Time to Read History Again

Pundits on the right are looking for the silver lining in the pathetic "wealth distribution" power grab (as reported by the New York Times no less) known as Healthcare Reform Law.

For my part, I am going back to re-reading history. I think if we all understood American history better, we would have never been brought to this financial precipice. I have dusted off the three volumes of The Annals of America, which cover everything leading up to the American Revolution and through the Civil War. It's refreshing to read actual letters and essays by early American fathers about the principles they invoked in resisting the tyrrany of Big Government.

I encourage everyone to do the same. If we are going to win in November, we need sustained electoral momentum, propelled by light not just heat. If the public becomes truly educated about our history, the basics of economics, the differences between socialism and capitalism, the results of nationalized healthcare as it has been tried in other countries, etc, we will be armed with the knowledge and firepower to repeal this bill.

So give up American Idol and Entertainment Tonight for a awhile, and hit the history books. While you're at it, look at the old document known as the Constitution as well.

Who is Ellie Light?

Her name sounds surreal: "ELLIE LIGHT." But who is she?

A new controversy is making its rounds about this mysterious Obama fan who has been writing letters to the editors of our nation's newspapers, telling us why Obama is still the ONE, and why he has such a grueling job as president and we should all give him a break.

To date, "Ellie Light" has written to the following newspapers:

- The San Francisco Examiner
- Ohio Mansfield News Journal
- New Mexico’s Ruidoso News
- South Carolina’s The Sun News
- Daily News Leader of Staunton, Virginia

...to name just a few, all of them with the same letter to the editor, and claiming addresses in the locales served by those papers!

Ellie Light sure is omnipresent, isn't she? Is she real? Or is she a clandestine Obama supporter engaging in "Astro turfing"? (That's creating a fake grass roots movement).

Given Obama's sinking approval numbers, I wouldn't be surprised if Ellie Light's real last name turned out to be Axelrod.

Film Look

Just completed a piece on how to make video look like film, posted here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2609213/how_to_make_your_video_look_more_like.html?cat=59

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Again)

It appears that Conan O'Brien is getting quite a severance package for agreeing to leave the Tonight Show--a cool $40 million. I give a brief rehash of this soap opera here:
http://late-night-tv.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_tonight_show_with_jay_leno_again.

You'd think this show would be over by now. However, die hard Conan supporters have begun to rally and show their anger at NBC for what they believe to be an ill fated move.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-talk-0119-conan-obrien-protest-_2-20100118,0,6509847.story

What do you think?

Make Money Online

Over the past several years, I've made money online--mainly by writing. I haven't gotten rich (and I would be suspicious of anyone claiming that you can get rich, at least easily), but it's been a decent part-time income.

Here are some of the top sites I'd recommend for those looking for writing opportunities.

Rentacoder.com. One of the original reverse auction marketplaces, this site mainly provides programming opportunities; however, there are quite a number of projects for writers as well. Don't expect to get paid a lot of money for articles you write at first. It is, after all, an auction arrangement. You may win projects that will pay $5 per 500 word article, and then gradually you can take projects that pay more, as you increase your exposure and develop a portfolio.

Craigslist.com. Believe it or not, Craigslist is one of the best places to look for opportunities to make money online. The site flags certain jobs as telecommuting positions, making them ideal work at home opportunities.


WAHM.com (Work at home moms) Ok, so I'm not exactly a mom; but this work at home site provides links to legitimate money making opportunities. They try to filter out "scams" although they admit sometimes they get taken in. As always, Buyer beware. You should never have to pay for legitimate work at home jobs, and this site, like the others is completely free. The sites aggregates work at home jobs from a lot of different jobs sites, so you can see everything at a glance.

Freelancer.com. I've gotten a few writing jobs here. Not as great as Rentacoder in my opinion, but still a decent place to look for work.

Those are a few. Of course, you can just Google make money online and you'll be inundated with listings. The key is to determine what's legit and what's not. IMHO, anything that has a landing page or some slick ad page and asks for money is not legit. That's probably an overgeneralization, but it works for me.

Suite 101 Article on Israeli Airline Screening

Suite 101 just published my article on Israeli Airline Screening.

Read it at:
http://crime.suite101.com/article.cfm/israeli_airport_screening_lessons_for_the_us

Voluntary Profiling

I have an answer to the "profiling" debate about airline security screening.

Let's all volunteer to be profiled, under any circumstances, right or wrong, using any random criteria the screener wants to use.

- Want to pull me aside because my name sounds Arabic (it is)? Go ahead, I won't complain.

- Think I'm a terrorist because I don't look like everyone else, and on this basis alone you want to screen me further? Be my guest.

- I'll go a step further. I will even volunteer information if you like, such as the fact that I lived in Indonesia for 4 years. Boy oh boy does that sound supicious. Go ahead, open my bags, grill me with me more questions, ask me whatever you want.

I SIMPLY DON'T CARE PEOPLE.

I just want to get on a plane that doesn't blow up in mid flight because some nutcase with so-called "rights" decided to wage jihad against America.

We should all--and I mean all of us--sign a waiver, release, whatever, indicating our willingness to be screened, profiled, by any criteria whatsoever, just so that we can fly safely, with our written permission and guarantee that we won't sue TSA as a result.

Some people, of course, won't sign the release.

Better pull them aside, and ask them some more questions.