Economist Thomas Sowell On A Military Coup In America - Video

I don't necessarily agree with the vast majority of ideas Dr. Thomas Sowell has, moreover, he's from Stanford. But I do like to here his take on American Society, and this video is no exception.

Dr. Sowell is questioned by Hannity and Colmes on Fox about -- amoung other things -- his call for a Military Coup. He's allow to clarify his statement, where he says that he doesn't like the idea, but can see a future beyond his life where it could happen. He says this because he believes our society is becoming unravelled slowly.

Here's the video:

NFL FORMS ALLIANCE TO COORDINATE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR RETIRED PLAYERS - NFL Media.com

This is not getting press, but it's more important than the Commissioner's stance on conduct. It's a signal that the NFL will finally take care of people like Baltimore Colts' Tight End John Mackey, who suffers from Alzheimer's, and other stars who didn't see the millions of dollars the athletes of today get. This is a good story.

FOR USE AS DESIRED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
5/22/07 GREG AIELLO, NFL (212) 450-2000
CARL FRANCIS, NFLPA (202) 463-2200

NFL FORMS ALLIANCE TO COORDINATE
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR RETIRED PLAYERS

The NFL and its related organizations have agreed to work together to support former players in
need of medical care, NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL announced today.

Commissioner Goodell informed NFL clubs at a league meeting in Nashville today that the NFL,
NFL Players Association, NFL Retired Players Association, NFL Alumni Association, NFL
Charities and the Pro Football Hall of Fame will form the first-ever alliance to coordinate medical
support services for former players in need of medical care.

“All of us in the NFL want to help former players that now find themselves in need of medical
care through no fault of their own,” said Commissioner Goodell. “Several NFL-related groups
have been working independently over the years to provide medical assistance, but now we will
work together to identify and help players more effectively in a common effort.”

HAROLD HENDERSON, the NFL’s executive vice president of labor relations, will serve as the
lead executive in this new initiative.

“Everyone wants to do the right thing to help former players with medical needs,” said
Henderson. “We want to do it in a coordinated, structured fashion. There have been ongoing
discussions with GENE UPSHAW (executive director of the NFLPA), and I know he sees this as
a high priority.”

The NFL is exploring a wide range of new ideas to address the medical needs of its former
players.

“We are seeking to determine how we can creatively approach the medical issues of former
players and guarantee their access to high-quality medical care at reasonable cost,” said
Commissioner Goodell. “This is principally directed toward those who are in dire need or can’t
afford the proper kind of care.”

Among the ideas being discussed:

• Better identification of players who need assistance and making the system more
efficient so that help can be delivered to these players.

• Arrangements with facilities in different areas of the country where former players can
obtain high-quality care at a reasonable cost.

• Collaborating with outside service groups to provide players with education and
guidance on obtaining medical care at reasonable costs that would expand access to
care for retired players.

• Ensuring availability of affordable assisted living facilities for former players.

Former NFL players who want to support these efforts will have the opportunity to contribute to
their former teammates by participating in fund-raising efforts, including golf tournaments and
online auctions.

The distribution of funds for medical needs will be managed by representatives of the
participating groups.

The 88 Plan, named after Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHN MACKEY, is an example of one
such fund that was created as part of the extended Collective Bargaining Agreement between
the NFL and its players in 2006. Former players in various stages of dementia, including
Alzheimer’s disease, may receive as much as $88,000 annually to assist in their medical care.

In recent weeks, the NFL office has spoken to SAM HUFF and JACK KEMP and several other
former players and the New York Jets’ CURTIS MARTIN for their views on how to address
these medical issues in the most effective way.

More than 900 former players and/or their families have received financial help in recent years
from either the NFLPA’s Players Assistance Trust or the NFL Alumni Association’s Dire Need
Fund.

In addition, 284 former players are receiving disability payments which total $19 million this
year, including some that receive as much as $224,000 annually.

# # #

According to "Alive In Baghdad", Biggest Problems Are Security, Water, and Electricity

For Senator John McCain to even claim that Iraq's safe is more than stretching the truth; it's distorting it. According to the blog for the video show Alive In Baghdad, conditions there are worse than unliveable. The blog reports:

"Now in Baghdad there are more problems then getting killed or kidnapped and one of those most important problems is the water and the electricity. The Iraqi people are tired of getting those promises from their government about fixing the electricity every month and official man comes on Al-Iraqiyah satellite channel and give a statement about fixing the power problem forever and everything is still the same, nothing has changed. ,"

On top of that, people who have nothing to do with politics are getting killed every day. For nothing. I can't understand why we're over there. It's not getting any better at all.

Cindy Sheehan Should Read "The Irony of Democracy"

I just got an email from a friend and about Cindy Sheehan -- the anti-war activist who's campaign was launched by the death of her son Casey in the Iraq War -- wrote a diary in the Daily Kos called "Good Riddance Attention Whore" and which outlines her displeasure with not just Republicans who are for the war, but Democrats who've also voted in such a way as to keep the effort going, and states that she's giving up her protest.

Cindy writes...

"I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me.

The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a "tool" of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our "two-party" system?

However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the "left" started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong."

Apparently Cindy never read "The Irony Of Democracy." This class book by Thomas Dye and L. Harmon Ziglar was introduced to me while I was a freshman at The University of Texas at Arlington. The basic premise of the Dye / Ziglar book is that America's ran by elitists and elite networks. These associations are formed in various ways mostly college-based, and solidify more for those who step into the poltical arena. These groupings are more powerful than parties, which explains how some Democrats could side with Republicans in voting for funding for The Iraq War.

"Elites are the few who have power, the masses are the many who do not" says Dye and Ziglar. And if you think about it, they're totally correct. We put a small set of people in office to make laws for us, so it should come as no surprise that that small gathering of people as its own outcome which at times runs counter to pure democracy.

What bothers me is that many people just don't get how our society is becoming even more divided in this way with the growth of the Internet. The Digital Divide is still a large problem, and it becomes more wide-spread with every new Web 2.0 application. There are many, including supposedly smart marketing people, who can't even define the term Web 2.0 I'm serious.

A recent survey (also reported in Marketing News) by Market Tools, reported that nearly 80% of marketers have no clue what Web 2.0 is.

I increasingly find that many supposedly well-educated Americans have no idea of the power of the Internet let alone how it can positively and negatively impact their lives and business objectives. Thus, they're rendered as much a part of the masses as anyone, and leave a growing set of aspects of society foreign to them, even as they don't know what they're missing. It's tragic. Plus, it's creating a whole class of Internet Elites -- the more things change, the more they remain the same.

So Cindy, and anyone in the American Marketing Association, read The Irony Of Democracy, before it's too late!

Women Still Face Stupid Ideas In The 21st Century

I visited Amanda Congdon's site and saw this photo where someone wrote "She A Woman" in response to a test question for a math quiz that asks why "Tracy" is wrong in the answer she gave.

This is a sure sign that America has a long way to go in that women are still viewed as second class citizens. I'll add that were it not for Barack Obama, I'd be a stanch Hillary Clinton supporter. I just think Barack's better, but I do think Hillary would be a great President as well.

Sony's OLED TV Technology -- Flat Screen TV Is Here!

In one of my favorite movies, "2001 A Space Odessey," a common device was something called a flat-screen television. Just as thick as a sheet of paper, it had a clear image where one could watch television from any angle, even with it sitting flat on a table.

Now, Sony's introducing the real, world's first flat-screen television. Called OLED, it's only 10 millimeters thick, basically wafer-thin. The clarity is without peer and the technology itself will revolutionize pop-culture. It's so thin and flexible that I can see jackets and coats with flat-screens as per of them.

See the video!

Video - Barack Obama Slams Romney And McCain For Lying About His Support Of The War On Terrorism

In this video, Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama -- addressing the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists at their annual convention in Chicago -- wasted no time in firing back against Republican Presidential Candidates Mit Romney and John McCain for their claim that Senator Obama's against the troops and the War on Terror because he voted against the Iraq spending bill, which passed earlier this week.

Here's the video: