Bravo and Many Thanks to Brad Mays, Lori Starfelt & Steve Yaeger!

And, to the many listeners who tuned in! Thanks to you all, last night's show was a huge success! Intended to be a one time special presentation to showcase"The Audacity of Democracy" and its filmmakers, we received so many Favorite markings that we have decided to continue "Kicking Back with Central Park" as a regular Saturday night venue from now on!

"Kicking Back" portends to be a laid back wrapup of current sociopolitical and cultural happenings and phenomemena with guests, commentary and discussion. Put on your jammies, snuggle up to the BTR and join us for a weekend decompression chamber! In coming weeks, we'll present, among other stellar guests, an "Audacity of Democracy Redux," an evening with the film makers once again as we give everyone a chance to call in with comments or questions after they've had a chance to view the full feature. For advance purchase, go to Amazon.com

See you there on Saturdays at 11 PM EST at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Central-Park-7/2009/01/31/Kicking-Back-with-Central-Park Call in number 646-727-3807 (646) 727-3807 (646) 727-3807 (646) 727-3807

Announcing..."The Audacity of Democracy"!

At long last, filmmaker Brad Mays' long awaited documentary about the early PUMA movement is ready for release! While the trailer doesn't begin to do justice to the full feature, it does offer a quick preview and leaves the viewer wanting more. Brad has been working on "The Audacity Of Democracy" for nearly six months. Now finished, he is ready to talk about the ups and downs of political documentary filmmaking, as well as how his film has been misunderstood virtually from its inception. Taking viewers from Washington, DC to Chicago to Dallas and Austin, Texas; from New York City and Princeton to Denver, Colorado, from low farce to high tragedy, "The Audacity of Democracy" is sure to surprise everyone who sees it.

Join me on Saturday, January 24th at 10:00 PM EST for a two hour premier special with Brad and his film crew, Lori Starfelt and Steve Yaeger for a revealing discussion about the making of the film and some of the startling events that occurred during its filming. Lines will be open to listeners for question and comment. Updates for url to be posted later today.

Congress - Watch Now More Than Ever

Under cover of the media's endless coverage of a minor airline incident in NY, the Senate gave passage to the remaining $350 billion in T.A.R.P. expenditures.
Since it would have been necessary for both House and Senate to vote down this measure, the funding is now assured and already in process. Just to be certain their tight vote passed, Burris (Obama's secret selection to replace himself in the Senate) was sworn in early that day and Joe Biden withheld his own resignation from the Senate until day's end, after the vote. You won't see reports of such maneuvers on MSM, but we've every reason to expect them to continue. Speaker Pelosi, for instance, appears to be planning a re-interpretation of House Rules to serve the purpose of "dead of night" measures to circumvent opposition. Evidence is clear she remains a strong backer of Acorn: http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2009/01/acorn-to-get-money-from-obama-stimulus.html

The question that remains related to T.A.R.P. is what will the House of Representatives do to regulate its distribution and oversight. Barney Frank, Democratic Chair of the Banking Committee has presented a bill which claims to serve that purpose. This bill is subject to a vote as early as this week, following the Inauguration.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00384:@@@D&summ2=m&
Republican Minority leader John Boehner has expressed outrage that no GOP were consulted or included in the preparation of the contents of this measure. It thus appears that unless public protests reach a high-volume, Pelosi & Co. have every intention of controlling our government for their own purposes and running it as a one party System.

Republican opposition appears questionable, as Congressional hearings demonstrated this week. Eric Holder was given a free pass by the GOP, drawing criticism even by the Obama-besotted media for neglecting to hold the Attorney General nominee accountable for his end-run around the Justice Department in the controversial pardon for Mark Rich, which he facilitated at the end of the Clinton administration. We could ask, should a crook run the Justice Department he previously circumvented? We could ask - but the Republicans in Congress didn't do so.

On related fronts we face a CIA director with no background in intelligence operations, a head of Homeland security who espouses open borders and a Treasury Secretary who cheated on his income taxes. Who will the GOP blame if they continue to allow irresponsible appointments to slide through?

Of even greater concern, however, are the currently nebulous contents of the "Obama Recovery Plan." Expected to multiply the initial costs of T.A.R.P., this package of ten bills is currently a mere shell for the insertion of who knows just what. Apparently, all the Obama rhetoric has yet to be magically transformed into substance. By contrast, another bill also introduced on January 7, to discourage teen pregnancy is four pages long - offering an amount of detail greater than the 10 sketchy Recovery bills combined! Yet the headers of this package portend sweeping changes in almost every aspect of American life. One, for instance, with a header related to "Fairness" for the Middle Class (?) includes, on its short list of potential laws, a brief reference to CardCheck (Pelosi and Acorn's approach to storming small businesses with mandated unions, initiated with the peer pressure of no secret ballot.) Note that this is just 1 item on a longer list on one bill of ten! For a review of the massive scope but lack of content of this "Recovery Plan"

There's every indication the Democratic party is preparing for diverse back room deals and dead of night maneuvers to turn our country's standards and laws upside down as quickly as possible - all with the blessings of the co-opted collusion of cooperative Mass Media which is committed to informing the American People of as little as possible of what is transpiring in our government.

Take, for instance, the re-introduced Resolution of January 6, to eliminate term limits on the Presidency. The history of its prior introduction (1995 to 2007) has been weak. This time around, the threat of ending term limits may loom larger than ever before,cosponsored, as it is, by Barney Frank. What we may ask is the head of the Banking Committee thinking to sponsor a bill extending Obama's term in office with no limits?! (Note; Rep. Frank's co-sponsorship is dated November, 2008 but buried in the record of an earlier record of the measure. Just an error?) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hj111-5

The American people can expect no good to come of any of this unless we remain vigilant and active in our protests as each of these critical measures comes up for a vote. Wake Up America movement (WAM) is enlisting volunteers to Watch Washington Now, track legislation and communicate to both Congress and the mainstream media what is acceptable and what is not. (Quick use sample letters and contact information will be provided to all those interested in participating). To get involved with W.A.M. click here. Preserving our democracy needs your support!

Beloved First Amendement...Must You Leave So Soon?

Greeting all, and welcome to the second day hijinks of the newly installed administration. I cross post this from Tom Kovach in the interest of promulgating the truth. As I have always believed, ultimately, the Truth is all one has in this world and without it, we face destruction from both within and without. I would urge all to read this and post comments at Tom's blog. I am told that we retain First Amendment rights, but things like the following, along with all the other supppressions of truth, both in msm and online, would lead one to question whether indeed we do have any rights left at all.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Obama Ambush by Tom Kovach

From: Tom Kovach, author
Subject: HACKED — the Obama ambush
To: “Tom Kovach”
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 8:15 AM

In the military, we were taught to “charge the ambush”.

It would take awhile to explain all the technical reasons, but charging directly into an ambush is the best way to defeat it and live to tell about it.

For a long time, I’ve asked friends to SPREAD THE WORD.

Some have. Some have not.

Well… this morning, the center-column text of my blog DISAPPEARED.
http://tomkovach.us/blog/

For those of you that actually read it, you might recall that my last blog entry presented a cogent argument — supported by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and by military-security rules — for why members of the military should DISOBEY any order issued by Barack Obama. And, specifically, I suggested that its guardians should REFUSE to hand over to Obama the nuclear “football”.

Intentionally, I back-channeled that blog entry to someone that was previously
well-placed in the military intelligence community (but, “officially”, no longer is).

My hope was that he would help to spread the word among patriotic, law-abiding military members — who could then act as an unofficial “First Team” to slow down the erosion of our country from the White House outward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Team_(novel)

Instead, he apparently passed it along to military cyber-warriors (most likely
the 83rd Network Operations Squadron out of Langley AFB, Virginia). And, apparently, they erased my blog.

They didn’t erase all of it, though — just the center column of the main page. You know, the place where most people would find my latest blog entry — especially if they were subscribers.

So, YOUR MISSION, should you choose to accept it, is to SPREAD THE WORD.
(here’s a link to the one they missed … so far)
http://tomkovach.us/blog/2009/01/the_obama_oxymoron.html

If this is what happens on DAY ONE of an Obama administration, then it won’t be long before outspoken people like me are silenced by more “direct” methods.

The only way to overcome such high-tech censorship is to “go viral” — meaning that EVERY ONE of you needs to notify EVERY ONE on your e-mail list of what is happening.

If you think that this is a joke, think back to the plight of Rev. Martin Niemoller at the hands of the Nazis. Sadly, he became famous for “not speaking out”. No one can accuse me of that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller

If you agree that this is serious, you can join the “resistance”. (No, I’m not asking people to take up arms against the government. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But, given Obama’s obvious disdain for the Constitution so far, don’t be surprised if THEY decided to take up arms against US. What will you do then??) How can you join the resistance? There are links to most everything you need to get started — already on my Web site.

Please… spread the word, before the word is gone.

CHARGE THE AMBUSH.

Thank you.

Tom Kovach
http://tomkovach.us
Mount Juliet TN
(near Nashville)
POSTED BY USA TODAY AD FOR OBAMA RECORDS AT 9:53 AM 0 COMMENTS LINKS TO THIS POST
LABELS:

I've Been Tagged--Short Version!

Navyvet & Petunia, I am duly honored! First, the Short List: [still trying to figure out how to post the long one on FB]

1. Fiercely Loyal
2. Love my country, its Constitution & its Troops [does that count as 1 or 3?]
3. Family and friends, next to truth, are the greatest gifts
4. Golden Retrievers, my alter egos, esp. my two girls, make life a daily lovefest
5. Having driven sports cars since forever, I graduated to SUVs when house & dogs arrived.
6. Have an insatiable curiosity about almost everything

Is it cheating to add one more, last but not least, VERY important thing?

7. Incredible gratitude for ALL those in this Movement who love their country and bravely stand up for it by walking the walk!

Dark Days: Taking the Oath...and Swearing

It is difficult to put today's events into clean, coherent words. With media's complicity in the attempt to program the American people through the largest propaganda campaign of half truths, untruths and fact suppression in American History, words have become slippery, oily creatures, swarming in hazy swirls of deception like so many mosquitoes in the Pantanal. Rather than continue to state the obvious, or try to improve on the elegant accuracy of others, I refer you to the thoughts of Canadian Free Press's Daniel Greenfield, as he writes, "The Bread and Circuses Presidency .

Be that as it may, words, well chosen, are the only defense against attempts to seize power through neurolinguistic programming and mass mind control. And so, with leaden heart, I, too, have taken an Oath today. I swear to continue to serve the interests of the United States of America and its Constitution, to speak my truth as plainly as I know how, and support others in their endeavors to do the same. To that end, I can only refer our readers to what is perhaps the bravest and most brilliant post of this dark day, if not the year, made by our esteemed Logistics Monster . Truly the Diamond of the 21st Century, Logistics stands out as the power of example to which we should all aspire.

In celebration of of that commitment, I invite all to join The Central Park 7 tonight at 10:00 PM EST for the debut of "Constitutional Radio", presented by Blog Talk Radio's My Two Cents and hosted by myself. In the weeks to come, the Central Park 7 will rotate hosting duties between drkate, still4hill and myself, as we explore our Constitution with guests whose areas of specialty lie in Constitutional studies. Tonight's show will introduce ourselves as the members of The Central Park 7 and discuss what brought each of us to our Defining Moment over the 2008 election cycle. The lines will be open at (347)202-0443 for question and comment and we look forward to seeing you there to celebrate our great country, its Constititution and its people through what portends to be some of the darkest days in our history.

The Chimera Select

chi·me·ra:

1: capitalized : a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail b: an imaginary monster compounded of incongruous parts
2: an illusion or fabrication of the mind ; especially : an unrealizable dream; a fancy
3: an individual, organ, or part consisting of tissues of diverse genetic constitution [Merriam Webster Dictionary]

As members of Congress arrive today to be sworn in [with the glaring exceptions of Illinois's Roland Burris, soon-to-be-former Governor Blagojevich's last ditch appointee, and Minnesota's Al Franken, who, on the bazillionth recount, finally managed to get a win], the inner confines of the Beltway are abuzz with self congratulatory drama and attendant gaggles of adoring fans and family.

But amidst all this fanfare, as usual, media remains disgracefully mute. At the risk of going into the long list of facts ad nauseum, suffice to say that indeed the list is long, detailed and substantiated by documents obtained via the FOIA, public record, and common sense deduction from indisputable facts, eg., since a Natural Born Citizen can only qualify as such by virtue of having TWO American citizens as parents, it does NOT matter where Mr. Soetoro/Obama was born or where his birth certificate is, although it would be prudent to at least HAVE a valid one. He could have been born in a manger at Blair House but his parents were unable to confer Natural Born status upon him because his father was a foreign national and his mother was too young to have lived 5 years past the age of majority in the U.S., even if she had not been traveling all over the place. But I digress. Divvy at rense.com http://rense.com/general84/obss.htmDavid Icke at http://www.davidicke.com/content/view/18281 Dr. Orly Taitz at http://drorly.blogspot.com/2009/01/fs-1-foreign-student-visa-and-barack.html and Phil Berg at www.obamacrimes.com are just a few of the brilliant, patriotic Americans who continue to work tirelessly to preserve and protect our nation and its Constitution in the face of what looks more and more like a covered up coup-d'é-voter fraud than a representative democracy.

While the futile hunt for information about The Man Who Would Be King--I mean Chimera-- continues, our nation grinds closer to installing what appears to be little more than an elusive, formless titular head of a nameless cabal, both as indistinct and undefinable as carbon monoxide, and nearly as lethal. No one he is connected to and nothing he does ever seems to have grounding in any kind of solid fact. Both he and his office state unequivocably that they have "had no contact" with Illinois Governor Blagojevich, and yet Judicial Watch, an organization whose stated purpose is "Promoting Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in Government, Politics and the Law" has, through the FOIA, obtained documents indicative of ongoing contact between Obama, Blagojevich and the transition team:
Judicial Watch Obtains Documents Re: Blagojevich Contacts with Obama and Transition Team

Washington, DC -- January 5, 2009

Includes December 3, 2008, Letter to "Rod" Signed by Obama

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich through the Freedom of Information Act related to Blagojevich's contacts with President-elect Obama and his transition team. The documents include a December 3, 2008, letter from Barack Obama following his December 2, 2008, meeting with Blagojevich as well as a November 17, 2008, letter signed by Presidential Transition Team co-chairs Valerie Jarrett and John Podesta providing Blagojevich with a list of transition team contacts.

The following are excerpts from the letter signed by President-elect Obama on December 3, 2008, less than one week before authorities arrested Blagojevich for attempting to "sell" Obama’s now-vacant Senate seat, among other corruption charges:

• "Thank you for meeting with me on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Vice President-elect Joe Biden and I were pleased with the open discussion."
• "As we discussed, I would appreciate any advice you can provide to me and my team on the biggest roadblocks to states in moving forward in ‘getting ready to go' projects started quickly."
• "In addition, I welcome any advice you can provide me and my team on revitalizing and reinvigorating the state-federal partnership. I want to make it a priority of my Administration to work closely with you."
• "I look forward to working with you and hitting the ground running on January 20th."

The November 17, 2008, letter signed by Jarrett and Podesta states:

"On behalf of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden we want you to know of our strong interest in working with you in the months to come. As you may know we have formed a Presidential Transition Team so that the new Administration will be prepared to confront the extraordinary challenges facing our country. Your leadership and experience will be invaluable in this effort and we hope you will not hesitate to share your insights during this process."

"These documents tend to undermine Obama's claims that he had no contact with Blagojevich and suggest his transition is hiding documents about such contacts," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Why did President-elect Obama not release this letter? What else is he hiding?"

And, not to be outdone, another dose of Pelosi-style workings was revealed yesterday: she

"plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi’s proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office." --Connie Hair http://www.humanevents.comarticle.php?id=30143

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the U.S. Supreme Court has two conferences scheduled on Berg lawsuits, and awaits yet another one. For an interesting discussion of the Berg suits, see http://talkwisdom.blogspot.com/2008/12/seeing-big-picture.html. Nearly twenty cases have been filed, countless searches performed, and STILL no one has been able to locate ANY authentic records pertaining to any aspect Mr. Soetoro/Obama's life, and, due to the endless list of ignominious characters with whom he has aligned himself, he is unable to pass even the most basic routine security clearance background check performed for police, FBI and other security employment. Web pages have been scrubbed so assiduously that it is now mandatory standard operating procedure for researchers to immediately take and save screen shots to prevent loss of material from daily scrubs.

And, all the while, the rest of the world stands by aghast, not knowing whether to gag or guffaw, probably doing a bit of both. From accounts in the foreign press, it is obvious that they are holding their collective breath, wondering how bad the fallout will be if the Americans' own highest court refuses to uphold its oath to preserve and protect the Consitution and prevent what they all know is a Pretender, Usurper and most probably an illegal alien from seizing power as leader of the free world. http://www.daily.pk/world/americas/8993-barack-obama-the-naked-emperor-.html
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/106848-0/

In the meantime, life goes on in these United States--albeit with fear and trepidation--while patriots, both natural born and naturalized, fight to protect our Constitution and expose the truth about the chimera that has drifted up from places unknown like so much swirling smoke. Had American media done its job, none of this would be necessary. As it is, patriots everywhere are working day and night to ferret out fact, expose fiction, capture the truth and save our country from the cloud of confusion that has descended over our political system.

Northern Exposure

I went North this weekend, to the calming silence of the Adirondaks in Winter with their endless crags of snowy firs, sub zero temperatures and crunching snow. Not a fan of winter sports save occasional cross country skis, my intention was to catch a quick respite with an old friend in a short sojourn to the nether zone. My friend Karen's camp, nestled among lakes and peaks, welcomed us with warm wooden floors and the loving arms of its overstuffed chairs. By the fire, we spoke of many things--we are alter egos since school days, so much alike, yet chose different paths. She is wife, widow, mother and grandmother; I'm a writer, activist, consultant and golden retriever owner who preferred travel to toddlers, fox hunts to soccer and yoga to dogma--yet we share so much in common. Love of friends, family, country; road trips, beaches, and memories of childhood in mid-20th century America. We are like most Americans everywhere. We crave peace, love, balance and human rights.

As we walked through the little town of Old Forge [Snowmobile Central], the sound of snow, crunching under tires and Sorelled feet suddenly reminded us that we hadn't heard that sound in a long time, just as we hadn't seen roads covered with blowing, drifting snow. Winter in the Hudson Valley was different back then, and here in Central New York it never left. These days, all traces of snow leave the day after storms, and snow dunes are a thing of the past. It warms up so quickly now that the snow rarely stays for long, let alone get cold enough to crunch.

The phone at the camp is an old black desk phone with a DIAL. As I made a phone call, I wondered how long it had been since I'd even SEEN a dial phone, let alone used one. [It worked fine, by the way]. It took a minute to remember where the numbers were but I managed to dial correctly and connect to my party just as quickly as with touch tone. I don't remember thinking it took forever to dial a number back then but now, in today's busy world, the pause between lightening dial of pad and ring at the other end seems an eternity, and if the power goes out, I'm stuck with the cell, if the battery's charged.

It was truly a post card weekend, replete with frost painted windows, snow drifts and sub zero air. We recalled the days of rear wheel drive cars slipping sideways on snowy roads: front- and all wheel drive, separate heating controls, and in-glass defrost were unheard of back then. The well- prepared made do with tire chains and for awhile we had studded tires for winter, which had to be removed by April 15 lest they skid on dry pave or tear up the roads. If we went into a ditch we hiked to a house and called someone to pull us out. We didn't have cell phones or Garmins because they didn't exist. But we survived, with pay phones and road maps, blissfully ignorant of our peril.

As we move into 2009, trepidation and uncertainty rule with each new rant on economic, political and military strife. Warnings of shortages abound and gun stores report record sales. It may well be that we are headed for a period of reckoning and rebalance that will test our mettle and press our collective edge, but I have no doubt that we will survive to triumph in better shape than ever. We have become a society both blessed and cursed with convenience, but we are not without resources when we're pushed to a test.

Today at Insight Analytical http://insightanalytical.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/the-past-week-december-28-2008-january-3-2009-court-dates-barnicle-on-bloggers-burris-delmarie-cobb-connection-clinton-supporter-economic-collapse-the-feeding-machine/#comment-5309 Grail Guardian observed,

“…We are lazy. We don’t demand that our “leaders” do anything for us, just that they talk about it. We don’t bother to dig into the facts or do research, we vote for the candidate our party and/or the Male Stream Media tells us to vote for.”

Brava, Grail. It is time we realized that, and time we took action. You, along with countless others, are leading the charge to inform with facts instead of fantasy and hold leaders and media accountable.

We are faced with challenge, the like of which we've not seen since the Great Depression, and, in fact, things being what they are now, what lies ahead may be even worse. But we can take this opportunity to stop and think, to regroup and re evaluate and remind ourselves that we are capable of much more than we think. We need to remember that we are a lot stronger, smarter, and resourceful than we realize. We are Americans, whose destiny was forged by our Constitution and our inherent desire to be individuals. We have forgotten the Daniel Boone who purportedly said that when he could see the smoke of his neighbors' fire it was time to move on. We forget that there are still places where pieces of the Santa Fe Trail are visible, and that we are all descendants of pioneers of one sort or another. We are still pioneers; we can draw courage and inspiration from all that have passed before us, and remember that rarely do we find our edge these days unless something forces us toward it. We can celebrate the positives and we can follow the example of those like Grail, Insight, Logistics Monster and all the other brave warriors who daily fight for their country and its principles. We can remember that in unity, we are not alone, and that in numbers, we can accomplish great things.

The Audacity of Nope

Today's title, courtesy of esteemed friend and fellow Puma, Rosemary, brings me back to the matrix of the Movement--the last day of May, 2008 [can it really be just 8 months ago--it seems like yesterday and yet lifetimes past--such are the dualities of the human mind's perception of time!] when our illusions crashed to a rude halt and were replaced by a firm resolve to resist and refuse the DNC's attempt to disenfranchise us by breaking their own rules. On that warm, sunny day, in front of the Wardman Marriott in Washington, D.C. a movement came to life for thousands of people who simply decided to just say NO to it all: the sexism, cynicism, mysogyny, dirty tricks, caucus fraud, biased media and corrupt politicians.

Since that time, our coalition of NO's has accomplished incredible things. We have demonstrated that it is still possible to stand up and be counted, voice our beliefs and take on Big Media, Big Government and corrupt politicians. We have called to task and held accountable countless individuals and entities and, lo and behold, weighed in at #8 in Time Magazine's Top Ten Buzzwords of the Year 2008. More importantly, however, we have succeeded in exposing the wrongs we have discovered in our country and begun to spread the word, and begun to supplant main stream media as a reliable source of information.

We have much work to do and much to be proud of as we move ahead toward our Phase III, or Long Range Plans to make our country a better place, rejecting sexism, corruption and disengenuousness as we fight to preserve our Constitution and its sacred blueprint.

I leave you today with words from those wiser than I.

"Lies do matter, whether they are at the individual or the national level. Many people have already found that out, many more are about to. Truth is that which accords with reality, no matter how hard we may wish that it were not so. We are thankfully leaving behind the world where economic truths are determined by the political process and then enforced through legislation. That version of truth is a malign and warped reality that violently clashes with truth and honesty. That which appears to be true, but in fact is not, is an illusion." --S. Mathid

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." --Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

And finally,

"I would prefer a man who will burn the flag and wrap himself in the constitution than one who would burn the constitution and wrap himself in the flag."
--craig anthony washington

And so, Onward All! Remember how empowering and energizing the word NO can be--and if someone fails to take your NO for an answer, ask them what part of "NO" don't they understand.

New Years Blessings

New Years wishes to all! As I trundle back toward a semblance of routine after the always mind-numbing chaos of the Holiday Season, the weather here in the Northeast is cold and wintery with wind chills near zero F. As much as the celebrations of faith, hope, good will and human kindness buoy us, carrying us through December's winter blasts, I am always glad to see the New Year arrive, and with it, the return to routine, whatever it may be. Though I have never been an ardent fan of New Years Eve, the First day of the New Year always brings a large sigh of relief as I am reminded that, once again, the Holidays are over for another year and with them the requisite overindulgence, late party nights and rooms full of wafting tissue paper, the dregs of gift exchange, escaping their prisons of boxes and bags.

I like the illusion that each January 1st is a clean slate, blank, shining and ready to help us put our best foot forward, get organized and resume productivity. Inevitably, I am always eager to embark on indoor projects geared to simplify and enhance daily living: cleaning out desk, bureau and kitchen drawers, sorting clothes for Good Will, grooming dogs [not just BATHING, but GROOMING!], and the like. I outline projects for the year ahead and make lists of things to do.

However, for me, the most important part of a New Year is that of taking stock, doing an accounting of the year just passed, so I have an inventory with which to navigate the next one, and that involves one of the most important tools of all: gratitude. Regardless of what has befallen me, or my country or the world at large, the ability to have gratitude for those things positive is vital. For instance, as devastating as some of the darkest days of 2008 were, the fact that, out of the same dark events came so many incredible gifts in the form of the many wonderful people whom I never would have met had it not been for our mutual outrage at our Party, our political system, and main stream media. I am so very blessed to have crossed paths with so many talented, passionate, committed, brilliant people. Of all the blessings and gifts that 2008 bestowed upon me, the people continue to be the greatest gift of all. We have supported, rallied, motivated, comforted, stimulated and befriended one another throughout our fight to be heard in our efforts to reform media, political systems and attitudes toward women. There is nothing that can surpass this kind of community and as we move into 2009, I see our coalitions continuing to grow and survive, more strongly than ever. Despite some differences of opinion, most of us continue to be respectful and appreciative of one anothers' efforts in our fight to attain mutual goals. The overriding factor is that most people want to get along and work to accomplish these goals. Amy Siskind and The New Agenda http://thenewagenda.net/ have made great strides in only 5 months, and Heidi Li's nascent 51% http://www.fifty-one-percent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=49 is doing the same--for these are the organizations that represent the interests of ALL women, irrespective of political affiliation, lifestyle choices, socioeconomic strata or marital status.

On the political front, much history continues to be made, despite media's refusal to report any of it. Rather than report that 54% of the American people now believe there is reason to be concerned about Barack Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office, http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84990 or that Supreme Court of the United States has now scheduled two conferences on Philip Berg's cases, Jan. 9th and 16th; [Mr. Berg has now entered an interpleader naming Barry Soetoro himself as a defendant, thus shifting the burden of proof to Soetoro/Obama, also naming a member of the military as a plaintiff, which satisfies the standing issue]; or that, although Congress is scheduled to count the electoral college votes which were due by December 15, 2008, [December 24th was the deadline for receipt of electoral votes at NARA], Public Law 110-430 changed the date of the electoral vote in Congress in 2009 from January 6 to January 8, [again for the first and only time in history], and that a presidential candidate has only 180 electoral votes, with 26 states not yet reporting despite the fact that the deadline for receiving votes was over two weeks ago. http://larrymwalkerjr.blogspot.com/2008/12/electoral-college-update.html , http://archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008/ Some of the states have not yet responded and some have refused to vote for Soetoro/Obama. In any event, he is still one hundred votes from the 270 required to get elected. [It has been touch and go from the beginning, so why should it be any different now? Don't blame us, we tried to warn everyone that he was unelectable!] It is surely the first time in history that our country has been faced with a candidate about whom nothing is known except for the fact that he is most certainly not eligible to be president because he is not a natural born American citizen, and yet all we hear about is Barry's fondness for wearing his hat backwards and playing with his Blackberry while complaining about his security detail as Middle East conflicts continue to escalate.

In short, we are facing a number of historical firsts, NONE of which main stream media has seen fit to report. The good news is that more groups are being organized to hold media accountable, and expose the truth about such entities as the Federal Reserve [http://logisticsmonster.com/2008/12/31/americas-economic-collapse-an-intricate-web-of-money-power-and-political-agendas-part-i/#comment-2899] as well as reform our political system, so broken as it has become by corruption, collusion and voter fraud. We The People http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/obama/ , Wake Up America http://www.wam08.org and a score of other coalitions, new and old, are forming, regrouping and getting to roll out ongoing plans, spearheaded by tireless, passionate, committed people with a multitude of skills and talents from which to draw, and it is wonderful to see that the devastating events of 2008 have not discouraged us, but instead motivated us even further.

The Year is young, and awaits our attention! Best of luck and blessings to all as we forge ahead to achieve our goals.