Obama speech, August 31: pays tribute to troops, refocuses on economy
President Obama Tuesday night told an American public weary of war that it is time to “turn the page” on the war in Iraq. And although he said the formal end of US combat operations in Iraq would allow the military to turn fuller attention to the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama also repeated his pledge to begin a drawdown of troops in Afghanistan next summer.
Read more on The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News

by disneyexclusiveonline

American Software Reports Preliminary First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011 Results
ATLANTA—-American Software, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, delivering a 39% increase in first quarter operating earnings when compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2010, achieving 38 consecutive quarters of profitability and completing 28 consecutive quarters of dividend distributions to shareholders.
Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance

President Obama’s Address on Iraq
The text, as prepared for delivery, of President Obama’s address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, provided by the White House.
Read more on New York Times

You can view the full speech here: millercenter.org At American University in Washington, DC, Kennedy announces upcoming talks with the Soviets in Moscow, as well as his decision not to test nuclear weapons in the atmosphere as long as other nations also refrain from nuclear tests as a show of goodwill. June 10th, 1963
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• Obama popularity slumps over economy
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Tom Schick, Executive Vice President, American Express, USA, at the 2010 Horasis Global India Business Meeting – on the next big driver for India’s growth story


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Red Presidents Wall Study for Habitat for Humanity


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• Lastest American President News
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• The American President

Rep. Paul Calls for Gold Audit, Questions Whether Fort Knox Is Empty
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, suggesting America’s reserves may not be as robust as officials claim, is calling for an independent audit of the U.S. gold held at Fort Knox and other facilities. 
Read more on Fox News

by jaycoxfilm

Chronic insomnia with objectively measured short sleep duration associated with increased mortality in men
A study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP found an elevated risk of death in men with a complaint of chronic insomnia and an objectively measured short sleep duration. The results suggest that public health policy should emphasize the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of chronic insomnia.
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• Barack Obama in St. Paul 2008
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Wither Conservative Reform?

In the past few months, Newt Gingrich and William Kristol have weighed in publicly with advice for John McCain. It’s all about what sort of presidential campaign he should run or what sort of candidate he should be.

Gingrich and Kristol are foursquare behind the idea that the Arizonan should run as a reformer, a conservative reformer.

The advice has plenty of merit. Voters want change and the nation needs it. And it would most certainly be advantageous for the country if Senator McCain were to grab the conservative reform banner and run with it.

But the Arizonan, famous for his independent streak, and with more than a quarter of a century of political experience under his belt, isn’t likely to campaign as a banner-waving reformer. He’s likely to be just what he is: a seasoned politician who will take the most practical routes to winning the presidency.

That doesn’t make him a crass opportunist. Nor does it mean that his candidacy is a principle-free zone. It simply means that as a practitioner of the fine art of electoral politics, Senator McCain is going to find ways of successfully negotiating the nation’s broad and tangled political landscape to gain victory.

His recipe will probably call for a little reform, a little populism and some stand-patism. In fact, that’s already the case. He’s calling for an optional simpler tax system while bashing Wall Street. His trade proposals are conventionally Republican. As the campaign unfolds, he may well change the mix of ingredients or the portions to better reflect swings in the electorate. That’s part of the fine art as well: flexibility.

Where does that leave conservative reform?

Without a strong standard-bearer, yes, indeed. But as conservatives have come to appreciate, Ronald Reagans don’t grow on trees. A movement leader who can be a political leader as well is, perhaps, a once in a generation occurrence.

But that shouldn’t be a cause for despair among conservatives. It helps to keep in mind that when it comes to movements, in the chain of events, electing likeminded politicians is the last link. Generally, reform doesn’t start at the center and work out to the perimeters. Reform starts on the perimeters and works its way to the center. In a very real sense, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan were the end results of a much longer, less visible, process.

Thanks to the William Buckleys and Russell Kirks, thanks to countless Main Street Americans, conservatism was translated into a movement that became a political force that has been powerfully shaping the nation for a quarter of a century.

Despite what the establishment media and liberals say about conservatism being played out, such is not the case. There’s no shortage of conservative ideas for transforming the country. Start at the Heritage Foundation website and then visit the many other national and state conservative think-tank websites. Go online to conservative journals, like National Review. And visit pages like the American Thinker, where tangible contributions are being made to conservative thought and the national dialogue. Conservative reform ideas are everywhere.

Consider the period from Ronald Reagan’s inauguration through, at least, the completion of George W. Bush’s first term as the end of Phase I in the conservative advance. Much of that phase dealt with cleaning up the mess made by liberals in the 1960s and 1970s. The military was rebuilt. The Russians were defeated. Some significant reforms were passed, including the landmark 1996 welfare reform act pushed by Congressional Republicans. The Reagan tax cuts became the George W. Bush tax cuts. Voters were introduced to conservative thought, and, thanks to Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, that thought was made practical to the everyday lives of Americans.

But that phase is now over, and gratitude for past achievements goes only so far with voters. They want answers and direction in dealing with the problems and challenges they now face.

Enter conservative reform. Government is still the problem, as Ronald Reagan would undoubtedly say if he were around. In fact, all the more so.

Today, much of the federal government is rusting out and dry-rotting. It was built by liberals in the last century to respond to the challenges of industrial America. The America of Big Business and Big Labor; of sprawling factories and belching smokestacks. That old big government is protected by liberals due to their narrow self-interest and by loyalty to a hoary ideology that, with the passing years, has become more Europeanized and statist.

The liberal response to contemporary challenges and problems is no different than that of liberals a generation ago. Healthcare: let government run it. Energy: punish producers and let government control it. Taxes: hike them. Public education: throw more money at it. Social welfare: spend more. Government: grow it. And on and on.

Liberalism is purely a reactionary creed. That point can’t be underscored enough. It offers no new departures. None. Everything in the Obama and Clinton playbooks comes from the McGovern-Carter playbooks of the 1970s. From taxes to spending to foreign policy and national defense, the Democratic contenders are Ford Pintos with fresh coats of paint.

Reactionary liberalism has gained traction this year because it found a moment to exploit. Voter disillusionment and fatigue with the Iraqi war, a slowing economy and a recent Republican Congress that turned from conservative governance to big government, profligate spending and earmarking have given liberals an opening.

But originality of thought and innovation and new ideas with an eye to the future are occurring among conservatives. Voters are anxious for change, not the empty change offered by Barack Obama, but meat and potatoes change. Change that dramatically reshapes government; that makes it more effective in performing its essential duties; that divests or decentralizes other functions to states and localities; that seeks solutions in the private sector first; and that returns to citizens greater responsibility for their lives. And with that responsibility comes greater choices and rewards.

Yet absent a compelling conservative reform message and messenger, to date, voters have been enticed by the Democrats, whose repackaged liberalism looks brand spanking new, especially to younger voters with no firsthand knowledge of the liberal debacle a generation ago.

Senator McCain may well win the presidency, but that will be due to many factors. No small part will be voters realizing that Barack Obama isn’t an agent of change, but an agent of the status quo ante.

Whoever wins the presidency, it’s a good bet that voters won’t get what they truly want. The likelihood is that this year’s restless, volatile electorate will be that way in 2010 and 2012. Getting more of the same from the Democrats, or not enough that’s new from John McCain, could make this so.

No historical parallel is exact, of course, but the early years of the 21st Century presents conservatives with opportunities similar to what the Progressives had in the opening years of the last century. It offers the chance to advance a broad reform agenda. This time, not aimed at the ills and excesses of capitalism, but at the ills and excesses of government.

Progressive reformers didn’t wait for political leaders to come along to spark their movement. It was started by countless people in countless communities throughout the nation. Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt were results.

The same thing holds true for conservative reform today: start the movement and the politicians will follow.

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William Hague at Conservative Party Conference


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• Wither Conservative Reform?
• The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot
• Lastest Conservative News

White House sued for ‘targeted killings’
The United States government faces legal action for ordering the assassination of American citizens, whom it accuses of terrorist links.
Read more on Press TV

by The U.S. Army

Eagle County kids invited to White House
EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado – Luisa Taal has never met the first lady, but she has a good feeling about her. “She looks really nice,” the 11-year-old said. Taal will get to see Michelle Obama in person Tuesday. She and fellow valley resident Colby Lange, also 11, have received an exclusive invitation to the White House to participate in a dance workshop. The first lady is putting on the event to …
Read more on The Vail Trail

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• Lastest White House News
• White House 506-Piece Construction Toy
• Lastest White House News

President Barack Obama’s Speech in Accra, Ghana on July 11, 2009


Image by US Army Africa

Barack Obama


Image by Montauk Beach

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• Barack Obama’s 2009 Inaugural Speech
• M. Jerzy Buzek, the new elected President of the European Parliament, at his arrival in Strasbourg, Monday 13 July 2009
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Public Backing For Health Overhaul Wanes As Obama Administration Prepares For Midterms
Kaiser Health News: Public support for the new health law slipped in August, “a development sure to stir concerns among the Obama administration and congressional Democrats seeking to shore up support for the law in the months leading up to the mid-term elections.” The latest poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 43 percent of Americans viewed the law favorably, which is down from 50 …
Read more on Medical News Today

by wallyg

Ramirez tired, his act’s stale
Maybe after he gets some rest, aging slugger will give Sox lift David Haugh: At the end of his bizarre, 15-minute introductory news conference Tuesday at Progressive Field, new White Sox designated hitter Manny Ramirez uttered the only sentence he didn’t require coach Joey Cora to translate.
Read more on Chicago Tribune

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• Obama Administration Seeks to Tighten U.S. Trade Laws
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Dallas Tea Party 2009


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Tea Party Texting


Image by Jen_Maloney_Photo

Manhattan Tea Party Crowd


Image by ajagendorf25

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• Nice Tea Party photos
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• Nice American Congress photos

Rex Nutting: Disappointed populists not just in tea party
Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and the tea partiers aren’t the only populists in America who feel the regular Joes of the country are getting a raw deal. The populists on the left have been there all the time.
Read more on Market Watch

by Steve Rhodes

From the Comments: TEA Party undecided on proposed veterans millage, but some minds are made up
Leaders of the Genesee TEA Party aren’t sure how deeply involved their supporters might become in opposing a proposed new property tax to support veterans services
Read more on The Flint Journal

The video Walking Wounded from the Tea Party – I do not own the music or video – The song and video are property of the artists and record company – This was posted to promote the amazing music that these three men created together as The Tea Party. If you like what you see and hear, I suggest that you take a look at their catalog of music. Enjoy

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• Nice Tea Party photos
• Cool Tea Party images
• How to Plan Your Next Tea Party

West Lake Hills, Texas for Vacation or Call it Home?

West Lake Hills, or MLS area 8E, or zip code 78746, is often touted as the most desirable neighborhood in Austin. With its waterfront and downtown views almost rivaling Mt. Bonnell across Lake Austin in altitude, its short commute to downtown and its celebrated Eanes School district, West Lake Hills is the destination for those who can afford it.

Bounded by Lake Austin to the north and east, Capitol of Texas Highway/360 to the west, and Bee Caves Road and Barton Creek Mall to the south, Westlake is often, mistakenly, considered part of a larger area due to its equally tony neighborhoods: Davenport Ranch to the north, Barton Creek and Lost Creek to the west and Rollingwood to the south.

The City of West Lake Hills was founded and incorporated as a village in 1953, and is currently comprised of 2,560 acres (four square miles), approximately 1,000 homes and 200 businesses. Driving from downtown, through Tarrytown via Lake Austin Boulevard, and taking the left turn on Redbud (past Redbud Isle, the crowning leash-free water park for dogs), the mood turns from city to waterfront community, to meandering drives circling Texas Tuscan to modern compounds rivaling those of the Hollywood Hills.

What grounds the area is the highly-acclaimed Eanes School District, considered to be the best school district in the Austin area, if not Central Texas. Every elementary school has achieved an Elemplary* rating, including the three that serve the Westlake region: Bridgepointe, Cedar Creek, and Eanes. Hill Country Middle School, a Recognized school houses a 17,000 volume library collection, rare for a Middle School of just 850 students.

Rivaling the best private schools in town is Recognized Westlake High, with its national accolades (Newsweek Magazine rated it the 97th best high school in the country in 2007), Blue Ribbon status and 95% enrollment rate. In addition to excelling in academics and arts, the Westlake Chaparrals possess a highly competitive athletic program, especially in tennis, volleyball, football and swimming.

The Village of Westlake Hills contains the retail and services hub of the area at the intersection of Bee Caves and Capitol of Texas Highway/ 360, hosting retail chains like Barnes and Noble and Macaroni Grill, as well as grocery and drug stores.

This idyllic neighborhood, with its short commute to downtown and celebrated school district comes with a significant price tag. With a median asking price in the 0’s for condos and houses, Westlake is not accessible to all. Even those wanting to build will find lots ranging from 1/3rd an acre to just over 4 acres with a median price in the upper 0’s.

Condo living, especially with lake views, has just started to erupt in Westlake with just a few recent builds. For those going the condo route, prices range from the mid 0’s on the outskirts of the region (yet still benefiting from city proximity and great schools) to the mid million range.  

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