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2006-07-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

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Most recent update - 7/28/07.

Current Events!!!

2006-07-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ideas cannot be killed

Fidel Castro, The Guardian

A few days ago, while analysing the expenses involved in the construction of three submarines of the Astute series, I said that with this money "75,000 doctors could be trained to look after 150 million people, assuming that the cost of training a doctor would be one-third of what it costs in the United States." Now, along the lines of the same calculations, I wonder: how many doctors could be graduated with the one hundred billion dollars that Bush gets his hands on in just one year to keep on sowing grief in Iraqi and American homes. Answer: 999,990 doctors who could look after 2 billion people who today do not receive any medical care.

More than 600,000 people have lost their lives in Iraq and more than 2 million have been forced to emigrate since the American invasion began. In the United States, around 50 million people do not have medical insurance. The blind market laws govern how this vital service is provided, and prices make it inaccessible for many, even in the developed countries. Medical services feed into the gross domestic product of the United States, but they do not generate conscience for those providing them nor peace of mind for those who receive them.

The countries with less development and more diseases have the least number of medical doctors: one for every 5,000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 or more people.

When new sexually transmitted diseases appear such as Aids, which in merely 20 years has killed millions of persons—while tens of millions are afflicted, among them many mothers and children, although palliative measures now exist—the price of medications per patient could add up to 5,000, 10,000 or up to 15,000 dollars each year. These are fantasy figures for the great majority of Third World countries where the few public hospitals are overflowing with the ill who die piled up like animals under the scourge of a sudden epidemic.

To reflect on these realities could help us to better understand the tragedy. It is not a matter of commercial advertising that costs so much money and technology. Add up the starvation afflicting hundreds of millions of human beings; add to that the idea of transforming food into fuels; look for a symbol and the answer will be George Bush.

When he was recently asked by an important personality about his Cuba policy, his answer was this: "I am a hard-line president and I am just waiting for Castro's demise." The wishes of such a powerful gentleman are no privilege. I am not the first nor will I be the last that Bush has ordered to be killed; nor one of those people who he intends to go on killing individually or en masse.

"Ideas cannot be killed," Sarría emphatically said. Sarría was the black lieutenant, a patrol leader in Batista's army who arrested us, after the attempt to seize the Moncada Garrison, while three of us slept in a small mountain hut, exhausted by the effort of breaking through the siege. The soldiers, fuelled by hatred and adrenalin, were aiming their weapons at me even before they had identified who I was. "Ideas cannot be killed," the black lieutenant said.

I dedicate those excellent words to you, Mr Bush.

We're # 1: A Nation of Firsts Arms the World

By Frida Berrigan

They don't call us the sole superpower for nothing. Paul Wolfowitz might be looking for a new job right now, but the term he used to describe the pervasiveness of U.S. might back when he was a mere deputy secretary of defense—hyperpower—still fits the bill. Face it, the United States is a proud nation of firsts. Among them:

First in Oil Consumption: The United States burns up 20.7 million barrels per day, the equivalent of the oil consumption of China, Japan, Germany, Russia, and India combined.

First in Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Each year, world polluters pump 24,126,416,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment. The United States and its territories are responsible for 5.8 billion metric tons of this, more than China (3.3 billion), Russia (1.4 billion) and India (1.2 billion) combined.

First in External Debt: The United States owes $10.040 trillion, nearly a quarter of the global debt total of $44 trillion.

First in Military Expenditures: The White House has requested $481 billion for the Department of Defense for 2008, but this huge figure does not come close to representing total U.S. military expenditures projected for the coming year. To get a sense of the resources allocated to the military, the costs of the global war on terrorism, of the building, refurbishing, or maintaining of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and other expenses also need to be factored in.

Military analyst Winslow Wheeler did the math recently: "Add $142 billion to cover the anticipated costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; add $17 billion requested for nuclear weapons costs in the Department of Energy; add another $5 billion for miscellaneous defense costs in other agencies…. and you get a grand total of $647 billion for 2008."

Taking another approach to the use of U.S. resources, Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard Business School lecturer Linda Bilmes added to known costs of the war in Iraq invisible costs like its impact on global oil prices as well as the long-term cost of health care for wounded veterans and came up with a price tag of between 1 trillion and $2.2 trillion.

If we turned what the United States will spend on the military in 2008 into small bills, we could give each one of the world's more than 1 billion teenagers and young adults an Xbox 360 with wireless controller (power supply in remote rural areas not included) and two video games to play: maybe Gears of War and Command and Conquer would be appropriate. But if we're committed to fighting obesity, maybe Dance Dance Revolution would be a better bet. The United States alone spends what the rest of the world combined devotes to military expenditures.

First in Weapons Sales: Since 2001, U.S. global military sales have normally totaled between $10 and $13 billion. That's a lot of weapons, but in fiscal year 2006, the Pentagon broke its own recent record, inking arms sales agreements worth $21 billion. It almost goes without saying that this is significantly more than any other nation in the world.

In this gold-medal tally of firsts, there can be no question that things that go bang in the night are our proudest products. No one makes more of them or sells them more effectively than we do. When it comes to the sorts of firsts that once went with a classic civilian manufacturing base, however, gold medals are in short supply. To take an example:

Not First in Automobiles: Once, Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford ruled the domestic and global roost, setting the standard for the automotive industry. Not any more. In 2006, the U.S. imported almost $150 billion more in vehicles and auto parts than it sent abroad. Automotive analyst Joe Barker told the Boston Globe, "it's a very tough environment" for the so-called Detroit Three. "In times of softening demand, consumers typically will look to brands that they trust and rely on. Consumers trust and rely on Japanese brands."

But why be gloomy? Stick with arms sales and it's dawn in America every day of the year. Sometimes, the weapons industry pretends that it's like any other trade—especially when it's pushing our congressional representatives (as it always does) for fewer restrictions and regulations. But don't be fooled. Arms aren't automobiles. They are the way the USA can always be number one—and everyone wants them.

The odds that, in your lifetime, there will ever be a $128 billion trade deficit in weapons are essentially nil. Arms are our real gold-medal event.

First in Sales of Surface-to-Air Missiles: Between 2001 and 2005, the United States delivered 2,099 surface-to-air missiles to nations in the developing world, 20% more than Russia, the next largest supplier.

First in Sales of Military Ships: During that same period, the U.S. sent 10 "major surface combatants" like aircraft carriers and destroyers to developing nations. Collectively, the four major European weapons producers shipped thirteen. (And we were first in the anti-ship missiles that go along with such ships, with nearly double (338) the exports of the next largest supplier Russia (180).

First in Military Training: A thoughtful empire knows that it is not enough to send weapons; you have to teach people how to use them. The Pentagon plans on training the militaries of 138 nations in 2008 at a cost of nearly $90 million. No other nation comes close.

First in Private Military Personnel: According to bestselling author Jeremy Scahill, there are at least 126,000 private military personnel deployed alongside uniformed military personnel in Iraq alone. Of the more than sixty major companies that supply such personnel worldwide, more than 40 are U.S. based.

Rest assured, governments around the world, often at each others' throats, will want U.S. weapons long after their people have turned up their noses at a range of once dominant American consumer goods.

Just a few days ago, for instance, the "trade" publication Defense News reported that Turkey and the United States signed a $1.78 billion deal for Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter planes. As it happens, these planes are already ubiquitous—Israel flies them, so does the United Arab Emirates, Poland, South Korea, Venezuela, Oman and Portugal, not to speak of most other modern air forces. In many ways, F-16 is not just a high-tech fighter jet, it's also a symbol of U.S. backing and friendship. Buying our weaponry is one of the few ways you can actually join the American imperial project!

In order to remain number one in the competitive jet field, Lockheed Martin, for example, does far more than just sell airplanes. TAI—Turkey's aerospace corporation—will receive a boost with this sale, because Lockheed Martin is handing over responsibility for parts of production, assembly, and testing to Turkish workers. The Turkish Air Force already has 215 F-16 fighter planes and plans to buy 100 of Lockheed Martin's new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as well, in a deal estimated at $10.7 billion over the next 15 years.

Here's the strange thing, though: This genuine, gold-medal manufacturing-and-sales job on weapons simply never gets the attention it deserves. As a result, most Americans have no idea how proud they should be of our weapons manufacturers and the Pentagon—essentially our global sales force—that makes sure our weapons travel the planet and regularly demonstrates their value in small wars from Latin America to Central Asia.

Of course, there's tons of data on the weapons trade, but who knows about any of it? I'm typical here. I help produce one of a dozen or so sober annual (or semi-annual) reports quantifying the business of war-making. In my case: the Arms Trade Resource Center report, U.S. Weapons at War: Fueling Conflict or Promoting Freedom? These reports get desultory, obligatory press attention—but only once in a blue moon do they get the sort of full-court-press treatment that befits our number one product line.

Dense collections of facts, percentages, and comparisons don't seem to fit particularly well into the usual patchwork of front-page stories. And yet the mainstream press is a glory ride, compared to the TV News, which hardly acknowledges most of the time that the weapons business even exists.

In any case, that inside-the-fold, fact-heavy, wonky news story on the arms trade, however useful, can't possibly convey the gold-medal feel of a business that has always preferred the shadows to the sun. No reader checking out such a piece is going to feel much—except maybe overwhelmed by facts. The connection between the factory that makes a weapons system and the community where that weapon "does its duty" is invariably missing-in-action, as are the relationships among the companies making the weapons and the generals (on-duty and retired) and politicians making the deals, or raking in their own cut of the profits for themselves and/or their constituencies. In other words, our most successful (and most deadly) export remains our most invisible one.

Maybe the only way to break through this paralysis of analysis would be to stop talking about weapons exports as a trade at all. Maybe we shouldn't be using economic language to describe it. Yes, the weapons industry has associations, lobby groups, and trade shows. They have the same exhibits, scale models, and picked-over buffets as any other industry; still, maybe we have to stop thinking about the export of fighter planes and precision-guided missiles as if they were so many widgets and start thinking about them in another language entirely—the language of drugs.

After all, what does a drug dealer do? He creates a need and then fills it. He encourages an appetite or (even more lucratively) an addiction and then feeds it.

Arms dealers do the same thing. They suggest to foreign officials that their military just might need a slight upgrade. After all, they'll point out, haven't you noticed that your neighbor just upgraded in jets, submarines, and tanks? And didn't you guys fight a war a few years back? Doesn't that make you feel insecure? And why feel insecure for another moment when, for just a few billion bucks, we'll get you suited up with the latest model military… even better than what we sold them—or you the last time around.

Why does Turkey, which already has 215 fighter planes, need 100 extras in an even higher-tech version? It doesn't… but Lockheed Martin, working the Pentagon, made them think they did. We don't need stronger arms control laws, we need a global sobriety coach—and some kind of 12-step program for the dealer-nation as well.

Frida Berrigan is a Senior Research Associate at the World Policy Institute's Arms Trade Resource Center.

Thoughts of the Day

2006-07-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

"Friendship isn't a big thing; it's a million little things."—Source Unknown

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge."—Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, Scottish Philosopher and Author

"Love is not finding someone you can live with, it's finding someone you can't live without."—Rafael Ortiz

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving."—Dale Carnegie

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."—Stephen King

"Live out of your imagination, not your history."—Stephen Covey

"Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability."—Roy L. Smith

Thoughts on character

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."—Phillips Brooks

"Adversity is a severe instructor, set over us by one who knows us better than we do ourselves, as he loves us better too. He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This conflict with difficulty makes us acquainted with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial."—Edmund Burke

"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it."—John Ruskin

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved."—Helen Keller

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving."—Dale Carnegie

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."—Thomas Paine

"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it."—Marcus Aurelius

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."—Frank Outlaw

"No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing."—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Poet and Essayist

"If you can't be happy where you are, it's a cinch you can't be happy where you ain't."—Charlie Tremendous Jones

"Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching."—Thomas Jefferson (1743-1846), 3rd U. S. President

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional."—Roger Crawford

"The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort."—John Ortberg

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back."—William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870) Historian and writer

"The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease."—Voltaire

"Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."—Edward Stanley, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."—Sir Winston Churchill

"Will you be satisfied with the fruit of your life's work? Will the efforts you are making now bring you satisfaction when the things of time are receding and eternity looms ahead?"—Raymond L. Cox

"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."—Chinese Proverb

"It's not what you are that holds you back. It's what you think you're not."—Denis Waitley

"Find the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them and you have found a lover for life."—Leo Buscaglia, 1924-1998, American Author

"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose."—C.S. Lewis

"My Lord, I have nothing to do in this world, but to seek and serve Thee; I have nothing to do with my heart and its affections, but to breathe after Thee. I have nothing to do with my tongue and pen, but to speak to Thee, and for Thee, and to publish Thy glory and Thy will."—Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

"A man must seek his happiness and inward peace from objects which cannot be taken away from him."—Alexander Humboldt (1769-1859), Naturalist and explorer

"You were born rich, with 18 billion bountiful, beautiful, totally available and in all probability underused brain cells awaiting your desire, decision and directional compass to take you onward, upward, and Godward."—Mark Victor Hansen

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."—Erich Fromm

"No one travels so high as he who knows not where he is going."—Oliver Cromwell

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward."—Vernon Law

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves."—Dale Carnegie

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."—Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."—Anthony Robbins

"Man should not consider his material possessions his own, but common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need."—Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) Philosopher

"Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even."—Ann Landers

"Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning."—Frederick W. Faber

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."—Thomas Paine, 1737-1809, English-born Pamphleteer ("Common Sense") and Founding Father of the United States

"Hugging is a means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each other."—Author unknown

"Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect, it will be fish."—Ovid

"The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money."—Bernard Meltzer

"The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success."—Vauvenargues

"Instead of looking for a miracle in your life, look to see if you are the miracle in someone else's life."—Nola Rohde Vollmer

Thoughts on Healthy Debates

"Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress."—Gandhi

"I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me."— Dave Barry, American humorist, author, journalist

"Couples who never argue are 35 per cent more likely to divorce. On the surface, that seems like a strange finding, since we associate arguments with bad outcomes, but an inability to share frustration is a dangerous thing. If you don't argue, [frustrations] build up within you until they get bigger and bigger."—David Niven, psychologist, Florida Atlantic University and author of The 100 Simple Secrets of Relationships.

"Many times, often with the best of intentions, people at work decide it's more productive to remain silent about their differences than to air them. But as new research….shows, silencing doesn't smooth things over or make people more productive. It merely pushes differences beneath the surface and can set in motion powerfully destructive forces."—Leslie Perlow and Stephanie Williams, "Is Silence Killing Your Company?" Harvard Business Review

"No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley."—Seneca the Younger

The Millau Viaduct - the highest bridge in the world spanning the River Tarn Talley.

2006-07-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Links...

2006-07-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Link To Video Exposing the Bush Connection To The Florida Election Scandal

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6164809897767438853

Link to Video Challenging the Myth that Global Warning is Caused by the "Greenhouse Effect"

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4499562022478442170

Signs of the Times

2006-06-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

Iran demands oil pay in yen, not dollars

Robert Lindsay, The London Times

The dollar was driven down against the Japanese yen this afternoon, hit by the news that Iran had asked Japan to pay for its oil purchases in the Japanese currency and not in dollars.

Iran has sent a letter to Japanese refiners, signed by Ali A Arshi, the general manager of crude marketing and exports for Iran's national Iranian Oil Company, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The letter asks for yen payments "for any/all of your forthcoming Iranian crude oil liftings." The request is for all shipments "effective immediately".

Japan's oil payments to Iran rose 12 per cent last year to 1.24 trillion yen (£5 billion).

Iran has been deliberately moving its exposure to the dollar and dollar-based assets, faced with the threat that the US could freeze its US-based dollar accounts in response to its nuclear plans.

Three big oil producing nations—Iran, Venezuela and Russia—have all been moving much of their foreign currency reserves from dollars to euros in recent months.

The latest move can only add to the long term pressure on the dollar, already hit by worries about the US economy based on the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market.

Dare We Call It Tyranny?

by Sheldon Richman

The American people's response to President Bush's "war on terror" should be … terror. The administration, sometimes with Congress's complicity:

* is preparing for a 50-year stay in Iraq, complete with 14 military bases and an embassy larger than the Vatican. (Can there be a better recruiting program for al Qaeda?)

* has abolished habeas corpus, the principle that for centuries has protected people from arbitrary confinement, for noncitizens declared to be "enemy combatants." (While the federal courts have upheld the abolition of habeas corpus for detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere overseas, fortunately an appellate court has just ruled against the administration in the case of a legal U.S. resident, Kahlah al-Marri, arrested in the United States, a ruling the administration is appealing.)

* unilaterally claims the power to use "enhanced interrogation techniques"—torture—on suspected terrorists and to turn them over to foreign governments known to torture prisoners. This has been done to persons later cleared of wrongdoing.

* runs secret CIA prisons in Europe and elsewhere. Thirty-nine persons seized abroad and believed to have been in U.S. custody have disappeared, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

* violates our privacy by secretly accessing foreign phone calls, e-mails, and financial and other records—approved, if at all, only by a rubber-stamp "court."

* conducts searches without notice or judicially issued warrants. The administration's assurances that it does not engage in misconduct are worth little, considering what has already come to light.

To hold onto the support of the American people for this dictatorial power, the Bush administration has engaged in its own form of terrorism by exposing domestic "plots" involving small rag-tag groups allegedly bent on, among other things, attacking Fort Dix and blowing up fuel tanks and pipelines near JFK International Airport.

The pipeline plot, U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf said, "could have resulted in unfathomable damage, deaths and destruction." Yet people who actually understand these things say this is far-fetched.

It looks as though we are being terrorized by the government. To be sure, there must be a few people in the country who, for whatever reason, talk about blowing something up. But skepticism about these supposed threats is in order: the alleged plotters were exposed by FBI informants trying to get their own criminal sentences reduced.

There is a fine line between an informant desperate to cooperate with law enforcement and an agent provocateur—the facts are easily concealed.

The government's past conduct justifies suspicion. Remember Jose Padilla. He first came to our attention in 2002 when then-Attorney General John Ashcroft interrupted a visit to Russia to make a dramatic television announcement that Padilla, an American citizen, had been seized in Chicago for allegedly planning to detonate a dirty (radiation) bomb in the United States. For years Padilla, a former gang leader who talked big, was held—uncharged—in solitary confinement (tortured and drugged, he says) by the military as an unlawful enemy combatant. When he asked the courts to review his detention, the Bush administration objected on grounds that Padilla was entitled to no protections accorded criminal defendants.

He eventually got his case into court, but an initially favorable decision was reversed on appeal. Before the Supreme Court could hear the case, the government moved it to the civilian courts, and Padilla is now standing trial. But he was not charged with plotting to set off a dirty bomb in the United States. Instead, he was charged with planning to commit terrorism in other countries. The U.S. government is the world's policeman.

Avoiding the Supreme Court by taking Padilla to criminal trial enabled the administration to protect its power to hold "enemy combatants" without charge indefinitely, but now the al-Marri ruling makes it a virtual certainty the issue will go to the Supreme Court.

If the administration prevails, Padilla's acquittal wouldn't guarantee his freedom.

Presidential power grabs and unlikely plots: if this doesn't add up to tyranny, what would?

The wrath of 2007: America's great drought

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles, The Independent

America is facing its worst summer drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Or perhaps worse still.

From the mountains and desert of the West, now into an eighth consecutive dry year, to the wheat farms of Alabama, where crops are failing because of rainfall levels 12 inches lower than usual, to the vast soupy expanse of Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, which has become so dry it actually caught fire a couple of weeks ago, a continent is crying out for water.

In the south-east, usually a lush, humid region, it is the driest few months since records began in 1895. California and Nevada, where burgeoning population centres co-exist with an often harsh, barren landscape, have seen less rain over the past year than at any time since 1924. The Sierra Nevada range, which straddles the two states, received only 27 per cent of its usual snowfall in winter, with immediate knock-on effects on water supplies for the populations of Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The human impact, for the moment, has been limited, certainly nothing compared to the great westward migration of Okies in the 1930—the desperate march described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath.

Big farmers are now well protected by government subsidies and emergency funds, and small farmers, some of whom are indeed struggling, have been slowly moving off the land for decades anyway. The most common inconvenience, for the moment, are restrictions on hosepipes and garden sprinklers in eastern cities.

But the long-term implications are escaping nobody. Climatologists see a growing volatility in the south-east's weather—today's drought coming close on the heels of devastating hurricanes two to three years ago. In the West, meanwhile, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests a movement towards a state of perpetual drought by the middle of this century. "The 1930s drought lasted less than a decade. This is something that could remain for 100 years," said Richard Seager a climatologist at Columbia University and lead researcher of a report published recently by the government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

While some of this year's dry weather is cyclical—California actually had an unusually wet year last year, so many of the state's farmers still have plenty of water for their crops—some of it portends more permanent changes. In Arizona, the tall mountains in the southern Sonoran desert known as "sky islands" because they have been welcome refuges from the desert heat for millennia, have already shown unmistakable signs of change.

Predatory insects have started ravaging trees already weakened by record temperatures and fires over the past few years. Animal species such as frogs and red squirrels have been forced to move ever higher up the mountains in search of cooler temperatures, and are in danger of dying out altogether. Mount Lemmon, which rises above the city of Tucson, boasts the southernmost ski resort in the US, but has barely attracted any snow these past few years.

"A lot of people think climate change and the ecological repercussions are 50 years away," Thomas Swetnam, an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, told The New York Times a few months ago. "But it's happening now in the West. The data is telling us that we are in the middle of one of the first big indicators of climate change impacts in the continental United States." Across the West, farmers and city water consumers are locked in a perennial battle over water rights—one that the cities are slowly winning.

Down the line, though, there are serious questions about how to keep showers and lawn sprinklers going in the retirement communities of Nevada and Arizona. Lake Powell, the reservoir on the upper Colorado River that helps provide water across a vast expanse of the West, has been less than half full for years, with little prospect of filling up in the foreseeable future.

According to the NOAA's recent report, the West can expect 10-20 per cent less rainfall by mid-century, which will increase air pollution in the cities, kill off trees and water-retaining giant cactus plants and shrink the available water supply by as much as 25 per cent.

In the south-east, the crisis is immediate—and may be alleviated at any moment by the arrival of the tropical storm season. In Georgia, where the driest spring on record followed closely on the heels of a devastating frost, farmers are afraid they might lose anywhere from half to two-thirds of crops such as melons and the state's celebrated peaches. Many cities are restricting lawn sprinklers to one hour per day—and some places one hour only every other day.

The most striking effect of the dry weather has been to expose large parts of the bed of Lake Okeechobee, the vast circular expanse of water east of Palm Beach, Florida, which acts as a back-up water supply for five million Floridians. Archaeologists have had a field day—dredging the soil for human bone fragments, tools, bits of pottery and ceremonial jewellery thought to have belonged to the natives who lived near the lake before the Spanish arrived in the 16th century.

Nothing, though, was so strange as the fires that broke out over about 12,000 acres on the northern edge of the lake at the end of May. They were eventually doused by Tropical Storm Barry last weekend. State water managers, however, say it will may take a whole summer of rainstorms, or longer, to restore the lake.

Are the Hitler Parallels Too Close for Comfort?

By John W. Whitehead, Rutherford Institute

On May 9, 2007, with little attention from the snoozing media, George W. Bush issued a "presidential directive" that allows him to assume control of the federal government following a "catastrophic emergency."

Although the directive doesn't specifically identify the types of emergencies that would qualify as "catastrophic," it is vague enough to encompass "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function." As Matthew Rothschild of The Progressive noted, it could include "another 9/11, or another Katrina, or a major earthquake in California." In fact, the language is so broad that it could include almost anything the public is led to believe might have a major impact on the country. Not surprisingly, the president's order comes neatly packaged within the trappings of national security and safety.

This directive followed on the heels of a bill, which I have previously written about here, that was pushed through Congress and which gave the president the power to declare martial law and establish a dictatorship. Under these provisions, the president can now use the military as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, disease outbreak, terrorist attack or any "other condition."

In other words, the groundwork has been laid for the president of the United States to do away with our democracy, such as it is, and establish a dictatorship. The president, in effect, has become a power unto himself.

Having said that, I'm aware that I have opened myself up to accusations of paranoia and alarmist sentiment. However, if it is paranoid or alarmist to recognize the potential for abuse and urge Americans to guard against it, then so be it. It's time to sound the alarm.

If we continue down this road, there can be no surprise about what awaits us at the end. After all, it is a tale that has been told time and again throughout history. For example, over 70 years ago, the citizens of another democratic world power elected a leader who promised to protect them from all dangers. In return for this protection, and under the auspice of fighting terrorism, he was given absolute power.

This leader went to great lengths to make his rise to power appear both legal and necessary, masterfully manipulating much of the citizenry and their government leaders. Unnerved by threats of domestic terrorism and foreign invaders, the people had little idea that the domestic turmoil of the times—such as street rioting and the fear of Communism taking over the country—was staged by the leader in an effort to create fear and later capitalize on it. In the ensuing months, this charismatic leader ushered in a series of legislative measures that suspended civil liberties and habeas corpus rights and empowered him as a dictator.

On March 23, 1933, the nation's legislative body passed the Enabling Act, formally referred to as the "Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation," which appeared benign and allowed the leader to pass laws by decree in times of emergency. What it succeeded in doing, however, was ensuring that the leader became a law unto himself. The leader's name was Adolf Hitler. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Yet history has a way of repeating itself. Hitler's rise to power should serve as a stark lesson to always be leery of granting any government leader sweeping powers. But we are clearly not heeding that lesson.

Americans are being lulled to sleep by the government's constant warning that terror and destruction lurk around the corner. Color-coded terrorism threat levels and reports of alleged terrorism plots are constantly paraded before us.

Indeed, since 9/11, the American people have been kept in a state of constant fear and expectation of yet another terrorist attack or, more subtly, another Katrina. Thus, while the recent spate of directives giving the U.S. president broad powers to supposedly ensure America's safety and security from terrorism and natural disaster should serve as a warning, they have caused barely a ripple among the media or the masses.

President Bush has assured us that he will do whatever it takes to keep America safe, and Americans have blindly trusted him. How did he reward that trust? First, he claimed the authority to permanently imprison American citizens alleged to be so-called "enemy combatants." Then he asserted his right to order government intelligence agencies to not only spy on America's enemies but also on Americans. Now he has quietly and unobtrusively granted himself the power to take control of the government in the event of a vaguely defined national emergency.

James Madison, the father of our Constitution, said that Americans should take alarm at the first experiment upon their liberties. But this latest "presidential directive" is not the first attack on our liberties, and I dare say it will not be the last. We'd better open our eyes soon, lest we wake up one morning and find that we live under a new regime. Only, this time, it will be one of our own making.

Drought: A New Norm Across the Nation?

By Patrick O'Driscoll, USA Today

Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental United States. And it's spreading.

As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly index of conditions.

"The only good news about drought is it forces us to pay attention to water management," says Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a think tank in Oakland that stresses efficient water use.

Gleick says water managers are not reacting forcefully enough to the drought. "The time to tell people that we're in the middle of a drought and to institute strong conservation programs is today, not a year from now," Gleick said.

In other parts of the country, welcome rainfall last weekend from Tropical Storm Barry brought short-term relief to parts of the fire-scorched Southeast. But up to 50 inches of rain is needed to end the drought there, and this is the driest spring in the Southeast since record-keeping began in 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

Meanwhile, California and Nevada just recorded their driest June-to-May period since 1924, and a lack of rain in the West could make this an especially risky summer for wildfires.

Coast to coast, the drought's effects are as varied as the landscapes:

In Central California, ranchers are selling cattle or trucking them out of state as grazing grass dries up. In Southern California's Antelope Valley, rainfall at just 15 percent of normal erased the spring bloom of California poppies.

In south Florida, Lake Okeechobee fell to a record low of 8.94 feet last week. So much lake bed is dry that 12,000 acres of it caught fire last month.

In Alabama, shallow ponds on commercial catfish farms are dwindling, and more than half the corn and wheat crops are in poor condition.

Dry episodes have become so persistent in the West that some scientists and water managers say drought is the "new normal" there.

This drought has been particularly harsh in three regions: the Southwest, the Southeast and northern Minnesota.

Severe dryness across California and Arizona has spread into 11 other Western states.

US school students don't count in international Class

PARIS (AFP): School students in the US think they are just great at mathematics: but by the age of 14 they are two years behind the level in other industrialised countries and overall come 24th in a class of 29.

The causes are perplexing. But a central factor that has to be corrected is a climate of low school standards, low expectations and not enough exams.

So says the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in a survey yesterday of underlying policies and trends in the US economy, against a background of recent warnings that emerging countries such as China and India, are producing more engineers than the US.

The OECD stressed that the higher education system is still a world leader and that overall spending on education is high. But it is damning in its analysis of school standards.

"A country's ability to compete in an ever more integrated economy depends crucially on a highly educated workforce. However ... the US has lost its leading position. Test scores at the compulsory level are at or below the OECD average and lag those in many other major economies."

But US school students think they are the tops in mathematics, a benchmark subject. Surveys show that they have a high opinion of their capabilities, expressing greater confidence than students at a more advanced level in other counties, offering comments such as: "I understand even the most difficult work," or "I learn mathematics quickly," or "mathematics is one of my best subjects."

In fact, the OECD says, US school students "rank 24th out of 29 OECD countries in mathematics performance."

It explained: "By the middle grades, the top achieving countries ... begin the transition to the study of algebra ... geometry and even in some cases, basic trigonometry. By the end of the eighth grade in these countries children have mostly completed US high school courses in algebra 1 and geometry.

"By contrast, most US students are destined to mostly continue the study of arithmetic. In fact, we estimate that at the end of eighth grade (about age 14) US students are some two or more years behind their counterparts around the world."

Part of the explanation, the OECD suggests, is that not only have standards "been lowered to accommodate low performance" but have also been "lowered by more than student ability warranted."

The "astonishing self confidence" expressed by US school students "also suggests standards are lax," the report said.

"Contrary to widespread hopes that promotion of self-esteem and confidence will encourage learning, grade inflation seems to lower performance..."

"In short, one reason why US students perform worse than their international counterparts seems to be that they are not being challenged." Another explanation was that in the US there was no school-leaving exam based on a set curriculum.

"For years, the US high school diploma has been criticised for being little more than an attendance certificate, as states rarely required students to pass a central exam as a condition of graduation.

"Lagging performance is evident across the board, including among affluent and academically successful students. The US does not just have more students performing badly—it also has many fewer students performing well ... Resources do not appear to be at the root of the problem because the system is comparatively well-financed."

U.S. far down the list of most peaceful nations, study shows

WASHINGTON (AP): The United States and Iran finished in a virtual dead heat, far down the list, in an assessment released Wednesday of the peacefulness of 121 countries.

The United States placed 96th and Iran just behind at 97th, according to the global index compiled on the basis of research by the intelligence unit of The Economist magazine.

"The United States suffers because it is the world's policeman, with high levels of militarization," said Andrew Williamson, director for economic research, in an interview.

The data were drawn from the United Nations, the World Bank, peace groups and the intelligence unit's own assessments, Williamson said.

"We are just mechanics and technicians behind the index," he said. "We are not making judgments about foreign policy."

Norway was rated as the country most at peace, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Portugal and Austria. Iraq was in last place, with Sudan and Israel nearest in standing to the embattled Middle Eastern country.

Some two dozen "indicators" were used to compile the index. Among then were wars fought in the last five years, arms sales, prison populations and incidence of crime.

"The United States arguably has kept the peace since 1945, but with a high level of defense spending," Leo Abruzzese, an editorial director for the intelligence unit, said at a news conference at which the report was released.

Abruzzese said a large prison population also contributed to the relatively low U.S. ranking.

Western Europe was found to be the most peaceful region in the world, although France was ranked 34th and the United Kingdom 49th. Their militarization, sophisticated weapons industries and arms exports pushed them down the list, the report said.

Some 80 countries, such as Afghanistan and North Korea, were not included in the first index because reliable information was not available, said Clyde McConaghy, president of the Global Peace Index.

2006-06-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Health-related Tid-bits

2006-06-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

A Natural Approach to Beating Depression

By Jessica Kurrle

Clinical depression is something that runs in my family. I have taken various anti-depressant medications, with varying degrees of success. At the beginning of this year, however, I decided to take a more natural approach and see how well I could do without medicine. I made a vow to diligently take the following steps:

Eat a Low-Carb Diet: Blood sugar levels can have a powerful effect on mood, especially when they are constantly rising and falling. So I changed my diet to include more protein and healthy fats, and I have done my best to eliminate sweets and high-glycemic carbohydrates.

Exercise Consistently and With Intensity: There are lots of studies which have shown that consistent exercise, particularly intense exercise, can be very effective at lifting the symptoms of depression. I'm proud to say that I have been working out regularly all year.

Get More Sunlight: We all know that a sunny day can lift our mood—and there's a physiological reason for it. Because the vitamin D produced when sunlight strikes our skin can also be a powerful anti-depressant. I make sure to get a few hours of sunlight every week by walking my dog or relaxing by the pool.

Supplement With Fish Oil: Doctors have discussed the importance of omega-3 fatty acids for brain health and as a powerful preventive measure for depression. To be sure I am getting enough omega-3s, I supplement my diet every day with fish oil.

I figured that if each of these measures could help with my symptoms of depression, the combination of all four should prove even more beneficial. I have certainly found this to be the case.

(Note: Articles on health, diet, fitness, nutrition, and similar subjects are provided for your benefit, but are not intended to supersede the Word on the subject. Please ask the Lord before implementing any of this information.)

Walking

By Jay Blahnik, Special to The Los Angeles Times

Running is great for your heart and lungs, and burns more calories per minute than almost any other activity. But running also creates a lot of impact stress on your back and joints. Many people find running too uncomfortable. If that's you, walking is a great alternative.

• Walking is the single most popular exercise activity in the world, by far.

• It burns approximately 100 calories per mile.

• At 3 mph (strolling pace), you can walk a mile in just 20 minutes. At 4 mph (power walking pace), you can walk a mile in just 15 minutes.

• Walking produces little stress on the back and joints, while improving circulation, balance and cardiovascular health. And it can help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure.

• It's the activity our bodies were best designed to do, with one of the lowest risks of injury of any fitness activity.

There are many ways to fit walking into your schedule, boost its effectiveness and make it more fun. Consider a few of these options:

• Alternate fast walking with slower walking by changing speeds every block (or, on a treadmill, every two-tenths of a mile). This will not only burn more calories than slow walking, but also will make workouts more interesting.

• Try walking 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night. These short bursts are easier to fit into your schedule, and you can burn almost 200 calories a day with them. That can equate to almost 2 pounds of weight loss per month.

• Head to the beach or trails with mixed terrain. Walking on soft sand and rolling hills burns more calories than walking on flat surfaces.

• If you have kids who play soccer, football or softball, take a walk around the field or school grounds while they're at practice, during the longer breaks or before or after a game.

• Turn walks into a boot camp by adding lunges, running stairs or side shuffling across an open area every few minutes.

• Purchase an inexpensive pedometer and keep track of how many steps you take daily. Take short walks throughout the day and try to accumulate more steps each week than you did the week before.

• Instead of meeting a friend for coffee and hanging out for a chat, meet a friend for coffee and go for a walk. In just 30 minutes, you can cover 2 miles, burn 200 calories and still get your catch-up time.

You may be surprised to find that the more often and more briskly you walk, the more comfortable running might become. If so, you can mix up your walking and running, and get the best of both worlds.

Food For Your Soul

2006-06-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

Live in the sunshine

by David Jeremiah, Baptist Press

EL CAJON, Calif. (BP)—Even when we don't understand our present circumstances, we can walk in the light. As the song says, "Farther along we'll know all about it. Farther along we'll understand why. Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine. We'll understand it all by and by." That's the whole lesson of the Book of Job—trust Him!

In times of suffering, choose to walk in the light, to "cheer up" and "live in the sunshine." We mind our attitude by minding our thoughts, for as a person thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You" (Isaiah 26:3). Jeremiah faced cruel days, but deliberately turned his thoughts to God's unfailing compassion and great faithfulness. "This I recall to mind," he wrote, "therefore I have hope" (Lamentations 3:21-24).

One of the greatest discoveries of psychology is that it's our thoughts which determine our emotions—not feelings which control thoughts. Suppose you found out a friend was treating you to a two-week vacation. Would that influence your emotions? Or you learned a loved one was rushed to the hospital, would that affect your feelings?

Suppose you learned that Jesus Christ is the Light, and that in Him is no darkness. Suppose you wrapped your mind around that. It would bring sunshine into the darkest corners of your world.

John quoted Jesus as saying, "I am the light of the world.... I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness" (John 9:5, 12:46). John later told us to walk in the light (1 John 1:7). That knowledge in our minds brings hope and joy to our souls.

When our minds dwell on Jesus as the light, heavenly sunshine can pour into our souls. Our joy doesn't depend on the events that surround us, but on the hope that's within us. Our real life is with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). It isn't our external situation, but our internal Savior that determines our attitude in life. "But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head" (Psalm 3:3).

Praise and thanksgiving are not emotions that we fall into, but attitudes we choose to exhibit. Some say praise happens when a certain level of emotional intensity is reached, resulting in an explosion in our spirit. But what do we do when everything's going wrong?

We offer the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord as an act of obedience. We make a decision amidst difficulty that no matter what happens, we'll praise God and walk in the sunshine. That allows attitudes of peace and joy (we could never have engendered in our own strength) to come to our spirits in response to our obedience.

I've had people who have gone through difficult times say to me, "Pastor, I've never loved God more than I do now. God allowed this to happen, and I don't know why. But there is such peace in trusting Him with the unexplained. I don't understand it, but I sense God's presence in my life more than ever."

When we trust God with the unexplained, sunshine floods our minds and souls—and our faces, too.

The Psalmist said, "They looked to Him and were radiant" (Psalm 34:5). The Bible recommends a sunny countenance. Solomon wrote, "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance" and "A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed" (Proverbs 15:13; Ecclesiastes 8:1).

D.A. Benton talks about the importance of the countenance in communicating confidence and leadership. She says women who smiled in their college yearbook photos went on to live happier lives with happier marriages and fewer personal setbacks than those who didn't.

If you're confused by life, trust God anyway. Read His promises, and remember:

Farther along we'll know all about it.

Farther along we'll understand why;

Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine

We'll understand it all by and by.

Behaviors That Increase Self-Esteem

By Denis Waitley (from The Psychology of Motivation)

Following are six behaviors that increase self-esteem, enhance your self-confidence, and spur your motivation. You may recognize some of them as things you naturally do in your interactions with other people. But if you don't, I suggest you motivate yourself to take some of these important steps.

First, greet others with a smile and look them directly in the eye. A smile and direct eye contact convey confidence born of self-respect. In the same way, answer the phone pleasantly whether at work or at home, and when placing a call, give your name before asking to speak to the party you want to reach. Leading with your name underscores that a person with self-respect is making the call.

Second, always show real appreciation for a gift or compliment. Don't downplay or sidestep expressions of affection or honor from others. The ability to accept or receive is a universal mark of an individual with solid self-esteem.

Third, don't brag. It's almost a paradox that genuine modesty is actually part of the capacity to gracefully receive compliments. People who brag about their own exploits or demand special attention are trying to build themselves up in the eyes of others—and that's because they don't perceive themselves as already worthy of respect.

Fourth, don't make your problems the centerpiece of your conversation. Talk positively about your life and the progress you're trying to make. Be aware of any negative thinking, and take notice of how often you complain. When you hear yourself criticize someone—and this includes self-criticism—find a way to be helpful instead of critical.

Fifth, respond to difficult times or depressing moments by increasing your level of productive activity. When your self-esteem is being challenged, don't sit around and fall victim to "paralysis by analysis." The late Malcolm Forbes said, "Vehicles in motion use their generators to charge their own batteries. Unless you happen to be a golf cart, you can't recharge your battery when you're parked in the garage!"

Sixth, choose to see mistakes and rejections as opportunities to learn. View a failure as the conclusion of one performance, not the end of your entire career. Own up to your shortcomings, but refuse to see yourself as a failure. A failure may be something you have done—and it may even be something you'll have to do again on the way to success—but a failure is definitely not something you are.

Even if you're at a point where you're feeling very negatively about yourself, be aware that you're now ideally positioned to make rapid and dramatic improvement. A negative self-evaluation, if it's honest and insightful, takes much more courage and character than the self-delusions that underlie arrogance and conceit. I've seen the truth of this proven many times in my work with athletes. After an extremely poor performance, a team or an individual athlete often does much better the next time out, especially when the poor performance was so bad that there was simply no way to shirk responsibility for it. Disappointment, defeat, and even apparent failure are in no way permanent conditions unless we choose to make them so. On the contrary, these undeniably painful experiences can be the solid foundation on which to build future success.

Growing with Change

Jim Clemmer

Change happens. And while we can't control much of the world changing around us, we can control how we respond. We can choose to anticipate and embrace changes, or resist them. Resisting change is like trying to push water upstream.

Generally we're quick to point to others who resist change. It's much harder to recognize or admit to our own change resistance.

Some people call change "progress" and celebrate the improvements that it brings. Others curse those same changes and wish for the good old days. Same changes, different responses. The choice is ours: We can be leaders, or we can be followers.

To embrace change, we need to concentrate on five areas.

1. Focus on a vision. Our vision or imagination guides everything we do. Helen Keller once said, "Nothing is more tragic than someone who has sight, but no vision." We can't leave the incredible magnetic power of vision unharnessed. Our thoughts often pull us toward the reasons why we can't succeed, rather than the many reasons we can. To increase our effectiveness, we need to consciously attract into our lives what we truly want. We need to ensure the picture of our future is what we prefer, not the dark images of our fears, doubts, and insecurities. Personal, team, or organizational improvement starts with "imagineering."

We find what we focus upon. Whether I think my world is full of richness and opportunity or garbage and despair—I am right. It's exactly like that because that's my point of focus. Our vision is led by a set of core values. Without a strong set of core values, passion is weak and commitment is soft. We're more likely to lead ourselves from the outside in, rather than the inside out. How we see the world is what we project from ourselves.

2. Choose your outlook. We reach another milestone in our growth when we accept responsibility for our emotions. We choose to lose our temper. We choose to become jealous. We choose to harbor hatred. It's much easier to give in to the Victimitis Virus. It's less painful to believe that anger, jealousy, or bitterness are somebody else's fault or beyond our control. But that makes us prisoners of our destructive emotions. We hold grudges, let resentments build, and become cynical. We stress ourselves out. We stew in our own deadly juices.

Holding on to destructive emotions is slow suicide. Studies show that stress from negative emotions presents a more dangerous risk factor for cancer and heart disease than smoking cigarettes or high cholesterol foods. We must take responsibility for our actions in response to circumstances for which we are not responsible. The only thing we can control is ourselves, so when we choose our thoughts, we are choosing our future.

3. Seek authenticity. To create something we must be something. For example, becoming a parent is easy; being one is tough. We can't teach our kids self-discipline unless we are self-disciplined. We can't help build strong teams unless we are strong team players ourselves.

This timeless principle applies to every facet of our lives. We can't help develop a close community if we're not a good neighbor. We can't enjoy a happy marriage if we're not a loving partner. We won't have a supportive network of friends or colleagues until we're a supportive friend or collaborative colleague. David Whyte writes, "All things change when we do."

The big (and often painful) question is: What do I need to change about me to help change them? Instead of just wishing for a change of circumstance, I may need a change of character. Good intentions are useless if they stop there. One big difference between most people and authentic leaders, is action. Real leaders make it happen.

4. Commit ourselves with discipline. A key difference between real leaders and those who struggle to get by, is self-discipline. As Confucius wrote, "The nature of people is always the same; it is their habits that separate them."

Successful people have formed the habits of doing those things that most people don't want to do. Good and bad habits are tiny, daily choices that accumulate. Like a child that grows a little each day, our tiny choices accumulate without much notice. By the time we realize we have either a good or a bad habit, the habit has us.

Most of our daily choices are made automatically without even thinking about them. To change our habits, we first need to be aware of them. Then we need to work backward from the habit to the daily practices that form it. To change the habit, we need to change those practices.

Still, if discipline is a key to success, the fact is that most people would rather pick the lock. Less successful people can't pass up instant gratification in favor of some prospective benefit. It's much easier to live for the moment and let tomorrow take care of itself. But it takes discipline to forego the immediately pleasurable, for an investment in the future.

Discipline means having the vision to see the long-term picture and keep things in balance. A Chinese proverb teaches: "If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." We all want more patience—and we want it now! Most of us would like to be delivered from temptation, but we'd like it to stay in touch. Discipline is what keeps us going when the excitement of first beginning a task is long past.

5. Continually grow and develop. Most people see others as they are; a leader sees them as they could be. Leaders see beyond the current problems and limitations to help others see their own possibilities. It's a key part of their own growth and development.

We continue to grow when we help others grow and develop. The cycle of growth and development has two parts, and the first is our own growth and development, since we can't develop others if our own growth is stunted. These two parts depend upon and support each other. We develop ourselves while we're developing others. By developing others, we develop ourselves. It's a growth cycle that spirals forever upward.

Another part of the growth process is seeking to be more effective. As the pace of change quickens, it's easier to fall into the trap of confusing busyness with effectiveness. Like the wood-cutter who's too busy chopping to stop and sharpen his ax, we get caught up in a frantic pace that may be taking us to the wrong destination. Reflecting on our progress is as rare as a proud man asking for directions. But to be more effective, we need to step back, take time out, and assess our direction. It will help us grow and keep up with change.

Change forces choices. If we're on the grow, we'll embrace many changes and find the positive in them. It's all in where we choose to put our focus. Even change that hits us in the side of the head as a major crisis can be full of growth opportunities—if we choose to look for them.

Many people who have weathered a serious crisis, look back years later and point to that event as a significant turning point. Most would rather not go through that pain again, but it was a key part of their growth.

Crisis can be a danger that weakens or destroys us. Or crisis can be a growth opportunity. The choice is ours. Whichever we choose, we're right about that crisis. We make it our reality.

The point is, change is life. Successfully dealing with change means choosing to grow and develop continuously. Failing to grow is failing to live.

Saying Thank You

Zig Ziglar

US President Theodore Roosevelt was founder of the Bull Moose Party, the man who led his troops up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War, a big game hunter, family man, civic servant and a host of other things.

His life story indicates that he was not only an extraordinarily successful man, but surely one of the busiest and best organized ever. However, with all of his "busy-ness" . . . he still retained some of those human qualities that made him so successful.

For example, he never forgot to thank others who did things for him. On his whistle-stop tours during his campaign trips, he always left his private car to thank the engineer and fireman for a safe and comfortable trip. True, it took only a few minutes of his time, but when your minutes are so few, they are quite important. He felt that those minutes were well invested and he enjoyed meeting the people who had served him so well. In the process he made friends for life. Doing simple little things endeared Roosevelt to people all across America, which certainly was a significant reward for the few minutes it took him to say thank you.

Someone once said that you could always tell a "big" man by the way he treated a "little" man. By that yardstick alone you would have to agree that Theodore Roosevelt was a "big" man.

Message: Take time to be kind and to say "thank you."

The Question That Can Radically Change Your Marriage

Steve Kroening

What if I told you there's one simple question you can ask your spouse every day that would completely change your relationship for the better? If your marriage is lukewarm at best, asking your spouse this question could add new life and vitality to your relationship.

Wives, imagine if your husband came walking through the door after returning from a tough day at work and, after the usual greetings, asked you this: "Honey, what can I do for you that would make your day?"

Then, once you picked your jaw up off the floor, imagine being able to tell him that one thing that would make your day better—and then seeing him drop everything to do it.

Husbands, how incredible would it be to have your wife call you at the office and ask, "Honey, what can I do for you that would make your day?"

The trouble with this question is that it's simple to ask, but sometimes following through on the request is difficult. Your spouse could ask you to do that one thing you dread more than anything else. Or he or she could ask you to do something that's not very pleasant, it may hurt you, or it might ruin your day to do it. It might cause you to be vulnerable in ways you don't want to consider.

But imagine how your spouse will feel when you've done it. Just today I asked my spouse this question. She was gentle with me and said, "Oh, I just love it when you take care of the kids so I can take a shower in peace." So guess what I'm doing tonight? You got it. Playing with the kids. Now, not only do I get the joy of playing with the kids, but I also get the joy of knowing that my wife is happy, too.

The question can go beyond marital relationships. You can ask your kids this question. You might want to put some ground rules in place before they answer, though. For instance, it can't involve money, etc. But when your kids get the opportunity to ask you to do something, it will make their day. My kids, who are still young, usually ask me to play something with them.

Before you ask, make sure your mind is set on doing whatever they ask, no matter how hard it is for you. Obviously, unethical and immoral things are off limits. But, otherwise, it's a great test to see how willing you are to serve your spouse.

One final note: Don't give your spouse a guilt trip for telling you what will make his or her day. Don't say, "OK, I'll do it if you really want me to." Just do it with a cheerful heart. After all, you asked for it.

Plenty of Nothing

The Washington Post

The vast majority of magazine stories are about something. Finally, Discover, the science magazine, has published an article about nothing. It's called "20 Things You Didn't Know About Nothing" and it reveals that, to paraphrase the old song, we've got plenty of nothing.

"There is vastly more nothing than something," writes LeeAundra Temescu. "Roughly 74 percent of the universe is 'nothing,' or what physicists call dark energy; 22 percent is dark matter, particles we cannot see. Only 4 percent is baryonic matter, the stuff we call something. . . . There is more and more nothing every second. In 1998 astronomers measuring the expansion of the universe determined that dark energy is pushing apart the universe at an ever-accelerating speed. The discovery of nothing—and its ability to influence the fate of the cosmos—is considered the most important astronomical finding of the past decade."

Wow! Nothing really is something, isn't it?

Tired of potholes? Do what the ants do...

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Army ants tired of potholes take one for the team, throwing their bodies into rough spots to make a smoother road for their sisters, British researchers reported on Sunday.

They found that army ants of Central and South America match their own bodies to the size of the hole they want to plug. Several may plunge together to fill in bigger holes, they report in the journal Animal Behaviour.

Scott Powell and Nigel Franks of the University of Bristol studied an army ant species called Eciton burchellii, which march across the forests of Central and South America in swarms of up to 200,000.

These raiders always remain connected to the nest by a trail of other ants. But this highway of living ants can be extremely uneven as it passes over leaves and branches on the forest floor.

So a few of the ants climb into the dips to make a smooth road.

"When it comes to rapid road repairs, the ants have their own do-it-yourself highways agency," Franks said in a statement.

"When the traffic has passed, the down-trodden ants climb out of the potholes and follow their nest mates home," Powell added.

"Broadly, our research demonstrates that a simple but highly specialized behavior performed by a minority of ant workers can improve the performance of the majority, resulting in a clear benefit for the society as a whole."

"I think every road user who has ever inwardly cursed as their vehicle bounced across a pothole—jarring every bone in their body—will identify with this story," said Franks.

The next time you feel like GOD can’t use you, just remember...

2006-06-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was a good friend
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer... AND,

Lazarus was dead!

Now! No more excuses!
God can use you to your full potential.
Besides you aren't the message, you are just the messenger.

Life on the beach is great!

2006-06-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Is that Phil out there with his boogie board?

2006-06-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

2006-06-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Latest airport check-in procedure...

2006-06-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

And for dessert...

2006-06-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

The Master hath spoken

2006-06-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Saith the Master.