Phillips Philes PHLASHBACK: Mitt Romney's Remarks at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner - October 18, 2012

Phillips Philes PHLASHBACK: Republican National Convention - Tampa, Florida August 28-30, 2012

Day One - August 28, 2012

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley

Ann Romney

Day Two - August 29, 2012

Attorneys General Pam Bondi and Sam Olens

Former Arkansas Governer Mike Huckabee

Condoleezza Rice - Former Secretary of State

Paul Ryan - Vice Presidential Candidate

Day Three - August 30, 2012

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich & Callista Gingrich

Romney Family Church Friends Ted & Pat Oparowski

Romney Family Friend Pam Finalyson

Mitt Romney - Presidential Candidate

Patriotic Pardon, not Amnesty... Another Approach to Immigration Dilemma By Rafi Munim

Source: http://glenview.patch.com/groups/rafi-munims-blog/p/bp--patriotic-pardon-not-amnesty-another-approach-to-c9beaaa666

May 20, 2013

There is a major flaw in the Amnesty Plan; it does not make any attempt to answer the fundamental question of loyalty. Patriotic Pardon Approach is certainly a step forward in that direction.

No doubt, the four points of the Amnesty Plan: to pay a fine, to pay back taxes, to go through criminal background check, and to learn English are compelling enough for a serious consideration by the Administration. However, there is a major flaw in the Amnesty Plan; it does not make any attempt to answer the fundamental question of loyalty. Perhaps, it isn’t possible to read the minds of twelve million people hopeful for amnesty.

Can Patriotic Pardon Approach answer the loyalty question? It too can’t measure individual loyalty with America in a definitive manner. But, it is certainly a step forward in that direction. It is a thought-provoking approach that needs further thoughtful consideration.

When providing the illegal immigrants a pathway to naturalization, the US Congress should expect from them to demonstrate their worthiness to walk in that pathway. Correspondingly, the illegal immigrants must understand that to emerge from behind and to become at par with those legally standing in the process of naturalization, they ought to be willing to take extra steps with extra responsibility to bridge the gap. This is the central concept behind Patriotic Pardon Approach.

What is a Patriotic Pardon?

It is a pardon for the illegal immigrants for their unlawful stay in the United States provided they sign a “Loyalty Contract” with America. The Contract substantiates their unwavering commitment to serve the country with their inherent strength of mental and/or physical faculties, as and when deemed necessary by the United States Government.

Signing the “Loyalty Contract” with the uncertainty of not knowing what challenges the task would entail, is in itself an act of loyalty.  Such a deed of patriotism deserves to be reciprocated by a patriotic pardon.

What is a Loyalty Contract?

It is a formal commitment to serve America that makes it possible for the signatory to the contract to receive a “Patriotic Pardon” – a pardon that provides a path to legalization. Any illegal immigrant age 18 or above can sign the contract. The Government will have the prerogative to assign any task to the signatory, anytime during a ten-year period from the date of signing the contract. The duration for any assigned task, will be five years or less. The contract will expire on the tenth anniversary of signing of the contract, unless, someone is on an unfinished assignment.

How to Implement the Plan?

• The Congress will appoint a Human Resource Management Firm that becomes a liaison between all government agencies, such as: Immigration, Homeland Security, Department of Social Security, and Department of Labor, necessary for the implementation of this plan.
• The HR firm will have its offices in all major cities and towns around the country. The offices will interview the illegal immigrants to determine their mental and physical capabilities, assist in filling out forms regarding their personal information, and signing the contract. Once an applicant passes the criminal background check, HR will further assist applicants in getting a State ID, work permit, and a social security number. The office will also coordinate with the appointed physicians for medical examination and incorporate the physician’s assessment in the applicant’s personal file.
• The HR will gather the information, according to the country of origin, age, education, skills, and along with any health concerns. The information will be shared on real-time servers with all the government agencies involved. The HR will recommend the suitability of assignments and tasks for each applicant.
• The implementation of the contract will absolutely be a prerogative of the US Government.

How to Pay for HR Services?

A percentage of the applicant’s fine (or fee), depending on the amount of fine (or fee), will go to the HR firm to cover all its expenses and run a successful operation.

Voluntary Departure

Illegal immigrants not in favor of signing the Contact can take a Voluntary Departure. Those taking such a departure will not be punished from reentering the country provided they follow the US Immigration Laws.  

Children of Illegal Immigrants

The children of illegal immigrants in the United States will also get an opportunity to sign the Loyalty Contract once they reach the required age of 18.

The Significance

The most significant aspect of Patriotic Pardon and its Loyalty Contract is to imply that to go through the pathway to legalization requires something substantially more than just paying a toll… it requires faithfulness. 

Atlas Shrugged Directive 10-289 = Martial Law = Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome

The global economy is on the brink of collapse. Unemployment has risen to 24%. Gas is now $42 per gallon. Brilliant creators, from artists to industrialists, continue to mysteriously disappear at the hands of the unknown. Dagny Taggart, Vice President in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, has discovered what may very well be the answer to a mounting energy crisis – found abandoned amongst the ruins of a once productive factory, a revolutionary motor that could seemingly power the World. But, the motor is dead… there is no one left to decipher its secret… and, someone is watching. It’s a race against the clock to find the inventor before the motor of the World is stopped for good. Who is John Galt?

Directive 10-289 On Conservapedia

Source: http://conservapedia.com/Directive_10-289

Directive 10-289 (May 1, 2019), in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, was an Executive Order drafted by Wesley Mouch, with the willing participation of James Taggart, Orren Boyle, Clem Weatherby, Floyd Ferris, and Fred Kinnon, and signed by Mr. Thompson, Head of State. Its eight points were an attempt to freeze the collapsing economy of the United States at then-current levels. Instead of doing that, it accelerated the decline, strengthened the case of John Galt and his friends, and hastened the ultimate collapse of economy and government.

This Directive was issued on May 1, 2019, in the last full year of the strike of the men of the mind. The economy had been slowly declining for the previous twelve years, a decline that had accelerated in the previous year. Colorado had famously collapsed, and the culmination of that collapse was the defection of Ellis Wyatt and the lighting of his famous Torch, a phrase that referred to his shale oil fields that continued to burn.

In April, Wesley Mouch, Senior Coordinator of the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources, convened a meeting with five of the most politically influential men in government, business, and labor, and insisted that he would need wider powers to deal with what everyone now agreed was a crisis. Mr. Thompson was also present, and gave his explicit clearance to the Directive to be known by its number, 10-289. The numbering system, and the specific meaning of those numbers, were never explained.

Full Text

“

In the name of the general welfare, to protect the people's security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that: Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation. Point Two. All industrial, commercial, manufacturing and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit nor leave nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under penalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any and all of their property. Point Three. All patents and copyrights, pertaining to any devices, inventions, formulas, processes and works of any nature whatsoever, shall be turned over to the nation as a patriotic emergency gift by means of Gift Certificates to be signed voluntarily by the owners of all such patents and copyrights. The Unification Board shall then license the use of such patents and copyrights to all applicants, equally and without discrimination, for the purpose of eliminating monopolistic practices, discarding obsolete products and making the best available to the whole nation. No trademarks, brand names or copyrighted titles shall be used. Every formerly patented product shall be known by a new name and sold by all manufacturers under the same name, such name to be selected by the Unification Board. All private trademarks and brand names are hereby abolished. Point Four. No new devices, inventions, products, or goods of any nature whatsoever, not now on the market, shall be produced, invented, manufactured or sold after the date of this directive. The Office of Patents and Copyrights is hereby suspended. Point Five. Every establishment, concern, corporation or person engaged in production of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth produce the same amount of goods per year as it, they or he produced during the Basic Year, no more and no less. The year to be known as the Basic or Yardstick Year is to be the year ending on the date of this directive. Over or under production shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board. Point Six. Every person of any age, sex, class or income, shall henceforth spend the same amount of money on the purchase of goods per year as he or she spent during the Basic Year, no more and no less. Over or under purchasing shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board. Point Seven. All wages, prices, salaries, dividends, profits, interest rates and forms of income of any nature whatsoever, shall be frozen at their present figures, as of the date of this directive. Point Eight. All cases arising from and rules not specifically provided for in this directive, shall be settled and determined by the Unification Board, whose decisions will be final.[1] ↑ Rand A, Atlas Shrugged, New York: Random House, 1957. Quoted by Helleson M, "The New Intellectual," 2003. <http://radio.weblogs.com/0104693/stories/2002/11/17/directive10289.html>

”

Explanation

1. Point One served two purposes: to establish the Unification Board, and to require that all persons presently employed, stay employed in their present capacities. The age of twenty-one was selected because that was the voting age at the time of writing. (The voting age remained at twenty-one until the first term of the Richard Nixon administration, during which time Amendment XXVI formally set the voting age at eighteen.)
2. Point Two was a direct response to the phenomenon of people quitting and vanishing. This was the real reason for the economic decline, as the bureaucrats half suspected, half feared. Under this point, anyone who quit and vanished faced arrest, imprisonment, and expropriation of his assets.
3. Point Three provided for the surrender of all intellectual property of any kind to the government. This point actually directed that holders of patents and copyrights voluntary surrender their rights, clearly an oxymoron.
4. Point Four simply provided that no new inventions were to be introduced for the duration. Wesley Mouch and his associates regarded new inventions as destructive of people's livelihoods.
5. Point Five attempted to freeze all industrial or commercial output at present levels. For the purpose of determining those levels, the Directive declared a very special fiscal year to be the year ending on the date of the Directive, which was May 1.
6. Point Six attempted to freeze consumer spending at the levels seen in the fiscal year ending on the date of the Directive, as Point Five had done for business output.
7. Point Seven was an indefinite wage and price freeze.
8. Point Eight, the "elastic point," vested in the Unification Board the power to decide, finally and not subject to appeal, any question not covered in Points One through Seven.

Obama's New Deal No Better Than Old One By Michael Barone

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/obamas_new_new_deal_no_better.html

October 29, 2008

With victory in sight, Barack Obama's supporters are predicting that he will give us a new New Deal. To see what that might mean, let's look back on the original New Deal.

The purpose of New Deal legislation was not, as commonly thought, to restore economic growth but rather to freeze the economy in place at a time when it seemed locked in a downward spiral. Its central program, the National Recovery Administration (NRA), created 700 industry councils for firms and unions to set minimum prices and wages. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), the ancestor of our farm bills, limited production to hold up prices. Unionization, encouraged by NRA and the 1935 Wagner Act, was meant to keep workers in jobs that the unemployed would have taken at lower pay.

These policies did break the downward spiral. But, as Amity Shlaes points out in "The Forgotten Man," they failed to restore growth.

Double-digit unemployment continued throughout the 1930s; despite population growth, the economy failed to rebound to 1920s production levels. High taxes on high earners (a Herbert Hoover as well as Franklin Roosevelt policy) financed welfare payments ("spread the wealth around") but reduced investment and growth.

The political verdict was negative. New Dealers were whalloped in the 1938 off-year elections. Polls show that Democrats would have lost the White House in 1940 if that election had been decided on domestic issues. But war loomed. France fell in June 1940, just before America's two national party conventions, and Adolf Hitler and his then-ally Joseph Stalin controlled most of the landmass of Eurasia. Republicans did not have an experienced leader in this world crisis -- Democrats did: Franklin Roosevelt, who cynically engineered his nomination for a third term and then swept to victory on foreign policy.

Roosevelt had thought that economic expansion was a thing of the past. But World War II stimulated huge growth in the American economy. New Deal welfare programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) arts program were terminated. Wartime domestic policies were growth stimulators. Veterans Administration home mortgage loans, building on the FHA mortgage program, encouraged home-buying and after the war converted a nation of renters to a nation of homeowners. The G.I. Bill of Rights subsidized higher education for millions of veterans.

These programs stimulated growth partly because they required real effort -- down payments, military service -- from beneficiaries before they received aid.

The postwar Republican Congress elected in 1946 dismantled some New Deal anti-growth policies. Labor unions' powers to strike were sharply restricted. Tax rates were lowered, and wage and price controls were dismantled. Many hold-the-economy-in-place policies were retained until the deregulation of the 1970s and 1980s. But the New Deal was transformed sufficiently to permit buoyant economic growth for two decades after the war.

Obama seems determined to follow policies better suited to freezing the economy in place than to promoting economic growth. Higher taxes on high earners, for one. He told Charlie Gibson he would raise capital gains taxes even if that reduced revenue: less wealth to spread around, but at least the rich wouldn't have it -- reminiscent of the Puritan sumptuary laws that prohibited the wearing of silk. Moves toward protectionism like Hoover's (Roosevelt had the good sense to promote free trade). National health insurance that threatens to lead to rationing and to stifle innovation. Promoting unionization by abolishing secret ballot union elections.

The impulse to social engineering is unmistakable. Government officials will allocate resources, redistribute income, and ration good and services. Use government stakes in banks, insurance companies and Detroit auto manufacturers to maintain the position of those already in place, at the cost of preventing the emergence of new enterprises that might have been spawned by the capital being allocated.

Social engineering of course is far easier when you are dealing with an economy that is frozen in place. It's harder when you have to deal with the creative destruction, the emergence of new firms and businesses, and the decline of old ones, which as Joseph Schumpeter taught is the inevitable consequence of economic growth.

Roosevelt in the 1930s had some extremely competent social engineers, like Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes and Fiorello LaGuardia, who could enroll 750,000 people on welfare in three weeks and build an airport in less than a year. But even they could not spur the economic growth produced by utterly unknown and unconnected people, as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates were in 1970.

When financial crisis looms, there is an impulse to freeze everything in place and accept what is as the best there can ever be: Barack Obama's new New Deal. The history of the old New Deal suggests this is not a sustainable approach in the long run.



Obama's Political Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome
By Otis A. Glazebrook IV

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/obamas_political_munchausen_by.html

March 9, 2009

In the field of Psychiatry, Munchausen by Proxy is a disease of a child's custodian, usually a mother, who induces sickness, real or imagined in her child (sometimes resulting in death) in order to gain sympathy and to portray herself as the heroine. The child accepts his/her abuse as "normal" in exchange for a perception of safety provided by the caretaker. The adolescent child has no other choice.

Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome* (MPS) was named after Baron von Munchausen, an eighteenth-century German dignitary known for telling outlandish stories.

In the political arena President Obama has purposely recreated a version of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome by following the Hoover/FDR model of economic destruction, increasing taxation and regulation during a recession. Obama is compounding the damage by destroying the domestic nuclear, oil and coal industries at the same time. It should be obvious that, we need to double or triple our domestic energy production and reduce absurd government regulations. It is imperative that we double and eventually triple our GDP as soon as possible to pay for Obama's rampant spending in unproductive areas.

Instead of an adolescent child, Obama's victim is ultimately the forgotten man: the taxpayer, who actually creates wealth and pays the bills. The unspoken agreement is that the "forgotten man" will trade his freedom for the illusion of security.

As H.L. Mencken pointed out three generations ago:

"The average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe."

Franklin D. Roosevelt pioneered the Democrats' model of the political version of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome by exploiting uncertainty in the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929, and by refusing to work with the Hoover Administration on the severe economic problems then facing the Country.

The annihilating event that followed the crash was deflation, brought about through government over-reaction and over-regulation. The economy continued to deteriorate because of uncertainty during the interregnum. Despite repeated pleas from Hoover (like G.W. Bush later) to work together towards a resolution, Roosevelt (like Obama) was clearly not interested; the continued crisis only strengthened his mandate for his (new) "New Deal" policies.

Roosevelt rolled into Office on March 4^th, 1933 as the restless self confident hero who would save us from the evils of Laissez-faire Capitalism. As he made clear in his First Inaugural Address: 

"This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

The country cared little that much of FDR's "New Deal" policies had been originated by Hoover, or that Roosevelt and his "Brain Trust" viewed the Country's dire situation as chance to experiment.

Action was called for and what mattered most was change.

FDR (Obama) appeared to be so caring and attentive, few suspected any wrongdoing. Just as in the case of the abusive parent, FDR (Obama) was jovial, cool, and unusually calm in the face of serious adversity.

In both versions of MPS, blame is typically placed on a previous caregiver as part of the deception and to provide a scapegoat.  In the political version of MPS, instead of an incompetent nanny the New Dealers (and Obama) create populist villains, Hoover, Wall Street, Bankers, or G.W. Bush.

The denial of reality is crucial.

Roosevelt was able to successfully perpetrate the initial abuse because the science of international global economics was in its infancy. The mobilization and technical boom brought about by WW I, coupled with laissez-faire capitalism, led to the boom of the Roaring Twenties. This put an end to agricultural based economies of the past.

Hoover proved to be Roosevelt's perfect fall guy, largely because Hoover failed to understand the enormity of the problem of deflation and he retreated into personal depression. This withdrawal made Hoover an easy scapegoat.

The simple truth was that Roosevelt and Hoover were remarkably similar men. Their principle difference was that Hoover believed in staying within Constitutional boundaries. Roosevelt (Obama) viewed the Constitution as an impediment to progress. Both men made major mistakes largely because neither understood the ability of free markets to self-correct without government intervention.  The simple proof that the New Deal policies did not work was the recession inside the Depression in the autumn of 1937.

"American Capitalism did not break in 1929. The crash did not cause the Depression. It was a necessary correction of a too-high stock market, but not a necessary disaster." Pg.5, The Forgotten Man

Coolidge's laissez-faire policies had in fact worked, the Dow Jones Stock Market Index would not equal its high of 381 on September 3^rd, 1933 until the 1950's and full employment would not return until 1943.

Just as the MPS parent needs crisis and chaos to succeed in the abuse of a child, Obama Democrats create the crisis and chaos necessary for MPS to succeed in their abuse of the forgotten man.

The Obama Administration cynically follows FDR's model. As Obama's new Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel revealed:

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.  What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before."

H.L. Mencken also said:

"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods."

That statement has never been truer than it is today.

*Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS), or Factitious Disorder by Proxy, as it's listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revision, also known as DSM-IV-TR).

Did An Optical Illusion Doom the Titanic? By Rebecca Boyle

"A mirage has hidden the iceberg that will sink the Titanic! No moon and a calm sea deceived the crew! They could not be more wrong with their decision to charge full steam ahead! See how it happened on Weather That Changed the World, Sundays at 9pm!"

Source: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-03/today-good-reads-did-optical-illusion-doom-titanic

The Titanic may have struck an iceberg and sank helplessly because of a strange atmosphere-caused optical illusion, a new book argues. British historian Tim Maltin says super refraction, an extraordinary bending of light that causes mirages, prevented the Titanic’s crew from seeing the fateful iceberg.

It also may have prevented nearby ships from seeing the doomed Titanic, Maltin argues. His theory is the subject of a new book and a documentary airing next month in time for the 100th anniversary of the accident.

Apparently a British investigation in the 1990s brought up super refraction, but no one ever studied it in depth, according to Smithsonian magazine, which just published an excerpt from Maltin’s new book. Maltin studied old weather records, shipping logs and survivor testimonies to determine the atmospheric conditions on April 15, 1912. He argues conditions were ripe for super refraction, caused by a thermal inversion in the area south of Newfoundland were the ship was sailing. This abnormal bending of light waves would have created a false horizon, and the iceberg lay beneath it, out of view of the ship’s lookouts.

They sounded the alarm when the iceberg was a mile away, but it was too late. The same bizarre atmospheric conditions could have prevented a nearby ship, the Californian, from seeing or hailing the doomed Titanic, Maltin says. It’s a frustrating, sad explanation. Click through to the Smithsonian for more detail.

... And the Iceberg That Doomed It: Photo of the iceberg which was probably rammed by the RMS Titanic, taken five days after the disaster by Stephan Rehorek.  Wikimedia Commons

Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion?: New research may have found the reason why the ship struck an iceberg: light refraction By Tim Maltin

Source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/139671703.html

Illustrations by Charles Floyd
Smithsonian magazine, March 2012

An unusual optical phenomenon explains why the Titanic struck an iceberg and received no assistance from a nearby ship, according to new research by British historian Tim Maltin. Atmospheric conditions in the area that night were ripe for super refraction, Maltin found. This extraordinary bending of light causes miraging, which, he discovered, was recorded by several ships in the area. He says it also prevented the Titanic’s lookouts from seeing the iceberg in time and the freighter Californian from identifying the ocean liner and communicating with it. A 1992 British government investigation suggested that super refraction may have played a role in the disaster, but that possibility went unexplored until Maltin mined weather records, survivors’ testimony and long-forgotten ships’ logs. His findings—presented in his new book, A Very Deceiving Night, and the documentary film Titanic’s Final Mystery, premiering on the Smithsonian Channel at 8 p.m. on April 15—are distilled here:

1. The Titanic was sailing from Gulf Stream waters into the frigid Labrador Current, where the air column was cooling from the bottom up, creating a thermal inversion: layers of cold air below layers of warmer air. Extraordinarily high air pressure kept the air free of fog.

2. A thermal inversion refracts light abnormally and can create a superior mirage: Objects appear higher (and therefore nearer) than they actually are, before a false horizon. The area between the false horizon and the true one may appear as haze.

3. The Californian’s radio operator warned the Titanic of ice. But the moonless night provided little contrast, and a calm sea masked the line between the true and false horizons, camouflaging the iceberg. A Titanic lookout sounded the alarm when the berg was about a mile away—too late.

4. Shortly before the collision, the Titanic sailed into the Californian’s view—but it appeared too near and small to be the great ocean liner. Californian captain Stanley Lord knew the Titanic was the only other ship in the area with a radio, and so concluded this ship did not have one.

5. Lord said he repeatedly had someone signal the ship by Morse lamp “and she did not take the slightest notice of it.” The Titanic, now in trouble, signaled the Californian by Morse lamp, also to no avail. The abnormally stratified air was distorting and disrupting the signals.

6. The Titanic fired distress rockets some 600 feet into the air—but they appeared to be much lower relative to the ship. Those aboard the Californian, unsure of what they saw, ignored the signals. When the Titanic sank, at 2:20 a.m. April 15, they thought the ship might be simply sailing away.

Additional Sources

Adapted from A Very Deceiving Night, by Tim Maltin. Copyright © 2012. With the permission of Airborne TV & Film.

TITANIC: CASE CLOSED

Source: http://natgeotv.com/uk/titanic-case-closed/facts

VISIBILITY

All facts taken from the book '101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic' by Tim Maltin.

• Titanic and the other White Star Line ships were among the only ones with two crew members dedicated as lookouts.

• Lookouts described a thin haze on the horizon and survivors described that the thick smoke coming from the wreck flattened and hung in the air like a mushroom cloud the night of the Titanic's disaster. These conditions indicate that Titanic could have been in the midst of a cold water mirage.

• There was no moon when the titanic was sailing, and the only way the lookouts could have spotted an iceberg was against the backdrop of a blanket of stars. However, the hot and cold air could have caused a mirage, distorting the sea, and raising up the horizon behind the iceberg, cloaking it.

• What Capitan Stanley Lord saw that night could have been affected by refraction, distorting the ship so that it didn't look anything like Titanic at all.

• Due to the conditions, the iceberg that damaged the Titanic could have been effectively invisible for 20 minutes. 

• A soft horizon refers to when it's hard to define where the sky ends and the sea commences.

CONDITIONS

All facts taken from the book '101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic' by Tim Maltin.

• A hidden ice shelf ripped along Titanic's hull, causing damage at a million foot tonnes a second.

• In 5 seconds, Titanic's compartments are smashed open along 200 feet of her hull.

• The iceberg took out six of Titanic's 16 watertight compartments.

• The Paula was likely the last ship that went close to the Titanic's wreck site before it sank. It reported the temperature changing from 12.8, to -1.4, to 13 degrees Celsius.

• The Marengo left New York on April 11, 1912 and was very near the wreck site the day Titanic collided. She reported the sea temperature dropping dramatically, as well as much refraction on the horizon with a clear and bright night.

• Refraction refers to strange optical effects and distortion in the clear air.

• The difference in air density between hot and cold air stacked on top of each other bends light, creating a shimmering effect, or mirage.

• The Titanic sank right in the centre of a 1035 millibar arctic high, the highest pressure anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere at the time.

ICEBERGS, TRACKING, & CURRENTS

All facts taken from the book '101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic' by Tim Maltin.

• Ice Patrol uses radar technology to track the path of icebergs in the North Atlantic

• Ice Patrol was set up as a direct consequence of the Titanic disaster.

• Icebergs in the Western North Atlantic that enter shipping lanes come primarily from the West Coast of Greenland.

• The freezing current that carries the icebergs is called the Labrador.

• The Labrador Current cuts into the warmer Gulf Stream.

• In 1912, over 1,000 icebergs entered the North Atlantic shipping lanes.

• On average, 500 icebergs enter the North Atlantic shipping lanes.

• The iceberg that wounded the Titanic came from the Greenland Glaciers and was carried by the freezing Labrador Current.

• 9/10ths of an iceberg is under water.

• Before remote technology, forecasters relied on ships that travelled the world, and took the air and water temperatures every four hours. Meteorological offices of the ships’ countries used these readings to build synoptic charts of the weather.

• A NOAA centre in Asheville, North Carolina stores all weather data sent by thousands of ships that crisscrossed the oceans of the globe.

• The Titanic most likely sank in the Labrador Current.

• The German Climate Data Centre in Hamburg stores about 37,000 journals from sailing ships and steamers beginning in 1829.

• The Labrador Current brought freezing water underneath the air warmed by the Gulf Stream.

• Cold water mirages are commonly seen in the right conditions.

Obituary - Bennett

Shawn M. Bennett of Mount Laurel passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, May 25, 2013 at Delaware Valley Hospital in Walton, N.Y. He was 36.

Shawn is survived by his adoring wife, Tania E. Corporan-Bennett; his three most beloved daughters, Naomi, Sharon and Michelle; his mother, Pamela; as well as the Clark family of New Jersey and the Reyes family of New York City.

Born in Guaga County, Ohio on Oct. 21, 1976, Shawn was the son of Pamela Clark. He was a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, where he earned several medals, including the Bronze Star for acts of heroism and of merit in a combat zone.

He was currently employed at PSE&G as an engineering technician and lived his life with the same heroism, honor and strength of spirit he showed in battle. He followed his heart and was always striving to protect his family and uphold truth and justice. He had a heart of gold and a mischievous smile.

His ashes will be spread in the woods he played in with his daughters and his favorite spots.

Condolences to the family may be made online by visiting the funeral home's Web site below. Courtney Funeral Home,

Walton, N.Y.

www.courtneyfh.com

Friday, May 31, 2013 4:00 am Burlington County Times

My New Bedroom Dresser, Mirror & Chest - Trump Home UPDATE: Nightstand & Lamp

"Central Park, the more contemporary collection of Trump Home, is elegant and rich and was inspired by the penthouses in my New York buildings. It is a sophisticated take on modern living, with walnut and rosewood veneers, silver accent and ebony details. This collection of furniture is the finest in its price range”.

“The Trump furniture line is proof that you can live richly without spending a fortune”. -Donald Trump-

Trump Home Central Park West Side Double Dresser and Mirror Set in Dark Brown

Chic and sophisticated, the Central Park West Side Double Dresser and Mirror Set in Dark Brown will bring a touch of metropolitan Manhattan to your home. In a sleek contemporary design, this dresser offers great opportunity for storage with eight spacious drawers. Add the optional Box of Drawers, perfect for holding jewelry and other small valuables, to expand your storage capacity. With a gorgeous matching mirror, you can't go wrong with this set!
Features:

• High sheen, dark brown finish
• Constructed of decorative burl, rosewood and walnut veneers on select hardwoods
• Silver finished hardware with black bar pull center
• Double Dresser has eight drawers
• Mirror can be hung horizontally or vertically and has metal framing around wood veneer edge
• Optional Box of Drawers has three felt lined drawers

Dimensions & Weights

Affordable Luxury Comes Home

Central Park reflects Donald J. Trump’s metropolitan New York roots and his many real estate properties in the city. This group offers a more contemporary clean take on cutting – edge designs, accented with a little Art Deco influence. Central Park is a look of success and status, proving that you can live richly without spending a fortune. When square footage is limited in metropolitan condominiums, the furniture must be the right scale and offer great function. Central Park answers the call with flexible accents appropriate for many rooms of the house. This is quite a stunning collection!
Contemporary, yet luxurious, Central Park is a clean interpretation of cutting – edge design. The mix of fancy – face veneers, depth of finish and high sheen is quite stunning and pulls the eye beyond the sleek design of the case pieces. Supple leather and detailed accent fabrics dress up the designs and enhance comfort.
Trump Home:

Affordable luxury comes home with the Trump Home brand of furniture. No name is more synonymous with an upscale lifestyle, superior quality and success than that of Donald Trump. Trump Home offers furniture that proves you can live richly without spending a fortune. Quality, craftsmanship, detail and high design all combine in the stunning Trump Home furniture collections, which encompass bedroom, dining, home office, home entertainment, lighting, occasional and a full line of upholstered products.

The Trump Home collection is based on the lifestyle of iconic real estate and television entrepreneur Donald J. Trump. With over 30 years in the business of developing and designing luxury residential real estate, world – class hotels, office buildings and championship golf courses, the Trump name has both broad recognition and appeal, with a natural extension into furnishing the properties he builds. The Trump Home brand represents a lifestyle of affordable luxury with flair, giving off the air of confidence and success.

The collections under the Trump Home brand name reflect the different styles close to Mr. Trump. The Westchester collection offers grand classic styling and the designs were inspired by the magnificent mansions and historic properties restored by Donald Trump himself. On the other end of the spectrum, the Central Park collection reflects Donald Trump’s metropolitan New York roots and his many real estate properties in the city. The group offers a clean take on cutting-edge designs, accented with a little Deco influence. Well thought out and planned, the Trump Home collections are smart and classic. [Trump Home also had the Lexington furniture collection Mar-a-Lago]

Clean lines and expert craftsmanship are two of the great qualities of the Central Park West Side Chest in Dark Brown. This sophisticated chest has seven drawers for storage including the attached recessed drawers which are felt-lined for jewelry. Perfect for keeping clothes and valuables safe, the Central Park West Side Chest will be a great addition to your bedroom.

Features:

• Chest constructed of decorative burl, rosewood and walnut veneers on select hardwoods
• High sheen, dark brown finish
• Silver finished hardware with black bar pull center
• Seven storage drawers
• Attached recessed drawers that are felt-lined for jewelry
• Drawer fronts have crotch mahogany design with black plinth base
• Contemporary design
• Manufacturer limited 1-year warranty

Specifications:

• Overall Dimensions: 57.25" H x 42" W x 20" D
• Weight: 234 lbs

Recommended Care:

• Avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight
• Do not leave plastic or rubber materials on wood surfaces
• Wipe up spills immediately
• Avoid common hazards such as hot dishes, harsh solvents and abrasives

Still looking for...
With an Art Deco influence and contemporary styling, the Central Park West Side Nightstand in Dark Brown will be a great complement to your bedroom set. This chic nightstand has three drawers of storage that are perfect for keeping all of your bedtime necessities within an arms reach. With sophisticated silver finished hardware and beautifully decorative veneers, the Central Park West Side Nightstand will be perfect in your home.
Features:

• Nightstand constructed of decorative burl, rosewood and walnut veneers on select hardwoods
• High sheen, dark brown finish
• Silver finished hardware with black bar pull center
• Three drawers
• Fancy faced veneer drawer fronts
• Black plinth base
• Contemporary style
• Manufacturer limited 1-year warranty

Specifications:

• Overall Dimensions: 27" H x 31.25" W x 18" D
• Weight: 103

Recommended Care:

• Avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight
• Do not leave plastic or rubber materials on wood surfaces
• Wipe up spills immediately
• Avoid common hazards such as hot dishes, harsh solvents and abrasives

Gave my parents for Hanukkah the Central Park Manhattan bed headboard with frame...

Trump Home Central Park Manhattan Upholstered Panel Bedroom Set in Dark Brown
Sophisticated and stylish, the Central Park Manhattan Upholstered Panel Bedroom Set in Dark Brown will be the perfect choice to dress up your bedroom! With its tufted black leather headboard, the exquisite panel bed will bring the classic styling of metropolitan New York to your home and create a warm atmosphere. With gorgeous accessory pieces that match, this bedroom set is suitable for an apartment in the city or a home in the suburbs!
Construction Features:

• High sheen, dark brown finish
• Crafted of decorative burl, rosewood and walnut veneers on select hardwoods
• Silver finished hardware with black bar pull center
• Contemporary design with an Art Deco influence

Included Items:

• Manhattan Upholstered Panel Bed is available in Queen, King or California King sizes with a headboard that comes in standard black leather only featuring individual squares sewn together to create a tufted effect
• Queen Overall Dimensions: 64" H x 63.75" W x 87.5" D
• King Overall Dimensions: 64" H x 81.5" W x 87.5" D
• California King Overall Dimensions: 64" H x 81.5" W x 91.5" D
• West Side Nightstand has three drawers

Optional Items:

• Hudson Armoire has an upper section with two wraparound doors, two drawers, four shelves - two are adjustable, removable shirt partitions, grommet for electrical cords and a removable back panel and a lower section with four drawers
• TV Compartment Dimensions: 28.75" H x 45.5" W x 17.75" D
• West Side Chest has seven drawers and attached recessed drawers that are felt - lined for jewelry
• West Side Double Dresser has eight drawers
• Landscape Mirror can be hung vertically or horizontally and has metal framing around wood veneer edge
• West Side Box of Drawers has three felt lined drawers and is for use with the West Side Double Dresser

UPDATE June 13, 2013:

Last night, my missing Trump Home Central Park Night Chest and also the Trump Home Central Park Hudson Armoire finally arrived to our house. I bought them from a Craigslist seller in Bastrop, Texas in the middle of May and through three carriers [Capitol Carrier, Roadrunner and Hometown Delivery Service] got the furniture to our home in Southern New Jersey.

Bring the sophistication of a Manhattan apartment to your home with the Central Park Hudson Armoire in Dark Brown. This stylish armoire has a wealth of function with plenty of drawer and shelf space to suit all of your storage needs. If you are looking for a place to store your bedroom television instead of clothing, this armoire will also be perfect as it is equipped with cord management as well as a removable back panel. Upgrade your bedroom with this classy and contemporary armoire!

Features:

• High sheen, dark brown finish
• Constructed of decorative burl, rosewood and walnut veneers on select hardwoods
• Silver finished hardware with black bar pull center
• Upper section has two wraparound doors, two drawers, four shelves - two are adjustable, removable shirt partitions, grommet for electrical cords and a removable back panel
• Lower section has four drawers
• Overall Dimensions: 70" H x 47.5" W x 20.5" D
• TV Compartment Dimensions: 28.75" H x 45.5" W x 17.75" D

I gave my Dad the Trump armoire in honor of his 65th birthday

UPDATE January 20, 2014:

On Friday, January 17th, the two Raschella walnut finish open oval table lamps arrived about five weeks after they were ordered online from a store in California. The lamp is pictured above with the Trump Home Central Park dresser and mirror. One is for my room and the one for my parents room is in honor of my Mom's birthday.

Item:	Dimensions:	Weight:
Central Park West Side Double Dresser in Dark Brown	35.75" H x 60" W x 20" D	213 lbs
Central Park Landscape Mirror in Dark Brown	36" H x 52" W	71 lbs
Central Park West Side Box of Drawers in Dark Brown	4" H x 60" W x 9" D	35 lbs

This fancy open oval table lamp gives your home a stylish edge. Features a walnut wood tone finish on a chrome finish base topped off with a rectangular fabric shade. For the modern-style home by Raschella. 3-way socket.

• Walnut wood tone finish.
• Chrome finish accents.
• Takes one 100 watt, 3-way bulb (not included).
• 26" high.
• Shade is 10"x19" across the top, 10"x19" across the bottom and 10" high.

Thank You for 2012

Hello, I just wanted to take a moment to say, "Thank You!", for taking a moment in your day to check out the blog. A lot of events happened in 2012; and, I am sure that there will be plenty to occur in 2013. Only time holds the answer to that. I hope your holiday was a good one, as well. I want to wish all of you a healthy, successful, and Happy New Year! Sincerely, Bill

Obama Rhetoric That Impacted American Slang - Assembled By Joyce Kavitsky

"Above my pay grade" - Obama's arrogant response to not comment on the subject of abortion when asked by pastor Rick Warren in 2008. Used to avoid giving straight or direct answers to questions.

Audacity - a fancy word for nerve or courage to do or say something

Birther(s) - a dehumanizing word created to put down or demogogue people who are skeptical of Obama's location of birth.

Double-down - a gambling term meant to hold tight to a bet; not to change an unpopular position.

Fair share - a Communist phrase meant to incite that contributions to society lack in comparision to personal finances. It is used by Obama to argue that successful and wealthier Americans should pay more in taxes than they currently do. The phrase is used in defense of Affirmative Action, homosexual marriage and welfare programs, among other things.

Folks - Obama's way of saying "people". It is an ebonics word used to subtly remind people that he is not 100% caucasian.

Game-changer - when something becomes completely different than first thought. It is used by the press when things go not as they originally theorized. It is when a variable enters that alters expectations.

"Hope and change" - Obama's winning 2008 campaign slogan which proved to be empty rhetoric in the years following when he showed himself to be inept or unable and unwilling to work with Republicans in Congress on anything.

Inherited - the rhetoric Obama uses when he blames President Bush for post-Bush problems he made worse like adding trillions to the National Debt and high unemployment. Used by Democrats in defense of Obama's ineptness. Ironically, hard-core liberals believe this and regurgitate it without a second thought even though Obama has been in office over 100 days.

"Level the playing field" - a Communist term meant to have the country's population be all poor and dependent on the government to prevent an uprising of informed citizens to overthrow it. Used to knock down or bully successful Americans into paying for government goods, services and shelter for politically considered "poor" Americans in what can be considered a "lower middle class". A new Robin Hood phrase also meaning to steal from the rich to satisfy the poor. Ironically, the poorest Americans who are destitute are not helped by the government programs; they are homeless, living out of cars, living in abandoned buildings, etc and do not always get the perks that the politically considered "poor" shamefully demand and receive.

Main Street - Obama's way of dividing people into those who do not work on Wall Street or in the business of finance and those who do. Used to demogogue New York City individuals involved with embezzlement scandals where millions were moved off the books without proper authorization. Also heard as Main Street America.

Narrative - propaganda the American media weaves in a story or a series of stories to the benefit of Obama. A blatant web of lies or cover-up spread by the media to push a positive propaganda view of Obama. Similar to the Clinton word spin.

ObamaCare - a word play off of the very unpopular similar 1990s HillaryCare. With "The Affordable Healthcare Act", along with components of it buried in other legislation passed by the Democrat-controlled Congress, it was illegally pushed through the House and Senate led by then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid without debate, Congressional meetings, bill-markups, public debate, and with backdoor bribing of fence-sitting Democrat Congress members. The act was passed by Democrats only, without any votes from Republicans supporting it. The controversial law adds layers and layers of bureaucracy to the American medical industry causing prices to rise, doctors to retire early and medical care to be more difficult to get. Very unpopular life and death law that first withstood being struck down Constitutionaly by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 by being a "tax" and will next ultimately (hopefully) be repealed in total off the books by Congress.

Occupy Wall Street - Obama's far left-wing group of grassroot thugs that protest Wall Street or capitalism. The group has gotten praise from Obama, Pelosi and liberal celebrities, among others.

Pakistan (pronounced PAK E STAWN) - Obama's foreign-sounding way to pronounce the country of Pakistan's name. The American way to pronounce Pakistan is PAK A STAN

Shellacking - Obama's reaction to Election 2010 when Democrats lost ground to T.E.A.-supported candidates swept into office ousting the unpopular and controversial Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House making John Boehner of Ohio the new Speaker under a new Republican majority. Republicans also picked up seats and took power across the country at various local, state and federal governments that night.

Shovel-ready - temporary construction jobs that never appeared from a 2009 stimulus bill passed by the Democrat-controlled Congress. It was full of controversial pork-barrel spending that did not create the falsely advertised jobs Obama and the media claimed.

"Spread the wealth" - same as "level the playing field". A communist phrase meant to create a lazy society of politically considered "poor" citizens dependent on the government for food, shelter and jobs. Another Robin Hood term for stealing or overtaxing the salary or savings of people above a threshold considered politically "rich" to pay for government charitable services to the "poor".

TEA-baggers - used to demogogue the Taxed Enough Already (T.E.A.) supporters before and after the 2010 election that swept into office candidates supported by them.

The Messiah - a tongue-in-cheek label opponents of Obama call him that he ironically believes himself to be. As a mixed race politican, Obama is viewed by the liberal press as their "Messiah" or God-like being elected to High Office that can at his whim make any law they desire since he was elected through Affimative Action campaign propaganda emphasizing his skin color. It is also a play-off of Obama being anti-Catholic and his relationship with Jeremiah Wright, a controverisal racist and anti-American preacher in Chicago.

Trajectory - a fancy word media commentators use to try to forsee the direction of employment, the national debt and annual federal budget deficits. Used to spin the ecomony is improving when it is not.

Typical - the arrogant and dismissive way Obama describes his caucasian mother as a person. Used to as a way to sarcastically describe something out of ordinary as red flags go up when this word is used. Obama's mother was an anti-American Traveler not the kind of person usually thought of from Kansas.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ANY FORGOTTEN OR LEFT OFF SO THAT THEY CAN BE ADDED. THANK YOU.