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After a long and overbearing presidential race, President Barack Obama has been re-elected. We no longer have to wonder who will lead our nation for the next 4 years and all major political campaigning can be put aside for a few years. The president and the DNC ran a great campaign and both should enjoy their victory, but the battle to improve the economy has just begun. Will President Obama be able to lead our nation into economic prosperity? Will congress come together to help improve this nation, instead of playing politics? I believe the answers to these questions are not as important as many people may think. Why? The answer is simple; government does not dictate the direction of the economy. That charge remains firmly in the grasp of all American citizens. We must make the important decisions that will dictate the direction of the U.S. economy. We will have to decide if we will continue to support companies that ship jobs American jobs overseas. We must be motivated to create new ways to address our constant need for energy and convenience. Most importantly, we must hold all politicians responsible for fulfilling their promises. President Obama and all other winners from last night's election have made a lot of promises, but we can't accept another 40 - 60 percent fulfillment rate. We must hold them all responsible for their failures. How can we do this? While voting is a powerful tool for us to express our feelings, more is needed to hold politicians accountable for their commitments. We can't simply wait another two years to kick some people out of their government offices. We have to address their failures by cutting off the money supply. If political season promises are not kept, don't contribute a dime towards the next campaign. We should stop supporting all companies and organizations that openly support these promises breakers. Money talks in D.C. and it is time for our voices to be heard. This is where the opportunity to improve our government resides and we must use it to our advantage. http://moneyetiquette.com/blog

I SAW ON A WEBSITE,SLAVERY IS IN THE BIBLE..DOES GOD CONDONE SLAVERY.SEEMS YES.BOTH OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS,SLAVERY IS CONDONED...HOW TO OBTAIN SLAVES, TREAT SLAVES AS PROPERTY.LEVITICUS,25 44- 46.,PEOPLE OF ISRAEL MUST NEVER BE TREATED LIKE THIS, EXODUS 21 2-6, 7-11..YOU CAN BEAT SLAVES, MAN CAN HAVE MANY SLAVES AS LONG AS HE FEEDS THEM, CLOTHES THEM,.SLAVES MUST OBEY THEIR EARTHLY MASTERS.LOVE THEM DEPEND ON THEM ,SERVE THEM, AS THEY WOULD CHRIST..SLAVES MUST FEAR AND OBEY THEIR SLAVE ,MASTERS...LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO THE WILIE LYNCH LETTER HOW TO MAKE A SLAVE...SLAVES MUST OBEY THEIR MASTERS,OWNERS, LOVE ,FEAR AND DEPEND ON THEM.....WILLIE LYNCH LETTER ALSO SAYS, DARK SLAVES AGAINST LIGHT SKIN,OLD AGAINST THE YOUNG,FEMALE AGAINST THE MALE,I WILL INCLUDE,RELIGION AND FINANCE..THE CHURCH IS A PLANTATION HOUSE.THE BLACK RICH THINK THEY TRANSFORM INTO ANOTHER RACE...NAACP, ESSENCE AND TRUMPET WHO GIVE AWARDS TO BLACK RICH .HOUSE NEGROES AND OVERSEER'S..BLACK PEOPLE, ENSLAVE THEMSELVES/..////

BLACK PREACHERS GETTING BLACK PEOPLE TO THE POLLS.WHAT DO THEY GET OUT OF THIS.....AFTER THIS THEY CAN TAKE ON DRUG DEALERS, GANGS AND PIMPS. THEY WANT. THEY ARE NOT DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING ..GREED MOTIVATES PREACHERS I HEARD BLACK POLITICANS GIVE PREACHERS MONEY.....

IMAGING,OUR VOICES TOGETHER,WE COULD BE STRONG AND PROFOUND..INSTEAD, SILENCE LIKE FALLING SNOW IS THE,REALITY, SOUND...BLACK PEOPLE,EACH DAY,EACH HOUR,EACH SECOND.,LIKE A WINTER SEASON IT SEEMS..SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE NAKED WINTER TREES...THE ADDICTS,SELF DESTRUCTION,THERE ARE THOSE WITH WITHERED SOULS AMONG US...THE FIENDS,SABOTEURS, GANGSTERS,THAT WANT OUR RACE TO BE TOWARD A EXODUS...BLACK LEADERS,WATCHING THIS,SOME IGNORE,SOME RETREAT, OTHERS FLEE..SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE WINTER NAKED TREES...THE RIGHTEOUS BLACK FOLKS WHO ARE CHURCH SUNDAY BOUND..SINISTER PREACHERS HAVE THEIR SOULS MORE WITHERED THAN THE LEAVES UPON THE GROUND..SOULS DRIFTING LIKE SNOWFLAKES UPON THE WINTER BREEZE.SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE WINTER NAKED TREES....PLANTATION SLAVE HOUSES,EACH BLACK COMMUNITY SEEMS TO CONTAIN..BLACK PEOPLE,ENSLAVED,CONFINED AS IF THEY WERE I N CHAINS..ENEMIES OF BLACK PEOPLE WATCHING THIS, CAN SIT BACK WITH EASE.SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE WINTER NAKED TREES...../.

I agree with you on both sentiments. I try not to knock others' hustle too. And I also believe that 99cents means cheap and that you shouldn't expect high end quality if the prices are dirt low. HOWEVER, you just might find a diamond in the rough. And that holds especially true for "cheap" books. HICKSON, I've read in other posts where you say that the lowered prices placed on e-books hurts professionals like you. I can somewhat see how that could be the case, but then again, it might not be the case. Right now I'm looking at this topic from a reader's perspective. I've downloaded enough of the zero-$0.99 books to where I already KNOW when I go that route not to expect miracles. But honestly, I think that most people who dare to muddle through 99cent land know that there's a good chance they'll end up hitting the refund button. The word is already out about the multitude of cheap e-books that aren't worth one's time. You can find several blogs out today where people are bitching and moaning about how finding a good book (especially by indie's) is like finding a needle in a haystack. Matter of fact, one of MY first posts here was centered around that problem. And then the books coming out by major publishing houses aren't all that great either. My overall experience with buying books online tells me that the pricing doesn't mean a whole lot. (Troy didn't you just say that?) I've purchased e-books for $9.99 and have felt totally ripped off because the book was poorly written and I waited too late to return it for a refund. And I've downloaded free-$0.99 books that were awful too. So, basically what I've done is gotten real good about starting the book immediately after I buy it, so that if I do need to return it for a refund, there's no problem, except for the fact that I can't get back the time I wasted trying to read it. Could have been writing. But anyway, back to the point I was trying to make. People who like to read learn how to find out where the good books are. And then when they find those authors that they truly love, they likely will start spending some money to support them. I know that I never had a problem paying top dollar for books from authors that I truly trusted would deliver. So I don't think you should worry too much about $0.99 books. If your books are good enough to draw a fan base, AND you're great at marketing (which you seem to be) AND you get some luck AND I'm sure there's a list somewhere that I got from Troy but I can't find it right now, then naturally you're going to have the upper hand against the 99cent folks - and any other folks for that matter. Readers like good books. Period. People who need toilet paper may go to the dollar store to get a roll because they have no choice. But readers have far more choices than to have to be stuck reading crappy books (be it at $0.99 or $9.99). Like Troy mentioned, the library is a great option. These days, I personally would rather go to the library than to buy a book, unless it's a book I want to collect, or unless it's a book I prefer to have on my Kindle for whatever reason. So am I now part of the problem that's ruining the publishing industry? And I'm also selling a book for $0.99. And I also encourage people to loan my books to their friends. So, I'm really looking like the bad guy here if your assessment of the situation is correct. I just don't know if it is correct. Any thoughts? P.S. I think the problem w/the sluggish publishing industry may have more to do with the readers than with the prices of the books. Maybe people just aren't heavy duty readers like many from past generations. And maybe those of us who used to read regularly have simply gotten to stages in our lives where there's no time - and nothing we really want to read. I think Troy and Cynique touched on this in other threads. Maybe the generations coming after us haven't gotten hooked on books. And so, who's left to buy this stuff? Now we've got a huge supply and little demand. So prices start dropping...etc etc...but it all goes back to the readers. If people don't want to read, well then... Then again, people could be waiting for the next great creative trend to kick off another era of lots of reading. I don't know...it could be anything. I'm just going to keep on writing. Maybe somebody will find my stuff after I'm dead and gone, but dag-namit they'll know I was here! lol

What came to my mind, Troy, was something like a small literary publication which invited its readers to submit their work for an anthology being compiled. Your reward would be having what you submitted accepted by the staff, and having what you wrote read by its subscribers. To me, it has to do with how you classify yourself. Let's just bypass the artsy-fartsy philosophy and simply offer as a synonym for "dilettante", the word "amateur"; a person who is the opposite of a professional. Amateurs do what they do because they love it and maybe don't want to do it for a living. If you graduated from college with a degree in journalism, then you will seek employment as a writer. If wriiting is simpy a creative passtime for you, then monetary compensation is not your primary goal. And many authors who are successful have been known not to want their work commercialized in another medium. There are people to whom money isn't everything when it comes to their artistic integrity. And sometimes it isn't, when it requires you to sell your soul. Writing can also be a form of therapy. The question you posed, has no correct answer.

My thoughts exactly. And I think it's okay to give things away, including books. Why bother to write it down, if you don't want someone else to read it (diaries don't count; neither do self-proclaimed crappy works that you know should never see the light of day)? Sometimes you can get people to pay to read it; other times you settle for sharing your work just for the sake of sharing. I see nothing wrong with that. Even people who write as their sole profession have been known to give away freebies or samples of their work. I don't think this trend is going to stop. p.s. I have heard the argument before that writers who keep dropping their prices to 99cents and below are making it hard on the rest of the artists. I can see how this would happen. But I am one of those writers who will give a book away for a day or so, and even publish one for dirt cheap and leave it there for a while, especially if it was a book that didn't require a lot of time on my part. So far I haven't heard anything to compel me to stop doing this. Let me add that I also can relate to what Cynique says when she mentions that sometimes the reader should be paid to read some of the stuff that's out there. Yep. Been there. Done that. And yes, some of the stuff is that bad. On the flipside, the reader needs to understand the concept of "you get what you pay for"...A person shouldn't expect a Pulitzer prize winner out of any of my 99cent books. And I know for a fact that if I put something out there for free (for more than a couple of days), you better believe it's probably not going to be something I spent an insane amount of time on. I'm just saying.

REMEMBERING BLACK SOLDIERS IN WARS ON VETERANS DAY... THERE ARE BOOKS ON SOLDIERS IN WW1 AND WW2..BOOKS ON TUSKEGEE PILOTS. BOOS ON B .O. DAVIS.THE YOUNG SHOULD LEARN MORE ABOUT HIM....THERE ARE MOVIES ON BLACK SOLDIERS I N WAR..../

Picture of James Baldwin and Nina Simone, and Billiie And Ella. Black legends whose artistry lives on...

Because gang related violence has become so rampant in this country’s inner cities, attempts to focus on this problem have taken on celebrity involvement. Recently ABC news anchor, Diane Sawyer, showed up in Chicago to cover a gang summit being sponsored by Father Michael Pfleger, local hero, activist Catholic priest, and the white leader of an all black congregation. These high level meetings between the hierarchy of Chicago’s gangs have been held before and have not worked or will they ever because guards can never be lowered and ground never conceded. Reputations have to be maintained. What I find compelling about the situation is the reaity of what is at the root of a lot of the violence. Poverty and lack of jobs and the breakdown of the family don’t tell the whole story. It’s assumed that the wanton slayings are all gang-related, all about turfs and drugs and retaliations . But a lot of the killings are actually personal vendettas by macho cowards, - nonentities who are so consumed with their need to feel important that they cannot deal with rejection. Time and time again a familiar scenario is what triggers murder and mayhem. Someone is having a party with family and friends when an individual or a group crashes the affair and after stirring up trouble, are asked to leave. The second act of this drama plays out with the resentful offenders showing back up with a gun to shoot up the place. Other situations involve love triangles where one rival will gun down his cock-blocking competitor. Even making longer than necessary eye contact between adversaries can lead to drawn weapons. Any act of disrespect shown by one homie toward another, be it on a playground or at the club or on a FaceBook wall, or at a funeral for a murdered friend is grounds for pulled triggers. What used to be settled with fists is now finalized with guns in the hands of those who invaribly slaughter innocent bystanders, all in the ritual of proving one’s manhood by getting even. Unfortunately, this need to beat one’s chest doesn’t restrict itself to the ghetto. A more cold-blooded version exists across the board on all levels of society and can even lead to war. When the collective ego of one country is insulted by the collective ego of another country, battle lines are drawn. It's a fact life that an insatiable ego is an intrinsic part of all living creatures. It’s the nature of the beast to take offense at anything that constitutes a slight, and threatens one’s self esteem or, worse yet, exposes one’s insecurity. All cooler heads advocate replacing false pride with peace and love, citing these virtues as being the source of true strength because they call for the restraint that saves lives. "Blessed be the peacemakers", but everybody didn’t get the memo. The ruthless ego will not be denied. It rules everywhere as lions fight to be king of the jungle, - and men fight to be king of the hill. Crushing a threat to your status gives the ego an erection. That damned ego is at the root of all the problems of the world because it goes hand in hand with the quest for power. And power corrupts. God, you sure screwed up when you created us - in your image...

Has anyone seen the video going viral on youtube? Teen girl talking trash to city bus driver. Bus driver says something like "I'll get my granddaughter on you" and the teen continues to be loud, disrespectful, in his face, yadda yadda yadda until she hauls off and hits him. And then it goes completely downhill from there. What in the world is happening? I'm sure those of us who have ridden the city bus in many parts of Chicago and other major cities have seen this type of aggressive behavior out of our youth. So in a way, this isn't a surprise. But now with youtube, the whole world gets to see some of the ignorance that REALLY goes on in some of our communities. I can recall riding the bus and seeing something similar to this, although in that case the adult was a passenger and chose not to fight the child. I also recall shopping on the West Side of Chicago w my daughter when a group of teens wanted to jump her merely because they didn't like the way she talked - too proper, too "white"...yes, in this day and age we're still doing that. So we've always known that we've got these types of issues in our community. But how do you feel about the world, through youtube, having the inside scoop on our dirty laundry? Nowadays everybody's got their phones out, willing and waiting to post the outrageous behaviors. Will seeing ourselves on camera like this - knowing that the whole world sees it to - help us to think twice before embarrassing ourselves? Or does it make matters worse? Or neither?

Horrific Attack At Batman Screening Leaves 12 Dead by The Associated Press text size AAAAURORA, Colo. July 20, 2012, 08:13 pm ET AURORA, Colo. (AP) — As the new Batman movie played on the screen, a gunman dressed in black and wearing a helmet, body armor and a gas mask stepped through a side door. At first he was just a silhouette, taken by some in the audience for a stunt that was part of one of the summer's most highly anticipated films. But then, authorities said, he threw gas canisters that filled the packed suburban Denver theater with smoke, and, in the confusing haze between Hollywood fantasy and terrifying reality, opened fire as people screamed and dove for cover. At least 12 people were killed and 59 wounded in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history. "He looked like an assassin ready to go to war," said Jordan Crofter, a moviegoer who was unhurt in the attack early Friday, about a half-hour after the special midnight opening of "The Dark Knight Rises." The gunman, identified by police as 24-year-old James Holmes, used a military-style semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, stopping only to reload. The suspect marched up the aisle in the stadium-style theater, picking off those who tried to flee, witnesses said. Authorities said he hit 71 people. One of them was struck in an adjacent theater by gunfire that went through the wall. "He would reload and shoot and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed," said Jennifer Seeger, adding that bullet casings landed on her head and burned her forehead. Within minutes, frantic 911 calls brought some 200 police officers, ambulances and emergency crews to the theater. Holmes was captured in the parking lot. Police said they later found that his nearby apartment was booby-trapped. Authorities gave no motive for the attack. The FBI said there was no indication of ties to any terrorist groups. In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said: "It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He has his hair painted red. He said he was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman." Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates would not confirm that information, but did say he had spoken to Kelly. The two used to work together in New York. Asked whether Holmes had makeup to look like the Joker, Oates said: "That to my knowledge is not true." It was the worst mass shooting in the U.S. since the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas. An Army psychiatrist was charged with killing 13 soldiers and civilians and wounding more than two dozen others. It was the deadliest in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre in suburban Denver in 1999, when two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 26 others before killing themselves. The new Batman movie, the last in the trilogy starring Christian Bale, opened worldwide Friday with midnight showings in the U.S. The plot has the villain Bane facing Bale's Caped Crusader with a nuclear weapon that could destroy all of fictional Gotham. The shooting prompted officials to cancel the red-carpet premiere in Paris, and some U.S. movie theaters stepped up security for daytime showings. The film's director, Christopher Nolan, issued a statement on behalf of the cast and crew, expressing their "profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy." "Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families," Nolan said. The attack began shortly after midnight at the multiplex in Aurora, an urban community on Denver's eastside. Audience members said they thought it was part of the movie, or some kind of stunt associated with it. The film has several scenes of public mayhem — a hallmark of superhero movies. In one scene, Bane leads an attack on a stock exchange, and in another he leads a shooting and bombing rampage on a packed football stadium. A federal law enforcement official said Holmes bought a ticket to the show, went into the theater as part of the crowd and propped open an exit door as the movie was playing. The suspect then donned protective ballistic gear and opened fire, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. At some point, the gunman appeared to have stepped outside because several witnesses saw him come through the door. "All I saw is the door swinging open and the street lights behind, and you could see a silhouette," said Crofter, who was sitting on the left side of the theater and toward the front. Sylvana Guillen said the gunman, clad in dark clothing, appeared at the front of the theater as the character Catwoman appeared in the movie. Then they heard gunshots and smelled smoke from a canister he was carrying. As she and her friend, Misha Mostashiry, ran to the exit, Guillen said, they saw a man slip in the blood of a wounded woman he was trying to help. Oates said the gunman wore a gas mask and a ballistic helmet and vest, as well as leg, groin and throat protectors. He said among the guns was an AR-15 rifle and that the gunman used two gas canisters. "I thought it was showmanship. I didn't think it was real," Seeger said. She said she was in the second row, about four feet from the gunman, when he pointed a gun at her face. "I was just a deer in headlights. I didn't know what to do," she said. Then she ducked to the ground as the gunman shot people seated behind her. Seeger said she began crawling toward an exit when she saw a girl of about 14 "lying lifeless on the stairs." She saw a man with a bullet wound in his back and tried to check his pulse, but "I had to go. I was going to get shot." Later, police began entering the theater, asking people to hold their hands up as they evacuated the building. Some of the victims were treated for chemical exposure apparently related to canisters thrown by the gunman. Those hurt included a 4-month-old baby, who was treated at a hospital and released. Authorities started to remove the bodies from the theater on Friday afternoon. Officials wheeled a black bag on a stretcher out of the front entrance, placing it in the back of a minivan. Ten people died in the theater, while two others died from their injuries later. Those who knew Holmes described him as a shy, intelligent person raised in California by parents who were active in their well-to-do suburban neighborhood in San Diego. Holmes played soccer at Westview High School and ran cross-country before going to college. On Friday morning, police escorted Holmes' father, a manager of a software company, from their home while his mother, a nurse, stayed inside, receiving visitors who came to offer support. Holmes also has a younger sister. "As you can understand, the Holmes family is very upset about all of this," Lt. Andra Brown, the San Diego police spokeswoman, told reporters in the driveway of the family home. "It's a tragic event and it's taken everyone by surprise. They are definitely trying to work through this." Police released a statement from his family that said: "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved." There have been no indications so far that Holmes had any run-ins with the law before Friday. Tom Mai, a retired electrical engineer, said Holmes was a "shy guy" who came from a "very, very nice family." Holmes graduated from University of California, Riverside, in the spring of 2010 a bachelor's degree in neuroscience, a school spokesman said. Mai said the mother told him Holmes couldn't find a job after earning a master's degree and returned to school. In 2011, he enrolled in the Ph.D. neuroscience program at the University of Colorado-Denver but was in the process of withdrawing, a university spokeswoman said. Holmes lived in an apartment in Aurora, and FBI agents and police who went there discovered it was booby-trapped when they used a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole to look inside. ___ Associated Press writers Kristen Wyatt, Steven K. Paulson, Ivan Moreno and Mead Gruver in Aurora, Dan Elliott and Colleen Slevin in Denver, Tom Hays in New York, Monika Mathur and Jennifer Farrar at News Research Center and Alicia A. Caldwell and Eileen Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report.