Want good kids?
One of my clinical supervisors told me, "Most family dynamics are very hard to change. But that's OK, because if you get the families you work with to just eat dinner together regularly, this by itself will do more good than anything else and you will have helped immensely." (read more)

Cindy, is this more like what you would like to see? Here, at home?
Israel ordered ground forces to the Gaza border Saturday and threatened a “crushing” response after Israeli towns were hit by the first major Hamas rocket barrage from the coastal territory since Israel's pullout two weeks earlier.

Estimates are that the Promise Keepers' rally filled the Washington D.C. mall with more than a million people in 1997!
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963 before a crowd of 250,000+.
No one knows how many people were at Woodstock in 1969. The estimates are 500,000+. Don't look for me here. I try to avoid crowds!
Estimates are that the Promise Keepers' rally filled the Washington D.C. mall with more than a million people in 1997!

Sheehan was scheduled to appear at noon on the front lawn of the Capitol. It couldn't be called a rally; just a handful of Washington supporters showed up on the lawn to join dozens of journalists. The real stars were the TV crews; 15 cameras were set up in a semi-circle in front of a bank of microphones where Sheehan would speak.
But noon came and went, with no Sheehan. A young man named Ryan Fletcher, from an organization called the Mintwood Media Collective, paced around, a cell phone to his ear, getting updates from the three buses in which Sheehan and her supporters were riding. Less well-known than Fenton Communications, which advised Sheehan last month during her protest near the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mintwood describes itself as "a worker-owned and operated public relations firm born in the aftermath of the mobilization against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington DC, April 16th and 17th, 2000." During that protest, Mintwood boasts, it came up with "a comprehensive media strategy that succeeded in placing stories on the front pages of major newspapers, on local and national television and radio, and Internet information sites worldwide." It promises to do the same for clients today.

Murderous marchThursday, September 22, 2005
by Gary Bauer, co-chair, Stand for Israel
The disturbing images coming out of Gaza, now completely devoid of any Jews, should be a wake-up call to the “international community” as well as our own government. First, Palestinian mobs burned and sacked synagogues all over the Gaza Strip while Palestinian police stood by passively. Then, Palestinian gunrunners poured into Gaza from Egypt, bringing with them a flood of new weapons including assault rifles, hand grenades and anti-tank missiles.
Then, a few days ago, Act III of the Gaza horror story took place. Ten thousand gunmen, representing the notorious terror group Hamas, staged the largest armed demonstration in the history of Gaza. The “army” of terrorists cheered radical speakers who called for the complete destruction of Israel, the occupation of Jerusalem and death to all Jews. Incredibly, as of now Hamas will be permitted to take part in the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections, and some observers believe they could actually win or at least do very well. They already control many city governments in Gaza.

What Google's Latest Wi-Fi and VOIP Moves Really Mean
Now we know why eBay bought Skype. It was a defensive move, to counter Google's upcoming telecommunications network. That's right, Google's building out a free Wi-Fi network that will enable it to take on telcos and wireless phone providers. Will Google take it to T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and Orange worldwide? Or is this just a series of "experiments" that Google will eventually back away from? Our analysis goes behind the headlines to help you figure out what the search giant is really up to. Required reading for anyone concerned about the digital world.

Not Again!


Climate Change on Mars: It's Bush's Fault!!!!!!!!

Leahy to Back Roberts for Chief Justice WOW

Clinton Says Authoritarianism Growing Under Putin Just gotta open his big fat mouth.

Two members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have resigned after admitting they obtained..........

China Names Condom for Bill Clinton

Democratic political consultant Donna Brazile managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, but she stands solidly behind his opponent when it comes to the reconstruction of the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged areas.

"I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George Bush – in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004,” the New Orleans native writes in a column carried by several newspapers.

"But after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.”

As radical environmentalists continue to blame the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation on President Bush’s ecological policies, a mainstream Louisiana media outlet inadvertently disclosed a shocking fact: Environmentalist activists were responsible for spiking a plan that may have saved New Orleans.

Global warming: Prevent or adapt?New study shows that living with climate change will be less costly and more beneficial than trying to stop it.
These are great!
Groundbreaking website launched for college students.

Unfamiliar with UN protocol,Bush writes to Condi at the UN Security Council Meeting: "I think I may need a bathroom break..."

Condi to Bush:"I told you you should have gone back at the House!"

Funny one. Thanks Jay Leno for a good joke.





Why We Should

Work Well With Others

More oddities: Woman falling on bubbles

Nagin Exits Louisiana
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 08:07:07 AM
By Sher Zieve - Fox News and the Dallas Morning News report that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has left the state of Louisiana. Moving to Dallas, TX he has purchased a home in that city and has enrolled his daughter in a Dallas school. ( Read Article )

KENNEDY NOW (TO JOHN ROBERTS - 2005): "Judges are appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and it is our duty to ask questions on great issues that matter to the American people and speak for them. Judge Roberts, I hope you will respond fully and candidly to such questions, not just to earn our approval, but to prove to the American people that you have earned the right to a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land."

KENNEDY THEN (TO THURGOOD MARSHALL - 1967): "We have to respect that any nominee to the Supreme Court would have to defer any comments on any matters which are either before the court or very likely to appear before the court."

New Orleans Refused Amtrak Transport Offer

Environmental Group Fought New Orleans Levee Project

Smog over China. Kyoto(pdf)? In China? NO WAY!! We can't have that! Only bring the US back to horse-and-buggy days, that's ALL the world needs.

1999 Hurricane Swamped Clinton's FEMA

Orphaned Kids site for Hurricane Katrina can be found here


Don't blame only feds
Crime rate, inept pols leveled New Orleans before the storm.

WSJ: Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin failed their constituents...

CNN USAToday Gallup Poll:
Respondents also disagreed widely on who is to blame for the problems in the city following the hurricane -- 13 percent said Bush, 18 percent said federal agencies, 25 percent blamed state or local officials and 38 percent said no one is to blame. And 63 percent said they do not believe anyone at federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired as a result

HOWARD DEAN SAYS 'RACE' PLAYED ROLE IN KATRINA DEATHS...
(he also said women were better off in Sadman Hussein's regime!)
If race really were a motive for Bush, and Bush actually wanted minorities to suffer, he never would have placed a call to Louisiana Governor begging that they call for an evacuation. He would have let their inept, tentative leadership sit back and let hundreds of thousands be killed. Instead, he kicked their behinds into gear!

U.S. counterterrorism authorities have been engaged for months in a shadow war with a computer hacker extraordinaire who is using cutting-edge technology to help al Qaeda and other jihad groups with their vast Internet operations

why is no one talking about all the prisoners Bush is wrongly releaing from Guantanamo?

Katrina donors:

Kuwait 400 mil in oil 100 mil in cash
S.A. 255 Mil
Aust 10 mil
China 5 mil
India 5
Japan 1 Million!
Bangladesh 1 Million
Canada 2 helicopters!
France, Germany, Italy: tents, tarps, and kitchen utensils
UK nothing

Case and Point

OK, I was wrong. I've completely changed my mind. The hurricane thing should have been completely a federal issue and not in any way local or state. I came to this point of view after witnessing New Orleans Police officers looting WalMart (Don't believe me? Watch this!). Clearly they are unequiped to handle this like any other state would have. Hell, had such a disaster happened in CA, the lib's would be calling for Arnie's resignation/recall right? Don't lie. You know it's true. It's only a state or local thing if there's a Republican in charge.

THE POLICE
City to Offer Free Trips to Las Vegas for Officers
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER and CHRISTOPHER DREW
Published: September 5, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 4 - A day after two police suicides and the abrupt resignations or desertions of up to 200 police officers, defiant city officials on Sunday began offering five-day vacations - and even trips to Las Vegas - to the police, firefighters and city emergency workers and their families.

TRIBES
If you read nothing else this year - yes, I said this year - read this. Trust me, please. Read it.

Jason Smith has the timeline, and the analysis. It’s must-read for all you crackhead liberals who have nothing to do but blame the GOP and Bush. Go see who’s whining and who’s working.

Here Comes The Flood

When the night shows
the signals grow on radios
All the strange things
they come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
There's no point in direction we cannot
even choose a side.

I took the old track
the hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
they were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
and as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain
was warm and soaked the crowd.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll
use up what we used to be.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

-Peter Gabriel

An explanation of natural law and natural rights. Most of the old literature on natural law and natural rights, notably the writings of John Locke, has become incomprehensible because we no longer have the background knowledge of natural law that those writers assumed. This article makes the concept of natural law intelligible to modern people.
Natural law and natural rights follow from the nature of man and the world. We have the right to defend ourselves and our property, because of the kind of animals that we are. True law derives from this right, not from the arbitrary power of the omnipotent state.

Was the Founding of America rooted in the Christian heritage and natural law? Or, is it a product of the Enlightenment, infused with the idea of the perfectibility of man, and therefore inimical to the Christian conception of reality and to world view that natural law implies? Was the Founding fatally flawed in its origins? If so, are present day evils simply a logical working-out of this fatal flaw? Or do current maladies result from a fundamentally sound proposition gone awry? The answers to these questions determine whether America is founded on basic principles that are true or just — ones which we can unqualifiedly support — or whether republic is based on ideas that are false and unavoidably lead corporate and individual evil. If the United States is, as I believe it is, founded on the highest moral principles of any government that ever existed, then we owe her and the principles on which she was founded our grateful support. If, on the other hand, America is founded on principles that are malign, then we are actually complicitous in anything we do to advance America's two hundred-year-old experiment in democracy.
So, where does the truth lie? There is no denying that the Enlightenment influenced the Founders, but does a partial influence make American political origins solely a product of the Enlightenment? To answer this and other questions we have asked, we must grapple with yet another: How much of the Constitution is derived from concepts of the Enlightenment and how much implies the Christian world view and a respect for natural law? A close reading of the Constitution lends any fair-minded reader to the inescapable conclusion: divorced from natural law and Christian principles, the Constitution would be utterly incomprehensible — a philosophical mish-mash devoid of cogent argument, compelling moral vision, or unifying principles.
However, the proof for this thesis is somewhat indirect because there are no Christian principles per se embedded in the Constitution: rather, the Constitution is embedded in Christianity. The Constitution does not declare principles, it provides for their implementation. It considers the principles on which America is founded so self-evident it does not even name much less defend them. In its short Preamble the Constitution briefly mentions, without defining, justice, general welfare and the blessings of liberty, clearly indicating that these are commonly accepted ends.

The Christian idea of government was understood completely by the framers of the Constitution. In the preamble to the Constitution they stated their full intent: "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Because our government derives its power, its form and its very existence from Christianity and the laws of God, the modern attempt to secularize society and divorce government from Christianity spells destruction.

Steadman, a brit band I've been lestening to and enjoying since I saw a live "Sim" concert in There, has recently opened there library to downlaod or stream. These guys have some really good songs and I recommend a listen.
(hint: start with the Revive album)

If you depend on the Government for all of your needs,you are going to be sorely dissapointed

The Federal Government's resposibility is for the nation as a whole. To expect a 24 hour Mobilization of the entire Government to assist inthe area is a complete and utter pipe dream. Instant and immediateevacuation and assistance is the purview of the Local and StateGovernments, more the Local. This is why we have the government we dohave.Yet, I listened to a recorded broadcast of Mayor Nagin's tirade on alocal radio station, and was disgusted. To hear this man, on who'sshoulders rested the responsibility, have the sheer gall to insult anddemand a quicker response from the federal government was sickening.Where was he before the Hurricane hit? My wife and I are avid newswatchers. We saw the Govenor of Louisiana ordering an evacuation. Yet, I didn't see Mayor Nagin reiterating that order? If I missed it,My apologises, he may have came on while I was at work. I didn't seethe New Orleans School Buses or Metro transportation moving peoplebefore the storm hit.No, he ranted and railed that since his community was black, theydidn't recieve the notice from the President.Where are the Libertarians in this fight? You have a man who insiststhat the Federal Government must be responsible for every city, townand village in the USA and you say nothing? I had assumed you werethe party who wanted to keep the Federal out of the State and Local. In the final analysis, we must find it wasn't the Federal Government,nor the State Government, who was lax in their service to the peopleof New Orleans. Thier own Mayor and Parish Governments betrayed them. For years we have known the levies weren't going to sustain a majorhurricane (Lvl 4 and 5). Yet no money, Local money, was placed intoreinforcing them. The Army Corps of Engineers has said the Leveeswere in poor condition. Apparently the Cost/risk ratio didn't justifymaintaining them. The Mayor and City Council of New Orleans gambledwith the lives of New Orleans residents and lost. They convincedthemselves that a Major Hurricane wouldn't hit them and didn't see thepoint in spending the necessary Millions to maintain them. Like everycasino, in Mother Nature's Casino, the House ALWAYS wins and NewOrleans has lost everything.I work with a man from New Orleans orginally and he was furious at theFederal Government for not upgrading the Levies. Who's responsibilitywas it? Not at the federal level.People, nothing in life is free. There is a balance to everything,good or bad. If we want a government that is largely locallygoverned, then we have to assume the responsibilty and burdens forgoverning ourselves. We can't accept the good, and then when it all hit's the fan blame the federal government.

Other presidents also have taken aim at the Corps' budget. President Carters' first veto came against a big water projects bill passed by a Democratic-dominated Congress. And
Top of Form 1
Bottom of Form 1
President Clinton squeezed the Corps budget as well. Doing so frees money for other White House priorities.

February 17, 1995
An Army Corps of Engineers "hit list" of recommended budget cuts would eliminate new flood-control programs in some of the nation's most flood-prone spots - where recent disasters have left thousands homeless and cost the federal government millions in emergency aid.
Clinton administration officials argue that the flood-control efforts are local projects, not national, and should be paid for by local taxes.
Nationwide, the administration proposes cutting 98 new projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico, for an estimated savings of $29 million in 1996.
Corps officials freely conceded the cuts, which represent only a small portion of savings the corps ultimately must make, may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. But they said they were forced to eliminate some services the corps has historically provided to taxpayers to meet the administration's budget-cutting goals.
July 22, 1999
In passing a $20.2 billion spending bill this week for water and energy projects, the House Appropriations Committee approved some significant increases in financing for several New Orleans area flood control and navigational projects.
The spending bill is expected on the House floor within the next two weeks.
For the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the panel allocated $106 million for construction projects, about $16 million more than proposed by President Clinton.
The bill would provide $47 million for "southeast Louisiana flood control projects," $16 million for "Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection," $15.9 million for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans and $2 million for "West Bank hurricane protection -- from New Orleans to Venice."
Most of the projects received significant increases over what the Clinton administration had proposed. The exception: general flood control projects for southeast Louisiana, which remained at the $47 million suggested by Clinton. Local officials had hoped for double that amount.
February 8, 2000
For the metropolitan New Orleans area, Clinton's budget was seen as a mixed bag by local lawmakers and government officials. For instance, while Clinton called for $1.5 billion to be spent at Avondale Industries to continue building LPD-17 landing craft, his budget calls for significantly less than what Congress appropriated last year for Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection and for West Bank flood control projects.
September 29, 2000
The House approved Thursday a $23.6 billion measure for water and energy programs, with sizable increases for several New Orleans area flood-control projects. The Senate will vote Monday, but it may be a while before the bill is enacted.
President Clinton is promising to veto the annual appropriation for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers
Can you believe it? The President didn’t foresee the levees breaking!
(President Clinton, that is.)