Monday, November 24, 2008
Somali Pirates - Just Like Wall Street Pirates
www.magnet2wealth.com
Somali pirates living the high life
By Robyn Hunter
BBC News
Presented by Sam Hawkins
"No information today. No comment," a Somali pirate shouts over the sound of breaking waves, before abruptly ending the satellite telephone call.
They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns - Just Like Wall Street.
He sounds uptight - anxious to see if a multi-million dollar ransom demand will be met.
He is on board the hijacked Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina - the ship laden with 33 Russian battle tanks that has highlighted the problem of piracy off the Somali coast since it was captured almost a month ago.
But who are these modern-day pirates?
According to residents in the Somali region of Puntland where most of the pirates come from, they live a lavish life. Just Like Wall Street.
Fashionable
"They have money; they have power and they are getting stronger by the day," says Abdi Farah Juha who lives in the regional capital, Garowe. Just Like Wall Street.
"They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns," he says. Just Like Wall Street.
"Piracy in many ways is socially acceptable. They have become fashionable."
Most of them are aged between 20 and 35 years - in it for the money. Not just like wall street
And the rewards they receive are rich in a country where almost half the population need food aid after 17 years of non-stop conflict.
Most vessels captured in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden fetch on average a ransom of $2m. Just Like Wall Street.
This is why their hostages are well looked after.
The BBC's reporter in Puntland, Ahmed Mohamed Ali, says it also explains the tight operation the pirates run.
They are never seen fighting because the promise of money keeps them together.
Wounded pirates are seldom seen and our reporter says he has never heard of residents along Puntland's coast finding a body washed ashore.
Given Somalia's history of clan warfare, this is quite a feat.
It probably explains why a report of a deadly shoot-out amongst the pirates onboard the MV Faina was denied by the vessel's hijackers.
Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali told the BBC Somali Service at the time: "Everybody is happy. We were firing guns to celebrate Eid." Just Like Wall Street.
Brains, muscle and geeks
The MV Faina was initially attacked by a gang of 62 men.
BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed says such pirate gangs are usually made up of three different types:
Ex-fishermen, who are considered the brains of the operation because they know the sea
Ex-militiamen, who are considered the muscle - having fought for various Somali clan warlords
The technical experts, who are the computer geeks and know how to operate the hi-tech equipment needed to operate as a pirate - satellite phones, GPS and military hardware.
The three groups share the ever-increasing illicit profits - ransoms paid in cash by the shipping companies. Just Like Wall Street.
A report by UK think-tank Chatham House says piracy off the coast of Somalia has cost up to $30m (£17m) in ransoms so far this year.
The study also notes that the pirates are becoming more aggressive and assertive - something the initial $22m ransom demanded for MV Faina proves. The asking price has apparently since fallen to $8m.
Calling the shots
Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, is reportedly where the pirates get most of their weapons from.
A significant number are also bought directly from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Observers say Mogadishu weapon dealers receive deposits for orders via a "hawala" company - an informal money transfer system based on honour.
Militiamen then drive the arms north to the pirates in Puntland, where they are paid the balance on delivery.
It has been reported in the past that wealthy businessmen in Dubai were financing the pirates. Just Like Wall Street.
But the BBC's Somali Service says these days it is the businessmen asking the pirates for loans.
Such success is a great attraction for Puntland's youngsters, who have little hope of alternative careers in the war-torn country.
Once a pirate makes his fortune, he tends to take on a second and third wife - often very young women from poor nomadic clans, who are renowned for their beauty.
But not everyone is smitten by Somalia's new elite.
"This piracy has a negative impact on several aspects of our life in Garowe," resident Mohamed Hassan laments.
He cites an escalating lack of security because "hundreds of armed men" are coming to join the pirates.
They don't call themselves pirates. They call themselves coastguards
Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed - Just Like Wall Street (brokers, hedge funds..).
They have made life more expensive for ordinary people because they "pump huge amounts of US dollars" into the local economy which results in fluctuations in the exchange rate, he says. Just Like Wall Street.
Their lifestyle also makes some unhappy. Just Like Wall Street.
"They promote the use of drugs - chewing khat [a stimulant which keeps one alert] and smoking hashish - and alcohol," Mr Hassan says. Just Like Wall Street.
The trappings of success may be new, but piracy has been a problem in Somali waters for at least 10 years - when Somali fishermen began losing their livelihoods. Just Like Wall Street, I mean Main Street.
Their traditional fishing methods were no match for the illegal trawlers that were raiding their waters.
Piracy initially started along Somalia's southern coast but began shifting north in 2007 - and as a result, the pirate gangs in the Gulf of Aden are now multi-clan operations. Just Like Wall Street.
But Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed says, they do not see themselves as pirates.
"Illegal fishing is the root cause of the piracy problem," he says.
"They call themselves coastguards."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7650415.stm
www.magnet2wealth.com
Somali pirates living the high life
By Robyn Hunter
BBC News
Presented by Sam Hawkins
"No information today. No comment," a Somali pirate shouts over the sound of breaking waves, before abruptly ending the satellite telephone call.
They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns - Just Like Wall Street.
He sounds uptight - anxious to see if a multi-million dollar ransom demand will be met.
He is on board the hijacked Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina - the ship laden with 33 Russian battle tanks that has highlighted the problem of piracy off the Somali coast since it was captured almost a month ago.
But who are these modern-day pirates?
According to residents in the Somali region of Puntland where most of the pirates come from, they live a lavish life. Just Like Wall Street.
Fashionable
"They have money; they have power and they are getting stronger by the day," says Abdi Farah Juha who lives in the regional capital, Garowe. Just Like Wall Street.
"They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns," he says. Just Like Wall Street.
"Piracy in many ways is socially acceptable. They have become fashionable."
Most of them are aged between 20 and 35 years - in it for the money. Not just like wall street
And the rewards they receive are rich in a country where almost half the population need food aid after 17 years of non-stop conflict.
Most vessels captured in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden fetch on average a ransom of $2m. Just Like Wall Street.
This is why their hostages are well looked after.
The BBC's reporter in Puntland, Ahmed Mohamed Ali, says it also explains the tight operation the pirates run.
They are never seen fighting because the promise of money keeps them together.
Wounded pirates are seldom seen and our reporter says he has never heard of residents along Puntland's coast finding a body washed ashore.
Given Somalia's history of clan warfare, this is quite a feat.
It probably explains why a report of a deadly shoot-out amongst the pirates onboard the MV Faina was denied by the vessel's hijackers.
Pirate spokesman Sugule Ali told the BBC Somali Service at the time: "Everybody is happy. We were firing guns to celebrate Eid." Just Like Wall Street.
Brains, muscle and geeks
The MV Faina was initially attacked by a gang of 62 men.
BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed says such pirate gangs are usually made up of three different types:
Ex-fishermen, who are considered the brains of the operation because they know the sea
Ex-militiamen, who are considered the muscle - having fought for various Somali clan warlords
The technical experts, who are the computer geeks and know how to operate the hi-tech equipment needed to operate as a pirate - satellite phones, GPS and military hardware.
The three groups share the ever-increasing illicit profits - ransoms paid in cash by the shipping companies. Just Like Wall Street.
A report by UK think-tank Chatham House says piracy off the coast of Somalia has cost up to $30m (£17m) in ransoms so far this year.
The study also notes that the pirates are becoming more aggressive and assertive - something the initial $22m ransom demanded for MV Faina proves. The asking price has apparently since fallen to $8m.
Calling the shots
Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, is reportedly where the pirates get most of their weapons from.
A significant number are also bought directly from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Observers say Mogadishu weapon dealers receive deposits for orders via a "hawala" company - an informal money transfer system based on honour.
Militiamen then drive the arms north to the pirates in Puntland, where they are paid the balance on delivery.
It has been reported in the past that wealthy businessmen in Dubai were financing the pirates. Just Like Wall Street.
But the BBC's Somali Service says these days it is the businessmen asking the pirates for loans.
Such success is a great attraction for Puntland's youngsters, who have little hope of alternative careers in the war-torn country.
Once a pirate makes his fortune, he tends to take on a second and third wife - often very young women from poor nomadic clans, who are renowned for their beauty.
But not everyone is smitten by Somalia's new elite.
"This piracy has a negative impact on several aspects of our life in Garowe," resident Mohamed Hassan laments.
He cites an escalating lack of security because "hundreds of armed men" are coming to join the pirates.
They don't call themselves pirates. They call themselves coastguards
Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed - Just Like Wall Street (brokers, hedge funds..).
They have made life more expensive for ordinary people because they "pump huge amounts of US dollars" into the local economy which results in fluctuations in the exchange rate, he says. Just Like Wall Street.
Their lifestyle also makes some unhappy. Just Like Wall Street.
"They promote the use of drugs - chewing khat [a stimulant which keeps one alert] and smoking hashish - and alcohol," Mr Hassan says. Just Like Wall Street.
The trappings of success may be new, but piracy has been a problem in Somali waters for at least 10 years - when Somali fishermen began losing their livelihoods. Just Like Wall Street, I mean Main Street.
Their traditional fishing methods were no match for the illegal trawlers that were raiding their waters.
Piracy initially started along Somalia's southern coast but began shifting north in 2007 - and as a result, the pirate gangs in the Gulf of Aden are now multi-clan operations. Just Like Wall Street.
But Garowe resident Abdulkadil Mohamed says, they do not see themselves as pirates.
"Illegal fishing is the root cause of the piracy problem," he says.
"They call themselves coastguards."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7650415.stm
www.magnet2wealth.com
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Five Reasons Obama's Victory Will Boost Tech Sales
Five Reasons Obama's Victory Will Boost Tech Sales
By Craig Zarley, ChannelWeb
www.magnet2wealth.com
11:40 AM EST Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 Barack Obama's historic win in Tuesday's presidential election signals a new era for how information technology is perceived and implemented in the federal government. Here are five reasons federal government solution providers should feel upbeat about technology sales in 2009 and beyond.
1. Obama Knows How To Leverage Technology To Win
Obama will be the first president who gets it when it comes to leveraging technology to force change. Not only did the Obama campaign use the Web to raise an unprecedented amount of money, the Internet served as the tool to energize and organize thousands of volunteers.
2. Obama Will Use Technology To Transform How Government Works
It's all but certain that the Obama administration, which demonstrated how technology can be a game-changer in the electoral process, will now deploy technology to transform how government works. From clerical workers in the trenches to top managers overseeing big budgets and organizations, expect big changes in how government uses technology to be more efficient and provide more services to citizens. There is a big opportunity for solution providers that can deliver solutions to make government more cost-effective. The emphasis going forward will be on technical solutions that reduce costs and improve services.
3. Green IT Will Become A Priority With Obama's Support
Green IT is no longer a political imperative, but an economic one. Consolidation, virtualization and more energy-efficient systems such as blades and thin clients will be the order of the day because those technologies dramatically cut energy costs and yield quick returns on investment. Saving energy consumption with green IT systems and processes will fit nicely into Obama's commitment to tackle global warming.
4. Antiquated Technology That Doesn't Work Will Be Dumped
Many legacy systems cost too much to operate, aren't efficient and are often impossible to maintain. A president who understands how standardized, inexpensive and readily available technology can change the world won't tolerate ones that drag it down.
5. Obama Will Be The First Internet-Savvy President
We can't emphasize how important this will be in the future. Obama mobilized a grass-roots army of contributors and volunteers to change American politics. Why stop there? Talk about a foreign policy agenda. The internet is a global force that breaks down borders, and a president that understands its power and knows how to use it can't help but bring the world closer together. Any technology solution that can help speed this task will gain quick favor in an Obama-led administration.
By Craig Zarley, ChannelWeb
www.magnet2wealth.com
11:40 AM EST Wed. Nov. 05, 2008 Barack Obama's historic win in Tuesday's presidential election signals a new era for how information technology is perceived and implemented in the federal government. Here are five reasons federal government solution providers should feel upbeat about technology sales in 2009 and beyond.
1. Obama Knows How To Leverage Technology To Win
Obama will be the first president who gets it when it comes to leveraging technology to force change. Not only did the Obama campaign use the Web to raise an unprecedented amount of money, the Internet served as the tool to energize and organize thousands of volunteers.
2. Obama Will Use Technology To Transform How Government Works
It's all but certain that the Obama administration, which demonstrated how technology can be a game-changer in the electoral process, will now deploy technology to transform how government works. From clerical workers in the trenches to top managers overseeing big budgets and organizations, expect big changes in how government uses technology to be more efficient and provide more services to citizens. There is a big opportunity for solution providers that can deliver solutions to make government more cost-effective. The emphasis going forward will be on technical solutions that reduce costs and improve services.
3. Green IT Will Become A Priority With Obama's Support
Green IT is no longer a political imperative, but an economic one. Consolidation, virtualization and more energy-efficient systems such as blades and thin clients will be the order of the day because those technologies dramatically cut energy costs and yield quick returns on investment. Saving energy consumption with green IT systems and processes will fit nicely into Obama's commitment to tackle global warming.
4. Antiquated Technology That Doesn't Work Will Be Dumped
Many legacy systems cost too much to operate, aren't efficient and are often impossible to maintain. A president who understands how standardized, inexpensive and readily available technology can change the world won't tolerate ones that drag it down.
5. Obama Will Be The First Internet-Savvy President
We can't emphasize how important this will be in the future. Obama mobilized a grass-roots army of contributors and volunteers to change American politics. Why stop there? Talk about a foreign policy agenda. The internet is a global force that breaks down borders, and a president that understands its power and knows how to use it can't help but bring the world closer together. Any technology solution that can help speed this task will gain quick favor in an Obama-led administration.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Private Label Rights
Private Label Rights (PLR) products are products in which you will have the rights to change any contents in the product, add in your name as the author of the product, and sell it at any price you desire (and keep 100% of the profits). There are many advantages to these Private Label Rights products and in this article, I will be sharing some of the major ones.
===> Get Rights Here <====
1. Easiest Way To Create Products At A cheap Price
Most of these PLR products cost very little to own, and most of these PLR products are very professionally created - along with the full product, as well as the salesletter. All you need to do is to just add in your name to the product, as well as to the salesletter, and set the price you want to sell the product for, and you are done!
2. PLR Products Help Trigger Creativity
Many people who are in the initial stages of product creation, face with the problem of not knowing where and how to start - And that is where these PLR products come in. The PLR products are professionally written and by reading through the contens, they will help to give you some ideas on what to write, where to start, etc. These PLR products will help trigger your creativity and help you get your own product written.
3. Use PLR Products To Generate Unique Contents For Your Website Easily
Having a headache in coming out with unique contents for your website consistently? That is where PLR products come in - you can break the whole PLR ebook product down into various sections and sub-sections, and use these contents as unique contents for your website.
The above are the top 3 advantages to PLR products. Other than these top 3 advantages, there are numerous opportunities that you can use these PLR products to generate massive income for you. Good luck!
===> Get Rights Here <====
===> Get Rights Here <====
1. Easiest Way To Create Products At A cheap Price
Most of these PLR products cost very little to own, and most of these PLR products are very professionally created - along with the full product, as well as the salesletter. All you need to do is to just add in your name to the product, as well as to the salesletter, and set the price you want to sell the product for, and you are done!
2. PLR Products Help Trigger Creativity
Many people who are in the initial stages of product creation, face with the problem of not knowing where and how to start - And that is where these PLR products come in. The PLR products are professionally written and by reading through the contens, they will help to give you some ideas on what to write, where to start, etc. These PLR products will help trigger your creativity and help you get your own product written.
3. Use PLR Products To Generate Unique Contents For Your Website Easily
Having a headache in coming out with unique contents for your website consistently? That is where PLR products come in - you can break the whole PLR ebook product down into various sections and sub-sections, and use these contents as unique contents for your website.
The above are the top 3 advantages to PLR products. Other than these top 3 advantages, there are numerous opportunities that you can use these PLR products to generate massive income for you. Good luck!
===> Get Rights Here <====
Labels: affiliate rights
Friday, November 07, 2008
The Challenge for The Commander in Chief Obama
Here is the Challenge for The Commander in Chief Obama
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Obama Will Be One of The Greatest (and Most Loved) American Presidents
Huffington Post, Posted October 8, 2008 |
Obama Will Be One of The Greatest (and Most Loved) American Presidents
Great presidents are made great by horrible circumstances combined with character, temperament and intelligence. Like firemen, cops, doctors or soldiers, presidents need a crisis to shine.
Obama is one of the most intelligent presidential aspirants to ever step forward in American history. The likes of his intellectual capabilities have not been surpassed in public life since the Founding Fathers put pen to paper. His personal character is also solid gold. Take heart, America: we have the leader for our times.
I say this as a white, former life-long Republican. I say this as the proud father of a Marine. I say this as just another American watching his pension evaporate along with the stock market! I speak as someone who knows it's time to forget party loyalty, ideology and pride and put the country first. I say this as someone happy to be called a fool for going out on a limb and declaring that, 1) Obama will win, and 2) he is going to be amongst the greatest of American presidents.
Obama is our last best chance. He's worth laying it all on the line for.
This is a man who in the age of greed took the high road of community service. This is the good father and husband. This is the humble servant. This is the patient teacher. This is the scholar statesman. This is the man of deep Christian faith.
Good stories about Obama abound; from his personal relationship with his Secret Service agents (he invites them into his home to watch sports, and shoots hoops with them) to the story about how, more than twenty years ago, while standing in the check-in line at an airport, Obama paid a $100 baggage surcharge for a stranger who was broke and stuck. (Obama was virtually penniless himself in those days.) Years later after he became a senator, that stranger recognized Obama's picture and wrote to him to thank him. She received a kindly note back from the senator. (The story only surfaced because the person, who lives in Norway, told a local newspaper after Obama ran for the presidency. The paper published a photograph of this lady proudly displaying Senator Obama's letter.)
Where many leaders are two-faced; publicly kindly but privately feared and/or hated by people closest to them, Obama is consistent in the way he treats people, consistently kind and personally humble. He lives by the code that those who lead must serve. He believes that. He lives it. He lived it long before he was in the public eye.
Obama puts service ahead of ideology. He also knows that to win politically you need to be tough. He can be. He has been. This is a man who does what works, rather than scoring ideological points. In other words he is the quintessential non-ideological pragmatic American. He will (thank God!) disappoint ideologues and purists of the left and the right.
Obama has a reservoir of personal physical courage that is unmatched in presidential history. Why unmatched? Because as the first black contender for the presidency who will win, Obama, and all the rest of us, know that he is in great physical danger from the seemingly unlimited reserve of unhinged racial hatred, and just plain unhinged ignorant hatred, that swirls in the bowels of our wounded and sinful country. By stepping forward to lead, Obama has literally put his life on the line for all of us in a way no white candidate ever has had to do. (And we all know how dangerous the presidency has been even for white presidents.)
Nice stories or even unparalleled courage isn't the only point. The greater point about Obama is that the midst of our worldwide financial meltdown, an expanding (and losing) war in Afghanistan, trying to extricate our country from a wrong and stupidly mistaken ruinously expensive war in Iraq, our mounting and crushing national debt, awaiting the next (and inevitable) al Qaeda attack on our homeland, watching our schools decline to Third World levels of incompetence, facing a general loss of confidence in the government that has been exacerbated by the Republicans doing all they can to undermine our government's capabilities and programs... President Obama will take on the leadership of our country at a make or break time of historic proportions. He faces not one but dozens of crisis, each big enough to define any presidency in better times.
As luck, fate or divine grace would have it (depending on one's personal theology) Obama is blessedly, dare I say uniquely, well-suited to our dire circumstances. Obama is a person with hands-on community service experience, deep connections to top economic advisers from the renowned University of Chicago where he taught law, and a middle-class background that gives him an abiding knowledgeable empathy with the rest of us. As the son of a single mother, who has worked his way up with merit and brains, recipient of top-notch academic scholarships, the peer-selected editor of the Harvard Law Review and, in three giant political steps to state office, national office and now the presidency, Obama clearly has the wit and drive to lead.
Obama is the sober voice of reason at a time of unreason. He is the fellow keeping his head while all around him are panicking. He is the healing presence at a time of national division and strife. He is also new enough to the political process so that he doesn't suffer from the terminally jaded cynicism, the seen-it-all-before syndrome afflicting most politicians in Washington. In that regard we Americans lucked out. It's as if having despaired of our political process we picked a name from the phone book to lead us and that person turned out to be a very man we needed.
Obama brings a healing and uplifting spiritual quality to our politics at the very time when our worst enemy is fear.. For eight years we've been ruled by a stunted fear-filled mediocrity of a little liar who has expanded his power on the basis of creating fear in others. Fearless Obama is the cure. He speaks a litany of hope rather than a litany of terror.
As we have watched Obama respond in a quiet reasoned manner to crisis after crisis, in both the way he has responded after being attacked and lied about in the 2008 campaign season, to his reasoned response to our multiplying national crises, what we see is the spirit of a trusted family doctor with a great bedside manner. Obama is perfectly suited to hold our hand and lead us through some very tough times. The word panic is not in the Obama dictionary.
America is fighting its 'Armageddon' in one fearful heart at a time. A brilliant leader with the mild manner of an old-time matter-of-fact country doctor soothing a frightened child is just what we need. The fact that our 'doctor' is a black man leading a hitherto white-ruled nation out of the mess of its own making is all the sweeter and raises the Obama story to that of moral allegory.
Obama brings a moral clarity to his leadership reserved for those who have had to work for everything they've gotten and had to do twice as well as the person standing next to them because of the color of their skin. His experience of succeeding in spite of his color, social background and prejudice could have been embittering or one that fostered a spiritual rebirth of forgiveness and enlightenment. Obama radiates the calm inner peace of the spirit of forgiveness.
Speaking as a believing Christian I see the hand of a merciful God in Obama's candidacy. The biblical metaphors abound. The stone the builder rejected is become the cornerstone... the last shall be first... he that would gain his life must first lose it... the meek shall inherit the earth...
For my secular friends I'll allow that we may have just been extraordinarily lucky! Either way America wins.
Only a brilliant man, with the spirit of a preacher and the humble heart of a kindly family doctor can lead us now. We are afraid, out of ideas, and worst of all out of hope. Obama is the cure. And we Americans have it in us to rise to the occasion. We will. We're about to enter one of the most frightening periods of American history. Our country has rarely faced more uncertainty. This is the time for greatness. We have a great leader. We must be a great people backing him, fighting for him, sacrificing for a cause greater than ourselves.
A hundred years from now Obama's portrait will be placed next to that of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Long before that we'll be telling our children and grandchildren that we stepped out in faith and voted for a young black man who stood up and led our country back from the brink of an abyss. We'll tell them about the power of love, faith and hope. We'll tell them about the power of creativity combined with humility and intellectual brilliance. We'll tell them that President Obama gave us the gift of regaining our faith in our country. We'll tell them that we all stood up and pitched in and won the day. We'll tell them that President Obama restored our standing in the world. We'll tell them that by the time he left office our schools were on the mend, our economy booming, that we'd become a nation filled with green energy alternatives and were leading the world away from dependence on carbon-based destruction. We'll tell them that because of President Obama's example and leadership the integrity of the family was restored, divorce rates went down, more fathers took responsibility for their children, and abortion rates fell dramatically as women, families and children were cared for through compassionate social programs that worked. We'll tell them about how the gap closed between the middle class and the super rich, how we won health care for all, how crime rates fell, how bad wars were brought to an honorable conclusion. We'll tell them that when we were attacked again by al Qaeda, how reason prevailed and the response was smart, tough, measured and effective, and our civil rights were protected even in times of crisis...
We'll tell them that we were part of the inexplicably blessed miracle that happened to our country those many years ago in 2008 when a young black man was sent by God, fate or luck to save our country. We'll tell them that it's good to live in America where anything is possible. Yes we will.
Frank Schaeffer is the author of CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back.Now in paperback.
www.magnet2wealth.com
www.thefdisolution.com/212
www.wepromote4u.com
Obama Will Be One of The Greatest (and Most Loved) American Presidents
Great presidents are made great by horrible circumstances combined with character, temperament and intelligence. Like firemen, cops, doctors or soldiers, presidents need a crisis to shine.
Obama is one of the most intelligent presidential aspirants to ever step forward in American history. The likes of his intellectual capabilities have not been surpassed in public life since the Founding Fathers put pen to paper. His personal character is also solid gold. Take heart, America: we have the leader for our times.
I say this as a white, former life-long Republican. I say this as the proud father of a Marine. I say this as just another American watching his pension evaporate along with the stock market! I speak as someone who knows it's time to forget party loyalty, ideology and pride and put the country first. I say this as someone happy to be called a fool for going out on a limb and declaring that, 1) Obama will win, and 2) he is going to be amongst the greatest of American presidents.
Obama is our last best chance. He's worth laying it all on the line for.
This is a man who in the age of greed took the high road of community service. This is the good father and husband. This is the humble servant. This is the patient teacher. This is the scholar statesman. This is the man of deep Christian faith.
Good stories about Obama abound; from his personal relationship with his Secret Service agents (he invites them into his home to watch sports, and shoots hoops with them) to the story about how, more than twenty years ago, while standing in the check-in line at an airport, Obama paid a $100 baggage surcharge for a stranger who was broke and stuck. (Obama was virtually penniless himself in those days.) Years later after he became a senator, that stranger recognized Obama's picture and wrote to him to thank him. She received a kindly note back from the senator. (The story only surfaced because the person, who lives in Norway, told a local newspaper after Obama ran for the presidency. The paper published a photograph of this lady proudly displaying Senator Obama's letter.)
Where many leaders are two-faced; publicly kindly but privately feared and/or hated by people closest to them, Obama is consistent in the way he treats people, consistently kind and personally humble. He lives by the code that those who lead must serve. He believes that. He lives it. He lived it long before he was in the public eye.
Obama puts service ahead of ideology. He also knows that to win politically you need to be tough. He can be. He has been. This is a man who does what works, rather than scoring ideological points. In other words he is the quintessential non-ideological pragmatic American. He will (thank God!) disappoint ideologues and purists of the left and the right.
Obama has a reservoir of personal physical courage that is unmatched in presidential history. Why unmatched? Because as the first black contender for the presidency who will win, Obama, and all the rest of us, know that he is in great physical danger from the seemingly unlimited reserve of unhinged racial hatred, and just plain unhinged ignorant hatred, that swirls in the bowels of our wounded and sinful country. By stepping forward to lead, Obama has literally put his life on the line for all of us in a way no white candidate ever has had to do. (And we all know how dangerous the presidency has been even for white presidents.)
Nice stories or even unparalleled courage isn't the only point. The greater point about Obama is that the midst of our worldwide financial meltdown, an expanding (and losing) war in Afghanistan, trying to extricate our country from a wrong and stupidly mistaken ruinously expensive war in Iraq, our mounting and crushing national debt, awaiting the next (and inevitable) al Qaeda attack on our homeland, watching our schools decline to Third World levels of incompetence, facing a general loss of confidence in the government that has been exacerbated by the Republicans doing all they can to undermine our government's capabilities and programs... President Obama will take on the leadership of our country at a make or break time of historic proportions. He faces not one but dozens of crisis, each big enough to define any presidency in better times.
As luck, fate or divine grace would have it (depending on one's personal theology) Obama is blessedly, dare I say uniquely, well-suited to our dire circumstances. Obama is a person with hands-on community service experience, deep connections to top economic advisers from the renowned University of Chicago where he taught law, and a middle-class background that gives him an abiding knowledgeable empathy with the rest of us. As the son of a single mother, who has worked his way up with merit and brains, recipient of top-notch academic scholarships, the peer-selected editor of the Harvard Law Review and, in three giant political steps to state office, national office and now the presidency, Obama clearly has the wit and drive to lead.
Obama is the sober voice of reason at a time of unreason. He is the fellow keeping his head while all around him are panicking. He is the healing presence at a time of national division and strife. He is also new enough to the political process so that he doesn't suffer from the terminally jaded cynicism, the seen-it-all-before syndrome afflicting most politicians in Washington. In that regard we Americans lucked out. It's as if having despaired of our political process we picked a name from the phone book to lead us and that person turned out to be a very man we needed.
Obama brings a healing and uplifting spiritual quality to our politics at the very time when our worst enemy is fear.. For eight years we've been ruled by a stunted fear-filled mediocrity of a little liar who has expanded his power on the basis of creating fear in others. Fearless Obama is the cure. He speaks a litany of hope rather than a litany of terror.
As we have watched Obama respond in a quiet reasoned manner to crisis after crisis, in both the way he has responded after being attacked and lied about in the 2008 campaign season, to his reasoned response to our multiplying national crises, what we see is the spirit of a trusted family doctor with a great bedside manner. Obama is perfectly suited to hold our hand and lead us through some very tough times. The word panic is not in the Obama dictionary.
America is fighting its 'Armageddon' in one fearful heart at a time. A brilliant leader with the mild manner of an old-time matter-of-fact country doctor soothing a frightened child is just what we need. The fact that our 'doctor' is a black man leading a hitherto white-ruled nation out of the mess of its own making is all the sweeter and raises the Obama story to that of moral allegory.
Obama brings a moral clarity to his leadership reserved for those who have had to work for everything they've gotten and had to do twice as well as the person standing next to them because of the color of their skin. His experience of succeeding in spite of his color, social background and prejudice could have been embittering or one that fostered a spiritual rebirth of forgiveness and enlightenment. Obama radiates the calm inner peace of the spirit of forgiveness.
Speaking as a believing Christian I see the hand of a merciful God in Obama's candidacy. The biblical metaphors abound. The stone the builder rejected is become the cornerstone... the last shall be first... he that would gain his life must first lose it... the meek shall inherit the earth...
For my secular friends I'll allow that we may have just been extraordinarily lucky! Either way America wins.
Only a brilliant man, with the spirit of a preacher and the humble heart of a kindly family doctor can lead us now. We are afraid, out of ideas, and worst of all out of hope. Obama is the cure. And we Americans have it in us to rise to the occasion. We will. We're about to enter one of the most frightening periods of American history. Our country has rarely faced more uncertainty. This is the time for greatness. We have a great leader. We must be a great people backing him, fighting for him, sacrificing for a cause greater than ourselves.
A hundred years from now Obama's portrait will be placed next to that of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Long before that we'll be telling our children and grandchildren that we stepped out in faith and voted for a young black man who stood up and led our country back from the brink of an abyss. We'll tell them about the power of love, faith and hope. We'll tell them about the power of creativity combined with humility and intellectual brilliance. We'll tell them that President Obama gave us the gift of regaining our faith in our country. We'll tell them that we all stood up and pitched in and won the day. We'll tell them that President Obama restored our standing in the world. We'll tell them that by the time he left office our schools were on the mend, our economy booming, that we'd become a nation filled with green energy alternatives and were leading the world away from dependence on carbon-based destruction. We'll tell them that because of President Obama's example and leadership the integrity of the family was restored, divorce rates went down, more fathers took responsibility for their children, and abortion rates fell dramatically as women, families and children were cared for through compassionate social programs that worked. We'll tell them about how the gap closed between the middle class and the super rich, how we won health care for all, how crime rates fell, how bad wars were brought to an honorable conclusion. We'll tell them that when we were attacked again by al Qaeda, how reason prevailed and the response was smart, tough, measured and effective, and our civil rights were protected even in times of crisis...
We'll tell them that we were part of the inexplicably blessed miracle that happened to our country those many years ago in 2008 when a young black man was sent by God, fate or luck to save our country. We'll tell them that it's good to live in America where anything is possible. Yes we will.
Frank Schaeffer is the author of CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back.Now in paperback.
www.magnet2wealth.com
www.thefdisolution.com/212
www.wepromote4u.com
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Bail-Out-Bull
* Why the bailout is a sham, how we got here, and what happened to the America we used to know and love.
* How to rescue your retirement with up to 78 personal "bailout" checks instead, paid direct to your account over the next 24 months.
* And how to salvage the financial security of your children, your grandchildren and America itself.
magnet2wealth.com
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