Senate Democrats Respond To House Republicans' Offer

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One week before a possible government
shut-down, Senate Democrats respond
to an offer from House Republicans
that would keep the government
running for two more weeks while
cutting $4 billion.

"The plan the Republicans are
floating today sounds like a
modified version of what
Democrats were talking about,"
that was proposed to Republicans
Thursday, Jon Summers- spokesman
for Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid of Nevada.

The proposal Thursday was
different in that it related to
a longer term spending bill that
would last until October 1, the
beginning of the new fiscal year.

In the short term bill, House
Majority Leader Eric Cantor,
Republican-Virginia, explained to
reporters Friday the $4 billion in
spending cuts would come from
terminating eight programs that
President Obama included in his
proposed 2012 budget and the
elimination of earmarks, the
same two areas Senate Democrats
said Thursday they were considering.

The cuts offered are intended to
find common ground with Democrats,
per Republicans.

These are things that people have
agreed to already," House GOP Whip
Kevin McCarthy.

The Republican plan aims at
slicing-away $650 million in highway
funds, $200 million in housing funds
and $250 million for a reading program
at the Department of Education plus it
eliminates a literacy program at that
department which the administration
labeled "ineffective."

Democrats accused Republicans of
wanting indiscriminate budget cuts.

Gossip Is A Bully's Tool

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Bullies Are Powerless Without Gossip

Gossip, lies, speculation and rumor
are ego boosting tools for bullies.
Lies, speculation and rumor fall
under gossip. Gossip is anyone
repeating idle talk about the
private business of others.

A mention of someone/someone's
business arouses the bully.
He/she immediately takes charge,
and begins to plot ways of
spreading gossip but not before
recruiting others.

A bully takes pleasure in smearing
a person's name through gossip.
The bully's ego is hurt when the
bullied speaks the truth.

The truth is a victim's best weapon
against bullies. The truth spoken
in different words rolls-out to
true. Gossip, on the other hand,
falls apart when looked at closely.

Let's look at how a bully operates.

"Who? Let's teach him/her a lesson."

Or

"Help me play a joke." One bully said.

"I'm not sure, don't know him/her."
The bully's friend.

"You know me, and you are."

Or

"I don' like him/her." The bully.

"Why?" The bullied friend.

"Don't like way he/she talks."

"But..."

"I heard..."

Or

He/she needs to be taken down a
level or two."

A bully's friend, most likely, is
bullied too. Bullies don't allow
their friends to think for
themselves, because they will
uncover the truth.

Take away a bully's tool by not
gossiping.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Gossip-Is-A-Bullys-Tool

"I Hate This Damn Job"- Sarah Palin as Alaska's Governor

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One of Sarah Palin's closest aides
from her time as governor leaked
a manuscript that mentions Palin
broke state election law in her
2006 gubernatorial campaign, and
was destroyed by petty grievances
up until she resigned.

The unpublished book by Frank
Bailey was leaked to the media
and widely circulated on Friday.

The manuscript opens with an
account of Palin sending Bailey
a message: "I hate this damn job,"
shortly before she resigned as
Alaska's governor in July 2009,
less than three years into her
four-year term. The manuscript
continues for almost 500 pages,
with analysis, gossip and
allegation stirred-in. Copies of
the manuscript were passed around
Alaska political circles on Friday.
The Daily News received copies
from various sources.

The first from author Joe McGinniss,
who is working on his own Palin book.
McGinniss had no response to a message
asking where he obtained the manuscript
and the reason he circulated it.

Bailey, a political insider, joined
Palin's 2006 campaign for governor,
became part of her inner circle, and
has never before told his version of
the Palin story.

Bailey has consistently refused requests
for interviews and did so again Friday.
The book was co-written with California
author Ken Morris and Jeanne Devon of
Anchorage, who publishes the popular
anti-Palin web site Mudflats.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110224050935writ.nb/topstory.html

How To Write For Business

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Better Business Writing

Better business writing is
providing reader friendly
writing. The writing must
tap into a reader's
interest. Supply readers
with what they want, need,
using fresh ideas. Stir-in
facts, quotes, figures or
color.

The actual writing is clear,
without confusion. No one
wants to waste time looking-up
words every other minute.

Better business writing mixes-in
everything that's needed. The
reader can do without lengthy,
useless words and phrases.

Better business writing requires
that it's correct ethically,
legally and factually.

First, organize. An e-book,
shorter article, research,
market projections or any
presentation must be
organized before the
meeting.

The order of display is
determined. What point is
shown first, second and so
on.

Next, the actual writing is
done. Write-out everything.
Share anything pertaining
to the presentation.

The editing process is last.
The procedure is a line by
line review. Keep editing
until your presentation is
perfect.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Write-For-Business

Pennsylvania Governor Fires Abortion Clinic Employees

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It was a state over-sight of an
abortion clinic, in west
Philadelphia, PA, where at least
one mother and seven viable babies
died "despicable," Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Corbett.

Corbett fired a half-dozen employees
and announced changes Tuesday in two
departments.

"This doesn't even rise to the level
of government run amok. It was
government not running at all. To call
this unacceptable doesn't say enough,"
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett.

The Department of Health and the
Department of State have the major
responsibility for such clinics.

Seven employees from the Department
of Health, Bureau of Professional
and Occupational Affairs, branch
of the Department of State are no
longer employed by the state, either
resigned or was terminated since the
situation came to light, per Corbett's
statement.

Four other former employees named in
the grand jury investigation had
already resigned.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, from the
west Philadelphia abortion clinic,
is being held without bail on eight
murder counts and other charges.
Arraignment is set for March 2.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110216075957writ.nb/topstory.html

'The German Fritzl' Goes on Trial for Charges of Incest

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Detlef S, 48, a.k.a. "the German
Fritzl" goes on trial Tuesday
accused of raping his stepdaughter
and fathering eight of her children.

Charges of incest with related
offences were committed between
1987 and 2010. Also, the repeated
rape of his step-daughter, known
by the pseudonym Natalie and now
is 28. He, too, is charged with
abusing his biological son and
daughter.

DNA tests revealed that the man
was the father of at least 7 of
Natalie's children. An eighth
child, whom he may have fathered,
is believed to have died according
to a spokesman for the court in
Koblenz.

Charges point to friends paying to
have sex with his two daughters per
the indictment. He denies all the
charges.

Prior to his arrest, Detlef S lived
with his 52-year-old wife; in a
village in western Germany, and up to
15 children. Four of the children
reportedly came from his wife's first
marriage, four belonged to them both
and seven were the result of incest.

The village priest, Joachim Triebel-Kulpe,
denied that Fluterschen turned a blind eye.
"There was speculation, of course, and
whispers in the village. I never would
have imagined that something like this
would happen in our community," he
explained.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110215075020writ.nb/topstory.html

Obsession Turns to Murder

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Maksim Gelman, 23, killed 4 people
during a day of stabbings,
car-jackings and hit-and-runs.

Gelman's obsession turned to
murder Friday when he stabbed
20-year-old Yelena Bulchenko
to death outside her Sheepshead
Bay home.

"That was all in his head,"
explained Yelena Bulchenko's
friend, Andrey Andriak. "They
were never a couple, barely
friends. He wanted to take it
to the next level and she
didn't."

Gelman had already fatally
stabbed his stepfather,
Bulchenko's mother and a
pedestrian in a 28 hour
killing spree- wounded 5
others.

People who knew Gelman said
he harassed Bulchenko for
months after she spurned
his advances.

"He became obsessed with her.
He would call and text her all
the time, but she would never
answer back," college friend,
Lauren Vasquez. "He didn't get
it. It was all in his head that
they were together or would be
together."

Neighbors described Gelman as a
low-life who was often on angel
dust. He had a string of arrests
for drug possession and other
charges, according to police.

"They had to die," Maksim Gelman
confessed after being forced down
by two transit cops and an off-duty
detective about 9 a.m. Sunday, per
sources.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110214063824writ.nb/topstory.html

How To Use Flashbacks In Fiction

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Tips On Using Flashbacks
Flashbacks will keep fiction
interesting, but it must be
mixed well. A flashback that's
too long bores the reader, and
he/she moves to the next
author/writer. It's the primary
concern when working with flashbacks.

Begin your fiction in a dramatic
scene. If the reader needs to know
how a character ended-up in the
situation, show them with a
flashback. The flashback takes the
reader back and uncovers relevant
information that leads to where
the story opened.

Sometimes, a sentence is all that's
needed. At other times, a paragraph
is required to handle a flashback.
In other words, flashbacks must
not slow-down the pace of a story.

Music, loud noise, a fall, gentle
shake or ringing telephone can set
a flashback into motion.

The following is the tell me method
to a flashback. It's necessary to
the excerpt. One paragraph explains
the background of grandmother and
gives insight into Tay's ancestry.

"Mother, tell me about how
grandmother migrated to find a better
life," Tay pleaded.

I explained how my mother worked as
a maid, saved her money until she was
able to move north. She, after many
years of hard work, became a business
owner.

A flashback is smooth, must have a
reason to be included.

Flashbacks are used in life too.
Newspaper headlines are excellent
examples. Newspaper headlines splash
the eye-catching part of a story, and
then explain what led up to the headline.
It's a flashback technique. Read over
the examples.

1. Egyptian Defense Ministry: ‘It Is
Time To Go Back To Normal Life’

http://newsblaze.com/story/20110202080440writ.nb/topstory.html

2.Google to Launch Google Offers

http://newsblaze.com/story/20110125105107writ.nb/topstory.html

In closing, a flashback covers only what is needed.

Factory Worker Discovers Ming Vase

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A 79-year-old British retired worker
wanted the press to not publish his
name, but walked into an auction
house with an almost perfect Ming
vase in a card-board box.

The Dorchester auction house, Duke's,
were amazed by the "spectacular find."

"When my colleague initially showed me
what had arrived in a cardboard box I
could not believe my eyes," Guy
Schwinge of Duke's told the Guardian.
"The vase is in perfect condition,
and it is amazing to think that it
has survived unscathed for almost
six hundred years."

The BBC reported that the vase, which
stands 11.5 inches tall, is the largest
ever found of a rare group of early Ming
"moonflasks" whose production dates
somewhere between the years 1403 and
1424. It was manufactured during the
reign of an emperor named Yongle, and
its distinctive features such as the
small loop handles appear to be
influenced by Islamic design.

The auction is scheduled for May,
and the item is expected to bring
at least a million pounds, or
somewhere in the neighborhood of
$1.6 million United States dollars.

It's not sure how the man came into
possession of the vase.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110208074635writ.nb/topstory.html

A Priest's Confession of a Mistake

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There was much debate, online and
off, about why Father Thomas
Euteneuer left the position
president of Human Life
International, 2010, in August.

The sudden exit led to official
apologies, explanations and
defenses of both Euteneuer's
past behavior as not only the
superstar of the international
pro-life movement, but an exorcist
for the Catholic Church.

A January 27th medical emergency
at HLI's Front Royal, Virginia
headquarters described by
emergency medical responders as a
"medical seizure," and some
witnesses depicted "demonic
possession" of a past female
associate of Euteneuer's.

There were speculations and
accusations against the priest,
attacks on both the priest's
critics and alleged victims.

Euteneuer sliced into the five
months of official silence with
an admission of one instance of
moral failing during his performance
of an exorcism.

"The circumstances that led to my
departure from HLI were related
exclusively to my own decisions
and conduct within the ministry
of exorcism that I carried out
independently from my responsibilities
at HLI," Euteneuer in a February 1st
post on the web site LifeSiteNews.
The "vast majority of my decisions
and conduct, both personally and in
this ministry, were morally sound and
consistent with all standards of
pastoral care of persons," Euteneuer
explained. "I must acknowledge, however,
that one particularly complex situation
clouded my judgment and led me to
imprudent decisions with harmful
consequences, the worst of which was
violating the boundaries of chastity
with an adult female who was under
my spiritual care."

Euteneuer accepted "full responsibility"
for his "weakness and sinful conduct," but
added a denial of some specific online
accusations, such as the presence in a
rental room in his parent's home of a
woman alleged to have been the subject
of repeated exorcisms by the priest.

"The good and safety of others, respect
for privacy, and the common good are
sufficient reasons for being silent
about what ought not be known or for
making use of a discreet language. The
duty to avoid scandal often commands
strict discretion. No one is bound to
reveal the truth to someone who does
not have the right to know it." (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2489. Emphasis in
the original.)," the HLI statement.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110207071627writ.nb/topstory.html

Egyptian Defense Ministry: 'It Is Time To Go Back To Normal Life'

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The Egyptian defense ministry asked
the youth to return home, saying,
"It is time to go back to normal
life," as protesters assembled for
a ninth day to push the departure
of President Hosni Mubarak forward.

The crowd had families with young
children in Cairo's Tahrir Square
on Wednesday. Some camped out at
Tahrir which means "freedom" or
"liberation" in Arabic for one week.

Mubarak, on Tuesday, said he wouldn't
run for office again in the elections
scheduled for September, but is firm
on remaining in the country to finish
his term.

"My first responsibility now is to
restore the stability and security of
the homeland, to achieve a peaceful
transition of power in an environment
that will protect Egypt and Egyptians
and which will allow for the responsibility
to be given to whoever the people elect in
the forth-coming elections," Mubarakin in a
televised address Tuesday night.

Thousands of protesters exploded in chants
of "Down with Mubarak!" and "The people want
the president to be judged!" following his
announcement.

Some waved shoes in the air, a deep insult
in the Arab world. They vowed to continue
their demonstrations until Mubarak quits now,
not when his term is over.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110202080440writ.nb/topstory.html

Cairo Crowds Prepare For A March

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Cairo crowds prepare for a march
aimed at bringing down the 30-year
regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
Organizers requested that a million
people flood the streets.

Egyptian authorities shut down the
Internet and cell-phone service
ahead of the protest to stop people
from showing-up.

The ruling National Democratic Party
announced a counter demonstration in
support of Mubarak.

Tuesday's new arrivals gave new energy
to protesters who spent another chilly
night in the plaza, and the crowd broke
into a full-bodied roar of "Down, Mubarak,
down!"

Protesters are demanding an end to what
they feel is a repressive, incompetent
and corrupt regime that didn't improve
the lives of ordinary people, but
restricted civil liberties and violated
human rights.

They don't have a leader, but have united
around Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace
Prize winner and former secretary general
of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The crowd in the square came from all walks
of life: secular middle-class professionals
and pious Muslims of modest means.

The religious element has become more
visible, and dawn brought a long audio
burst of Koranic verses. After being
caught off guard by the protests, the
Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest
opposition group and one of the cornerstones
of political Islam in the Middle East, has
thrown its support behind the movement and
endorsed ElBaradei as a transitional figure.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110201091445writ.nb/topstory.html