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"Coming Apart" By Charles Murray

2012-01-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

From the Best-selling Author of The Bell Curve,

A Revealing Expose on the Collapse of the

American Culture

COMING APART

The State of White America, 1960-2010

By Charles Murray

"Murray offers sketches of life lived in the upper class and the lower class and argues for the need to focus on what has made the U.S. exceptional beyond its wealth and military power, the ideals that have held a highly diverse nation together: religion, marriage, industriousness, and morality. Writing from a libertarian perspective, Murray offers a hopeful long view of elites, who have enormous influence on economic and social policy, coming to understand the peril of their disconnection from the rest of America."

--Booklist, starred review

"A timely investigation into a worsening class divide no one can afford to ignore."

--Publishers Weekly

Charles Murray is no stranger to controversy. Named by The National Journal as one of the 50 "People Who Make a Difference" in national policy-making, he is one of the select few leading today’s debate on social policy. He is known for his frank and candid approach, and his best-selling books Losing Ground, The Bell Curve, and others works have provided a much needed dose of reality when it comes to the issues surrounding education, government, and social reform. Now, in COMING APART: The State of White America, 1960-2010, Murray offers an in-depth exploration of the evolution of American society that is sure to stir debate.

While America has never been a classless society, there has always been a collective identity - until now. COMING APART argues that the American classes have reached a level of separation unlike anything we have ever known before. Using data from the 1960 and 2000 censuses, Murray demonstrates the emergence of a spatial isolation between the social classes that has no parallel in American history. Murray first takes on what he calls the new upper class: a highly educated, successful, affluent group concentrated in what he calls "SuperZips" clustered around a few centers of national power. It is this upper class that is running the country, yet they are increasingly isolated from, and ignorant about, the rest of America, having never interacted with those outside their upper-middle class bubble. For the bottom third of white America, which Murray refers to as the new lower class, there has been a deterioration in the quality of life.

Murray examines specifically American trends regarding marriage, religion, honesty, and industriousness for the past fifty years to show how communities are socially collapsing. In taking on this task, Murray limits the data exclusively to non-Latino whites, giving the reader no choice but to recognize that the changes he describes are not grounded in racial or ethnic divisions, nor are they based on current economic hard times. (As the data show, life in the American working class was breaking down in the 1980s and 1990s when the country was enjoying an economic boom.) Those trends are frightening, showing wide gaps that have opened up in behaviors that once united Americans across classes. Hardly anyone in the upper class has even noticed the change, and COMING APART is the first book to bring this startling transformation to public attention.

Murray shows us that America has devolved into a class system where those at the top and those at the bottom barely inhabit the same culture. A startling long-lens view, COMING APART reveals the ways in which America is coming apart at the seams that once stitched us together. Murray evokes the civic culture that was so widely shared among Americans that it amounted to a civil religion. "To be an American was to be different from other nationalities, in ways that Americans treasured," Murray writes. "That culture is unraveling." Murray forces us to look unblinkingly at the nature of the problem because, as he argues, the price of turning a blind eye is the end to what has made America America.

About the Author: Charles Murray is the W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. In addition to his books and articles in technical journals, Murray has published extensively in The New Republic, Commentary, The Public Interest, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Review, and the Washington Post. He has been a frequent witness before congressional and senate committees and a consultant to senior government officials on education and welfare.

SandyPR.com Celebrates 5 Years

2012-01-23T10:37:00.000-08:00

I'm so thrilled to be celebrating my 5 year anniversary since going freelance with SandyPR.com. And with the addition of SandyPundits.com, my business is growing like crazy and becoming quite a success with the pundits, authors and political and financial bloggers. I've been privileged to be able to work with only the best in the business and I truly admire each and every one of my clients. They place an enormous amount of faith in me representing them to the world of talk radio and I'm so excited to have been able to build a wonderful relationship with hosts and producers all over America since 1998.

It's a thrilling time in the world of technology and the Internet has given me so many opportunities to flourish as a publicist... and I still haven't had to advertise! It's been all word of mouth and I thank my wonderful clients for spreading the word about my services. I am happy to still be able to offer the lowest subscription rates while providing a quality service which helps my clients' careers onward and upward toward the success they so deserve, and radio tours for the best authors who are sent to me by the biggest and best publishers in Manhattan. Here's to 5 more years!! --Sandy

New Film to Look at Education Fight in Chicago

2012-01-19T08:36:00.001-08:00

Juan Williams pulls no punches in school expose

A Tale of Two Missions - a film by Juan Williams and Kyle Olson, Founder and CEO of Education Action Group Foundation - tells the story of competing cultures in American education through examples from Chicago.

While the fight for school choice rages across the nation, perhaps no better example exists than that of the Windy City. Traditional alliances are breaking down. Both political parties are pushing for education reform and expanded school choice. The status quo is under attack, because most reasonable people understand that thousands of Chicago students are trapped in failing schools.

But the education establishment, led by the radical Chicago Teachers Union, is not willing to give an inch to allow better choices for underserved students. And the union still has enough money, influence and legal standing to make reform efforts difficult to implement.

The film features the Noble Street College Prep charter school and the amazing results its teachers and leaders are delivering for students and parents of Chicago. It also exposes the entrenched educational establishment bent on stifling school choice options and preserving its monopoly on state education dollars.

"Juan's voice cuts through the daily back-and-forth and issues a searing indictment of a system that is largely focused on the needs of adults," said Kyle Olson, executive producer of the film and founder of Education Action Group. "It is our hope that this will provide the public with an unvarnished analysis of the state of our schools, as well as a glimpse into what could be, if the teachers unions would drop their consistent opposition to reform."

Being released during National School Choice Week, the film runs approximately 35 minutes and is geared towards generating discussion about the role of our schools and what obstacles can be overcome when school culture is focused on student success rather than adult demands.

Go Here for an exclusive look at DVDs of the film. An abridged version can be seen here or at twomissionsmovie.com.

School Choice Week 2012

2012-01-18T11:46:00.000-08:00

Nation's Largest-Ever Celebration of Education Reform Kicks Off With National School Choice Week, January 23-28, 2012

Tens of thousands of Americans in all 50 states will gather for the largest celebration of education reform in American history this month.

National School Choice Week, a series of hundreds of events shining a spotlight on the need for better educational options for children, will kick off at a special event in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 21, 2012 and run until January 28, 2012.

During National School Choice Week (www.SchoolChoiceWeek.com), more than 250 events will take place in every corner of the nation. Everyone from children, parents, teachers, and community leaders - to celebrities, sports figures, elected officials, and more - will participate in this unprecedented bipartisan commemoration. In addition, governors from across the country are expected to commemorate the Week with special proclamations.

Supporters of National School Choice Week believe that children and families deserve increased access to great public schools, public charter schools, virtual schools, private schools, and homeschooling. Advocates also believe that with high dropout rates plaguing many school districts - one child drops out of an American school every 26 seconds - and with America’s standing in math and literacy rankings lagging behind 34 other countries, educational choice is an essential solution to the growing crisis of educational quality.

The Week will kick off on Saturday, January 21, 2012 with a major celebration featuring The Temptations and Ellis Marsalis at 10:30 AM at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. For more information or to find an event near you, please visit: http://www.schoolchoiceweek.com/.

Capitalism 101 By Leon Weinstein

2012-01-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

Capitalism 101

By Leon Weinstein

As we find ourselves amidst arguably the most critical presidential election in the history of America, the GOP candidates debating weekly on all the hotly contested issues of our time, none is more heated - in light of Obamacare, the most controversial act of the current administration - than the possibility that we may be on the brink of becoming a socialist nation.

What better time to learn from the wisdom and personal experiences of one who emigrated from the USSR and knows firsthand what it means to live in a Communist society? In his new book, Capitalism 101, former Soviet Union citizen, political writer and social commentator, Leon Weinstein, speaks in no uncertain terms of the stark contrast between the life he knew in Russia versus the one he discovered in America. His book is a dire warning to Americans about the consequences of allowing our government to whittle away at our freedoms. Mr. Weinstein states clearly what The Declaration of Independence meant by "freedom" and the impact a socialist agenda may have on America and calls for basic changes to the ways we govern.

Capitalism 101 is a blueprint of how a just and free society should be built in order to survive. Ayn Rand showed us what not to do. George Orwell showed us what would happen if we go the wrong way. Fifty years later, Leon Weinstein shows us what must be done as quickly as possible in order to preserve our freedom and enjoy the prosperity we once knew as the greatest nation on Earth.

"If Americans continue allowing their government to take from them any amount of money it wants to, whenever it wants to; if Americans continue allowing people who do not contribute to the society to vote on what to do with the money the others earned; if Americans continue allowing their government to expand its powers instead of merely protect and serve," say Weinstein, "this country will reach the point of no return, after which it will be impossible to stop or even reduce entitlement programs and the morphing into a nanny state and eventual transformation into a tyranny will begin."

Capitalism 101 proves beyond a doubt that in order to sustain the high quality of life and the freedom that Americans have enjoyed in the past, the government's role must be redefined as "to protect and serve" and NOT to use taxpayers' money to choose favorites, create entitlements or compete with the private sector. More information: http://capitalism101.net/

About the Author: Leon Weinstein emigrated from the USSR to Israel in 1974, where he completed his pre-doctoral study at the Ramat Aviv University. In Israel, Mr. Weinstein was actively involved in the election of a right-of-center Likud coalition into Knesset (Israeli Parliament). Starting in 1989, he began to take active part in establishing ties between Post-Soviet Russia and his newly adopted homeland, America. In 1990, he initiated sister city relations between St. Petersburg and Los Angeles and co-founded several companies with operations in both countries. Mr. Weinstein is the author of numerous political articles defending capitalism. His first political novel, "Looking for Hugh: The Capitalist Guidebook" was published in 2009 and "Capitalism 101" in 2012. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and has written for FrontPageMag.com.

"Dubs Goes to Washington" By Dick Morris

2011-12-01T12:15:00.000-08:00

Dubs Goes to Washington

...and Discovers the Greatness of America

By Dick Morris, Eileen McGann

& Clayton J. Liotta (Author, Illustrator)

Dubs Goes to Washington and Discovers the Greatness of America is a book that teaches young children their first patriotic lessons. The star of the book is Dubs, their adorable golden retriever. Dubs has lost his beloved tennis ball in Washington, D.C. Kids from 4-8 will love helping Dubs find it - and, in the process, will discover what makes America such an exceptional nation.

Dick and his wife, Eileen decided to write this book because they couldn't find books for their young friends that teach them about our great country, our important institutions, and our heroes. Too often, our schools and publishers ignore these important subjects or relegate them to adults. But, as we all know, you're never too young to be a patriot!

Dubs Goes to Washington gives parents and grandparents the perfect vehicle for introducing our patriotic heritage to our children. This delightful history and civics lesson will be a favorite bedtime story for your family. Kids will learn a little about our founding fathers, our patriotic traditions, the message of our national monuments, and the importance of our war heroes who fought for our freedom.

These beautifully illustrated lessons show some of the things that make America an exceptional nation. And it's fun for kids, too. Dubs' yellow tennis ball is hidden in each of the drawings, and kids have to search to find it.

We know you're proud of what makes America great. Now you and Dubs can remind your little ones of our cultural and historical foundations. Take a trip through Washington with Dubs!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Dick & Eileen have been married for thirty-four years. Together, they have written nine New York Times best sellers. One of the most prominent American political consultants, Dick Morris is well known for his probing, insightful, hard-hitting and clear commentary on Fox News Channel. Dick and Eileen write daily columns on U.S. politics for their Web site dickmorris.com and have been columnists for the New York Post and contributors to National Review and many other publications.

"Islam without Extremes" By Mustafa Akyol

2011-12-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty

By Mustafa Akyol

"A very powerful and important book which deals with how some Muslims improperly use archaic Shariah laws and others to justify violence." --Rita Cosby

"A delightfully original take on Turkey and on the prospects for liberal democracy in the broader Islamic Middle East." --Wall Street Journal

Since 9/11, much has been written about "moderate Islam." But few authors have really discussed the question that is at the heart of the debate: Can Islam be compatible with individual liberty and a free society? Turkish writer Mustafa Akyol, "a pious Muslim and a classical liberal," as the Wall Street Journal called him, argues that the answer can be "yes."

In Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty, Akyol acknowledges that the Islamic world is rife with authoritarian regimes and illiberal attitudes. But he argues that not all of these problems come directly from Islam, and those who do so can be overcome by reforming Islamic law and culture in a way that will remain true to fundamentals of the faith.

In this 350-page tour de force, Akyol first shows how Islamic thought evolved in history, and how liberty, which had its place in Islam, gradually lost to tyranny. The years following Muhammad's passing in 632 AD, he explains, saw an intellectual "war of ideas" rage between rationalist, flexible schools of Islam and the more dogmatic, rigid ones. The traditionalist school won out, fostering perceptions of Islam as antithetical to modernity.

However, through his careful reexamination of the currents of Muslim thought, Akyol discovers a flourishing of liberalism in the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire and the unique "Islamo-liberal synthesis" of present-day Turkey. Only by accepting a secular state, he powerfully asserts, can Islamic societies thrive. Only by accepting "the freedom to sin," and "freedom from Islam," he says Muslims will prove to be confident in their faith.

Persuasive and inspiring, Islam without Extremes offers a desperately needed intellectual basis for the reconcilability of Islam and religious, political, economic, and social freedoms.

"Mr Akyol is an advocate of reconciliation between Muslims and the West [and] is much in demand at conferences on the future of Islam." --The Economist

About the Author: Mustafa Akyol is a columnist for two Turkish newspapers: Hurriyet Daily News and Star. His articles have also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. He studied political science and history at the Bogazici University in Istanbul, where he still lives.

Reagan Shooter Hinckley Hearings to Seek Release

2011-11-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

Del Quentin Wilber, a Washington Post reporter and the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times best-seller Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan, is available to discuss presidential assailant John W. Hinckley's efforts to gain more freedom from his psychiatric hospital. Hinckley shot and seriously wounded President Reagan on March 30, 1981. He has been held at St. Elizabeth's Hospital since being found not guilty by reason of insanity during his trial in 1982.

In a series of hearings starting Wednesday and expected to last through Dec. 9, Hinckley's lawyers and his doctors are expected to urge a federal judge to give the presidential assailant more liberty. They would like Hinckley to be allowed to visit his mother's home in Williamsburg, Va., for lengthy unsupervised trips, some lasting up to 24 days. His doctors at St. Elizabeth's Hospital would also like the authority to allow Hinckley to live in Williamsburg - without seeking approval from a federal judge. Over the years, that judge has granted Hinckley more freedom, allowing him to spend more time at the home of his parents in Virginia and even obtain a driver's license.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to block such moves, saying Hinckley remains a danger. "Hinckley is a man capable of great violence," prosecutors wrote in court papers, adding that the assailant "still is not sufficiently well to alleviate the concern that this violence may be repeated."

Hinckley, 56, nearly killed President Reagan in a shooting that wounded three other men, including White House Press Secretary James Brady, outside the Washington Hilton hotel on March 30, 1981. He said he wanted to kill Reagan to impress the movie actress Jodie Foster, then an 18-year-old freshman at Yale University.

Wilber, the Washington Post's federal courts reporter, will be covering the hearings for the newspaper and its Web site. He wrote extensively about the assassination attempt and Hinckley in his book, Rawhide Down, and has given scores of radio and television interviews that describe the drama of March 30, 1981, and how close Reagan actually came to dying that day.

The New York Times' critic Janet Maslin last week called Rawhide Down one of her top ten books of 2011. Other critics have called the book "gripping," "riveting," "a thriller," and "harrowing story."

Wilber's most recent Washington Post blog entry about Hinckley can be found here.

"Indoctrination" by Kyle Olson

2011-11-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

New Book Exposes How Activist Public School Teachers
Force-Feed Left-Wing Political Propaganda to Students

"For defenders of freedom, Kyle Olson's book is a vital necessity to read and absorb. It sets a challenge before us all: To change public education so that it is truly American in its values." --Best-selling Author and Fox News analyst Dick Morris

Throughout many of the nation's public schools, left-wing teachers are misusing their classrooms and their influence to train students how to think and behave like progressive political activists. That's the premise of a new book entitled, Indoctrination: How 'Useful Idiots' Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism by Kyle Olson, who exposes how leftist teachers misuse precious class time to sell students on their political agenda: union organizing, radical environmentalism, pledging allegiance to the Earth, creating "global citizens" and spreading 1960s-style cultural Marxism to new generations.

Olson wrote Indoctrination after discovering a series of widely used lesson plans written by and for activist teachers. In the book, he examines 35 of these lesson plans, and explains how each is used to train students in the ways of left-wing progressivism - beginning as early as preschool. "As the father of a kindergartener, this became very personal for me," says Olson. "I am very concerned about what he will be learning."

Indoctrination tells the story of:

A preschool teacher who tells her students about the recent union protests in Madison, Wisconsin, and uses the words strike, collective bargaining and negotiate as part of a vocabulary lesson.
The Maryland Board of Education that requires every graduate to "make decisions" demonstrating they are "environmentally literate."
The thousands of schools that show students "The Story of Stuff" - a video created by a Green Peace activist that urges the end of America's "current" economic model, while making the case for socialism.
Lesson plans published by the United Nations that teach students to find "the means for constructing a more sensible and just world community," as well as introducing "the law of the sea" concept - whereby the U.N. regulates the oceans and national sovereignty goes out the window.
Social justice activists who use math lessons to push propaganda about war spending, incarceration rates and AIDS spending.

Indoctrination not only exposes what is being taught, but who is writing and promoting this agenda. This book makes the case that student achievement is abysmal in many of the nation's public schools, and time should not be wasted on politics. In some school districts, students are literally graduating without the ability to read - but they leave school knowing all about the evils of free enterprise and U.S. corporations. The book also provides a series of action steps and ideas that parents, taxpayers and elected officials can use to stem this growing problem in our schools. Watch the trailer...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kyle Olson founded the Education Action Group, a Michigan-based non-profit organization that is dedicated to addressing the problems in our public education system. Kyle is a regular contributor to BigGovernment.com, TownHall.com and a frequent guest on talk radio, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Fox Business Network, and NPR. His and EAG's work has also been cited by the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. Watch Kyle on Fox & Friends.

RealClearPolitics eBook

2011-11-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

The latest must-read inside analysis

on the 2012 presidential campaign

The RealClearPolitics

POLITICAL DOWNLOAD

ELECTION 2012

The Battle Begins

By Tom Bevan & Carl M. Cannon

RealClearPolitics is a leading Web site for political news and commentary, and one that routinely breaks news inside the Beltway and about presidential campaigns. In the first of a three-eBook series, ELECTION 2012: The Battle Begins, written by Tom Bevan and Carl M. Cannon, provides an in-depth look at the inner workings of the White House reelection team and many of the major GOP candidates running for president. In addition, this groundbreaking e-original provides fascinating insights from some of the key GOP figures who flirted with a presidential run and why they ultimately declined.

ELECTION 2012: The Battle Begins gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the early stages of the 2012 race, providing in-depth reporting, analysis, and the latest coverage of the campaigns of President Obama and the GOP candidates.

Newsmaking items in this eBook include:

· Rick Perry - new details are revealed from key figures associated with his well-funded campaign about his plan to duke it out until the end a la Obama vs. Clinton; his enmity with the Bush camp; his staff shake-ups.

· Mitt Romney - following his 2008 defeat, we go inside his first strategy meeting on the 2012 presidential run, and we get a deeper look at the elusive philosophical question: why he is running for president.

· Herman Cain - a larger picture of his campaign's inept response to the sexual harassment allegations.

· Newt Gingrich - new details emerge about Callista Gingrich's domineering influence on the campaign, including her spat with campaign staff over the couple's Mediterranean cruise in June and her husband's Tiffany account.

· Michele Bachmann - in the chapter titled "Minnesota Waterloo," the congresswoman is described as a "mega-narcissist" by one of her former aides; new details are revealed about the tension that led to the mass exodus of her campaign team led by Ed Rollins.

· The GOP figures who didn't run and why - new details about Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee, and Mitch Daniels, and ultimately why they decided not to run in 2012, what went into their decision-making, and which former president suggested Daniels should run.

· Jon Huntsman - new stories that confirm the campaign's dysfunction (or, as one former senior staff member called it, "McCain 2.0").

· The implosion of Tim Pawlenty - authors reveal how he was a nonstarter on the fundraising circuit and discuss his inability to confront Romney and Bachmann in the debates.

· President Obama - the latest plans by the president's reelection team.

This gripping e-original also contains a fascinating chapter on the formation of the Tea Party and how much of a force it will be in next year's presidential election.

Taking the Theodore White treatment into the twenty-first century, ELECTION 2012: The Battle Begins provides a fascinating glimpse into the men and women running for president in 2012 and the machinations propelling their journey.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Tom Bevan is the co-founder and executive editor of RealClearPolitics. Under Bevan's editorial leadership, RealClearPolitics has grown into one of the most widely read political Web sites, with an average of 5 million readers every month.

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington editor for RealClearPolitics. Cannon has covered every presidential campaign and convention since1984 and has interviewed every U.S. president since Gerald Ford. He covered the White House for fifteen years, during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, winning the two most prestigious journalism awards for presidential coverage.

French Presidential Candidate Marine Le Pen to Make Official U.S. Tour Nov 2-5

2011-11-01T11:02:00.001-07:00

Member of European Union Parliament and French Presidential Candidate Marine Le Pen will be making an official visit to the United States in order to find a common path to global financial stability and social progress. During this visit, Marine Le Pen will outline her economic and political vision for France. Her bold plan for the country includes a balanced budget amendment, resisting central bank pressure to devalue currency, and a restructuring or total elimination of the euro system, which puts countries like France in direct harm through the financial irresponsibility of other E.U. nations such as Greece.

Le Pen will be speaking at the National Press Club as part of their “Newsmaker” series of speakers that highlight political, social, and business leaders of high stature. The press conference will start at 6pm in the Bloomberg Room on the 13th Floor of the National Press Club (529 14th St. NW, Washington D.C.) All U.S. and international media are invited to attend.

In addition, Le Pen will stress the shared similarities of the problems that plague both the United States and France. Just as border security has come to the forefront of U.S. politics, the issue is just as prevalent in France, which has become the domicile of many illegal immigrants from North Africa. She will also discuss unemployment, labor, sensible financial regulations, and solutions for the common good.

While in Washington D.C., she will visit the National Holocaust Museum to pay her respects to the over six million Jews who unnecessarily lost their lives at the hands of Nazi Germany. Marine Le Pen stands with the nation of Israel and strongly repudiates Neo-Nazism, radical jihadists, and other efforts that deny Israel’s right to exist and thrive.

She will also take a tour of Capitol Hill meeting with congressional leaders, including Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), to discuss Franco-American relations and economic policies.

Madame Le Pen will then head to New York for a diplomatic reception at the United Nations on November 3^rd where she will meet with dignitaries from various UN member nations. Her U.S. tour will conclude with a stop in Palm Beach to meet with supporters and representatives of the Tea Party.

About Marine Le Pen: Marine is a member of the European Union Parliament and is the chairwoman of the Front National Party of France (FN). She is an attorney and the youngest daughter of French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, former president of the FN and its honorary chairman. After assuming control of the FN in 2010, Le Pen ushered in a new era for the FN making the party more mainstream appealing not only to the political right but to all French who feel reform is needed in Paris. She has strongly repudiated Neo-Nazism and Radical Islam, and other extremist movements. A believer in French sovereignty and exceptionalism, she has advocated for reforms to decrease French liability for the financial mismanagement of other nations and to protect its own borders. Since declaring to run for President of France, she has seen a groundswell of grassroots support, which has catapulted her to the top tier of the race, including winning several major French polls against current President Nicholas Sarkozy.

Faith-Based Freedom 4/24 Rescuing Exploited Women From Sexual Slavery and Prostitution

2011-11-01T11:00:00.001-07:00

When college freshman, Christine Pettit, traveled to Bangkok, Thailand and learned that the average age of entry into prostitution was thirteen and two are sold into slavery every minute of every day, she knew she had to do something. With the support of just a few college friends, she started Freedom 4/24, an organization that helps sexually exploited and enslaved women, including young girls, find freedom, hope and treatment. The organization's name comes from the price of this rescue: Only $24. That is the price of one evening with one of Thailand's 300,000 prostitutes. With a single $24 donation, a prostitute can be taken off the streets for the day and be offered a new life.

The women are offered help of all kinds in that day - physical, emotional and spiritual. That day is used to help them find opportunity, including education, employment, health care and most importantly, love and companionship. The program does not end that day. It only begins.

"It is my desire to see Freedom 4/24 become a movement that is embraced by our generation," said Mike Zeland, President of Freedom 4/24. "This is more than a cause. This is about life over death, freedom over oppression, hope over despair."

Freedom 4/24's latest program is, "Run For Their Lives." This fall, an estimated 4,000 people will lace up their running shoes to take part in 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races around the country to raise money for the organization.

This summer's comedy blockbuster, "The Hangover 2," included scenes about the sexual exploitation of women in Thailand, notes Jason Campbell, Program Director of the Christian Action Network and supporter of Freedom 4/24. "'Hangover 2' grossed over $196 million. If every person who saw that movie and realized that the sexual exploitation is real, and donated the price of the ticket to Freedom 4/24, that would have taken all of Thailand's 300,000 prostitutes off the streets for a month."

Mike Zealand is the President of Freedom 4/24, an international non-profit organization providing relevant information, media and merchandise designed to raise awareness of the sexually exploited by providing a reliable income stream to Christ-Centered organizations who purpose to rescue enslaved women and children. Watch Mike on Fox News Channel.

"Confidence Men" By Ron Suskind

2011-10-18T06:43:00.001-07:00

The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author of The Way of the World, The One Percent Doctrine, and The Price of Loyalty goes behind the scenes to tell the riveting story of the financial crisis and the political and economic aftershocks still being felt today.

CONFIDENCE MEN

Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President

By Ron Suskind

When the economy collapsed just months before his election, Barack Obama auditioned for the job of President by responding to a national crisis. As he stood on stage in Grant Park and addressed the nation for the first time as Commander in Chief it became clear that he would now have to command Washington, tame New York, and rescue the economy - all in the first real management job of his life. In CONFIDENCE MEN, a gripping, brilliantly reported, and sure to be news-making book, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind tells the complete story of the nation's financial meltdown and an untested new president charged with restoring the confidence of a shaken nation.

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews - including one with Barack Obama - and filled with piercing insight and startling disclosures, CONFIDENCE MEN goes beyond the headlines and previous accounts, bringing into focus the struggle between Wall Street and Washington that began in 2008 and continues to roil the nation.

CONFIDENCE MEN introduces readers to an ensemble cast, from the titans of high finance to a new generation of reformers, from petulant congressmen and acerbic lobbyists to a tight circle of White House advisors - and, ultimately, to the President himself, as you've never seen him before. Suskind writes about how Obama surrounded himself with a team of seasoned players, many of whom - like Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, and Peter Orszag - served a different president in a different time. As the nation's crises deepened, these deputies often ignored the President's decisions - "trying," they said, "to protect him from himself" - and seized control of the White House. The book describes the bitter disputes - between men and women, policy and politics - that ruled the day and the inner workings of an administration that found itself waiting for a President to grow into the world's toughest job.

Talking points from CONFIDENCE MEN include:

· How Barack Obama, as a longshot candidate, first learned - before almost any other politician - that "a market driven disaster" was about to collapse the economy. And, how he responded by pulling together a team of bipartisan reformers.

· How, when the financial crisis finally hit, Obama's success in fundraising and relationship building on Wall Street afforded him valuable understanding of the business of managing money and risk. This knowledge gave him a key advantage over McCain.

· How, in the fall of 2008, Obama's reform-minded advisers were washed away in favor of the acolytes of Bob Rubin. And how Rubin, himself, was offered a future post in the Obama White House.

· How Obama ignored advice not to hire Rahm Emanuel and to avoid bringing "Chicago friends" to Washington,

· How, in Grant Park and at his Inauguration, Obama tried to lower expectations because of doubts about his capability for the job that awaited him.

· How, even before he gave his Inaugural speech, Obama started to lose confidence of some of his senior advisers.

· How Obama's authority was swiftly undercut by top aides who acted unilaterally in making Presidential decisions and guiding internal debate.

· Why one of Obama's most important decisions as President was "slow walked" and then buried by his senior advisers because they thought he acted imprudently.

· What Obama felt and how he reacted when he found out his desires, in several instances, had been ignored.

· Which senior adviser said that this president was not up to the job or nearly as capable and aware as Bill Clinton.

· How Obama struggled to take action against Wall Street and was thwarted by top officials with close Wall Street contacts.

· Which female senior adviser said, in summation of her two years in the White House, "Why is it that the women are only ones with any balls around here?"

· How "Gender Wars" broke out inside a chaotic White House where forceful women felt they were ignored by the President and verbally abused by his senior male advisers.

· Which top female advisers ran crying from meetings and which female senior adviser felt the White House met "the legal standard for a hostile workplace."

· What Obama said when the women, as a group, confronted him.

· What Rahm Emanuel, who so many female staffers considered a bully, later said about the White House's "women's issue" - before laughing uproariously.

· How Obama began to "take ownership" of his own White House and which top officials he removed to regain control.

· What lessons Obama learned from these harrowing experiences that, according to Obama himself, will shape the future of his presidency.

· What Democratic "disease" Obama says he's suffered from and how he says he cured himself.

· Which Wall Street titan Obama offered Larry Summers' job to in the fall of 2010, as he began to curry favor with the business community.

· Which former President Obama is modeling himself after going forward.

· How Barack Obama now reconciles his own battered confidence with his role as the nation's leader.

Ron Suskind is the author of The Way of the World, The One Percent Doctrine, The Price of Loyalty, and A Hope in the Unseen. From 1993 to 2000 he was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal, where he won a Pulitzer Prize.

"Insiders" By Marvin McIntyre

2011-10-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

"Insiders"

By Marvin McIntyre

Addressing Serious Issues on Wall Street

"A chilling tale about the power of greed and the dangers of power, you'll keep one eye glued to the book and the other on your portfolio!" - Bill Miller

Marvin McIntyre, known in the financial world as "The Wizard" because of his great success in making money for his clients, has written his first book, "Insiders," inspired by the events that rocked the world's financial markets in 2008-2009.

McIntyre describes his new book as a thriller written to help us understand what went on behind the scenes on Wall Street during this critical time in our history. With more than 40 years of experience in the financial industry and currently serving as the managing director of a major NYSE brokerage firm, McIntyre is a top player who truly understands Wall Street.

"People are scared, frustrated, and looking for solutions in an acrimonious political climate," McIntyre says. "Fiction allows for free expression of ideas and has the potential to be well received as long as the entertainment value is the primary focus."

The following is a review from the October 3rd issue of Barron's: "Insiders," by financial advisor Marvin McIntyre (he is ranked in the top 100 by Barron's) spins an exciting yarn while addressing a serious issue: The increased complexity of financial instruments calls for improved and increased oversight, but that very complexity places the industry beyond the understanding of the regulators who would rein it in.

The novel's main character is financial advisor Mac McGregor, who is called on by a regulator friend to help solve a mystery. A former colleague of McGregor's named Jeremy Lyons has disappeared, but there is compelling evidence that he is operating a secret hedge fund. The fund is rumored to deliver spectacular returns, but because hedge funds are largely unregulated, almost nothing is known of Lyons and his business. Who are his clients? What does his fund invest in? How large is his operation? And most importantly, does he pose a threat to the stability of the post-2008 financial markets?

But where is Jeremy Lyons? In the years since Mac worked with him, Lyons has apparently moved off the grid, leaving few clues of his whereabouts. In a parallel story line that gives the story most of its sizzle, we learn all about Lyons' operation. A pathological character in the mold of the antihero protagonists of "First Deadly Sin" and "American Psycho," Lyons has constructed a super-exclusive nightclub that he uses to attract businessmen and politicians from whom he can extract the inside information that produces his outsize returns.

Lyons' righthand thug, Max, injects the story with a healthy dose of sadism, and some of Lyons' other underlings are featured in scenes that could have been lifted from Stieg Larsson's best-selling thrillers.

The pursuit of Lyons is action-packed and entertaining, but the strength of "Insiders" lies in its specifics about the financial industry. McIntyre's knowledge of finance - the nuts and bolts of investment management and financial advisory - allow him to weave a story that is fantastical and realistic at the same time. [Complete Barron's Review...]

Marvin McIntyre is a graduate of The Citadel, a Vietnam veteran, and recognized in Barron's "Top 100 Financial Advisors in the U.S." publication. In 2010 and 2011, Barron’s ranked Mr. McIntyre as the top financial advisor in the Washington, D.C. area. 100% of the proceeds from this book will be donated to charity.

THE FRUITS OF GRAFT: Great Depressions Then and Now By Wayne Jett

2011-09-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

THE FRUITS OF GRAFT: Great Depressions Then and Now

The Truth about the Great Depression

...and How it Relates to Today's Economic Crisis

By Wayne Jett

Americans are badly misled about who and what caused the Great Depression, about fairness of U.S. financial markets and about actual intentions of economic policy. Now the truth is told in a stunning new book by classical economist, Wayne Jett - The Fruits of Graft: Great Depressions Then and Now. With rising unemployment and our own President urging Congress to pass a more than dubious Jobs Bill, it's more important than ever that Americans understand what the historic events of the Great Depression teach us about here and now.

With much of the productive class now failing to prosper, and with currency devaluation and federal spending each proceeding at a worrying pace, every American is searching for insight into the causes. How did the world's only super-power of 1990 morph into the economic basket case America is today - only 20 short years later?

The Fruits of Graft, in addition to much more:

Details specifically why America suffered the Great Depression.
Reveals how FDR secretly served his elitist class and betrayed impoverished voters who elected him president by intentionally deepening and extending the Great Depression.
Confronts and dismantles John Maynard Keynes' "general theory" of economics, and calls it what it is: an intellectual cover story for predatory mercantilism (now mistakenly called "crony capitalism").
Describes how federal law allows the Securities & Exchange Commission "discretion" to shield powerful financiers from prosecution for fraud.
Shows the Federal Reserve System is a private banking cartel which sets anti-competitive bank interest rates and manipulates financial markets to produce enormous insider gains.
Explains how the Federal Reserve purposely causes inflation through currency devaluation and then intentionally destroys middle class production and jobs in pretending to "fight inflation."
Details how crude oil was pushed to $147 per barrel in "dark" trading of derivatives, while supply and demand justified no more than $45 per barrel.
Tells how the 2006 nomination of Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson Jr. as Secretary of Treasury (and "economic czar") should have been stopped in its tracks by a simple vetting process.
Discloses the U.S. dominant elite's agenda pursued ruthlessly since 1900 to destroy the middle class, pull down the Constitution and take "full power" in a "new world order."

How does the Great Depression compare to the American dilemma today? Wayne Jett says President Obama is the new FDR. Obama pretends to champion the poor and middle class, but has installed the dominant elite's operatives in every economic post of his administration (as did Treasury secretary Henry Paulson in the previous administration). Soup lines are managed out of sight of camera lenses by use of food stamps or electronic cards. Obama's health care law achieves the elite's century-old goal of taking control of middle class access to health care as a lever to control and reverse population growth. Cap-and-trade environmental regulations seek control of middle class access to energy, so essential to prosperity.

As in the '20s and '30s, the U.S. financial markets are notable for aggressive manipulation and fraudulent trading practices. Middle class capital invested in financial markets is being looted by the dominant elite with SEC neglect and outright assistance. Living standards are not holding, and future generations face sharply declining prospects.

Despite all obstacles, the American productive class survived and prospered to a degree tenaciously grasping hard-won political rights protected by the Constitution. Can this be accomplished again, or will constitutional government be pulled down, leaving the people in conflict, poverty and war? The Fruits of Graft addresses this historic challenge. This book must be read by thoughtful Americans in order to weigh its evidence and analysis. Its implications for our national and individual well-being are enormous.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wayne Jett, managing principal and chief economist of Classical Capital LLC, a registered investment advisor engaged in economic analysis, distinguished himself as legal counsel in dozens of cases in federal and California appellate courts, including the U. S. Supreme Court. In 2005, he began speaking to chartered financial analysts across the U.S. and in Canada on topics of monetary policy reform and U.S. financial markets. He has led seminars in classical economics for CFA Society of Los Angeles and for Security Analysts of San Francisco, and speaks and writes on constitutional and economic topics.

The Secrets of the FBI By Ronald Kessler

2011-09-12T07:44:00.001-07:00

The FBI is involved in almost every aspect of American life. From Watergate to Waco, from congressional scandals to the takedown of Osama bin Laden from Vince Foster's death to the swap of Russian spies, The Secrets of the FBI presents headline-making disclosures about the most important figures and events of our time. In an exclusive interview, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III tells what his greatest fear is.

THE SECRETS OF THE FBI

By Ronald Kessler

Based on his unparalleled access to hundreds of current and former FBI agents, award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author Ronald Kessler delivers a treasure trove of revelations in THE SECRETS OF THE FBI.

Kessler discloses J. Edgar Hoover's sexual orientation, what triggered Vince Foster's suicide, what preceded Marilyn Monroe's death, and the real story of how the FBI caught spy Robert Hanssen in its midst.

Kessler goes behind the scenes at the FBI Laboratory and training center. For the first time, he reveals how agents break into homes, offices, and embassies to plant bugging devices without getting caught and shot as burglars. The narrative culminates with the inside story of the FBI's involvement in the raid on bin Laden's compound.

THE SECRETS OF THE FBI discloses the FBI's most closely guarded secrets and the secrets of celebrities, politicians, and movie stars uncovered by agents during their investigations. The book reveals that:

Robert F. Kennedy secretly borrowed the personal car of the FBI agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office to visit Marilyn Monroe just before she took her own life.
FBI agents determined that an encounter with Hillary Clinton triggered Vince Foster's suicide a week later.
Russia tried to include convicted spies Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames in the swap of Russian spies arrested by the FBI and tried to contact Ames in prison.
After he was killed, the FBI could not match Osama bin Laden's fingerprints.
Contrary to the portrayal in the movie Breach, it was FBI agent Mike Rochford who uncovered fellow agent Robert Hanssen as a spy.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had a spousal relationship with his deputy, Clyde Tolson.
What the FBI thinks about President Obama, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.; and
When planting bugs in the homes and offices of Mafia figures, spies, and terrorists, FBI agents tranquilize dogs, stage fake traffic accidents, and instruct police to stop occupants who try to return.

When it comes to developing access to top players, uncovering secrets, and writing a vivid tale, Ronald Kessler is without peer. As he did in his New York Times bestseller In the President's Secret Service, Kessler penetrated a wall of secrecy to write a book that is powerful and compelling.

Sandy to Appear on the Legendary Barry Farber Show

2011-07-19T08:31:00.001-07:00

Listen Live tonight at 8:00pm ET - http://crntalk.com/barryfarber

7/19- RECESSION? NO, THANKS. I'M NOT TAKING PART!

Sara and Barry were watching admiringly as Americans who'd lost their jobs told the TV man how they started businesses of their own and were even able to hire others who were out of work. Suddenly they realized, "Hey; our friend, Sandy, has as good or better a push-back story than these folks on TV. So, coming up; the up, the down and the way-back-up of SANDRA FRAZIER

Remembering George Putnam on his 97th birthday

2011-07-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

By Schilling Show

From Schilling Show host, Rob Schilling, an open letter to Sal Conlon and the George Putnam family on what would have been George's 97th birthday (note: this letter was sent directly to the family on July 14, 2010): http://www.schillingshow.com/2011/07/14/remembering-george-putnam-on-his-97th-birthday/

The Next Wave By Catherine Herridge

2011-06-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Bin Laden is dead. But are we really any safer?

The first American on the CIA's kill or capture list, Anwar al-Awlaki slipped away from the FBI and is now enemy #1 - details on the worst intelligence failure since 9/11.

THE NEXT WAVE

On the Hunt for Al Qaeda's American Recruits

By Catherine Herridge

"An absolutely compelling case that we haven't seen the end of terrorism in this country. In a gripping narrative, Herridge tells how it was only by sheer luck that we sidestepped al Qaeda's 'second wave' - and we'll need all the more of it not to be hit by the next." --Bob Baer, New York Times best-selling author

"Even before Osama Bin Laden's death, al Qaeda had shown itself to be an organization as adaptable as it was deadly... This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand where this war is going and what we need to do to win it." --General Michael Hayden, former head of the CIA and the NSA

Award-winning Fox News national correspondent Catherine Herridge's groundbreaking book, THE NEXT WAVE: ON THE HUNT FOR AL QAEDA'S AMERICAN RECRUITS, is the first of its kind since Bin Laden's death to show what the next chapter of terrorism could look like. Herridge's landmark investigation exposes the American born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the first American on the CIA's kill or capture list, who is the public face of al Qaeda in the West. Herridge, who has covered intelligence, the Justice Department, and Homeland Security for a decade, reveals the insidious threat posed by al-Awlaki's new generation of American recruits - al Qaeda 2.0.

In THE NEXT WAVE, shocking details emerge about what could be the worst intelligence failure since 9/11. The FBI allowed the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to slip away after 9/11. Now he leads al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate in Yemen that was behind at least two major plots targeting the U.S. New evidence shows that al-Awlaki's movements and his connections to a major FBI investigation were hidden from the 9/11 Commission and from Congress.

THE NEXT WAVE reveals:

Awlaki's post-9/11 lunch at the Pentagon including the guest list and proposed menu that included pork. It was like a thief returning to the scene of the crime. Al-Awlaki had contact with three of the five hijackers on Flight 77 that slammed into the Pentagon.
The sexual frenzy and double life of al Qaeda 2.0. As Navy Seals find porn in Bin Laden's hideout, senior counter terrorism officials reveal to Herridge how common it is to find operatives with pornography on their hard drives. Terrorists demand as much as $30,000 for al Qaeda's messages that are delivered through porn sites. Binging on alcohol and blowing money on strippers are standard practice before their suicide missions.
Al Qaeda's so-called holy man, al-Awlaki, was picked up three times for soliciting prostitutes and a fourth time for loitering around a school. Yet, Government officials refuse to use the cleric's criminal past against him.
The new threat and why the next twelve months are critical - Were plots already in the pipeline before Bin Laden's death? Where are the sleeper cells? Will al-Awlaki, and his al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, or Somalia and North Africa, step up to fill the void?
New details from the U.S. intelligence community who already warn of retaliatory strikes by al-Awlaki and his cell. From his hideout in Yemen, al-Awlaki is the leader of al Qaeda 2.0, the new generation of recruits. Who are the new digital jihadists? How are they radicalized?
Was this American cleric recruited by the FBI as an intelligence asset?
New information proving it's all easy living for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Details on how Pentagon media officers tried to intimidate the author for her groundbreaking reporting in Guantanamo Bay.
Exclusive and rare access to the new generation fighting the war on terror - the new generation of counter terrorism officers at the CIA whose "accounts" include the tribal areas of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.
The New Frontier: al Qaeda's strongholds - Yemen, Somalia, and North Africa are the hubs for terror training.
Former CIA leadership and other senior intelligence officials predict future attacks could look like the commando-style assaults in Mumbai, India, in 2008. A cyber attack will most likely be combined with a conventional attack in what amounts to a "one-two punch." The nuclear attack is predicted to be a device the size of a refrigerator, smuggled up a major waterway to cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
A 9/11 story that was never told. Newly declassified documents and interviews suggest that al-Awlaki was an overlooked key player in the 9/11 plot, itself.

THE NEXT WAVE discusses this shocking likelihood: As the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, Bin Laden's death may provide justification for radicalized individuals in the United States to rapidly mobilize attacks here.

Their leader is an American, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was firmly in the grasp of U.S. authorities until the FBI let him slip away. The story behind the next wave of American recruits and al-Awlaki has never been told before. Why has so much of the American cleric's story been hidden from Congress, 9/11 investigators and the public? Was there a cover-up? Herridge's book is already being described as "a landmark in investigative journalism."

SandyPR.com on WND

2011-06-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

SandyPR.com is on WND.com - go here now: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=307877

Fifth Annual GI Film Festival to Feature Reel Stories! Real Heroes!

2011-04-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Actors Gary Sinise and William Devane to Appear...

The GI Film Festival, now in its fifth year, is the first and only film festival in the nation dedicated to the American Armed Forces. Co-founded by Brandon Millett and Laura Law-Millett, the festival’s mission is to honor the successes and sacrifices of American GIs through the medium of film. The festival will be held May 9-15 in Washington, D.C. and will feature 31 film premieres celebrating our country’s servicemen and women.

Emmy award winning actor William Devane (known for "Knot’s Landing," "West Wing” and “Missiles of October”) stars in “Flag of My Father” and will attend the screening taking place on Friday, May 13^th at the Navy Memorial Theater. “Flag of My Father” is directed by Rodney Ray, who has two films showing in this year’s festival. Emmy and Golden Globe winner and Oscar Nominee Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump”) will serve as the keynote speaker at a Congressional reception on Wednesday, May 11 at the Capitol Visitor’s Center.

Several of the films feature military filmmakers and actors, including Folleh Tamba, a U.S. Marine and Purple Heart recipient, who wrote and directed the documentary short film “A Line of Departure.” Tamba’s mother hails from Sierra Leone, the land of blood diamonds; his father is from Liberia, in West Africa. He survived a civil war and his film documents his time as he is about to go war for his adopted country of America.

“From start to finish our 2011 festival offers an exceptional line-up of films covering all aspects of the life of an American GI inside and outside the arena of war,” said Brandon Millett, festival Co-Founder and President. “But we’re not just screening films; we’re creating experiences. Festival-goers will not only enjoy watching great independent films they cannot see anywhere else, but they will also be able to meet real-life GI heroes and mingle with our celebrity guests.”

The week-long festival, held during Armed Forces Appreciation Month, will bring Hollywood and the military together to create a venue for artists to tell the story of the American soldier, both past and present. The festival will also include seminars and nightly events, including a “launch party,” Congressional reception, Wounded Warrior Appreciation Night, A Salute to Hollywood Patriots, a Hollywood premier screening, and a “Best of the GI Film Festival” awards ceremony.

The GI Film Festival will also host a “Filmmaker Boot Camp” to teach filmmakers all the tools necessary to get their films into the marketplace. GI Film Festival Chairman and award-winning filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon will host the boot camp, which will take place at the Canadian Embassy on Friday, May 13.

The majority of the festival’s screenings and events will take place at the U.S. Navy Memorial at 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, while some events and screenings will be hosted by other prestigious venues around Washington, DC.

Each year the festival attracts members of Congress, veterans, active duty soldiers, and filmmakers from throughout the world. Past GIFF attendees include actors Gary Sinise, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Jeremy Renner, Kelsey Grammer, Rick Schroder, Faizon Love and Karri Turner; journalists Bob Woodruff and Greta Van Susteren; Senators John McCain, John Thune, Daniel K. Inouye, Scott Brown and former Senator Fred Thompson; General George Casey, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army; General Skip Sharp, Commander U.S. Armed Forces, Korea; General (ret) Jack Keane; and Representatives Ed Whitfield and Catherine McMorris Rodgers; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and Ambassador Paul Bremer, to name a few.

In a short time, the GI Film Festival has become the nation’s premiere venue for screening military films. Owing to this success, on Veteran’s Day Weekend 2010, the GI Film Festival launched a new television series with Discovery’s Military Channel, which broadcast select GI Film Festival films into 57 million homes nationwide. Moreover, in 2010, the GI Film Festival (GIFF) was the recipient of the ‘American Legion’s National Commander’s Public Relations Award,’ previously presented to Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, Lou Dobbs and Jack Valenti.

Go to www.gifilmfestival for more information.

About Brandon Millett: Co-founder of the GI Film Festival, a national non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the U.S. Military, and as a communications and media professional, Mr. Millett has advised a variety of organizations, from Fortune 500 companies to non-profit start-ups. His media campaigns have earned coverage from virtually every major news outlet worldwide, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, to name a few. His work has appeared in numerous top publications, including The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and the Baltimore Sun and he has conducted hundreds of interviews on national radio and television programs.

BLACK OUT: The Top 11 Threats to the Power Grid

2011-04-28T11:12:00.001-07:00

Today's news reported dozens of tornadoes that killed 201 in 6 Southern states. [more...] St. Louis last week, now Arkansas - devastated by monster tornadoes tearing up the landscape, ripping homes to shreds, even taking lives. But how can we better prepare for these devastating storms? Brian Brawdy, survival expert and editor of OfftheGridNews.com knows how to get you prepared for when they strike. BLACK OUT: The Top 11 Threats to the Power Grid is a new report on OfftheGridNews.com that everyone should read.

It hits the ground like a runaway freight train, eating up and spitting out everything in its path for two and a half miles. At 300 yards wide with 160 mph winds, nothing can stop it.

Each year, the U.S. experiences an average of 1,000 tornadoes, with the most powerful storms destroying whole towns and knotting up high-voltage transmission towers like twist-ties. While some power lines have more backups in heavily populated areas, many rural parts of the country do not. When a tornado crosses paths with a 30-year-old high-tension line in parts of the Midwest or west Texas, whole regions can go dark for days.

Most storm blackouts, however, come from far less spectacular weather. Usually, it's just a little summer thunderstorm. People think that lightning probably hit a tree or a power line a few blocks away and that the lights will be on in a few minutes. But what's happening now with sky-high 21st century energy demand is that major disruptions to the power grid happen more frequently because the grid is stretched so thinly. In the last 30 years, intensive urban sprawl has stretched the grid out so tautly that a single weather event can have catastrophic consequences for entire regions of the country.

Severe weather is a fact of life. In the face of increasing demand with limited resources, consumers need to be prepared to be on their own for days at a time - perhaps even longer. [more...]

RAWHIDE DOWN: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan

2011-04-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

For the first time, a minute-by-minute account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan

RAWHIDE DOWN

The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan

By Del Quentin Wilber

On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was just seventy days into his first term of office when John Hinckley, Jr. opened fire outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, wounding the president, the press secretary, a Secret Service agent, and a D.C. police officer. Few people know the truth about how close the president came to dying; and the full story of that day of chaos, terror, and great heroism has been incomplete for thirty years.

Now, for the first time, Del Quentin Wilber, an award-winning reporter for The Washington Post, provides a minute-by-minute account of this day in RAWHIDE DOWN: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan. Drawing on exclusive new sources and extensive interviews, Wilber tells the electrifying story of the Secret Service agent whose fast reflexes saved the president’s life, the brilliant surgeons who operated on Reagan as he was losing half his blood, and the inner circle of White House officials in charge of managing the crisis.

Most especially, Wilber unveils a portrait of the man code-named "Rawhide," a leader of uncommon grace who inspired affection and awe in everyone who encountered him at this defining moment. Reagan's presidency was famously well choreographed, but March 30, 1981, was the most unscripted day of Reagan's life, and his poise and humor in the face of chaos sealed his image in the modern American political firmament.

With cinematic clarity, Wilber brings to life this dramatic and historic day of heroism, prayer, and hope. RAWHIDE DOWN fills in gaps in history and finally tells the complete record of the day the only serving U.S. president survived being shot in an assassination attempt.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Del Quentin Wilber is an award-winning reporter for The Washington Post. He has spent most of his career covering law enforcement and sensitive security issues, and his work has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Visit the official Web site: www.RawhideDown.com for exclusive interviews, videos, photos, FBI reports, Secret Service reports, medical forms, court transcripts, and more.

What Was I Thinking? The Dumb Things We Do and How to Avoid Them

2011-04-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

By William B. Helmreich, Ph.D.

What Was I Thinking? The Dumb Things We Do and How to Avoid Them is an in-depth exploration, both serious and humorous, of the dumb things we all do and how we can stop them from messing up our lives by William Helmreich, a prominent sociologist at CUNY Graduate Center. It sheds new light on the well-known foibles of the rich and famous - Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, John Edwards, Roger Clemens, Bess Myerson, James Frey, Paris Hilton, Saddam Hussein, Lindsay Lohan, Stew Leonard, and many others. In addition to these well-known personalities, this book also deals with the many dumb things ordinary folks do - for example: telling your boss off and losing your job; ending a great friendship over something minor; road rage; suing someone over something not worth spending a lot of time on; or lying when you don't have to.

But this is far more than an entertaining read. Based on hundreds of interviews and exhaustive research, Helmreich concludes that this behavior isn't only a result of psychological problems; it's also based on our very culture, history, and values. Topics discussed include the larger world we live in, arrogance, honor, looking for the easy way out, paranoia, and insecurity.

Only when we understand these causes, says Helmreich, can we begin to address our behavior and improve our lives. The stories of how and why these people screwed up their lives are meant to be cautionary tales from whom valuable lessons can be learned. In addition, Helmreich drives home these lessons with 42 concrete solutions and suggestions on how to avoid doing dumb things.

This is a topic that Helmreich has explored for a very long time and with every passing day, another famous person does something dumb; yet we're all still stunned by the news. Dr. Helmreich's recent article in Newsday - "Men (and women) behaving badly," is about the resignation of "David Sokol, who just threw away a chance for the world's best job - succeeding Warren Buffett as head of Berkshire Hathaway - because of questionable financial behavior." Helmreich added, "Did he forget what happened to Martha Stewart? Hadn't he heard of Bernie Madoff, Enron, WorldCom and the many other names that have become synonymous with corruption, dishonesty or misuse of insider information?"

"These people (and so many more) now have tarnished reputations, but have they really been punished? It seems that these days, all you have to do is issue a sincere-sounding apology - adding, perhaps, that you're in therapy or you've found God - and all is forgiven. The rest of us are reluctant to banish these people. We need our heroes as much as they need us. But there's a real danger here - one that threatens to destroy the trust that society depends upon. Its most common expression is, 'Everyone does it.'

"There's a way out of this mess, but it won't be easy. Schools need to develop ethics programs that begin in pre-K and continue throughout their education. We also need to punish the misbehaving icons of society - sending Lindsay Lohan to jail for violating her probation was a good example. Everyone - especially young people - is watching, and bad behavior merits consequences; and we need to create positive peer pressure that looks down on dishonesty."

Having lived in the Middle East in preparation for a film, Helmreich interviewed Hamas leaders and other terrorists. He says on Muammar Qaddafi: "Never back an unstable person into a corner unless they're harmless. With a trained army, thousands of African mercenaries, large stockpiles of weaponry, including 23 tons of mustard gas, vast oil reserves, and billions of dollars in cash, Muammar Qaddafi could make a lot of trouble, including unleashing terrorist attacks throughout the world, something he has done in the past. He's a paranoid megalomaniac, given to delusions of grandeur. That type of individual will act irrationally if pressured enough.

"To back Qaddafi into a corner would be dumb. Even if you win, you lose in terms of the collateral damage. The right strategy is to punish him and show you mean business without attacking his sense of honor or threatening him with death. If he feels he has a way out, he may retreat. He did it before when he paid 1.5 billion in damages for terrorism and the U.N. and the U.S. basically forgave him. So it's worth a shot."

William Helmreich, a prominent sociologist at CUNY Graduate Center, is the author of What Was I Thinking: The Dumb Things We Do and How to Avoid Them. He has been interviewed by Oprah and Larry King and regularly offers expert commentary on radio and television. He's also head of the City College Conflict Resolution Center. In preparation for a film on the Middle East, Helmreich interviewed Hamas leaders and other terrorists.

'Food Shock' Report Details Real Story Behind Rising Food Prices & How Families Can Find Relief

2011-04-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

The world's food supply is shrinking and as it does the price of food continues to climb, reaching record levels and leaving most of the global population in a state of emergency. This isn't an opinion created out of thin air; it's a strong message that has been researched and delivered by the United Nations. In an article published on Bloomberg.com on March 31, 2011 a representative from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization surmised that world food production would have to increase by 70 percent by 2050 to meet the increasing demand from an expanding global population that is expected to eclipse the 9.1 billion mark by 2050, a dramatic rise from the 6.9 billion that make up today's world population.

Simply put, we need a real solution to the global food crisis. While recognition from the UN may help legitimize the food supply crisis we now face it doesn't solve the problem. For that solution we are forced to look elsewhere and fortunately the answers are delivered in a special report titled "Food Shock: Why 2011 Could Be the Most Important Year Ever to Plant a Family Garden," now available for download when individuals sign up for the free OffTheGridNews.net weekly newsletter.

Authored by OffTheGridNews.net founder Bill Heid along with political analyst and survival expert Brian Brawdy, "Food Shock: Why 2011 Could Be the Most Important Year Ever to Plant a Family Garden" not only details the issues and events that have caused food prices to increase, it explains how a single setback like a regional drought, natural disaster, or crop disease could threaten the entire world's food supply, as well as provides reasons for why food production has become more difficult and reveals how the quality of the crops produced has actually become not only less nutritious but toxic. The special report also outlines steps that can be taken by each individual to ensure that these issues can easily be overcome and the safety of the food supply can be protected. [more...]

D.C. Parents Call on Congress to Put the Needs of Kids Ahead of Special Interest Politics

2011-03-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

Vote Expected Next Week on Extension of D.C. School Choice Program

Families from across the District of Columbia called on Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to restore the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) and provide hope to thousands of low-income children.

According to D.C. Parents for School Choice, legislation sponsored by House Speaker John Boehner (the SOAR Act) will likely lead to higher graduation rates for low-income D.C. children, higher parental satisfaction rates with education, increased achievement in reading, and a significant improvement in D.C.'s public schools. A vote on the legislation is expected by next week.

"We call on all Members of Congress to put the interests of children and families first and to vote 'yes' on Speaker Boehner's legislation," said Virginia Walden Ford, executive director of D.C. Parents for School Choice. "It is morally outrageous that President Obama, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and special interests have waged a battle against a program that helps low-income children who live just blocks from the White House. Passing the SOAR Act will right this grievous wrong."

The program, which allows low-income parents the opportunity to use vouchers and send their children to high-quality private schools, has yielded significant, positive results.

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences, the program yielded 91 percent graduation rates for students who used their scholarships - more than 30 points higher than the graduation rates for students in conventional public schools. More than 3,300 children have benefited from the program since its creation in 2004.

A poll released earlier this year demonstrated that more than 74 percent of District residents want Congress to reauthorize the program, and more than 8,000 residents have signed petitions urging the OSP's restoration.

"Parents across the country are watching Congress right now to see if their Members will do the right thing and stand courageously with children who only want a better future - or if they'll side with richly-funded special interest groups that place adults and the status quo above the needs of low-income families," Walden Ford said.

A companion bill in the U.S. Senate is sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, Dianne Feinstein, and Lamar Alexander.

Virginia Walden Ford is the Executive Director of D.C. Parents for School Choice. She is an African-American single mother who almost single-handedly lobbied Congress to enact the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program after she secured a private scholarship for her son, William, who later went on to graduate and then serve our country in Iraq. Virginia is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and also speaks on behalf of the Foundation for Educational Choice. She was an advisor to John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008. Interestingly, she’s from Little Rock, Arkansas and was in the second group of children to integrate Little Rock Central High School. [more...]

THE QUR'AN DILEMMA

2011-03-15T07:08:00.001-07:00

THE QUR'AN DILEMMA

COMPELLING BOOK SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON THE QUR'AN

Radical Islam, Sharia Law, Jihad are all common themes often raised and discussed whenever Islam is at the forefront of current events in the U.S. However, all of these labels share the same foundation: The Qur'an.

How is one to know the truth about The Qur'an - the most controversial holy book in the world today, especially post-9/11? Now, the average person who wants to understand the controversies and myths surrounding The Qur'an will be able to know the truth by studying The Qur'an Dilemma - a critical analysis unlike any other. The top editor of this 10-year-long research project, Al Fadi, is available for interviews to analyze and discuss this comprehensive new guide on the teachings of Islam.

This extensively researched commentary examines Islam's holiest book, challenging serious readers to ponder its true origin and purposes as they increase their knowledge of Islam and its teachings.

Is The Qur'an a book of peace or a blueprint for terror?
Is Islam's holy book an inspired message from God or a political agenda?
How is the role of a woman actually defined in The Qur'an?
Does The Qur'an really advocate tolerance for people of other faiths?

This first volume investigates the first nine chapters of The Qur'an. Each chapter contains the text of The Qur'an complemented with these well-annotated elements:

Introduction, which outlines major subjects and key political, historical, social, or controversial issues;
Critical analysis of key verses, which focuses on relevant historical accounts, linguistical errors, scientific information, and literary structure, coherence, and cogency;
Variant readings of certain verses, which highlight differences in syntax, word choice, and meaning among current common readings of the Arabic text, emphasizing those variations that differ from the codification made by the 'Uthman committee; and
Abrogated verses with analytical comments, which explain the ramifications of such nullified verses on their subsequent authority and understanding.

This volume also contains nine articles to provide readers with the necessary background and context concerning key topics and issues of The Qur'an, including "Compilation of The Qur'an," "Women in The Qur'an," and "The Qur'an and People of Other Faiths." The last section of this book contains a comprehensive collection of resources and references, included selected readings, a "Who's Who" section, a glossary of definitions, timeline and maps, index and endnotes (the complete documentation of the Arabic and non-Arabic sources used in the research for this book).

Though The Qur'an Dilemma uses Islamic classical references to satisfy the scholar, this commentary is written in a fluid language that will interest, inform, and enlighten the average reader.

ABOUT THE EDITOR: Al Fadi is a scholar and expert on Islam, and a leading Middle East analyst. He has a Masters in Biblical Communications, Engineering, and is a teacher of Islam. He is also the Director of The Qur'an Project Group and a guest speaker for national churches and mission conferences' events on the topic of Islam. He has been on numerous Arabic satellite TV shows and is a frequent guest on radio and TV throughout America, educating the U.S. on the topic of Islam and The Qur'an.

DICK MORRIS LAUNCHES THE DICK MORRIS POLL

2011-02-25T07:50:00.001-08:00

DICK MORRIS LAUNCHES THE DICK MORRIS POLL WITH FIRST PUBLICIZED POLL OF WISCONSIN VOTERS ON ISSUES IN THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES PROTEST

New York, NY, February 25, 2011 -- Dick Morris, a veteran pollster with thirty years of experience in national and international polling, is announcing the launch of The Dick Morris Poll, which will focus on timely political issues and candidates. Drawing on his polling expertise, Dick will provide the results and an analysis of each poll.

Dick Morris was President Clinton's pollster for 20 years, and has done polling for 30 Senators and Governors and 14 presidents or prime ministers in foreign countries.

The Dick Morris Poll, to be published at least once a month, will use the traditional polling method of telephone calls to registered voters. On occasion, Internet polls will be done of a carefully drawn random sample of likely voters - in order to avoid the bias of relying only on those participants with a political predisposition.

The initial poll is the first published poll of voters conducted within the state of Wisconsin and was completed on Monday, February 21, 2011 and Tuesday, February 22, 2011.

WISCONSIN POLL RESULTS

The Dick Morris Poll conducted a telephone survey among 409 likely Wisconsin voters. The survey has a margin of error of +- 4%.

Findings: Wisconsin voters break almost evenly on Governor Walker's proposed reforms, supporting them by a margin of 51-47.

They support many aspects of the proposal by significant numbers:

VOTERS SUPPORT CHANGING THE BENEFITS TO STATE WORKERS, PAY, AND AUTOMATIC DEDUCTION OF UNION DUES

By 74-18, they back making state employees pay more for their health insurance.
By 79-16, they support asking state workers to contribute more toward their pensions.
By 54-34, Wisconsin voters support ending the automatic deduction of union dues from state paychecks and support making unions collect dues from each member.
By 66-30, they back limiting state workers' pay increases to the rate of inflation unless voters approve a higher raise by a public referendum.

VOTERS OPPOSE CHANGING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS

On the issue of limiting collective bargaining to wage and benefit issues, however, they break with the Governor, opposing the proposal by 41-54.

If the issues to be taken off the bargaining table are related to giving schools flexibility to modify tenure, pay teachers based on merit, discharge bad teachers and promote good ones, however, they support such limits on collective bargaining by 58-38.

ANALYSIS: Voters back the principal of collective bargaining. But they are also willing to limit these negotiations so that they would not impede education reforms.

For Governor Walker to prevail, he must focus on his goal of achieving reform in schools. He will not prevail as long as his proposal is essentially negative in nature (i.e., limiting collective bargaining). But if he emphasizes the positive intent that lies behind the proposal (i.e., giving schools the flexibility and freedom to implement education reforms), he will find a solid public majority behind him.

Dick Morris's "Revolt!" Has Arrived!

2011-02-22T20:51:00.000-08:00

Now that the Republicans have taken the House, how can they use their majority to reverse Obama's Socialist agenda?

REVOLT!

How to Defeat Obama and Repeal His Socialist Programs

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

Dick Morris

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How do we defund and block Obamacare?

How can the Republicans cut government spending?

How can we block tax increases?

How do we stop Obama's FC from crippling talk radio and taking over the Internet?

How do we stop the EPA from imposing cap and trade?

How do we reverse the job-killing big-government policies of Obama?

...And how do we defeat President Barack Obama in 2012?

Dick Morris provides the answers in this up-to-the-minute discussion of how the new Republican House of Representatives can defeat Obama and the Democrats. Dick should know; he strategized Bill Clinton's defeat of the GOP Congress in 1995-96. Now he applies his knowledge to reversing, repealing, and replacing Obama's Socialist programs - and helping the American economy live and prosper again. It's all here. The strategy, the tactics, and what each of us must do to save our country from Obama's socialism.

REVOLT!: How to Defeat Obama and Repeal His Socialist Programs lays out a game plan for success. Morris explains how to use the debt limit and budget fights to force Obama to accept Republican policies while, at the same time, undermining his chances of victory in 2012.

Obamacare? Morris explains how to block the IRS enforcement of the requirement that everyone buy health insurance and how to stop the Medicare cuts and rationing.

Crippling Talk Radio and Taking Over the Internet? He explains how to prevent the FCC from blocking free speech in America.

Cap and Trade? He offers a blueprint for how to cut off EPA funding to stop it from imposing carbon taxes and regulation.

Unless we read Dick's plan and act to implement it, Obama will raise taxes, end the mortgage interest and charitable deduction, raise Social Security taxes, and add trillions more to the federal deficit in the process. Conservatives need to fight back and Morris explains how to do it.

REVOLT! is Dick's most important book yet. The GOP won the elections of 2010. REVOLT! explains how to translate this avalanche of votes into power and action in Washington. His plea: Don't surrender. Don't compromise. Don't give in. Just push ahead and win! REVOLT! is the next step.

Morris's Outrage, Fleeced, Catastrophe, and 2010: Take Back America laid out the problem, predicted Obama's polices and their results, and articulated a plan for victory in 2010. Now REVOLT! explains how to use this new power to defeat Obama.

New film documents how adult interests are turning schools into 'dropout factories'

2011-01-31T11:57:00.000-08:00

Assembly-line model to blame

"Kids Aren't Cars" is a new short film series set for national release February 1st. Using examples from the Midwest, it documents the negative impact organized labor has had on the American education system, creating a one-size-fits-all assembly line model that leaves students behind and treats teachers the same, regardless of their skill level and classroom effectiveness, stifling innovation and improvement.

See the trailer here. The films will be released two per week - Tuesdays and Thursdays - at KidsArentCars.com, beginning February 1st. A total of 9 released are planned.

Our government education system has been spending more and more each year, yet the results have been the same. While unions demand higher spending - which of course ends up in the pockets of their members - student test scores remain static.

"Kids Aren't Cars" tells the story through the words of education veterans who have been in the trenches and have watched our schools deteriorate.

An executive director of a literacy clinic in Detroit - where high school graduates go to learn how to read - compares the actions of the pro-union school board to the Ku Klux Klan. "If they were sitting up there in Klan robes," she said, "we would be marching and screaming." [Eight of the 9 school board members are black.]

It tells the story of two Indiana teachers recognized statewide for their impact on students, only to be fired literally the next day because they lacked seniority of their co-workers.

It reveals details about a union-owned insurance company that forces its expensive health coverage on public schools in Michigan, stealing millions that could be spent on students. A former executive director of the company admits that it's a scam to raise millions for the teachers unions at the expense of taxpayers and students.

Numerous leaders sound the alarm throughout the series of films, but do elected leaders have the courage to stand up to the all-powerful teachers' unions? "Kids Aren't Cars" illustrates the dire need for our leaders to take action and reform our public schools before it's too late. The United States continues to slip globally, with student achievement lagging behind nations like Iceland and Hungary.

"Our public school system, under union domination for the past four decades, is now designed to benefit adults, at the expense of children," said Kyle Olson, founder of Education Action Group and director of the film series. "The focus has been on spending - which invariably ends up in pay, health benefits and retirement for the employees, but everyone has forgotten about the kids.

"'Kids Aren't Cars'" is an unflinching look at the state of public education in America and what can be done about it,” Olson said.

Kitty Kelley's "Oprah" Out in Paperback

2011-01-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Internationally Acclaimed Investigative Biographer Kitty Kelley

Tackles her most fascinating subject yet - a Woman of Unparalleled

Power and Influence in American Society

The #1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller

*UPDATED AND REVISED*

Kitty Kelley adds new material that includes:

Ms. Winfrey and her family’s reaction to the 2010 publication
The media’s boycotting of the book
New financial information about Oprah’s Angel Network
...and more of the eponymous television star in her own words from her latest interviews.
Also, Oprah’s first cousin, Jo Baldwin, who served as a vice president of Harpo, Inc. from 1986-1988, finally comes forward after 20 years of silence to tell her stories.

JUST IN TIME FOR THE DEBUT OF OPRAH’s TELEVISION NETWORK: OWN, THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

For the past three decades, master investigative biographer Kitty Kelley has made her mark by writing penetrating examinations of living cultural icons, without their cooperation and independent of their control. Each of her four previous books - on Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British royals, and the Bush family dynasty - was a number one bestseller and made international news. Now with OPRAH: A Biography, she tackles her most fascinating and formidable subject yet, delivering a comprehensive, rigorously researched, and compulsively readable portrait of a unique American personage who transcends celebrity and who has left an indelible imprint on our society, even as she has sought to change it.

Rising from the humblest of origins, Oprah Winfrey has become one of the most admired women in the world. Adored by millions for her many good works, she is an exemplar of black achievement in a white society, an African American who broke the barriers of discrimination to achieve unparalleled success. The first black female billionaire, she is idolized not only because of her net worth of approximately $2.4 billion, but because she has built her fortune herself, without benefit of marriage or inheritance. The most influential media personality of all time, she has branded her wildly successful television show as a confessional for celebrities and news makers, coaxing her guests to bare their love lives, divulge their deepest secrets, admit their transgressions, explore their painful pasts and personal tragedies, and confront their demons in a form of public therapy that has come to be known as "Oprahfication."

Yet as much as Oprah is loved, she is also feared. Even as she has won millions of devoutly loyal followers by presenting herself as a warm and embracing "everywoman" who shares the same struggles and preoccupations as her predominantly female audience members, she has become increasingly wary and mistrustful of those around her. Fiercely protective of her name and image, she has stopped giving interviews and responds to the press mostly through publicists rather than directly. Since 1995, she has required all her employees to sign confidentiality agreements, swearing never to reveal anything about her, her business, her personal life, her friends, or her associates to anyone at anytime. Almost everyone who enters her realm must sign these agreements, and the prospect of being sued keeps many - but not all - people silent. Others are afraid to talk simply for fear of offending someone famous or of losing a coveted opportunity to sell their products on her show or in her magazine.

Penetrating her subject’s carefully guarded public image, Kitty Kelley offers, in revealing detail, an intimate look at every aspect of Oprah’s dramatic private life: the truth behind the legend of Oprah as a dirt-poor, fatherless black child neglected by her teenage mother; her complicated feelings about race and her own skin color; her constant battle with her weight; her dysfunctional romantic relationships with men and her close friendships with women, including Gayle King; her enigmatic and passionless life partnership with Stedman Graham; her lavish spending on herself and her friends; her heavy drug abuse during her twenties; her family’s many secrets, including the identity of her biological father; and her conflicted relationships with her mother, her siblings, her father, Vernon Winfrey, and her cousin Katharine Carr Esters, who admires her accomplishments but abhors what she calls "Oprah's lies."

With empathy and insight, Kitty Kelley examines Oprah's early childhood in rural Mississippi; the sexual abuse she suffered as a girl; the tragic circumstances of her unwanted teenage pregnancy; and her adolescent promiscuity, which, as Kelley reveals for the first time, led Oprah to describe herself as a prostitute in a 1993 autobiography that she withdrew from publication. Taking readers beyond Oprah’s own carefully staged personal confessions, she explains how Oprah’s experience of being sexually abused, coupled with her feelings of being unloved and deprived as a child, have fueled not only her drive to achieve unparalleled success, but also her excessive need for control and her insatiable hunger to be the center of attention and to be approved and applauded.

During more than three years of research and reporting, Kitty Kelley obtained court records, birth certificates, and financial and tax reports. She conducted interviews with 850 sources, including family, friends, classmates, coworkers, employees, and professional associates of Oprah, many of whom have never previously spoken about her for publication. And she gathered every interview that her subject has granted over the past twenty-five years, creating 2,732 separate files, enabling her to use Oprah’s own words with surety and to build an uncompromisingly accurate psychological profile. “Sometimes,” writes Kelley, “her public reflections did not jibe with the private recollections of others, but even the truths she shaved, as well as those she shared, added dimension to her fascinating persona.”

The remarkable woman who emerges in OPRAH is more complicated and nuanced than the carefully tended myth of her persona allows. Her philosophy of life, as presented in her eponymous magazine, is a curious mix of unapologetic materialism and uplifting spirituality. She can be generous, magnanimous, and deeply caring, but also imperious, small-minded, and self-centered. Capable of great warmth and openness, she can be closed, calculating, and cold as ice. An effective champion of victims of abuse who has helped countless women begin to heal and recover their lives, she delves into the realm of sensation and exploitation and, in so doing, challenges the boundaries of good taste. She has done an extraordinary amount of good, but also backed products and ideas that are not only controversial but considered by many to be harmful. Despite the softening of her show’s ratings, her influence remains undiminished, and she can never be underestimated, for the pilot light that fired her ambitions since childhood still flames.

A closely observed, exhaustively researched, balanced, and psychologically insightful portrait of one of the most fascinating, powerful, and influential public figures or our time, OPRAH will be a must-read for anyone who seeks a greater understanding of Oprah’s extraordinary life and career and of her important place in American cultural history.

About the Author

Kitty Kelley is the internationally acclaimed bestselling author of Jackie Oh!; Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star; His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra; Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography; The Royals; and The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty. The last four titles were all #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Kelley has been honored by her peers with such awards as the Outstanding Author Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for her “courageous writing on popular culture,” the Philip M. Stern Award for her “outstanding service to writers and the writing profession,” the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club in New York City, and the 2005 PEN Oakland Literary Censorship Award. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies’ Home Journal, McCall’s, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune.

Wayne Root's Got the Winning EDGE

2010-12-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas Oddsmaker Wayne Allyn Root, Dubbed by National Media "the King of Vegas," Offers his Expert Analysis and Commentary to Media for College Football Bowl Season & NFL Post Season

“Wayne's the king of sports handicappers…he's the Warren Buffett of his world.”

--James J. Cramer, CNBC Host of “Mad Money”

College Football Bowl Season is underway. Millions of American sports fans will be wagering billions of dollars on these 35 Post Season games. Then the NFL Post Season starts - and the betting there will dwarf the Bowl Season. Over $6 billion will be bet on just one game - the Super Bowl.

Your audience will want expert commentary and analysis on these games. They want to hear "what Vegas thinks."

One man stands out as "the Jimmy The Greek" of our generation. That could be because as a 27-year-old, he became Jimmy the Greek's television partner and co-host at CNBC (then called Financial News Network). The baton was handed off. "The Greek" was soon sent off into retirement and his young co-host became a star. Wayne Allyn Root is quite simply the most honored professional sports handicapper and Vegas oddsmaker in the world. He is the brand name of sports gaming - dubbed by the national media as “the King of Vegas,” “The Face of Las Vegas Gambling,” “America's Oddsmaker,” and “The Prince of Prognosticators."

Wayne is the only oddsmaker or professional sports handicapper to ever be awarded his own star by the Las Vegas Walk of Stars (in front of New York New York Casino Resort). Over 3 million sports bettors have called Wayne for his advice - more than any sports handicapper in history. It is estimated that over $3 billion dollars per year is bet on Wayne's advice. But Wayne is much more than an oddsmaker; he is a CEO, best-selling author, and national media personality. Wayne makes over one thousand media appearances per year, appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, and hundreds of radio stations across the country to talk, debate and infuriate on the topics of politics, business and sports.

Now Wayne is available to talk NCAA Bowls, and NFL Post Season on your TV or radio station this Holiday Season. Wayne is dynamic, charismatic, colorful, controversial, fiery, outspoken, and telegenic. Your audience will love him or hate him - but no one will ever tune out! [Go to Wayne's site now...]

Rita Cosby Benefits the Vets

2010-12-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

I was privileged to be invited to the home of Mitzi Perdue last night at 5th Avenue in Manhattan - a gorgeous place overlooking all of Central Park and what seemed to me to be the most stunning view I'd ever seen from an apartment in NYC. Mitzi is the wife of the late Frank Perdue, "the chicken man" and her wonderful EggScapes (decorated eggs) were on display all over her elegant apartment.

The event was a book party and signing for Rita Cosby's latest book, Quiet Hero written about her father who was a POW and war hero, the proceeds which benefit The USO and Wounded Warriors.

She was also there for Robert Cancro, Chairman Emeritus of NYU's Dept. of Psychiatry, who launched the United Stress Disorders Association and announced Rita as its spokesperson in support of vets who suffer from PTSD, which I can relate to since both my father and stepfather suffered from it after their service in the Korean War. [more...]

[see the photos here]

Related blog: Nick Popaditch and VET Foundation

Sandy's Pundits!

2010-12-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Showdown With Evil By Jamie Glazov

2010-12-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

You probably know Dr. Glazov as the Editor of Frontpagemag.com and from his critically acclaimed and best-selling book, United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror.

Showdown With Evil: Our Struggle Against Tyranny and Terror is a collection of Dr. Jamie Glazov's best interviews, while serving as editor of Frontpagemag.com, with the leading intellectuals and newsmakers of our time - all of whom contribute to understanding, and opposing, radical Islam and its leftist apologists.

Glazov, whose parents were dissidents in the former Soviet Union, shows in his conduct of these top-notch interviews that he understands the values of freedom and the need to fight for it.

The collection, which begins with a Foreword by Richard Perle, former assistant Secretary of Defense for the Reagan administration, offers a powerful and honest assessment of the implications of the threat we face in our terror war - as well as a warning that should not go unheeded. It's a powerful crash course in how to protect American liberty from its totalitarian enemies.

This collection of 29 interviews conducted over the course of the last several years by Jamie Glazov is relentlessly fascinating and engaging. As former Asst. Secretary of Defense Richard Perle states in the foreword, this is "an illuminating and important commentary on the largest issues facing America and the West," particularly the "Islamist agenda that has replaced communism as the principal threat to western values and civilization."

Glazov probes the impressive minds of some courageous conservative intellects like Victor Davis Hanson, Phyllis Chesler, Brigitte Gabriel, Andy C. McCarthy, Natan Sharansky, Christopher Hitchens, Theodore Dalrymple, Horowitz himself, even William F. Buckley, Jr., in chapters grouped into the following topics:

* Obama's Destructive Path
* Unholy Alliance
* Islam: The Religion of Peace?
* The Terror War
* The Evil Empire
* Leaving the Faith
* The Titans
* Looking to the Future of Freedom

If you are at all concerned about such issues as national security, Obama's impact on the future of America, the threat of fundamentalist Islam and the complicity of the Left, and the conflict between freedom and tyranny, then this collection is a must-have.

Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, USAF (Ret.), has called Showdown with Evil "the most important book in America."

FrontPageMag Review

JihadWatch Review

Reviews

About the Author: Jamie Glazov holds a Ph.D. in history with specialties in U.S., Russian, and Canadian foreign policy. He is the editor of Frontpagemag.com and the author of the critically acclaimed and best selling, United in Hate: The Left's Romance With Tyranny and Terror. He is also the author of Canadian Policy Toward Khrushchev’s Soviet Union and is the co-editor (with David Horowitz) of The Hate America Left. He edited and wrote the introduction to David Horowitz’s Left Illusions.

OffTheGridNews Reporting!

2010-11-23T11:03:00.001-08:00

OfftheGridNews.com is a huge new site that started with a small budget and no advertising - basically at the grassroots level - that is getting millions of hits now and competing with the majors by sheer quality of content. OffTheGridNews is a fiercely independent Web site that is crammed full of practical information on living and surviving today and in future times when life may not be as easy. [more...]

OffTheGridNews reporter, Brian Brawdy is a former CBS news reporter, former New York police investigator and Military Weapons Specialist who spent the last 25 years studying philosophy, psychology, political science and the survival mindset, explorer and political survival analyst. He will be doing media appearances to promote OffTheGridNews.

SandyPR.com Covers 2010 Election - Live All Across America

2010-11-01T08:05:00.001-07:00

SandyPR.com Election Alert

1. Larry Klayman - Live From LA - The Republican Establishment and Revolution

2. Dr. Elaina George - Live from Atlanta - Obamacare Endgame: If Doctors Choose to Put Patient Care First, They Can Look Forward to Fines or Jail Time

3. Dave Bego - Live from Indianapolis - Election 2010: America's Last Best Hope

4. James Hirsen - Live from LA - Stewart and Colbert’s Rally about Nothing

5. Kyle Olson - Live from Grand Rapids - New Governors Will Have Hands Full Reforming Education, Spending

6. John LeBoutillier - Live from New York - The Tsunami Blasts Obama/Democrats

7. Joy Tiz - Live from Palm Springs - The Charlie Sheen Democrats

The Republican Establishment and Revolution

By Larry Klayman - Live from LA

For us tea partiers who have high hopes that Tuesday's congressional midterm elections will transform the Republican Party into a fighting force for conservative and libertarian values and change, if the past is a prologue, we have another thing coming. For the last several decades at least, the blowhard Republican "country club" establishment has talked a "good game," but has not exactly been up to the task, to put it mildly. Tomorrow will be a watershed event, but only because it will mark the beginning of the next phase of the Revolution - the total peaceful removal of the traitorous establishment of both political parties. [more...]

Obamacare Endgame: If Doctors Choose to Put Patient Care First, They Can Look Forward to Fines or Jail Time

By Dr. Elaina George - Live from Atlanta

If Obamacare is completely implemented, doctors will no longer be practicing medicine. They will instead become the drones tasked with deciding who gets the meager healthcare crumbs doled out by the bureaucrats who have the ultimate power over patient life and death. Those who are deemed to have illnesses that require treatments, which are not cost-effective can expect a one-way ticket to a hospice. [more...]

Election 2010: America's Last Best Hope

By Dave Bego - Live from Indianapolis

The unions, the Obama Administration and the far left ideologues understand they can manipulate a large percentage of a gullible population through misconceptions, misinformation, attacks, and deception all in the name of “social justice” as taught in Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. In fact they, like their hero Alinsky, are masters of identifying people or groups that are susceptible to their “social justice” rhetoric, and thus are easily influenced. Their goal is to destroy the American Free market system and replace it with socialism. [more...]

Stewart and Colbert’s Rally about Nothing

By James Hirsen - Live from LA

Democrats wanted to use the Stewart/Colbert rally this past weekend to motivate young voters to participate in the midterm elections. But the three-hour rally consisted mainly of satire and comedy with humorous sketches and surprise musical guests. Organizing for America, Obama’s campaign entity, was at the train station welcoming rally-goers and signing people up for get-out-the-vote tasks. My prediction? For the midterm elections, the current indicator bodes ill for Obama and the Dems by extension. [more...]

New Governors Will Have Hands Full Reforming Education, Spending

By Kyle Olson - Live From Grand Rapids

With most of the media focusing their election coverage on whether or not Republicans will reclaim one or both houses of Congress, the 37 states that are about to elect (or re-elect) a governor got lost in the shuffle. If Republicans do as well as projected, most observers expect gridlock to descend upon Washington, D.C. Here’s a brief overview of what’s at stake for the governors of three states.

The Tsunami Blasts Obama/Democrats

By John LeBoutillier - Live From New York

The Final Prediction: Tuesday will be an historic Election Day as the Republican Party - fueled by the Tea Party movement - will win back over 50 seats in the House and up to 8 seats in the U.S. Senate. The crucial independent voter - the key swing voter who always determines winners and losers - has swung away from Obama in 2008 and back to the Right in 2010. [more...]

The Charlie Sheen Democrats

By Joy Tiz - Live from Palm Springs

Reeling and staggering, the Democrats have been throwing wild punches for weeks; floating funding fictions, plotting to fabricate media chaos at Joe Miller’s expense and squandering taxpayer money to bring a court jester in front of the United States Congress. This is what bedlam looks like. Teams of Breitbart Republicans armed to the teeth with cell phones and video cameras are babysitting polling places. The days of Republican enabling are over - at least for the moment. They will win big tomorrow, but only because they aren’t Democrats. If they relapse into behaving like Democrats, they can anticipate the same harsh treatment. [more...]

Also available for election analysis...

Live from Las Vegas - Wayne Allyn Root - Obama Goes From Messiah to Pariah

Live from Washington, D.C. - Robert Ringer on Restoring the American Dream

Live from Atlanta - Economic Analysis by Bill Glynn

Live from Houston - Tim Connolly on the Economy and more...

Live from New York - Joseph Klein - On the United Nations and Radical Islam

Lethal Engagement By Joseph Klein

2010-10-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

New Book Examines Relationship between the President, the UN, and Radical Islam

By Joseph Klein

In his new book, Lethal Engagement: Barack Hussein Obama, The United Nations & Radical Islam, conservative columnist and United Nations correspondent Joseph Klein takes a critical look at President Obama's aggressive outreach to the Muslim world; his belief that the U.S. has a "moral responsibility" to lead the way toward a world without nuclear weapons even as he permits Iran to continue developing its nuclear arms capability; and his submission to the international consensus of the anti-Western United Nations.

Klein explains in Lethal Engagement how and why Obama is playing right into the Islamists' stealth strategy to undermine American laws, financial systems and democratic values that get in the way of radical Islamic priorities. This strategy includes manipulating our own laws and institutions against us in order to inject Sharia (Islamic law) into our legal and political system.

After exposing how radical Muslims are re-branding their barbaric ideology to deceive Americans, with President Obama's help, Klein offers solutions to take back our country.

Here are just a few of the multiple examples Klein provides in Lethal Engagement, from President Obama's words and actions, that should wake Americans up to the dangerous path the Obama administration is taking us down. Klein explains how Obama is:

* Providing detained Islamic terrorist suspects full constitutional rights;
* Refusing to identify the enemy as they truly are - Islamic radicals who want to impose Sharia (Islamic law) on this country by violent and stealth means;
* Apologizing to the Muslim world for U.S. "arrogance" and Western "colonialism" while promising to make amends so that Islamists can practice their beliefs "as they see fit";
* Re-branding the barbaric supremacist Islamic ideology as a religion demonstrating "the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality";
* Inviting radical Muslims such as the president of the radical Islamic Society of North America (an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land terrorist funding case) to Ramadan dinners at the White House;
* Joining the radical Islamic-dominated UN Human Rights Council, which has successfully pushed forward the radical Muslim agenda to make "defamation" of Islam a violation of international law; and
* Nominating more Supreme Court justices who believe that international and foreign laws should be used to interpret the United States Constitution.

If you are tired of Islamists and their liberal elite supporters calling well-meaning American citizens 'bigots' or 'racists' for simply questioning what is behind the radical Islamic agenda and how President Obama is facilitating it, then you need to read Lethal Engagement: Barack Hussein Obama, The United Nations & Radical Islam, which will provide you with invaluable information gleaned from extensive, well-researched primary sources and from Klein's own pointed questioning of high level United Nations, Islamic and U.S. spokespersons at United Nations press briefings.

Read a review on Conservative Monitor and his interview on FrontPageMag.com.

About the Author: Joseph Klein is the author of Global Deception: The UN's Stealth Assault on America's Freedom. A Harvard Law School graduate, he is an attorney and columnist, contributing to FrontPage Magazine and Canada Free Press as their United Nations correspondent and is a featured blogger for News Real Blog. Joseph is a guest on talk radio and TV shows, including Fox and Friends.

Choosing the Good Life By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

2010-10-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

Will Americans Choose Economic Growth and Prosperity

- Or Economic Decline and Poverty?

By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

Dr. Lameiro answers this question and many more in his powerful and important new Kindle book, Choosing the Good Life: Two Competing Economic Visions.

Today, America is at an extremely critical juncture in our history. We are a prosperous nation on the brink of economic decline. We are currently in the midst of an exceptionally weak recovery, following the worst recession since the Great Depression. America is following a set of high tax and reckless spending policies that are creating astoundingly high deficits and unsustainably high debt levels. Unemployment is very high at 9.6% with the very real possibility it will increase to 11.5% in 2011.

The dollar appears to be weakening and might even be abandoned as the reserve currency of the global economy. Gold, a potential safe haven in times of fear, is soaring to incredible heights, indicating the skeptical outlook of the American people. It looks as if America might be teetering on the verge of a second Great Recession in 2011 or worse. Is the economy really all that bad? Can we do anything about the economy?

Indeed, all these questions, all these debates, and all these battles, hinge on two competing economic visions when considering whether America can still live the "good life." What are these two economic visions? What economic vision will America choose? Dr. Lameiro believes we do have a choice.

Choosing the Good Life shines a bright light on one of the greatest issues of the 21st century. It also tees up one of the most vitally important decisions you will ever make as a citizen. Indeed, this book presents the two distinct and competing economic visions for what constitutes the "Good Life."

These economic visions represent two different economic systems, two different ways of looking at life, and two different ways of living life. In fact, they are based on two opposing philosophies of life.

Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, each economic vision is fighting for your support. Your choice of economic visions will help to determine whether America will grow or decline; whether we will live in prosperity or struggle with poverty and whether we will live in peace or at war. You have enormous power as a citizen to influence, shape and decide America's future. Truly, your choice and the choices of millions of other citizens will ultimately impact and help to determine which economic vision will become reality in America and in the world.

While this book addresses citizens in America in the early 21st century, its principles and knowledge apply equally well across both time and space. The ideas within Choosing the Good Life can be applicable to citizens in other nations today, too, and likely will be relevant for generations of citizens to come in the future. In that sense, it is a classic book on economic freedom.

Written by Gerard Francis Lameiro, America's Citizen-Philosopher, this book brings with it Dr. Lameiro's engaging and award-winning style, his optimistic vision, and his uncanny ability to make the complex very simple. Downloadable at Amazon for Kindle, it's the most important book you'll read in a long time.

Congrats to Barry Farber!

2010-10-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Barry Farber for tonight's celebration in Manhattan at the CRN studios at the Paley Center for Media - 50 amazing years in talk radio! You're the best voice on the air - lively and still going strong! We wish you 50 more!

Barry's talk show brings listeners wisdom, insight, and first-hand knowledge from a cosmopolitan mind and down-home heart full of charm, sweetness, and the warmth of a deep and steady inner fire. One taste and your listeners will agree that Barry Farber is to talk radio what a fine wine is to a good meal. CRN 1 M-F 5PM PT. [more...]

The Obama Identity by Edward Klein & John LeBoutillier

2010-09-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

THE OBAMA IDENTITY

A Novel

(Or Is It?)

By Edward Klein & John LeBoutillier

In the summer of 2004, CIA agent Theodore J. Higginbothem, III was summoned by his boss to a hush-hush meeting in the basement of the National Museum of Health.

"Higgy," his boss whispered in his ear, "the CIA has a top-secret, off-the-books domestic spying operation in which we keep tabs on our most ambitious presidential hopefuls. I want you to do a complete workup on Barack Hussein Obama. Where was he born? Is he a Muslim? Is he a socialist? Who is behind him? What is Obama's real agenda?"

THE OBAMA IDENTITY, the new satirical novel by NY Times best-selling author Edward Klein and Fmr. Congressman John LeBoutillier, follows Higgy and his team as they travel all over the world - from Chicago to Mombasa to Honolulu to Jakarta and St. Petersburg, Russia - as they encounter Birthers and Bushes, Katie Couric and Muslim clerics. Along their hilarious and madcap journey, Higgy and his crack operatives discover startling secrets about the 44th President of the United States - a man some call "The Chosen One" and others refer to as an "Obamanation."

Among the many startling revelations in THE OBAMA IDENTITY:

· What Obama's Kenyan grandmother says about his birthplace;
· How a Muslim imam taught young Obama to apologize for America and bow to foreigners;
· How the Reverend Jeremiah Wright taught Obama to use the TelePrompTer;
· What happened to the videotapes showing Obama high-fiving the Reverend Wright after one of his anti-American sermons;
· How financier George Soros brought about the collapse of the American economy to help elect Obama;
· Why Obama blames everything on George W. Bush except Katie Couric's dismal ratings; and
· Who came up with the idea of carving Obama's face on Mount Rushmore right next to Abe Lincoln's.

THE OBAMA IDENTITY mocks all sides in this hilarious takedown of the political world and its incompetent, coddling media.

VanityFair.com will run an excerpt from THE OBAMA IDENTITY on September 27.

Read Page Six. Watch the trailer here.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Edward Klein has had seven New York Times Bestsellers, including The Kennedy Curse and The Truth About Hillary. He is the former foreign editor of Newsweek and former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine. He frequently contributes to Vanity Fair and Parade. Klein received a master's degree from the Columbia School of Journalism.

John LeBoutillier authored Harvard Hates America, was then elected to Congress and is now a Newsmax.com columnist. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News and New York Post. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School. John is a frequent guest on radio and TV.

1979 Classic More Relevant Than Ever!

2010-09-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM

The Defining Voice in the Movement for Liberty

By Robert Ringer

Foreword by Stephen Moore, The Wall Street Journal

More than thirty years ago, before conservative talk radio and Fox News, Robert Ringer was writing about the coming collapse of the U.S. economy and Washington's assault on personal freedom. Unfortunately, his warnings went unheeded, but his words proved to be prophetic. Today, many of his prophecies not only have come to pass, but are now accepted by millions of Americans as a normal way of life.

RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM: The Defining Voice in the Movement for Liberty is a follow-up to Robert Ringer's best-selling 1979 classic. As a New York Times #1 best-selling author, Ringer continues to expose unconstitutional government policies that destroy both our economy and our liberty. Topics include, among others, inflation, job-killing taxes, the trumped-up energy "crisis," draconian regulation, the sanctity of individual sovereignty, and, most important, what the reader can do to help restore the American dream.

RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM exposes the lie that the American dream is about government helping people fulfill their desires through redistribution-of-wealth programs and government-created rights. Ringer explains that the American dream our grandparents knew was about people who, for the first time in human history, realized that they were above government - that politicians are the employees of those who vote them into office, and not the other way around.

Robert Ringer's trademarks are his unique ability to explain complex issues in an easy-to-understand manner and the courage to approach controversial subjects from a moral viewpoint. For example, he defends capitalism not just on the grounds that it produces more wealth for the greatest number of people, but because it is inherently moral.

RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM highlights numerous ways in which minimization of government can be accomplished, including:

· All office holders, especially the president, should serve only one term.
· Most taxes should be phased out as swiftly as possible.
· Most government services and government employees should be gradually eliminated.
· The law of supply and demand should be allowed to operate freely.
· All redistribution-of-wealth functions of government should be phased out over a reasonable period of time.
· Consumer advocates, environmentalists, and other self-proclaimed protectors of the people should be held civilly and criminally liable for their actions.
· Most government property and businesses should be sold off.
· All victimless-crime laws should be repealed and all people imprisoned for violations of such "crimes" should immediately be granted full pardons.
· All laws that invade the privacy of individuals should be repealed, and no new laws that call for government intrusion into our lives should be enacted.

The foundational premise of the American dream is that liberty must be given a higher priority than all other objectives. The author explains that the American dream is not a collective experience. On the contrary, self-responsibility was, and is, an integral part of the American dream. In order to restore the American dream, Ringer explains that citizens must either draw the line and take back America from the politicians who control it, or they must be prepared to relinquish forever their remaining claims on liberty.

RESTORING THE AMERICAN DREAM is a rare book that has the power to fundamentally transform America from a socialist nation into the nation our founding fathers envisioned.

About the Author: Robert Ringer is a New York Times best-selling author, interviewer, and speaker. He is the publisher of the thought-provoking e-letter A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World, in which he shares his insights and analyses of today's most pressing problems from a free-market point of view. In addition, he hosts the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with such top political, economic, and social leaders. The author of three New York Times bestsellers, Ringer has appeared on numerous national talk shows, including The Tonight Show, Today, Good Morning America, ABC News Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show. In addition, he has been the subject of feature articles in Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.

"With Washington growing bigger and bigger by the day and distancing itself further and further from our precious Constitution and founding principles, the timing could not be better for Robert Ringer's classic Restoring the American Dream. What a gift this important work is to a nation yearning for liberty and freedom." --Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

Kessler Paperback Hits NY Times List

2010-08-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

After only one week on his radio tour with SandyPR.com, Ronald Kessler's paperback version of In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect, debuted at #20 on the paperback non-fiction NY Times bestseller list.

Pursuing Liberty By Cory Emberson & Rick Lindstrom

2010-07-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

PURSUING LIBERTY

America Through the Eyes of the Newly Free

By Cory Emberson & Rick Lindstrom

"Pursuing Liberty is a book that reminds us of the wisdom of our founders, and inspires us through the stories of our newest patriots."

--Brian Sussman, KSFO, San Francisco radio host, and author of Climategate

Consider how much America has changed since WWII. Gone is the universal pride most Americans felt about their unique legacy, now given way to a bitterly divided country whose citizens seem more interested in mutual political combat than focusing on our shared American exceptionalism. The latest news about Arizona''s immigration law, enacted out of sheer desperation, is just one example of the battle that rages on American soil to protect our sovereignty; not to mention the recent news of Russian spies, the infiltration of Jihadist camps and the enemy within -- members of al Qaeda and the Taliban living right in our own neighborhoods waiting to attack.

Sometimes it takes a different perspective to bring matters into sharp focus -- as in the case of a new book called Pursuing Liberty, which is an intimate portrait of those who have confronted despotism and tyranny firsthand, escaped it, and lived to tell the tale. Pursuing Liberty is a chronicle of their personal experiences, reminding us of the value of liberty, and the ongoing need to defend it at all costs. Talk radio across America has been covering this topic regularly for years- - the stories of legal immigrants who escaped tyranny for America, only to see their nightmare past of repression spreading to the so-called "land of the free."

Through first-person narratives from our newest naturalized Americans, Pursuing Liberty showcases the courage required to abandon one's ancestral home to seek the unique freedoms found only in America, and the rare insights of those who gave up everything in their own quests for liberty. They offer rare glimpses into and recollections of life under repression and illustrate clearly that the knowledge of the true face of tyranny can be our armor against it happening in America.

Pursuing Liberty was written for all Americans - young or old, left, right, or center, this book opens our eyes to the unique American experience that far too many of us take for granted. It is a valuable read for every American, with the November elections fast approaching on the horizon; this book will move voters to make the right choice for the good of our country.

What is the cost of freedom? To those who have fled oppression and tyranny, it's worth everything. These are the inspiring true-life experiences of our newest patriots - all escaped their former homes risking it all just for the chance to live a free life in America. They've come from Cuba, Venezuela, the former USSR, Vietnam, and other countries to make their dreams of freedom a reality. To hear the voices of the new immigrants warning us not to make the same mistakes their countries made is a wake-up call for all American citizens.

"When I look at the aspirations of American Progressives, I see nothing new or forward-looking. Instead, I see the same ideas that formed the basis of the USSR, which eventually suffered a complete economic collapse," says Svetlana Kunin, an immigrant from the Soviet Union. Polish immigrant Agnieszka Bernstein talks about life in a communist nation "dominated by alcohol and hunting for stuff in the stores ... basic things."

Is the American dream of opportunity, freedom, and exceptionalism turning into a nightmare? Pursuing Liberty contrasts the reality of living under oppressive regimes with America's unique and irreplaceable legacy: freedoms that may be lost entirely if America continues its downward slide. Is it too late to stem the rising tide of overzealous government? These legal immigrants know the answer.

Kessler Bestseller Out in Paperback

2010-07-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

The explosive New York Times bestseller that caused controversy within the U.S. Secret Service arrives in paperback.

Includes a new chapter revealing new details about the threats against President Obama and the secret task force

set up to protect him.

IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH AGENTS IN THE LINE OF FIRE AND THE PRESIDENTS THEY PROTECT

By Ronald Kessler

Secret Service agents act as human surveillance cameras and observe everything that goes on behind the scenes in the president's inner circle. New York Times bestselling author and award- winning reporter Ronald Kessler reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about presidents from John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides. In his new book, IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE: BEHIND THE SCENES WITH AGENTS IN THE LINE OF FIRE AND THE PRESIDENTS THEY PROTECT (Three Rivers Press, on sale August 3, 2010), Kessler penetrated the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service for the first time and portrays the dangers that agents face, how they carry out their missions, how they are trained, how they spot and assess potential threats, and much more.

Ronald Kessler reveals in the new edition of IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE:

· Threats against President Obama have became so disturbing that the FBI has established a Presidential Threat Task Force to gather, track, and evaluate assassination threats that might be related to domestic or international terrorism.
· Threats against Obama rose by as much as 400 percent compared with when President Bush was in office. At the same time, the Secret Service has been “spinelessly” acceding to requests by Obama administration officials for Secret Service protection in instances where there are no threats against them. As a result, 40 Obama administration officials and White House aides are under Secret Service protection, compared with 32 under George W. Bush. Kessler says that no one outside of the government has heard of most of them, but they have one thing in common: They enjoy being chauffeured free of charge by the Secret Service.
· The expansion in protection has occurred while the Secret Service is jeopardizing the president's safety by cutting corners because of understaffing.
· The new edition explains how Secret Service deficiencies led to the intrusion by Michaele and Tareq Salahi at the White House State Dinner. It recounts how Kessler obtained a scoop on the fact that the Secret Service, during its investigation of the incident, found that a third uninvited guest attended the dinner. Two hours after Kessler's story ran on Newsmax.com, the Secret Service confirmed it.

In addition, IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE discloses assassination attempts that have never before been revealed. Kessler shares insider accounts of past assaults that have put the Secret Service to the test, including a heroic gun battle that took down the would-be assassins of Harry S. Truman, the devastating day that John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, and the swift actions that saved Ronald Reagan after he was shot. Kessler also exposes how Secret Service management in recent years has betrayed its mission by cutting corners, risking the assassination of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and future presidential candidates.

Based on exclusive interviews with more than one hundred current and former Secret Service agents, IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE also reveals:

· Because the Secret Service has been cutting corners since its absorption by the Homeland Security Department, when Vice President Joe Biden threw the first pitch at the first Baltimore Orioles game of the 2009 season, the Secret Service did not screen any of the more than forty thousand fans, stunning agents on his detail and the agency's Baltimore field office. Contrary to Biden's claims, he compromised the location of a secret underground bunker built to protect the vice president.
· When he was President George W. Bush's Treasury secretary, John Snow traveled to his hometown of Richmond almost every weekend and saw a woman agents believed was his mistress, incurring huge expenses for taxpayers because the Secret Service had to accompany him.
· Vice President Spiro Agnew, a champion of family values, had extramarital affairs while in office.
· George W. Bush's daughters, Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, gave their Secret Service details a hard time and would try to lose their agents.
· Based on a psychic's vision that a sniper would assassinate President George H. W. Bush when he arrived in Enid, Oklahoma, to give a speech, the Secret Service changed his motorcade route.
· To make the press think he came to work early, Jimmy Carter would walk into the Oval Office at 5 a.m., then nod off to sleep. Carter refused to allow the military aide with the nuclear football to stay near his home in Plains, Georgia, jeopardizing the nation's safety when he was staying there.
· Lyndon Johnson would order Secret Service agents to drive on crowded sidewalks so he could make an appointment on time. Johnson would urinate in front of the press corps, which included women reporters. He had a stable of women with whom he had sex at the White House and at his ranch.
· Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary, who was guarded by the Secret Service along with her baby, demanded that the Secret Service shuttle her friends to restaurants. When her detail leader objected, she had the agent removed.
· At a Halloween party, Jenna Bush's now-husband, Henry Hager, became so inebriated that the Secret Service wound up taking him to Georgetown University Hospital. Another time, he became drunk with Jenna in a Georgetown bar and picked a fight with several other patrons. The Secret Service had to intervene to avoid a brawl.
· Because of objections by the wife of the secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, the Secret Service stopped performing checks on workers cleaning the Chertoffs' home, even though agents knew that many of the workers were illegal immigrants.
· In contrast to John McCain, Barack Obama - code-named Renegade - and Michelle Obama - code-named Renaissance - treat agents with consideration and respect. Contrary to Obama's repeated claims that he is giving up smoking, he has continued to smoke regularly.
· When Gary Hart was running for president and before his affair with Donna Rice was revealed, his friend Warren Beatty would arrange to have one or two stunning young models or actresses meet him at Beatty's house in Beverly Hills. As Secret Service agents watched through a fence, the women would remove their bikini tops and hop in an outdoor hot tub, then spend the evening with the married presidential candidate.
· Under pressure from presidential candidates or the White House, the Secret Service will shut down magnetometer screening for weapons at major events so as not to inconvenience stragglers when the president or a candidate is about to speak.
· While Secret Service agents are often heroic, the agency uses subterfuge to make them seem more so. When members of Congress and other VIPs visit the Secret Service training facility, the agency presents scenarios where agents respond to a threat. While the demonstration is billed as spontaneous, it is secretly rehearsed.
· In recent years, the Secret Service has equipped agents with outmoded firearms, so they could be outgunned. The service has driven away experienced agents through senseless transfer policies and reduced to almost nothing firearms requalification, physical training, and agent testing. Given such laxity, “It's a miracle we have not had a successful assassination,” a current agent says.

Since an assassination jeopardizes democracy itself, few agencies are as important to the United States as the Secret Service. Only Secret Service agents know the real story about our nation's leaders, and Ronald Kessler is the only journalist who has gained their trust. In importance to the country and in revelations about our nation's leaders, IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE is unique.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ronald Kessler is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen nonfiction books, including The Terrorist Watch, Inside the White House, The CIA at War, and The Bureau. A former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporter, Kessler has won seventeen journalism awards.

The United States of Bankruptcy By Bill Glynn

2010-07-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

20 Great Ways to Save the American Way of Life

Bill Glynn, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, author, and frequent guest of talk radio, has been warning Americans that we are in danger of losing our values, freedom and cherished way of life for many years via his blogs and talk radio shows across America. The culmination of all he has been saying is available now in this easy-to-understand guidebook every American must read: The United States of Bankruptcy: 20 Great Ways to Save the American Way of Life.

He warned us long before today, amidst all the crises America is facing, that the sovereignty of the United States would end up in the hands of foreign nations that hold our debt. He tells us now that America is socially, morally, politically, and financially bankrupt and asks us to start thinking for ourselves once again. He asks those of us who have become weary and leery of our politicians and so-called leaders:

Do you think politicians can actually manage our money?
Do you trust the motivations of your elected officials?
Do you think elections are nothing more than consumer advertising and branding?
Do you trust large corporations?
Do you trust Wall Street?
Do you trust the Chinese to control your future?
Do you feel your job is secure?
Do you think your money is safe?
Do you trust health insurance companies?

If you answered "no" to any or all of these questions, you are not alone. If you are looking for ideas to solve these problems within our country, you need The United States of Bankruptcy to take back America! This convenient guidebook offers 20 solutions to help save the American way of life. And it is a scathing verdict on how the American oligarchy and business leaders have squandered the finances of our nation and have dismantled the American Dream.

Over the past year, talk show hosts have quoted Bill: "If America were a company, the board of directors and management would be fired and probably even in jail!" Thomas Jefferson told us in 1816: "I sincerely believe ... that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale."

Woodrow Wilson's ominous words ring true today as he warned that we'd be ruled by the few, the rich and the powerful: "We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

There are many books out there about the current administration and the damage it's done... The United States of Bankruptcy will stimulate the original true thinkers in the United States to do as our founding fathers once did and return to the core values that made America a great nation.

About the Author: Bill Glynn has been a venture capitalist and entrepreneur for 20 years and is also the author of Left on Red. He was ranked by Information Week as one of 15 top innovators globally. He is an insider in the film and music industry. The companies he has founded, helped build, and invested in have raised over $1 billion. Bill advises Fortune 1,000 companies' executives and speaks regularly across the United States regarding the global economy, reaching an audience of millions each month.

The Devil at My Doorstep By David Bego

2010-06-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

The War Between a Family Business Owner and the SEIU

In May 2010, following a battle lasting over four years, Dave Bego, President of Executive Management Services, overcame incredible odds when he triumphed in a legal battle over the powerful and politically connected Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The incredible true story of Bego's "one man stand" against the two-million-member labor union and its boss Andy Stern (the man who would become President Obama's favorite ally and guest of the White House) is chronicled in his new book, The Devil at My Doorstep: Protecting Employee Rights in which Bego tells the story of the remarkable chain of events leading to the final showdown. This is an inspiring account of his fight to protect his employees and his life's work.

This is the story of a small business owner who grew his cleaning company from the ground up and succeeded by valuing quality, integrity, and respect for customers and employees as the core philosophies of his company. Eventually contracting with over 50 Fortune 500 companies, his business grew to over 5,000 workers in 36 states. He was indeed creating the American Dream for himself and his employees.

Then one day SEIU and Stern moved in to wield their "persuasion of power" to inflict unionization on EMS. Using everything from false accusations to financial power, Stern and the SEIU gained political and media support, practically ruining Bego's reputation, and costing him a million dollars in legal fees. Staying true to his values, Bego refused to back down, and almost three years later defeated Stern and the SEIU and succeeded in saving his company.

The Devil at My Doorstep delivers a shocking, incredible, account of freedom under fire, wherein Bego vividly demonstrates that the basic freedoms we assume are in place, including the right of a small business to operate without coercion, the protection of its employees' wages and personal information, and the right to vote in private, can be shaken to the core. Read more on the EMS Victory at NLRB against the SEIU.

This book is "A useful and compelling expose of what really happens in so-called union corporate campaigns," says Randel K. Johnson, Vice President, Labor, Immigration & Employee Benefits, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "While the union leadership tries to sell these campaigns as necessary because of some alleged imbalance in our nation's labor laws, the reality is that these campaigns are really about forcing employers, through a variety of often unseemly tactics, to recognize the unions regardless of the desire of the employees. David Bego's experience as documented in this review highlights that truth in stark reality."

David Bego's "truer than fiction" journey demonstrates how he was able to:

* Hold on to his core values and stand up for what he believed in.
* Fight and win against powerful and politically connected opponents.
* Develop and implement a strategy to overcome incredible odds.
* Start, operate and grow a business and cultivate good business relations.
* Find a place for a small business in a saturated marketplace characterized by large corporations.

The Devil at My Doorstep serves as an example for those individuals and small-to-mid-size business owners who believe in employee privacy rights and the American Dream, showing them that the underdog can indeed prevail.

Watch David Bego on Fox Business Network's Varney & Co.

About David Bego: President and CEO of Executive Management Services, Inc. (EMS), David Bego waged war with Andy Stern and the SEIU for the past four years, under attack from Stern and his union thugs, while protecting his employees against loss of their freedom to vote in "secret ballot" elections with no threat of repercussion from those who may disagree with their choice. Despite damage to his reputation and EMS's, Bego has managed thus far to survive the SEIU onslaught and emerge with integrity intact. Truly the voice of the opposition to the pending Employees Free Choice Act, Bego's case has received wide media coverage on TV and radio and he has met with many congressional leaders. [more...]

A Simple Solution to Healthcare Reform

2010-06-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

By Dr. Elaina George

I have been in medical practice for over 12 years. Over the past several months I have written extensively about both the intended and the unintended consequences of healthcare reform from a physician's perspective and have appeared on numerous radio shows talking about the problems of health care reform. I have seen the breakdown and particularly the erosion of the doctor patient relationship, which is the fundamental foundation of medicine. As a patient advocate, I felt compelled to educate and inform people about what to expect over the coming months and years regarding their health care choices.

I started my journey as an idealistic optimist who believed that my voice could be heard. That belief took me to Washington to meet with my Congressmen. It was a hard lesson to learn that the political status quo and the power of special interests were more important than doing what was best for patients. It has been equally frustrating to listen to pundits who know absolutely nothing about what it takes to keep a practice open and to provide excellent care to patients. It remains a mystery to me how the opinions of those who have no idea what its like to make payroll or pay for malpractice insurance while fighting increasingly more losing battles with insurance companies and the government for the chance to treat his or her patient as they were trained have been allowed to dictate the conversation about healthcare reform. I have come full circle. I decided that I can either complain about the problem or do something to be part of the solution. This is something we each can decide to do.

My choice is to take back my power as a physician for myself and for my patients. In my opinion, it is the middleman that has led to the explosion in healthcare costs and has insinuated itself between me and my patient. I can no longer sit back and hope that the government will help me (The passing of the healthcare reform bill made that plainly obvious that wasn't going to happen). You only need to look to the fact that the stocks for the pharmaceutical industry and the medical insurance industry went up after the bill passed.

My solution is the creation of Best Price MD (http://www.bestpricemd.com/). It is simply a consortium of healthcare providers - from physicians, specialists, surgeons, and dentists to integrative providers such as chiropractors and acupuncturists. All of our providers have one thing in common, that is their willingness to provide a discount on their services to those without insurance and those who do have insurance, but have high deductibles. [more...]

Radio Sells Books!

2010-05-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Daniel Ruddy started our radio tour for his new book, THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: His Own Words, Selected and Arranged by Daniel Ruddy on May 4th and today we found he went from 10,000 to over 4,000 in rankings in just 3 hours!

Fourth Annual GI Film Festival Returns

2010-05-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Award-winning film festival features 'up & coming' directors, producers, Hollywood veterans

The GI Film Festival, now in its fourth year, announced its film selections for its May 11-16 event in Washington, D.C. The GI Film Festival is the only film festival in the nation to honor the successes and sacrifices of American service members through the medium of film.

Overall, the GI Film Festival will feature a total of 35 narrative and documentary full-length and short films during the five-day event. Subject matter ranges from World War II themes of courage, sacrifice and brotherhood to present-day struggles including veteran homelessness and post-traumatic stress. GO HERE for complete film descriptions and trailers.

"This year the GI Film Festival will put the spotlight on the full range of human emotions experienced by American GIs inside the arena of war and back on the home front," said GI Film Festival co-founder Brandon Millett. "This is an exceptional line-up of films that will entertain, captivate and inspire," added festival co-founder Laura Law-Millett.

Festival screenings include actress Glenn Close's directorial debut in Pax - the story of Sergeant Bill Campbell who returned home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Sgt. Campbell reclaims his life from an unlikely source: a dog named Pax, trained by an inmate at the Bedford Hills (NYC) Correctional Facility for Women. Following the screening, a panel discussion on post-traumatic stress disorder will include Ms. Close, former ABC co-anchor and award-winning reporter Bob Woodruff and Brigadier Gen. Loree Sutton, Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

The festival will also host the world premiere of Starting Strong, a new Army reality show created, produced, directed and narrated by actor Ricky Schroder as well as an advanced screening of the new documentary Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good with special guest actor Gary Sinise. Filmmaker and veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Jonathan Flora,directed Lt. Dan Band.

Another festival world premiere, Chosin, features the work of two Iraq War veterans, Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler, who lived out of a van and operated on a shoestring budget to complete their epic documentary Chosin, which chronicles one of the most savage battles in American history, the Korean War's Chosin Reservoir Campaign.

The GI Film Festival's Filmmaker Boot Camp will return this year. Budding directors and other attendees will learn how to finance, market and pitch their own films at the all-day event.

The GI Film Festival will be held at the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P St., N.W., Washington, D.C. The festival will host the post-traumatic stress panel at the Canadian Embassy and a congressional reception in the Russell Senate Caucus Room. Media registration is available HERE. Go to www.gifilmfestival for more information. See a slideshow from May 14th here.

About Brandon Millett: Co-founder of the GI Film Festival, a national non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the U.S. Military, and as a communications and media professional, Mr. Millett has advised a variety of organizations, from Fortune 500 companies to non-profit start-ups. His media campaigns have earned coverage from virtually every major news outlet worldwide, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, to name a few. His work has appeared in numerous top publications, including The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and the Baltimore Sun. As a spokesperson, he has conducted hundreds of interviews on national radio and television programs from Dennis Miller to NPR's "To the Point" to Fox News Live. Mr. Millett previously served as a senior director of Judicial Watch, the nation's largest government watchdog organization.

Daniel Ruddy's New Teddy Roosevelt Book

2010-04-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S

History of the

UNITED STATES

His Own Words, Selected and Arranged

By Daniel Ruddy

With a Foreword by Edmund Morris

In a unique project, Ruddy has carefully extracted Roosevelt's most relevant and telling comments - from letters to books to speeches - and organized them to form a full, colorful and highly opinionated history of the United States up to 1919, the year TR died.

Theodore Roosevelt is well remembered for his energetic personality, his leadership in the Progressive Movement, and his "cowboy" image. But he is best remembered for his words. Lifetimes have been spent speculating on what Roosevelt truly thought, and now scholar and historian Daniel Ruddy provides thought-provoking insight into just that.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: His Own Words, Selected and Arranged by Daniel Ruddy is an assemblage that provides readers with a unique account of American history from 1776 to 1918. Roosevelt's ideas about the nation's past can be found sprinkled throughout his voluminous writings, but these "pearls of thought" (as one reviewer described them in 1888) have never before been collected.

Roosevelt, the historical observer, was a hanging judge who did not hesitate to opine on the leaders and events of our nation's past. His razor-sharp opinions cut to the core, capturing the essence of obscure and prominent historic figures alike: Thomas Paine was a "filthy little atheist;" Andrew Jackson "not more than half civilized;" John Tyler "a politician of monumental littleness;" Winfield Scott "a good general, but otherwise a wholly absurd and flatulent personage;" Millard Fillmore "a pompous old non-entity;" William McKinley had "no more backbone than a chocolate eclair;" William Howard Taft a "flubdub with a streak of the common and the second rate in him."

Roosevelt was not shy about stating his opinions of his contemporaries either. He felt that Andrew Carnegie and other Robber Barons were "singularly callous" to the sufferings of ordinary people, and that William Randolph Hearst "would aspire to play the part of some of the least worthy creatures" of the French Terror. After the ill-fated Progressive Party failed to propel TR into the White House in 1912, it became "the Free Soil Party of our day," and when Woodrow Wilson refused to immediately enter World War I, Roosevelt branded him the "heir of Jefferson and Buchanan."

Captivating and insightful towards this American life, Daniel Ruddy skillfully gathered a great collection of writing to paint a clearer portrait of a man and his impressions of our nation's history. Watch Daniel on Fox News Channel: Go Here Now.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Daniel Ruddy grew up on Long Island, New York where a childhood trip to Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, triggered a lifelong interest in TR. He is a marketing consultant for Fortune 500 companies, and he holds a Master's Degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He is an avid researcher into U.S. history and the presidency. [more...]

'Islam Rising' Exposes Radical Islam in America

2010-04-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

On May 1, 2010 Christian Action Network (CAN) and PRB Films will release a new documentary entitled, Islam Rising, a film that exposes the dangers of radical Islam to the Western world and features the internationally acclaimed Dutch politician, Geert Wilders. The film follows on the heels of CAN’s explosive documentary released last year, Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around U.S.

CALL SANDY NOW at 516-735-5468 or e-mail Sandy to schedule interviews with Martin Mawyer, the Director of "Islam Rising."

Mr. Wilders, who is currently running for Prime Minister in the Netherlands, lives under a constant death threat for producing his own film, Fitna. His film shows how radical Islamists are simply following the dictates of the Quran in their attempt at world domination through violence, murder and infiltration. As a special feature of Islam Rising, Mr. Wilders’ own controversial film, Fitna, is included.

Geert Wilders is currently on trial in The Netherlands for his alleged "hate speech" against Islam and has almost single-handedly brought global attention to the Islamic infiltration and dominance of Europe.

Though CAN does not endorse all the views of Mr. Wilders made in the film, the Dutch parliamentarian warns that if the growing Islamic takeover of Europe is not stopped, the West could be faced with a "thousand years of darkness."

As part of its promotion for Islam Rising, CAN will be displaying billboards along major interstates of the east coast. Six billboards will be on display, starting in South Carolina, by the middle of April.

Islam Rising will debut in Washington, D.C. on May 1 in the Rayburn House Office Building. More than 500 people are expected to be in attendance.

The New English Review raves: "We hope that Islam Rising receives a wide public viewing especially by Members of Congress. It is a testimony that one man can make a difference."

Martin Mawyer, president of CAN, says, "Islam Rising is a daring film. It's a dangerous film. It's an attempt to show Americans how Europe is being be brought to its knees by radical Islamists and how they are making inroads into the United States."

The documentary feature includes dramatic film footage, shocking photos and a special warning by Geert Wilders, himself. Go here for more information.

2010: Take Back America by Dick Morris

2010-04-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

As battle lines are drawn for 2010, authors of the smash #1 New York Times bestseller Catastrophe - are back with their hottest book yet:

2010: Take Back America

The Battle Plan

By Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

Casting your vote in the November 2010 election may be the single most important thing you do all year, because these elections will be the critical turning point for America's future. They're our chance to take back America.

We stand at the crossroads of ideals and policies: freedom versus socialism; sovereignty versus international subservience; economic liberty versus debt slavery; quality medical care versus government-sponsored euthanasia; and private property versus confiscatory taxation.

All this depends on the answer to one question: Will Obama maintain his control of Congress?

To prepare us for this battle, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann have written 2010: TAKE BACK AMERICA, their most important book yet. In Fleeced, they warned of the dangers of an Obama administration. In Catastrophe, they predicted his campaign to promote a socialist economy. And now, in this book, they offer a battle plan to take back America.

Morris and McGann explain the stakes - permanent unemployment, rampaging inflation, international control of our economy, collapse of our manufacturing industry, European-style taxation levels, and a nation without quality medical care at any price.

They point out the targets - the incumbent Democrats who are most vulnerable. They identify the races we must win and offer ammunition to do so. They examine the records of Harry Reid, Blanche Lincoln, Arlen Specter, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Barbara Boxer - the key incumbent targets for 2010. And they tell you all the secrets these incumbents hope you won't find out.

They outline a strategy for victory - explaining the pitfalls and walking us through a path to winning control of Congress.

Last but certainly not least, they tell us what we can do as individuals to defeat Obama - how to go beyond the traditional work of donating, local campaigning, and voting, and build our own electronic precincts to get people engaged and spread the word between now and Election Day. Today politics is no longer a spectator sport; Morris and McGann explain how to get off the bleachers and get out on the field, using every bit of technology at our fingertips to get the message out.

The battle is coming. 2010: TAKE BACK AMERICA is the basic training manual you need to win.

2010: OUR LAST BEST CHANCE TO SAVE AMERICA

The congressional elections of 2010 will determine our future.

This book shows what we need to do to win.

THE STAKES

Our system of free enterprise hangs in the balance. If we lose, we face permanently high unemployment, socialized medicine, rampant inflation, perpetual debt slavery, and a European-style government-run economy.

THE TARGETS

Thirteen senate seats and fifty-four house races will determine control of Congress.

This book shows us how to attack these incumbents and outlines a path to victory.

THE STRATEGY

Make Obama the issue. Attack his policies at their weakest points.

Nationalize the campaign. Stay on the offensive.

YOUR CAMPAIGN

Politics is no longer a spectator sport. This book explains how you can help freedom win - by creating your own electronic precincts using every bit of technology at our fingertips, as well as good old word of mouth.

DICK MORRIS served as Bill Clinton's political consultant for twenty years. A regular political commentator on Fox News Channel, he is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers (all with Eileen McGann) and one Washington Post bestseller.

The Way to Real Health

2010-04-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

On April 7, 2010 I will leave on a journey to complete a 500-mile trek through a popular pilgrimage route – the Compostela de Santiago, a trail crossing the Pyrenees Mountains from France to the NW tip of Spain. This path has been traversed by many over the past 1,200 years and is very rich in culture. I am taking this journey because I’d like to create awareness that health is more than simply the absence of disease.

We will discuss what I call “the four pillars to health: the physical, the emotional, the intellectual, and the spiritual.” It is in creating the balance of all four that we find the way to real health. All four aspects must be in balance to achieve optimum health and thereby live with purpose of becoming the best that you can be. www.thewaytorealhealth.com will serve to not only chronicle my journey, but to inspire others to take their own personal journeys towards real health – inside and out.

On the trail, we will discover the mysteries of life and create new life habits to make us become the best that each of us can be. I challenge you to participate in the 35-day walk – the “Walk and Talk the Talk Challenge.” As I walk and talk, I will use it as a way to motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be. [more...]

Dr. Evelyn Higgins is a recognized international expert on fitness, diet and health. She is a graduate of the State University of New York and New York Chiropractic College. She is a radio show host, 22-year practicing physician, author, health care commentator, columnist, and lecturer. For more information, visit her web site at doctorhiggins.com.

Talkers Magazine Party

2010-03-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

I attended the Talkers Magazine party last night in NYC and it was a lot of fun and great to see all the radio hosts again! Sean Hannity received an award and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary was the entertainment and led everyone in a rousing version of "This Land is Your Land" and "Puff the Magic Dragon." The famous artist, Peter Max, was also in attendance. Go here for pictures.

James Hirsen's New Interview Series

2010-03-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

In a new series of video/audio NewsMaxTV interviews, Hollywood and cultural reporter James Hirsen will be interviewing famous personalities in the arts and politics. The mini-interviews for YouTube and NewsMax.com will get approximately 45 million raw hits per week with millions of unique visitors. Here is the first in his new series: "Dennis Miller embraces the conservative republican label."

Radio Sells Books

2010-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

After only one week on his radio tour, The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr By Ken Gormley hit #26 on the NY Times bestseller list.

This self-published book: America's Economic War: Your Freedom, Money and Life by Gerard Lameiro, Ph.D. noticed a substantial jump in ranking on Amazon.com after only 2 weeks on his radio tour at the start of 2010. His Amazon sales ranking went from about 1,300,000 to about 21,000 in three days!

Ken Gormley's Best-Selling Clinton Book

2010-02-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Reviews are in and THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE: Clinton vs. Starr by author and interim dean and professor of law at Duquesne University Ken Gormley is quickly climbing the best-seller lists as Mr. Gormley continues his book tour. This explosive new book tells the complete, balanced, and revealing story of the scandals that nearly destroyed Bill Clinton's presidency. Reflecting a decade of research and unprecedented access, it is a book that Clinton supporters and detractors will both love and be troubled by.

LA Times: The author provides everything you wanted to know about the former president, independent counsel, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and others, in 800 pages. Weighing in at nearly 800 pages, Gormley's "The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr" spares nary a detail in its effort to be the definitive text on a saga that began with allegations about a 1978 Arkansas land deal and ended more than two decades later with a sensational report compiled by Ken Starr's Office of the Independent Counsel and an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.

The Washington Post: Ken Gormley's new book about the Clinton impeachment saga bears the lurid and trite title "The Death of American Virtue," which sounds like a mashup of works by the conservative pundit William Bennett. Happily, though, it's nothing of the sort. It is, rather, something I didn't imagine would arrive so soon: a restrained, fair-minded, soup-to-nuts history of the largely fruitless investigations of Bill Clinton that shadowed so much of his presidency.

San Francisco Chronicle: it's a great read that reveals the core dynamics of historical events that influence (and plague) American political life to this day. Gormley is particularly good at teasing out turning points at which apparently minor decisions resulted in momentous consequences.

The Philly Inquirer

The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr

2010-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

By Ken Gormley

THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE: Clinton vs. Starr by author and interim dean and professor of law at Duquesne University Ken Gormley, tells the complete, balanced, and revealing story of the scandals that nearly destroyed Bill Clinton’s presidency. Reflecting a decade of research and unprecedented access, it is a book that Clinton supporters and detractors will both love and be troubled by.

Ken on Fox & Friends - 2-17-10
Ken on The Today Show - 2-16-10
NY Times Review - 2-14-10

THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE is filled with new revelations and fresh details that are sure to make headlines on both sides, including:

• Extensive first-person interviews with President Clinton, Kenneth Starr, Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp, Paula Jones, Susan McDougal, Henry Hyde, Supreme Court justices, and a host of other key players in the drama

• Personal correspondence to and from Ken Starr, never before made public, as he was seeking to prosecute the president and First Lady

• A shocking revelation that resolves one of the great mysteries of the Clinton wars - something that Ken Starr and his prosecutors always suspected but could never prove: confirmation that Susan McDougal did in fact have a brief, intimate affair with then-Governor Clinton

• Chilling new details concerning the death of White House lawyer Vince Foster, including a firsthand account by the only person to identify his body at the morgue

• New evidence that Bill Clinton’s lawyers would have offered at trial in order to destroy the civil lawsuit filed by Paula Jones, and extensive documents from the Jones lawyers revealing their strategy to defeat the president

• Evidence that the Starr prosecutors came to distrust Linda Tripp after FBI lab tests indicated that some of her taped conversations with Monica Lewinsky contained unexplained erasures, directly contradicting her sworn testimony. This discovery forced Starr’s office to scrub and rewrite its original version of the Starr Report to omit all references to Tripp’s suspect tapes.

• Never-before-released psychiatric records for convicted Whitewater felon Jim McDougal during his time in federal prison that reveal his desperate efforts to supply incriminating evidence against the Clintons, and the startling circumstances that led to his death in solitary confinement

• New information concerning the effort by Starr’s prosecutors to indict First Lady Hillary Clinton. Even the Clintons themselves remain unaware of the details of that proposed indictment, released in this book for the first time

• Monica Lewinsky’s previously untold account of the whereabouts of the elusive blue dress - stained with President Clinton’s semen and DNA - that Starr’s office could not locate until she turned it over

• Linda Tripp’s startling assertion that she believed President Bill Clinton was trying to “hit on her” when she worked as an assistant stationed outside the Oval Office - and how she believes that First Lady Hillary Clinton intentionally moved her to a new job, upstairs in the West Wing, as part of “a pattern of moving temptation away from the president.”

Steadfast supporters of the Clintons will point to disclosures made in the book such as:

• Damning information concerning the Justice Department’s internal investigation of Ken Starr’s prosecutors relating to their handling of the initial sting of Monica Lewinsky (the secret report has been blocked from public view and is still under seal)

• Attorney General Janet Reno’s blunt assessment of Ken Starr as independent counsel

• New evidence that Starr’s office drafted an impeachment referral to Congress, based upon weak Whitewater evidence, before the Lewinsky affair ever came to light

• Evidence showing that the decision by Ken Starr’s office to expand into the explosive Lewinsky case - perhaps the most important decision in its four-year investigation - was made with virtually no input from Starr himself

• A never-before-told account of how the FBI tried to “set up” the Secret Service by making that agency believe that President Clinton’s DNA was not on Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress

• Strong evidence that the so-called “distinguishing characteristic” on Clinton’s body (which Paula Jones insisted would prove Clinton exposed himself to her), did not exist

• Surprise film footage of Paula Jones telling her story before it gained national media attention that likely would have sunk her case if she went to trial

• Proof that Starr’s office aggressively lobbied Janet Reno and Eric Holder to take over the Lewinsky case, which contradicts statements made by Starr and his prosecutors that they reluctantly agreed to handle the case only after being pressed to do so by Reno and her team

Defenders of special prosecutor Ken Starr will point to new revelations including:

• A direct admission by Monica Lewinsky, made for the first time, that Bill Clinton lied under oath during his grand jury testimony

• New evidence that Clinton’s advisers had serious concerns, in the summer of ’99, that he would be removed from office by members of his own party

• President Gerald Ford’s surprising disclosure, before his death, of his secret effort to convince President Clinton to admit that he lied under oath in order to work out a censure deal and avoid a Senate impeachment trial - and Clinton’s adamant refusal to make that admission

• Information revealing, for the first time, that Judge Susan Webber Wright seriously considered finding Clinton in criminal contempt in the midst of the Senate impeachment trial - a move that could have ended Clinton’s presidency by providing the Senate with a distinctive finding of criminal conduct

• Surprising evidence that before the Lewinsky investigation broke open, Ken Starr - despite White House portrayals of him as a rabid political zealot out to bring down President Clinton - was generally neutral and deferential toward the president in his role as Whitewater prosecutor

• Unvarnished comments made by Monica Lewinsky and her family disclosing their true feelings about Bill Clinton today

THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE is an epic work of nonfiction about a scandal that left bodies littered across the road. It is the final word on the Clinton/Starr struggle, a political battle that divided America like none other in modern history and forced Americans of all political stripes to reevaluate the wisdom of partisan warfare with no boundaries. In an age when public servants of both political parties and their supporters often risk destroying the institutions of government they are sworn to protect in the name of advancing their own versions of American virtue, this book is a sobering reminder that “going rogue” comes at a dangerously high price to our nation.

America's Economic War By Gerard Lameiro, Ph.D.

2010-02-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

America's Economic War - Your Freedom, Money and Life
A Citizen's Handbook for Understanding the War between American Capitalism and Socialism
By Gerard Lameiro, Ph.D.

President Obama unveiled a multi-trillion-dollar spending plan today guaranteeing America trillion-dollar-plus deficits for three consecutive years as we Americans tighten our belts more than ever to meet our own expenses. But how will the decisions the administration makes today affect us and future generations?

Are you struggling to understand what's really going on in the American economy today? Do you want to know if our economy will turn around quickly, or get bogged down in a bad recession... or, worse, collapse into a ten-year depression? Do you want to understand why we confront a constant stream of bad economic reports and financial crises? Why we face increasing inflation with mounting food and energy prices? Why our leaders engage in fierce political battles with one another? Do you want to understand why American culture and morality are in steep decline?

Economist and economic growth expert, Gerard Francis Lameiro, addresses all these questions and many more in this clearly written, easy-to-understand, and vitally important book that identifies and describes America's Economic War. In his engaging style and with his optimistic vision and uncanny ability to make the complex very simple, Dr. Lameiro describes in riveting detail:

Americas economic war between American capitalism and socialism that is raging across our country today;
The 47 major and three special battles taking place right now that are dramatically impacting American culture, government, and the American economy; and
The serious risks to you and your family's freedom, money and lives.

America's Economic War is a test of America's moral strength and courage, a test of its Constitutional principles, and a test of its great engine of economic freedom and prosperity. This book will help you get a solid understanding of America's economic war and how American capitalism can help all of us to achieve a brighter future for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

You might not realize it right now because you are busy with work or school or family concerns, but you and your family's freedom, money and life are all at risk today. America's Economic War is raging and changing everything about life in America. Each and every one of us is dramatically impacted. Yet, few of us recognize that America's Economic War is taking place at all. Indeed, fewer still understand the causes of the war, or its impact and potential dangers.

About the Author: Economist, economic growth expert and CEO of Lameiro Economics LLC, a company focused on bringing practical economic knowledge about freedom, economic growth and prosperity to America and to the world, Dr. Lameiro was previously a member of Hewlett-Packard's Strategy and Corporate Development team, President of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), and an Assistant Professor in Colorado State University's College of Business.

SandyPundits Offers the BEST on Special Mass. Election!

2010-01-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

The Counterrevolution Continues
By John M. O'Hara

More and more Americans are rejecting the empty rhetoric of hope and change and the government-knows-best philosophy of President Obama and his congressional allies. This response to the radical policies of this administration - embodied in the tea party movement - is what I refer to as a counterrevolution in A New American Tea Party. It is a gut reaction millions of Americans are having to the rapid expansion of the size and reach of government and the fiscal crash course our nation is on. These aren't Democrat and Republican issues - these are American issues. [more...]

The underlying factors behind the unexpectedly close race in MA are symptomatic of a larger dissatisfaction with the president's radical agenda. According to a recent Washington Post poll, 58% of Americans favor LESS government. This stands in sharp contrast to the "government knows best' mentality propagated by the Obama administration.

Massachusetts voters have had a taste of "universal" health care. The result? Long waits and higher prices. It is no surprise that they oppose their own plan and exporting such a flawed policy to the rest of the nation. Thirty-six percent of MA residents call the plan a failure. A mere 26% of likely Massachusetts voters approve of the president's flagship health care plan dubbed ObamaCare. Only 48% approve of his job rating - this in a state that he won handily.

When the folks back in my home state of Massachusetts - and believe me these aren't "right-wing radicals" - think the government is overstepping its bounds it is time for President Obama and Democrats in Washington to make a major course correction.

Today on Drudge: The Winner Takes It All! Poll: Brown Up By 9

"You're seeing the Tea Party movement and the center-right movement rally behind him as a practical matter to hopefully derail Obamacare," said John M. O'Hara of Chicago, a Needham native who has written a book about the Tea Party protests. "It's a shot over the bow of incumbents on both sides and a real signal coming into the 2010 election." [more...]

Political Predictions of GOP Victory
By Wayne Allyn Root

It was only a few weeks ago that I predicted that Democrats would pass universal healthcare without a so-called "public option." It was only a few days ago that I predicted that President Obama never intended to tax high value health insurance plans that belong to union members. But here's my most important prediction of all - Obama and the Democrats are about to be swept out of office in the biggest Tea Party revolt since 1776. As a matter of fact, my gut instinct tells me Massachusetts Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown will pull one of the most shocking political upsets in history on Tuesday. Mark it down... whether Brown wins, or simply comes close, the Tea Party political revolution began in Massachusetts just like the first one in 1776. The only thing standing in the way of this "mother of all upsets" is Obama and his corrupt Massachusetts labor union buddies bringing thousands of dead bodies to the polls on Tuesday. [more...]

Dems' Health Care Strategy: Seek Forgiveness Instead of Permission
By Kyle Olson

Democrats and their special interest allies are in the fight of their lives to keep the seat formerly held by the champion of socialized medicine in the bluest of states. Democrats should be tap dancing on the foreheads of Republicans in Massachusetts. But instead, they're racing against the clock for a deal on health care reform because they run the risk of losing their critical 60th vote in just a few days. So the Democrats strategy is clear: seek forgiveness of American voters in November instead of permission now because they're likely fearing the message from Tuesday's election will equal not granting permission. The special election this week in Massachusetts can easily be viewed as a referendum on Obama, his policies and specifically government-run health care. And in a state that is navy blue, it's a dogfight, with SEIU stepping in to plop down over $600,000 for TV ads savaging Republican candidate Scott Brown. [more...]

The Obama Revolutions Ends This Week
By John LeBoutillier

Tuesday night, the GOP and the Tea Party will elect conservative Republican Scott Brown by four points over yet another stupid, dumb, out-of-touch, ignorant Democrat - Curt Schilling a Yankee fan? - to fill John F. and Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat, which had been in the hands of the Kennedys since 1952. Ironically, the next day - Wednesday January 20 - is the first anniversary of Barack Obama's inauguration. So, one year to the day of the arrival in D.C. of The One, he will effectively be a lame duck president. His Obama Revolution will be finished. The Democratic strangle-hold on D.C. power will be shattered. The upcoming November mid-term elections will be a Democratic blood bath. [more...]

ACORN Hearts Coakley
By Joy Tiz

Democrats have outdone themselves finding a candidate to run for what they honestly believe is Ted Kennedy's (D-Hades) senate seat. Candidate Martha Coakley, a woman described by Ann Coulter as "too immoral" for Kennedy's overused seat has earned the coveted ACORN endorsement. While anyone with a scintilla of common sense would loudly reject an endorsement from the ACORN band of thugs, Coakely was "honored" by the high praise from fellow corruptocrats. The good people of the state of Massachusetts should be outraged. The Democrat Party, in its supreme arrogance, is trying to vex the citizens with an altogether wretched candidate. They don't care about her incompetence and corruption; those have become resume enhancers in the Democrat Party. What they care about is holding onto power. So great is the democrat hubris that the party machine smugly assumes they can win with, even with a candidate as bottom rung as Martha Coakley. The gruesome facts about Martha Coakely are available for all to see. If the people of Massachusetts allow themselves to be abused by the Democrat Party, they can't say they weren't warned. [more...]

A NEW AMERICAN TEA PARTY By John M. O'Hara

2010-01-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

A NEW AMERICAN TEA PARTYThe Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts,
Reckless Spending, And More Taxes

By John M. O'Hara
Foreword by Michelle Malkin

According to a recent WSJ/NBC News poll, the tea party movement currently boasts higher favorability ratings than either the Democratic or Republican Parties. Could this be true? Yes, in fact the "tea party movement" is one of the biggest news stories of 2009 and may be one of the most significant political movements of our time.

Since February 2009, hundreds of thousands of Americans have taken the initiative to organize in towns and cities across the nation in protest of the swift, radical expansions of the size and scope of government. These protests of government intervention and intrusion have been met with great controversy.

Counterrevolutionary and author of the new book A NEW AMERICAN TEA PARTY, John M. O'Hara was there at the beginning of the movement helping to sow the seeds of this popular uprising. O'Hara is one of millions of Americans that have helped shape and permanently change the political landscape of this country.

"Like our republic, this movement's power is derived from the people and its momentum is carried by the people, by individual Americans concerned with the future of our nation." - John M. O'Hara

Watch John O'Hara on FNC - Your World w/Neil Cavuto - 1-20-10

A NEW AMERICAN TEA PARTY is an insider's account on the history of the modern day tax tea parties, the principles they are grounded in, and their future agenda. A young rising star in the center-right movement, O'Hara brings a fresh, witty perspective on the principles behind the tea parties and the steps that lay ahead to bring those principles to bear in the political process.

In light of continuing, high-profile legislative battles over the economy, universal health care, cap and trade and forthcoming "bell weather" mid-term elections, this book couldn't be timelier. A NEW AMERICAN TEA PARTY ties together the underlying principles of the tea party movement, the policy battles they are in large part a reaction to, and the road ahead. Giving concise, organized explanations, this book:

Chronicles what sparked the protests, why they were necessary, and makes the case for why the movement can and will continue to be a formidable political force;
Details the often malicious media and political backlash to the movement;
Paints a vivid picture of the vastly differing principles and approaches of activism on the Left and the Right;
Discusses timely issues including the heated national health care debate, "cap and trade," unions, ACORN, and more; and
Presents a call to action and discusses a road to victory for the movement and the principles it espouses.

The tea party protestors have been maligned by everyone from major news commentators to senior White House officials. They've been called fringe and "unhealthy." These widely popular protests have been written off as mere conservative tantrums following the election of Barack Obama. However, as O'Hara explains, the protests are non-partisan, highly principled, healthy exercises of First Amendment speech. They represent a gut reaction upon which the Framers counted in times of dramatic, inappropriate, and even unconstitutional government expansion. In A NEW AMERICAN TEA PARTY, O'Hara provides a steppingstone for anyone wanting to better understand the movement and those seeking to rally to support the cause.

About the Author: John M. O'Hara is Assistant Director of Communications at The Heartland Institute. Previously, he worked in the U.S. Department of Labor for Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. John graduated from Kenyon College where he studied philosophy and political science and was managing editor of The Kenyon Observer. He is a contributor to BigGovernment.com and has appeared as a commentator on a number of local and national radio and television programs. Visit his Web site at http://www.johnmohara.com/.

How to be a Successful Pundit

2010-01-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

By Sandy Frazier

So you've decided to expand your career by becoming a pundit - an analyst, a commentator expounding on news stories in your chosen area of expertise. Talk radio hosts and producers will be very receptive to you if you stick by a few tried and true principles.

Always remember, you're marketing yourself as a BRAND - a trusted source of information. Listen to the guests who frequent talk radio - those who have become household names and have expanded their horizons to become world-renowned authors - famous for what they know. Watch them and learn from them.

Stay with what you know and use your experience, your assets and natural talents. For instance, if you're an expert on the economy and finance, don't suddenly decide to start blogging or write a book on theatre in the 21st century and expect it to go anywhere. Stick with what you do best!

Your Web Presence:

The most important thing today in becoming successful at almost ANYTHING is to develop a great Web presence. Work on it. Do some research by 'Googling' your name and find out what's on the Web about you before you get started, so you can eliminate things you don't want out there and build an image that will take you where you want to go. If you've got several Web sites, consolidate them into one neat professional site.

Buy your domain - preferably your name (i.e., http://www.sandrafrazier.com/) and point all other Web sites to this main domain. List social networking pages on your main page. Make sure your domain has a blog that is easy for you to work with. If you've got a complicated name that's difficult to spell or pronounce, consider nicknames or alternative wording. See our Web expert.

Make sure you've got a clear and concise bio that is not too lengthy or complicated. Your "About" page should consist of your title, a few paragraphs highlighting your accomplishments, your education, books you've published, videos you've posted online (i.e., YouTube) and a great headshot. You can create a separate page if you've got media experience (radio/TV interviews, news clippings, etc.). NEVER include personal information about your spouse, your children or where you live and try not to go on about hobbies or avocations.

Work on your image. Get yourself a great headshot (format: .jpg). You don't have to spend a fortune on professional pictures. Take a digital camera outside on a clear day and have a friend or family member shoot a number of photographs from which you can choose. Use common sense: make sure your teeth are white, your makeup clean, your clothes bright and neat.

Social Networking - Use social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, to your advantage by keeping your personal postings completely separate from your professional pages. Try to only post items that are relative to your professional goals, and will inspire your fans to seek out your expert advice, follow you online and on the radio.

Your Area of Expertise:

Get in the habit of blogging at least once a week on your area of expertise. It'll help you discipline yourself to not only become a better writer, but to really hone in on ways to express yourself in your chosen field.

Try to come up with a witty new angle on a topic or news story you're covering. As you do the research for your blog, try to use not only online sources, such as Google and Yahoo! but also print media, books, broadcast, TV reports, and especially life experience.

Try not to be too eclectic in your choice of topics - stay on target and blog about what you know best and you'll be invited on talk radio and TV shows on a continuous basis, which will not only build your reputation, but will increase the value of your brand: YOU.

In this day and age of self-publishing, everyone is an author, but few turn out quality work. If you decide to write a book, make sure you work HARD on it and do the research necessary to make it something really special - a book with a "hook" - timely information that will be sought after by talk radio and cable network TV producers. Don't assume because you're really knowledgeable about something, you need to write a book. If you choose the self-publishing route, make sure you're not turning out a pamphlet - write a COMPLETE BOOK before you go through all the work involved in trying to get it published or spending the money on self-publishing. And make sure you edit it well and even work with an editor if you can.

Preparing for Interviews:

Once you've built your Web site and you're ready to go, you'll start getting offers to be a guest on talk radio. When you receive an invitation, the topic will be your current blog. Before the interview, make sure you're prepared and have some interesting facts/statistics ready to quote. You can even jot down some notes or some humorous or witty anecdotes you'd like to mention in the interview. That's the wonderful thing about phone interviews on talk radio - you can sit in front of your computer and Google as you go!

Check the Web site of the radio show prior to the interview so you can familiarize yourself with the host and the show in general. Radio hosts are generally egomaniacs and they love it if you know who they are.

Always plug your Web site (main domain) and if you're promoting a book, refer to the book several times throughout. You've decided to be a pundit so you will become a trusted source of information; so make sure your name gets out there and they know how to reach you online.

You'll be a great pundit if you're able to keep a clear head while you're on the air and no matter how argumentative the hosts or callers get, you've done your homework, you know your facts and you're confident! The 21st century is offering us all tremendous opportunities to get our names out there like never before! Take advantage of all the technology that is at your fingertips and you'll be a household name before you know it!

Fred Honsberger... A Pittsburgh Voice, Silenced

2009-12-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

The calls poured in during KDKA-AM talk host Fred Honsberger's air shift yesterday. One after another, listeners paid their respects to a silenced Pittsburgh voice during a program that became a three-hour tribute -- to its host.

Mr. Honsberger died yesterday morning at his home in Monroeville, following a long battle with various health issues. He was 58.

One of the city's longest-running talk show hosts, he could be combative and opinionated, but colleagues, guests and callers recall qualities that set him apart from the typical image of the talk host who shouts down listeners when they disagree.

Mr. Honsberger hosted a popular afternoon drive talk show on KDKA since the George H.W. Bush administration. In January, he moved to the noon-to-3 p.m. shift -- opposite syndicated conservative talker Rush Limbaugh, but continued to hold court and engage listeners on both local and national issues. [more...]

SandyPR.com sends condolences to family, friends and the radio listeners... We booked our pundits and guests on Fred's show many times over the years and I'm sure he'll be sorely missed!

Remembering George Putnam

2009-12-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

On a gorgeous Southern California Saturday afternoon in La Canada, friends, family and colleagues met on the lawn of the Jeffers Estate to pay tribute to the bigger-than-life presence of L.A.’s own news personality, George Putnam. George died September 12 at the age of 94.

Against a patriotic backdrop, the American Legion started the event with a presentation of colors. George’s last media outlet before he died was on Cable Radio Network (CRN). Mike Horn, the president and ceo of CRN, introduced George’s theme music, Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talking. “We enjoy Vin Scully, we listen to the Dodgers,” said Horn, “but part of our Southern California fabric is the man we’re honoring today – George Putnam. Wherever George was – Channels 11, 5, KIEV or CRN – it was appointment radio or appointment tv. You had to be there when George was on the air. To this day there’s no one in broadcasting who can claim appointment radio. He was part of our Southern California and there for us at all times. No matter where George was, we were there.”

Chuck Wilder was George’s producer for the past 26 years. “We were partners in crime,” Chuck said in addressing the crowd. “I don’t think anyone enjoyed being on the air as much as George. When he broke his neck tripping over ‘Wally George’ [all of George’s dogs were named after famous people] he wanted to be on the air while he was in the hospital. He would get the engineers upset when he would say, ‘You can send a man to the moon but we can’t get these telephones to work.’ He wanted to get a broadcast line into the hospital.”

Wilder shared a story of when they were broadcasting from the underground shopping center of the ARCO Plaza Twin Towers. They were waiting for two special guests to arrive. Ten minutes before broadcast time, there was a bomb scare. “George said he was staying put. The Arco building management and security couldn’t get George to leave. Then here comes this very petite woman in a LAPD uniform. George had great charm with woman. He looked at her and said, ‘everything’s okay. We’re staying here.’ She said, ‘No you’re leaving.’ They went back and forth and his charm wasn’t working. All of a sudden this little LAPD lady puts her hand on her gun and George gets up and says, ‘We’re leaving.’ When they were leaving the studio, I swear he was trying to get an interview with her.” Chuck said it turned out to be a good decision to leave because police found 100 sticks of dynamite not too far away.

Ray Briem, former KABC and KIEV talk show host, told the crowd he wanted to give thanks to George Putnam. “The icon I saw on television, which was a new medium then , was George Putnam and I would watch George every single day. He became the man I wanted to be,” said Ray. After Ray left all-nights at KABC, George was very instrumental in Ray going to KIEV. “We had something in common– we both supported Proposition 13,” the Howard Jarvis proposition that limited property taxes to 1% of evaluation. “Howard Jarvis said in his book if it weren’t for George and Ray there would have been no Proposition 13.”

Briem concluded his remarks: “I thank George for inspiration. I was always in his shadow and I was always learning from him.

When KABC morning man Doug McIntyre was asked to speak at Putnam’s Celebration of Life, he couldn’t say yes fast enough. Doug was a big fan. “One day my call screener says George Putnam is on the phone and wants to go on the air. I had heard that George listened every day. Well, that’s not right. It should be the other way around and it was the other way around, believe me.”

McIntyre talked about George’s ideals. “George understood that excessive partisanship turns people into robots. Remember that George went to his grave as a Democrat. The Democrats may have given up on what George believed but he never gave up on them. He never gave up on community. He was the one who introduced the illegal immigration issue 45 years ago and maybe some day the LA Times will even cover it. He was way, way ahead of his time on that. This was a guy who understood that America was a special gift to the world and it needed to be preserved and needed to be taught and passed along to the next generation.”

“At 94, George was still on the air, still vital, still valid, still preaching the gospel of America’s uniqueness so perhaps the next generation of Americans will be inculcated with the greatness of this country so they can pass it along to the next generation of Americans,” said McIntyre. “When we stop caring about this country enough to teach it to the next generation of Americans, we’ll cease being a country.”

Former KABC talk show host Bruce Herschenson said that listening to George Putnam was “contagious.” Bruce said that George invented the idea of separating news from opinion. “He ended up his newscasts with ‘one reporter’s opinion.’ And then he would show the American flag flying over a different location every day. I felt sorry for the cameramen who had to find these flags.”

“I was in an election and lost,” Bruce continued. “The phone rang and it was George Putnam and he offered a forum or podium. He said his microphone was mine. He had a habit of being there when you needed him, not when he needed you. I learned a lot from that guy. For almost a century, George Putnam didn’t just live in this country, he made it better.”

Michael Medved at the Book Revue

2009-12-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

Michael Medved spoke to a group at The Book Revue in Huntington, NY tonight about his new book, THE 5 BIG LIES ABOUT AMERICAN BUSINESS: Combating Smears Against the Free-Market Economy. The Q&A was fascinating and the audience learned so much from Michael's great wisdom.

Michael Medved's daily three-hour radio program, The Michael Medved Show, reaches more than two million listeners coast to coast. He is the author of nine other books, including the bestsellers Hollywood vs. America and What Really Happened to the Class of '65?, and is a member of USA Today's board of contributors. For more than a decade he cohosted Sneak Previews, PBS's weekly movie review show. Watch Michael on MSNBC's "The Ed Show."