A Talk with B. Berry 05/07 by The Lone Writer | Books Podcasts

A Talk with B. Berry 05/07 by The Lone Writer | Books Podcasts

What else is there to say? The need is still great in Haiti.

NYT: Years After Haiti Quake, Safe

Obama's announcement regarding gay marriage: A gamble that paid off big

So, President Obama has decided that gay marriage should be legal. OK. But honestly, how is this a surprise? How is it as courageous a move as it's being claimed to be by LGBT activists, liberal media, people who read liberal media? This was his stance in the first place, according to news archives which have been shown several times on one station or another since he made the announcement.

From where I'm standing it simply makes sense that the President took the stand that he did. After all, his biggest supporters have always been on the left side of the aisle and have only been frustrated with him when he didn't advocate strongly enough for causes that were primarily liberal. So, why is everyone so surprised? Why is everyone hailing this as such a courageous move?

Well, yes. It does take some courage to choose a side on such a polarizing issue, especially in an election year. On TV news (and not just on MSNBC or ABC) the "courage" of this good man's decision is apparent in the fact that no other sitting president ever made such a declaration of support for gay marriage. This certainly sounds courageous when it's worded this way. But public opinion has changed dramatically in the last twenty years. In fact, opinions are more or less split regarding gay marriage, speaking statistically on a national level, with a slight advantage given to the pro-gay marriage group. So, it isn't so much a courageous move as it is a calculated risk that has proven lucrative for the president. For example, soon after his announcement George Clooney threw him a fundraiser that broke records.

And my, what a fortunate coincidence that Mitt Romney has been called out over his behavior in prep school, 47 years ago, as a teenager, toward a young man who didn't act the same as everyone else. I certainly won't defend or justify Romney's actions, because I think it was wrong.Nor will I vilify him because I wasn't a very kind kid in high school, myself. But the timing of it certainly worked to the president's advantage. Now, I'm not suggesting that the Obama Administration knew about the Romney story. But Obama and his staffers have been reaping the rewards of this press windfall.

The economy is nowhere near what Obama assured the public it would be by now, when he was campaigning in '08. What does a smart candidate do when the cold, hard numbers aren't working in his favor? He works on the emotional issues that will encourage the people to like him. And Obama's doing a bang-up job in that department. In fact, he's got that bag sewn up this year. So, as long as nothing truly catastrophic happens economically, he'll have a very healthy leg up on the GOP candidate.  Romney is much less comfortable in public than Obama; he doesn't have the connections in the entertainment industry that Obama has; he doesn't have the background of an underprivileged young man who made good like Obama. His story is quite the opposite. Privilege is exactly the word to describe Mitt Romney's upbringing and no matter how many of his current friends and acquaintances may claim that he is friendly and gracious, his money and how he makes it is exactly what most middle-class Americans despise and distrust. Add to that his habit of changing his stance on various issues that put him the hot seat during the debate season and you have a very weak candidate whose base supports him primarily because no one else could spend the money he did.

So what does all this with Romney have to do with gays' right to marry? Simply that, because Mitt was a tough sell even to his own party, and the situation isn't really improving as quickly as it needs to with less than six months til Election Day. Thus his acknowledgement of Obama's announcement regarding gay marriage, then his immediate return to a discussion of the economy.What does a smart candidate do when his opponent is more popular than he is? He starts talking about the issues he's most knowledgeable in and insists that whatever his opponent is talking about is merely distracting from the real problems of the country.

Most of Obama's most dedicated supporters are supporters of gay marriage, and a growing number of other Democrats, Republicans and Independents agree with them. All Obama had to do was wait until the right time and make his announcement when the issue was still unsettled, but the scales tipped more in his favor. I'm persuaded that his announcement wasn't so much a great act of courage on behalf of equality for everyone, as it was a shrewd political act that benefited those who were calling for equal treatment in an area of life that is important to them...and benefited the president by getting back the support of those liberal constituents that had become disenchanted with him over the course of the last few years.

Smart move, Mr. President.

Caron Rider, Author: Silver Demon by Caron Rider Preview

Caron Rider, Author: Silver Demon by Caron Rider Preview: I thought I'd give you a little taste of the next installment in The Silver Series. Enjoy! Silver Demon PREFACE       Sometimes o...

A great read. Can't wait for it to come out.

Author Erik J. Ekstrom

Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife, Pam. I spent my entire life not knowing what people really meant when they referred to their spouse as their "soulmate". Pam and I began dating in the summer of '09 and within weeks I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. But, just to keep from scaring her off, I waited until February of '10 to ask her and we married five months later.
I can honestly say that my life on this earth has been made complete by her and that she truly is my soulmate and I thank God for her every day.

This, more even than the issues that come with an individual mandate, is the biggest reason why I'm against"ObamaCare".

Understanding ObamaCare’s $1 Abortion Surcharge in Three Easy Steps | American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

When I hear of things so ghastly as Kony's abduction and enslavement of children; endoctrinating them into a child army to kill their own families, to torture and maim and to rape; and using young girls as sex slaves, treating them as so much cattle I find myself doing what so many others do: I wonder how such things can happen. I ask myself, "How can a human being possibly want to do such things to children?"
But then I have to remind myself that mankind is fully capable of such evil, as has been documented for centuries. Wondering at Hitler didn't stop him; taking mass action did. The same was true of many others, like Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier; Sadam Hussein; Moamar Qadafi to name only a handful. The only way to stop such evil is, quite simply, to DO IT. Take action. Spread the word. Demand that those who represent us, in every state and nation, take action.
Demand that our public servants act on our behalf for this most righteous of causes.
Save these children from a life of hell on earth.

Mashable originally shared this post:

+Invisible Children, a movement seeking to end the conflict in Uganda, has created a film it hopes will accelerate the arrest of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, who has been kidnapping and abducting Uganda’s youth for nearly three decades.

Filmmaker Jason Russell says that it’s obvious Kony should be stopped, but the problem is “99% of the world doesn’t know who he is.” To spread knowledge of Kony and his abductions, Invisible Children is targeting 20 culture makers and 12 policymakers who it believes have the influence to spread word of Kony to the rest of the planet.

Millions Watch and Share Film Aiming to Stop Ugandan LRA Leader

http://www.amazon.com/Everett-Holmes-Forged-Fingerprint-ebook/dp/B004WP3ERA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328239074&sr=1-1

Take a look at this psychological thrillerErik Ekstrom. It isn't for the casual reader, nor for the faint of heart. If you enjoy a good frightening, suspenseful whodunit this is for you.