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There’s no denying it– the U.S. economic downturn is evident everywhere from lagging home sales to rising gas and food costs. And as companies downsize and shift jobs overseas to save money, unemployment fears rise. Let’s face it, we’re all looking to stretch our dollars these days but we should also be looking to support American-made products.

Why? Frankly, buying items made here does vastly more good for our country’s employment level than buying goods made in other countries. Now more than ever it matters, as the people who made that product need that job. Keeping them employed helps to stop the downturn from getting worse. In effect, the negative cycle is broken if we buy products made here in the USA.

There are lots of other reasons to care about products being made in the USA.

1) The Next Generation - As the U.S. manufacturing ability fades, future generations of U.S. citizens will be unable to find relevant jobs.

2) Support Democracy - Factories and money are currently shifting to countries not friendly to the USA or democracy.

3) Respect for Workers and Environment - Lack of minimum wage, worker safety, or environmental pollution controls in many countries undermines the concept of “fair and free trade”. No nation can ultimately compete on price with a country willing to massively exploit and pollute its own people.

4) Safety – Foreign safety standards are non-existent or dangerously low. There are poisonous levels of lead in tens of millions of toys shipped to the USA.

5) Trade Deficit - The huge U.S trade deficit leads to massive, unsustainable borrowing from other countries.

6) Reliance on Other Countries - The growing lack of America’s ability to manufacture many products is strategically unsound.

7) Wage Exploitation - The minimum wage is low or non- existent in many countries.

The Environment – U.S. manufacturing processes are much cleaner for the environment than many other countries. Many brands sold here are produced in countries using dangerous, heavily polluting processes.

9) No Return – Once gone, jobs shipped abroad almost never return.

10) Worker Conditions - Foreign labor standards allow unsafe worker conditions in many countries.

Unfortunately, sometimes it’s downright difficult to find American made products. But there’s something we can all do about that, as well.

We can change things. We can make a real difference. We can use our collective voices and our buying power to affect change.

If you hear a major U.S. producer is considering moving production to Mexico, tell them about your concerns. Senior executives get a lot less mail than you might realize, so if they suddenly start getting twenty letters a day on a topic, it’s a nightmare. Heaven forbid we start writing to newspapers, or standing up at shareholder meetings!

Stores, even big ones, really do care about customer suggestions and complaints — as long as they understand customers have alternatives and are willing to pursue those alternatives.

If a local merchant offers Made in the USA products, but an imported version is available at the local mega-mart at a cheaper price, we have to put our wallets where our mouths are and be willing to spend more. It does no good to say you don’t like that an item is made in China and could be toxic, but you buy it anyway because it’s $10 cheaper.

Ultimately, it is about protecting America’s future. Where in history has a country outsourced its ability to produce and continued to thrive?

Having worked abroad in Asia in the high-tech industry for over seven years, Todd Lipscomb knows firsthand the challenges America is facing. He founded http://www.MadeInUSAForever.com, as an easy, fun way to buy products made in the USA.

America’s love for a display of might and power, of triumph over the adversary, and of a ‘winning strategy’, is not only evident in her foreign policy and conduct of war, but also in her presidential campaigns. Here, aggression, while disapproved of by many at one level, is also admired by others, and seems almost to be a necessity of political life – one that applies to political rivals at home as well as to adversaries abroad. Within presidential campaigns and American political life in general, aggression appears to be a not-so-hidden American value, as one seeks to remain ‘on-top’ by removing someone else to ‘the bottom’.

No matter how much the American public decries the use of negative advertising within campaigns, the public receives what many within this body deem necessary as a sign of leadership, namely, the display of power, confidence, and strength, even when expressed through messages that diminish or undermine the stature and credibility of another. Though there is more and more dissatisfaction with this trend, disapproval is not yet sufficient to make it disappear. This is in contrast to what is also possible, namely, the presenting of one’s own point of view, straight-up, without involving a defamation of the character or intentions of another.

America is afraid to let go of the philosophy of ‘might makes right’ in the home court as well as on the battlefield. We are afraid of the accusation of weakness associated with gentleness, civility, compassion, and forgiveness. Indeed, despite the protestation of Christian values by many, where are those who would want a political leader who would be forgiving toward all? This is something that one might strive for in private, but in public an entirely different ethic prevails.

Despite this current that runs through American political life at present, there is, even now, another way to conduct a political campaign and, indeed, to conduct political life in general. This other way is through inspiration and moral leadership, through the display of integrity and truthfulness, through being firm in one’s own central values, not through being able to deflate the character or stature of another.

Inspiration and integrity are profound representatives of a stream of American life that has deep roots – the deepest, since they go back, historically, to America’s founding. These virtues do not require presenting one’s own ’superior’ position by making another seem inferior. They require standing only on the truth of one’s beliefs, experience, plans, hopes, and capacities as a leader, thinker, and citizen who seeks to serve the greater good.

Nevertheless, despite America’s desire for goodness and virtue in her leadership, it appears that she does not always accept these with open arms. There is still the need to sacrifice inspiration to toughness, to sacrifice plain-speaking to intellectual agility which can expose the weaknesses of another, and to sacrifice gentleness in order to create a feeling of security based on power.

America appears to desire inspiration and moral integrity, but not at the expense of a good fight. In the age of Martin Luther King, Jr., in the age of those who are tired of war and who seek peace, in the age of those who seek a new way for government to represent its citizens, this fear of modesty and integrity, of an unwillingness to engage in combat as if one’s life were at stake, must be examined more closely. For if we truly, as a nation, want peace, we must become peaceful among ourselves. And if we truly want moral leadership, we must become more moral.

Julie Redstone is a teacher, writer, and founder of Light Omega, a center for spiritual teaching and healing in Western Massachusetts. The purpose of Light Omega is to create an understanding of the sacred transition into light that the Earth is presently going through and the changes this will bring to individual and planetary consciousness.

It’s the same ole same ole, sound-bites and finger pointing as to who can solve the mortgage crisis plaguing American homeowners. During an election year it’s harder than usual to separate the malarkey from the earnestness of the politicians on this matter. Each side is shucking and jiving or running and hiding from the real issues facing America directly resulting from the subprime mortgage crisis. Let’s look at both sides of the aisle. First a disclaimer, I am fiscally conservative but I am attempting to be nonpartisan in this piece, shoot me a line if I miss the mark.

Republicans – This is a loser issue for the Republicans, they know it and the Dems’ know it. Logically, If we were to simplify the mortgage crisis down to the ridiculous, there are really only two strategies of which the government can attack. Helping the people who are about to lose their homes through direct government involvement; or helping the companies that are holding the loans so that they can become healthy and help the people. Obviously the Republicans are in favor of the latter, and guess which strategy “plays” better on the evening news.

Any move that Republicans make to help “big business” is met with outcries from the left of cronyism and corporate welfare. The truth be told, if the Republicans had their way I have no doubt that the good ole boys on the golf course would be the first beneficiaries of a corporate bail out. As political pressure mounts from the media and the left to do something, Bush and company have been forced to create “token” programs that only help a select few homeowners. Doing this this gives Republicans something to smile and wave to the cameras about and is analogous to putting a Band-Aid on a gun shot wound.

Commenting about the latest Bush initiative to help homeowners White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: “This is not a silver bullet that will solve all the problems in housing, but it will help some additional people stay in their homes, and that’s something the president wants to see,”

Excuse me, did you say “this is not a silver bullet?” So what you’re saying is that we are only shooting the regular bullets that do little more than piss off the werewolf? Hello McFly, we need the silver bullets; this monster is getting bigger and stronger every day! Taking valuable time and resources to inact inept programs takes away from the time we could be using to address the problems with the “silver bullet.”(”Hello McFly”, from the movie Back to the Future, one of my favorites.)

Democrats – If we could get Ben Affleck to perform for the camera as well as the Democrats do he might have another hit movie. Demigoding this issue will not solve it any faster than creating token programs will. Democrats are hell-bent on moving tax payer dollars to the people at the tax payer’s expense to solidify their voting base. From what I have seen each congressman and woman seem to have their own plan of how to “save the poor people” that have been swindled by the evil unscrupulous banks. They all smack of pandering that rewards irresponsible homeowners for bad behavior channeled through a myriad of government agencies.

The second part of their plan is to strap the banking industry with a new list of regulations that is the size of a phone book restricting how they lend money. This will bring lending to a screeching halt, raise taxes on the self employed and create a “field day” for trial lawyers. History has proven time and again that when the government over regulates the banking industry banks simply pick up their toys and go home. The mortgage industry has figurtively placed their hand on a flaming hot skillet, telling them not to do it again is unnecessary. However in the Democrats’ defense, at least they have a plan.

What we need from our leaders is for them to be leaders. Each side has a valid point and is either promoting an extreme version of it for negotiation’s sake or dragging their feet. Meanwhile people are losing their homes and businesses are failing left and right, pun intended. The dollar is at rock bottom,we hope, and confidence for mortgage backed securities continues to threaten future lending. Each side of the aisle needs to put away the partisan bickering and come together with a plan that helps businesses and homeowners, NOW.

If you think I have “missed the mark” please feel free to shoot me a line, this article can be found on the mortgage crisis blog and is open to comments and suggestions.

Aubrey Clark is and editor and writer for lendfast.com, a nationwide home mortgage loan company directory. He lives in Atlanta Georgia with his wife and 4 children and writes about subjects ranging from credit cards to Georgia low mortgage rates.

While I went out on a long limb to suggest that Rudy Giuliani may be the best running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, I am at a loss to guess who would run with whom on the Democratic ticket. The highly competitive race between Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama has had more than its share of drama — and more than its share of barbs that will only help a Republican deflate the credibility of the eventual nominee.

That’s one reason why I do not believe a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton ticket can win. I can just see the Republicans using their own comments against each other. Combine that with McCain’s strengths on defense and national security, and it’s likely we’ll see Bush and McCain on the podium together on Inauguration Day.

Obama and Clinton have also run very different campaigns, with Obama doing a better job at attracting new contributors and young volunteers. He’s also made better use of the Internet. Clinton has obviously done at better job at winning the larger states through a more conventional campaign. Obama has carried only one, his home state of Illinois. Neither has enough to be on-course to win the nomination outright. Even the uncommitted superdelegates in the states that Clinton and Obama have already won (excluding Michigan and Florida) go along with the popular vote in their state, Obama would have an additional 137 delegates and Clinton would have 91. That would put Obama at 1,759 delegates and Clinton at 1,576; neither close to the 2,024 needed to win the nomination. There are only 48 uncommitted superdelegates in the states that are yet to hold primaries; they are votes to be had, of course, but hardly enough to sew things up.

It’s going to come down to Florida and Michigan for Obama more than Clinton; he has to prove that he can take better than 45 percent of two large states where his opponent has already won a popular vote. Or the fight’s coming down to the convention floor and one potential bargaining chip can be the vice presidential nod. And it should not go to the losing side.

It’s too difficult to imagine a former First Lady enthusiastically fighting to be further from the West Wing, while the Republicans use the bad old days from her husband’s presidency to defeat the ticket. She would be a stronger public figure if she remained in the Senate with a safe seat from an important state. Hillary Clinton could go down in history as one of the most effective Democratic legislators, like Ted Kennedy. Why should she compromise that legacy by running as the number two on Obama’s ticket?

It’s equally difficult to imagine Obama as number two on a ticket led by the Clintons. Bill Clinton is one of the finest political minds of this generation and he is still the standard bearer of his party. Hillary would do better to run on the positives of his record — and compare the end results to Bush 43. Obama is charismatic, but can his charisma sway voters, especially the younger ones who volunteered for him, to a candidate he so soundly criticized?

Which comes back to the notion of the vice presidency as a bargaining chip.

The Democratic vice presidential nominee should be Senator Bill Nelson of Florida.

A Clinton supporter, Nelson comes from an important swing state. A former six-term Congressman, Nelson, like Clinton, is a second term senator and he was re-elected with 60 percent of the vote from a Republican state. Nelson not only comes from an important state, he lends an experienced contrast to Obama, should he emerge the nominee.

Interestingly enough, Nelson has gone into space as a payload specialist on the shuttle Columbia. There may be some amusing comparisons between him and Larry Hagman’s Major Nelson from I Dream of Jeannie, but in the rough and tumble world of politics that might not be such a bad thing. Neither Clinton nor Obama would be hurt by Barbara Eden’s endorsement.

Nelson has also been active in pressuring the Democratic National Committee to seat his state’s delegates; it was a Republican-controlled Florida legislature that moved up the state primary date.

It would be wise for the Democrats to position Nelson as a hero from the convention and strong second chair in what promises to be a very tough presidential race.

(Originally published at Educated Quest blog and reprinted with permission of the author, Stuart Nachbar).

Stuart Nachbar has been involved with education politics, policy and technology as a student, urban planner, government affairs manager, software executive, and now as author of The Sex Ed Chronicles. Visit his blog, Educated Quest.

A young King Juan Carlos helped steer Spain from a dictatorship to a modern democracy after he came to the throne some 32 years ago, and his achievements include defending the fledgling democracy in 1981 from an attempted coup.

Once popular and regarded as a man of the people, recent times have been more troubling for the king as political groups on both the left and right have called for an end to the Spanish monarchy.

1981 it could be argued was the height of the King’s popularity when some army officers stormed the Spanish Parliament. Spain had been ruled by the dictator Franco until his death in 1975, and the King appeared on television to order the army back to barracks, in the process saving the young democracy from returning to dictatorship.

While the royal family spend their summer holidays on the island of Majorca at the Marivent Royal Palace and the rest of the year near Madrid his popularity carried through to all regions of Spain.

Recent comments from the King though have made many Spaniards uneasy about how close he is coming to interfering with politics, and this has not helped his popularity - although the people of Majorca might disagree as the royal family’s holidays give the island an upmarket image elsewhere in Europe, and the hotels and Majorca villa holidays travel market have thrived in recent years.

He made a surprise visit to Spanish troops in Afghanistan just before Christmas, but controversially visited two Spanish enclaves in Morocco which have been in dispute over sovereignty since the 15th century.

But last year saw protestors burning photographs of the King in the Spanish city of Girona, a sign of his declining popularity, but Spain and the wider world sat up and took notice when he famously told the President of Venezuela to shut up at a summit in Chile. While most saluted his stand, some saw it as another sign of his interference in politics, going far beyond what would be acceptable in other European countries from their respective royal families.

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The King wants to be king of all Spain, and not have different regions strongly in favour of the monarchy and others against.

Spain’s economy has done well under King Juan Carlos, and his intervention to prevent a coup in 1981 has benefitted in particular the tourism market, with Spain and her islands now the destination of choice for more Europeans than any other country when taking a holiday.

And it’s not just the holidays in Majorca market where the royal family spend their summers that have done well over the last twenty five years.

The Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca are well known as holiday destinations, and before King Juan Carlos replaced fascist leader General Franco the holidays market was limited as many Europeans would not holiday in Spain, knowing their tourist money would support an unacceptable regime, in the same way many people boycotted South Africa while it had apartheid.

Cheap flights to Majorca airport from the United Kingdom for example have seen the island’s economy transformed. And Spanish airlines operating both from the mainland capital Madrid and from Barcelona have also taken advantage of the travel market today, with millions of Spaniards employed in the airlines, hotels and holidays industries.

While Spain used to in the early days of her tourism be known as a cheap holidays destination, the country has moved into the upmarket leisure scene too, and new hotels in Majorca are being built, one of which will be the best hotel in Spain.

Overall, Spain’s economy has done well since Juan Carlos became king, the country has joined and is a fully active member of the EU, and political parties of different persuasions have held democratically elected power with the PSOE, Spain’s Socialist Party, recently winning the general election and entering their second term in office, with all these things highly unlikely if Franco’s successor had been another fascist.

At 70, hopefully it will be some time before the question of a new monarch is asked. Majorca will certainly want that!

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