Bishop's letter to Hispanic voters ignores Gospels and the sanctity of the American ballot box

During his last days before his crucifixion and resurrection, Christ preached what is now recognized as direction to each believer on how to conduct their lives as compassionate human beings dedicated to his ministry of forgiveness and redemption.

You'll find his passionate direction in the Gospel of Matthew, in its 25th chapter. Christ tells us that we will find him in the people who are poor, naked, imprisoned, sick and strangers. And if we don't recognize and help these good people, Our Lord tell us that we will be condemned to live eternally outside of his presence.

Yet too many Catholic bishops have torn this chapter of the Gospel out of scripture and Catholic teaching in their messages to the faithful during the 2008 presidential race.

They've in turn replaced this most moving instruction with what I call "Cafeteria Catholicism". It entails picking one matter of faith out from the all the Gospels and centuries of church teaching. Then, they champion this one entree to the exclusion of so many other meaty matters of faith that make a good Catholic, responsible neighbor and involved American.

Just days before the most important election in our lifetime, retired Bishop Rene H. Gracida of Corpus Christi, Texas, arrogantly and wrongly issued a letter by e-mail to almost three million American voters of Hispanic descent. He told them not to vote for "Barak Hussein Obama".

And Cafeteria Catholicism gained a new champion.


DON'T IGNORE OUR HERITAGE

I write this refutation of his faith-less message not to tell any Catholic who they should cast their ballot for -- be it for president or Congress. My point is that Bishop Gracida's message is not affirmed by complete church teaching or the Gospels. His message -- at a time in this nation's history of so much division, corruption and callousness -- is damningly destructive and quite frankly non-Christian.

My credentials to write? I've been a practicing Catholic all my life, just like my parents and my abuelos who came to this nation from Mexico between 1910-1915. There and here, they kept an altar in their homes with continuously flickering votive candles before a large statue of the Christ child in full vestment. It was flanked by statues and images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Francis, St. Anthony and St. Jude -- all who lived lives of poverty or dedicated their whole being to the impoverished and suffering.

That's the tradition I proudly continue. And I also have done so in action, in my professional career as a journalist and my personal journey as a believer. Leukemia struck me down three years ago. I almost died two years ago during 13 days in Vanderbilt Medical Center. If not for all the prayers of my loved ones and the intervention of Our Lady of Guadalupe and mi Padre todopoderoso, I would not be writing this message today.

And before ever writing on this most sensitive matter in previous columns during the presidential campaign, I have prayed the rosary for months asking for Our Lady's guidance because she is the patroness of all life.

In dedication to her and gratitude, I have been part of the fundraising effort in Nashville that resulted in the opening of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church here, which now is the largest Catholic church in Tennessee.

By her blessing, I have raised more than $145,000 to keep the church open and pay off its debt. The diocese and bishop here have not offered one penny for the church despite Pope Benedict XVI's appeal earlier this year to American Catholics to champion their fellow immigrant believers.


A CALL TO FELLOW BELIEVERS

So I'm not that impressed with bishops in this nation. Gracida's letter makes my disappointment more profound. My cousin in Topeka, KS., where I was born and much of my family still lives, feels the same about her bishop. He sent out a letter in September telling Catholic believers there how to vote, against Obama.

Thankfully, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Topeka, where my mother and father were married in the barrio, the letter was not posted for Hispanic believers to read. Good for Father Cordes.

Gracida's letter should be treated the same way by Catholic churches and believers across this nation,, Hispanic or not. And I'll be calling my relatives in New Mexico, Colorado, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma to tell their fellow Catholics of Hispanic descent to spread the word that this bishop has betrayed his flock and our heritage as proud Americans of Hispanic descent.

By our numbers at family reunions and on cell phone contact lists, we Americans of Hispanic descent believe in life. But for my family specifically, we viewed life as an issue from the womb to the the last breaths on this earth. No one segment of that sacred chain has ever been considered superior or weaker than the other.

My parents and grandparents never spoke out more about abortion than the gross inequity of revenge and capital punishment, or the need for universal health care to heal the sick and oust the profitmakers like Christ routed the moneychangers before the temple, or the need for employers to provide a living and fair wage for the labor given so families could clothe and feed themselves -- not the federal government or charities.

Gracida and too many other bishops, however, would have us burn the the pages of the Gospel concerning Christ's mandate of the Last Judgment for the simplistic and wrongheaded interpretation of the moral Catholic life.


PRO-LIFE IS ABOUT MORE THAN ABORTION

People who are pro-choice are not automatically for abortion. They shudder and cry for this tragedy, too. And people who are passionately, politically and publicly against abortion -- and generally the people of Matthew 25 in effective public policy -- are not pro-life.

The sanctity of the patient/doctor relationship should not be violated by any government or religion or men continuing their bigoted dominance over women. I know about that relationship intimately for the past three years from battling leukemia with my Vanderbilt hematologist, Dr. John Greer.

Greer and other talented and compassionate doctors take an oath to first do no harm. They respect and fight for life more than any bishop or Operation Rescue advocate or journalist such as me.

A woman and doctor should decide on what is best. They must have all options available do what is best for the health matter at hand.

And national statistics continue to show that abortions are declining significantly without any legal prohibition. I believe in people to do the right and moral thing, led by good and compassionate doctors.


MANY BISHOPS MISSING WHERE INNOCENT HURTING, DYING

I don't have that kind of faith in our bishops and elected leaders. That's because as a political columnist writing about the people of Matthew 25, I've never found the bishops regularly around the suffering to make a difference.

I've been in lethal public housing projects at night with mothers who dare not let their young ones sleep against a bedroom wall. Bullets from the gunfire between drug dealers penetrate even walls made of brick.

I've been on Tennessee's two death rows, where all the children -- now saved by discouraging and even blocking choice -- somehow went wrong as teens and adults because there was no one around in their lives who really cared. Society in turn didn't want to pay taxes for programs to keep them off the streets and away from criminal elements.

I've been in public schools where poor children are left behind or damned by the unnecessary descent into special education or ignored because they did not speak English. I recruited believers of all creeds and non-believers to set up English language computer labs, sponsor sports teams and save a band program from elimination in one Music City elementary school. Yet as one minister once told his congregation: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have the solution to rescue our public schools that are failing our children. The bad news is that the solution is in your wallets and pocketbooks." Amen to that.

I've been in nursing homes where our senior citizens are warehoused like old newspapers, considered no longer of use despite all the wisdom in the pages of their minds and volumes of goodness in their souls.

I organized more than 100 fellow Catholics from the pews in Nashville in creating a "Voices of the Faithful" chapter to fight the indifference and outright immorality of America's bishops and the Vatican in failing to stop the abuse of thousands of young innocents by priests -- who were simply transferred to another parish to destroy more lives and families. And I bet some of these young ones were saved from abortion to be forever damned and damaged by a church and its shepherds who professed to be Christ among us. The previous bishop here felt forced to address the group -- in private and confront the faces of the abused. He was the only U.S. bishop to do so then at the height of the national scandal.

And I've lobbied in my writing to state lawmakers here to put the matter of what Tennessee Constitution says about choice and abortion to a vote of the people and the faithful.

For my writing on all these people of Matthew 25 -- and those Christ would have included if could even begin to explain the coming evil his supposed shepherds would unleash (and condone) on innocents -- I was humbled to receive the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

But I would have traded that honor to regularly find one Catholic bishop in those places I covered to use his clout and his diocese's wealth to champion change for these young and old lives in need.

And I would have washed the bishop's Lexus every Saturday for one letter calling on Catholic Americans to share their wealth and time with the people of Matthew 25 in their choices in life and for public policy at the ballot box.


BETRAYING JFK AND ALL HE WON AS AMERICAN AND CATHOLIC

With this election, my thoughts return to 1960 and the first Catholic to win the presidency and overcome what JFK said was this nation's historical disenfranchisement of Catholics as candidates for elective office -- at the moment of their baptism. Powerful.

All that President John F. Kennedy suffered, survived and soared above would be stripped from the pages of history and heartache if Catholics followed such a dictate from Gracida, his fellow bishops and Rome at the ballot box. Our consciences as Americans and believers should suffice, just as with the man who brought this nation so much hope in a New Frontier, fighting Jim Crow, the Peace Corps and a mission to the Moon.

The separation of church and state is also something sacred in this nation, as it was to JFK. Gracida and his cohorts would trample upon it and bring derison, distrust and bigotry upon Catholics that we thought was long vanguished. They would bring back the disenfranchisement of Catholics at the moment of baptism.

Shame on these selfish, narrow-minded, inspiration-less shepherds.


MAKE MY DAY; DENY ME THE HOLY EUCHARIST

I have called on the bishop here to publicly discuss this matter of being only against abortion versus what it really means to be a Catholic in living a moral life and supporting public policy for the people of Matthew 25. And if he or any bishop wants to ban me from the Holy Eucharist, bring it on.

The judgment of God will be on them, not me. It is every believer's wish to be a martyr for something or someone larger than themselves.

This Tuesday, I go to the ballot box as an American and a Catholic directed by my conscience and my continuing pleas to Our Lady of Guadalupe for her intercession -- that I might have wisdom and purity of heart and mind in all I do.

A vote for John McCain or Barack Obama should be a source of intense pride for any believer, or someone who does not believe in a higher power except the call of his or her conscience.

No bishop has the right to interfere with that sacred American moment for Hispanics or people of a different race or ethnicity. That's why our country remains free and Americans are able to worship as one nation under God now and siglos de siglos, Amen.

These modern-day moneychangers and Pharisees -- posing as faihtful shepherds -- should be cast out of America's voting booths. I believe Christ would be proud.

Hispanic bishop

Hooray for Geraldo! He takes O'Reilly to task

FOXNEWS' Geraldo Rivera heroically, emotionally and intelligently took Bill O'Reilly to task tonight for featuring video on Hispanic voters showing them as vagrants congregating on the corner.

O'Reilly in return told Rivera he was being too emotional and said the controversial TV journalist he was only half-Hispanic. Rivera retorted that he was fully Hispanic and as well fully Jewish.

Rivera told O'Reilly that McCain will lose key states in the West because of the conservative hate campaign against immigrants. Sen. Dole also be a key casualty for the hate campaign she has waged against immigrants in North Carolina.

Rivera also called out the right-wing haters in radio and in the media such as Lou Dobbs, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck. Rivera, however, held off in putting O'Reilly and his radio show in that category. He should have. Malkin is the most disgusting of that group. Her dark heart and writing are most menacing.

I realize that Rivera causes some people to roll their eyes because of his checkered, nose-breaking, Iraq-mistaking past. But with his public and celebrity status, he has vigorously taken haters such as Ann Coulter to task face to face.

So to him, I am appreciative of his courage and for speaking up instead of falling into line on FOXNEWS.

The worst hour of political television features incredible bias and ineptitude; is it the future?

The worst hour of political television is from 7-8 p.m. CDT.

On FOXNEWS, there is Bill O'Reilly pushing for John McCain's election to president and saving the nation from immigrant human beings. His dueling blonde journalists with blue eyes are a sight for sore eyes in prisons around the country but offer little journalistic credibility.

On MSNBC, Keith Olbermann makes O'Reilly sound objective and sane. On his show, President Bush has never done anything right, and Barack Obama has never done anything wrong. Olbermann is really out of control in his mission to make MSNBC unapologetically liberal. And he is increasingly nasty about it on the air.

On CNN, Campbell Brown is a little less ideologically identifiable. But she is not ready for prime time. Her "no bias, no bull" promise is amateurish. Her interview last night about national security issues with former Secretary of State Madeline Albright was embarrassing.

Albright allowed 800,000 Rwandan human beings to massacred while she was in charge of U.S. foreign policy. She should be ashamed to show her face. At least her boss, Bill Clinton, apologized for this grievous wrong.

Of the three, O'Reilly is the most informative and highest rated. He does feature opposing and dueling views. He allows people to disagree with him, like tonight with Geraldo Rivera, even though he gets the last word.

Olbermann should be taken off the air immediately. He sure shouldn't be allowed to appear on NBC Sports and Sunday NFL football, then be a political hack on weekdays. NBC has come out of this campaign as biased toward Obama's fortunes.

Brown should simply be a reporter.

But a close friend of mine and journalist says the 7-8 p.m. hour is the future of political journalism. People want to hear from talking heads they agree with.

If that's true, the people of this nation will suffer for only knowing one side of issues that will wreck or save America for generations to come.

Will anyone give Bush credit for this good news? There would be more if not for Dr. Bill Frist

USA Today reports that the cost of the Medicare prescription drug program pushed and signed into law by President George W. Bush saved $6 billion in the past federal fiscal year.

Now such a drop is really unusual for any government program. But the savings were mostly due to generic drugs offered by an increasing number of retailers. So this biggest expansion in federal entitlement spending was a good investment for taxpayers.

Sen. Barack Obama, however, has trashed the President for everything under the sun including the Spears' sisters unexpected pregnancies. And he has criticized Sen. McCain for voting with Bush 90 percent of the time.

Well, the Medicare prescription drug program for seniors was desperately needed, and McCain voted for it. And it is a life saver. I know. I covered the story of a Memphis woman who died in the summer of 2005 because she could not afford her heart medicine, and the Democratic governor in Tennessee cut her off Medicaid coverage six months before the prescription drug program began.

She collapsed the day after feeding Hurricane Katrina victims at her church. But Gov. Phil Bredesen guaranteed complete Medicaid coverage to these good folks.

There would have been even more savings if then Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist had allowed seniors to buy even cheaper drugs from Canadian companies. But Frist carried water for the U.S. drugmakers and blocked those savings so the companies could make big profits.

Dr. Frist, a bigtime Republican who plans to run for governor here in 2010 so he can run for president in 2012, has yet to answer for this moral outrage.

So Obama -- if he really is about bringing the American people together -- should cut the President a little slack for the success of this program, the No Child Left Behind Act and unprecedented U.S. help to African human beings dying from AIDS and other maladies. And McCain voted for those plans, too, under the 90-percent figure Obama likes to pull out like an stale, bad joke.

The Medicaid prescription drug program works. And so will other programs to fill this nation's health care gaps if given a political chance and freed from profiteering special interests such as the drugmakers and insurance companies.

Home foreclosures zoom up in Williamson County

The Nashville Business Journal reports that home foreclosures in Williamson County for the third quarter rose 353 percent -- from 17 a year ago to 77 for the three-month period ending Sept. 30.

That rise in foreclosures led the eight-county Middle Tennessee region. Williamson County is the 11th most affluent county in the nation. It is home to country music stars, professional athletes and corporate executives and sales people.

Those foreclosure numbers will continue to rise. And so will the increasing pressure on the local, conservative governments here to raise taxes amid an economic recession. Churches also are hurting. Holy Family Catholic Church now has a drop in year-to-date contributions of $400,000. Sunday contributions are off by $6,000.

People here are not used to times being hard. More difficult ones are to come.

He's doomed; Frank Luntz says a McCain win would be bigger than Truman defeating Dewey

Conservative pollster Frank Luntz, one of the most connected analysts with real people, just told FOXNEWS's Stuart Varney that a McCain win would be a bigger political surprise than Truman defeating Dewey in 1948.

That sounds like the kiss of death to the McCain campaign, and Luntz was critical of a new McCain ad taking on Obama about the environment instead of sagging 401ks and the economic mess in the nation.

McCain is slated to appear on Saturday Night Live tomorrow night. That's free publicity. But if Luntz is right, it is too little too late. Yes, national polls are tightening. Yet McCain has a lot of ground to make up in only three days.

Whomever wins Nov. 4, he deserves our prayers and support.

Obama campaign right to throw papers off plane

FOXNEWS and the Drudge Report -- conservative news outlets -- are trying to make an issue out of the Obama campaign throwing off three newspapers from its campaign press plane in the last days before Tuesday's vote.

The Dallas Morning News, New York Post and The Washington Times have allowed the conservative ideology on their editorial pages to creep onto their news pages. All three newspapers endorsed McCain for president. The Morning News in particular is a mouthpiece for the conservative establishment.

The only liberal, Hispanic voice on its editorial page was removed from her position and political column last year. Macarena Hernandez asked to be removed, her bosses say, for a reporting job. I don't believe it. They pushed her out, friends say.

This afternoon, a reporter for the Morning News claimed his employer is a national and regional newspaper of importance. It no longer is, with continuing layoffs.

The Obama campaign made the right move to create more room for other journos to chronicle this historical campaign. And FOX and Drudge can complain about all they want ... all the way to an Obama White House.

Wall Street fatcats give most to Democrats

New research shows financial contributions from Wall Street fatcats have overwhelmingly benefited Democratic candidates despite claims by presidential nominee Barack Obama that he is going to change business as usual in Washington.

Of executives at the top Wall Street firms, Democrats received $6 million more in campaign contributions than Republicans. And now you know why all the bailout plans made it through a Congress controlled by Democrats. Bailout legislation ultimately had no teeth to stop these executives from still paying bonuses to one another, cutting back on exorbitant salaries or requiring the firing of these executives who made the wrong decisions.

If that happened, then these executives would not be able to give as much to the Democratic leadership in both congressional houses and to Obama.

And now you know why Democratic governors are now clamoring for you the taxpayers to bail out GM and Chrysler executives with $10 billion. These governors are not asking that these executives who made the wrong decisions to be fired either.

The hypocrisy is sickening. Democrats claim they are better than Republicans when it comes to looking out for the small guy and gal. Statistics show otherwise.

To read more, go to: http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081031114947.aspx

Sasser messes up again; has to pull TV ad

Tennessee Democratic Party leader Gray Sasser has messed up again. This time he had to pull an inaccurate TV ad and change the wording after being threatened with a lawsuit.

The dean of Capitol Hill reporters, Tom Humphrey, reported the following:

Chad Faulkner, the Republican running for the 36th District House seat, said Thursday that the state Democratic Party attacked him personally in a "slanderous" television advertisement.

The Democratic Party agreed to change the ad after Faulkner threatened a libel lawsuit.

Faulkner faces Democrat Roger Byrge in the Nov. 4 election.

"We caught them in a lie," Faulkner said.

The seat, formerly held by Republican Rep. William Baird, is considered one of the most competitive House races in the state. The district covers Campbell and Union counties.


The impotent Tennessee Dems -- who in no way resemble the national ones -- had to reword the ad and then put it back on TV. They claimed Faulkner had cost taxpayers $1.2 million as sheriff. The truth was that he had been sued for $1.2 million but the lawsuit failed to collect one penny or cost taxpayers.

Sasser needs to spend less time combing his hair and appearing on Bob Mueller's "Good Ol' White Boys" political TV show and pay attention to keep his political party from being sued and grossly misleading the voters.

To read more, go to: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/31/house-seat-ad-decried-as-slanderous/

McCain pulling even in Missouri and N. Carolina

Politico.com reports that Sen. John McCain is pulling even with Sen. Barack Obama in Missouri and North Carolina, providing further evidence of a tightening race and the ineffectiveness of Obama's 30-minute Oprah-produced infomercial.

These numbers confirm Obama is having trouble closing the deal, the same problem he faced with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

Obama was in Missouri near 10 p.m. CDT last night and CNN provided lengthy free coverage of the speech. McCain could only be so lucky.

Tuesday night is looking to be a long night, not only for us but a cheerleading national news media that has been telling us for the past two weeks that the race is over.

Tennessee leads South in new diabetes' cases; number of cases doubles in 10 years; Hispanics and African-Americans are groups most at risk

A new study says the state of Tennessee has realized the largest percentage increase in new cases of diabetes in the South for the past 10 years, as this nation's epidemic begins to fall heavier on children and the obese.

The research covers 33 states. And the numbers involve type II diabetes, the same kind I have.

The Commercial-Appeal reported:

"The diabetes epidemic is raging across all demographic groups -- men, women, all racial/ethnic groups -- and is increasingly evident even in the teenage and adolescent age groups," said Dr. Sam Dagogo-Jack, director of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. He was not involved in the study.

"Society is unlikely to recover spontaneously from this epidemic; concerted effort at the personal, community, county, state, regional and national levels will be required to turn back the tide of the epidemic," he said.

The highest rate was reported in West Virginia, where about 13 of every 1,000 adults were diagnosed with the disease. The lowest was reported in Minnesota, where the rate is 5 in 1,000.

Among the 33 states included in the study, Tennessee had the sixth-highest rate, at 11 per 1,000 adults. Arkansas tied with Indiana for the 10th-highest rate, at 10.2.

While the UT analyst is right that the diabetes surge covers all peoples, it has traditionally hit heaviest among Hispanics and African-Americans. Our diets -- concentrated on white flour, beans and rice -- skyrocket sugar rates. These peoplss also rely heavily on frying foods. The foods and this cooking method contain carbohydrates and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

In addition, preventitive health care for these two groups have not been prevelant due to cost and unavailability.

The bottom line to fighting diabetes for everyone is exercise, reducing the intake of refined sugar, no white bread, staying away from all fast food, eating more vegetables and taking blood sugar measurements four times a day.

Indeed, lifestyles must change, immediately.

To read more, go to: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/31/diabetes-almost-doubles-in-decade/

Dole's loss would be best thing on election night

The defeat of incumbent U.S. Elizabeth on Tuesday would be the best political news of the night concerning a politician who has employed despicable anti-immigrant rhetoric and ads to win votes by hate.

She is behind challenger Kay Hagan, a Democrat who unfortunately has not challenged Dole's anti-immigrant rhetoric.

But CNN reports that Hagan really got blasted for her seeming indiffernece when Dole went after on an issue that matters even more people in North Carolina than immigrants.

In the 30-second ad, a narrator says that a leader of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee recently held a "secret fundraiser" for Hagan.

The ad then shows members of the group, which promotes rights for atheists and the separation of church and state, declaring that neither God nor Jesus exists.

The ad ends with a picture of Hagan and a voice that sounds like hers declaring, "There is no God."



So there you have it; Dole reaching to new lows to get re-elected. Hagan -- who denies the ad -- deserves a bit of fault for it for not challenging Dole on anti-immigrant ads. And Hagan supports the same anti-immigrant proposals pushed by Dole.

Now she is reaping a bitter harvest, bad as this ad may be.

Hagan still is slightly ahead in the polls. So perhaps the latest ad will be the last we have to hear from Liddy Dole.

Polls continue to tighten in McCain's favor

MSNBC this moring unveiled three Western polls showing John McCan up by 11 points in Arizona, tied in New Mexico and within four points of Barack Obama in Nevada.

This information is important since CNN's John King with his Spock-like super board has put New Mexico in Obama's category and Nevada as leaning to Obama. He also has Obama very close in Arizona.

In addition, Yahoo reported an AP story showing one in seven Americans still persuadable in how they'll vote Tuesday. The McCain camp is hoping on these voterss switching to him on the last day as a more safe choice.

Another poll shows the early voting edge going to McCain, along with absentee ballots.

Again, the race is far from over. Most polls do not ask if a person's selection over the phone is unchangeable in the ballot box. And four days left in a campaign is an eternity.

Stay tuned and on the edge of your seats.

My Obama: Carlos Lowe is an American hero

Eleven years ago, I was sent as a newspaper columnist into a public housing project in the most impoverished Census tract in Nashville to find out why residents of Sam Levy Homes had watched while a Dollar General Store on site was burned to the ground.

Some residents were even suspected of being involved in the crime.

How does an outsider from the news media learn the truth from what society has purposely made through public policy into a closed world?

Earlier in that decade, The Tennessean newspaper -- my employer when I was a columnist -- had sent two reporters into a public housing project undercover to report on what it was like to live in an environment of gunshots, crime and other social disturbances. They posed as new residents, took pictures of other residents and asked questions without indentifying themselves as reporters.

The reporters fled the housing project after one of the journalists hastily and dangerously tried to buy a gun.

The resulting series was a purient view of what was wrong with the people there, not what was wrong with public policy. And white reporters perpetrated this wrong on mostly African-American residents helped fuel the public outrage and discredited the reporting.

Still, the editor and reporters involved claimed they did no wrong. And during a session of journalists at the Freedom Forum attended by the late great David Halberstam, one of the reporters said their way of going undercover was the only manner to get truthful answers from "those people".

So I had a measure by which a journalist should NOT go into a community. And that's how I met Carlos Lowe, the Barack Obama of hope in east Nashville.

The Metro school teacher had left his job at the age of 28 to re-open a community center -- dusty and dirty -- to do something lasting for the children of Sam Levy Homes and the most impoverished Census tract in Nashville.

And I walked into the center as Lowe was pushing around a mop and pail-on-wheels to clean. It was that tortuous way for the entire first year of the Salvation Army center's new lease on life. And I worked with Lowe in fielding the first neighborhood football team of 11 and 12 years olds. I took pictures. I met parents. I cheered on the sidelines for the Bobcats.

Most of all, I let everyone know I was an outsider. And I was there to earn their trust, and later comments for my series by first being a part of their lives honestly and openly.

Lowe now heads the children's part of the center taken over when the Boys and Girls Club left earlier in the fall. This once-bachelor now is married with two beautiful children, thanks to the youngsters he championed. They introduced him to his future wife, who was their teacher.

There is a lot more help at the center now. The Junior League and the Tennessee Titans came in to provide volunteer and financial support. Staff was hired, and the Salvation Army was able to take a more active role in the center by providing daycare for working mothers, after-school tutoring for children and a safe place for teens. A computer center offers connection to the Internet and the 21st Century.

And it is all because one man was moved to act for those who had been left out of the American Dream.

I'll be there to support Lowe on his next venture of hope: establishing a sports foundation for athletic teams at the center. He is holding a banquet Nov. 13 to recruit donors and help raise $40,000. I'll post in the near future on how you can get involved.

One of the best days of my career and life was when I walked into that center as Lowe was wielding the mop 11 years ago. And better days are to come for the children he loves because he answered the call to help his fellow man and woman and provide hope in every young life.

Limbaugh is true believer in his idiocy, but he remains very popular and a cat lover, too

The Telegraph of London, a newspaper once owned by a rich conservative now imprisoned for fraud, compiled an impressive profile of the extremely popular and wealthy Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh allowed the interview and access to kingdom because the rich guy once was his neighbor before donning the latest in prison wear.

I don't listen to the Duke of the Dittoheads, because he does not encourage people to think, just follow his dictums. He is a very talented entertainer. But just like comedian Bill Maher or other left-wingers, I really don't see what makes Limbaugh qualified to be an opinion-maker on the right. He is a college dropout, finishing just one year of school to spite his father.

Limbaugh's chief experience is being a radio DJ. But I never thought Wolfman Jack should appear on Meet the Press.

The thing that bothers me most about Limbaugh and his counterparts on the left are the poverty of their experiences. They just talk to people who agree with them and live inside the Beltway or their beachfront mansions.

The following quote from Limbaugh is most bothersome. The talk show host claims he is tired of hyphenated Americans, a.k.a people of color. Beginning with father and my eight uncles who fought for their nation in WWII, they wanted to be nothing but Americans.

But white Americans such as Limbaugh would not allow them to be. They returned from fighting Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo to fight Bull Connor, Jim Crow and bullshit barriers to Americans of Hispanic descent to be considered human beings.

And so for identity and pride, hyphenated names were used. If Limbaugh truly wants everyone to just be Americans, then he needs to recognize and admit the past that made the hyphenation necessary. But he won't. And neither will his listeners. Nor will they acknowledge that their current anti-immigrant fervor is rooted in the same bigotry our loved ones faced.

Still, we should read what he has to say at least to refute his delusions:

"... but there was never any substance to his (Obama's) speeches, just soaring rhetoric. That guy can say nothing better than anyone I have ever heard say nothing.' He drums his fingers. 'My take on this is that we are all Americans and I am sick and tired of hyphenated Americans. Afro-American, Hispanic-Americans.

'I am truly colour blind and I wish everyone else was. We Balkanise when we say only women can represent women in Congress and only Jews can represent Jews and only blacks can represent blacks. It's bullshit. We all want the same things. Prosperity and a decent education for our kids. Treating this country like it is stuck 50 years ago is bullshit; we have made more progress than anyone over this. Get over it. If Obama says stupid things I'm not going to say they are not stupid because he's black. He's running for President, for God's sake. It's the Left who has been racist by agonising about whether he is black enough. Is he authentic enough? Does he have a civil rights record? For me he's a liberal. That is reason enough to oppose him.' "

And what Limbaugh professes from his poverty of experiences and lack of education is enough to oppose him.

But I've got give him some credit. He is a cat lover. Me, too.

To read more of the fascintating profile of a very interesting man, go to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/3286392/Rush-Limbaugh-The-man-whos-always-Right.html

Fall comes to Tennessee; beautiful, endangered

It gets beautiful here at this time of year.

Trees of yellow and red line the hills and valleys. The air is crisp and the colors sharp. It makes you feel great to be alive.

But the environment here in Tennessee is most fragile. Development is put ahead of preservation. Nashville has constant air warnings. The Smokies have been overcome with pollution. Environmental laws are toothless. Water quality is constantly endangered. The major river that flows through Nashville is an environmental cesspool.

Like many residents in many areas of the South, Tennesseans have not been good stewards of God's gift. And this time of year shows how precious it is.

One day soon residents and their lawmakers here will wake up, not only to the natural beauty but the legal need to protect it.

Holy Dan Quayle! Palin's spelling now suspect

A letter came in the mail today to my wife.

It was from Gov. Sarah Palin asking for donations to her historic campaign. But my wife, who taught English composition at Purdue University, caught a big mistake by someone who can afford any gaffe this late in the race for the White House.

If you read the letter above, you'll see a new spelling for the word "Wednesday". Former VP Dan "Potatoe" Quayle must have been typing the letter.

Alas, here is another mishandling of the GOP VP nominee. And this one is really embarrassing.

Jay Leno joked tonight about press reports that say Palin has gone rogue. That's all right. But it becomes a problem when you've gone illiterate -- as in the letter.

We live in a conservative county in Tennessee. So Palin and her entourage thought someone such as my wife might be for the moose-huntin', Saks Fifth Avenue wearin' conservative beauty queen from the North Country.

Not unless she and her staff discover a dictionary.

Don't drink Kudlow Kool-Aid; keep money in cash

CNBC's Larry Kudlow continues to shamelessly encourage viewers to put their money into the market, claiming the bull is preparing to charge the bear off Wall Street.

He's wrong. The current upturn is due to a bunch of daytraders making a quick profit. But today's GDP numbers showed the future for this nation and the markets.

Consumer spending was way down, signaling people are pulling back their spending because:

1) They've lost their jobs;

2) They're going to lose their jobs;

3) They've lost half of their savings in the stock market;

4) Their home is being foreclosed;

5) They're cutting back on spending to prepare for hard times;

6) Or a combination of some of the above.

Even CNBC Crazy Cramer is telling people to get into Walmart. Don't. Christmas sales will send the stock downward as people buy less then, too. Remember, he previously had two Wall Street fatcats on his show before all the bailouts saying their companies were great for investment. And Cramer did speak a negative word.

Then, their companies failed.

Please, keep your money in cash, just like Dallas Mavericks' billionaire owner Mark Cuban. And if you've got money in the market, get it out tomorrow before the Dow starts is way down to 6300.

Most of all, don't watch CNBC from 6-7 p.m. when Kudlow is peddling his Kool-Aid.

Media bias? 'You betcha' say readers of Politico

Readers unloaded on Politico.com in unprecedented numbers on what they see as liberal bias in the nation's news media coverage of the presidential race.

And I have to agree with the readers, even though I have endorsed Obama.

When I worked for The Tennessean newspaper into 2006, that bias was obvious on the news pages. When Al Gore in the 2000 presidential race was wrongly proclaimed the victor in Florida, a cheer went up in the newsroom. So much for objectivity.

Two savvy readers made these comments to Politico:

"Sometimes not saying something is just as damning as what you do say," one reader wrote. "I am disturbed by the fact that one part[y]'s VP has had more backgrou[n]d reported on them than the opposite party's lead candidate."

"McCain's campaign, especially Palin, has gotten a lot more criticism from the media on these investigative pieces, where they dig into Palin's past," another said. "Despite there being glaring gaps in the biography of Obama regarding his upbringing, his state senate activity, his academic writings and lectures, his legal clients, his tactics, associations, and advocacies as a community organizer, none of this seems to have been investigated by the mainstream media."

They're right. Joe Biden has turned into the biggest drag on the Obama ticket with his loose lips on the foreign policy threat and in reducing the households that will be helped by an Obama tax cut.

To read more, go to: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15081.html

Is this media biased? Yes.

Does it see a need to change. No.

So you as a reader should act appropriately and abandon the biased media and seek an independent one dedicated to giving both sides and respecting your intelligence to decide who is right and who is wrong.

That's what my blog is dedicated to.

Exxon-Mobil records largest quarterly profit in history; capitalism is great but this is ridiculous

Exxon-Mobil reported the largest quarterly corporate profit in American history this morning, shocking some and encouraging others.

These kind of profits made off the incomes of average Americans should be taxed more heavily, as Sen. Barack Obama proposes to do as president.

Yes, Exxon's profits will decline in the next quarter because of declining gas prices. But the gouging of the American public continues. And a new President Obama will need to act.

AP takes apart Obama informercial and all its spin

The Associated Press issued a strong analysis this morning taking apart Sen. Barack Obama's informercial for making promises that future budget woes will not allow him to keep.

AP deconstructed his rhetoric from his tax cuts to his health care. It also cited a coming budget deficit of $1 trillion that Obama still has not addressed with specific spending cuts he'd make.

In one pointed line, AP cited Obama's belief that everyone deserves health care while his plan does not guarantee health care to everyone. That was the point Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to make in the Democratic primaries.

It seems that Obama's rhetoric has caught up with him and reality, at least with AP. The five days remaining until Americans vote may become a lifetime of woe for his campaign as more polls show the race tightening.

To read more, go to: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D944H6EO0&show_article=1

Gray Sasser, TN Dems are void of virtue; Nashville's news media lacks talent to call out the powerful

Nashville Scene writer Jeff Woods is the only talent left of a credible staff writer at the once edgy and truly alternative media source.

The Scene now makes The Tennessean read profound. The corporate guy recruited to replace Liz Murray Garrigan ran a Cleveland alternative newspaper that folded. He is well on his way to doing the same with the Scene. And Nashville will be the poorer for it.

The Nashville print media is shockingly inadequate as watchdog and an informative source of news people need.

But Woods in a post on the Scene's Pith in the Wind blog site takes Tennessee Democratic Party leadership (yes, that's oxymoronic) and kid disaster Gray Sasser. The guy has better hair than Donald Trump, and that's the only good thing to say about the person.

His appearances on Bob Mueller's "The Same Ol' White Guys" political show on Sunday mornings are incredibly laughable. You'd never know from watching Mueller's show that an African-American was about to become president and Nashville has an African-American population of 25%.

And in keeping with the show's delusional theme, Sasser actually believes Gov. Phil Bredesen and Sen. Barack Obama belong in the same political party. Really.

Woods rightly takes Sasser to task for putting out a ridiculous press release criticizing Republicans for taking money from former Gov. Don Sundquist for their legislative campaigns. Incredibly, Sasser is playing the same old state income tax card that raised the likes of Marsha Blackburn to higher office and radio entertainer Steve Gill to prominence. And they're Republicans.

Democrats have no real, virtuous and progressive identity here -- from Bredesen to Sasser to Nashville Mayor Karl Dean to congressman Jim Cooper to House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. The exceptions are former Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis and the best lawmaker I've ever covered, state Rep. Frank Buck of Dowelltown.

This state needs an income tax, and this blog has recently endorsed as much. The alternative is Bredesen doing to the state what he did in gutting TennCare.

The Wall Street Journal shows that Tennessee is in the worst fiscal condition of any state in the Union. Washington State has experienced the sharpest drop in tax revenue. But it has an income tax to make up for deficits and put the burden on those with the means to pay.

Tennessee has experienced the second largest drop. But our state depends mostly on sales tax that falls heaviest on the poor. And those revenue numbers are going to decline more severely as Tennessee falls deeper into a recession. That's why Tennessee is facing at least a $600 million deficit in the current fiscal year.

But Sasser prefers to fiddle as Tennessee's finances burn for political gain.

Woods quotes his press release about the Sundquist donations:

“This is yet another example of candidates like Dolores Gresham, Ken Yager and Vance Dennis saying one thing on the campaign trail and then doing another in real life,” said Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser. “They run around their districts claiming they’re against the income tax. Then they turn around and pad their pockets with Don Sundquist’s leftover campaign cash.”

Sasser added: “We can draw either one of two conclusions: Either they support the income tax, or they’re hypocrites. Either way, Tennessee voters deserve to know the truth.”

The real hypocrites are Sasser, Bredesen, Naifhe, Dean and Cooper, who have betrayed Democratic Party ideals nationally for senseless, anti-progressive ones locally. And Woods again shows he is one of the last voices left in Nashville's news media to write the difficult truth about the powers that be.

Male enhancement cream and Barbie?!

Jay Leno got a big laugh tonight in telling the story about a man caught exposing himself in a store after applying male enhancement cream to a specific part of his body.

The questions are obvious:

What store sells male enhancement cream and Barbies?

Why would the guy think that Barbie would be impressed by his display since her boyfriend Ken has no parts at all?

These days, we need a good laugh. Thanks, Jay.

Nebraska calls special session to halt parents from abandoning teen and pre-teen children

The state of Nebraska has seen America's future, and it is ugly and depressing.

Parents are dropping off children, including teens, at hospitals because they can no longer afford to care for them. Just over the past nine days, the pace of abandonments has accelerated with five teens and preteens dropped off.

The state's Safe Haven law allows for such abandonments, but lawmakers originally intended it for infants.

One parent even drove from Georgia to abandon her child. We might be moved to condemn these parents. But any mother who would drive from Georgia to give up her child must care something about the innocent life. Sometimes things get so bad that you can't even take care of yourself. And layoffs are sweeping the nation as are home foreclosures.

To stop this tragedy in this specific case, a special legislative session has been called for Nov, 14 to change the law to halt the abandonments. Forty of 49 state lawmakers support changing the law.

The New York Times reports:

Safe-haven laws, allowing a parent to surrender an infant without fear of prosecution, were adopted by every state over the last decade after numerous reports of babies left to die in trash bins or plastic bags. But only Nebraska’s version, which took effect in July, extended the protection to “children,” meaning up to age 18, rather than specifying a maximum age of a few days or months.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/30haven.html

Gun purchases rising sharply in Nashville

NewsChannel 5 had an interesting social and economic piece tonight about gun sales rising sharply in Nashville.

The gun shop owner interviewed said that firearm sales usually rise sharply during economic downturns due to escalating crime and fear. The report showed that the gun purchases are multi-racial. An African-American couple was shown buying a gun.

Rising crime due to desperation is a tragic ripple effect from recession and massive budget cuts to come by Nashville and state leaders.

Hispanics know a lot about politics, too; we're concerned about more than only immigration

Finally, the American people got to hear a Hispanic voice and she a Hispanic face speaking on presidential politics on one of the major TV networks.

Maria Teresa Petersen tonight on CNN's Andersen Cooper 360 outdid David Gergen and Gloria Borger in providing balanced and insightful analysis of the presidential race with 144 hours to go.

The founder and executive director for VotoLatino, a grassroots group registering Americans of Hispanic descent to vote, provided welcome relief on an outlet for the supposed mainstream media addicted to the same old faces and races.

And despite Gergen and Borger trying to interrupt her about people they really know nothing about, Petersen crafted more sensible conclusions about Hispanic voters that were more indicative of our independent nature. You do something wrong to us, and we then respond. But we're not dedicated to any coalition, person and party without reason.

Now if we could only get George Stephanopolous on his ABC-TV's This Week political show to recognize that Hispanics such as Petersen and professor Roberto Lavato have something intelligent and insightful to say on his roundtable portion of experts.

I have yet to see a Hispanic journalist or analyst on his roundtable segment. And when I tried to ask him and ABC News about the reason why, they never got back to me.

I hope Ms. Petersen will show George what his show and viewers are missing in not hearing more from the nation's largest minority group.

Insurers penalizing women for health coverage

Women already face a disparity in the diagnosis of their maladies like heart disease. They're not expected to have heart attacks in their 30s and 40s despite heart disease being the No. 1 killer of women, not breast cancer.

My wife knows that. She had a heart attack at the age of 43. The supposed heart center where we lived initially diagnosed her with just having stress. She was not held overnight in the hospital like a man would have been in the same situation.

So now we have insurers exercising the same ignorance about women. But now they're further penalizing working women in their pocketbooks, when they already only make 72 cents on the dollar men make for the same kind of work. Even after taking out maternity coverage, women still pay more.

Now we can see even more clearly why Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy was so important to so many.

The New York Times reports tonight:

The disparities are evident in premiums charged by major insurers like Humana, UnitedHealth, Aetna and Anthem, a unit of WellPoint; in prices quoted by eHealth, a leading online source of health insurance; and in rate tables published by state high-risk pools, which offer coverage to people who cannot obtain private insurance.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/30insure.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Nothing new in Obama's infomercial tonight; questions still remain about doability of his plans

In case you missed it, Sen. Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial tonight plowed no new ground, except that he has now lowered the tax cut threshold to families making less than $200,000 a year and has endorsed the disastrous bailouts of Wall Street fatcats.

The most noticeable feature of the infomercial on all the major TV networks was that Obama could spend that kind of cash to buy that kind of airtime. That's because he went back on his promise to go with the restraints of campaign finance laws. McCain is following the laws.

For someone who claims he is going to change Washington and its big money that separates it from the real people featured in his infomercial, this flip-flop damages his integrity. Obama has been the top congressional recipient of political contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the past 20 years. Those two entities had to be bailed out a few months ago with $200 billion of your money.

Obama blamed the past eight years of the Bush administration for the current economic mess. That was dishonest. He knows the Clinton administration has the bigger blame for deregulating the financial industry that allowed bad loans to be sold upstream to Wall Street. Obama's failure to mention that truth makes his claim of being bipartisan a bunch of hogwash. And he closed his infomercial with Bill Clinton putting his arm around him at a live Florida rally. Sickening.

Just eight years ago, education was the No. 1 issue in the presidential race. Obama cited it briefly tonight. LBJ always said that a fair and adequate education for all people was the best social program. That way, you make your way up the economic ladder. And Bush administration policy under the No Child Left Behind Act has finally held education bureaucrats accountable for their failure to educate all children fairly.

Obama sadly scolded parents and claimed that any turn in education fortunes must begin in the household. While he made have been a community organizer, Obama sure didn't listen enough. Parents who have been failed by the education system are not going to be able to really help their children, let alone participate with the same educators at schools who couldn't reach and help them.

The Education Trust, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, says a good teacher can catch up a child academically in five years. There is the solution. Obama cited several schools that are succeeding. But the best one is in New York City. There, a charter school has teachers making $125,000 a year to educate children at risk. High-paying administrative positions are limited to the principal. That's the kind of change needed in public education.

A better future for all children is in choice -- via charter schools and vouchers for poor parents to send their kids to the places more affluent youngsters can go. Competition is very American. We love it in the Olympics. We should want the same heroics in our schools.

Obama told voters tonight that he would strengthen the military. Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank has said he wants to cut military spending by 25%. Frank has been around Washington a lot longer than Obama. The new president's biggest obstacles will come from his own political party in Congress.

While I have endorsed Obama and stand by that pick, I increasingly am not in love with the choice. He talks the talk. His rhetoric soars. But his ability to make change down on earth is still quite questionable.

And that's why this presidential race is tightening, no matter how many Oprah-produced infomercials Obama can buy and air.

General Motors should be allowed to go under

One of the most honest people in the U.S. financial markets, Rick Santelli, makes a great point as talks increase about the federal government bailing out General Motors.

"Where in the Constitution does it say that the government must prevent a recession?!" Santelli said recently on CNBC.

He is right. The cost of all the bailouts of Wall Street, banking and corporate fatcats ultimately will be $2.8 trillion of your money. And you have yet to see a direct dollar to address your needs -- be it a bad home mortgage, savings wiped out in the stock market or you being forced to return to work after retirement.

I have a friend and doctor, a pediatrician now 70, who is returning to work in his golden years due to the lies made to him about keeping his money in the stock market. This sorry scenario is being repeated across the nation.

This economy needs a failure of something like GM. Fatcats need to be finally shown there is a consequence for their wrong decisions -- just as it is in our households.

Yes, GM employs a lot people. But as my prima suprema in Topeka, Kan, has told me, a lot of workers in the auto industry have been making big bucks for years and spending many of those dollars like water. They could have saved in the event of losing their jobs and all the overtime of more than $50 an hour. My cousin does not feel overly sorry for auto and tire industry workers.

Finally, taxpayers have to draw the line. GM is the perfect spot.

Tennessean loses large number of subscribers over past six months; economy, poor quality hurt sales

The new source of breaking information about the fortunes of newspapers owned by Gannett Co., Inc., says that new circulation numbers for The Tennessean show a sharp decline in subscriptions for weekdays and Sundays.

Daily, circulation fell to 151,713, down 5.3% from 160,243 a year ago, on Sept. 30, 2007.

Sundays, circulation fell to 210,277, down 5.6% from 222,754 a year ago.

My household is one that quit subscribing to The Tennessean in the past six months due to the incompetency of the top management and advice from columnist Ms. Cheap on how to save money. To be constructive in my comments, Gannett should fire the top management at The Tennessean and encourage Ms. Cheap to exclude The Tennessean as a specific savings cut for readers.

So now you see why The Tennessean will have to cut its workforce by 10 percent or 100 workers by Dec. 1 and why advertisers see much less return for their dollars by investing in a declining product.

Craig Moon made a big difference at Tennessean; he's why USA Today continues to prosper

A lot of criticism has been aimed at the fact that the 10% cuts coming for Gannett newspapers -- including The Tennessean -- do not include USA Today.

That newspaper's circulation numbers are up compared to other Gannett newspapers. And a primary reason why is publisher Craig Moon, who used to be publisher at The Tennessean.

It was my privilege to work with Moon during his tenure at The Tennessean. I found him to be honest and a man of integrity. He was actually a better journalist interested in what readers wanted than the people in charge of The Tennessean newsroom. He is the one who created the then very popular Williamson A.M. edition. It made big profits while also pleasing readers. Great formula.

While newsroom decision makers denied me a chance to write a political column for the newspaper, Moon readily opened the way. So I am indebted to him for allowing me -- an American of Hispanic descent -- to pursue my dreams. When he left The Tennessean for greener pastures, the paper's future was doomed.

But not USA Today's. Our loss was their great gain. And Moon was the difference.

Craig now sits on the operating committee for Gannett. If there is hope for the company to turn fortunes around in an environment affecting all newspapers regardless of public or private ownership, then Moon will make the difference there, too.

Men of integrity, competency and honesty always prevail.

Fed rate cut won't make a difference in stock market; don't buy the lie of a new bull market

CNBC analysts a moment ago agreed that the expected Fed rate cut today will not make a difference in the financial markets.

One great comment held that the banks will not be lending money, just now at a lower rate. They're hanging on to all their money because they know more of their home loans will go bad because values will decline another 20 percent.

So the federal government has been putting $250 billion of your money into banks that are not going to lend. Outrageous.

So, keep your money out of the market. Don't be motivated by greed. What goes up must come down. In this market, however, it will come down more quickly and head toward 6300 from its current position of 9000.

The Fed is simply playing catch-up with its rate cut. But the game has already moved further down the field.

Marsha!Marsha!Marsha! wants more of your money

Nashville City Paper political reporter Ken Whitehouse asks a very savvy question today in a story about congressperson Marsha!Marsha!Marsha! Blackburn still asking for campaign donations as she prepares to win by a landslide next Tuesday.

What does she need the money for? Perhaps to boost the finances of her daughter's firm that has previously been paid from campaign funds for services.

It would seem that Blackburn would not want as many unnecessary donations since for years she failed to obey the law in reporting these monies to the Federal Election Commission.

No, it doesn't make sense that Blackburn has sent out a letter begging for political contributions ... except if you consider that she is one of the biggest hypocrites to ever hold office in Tennessee.

If you give to her of your hard-earned monies, realize that you'll just be feeding the same, old entrenched system in Washington that is based on incumbency first, your needs second or even less.

Fighting cancer: Patrick Swayze is an inspiration and now completing a new TV series for A&E

To many of us fighting cancer with a high mortality rate, actor Patrick Swayze is a hero.

And this fine actor will gain a broader audience when his new TV series "The Beast" debuts this year on A&E. We know that each moment must be seized. Life is not long-term but every day. And we can make a mark in life by what we do, even something so small.

In a story in The New York Times, the reality of fighting terminal cancer and still living each day was candidly discussed by Swayze:

So far, the production team reported, he has missed only a day and a half of work. Mr. Swayze said: “I’m still fine to work, I haven’t changed — oh, I have changed, what am I saying? It’s a battle zone I go through. Chemo, no matter how you cut it, is hell on wheels.”

But beyond medical difficulties with his pancreatic cancer, it is apparent that Swayze has discovered a truth about living life that we as fellow cancer survivors so far also have been blessed by God to discover.

“I do find myself, at the end of the day, riding home sort of catching myself with a smile on my face,” he said. “I’m proud of what I’m doing.”

The end of the day is all that we are guaranteed. I'll keep praying for Swayze. You should, too. He is teaching us an invaluable lesson about living life, with cancer or not.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/arts/television/29sway.html

Rasmussen says Obama lead down to 3 points

Now four major polls show Sen. Barack Obama's lead over Sen. John McCain has fallen to 4 percentage points or less.

Gallup and Zogby put it at two and four percentage points respectively. Today, Investors Business Daily put the race at 3 points. It predicted the 2004 race dead on.

Rasmussen says the following:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows Barack Obama attracting 50% of the vote nationwide while John McCain earns 47%. This is the first time McCain has been within three points of Obama in more than a month and the first time his support has topped 46% since September 24 (see trends). One percent (1%) of voters prefer a third-party option and 2% are undecided.

Among those who “always” vote in general elections, Obama leads by just a single point.

These numbers are significant, considering that all presidential races always narrow toward the end. The stock market briefly is up, which removes the economy as an issue for Obama at a critical time.

Also, during the Democratic primary campaign, Obama had problems with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in closing out their races. Obama had been pegged up by 10 percentage points right before New Hampshire. And he lost by 3 percentage points.

Fast forward. Obama's runningmate Joe Biden continues to say the wrong things, this time lowering the amount of household income that would be helped by his tax hikes to $150,000 from $250,000. That means higher taxes would touch many more Americans at a very bad time. And Obama has disppeared from the TV political shows and has not held an official press conference in more than a month.

What is he scared of?

This race may turn out to be a barn burner and a very late night on Nov. 4.

GOP senators calling on Stevens to resign

Politico.com reports that a group of GOP U.S. senators led by John McCain and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are calling on convicted felon and colleague Ted Stevens of Alaska to resign his seat.

Stevens was convicted yesterday on seven counts of felony corruption but said he would still stand for re-election to return to the Senate after Nov. 4. Voters in Alaska still strongly support Stevens.

The Senate, however, has the power in the new year to remove Stevens from office for violating ethical standards. But politically, they'd rather he resign.

Stevens should. But this guy is crazy and corrupted enough to stick it out. Even GOP U.S. Sen. Larry Craig successfully stuck it out despite solicitation charges in an airport.

Look for Stevens to set a new low, even for Congress.

Gore honored in Memphis, calls fight against climate change similar to fight for civil rights

Former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore today equated the fight against climate change as synonymous to the need for courage and conviction during the civil rights movement.

Gore was honored in Memphis along with civil rights heroine Diane Nash, who challenged Nashville to recognize the dignity and rights of every human being in the 1960s.

Also today but in England, Prince Charles said that climate change was more important than the failing economy there and around the world when it comes to needed global action.

From Memphis, The Commercial Appeal reported:

Gore said Nash and the Civil Rights movement pioneers were bringing what Gandhi called the "truth force" that helped bring about then-unimaginable change.

That same sense of moral and spiritual urgency is now needed, Gore said, to help create the will necessary to bring about changes to avert what he described as a growing global catastrophe.

He said future generations would be asking one of two questions.

"Either they will look around at the devastation that was predicted and allowed to occur and ask, 'What were you thinking? Didn't you hear the scientists? Didn't you see?"

Or, Gore said, "I want them to ask, as we have the honor to ask Diane Nash, 'How did you find the moral courage ... to solve the crisis and bring about change people were saying was impossible?"

Polls, what are they good for? Absolutely nothing, say it again; Obama up by only 2% over McCain

A new Gallup tracking poll says Sen. Barack Obama holds only a 2-percentage-point lead over Sen. John McCain with six days left before voting.

In addition, pollster John Zogby today put the margin between the candidates at 4 percentage points. Meanwhile, polls for individual states still show Obama winning by a landslide of more than 300 electoral votes.

So who is right? It's hard to say. Polls can say some crazy things. The Tennessean on Sunday said the race in Middle Tennessee was tied. That's ridiculous. McCain is going to sweep the Midstate except for Davidson County.

So who is going to win Nov. 4? I think it will be Obama. But a stock market surging upward doesn't help him, and an international crisis or another stupid comment by Joe Biden could boost McCain into the presidency.

Protecting your money: Credit card companies starting to make you pay for their bad decisions

The New York Times reports tonight that credit card companies are initially and secretly making you pay for their bad decisions and bad debt you didn't rack up.

These companies are facing a day of reckoning as defaults on credit card debt by consumers skyrocketed in the first half of 2008 to $21 billion. Another $55 billion in debt will be eaten over the next 18 months.

Americans hold $4.4 trillion in personal debt.

But even if you've paid all your bills on time and in full, the companies are reducing your credit line, which then reduces your overall credit score. So when you go to borrow money to buy a home or a car, you'll be denied that loan because of a worse credit score or you'll have to pay more money up front.

Outrageous.

The credit card companies also are raising the interest rates you have to pay. If 15 percent was not enough, American Express is preparing to raise its rate to 18 percent. Look for other credit card companies to follow.

To read more about this despicable and deteriorating situation, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/business/29credit.html?hp

Issues for Americans of Hispanic descent deserve more than a brief spot on CNN's Larry King

So now the supposed mainstream news media has gotten back around to considering American voters of Hispanic descent worthy of their time.

While it one could say better late than never with only seven days before a nation votes for president, the media's last respite of respect to Latinos provides little time to examine issues of importance to us.

And adding insult to injury, again it is all white, elitist media folks and their favorite experts telling us tonight what we think and value.

I had to laugh as CNN's Larry King referred to our influence at the ballot box as the "Latin vote". Who knew we had such a connection to ancient Rome? When we say "hail Cesar", it has to do with "Chavez" not "Julius".

Immigration has disappeared as a campaign issue. While the economy and foreign policy mean most to us, too, the humane and fair treatment of people who look like our ancestors also is close to our hearts and consciences. Never forget where you came from, or where your grandparents came from to pursue the American Dream. We will always be grateful and vote accordingly.

Larry King featured CNN's chief political correspondent John King. I was with King on the 2004 campaign trail at a Kerry speech at a college south of Los Angeles. While I was prepping for a one-on-one interview with the candidate after his speech, King was busy stuffing his face along with the other media types at a huge spread laid out by the campaign.

The only thing Hispanic that King and the other political reporters were interested in was the chicken quesedillas next to the vegetarian lasagna. Nothing has changed in 2008.

Yes, the vote of Americans of Hispanic descent will determine which way Nevada goes. It is one of those critical swing states. But we deserve more attention -- as the largest collective group outside of white folks in this nation -- than one week before the most important presidential election in memory.

The change all of us are counting in Washington also needs to occur with the "supposed" mainstream news media.

Merry Xmas from Gannett: Tennessean's parent company to cut 10% of workforce, 3,000 workers

The parent company that owns The Tennessean announced today that it will cut its workforce by about 3,000 workers.

Each of its newspapers, with the exception of USA Today, will reduce its employee numbers by 10% by Dec. 1. The e-mail announcement appears at the bottom of this blog post.

Tennessean employees have been waiting for this shoe to drop for some time. Expect the product you buy to be even poorer than before. The recent reduction in the width of the newspaper and the redesign is indicative of the ugly times to come. The only watchdog role the newspaper will be able to fill is keeping an eye on the pooches getting their hair cut in the Petsmart front window.

The Tennessean has some very good and caring reporters, photographers, sports columnists, copy editors and artists. They give a damn. The management, however, is a detriment to good journalism that reflects our communities and shows progressive leadership. These managers even fail to encourage good work with simple words of support. Annual raises are only 1 percent.

The good people under these managers deserve better. Now they face layoffs at Christmastime. It's just plain wrong and immoral.

I wish my rank-and-file colleagues and their families well in these hard times, particularly at Christmas. I'll be praying for them.

But a newspaper dedicated first to profits and not the community and its watchgog role deserves none of our support as advertisers and readers.


From www.gannettblog.blogspot.com

To: USCP Publishers & General Managers

As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.

To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.

Each Publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.

I have asked that all plans be completed by November 14th at which time they will go through the standard review process.

I fully understand this announcement will cause you concern but I felt that once a decision was made it should be communicated as quickly as possible.

While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times. We continue to be a leader in our industry, not only because of our fiscal strength but also because we have a plan to aggressively grow the company when the economy returns.

To that end, I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. We need to grow revenue as well as continue to find efficiencies. I would appreciate your help and ideas on both fronts.

My email address is rdickey@gannett.com. I promise you will be heard and receive a timely response.

I appreciate your understanding and commitment during these challenging times.

Thank you.

Obama has questions to answer about terrorists

The conservative news media is alive with a worthy story about Sen. Barack Obama and his past associations with people of terrorist ties.

The latest is about praise Obama lavished on the spokesperson for the PLO just five years ago at a dinner honoring the man. On the dais of praisers were domestic terrorists William Ayers and his wife, who now are educators in Chicago.

The Los Angeles Times wrote about the dinner five years ago. And it has a video of Obama praising the PLO representative, which has previously been designated a terrorist organization.

What does all this have to do with what troubles this nation?

Honesty. Integrity. Judgment. These are all qualities missing from American society today on Wall Street and in Washington, D.C.

Obama has claimed little to no contact with Ayers or any people with terrorist ties. But the emerging record says otherwise. Obama has not held an official press conference in a month. He appears to not want to add anything further to the record lest he mispresents the truth.

Another weird twist to this situation involves the LA Times. It refuses to release the video of the dinner. Why? Let the video be part of the public record for the people to see.

Obama needs to speak to this part of his record. It matters and so does The Times' need to look unbiased on its news pages toward the candidate.

To read more, go to: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDFkMGE2MmM1M2Q5MmY0ZmExMzUxMWRhZGJmMTAyOGY=

Council members attacking Nashville's racism

Three Metro Nashville council members are drafting a resolition to ensure that affordable housing developments are spread throughout Davidson County and not just dumped on predominantly African-American neighborhoods.

The members call the existing policy discriminatory, and they're right. The bigotry that is rife throughout Nashville, its public policy, its lack of public policy and in its schools and law enforecement is sickening. And it shows that Nashville is indeed not a progressive city.

Black residents have had to fight a Tennessean columnist, Habitat for Humanity and elected leaders who are lapdogs for the chamber of commerce in trying to stop the Park Preserve development in north Nashville. The development may grow to more to 300 units in an area already inundated with enough traffic endangering children and families.

But these residents were unsuccessful in their efforts because everything from landfills to low-income housing is supposed to be dumped on minority neighborhoods, according to Nashville's legacy of bigtory.

The resolution proposed by the council members is finally a positive step toward adressing Nashville's racism. To read more, go to: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=63729

Protecting your money: It's not easy

The website www.marketwatch.com had a couple of gems worth reading if you're worried about your money.

The first bit of needed information concerns safe deposit boxes. The contents -- including cash -- are not protected by the FDIC, bank or anyone else. So if you have cash in there or any other valuables, they're at risk to disappear in case of fire, tornado, hurricane or a simple explosion.

Check with your insurance company to see if the contents are protected under your homeowner's policy.

Second, if you simply want to revert back to the old days of putting your cash in your mattress for safekeeping, it might not be a bad investment strategy. Marketwatch quotes USA Today's mutual fund columnist John Waggoner:

"For retirement investors, the bear market has wiped out most gains for the decade.

"An investor who put $100 a month into the American Funds Growth Fund of America for a decade, for example, would have had $14,562 in his account at the end of September. By Thursday [10 days ago], that would have shrunk to $11,671, not including the fund's upfront sales charge.

"An investor who had put $100 a month into his mattress for a decade would have $12,000."

Scary, isn't it?

Why does the law allow felon Stevens to still run?

I don't understand.

Why does the law allow convicted felon and U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens to still run for re-election while convicted felons getting out of prison are not even allowed to vote?

It does not make sense. Votes for Stevens to put him back in the Senate for another term should not count. The man was convicted of seven felonies for the base corruption of accepting freebies from lobbyists that included grand renovations to his home.

Yet people who have paid their debt to society are not even allowed to vote.

Stevens has yet to be sentenced. And if he goes to prison, his ability to serve would be compromised. But if felons can't vote, they should not be allowed to run for office either.

The law should be changed to reflect simply consistency. Let ex-felons vote.

A great city has a great NFL team? Titans' Monday Night Football win needs definite perspective

Last decade, Nashville leaders successfully sold a new initiative to taxpayers with the slogan, "A great city has a great library."

And Nashville got a new downtown library as a sign that the Music City was a progressive place.

Tonight's win by the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football and before a national TV audience was certainly exciting. And what appears to be a dream season for a very deserving team continues along with an unbeaten record.

But the victory needs perspective as to what it says about Nashville and any claim it has to being a progressive place to live. It's not.

Truly great cities like New York and Chicago also have great libraries. But their greatness and progressive place in American society are not dependent on how welll the Bears or the Giants or the Jets do each NFL season. Nor does the image of these cities rise and fall with the Cubs, White Sox, Yankees and Mets -- all of which did not make this year's World Series.

The greatness of cities and the push for progress depends on the plight of the most vulnerable as children and senior citizens, how people of all colors and classes are treated by the justice and law enforcement systems and the availability of safe, decent and affordable places for all families to live and prosper.

By these measures, and not the record of an NFL team, does a city attain greatness in the eyes of people and leaders across the country who push a progressive agenda and run corporations with diverse workforces.

Again, the Titans deserve all the plaudits and more. But many of the fans who filled LP Field tonight will be returning home to their suburban counties where the tax base is used primarily for schools and not pro sports teams.

Yes, these good people have been wonderfully entertained, but they know what makes a better and safer community for their families. And that's why they don't live in Nashville anymore.

In Nashville, the schools are about to be taken over by the state of Tennessee for failure of city leaders to properly and fairly educate every child under standards demanded by the No Child Left Behind Act. Schools in Memphis are under no such threat.

In Nashville, voters will soon approve an amendment to the city's charter to make English the official language of Metro business. Immigrants who do not speak English well enough will have to make do in emergencies and in receiving services for the taxpaying businesses they run.

In Nashville, the law enforcement and justice systems continue to receive complaints from African-Americans and people of Hispanic descent for unfair treatment -- from the planting of drugs on young people who give themselves up to pregnant women tortured under custody during childbirth.

In Nashville, supposedly progressive Democrats from the mayor to the congressman remain silent about abuses that would shock the national party and its presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

In Nashville, the city's treasure of intelligence, experise and leadership -- Vanderbilt University -- has been cut off politically from helping resolve the city's education woes and outrages in its law enforcement and justice systems.

A great city?

Not Nashville, yet.

I'm still for Obama but his supporters are not making it easy; hope will be valuable commodity

A confused reader of my blog thought my post praising the rationale behind a Tennessee newspaper's endorsement of Sen. John McCain meant that I am also supporting the GOP nominee for president.

I am not.

I endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president early in October.

I've not changed my mind, although I must admit I am increasingly not in love with my pick for the White House. Comments by Sen. Joe Biden on a terrorist/international threat and congressman Murtha's labeling of his own constituents as rednecks has left me less enthused about Obama.

And the exhortation by one of his chief economic advisers, Warren Buffett, for people to seek out their inner greed and invest now in the stock market was simply reckless and immoral. If Buffett is going to advise Obama on the economy, then he might as well recruit Rush Limbaugh for direction on tolerance.

Also, McCain's proposal to buy up to $300 billion in bad home mortgages would provide immediate relief to Americans in need and also be real help in turning around the stock market. Obama seems to be more tied to Wall Street fatcats in making his political future possible than McCain.

Outside of these significant shortcomings, Obama still is my choice. I believe we will need someone in office who will offer simple hope to people who are hurting, just as FDR did during the Great Depression. His fireside chats inspired a nation.

Contrary to popular history and opinion, however, FDR's policies did not rescue or revive the economy. World War II did. The stock market suffered significant losses in 1937, eight years after the 1929 crash and into FDR's second term.

Yet sometimes hope is all that keeps a nation going. Obama's call for us to be each other's keeper will need to be stressed over and over in our own Great Depression. And his tax plan will put money into the hands of people who will need it most to simply survive. McCain's plan gives the biggest breaks to those who already have enough.

Other policies and programs proposed by both candidates are not going to be possible. Health care reform will have to wait until at least 2011. The nation will not be able to afford it. But the nation will need the savings from an Iraq war that is ended by Obama earlier than later. The greatest threat to this nation is now from within, not without.

Perhaps best of all, Michelle Obama will be the greatest First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. Her sense of justice for every human being, including Hispanics subjected to ICE raids, is most keen and impressive.

So to the confused reader, don't be so extreme. We can be complimentary of one another. There is no need to hate or denigrate the other side simply because we disagree with their approach or endorsement.

For whomever wins the presidency Nov. 4, this nation will need to pull together and rally around. Stay clear-headed and be an American first, not a caustic partisan.

Credit card debt will be next shoe to drop in pushing U.S. economic fortunes further down

My mentor, the Rev. Joe Pat Breen, was recently in the self-checkout line at Kroger's behind a couple with children.

The man took out one credit card and tried swiping it through the payment machine.

Rejected.

He took out another credit card.

The same result.

Finally, he asked his wife for a card. And it worked.

The reason for this situation was obvious. The family had racked up so much debt on the first two cards that there was no longer any credit left. That's probably $5,000 in debt on each at 18 percent interest. And who knows how much is on the third card. So you're looking at $12,000 in debt on this family -- at least, with the high interest rate quickly boosting the amount owed.

The same scene is being repeated in grocery stores across the country. And it explains why American consumers are holding $4.4 trillion in personal debt.

The ongoing economic downturn is going to result in families filing for bankruptcy and defaulting on their credit card debt. And the same banks now getting $250 billion from the federal government in bailout money are going to be back before Congress and the Department of the Treasury asking for more.

Look for this economic shoe to drop during the holiday season, further depressing the buying season and sending the stock market down, down, down.

Finally, a bailout from Washington, D.C., will have to be aimed at helping the people first, not the next industry. If the people perish, so will this nation.

SunTrust Bank lines up for bailout at your expense

SunTrust Bank -- which is prominent financially in Tennessee and the South -- was one of 18 banks that lined up today for federal bailout assistance.

So far, the U.S. Treasury has purchased a financial interest in 27 U.S. banks, even though it is becoming increasingly apparent that these mega-billion-dollar-bailouts have made little difference in turning the stock market around here and across the globe.

And the credit markets have yet to really thaw, because many of these banks do not want to lend due to more of their home mortgages that will be going bad. Home values are expected to decline another 20 percent.

The question facing each of us is how do we make a statement about these bailouts that make a political difference. I do business with Bank of America, which also is one of those financial institutions that also sees it as our responsibility to bail out their bad decisions.

I'm going to quit doing business with it to make a statement. If you do business with SunTrust, your might consider doing the same.

Get your money out of stocks today

Today's mild stock market is providing a good opportunity to you as an investor to get your money out of these holdings and into cash or a fixed-income mutual fund.

The market's slide will resume after today, heading toward a 20-percent further decline in the Dow to 6300.

So get your money out now, or don't put any of your cash into the stock market.

Take this eye of the hurricane as an opportunity to secure those things most precious to you before the storm resumes.

Media bias: It's real, says ABC News journalist; but this ill goes way beyond liberal/conservative

When former CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg wrote a book earlier this decade revealing media bias toward conservatives, it was roundly ridiculed by his former colleagues.

I agreed with him, which ostracized me from my colleagues locally and nationally in the news media.

While the bias in the presidential election can be seen as for Obama and against McCain and particularly Sarah Palin, I believe it has evolved into a bias of elitists in the news media looking down on people who are NOT part of the journalists very narrow circle of experiences and friends.

Most journalists dislike -- particularly among decisionmakers -- people without titles. And if you didn't go to their alma mater or one of equal prestige, then you really are a leper. You are considered uneducated, not knowing what is best for you and your community. So let the journalists tell you.

I've seen this attitude in The Tennessean newsroom most greviously where I worked for a decade, and even in supposed close-to-the-people newsroom of Williamson A.M., its bureau in Franklin, TN. The humor-laden ridicule of the common people and people of faith in their readership was real and disturbing. Yes, there are some notable exceptions in both newsrooms. But the general attitudes there are indicative of the profession in general.

It is hard to write these things. I wish someone else would step forward to testify to this truth. But for the good of the people I love and respect in neighborhood and on Main Street, they need to know how they are viewed. And for the good of my profession to turn around its depressing fortunes, there must be a respect for the people supposedly being served.

A big part of the problem for The Tennessean's supposed leadership is that the people in charge come and go like the latest brand of breakfast cereal or Britney Spears' haircut. They make decisions based on marketing surveys, not knowing the people by getting out among them every day and listening. They don't really want to be among you, no matter what they write in their Sunday Issues' columns. Their decisions really are not to better serve you; profits come first.

The people making the decisions on what you read in your newspaper are mostly white and older. Yes, there are women now. But they also suffer from the same elitist virus.

As far as minorities, the Tennessean just a few months ago had all white people on its list of executives featured at the bottom of the editorial page. The addition recently of an African-American editorial page editor is merely a matter of black window dressing.

That editor has left no legacy beyond his own career of black journalism at The Tennessean. Consider that Nashville has an African-American population of 25% and two historically black universities. So what is happening? The answer is apparent. And that's why black journalists only stay at The Tennessean for a few years, then move on to places with more opportunity for their skills and respect for their experiences.

As far as the presidential elections, liberal bias has a lot to do with McCain and Palin not having the education pedigree and the right inside-the-beltway friends. They don't fit into the elitist crowd. And elitism is what the media generally is about.

On the conservative side, FOXNEWS is trying to deliver payback, not objectivity. But I have to give Bill O'Reilly credit for trying to give both sides, even if his is most impoverished. And the network does try and deliver dueling experts on news segments.

Pity Americans of Hispanic descent. We get no respect from either side, or much air time either. And when we do get noticed as on CNN, it features Hispanic political experts who are Republicans. Yet more than two-thirds of Hispanic voters are Democrats.

Media watchers say that we're headed toward newspapers as in the old days, officially labeled Democrat or Republican. And TV already is there, with MSNBC for liberals, FOX for conservatives, CNN(with the exception of Lou Dobbs) for liberals and NBC for liberals. CBS and ABC are only starting to go left.

Our profession must resist this temptation. It is an easy way out instead of just going out and getting to know real people and their concerns, joys and their heroics. And my profession should take heed from these comments by ABC's Michael S. Malone:

The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I've found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I've begun -- for the first time in my adult life -- to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was "a writer," because I couldn't bring myself to admit to a stranger that I'm a journalist.

He's right. It is increasingly an embarrassment to claim to be a journalist. To admit so is to unleash a torrent of complaints from real and good people outside our the elitist clique determining news coverage.

If I have to make a choice, I'll pick the real people outside my profession I am blessed to know. And I hope they'll pick me and my blog and reject a news media that has no desire to know or respect them.

Don't believe the myth sold about Nashville on Monday Night Football; Old South is alive and well here; children living, hurting under a 'Code Red'

If you are watching Monday Night Football later today, don't believe all the hype about Nashville being a great place.

That's an illusion -- of all wonderful on the outside. But inside, Nashville is a city in despicable decline when it comes to its most vulnerable citizens, particularly its children.

But the chamber of commerce and its lapdogs in the news media are hoping you don't notice. They've coined a p.r. term of "Code Blue" to make everything warm and fuzzy about the Titans and Nashville being a major league city and a great place for people to visit and spend their dollars.

In reality, it's Code Red here, particularly if you're a child needing a fair and adequate public education, a person of color seeking justice from the law enforcement community, parents seeking a way up the economic ladder or a family needing a safe and affordable place to live.

George Bailey would call Nashville a "Pottersville" instead of a "Bedford Falls". Old times are really not forgotten here. They're actually being repeated, because Nashville really is the Old South, not the new one.

As players, the Titans are great guys. So is their coach, Jeff Fisher. On the field, they make up a great team and have provided great entertainment to young and old alike.

But their owner, Bud Adams, has looted the city's coffers for his own profit in a one-sided deal that brought the Titans to Nashville from Houston. Officials there in Texas had gotten tired of Adams' outrageous demands that put his profit ahead of the city's fiscal well-being.

The current governor of Tennessee negotiated the one-sided deal to bring the Titans to Nashville when he was mayor. Phil Bredesen is a Democrat in name only. But many Republicans here were shocked at how much he abused the taxpayers in the Titans' deal.

City taxpayers -- before funding any other needs like schools and police -- must give $1 million annually to Adams for improvements to the quickly aging LP Field. Taxpayers also must give up more than $4 million a year on bonds sold to build the stadium. And Adams will soon make his contractual demand for $177 million in added improvements to the stadium.

Meanwhile, children here have been so poorly educated that the public schools here will soon be under state control for failing to meet standards under the No Child Left Behind Act. And the school district faces at least a $1 million shortfall in funding that will result in teacher layoffs and more crowded classrooms this school year.

But ol' Bud won't have to worry. He has the city under contract for his millions. Pity the children in Nashville. They need to get themselves a good attorney to receive their due.

One of the few brights spot here as far as Nashville being a progressive city is Vanderbilt University, a place I call "A City on a Hill." It is a place of great diversity in thought, language, healing and human beings. The intelligence contained in this place is formidable.

Yet Nashville's leadership -- led by the current governor when he was mayor -- has made it a point to keep Vanderbilt from having great influence on the city's direction. And that truth makes Nashville a shockingly backward place.

The evolution of African-Americans economically and politically has been stifled here. They represent 25 percent of Nashville's population.

And now people of Hispanic descent are being targeted by what is called the 287g deportation program. It is run by the local sheriff who makes the guy at Nottingham during Robin Hood's days look like Andy Taylor of Mayberry fame.

In July, law enforcement here arrested and tortured a pregnant Hispanic woman during and after her labor. He newborn son then was denied his mother's milk, as she was taken back to jail without even being allowed to express her milk for her child. Any mother knows the kind of pain breasts swollen with milk can deliver.

What was the mother's offense for which she was tortured? She illegally passed another auto in the slow lane on a four-lane road.

Homeowners of all colors and ethnicities also are being abused. The city doesn't have the money to correct storm drainage problems that leave more and more damage to personal property. And there won't be money for years to protect the American Dream of Nashvillians.

Tennessee's Capitol city truly is a violator of human rights, of citizens and non-citizens alike. You're not going to get a fair break from the powers that be and in news media coverage -- print and television -- unless you own an NFL or NHL team.

Watch the game tonight. But please do not bring spend your tourism dollars here or buy Nashville's country music product. Ask your organization not to hold its convention here. Only money, not morality, will change the minds of Nashville leaders to treat all the human beings here with dignity and equal consideration under the law.

Help the most vulnerable here -- living under a Code Red -- to finally be heard by speaking with your money and saying "no" to Code Blue.

Asian markets tumble; investors won't bite on sales pitch that stock prices are too low pass up

Asian markets in Japan and China lost 6.4 percent and 12 percent of their values today respectively, as consumers rejected the sales pitch by so-called financial experts that stock prices were too low to pass up.

Advisers over there and Wall Street fatcats over here have been trying to peddle the myth that an imminent bull market is here and a bottom has been reached on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. They say consumers should buy up stocks now and get some great bargains.

Don't believe them. The Asian markets' performance today shows a bottom has not been reached. The bargains out there will get even more attractive for the investor with discretion. And more truthful financial analysts are predicting a 20-percent drop in the Dow before the year is out.

Some analysts also are shouting that you should get in the market now so you won't miss out on the immediate, big gains when stocks turn around. But you have plenty of time to wait. The market really won't start upward for good until February or March and even then it will be very slowly.

A poor holiday buying season, an Obama victory Nov. 4 and very poor fourth quarter earnings for corporations will keep the Dow and the financial markets down for a while.

Japanese and Chinese investors have been hit much harder by the financial turmoil than us. Japan has been in a 15-year recession, which has wiped out a lot of personal retirement and other savings. The Nikkei average has now hit a 26-year low.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 12 percent of its value today despite a Chinese economy still growing with 9.5 gross national product in its latest quarter. In Shanghai, where trading volume in that market is much less, stocks were off almost 4 percent.

So don't fall for the sales pitch. Keep your money on the sidelines, or get it into cash or a fixed income mutual fund before the next shoe drops on Wall Street. Please don't get greedy. That's what got this nation in this mess in the first place.

A nun of the world: Death of Sister Emmanuelle is lesson for us all in how to live a very Godly life

There are saints among us -- living, sinning but still taking steps forward to make the world a better place for all of us ... particularly the most vulnerable.

And so it was with a woman called Sister Emmanuelle, a nun who became an icon in France for her commitment to the most impoverished in the slums of Cairo. She even lived there, established coalition to provide jobs and use of the neighborhoods most available resource -- animal manure -- to sell to the public as miraculous fertilizer ... no pun intended.

She stood alone initially, and prospered by faith and fortitude.

With the income from fertilizer sales, hospitals and schools were built. And the children without a future there found one, thanks to a simple nun with a heroic heart.

She reminds me of my mentor, the Rev. Joe Pat Breen, pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church in Nashville. Father Breen established a new Catholic church in Nashville by himself -- without help of the diocese -- for the most vulnerable and abused here. Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville is now a beacon hope and faith, besides the largest Catholic church in Tennessee.

People such as Father Breen and Sister Emmanuelle see things as they are, not as strict Catholic doctrine demands it be. And the two seemed to agree on at least one issue of the poor that conflicted with Vatican policy.

Consider this passage from a New York Times profile:

Such energetic candor always characterized Sister Emmanuelle, who was known to favor allowing priests to marry, who was benignly indifferent to homosexuality and who wrote to Pope John Paul II in defense of the use of contraceptive pills, telling him about the slum-dwelling Egyptian girls who were marrying as young as 12 and having babies every year.

It was a characteristic that endeared her to the French; last year, Le Journal du Dimanche named her the nation’s fourth most popular person behind the former tennis player Yannick Noah, the soccer star Zinedine Zidane and the actress Mimie Mathy.

Father Breen has been a long-time advocate for married priests, because the flock needs shepherds who have time for their needs. And it needs more priests to bring those sheep that have strayed back to safety and love. For his compassion and honesty, however, Father Breen was silenced by the previous bishop in Nashville.

In salute to her, you can buy Sister Emmanuelle's new book, "Confessions of a Nun", published by Flammarion. It was released Friday following her recent death at 99 years of age.

In salute to someone such as her, you can still contribute to pay off the debt of Our Lady's that Father Breen has taken upon himself and his health at 73 years of age. Go to www.stedward.org to find out how to give.

Giving amid so much want distinguished Sister Emmanuelle and made her a saint among the French people and poor of Cairo. Tell her story at your church and in your household to encourage others to follow in her path to help the poor and their children among us help themselves.

T.J. Hughley's new CNN political show bombs; why can't George Lopez get his own Sunday program? Huckabee impresses with his own FOXNEWS show

For some reason, comedian T.J. Hughley was tabbed to host a Sunday night political TV show on CNN.

After tonight's debut, the reason for his selection still defies any logic or rationale.

Hughley bombed with attempts at humor that were simply not funny, starting with a monologue about Sen. Barack Obama's cholesterol rate and a skit featuring a "Freddie Mac", who turned out to be a street pimp. Give me Dave Chappelle any day, no matter his degree of soberness.

My wife and I finally had to turn the channel to something with more riveting action -- the turtle-like World Series between two very forgettable teams ... sorry fans of the Phillies and Rays.

So who picks whom gets to be on television commenting on politics? Hughley's obviously is the wrong choice, even if an African-American is about to become president. Hughley's record of TV already is a poor one. His ABC-TV series bombed earlier this decade.

Why can't comedian George Lopez get a show on CNN? His series ran for several series and made it into syndication. And there's a big advantage he has over Hughley: Lopez is actually funny.

Or get somebody like former Gov. Mike Huckabee. His Sunday night show on FOXNEWS is at least intelligent. And the former GOP presidential candidate plays a mean guitar and invites entertainers to play along and close his show. Ricky Skaggs was tonight's musical guest. Skaggs did great, even endorsing Huckabee's sentiment that all of us should be able to disagree on political solutions and still believe the other loves America.

But there's one reason why someone like Huckabee wouldn't make it on CNN: he's too conservative. And there's only room for Lou Dobbs. So CNN made the politically and ideologically correct choice for its Sunday lineup with Hughley, leaving viewers to fend for themselves when it came to entertainment and information.

Gee, if only Dennis Kucinich played the harmonica.

While Hughley may have bombed as a political analyst/entertainer, he has succeeded as a way to get Americans to go to bed early to handle Monday mornings.

Eight people including four children killed in Syrian village; U.S. military has yet to comment on charge it raided target with gunfire and missiles

The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed U.S. military official, reports that American forces raided a village five miles inside Syria -- killing four children.

AP's story reads:

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression."

A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.

The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

A Syrian government statement said the helicopters attacked the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside, the statement said.

The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.

The New York Times offers much less information. It reports this evening that eight construction workers were killed at a Syrian village on the Iraqi border. But The Times says that the U.S. military has yet to comment. The Times also says the deaths were due to American shelling, not a raid across the Syrian border.

I'll provide more updates as they come in.

The worst is yet to come, says eagle-eyed economist who predicted downturn; more taxpayer money will be needed for bailouts

Economist Nouriel Roubini -- a New York University professor who predicted the current economic turmoil and came out against the bailout of Wall Street -- tells the Financial Times of London what he sees for our future.

And it is frightening.

"What does Roubini think is going to happen next? Rather worryingly, in London last Thursday he predicted that hundreds of hedge funds will go bust and stock markets may soon have to shut – perhaps for as long as a week – in order to stem the panic selling now sweeping the world."

Why is he so down on the future? Because he is not tied to making money off you through encouraging investment now in the stock market. And the financial markets are going to decline another 20 percent in value.

He also knows that South Korea, Pakistan, Iceland and a few other countries cannot afford to pay off their debts. Roubini has simply added up the facts and come up to his conclusion of a catastrophe. And the facts make his critics angry -- at him.

The Financial Times wrote:

Others who claimed the economy would escape a recession had been swept up in “a critical euphoria and mania, an irrational exuberance”, he said. And many financial pundits, he believes, were just talking up their own vested interests. “I might be right or wrong, but I have never traded, bought or sold a single security in my life. I am trying to be as objective as I can.”

What does his objectivity tell him now? No end is yet in sight to the crisis.

“Every time there has been a severe crisis in the last six months, people have said this is the catastrophic event that signals the bottom. They said it after Bear Stearns, after Fannie and Freddie, after AIG [the giant US insurer that had to be rescued], and after [the $700 billion bailout plan]. Each time they have called the bottom, and the bottom has not been reached.”

Roubini sees even larger government bailouts of global markets around the world. And that means help to you and your problems will have to be put on the backburner again.

It's a shame. And it is proof that you should not listen to anyone on television or in the newspaper or on radio giving advice. Get in cash and ride out the storm that Roubini sees lasting a lot longer here and around the world.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5014463.ece

Una boda dos: A wedding II

Yesterday's wedding at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville was conducted in English.

It was done so out of courtesy to the groom and his family, good Tennessee folks who happen to be English-speaking people of a different culture.

David is a very profitable businessman who travels around the world. And on one stop in Bogota, Colombia, his eyes befell a beauty named Rocio -- another professional who worked in a travel agency.

Love is the universal language, and somehow they communicated. She knows English because of the demands of her profession, but she does not readily speak it. You see I'm the same way with Spanish. I know a lot of it. But it is still intimidating to speak it to someone who has been doing so all their lives. And then they speak so quickly. Que lastima!

Love for themselves, and God, however, brought David and Rocio yesterday to Our Lady's. And their wedding was beautiful.

Afterward, I told Father Fernando Garcia, pastor of Our Lady's and a fellow Colombian, that the wedding represented the future of Nashville and this nation. Despite all the politics and bigotry of elected leaders like Councilman Eric Crafton and congressperson Marsha Blackburn, love and God would triumph ultimately.

These politicos would demand everyone only speak English. But if Nashville and this nation are to be prosperous and save themselves from the ongoing economic downturn, they had better be open to different languages. China, the world's new economic power with a GDP at 9.5 percent, will soon be the largest English-speaking nation in the world.

Why? They want two languages spoken by their government and people because that means businessmen like David will be more comfortable when they come and make big business deals to employ more Chinese citizens. They want two languages spoken by their government and people because that means their children will be able to find high-paying jobs overseas and send the money back home.

To paraphrase Disney, it should be a small world afterall. And yesterday at the wedding, we learned that not all from Colombia is negative and drug-releated despite news media portrayals. Father Fernando and Rocio proved that.

The joining of David and Rocio pointed to the wonderful American future of people from different places and cultures joining and raising families of new citizens who have the great advantage of two languages and cultures in the same household. Yet their Americanism will always previal. It always has been that way and it always will be. My family's heritage proves that.

We are Americans first.

Marriages like those of David and Rocio will be more frequent as the number of Americans of Hispanic descent through births in this nation multiplies to 30 percent of the U.S. population by 2050. And despite Crafton and Blackburn, more and more people of different cultures and languages will discover the good and God in one another.

And love.

Dems play dangerous with abortion, candidates

The New York Times reports that the Democratic National Committee is actively supporting and financing the candidacies of 12 anti-choice candidates in congressional races against Republicans.

Single-issue candidates are the problem in finding compromise that preserves the doctor/patient relationship first over politics and religion. To read that the DNC is now pushing such candidates leaves the issue even further from resolution or common ground that children saved in the womb must also be saved with government spending and programs every moment after birth.

Further, the support of such Democrats only ensures that the people of Matthew 25 will not be supported. And even if the House has an overwhelmingly Democratic majority in the new year, it will not be one dedicated to the national party ideals and initiatives.

Take it from someone who lives in the South. Democratic leaders here cut hundreds of thousands of people off Medicaid and promote punitive programs against immigrant human beings. They are more Republican than Democrat. Elected leaders in Tennessee from the governor on down don't even mention Sen. Barack Obama, except to criticize him for not spending more time in Walmart.

Bringing more of such Democrats to Washington does not ensure the promotion of Democratic Party ideals championed by the late great Bobby Kennedy or the change promised by Obama. These candidates ensure more division and lack of vision to lead this nation beyond greed first to people first and more.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/us/politics/26abortion.html

Blue Cross/Blue Shield putting Tennesseans at risk

Just as on Wall Street, greed rules in health care that is supposed to save lives first.

Instead, profit-making dominates. With the passage of prescription health care coverage for seniors two or so years ago, the pharmeceutical companies were able to keep cheaper Canadian drugs from being included in eligiblity for the program. That's because U.S. Sen. Bill Frist as Senate Majority Leader insisted so. His Hippocratic Oath of first do no harm did not count with him then.

Now we have greed interrupting the needed health care for hundreds of thousands of people in west Tennessee, including the state's biggest city, Memphis. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee won't negotiate a new deal with health care providers(hospitals, doctors, specialists) there without getting more money.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield is supposed to be a non-profit entity. But that does not keep it from building a $300 million dollar corporate headquarters on a scenic hill to treat its high-paid executives to great views and big salaries. And now they want even more money. Perhaps they'll use the loot health care providers must fork over for jacuzzis in every office and a bar in every foyer. But the money sure isn't to lower your health insurance premiums or to provide better care.

Greed kills everything it touches. And now hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans who need medical help will be shifted from their doctors and specialists who have been treating them for years because Blue Cross/Blue Shield is first a pirate organization out for more treasure.

As someone who has seen the same specialist for leukemia that past three years, I can tell you that seeing the same doctor is critical to maintaining health and the continuity of treatment.

Next time you look for a health care insurance, be sure to remember Blue Cross/Blue Shield and its real priorities of greed first.

To read more, go to: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/26/tenncare-providers-critical/

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. bombs Syrian villages

Just when we were told that things are calming down in Iraq, U.S. helicopters today have raided, bombed and killed civilians in a village in Syria, state TV there reports along with eyewitnesses.

The implications for U.S. foreign policy are bad. Bombing another country without provocation -- even if the villages are along the Iraqi border -- just damages the image of this nation even more.

Stay tuned to this blog for further updates.

The most popular recipe sweeping the nation

You don't usually find a recipe maintain a Top 10 ranking on the most-viewed stories on The New York Times' website, but this past week has been an exception.

It looks great. So I'm going to share it with you. Take a look and a try.


By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

You can use Yukon golds, fingerlings or red bliss potatoes for this warm, creamy salad. The goat cheese melts into the dressing when you toss it with the hot potatoes.

This series offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day. Produce, seasonal and locally grown when possible, and a well-stocked pantry are the linchpins of a good diet, and accordingly, each week’s recipes will revolve around a particular type of produce or a pantry item. This is food that is vibrant and light, full of nutrients but by no means ascetic, fun to cook and a pleasure to eat.

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 small or medium garlic clove, minced or pureed

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or for a low-fat dressing use 1/4 cup low-fat yogurt or buttermilk and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold, fingerling or red bliss potatoes

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion (to taste), rinsed with cold water and drained

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 ounces soft goat cheese

2 to 3 sage leaves, cut in thin slivers (optional)

1. Make the dressing. Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic. Whisk in the olive oil or the yogurt and olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings, Set aside.

2. Scrub the potatoes and cut into 3/4-inch dice if large. If using fingerlings cut in 3/4 inch slices. Steam above 1 inch of boiling water until tender but not mushy, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss while hot in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste, the onions, parsley, goat cheese, and the dressing. Sprinkle the sage over the top and serve.

Yield: Serves 6

Advance preparation: You can make the dressing several hours before making the salad.

Status quo will remain at General Assembly but subsequent vote for Speaker's job will determine fate for Tennesseans in growing budget crisis

The dean of Tennessee Capitol Hill reporters, Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News- Sentinel, sees status quo in General Assembly leadership after dust settles after Nov. 4.

That means Sen. Ron Ramsey remaining lieutenant governor and head of the Senate. It also means a Democratic majority in the House. That means a Democratic -- probably current speaker Jimmy Naifeh will remain in charge. He, however, is being challenged for that job by fellow Democrat Gary Odom, who is the House Majority Leader.

Whomever wins the speaker's job will determine whether Gov. Phil Bredesen gets to wield an ax to the state budgets and to the lives of the most vulnerable in this state. Tennessee expects at least a $600 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year when the General Assmebly opens its new session in January. Naifeh has been a rubber stamp for anything Bredesen proposes.

So stay tuned. The election that really affects your lives and taxes is here in state legislative races and the subsequent House Speaker's election.

To read more, go to: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/26/close-calls-loom-in-legislative-races/

News-Sentinel reasonably comes out for McCain

The Knoxville News-Sentinel -- the best newspaper in Tennessee -- today endorsed Sen. John McCain for president.

The endorsement was well-written and quite moderate in nature. It gave Sen. Barack Obama a lot of credit. But in the end, this point is what swayed its endorsement:

The importance of maintaining the checks and balances of divided government is, in the end, the best argument for John McCain, and it is on this basis that he receives our endorsement. McCain, if he shakes loose the party shackles at the end of the campaign and fills the White House with his fierce independent spirit, can be a president that begins to bring this nation together. He will be forced to work in a bipartisan government, and that is what America needs now more than anything.

That's sound reasoning. The Memphis Commercial-Appeal and The Tennessean in Nashville endorsed Obama. The Tennessean, which likes to portray itself as a progressive, watchdog influence, is actually the opposite -- as is Nashville. Obama and the newspaper are exactly opposite when it comes to actual action behind the rhetoric.

To read more of what a reasonable endorsement sounds like, go to: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/26/east-tennessee-is-mccain-country/

McCain narrowing Obama's lead nationally

Sen. John McCain has narrowed Sen. Barack Obama's lead to 3 percentage points, according to pollster John Zogby.

I worked with Zogby in upstate New York and know of his competency. In addition, he accurately predicted the historic 2000 presidential race. So he has the credentials.

Saturday Night Live poked great fun last night at the growing confidence of the Obama campaign in a landslide victory Nov. 4. That's dangerous stuff for a candidate who had trouble closing out a victory during the Democratic presidential primaries. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton came close to coming back and beating Obama.

To read more about what Zogby says, go to: http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1611

Big Insurance wants in on tax money giveaway

It's hard to believe, but federal officials are worried that the $700 billion that Congress gave them to rescue Wall Street fatcats may not be enough.

I'm not kidding. This cruel joke has a new punch line in insurance companies now crying to the U.S. Treasury that it needs stock in their firms purchased by the American taxpayer. That's because the insurance companies bought into the nation's bad homes loans, too, for quick profit.

The Treasury just got finished buying $250 billion in stock in nine American banks, including Bank of America which just had finished purchasing an ailing financial institution. So one week it bought up an institution only to then turn into a beggar the following one, as long as taxpayers were picking up the bill.

Yet now these banks are refusing to loan money to ease the credit crunch in return for all the money the federal government flooded into them. You'd think Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would have asked for a guarantee to lend from these banks before investing in them. But no, like former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, he expected free market forces to clean out the garbage. They didn't. And they won't now without new, onerous regulatory demands.

But King Henry isn't keen on bothering his brethren. Instead, he is now planning to invest your money into the livelihoods of these insurance executives who made bad decisions and put greed first. More industries are preparing to line up for a handout. And your congressional representatives -- Democrats and Republicans -- have given him blanket authority to do so, like that afforded a monarch.

Our founding fathers would be shocked.

Like Britney Spears in her love life, Secretary Paulson just can't say "no" to his own kind.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells AP that an economic stimulus plan putting your own money back into your own hands is not politically possible this year. You'll just have to wait until all the fatcats of Wall Street, the banks, the automakers and now the insurers are rescued.

Your loss of half of your retirement or other savings don't matter. Neither does the failure of federal actions to turn around Wall Street fortunes or those of the economy. Tens of thousands of people continue to be laid off. Home foreclosures mount as more and more families are forced to live out of their cars. Demand at food banks is skyrocketing.

This tragic list goes on and on, as does the line of those who created this financial mess crying to be rescued ahead of you with your money. And now, the Treasury may fully spend the $700 billion sooner than expected.

That means it'll be asking for more as you get along with less.

To read on for more specifics, go to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122487244838367321.html

Want to add 14 more hours to your life each year?

If you added up all the time you waste waiting for your computer to load at home and work, it would be equal to about 14 hours a year.

Now some folks turn on the computer and then walk off to do something else. Some of us just turn our attention to the television or our pet. Too many of us, however, just sit there stressed out, watching the machine load everything from anti-virus software to Microsoft Office. And it always seems to take longer each time.

Sensing our stress in a a very stressful time economically and culturally, computer markers now are preparing to unveil machines that take only 30 seconds to load and then be ready for e-mail and other uses.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/technology/26boot.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

But there is a down side. Bosses will be expecting you to use that extra time to do even more work than you are supposed to. Your pet may get real lonely and take it out on you by having an accident on the carpet.

Such is the price of progress. And saving time in our fast-lives is a real gift to cherish. Come brave, new world!

Like after a hurricane, the American people are seeing why their nation is so ugily messed up

A story in the Financial Times provides even more evidence about why bailouts are first passed for Wall Street fatcats, why families being kicked out of their homes are not rescued and why the American people are left with such poor choices for president Nov. 4.

This story is incredibly outrageous and depressing. And it demonstrates why the American people have no trust in their government or its officials. It also is representative of why Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain will not bring change to Washington.

You can read the story here at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/35d28f90-9f13-11dd-98bd-000077b07658.html

First, however, let me set the scene and its main player -- greed.

Republicans and Democrats are part of the problem. And Sen. Barack Obama used this vehicle for greed to make his fortune. So did Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Clinton along with Lynne Cheney. So have members of the news media including Bob Woodward and Gwen Ifill besides former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Every institution and its players in this nation are tied to this greed and its system (and its unofficial chief executive officer, a politco, lawyer, book agent) It serves their personal needs first ahead of the nation. The conflicts of interest are shocking.

And all this scandalous mess revolves around selling big-dollar books to make personal fortunes for all these people with titles and power derived from your trust and votes.

We the American people are being played for suckers while these folks rake in big bucks. Meanwhile, your retirement and other savings are gutted by 50 percent or more through the latest downturn. They can afford it. We can't.

Perhaps we can overlook the excesses of people like Obama and the Clintons because they promote the need to take care of each other as brothers and sisters. They also push social programs to do so.

But this system that promotes greed over any other human characteristic ultimately hurts the poor and vulnerable, too, as the current downturn will show as it worsens.

While the Financial Times article is a most worthy read, it also is a sickening one as to how far this nation has fallen in serving your needs first. As after a hurricane, the carnage left on a beach shows some of the ugliness we can't see below the beautiful ocean.

Tennessee faces worst fiscal situation in nation; a state income tax must be enacted in new year

The Wall Street Journal reports that the state of Tennessee has the second worst drop in sales tax collections in the third quarter behind the state of Washington.

But Tennessee's situation is far worse than Washington. That state has an income tax to fall back on, and people hurting will ultimately pay less of their incomes back to the government. It can be raised to only touch those making more and able to pay.

Teneessee's reliance on sales tax, however, means everyone pays the same no matter how much they are hurting. That's unfair. And now it really can't be raised politically and economically. So deep cuts into the bone of government must follow.

Ultimately, that's price of cowardice and lack of integrity by radio talk show hosts and state leaders -- most prominently Gov. Phil Bredesen -- we the people must pay.

Bredesen campaigned twice for governor on the state not needing an income tax. He put getting into elected office his first priority over what was right -- a trademark of his political career. And he still calls himself a Democrat, and even touted himself as worthy of being Sen. Barack Obama's runningmate.

He is representative of the amount of political delusion and deception in Tennessee. And it's why the hard times coming to America are going to be even worse here.

A state income tax would reduce the tax bill for two-thirds of Tennesseans. It would also allow for the sales tax to be removed from food, something Bredesen has opposed.

The state faces a $600 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year when the General Assembly returns in January. And that is a conservative estimate, not taking into account a Christmas buying season that will be the worst in modern history because of growing layoffs and fear of people to spend.

Tennessee is one of 27 states considered to now be in the grips of a deep recession.

Here is what the Wall Street Journal -- a conservative publication -- sees for Tennessee's future:

The decline in state tax receipts has potentially broad economic significance. The federal government is expected to keep spending relatively steady to prop up the failing economy. But states generally have rules requiring balanced budgets, and so must either cut spending or raise taxes -- both the opposite of what many economists, including some deficit hawks, say is needed during the current economic downturn.

In addition, states often take measures that exacerbate the difficulties created by the recession, such as tightening Medicaid eligibility at a time when workers lose their jobs and health insurance.

Cuts in state spending "will take demand out of the overall economy and worsen the economic downturn," said Nicholas Johnson, co-author of the Center's new paper and director of the group's State Fiscal Project. "Furloughing teachers, or cutting reimbursements to Medicaid providers, or cutting grants to nonprofit social-service providers or raising tuition at public colleges, these are all things that take dollars out of families' pockets, and that's money they can't spend in their local economies."

So get ready for higher property taxes on your homes that are declining in value.

Get ready for teachers to be laid off in your child's school and larger classes sizes because the state of Tennessee must reduce the share of local aid it delivers to counties.

Be ready to possibly take on a parttime job and eating out less at restaurants or going to fewer Predators' games.

After your life and hopes get whipsawed, send a "thank you" note to Gov. Bredesen and his political cronies for failing to show the courage to do the right thing and enact a state income tax.

To read more, go to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122488665240868147.html

Joe the Plumber vs Warren Buffett: I pick Joe

Warren Buffett -- a mega-billionaire -- says invest in the stock market and pursue your inner greed.

Joe the Plumber -- a new political icon on the 2008 presidential campaign -- says he is not going to put any of his money in the stock market. The economy here and across the globe are hurting. And analysts on TV can agree with each other.

Who is right?

Joe the Plumber.

Buffett is a hypocrite, despite being a very rich one. And it doesn't build my confidence in Sen. Obama that Buffett is one of his close economic advisors. This guy is a big part of the problem that brought economic ruin to this nation.

Yet Buffett refuses to change his tune. He says he is buying into the market, and says the rest of us should follow him. But he does not buy into the market like you and me.

He buys regular common stock like us, but only if he gets a deal from the company he's investing in for getting its priority stock that pays a 10 percent dividend each quarter. We can't do that, because we're not billionaires.

So if the common stock price per share falls and his investment money takes a hit, he makes up that loss with the preferred stock and its 10 percent dividend each quarter. He can't lose.

But the rest of are, in following his advice and those of other so-called experts who tell us to get into the market because stock valuations are so low.

Don't believe them. There still is a 20 percent correction coming in the stock market. It already has corrected itself by an incredible 50 percent. Those valuations are going even lower.

Don't buy now. Wait until February or March 2009 and buy in at the bottom. Along with Joe.

Protecting your money: Get your pension out of corporate hands; this retirement money also at risk in downturn from coming bankruptcies

If you no longer are employed by your company and/or are retired, you need to get your pension plan into your own hands and a more conservative investment strategy.

The current financial market downturn has reduced the nation's pension plans from being overfunded by 9 percent to underfunded by 8 percent. That's because these companies invest these monies primarily in the stock market for maximum return.

Any money they make above the needed obligation to retired employees can be used in other parts of company operations and profits.

A pension technically is a gift from the company. And a gift can be taken back because the company is the only one contributing to it. A pension plan should not be confused with a 401k plan which you contribute to for retirement. Companies used to only have pensions for retirees. Now 401ks are more prevalent.

If you retire or leave a company that has a pension, you have the right to remove the money from the company and get into your own hands ... if the pension fund plan is written to allow so.

Or you can leave it with the company and have its future compromised by the investment of those monies or the operation of the company in down economic times.


WNY NOW?

The company I used to work for, Gannett Co. Inc., never let us employees know how much money we had in our pensions or how much was regularly contributed. You can draw your conclusions why. So I got my pension out last summer along with that of my wife.

But when I tried to get my pension money out of The Daily Oklahoman, I was told plan rules did not allow for withdrawl until age 65. Gannett's rules did. The Oklahoman is owned by a private company; Gannett is a public one.

Contact your company and ask for a rollover of your pension money into an IRA account. You'll have to fill out paperwork and fax it back in.

A check for the money should NOT be made out to you but to the bank or financial company that will be creating the IRA that will hold your money. You don't get to withdrawl and spend it without severe tax penalty until you are 65. But you will have it in your hands to invest and protect as you choose.

There is fear of a number of large corporate bankruptcies in the ongoing downturn expected to last through 2010. Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, companies have the power to negate, for instance, union agreements with employees covering wages and work conditions.

In a Chapter 7 liquidation of the company, pension holders would have to fight over remaining assets with other debtors. Some of those creditors may have a priority claim to the money over pension holders. That means you get what is left, which could be 20 cents on the dollar of what you should have gotten.

I've witnessed these tragic things in covering federal bankruptcy court for 10 years as a reporter during the oil bust in Oklahoma during the 1980s.


PROTECTION, SORT OF

Some but not all pension funds are backed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federally created entity. Companies pay insurance premiums to be under the plan and thus have to obey its rules protecting workers' plans in return for insurance securing pension payments.

PBGC, however, has an $11 billion deficit to pay off plans. That's not good for 44 million American workers. But if a participating company plans to terminate a plan, it must give beneficiaries 60-day notice so you can get your money. But if it files for bankruptcy, all guarantees are off. PBGC has to fight for all monies including pension fund assets with other creditors. A 100 percent return will not be possible.

So you should check with the company holding your pension to see if it has some protection by the PBGC. It counsels:

The easiest way is to ask your employer or plan administrator for a copy of the “Summary Plan Description,” or SPD. The SPD will state whether your plan is covered by the PBGC program.

Although PBGC insures most defined benefit plans, some are not covered. For example, plans offered by “professional service employers” (such as doctors and lawyers) with fewer than 26 employees, by church groups or by federal, state or local governments usually are not insured.

How can I find out if my pension plan is underfunded?

You have a legal right to obtain information about your plan’s funding by requesting the information in writing from your plan administrator.

Protecting your money is not getting easier. It takes a lot of work. But you'll feel a lot better after securing it in your hands and out of companies with other priorities besides your retirement and well-being.

How bad will it get? New report says real bad

A new report points to a national unemployment rate of 10% by 2010 with continuing job losses for the next two years at least.

The Jerome Levy Forecasting Center at Bard College has been accurate in forecasting this recession and its severity.

It now adds that home values will drop another 20%, which will turn more loans held by banks bad. That's why the banks have been unwilling to loan money despite being bailed out by the federal government.

We are on the verge of a Great Depression. The signs are clear. Our lives will never be the same. And so many people around us will be hurting.

The economy will be whipsawed by deflation. Political leaders will make excuses as conditions continue to decline. Republicans will regain seats in Congress in 2010. A President Obama will be blocked in making any meaningful change. Health care will not be more accessible or affordable.

Save every dollar you can now. Make as many new friends as possible; you're going to need them. If your assets are in cash, keep them there. And start praying more often and bring your life closer to God for wisdom and direction.

To read more, go to: http://norris.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/united-panic/?hp

Who has the best plan to turn around Wall Street? It's McCain in buying up bad home mortgages

There are three people I trust when watching CNBC.

Mark Haines.

Rick Santelli.

And now Dylan Radigan.

He says that the stock market will not recover until the debt problem is resolved in this nation. And that problem is currently contained in home mortgages and foreclosures. That's also where most of the suffering is on Main Street.

Of the presidential candidates, only Sen. John McCain has a plan to buy up those mortgages held by American citizens. As far as immediate economic relief, McCain is offering the best hope.

I've endorsed Sen. Obama for president for what the nation faces in the future, not now. I also like his tax plan to give relief to the middle class. They'll need that money next year.

But for what ails the stock market and the economy now, McCain is the best candidate with his loan buyback plan. If McCain wins Nov. 4, he will bring hope, too.

Market plunges more than 400 points; it's headed to 7500 and even lower over next several days

The Dow Jones Industrial Average at this moment is down 400 points following a selloff in the Asian markets overnight that wiped out 10 percent of the value of Nikkei average in Japan.

An increasing number of analysts see this fall positively and negatively. The 400-point drop is viewed as the market seeking a permanent bottom. On the negative side, the final bottom may 1,000 to 2,000 points away on the Dow. That means the unthinkable -- a Dow trading as low as 6300 when it was above 14,000 just last summer.

That's more than a 50 percent correction. Incredible. People will have lost 50 percent of the value of their investments. And that's a tragedy.

What do you do for now? You must determine whether you are going to need the money you lost for at least the next year. If you're not, then leave the money in the stock market. If you are, then you're faced with selling into a downturn. That's not the best situation. But if you sell today and get into cash, you will finally be protecting your money from the damning guesses of supposed experts.

Some analysts say that once the bottom is reached -- perhaps next week -- then there will be a dramatic rally as has never been seen. They are wrong. Investor confidence will be busted by growing layoffs, a poor Christmas buying season and an Obama victory Nov. 4. It means higher taxes on investment profits.

So those are the poor choices for your money in a historic market that also is tragic for mom and pop on Main Street.

Markets preparing for worst day this year

Hedge funds forced to sell their stock positions has driven Dow and S&P futures down this morning to the limit allowed by regulators, meaning the market is on the cusp of losing at least 8 percent of its value today.

That's a whopping loss added to what investors already have experienced in just a couple of months. The Dow will trade significantly below 8000 and closer to 7500.

As far as a place for a good investment, the stock market will remain a dead zone.

Japanese markets declined 10 percent overnight. There is no reason our markets today will not do the same.

Habitat protestors make good point in showdown over big development in north Nashville

The Metro Planning Commission took the right step today in approving a controversial Habitat for Humanity development in north Nashville.

But the vote should not be recognized as a victory for affordable housing and the poor. A big development crammed into existing neighborhoods and impacting the quality of life is not right when so many other areas of Nashville without many minority residents could be home to the working poor.

Metro would have been successfully sued for denying the application. It just got sacked with a judgment for denying the location of a rehab center for people recovering from substance abuse.

But Metro Councilman Michael Craddock said he was shocked by the lack of cooperation from Habitat officials in trying to resolve issues with protesting neighbors in this predominantly African-American area.

Residents rightly protested the potential increase in congestion and crime with a development that could increase to more than 300 homes. And they rightly cited discrimination, that their area always is the only place to locate these developments.

If they are so right for a city of believers, then why won't other areas of Nashville welcome them?

We know why. It's the same reason landfills are located in areas predominated by minorities. It's the same reason why the quality of water and the environment are always compromised.

Residents may have lost tonight. But they made an important point to a supposedly progressive city and its leaders. Things must change, and minority homeowners and taxpayers must no longer bear the sole burden for those most in need.

BREAKING NEWS: Metro enacts hiring freeze, plans for 3 percent in cutbacks; reports due next month

WSMV Channel 4 reports tonight that Metro Nashville government has enacted a hiring freeze on its workforce of 8,000 people, excluding fire and police.

Sales tax collections are down in the current fiscal year. Metro Schools has been notified that it faces a $1 million downturn in budget revenues so far, putting teacher numbers and programs at risk in the current school year.

The state of Tennessee faces a potential $600 million deficit in the current fiscal year. That will mean less state aid for local governments, including schools.

Catholic bishops in Kansas and Missouri should be reprimanded for telling believers to vote against Obama; IRS should remove tax status for dioceses

Catholic bishops responsible for providing balanced moral direction to their flocks in Kansas and Missouri should be publicly reprimanded by the Vatican for obviously telling believers to vote against Sen. Barack Obama Nov. 4

And the dioceses should have their tax exempt status removed for the bishops uncalled for intervention in American politics.

In a pastoral letter Sept. 12 to parishes, the Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann, archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas and the Most Rev. Robert W. Finn, bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, directed believers:

"Could a Catholic in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports legalized abortion when there is a choice of another candidate who does not support abortion or any other intrinsically evil policy?

"Could a voter’s preference for the candidate’s positions on the pursuit of peace, economic policies benefiting the poor, support for universal health care, a more just immigration policy, etc. overcome a candidate’s support for legalized abortion?

"In such a case, the Catholic voter must ask and answer the question: What could possibly be a proportionate reason for the more than 45 million children killed by abortion in the past 35 years?

"Personally, we cannot conceive of such a proportionate reason."

The inference is direct. Your spiritual leaders cannot conceive of a reason that you would vote for a candidate who supports choice compared to one who does not. Other moral implications for the people of Matthew 25 -- the poor, the sick, the stranger, the imprisoned are not comparable in their opinion.

And the candidate they cannot conceive of a Catholic voting for is Sen. Obama.

To read the entire letter, go to: http://www.diocese-kcsj.org/_docs/JointPastoral-Moral-Cons-09-08.pdf

In a related matter, Religion News Service reports that a church-state watchdog group has asked the IRS to review the tax exempt status of the Diocese of Patterson, N.J., after the bishop there compared Sen. Obama to King Herod in a column written for the diocese's newspaper.

What Catholic would want to vote for King Herod for president? The inference is clear. Don't vote for Sen. Obama.

To read more, go to: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-10-22-irs-catholic-obama_N.htm

These bishops should be ashamed of themselves. They acutally are more businessmen than shepherds. Donald Trump should be them in Christmas plays. The case for the people of Matthew 25 and the cause of life is just as strong as the matter of choice. And people who support choice do not necessarily support abortion. They just believe in the sanctity of a patient's relationship with her doctor.

Here in Nashville, I have found the bishop quite silent on issues affecting the people of Matthew 25, including those hurt by inhumane Medicaid cuts and pregnant immigrant women tortured by law enforcement authorities during labor because they did not have enough legal documents.

The inconsistency of these supposed shepherds is damning. God is not stupid.

In criticizing Obama, they should also take conservatives such as McCain to task for deserting innocent children after they are born. These same bishops allow the demand for lower taxes and fewer government programs to go unchallenged when it comes time for believers to vote.

These men have violated this nation's sacred separation of church and state. Their wrong should be highlighted to the public, the IRS should investigate and an apology demanded for telling Catholics how to vote Nov. 4.

The end of trust: America no longer has any institutions for the people to believe in

Today on Capitol Hill, trust ended in America.

The last icon -- former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan -- was rightly ripped down from the wall. Congressional representatives produced the documentation and his own words to show Mr. Omnipotent was asleep at the wheel for what dollar-wise will be the biggest economic catastrophe in American history.

Now the people wander and question. And they don't trust any answer they're receiving.

The Catholic Church, the politically polarized news media, campaign donation-laden politicians, the local banker, the friendly financial adviser, the crazy Jim Cramer entertainers of financial television, the buddy-like stock broker -- all have betrayed for self-protection and easy reward. Greed kills everything it touches.

And they've done so at your personal expense, wiping out trillions of dollars in hard-earned retirement savings and college education futures for children. May they be damned for the long-term damage they've done to America. She deserved better.

So to who or whom do we now turn? Or what? Political parties betray. Ideologies are inconsistent. Presidential candidates promising change have propelled their fortunes with the ill-gotten gains of the Wall Street fatcats and sub-prime mortgage profiteers.

Perhaps we'll return our trust to where it should always belong and to the words of its foundation.

How about God?

Even in the land of the affluent, need is growing; Graceworks Ministries desperately needs your help

Graceworks Ministries -- the most visible provider of help to the needy in Williamson County -- reports that the number of people seeking assistance has jumped by 25 percent over a year ago.

Williamson County is the 11th most affluent county in the United States. It is home to country music stars, engineers, bonus-laden sales people and professional athletes. So any increase in need here says something about conditions across the state of Tennessee and the nation.

Twenty-seven U.S. states are considered in recession. That includes Tennessee. Claims nationally for new jobless benefits rose by 15,000 last week. Today, four corporations announced almost 10,000 layoffs. That trend will accelerate.

Churches also are hurting. Holy Family Catholic Church in Brentwood is down by almost $400,000 in its current fiscal year budget compared to the rate of giving last year.

Conditions for the needy will only get worse. And the ranks of the needy even here is going to grow.

Louisiana grows on you every day in the South; 'Ol' Kingfish' beats the hell out of 'Old Hickory'

Except during women's basketball season, I grow in affection for people from Louisiana each day.

The LSU Lady Tigers try to challenge the Olympian god Lady Vols each college season. So I'm strictly pro-UT during those winter months.

But after, I'm for Louisiana or anything tied to it. The people from there just seem to enjoy life. They're gregarious. They're a tad mischievous. Life is celebrated.

These folks don't seem to carry a lot of the social baggage still lugged around the South. Different peoples and languages have been part of Louisiana's history and culture. New Orleans seem to be the epicenter of diversity from food to people to music.

Its economy is bolstered by energy and tourism, two pillars that seldom weaken. And people there are reinforced with a faith that not even hurricanes can blow away.

Politically, people from there stick fast to their principles, unlike the flip-flopper party leaders in Tennessee. "The Kingfish" was more of a populist than Old Hickory, and the governor didn't have to own slaves or kill American Indians to be so.

Louisiana, where America's push West began, still holds something special in its people who bring joy and a bit of mischief across the South. Thank goodness fcr them, except during women's basketball season.

Biggest mortality threats to women ignored

As a cancer survivor so far, I appreciate grassroots community efforts to raise money for research. And the money raised for breast cancer awareness this month is impressive.

But other, more lethal forms of cancer are being overlooked when it comes to needed research. And there are not many survivors to help raise funds because people don't usually live after contracting, for example, lung cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is another killer. So is my leukemia. But these forms of this malady just can't draw the attention that follows breast cancer efforts. And that's a shame that costs more lives than breast cancer.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, but you wouldn't know it from money being raised by various causes. My wife had a heart attack 15 years ago. And she suffered a heart attack because awareness had not been raised that women can die of such swift siezures of this vital organ.

Doctors discriminate, believing men are the only ones at risk. Long-term studies also concentrate more on men than women.

To read more about the imbalance in cancer research and funding, besides the critical need for new awareness, go to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27283197/from/ET/

Greenspan defrocked: Congress takes him apart and rightly so; he ran Fed on personal ideology

Congressional members of both political parties -- facing angry constituents and re-election races back home -- unloaded an American financial icon Alan Greenspan in a way he never experienced in his 18 years as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

In the end, his excuses and ranging rationalization of his failures to warn the American people of the coming economic catastophe left him looking beaten and very old. His regal omnipotence he regularly flashed before Congress and in selling his life story vanished. He knew his place in history is now as a failure, a culprit and wrongdoer in the annals of American economics. Move over, Herbert Hoover.

Now the nation's news media -- wedded to their left and right ideologies -- won't describe today's congressional hearings on regulation oversight in this way. Conservatives love Greenspan for allow unbridled greed to carry the day and the nation. Liberals are protecting one of their own since Greenspan is married to NBC's Andrea Mitchell.

But the kind of responses that Greenspan was reduced to saying back to congressional questioners came from finally being caught, to being shown you have no clothes, that you misjudged the most incredible economic calamity since the Great Depression.

Consider:

"We're not smart enough as people."

"Forecasting never gets to be 100% accurate."

"I have to go back and refresh my memory."

Does that make you feel good about the system of oversight that's supposed to protect investors? It shouldn't. O, how the powerful have fallen in the weakness of their convictions and the depravity of their excuses.

Time and again, committee members read Greenspan back his own words from this decade and the previous one. At one speech, he promoted adjustable rate mortgages that sank Wall Street. He even told USA Today that he stood by his speech. But today, he claimed he did not mean it, or meant it in a very limited sense.

A 1994 GAO report pointed to financial derivatives as a danger. Greenspan says that report still is wrong.

The SEC and even his own staff produced warnings. He set them aside.

Instead, congressional members uncovered in Greenspan's writing and his arrogance a personal ideology by which he ran the Fed as an American king, not a public servant. Greenspan wrote that he was committed to a libertarian ideology of government keeping its hands out of the markets. Did you ever vote for that ideology at the ballot box? Libertarian candidates usually get about 1 percent of any vote.

Yet Greenspan weakly responded, claiming a free market will always punish wrong. And Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland pounced:

"You conceded a flaw in your ideology but you have not conceded that the market will not punish wrongdoers. Like a bad driver, they'll have a wreck one day. But a lot of people can be hit (in that wreck) as bystanders. That's how a lot of the American people feel."

And it is how Greenspan rightly feels now after today's hearing. His legacy is a wreck just like the investments of households across this country.

When will the American people get chance to question the news media for its lack of oversight?

In the ongoing frenzy of finger-pointing, a middle digit needs to be aimed at the nation's news media for failing to serve as a watchdog for its readers as the ongoing economic crisis grew this decade.

Instead, the media was more about worshipping at the feet of then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, and praising him as the nation's real leader and provider of economic fortune. Greenspan was so enthused by the worship that he wrote a book extolling his omnipotence while getting awards from various organizations and even the federal government.

Someone prominent in the news media nationally and locally in your community should have been sounding the warning. They should have been doing their own research. They should have talked with investors who put their retirement future in the market or the college educations of their children.

But the media continued to be enthralled with its own image and writing and financial celebrities such as Greenspan, Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn. Making more and more money was the story, not taking care of what you have and securing it.

The local newspaper here, The Tennessean, sure did not provide any kind of meaningful warning or oversight. It remains most concerned with the bottom line of its corporate owner, Gannett Co. Inc. Continuing staff cutbacks that go unannounced to readers here leave the powerful and uncaring free to do their communities and this nation as they please.

Greed destroys -- be it by these forces or the news media itself. I've tried to warn as many people as possible through this barely read blog about the coming troubles and to not invest in the financial markets now. I've invested in the market since 1984 and was an economics writer for 10 years.

I got a close friend out of the market and into cash before the market recently fell 777 points and below 10,000. So I feel blessed about that. Now the market is headed toward 8000. His family feels a lot more secure.

I would have done the same for many more people through my political columnist job at The Tennessean. But I lost it in Aug. 2007. My position was not considered important enough to readers. I bet with their hurting investments that readers might disagree now.

So if and when you pick up the morning newspaper(I don't subscribe), or watch a local TV type, or catch Lou Dobbs and Anderson Cooper on CNN, ask them what they were looking at. Dobbs was going after undocumented human beings as the real threat to this nation's security. Cooper was swimming with sharks and dodging admirers and building up his own celebrity. Your needs were of no concern.

The point of this rant is not to really place blame. It is to tell you to not depend on the media -- with a few exceptions -- for guidance in how to recoup some of your money, dreams and navigate the coming and terrible economic times.

Jefferson said a free press was needed to inform this nation and keep it free. Now we know the press doesn't really give a damn, and you're lives are now held hostage to losses in your investments that you can't afford.

Trust yourself and your intelligence to find answers on the Internet, or in talking in the lobby after church on Sundays or at the soccer field with parents who share your values of family first.

The pirating profiteers of this nation and their enabling media admirers no longer deserve your patronage or trust.

Dow reverses gains due to congressional testimony

After being up almost 200 points when testimony began, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has now fallen almost 300 points as the congressional committee questioning of federal regulators continue.

If investors are like me, they're angered and depressed by the testimony of the elected officials who one lawmaker said let the ball roll through their legs like Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner in the World Series of woe with the Mets

These guys are ridiculous, unrepentant and rationalizers of incompetency. And their supposed expertise has gone unchallenged -- until today.

But today is way too late for so many American people who could not afford to lose so much in their savings for college educations of their children and their own retirements.

Cooper does well in hearing in citing $54 trillion debt but he's not the leader needed for the times

Nashville congressman Jim Cooper performed well during today's congressional oversight committee meeting of financial regulators by exposing the American people to just how bad of fiscal shape this nation is in.

For the long term, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, America has $54 trillion in unfunded promises in programs such as Medicare and in accumulating debt from the recently passed bailouts of Wall Street.

Yes, $54 trillion. And Cooper chastised federal cabinet officials before the committee for not using their offices to publicize the nation's growing precarious financial position.

The Treasury Department releases these numbers each year. But Cooper says the public document is not publicized. However, former Treasury Snow did remind Cooper that it was he who sent him the report in the first place. Cooper says only four members of Congress get the report.

From the exchange, it is apparent that Cooper would be a fine accountant in the real world. And he noted that the U.S. government is the only entity in the nation that has excused itself from accepted accounting standards.

Still, to resolve this mess in Washington and on Wall Street, it is going to take an inspiring leader to raise the American people's voices above the ongoing noise to provide direction for long-needed change.

Cooper sure has not generated any kind of local audience and response to these numbers that he rightly feels are very important. And if he is worried about the $54 trillion long-term debt, then why has he voted for $750 billion more in taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street fatcats, banks and automakers?

Nashville needs a progressive lawmaker who can inspire and lead -- and be consistent. Despite his interesting questioning and information, Cooper is not the lawmaker Nashville and the nation needs for what will be increasingly difficult times.

Obama takes hit in Wall Street scandal testimony

When it comes to real change, Sen. Barack Obama is not the candidate, according to proceedings and discussion this morning before a House oversight committee on financial regulators.

From numbers assembled on political donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the past 20 years, Obama has received the most money of any congressional candidate from the lending institutions that ultimately needed a $200 billion bailout by taxpayers and Congress.

In fact, Democrats receive the most donations from Wall Street for their campaigns.

The revelation about Obama by Florida GOP congressman John Mica was not refuted by any Democratic congressperson on the panel. So it must be true, and the truth remains something Obama should address before Nov. 4 for voters who have had their lives forever changed by the scandal on Wall Street.

Today's hearing is about trying to get answers from our goverment's overseers of the financial markets about how they missed the ongoing economic and financial catastrophe. That's the Federal Reserve, SEC and Treasury Department.

From Rep. Mica's numbers, we have one answer why.

Pelosi shows Dems unsympathetic to immigrants

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has again shown herself to be a poor political leader, this time unleashing a firestorm from Hispanic politicos for saying that immigration reform leading to citizenship for undocumented human beings is probably dead.

In an interview with AP, just before a presidential vote, Pelosi has revealed her political party to be little better than the GOP. At least Republicans leaders are honest in their hate.

Hispanic writers and advocates are outraged. And they feel betrayed by a political party first and always beholden to other special interests ahead of the most vulnerable in this nation.

To now eliminate any path to citizenship for 11 million to 12 million undocumented human beings in this nation is shocking, particularly before Sen. Obama can be elected. We sure didn't vote to put Pelosi in charge of the nation.

My blog is devoted to the truth that both parties betray. Pelosi has again proved it.

AP poll shows presidential race tied; huh?!

Contrary to a rash of national polls tied to other news media, AP reports that the McCain/Obama race is dead even.

I suspect that the reality is somewhere between a double-digit lead and a tie. And Obama definitely is out front.

But for those good folks still hoping for a McCain victory, the following article is for you: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081022/D93VPI9O0.html

A progressive city: Memphis unveils brave, new crime-fighting plan; what is Nashville doing?

Memphis and Shelby County representatives continue to show themselves to be progressive leaders, this time with a 14-point crime-fighting plan promoting early intervention and making the case to the people of higher costs of incarceration versus programs before offenses are committed.

The crime-fighting plan is just the next in several moves being made the past several months in Memphis to bring leaders together in a common, progressive vision.

Its schools are NOT under No Child Left Behind penalties for failure to fairly edcuate all children. Schools also under the leadership of an educator, not chamber of commerce officials. Elected representatives there are preparing a new school funding plan to be approved by the General Assembly to get around last-minute budget funding cuts and cutbacks that interfere with educators' critical plans in the classroom.

Leaders there are moving toward the consolidation of county and city government into a single entity. That saves taxpayer money and critical programs, particularly those for education. Nashville is facing a $1 million shortfall in school funding for the ongoing fiscal year.

If Nashville wants to see a way out of its growing problems, it should look west to Memphis for direction.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/22/memphis-area-get-15-million-new-funding-fight-crim/

Greenspan's testimony shows he's part of problem

If you want to see the kind of dishonesty and lack of integrity that has put this nation's financial markets into a dive, then watch the testimony in a few minutes of former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan before Congress.

He rightly should be blamed for the losses in your retirement savings and more.

CNBC's Mark Haines -- the most honest person on Wall Street -- called Greenspan's testimony a crock this morning after reading a copy of his prepared remarks. CNN's Anderson Cooper360 has named Greenspan ones of the culprits of the downturn.

Haines is right, again. Greenspan allowed what is called derivatives, a vehicle for the selling of wrongly made bad loans on Main Street to Wall Street financial firms for a big profit based on rising property values. When values plummeted, so did the collateral of the loans, turning them bad. And Greenspan's House of Cards collapsed.

Where was the nation's news media to serve as a watchdog for us concerning Greenspan's bad decision-making?

Most didn't know any better. Others worshipped at his feet. And it did not hurt Greenspan that he married a member of the Inside-the-Beltway liberal media elite, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News. Report something negative on Greenspan, and you don't get invited to their next dinner party or those of their friends.

If you can stomach it, I'll post again on what Greenspan says in person and hopefully nasty questioning and statements by members of Congress.

Look for another big drop today in stock market

Futures for America's financial markets point down again today.

Yet while they are not as bad as yesterday, they are bad enough I believe to set the Dow Jones Industrial Average down at least another 250 points and the overall count closer to a shocking 8000.

Don't expect the Dow to trade above 9000 for the rest of the year. Chrysler was the latest big employer to announce layoffs today. These cutbacks will continue in the coming week, creating an incredibly depressed holiday buying season. An Obama victory Nov. 4 also is expected to increase selling in the stock market.

So please, do NOT get into the stock market now, unless you want to forgo any profit in your investment for the next several years.

One CNBC anchor said talk on Wall Street now is of a S&P 420. Incredible. I got out of the S&P when it was above 1400. Now it is well below 1000. This index of 500 stocks traded in this country is composed more heavily of the nation's financial firms. And those firms continue to be in trouble.

I'm very sorry for the bad news. I do not want to be right. I really worry for people who have lost so much in this market. You deserved better. So did this nation.

Gretchen Wilson comes to aid of Palin on trail

Entertainer Gretchen Wilson -- known for her hit song about being a redneck woman -- indirectly helped Gov. Sarah Palin yesterday in Pennsylvania at a campaign stop for the GOP ticket.

Wilson was in the crowd of supporters. And Palin took note of her, then quipped: "someone once called me a redneck woman. And I said, 'Why thank you.' "

Great line!

And the crowd loved it, and Wilson must have been proud.

Rural Pennsylvanians have been targeted throughout the campaign season, beginning with Sen. Obama's remarks in San Francisco that such people cling to their guns and religion. The Democratic congressman representing many of these rural Pennsylvanians has called some racists and rednecks.

Racists and rednecks? Now wouldn't that be a helluva a country music song.

What is certain, however, is that even rednecks deserve a president who represents their interests, or at least listens to them first before applying labels and stereotypes.

The day the stock market died: analysts and fatcats finally admit that old system won't return, and your deep losses are permanent ones

I've invested in the stock market since 1984.

I was the first in my immediate family to do it. Yet it was natural for me since I was an economics reporter at the largest state newspaper in Oklahoma.

I had already been to GM's gold-plated headquarters in Detroit to cover a potential strike by the UAW and enough chamber of commerce luncheons locally where low taxes and high profits were championed. I've made my share of money yet have maintained a healthy skepticism. I follow my own thinking after research than what a supposed financial expert recommends.

Yet today on CNBC, I saw and heard for the first time enough Wall Street fatcats and analysts admit that the stock market -- as a viable and profitable investment vehicle for average Americans -- is gone and dead.

The kind of secure system for which regular people can access, seek higher-than-average returns and simply trust is not yet known.

What finally broke the dam on truthfulness? Today's 500-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed that Main Street investors don't have enough trust to put any new money into the market. And all the bailouts have not addressed the one factor keeping the financial system from recovery: distrust.

Today, however, was a good first step toward eventual repair and recovery. The numerous liars from Wall Street to Washington have finally been called out for their deception of the past 25 years.

CNBC anchor Dillon Radigan said that consumers/investors have not recovered their losses since 1998. Now with the market declining to 8,000 or even lower, those losses will never be recovered unless you have another 30 to 40 years of life. That's a long time to just get back even.

Japanese investors with their retirement savings already have had their holdings wiped out. The economy there has been in recession for 15 years.

So what are you to do?

I wish I knew. If you are still in the market and have absorbed all its losses the past year, you're trapped. Selling into a downturn is not recommended at this point.

If this is money you cannot afford to lose and may need it next year, then you are in a difficult position.

We will face a Great Depression of its own unique characteristics over the next five to seven years. Layoffs of 8,000 workers from Yahoo to Merck were announced today. Many more announcements will come.

You can go see a supposed expert. But they still are delusional on the markets' future. The only savior is yourself, more educated and less willing to simply accept the kind of advice that killed the market todaay after 25 years of greed and recklessness.

Nashville public schools facing $1 million shortfall; vulnerable children here face very bleak future

Metro Nashville public schools face a $1 million shortfall in just the ongoing budget year because of dropping sales tax revenue from the deepening national recession.

The ripple effect will be wide and deep. And the city's children will suffer the most for the lack of leadership in elected adults.

The dropping revenue will mean cuts this school year in teachers and programs for Metro students. All that money wasted on keeping the Predators in Nashville could sure now be used to keep schools going on the basics.

And it means less funding for the next school year despite demands for student achievement improvements under No Child Left Behind.

And while the state of Tennessee will be fully running Metro schools soon, it will be delivering less money here because it faces at least a $600 million deficit for the current budget year. So the governor and General Assembly will be making cuts in revenue delivered to school districts. Taxes will not rise.

The end result will be a school district -- already woefully out of whack in educating all children fairly and adequately -- will only get worse.

To read more, go to: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=63608

Drudge Report can't stand bad news about Palin

I like to read the Drudge Report. I know it is biased toward conservatives, but it usually dishes up some revelations people need to know.

But not with Gov. Sarah Palin. The website still has not featured one story in the growing scandals surrounding the GOP VP nominee despite AP and Politico.com reports 12 hours ago.

What gives?

Matt Drudge, the founder of the site, does not want Sen. Obama to win. So he is withholding this negative news about the McCain campaign. This gross oversight also is about money and prominence.

The direct challenge to the Drudge Report -- the Huffington Post -- is its liberal reflection in the growing web site bureaucracy. I don't read Huffington because it was started by a person who made her name by the celebrity friends she kept, not heroic public positions she took or accomplishments.

Arianna Huffington just wants to be noticed. Now she is liberal. Tomorrow's ideology depends on where the money and attentio is.

For me, Drudge has a better record. But today's oversight brings him down to Arianna's level -- which is a long drop.

Stock market preparing to plunge this morning; only person who can protect your money is you

The stock market is preparing for another jump off the cliff this morning, as futures point to a more a 200-point, immediate decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

What gives?

The truth finally settling in. There is no cheating 25 years of partying on Wall Street and even in too many American households. The bill is due. And it is a whopper.

It does not matter than you did not even get one Magarita or pass at the keg. We all have to pay for it. But only you can protect yourself from the fallout to come.

Watching CNBC this morning and the growing testiness and bravery of the network anchors, the Wall Street fatcats who have been preaching the Gospel of Greed for the past quarter century are being challenged for the liars they are.

This market is not going to come back at all this year. In fact, one fatcat was cornered enough by an anchor to admit that the Dow may well fall below 8000. That's a shocker to me. I was challenged by my financial planner when I predicted last summer that the Dow would fall below 10,000.

Here is one promise I make to you as a reader. I am always going to call out the hypocrites and the liars as my knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes grows. Politics and financial markets are the same. Both are games of illusion.

I will make mistakes. But I will acknowledge repeatedly in blog posts so you know that I've been wrong and what I am going to do to correct my failings.

And that's why I must express this new revelation from being involved with a certified financial planner for the past four months. They have been bitten by the same greed bug that has infected Wall Street and its brokerage houses.

You'll find their greed in:

* inadequate staff numbers to immediately respond to your needs in a fast-changing financial market system

* principals always seem to be on the road seeking new clients even though they can't find the time to return calls to the old ones

* lack of staffing to immediately trade your holdings out of bad positions and even to be able to read your account numbers back to you

* lack of knowledge. They really are throwing darts at a stock market board when it comes to what will happen and where to best position your money. I've outguessed my financial planner whose holdings are down almost 20% before today. Mine have been positive all year. I don't want to hire someone who has less financial brains than me and a tolerance for big losses.

I hate to write the following truth, but the best person to protect your money is you. I fired my financial planner today. I am investing my money without any middle person for the first time in my life. And I feel more secure for it. Any mistakes I make are my own based on my knowledge.

Knowledge has always been power. And if we don't know where to put our money now, it is our own fault for trusting someone else(particularly the news media) and spending more time watching football on TV than scanning the Internet for information on who is making money, securing assets and how.

I spend 16 hours a day in contact with C-Span. It seems like with every moment on the computer, I am switching back to www.marketwatch.com to read about more developments in the financial markets and how I should respond. And from the timing of my blog posts, you can tell that I'm on my computer a lot during the day and night.

But don't trust me and my opinion. You must trust yourself. And that means you must educate yourself.

From my continuing experiences, I will pass on what I am learning. But for the kind of financial future you want and how many kids you have and the stability of your employer and your personal health and that of your spouse, you must make the decision on your finances -- not someone else.

Let's learn from each other in the tough months to come and share our experiences, fear and hopes.

See the Joe the Plumber fashion line this morning; Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! Blackburn shares a lot with Palin in saying one thing and doing the other

Joe the Plumber will unveil his new campaign fashion line this morning in response to the revelation that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 on new clothes for Gov. Sarah Palin and her family.

The cost for his line -- accentuated with jeans that dip low to show the person's crack to the whole wide world -- will be substantially less than Palin's tab and be available at any clothes drop-off point for charity.

In all seriousness, however, the fallout from the revelation about Palin on Politico.Com is growing this morning as GOP spinmeisters are unable to produce one revolution on this outrageous behavior.

For instance on Morning Joe on MSNBC, one viewer wrote in and spoke of her family's plight in raising children and running a household in which the primary breadwinner didn't get a raise this year. And Palin's extravagance has left the woman feeling betrayed because the governor has said she is a regular person who knows the challenges such regular folks face.

Bullshit!

Along with the AP investigation uncovering her extravagant daycare for her children at taxpayer expense, it plain to see that Palin has been living a beauty queen life of free passes and long stares.

She deserves much more derision from the people and the press than what she has received so far in the campaign.

Palin reminds me a lot of local congressperson Marsha Blackburn. The Alaska governor is long on talk but her actions betray her. But check out Blackburn. She used campaign funds from the people to enrich her daughter's business, then failed to obey the law for years in reporting all her campaign funding to the FEC.

Yet Blackburn says she knows the proper way for government to be run and what you're facing. Would you use money given by others for you to be a good representative in Congress to boost the business of your child at home?

Blackburn can't even run her campaign correctly! This is bullshit times two.

It sure seems that the GOP looks for pretty faces and women with blonde hair and blue eyes to be successful candidates first, not the best officeholders for the people. Even in the news media, FOXNEWS' Bill O'Reilly does the same, featuring dueling blondes with blue eyes on a debate segment each night. Who knew this law and order conservative cared so much for the men in the nation's prison system.

For me, I prefer a tougher looking but much more honest (and less expensively dressed) Sen. Barbara Milkulsli of Maryland. First, she doesn't stand any taller than Joe the Plumber's crack. Second, she has more time for her constituents, because the senator does not have to waste time matching colors in Saks Fifth Avenue.

In these last two weeks of the presidential race, polls now are showing Sen. Obama surging to a double-digit lead. After more people learn about Palin's expensive lifestyle and the GOP's penchant for image over substance in its candidates, Sen. McCain may view today's punitive polling numbers as the good ol' days.

GOP economic stimulus: Buyin' Palins' clothing

Politico.com reports that the Republican National Committee bought $150,000 in clothing for Gov. Sarah Palin and her family after she received the GOP VP nomination.

This unofficial economic stimulus plan may well help the Gross National Product now but is not an assured answer to the nation's long-term woes unless the McCain/Palin campaign can win Nov. 4.

But every little bit helps. To read more about where not to shop and save, go to:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14805.html

Nailin' Palin: AP finds governor billed taxpayers more than $21,000 for creative daycare

Gov. Sarah Palin has flown her children across country and around Alaska at taxpayer expense for the past two years, housing them in expensive hotels and amassing a bill of more than $21,000.

An AP investigation uncovered the damaging revelations to Palin's maverick reputation, countering her claims that she is someone who fights business as usual in government.

One of the trips at taxpayer expense included a trek to see Palin's champion husband and the children's father race in the Iditarod. Another public expenditure was for a trip to New York City where Gov. Palin had a five-hour meeting.

Many of 64 trips were to events at which the children were not invited. And Palin amended expense accounts to make it appear that the trips were for official public business.

What else can one say? Both political parties betray.

To read more about these damaging revelations, go to:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081022/ap_on_el_pr/palin_family_travel

McCain's cancer is NOT a threat to his presidency

I was stunned by a report from the medical advisor for FOXNEWS who has reviewed Sen. John McCain's post-operation pathology reports showing that his skin cancer has NOT spread.

In fact, all of his lymph nodes were negative for cancer after a tumor was removed eight years ago, Dr. Marc Siegel said 15 minutes ago.

He reviewed the public records with political reporter Carl Cameron. The same, post-surgery documents were available and reviewed by The New York Times, AP and all the TV networks.

Yet only FOXNEWS's medical analyst is the one to report the truth that McCain's cancer never spread and he has been in remission for EIGHT years. Dr. Siegel said that such a length of time in remission probably means the skin cancer will not come back. Yes, he has lesions removed. But it is not cancer renewed.

As a cancer survivor myself so far, that kind of news is very important to know about one's survival hopes.

In addition, Sen. McCain is not obese like many Americans. And his mother is alive and very alert at 96 years of age.

McCain has good genes. And his mother remains sharp. He survived extreme deprivation and torture in Hanoi.

Even though I have not endorsed him, I believe Sen. McCain is ready to lead and fight. And his ongoing speech now on the Pennsylvania campaign trail is vigorous, committed and steeped in experience from the Cuban Missile Crisis to now.

I will vigorously support him in the White House if he is elected for the good of us all, not his party or ideology.

I am an American first.

The health scare being sold to the American people by the news media is shameful. And it makes a voter wonder where he or she can go to get the simple truth free of political bias.

King Henry I of America tours his kingdom

Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson just walked the floors of the New York Stock Exchange to the vigorous applause of traders. He even gave out autographs, as CNBC followed his regal tour.

The appeal of America's first monarch there is understandable. He bailed out all their jobs and greed with multi-bailouts of Wall Street fatcats and Main Street bankers with $1 trillion in taxpayer in money.

There's one place you won't find Paulson -- among you and me in grocery stores and other places where there is no who has been bailed out.

Paulson is a hypocrite of the worst extreme. He's a former Wall Street fatcat who made his mark and money from deregulated greed. Now he is making the rich richer at our expense.

Don't come here, Mr. Secretary. You'll find no applause or requests for autographs. We don't respect kings who have been given authority over our lands and lives.

Murtha's 'rednecks' comment damages Obama

Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha is doing his part to damage the Obama campaign by calling some of his constituents "rednecks" after previously calling them "racists".

The state is a must-win for Sen. John McCain. And Murtha's comments will help make the race there close.

His comments remind voters of what Obama himself said about Pennsylvania and Ohio people when he said to San Francisco elites that rural people cling to guns and religion. That comment was incredibly insulting and demeaning.

Pennsylvania polls now are showing the race tightening, particularly among people who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in her primary victory there just a few months ago.

Keep it Biden and Murtha. You're making a landslide into a barn burner.

To read more, go to: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/17764334/detail.html

Chevy Chase shows sour grapes over Palin's hit

Comedian Chevy Chase and former SNL star for only one year has criticized Gov. Sarah Palin's appearance on the TV show that produced the highest ratings in 14 years.

Chase can't produce those kind of ratings. And professionally, his career is over. Meanwhile Palin as an entertainer is getting rave reviews for all sectors.

Maybe Chase just suffers from envy. She's hot; he's not.

Biden hurts Obama by saying he'll specifically be targeted by international forces with crisis

Just when the Obama campaign was preparing to set cruise control for landslide victory Nov. 4, its own VP nominee Joe Biden told a rally that his running mate will be specifically targeted and tested by international forces with a "generated" crisis.

So now America has that problem facing it in the new year along with a deepening recession.

Biden probably was speaking the truth, as far as that can be said for any politician when he or she moves their lips. And now he has reinforced concerns of voters about Obama's capacity to handle an international or terrorist crisis with his inexperience.

McCain's campaign has been given a new issue which with to fight in the closing days. And it is towards his biggest strength. Gov. Sarah Palin is just now making an effective speech on the matter in Reno, NV. The ears of Biden and Obama must be stinging.

National security experience is Sen. John McCain's expertise, and that gives his supporters great comfort. And contrary to Secretary of State Colin Powell who endorsed Obama Sunday, McCain has successfully changed bad U.S. foreign policy and pushed a successful solution.

The GOP presidential nominee helped oust Secetary of Defense Donald Rumsfield and pushed the successful surge that has secured more parts of Baghdad. American and civilian deaths in Iraq have plummeted.

Powell was the No. 1 salesman for a pack of lies to the world about the need to invade Iraq. He has yet to formally apologize nor acknowledge that obvious truth in passages read to him by NBC's Tom Brokaw from Bob Woodward's book on the Bush administration failings -- "The War Within."

An Obama campaign official just on FOXNEWS to explain Biden's comments employed just as much lying spin as I have ever heard from the Bush administration. These people have no shame. They simply want to win first. Doing the right thing to address the concerns of the American voters does not motivate them.

Powell gained notoriety because he represented a black political figure who did not threaten many whites. Yet his resume does not even begin to approach that of Sen. McCain's. His endorsement is meaningless.

But Biden's statement is not. And it gives further cause to American voters to worry that Obama is the right choice to lead this nation.

Krugman breaks down Ohio vote and the negatives and mistruths to which McCain clings for victory

Nobel Prize-winning economic columnist Paul Krugman today shows why he won the coveted honor by breaking down the mistruths and political strategy being employed by the McCain campaign in the state of Ohio.

It is a great, informative read about a state that is a microcosm of the the economic mess facing the nation. And the numbers Krugman cites are from 2007, when times were better.

In these last two weeks before the vote on Nov. 4, we me must seek out as much information as possible to make a good choice. Today's column by Krugman is a step toward that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/opinion/20krugman.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Despite beauty, Palin shows ugliness inside

GOP VP nominee Gov. Sarah Palin broke from the position of her running mate yesterday to endorse a push for a federal constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Sen. John McCain has said the matter belongs with the states, as in California which votes on a ban Nov. 4.

Palin's position is indicative of an elected official who believes her personal morals and values -- (remember the Pilgrims fled such wrong in England) -- should govern in how she conducts public business in public office. She would have this nation's scared tradition of separating church from state be ignored, along with our founding documents guaranteering life, liberty and pursuit of happiness to all. Just don't infringe on anyone else's.

And no one has proved that gay marriage based on personal rights to have hospital and inheritance rights affects any of us negatively. The governor -- acclaimed for her outward beauty most recently on Saturday Night Live -- is showing a terrible ugliness within.

She, however, is not the only person with a title making the same mistake in this campaign. Several Catholic bishops have tried to make abortion a single issue decider at the ballot box for believers -- and thus oppose Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy. The bishops mistaken being pro-life with only protecting the vulnerable in the womb. They are anti-abortion.

Pro-life(if it must be used), according to Matthew 25, is in championing the poor, the naked, the hungry, the sick, the stranger and the imprisoned. It is in these people that we see and find Christ.

Abortion is a matter of choice -- between a doctor and patient. That personal relationship must not be violated by government. I have found no person who champions that relationship to be in support of abortion as an act. The issue -- including with some women whose husbands strongly identify themselves as conservatives and "pro-life" -- is giving a woman all the options available in the doctor's office. And remember, the doctor did not go into his or her profession to do harm.

My close relationship with my doctor in fighting and almost dying from leukemia the past three years has proved this truth to me.

Sen. McCain has made it clear in the presidential debates that he would not put a litmus test on justices nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court based on overturning Roe v. Wade. He's right. A constructionist view of the Constitution will resolve this issue. That's the only thing that should be asked of people nominated to the court.

The states remain the final battleground. And it there that the case can be made by people such as me, stating that the protection of the doctor/patient relationship which is almost always geared to valuing life.

Morally, it is right to add the unborn to the list of Matthew 25. But too often in American politics, it is used as a priority over the other people Christ tells us to look for himself in. All matter. Yet too often, the most arch anti-abortionists love only the unborn and dismiss the rest of the people of Matthew 25. Until that changes, Roe v. Wade as the law of the land should not change either.

I believe this strain of thought to be logical and prayerful. Palin's is not, for example in regards to a federal Constitutional ban on gay marriage. And that makes many Americans worried about such a thought process being employed on a variety of issues in the White House.

John McCain, not Cindy, looked bad in NYT profile

FOXNEWS has been unleashing a lot of anger at The New York Times over its Sunday profile of Cindy McCain.

While raising a wonderful family and doing good works around the world, McCain had a serious problem with painkillers and a Washington establishment that rejected her after the then congressman divorced a very popular wife.

All in all, though, Mrs. McCain came out as human being, which we all are.

The most telling truth of the profile is that her husband has not been around to raise their children with her. She moved back to Arizona and he stayed in Washington during the week. Even when he did make it home on the weekends, the senator was more involved with his political buddies and his political future.

So Cindy McCain has lived a very heroic life off the front lines, raising a family virtually by herself. Anniversary gifts for her had to be bought by friends. And painkillers became a source of comfort for a period of her existence and survival. That's not bad, that's human.

The senator who now wants to be our president is the one who came off looking bad in the profile. Any shame is on him.

The first vow you usually take before God as an adult in this world is to honor and care for your wife. While a considerable man of honor in war on the front lines, McCain has failed the calling in peace back home in his own household.

That is telling about the man, not his wife.

Hispanics with Alzheimer's to grow by more than six times current number by year 2050; America is facing an unprecedented health crisis

Tonight's New York Times' web page carries a shocking story of a national health crisis aimed at Hispanics in America that is opening eyes to other risks -- from high rates of diabetes, heart attack, stroke and mental disease.

The Times reports:

Studies suggest that many Hispanics may have more risk factors for developing dementia than other groups, and a significant number appear to be getting Alzheimer’s earlier. And surveys indicate that Latinos, less likely to see doctors because of financial and language barriers, more often mistake dementia symptoms for normal aging, delaying diagnosis.

“This is the tip of the iceberg of a huge public health challenge,” said Yanira L. Cruz, president of the National Hispanic Council on Aging. “We really need to do more research in this population to really understand why is it that we’re developing these conditions much earlier.”

It is not that Hispanics are more genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s, say experts, who say the diversity of ethnicities that make up Hispanics or Latinos make a genetic explanation unlikely.

Rather, experts say several factors, many linked to low income or cultural dislocation, may put Hispanics at greater risk for dementia, including higher rates of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke and possibly hypertension.

Less education may make Hispanic immigrants more vulnerable to those medical conditions and to dementia because scientists say education may increase the brain’s plasticity or ability to compensate for symptoms. And some researchers cite as risk factors stress from financial hardship or cultural adjustment.

To read more, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21alzheimers.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

People of Hispanic descent will make up at least one-third of this nation's population by the year 2050. They will represent a most integral part of our workforce, electorate, economic buying power and taxpayer base.

Tonight's story demands action now in national research laboratories, Congress and in communities to meet this national health crisis.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right ...

And if the right-wing extremists weren't bad enough in targeting the poor and minorities for blame in the nation's economic upheaval, here comes Congressman Barney Frank.

He said today that the rich should be taxed to recover money from all the bailouts he pushed through Congress.

Pity America. It is caught between extremes of the right and left more concerned with pushing their ideological agendas than doing the correct thing for the nation. Frank and his leftist "give it to the rich" rant does America little good amid this crisis except to divide us further.

Sen. Obama's plan of removing the Bush tax cuts and setting the savings to give a break to the middle class will be sufficient, if he is elected president. More taxes besides that on the rich are wrong. Many of these people of affluence do create jobs, take entrepreneurial risk and try to keep the economy going with innovation.

Making them pay for Congress' bad decision to passing these bailouts is indicative of 25 years of poor choices by our leaders -- to deregulate the financial industry and then leave the tab for its big party on the taxpayers.

Rich, middle class or poor do not deserve it.

Bankers continue shameful ways with homeowners

The nation's mortgage bankers -- meeting in Los Angeles this week -- remain unrepentant about their role in the economic crisis facing this nation and its people losing their homes.

In an interview this evening on CNBC, officers of the association representing these pillars of integrity complained that they're calling homeowners in distress ... yet they're not getting answers in return.

Bankers say they want to meet with these people one-on-one. But that's the reason no one is answering them.

Too many cases are out there of such private meetings in which people say they were told their mortgages would have fixed rates, only to learn the notes became adjustable ones after two years. And then the meltdown began as rising home prices plumetted.

Now people are living out of their cars with their children. Political extremists on the right have tried to blame this crisis on forced lending by government edict to the poor and people of color -- particularly blacks and Hispanics.

They're wrong. This crisis belongs to non-discriminatory greed that continues to darken this nation and its future.

Indeed, home sales have turned up in California, CNBC reported. But two thirds are sales of foreclosed homes.

The CNBC interview with the mortgage bankers was a shameful one, indicative of an industry bailed out with our tax dollars without having to change the shocking way it does business.

Say prayers for Sen. Obama and his grandmother

Sen. Barack Obama has taken several days off the campaign trail to be with his sick grandmother in Hawaii.

Say prayers for her and the senator at this most critical moment in her health and their lives.

With just two weeks to go in the presidential race, the senator's withdrawl from the campaign temporarily says a lot about the character of this man who would lead this nation and the importance of this great woman in his life.

God bless both of them. Both are deserving of our prayers.

How low can you go? Kerry says McCain wears Depends; Dems' arrogance is really showing

Former Dem presidential nominee John Kerry is bragging about how manly Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are in what underwear they don while saying Sen. John McCain wears Depends diapers because of his age.

The arrogance of the Dems is showing as they prepare for a supposed landslide in two weeks. Don't be so sure. But this kind of comment about McCain, an American hero, is below the belt technically and humorously.

With my leukemia, I've had to wear adult diapers. Massive chemo wreaks havoc on the body in many unpleasant ways. Diabetes can enlarge the postrate, meaning more frequent restroom visits. If there won't be many facilities available, diapers are must.

You do what you have to do, however. Yeah, it may be funny that a grown adult has to reach that point in his or her health and life. But hey, I'd rather be dry and for sure not smelly.

I sure hope Sen. Obama has secured the state of Florida and all the senior votes there. They know something about having to wear diapers on occasion.

Come on, Sen. Kerry and Dems, show some class and a lot less arrogance.

Read more at:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/obama-backing-s.html

Bredesen for Obama health czar? What are you smoking, fella? Brewer is a laughingstock to all

The most stupid political observation I've read this campaign season belongs to Nashville City Paper editor Clint Brewer. He actually believes Gov. Bredesen -- the man who has gutted TennCare -- could be considered by an Obama White House as a health care czar.

That's like saying Britney Spears and her sister would be perfect to head the Y's abstinence program.

Obama has been campaigning on bringing health care to more people, not take it away and cause deaths as Bredesen did in the summer and fall of 2005 with his unnecessary TennCare cuts on the most vulnerable.

Yet Bredesen at the same time did make TennCare coverage available to Hurricane Katrina victims to show he knew where he could score political points. I wrote about a Memphis woman -- a good, senior-citizen church elder -- who had cooked one afternoon for the victims.

She collapsed and died the next morning from heart failure. Bredesen had cut her and others off from getting affordable prescriptions. Because she could not afford the refill immediately and her pharmacy was across town, she was not taking her heart medicine. So for Brewer, such is the stuff of a health care czar in an Obama administration.

Brewer is part of a league of Midstate people, particularly journalists with columns, who continue to ignore the truth that Emperor Phil the First has no clothes. He has no record whatsoever to be considered as Obama's health czar or in any standing nationally with Democrats. His record and disregard for the most vulnerable are well known.

Just because Bredesen can make big-project deals easily with other millionaires and billionaires -- to the detriment of the taxpayers -- does not make him smart. It just makes him generous to his own kind, which he prefers particularly over people who are hurting.

It's a shame that people such as Brewer have a forum to spread their gross ignorance. If Bredesen should be Obama's health czar, then Brewer should win the Pulitzer Prize.

Sculpture emphasizes HOPE in difficult times

No one knew that the acquisition and addition of the beautiful and moving sculpture "Generations" in September at the main entrance into Holy Family Catholic Church in Brentwood would be so well-timed.

Pastor Edward Alberts wrote to his parishioners:

"It was designed by Timothy Schmalz and depicts the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Mary's parents standing behind them. The sculpture highlights the sanctity of the family including the loving stability that grandparents offer our future generations."

Holy Family is a wonderful parish atop a Williamson County hill that offers much peace amid the race through life that grips so many of us. So the sculpture emphasizes the values that last.

And now those values are even more important as Tennesseans and Americans enter difficult and scary economic times with a dropping stock market, rising job layoffs and a growing distrust in our elected leaders to do what is right.

So we long for the sheltering arms of our parents, grandparents and past time when things could be more counted upon to secure a better future for ourselves and our children.

For me, the sculpture signifies hope in uncertain times, and as Father Ed preached last night, we must give the most important things and focus in our lives to God ... and the greatest hope of all held in the arms of Mary and Joseph.

Father Ed emphasizes this moving story: 'One of our parishioners, Margaret Sharp, sent me a note that puts everything in perspective.

She writes, 'Thank you for the beautiful Generations Statue of the Holy Family. At first I wished for the three person family, but this past Tuesday evening I got there early and stood and looked at it for a long time. All of a sudden I had tears in my eyes.

'I saw Tom and me with our first born son and my parents standing behind us and guarding us. That is the story of how we survived and flourished during the years when our nine children came into the world. Without the Holy Spirit and my parents watching over us, it would never happen.' ”

Keeping our faith in God remains the most important power in this world and the next. And Holy Family and Father Ed have added not only an important reminder to parishioners there but to rest of Tennessee and America.

God bless and keep the good people there and across this nation. And if you need reassurance in these times, take a drive on Wilson Pike to Crockett Park and go to the east side of the beautiful red-bricked church there.

Stop, get out of the car and walk over to the sculpture that sits atop a newly manicured garden. Say a prayer for renewed faith in the good God has given to us now and promises to us in the future to all would keep their focus on Him.

Does Obama's success mean the same for African-Americans? By historical examination, 'no'

A victory by Sen. Barack Obama would surely seem to signal an advancement for African-Americans.

Historically, trends say "no" when it comes to minorities and ethnicities seeking the halls of power and economic influence at the same time in America, writes Jason Riley, a member of the editorial board for the Wall Street Journal.

Riley's opinion piece is a worthy read for every voter to make sure you're voting for the best candidate for the presidency on Nov. 4, not the sentimental favorite.

Read Riley's piece at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122420053316942815.html

Does Obama's success mean the same for African-Americans? Historically speaking, the answer is 'no',

McCain/Palin building momentum

What a difference three days make.

Friday morning, I was taping a segment of Inside Politics for NewsChannel 5 and the political landscape look very Obama-ish on the way to the White House. And stupid me said so for viewers to hear

Then several things happened.

First, I found out from a close friend that evening that his Maryland aunt, a lifelong Democrat, was undecided on how she would vote Nov. 4.

That was followed the next day by Saturday Night Live. And Gov. Sarah Palin was a knockout performance-wise and looks-wise. She made comedian Tina Fey look like her anorexic baby sister. Palin then took all the barbs aimed at her in good fun and came out the better for it image-wise. And she delivered the highest ratings to Saturday Night Live in 14 years.

Then came Sunday morning TV, and I watched how completely clueless a panel of so-called experts were on the anger and mistrust the American people are feeling toward those in power. Instead, most agreed that Colin Powell's endorsement would bring Obama closer to the presidency.

Au contraire. I believe it takes Obama further from it. Powell is just another big name who lied to the American people.

The race is tightening. And my prediction of a probable Obama landslide Friday does not sit well with me this morning. Nov. 4 may well go deep into Nov. 5 before we know a winner.

Fifteen days to an election from now is an eternity.

Vandy falls out of top 25; they'll be back soon

Our 'Dores fell out of the top 25 football rankings after a several-week run and a close loss Saturday at Georgia.

But they'll be back in the elite with a victory this Saturday over a faltering Wake Forest program. The win will clinch a bowl for Vanderbilt and new energy going into the last weeks of the SEC regular season -- including a big match-up at home against UT.

The bandwagon has slowed a bit, so I can get out and stretch my legs. But it will pick up in momentum as the Black and Gold return to the win column and a still miraculous season.

Yes, some of us got a little too excited. My hematologist, the great and compassionate Dr. John Greer at Vanderbilt Medical Center, and I had already prepared a poster for an undefeated season.

We'll just put it away for next year.

Go 'Dores!
Beat Wake!
Beat UT!

Finally some straight, hard talk on our economy; America will face worst times since 1982

The United States will experience its worst recession since 1982 -- federal financial officials say without identification and economists now say on the record, according to reporting today by The Financial Times in London.

The economy in 1982 was under President Ronald Reagan, who by his 1984 re-election saw the beginnings of an economic turnaround. Reagan claimed it was "Morning in America" in defeating Democrat Walter Mondale by a landslide.

Morning will not return to America in this millennium until at least 2010, experts say. And federal officials claim that things have deteriorated economically much faster than expected.

Overseas, China reported that its double-digit economic growth in its gross domestic product declined to single digits for the first time in four years. So a global decline in economic growth will not help matters here.

To read The Financial Times reporting, go to http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/232eb4de-9e20-11dd-bdde-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

Special interests buying the Nov. 4 election in TN

PACs and 527s that funded the anti-Kerry ads in the 2004 presidential race have not gotten much attention in 2008.

One big reason is that Sen. Barack Obama has broken all fund-raising and spending records by getting small donation for millions of Americans.

But in Tennessee, Political Action Committees are propelling GOP Senate candidates with the biggest contributions to secure a firmer grip on that house, shows a review of campaign contributions as of Oct. 1 by the Knoxville News-Sentinel -- the best newspaper in Tennessee.

The dean of Capitol Hill reporters, Tom Humphrey, compiled an impressive examination of the influence in $5 million in PAC money so far in Tennessee legislative races. And the biggest winners have Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Sen. Diane Black and Sen. Jim Tracy -- all Republicans.

I know Sen. Black. She deserves the money for support. And she has defended TennCare against cuts as a former nurse when others in both parties balked. The other two GOP lawmakers are not so deserving.

Ramsey is a cheerleader for supposed Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in making hatchet cuts to the budget. Tracy has been an obstacle on various reforms concerning the business of the people. He has been showing up on TV in ads in the Midstate market, so he has to be a bit worried about losing his office.

The financing system in Tennessee politics is a nightmare and another way to get around the will of the people by the special interests. PAC contributions are expected to accelerate as we approach Nov. 4. Ramsey as Senate leader and Jimmy Naifeh as House Speaker are allowed to even run their own PACs and dole out hundreds of thousands of dollars to incumbents and candidates who will keep them in power.

It's sickening.

The Tennessee Association of Realtors has contributed the most to legislative races at $238,900. That's about $2,000 per legislative race, Humphrey wrote. And of course, each of these special interests say they expect nothing in return for their contributions. Can you believe they're just being philanthropic? Me neither.

Humphrey provides a great analysis and read on the bidding war for your government and your say in it. Go to this Internet address and learn more about your declining democracy: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/19/pacs-portion-out-5m/

His story on the biggest special interests buying your influence appears Monday at this address: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/20/realtors-pac-lead-donor/

Commercial-Appeal gives up its backbone

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal has an incredibly disappointing editorial today on the coming $600 million deficit facing the state of Tennessee in the ongoing fiscal year when the General Assembly returns in January.

All that the editorial board can summon in insight is to let Bredesen do whatever he wants in cutting programs for the most vulnerable and raising state college tuitions further out of sight for many Tennessee families.

It's shocking that even in Memphis -- that has a great, independent and progressive thinking Congressman in Steve Cohen -- that the newspaper's leadership flops around like a brainless, wet noodle on the floor.

Where is the backbone?

Where are the ideas and alternatives to the governor's hatchet budget history?

Just because the man made mega-millions does not make him the person ordinary people should trust. My goodness, all the fatcats on Wall Street made big money, too, while their institutions failed.

Would that make them qualified to make state budget cuts in Tennessee?

The Commercial-Appeal thinks so in a sad editorial that shows little brain power or backbone on its board. Again, Bredesen wins as the only ram among ewes.

To read the sad editorial, go to:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/19/editorial-caution-flags-fly-in-nashville/

Heat, hate decreasing on immigration as issue

One positive about the declining economy has been a decrease in the political temperature on the issue of immigration.

The New York Times reports that undocumented human beings in the New York City area are looking to return home after no longer being able to find consistent work. That means the politicians who have promoted hate against these human beings will lose a foil to promote themselves and their careers.

Congresspeople like Tom Tancredo and Marsha Blackburn will lose an issue that represents most of their public policy agenda. This shift in immigration patterns -- like a drained swimming pool -- will reveal the disgusting muck within each of these lawmakers.

TV entertainers such as CNN's Lou Dobbs and others like Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly will have to find another myth-maker in their dirty bags of tricks.

Immigration from Mexico has declined by 25%, reports The Wall Street Journal. So overall, immigration as an issue is as old as last night's meatloaf. Any meaningful attempt at immigration reform in Congress will not come until 2010 or 2011. The new president will need the time to fix the economy first.

However, Michele Obama has promised that her husband in the White House would stop ICE raids of workplaces that demean human beings and families and destroy entire towns -- besides cost taxpayers $52 million as in an Iowa raid that deported just 389 workers earlier this year.

A President Obama could also dismantle the Clinton era machinery that has allowed for the punitive 287g deportation program in places such as Nashville.

And that's good news for a better future in this nation free of all the heat and hate.

To read more, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/nyregion/20laborers.html?hp

NYT profile shows now is not time to listen to Cramer; his bad advice has caused investors dearly

"Mad Money" Jim Cramer has been reduced to an entertainer on CNBC, not a worthy adviser on where to invest your money into the stock market.

He has too many buddies on Wall Street and too many posh dinner parties to attend. Like Rush Limbaugh, he is an entertainer first. To Rush's credit, he admits it. Cramer does not.

The former hedge fund provocateur made big bucks in his day, then came to serve we underlings with his wisdom. It has not served him well as of late, featuring two big Wall Street fatcats who claimed their financial institutions were prime for investment. Then they failed.

Cramer tried to make up for his grave mistakes by telling people over the past several weeks to get out of the stock market or lose 20% of their money. That got him criticism for trying to cause a stampede.

If you are wanting to know where to put your money, avoid Cramer. He has a lot to make up for and has yet to show that his wildness in giving out advice has sobered up for the times. Even before his problems, I didn't watch him. He comes off as a circus performer in a most serious business.

To read The Times' profile, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/business/media/20carr.html?hp

Bad moon rising? Palin gives SNL highest rating in 14 years; she's popular with her lovers, haters

Gov. Sarah Palin delivered the highest ratings to Saturday Night Live in 14 years, showcasing a popularity that might carry into election day and John McCain to the presidency.

Palin came off delivering a bravado job as a good sport and a Kennedyesque-fit presence next to poor, anemic-looking Tina Fey.

While she may not have looked presidential, Palin sure passed for vice presidential and more. Palin's appearance before millions and millions of Americans did not do her any harm at all. It obviously will be a benefit the campaign.

To read more, go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Palin-Saturday-Night-Live.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

With Powell and Buffett, Sen. Obama has poor endorsers that won't help him with undecideds

Listening to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman today, Sen. Barack Obama has the best possible celebrities endorsing him in former Secretary of State Colin Powell and billionaire blusterer Warren Buffett.

But these two figures mean nothing to Main Street voters. People with titles including Friedman carry no clout here. They are far removed from reality in households struggling to pay monthly mortgages, losing their homes, unable to afford tuition for their children already in school and losing their jobs. They know nothing of the growing fear. Their only fear is making the next dinner party list and CNBC appearance.

Buffett and Powell just represent two more people who lied to the American people. And we are tired of this lack of respect and common decency. There is a palpable anger that will be unleashed on Nov. 4 that may well surprise a news media now speaking of what to do with an election night that's over early with an Obama landslide.

Silly, stupid people!

Last Friday, Buffett -- a key Obama financial advisor -- told investors like you and me to jump back into the stock market like he is. Get greedy, he exhorted us.

But Buffett did not tell us how differently he invests from us. While he will buy a big mass of public stock in a company with his billions, he shores up his investment with a commitment from the company to allow him to buy its preferred stock.

That's the private vintage offered only to corporate fatcats and their buddies. Such stock pays a 10-percent dividend each quarter, paying Buffett big bucks no matter whether the stock is up or down.

That's like having a card shark doing the dealing for your benefit at the weekly poker game. Someone has to lose, and it is going to be your stupid buddies. Buffett should be ashamed of his reckless advice to the American people. The game is fixed for him to profit no matter what. We don't get the same advantage.

Powell told Congress and the United Nations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that needed to be taken out. He claimed the Iraqis were driving around trucks making lethal chemicals. He was wrong. And more than 4,000 Americans have lost their lives for his lies and more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died.

Bob Woodward's book War Within recounts a meeting of a bipartisan panel on Iraq in which Powell blew up in anger when questioned on his contention that this nation should invade. One panelist said after Powell walked out: "He's the one guy who could have stopped this from happening." So how does Powell really fit with a presidential candidate who opposed going into the war in the first place?

Meanwhile, the former secretary of state still goes around making speeches and big money without being held accountable for his actions that made an invasion of Iraq possible.

He represents just another in a long line of inside-the-Beltway officials who have lied to the American people. His endorsement means little in a tightening presidential race in which neither choice for the White House is acceptable to undecided voters.

In such cases, undecideds will go to the known commodity. And that's Sen. John McCain, despite the starry-eyed assessment by Friedman today that means nothing on darkening Main Streets across the nation.

Una boda: A wedding

It's a treat to the eyes and the soul to watch a wedding at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville.

The great care and respect to the societal tradition and to the Church are on display from the youngest to the oldest.

The maids of honor and the parents, godparents and grandparents are part of the wedding procession. There also are plenty of children. All girls and women are dressed in white out of respect to Our Lady and her most immaculate heart. The girls carry the trains of all the white gowns.

The people in the procession seem to number as great as those in the pews. We remember that our children are watching and reacting to everything we do. So let's make a positive statement in culture and faith.

But tradition and culture adapt, be it Hispanic or simply All-American. Yesterday's wedding was led with the song "Here Comes the Bride". Communion featured a moving recording of Ave Maria.

Teens and young women who were not part of the wedding party still dressed well. It looked like a Salma Hayek family reunion. Que bonita! What beauty!

But these young women are not unescorted. Their mothers are with them keeping a close eye. Or their brothers are watching. This is respect, this is tradition, this is our heritage.

So is promoting the family. These also are American virtues. These are the virtues promoted in the wedding of my mother at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Topeka, KS., when she -- as an American citizen born in this country -- married a World War Navy veteran, my father.

It was the same for my Aunt Pauline, who married Espirion Gutierrez after he served his nation on the bloody battlefields in the Pacific in World War II. And so it was for my aunt Mary, who married an Army Air Corps veteran who served on a B-17 as a middle gunner and rescued two his comrades before their plane crashed behind enemy lines.

Americans all. And all my heroes.

For those politicians still seeking to separate us by the color of our skin and the accent in our language, you will not prevail. You did not stop the American Dream in people who look like me more than a half century ago. Yesterday's wedding and the many to come prove that you won't succeed in this century either.

God is here, and so is an American tradition.

Gov. Palin, SNL rocked last night. See it here!

For my prima suprema in Topeka, KS, here is the opening spot with Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday Day Night Live last night.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/gov-palin-cold-open/773761/

SNL did another great impression of the some of the silliness and seriouness of the ongoing presidential campaign. Tiny Fey was brilliant as always. Lorne Michaels played the perfect straight man. Alec Baldwin was hilarious.

And Gov. Sarah Palin was a delight. And to quote Baldwin, she IS hotter in person. This is a smart politican who is also beautiful on the outside. Fey looked like her anorexic baby sister.

A rap segment later in the show was hilarous. See it here at http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-palin-rap/773781/

Will Palin's performance make any difference at the polls? Who knows. But last night will be remembered for laughs for a long time

Greed ruined America as frugality was forgotten; older Americans and scripture can teach us much

My good friend and colleague, Tony Williams in Dallas, sent me this great note amid these difficult economic times now and the worse ones to come:

One thing I have learned from my 93-year-old neighbor, Col. Woodrow Wilson (no kidding): The value of frugality. My brother said my dad was so tight, he squeaked when he walked. But only with himself. Always the best for my brother, my mother and me all his life.

If we as Americans want direction for surviving now and in the future, we need to seek out our older neighbors and loved ones. They know how to survive mentally and financially in hard times.

One minister who appeared on CNN early this morning says we should also look to scripture. It is full of financial advice -- of not spending more than you have on the things of this world.

Yesterday over lunch, Father Joe Pat Breen and I spoke of the days of lawaways at stores, when you spent a little each week to be able to get clothing or toys by Christmas or Easter. Now credit cards have erased those times.

Father speaks of counseling couples getting married now, and they talk of their homes that are being built for them. Used to be, even with me, you started out in an apartment. When you married, you moved to a rental home or duplex. When you started a family, you bought a small house. I bought my home at 38.

The young of this nation will have the most difficult time in the coming near Depression.

Only good advice from traditional sources -- free from greed -- will lead us through these hard times.

Pakistan, not Iran is the next biggest threat

Political pundit David Gergen says a fiscally collasping Pakistan -- and not a nuclear wannabe Iran -- is the greater danger to world security.

His stunning comment this morning points to the kind of challenges facing a new president. Pakistan already has nuclear weapons. And Gergen says it approaching the kind of financial ruin that will set the extremists in the country into motion to take power.

Gergen has distinguished himself as a mostly non-partisan political observer who has been in administrations of both parties.

(UPDATE 11:06 P.M. CDT: AP reports -- Pakistani soldiers are battling militants on three fronts in the northwest of the country. In the past, the government has tried unsuccessfully to make peace deals with the insurgents, drawing criticism from the United States.

In the latest fighting, Pakistani fighter jets bombed insurgents in the northwest's Swat Valley, killing up to 25, the army's media center said Monday. The bombs hit an ammunition dump, causing extensive damage.

In nearby Bajur district, seven more insurgents were killed when jets bombed their positions, said Muhammad Jamil Khan, the No. 2 government official there.

Whichever side wins in Pakistan or is trying to win could unleash nuclear weapons on the opposition or traditional adversary India. And India has its own nuclear weapons.

A new president will have to organize the world to bail out Pakistan with a mega-billion-dollar package. That means you the taxpayer will have to help someone else before yourselves -- again.

McCain wins in unofficial Belmont student vote

Sen. John McCain carried an unofficial student vote at Belmont University after the presidential debate. But he only won by five ballots.

Sen. Barack Obama -- on this conservative, Christian university -- carried some clout. He is seen as a candidate of hope and closer to the interests of the younger generation.

Now the question for his success Nov. 4 is whether young people like those at Belmont will turn out in record numbers across the country.

I believe they will.

Obama gets Colin Powell endorsement, but pundits still don't know one damn thing about how people will vote Nov. 4; Aunt Liz is undecided

Sen. Barack Obama gained the endorsement today of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. But with regular people, his campaign still has a lot of people to convince as the presidential race grows closer.

Powell is prominent. But people suffering and fearing on Main Street don't trust anyone with a title. Remember, it was Powell who sold the United Nations on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before America invaded without provocation.

But what has me convinced that Obama still has a way to go in closing the deal on winning the White House is the response a close friend of mine received from his aunt in Maryland and Metro Baltimore.

Aunt Liz has voted Democratic in every presidential election. She is part of the working poor trying to reach and sustain middle class status. She lived through the Great Depression and loved FDR.

And she at this point in the presidential race is unconvinced on whom she'll vote for. My friend is stunned. She does not trust either candidate. I've found the same sentiment in Tennessee. And that gives McCain an advantage. He is more known than Obama.

Yesterday, Obama spoke to 100,000 people in St. Louis. But Gov. Sarah Palin has been drawing large crowds herself. And her appearance on Saturday Night Live before millions of Americans was bravado. She made Tiny Fey look anorexic. And she was a great sport, which the American people love.

As a vice president, Gov. Palin will learn on the job as other VPs have done. And she will learn foreign policy from a most astute teacher, Sen. John McCain. Plus, McCain will surround himself with the same kind of experienced people like him. Another thing Palin has going for her is the support of my 12-year-old friend Lucille, who is brilliant and just as good looking.

Remember, a stern President Jimmy Carter tried to play the same inexperience hand against Ronald Reagan in 1980. And after Reagan won, Communism in eastern Europe started to fail as he called the Soviets what they really were and told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

This race is far from over. NBC chief political correspondent Chuck Todd showed McCain now ahead in Ohio. And he will win Pennsylvania, with help from the Bradley effect.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich correctly assessed Obama's good poll numbers in non-traditional Democratic states as indicative of the massive amount of money he has raised, not necessarily his popularity to really win the states.

Which brings me back to Aunt Liz, and the trouble Obama is having in closing the deal on this traditional Democrat.

Invest in a miracle and a leader in faith by action; Our Lady's gets whopping $150,000 grant!

Behold the miracle worker who leads by faith in action not words.

Father Joe Pat Breen, pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church in south Nashville, is financially responsible for two churches. Most pastors have trouble with one as far as time and money. But led by his deep faith and his commitment to his family's immigrant roots, Father Breen has pushed forward and continues to make a miracle happen at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville.

Father Breen recently received word of a $150,000 grant from the Catholic Extension Society to support Our Lady's and pay off its $400,000 debt owed the Nsshville diocese. That's the biggest gift so far in a multi-campaign Father personally initiated to find a faith home for the growing Hispanic presence in Nashville.


TWO FRIENDS

Through his friendship with Baptist pastor Paul Durham, Breen secured the massive building and property on Nolensville Road of the former Radnor Baptist Church for $1.5 million; it's worth is $5.1 million. That was the first part of the miracle.

Then Breen went to monied Catholic believers in Nashville, and got three to put up $1.5 million temporarily to secure the building and property. Then he went out fundraising while still solely being responsible for his own parish of more than 1,200 families.

He raised more than $900,000. He parishioners kept giving $3,000 a week to add on to their incredible gift then of more than $300,000.

I was blessed to personally raise $145,000 -- with two amazing gifts from Williamson County churches. St. Phillip's in Franklin and the great Father Kirk gave $100,000. Holy Family in Brentwood and the great Father Ed Alberts gave $25,000. The good sisters who run the Dominican Campus in Nashville also gave a wonderful gift. My marvelous late mother in Oklahoma City gave $10,000 to lead the beginning of my family's giving that continues each week.

And a little girl named Elizabeth gave $7 from her piggy bank so her Hispanic Catholic friend would have a place to go to church. Incredible. Another part of the miracle was complete.


MAKING THE CASE OF FAITH

Father graciously allowed me to be a part of the presentation made to an official from the Catholic Extension Society who visited three months ago. I explained what Our Lady's meant socially and politically for people who looked like me and my grandparents. And beyond a place of worship, I noted my hope of working with Vanderbilt University officials in bringing a nursing program to the church to start moving Hispanic middle school girls into professional caregiving careers before tradition teaches they should drop out of school and support the family.

Among Hispanics, who have the highest dropout rate in the nation, females face the worst education fate.

This move to work with Vanderbilt would not be to solely help Hispanics. It would be to help all of Nashville, as the nursing shortage reaches critical extremes next decade. We need to take this new brain power and put it to full use for all to benefit from. One such young lady who would be part of this movement would be 11-year-old Jennifer, an American of parents from El Salvador.

We met and talked yesterday of her dreams of being a scientist as a career. She has the grades and desire. All that we need to do is plug her into that great system called the American Dream and allow her a career to move her up the economic ladder.

Now wouldn't such a program at Our Lady's be a miracle, particularly with Vanderbilt locating so close to the Hispanic community in 100 Oaks Mall with a brave, new extension facility of top health care services to a seven-state area?

Well, that's what I outlined for the official from the Catholic Extension Society. And I was proud to walk behind Our Lady's pastor Father Fernando Garcia and administrator Hector Martinez as they took the official around the OLG building with its three stories of space awaiting new dreams, vision and community support.


SUPPORT FROM AFAR

One part of the miracle for Father Breen or the lesser types like me hanging around has been the breadth of that the community. I've noted the local gifts above. But the Catholic Extension Society is located in Chicago. An application to it for help was made from St. Edward.

It mission statement says: The Catholic Church Extension Society exists to sustain and extend the Catholic Faith in poor and remote mission areas of the United States where diocesan resources are insufficient. Catholic Extension builds national awareness and raises funds for the Church's needs in these communities so as to enable the essential mission of Catholic evangelization.

The only negative part of this miracle has been the lack of direct local giving from the diocese of Nashville and three prominent Catholic churches: The Cathedral, St. Henry's and St. Matthew's. I personally contacted each for support based on Pope Benedict's visit to America and his call to each of us to help these immigrant Catholic believers new to our country.

Individual parishioners and diocese members gave. And initially, the churches responded positively, then didn't respond later when asked for an official answer and after being given more extensive financial information and background by me on OLG's future.

The diocese simply acted as a lender, not even giving a gift of support. Catholic Charities has taken up space in OLG to provide services and to pay rent. But that does not compare to the kind of gift from veritable strangers, like those at the Catholic Extension Society.

One couple who attend The Cathedral asked the pastor there if a second collection could be taken for Our Lady's. The priest answered "no", the couple said, because he did not believe in second collections. The couple, however, gave $1,000 of their own money. So they own a piece of the ongoing miracle that is Our Lady's.


TESTIFYING TO THE TRUTH

I make these observations above from my personal experiences and as an observer and listener. These are NOT Father Breen's opinions -- only MINE. For my part, my family and I remain physically and financially involved at Our Lady's and will so for the rest of our lives here. Even from a negative, one can learn and pray harder and then seek allies in other areas.

I believe some important people in the diocese wanted to see Father Breen fail in taking on this initiative that has produced a miracle. He is outspoken when it comes to the truth, particularly when it comes to the need for married priests. He also is outspoken for the poor and the most vulnerable. And this nation's bishops are mostly bureaucrats, not spiritual leaders.

Unfortunately, he was wrongly used by so-called Hispanic advocates in trying to keep the EnglishFirst referendum off the Nov. 4 ballot. At their direction, Father Breen spoke to the Metro Election Commission in support of knocking the referendum off the ballot.

Advocates and other backroom politicos foolishly believed Councilman Eric Crafton would simply go away. He didn't. Now it is on the ballot for Jan. 22 and will surely pass. These so-called advocates should have kept their foolish strategies away from Father Breen. He knows more about politics and progress than all of them combined. Our Lady's is proof of that.

For those who have participated in this miracle, please know your money has been used wisely in nurturing this miracle to produce new ones. It is Father Breen's dream to raise enough money to retire the debt and then allow the parish to progress on its own. That follows the wisdom of teaching a person how to fish instead of giving them a fish everyday. He hopes to have a big party early next year to celebrate retiring the debt. And Our Lady's will gain official diocesan recognition as its own parish.


JOIN THE MIRACLE

You can be a part of this miracle and see a bounty of blessings in return from new health care workers to care for you in the hospital and bigger taxpayers to help support Nashville's needs. You'll also be joining with fellow believers in a higher power above and a great power on earth of the American Dream. The parishioners at Our Lady's already are taking over in their own gifts and works at their church.

Send me a note at timchavez787@yahoo.com if you want to contribute, and I'll give you directions to assign your name and faith to a miracle marvelous to behold. Or go to www.stedward.org.

The miracle worker and the miracle still need our support of faith through action and continued prayers.

Williamson AM risks reader trust with politically-inept community column and forum page

I've lived in Williamson County for 11 years. The Republicanism and conservatism here have been unchallenged in my time here. And it remains so from my daily dealings with regular people in grocery stores, parks, auto repair shops and other public venues in Brentwood and Franklin.

For me, that truth is neither good or bad. It is just as it is and should be reported as so. This county is more identified by its faith and the good works from it -- particularly from its children and teens -- than any political label.

So I was astonished last Sunday at reading a staff column and a forum for representative reader opinion in Williamson A.M. that the county is growing increasing diverse politically -- specifically more Democratic.

More, as a former editorial page editor, I was intrigued by a letter to the editor yesterday in Williamson A.M. -- a section of Tennessean newspaper -- about a problem reader Ken Deck of Franklin says he uncovered in last Sunday's "Your Voices" section.

Of 18 responses run on the page about political diversity in Williamson County, 14 were pro-Democratic and only one tilted toward Republicans, Deck wrote.

Here's all I know:

It seems The Voices' feature does not frequently use the reader solicitation list my wife compiled over years in managing and nurturing the newspaper page. My wife was first dedicated to fairness and balance. The extent that she would go to ensure accuracy and generosity in editing was beyond what is typical in our profession or fully appreciated by bosses. She retired this past summer.

But when my wife left, the considerable list of readers she compiled over years from faithful responders was turned over to Williamson A.M. We don't know what happened to it after that. But it's obvious that the good readers and citizens of Williamson County represented by that list are not always being used in the forum.

Williamson A.M.'s strength has been that you couldn't tell its political leanings and that the people who wrote for it knew their community. That's what made last Sunday's silliness and shallow examination on local politics so surprising.

Any contention that Williamson County is turning more Democratic -- primarily from information gleaned from columnist bar hopping and a new reader list -- only serves to undercut those strengths.

These strengths should be more diligently guarded. Trust and credibility are hard to get back.