Body Tricks

Indian Express shared The Financial Express's photo.

‎15 SPECTACULAR TRICKS FOR YOUR BODY!
1) If you've got an itch in your throat, scratch your ear. When the
nerves in the ear get stimulated, they create a refl

ex in the throat
that causes a muscle spasm, which cures the itch.
2) Having trouble hearing someone at a party or on the phone?
Use your right ear it's better at picking up rapid speech. But, the left is better at picking up music tones.
3) If you need to relieve yourself BADLY, but you're not anywhere
near a bathroom, fantasize about RELATIONS. That preoccupies your brain and distracts it.
4) Next time the doctor's going to give you an injection, COUGH as
the needle is going in. The cough raises the level of pressure in your spinal canal, which limits the pain sensation as it tries to travel to your brain.
5) Clear a stuffed nose or relieve sinus pressure by pushing your
tongue against the roof of your mouth then pressing a finger between your eyebrows. Repeat that for 20 seconds it causes the vomer bone to rock, which loosens your congestion and clears you up.
6) If you ate a big meal and you're feeling full as you go to sleep,
lay on your left side. That'll keep you from suffering from acid reflux it keeps your stomach lower than your esophagus, which will helps keep stomach acid from sliding up your throat.
7) You can stop a toothache by rubbing ice on the back of your
hand, on the webbed area between your thumb and index finger.
The nerve pathways there stimulate a part of the brain that blocks
pain signals from your mouth.
8) If you get all messed up on liquor, and the room starts spinning, put your hand on something stable. The reason: Alcohol dilutes the blood in the part of your ear called the cupula, which regulates balance. Putting your hand on something stable gives your brain another reference point, which will help make the world stop spinning.
9) Stop a nose bleed by putting some cotton on your upper gums right behind the small dent below your nose and press against it hard. Most of the bleeding comes from the cartilage wall that divides the nose, so pressing there helps get it to stop.
10) Nervous? Slow your heart rate down by blowing on your thumb. The vagus nerve controls your heart rate, and you can calm it down by breathing.
11) Need to breathe underwater for a while? Instead of taking a huge breath, HYPERVENTILATE before you go under, by taking a bunch of short breaths. That'll trick your brain into thinking it has more oxygen, and buy you about 10 extra seconds.
12) You can prevent BRAIN FREEZE by pressing your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, covering as much surface area as possible. Brain freeze happens because the nerves in the roof of your mouth get extremely cold, so your brain thinks your whole body is cold. It compensates by overheating which causes your head to hurt. By warming up the roof of your mouth, you'll chill your brain and feel better.
13) If your hand falls asleep, rock your head from side to side. That'll wake your hand or arm up in less than a minute. Your hand falls asleep because of the nerves in your neck compressing so loosening your neck is the cure. If your foot falls asleep, that's governed by nerves lower in the body, so you need to stand up and walk around.
14) Finally, this one's totally USELESS, but a nice trick. Have someone stick their arm out to the side, straight, palm down. Press down on his wrist with two fingers. He'll resist, and his arm will stay horizontal. Then, have him put his foot on a surface that's half an inch off the ground, like a stack of magazines, and do the trick again. Because his spine position is thrown off, his arm will fall right to his side, no matter how much he tries to resist.
15) Got the hiccups? Press thumb and second finger over your
eyebrows until the hiccups are over - usually, in a short while.

Democrat Blue and Republican Red Hoax

Don't even call them "blue", Ricardo. That color assignment was made by the Democrat Left-leaning media with their Madison Avenue color consultants for it's psychological effect. 

Red has always been the color of the left since Lenin. It is the color of the Labour Party, while blue is the color of the Tories. It means Stop, Danger, red ink losses in the income statement, blood in the streets, angry bulls, Red China, Red Path, Red Brigades, red flag in sports, dangerous overhang off your truck, no parking in California, Fire, exit, rear of the train, Satan.

Blue is the color of law and order, sunny days, police officers and police cars, mailmen, good news, buses, blue plate specials, blue ribbon winners, blue-bloods, bluegrass, rhythm and blues American music, deep blue seas, blue skys coming my way, calm, peace, serenity, Blueball Pennsylvania, Blue Man Group, blue eyes, blue water rafting, blue lagoon, My Blue Heaven, blue water navy, When Sunny Gets Blue, wild blue yonder, the boys in blue, Bluesette, the Blue Star Steamship Line, Blue Bonnett Margarine, Heaven.

Just look at how the TV news producers color their sets. It is always blue, calm, soothing, pleasant blue, light and dark, variations to white and never red, orange, wavelength transmissions.  It is a total fraud on your subconscious and I can't believe that Roger Ailes let them get away with it.  Rupert should have stepped in on that decision!

Three Men

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

'In honour of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'you must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.'

The Englishman fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 'It's a candle', he said.

'You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said. 

The Scotsman reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, 'They're bells.'

Saint Peter said 'You may pass through the pearly gates'.

The Irishman started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties.

St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?'

The paddy replied, 'These are Carols.' 

And So The Christmas Season Begins......

He presses in toward us.

Under His Hand

by James Robison

Princess makes an effective alarm clock, but not a very pleasant one. We have a mat in our garage decorated with a dachshund and the phrase, “Caution: Dog Cannot Hold Its Licker.” This is especially true when I’m trying to sleep.

If Betty gets up before I do, she will sometimes allow Princess to jump onto the bed while I am still sleeping. Normally she comes straight to my face to show her affection with a wet mess of dog kisses. It’s about as shocking as a pitcher of cold water poured on your head!

One morning I felt her jump up on the bed, so I braced for the barrage. It never came. Instead, she thrust her nose under my hand, wanting me to pet her. In a flash, I was impressed by God that this is how we should approach Him every morning.

Imagine how our lives would change if our first thought or action was not, “Oh no, another day,” or “Am I late for work?” For those who have experienced loss, that waking moment may hold, “I wonder where he or she is,” or “I miss my loved one.” I have been told that smokers often think, “I need a cigarette,” immediately upon waking.

What if our first action of every day was more like Princess’ that morning when she thrust her head under my hand? I felt the Lord was impressing me, through this simple canine act, that the first thing I should do every day is to get my head under His hand, so that He can guide my thoughts and order my steps. 

“ Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

“ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5, NAS).

When God’s hand rests upon our lives, wisdom will enlighten our minds and integrity will direct our feet. Jesus said that He is light, and His light guides our paths. When the light moves, we move. Where He goes, we must go. We not only walk in the light, but we freely express the glory of His light through our lives. This is life under His hand and divine direction.

When Princess showers me with kisses, I appreciate her enthusiasm and affection, but sometimes it’s a bit much. But when she pushed her head under my hand, I turned my attention to her, petting her head as I contemplated God’s truth. Her move was not bold or boisterous, yet I noticed her. I pulled her close.

I have no doubt that God never wearies of our enthusiasm and affection, but I also believe that he notices our submission. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you,” wrote James, the brother of Jesus. (James 4:8)

Under His hand there is warmth and intimacy. When we press in toward God, it’s like Princess nudging my hand. He responds with divine love. He presses in toward us. This is perhaps the most intimate relationship that mankind can have with Holy God while we are still alive on this earth. It is supernatural and life-changing.

Under His hand there is security and safety. If you ever see the owner of a cat or small dog encounter a large, threatening dog, you will see the same reaction: the owner will immediately pick up their pet and hold it close. When the owner holds their beloved pet, the animal is usually safe. With God, we are always safe when under His hand. The Psalmist declared, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!’" (Psalm 91:1-2). In the Gospel of John, we are reassured of God’s abiding love for us: “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:29, KJV)

One cannot live in the “shadow of the Almighty” without being close. It requires the kind of trust Princess has in me – simple, yet profound. She trusts me completely, even when her limited mind cannot comprehend my plans. She obeys me, for the most part, and her obedience is rewarded with the good things I bring her. I look for ways to give her joy -- though I am just a man. How much greater is a close relationship with the Creator of the universe when we trust Him completely? The joy He gives surpasses anything we could ever conjure on our own.

The wisdom, peace and fulfillment of this type of relationship cannot be fully stated. It must be experienced. Perhaps you did not awaken today seeking to have His hand resting on your head, but you can start now by drawing near and He will draw near. Then tomorrow, and every day thereafter, begin your day by pressing closer to Him, submitting your will and quieting your mind. When you truly learn to live this way, you will begin to experience the transforming power of His abiding presence.

Excerpted from God of All Creation: Life Lessons from Pets and Wildlife by James Robison. Published by WaterBrook Press. ©2012 by James Robison.
 

Little Johnny...

Little Johnny strikes again.... 

The teacher asked the class to use the word 'fascinate' in a sentence. 

Molly put up her hand and said, 'My family went to my granddad's farm, and 
we all saw his pet sheep. It was fascinating.' 

The teacher said, 'That was good, but I wanted you to use the word 
fascinate, not fascinating'. 

Sally raised her hand. She said, 'My family went to see RockCity and I > was fascinated.' 

The teacher said, 'Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use the 
word 'fascinate' 

Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher hesitated because she had been 
burned by little Johnny before. 

She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word 'fascinate', 
so she called on him. 

Johnny said, 'My aunt Gina has a sweater with ten buttons, but her tits are so big she can only fasten eight.' 

The teacher sat down and cried.

Intensely Tense about Tense, to the Tenth degree.

To PBS: NOVA,
Your narrative is hopelessly illiterate because of your unpredictable shifts from the present tense (which is WRONG for reporting past, historic events) to the past tense, to the past participle and other incomprehensible usage of the verbs and the facts. This is supposed to be educational, coherent, scholarly material. You are not doing CBS's "You Are There," the gimmicky Mike Wallace history reenactment program of the 1950s, you know. You are doing SCIENCE!!!

The present tense in such usage is a cheap, amateurish, rhetorical trick to generate stress, urgency, concern, and emotions in the viewer, NOT wisdom, analysis, reason, thoughtfulness, or learning. You are doing a disservice to the public, the viewer, and your subject. Hyperbole to excess; Injecting drama where no exaggeration is necessary; and Using completely inappropriate language (like "cataclysmic," and "accident of geography" [as if there ever could be such a thing]) and so on, just makes you sound as stupid as the ignoramuses that you interviewed who had refused to go to high ground before the storm!  You left out the violins.

Suggest that you re-enable your word processor's grammar checker there, PhDs.

NOVA | Inside the Megastorm

www.pbs.org

Watch as hurricane Sandy unfolds, and explore what made it so much more devastating than other hurricanes.

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Some Relaxation Music For You

If You Suffer From Panic Attacks

Check out the material at this link

Causes of Panic Attacks

The short and obvious answer: panic attacks are caused by high anxiety. But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks.

One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions.

Definition of Anxiety

Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives.

However, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.

Fight/Flight Response: One of the root causes of panic attacks?

I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of panic attacks. Have you made the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you experience during and after a panic attack episode?

Anxiety is a response to a danger or threat. It is so named because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm. This may seem ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm…perhaps the most significant of all the causes of panic attacks.

However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors—when faced with some danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to take immediate action such as attack or run. Even in today’s hectic world, this is still a necessary mechanism. It comes in useful when you must respond to a real threat within a split second.

Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger. Interestingly, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm—an important point that will be elaborated upon later.

The Physical Manifestations of a Panic Attack: Other pieces of the puzzle to understand the causes of panic attacks. Nervousness and Chemical Effects…

When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to a section of the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Although I don’t want to become too “scientific,” having a basic understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will help you understand the causes of panic attacks.

The sympathetic nervous system is the one we tend to know all too much about because it primes our body for action, readies us for the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is the one we love dearly as it serves as our restoring system, which returns the body to its normal state.

When either of these systems is activated, they stimulate the whole body, which has an “all or nothing” effect. This explains why when a panic attack occurs, the individual often feels a number of different sensations throughout the body.

The sympathetic system is responsible for releasing the adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. These are small glands located just above the kidneys. Less known, however, is that the adrenal glands also release adrenaline, which functions as the body’s chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack begins, it does not switch off as easily as it is turned on. There is always a period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body. Think of them as one of the physiological causes of panic attacks, if you will.

After a period of time, the parasympathetic nervous system gets called into action. Its role is to return the body to normal functioning once the perceived danger is gone. The parasympathetic system is the system we all know and love, because it returns us to a calm relaxed state.

When we engage in a coping strategy that we have learned, for example, a relaxation technique, we are in fact willing the parasympathetic nervous system into action. A good thing to remember is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot continue in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a point where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have for survival.

You can do your best with worrying thoughts, keeping the sympathetic nervous system going, but eventually it stops. In time, it becomes a little smarter than us, and realizes that there really is no danger. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent—modern science is always discovering amazing patterns of intelligence that run throughout the cells of our body. Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. Rest assured that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well.

Not so convinced?

Try holding your breath for as long as you can. No matter how strong your mental will is, it can never override the will of the body. This is good news—no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are gong to die from a panic attack, you won’t. Your body will override that fear and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack.

Remember this next time you have a panic attack; he causes of panic attacks cannot do you any physical harm. Your mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance. In fact, balance (homeostasis) is what our body continually strives for.

The interference for your body is nothing more than the sensations of doing rigorous exercise. Our body is not alarmed by these symptoms. Why should it be? It knows its own capability. It’s our thinking minds that panic, which overreact and scream in sheer terror! We tend to fear the worst and exaggerate our own sensations. A quickened heart beat becomes a heart attack. An overactive mind seems like a close shave with schizophrenia. Is it our fault? Not really—we are simply diagnosing from poor information.

Cardiovascular Effects Activity in the sympathetic nervous system increases our heartbeat rate, speeds up the blood flow throughout the body, ensures all areas are well supplied with oxygen and that waste products are removed. This happens in order to prime the body for action.

A fascinating feature of the “fight or flight” mechanism is that blood (which is channelled from areas where it is currently not needed by a tightening of the blood vessels) is brought to areas where it is urgently needed.

For example, should there be a physical attack, blood drains from the skin, fingers, and toes so that less blood is lost, and is moved to “active areas” such as the thighs and biceps to help the body prepare for action.

This is why many feel numbness and tingling during a panic attack-often misinterpreted as some serious health risk-such as the precursor to a heart attack. Interestingly, most people who suffer from anxiety often feel they have heart problems. If you are really worried that such is the case with your situation, visit your doctor and have it checked out. At least then you can put your mind at rest.

Respiratory Effects

One of the scariest effects of a panic attack is the fear of suffocating or smothering. It is very common during a panic attack to feel tightness in the chest and throat. I’m sure everyone can relate to some fear of losing control of your breathing. From personal experience, anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself would cease and you would be unable to recover. Can a panic attack stop our breathing? No.

A panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth of breathing. This has obvious importance for the defense of the body since the tissues need to get more oxygen to prepare for action. The feelings produced by this increase in breathing, however, can include breathlessness, hyperventilation, sensations of choking or smothering, and even pains or tightness in the chest. The real problem is that these sensations are alien to us, and they feel unnatural.

Having experienced extreme panic attacks myself, I remember that on many occasions, I would have this feeling that I couldn’t trust my body to do the breathing for me, so I would have to manually take over and tell myself when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course, this didn’t suit my body’s requirement of oxygen and so the sensations would intensify—along with the anxiety. It was only when I employed the technique I will describe for you later, did I let the body continue doing what it does best—running the whole show.

Importantly, a side-effect of increased breathing, (especially if no actual activity occurs) is that the blood supply to the head is actually decreased. While such a decrease is only a small amount and is not at all dangerous, it produces a variety of unpleasant but harmless symptoms that include dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, sense of unreality, and hot flushes.

Other Physical Effects of Panic Attacks:

Now that we’ve discussed some of the primary physiological causes of panic attacks, there are a number of other effects that are produced by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, none of which are in any way harmful.

For example, the pupils widen to let in more light, which may result in blurred vision, or “seeing” stars, etc. There is a decrease in salivation, resulting in dry mouth. There is decreased activity in the digestive system, which often produces nausea, a heavy feeling in the stomach, and even constipation. Finally, many of the muscle groups tense up in preparation for “fight or flight” and this results in subjective feelings of tension, sometimes extending to actual aches and pains, as well as trembling and shaking.

Overall, the fight/flight response results in a general activation of the whole bodily metabolism. Thus, one often feels hot and flushed and, because this process takes a lot of energy, the person generally feels tired and drained.

Mental Manifestations: Are the causes of panic attacks all in my head? is a question many people wonder to themselves.

The goal of the fight/flight response is making the individual aware of the potential danger that may be present. Therefore, when activated, the mental priority is placed upon searching the surroundings for potential threats. In this state one is highly-strung, so to speak. It is very difficult to concentrate on any one activity, as the mind has been trained to seek all potential threats and not to give up until the threat has been identified. As soon as the panic hits, many people look for the quick and easiest exit from their current surroundings, such as by simply leaving the bank queue and walking outside. Sometimes the anxiety can heighten, if we perceive that leaving will cause some sort of social embarrassment.

If you have a panic attack while at the workplace but feel you must press on with whatever task it is you are doing, it is quite understandable that you would find it very hard to concentrate. It is quite common to become agitated and generally restless in such a situation. Many individuals I have worked with who have suffered from panic attacks over the years indicated that artificial light—such as that which comes from computer monitors and televisions screens—can can be one of the causes of panic attacks by triggering them or worsen a panic attack, particularly if the person is feeling tired or run down.

This is worth bearing in mind if you work for long periods of time on a computer. Regular break reminders should be set up on your computer to remind you to get up from the desk and get some fresh air when possible.

In other situations, when during a panic attack an outside threat cannot normally be found, the mind turns inwards and begins to contemplate the possible illness the body or mind could be suffering from. This ranges from thinking it might have been something you ate at lunch, to the possibility of an oncoming cardiac arrest.

The burning question is: Why is the fight/flight response activated during a panic attack even when there is apparently nothing to be frightened of?

Upon closer examination of the causes of panic attacks, it would appear that what we are afraid of are the sensations themselves—we are afraid of the body losing control. These unexpected physical symptoms create the fear or panic that something is terribly wrong. Why do you experience the physical symptoms of the fight/flight response if you are not frightened to begin with? There are many ways these symptoms can manifest themselves, not just through fear.

For example, it may be that you have become generally stressed for some reason in your life, and this stress results in an increase in the production of adrenaline and other chemicals, which from time to time, would produce symptoms….and which you perceive as the causes of panic attacks.

This increased adrenaline can be maintained chemically in the body, even after the stress has long gone. Another possibility is diet, which directly affects our level of stress. Excess caffeine, alcohol, or sugar is known for causing stress in the body, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors of the causes of panic attacks (Chapter 5 gives a full discussion on diet and its importance).

Unresolved emotions are often pointed to as possible trigger of panic attacks, but it is important to point out that eliminating panic attacks from your life does not necessarily mean analyzing your psyche and digging into your subconscious. The “One Move” technique will teach you to deal with the present moment and defuse the attack along with removing the underlying anxiety that sparks the initial anxiety.

Learn more here at this link.

http://www.panicportal.com

Barry McDonagh is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here: http://www.panicportal.com

This article is copywritten material [sic. Copyrighted.]

Democratic Racism Artifact

"George McClellan: Fabulous 1864 Racist Broadside. 

With slavery as the backdrop to the Civil War, the presidential campaign of 1864 played out along black & white lines. Lincoln was accused of abandoning the original reason for the war, restoration of the Union, and changing it to a crusade for abolition. He was also accused of ignoring the Constitution, not taking the war-time casualties seriously and burdening the country with a debt that would be decades in the repayment. 

The Democrats were against the abolition of slavery, against Negro equality and against granting equal rights and protection to blacks, slave or otherwise. This 23" x 18.5" broadside, printed in black and orange, plays to this bias and is a quintessential example of negative campaigning. We have seen a similar piece that predicts dire consequences if McClellan was elected (vertical format, printed in black only), but it pales in comparison to this one which plays the race card to the hilt and exploits voter fears. 

The Republicans, who called themselves the National Union Party in 1864, are designated as "The Black Republican Ticket", a pejorative term first coined in 1856 and a catchword for abolitionists. Their success will bring on "Negro Equality, more Debt, Harder Times, another Draft! Universal Anarchy, and Ultimate Ruin!" (They were not pulling any punches here!) McClellan's election, in contrast, would "defeat Negro Equality, restore Prosperity, re-establish the Union! In an Honorable, Permanent and happy Peace." 

We [Heritage Auctions, Dallas] are aware of only one other example which resides in a private collection. This example has been handsomely matted and framed. It has undergone some restoration which has not affected any of the lettering... only the vertical rule lines in the center. In the true tradition of broadsides, it includes eight different fonts. It is not only graphic, but really tells the story of the 1864 campaign and its two protagonists, Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan ."

Canada Fears Flood of American Liberals if Obama Loses

Written by Gary North on November 6, 2012

This was sent to me. It may be bogus, but we live in strange times.

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada Has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration.

Canadian border farmers say its not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn,” said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn’t have any, he left. Didn’t even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?”
In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields.
Not real effective,” he said. The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn’t give milk.”
Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals Near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves.
A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions,” an Ontario border patrolman said. I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though.”
When liberals are caught, they’re sent back across the border, often Wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the Bush administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR.
In the days since the election, liberals have turned to sometimes ingenious ways of crossing the border.
Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers.
If they can’t identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, We get suspicious about their age,” an official said.
Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are Creating an organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies.
I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just cant support them,” an Ottawa resident said. How many art-history majors does one country need?”

Interesting...

"When the President does it, it is not illegal!" --Richard Millhouse Nixon

 link

'OBAMA GIFT-WRAPPED LIBYA TO AL-QAIDA'

Group claims documents will 'bring down' U.S. president's administration

Published: 12 hours ago

by DREW ZAHN Email | Archive

Drew Zahn is a former pastor who cut his editing teeth as a member of the award-winning staff of Leadership, Christianity Today's professional journal for church leaders. He is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view."

Documents obtained by former Muslim Brotherhood member Walid Shoebat reportedly demonstrate the Obama administration is to blame for the deaths of Americans in the Benghazi consulate attack because it effectively empowered the Islamic terrorist organization al-Qaida to take over governance of Libya.

Shoebat reports a group of anti-al-Qaida Libyans in exile have come into possession of some highly classified documents that, in their view, “will bring the Obama Administration down.”

“Obama gift-wrapped Libya, handed it over to al-Qaida,” the group asserts, “and we can prove it.”

The group has already provided the copy of a letter that, as WND reported, suggests the Obama administration approved assigning a member of al-Qaida to handle security at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.

“The rest [of the documents],” Shoebat’s sources say, “will be provided when Mitt Romney is in office. His election is our only hope for humanity.”

But Shoebat has provided a glimpse into the evidence that is reportedly on its way: “They include passports of al-Qaida operatives and identifications of terrorists from many nations – Chad, Egypt and Pakistan to name a few – which are now all camped in Libya as they enter by crossing borders guarded and managed officially by what they called ‘government appointed al-Qaida leaders.’”

Shoebat says claims there are “countless documents,” which will soon be turned over to the National Center for Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism.

“They show evidence of bribes [see image at right] by the government to top officials, weapons dealing and bank siphoning by al-Qaida operatives, to include copies of bank transactions that illustrate the subordination of the newly established Libyan government to al-Qaida,” Shoebat asserts. “These included [Osama] bin Laden’s personal driver Sufyan Gammou and Abdul Wahhab Hassan Qayed, the brother of the recently assassinated Abu Yahya al-Libi. Qayed was officially put in charge of Libyan border control. This arrangement is responsible for the passage of large amounts of al-Qaida operatives into Libya.”

Shoebat’s sources claim the documents demonstrate that the terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi were not merely the result of an intelligence failure, but of negligent, willful ignorance of al-Qaida’s influence in Libya.

“It wasn’t failure,” these pro-U.S. agents reportedly said, “but the Libyan government’s mafia-like system, subordinate to al-Qaida and installed with the blessings of the Obama administration that is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Benghazi.”

The Benghazi controversy has been developing since Sept. 11 when on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an organized terror attack.

While evidence now indicates the White House knew almost immediately it was an organized, planned terrorist attack, for weeks officials blamed the deaths on Muslim anger over a trailer of an online movie critical of Muhammad.

Reports now have emerged that there were orders for the U.S. military to stand down and not respond to calls for help from Benghazi.

Shoebat is the grandson of the Muslim mukhtar, or village head, of Beit Sahour-Bethlehem, who was a friend of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj-Ameen al-Husseni, an ally of Adolf Hitler.

After serving as a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and participating in acts of terror against Israel, Shoebat studied the Tanach, the Jewish Bible, in a challenge to convert his wife to Islam.

Six month later, he says, he realized that everything he “had been taught about Jews was a lie.”

Convinced he had been on the side of evil, he became an advocate for his former enemy.

Reproductive Rights in Northampton England

From Gadhafi to Benghazi

September 18, 2012 | 0900 GMT

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Stratfor

By George Friedman

Last week, four American diplomats were killed when armed men attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The attackers' apparent motivation was that someone, apparently American but with an uncertain identity, posted a video on YouTube several months ago that deliberately defamed the Prophet Mohammed. The attack in Benghazi was portrayed as retribution for the defamation, with the attackers holding all Americans equally guilty for the video, though it was likely a pretext for deeper grievances. The riots spread to other countries, including Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, although no American casualties were reported in the other riots. The unrest appears to have subsided over the weekend.

Benghazi and the Fall of Gadhafi

In beginning to make sense of these attacks, one must observe that they took place in Benghazi, the city that had been most opposed to Moammar Gadhafi. Indeed, Gadhafi had promised to slaughter his opponents in Benghazi, and it was that threat that triggered the NATO intervention in Libya. Many conspiracy theories have been devised to explain the intervention, but, like Haiti and Kosovo before it, none of the theories holds up. The intervention occurred because it was believed that Gadhafi would carry out his threats in Benghazi and because it was assumed that he would quickly capitulate in the face of NATO air power, opening the door to democracy. 

That Gadhafi was capable of mass murder was certainly correct. The idea that Gadhafi would quickly fall proved incorrect. That a democracy would emerge as a result of the intervention proved the most dubious assumption of them all. What emerged in Libya is what you would expect when a foreign power overthrows an existing government, however thuggish, and does not impose its own imperial state: ongoing instability and chaos. 

The Libyan opposition was a chaotic collection of tribes, factions and ideologies sharing little beyond their opposition to Gadhafi. A handful of people wanted to create a Western-style democracy, but they were leaders only in the eyes of those who wanted to intervene. The rest of the opposition was composed of traditionalists, militarists in the Gadhafi tradition and Islamists. Gadhafi had held Libya together by simultaneously forming coalitions with various factions and brutally crushing any opposition. 

Opponents of tyranny assume that deposing a tyrant will improve the lives of his victims. This is sometimes true, but only occasionally. The czar of Russia was clearly a tyrant, but it is difficult to argue that the Leninist-Stalinist regime that ultimately replaced him was an improvement. Similarly, the Shah of Iran was repressive and brutal. It is difficult to argue that the regime that replaced him was an improvement.

There is no assurance that opponents of a tyrant will not abuse human rights just like the tyrant did. There is even less assurance that an opposition too weak and divided to overthrow a tyrant will coalesce into a government when an outside power destroys the tyrant. The outcome is more likely to be chaos, and the winner will likely be the most organized and well-armed faction with the most ruthless clarity about the future. There is no promise that it will constitute a majority or that it will be gentle with its critics.

The intervention in Libya, which I discussed in The Immaculate Intervention, was built around an assumption that has little to do with reality -- namely, that the elimination of tyranny will lead to liberty. It certainly can do so, but there is no assurance that it will. There are many reasons for this assumption, but the most important one is that Western advocates of human rights believe that, when freed from tyranny, any reasonable person would want to found a political order based on Western values. They might, but there is no obvious reason to believe they would.

The alternative to one thug may simply be another thug. This is a matter of power and will, not of political philosophy. Utter chaos, an ongoing struggle that leads nowhere but to misery, also could ensue. But the most important reason Western human rights activists might see their hopes dashed is due to a principled rejection of Western liberal democracy on the part of the newly liberated. To be more precise, the opposition might embrace the doctrine of national self-determination, and even of democracy, but go on to select a regime that is in principle seriously opposed to Western notions of individual rights and freedom.

While some tyrants simply seek power, other regimes that appear to Westerners to be tyrannies actually are rather carefully considered moral systems that see themselves as superior ways of life. There is a paradox in the principle of respect for foreign cultures followed by demands that foreigners adhere to basic Western principles. It is necessary to pick one approach or the other. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that someone can have very distinct moral principles, be respected, and yet be an enemy of liberal democracy. Respecting another moral system does not mean simply abdicating your own interests. The Japanese had a complex moral system that was very different from Western principles. The two did not have to be enemies, but circumstances caused them to collide. 

The NATO approach to Libya assumed that the removal of a tyrant would somehow inevitably lead to a liberal democracy. Indeed, this was the assumption about the Arab Spring in the West, where it was thought that that corrupt and tyrannical regimes would fall and that regimes that embraced Western principles would sprout up in their place. Implicit in this was a profound lack of understanding of the strength of the regimes, of the diversity of the opposition and of the likely forces that would emerge from it.

In Libya, NATO simply didn't understand or care about the whirlwind that it was unleashing. What took Gadhafi's place was ongoing warfare between clans, tribes and ideologies. From this chaos, Libyan Islamists of various stripes have emerged to exploit the power vacuum. Various Islamist groups have not become strong enough to simply impose their will, but they are engaged in actions that have resonated across the region. 

The desire to overthrow Gadhafi came from two impulses. The first was to rid the world of a tyrant, and the second was to give the Libyans the right to national self-determination. Not carefully considered were two other issues: whether simply overthrowing Gadhafi would yield the conditions for determining the national will, and whether the national will actually would mirror NATO's values and, one should add, interests.

Unintended Consequences

The events of last week represent unintended and indirect consequences of the removal of Gadhafi. Gadhafi was ruthless in suppressing radical Islamism, as he was in other matters. In the absence of his suppression, the radical Islamist faction appears to have carefully planned the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. The attack was timed for when the U.S. ambassador would be present. The mob was armed with a variety of weapons. The public justification was a little-known video on YouTube that sparked anti-American unrest throughout the Arab world.

For the Libyan jihadists, tapping into anger over the video was a brilliant stroke. Having been in decline, they reasserted themselves well beyond the boundaries of Libya. In Libya itself, they showed themselves as a force to be reckoned with -- at least to the extent that they could organize a successful attack on the Americans. The four Americans who were killed might have been killed in other circumstances, but they died in this one: Gadhafi was eliminated, no coherent regime took his place, no one suppressed the radical Islamists, and the Islamists could therefore act. How far their power will grow is not known, but certainly they acted effectively to achieve their ends. It is not clear what force there is to suppress them. It is also not clear what momentum this has created for jihadists in the region, but it will put NATO, and more precisely the United States, in the position either of engaging in another war in the Arab world at a time and place not of its choosing, or allowing the process to go forward and hoping for the best. 

As I have written, a distinction is frequently drawn between the idealist and realist position. Libya is a case in which the incoherence of the distinction can be seen. If the idealist position is concerned with outcomes that are moral from its point of view, then simply advocating the death of a tyrant is insufficient. To guarantee the outcome requires that the country be occupied and pacified, as was Germany or Japan. But the idealist would regard this act of imperialism as impermissible, violating the doctrine of national sovereignty. More to the point, the United States is not militarily in a position to occupy or pacify Libya, nor would this be a national priority justifying war. The unwillingness of the idealist to draw the logical conclusion from their position, which is that simply removing the tyrant is not the end but only the beginning, is compounded by the realist's willingness to undertake military action insufficient for the political end. Moral ends and military means must mesh.

Removing Gadhafi was morally defensible but not by itself. Having removed him, NATO had now adopted a responsibility that it shifted to a Libyan public unequipped to manage it. But more to the point, no allowance had been made for the possibility that what might emerge as the national will of Libya would be a movement that represented a threat to the principles and interests of the NATO members. The problem of Libya was not that it did not understand Western values, but that a significant part of its population rejected those values on moral grounds and a segment of the population with battle-hardened fighters regarded them as inferior to its own Islamic values. Somewhere between hatred of tyranny and national self-determination, NATO's commitment to liberty as it understood it became lost. 

This is not a matter simply confined to Libya. In many ways it played out throughout the Arab world as Western powers sought to come to terms with what was happening. There is a more immediate case: Syria. The assumption there is that the removal of another tyrant, in this case Bashar al Assad, will lead to an evolution that will transform Syria. It is said that the West must intervene to protect the Syrian opposition from the butchery of the al Assad regime. A case can be made for this, but not the simplistic case that absent al Assad, Syria would become democratic. For that to happen, much more must occur than the elimination of al Assad.

Wishful Thinking vs. Managing the Consequences

In 1958, a book called The Ugly American was published about a Southeast Asian country that had a brutal, pro-American dictator and a brutal, communist revolution. The novel had a character who was a nationalist in the true sense of the word and was committed to human rights. As a leader, he was not going to be simply an American tool, but he was the best hope the United States had. An actual case of such an ideal regime replacement was seen in 1963 in Vietnam, when Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam was killed in a coup. He had been a brutal pro-American dictator. The hope after his death was that a decent, nationalist liberal would replace him. There was a long search for such a figure; he never was found. 

Getting rid of a tyrant when you are as powerful as the United States and NATO are, by contrast, is the easy part. Saddam Hussein is as dead as Gadhafi. The problem is what comes next. Having a liberal democratic nationalist simply appear to take the helm may happen, but it is not the most likely outcome unless you are prepared for an occupation. And if you are prepared to occupy, you had better be prepared to fight against a nation that doesn't want you determining its future, no matter what your intentions are. 

I don't know what will come of Libya's jihadist movement, which has showed itself to be motivated and capable and whose actions resonated in the Arab world. I do know that Gadhafi was an evil brute who is better off dead. But it is simply not clear to me that removing a dictator automatically improves matters. What is clear to me is that if you wage war for moral ends, you are morally bound to manage the consequences.

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