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I think you will like the new site and I hope to see you there. To subscribe to email updates whenever there is a new post look down the left side at the new location until you see the email subscription link. Click it and enter your email. Then be sure to confirm by going to your email and clicking the link inside the email you will receive. No confirmation click, no email updates. :-(

Have the Democrats chickens come home to roost?

Scott Brown won a seat to the US Senate in a state that President Obama won by 26%. So just how does a Republican win in a state where there are seven Democrats for every two Republicans?

Two things turned this race around allowing Scott Brown to come back from a 30 point deficit in early December and win by 5%. The key factors become clear once you look at the day by day polling. A comfortable democrat lead started to dive the week of Christmas. The first was the result of the terrorist attack on Christmas Eve followed by the Obama Justice Department stepping in to give the terrorist an attorney and effectively stopping any interrogation that could shed light on other threats the terrorists have planned for us.

But the second and key item was health care. We finally reached a tipping point where a majority of Americans became fed up with the attempt to force health care plan on Americans they they clearly don't want.

This particularly resonated with Massachusetts voters who have lived with ObamaCare since 2006. What, you say? Yes, most of America doesn't realize that ObamaCare was modeled after the health care plan that was implemented in Massachusetts in 2006. Reform that has failed miserably.

Here are some facts about health care in Massachusetts since 2006.

• 97% of the population has insurance compared to 85% for America as a whole.
  
• There is a public option.
• Government subsidies are provided based on income
  
• Citizens are required to have insurance or pay a penalty
• Employers are required to provide insurance for workers or pay a penalty
• There are government imposed price controls insuring everyone pays the same regardless of health or pre-existing conditions

Sounding familiar yet? Here are the results after 3 years;

• The big cost savings projected going in have not materialized
• The annual cost to the state to fund this is over $2 billion a year.
• Insurance costs are the highest of all 50 states
• Cost of insurance is climbing. In 2009 the increase was two and half time the national rate.
  
• While Massachusetts has more doctors per capita then any other state, the wait time to see a doctor is longer than any of the 50 states.
• Prior to the reform, wait times were the shortest of all 50 states.
  
• The state recently has discussed the need to bump legal, tax paying, immigrants from the system leaving them to fend for themselves.
• While 75% of Americans are happy with the insurance coverage they have, in Massachusetts the figure is 22%
• The largest rate of dissatisfaction is among those earning $25,000-$50,000. In other words, the middle class
  
• The solution for reducing the out of control costs? Plans to ration various procedures.

Knowing all this, why would Democrats meet behind closed doors late at night to try and force this kind of health care on the American public? I'll let you reach your own conclusions. For me, I'm just thankful the people of Massachusetts had the decency to make sure this train wreak called ObamaCare will not be forced on America anytime soon.

For two excellent articles about healthcare in Massachusetts go here and here. The video interview with the government official responsible for writing the checks is rather telling.

The beginning of the 2nd Revolutionary War -- This one peaceful

I believe the giant, known as the American public, has awoke. The Obama plan to "remake" America into a socialist country run by political elites is on the verge of repudiation. Democrats tend to win about 3 to 1 in Massachusetts. But I believe that the Republican is about to win the seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. This morning, in a last minute effort to rally the troops, President Obama unable to fill a building of 3,000. Meantime people were marching throughout the streets in support of the the Republican Scott Brown. On Saturday there were more protesters, by a margin of 2 to 1, than there were supporters at the Democrat candidates rally.

If it happens, and I believe it will, this will kill not only ObamaCare but the whole Leftist agenda. It will be quite miraculous if the most liberal state in the Country willing defeats the agenda of the most liberal administration ever elected.

My prediction is Scott Brown by 9%. But I'll settle for less.

How to Squander Seventeen Years

By Ted Werth

He was what we call a brat. And this one fit the stereotype. A spoiled little brother. Scorned by his siblings; despised as a know-it-all. Beloved by Mom and Dad. And to make matters worse, he often did know it all. Humility wasn’t this kid’s strong point.

While still a teen, Joe’s lack of humility teamed up with his know-it-all attitude. It wasn’t a pretty sight and his siblings had seen enough. They did an awful thing. They shipped him off to another city. A one way ticket to a place far, far away. It’s not known what Joe thought about all this; it is hard to believe he didn’t have a lot of anger, even hatred towards his siblings. But he made the best of his situation. You see, Joe really did have skills. He had the gift of administration.

Joe worked hard and in time landed a position as the personal manager for an important and wealthy man. But alas, in Joe’s world, two wrongs did make a right. As in ‘right bad.’ Falsely accused but convicted, he suddenly found himself in prison.

Now I don’t know about you, but I would think that by now Joe would be a bitter guy. After all, he was abandoned once and now finds himself in prison. Rather stiff penalties for brattish behavior. By all evidence though, Joe was not bitter. He prayed. And one day it appeared as if his prayers were to be answered. You see, Joe helped a fellow inmate and this fellow inmate was quickly rewarded with early parole. Joe had asked this inmate to remember him and to use his newly discovered influence to free him from his injustice. Unfortunately, the former inmate quickly forgot Joe. Freedom never arrived and yet more time passed.

It’s now two years later and the former inmate, working for the country’s ruler, remembered Joe and his ability. This ruler found himself haunted by a persistent mystery and he was desperate for answers. Since no one could provide this ruler with an adequate answer, the employees were willing to try anything. So Joe was brought from prison. I think we are safe in saying that Joe, believing that this might be the answer to his prayers, said yet another. By now the ruler was rather angry that no one in his administration could solve his mystery. Joe was more or less a last resort. Joe’s prayer was answered and he solved the mystery. His solution was so profound that this ruler instantly made him his right hand man. His chief of staff so to speak.

So Joe overcame the terrible injustices inflicted on him. I have no doubt the injustices he suffered helped him gain the humility he lacked as a young man. It’s a great story; you know, if you work hard and do the right thing life will eventually work out.

Unfortunately, the previous narrative is only a prelude to the story’s end. A sad story concerning seventeen years.

Remember Joe’s siblings? For all these years they lived with the secret of what they had done. Guilt was magnified by their father’s recurring grief.

Bad judgment often leads to further bad judgment. That was the case here. Desperate to cover their tracks they had created an elaborate story to convince their father that Joe had died in a terrible accident. Regrets were further compounded by the knowledge that they could never confess what happened, lest they inflict further grief on their father.

Joe and his brother’s paths would eventually cross .

They crossed at a time when the brothers find themselves in desperate need of food. Joe, or more properly, Joseph, is now the chief administrator of Egypt. Selected by, and answering only to, Pharaoh himself. There is a world-wide famine going on; a famine that will go on for five more years. But Joseph, in his wisdom, has ordered the storage of grain the past several years. And because of that, people come from distant lands in hopes they would be allowed to buy grain. Among these are Joseph’s brothers.

Joseph spots his brothers. With a simple word he has the power to gain revenge in any manner he wishes. Instead, he cries. He cries tears of joy. His family may have their issues, but now is a time for forgiveness. He finds them, assures them that what happened was a part of God’s plan; that they should no longer be angry with themselves for what they did.

Joseph reaches out to his brothers. He proudly brings them before Pharaoh who, because of his favor towards Joseph, provides them with the best land and all the provisions they need. They settle in the land with their families and prosper. For seventeen years they enjoy the best of what Egypt has to offer. Seventeen good years on the outside. Seventeen lost years on the inside.

We often focus on forgiving those who have hurt us. But the other side of the equation we often neglect is the need to forgive ourselves. For those times we have fallen short. Only then will we be ready to accept forgiveness. The story of Joseph is a story of many lessons. This one is the lesson of those seventeen lost years .

In spite of the forgiveness long ago offered by their brother Joseph, we read at the end of Genesis.

Joseph’s father Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt. But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers were frightened. They said "Joseph will pay us back for all the evil we did to him." So they sent him this message "Before he died our father instructed us to tell you to forgive us for the great evil we did to you. We servants of the God of your father beg you to forgive us."

When Joseph read the message, he broke down and wept.

Fake Reality

I've recently discovered a website that streams music concerts from the past. Live concerts that were never intended to be recorded. I find myself drawn to the rawness and reality of these recordings. The occasional buzz of a guitar string. The vocal that slips a bit off center. The fact that the instrument and vocal levels are rarely balanced.

We increasingly live in a world that is not "real." It seems like a good thing at first but there is subtle downside to it all.

I recently made a trip to Universal studios. We toured the back lots to see the film set locations where the buildings lining the streets are just false fronts. There is nothing behind the front of the building you see in the movies.

Later we rode a virtual roller coaster. So fine tuned to how our brains work that you feel you are flying, falling, tumbling and crashing. Yet your body never moves more than five feet. We even saw the street where Desperate Housewives is filmed. The streets and "houses" are rather small. Special wide angle cameras make them look life sized. The plastic hydrangeas and wisterias look real by the time it gets to your television.

The most popular shows are reality shows. But there is nothing real about them. People who know they are being filmed, followed by cameras through their scripted day. I haven't seen too much of that reality in my day.

And there is the problem. When we live in a world where the music has been processed to perfection, watch carefully scripted "reality" on TV and cook microwave meals that can't be messed up it's easy to expect our lives to measure up to a reality that doesn't exist.

No, reality is finding out our health isn't what we thought it was. Or discovering that poverty can "strike like a bandit." Realizing we have screwed up, the same way, once again. That we have disappointed, or been disappointed once more. To wake up with worry, even when we know we should trust. In the case of my daughter, coming back from leave to find out a favorite coworker has passed away; at too young of an age.

Like the concert music, life is raw. Maybe not off the tracks raw, but full of minor imperfections and unbalance. But that is opportunity. Because if things were as perfect as we see on TV or hear on our iPod there would be no room for us to make a difference. No opportunity to set goals. To strive towards our "high calling."

The old low-fidelity concerts streaming on my iPhone are a reminder that music doesn't have to be perfect to be good. A reminder that while I'm not perfect, that it's ok; life doesn't happen in the controlled environment of a music studio. Rather it's an uncontrolled "live" concert. And that's ok because it challenges us to grow. Growth is good. At some point it allows us to look back and realize how far we have come, even as we set new goals.

Reflecting on Christmas

Over the years Christmas has been a very stable and predictable season for me. I can sum it up in one word; family. Christmas Eve has always meant the gathering of my family at my parents house, where I grew up, for an evening of food, presents and visiting late into the night. That started to change two years ago and 2009 marks the third Christmas that will be rather different then the first forty-seven.

Two years ago, the day after Thanksgiving, I had a freakish injury after slipping on ice. The result was 5 major breaks in my ankle and two surgeries to reconstruct it. Christmas Eve 2007 turned out to be my first attempt to leave my house. The 70 mile ride down to Springfield was painful but it was more than worth it to be with my family.

Last year our family decide to forgo Christmas Eve at my parents so that my siblings and I could spend that time with our own children and, in the case of my siblings, grandchildren. Instead we all got together at Mom and Dad's on Christmas Day to exchange presents and have dinner together. It was also the first year my own family was not together as my Marine daughter Lisa was stationed in North Carolina and unavailable to come home. Thankfully, Lisa and her brother Tim are both with us for Christmas 2009.

This year Cheryl and I decided to celebrate our 25th anniversary with a 7-day December cruise to various Caribbean islands. This has compressed the traditional time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We only returned on Sunday the 20th. Going from 80 degrees and white sand beaches to Christmas in gray, cold and wet Oregon has required some quick decompression. But it won't matter. Once we are all together it will be another time of contentment and spending time with those that matter the most; family.

I've been thinking a lot about our cruise. In particular the opportunities I had to spend with the people I met. Each place we visited had a different culture. Strikingly different in some cases. One stop in particular intrigued me and as I think about Christmas, and more specifically family, it seems appropriate to share.

At the mid-point of our cruise we stopped at the island of Roatan. This is a small island of 30,000 people and a part of the central american country of Hondurans . This island itself is 3 miles wide and 30 miles long with only the western half occupied. As strange as it seems there are distinct differences in the four small towns that occupy the island. One side is rich, one is not. One community is mostly Spanish and another is Caracole. On one end of the island they play soccer and the other end, baseball.

As a result of some online research I had booked a private tour with a local company. Bodden Tours provides a local driver who stays with you throughout your day and will take you wherever you wish to go on the island. It is here that we did a zip line tour, visited a couple shopping opportunities and spent some time at the beach. This was all very enjoyable but my best memories come from the off and on discussions I had with our guide, a young man named Lany.

Although I never asked, I would guess that Lany is in his late 20's. He is Caracole, a decedent of former British slaves from the Cayman Islands who moved to the island after slavery was abolished by the British in the 1830's. The Caracole's are the traditional occupants of the island although, in recent years, the island has seen immigration of what Lany referred to as the Spanish; Mexican people who are Spanish speakers. While the official language of Roatan is Spanish, the Carocoles all speak English. Many of the Spanish people have minimal ties to the island having arrived to seek work as opposed to making a permanent home.

Traditionally the economy on Roatan was dependent on fishing and, to a lesser extent, agriculture. Seven years ago the first cruise ships showed up and now tourism is the leading industry.

Lany is a very proud husband and father of three children under the age of 10. His eyes sparkled as he told me about his favorite meal; iguana. "The hunters will charge you $10 for two." His eyes lit up once again and he laughed when I asked him what he liked to do in his spare time. "Soccer!"

As we drove around the island I asked about crime and drugs. A day earlier we had visited Belize and it was apparent that drugs and crime are a significant problem there. In addition there seems to be widespread poverty. In Roatan I didn't see any signs of crime or drugs. Lany said that, no, people there did not use drugs and crime was rare. He quickly corrected himself and said, "well, some of the rich people moving to the other side of the island use drugs." I later found out that you do not even need a prescription to buy medicines there. Medicines cost 10 cents but are available only about a third of the time. And yet there seems to be no abuse; this seemed rather counter intuitive to me.

Lany lost his father two years ago. He and his brothers now take care of their mom. Lany is thankful for his job. He said the owner is a good man who teaches them how to do their job and provides them with good working conditions. Lany is provided a nice Toyota van by the owner for the days he works. He gets to keep 20% of the fee. He is trying to save for his own vehicle though. His boss has told him to save and when he has his own car he will be allowed to keep up to 90% of the fee. It is something he looks forward to achieving.

Although he doesn't get to work every day Lany said he earns enough to provide for his family, and for that he is thankful. He shared how one day many cruise ships arrived and the owner approached him and asked if he could drive for that day only. Once again his eyes lit up as he told me, "at the end of the day the family went to the owner and said 'you need to hire this man, he is an excellent guide.' Victor Bodden hired me on the spot; that is God."

As we drove along the north side of the island Lany pointed out an orphanage. He told us of the person who built it and then said that it was mostly empty. "Only five kids are there." He shook his head and said, "Spanish who have left there kids behind."

Lany's children go to school and return home where their mother awaits them. Only young single women work on Roatan.

He told me of the direct flights to Miami and how he had been there twice. Now his Mom was going there with his Aunt for Christmas. She had tried for two years to get a visa and was recently successful. Lani said his Dad had always strongly discouraged his family from going to the U.S. I thought this must be associated with some form of anti-Americanism. I was wrong; Lany's father was afraid his family would be attracted to the American life and not return. He feared that his family would scatter. And at this point it all came together for me.

The Caracoles are not wealthy but they have a value system that was once prevalent in America. The work ethic, happiness, contentment, lack of crime, and lack of orphans, comes from their close family structure. They take care of, and responsibility for, their own.

You see, the Roatan government is far from perfect. You can either accept a traffic ticket or just pay the police officer $5 and it will go away. The mayor now owns the nicest mansion on the island although he was recently voted out for, as Lany said, "looking out for himself and not the people." They have free public health care but people go to the private hospital if at all possible because "there is often not a doctor available at the public hospital." Or because "the hospital is closed because of the latest employee strike."

As we wound down the road talking about these many things, Lany stopped in mid-sentence to honk his horn and wave at the taxi driver going the other way. With a big grin that was oozing with pride he said "That's my brother!" Then a laugh; "Lony!"

Breath easy, the CO2 you exhale is harmless.

By Ted Werth

“One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them” ~ Thomas Sowell

Imagine for a moment that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) had zero impact on the environment. Would you approach life differently? Would you be more inclined to buy the vehicle you want, to turn up the gas heat as much as you want?

Would you consider buying expensive solar panels for your house if you knew they would never ever save you enough money to pay for themselves? Would you be inclined to reduce your food, clothing and housing spending so you could pay cap and trade taxes to government.

Probably not. Well here is the truth. The theory of man-made global warming is a fraud. Emails of the experts confirm that it is about politics. It is not based on real science, but on corrupted science that cherry picks its data, keeps that data from review and if necessary destroys the data. It is flat out fraud designed to play on your emotions and fears in order to control your personal freedom; to take your money and to transfer it to a handful of organizations, governments, companies and individuals.

Since no one would agree to this without a reason, science has been perverted to create a false need to 'save the earth.' Nonsense. We now have the final evidence needed to topple this house of cards. Additional evidence comes from the emails of so called scientists who have been treated by media and government as the leading experts. These emails and documents have been provided to the world by a whistle blower and have now been acknowledged as authentic.

Here is some of what we know so far:

• In at least several cases these scientists destroyed the data that they used to created the "science" of global warming. These are the data sets that all climatologists accept as the basis of their work. Their emails urged each other to delete emails and data to protect it from freedom-of-information requests.

• The data that was used to create the data-sets that are used by all global warming scientists was destroyed years ago. So the only "data" available is that "created" by these few scientists. Using methods that they won't share and can't be verified by other scientists since, you guessed it, they are not sharing their methods.

• That much of the early history of earth temperatures was "determined" using tree ring data from 1,100 year old trees in Siberia. From hundreds of tree samples the researcher chose, first 12 trees, then 10 trees and by 1998 only only 5 trees. The growth rings from these five trees supposedly provided a perfect record of increasing temperatures. The theory is that the rings are further apart in warm years. However it is now known that these trees were seemingly selected to provide the pattern that would "prove" the theory of global warming. After several years, the data from dozens of other trees show a completely different record then the five used by climatologists. In other words they had a theory and searched for a few trees whose rings happened to look like what they wanted to prove. They tossed out the data from the other trees since they contradicted the results they wanted. Finally, these emails show that tree ring data for the last 20 years doesn't track with global warming predictions so they dropped tree ring data analysis for the last 20 years from their data sets.

• Since 1998 world-wide human produced CO2 has increased by 26%. Yet world temperatures have fallen. You might have noticed that this inconvenient truth has lead the global warming crowd to start using the term "climate change"
  

• That these handful of scientists plotted to exclude "doubters" from providing peer review of their studies. In other words, only those who were on the global warming band wagon were allowed to review, and verify, their work.

• That they threatened scientific publications that printed research by those who contradicted the idea that factors beyond the control of man determine the earths temperature.

Two things told me, long ago, that this whole idea was a fraud. First, I've observed nature close up over the years and the idea that man has the power to destroy the earth is about as likely as man being able to build a tower (of babel) to heaven. The idea that using incandescent light bulbs is going to melt the polar ice caps is, well delusional. Secondly, by observing the political leanings of those most closely associated with the global warming industry it is apparent that this is about politics, not science. Socialists, Marxists and internationalists run deep. Former Soviet President Mikael Gorbachev, after moving to San Francisco, promptly joined the Green Party.