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Female Poet in Saudi Arabia Heard on Live TVFrom Denny: It takes courage to go against the tide of common opinion. It takes courage to criticize your own religion, your own government, your own society and culture. And in Saudi Arabia, where women have absolutely no rights for self-determination, that courage is both rare and rarely rewarded by the men of the country. The predictable end results are always death threats and promises of persecution and prosecution.With so much going on in the Middle East lately, especially the American combat troop pullout of Iraq, women's rights in the Arab world continue to be center stage. Women's groups worry about the women in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Afghan Parliament there are many women who have won seats and they are concerned they will lose those seats once America pulls out of Afghanistan. They know the American distaste for remaining much longer in a failed war and wonder how much time they have to make a difference in their country.Poetess Hissa Hilal of Saudi ArabiaMeet poetess Hissa Hilal of Saudi Arabia, whose story was featured this past May, around Memorial Day. She decided to enter her national poetry competition, "Million's Poet," that is only populated by men who belabor the point about how much they love soccer. Other poetry features the romantic love of the Bedouin life."My poetry has always been provocative," said Hilal, a housewife and mother of four from Saudi Arabia. "It's a way to express myself and give voice to Arab women, silenced by those who have hijacked our culture and our religion."Hissa challenges Islamic extremistsChallenging extremism in her culture, her country and her religion is risky for this poetess. Since her appearance in the poetry competition she has received numerous death threats for daring to speak against the evils in her country. But then, that's how evil thrives, doesn't it? It thrives when good people refuse to stand against it. And, of all people, the one standing up to institutionalized evil is a woman poet, a 43-year-old mother of four, who had to get her husband's permission just to appear on the live TV show. Yet appear she did, knowing her prospects.Poets are rock stars in the Arab worldIn the Arab world, poets are as famous - and treated - like rock stars. On this show the top prize is $1 million. Hissa placed third in the competition among the usual poetry odes to family, soccer and life in the desert. Even though it was obviously a rigged "old boys network" Hissa did receive $800,000 of prize money for her efforts. She wants to afford better doctors for her autistic daughter and purchase a house with the winnings.Hissa shocked the whole country when she took the stageIt was quite a shock for the entire country when a woman took the stage to recite her poem as one of the five finalists. She was dressed in full head-to-toe niqab with only small eye slits to view her world. Hissa did not waste time feeling self-conscious and launched into her incredibly controversial poem that slammed the conservative Muslim clerics who spread extremism and give Islam a bad name. She complained about the separation of men and women, in a country where a woman is not allowed to hold the hand of her husband in public.The audience connected with Hissa's words and passion Hissa struck a chord with the live audience and those watching at home, sending out her message to the world when she said, "Defeat fear and conquer every frightening cave. Do not live life with one eye looking behind." She railed against social and religious extremism, something which many Saudis also find disturbing. "Something is not going good. And somebody should talk about it," she said.Life for women in Saudi ArabiaRemember that Saudi Arabia is a harsh place for women. They are not allowed to drive a car, not allowed to attend college or hold a job - unless permitted by a male relative. For American minds to understand her level of courage is to realize that in this culture the fact she dared to attend the poetry competition, and then dared more to recite her courageous poem questioning the bedrock of their society, well, that was one seriously rebellious act. It's a rebellious act that some segments of the society believe is worthy of death.Hissa's childhood with a strict familyHissa said she used to write under a pen name, fearing her own strict family's reaction. But, since the TV show, she has decided to come out of the shadows of fear and write under her own name. She said she felt transformed by the experience. Hissa also has won something rare in Saudi Arabia for women: a platform from which to speak.Poetry Academy judge speaks up for Hissa"Hissa Hilal is a courageous poet," said judge Sultan al-Amimi, who manages Abu Dhabi's Poetry Academy. "She expressed her opinion against the kind of fatwas that affect people's lives and raised an alarm against these ad hoc fatwas coming from certain scholars who are inciting extremism."Hissa's inspiring words to other women who want to change the world "I want to say something to the world," she said. "And give hope to all millions of Arab people: if you dream in your heart, one day if you believe deeply in your heart, in God, it will happen." "I'm happy. I said what I wanted to say. I reached what I wanted to reach," she said. "Maybe the girls and ladies would say, 'nothing is impossible.' Since I was a little girl I wanted my voice to be like a message in a bottle, reaching the other side of the ocean." This woman of courage has inspired millions to rise up and consider a better life, accomplished from the simplicity of a powerful voice heard beneath a veil. She is a woman who wrote a poem - and challenged an entire country.*** Photo by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage/AP Saudi Woman Criticizes Muslim Clerics in TV Poetry Contest – Gets Death ThreatsBravery of Arab TV 'Idol' - Veiled poetess hits 'vicious, barbaric clerics' - While most regale the audience with odes to the beauty of Bedouin life and glory of their rulers, Hissa Hilal stunned audiences last week by attacking Muslim religious leaders as "vicious in voice, barbaric, angry and blind," and guilty of "preying like a wolf" on people seeking peace.*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets - news, politicsThe Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychologyVisual Insights - photos, art, musicBeautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophyPoems From A Spiritual Heart - poetryThe Healing Waters - health newsDennys People Watching - people in the newsDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes - humor
Obama presidency becoming a lame duck at a fast paceFrom Denny: It looks like Prez Obama is at a crossroads for decision crunch time. Many Presidents find themselves in this uncomfortable position about two years into office when the midterm elections are looming large and look unfavorable. The team that helped get Obama into the White House is not the team who can keep him in the White House. It's clear to everyone in the Democratic Party - and the opposition party as well.Wrong White House team thinks small and local - not national and internationalThis presidency looks to be shaping up negatively much like the Carter presidency in one glaring respect: he has hometown people with a small local political mindset trying to run an international government. It isn't working. The Chicago mindset doesn't work any better than the Georgia mindset did decades ago. Mr. President, you and I both know that God Himself has had a "Come to Jesus Meeting" with you for the past week and a half about firing most of your team. Write it on a rock and take it to the bank: if God is keeping you awake at nights telling you what to do and how to do it then get serious and act upon His recommendations. It's called your conscience.Blood-letting at the White House: Fire GibbsIt's time for a serious blood-letting at this White House. Lose Press Secretary Gibbs and his Deputy who have done a miserable job of getting out the Democrats' message. They have half-stepped every step of the way, thumbing through the Rove political playbook thinking they can fool their own Democratic voters. Just what drugs are they taking to be so foolish as to think their arrogance does not stick out all over them?Fire Axelrod, wrong senior advisorLose Axelrod and his entire staff as they were the driving force of ruining your popularity. Now they have dug the grave on your entire historic presidency and it is about to be relegated to the history books as a serious negative. Axelrod never served you well from the very beginning.Fire Emanuel: when the chief of staff has a bad attitude the whole team stinks from the head downLose Emanuel and his staff as, well, it's clear Emanuel is emotionally fried and just can't stay in politics anymore on any level. He's cooked; put a fork in him because he is done. When you go around spitting on your own Democrats then you have the arrogance to think "you are too big to fail." Wrong. November elections will prove it too.Consider Tom Daschle as new chief of staff who can effectively advance your Democratic agendaReplace Emanuel with former Senator Tom Daschle. Why? Because Daschle is known for several things that the current Team Obama is now lacking: finesse with the opposition party, cleverness in knowing how to outwit the opposition party and, most of all, he understands the whole point of being a politician is to be of service to the people you govern. Right now you have an entire crew who mocks that honorable philosophy and are just about taking home an easy paycheck. You just can't tolerate that in these dire economic times. Change out the entire team. Let the White House blood-letting begin. Be presidential: make the hard decisionsIf you don't do these hard decisions of people you thought were your friends, then you sure don't need to go looking for enemies for you will have an entire political party of them - just like Jimmy Carter to this day. Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life in the political out house?How to clean up this political mess of a presidencyWhile it's clear that you, Mr. President, never actually figured you would find yourself in this presidency so soon, well, you are here now and it's time to act like a President instead of a political animal. Start governing fast and furious in favor of the middle class and you will have no problem getting re-elected or restoring your popularity. The negatives will become a distant memory for most people as they will focus upon all the good you managed to accomplish after a rough start in the beginning of your presidency. Today is the day for you to make the hard decisions. You have run out of time with the American people.*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets - news, politicsThe Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychologyVisual Insights - photos, art, musicBeautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophyPoems From A Spiritual Heart - poetryThe Healing Waters - health newsDennys People Watching - people in the newsDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes - humor
From Denny: Americans are furious. Furious over severe job loss or cutback in hours. Furious over not being able to meet financial obligations. Furious that their credit card companies continue to screw them over on excessive high interest rates and play games with changing the terms of the contracts. Congress let Big Business off the leash for the last 18 months just on the credit card issue alone. Big Business and Big Banks have gone hard-charging to destroy the middle class from every angle: their jobs, their homes, their savings.Big Banks took federal bailout monies yet continue to strangle small businesses and individuals for loans. The banks think the money is theirs and refuse to lend - the very purpose for which they were given the money. The stimulus and bailout monies were meant to stimulate the economy. The problem is that Congress did not take into account the excessive greed and craftiness of Big Business to cavalierly choose to screw over the American taxpayers.The Democrats continue to alienate their base. The Republicans continue character assassination like of recent USDA official, Shirley Sherrod, where the liars convinced this White House to fire her without investigation. If this were a man who was maligned there would not have been this fast a rush to judgment and throwing him under the bus. But, as usual, women get short shrift in America, as is evidenced by this poor handling from her maligning accusers. People in America are angry about one thing: injustice. There seems to be no where to turn for justice in this country. Big Business and the politicians work hand in hand to destroy what's left of the middle class. Soon we will become a nation of the working poor if nothing happens to stem the tide. The recent financial reform legislation looks good on the surface. The problem is that, again, Congress has given Big Business and Big Banks yet another 18 months to screw over the American people. What will happen, and how it will happen, remains to be seen. No one ever thought the credit card and health care legislation could turn out to be so negative either. Yet the crafty scumbags on Wall Street and the private sector went to work to see just how many people they could take advantage of and harm.Americans are tired. Tired of getting up in the morning wondering if they will have a job. Tired of wondering how many more cutbacks on their pay plans or hours they can absorb. Tired of wondering if their house will be worth much when they try to retire, if they get to retire. Tired of wondering if there is any real health care any longer available to them they can afford to purchase because this White House was too cowardly to put in the public option. The Democrats have failed us. They became corporate politicians, just trying to look good to the voters by passing weak legislation that gives the appearance of a good thing when the reality is far worse. The Democrats continue to join the greedy vicious Republicans in picking clean the pockets of the taxpayers. The Republicans howl about deficits yet continue throwing money at two wars which drain the treasury faster than any social programs could accomplish.Congress will not stop these wars in Iraq and Afghanistan even though we can no longer afford them. Congress does not care how many families have been torn apart or destroyed by these wars or the returning vets who suffer severe PTSD. Congress has done nothing to stem the tide of Army suicides which happen every day now. You just can't expect soldiers to return for five tours of duty. It's insanity and cruel and unjust.Americans are angry their government has forgotten them and thrown them under the bus in favor of Big Business and Big Banks. Congress, and this President, have repeatedly refused to put these societal offenders on a leash and truly discipline them. Instead, it's "Oh, bad doggie..." with a pat on the head and a wink they will be let off the leash for a time to frolic at our expense.The middle class is in a world of hurt. The media, the majority of whom are mostly comfortable Republicans, and Congress, again too comfortable because they don't work in the private sector, just don't seem to have the fire in the belly to champion the needs of the middle class. It's all about saving their jobs, their incomes, their pride. Where have all the Ted Kennedy types gone? America used to be a place where there were leaders who championed those in need. Well, at least there's Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Louisiana Congressman Charlie Melancon and a few notable others - but they are not enough. We need an army of decent people in our Congress and, instead, we are filled to overflowing with crooks and insensitive jerks. It's time the White House quit catering to the Republicans and Big Business by the tactics of delay, delay and delay some more. Just how long does this White House - and it's political arm - think they can succeed with these tactics before everyone turns on them? Already, NetRoots is organizing to oppose their own Democrats in the November elections. They are saying "No!" to corporate politicians. And, judging by the polls the past few months, it looks like they will have a lot of agreeing company to help them accomplish their goals.CNN Poll: Majority angry at both political parties (24 June 2010) - Fifty-three percent of people questioned say when it comes to the way the Democrats and Republicans have been dealing with the nation's problems, they are angry at both parties, with nine percent saying they're mad only at the Republicans and seven percent angry only at the Democrats.According to the survey, 41 percent say the Republicans are more to blame for the country's current economic problems, with 28 percent saying the fault lies with the Democrats and just over one in four saying both parties are responsible.Among Independent voters, 21 percent blame the Democrats, 35 percent say the GOP is responsible and 36 percent blame both parties for the economic mess.Obama could benefit from GOP takeoverObama vacation brings rest, relaxation and rebukePanetta: Afghan war has 'serious problems,' but progress being made*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets The Social Poets Fav BloggersThe Soul CalendarVisual InsightsBeautiful Illustrated QuotationsPoems From A Spiritual HeartThe Healing WatersDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes
From Denny: With the new temporary Senate replacement from West Virginia voting, Carte Goodwin, finally the Democrats broke the Republican filibuster on the unemployment benefits extension. Yet the story is still not finished. More voting on the way, though now the Democrats have their 60 votes to prevent another filibuster. Still, these poor folks who are growing increasingly desperate wait another few weeks even if the vote is decided this week. Why? It will take that long for the states to parcel out the checks - which could take anywhere from two to four weeks to do. The unemployment benefits have already been held up for two months now; another month is unconscionable. Unemployment Filibuster BrokenBritain's New Prime Minister Visits AmericaBritain's new Prime Minister, David Cameron, was visiting here to try and downplay the obnoxious bad behavior of British Petroleum in our country by acknowledging our collective national anger. He should have stopped at that sentence. Attempting to separate two explosive political stories was simply not wise. Sometimes, the less said the better. Trying to give BP cover was not his best move. Cameron comes across as a decent guy with the right intent so I'll give him a pass for now since he is so new on the job. He would do well to watch the tapes of his speech and then read the American bloggers to gauge our reactions. BP is a despicable corporate culture of which nothing has been done to change it. PM Cameron would do well to turn his attention to his own countrymen than try to assuage American anger.British PM says he understands the anger 'across America' for BPObama, British PM: Bomber Release Not BP's DoingObama, Britain's Cameron condemn Lockerbie bomber release, say it wasn't their doing or BP'sBP Oil Spill doings in the GulfEveryone here in the Gulf is waiting to find out more about those leaking wells that supposedly are not the Deepwater Horizon well. Who cares which well? After all, there are 29,000 aging temporarily capped wells in the Gulf right now. If it's leaking then it's leaking. The question is just how much it is leaking? If it's minimal then the ocean can deal with it but if not...Is experimental cap making disaster worse?Feds Tamp Down Fears Leaks Mean BP Well UnstableFeds tamp down fears leaky well cap, nearby seepage mean BP's blown out well is unstableHere's a real shocker for you: South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsay Graham actually voted FOR Elena Kagan and with the Democrats to advance her nomination to a vote. Guess he felt guilty - or didn't like the bad press the bloggers like me gave him for his nasty attitude and caustic anti-Semitic remarks toward her during the hearings - so he reversed and did right by her after all. Well, what can I say? When a person decides to quit being a jerk and do right you have to stand up and applaud them. There is nothing like watching someone who recognizes they did not give their best of heart to a situation and then chooses to live better. Graham joins panel's Dems to approve KaganBoy, the Democrats stepped right into this fool's errand. I would have expected better from former Gov. Vilsack. What was he thinking? He should have been wiser than this. You don't just call up one of your accused officials, order her to the side of the road as she was driving, and tell her she is fired. It's bad judgment.First of all, there should have been a cooling off period so you could verify the charges and check out the character of the folks making the charges. This is what is so bad about the older generation in government who are not technology savvy enough to realize this whole mess could have been Photoshop edited. Duh. While it's great the White House wants to be seen as intolerant of racism whichever way it goes and wants to be seen as on top of things, this was not a wise response. Rather it was a fearful angry knee jerk response. Had I been in his position, the first thing I would have done would be to place her on administrative leave for 7 to 10 days while I investigated the charges and the character of the accusers. Once I realized Fox News, aka Liars News, was involved it would have been case closed. You have only to watch the recent news stories of how Republican strategist and villain Karl Rove has been sneaking around, doing his usual character assassination, to know he was involved.This was handled badly and a woman's reputation impugned. She has good reason to be angry and demanding an apology. Yet again it looks like President Obama has to play referee and parent to lay down what should be obvious rules of how you go about dealing with a situation. She deserves a heartfelt apology and reinstatement.Video Taken Out of Context? Ousted USDA Official Denies RacismNAACP 'snookered' over video of former USDA employeeDetails of Chelsea Clinton’s hush-hush wedding start to leakSudan: State Brutality and Intimidation of Political Critics on a Long List of ProblemsChina Surpasses US as World's Top Energy ConsumerChina surpasses US as the world's biggest energy consumer, International Energy Agency saysExpert: Tea Party split a distraction but will fade*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets The Social Poets Fav BloggersThe Soul CalendarVisual InsightsBeautiful Illustrated QuotationsPoems From A Spiritual HeartThe Healing WatersDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes
Unemployment benefits wrangling while people sufferFrom Denny: It looks like the President and his administration are finally on track to do some serious business of governing the country. Today the President finally screamed at the odious Republicans for holding up unemployment benefits for desperate people who have been left hung out to dry for the past two months while Congress argues. Still, those who have been out of work for two years and have had their benefits expire entirely are not addressed in this bill. Hopefully, the President will champion their cause as well.Big Business and the Republicans have conspired to destroy America's economy just to get back into power in the White House. Congress gave Big Business stimulus monies to hire people and instead Big Business has sat on the monies, refusing to hire back workers even though they need them. They are waiting out the elections, hoping the Democrats lose in November. How despicable can you get?Can the depraved indifference of Big Business and the Republicans get any worse? The latest ploy is telling employment agencies they don't want to interview anyone who is already out of work. They only want to interview for jobs those who already have jobs. What that smacks of is discrimination, especially against the older workers above ages 40 and 50. Right now the Republicans trot out their reasons for refusing the unemployment benefits extension is because they claim it will run up the national deficit. Of course, where were these worry hawks when Bush and Reagan were in office running up trillions of dollars, more than any other presidents in history? They were dead silent back then. All of a sudden they have found their voice now? Somehow, the Republicans are their usual disingenuous selves. Of course, the Truth gets lost in the political shuffle. The reality is that for every $1 spent on unemployment benefits it actually returns $1.50 to the economy. The reality is Big Business is too damn cheap to pay their share of the unemployment benefits. They sent jobs overseas to cheaper pay workers and now they don't want to have to pay for the displaced American workers. What a pack of greedy rat bastards who took our taxpayer stimulus monies, plunked it down on their profit line and then had the audacity to turn around and fire workers by the thousands. I don't know how people are managing who have been out of work as long as these folks called "The 99ers" - those who have been out of work for as long as two years.The state of intelligence gathering in America"There are now more than 1,200 government organizations and more than 1,900 private companies working on counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the U.S."Well, isn't this just peachy? Finally, we are finding out just how much of a mess Bush and Cheney created while they rejected Congressional oversight all those eight long years. What a mess. No wonder no one can keep up with everything. News flash: Find a way. Streamline, reassign, do what it takes. You had better find a group of really super organizers to swim through this morass.Cheney created an entire illegal intelligence network as well as an illegal shadow army of mercenaries. Those mercenaries are still being used today in Iraq and other uses by the government where each soldier receives outrageous salaries to the tune of $400,000 each. The American taxpayer is no longer made of money, Mr. President. It's time to trim down this intelligence network and the mercenary army.Illegal immigration and drug cartel violence on America's border Bravo to the President for finally sending troops down to help the local police in four border states overrun by drug violence. People have a right to expect safety in their own country and it's the federal government's responsibility to assist when local officials are understaffed. A temporary measure is just fine. People are desperate for any help they can get while you train border agents to replace the current National Guard officers. The object is to do what is common sense and do what it takes to get the job done satisfactorily. Doing nothing is no longer an option. This idea is a great one and will be greatly appreciated by the locals I'm sure.BP oil spill news continues with temporary cap on damaged wellAll together now, "Who trusts anything BP says?" Answer: There is no one left standing who does. This temporary cap BP has in place worries me as there is already seepage elsewhere in the well area. I am not eager to see the huge ocean floor oil reservoir explode. Is it any longer possible to produce this screwed up well?As to BP claiming they have paid out $200 million or more, well, I'd like an audit from the GAO please. These guys are a scheming lot and known for padding their accounts and the truth. Check their figures, Mr. President. And while I'm at it, how about telling the public just who is paying the claims fund manager? Is it the government who strikes his paycheck or is it BP? BP needs to be completely out of the claims fund process as well as paying the fund manager's paycheck. Shout out to White House aides A big shout out to the White House aides who read this blog along with other liberal blogs to take America's pulse. Thanks, guys, much appreciated. I know you have the fire in the belly to get this presidency back on track and are already looking into economic measures that are doable right now. The country will appreciate your ideas and efforts when it all comes together and you can present it to the President. Meanwhile, make sure the President spends a lot of time with President Clinton to get a huge education about how to handle the depraved political crowd - and find out where all the obscure parts of the government live so he can pull funds for an economic initiative. After that intelligence report of 10,000 locations it should be obvious where you can strip funds just for starters. Obama Slams GOP for Obstructing ProgressSays Republican Leadership Has Chosen to "Filibuster Our Recovery" by Blocking Votes on Economic Agenda - " President Barack Obama is taking aim at Senate Republicans, accusing them of playing politics with measures that would extend benefits to the unemployed and increase lending to small businesses."What Financial Reform Means For You - financial regulatory reform - pdf file Financial Reform: What's in it for You? - "Here it comes...2300 pages of financial regulatory reform. New England senators Scott Brown, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins joined all but one democrat in a 60 to 39 vote. (Democrat Russ Feingold voted against the bill, maintaining that it isn't strong enough.) The bill now goes to the President, who will sign it into law. Here's what's in it for you:"Report: U.S. Intel Operations Unwieldy Post-9/11Intelligence Gathering Has Grown So Much Since Attacks that True Cost, Scope are Unknown, According to Washington Post - "there are now more than 1,200 government organizations and more than 1,900 private companies working on counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the U.S. Around 854,000 people - or nearly 1.5 times the number of people who live in Washington - have top-secret security clearance."Mystery Shrouds Closure of 73,000 Blogs - and WebHostingTalk about the incident answered by the site ownerClinton Vows $500M in Aid to Win Over PakistanisTop U.S. Diplomat Announces Massive Infusion of Financial Assistance to Show America Not Just Interested in MilitantsClinton Asia Tour to Refine Goals of Afghan WarArrives in Pakistan for Talks Ahead of Kabul Conference; Will Stress U.S. Commitment to Long-Term DevelopmentOfficials: National Guard troops headed to border next month - "The troops, from the four border states, will be fully trained and in place in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas by September 1, according to Gen. Craig McKinley, commander of the National Guard.The Guard troops will not be involved in law enforcement activities such as arrests of illegal immigrants, but will assist border patrol officers looking for the illegal border crossers and smugglers as well as in intelligence gathering. The airmen and soldiers will be armed, but they will be limited by rules of engagement that allow them to shoot only to defend themselves."President Obama's Schedule (7/19/10)In the morning, President Obama will deliver a statement to the press about the economy in the Rose Garden.Later in the morning, the president will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing and the Economic Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. He will then meet with senior advisers in the Oval Office. In the afternoon, Mr. Obama will welcome the WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury to the White House to honor the team's 2009 championship season. Later in the afternoon, he will meet with former Senator John Glenn in the Oval Office to discuss the president's space program. In the evening, the president and first lady will host a White House Music Series event in the East Room saluting Broadway to continue the White House music series.Here's the Full Schedule from the White House (all times Eastern):10:30AM: President Obama delivers a statement to the press about the economy10:45AM: President Obama receives the Presidential Daily 11:15AM: President Obama receives the Economic Daily Briefing12:00PM: President Obama meets with senior advisers1:40PM: President Obama welcomes the WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury to the White House to honor the team's 2009 championship season2:05PM: President Obama meets with Senator Glenn7:00PM: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend the White House Music Series event saluting Broadway; President Obama delivers remarksOil Cap Tests Extended Amid Fear of SeepageThad Allen Says BP Has Met Demand to Be Ready In Event Gas Leak or Oil Seep Forces Containment Cap Re-OpeningBP's Oil Spill Costs Near $4 Billion MarkBritish Oil Giant Says $207M Paid Out to Date in Personal Claims Alone; Still No Predictions of Final CostNeo-Nazi Group Patrolling Ariz. BorderOfficials Worry Heavily-Armed Militia Identifying With National Socialist Movement Will Create "Extreme Problems"Tea Party Leader: NAACP Is Playing the Race CardDenies Bigots Speak for Movement's Members or Leaders; Civil Rights Figure Calls Remark DisingenuousA Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' on in D.C.The Nation's Capital Often Feels Tremors, But This Times They Were Measured on the Richter ScalePalin's "Refudiate" Tweet on Mosque Near Ground Zero Draws Fire (for Substance and Style)*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets The Social Poets Fav BloggersThe Soul CalendarVisual InsightsBeautiful Illustrated QuotationsPoems From A Spiritual HeartThe Healing WatersDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes
From Denny: Are you disgusted with your Big Bank credit card company jamming you up with outrageous minimum payment demands, feeing you to death and playing games with variable high interest rates without recourse or punishment for their actions? Are you fed up with the financial sector Wall Street hyenas' artificially inflated prices at the gas pump? Are you furious that Big Insurance keeps hiking up your health care premiums and other insurance products? Are you in a rage that Big Business lobbyists for Big Banks, Big Insurance and Big Oil have a stranglehold on our government? Are you unemployed and furious that Big Business lobbyists went to great lengths to deny you unemployment benefits extensions to pay your bills and put food on the table because they were too cheap to pay their portion of the benefits? Want to have the power to do something about it?Denny's Think Tank and Muffin MondayDenny's Think Tank, currently comprised of just two people and four Hurricane Katrina cats at our house - however, we are extending free membership to all my dear readers of all 14 blogs - well, we have been busy on the problem and come up with the solution. We like to "solve all the problems of the world" at our house every morning over coffee.Good ideas seem to evolve from one small act. That small act of mine, as a blogger, began with Muffin Monday recipe segments on the food blogs: Romancing The Chocolate, Unusual 2 Tasty and Comfort Food From Louisiana. I like muffins. Who doesn't? It's practically unpatriotic not to like muffins. Muffins are easy to make for beginner bakers. Muffins are popular in America, and, as a blogger, I was looking for non-copyright released recipes I could publish easily. Researching there was found a treasure trove of good recipes, ones tweaked - and therefore changed from the originals - from what I realized had been previous Gourmet, Epicurious, Food and Wine and Bon Appetit recipes from the past 20 years. Yes, foodies read too many glossy magazines. It must be the awesome photos. :)The treasure trove of good recipes was found at various bed and breakfast inn sites so I decided how cool it would be to do more than provide a courtesy link to their business but rather to start promoting them because they are small businesses. Big Business has run so many small businesses out of business the past 20 years that America has become this boring homogenized vast wasteland of mediocre choices. I've watched wonderful local colorful grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, restaurants and clothing stores all get broken by Big Business just in my area. Ruthless Big Business continues to break small businessesThe one exception I have to say that behaves better for Big Business is the Whole Foods grocery chain. When they came to Baton Rouge, Louisiana they took a look at the surrounding Mom and Pop grocery stores and did not undercut their prices on matching products they carried. Whole Foods also supports the local farmers and buys up all the fruits, nuts, vegetables and meats they can produce. I'm sure they are not perfect but at least they make a conscious effort not to cause bad economic ripples in the community where they plant themselves.That said, the vast majority of Big Business is ruthless. Lately, they have gotten just too ruthless by sending thousands of jobs overseas after receiving taxpayer government monies. (That was General Motors, folks, who took our money and then cut 5,000 jobs that went overseas this year.) Big Business continues to think they can cut thousands of jobs, send them overseas and yet there will be people left in our country who can afford to buy their products. What kind of logic is this? The only answer is unadulterated greed - and a CEO who wants to make his quarterly BOB: Big Obscene Bonus.What you can do to break Big BusinessWe Americans continue to grouse, complain and outright bitch to our political representatives and the courts only to be lied to, taken advantage of and denied fairness and justice. So, what is a self-respecting American and rabble rouser to do to gain back their power in their own country? Easy. Support ONLY small businesses like these bed and breakfast inns whenever you travel for business or pleasure. Their prices are comparable to Big Business hotel chains and so are the amenities, local attractions and shopping.The beauty of this strategy of supporting bed and breakfast inns over Big Business hotels is that Big Banks and Big Insurance finance the mortgages on these Big Business hotels. Right now commercial real estate has taken a nose dive, hence, the reason the Big Banks took bailouts from the American taxpayers. In fact, the Big Banks unloaded all their toxic assets - like foreclosed homes and small businesses - onto and for the American government to absorb - in addition to taking billions of dollars plunked down onto their profit line. World leader fools, minus Obama, from the G20 Meeting who are bankrupting the world economy by rejecting the governmental Spend Money economic model: Frustration with American politiciansBig Business controls our government on so many levels. We are reduced to waiting for each election cycle in the hopes of throwing out the corrupt politicians. Yet, at the end of the day, the Big Business lobbyists continue to do business in Washington, ignoring the voters' wishes and now desperate needs.Achilles Heels of Big Business, Big Banks, Big Insurance, Big Oil and Big LobbyistsThe one weakness these powerful behemoths have in common is us. If we all - or at least 15 percent of the country - refuse to do business with them it will destroy their businesses. Most huge companies run on about a two percent to 15 percent profit margin to stay in business. Surprising, isn't it? Auto dealers run on a two percent profit margin. It's the manufacturers who screw them over as small businesses so they pass it on to screw over the customers. It's an ugly cycle.Facebook BP Protesters SucceededOver 300,000 people banned together on Facebook to protest BP gas stations, refusing to buy their product. In my town where we have an Exxon oil refinery, the price of gas is outrageous. BP's prices are often as much as 75 cents higher than Exxon and Shell. People say by protesting BP gas stations you are hurting the American owners. I say, "You lie down with dogs you get fleas." It's time for people to make a choice if they will be truly patriotic and do what helps all of America or keep choosing their profit wallets over the dire straits of the economy.These BP protesters succeeded in driving down the value of BP's stock to half of what it had been before the oil spill. If we support small businesses and shut out Big Businesses as much as possible we can break their high stock values as well. Think of all the Walmarts that drove out dozens of small businesses. Originally, from the 30 year old model, Big Businesses like Walmart were supposed to offer better prices to American shoppers. But, over time, those prices have risen and poor quality products from child labor and prisoner inmate labor countries have flooded our markets. The Chinese use prison laborers and give us toxic lead paint toys. India uses child labor to produce rugs and clothing. Meanwhile, our textile factories across America close and thousands of people lost their jobs.Hope is still here if only we will act and take back our powerThe sad stories are endless. But, so also is Hope: endless. We can change things in this country if enough of us will band together and use our power as consumers to break all the Big Businesses. You break the Big Businesses - and the Big Banks who finance them also fall with them. When the Big Business and Big Banks fall then so too do the Big Lobbyists with no one to pay them outrageous money to hijack our government with economic terrorism.Break Big Banks by moving your checking accounts to small and medium sized banksAnother way to break Big Banks is to move your checking accounts to federal credit unions and other regional and local medium and small sized banks. Only Big Banks get the best interest rates and then they jack up their prices and lend to the medium and small banks, virtually holding them hostage. So why does the Federal Reserve not give the same great interest prices to the small and medium sized banks? The Fed remains quiet on that one and has in every administration. There is no excuse for it. Big Banks continue to hold a monopoly in our country, strangling the economy with their greedy and unwise practices.Small Business Employs most of AmericaRemember, the statistics tell us that somewhere between 70 to 80 percent of Americans work for small businesses. Small businesses also keep the jobs here in America unlike the Big Businesses. It's time to run Big Businesses out of business or succeed in breaking them up into smaller less damaging entities. Either way the American consumer wins because the small businesses will get more business and have to start hiring the unemployed. Hiring the unemployed will jump start our economy. It will make it possible to rebuild America into a thriving economy. We will no longer be co-dependent upon the whims of Big Business and our corrupt corporate-loving politicians who fawn at their arrogant diva feet. Join the American Revolt Against Big Business Quit waiting for everyone in Washington to grow a conscience. Take back your power, America. Join the American Revolt to shut out Big Business today!(Join the American Revolt Against Big Business and Denny's Think Tank by leaving your name and a website link in the comment box.)*** Tattered flag photo by Beverly & Pack @ flickr*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets Dennys Global PoliticsThe Soul CalendarVisual InsightsBeautiful Illustrated QuotationsPoems From A Spiritual HeartThe Healing WatersDennys Art SanctuaryRomancing The ChocolateComfort Food From LouisianaUnusual 2 TastyDennys Blog FeedsDennys Funny QuotesOuch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
