink. You just might learn something.However, trolls are not tolerated] sound like the mission statement of mindless, mob lemmings?I apologize for my inability to promote thinking, analysis and discussion in spite of the emotional level created by the marketers of either side. There is a Thom Hartmann debating Michael Medved on healthcare later today which might be a little more informative than listening to either side selling its position. Do we care about the good of our country and what we leave to future generations or do we want our team to win no matter what the cost?I appreciate your input along with that of a lot of other people with whom I interact and I am going to post this letter to, hopefully, tune up their perception of my purpose. As I say on my website in my rough draft of Letters to my Grandchildren, "PLEASE READ WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN AND LOOK AT THE CONDITION OF YOUR COUNTRY. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LOOK BACK AND JUDGE THOSE WHO CREATED WHAT YOU INHERITED. PLAY TO THE STRENGTHS AND CHANGE WHAT DIDN'T WORK SO THAT YOU GIVE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN AN EVEN BETTER COUNTRY THAN YOU INHERITED. PROTECT THEM FROM HARM. THAT IS YOUR OBLIGATION WHICH I HOPE YOU MEET. I FEAR THAT WE WILL NOT MEET THAT OBLIGATION TO YOU. I TRULY HOPE THAT YOU WILL SEE ME AS A PARANOID OLD FOOL AND ENJOY THE GREAT COUNTRY WHICH MY GENERATION INHERITED WHICH ALLOWED US TO LIVE IN WHAT I PERCEIVED AS LALALAND. JUNE 30, 2009."

I need to get to work so that I can pay you. Ask yourself why a little guy like me who works hard and should spend more time on my business paperwork so that I can pay my account would spend so much time on something at which he makes no money.

I sincerely fear that the American people have had it way to easy too long and they have lost sight of what ihs at risk if they are not well informed. I am too dumb to know that I cannot make a difference and I very badly need a twelve step program which does not yet exist for my problem as far as I know.

Please also take a moment to check out a non-political blog entry and appreciate why all of us can have this discussion.
http://factsforreality.blogspot.com/2009/09/thanks-to-sacrifices-of-these-people.html

Great things to think about.

Let us all remember the reason that enemies from outside have been unable to change our way of life because our military leaves their family, endures unbearable conditions which would bring most Americans to their knees. Regardles of what each of us thinks about any of the engagements, know that they who would destroy have not because our military teaches them – You bring it on – We will take you down. They pay for the opportunity to teach that lesson with their blood as well as with the other sacrifices which they make and I know it

Time for the littleguy to go to work.

Very truly yours, Ross
A B Ross Howell
"Our vision is more obstructed by what we think we know than by our lack of knowledge." -- Kristen Stendahlblog email:
littleguyusa@factsforreality.net

The above is in response to this and a couple of other emails which my friend had written.

On Aug 30, 2009, one of my friends wrote:
read about all the bad socialist, of course it used to be the rich guys who owned everything were bad. now they have convinced a lot of people they are good patriots
and we should support them.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/08/national_health_care_debate_ha.html

Monday, September 7, 2009

THANKS TO THE SACRIFICES OF THESE PEOPLE - OUR COUNTRY HAS BEEN SAFE FROM THE OUTSIDE



This is a "THANK YOU!!" to our service people for putting their lives on hold and on the line without regard to a discussion of the wars in which they are involved. These people are the reason that we are still Americans without another country's rule and I just wanted to acknowledge them for giving me the opportunity to enjoy my life in America.

The One Finger Salute

Today at 7:05am
Read below pic before making judgment on 'The Finger' gesture and you'll understand....


Leading the fight is U S Marine Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as 'Iron Mike' or just 'Gunny'. He is on his third tour in Iraq . He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on September 19, he got blown up. He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US Marines. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit. 'You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision,' he explains. So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term 'the longest walk', stepping gingerly into a 5 foot deep and 8 foot wide crater. The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it. He cut the wire and used his 7 inch knife to probe the ground. 'I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs,' he says. 'That's when I knew I was screwed.' Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet 'A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded,' he recalls. 'As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me...' I was just ticked off they were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down.' His fellow Marines cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. None could believe his legs were still there 'My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down,' says Sgt Burghardt. 'I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a rea l sharp pain and blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.' As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in. 'I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher.' He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. 'I flipped them one.. It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week.' Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as an exemplar of the warrior spirit. Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father - who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam - he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.

Thank you for enduring the heat, the hard work and the sacrifices. I appreciate more than I will ever be able to show. Ross



PlesiosaurDiamond March 13, 2009

Song: Letters from War Artist: Mark Schultz A tribute to all of our troops, and for my good friend SharpLugia! Enjoy my best work yet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lScwwGyJJc

Sunday, September 6, 2009

RESPONSE TO AN ANONYMOUS RESPONDER FROM "THE RANT"

The following is a response to a response which follows from anonymous and my reference to liberal thinking is keyed to that type of person rather than several liberals in my life who I respectfully disagree.

http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2009/09/glenn-beck-louse-that-roared.html

If we truly wanted to improve the country, we would prioritize what we want to see such as 1. National defense - without a country, not much else matters
2, Economy - without a good economy we can't afford to do anything - California is proving that to be true - Paradise which would be the 8th, I think, largest economy in the world if it were a separate country and it has had a government which has it in horrible fiscal condition
3. Education - an uneducated voter is a danger to the country - need to be educated in how the economy works and have a background in analytical thinking so that thought, not emotion governs voting decisions
4. Up for grabs because we would then be up the Maslow's heirarchy of needs to start doing good things. We cannot take care of anything as a nation if we do not first take care of ourselves.

I have a rough start to a bi-partisan solution which I believe would fix one of our nation's major defects. Our politicians are the only employees I know of who can totally anialate what they manage and still receive full salary and benefits. I have made my proposal on a separate blog at http://peopleeatingthescraps.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-do-we-choose-to-be-pets-of.html


I posted this on my blog as well as the source of the person to whom I am responding. I will even put intelligent responses on my entries. This is an emotional without facts type of response and it shows what I think too much of the discourse between a lot of liberal and conservative thinking tends toward. I have a very close relationship with several liberal people who are intelligent, but who have very different views of the same situation and solutions to our country's problems. That is why I have the definitions mooreon and WIIer which I challenge people to tell me why I fit one of these definitions rather than the challenger.

The letters on my website are rough drafts with notes on facts and fears of what Obama would do to America. I underestimated his ability to appeal to the whining wooses who don't want to take care of themselves. I acknowledge that that is totally emotional and not necessarily based on an exact percentage of supporters.

>
"A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money." "A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." George Bernard Shaw (1944)



Not a new problem with an inferior class of humans (nothing to do with race or religion - mentality). This has gone on for a long time. Nature has a rule that the fittest survive and it improves the species. Some liberal supporters are the exception to the rule as evidenced by the quality of your anonymous response which follows.


No suprise that your letters to your children and grandchildren have> received no repsonse. Or (more likley) that their response didn't fit with> your "agenda", so you censored them.

My questions are, "Is this therapeutic or productive in some way?" Does this person actually care about the country improving? What value is this person's thinking?

"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of (their) folly is to fill the world with fools." -- Herbert Spencer....... What have we here?

TOO LENGTHY A RESPONSE TO MY GLENN BECK POST TO PUT UNDER COMMENTS

I received the following comment to my Glenn Beck post

http://factsforreality.blogspot.com/2009/09/glenn-becks-week-of-showing-quotes.html

and, because my response was too long, I decided to do a new post including the comment and my response.


Tom Degan's Daily Rant said...
Not since Joe McCarthy shuffled off this mortal coil in 1957 has anyone made a career by accusing people of being communists. Glenn Beck has resurrected the practice. Not only has he found a cabal of secret communists, he has uncovered an entire communist corporation chock full of commies. The name of this company, you may ask?

THE NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY!

You heard me right, boys and girls. The network that gave us Uncle Miltie and Ma Perkins has apparently been secretly sending subliminal messages endorsing Marxist doctrine since it was formed in 1926. This would make perfect sense to me. Every time I watched the Rockford Files I had an unexplainable desire to read Das Kapital. But seriously, folks. Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, red baiting not only seems silly, it's also kind of nuts. It's not-at-all surprising that an organization would give this idiot a forum (after all, he's on FOX Noise). What's really stunning is the fact that his ratings are relatively high and that so many Americans take his word as gospel.

All kidding aside, half-witted ideologues are a dime a dozen. What separates Glenn Beck from his peers is the fact that he is doing some serious damage to the country he professes to love so much. For all of the comparisons to the Nazis he likes to make with regard to Liberals, Beck's program has much in common with Adolf Hitler's 1923 screed, Mein Kampf. Eighty-six years ago, Hitler attempted to arouse the anger of his fellow Germans by spouting half truths and utter nonsense - exactly what Glenn Beck is doing in 2009. So much of the insane dialogue that has been spewed forth at these Town Hall meetings across the country in recent weeks might have been lifted straight from a transcript of any of Beck's programs.

Beck and his twisted ilk have done the seemingly impossible. They have deflected the blame for America's current economic distress toward Barack Obama. An incredible feat when you take into consideration the fact that the President is one of the few people in government today whose guilt in the matter is almost nil. They have also let loose with a vengeance the very worst angels of the American nature. Opening this Pandora's box was relatively easy. Closing it might prove to be a bit of a problem.

Deep in their hearts
They do believe
That they shall undermine someday....

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
September


Thank you for the comment on my writing. It is important and a pleasure to meet someone who thinks differently and test our ability to rationally discuss what is real. I need to make it very clear that my definitions offered on my website factsforreality.net can apply either way. Unlike some people with whom I discuss politics I am not absolutely sure of my position, but knowledgeable enough to explore what I believe and look for what is real. I also, in my rough drafts of my letters to my grandchildren asking them, How do you like the country which we left you?” suggest that I hope that you find that the other side was right and that I was just a paranoid old fool.

Beck’s presentation started with Obama campaigning and telling us to judge him by the company he keeps. He named respected people of consequence including Warren Buffett who is one of my heroes because in spite of his Democrat affiliation places capital with endeavors which creates jobs which pay taxable wages rather than takes from the productive to give to others. Once the election was over, Obama surrounded himself with a group of czars who are not accountable to anyone. These are the people he truly associates with and employs to assist him in changing America. Beck presented quotes and clips of these people and let us see them describing their views. Van Jones is the one who proclaimed himself a communist. Several of the others hold unconventional views, but did not proclaim themselves communists. I would therefore question your analysis that Beck has uncovered a communist corporation.

What I saw was a group of people with views far different from those which I feel are good for our country. I see a practical side to some of the healthcare proposal and agree that wasting money on old people and the very young is impractical – I just have a problem with my truly liberal compassionate side because it doesn’t feel good. I also agree with Charles Krauthammer’s analysis that the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. I started out as a dishwasher, federal civil servant at an awesome facility, entrepreneur with tears in my eyes one day when I pulled up to a hamburger stand and found out I couldn’t afford a hamburger. I worked in the low income areas during the Great Society and saw the result which Thomas Sowell describes as a failure. I went broke providing low income housing after being very successful because I was helped by a government Mod 8 Rehab program and the bureaucrat made me provide full time security for 18 buildings when I only had 13 as well as holding back money until I complied with unreasonable demands.

I know how well and how poorly the government can work. Humans sometimes excel and sometimes they are parasites. Private enterprise will sort the non producers out, but the government protects them. Tell me how more government can possibly do better than a reasonably regulated private enterprise system where the percentage of the GDP spent on overhead = government and public programs excluding private contractors is kept low. California had been warned about this forever by McClintock and they didn’t listen. It didn’t happen suddenly with no idea that it was coming. LaLaLand will exist until we run out of time to deny reality.

Unlike some of the competitors, Beck asks his viewers to question what he shows us and does not proclaim that he is right. The difference between rape and making love is salesmanship. His packaging is great because by telling us to question, some of us will not. There is a very active group out there and if there were someone who challenged Beck factually instead of emotionally, that would make for an interesting battle of the intellects. I am open to a link where more than the typical Alinsky strategy is employed to discredit Beck’s information. What I see tells me that the liberals are stumbling because the Alinsky strategy has been picked up by the conservative movement and TRUTH substituted for deceit and deception. The American people are not totally stupid regardless of Michael Moore and Bill Mahr observations.

One example so that I remain fact based to some extent is the Stimulus Bill had to be passed without time to review it because of the impending doom and the Republicans were given hardcopy hours before the vote which makes me wonder how much we are paying scribes on typewriters or was the network down? It was for targeted creation of jobs to prevent unemployment going over 8%. We are in September and less than 10% has been put out. Unemployment has been in the nine percent range. George Soros took $140,000,000.00 of Stimulus money and $35,000,000.00 of his money to produce an article with a headline Back to school spree: Billionaire, feds give out $175M to aid neediest students around the state - casual glance shows what a generous man Soros is – where did the undistributed portion go?

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/08/12/2009-08-12_billionaire_feds_give_out_175m_to_aid_neediest_students_around_the_state_its_fre.html#ixzz0QMal8ZJV

or

the US is going to lend $2 billion to $10 billion to Petrobas to back Brazilian oil exploration after George Soros invests in Petrobas

Soros Hedge Fund Bought Petrobras Stake Worth $811 Million

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration will invest $2 billion (or more) in drilling off the shores of Brazil, of all places. The left does all they can to keep us from exploring off our own shores. Yet we’re suddenly investing $2 billion – that we don’t have – in a Brazilian oil company?
Soros-Funded Democratic Idea Factory Becomes Obama Policy Font which is the Center for American Progress headed by John Podesta
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aF7fB1PF0NPg

The administration will not allow what Sarah Palin suggested in August of 2008 to help America gain energy independence, stimulate the economy and better national security – see http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2008&month=09

But they will fund an oil venture which has awesome leverage and probably no recourse for Soros because the US is funding money which we don’t have and could use here to do something productive in our country.

Regarding Obama’s lack of participation in the creation of the financial debacle, I would remind you that when Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the House in 2006, she proclaimed, “Now that we control congress, watch what we can do.” The house is the creator of the budget and they had an ally in the borrow and spend Bush. Look at what they did! Obama received money from FannieMae/FreddieMac and ACORN pushing for loose lending practices helped create the financial disaster which is not being investigated that I know of and the news media has not publicized the recent deficit that much. A few clips showing the timeline to disaster are at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM


What am I missing about these facts that should make me hope that our country keeps going in the direction that the administration wants to take us. It seems to me we are headed for a cliff and no one was putting on the brakes until some complacent, fat, dumb and happy Americans said, “Holy Smokes! We had better do something!!!!”

Show me where my facts are not real or give me something more than the Alinsky style rhetoric. The REAL American Patriot Army has stood up and we don’t want the government taking our money because we are too stupid and incompetent to take care of ourselves.

The SEIU ran a full page ad in a local paper proclaiming Arnold Schwarzenneger broke his promise. Guess what? When Arnie couldn’t get the legislature to do what was right for California and correct its course, he took several referendums to the people and the unions borrowed against pension funds to mount an incredible campaign. They brought the super hero to his knees and kept the liberal legislature in power. Now they are whining that what they created can’t afford to keep them full time and they need to be furloughed. Do liberals require drugs or do they have a natural disconnect with reality?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

GLENN BECK'S WEEK OF SHOWING QUOTES, DISCUSSING AND ASKING THE WHITEHOUSE QUESTIONS DID WHAT?

I did a challenge in a previous blog ALINSKY VERSES BECK - WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET CLOSER TO THE TRUTH WHOSE SIDE IS TRUTH ON?HOW CAN WE DETERMINE IT?



http://factsforreality.blogspot.com/2009/08/alinsky-verses-beck-we-have-opportunity.html

Beck presented clips of recordings and quotes and discussed the czars which have existed to a lesser extent since FDR, if my memory serves me. The writings, quotes, and clips from speeches seem questionable for someone in a high position with no accountabilty except to the President. Beck had a list of the czars and a description which can be seen at



http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29391/?ck=1


Glenn presents facts, has discussions and lists questions. If there were misinformation, these could be dealt with in a presentation which would discredit him. The attack is an indication of the validity of his program's information and an affirmation of its value. Obama asked us to judge him by those who he associates with and he named people like Warren Buffett during the campaign. He then surrounded himself with czars which several conservative talkers had been warning the American voter about during the campaign. The fact that he would campaign with a list of advisors who make him look like a reasonable choice and then create a group of people with radical views who are only accountable to him should call attention to the need for more scrutiny of what he really wants to do with America.

There are many claims about ACORN and AmeriCorp receiving taxpayer money and using it for promoting the acquisition of power by this administration and its army manned by these organizations. IG Walpin was dismissed when he uncovered corruption at a high level. A lot of people would like a little more transparancy under the pre-Orwellian definition.

The questions which Glenn Beck posed for the Whitehouse are viewable at

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29631/?ck=1

Glenn Beck: Reasonable questions for unreasonable times

August 28, 2009 - 16:28 ET

All this week we are asking questions; I may not have the answers, but power left unchecked can turn very ugly, very rapidly. So it's vital that we all question with boldness, hold to the truth and speak without fear.
You need to start asking questions:

Day 4
- Why do we need a civilian force?
- Who is posing a threat to us?
- Who will this "force" be made up of?
- Who is the real enemy?
- Does the president know of a coming event? If not, who builds an army against an unrecognized enemy?
- Why won't the media get off their butts and look into these radicals in the White House? And into this civilian army?

Day 3
- Why does the FCC have a diversity "czar"?
- Who is Mark Lloyd and how does he plan to "balance" the airwaves?
- Will he bring back the Fairness Doctrine or worse?
- Cass Sunstein once said he wants to balance the Internet; is that next?
- Will broadcasters who leave the airwaves be allowed to go to satellite or Internet without government regulation?
- Is there any place (that has a mass audience) where the government wont regulate free speech?
- Why does it seem every member of the Obama advisory team hates capitalism, unless those companies (like G.E.) are in bed with the administration?
If Lloyd has his way, stations who don't comply to the governments definition of the "public interest" will have to pay a massive fine — that helps support public broadcasting:
- What will be the definition of "public interest"?
- Who defines "public interest"?
- Why should it be balanced? Because it's public airwaves? (Well, there are public roads that go by my house and I don't count how many Republicans and Democrats are driving on them)

Watch Glenn Beck weekdays at 5p and 2a ET on the Fox News Channel...

Day 2 - Who is "surrounding" the President in the White House?
- Do any of the President's advisers have criminal records?
- Are the President's advisers working to better the country or their own ideals?
- Who are the anti-capitalists in Washington?
- What roles do they have in crafting bills?
- What was "STORM"? What happened to the founders, where are they now?
- What qualifications must one have to be a Presidential adviser?
- What is the difference between a community organizer and a community activist?
- Do the czars have power?
- Should a communist have the ear of the President of the United States?
- What role did the Apollo Alliance play in crafting bills?
- Does the President know the co-founder of the Weather Underground is a board member of the Apollo Alliance?
- How many people in the administration are connected to the movement for a democratic society?
- What role does George Soros play... CONSTITUTIONALLY?

Day 1 - Our unfunded liability for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is close to $100 trillion. Is there any way to pay for these programs without bankrupting America?
- We are in so much debt, why spend more borrowed money on cap-and-trade and healthcare programs before we stop the flow of red-ink?
- The stimulus package funneled billions of dollars to ACORN. How does giving billions of dollars to ACORN stimulate the economy?
- If it was so important for congress to pass the stimulus bill before they even had time to read it why has only a fraction of the stimulus money been spent 6 months later?
- Bush said he had to abandon free market principles in order to save them, how exactly does that work?
- Why won’t members of Congress read the bills before they vote on them?
- Why are citizens mocked and laughed at when they ask their congressman to read the bills before they vote on them?
- Was the cash-for-clunkers program meant to save the earth or the economy? Did it accomplish either?
- How did Van Jones, a self-proclaimed communist become a special advisor to the president?
- Did President Obama know of Van Jones’ radical political beliefs when he named him special advisor?
- The Apollo Alliance claimed credit for writing the stimulus bill—why was this group allowed to write any portion of this bill?
- If politicians aren’t writing the bills and aren’t reading the bills, do they have any idea what these 1000 page plus bills actually impose on the American people?
- If the ‘public option’ health care plan is so good why won’t politicians agree to have that as their plan?
- If town hall meetings are intended for the politicians to learn what’s on our mind—why do they spend so much time talking instead of listening?
- Politicians are refusing to attend town hall meetings complaining, without evidence, that they are scripted. Does that mean we shouldn’t come out and vote for you since every campaign stop, baby kiss and speech you give is scripted?
- Why would you want to overwhelm the system? - Is using the economic crises to rush legislation through congress what Rahm Emanuel meant when he talked about "not letting a crises go to waste"?
- What are the czars paid? What is the budget for their staffs/offices?

Glenn presents facts which, if false, could be disputed during a discussion of the above questions. With regards to the racist campaign holding Obama back, I would suggest that you check

1. Thomas Sowell

and

2. Walter E. Williams

who the liberals would be hard pressed to claim racism as a defense against their brilliant analysis and prolific writings and speeches dispelling myths of liberalism.

I wrote and thanked Glenn for putting himself at risk to present the picture of the Obama administration to the American voter. He is the only one doing it and it has not been discredited. Big statement about control of the news.


---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PUTTING YOUR BUTT ON THE LINE FOR AMERICA
From: littleguyusa@factsforreality.net
Date: Sat, September 5, 2009 10:59 pm
To: me@glennbeck.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a huge risk (not your butt), but you were instrumental in giving us
the information and shining the light on the Alinsky Warriors of the AWFUL
Administration who won the battle for the Whitehouse. AWFUL = Alinsky
Warriors Fooling Unknowing Lemmings and they use deception to rally the
mooreons and WIIers.

Without you and your team's hard work, we would not be in as good of a
position to fight the battle which we knew we had to fight. RAPA = REAL
American Patriot Army has started using the Alinsky strategy, but replaced
illusion with TRUTH and the Soros types are not used to that. Deception
and ignorance are their tools and truth trumps it, but it takes someone
like you and your team to arm us.

You truly meet the need described by one of our forefathers - “If ever a
time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest
seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced
patriots to prevent its ruin.” -- Samuel Adams

Thank you for what you must endure and for having made the choices in your
earlier life to look at where you were and where you could go. Your
choices have affected not just your life, but the life of our country and its citizens.

Very sincerely and greatfully yours,
Ross Howell

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I AM CONCERNED ABOUT HOW GULLIBLE SOME PEOPLE ARE - HOW DO WE SELL EACHOTHER ON PROGRAMS?

There are two very different schools of thought about how our country should be managed by our employees in Washington DC.

I have three sections in this post.

1. Conservatives with expertise ranging from law, economics, politics and entertainment who happen to be black - qualifications for a conservative do not include skin color - question boldly those who would say that opposition to a program based on facts is racist. I am open to question and input, but as of this moment, I feel that they have to be racist to make that claim and I explain why.

2. Quotes which point out that we are not in new times. Humans have recycled different methods of government throughout history and the book, The 5000 Year Leap, makes the point that America is unique and puts forth the authors consclusions as to what caused it. We started out communally in Jamestown and that did not work, even on a small community scale.


3. Definitions and an illustration in simple terms of what conservatives fear.


ONE:




How could you possibly classify these people as racist? They are conservatives with expertise ranging from law, economics, politics to entertainment and they happen to be black. Thomas, Sowell and Williams are brilliant and expert in their fields. They put forth the reason that liberals are bad for the black people of America. I offer links below to give an idea of what a thinking person with a conservative view and a wealth of knowledge who happens to be black thinks:

1. Justice Clarence Thomas speaking about perspective

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zssxz-oND7k




2. Thomas Sowell, Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow of The Hoover Institution of Stanford University at Stanford, California 94305 who has written more than 40 books on a variety of subjects including economics and ethnicity




Economic Facts and Fallacies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYIgdFlnRnc




Home Page with links to different categories including economi




http://www.tsowell.com/




3. Walter E. Williams, Professor of Economics at George Mason University


Home Page


http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/index.html




with links to several subjects such as the unintended consequences of the War on Poverty




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1r-r6iLBEI&feature=PlayList&p=8F6669EBA4AD450E&index=0&playnext=1




4. Greg Morton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhhkF3dqXR0




5. Alan Keyes, an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat and campaigned for public offices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DlTgrMCxPg




6. AlfonZo Rachel speaking on his views about our country and his conservative view







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acQluy7nymw&NR=1




It seems to me that a group which uses racism to market their program or oppose a proposed program must be racist because they believe racism is still a viable manipulative tool. They would not believe that if they were past racist views unless there was evidence of it among the population. I do not pick up racism in my interactions with people opposed to the massive government programs. I, rather, pick up a concern that this administration is either fiscally incompetent or they have an alterior motive. Maybe FDR was right, but that is not what his Secretary of the Treasury said after they tried stimulating the economy. The Republican Party proposed candidates like Janice Brown and Manuel Estrada who were attacked by Democrats. Was that because the Democratic Party is comprised of racists who divert attention from themselves by calling the opposition racist. I would look at them and say, "I think thou dost protest too much!"




TWO: These thoughts are about humans managing themselves by past thinkers


Frederic Bastiat - (1801 - 1850):

1. When under the pretext of fraternity, the legal code imposes mutual sacrifices on the citizens, human nature is not thereby abrogated. Everyone will then direct his efforts toward contributing little to, and taking much from, the common fund of sacrifices. Now, is it the most unfortunate who gains from this struggle? Certainly not, but rather the most influential and calculating.
2. Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
3. People are beginning to realize that the apparatus of government is costly. But what they do not know is that the burden falls inevitably on them.


Ayn Rand - (1905 - 1982) novelist and philosopher who left Russia and settled in America:


1. "It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master."


2. "So you think that money is the root of all evil? Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?"


3. "The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time."


4. "The government was set to protect man from criminals, and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government. "

5. "Economic power is exercised by means of a positive, by offering men a reward, an incentive, a payment, a value; political power is exercised by means of a negative, by the threat of punishment, injury, imprisonment, destruction. The businessman's tool is values; the bureaucrat's tool is fear."


Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the Univeristy of Edinburgh, about the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:


"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.""A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.""From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.""The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.""During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;

4. From liberty to abundance;

5. From abundance to complacency;

6. From complacency to apathy;

7. From apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage"


C. S. Lewis - (1898 - 1963) born in Belfast, Ireland

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

THREE:

My goal in this blog is to look at how we deal with issues using the healthcare reform issue as an example of our interactions. This is a very important issue which will determine where our country will go and where it will end up. I have people who believe differently than me and I know that they are too intellectually capable to be defined by my first definition listed below. I would, therefore, believe that one of us fits the second definition. There are groups of some Big Business people/some lobbyists/some Big Union people/some politicians and George Soros who is integral in the Democrat Party who work for their good with a disregard for our welfare. They keep us away from looking at them by instigating battles between groups such as the union worker and non union worker who both live in the same world and prosper or suffer as a result of the management of our country. We aren't paid well like a legislator regardless of the damage which we inflict on the system. The following definitions which have no relationship to party or belief system - only describing an intellectual deficiency and an unwillingness to challenge what they want to believe respectively:


MOOREON refers to an intellectual (thought and reason ability - not intelligence) deficiency and has nothing to do with ideology and beliefs. It rather has to do with an inability to determine whether something is true or false. Mooreon, a definition proposed on factsforreality.net, refers to a person who can see information challenging their beliefs, but does not have the intellectual capacity to process it and challenge that which supports the position that they choose even if their position is based on an illusion rather than what is real.


WIIer is a WILLFULLY IGNORANT INTELLECTUALThose who will keep to a narrow information channel which feeds them information, accurate and complete or not, to substantiate their desired point of view. A WIIer has the intellectual (thought and reason - not intelligence) ability, but is consciously unwilling to look at information which may challenge their desired point of view. A lot of us are going to online versions of foreign newspapers to find out what is happening in our country as well as other online sources.


This saying applies to all humans who fit the three sheeple category - The three sheeple:


Hear no other point of view


See no other point of view


Discuss no other point of view


I would suggest to anyone upset with the two definitions that you take some time for introspection because, in my opinion, you are dangerous to yourself , others and our country.




Obama is like the driver of an armored car with the National Economy in it headed at a high rate of speed for a cliff with some mooreons and WIIers yelling, "Just give him a chance!" and some people who studied Aesop's fables saying you will destroy the country doing this large of a program when you can't run smaller programs and keep FannieMae/FreddieMac solvent.
A final thought about a recent development in American politics is the apathetic American standing up and defending what they feel is an assault on the structure of America by using the strategy which allowed the assault to happen. Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals has now been adopted to a certain extent by the REAL American Patriot Army which has substituted TRUTH for deceipt and illusion.
As an example:
1. Campaigner Obama instructed the people to judge him by those with whom he associates and he named well respected people in different fields
2. President Obama built a group in excess of 30 czars who are not accountable to anyone but him and who hold radical views. Van Jones was arrested and put in jail, came out an avowed Communist and made statements about giving the wealth to the American people. The videos of his speeches and quotes presented by Glenn Beck who instructs his audiance to be peaceful and rational staying solid to the truth because the left wants an incident. He warns the viewer to carry cameras and record instances such as have happened at some of the rallys. Alinsky Rule #12 does not appear to be working any longer when you look at the ratings of the people attacked by the left. I think that the thinking people understand that the more effort that is dedicated to destroying a person, the more truth that that person represents. If that is true, I would steal a quote from a radical, "Ain't America Great?"

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

DO THEY THINK THAT THEY CAN KILL THE GOLDEN GOOSE AND KEEP GETTING THE GOLD?

The SEIU is running a full page ad in todays Long Beach Press Telegram headed "The Final Chapter" Broken Promises with the http://www.seiu1000.org/ website.



Arnold Schwarzenegger came into the governorship because California was headed for fiscal disaster and was obviously mismanaged. Tom McClintock has written a letter dated June 9, 2009 about what we need to do to fix what he had been warning Californians about for years.



Those who blame the recession for California’s budget crisis profoundly misunderstand the nature of that crisis. Even before California’s revenue began to shrink, the state government was running a chronic $10 billion deficit and piling up unprecedented debt. The recession is merely the catalyst; the underlying cause is rampant mismanagement of the state’s resources. California spends $43,000 to house a prisoner while many states spend just half that. California spends over $11,000 per pupil, but only a fraction of that ever reaches the classroom. California has one of the most expensive welfare systems in the country and yet one of the worst records of moving people off welfare. And that’s never seemed to bother California’s governor and legislature.



http://mcclintock.house.gov/2009/06/tough-love-for-california.shtml



This is no surprise to those who paid attention and cared more about the state's welfare than their own because they recognize that all is better by looking out for all rather than taking advantage of short term opportunities. The parasite will eventually kill the host unless the burden is limited.



Schwarzenegger took reform to the people of Califronia and the unions waged a very successful campaign to defeat what was good for California, but would head California in a more fiscally responsible direction. They defeated the super hero and kept California on course. We made good time on the wrong road and now they want an exemption from the consequences of their campaign. I have asked for input to show me why I am the mooreon or WIIer which I define on



http://factsforreality.net/



in my looking at a state which would be one of the largest economies in the world if it were a separate country and has had a real estate and dot com booms. The politicians grew the amount of government and rewarded the groups supporting them with unrealistic pay raises and opposed developing the states natural resources.


Peak Oil News and Message Boards post, "US government to loan Petrobras $10 billion
The U.S. government is prepared to provide up to $10 billion in loans to finance the development of massive hydrocarbon reserves off Brazil’s coast, a Brazilian official said Wednesday.
President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, discussed the matter with officials this week during a visit to the South American country, Brazilian Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo da Silva told reporters." at

http://peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=50486

and Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor George Soros bought an $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro SA in the second quarter, making the Brazilian state-controlled oil company his investment fund's largest holding.
As of June 30, the stake in Petrobras, as the Rio de Janeiro-based oil producer is known, made up 22 percent of the $3.68 billion of stocks and American depositary receipts held by Soros Fund Management LLC, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Petrobras has since slumped 28 percent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aFHPjfeUvtl8


as opposed to Sarah Palin giving money back to state taxpayers and promoting the development of natural resources to help the state economy and create energy independance. Something to think about for a person capable of objective analysis. We might ask ourselves if California had adopted the type of proposal, a portion of which is quoted next,



"I’ve heard it said by some politicians that Alaska doesn’t have enough oil to make a difference. I can tell you honestly that we do have enough. And while consultants and experts debate the current energy crisis, Alaska is already preparing for its next role—providing American consumers with a safe and secure domestic source of crude oil and natural gas. In fact, if energy imports were curtailed completely, Alaska could provide our nation with seven years of crude oil independence and an eight-year supply of natural gas. These are numbers that reflect known and recoverable oil and gas deposits.
To repeat, Prudhoe Bay has produced 15 billion barrels of crude oil, and there’s more where that came from in ANWR, which is home to more than ten billion barrels of oil and nine trillion cubic feet of natural gas. I know this is a controversial issue. But most Americans do not realize that of the 20 million acres that make up ANWR, we are asking for the right to access just 2,000 of them—a mere 1/10,000th of the total area. Opening up just that sliver of ANWR—which would create a footprint smaller than the total area of Los Angeles International Airport—could produce enough oil (an estimated one million barrels per day) to ease America’s fuel crisis and greatly reduce our dependence on foreign oil." from



http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2008&month=09



as opposed to our current strategy, would we be better off?