It is my understanding that separation of church and state means the government will not tell a church how it is to be run. When the USA was first founded Christianity was taught in school and Congress always prayed before conducting any business for the day.
The rise of muslim brotherhood will mean a thread to the West.I'm not sure what the sentiment of the Egypcians is towards the "brotherhood"? I just hope that US will open their doors for the 60 million Egypcians in case US decides to go invade the country?
Posted: 02/11/11
INSIDE THE REVOLUTION: PEACEFUL MILITARY COUP IN EGYPT, MUBARAK RESIGNS, WHAT'S NEXT? Posted: February 11, 2011 by joelcrosenberg in Uncategorized
One of Egypt's highest profile pro-democracy leaders says: "This is the greatest day in the history of Egypt, that will not be repeated. This nation has been born again. These people have been born again, and this is a new Egypt."
Ahmadinejad calls for "no Israel" in the new Middle East Dramatic, breaking news from Cairo on Day 18 of the revolution in Egypt….the military has moved to oust the leader….Mubarak is out….peaceful coup in motion….chaotic situation….news delivered on Egyptian TV by VP Omar Suleiman….millions of Egyptians celebrating in Cairo and throughout the country….not precisely clear exactly who's in charge at the moment….but the Egyptian military is well disciplined, well respected, and generally secular….not clear what's next….what will be the "new Egypt's" relationship with the U.S., and the West generally?….what happens to the peace treaty with Israel (Israel being the only truly solid and secure and free country in entire Middle East)?….what what role, if any, will the Muslim Brotherhood play?….lots of questions, not many answers at the moment….uncertainty spreading throughout the epicenter….please keep praying for a peaceful transition of Egypt to free markets, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of worship, free elections…pray, too, for the Church in Egypt and around the region to be bold in their witness that the only true solution for peace and freedom is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ….developing….
Reuters: Mubarak and family leave Cairo for Sharm: party official
AP: Celebrations throughout the Middle East as Mubarak steps down
I agree 100%. That is why I work and take care of the people I do. The people I take care of are such a blessing and I have learned so much in the past 3 1/2 years of working with special needs people.
I work in the medical field and I take care of special needs people (Down Syndrom, autism, etc.) A few things people need to remember is this: people with mental illness have the same right the rest of us have. One of those rights is to refuse medical treatmenht.
The National Retail Federation has forecast November- December holiday sales will rise by 2.3 percent from a year ago, the most since 2006. A Bloomberg survey taken Dec. 2 to Dec. 8 showed economists raised projections for consumer purchases, the biggest part of the economy, to 2.6 percent for next year, up from their 2.3 percent estimate the prior month.
A little reality check about retail sales is in order. According to the US Census Bureau, total retail sales over the last few years are as follows:
The fact is that there are thousands more retail outlets today than there were in 2007, and total sales are still below the level reached in 2007. Not only that, but even using the government manipulated CPI, inflation has risen 8% since 2007. On an inflation adjusted basis, 2007 retail sales in today's dollars would be $4.9 trillion. Using the real inflation rate of 20% over this time frame would generate an inflation adjusted retail sales figure of $5.4 trillion. As you can see, the great retail recovery of 2010 is a sham. Comparable store sales increases of 3% are inflation adjusted decreases of 5%. If you drive around with your eyes open, you would think the hot new retailer in America is called SPACE AVAILABLE.
I hate to be a wet blanket during this festive holiday season, but the truth is that there is no self sustaining recovery happening. The powers that be, with the help of their lackeys in the mainstream media are desperately trying to convince you that everything is alright. It is not alright. It is getting worse by the day. The only people spending are Lloyd Blankfein and his ilk, while middle class Americans sink further into despair and debt.
Strangely, private industry wages have DECLINED by $213 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008. It seems that personal income has risen due to two major items. You will be glad to know that government wages have risen by $58 billion and drum roll please: government entitlement transfers have increased by $523 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008. The Federal government has borrowed hundreds of billions from future generations and paid it out in the form of unemployment benefits and other social programs so that consumers would spend it today. This is how you generate a positive GDP, without generating a real recovery. And, of course, if the government used an honest CPI rate, GDP would still be negative, just as it has been for most of the past decade.
The great consumer deleveraging lie has been ongoing for the last six months. The savings rate has "surged" from 4.8% in the 2nd quarter of 2008 to 5.8% today. The savings rate is calculated as what is left over when you subtract personal consumption expenditures from disposable personal income. The surge in saving is the result of the Federal government borrowing from the Chinese and handing it to consumers to spend. If the government wasn't transferring these funds from future generations to current generations, the savings rate would be 1.2%.
Revolving consumer debt (credit cards) has declined by $173 billion in the last two years. This must mean that consumers are deleveraging.
Total consumer credit peaked at $13.9 trillion in the 1st quarter of 2008 and currently stands at $13.4 trillion. It sure looks like consumer deleveraging. Consumers must have paid off $500 billion of debt. But, the facts obliterate this fallacy. The Wall Street banks have written off in excess of $600 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. This means that consumers are actually charging more on their credit cards than they were in 2008. Having your debt written off, rather than paying it off says much about the great economic recovery of 2010.
The false reports circulating on network news programs is that Americans are paying cash, rather than using credit cards. This is completely false, as both Visa and Mastercard reported increases in transaction volumes in their last quarters. Having worked for a big box retailer, I know that the average credit card transaction is 50% to 70% higher than the average cash transaction. If people were truly charging less, the average ticket at the major retailers would be plunging. Retail sales would be plunging. They are not plunging, as the major US retailers report decent comparable store sales in the 2% to 5% range.
Have you noticed the latest sound bites coming from the punditry in the corporate mainstream media? Here is the latest wisdom flowing from the lying mouthpieces of the ruling oligarchy (Wall Street, Washington DC, Mega-corporations):
The economy is recovering and employment is growing.
Consumers are deleveraging, saving and using cash for purchases.
Retailers are doing fantastic as consumers increase spending.
These are the three themes being proclaimed simultaneously by the mainstream media. Every time I hear these themes proclaimed, I want to shout out like Joe Wilson – "YOU LIE!!!"
How can consumers be deleveraging, saving and increasing spending at the same time? Let's examine the facts to see who is lying.
The fallacy that the economy is recovering and employment is growing can be put to rest by an examination of the BLS data accessed here:
The number of Americans employed over the last few years is as follows:
2007 – 146.0 million 2008 – 145.5 million 2009 – 139.9 million 2010 – 138.9 million
It seems there are 7.1 million less employed people than there were three years ago. Contrary to the spin from the White House, there are 1 million less people employed today than during the horrific 2009 year. Luckily, another 6 million people left the work force, or we'd really have a problem. The truth is that if the government actually counted everyone in the country who wants a job, the unemployment rate is not 9.8%, but 23% and it continues to rise.
The economic recovery lie can be refuted by examining the data from the BEA located HERE and HERE.
The GDP of the US peaked at $14.5 trillion in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Today it stands at $14.8 trillion, two years later. GDP has gone up for one reason and one reason only – the Federal Government has borrowed trillions from future generations in order to artificially prop up a system already crumbling from the weight of too much debt. Highlights from the GDP calculation are:
Private investment is $216 billion lower today than it was in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Exports are $80 billion lower today than they were in the 3rd quarter of 2008.
You may ask yourself how can GDP be higher if private businesses are investing less and exporting less. The answer of course is your friendly neighborhood Feds. The Federal government is spending $128 billion more today than it was in 2008. The last piece to the puzzle is the beloved consumer, who accounts for 70% of GDP. Good old Joe Sixpack has ramped up his spending by a good $470 billion since the 1st quarter of 2009. With this figure, we must be in a strong recovery. Larry Kudlow says so.
A little more digging on the BEA website reveals some interesting data:
Personal income has risen by $300 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008.
Strangely, private industry wages have DECLINED by $213 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008.
And the point of ur post is what exactly TT? Like,... it is wrong investing in high speed trains and so on? why? How come you Repuebe heads can not understand how important it is being able to travel around the country on high speed and still as less polution as possible and understanding it is wrong that technologies of fast trians are absoloutely mastered by Europe and India and china even while America still is the hostige of your Repube heads whose ideology belongs to museums and not the real world?
Amtrack can gain a lot on this adventure TT... they can and will adjust if your bloody guys allowing America getting by you see?
Dude, you keep wanting everyone to believe you are intelligent and that you care about America because you have family and friends here. But, for once use your damned head and think.
Where do you suppose that Obama is going to get the money he wants for this high speed rail that you think is a good thing? The money is going to come from raising taxes for everyone including the people who won't have access to the high speed rail.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; doews not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the tuth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4 - 8, 13 The Bible NKJV)
THE TRUTH IS HEALTH CARE LOBBIES HAVE CORRUPTED THE REPUBS IN WASHINGTON-- THE SAVINGS FROM A SINGLE SYSTEM WILL BE TREMENDOUS. WE ARE THE ONLY CIVILIZED NATION WITHOUT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE.
Do your homework and check out what Medicare is doing to our country. Perfect example of why America should not have Obamacare or become a socialist country for that matter.
I for one do not want or need the US government deciding when I am going to die or why I should die.
Enter the government. Medicare offers an excellent example. Consumers no longer care about price; the government will pay. The cost of service is not a deterrent. Consumers are thereby encouraged to consume at will. Providers no longer care about winning the customer's purchase; the government will pay. Moreover, the government will pay what the government wants to pay, so there is no incentive for the provider to compete in price or service. Since government is paying a fixed fee for products and services, suppliers throughout the system seek ways to maximize payment. Over time, they get really good at it. That's why the actual cost of Medicare has vastly outstripped its estimated costs.
These increased costs permeate the industry, and apply to non-Medicare patients as well. That's why insurance companies are forced to increase rates. In a real free market, consumers would be able to shop different insurance companies to find the best service at the best rate.
Enter the government – again. Government limits the choices consumers have. Obamacare will limit private choices even further by imposing regulations that will force private companies out of business.
When government is paying for health care, government dictates the quantity, quality and price of the care. The costs that are not extracted as premiums or co-pay will be extracted as increased taxes.
When government is paying for health care, there are no choices, there are no options. Every life is subject to whatever requirements the government may choose to impose. Smokers, for example, could be denied certain services – should the government so decide. Overweight people could be denied certain services unless they meet government-imposed weight limits. Seniors could be denied life-extending procedures should the government decide that the cost is greater than the benefit.
Perhaps the worst consequence of Obamacare is the expansion of a culture that depends upon government; that teaches that government can bestow rights, whether to health care, or education, or a living wage, or all the other so-called rights listed in the socialists' agenda.
Obamacare, if enacted, is indeed a shortcut to socialism.
You best be doing your homework. Check out Medicare. Medicare is goverment health insurance here in America and it totally sucks for all the older people on it. They are paying too much for too little insurance that hardly covers anything.
The New York Times reports: "White House staff members 'made clear that they did not rule out engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood as part of an orderly process,' according to one attendee [to a meeting of Mideast experts with three officials of the National Security Council], who like others interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to talk publicly about the meeting. The Muslim group had been suppressed by Mr. Mubarak, and Bush administration officials believed it was involved in terrorist activities. It renounced violence years ago. Several times, two other attendees said, White House staff members said that Mr. Obama believed that Egyptian politics needed to encompass 'nonsecular' parties: diplomatic-speak for the Muslim Brotherhood."
Few moves could be more disastrous. Does the administration not understand who they are dealing with?
The Muslim Brotherhood's stated mission is as follows: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."
According to a blue-ribbon group of national security experts that include former CIA Director James Woolsey, former Delta Force commander Lt-Gen (ret) Jerry Boykin, and former Defense Dept. official Frank Gaffney, a group convened by the Center for Security Policy and called "Team B-II": "The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. Its express purpose was two-fold: (1) to implement shariah worldwide, and (2) to re-establish the global Islamic State (caliphate). Therefore, al Qaeda and the MB have the same objectives. They differ only in the timing and tactics involved in realizing them."
?Meanwhile, Mohammed ElBaradei continues to prove he is a wolf in sheep's clothing by continuing to deny that the Muslim Brotherhood is an extremist Radical group intent on building an Islamic caliphate. Instead, he says they are a peaceful group and should be included in national politics in Egypt just like evangelical Christians are including in the U.s. and Orthodox Jews in Israel. In an interview picked up by Politics Daily, ElBaradei "said the Muslim Brotherhood, which had the largest organized opposition to the government, did not pose the threat of turning Egypt into another Iran. 'This is totally bogus,' ElBaradei said. 'They are no way extremists. They are no way using violence. They are not a majority of the Egyptian people. They will not be more than maybe 20 percent of the Egyptian people. You have to include them like, you know, new evangelicals, you know, groups in the U.S., like the orthodox Jews in Jerusalem.'"
Latest headlines:
A scene of violent chaos in Cairo CNN's Anderson Cooper attacked by mob Mubarak's supporters charge protesters on camels as Egyptian revolution descends into violence Violence in Egypt as foes, supporters of Hosni Mubarak clash Lawlessness Could Hijack Egypt's Popular Uprising Muslim Brotherhood 'Against U.S. Interests,' Says Former State Dept. Official? WikiLeaks: tension in the Middle East and Asia has 'direct potential' to lead to nuclear war WikiLeaks: al-Qaeda 'is planning a dirty bomb': Al-Qaeda is actively tring to secure nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build a radioactive "dirty" bomb, according to leaked diplomatic documents Distributed by
The present Obama Administration in the US is trying to stay out of what is happening in the Middle East and allow the people to decide for themselves.
Reports that I receive in the USA say that Hillary Clinton and her staff are trying to work for a smooth transition.
As far as Muslim Brotherhood...no, the US does not support them because of their ties with Osama Bin Laden.
What the US is trying to do is curb the violence going on and to offer Muslim Brotherhood a say only with what is going on in Egypt. The Brotherhood is a small minority compared to other factions in the Middle East and the US is betting that they may fail on their own.
WHITE HOUSE INDICATES WILLINGNESS TO WORK WITH MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Posted: 02/02/11
PLAYING WITH GASOLINE NEAR AN OPEN FLAME: WHITE HOUSE INDICATES WILLINGNESS TO WORK WITH MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS LAWLESSNESS, VIOLENCE SPREAD IN EGYPT Posted: February 2, 2011 by joelcrosenberg in Uncategorized
The Obama administration is playing with gasoline near an open flame. As lawlessness and violence continues to spread through Cairo and other cities, senior White House and State Department officials are inexplicably indicating that they are now interested in welcoming the Muslim Brotherhood and other "non-secular" groups into whatever new government is created once Hosni Mubarak leaves office, as he has indicated he is now willing to do.
The Los Angeles Times reports, "The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government…..White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that a reformed government 'has to include a whole host of important nonsecular actors that give Egypt a strong chance to continue to be stable and reliable partner.'"
Faithfulness Forum Posts (1,056)
RE: MIBARAK RESIGNED
It is my understanding that separation of church and state means the government will not tell a church how it is to be run. When the USA was first founded Christianity was taught in school and Congress always prayed before conducting any business for the day.