Blog Smith

Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Severe Wind Reporter


KPSP-TV’s Marissa Mike recently had while trying to cover severe winds in Palm Springs, CA.

ACLU Forces TX School District to Change Policy on Standing During Pledge


Obama Cancels Easter

What? No Easter Greeting?

WH's Carney Laughs Off Obama Not Giving Easter Statement

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/04/25/whs_carney_laughs_off_obama_not_giving_easter_statement.html

Military patrols start in GA


IMF: AGE OF AMERICA NEARS END

China’s economy will surpass the U.S. in 2016


According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016.

The IMF in its analysis looks beyond exchange rates to the true, real terms picture of the economies using “purchasing power parities.” That compares what people earn and spend in real terms in their domestic economies.

Under PPP, the Chinese economy will expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016. Meanwhile the size of the U.S. economy will rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion. That would take America’s share of the world output down to 17.7%, the lowest in modern times. China’s would reach 18%, and rising.

Just 10 years ago, the U.S. economy was three times the size of China’s.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Robertson Says China Ties Boosting Africa Infrastructure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9N39mocLGY

April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Charles Robertson, global chief economist at Renaissance Capital Ltd., discusses China's ties with Africa. He talks with Linzie Janis on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)

Good Friday in Rome: Muslims Illegally Pray at "Altar to the homeland"


Déclaration de guerre - Prières musulmanes en plein Rome (22 avril 2011)

Those illegal Muslim prayers took place on the Piazza Venezia, in front of the national monument dedicated to Vittorio-Emanuele II, and, more precisely, in front of the "Altar to the homeland"

Therefore, those prayers were a declaration of war to the Italian homeland.

Moreover, this Friday, April 22nd, was the Good Friday : therefore, those prayers were a declaration of war to all the Christians too.

Though the Fed is ostensibly apolitical, there is no pressure as well from the Obama administration to boost the dollar's value.


Don't Like a Weak Dollar? Might as Well Get Used to It

Revolutionary Socialist Group Planning to Recruit Children in JR High School to Join and Become Leaders in the Movement

Faith Church – Budapest Hungary Resurrection Sunday Dance


Houston’s Second Baptist Church

More than 2,000 people from Second Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, gathered at Discovery Green in the heart of Houston to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The purpose of Dance Your Shoes Off! was to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ in a powerful and celebratory way. Most importantly, each participant left a new pair of shoes on the field for those in need. These shoes will be given to local mission agencies, including Star of Hope, individuals all across the world through our mission partners and mission trips.

Women Would Like to Vote In Muslim Paradise

Black Americans Alive Today Are The Real Holocaust Victims & The True Jews: New Black Panthers Anti Semitic Attack & Tea Party Threats

Friday, April 22, 2011

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan rock out to Britney Spears

2 Skiers Outrunning an Avalanche

‘Forget About the Law’: Union Bosses & White House Advisors Bob Park & Rich Trumka Admit They Are Overriding US Law & Sovereignty With the International Labor Movement

The following video had still been available: 11 January 2012.


The video had been removed.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser Debates Imam Ahmad Shqeirat on "Does Islam Need Reform and If So, How?"


Islam vs Islamists sample PT 1


Ahmed Shqeirat et al. vs. U.S. Airways, Minnesota, 2007

Exposing the "Flying Imams"

Allen West with Greta Van Susteran – Obama’s Third World Dictator-Like Arrogance

Gasoline Prices and Steepest Increase in Cost of Food in a Generation to Push the US Economy Into Recession

Killer Combo of High Gas, Food Prices at Key Tipping Point

$76,000 Cover Charge to Protest


White House pool reporter gives account of Obama's breakfast fundraiser in San Francisco.

A crowd of half a dozen protesters concerned with the treatment of Bradley Manning, the alleged Wikileaks source, disrupted an Obama $35,000 a plate fund-raiser with Oakland activist Naomi Pitcairn organizing the event for the group which calls itself the Fresh Juice Party. The group claims that Mannning is "languishing in a detention center in Quantico, Virginia since July 2010 without due process, often forced to stand naked and being refused the ability to meet with United Nations officials. The 5th and 8th Amendment violations against him have led to public outcry here in the United States and internationally. So much so that there are now plans to remove Manning to another facility."

The group are progressives who had worked for Obama and voted for him in 2008, but who were disappointed not only with Manning's treatment, but with Obama's policies on war as well.

The group maintains that "The FRESH JUICE PARTY is a satirical action group, but this is no joke: they promise to PAY individuals who post videos on YouTube of themselves singing the song (found at www.FreshJuiceParty.com) in a public forum, up to $100 per video and the top video will win an award of $1,000."

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Cell Phones Pop Popcorn


Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes by sassiere

Government Forces Limos Out of Business?


Bokhari v. Nashville, Nashville’s Sedan Drivers Fight City Effort To Run Them Off the Road

Obama’s Proposed New Executive Order: Transparency or A Boot On The Throat?

Professor Email Drops F=bomb, Then Lectures on Civility

Uncivil Professor

What is the Tea Party?

Tea Party Link

Pseudo-9/11 Imagery Used for Anti-Drilling Leftist Agenda


Accuracy in Media

Islamist Ties to Al Qaeda, Taliban in Libya

Libyan rebel's story shows links to Taliban, Al Qaeda, NATO

Bashir vs. Breitbart

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Petition to Redistribute Grades

Catholics Denounce Lady Gaga‘s ’Judas’ Song Debuting During Holy Week

Producer Behind ‘12th Imam’ Vid Arrested for Exposing Film Ties in Iran

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/producer-behind-12th-imam-video-arrested-for-exposing-film-ties-in-iran/

$6 Gas? Could Happen if Dollar Keeps Getting Weaker


Just back from a trip to the middle east, Tom Petrie, Bank of America Merrill Lynch vice chairman, with his perspective on the future price of oil, and impact of global supply and demand.

22 free tools for data visualization and analysis

Image gallery

DOJ to Supreme Court: Approve warrantless GPS surveillance

How StarChase works. The DOJ has argued for the ability to have warrantless GPS units.

All the president's funny money

Michelle Malkin

Addiction to Economic Growth

Big Sis Says 6-year old’s pat-down: ‘Done professionally according to the protocols’

Redacted: Obama on the Emir of Qatar's view of democracy, slugs, budget, stupid

Candid Obama .. too


President Barack Obama bluntly criticized congressional Republicans and candidly assessed his own policies and the performance of federal workers in a meeting with campaign donors late Thursday in Chicago.
Apparently unaware that a microphone was still on, Obama said he essentially dared Republicans to try to repeal his health-care law during the recent budget negotiations. "I said, 'You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we're stupid?' "
The exchange was overheard by "CBS Radio News" reporter Mark Knoller, who had been listening from the White House to an audio feed of Obama's public remarks before the private meeting.
The White House regularly provides a feedback to Washington from public events across the country. Normally, a staffer traveling with the president will turn off the feed, but in this case no one did, and Knoller kept listening after reporters traveling with Obama left the room.
Later in the discussion, Obama said he told Republicans that they should try to pass a stand-alone bill to defund Planned Parenthood, rather than attach it to the broader budget bill.
"Put it in a separate bill," Obama said he told House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and his staff. "We'll call it up. And if you think you can overturn my veto, try it. But don't try to sneak this through."
White House press secretary Jay Carney on Friday dismissed any potential concerns with the comments. "He was taking questions from supporters," Carney said. "But there's nothing - nothing he said that contradicts anything he said in public."
In the conversation, Obama also weighed in on the performance of rank-and-file federal employees, saying it is "striking ... how generally smart and dedicated" federal workers are, according to Knoller.
But Obama added that some government workers "are slugs and not trying to do their job."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TQvuTU5HVc&feature=related

While in Chicago for a fundraiser, President Obama was caught on tape making comments after reporters had left the room. The president is heard here discussing the Emir of Qatar advocating democracy everywhere but in his own country.

USA Stable to Negative

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

History of the Holidays: Easter

US Uncut "PAY UP!" Flashmob at Bank of America 4/15/11


US Uncut, in collaboration with The Ruckus Society and Brass Liberation Orchestra (BLO), kicked off Tax Day weekend (Friday afternoon 4/15/11) in San Francisco with a flashmob at Bank of America and told them to "PAY UP!"

The first minute shows the SF US Uncut troupe doing their rehearsed and choreographed dance routine. As you watch it, pay close attention and note one of their members wearing a light beige shirt, sunglasses hanging around his neck, with a balding pate and a five-o’clock shadow. You can’t miss him in the crowd. But then keep watching. The second minute shows US Uncut about 15 minutes (the full tape is available online) later after they have exited the bank and are now walking down the street. The videographer asks the exact same guy, “Are you here for this demonstration?”, to which he replies, “No, I’m just wandering by, but I think all corporations should pay their taxes!” Not satisfied with the first take the videographer then asks him to repeat his lines so that she can get a better take.

I hope US Uncut pays the proper royalties to the capitalist lackeys Salt N Pepa for borrowing their tune, "Let's Talk About Sex."


The full version of the protest is available to view.

Programmer under oath admits computers rig elections

IMF meeting, called “New Ideas for a New World.” It was centered upon “Post-Crisis Policy Making” and occurred March 7-14.

Nixon Library

Watergate's 'last chapter'

FIRST TIME: REPORTER TURNS AGGRESSIVE WITH OBAMA...

Obama to reporter: 'Let me finish my answers' next time.'

Last time for an interview, Obama miffed.

Obama spokesman: 'I'm not going to take your questions'

Read more: Transparency inquiry can't even get asked http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=288793#ixzz1K03KKA7Q

Obama ran against Bush, but now governs like him Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/18/112346/obama-ran-against-bush-but-now.html#ixzz1K01MDNJv

BushObama

Future of America: McDonald's

 

Thousands showed up to restaurants nationwide to apply for jobs on the hamburger giant's first National Hiring Day, creating lines at some restaurants. The world's largest burger chain planned to use the day to add 50,000 new workers.

"McJob" even has a place in The Oxford English Dictionary, defined as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects."

Salaried managers for company-owned restaurants can make between about $32,000 and $50,000 annually.

The company said last year that about 75 percent of employees at company-owned restaurants are part-time, averaging 18 hours a week.

Three people were struck by a car and police are searching for the individual they say was responsible after a melee broke out at the McDonald's 'National Hiring Day' event in Cleveland.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Good News: New Oil Refinery, Bad News: Its in Colombia

Ex-Im Bank Gives Preliminary OK For $2.8 Billion Export Financing
For Colombian Refinery Project

If the $2.84 billion loan to the Colombian company to expand and upgrade its refinery creates or sustains the 15,000 jobs in the United States that the bank believes it will create or sustain that would work out to $189,333 per job.

According to the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), 95 percent of the gasoline purchased by U.S. consumers is refined inside the United States, meaning that expanding the gasoline refining capacity of Colombia is unlikely to have a significant impact on the supply of refined gasoline in the Untied States.

U.S. Gov't Agency Plans $2.84 Billion Loan for Oil Refinery—In Colombia

Video: S&P sounds alarm on US debt

http://video.ft.com/v/909474255001/Shot-across-the-bow-S-P-US-downgrade

Link to vid

Nonie Darwish, Shari'a Law & America At Temple University-Part 1

TAX: Obama Gets $12,334 refund

The Obamas paid their taxes at lowered Bush-era rates, even as he campaigns to end them for households with adjusted gross incomes above $250,000 — a category into which the first family clearly fits.

Obamas Paid Taxes on $1.7 Million Income

Obama 2008: Bush Used Signing Statements To "Accumulate More Power"

Obama 2008: Bush Used Signing Statements To "Accumulate More Power"

"That's not part of his power, but this is part of the whole theory of George Bush that he can make laws as he goes along. I disagree with that. I taught the Constitution for 10 years. I believe in the Constitution and I will obey the Constitution of the United States. We're not going to use signing statements as a way of doing an end-run around Congress," then-Senator Obama said as a presidential candidate in 2008.

Jay Carney: Obama Was Never Opposed To Signing Statements

Jay Carney: Obama Was Never Opposed To Signing Statements

Jay Carney says President Obama was never against signing statements, just when President Bush "abused" them. Watch what then-Senator Obama said in 2008 while running for president and decide for yourself.

"His concern was with what he saw as an abuse of the signing statement by the previous administration. So that the positions he took in signing statements on the budget bill entirely consistent with that position, you need to retain the right to, as president, to be able to issue those signing statements, but obviously they should not be abused," White House press secretary Jay Carney told the press on Monday.

U.S. credit rating outlook lowered by S&P

The ratings agency lowered its outlook for America's long-term credit rating to "negative" from "stable."

"More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures."

In its report, S&P said its outlook change was based on the growth of the United States' deficits over the last several years as a percentage of gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sleepers Awake: Fed Union Workers

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Japan - Liquification




America Only Great Since Obama

[W]e contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, and those with disabilities. We are a better country because of these commitments. I’ll go further – we would not be a great country without those commitments.

By that measure, America was not “a great country” for most of her history. Unemployment insurance did not exist in any state until Wisconsin adopted the program in 1931. FDR made the system national law in the Social Security Act of 1935. Lyndon Baines Johnson created Medicare and Medicaid by signing the Social Security Act of 1965.

That means America has been “a great country” for, at most, 46 years. Coincidentally, this time frame happens to overlap with Obama’s life.

IMF could take action against the United States regarding its mounting debt

FAA Hires More Sleepers


Federal transportation officials are moving to add air traffic controllers in Reno and at 26 other towers nationwide.

Police use Assault Weapons and Tank against Home School Mom wanting to protect daughter from Dangerous Medications



SWAT Attacks Home School Mom for Refusing to Force Med Child

Higher Education Bubble

The Higher Education Bubble
Cf. http://youtu.be/hCP8Z8X0cMw

It is often said that a process that cannot go on forever, won't. Over the past few decades, college and graduate tuitions have climbed much faster than the rate of inflation and the growth of household income, with the difference being made up by debt taken on by students who assumed they'd have no trouble paying it off after graduation. Now students are graduating with big debts, but no jobs. This process can't go on forever. What happens when it stops?

Glenn Harlan Reynolds is the Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee. The author most recently of An Army of Davids: How Markets And Technology Empower Ordinary People To Beat Big Media, Big Government, And Other Goliaths, Reynolds is also a Contributing Editor at Popular Mechanics, a columnist at the Washington Examiner, and the host of "InstaVision" on PJTV.

The Education Bubble

A Tuition Bubble? by Andrew Gillen

Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst? By Joseph Marr Cronin and Howard E. Horton

Price of Admission: America's College Debt Crisis

America's Most Overrated Product: Higher Education

We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet. It’s Higher Education.

Peter Thiel

Charles Krauthammer On Obama's Speech: "It Was A Disgrace"

RealClearPolitics - Video - Charles Krauthammer On Obama's Speech: "It Was A Disgrace"

The Presidential Divider

Obama's toxic speech and even worse plan for deficits and debt.

CHANGE: PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS WORKING LOWEST SINCE REAGAN RECOVERY

CHANGE: PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS WORKING LOWEST SINCE REAGAN RECOVERY

More Americans leaving the workforce.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

This is the story of Sandy Springs, Georgia—the city that outsourced everything.

Behind the Story: The White House Logs

Paul Ryan Blasts Obama‘s ’Excessively Partisan’ & ‘Inaccurate’ Budget Speech

Vapid Teleprompter Reader Alert


Big Think: Egypt, Saudi

Why Egypt was Not a Successful Revolution


Could There Ever Be a Saudi Revolution?


Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk research and consulting firm started in 1998. Eurasia Group provides financial, corporate, and government clients with information and insight on how political developments move markets.

Bremmer has a PhD in political science from Stanford University (1994), and was the youngest-ever national fellow at the Hoover Institution. He presently teaches at Columbia University, and has held faculty positions at the EastWest Institute and the World Policy Institute. In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. His analysis focuses on global macro political trends and emerging markets, which he defines as "those countries where politics matter at least as much as economics for market outcomes."

No More Easter Eggs: Now Spring Spheres

Seattle school renames Easter eggs 'Spring Spheres'

Parents of 6-Year-Old Girl Pat Down at Airport


"What Pretty Hair You Have"


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Moodle Resources

Archives

Update: PA Abortion Doctor, No Info

Pennsylvania Health Department Denies FOIA Request about Abortionist Charged with Capital Murder

Obama Mistake: Raising Debt Ceiling in 2006


Obama, before casting his vote on March 16, 2006, said: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.”

Japan Race to Outrun Tsunami

Marxists and Muslim “Peaceniks” Unite


The United National Antiwar Committee includes:

Currently serving on the organization’s executive board are:

Shaik Ubaid, Muslim Peace Coalition USA
Seemi Ahmed, Muslim Peace Coalition USA
Abayomi Azikiwe, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice, a leader of the pro-Cuban/North Korean Workers World Party
Sara Flounders, International Action Center, a leader of the Workers World Party
Teresa Gutierrez, May 1 Immigrant & Workers Rights Coalition, a leader of the Workers World Party
Jeff Mackler, Mobilization for Peace, Jobs & Justice, San Francisco – a leader of the Trotskyite group Socialist Action
Ashley Smith, A leader of the Trotskyite group International Socialist Organization

100 New York Imams endorsed the rally, as well as leaders of Democratic Socialists of America, SEIU, American Muslim Association of North America, the Communist Party USA controlled U.S. Peace Council, Students for a Democratic Society, American Muslims for Emergency and Relief, Ahmed Shawki, editor, International Socialist Review, Al-Awda NY: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Fight Imperialism Stand Together, International Antiimperialist and People’s Solidarity Coordinating Committee, League for a Revolutionary Workers’ Party, Malcolm X Center for Self Determination, Marxism-Leninism Today, Muslim Solidarity Committee, Muslimah Writers Alliance, AFSCME, New Socialist Project, Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center, Radical Party of America, Revolutionary Organization of Labor, USA, Socialist Party USA and several hundred other Marxist, labor and Islamic organizations.

American Islamist Death Raps

American Islamist in Somalia releases martyr's rap.

Democratic To Tax Internet

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second most senior Senate Democrat, will introduce the bill after the Easter recess.

Budget tricks helped Obama save programs from cuts

The cuts were accomplished in large part by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway.

U.N. PLAN: GIVE BUGS, TREES SAME RIGHTS AS HUMANS

UN document would give 'Mother Earth' same rights as humans.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Pro-Israel Penn State Students Assaulted for Putting up ‘Palestinian Wall of Lies’

Libya Resources

The Best Resources For Learning About What’s Happening In Libya

DeHaven Says Obama Will Play `Class Warfare' on Taxes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuiipdbH3n0

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Tad DeHaven, a budget analyst at the Cato Institute, talks about President Barack Obama's plan to announce long-term proposals this week for cutting the federal deficit, following up on the budget deal he reached with congressional leaders that averted a government shutdown. DeHaven speaks with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)

Hillary Clinton to Address U.S.-Islamic Gathering in Washington, First Time in USA

Clinton’s participation last year was the first time a senior member of a U.S. administration had taken part; Rashad Hussain, a former White House deputy associate counsel, was appointed as special envoy to the OIC – an appointment marked by some controversy. Hussain was quoted as telling a Muslim students' event in Chicago that if U.S. Muslims did not speak out against the injustices taking place in America, then everyone's rights would be in jeopardy. At first he denied making such statements but an audio tape surfaced with his comments.

Boston Homes Surveiled by Government

Peek into Boston Homes.

Obama Increases Gas Prices Towards Record

Gas Prices Climbing Toward $5 Per Gallon

Sunday, April 10, 2011

George Soros Claims US Dollar No Longer World Reserve Currency

Tax Breaks for Farmers

Farm Tax Breaks for N.J. Celebrities: MyFoxNY.com

Roswell Aliens Confirmed

The FBI's Vault has been opened and files are accessible for the first time. According to the website, the Vault contains over 2,000 searchable documents. Roswell is one term.

Among the documents is a memo to the director from Guy Hottel, the special agent in charge of the Washington field office in 1950.

In the memo, whose subject line is ‘Flying Saucers’, Agent Hottel reveals that an Air Force investigator had stated that ‘three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico’.

The investigator gave the information to a special agent, he said. The FBI has censored both the agent and the investigator’s identity.

Agent Hottel went on to write: ‘They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in diameter.

‘Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall,’ he stated.

The bodies were ‘dressed in a metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots.’

He said that the informant, whose identity was censored in the memo, claimed the saucers had been found in New Mexico ‘due to the fact that the Government has a very high-powered radar set-up in that area and it is believed the radar interferes with the controlling mechanism of the saucers’.

He then stated that the special agent did not attempt to investigate further.

The last point is the most unbelievable. This unusual incident did not bear investigation? Why not? Even if to dispute the account or in the case of a national defense it should have been pursued. That's odd and I wonder what the protocol is for an alien landing. Not worthy of investigation does not seem reasonable at all.

The Vault contains other documents that point to UFO investigations.

On April 4, 1949, FBI agents in Utah sent a cable marked “urgent” to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. It said an Army guard at the Ogden Supply Depot, a Logan policeman and a Utah Highway Patrol officer in Mantua each saw from miles apart a UFO — which they said exploded over Utah.

Under the title “Flying Discs,” the cable said they “saw a silver colored object high up approaching the mountains at Sardine Canyon” that “appeared to explode in a rash of fire. Several residents at Trenton … [reported] seeing what appeared to be two aerial explosions followed by falling object.”

I wonder who the aliens amongst us are?

TSA Gropes 6 Year Old Girl

Manufactured Madison Moments: SEIU Storms WA Capitol And Invades The Governor’s Office & Protests Chase Implementing Steve Lerner’s Economic Terrorism Plan Exactly

Hermain Cain Educates Clinton on Economics in 1994 HC Town Hall Forum

Hermain Cain Educates Clinton on Economics in 1994 HC Town Hall Forum, 8:29


In April 1994, Bill Clinton was stumping for his health-care bill, when Herman Cain debated the president's claim that restauranteurs would bear only a marginal new cost. Herman said that the bill would force Godfather's to fire part of its workforce. Clinton disagreed and said that Cain would only have to raise pizza prices by 2 percent. Insisting that Clinton was incorrect, Cain wouldn't give in. He told Clinton, "I'd had my financial people run the numbers". Clinton then asked Herman to send the numbers to him and he would have his advisers go over them.

The next day Herman Cain did send the numbers to the White House and he also submitted an oped piece to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal published them, and after Clinton's plan collapsed, Newsweek identified Cain as one of its "saboteurs"—a badge of honor, especially among conservatives today. Later Hilary Clinton would say the Clinton administration could not be held responsible for every under-capitalized small business in America.

"I Can't Afford Your Health Plan, Mr. Clinton"

By: Herman Cain
April 15, 1994
Appearing in: The Wall Street Journal, USA Today (among others)


Last week, President Clinton got into a sparring match with Herman Cain, president and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, over the impact on business and jobs on the Clinton health care plan's employer mandate. "Why wouldn't you be able to raise the price of pizza 2%?" the president asked at one point. "I'm a satisfied customer. I'd keep buying from you." On Tuesday, Mr. Cain sent the following letter to the president. The table is based on one that accompanied the letter.

Dear Mr. President,

During your April 7, 1994 town hall telecast from Kansas City, you asked me to send you my calculations of the impact on our business of your health care proposal. I am happy to do so in this letter.

As a reminder, the Godfather's Pizza system has 525 restaurants with over 10,000 employees. Two-thirds of these restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees of our company, whose operating financials are almost identical to our corporate-owned operations of 141 restaurants. Therefore, in order to be as specific as possible in our calculations, I will focus on just our corporate-owned operations with 3,418 employees.

Under your proposed health care plan, the cost to cover all 3,418 employees would be nearly $2.2 million annually. This amount of $2.2 million is a $1.7 million increase in our insurance, which is approximately 3 ½ times our prior-year insurance premiums to cover an 80% employer portion for all participating full-time employees.

You mentioned during the telecast that restaurants with approximately 30% labor need only increase prices 2.5%. This price appears to be arrived at by taking 7.9% times 30%. Quite frankly, we cannot just look at a percent of a percent, but instead we must look at the actual dollars involved. A $1.7 million increase would directly decrease "bottom line" profit. In order to produce the same "bottom line" as we are generating today, a 16% to 20% in "top line" sales would be required due to variable costs such as labor, food costs, operating expenses, marketing and taxes. Thus, it is incorrect to assume we can just add $1.7 million to the "top line" and expect it to flow directly to the "bottom line."

As a system of small businesses, we are concerned about the impact of any price increase for the following reasons:

1. Large price increases will drive customers away. Over 50% of our customers use coupons with their pizza purchases because they are very price conscious. In fact, 25% of all restaurant customers use a coupon with their purchase. (Source: NPD/ CREST)

2. Since it is likely that many of our suppliers of ingredients and materials will also experience increases in costs due to a mandate, they will likely pass some or all of those costs on to us and, thus, it becomes an inflationary "snowball."

3. Although consumers are spending more of their food dollars eating out, it is due to competitive forces which tend to hold prices down. This is evidenced by the cost of eating out rising slower than the cost of eating at home (Source: Consumer Price Index, Bureau of Labor Statistics). I believe price increases "by all competitors" in our industry would change this trend.

To summarize, Godfather's Pizza Inc. employs a large percent (67%) of younger, inexperienced and minimum-educated workers with a very high turnover rate of over 100% annually. This is typical of all quick service restaurants, which account for 47% of all eating place sales. I wish we could cover this group of workers, but the incremental cost under your plan causes a significant negative impact on our "bottom line" which cannot easily be rectified. We would then be put in a position to eliminate jobs which would impact productivity and ultimately profitability, or to increase prices to the point of being at a competitive disadvantage.

Mr. President, I believe your objective of coverage for everyone can be achieved without a mandate, using an alternative approach to health care reform... but this is what the debate is all about. I will not impose on the courtesy you have extended to me to personally review my calculations, but I will be more than happy to share some ideas with you personally on alternate approaches which are more business friendly and public friendly.

Thank you for your very valuable time and attention; I look forward to your response.

Most respectfully,

HERMAN CAIN

THE HIT GODFATHER'S WILL TAKE UNDER CLINTON'S HEALTH CARE PLAN

Annualized from January 1994 data




HOURS


WAGES

975 full-time employees


1,915,742


$18,671,075

1,570 part-time employees who work 10+ hours a week


1,537,983


$8,011,091

720 employees who work less than 10 hours a week


221,125


$1,115,347

153 employees on leave of absence/ other


0


0

3,418 TOTAL EMPLOYEES


$3,674,850


$27,797,513



UNDER CURRENT HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN

593 employees are eligible.
409 participate.

Current cost of plan: $540,758
Potential cost of Clinton Plan (cap of 7.9% of payroll) $2,196,604
Additional cost: $1,655,246

Source: Godfather's Pizza, Inc.

Was Herman Cain Right About Health Care?
By Joshua Green Jan 19 2011

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Iron Dome Rollout

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Reading since summer 2006 (some of the classics are re-reads): including magazine subscriptions

  • Abbot, Edwin A., Flatland;
  • Accelerate: Technology Driving Business Performance;
  • ACM Queue: Architecting Tomorrow's Computing;
  • Adkins, Lesley and Roy A. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome;
  • Ali, Ayaan Hirsi, Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations;
  • Ali, Tariq, The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads, and Modernity;
  • Allawi, Ali A., The Crisis of Islamic Civilization;
  • Alperovitz, Gar, The Decision To Use the Atomic Bomb;
  • American School & University: Shaping Facilities & Business Decisions;
  • Angelich, Jane, What's a Mother (in-Law) to Do?: 5 Essential Steps to Building a Loving Relationship with Your Son's New Wife;
  • Arad, Yitzchak, In the Shadow of the Red Banner: Soviet Jews in the War Against Nazi Germany;
  • Aristotle, Athenian Constitution. Eudemian Ethics. Virtues and Vices. (Loeb Classical Library No. 285);
  • Aristotle, Metaphysics: Books X-XIV, Oeconomica, Magna Moralia (The Loeb classical library);
  • Armstrong, Karen, A History of God;
  • Arrian: Anabasis of Alexander, Books I-IV (Loeb Classical Library No. 236);
  • Atkinson, Rick, The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (Liberation Trilogy);
  • Auletta, Ken, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It;
  • Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice;
  • Bacevich, Andrew, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism;
  • Baker, James A. III, and Lee H. Hamilton, The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach;
  • Barber, Benjamin R., Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy;
  • Barnett, Thomas P.M., Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating;
  • Barnett, Thomas P.M., The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century;
  • Barron, Robert, Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith;
  • Baseline: Where Leadership Meets Technology;
  • Baur, Michael, Bauer, Stephen, eds., The Beatles and Philosophy;
  • Beard, Charles Austin, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (Sony Reader);
  • Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America;
  • Bergen, Peter, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader;
  • Berman, Paul, Terror and Liberalism;
  • Berman, Paul, The Flight of the Intellectuals: The Controversy Over Islamism and the Press;
  • Better Software: The Print Companion to StickyMinds.com;
  • Bleyer, Kevin, Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America;
  • Boardman, Griffin, and Murray, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Roman World;
  • Bracken, Paul, The Second Nuclear Age: Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics;
  • Bradley, James, with Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers;
  • Bronte, Charlotte, Jane Eyre;
  • Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights;
  • Brown, Ashley, War in Peace Volume 10 1974-1984: The Marshall Cavendish Encyclopedia of Postwar Conflict;
  • Brown, Ashley, War in Peace Volume 8 The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of Postwar Conflict;
  • Brown, Nathan J., When Victory Is Not an Option: Islamist Movements in Arab Politics;
  • Bryce, Robert, Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence";
  • Bush, George W., Decision Points;
  • Bzdek, Vincent, The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled;
  • Cahill, Thomas, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter;
  • Campus Facility Maintenance: Promoting a Healthy & Productive Learning Environment;
  • Campus Technology: Empowering the World of Higher Education;
  • Certification: Tools and Techniques for the IT Professional;
  • Channel Advisor: Business Insights for Solution Providers;
  • Chariton, Callirhoe (Loeb Classical Library);
  • Chief Learning Officer: Solutions for Enterprise Productivity;
  • Christ, Karl, The Romans: An Introduction to Their History and Civilization;
  • Cicero, De Senectute;
  • Cicero, The Republic, The Laws;
  • Cicero, The Verrine Orations I: Against Caecilius. Against Verres, Part I; Part II, Book 1 (Loeb Classical Library);
  • Cicero, The Verrine Orations I: Against Caecilius. Against Verres, Part I; Part II, Book 2 (Loeb Classical Library);
  • CIO Decisions: Aligning I.T. and Business in the MidMarket Enterprise;
  • CIO Insight: Best Practices for IT Business Leaders;
  • CIO: Business Technology Leadership;
  • Clay, Lucius Du Bignon, Decision in Germany;
  • Cohen, William S., Dragon Fire;
  • Colacello, Bob, Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House, 1911 to 1980;
  • Coll, Steve, The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century;
  • Collins, Francis S., The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief ;
  • Colorni, Angelo, Israel for Beginners: A Field Guide for Encountering the Israelis in Their Natural Habitat;
  • Compliance & Technology;
  • Computerworld: The Voice of IT Management;
  • Connolly, Peter & Hazel Dodge, The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens & Rome;
  • Conti, Greg, Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You?;
  • Converge: Strategy and Leadership for Technology in Education;
  • Cowan, Ross, Roman Legionary 58 BC - AD 69;
  • Cowell, F. R., Life in Ancient Rome;
  • Creel, Richard, Religion and Doubt: Toward a Faith of Your Own;
  • Cross, Robin, General Editor, The Encyclopedia of Warfare: The Changing Nature of Warfare from Prehistory to Modern-day Armed Conflicts;
  • CSO: The Resource for Security Executives:
  • Cummins, Joseph, History's Greatest Wars: The Epic Conflicts that Shaped the Modern World;
  • D'Amato, Raffaele, Imperial Roman Naval Forces 31 BC-AD 500;
  • Dallek, Robert, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963;
  • Daly, Dennis, Sophocles' Ajax;
  • Dando-Collins, Stephen, Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome;
  • Darwish, Nonie, Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror;
  • Davis Hanson, Victor, Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome;
  • Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker;
  • Dawkins, Richard, The God Delusion;
  • Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene;
  • de Blij, Harm, Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America, Climate Change, The Rise of China, and Global Terrorism;
  • Defense Systems: Information Technology and Net-Centric Warfare;
  • Defense Systems: Strategic Intelligence for Info Centric Operations;
  • Defense Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Military and Aerospace;
  • Dennett, Daniel C., Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon;
  • Dennett, Daniel C., Consciousness Explained;
  • Dennett, Daniel C., Darwin's Dangerous Idea;
  • Devries, Kelly, et. al., Battles of the Ancient World 1285 BC - AD 451 : From Kadesh to Catalaunian Field;
  • Dickens, Charles, Great Expectations;
  • Digital Communities: Building Twenty-First Century Communities;
  • Doctorow, E.L., Homer & Langley;
  • Dodds, E. R., The Greeks and the Irrational;
  • Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The House of the Dead (Google Books, Sony e-Reader);
  • Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The Idiot;
  • Douglass, Elisha P., Rebels and Democrats: The Struggle for Equal Political Rights and Majority Role During the American Revolution;
  • Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, The Hound of the Baskervilles & The Valley of Fear;
  • Dr. Dobb's Journal: The World of Software Development;
  • Drug Discovery News: Discovery/Development/Diagnostics/Delivery;
  • DT: Defense Technology International;
  • Dunbar, Richard, Alcatraz;
  • Education Channel Partner: News, Trends, and Analysis for K-20 Sales Professionals;
  • Edwards, Aton, Preparedness Now!;
  • EGM: Electronic Gaming Monthly, the No. 1 Videogame Magazine;
  • Ehrman, Bart D., Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scriptures and the Faiths We Never Knew;
  • Ehrman, Bart D., Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why;
  • Electronic Engineering Times: The Industry Newsweekly for the Creators of Technology;
  • Ellis, Joseph J., American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson;
  • Ellis, Joseph J., His Excellency: George Washington;
  • Emergency Management: Strategy & Leadership in Critical Times;
  • Emerson, Steven, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us;
  • Erlewine, Robert, Monotheism and Tolerance: Recovering a Religion of Reason (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion);
  • ESD: Embedded Systems Design;
  • Everitt, Anthony, Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor;
  • Everitt, Anthony, Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician;
  • eWeek: The Enterprise Newsweekly;
  • Federal Computer Week: Powering the Business of Government;
  • Ferguson, Niall, Civilization: The West and the Rest;
  • Ferguson, Niall, Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power;
  • Ferguson, Niall, The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000;
  • Ferguson, Niall, The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Decline of the West;
  • Feuerbach, Ludwig, The Essence of Christianity (Sony eReader);
  • Fields, Nic, The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC-AD 117;
  • Fields, Nic, The Roman Army of the Punic Wars 264-146 BC;
  • Fields, Nic, The Roman Army: the Civil Wars 88-31 BC;
  • Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire;
  • Fisk, Robert, The Great War For Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East;
  • Forstchen, William R., One Second After;
  • Fox, Robin Lane, The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian;
  • Frazer, James George, The Golden Bough (Volume 3): A Study in Magic and Religion (Sony eReader);
  • Freeh, Louis J., My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror;
  • Freeman, Charles, The Greek Achievement: The Foundations of the Western World;
  • Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century Further Updated and Expanded/Release 3.0;
  • Friedman, Thomas L., The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization;
  • Frontinus: Stratagems. Aqueducts of Rome. (Loeb Classical Library No. 174);
  • Fuller Focus: Fuller Theological Seminary;
  • Fuller, Graham E., A World Without Islam;
  • Gaubatz, P. David and Paul Sperry, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America;
  • Ghattas, Kim, The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power;
  • Gibson, William, Neuromancer;
  • Gilmour, Michael J., Gods and Guitars: Seeking the Sacred in Post-1960s Popular Music;
  • Global Services: Strategies for Sourcing People, Processes, and Technologies;
  • Glucklich, Ariel, Dying for Heaven: Holy Pleasure and Suicide Bombers-Why the Best Qualities of Religion Are Also It's Most Dangerous;
  • Goldberg, Jonah, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning;
  • Goldin, Shmuel, Unlocking the Torah Text Vayikra (Leviticus);
  • Goldsworthy, Adrian, Caesar: Life of a Colossus;
  • Goldsworthy, Adrian, How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower;
  • Goodman, Lenn E., Creation and Evolution;
  • Goodwin, Doris Kearns, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln;
  • Gopp, Amy, et.al., Split Ticket: Independent Faith in a Time of Partisan Politics (WTF: Where's the Faith?);
  • Gordon, Michael R., and Bernard E. Trainor, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq;
  • Government Health IT: The Magazine of Public/private Health Care Convergence;
  • Government Technology's Emergency Management: Strategy & Leadership in Critical Times;
  • Government Technology: Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age;
  • Grant , Michael, The Climax of Rome: The Final Achievements of the Ancient World, AD 161 - 337;
  • Grant, Michael, The Classical Greeks;
  • Grumberg, Orna, and Helmut Veith, 25 Years of Model Checking: History, Achievements, Perspectives;
  • Halberstam, David, War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals;
  • Hammer, Reuven, Entering Torah Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Between War and Peace: Lessons from Afghanistan to Iraq;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, How The Obama Administration Threatens Our National Security (Encounter Broadsides);
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, The End of Sparta: A Novel;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, The Soul of Battle: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Wars of the Ancient Greeks;
  • Harnack, Adolf Von, History of Dogma, Volume 3 (Sony Reader);
  • Harris, Alex, Reputation At Risk: Reputation Report;
  • Harris, Sam, Letter to a Christian Nation;
  • Harris, Sam, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason;
  • Hayek, F. A., The Road to Serfdom;
  • Heilbroner, Robert L., and Lester Thurow, Economics Explained: Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works and Where It's Going;
  • Hempel, Sandra, The Strange Case of The Broad Street Pump: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera;
  • Hinnells, John R., A Handbook of Ancient Religions;
  • Hitchens, Christopher, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything;
  • Hogg, Ian V., The Encyclopedia of Weaponry: The Development of Weaponry from Prehistory to 21st Century Warfare;
  • Hugo, Victor, The Hunchback of Notre Dame;
  • Humphrey, Caroline & Vitebsky, Piers, Sacred Architecture;
  • Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order;
  • Info World: Information Technology News, Computer Networking & Security;
  • Information Week: Business Innovation Powered by Technology:
  • Infostor: The Leading Source for Enterprise Storage Professionals;
  • Infrastructure Insite: Bringing IT Together;
  • Insurance Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
  • Integrated Solutions: For Enterprise Content Management;
  • Intel Premier IT: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
  • Irwin, Robert, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents;
  • Jeffrey, Grant R., The Global-Warming Deception: How a Secret Elite Plans to Bankrupt America and Steal Your Freedom;
  • Jewkes, Yvonne, and Majid Yar, Handbook of Internet Crime;
  • Johnson, Chalmers, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire;
  • Journal, The: Transforming Education Through Technology;
  • Judd, Denis, The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600-1947;
  • Kagan, Donald, The Peloponnesian War;
  • Kansas, Dave, The Wall Street Journal Guide to the End of Wall Street as We Know It: What You Need to Know About the Greatest Financial Crisis of Our Time--and How to Survive It;
  • Karsh, Efraim, Islamic Imperialism: A History;
  • Kasser, Rodolphe, The Gospel of Judas;
  • Katz, Solomon, The Decline of Rome and the Rise of Medieval Europe: (The Development of Western Civilization);
  • Keegan, John, Intelligence in War: The Value--and Limitations--of What the Military Can Learn About the Enemy;
  • Kenis, Leo, et. al., The Transformation of the Christian Churches in Western Europe 1945-2000 (Kadoc Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 6);
  • Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam;
  • Kiplinger's: Personal Finance;
  • Klein, Naomi, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism;
  • KM World: Content, Document, and Knowledge Management;
  • Koestler, Arthur, Darkness at Noon: A Novel;
  • Kostova, Elizabeth, The Historian;
  • Kuttner, Robert, The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity;
  • Lake, Kirsopp, The Text of the New Testament, Sony Reader;
  • Laur, Timothy M., Encyclopedia of Modern US Military Weapons ;
  • Leffler, Melvyn P., and Jeffrey W. Legro, To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine;
  • Lendon, J. E., Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity;
  • Lenin, V. I., Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism;
  • Lennon, John J., There is Absolutely No Reason to Pay Too Much for College!;
  • Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror;
  • Lewis, Bernard, What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East;
  • Lifton, Robert J., Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America;
  • Limberis, Vasiliki M., Architects of Piety: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Cult of the Martyrs;
  • Lipsett, B. Diane, Desiring Conversion: Hermas, Thecla, Aseneth;
  • Livingston, Jessica, Founders At Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days;
  • Livy, Rome and the Mediterranean: Books XXXI-XLV of the History of Rome from its Foundation (Penguin Classics);
  • Louis J., Freeh, My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror;
  • Mackay, Christopher S., Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History;
  • Majno, Guido, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World;
  • Marcus, Greil,Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes;
  • Marshall-Cornwall, James, Napoleon as Military Commander;
  • Maughm, W. Somerset, Of Human Bondage;
  • McCluskey, Neal P., Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education;
  • McCullough, David, 1776;
  • McCullough, David, John Adams;
  • McCullough, David, Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt;
  • McLynn, Frank, Marcus Aurelius: A Life;
  • McManus, John, Deadly Brotherhood, The: The American Combat Soldier in World War II ;
  • McMaster, H. R., Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam;
  • McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 1: Origins and Destinies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
  • McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 2: Persons and Groups (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
  • McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 3: Religions and Controversies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
  • Meacham, Jon, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House;
  • Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy;
  • Meier, Christian, Caesar: A Biography;
  • Menzies, Gaven, 1421: The Year China Discovered America;
  • Metaxas, Eric, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy;
  • Michael, Katina and M.G. Michael, Innovative Automatic Identification and Location-Based Services: From Barcodes to Chip Implants;
  • Migliore, Daniel L., Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology;
  • Military & Aerospace Electronics: The Magazine of Transformation in Electronic and Optical Technology;
  • Millard, Candice, Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey: The River of Doubt;
  • Mommsen, Theodor, The History of the Roman Republic, Sony Reader;
  • Muller, F. Max, Chips From A German Workshop: Volume III: Essays On Language And Literature;
  • Murray, Janet, H., Hamlet On the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace;
  • Murray, Williamson, War in the Air 1914-45;
  • Müller, F. Max, Chips From A German Workshop;
  • Nader, Ralph, Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender;
  • Nagl, John A., Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam;
  • Napoleoni, Loretta, Terrorism and the Economy: How the War on Terror is Bankrupting the World;
  • Nature: The International Weekly Journal of Science;
  • Negus, Christopher, Fedora 6 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux;
  • Network Computing: For IT by IT:
  • Network World: The Leader in Network Knowledge;
  • Network-centric Security: Where Physical Security & IT Worlds Converge;
  • Newman, Paul B., Travel and Trade in the Middle Ages;
  • Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence;
  • Nixon, Ed, The Nixons: A Family Portrait;
  • O'Brien, Johnny, Day of the Assassins: A Jack Christie Novel;
  • O'Donnell, James J., Augustine: A New Biography;
  • OH & S: Occupational Health & Safety
  • Okakura, Kakuzo, The Book of Tea;
  • Optimize: Business Strategy & Execution for CIOs;
  • Ostler, Nicholas, Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin;
  • Parry, Jay A., The Real George Washington (American Classic Series);
  • Paton, W.R., The Greek Anthology, Volume V, Loeb Classical Library, No. 86;
  • Pausanius, Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece;
  • Perrett, Bryan, Cassell Military Classics: Iron Fist: Classic Armoured Warfare;
  • Perrottet, Tony, The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Olympic Games;
  • Peters, Ralph, New Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy;
  • Phillips, Kevin, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush;
  • Pick, Bernhard; Paralipomena; Remains of Gospels and Sayings of Christ (Sony Reader);
  • Pimlott, John, The Elite: The Special Forces of the World Volume 1;
  • Pitre, Brant, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper;
  • Plutarch's Lives, X: Agis and Cleomenes. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. Philopoemen and Flamininus (Loeb Classical Library®);
  • Podhoretz, Norman, World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism;
  • Posner, Gerald, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK;
  • Potter, Wendell, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans;
  • Pouesi, Daniel, Akua;
  • Premier IT Magazine: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
  • Price, Monroe E. & Daniel Dayan, eds., Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China;
  • Profit: The Executive's Guide to Oracle Applications;
  • Public CIO: Technology Leadership in the Public Sector;
  • Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community;
  • Quintus of Smyrna, The Fall of Troy;
  • Rawles, James Wesley, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse;
  • Red Herring: The Business of Technology;
  • Redmond Channel Partner: Driving Success in the Microsoft Partner Community;
  • Redmond Magazine: The Independent Voice of the Microsoft IT Community;
  • Renan, Ernest, The life of Jesus (Sony eReader);
  • Richler, Mordecai (editor), Writers on World War II: An Anthology;
  • Roberts, Ian, The Energy Glut: Climate Change and the Politics of Fatness in an Overheating World;
  • Rocca, Samuel, The Army of Herod the Great;
  • Rodgers, Nigel, A Military History of Ancient Greece: An Authoritative Account of the Politics, Armies and Wars During the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, shown in over 200 color photographs, diagrams, maps and plans;
  • Rodoreda, Merce, Death in Spring: A Novel;
  • Romerstein, Herbert and Breindel, Eric,The Venona Secrets, Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors;
  • Ross, Dennis, Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World;
  • Roth, Jonathan P., Roman Warfare (Cambridge Introduction to Roman Civilization);
  • SC Magazine: For IT Security Professionals;
  • Scahill, Jeremy, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated];
  • Schama, Simon, A History of Britain, At the Edge of the World 3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D.;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War On Terror;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Osama Bin Laden;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America;
  • Scholastic Instructor
  • Scholastic Parent & Child: The Joy of Family Living and Learning;
  • Schopenhauer, Arthur, The World As Will And Idea (Sony eReader);
  • Schug-Wille, Art of the Byzantine World;
  • Schulze, Hagen, Germany: A New History;
  • Schweizer, Peter, Architects of Ruin: How Big Government Liberals Wrecked the Global Economy---and How They Will Do It Again If No One Stops Them;
  • Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe;
  • Seagren, Eric, Secure Your Network for Free: Using Nmap, Wireshark, Snort, Nessus, and MRTG;
  • Security Technology & Design: The Security Executive's Resource for Systems Integration and Convergence;
  • Seibel, Peter, Coders at Work;
  • Sekunda N., & S. Northwood, Early Roman Armies;
  • Seneca: Naturales Quaestiones, Books II (Loeb Classical Library No. 450);
  • Sewall, Sarah, The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual;
  • Sheppard, Ruth, Alexander the Great at War: His Army - His Battles - His Enemies;
  • Shinder, Jason, ed., The Poem That Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later;
  • Sidebottom, Harry, Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction;
  • Sides, Hampton, Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West;
  • Simkins, Michael, The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan;
  • Sinchak, Steve, Hacking Windows Vista;
  • Smith, RJ, The One: The Life and Music of James Brown;
  • Software Development Times: The Industry Newspaper for Software Development Managers;
  • Software Test Performance;
  • Solomon, Norman, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death;
  • Song, Lolan, Innovation Together: Microsoft Research Asia Academic Research Collaboration;
  • Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays, tr. Robert Fagles;
  • Sound & Vision: The Consumer Electronics Authority;
  • Southern, Pat, The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History;
  • Sri, Edward, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do In The Liturgy;
  • Sri, Edward, Men, Women and the Mystery of Love: Practical Insights from John Paul II's Love and Responsibility;
  • Stair, John Bettridge, Old Samoa; Or, Flotsam and Jetsam From the Pacific Ocean;
  • Starr, Chester G., The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survival;
  • Starr, John Bryan, Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Culture;
  • Stauffer, John, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln;
  • Steyn, Mark, America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It;
  • Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories;
  • Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War;
  • Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika;
  • Strategy + Business;
  • Streete, Gail, Redeemed Bodies: Women Martyrs in Early Christianity;
  • Sullivan, James, The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America;
  • Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (1) 100 BC-AD 200;
  • Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (2) AD 200-400;
  • Suskind, Ron, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11:
  • Swanston, Malcolm, Mapping History Battles and Campaigns;
  • Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
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