Investment in America?

The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world - 35%. It doesn't take a financial genius to understand what this means - money (capital) goes where money gets. And it's not going, or remaining, in the United States.

General Electric paid no U.S. taxes last year. Budget recommendations currently being proposed closes loopholes,like those G.E. has received.

FOX News contributor Charles Krauthammer recommends eliminating loopholes and then, with the money we get from that, lower tax rates across the board to 8%,15% and 23%. It's called "broadening the base." This is something even the President's own Deficit Commission recommends.

I recently heard an argument that Google's operation in Ireland funnels profits there to a bank in the Netherlands. From there it is moved to an offshore bank, in the Bahamas as I recall. Why do I bring this up? Because the U.S. is getting 35% of nothing.

There's no reason that we can't be getting a percentage of SOMETHING. What do you think might happen if we coupled lowered tax rates to reduced government spending? Might we see a return to American prosperity and investment in America?

Take a look at a Sunday newspaper from the 1960s. Scroll to the Employment Ads. Compare what you see there to the same today. Get the picture?.

The Sad State of Social Security - the betrayal of the American Middle Class

Although the piece below blames Social Security's woes on the Democrats, Republicans must share in the betrayal. I have not checked ALL of these points with snopes.com or others. If you find any untruths please advise and I will amend my post.

SUBJECT: HISTORY LESSON ON YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD

Forwarded from Pete Hannon. Author unknown.

"Your Social Security

Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn't know this. It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be sure and show it to your kids. They need a little history lesson on what's what and it doesn't matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts!!!
Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the message was removed.[9]

An old Social Security card with the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message.
Our Social Security

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised: If you go to the Social Security Administration government website you'll find that Social Security is a Voluntary program, and only the SSA can require you to give a Social Security Number for the purposes of identification. No American is required to pay into this federally setup Social Security Insurance program, Nor is any American required to apply for or obtain a SSN from the SSA.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_social_security_voluntary#ixzz1ISsQUfa7

No longer Voluntary http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_social_security_voluntary


1) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program,

Now 7.65% on the first $90,000


2.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year,

No longer tax deductible


3.) That the money the participants put into the independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and,

Under Johnson the money was moved to The General Fund and Spent


4.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Under Clinton & Gore up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to 'put away' -- you may be interested in the following:

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the 'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

AND MY FAVORITE:

A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!

------------ -- ------------ --------- ----- ------------ ---------

Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!

And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it! If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn't so.

But it's worth a try. How many people can YOU send this to?

Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.

AND CONGRESS GIVES THEMSELVES 100% RETIREMENT FOR ONLY SERVING ONE TERM!!!
(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_congressman_receive_lifetime_pension_for_1_term_in_congress)

"Tyranny of the Minortiy" - In the interest of truth I add the link below.

http://www.usmm.org/nmu.html Here's a little info on the "Union refusal" to work. You may want to pass it along. ---Fran

Tyranny of the Minority

in Wisconsin, judicial fiddling is thwarting the will of the majority. With Republicans in power, democratic Leftists are not about to go without a fight. And, we can expect the same in Ohio.

Judging by the antics of the minority in Ohio and Wisconsin, you wouldn't know thee had been an election throwing the Democrats out of power. The left has fallen back on their tried and true - getting a Leftist Judge to back them up.

A fight is looming, not only in Ohio and Wisconsin, but across the nation as labor unions pour money into the alphabet networks. The spin? Why, those who are calliing for an end to the insanity of govenment ot-of-control spending are out to eliminate the middle class. Did you ever hear such bunk in your life?

Unions have a stranglehold on their membership. Anybody who has followed the history of French labor understands what is going on here. Did you know that during a Pacific battle in WWII union workers on an ammunition ship refused to unload? This happened in the middle of an island batrtle. The Marines unloaded the ship themselves, after throwing the union members overboard.

At stake here is whether elections will be what they have always been or whether the Left will continue to corrupt what has been our American way of life.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer this past week used the story of the 1911 shirt factory fire in New York City to support the need for unions. Only a butthead would dispute that labor was exploited grievously. But to use that example to justify what is going on today defies logic.

J. Edgar Hoover wrote a book called "The Big Lie." It's being practiced here openly.

Do You Know How Much Crap is on Shopping Cart Handles?

Commenting on a newspaper article I had just read regarding the amounts and types of bacteria found on shopping cart handles, I said I now disinfect both my hands and the handles of the cart with the anti-bacterial wipes provided by the store.

One of the parties I was speaking with asked me my age. When I told her she commented something to the affect that I had lived this long without using anti-bacterial wipes and we’re becoming, in her opinion, a world of people who overuse anti-biotics and thereby are less able to resist infections.

While there may be some truth in her unnecessarily sarcastic retort, I was nonetheless offended by her inferring that what I was now doing was ridiculous and pointless.

My Fight with Caveman

Just this week I had been thinking of updating a story I had previously written about when my family moved from the west side of Cleveland to the east side. When I wrote it JC was TJ to protect the guilty. I submitted "We're Moving to the East Side?" to the editor of the Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine. They had previously published "My First Flight". The new editor however had rejected this one, saying it appeared "contrived". Thinking about him this week for some reason, it was my intention to trim the original story and just post the part about my fight with "Caveman." In this morning's Plain Dealer is "Caveman's", Addison Anderson's, obituary.

In 1954, midway through the 7th grade, our family moved to the Buckeye Road area of Cleveland. I went from a mostly Irish-Catholic grade school to one that was primarily Hungarian. Why we moved is another story.

As far as I was concerned, the east side was the other side of the world. I was uncomfortable with the thought of moving again after only four years. I had plenty of good friends, was a Boy Scout, the catcher on the CYO baseball team and a guard on the basketball team. The new school had no sports teams at all. I would miss it all: school, friends, neighborhood and sports.

The house we were renting was smaller than our west side home and it sat in the rear of a front house. While the family was busy settling in, my education was restarted at St. Margaret of Hungary grade school.

Wanting to make my best and baddest impression on my first day at school, I carefully scanned the available supply of the clean clothes that were unpacked. The choices were pretty limited. Being the third of nine children of a Cleveland cop never allowed a budget for new and fashionable clothes. Hand-me-downs were the order in our family. I selected my favorite and best pair of trousers to wear, the pair that fit me best. Black with a gray stripe down the side, the cuffs were 'pegged', considerably smaller than the legs. A non-descript shirt completed my ensemble and, with growing feelings of uneasiness and dread, I headed off to begin the new day.

The 7th grade teacher, Sister Mary Broken Knuckles, was beyond the golden years. Halfway through the morning the school bell clanged loudly. A Fire Drill? Air raid? What, we get a recess? Now here was something different from St. Vincent De Paul - recess. Probably for the teachers' mental health rather than anything we students might gain. A fifteen-minute break to be spent outside in the playground. Great. The line out to recess was surprisingly orderly. Once out in the playground I was approached by a classmate.

"Hi, my name is Addison Anderson. When did you move here?"

Trouble began right away for what I heard was, "Hi, my name is Anderson Anderson." A little confused at meeting someone with the same first and last names, I repeated my question. "What's your first name?"

"Anderson," I again heard repeated.

"And what's your LAST name?"

"Anderson."

Still confused, I repeated the first question. "What did you say your FIRST name is?"

"ANDERSON, MY NAME IS ANDERSON ANDERSON" he exploded. "You a wise guy or something? You wanna fight me?"

I wasn't a wimp but I didn't want to fight anybody. The last fight I was pushed into was at St. V's. That one was with Gary Dixon, the class bull’s hitter who deserved to get knocked around a bit. That one was a draw. I was average in height and thin, but wiry. Now, faced with a fight on my first day at school, I hadn't any idea how to extricate myself from the challenge. I was also the new kid on the block. To back out of a fight would mean that I was 'chicken', a label that any red-blooded school kid feared being applied to him. Following my base instincts I scowled, "Name the time and place."


"In the lavatory, right after school," Anderson quickly responded, still angry with me for what he perceived as my attempt to make him look like foolish. Anderson had another name too - Caveman. Not a bad moniker for someone about to engage in a fight. Kind of intimidates the opposition right away. The word about the fight got around. The lavatory after school was crowded with guys trying to get ringside seats to witness the fracas.

Caveman and I immediately began the time-honored tradition of warrior dialogue as we slowly circled each other. "Come-on, wiseass, make a move."

“Besides being ugly I notice you don't use deodorant."

That was enough to begin the first and only round. We pounced on each other, trading headlocks, hammerlocks and half nelsons, finally rolling on the floor clutched in hand-to-hand combat. Caveman was the home team, cheered on all his partisan supporters. The fight probably lasted only about five minutes with no bloodshed. We tired quickly and, to my recollection, the fight was deemed a standoff, nobody losing, and winning each other's respect. Caveman might have had a different recollection of who won!

During the 7th and 8th grade Addison had the greatest birthday parties at home. His mother cleared out his bedroom and allowed us to have pillow fights in the dark, with refreshments served afterwords. It was great fun until the year we broke a bedroom window and his Mom freaked a bit about it.

In later years while I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, someone wrote me with his address in El Paso. He invited me to his "humble abode" but I was never able to scrape together the necessary $$ to get there. We lost touch after that. I'd heard he went to Viet Nam and,like so many returned veterans, suffered some issues afterwards. He apparently lived in plain sight here in the Cleveland area but we could never locate him for class reunions and breakfast get-togethers. I was saddened to learn he was right under our noses the whole the time.

I will see you on the other side Anderson Anderson.

Thank you, again, Dr. Cosby, or What Would Abraham Lincoln Think Today?

All, it's about time somebody said it!

BILL HAS DONE IT AGAIN.


'They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.

I can't even talk the way these people talk:

Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...

And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?

People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something?

Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from??

We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .....

I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.

I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don't have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! !

With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ......... And all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.

We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard. We cannot blame the white people any longer.'

Dr.. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.



WELL SAID, BILL
It's NOT about color...

It's about behavior!!!

Media manipulation in the United States

The most recent televised scenes out of Libya showed a crowd of little kids holding up signs in English. There were also adults with their faces covered up. I could just imagine the people behind the camera orchestrating events for American and World press.

The powerful television interests in the United States can be said to contribute to the success or failure of coups and changes in government throughout the world. I am old enough to recall the so-called 'students' in Iran when the Shah (our friend and ally) was deposed. I, too, remember the American hostages that were taken by the same group, protected by Marines without any ammo in their M-14s.

So, what's my point in all this? Simply that I don't believe what I see coming from our White House. I don't believe what I hear coming from our White House. And I certainly don't believe it when it's filtered and spun via NBC, CBS and ABC.

I am bracing myself for another attempt - that of untold millions/billions of American dollars being sent to these countries to foster "democracy". Dare I say I'm also bracing for hundreds of thousands of 'refugees' from political persecution?

In the American midwest there are Somalis working in meat packing plants. What's wrong with this picture?

I note New York's Peter King will hold hearings on radical Islam. Already the "crowd" of protesters are out in front of the television cameras. Makes it looks like most Americans are opposed to these hearings. King is being portrayed here as a hateful man.

Are we getting the right picture here?

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH

Our Supreme Court has called it their right to spew their hate speech at the funerals of our fallen. They're calling it free speech. But it's not. It's hate speech. And I thought we had laws against it.

Another example of our government speaking with a forked tongue.

We, the majority.

Talk about crafting a mass mindset....Cleveland's only daily, the Plain Dealer, is the master.

They have revealed a recent "poll" that says we Americans would rather raise taxes than cut benefits to public workers in order to reduce state budget deficits. My first thought was, "Hmmm, whose poll is THIS?"

Taking a closer look was not a "eureka" moment. No surprise, they quoted a New York Times/CBS Poll. But, that's not all. On their OPINION page we find a letter from a Lyndhurst, Ohio reader that thinks all of us here must bail out the State of Ohio. Really?

The thinking of some people reflect two possible realities. The first, and probably the most accurate, is that years of Leftist/Liberal/Progressive editorial spin in the broadcast and print media have honed the minds of the masses. I recall seeing it on the blank faces of Iraqi prisoners of war who were being questioned. One half of their brain had never been exercised.

A second and possible reality is thinkers like the Lyndhurst resident are walk-a-ways from confinement in an Ohio Department of Mental Health facility.

It's payback time, but not from Ohio's taxpayers. Those with the excessive sick and vacation days, non-contributory pensions and no-cost-to-them medical coverage plans, are the recipients of benefits the majority of Ohioans have not had. Let them pay their own way, like the rest of us do.

♬The Eyes of Egypt are Upon Us♬ or Without A Doubt, The Rage HAS Come.

So thinks Plain Dealer writer Phillip Morris. For the reactionary and left-leaning readers of this blog, let me begin by saying unions were formed for good purposes. Take miners for example - paid by company script that could only be spent in company stores - where prices were artificially high. As Tennessee Ernie Ford sang, "I owe my soul to the company store."

With that out of the way I now turn my attention to the headline of today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, our only 8-( daily. I knew it would be coming, as it will come in all the major cities where the liberal Left control newspaper editorial boards.

Ohio, like other states, is attempting to bring ridiculous, runaway spending under control. We Buckeyes are attempting to create Right to Work laws in the state. This would be the end of collective bargaining for public employees - you know, the ones who are herding to state capitols across the nation. And the major city newspapers are dutifully pandering to union interests.

What are they missing here? Phillip Morris' column today headlined "Without a doubt, the rage is coming." He tries to fool us by saying it's "spontaneous rage." Oh yeah, like it's not orchestrated by unions? Talk about drawing a major premise from a minor premise...something I learned about in Chris Bunsey's English 101 class at Cleveland State University.

No, Mr. Morris, my headline is "Without A Doubt, The Rage HAS Come." That's why we elected conservatives to represent us throughout the nation. You can draw the major premise from that major premise.

So, let unions parade and Leftist writers pander to them. Have they forgotten how many people are OUT OF WORK in Ohio and elsewhere? We're not going to forget.

My First Flight

A REAGAN WHITE HOUSE STORY

This week saw a lot of splash in the media about the 100th birthday of President Ronald Reagan and his Presidency. During those years I was a Public Policy Spokesperson for him in the then-14th Ohio Congressional District (Summit County). Because of this, I had been to the White House on two occasions. The last time there the President was leaving for his California ranch.

Standing at the back door of the White House we watched the U.S. Marine helicopter descend on the landing pod. A Marine in dress blue uniform came out of the helicopter door and stood there at attention. When the President and his wife emerged from the White House they both headed for helicopter. We had been warned that no cameras would be allowed. Sheesh, at that moment all the associates with me pulled out their cameras and snapped away. I, playing by the rules, had left mine in the car. The Marine saluted as the President approached and entered the helicopter.

President Reagan turned around and waved, just as I had seen him do on evening television news on many occasions. As the helicopter took off we all chatted a bit then prepared to leave. Just then an identical helicopter hovered into view and landed in the spot where the first one had taken off from. A different Marine in dress blue uniform (different to my eyes) emerged and stood by. Soon an entourage emerged from the White House carrying various pieces of luggage and headed to the helicopter. When this occurred a female behind me who did not recognize that it was a different marine, hence a different helicopter, said, in all seriousness, “Oh, they forgot their luggage.”

EGYPT'S 'PROTESTERS" HAVE ALREADY WON

CBS News interviewed the new Egyptian Vice President today. He promised the military would not harm the protesters, just what the Obama administration wants. This, after seeing the protesters climbing all over military vehicles in Cairo. As the cartoons say, "That's all folks."

Does anybody believe this is truly "the people" revolting? It's not as if it's a grass-roots movement like America's Tea Party. If it's not organized then who's behind it? Even Fox News is taking the bait and doesn't think the Muslim Brotherhood is the impetus behind what's going on there. If that's the case then why is it also happening in Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen and elsewhere in the region?

Can we soon expect to see Iranian-style governments hostile to American interests in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and in every nation in the region? The answer, I opine, is yes. And our American government will have aided and abetted their victory. Initially we'll hear it's a democracy, a wonderful thing for Egypt after the bad, bad Mubarak is gone. And at some point in time soon afterwards the Muslim Brotherhood in some guise will seize power.

Earlier generations of Americans and Europeans, post World Wars I and II, conceived the League of Nations and the United Nations. Both concepts were ideals. Well, the League of Nations died and the UN has become a tool of those who hate us. Too bad, as the situations (read people) in Iran and Egypt cry out for intercession by the good guys, those right-thinking nations who wish to preserve the peace.

Alas, Camelot went temporarily out the window when John F. Kennedy was murdered and those opposed to American idealism, within and without, seized and began to fill the vacuum created in our shocked nation.

I hold out little hope that leftist and liberal governments like that currently in power in the U.S., will do the right thing. Rather, they are joining the chorus of those chanting the Mubarak bad guy theme.

Lead by American media's creation of "pop thought", events will follow what they are telling the American people is happening. Those who see through it seem to be few and far between. Or maybe it's just their voices are not being heard....just like in today's Egypt and Iran.

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

A brotherhood. Sounds innocuous enough. Akin to the brothers of the Ancient Order of Hibernians whose motto is Friendship, Unity and True Christian Charity? I don't think so.

Egypt is in danger of becoming a 'democracy'.....something the White House and their admirers wish to see. One man - one vote. Even if they became a constitutional republic, like the United States, their Republic wouldn't last.

Does anybody really think a government run by the so-called Muslim Brotherhood would play fair for their own people, let alone other people? Aren't these the people who blow up and kill Christian Churches and Christians? Who blow up their own people? Aren't these the people who believe it's their way or no way?

The problem, as I see it, is their use of terrorism to seize and keep power. If they don't like you they kill you. How many dead bodies until good people are afraid to speak out? It's how they control populations. During World War II Russia's Joe Stalin and Germany's Adolf Hitler were masters at it....until matters got out of their control. The Muslims in control of Iran are masters at it, thanks to former President Jimmy Carter. When will matters there get out of control, just like matters now in Egypt.

With the Muslim Brotherhood in power, we can expect them to agitate politically throughout the Arab world. Remember, these are the guys who didn't know what oil was until we taught 'em. These are the guys who overcame Sicily and most of Spain. These are the guys who are visible through the U.S. at gas stations, carry out stores, small hotels/motels etc. Am I missing anything here?

I'd like to believe that the words Muslim Brotherhood really meant something. Oh, it sounds so nice, as if they were practicing Friendship, Unity and true Muslim Charity. I'd like to believe they are a positive influence for people everywhere. But I've witnessed nothing of the kind. And I don't believe I ever will.

I'm from Missouri - "show me"!

Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran et al - the Domino Theory

We're witnessing orchestrated "riots" in Egypt and Lebanon, purportedly to change government. The Tunisian President/Prime Minister was recently forced from office, as was a pro-American Prime Minister in Lebanon. The 'rioters' are all young, Muslim men. The United States and our allies will continue to stand idly by while the enemies and freedom and Christianity seize power.

At one time we supported the leadership of Iran. Under President Jimmy Carter, we copped out on the Shah of Iran and thereby created the situation we are faced with today. The irony is the Iranian people, like those in North Korea, are enslaved. The people of Tunisia and Lebanon are next.

Our old CIA was demonized by the leftist American media. In the 'old days' the CIA was an organization that used to keep/put good guys in power. Our safety wasn't threatened by people who

I'm wondering when the people of France, Spain, Saudi Arabia et al will become enslaved, like what happened to Iranians did when we turned our back on our friend the Shah.

MIXING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION WITH LEGAL

I'm quite positive that discerning Americans can see through it - the attempt by the American Left, via major media outlets, to make it appear that the American Right opposes immigration. I remain troubled, however, by non-discerning Americans. If they believe the pop thought being created by the Left, we on the RIGHT oppose immigration. Period.

Every American, and, yes, even native Americans, have come to the North American continent from somewhere. None of us were hatched from an egg here and can claim we're the Chosen Ones. We recognize our roots and the contributions of our ancestors to the building of this nation.

we do not oppose immigration, We oppose ILLEGAL immigration. My fervent hope is that non-discerning Americans have their thought formed news from other than Leftist sources.

FOOTBALL, DISCOUNTED TATOOS AND ROSE COLORED GLASSES

by

JC Sullivan

Five Ohio State football players have been suspended for five games next season for selling autographs, OSU sports paraphenalia, i.e., rings, uniform parts,etc. Feedback has been from two sides - the "So what, it's not like they were selling drugs or buying hookers" to "they have classes about NCAA rules yet they broke them."

If these college guys have been caught breaking the rules for money, what can we expect from them as players in the National Football League? That's big money, not sporting goods. Games and money can be won and lost.

The late Joseph J. "Sport" Sullivan was the guy who talked several 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" players into throwing the World Series. Ah, but then, I hear readers saying "Why, that can't happen today?" And didn't we recently see an NBA referee named Donaghy make calls to benefit one team over another?

Many professional fans today believe that some select NFL games are run by Las Vegas interests. This writer doesn't like to think it but, "It ain't true,is it, Joe?

Sullivan is an internationally-published writer residing in northeast Ohio.

Controlling the Internet - another Obama Administration Power Grab

Instead of singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" at this Christmastide, 2010, I am singing "Here Comes Uncle Sam". He used to be jolly, like St. Nick. But I no longer trust him....I've seen too much.
I wrote about the dangers of government intrusion into another arena of our life - the Internet!
(see
http://throughsullivanseye.blogspot.com/2010/04/setting-scene-for-government-control-of.html

Crack the door open now…..kick it open later…..just like Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Cleveland Plain Dealer write Kevin O'Brien wrote a column regarding the same topic. In his December 23, 2010 column he didn’t mention government thought control. The blogosphere is where folks get alternate opinion.

Pop thought has been force-fed to the masses, formed by major publications and broadcast media. Eliminate sources of free thought and you eliminate expression of free thought.

The majority of people in our nation don’t know about Radio Free Europe and the “jamming” of the radiowaves by Communists, er I mean Progressives. People who thought freely were arrested.

Is our nation going to have to go through the same hoops? I have great hope that the recent revolution in America will extend through the upcoming Congress. Oh, the media is already spinning the President as the "comback kid." That's to be expected....anywhere they can 'mine' a nugget to keep him in power through the next election cycle. Now we understand an alternate intrepretation of "Ching Ching Chinaman sitting on a fence, trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents."

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

DEAR EDITOR:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON, 115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.