Palen is the "Real Deal"

I find it deeply insulting, as a woman, that sexism is rearing its ugly head on the left with all the demeaning comments, such as "she's a hottie", and other attempted marginalizations of Governor Sarah Palin and her accomplishments. I find it sad, but almost comical, to hear this coming from the very people who claim to champion women's rights and practice tolerance and inclusiveness. To even insinuate that an attractive, feminine, pro life, woman with strong family values, who happens to be the embodiment of a woman's "having it all" that they profess to support, cannot be intelligent, strong, and a leader, is an insult to all women. The fact that the left thinks any woman running for office who is not in lock step with their pro abortion and other feminist views, does not represent the women of America, is hypocritical at best.

I have a feeling there are millions more strong American women, like myself, who identify with the values Governor Palin represents, rather than those of the women in N.O.W. and on the far left . As a woman, I'm thrilled we could possibly have a female in the position of Vice President who is the "real deal".

Sarah Palen as the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate

Can't wait for the Biden-Palen debates. I have seen Gov. Palen in action, and she will decimate Biden! As far as experience goes, she is the only one of the 4 on the tickets that has any executive experience. Obama has had exactly 143 days of actual working days in the Illinois senate, having spent the majority of his time campaigning the last couple of years. Mrs. Palen has 2 years experience as the governor of Alaska, and has between an 80 and 90% approval rating in her state! The one word I keep hearing over and over to describe Gov. Palen is that she is a "reformer", something we badly need in Washington right now! She has stood up to corruption in the government since taking office, one of her first executive decisions being to get rid of the governor's corporate jet (sold it on ebay)!!!

As for her conservative stance in support of traditional marriage, it should also be noted that she is the first Alaskan governor to give equal benefits to partners of the state's gay and lesbian employees. She has also "reached across the aisle" to employ both Democrats and Independents in her administration.

I would say anyone who has run a household with 5 children (one of whom, a Downs syndrome baby, she j gave birth to this past April) and has a blue collar, hard working husband whose job requires him to be away from home every other week, while also managing to find time to be an extremely popular governor of her state with all of it's requisite duties, including commander of the national guard, can certainly handle the job of vice president or even president should (God fobid) the need arise!

Like McCain, she doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk. Her oldest son will be deployed to Iraq with the army in a couple of weeks. Being governor of Alaska, she is very passionate about her state being in the forefront of America's becoming energy independent, and has a wealth of knowledge about how that can and should be done. One thing about our drilling in ANWR, that I learned from an indepth interview with her, was that the actual "footprint" of drilling operations, because of the "state of the art" drilling methods that would be used, would only involve 2,000 or less acres of land in an area of over 2 million acres.

Obama keeps talking about change. It has been said that Obama uses the word, change, as a noun ,while Palin uses it as a verb!! I can't think of a better change than having a person like this, with such down to earth, solid middle class American values as our new Vice President!!! Sarah Palen is about as far away from the Washington establishment as one can get!

The Dems certainly know how to put on a production, and Obama is a fabulous speaker, although I thought his acceptance speech was mostly platitudes and bumper stickers. He seems to be making promises to every special interest group in the party with no concrete plan as to how he will pay for the multitude of entitlement programs he plans to implement. His statement that he will "follow Bin Ladin to his cave", in response McCain's vow to follow him to the "ends of the earth" is just one example of the lack of seriousness and honesty in his speech! I just didn't see or hear much substance there.

The most troubling aspect about Obama, aside from his dirth of experience in an executive position, is his pattern of associations with far left, radical, America hating pastors/mentors and friends. I also believe we, as Americans, ought to ask ourselves why terrorist organizations such as Hamas and countries that hate us, are greatly in support of his being the new U.S. President and leader of the free world.

Choosing a President

Putting the economic worries aside for a moment (and I understand that is the #1 thing on most of our minds at the moment), I've still gotta go back to that question Hillary asked? Who would you be more comfortable with answering that 3 a.m. phone call?

I'm amazed more people aren't asking themselves why countries and terrorist groups like Hamas that hate us, are so enamored with the idea of Obama as our next president. Doesn't that concern some of you even just a little?

Say what you will about George Bush (and he certainly has made a lot of mistakes), but his policies have kept us all safe almost 8 years after the most horrific terrorist ever on U.S. soil. If Obama is elected, America will be viewed as weak and ripe for another attack.

It is being predicted that Israel will attack Iran sometime between election day and the innauguration if Obama wins the presidency, because there is no way they are going to let Iran continue their nuclear program. Israel has said that their only hope is to strike while Bush is still President,as the Iranians fear him more than Obama' and they know they will get more support from the USA with Bush in office.

I also understand that Russia has supplied Iran recently, with millions (if not billions) of dollars worth of anti-missle weaponry, but it will take several months to get into working order, so timing is crucial for Israel.

The number one priority of a president and our government, is to keep us safe. Yes, the economy is hugely important, but will mean nothing in a nuclear war with Radical Islamic fascists and Russia

Bernie Mac & Isaac Hayes

I've not connected the two men until I read they were friends and had just finished making a film together. The fact that Hayes died the day after his friend Mac has me wondering if, perhaps, the shock and grief over his friend's demise, contributed to his own death.

The mind-body connection, especially for one as sensitive, caring and intelligent as Isaac Hayes (as evidenced by his music and benevolent works),is stronger than most of us realize.

Just a thought, of course, we'll never know. I'm just glad we were blessed with the talents of these men for the relatively short time they were on the earth.

Sacrificing Palms and Cacti for the Greater Good

My husband and I are native Memphians living in Phoenix. We have overhead power lines in our backyard and an easement. A couple of months ago APS, (Arizona Public Service) removed, stumps and all, 3 huge palm trees from our yard because they could present a problem. We didn't mind that so much, as they had become very expensive to maintain, harbored at times, even hornet nests, and dropped dead palm fronds and seeds on our patio, especially after the monsoon storms we have this time of year.

We were quite distressed, however, about their having to "top" one of two giant 30 feet tall Saquaro cacti in the back corner of our yard. They removed about five feet from the top, so it no longer has that classic nice Saquaro shape, but fortunately, the arms are still intact. We also lost the home (large hole) that had been home to several generations of cactus wrens.

It was great fun to watch Elvis, our neighbor's cat, sit on the block wall a few feet from the cactus and intently observe the birds, trying to decide if he should chance a leap on to the cactus. Thankfully, he never has!

Oh well, better than the entire neighborhood losing power because of our vegetation, I guess.
We were aware when we bought our house 30 years ago (when the plants were much smaller) that this could happen eventually, so we can't complain!

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Pastor Rick Warren, Obama, And McCain

After watching Mr.Warren conduct the interviews with Obama and McCain last evening, I can't see how anyone could not be impressed with Warren's rational, clear thinking abilities. That was one of the best forums (if not the best) for exposing those men's true selves and the way they think that we have seen thus far.

Are you aware that Rick Warren does not draw a salary for being pastor of the fouth largest church in America, Saddleback, and that he gives a very large percentage of his book profits to humanitarian work as well as his often being over in the "trenches" with aids and leprosy sufferers in Africa, etc.?

His book "The Purpose Driven Life" has been translated into numerous languages and undoubtebly, helped change the lives of untold thousands of people around the world. He also has a website that freely gives daily affirmations and encouragement to those who need them.

Would that we would all would live a "purpose driven life" like Rick Warren's in helping the sick and down trodden.

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Chinese Olympic "Child" gymnasts

My daughter was a high level competitive gymnast from the age of 7 to 15. She quit as she had a growth spurt and became too tall to compete at the elite level. She also developed a "fear factor" (I called it common sense!) that kept her from doing the very complicated tricks she would have thought nothing of trying at a younger age.That is why, by the time most female gymnasts who reach college or sometimes even high school age, are "over the hill"!

The rules of the Olympics state all athletes must be at least 16 to compete. Though younger gymnasts might have the advantage in that they are usually more flexible and lack the "fear" factor of ollder girls, there is also the great danger of damaging their growth plates because the bones are not yet fully fused at a younger age. If that plate is damaged, it will affect their growth. The tricks these kids are forced to do at such a tender age are putting them in great danger of injuries they will sustain for life. This is child abuse in my opinion, but tame in comparison to the gross human violations that seem to be the norm in China.

Elvis , 31 years after

As my hometown of Memphis prepares to celebrate the life of Elvis Presely 31 years after his death in August 1977, here are my thoughts:

A lot of us who grew up in Memphis in the the 50's and 60's felt a kinship with Elvis. I lived just a couple of blocks from Humes High School where he attended, and several of my aunts and uncles went to school with him. I for one, always thought of him as a member of my family, never had a "school girl crush" on him, but greatly admired his talent and humanity.

As the years went by, and I moved away from Memphis, I gained a different perspective on Elvis and his life, having read numerous books about him, (some put him in a good life, some not). In the end, he was just a flawed human being like the rest of us, who was blessed with a tremendous talent which, thankfully, he was able to share with the world.

I believe those closest to him, Priscilla, and the "Memphis Mafia", especially, truly loved him, but Elvis, being the extremely strong personality he was, had to do it "his way" and ended up suffering the consequences for his choices.

That does not take away from the fact that he left us with a legacy unmatched by any entertainer before or since his relatively short period of time on this earth.