by Barry Kelly | April 18, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 45

English: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber for a single diving casualty (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BLESS EACH DAY

Usually I can’t wait to get to my iMac and dash off another blog pointing out the dangers of the Obama administration. Writing blogs helps me keep my balance and cool as Mr. Alinsky’s Chicago acolytes work to drag America down to their level.

Today as I stare at the monitor, I muse about 12 years ago when I was in a very different place. I was still recovering from prostate cancer in Florida. Both the prostate and the cancer were gone and I was feeling good. Looking in the mirror as I shaved, I noticed a lump on the side of my neck. I had seen it earlier but now it was bigger. Big enough to see my doctor. My wife’s father was a doctor and her mother a nurse so there is no room for procrastination about medical issues in my family.

After brief examinations by two different doctors, the Jacksonville medical world said cancer. Terminal without treatment and possibly with. Head and neck cancer. Specifically, a 3 centimeter by 3 centimeter by 2 centimeter tumor on the base of my tongue that had spread to the lymph nodes in my neck. The Jacksonville doctors offered no hope. My wife contacted the internist in Washington, D.C., who had saved us before. Three days later he had put together a dream team of leading specialists in chemotherapy, neck surgery, tooth removal and radiation. We were in our car headed to Washington with our Bouvier des Flandres and African Grey.

Radiation mask used in treatment of throat cancer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was told the odds of a cure were tiny but the radiologist had researched the latest protocols and pulled one off his printer several days later on my birthday. The others involved agreed it was my best and only shot. I would have radiation daily for eight weeks (7,000 rads), along with simultaneous chem therapy one day each of those weeks. First I had to have a biopsy, then before any treatment could begin six perfectly good teeth had to be removed, and because I would lose the ability to swallow shortly after the radiation treatments began, a gastric tube was implanted in May to come out in November. After the radiation and chemo ended, there was a couple of weeks for a break, which we spent in Florida, and then I had a modified neck resection. There were tanks in front of the doctor’s office in Washington when I saw him on Sept. 12. At the beginning of it all, the radiologist told me the treatment would be the hardest thing I had ever experienced. He was right although I didn’t believe him at the time. No one mentioned that I would need 40 days of two-hour treatments in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber afterwards to restore the heavily damaged marrow in my jaw bone.

A wonderful couple who were our long-time friends gave us their guest cottage for as long as we needed — we were there for three months. Who else would have taken us all in? The last five weeks we stayed with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

The treatment was very hard on me, my-never-give-up wife, and all those who loved us. At times I wanted to quit. My body weight kept going down and my muscles weakened. I had plenty of time to read but no focus to do so. TV helped pass the time. Programming didn’t matter. If I could never swallow again, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take more treatments, especially the radiation. The only way I managed the daily treatment was to recognize the beauty and glory of each day. I swore, if I lived through the cancer and the treatment, I would for the rest of my life be aware of the blessings each day brings.

For those of you fighting through cancer and the effects of the treatment, take it one day at a time. Set aside a period each day to pray and give thanks for what your days have brought you and promise yourself you will recognize the joy of each day. They are all good.

by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.

Hyperbaric Treatment. (onthehillgilayjun.blogspot.com)

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Filed under Barry Kelly, cancer, chemotherophy, General, Progressives, radiation

Tagged as Cancer, chemotheropy, Radiation therapy

by Barry Kelly | April 8, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 44

benghazi_sandstorm (Photo credit: an agent)

WORSE IS GOOD

Everything President Obama touches he makes worse. He and his entourage don’t make mistakes 100 percent of the time. They are not that dumb. I believe worse is their goal. Now why would that be? Because this president and his minders believe their goal is to win the House in 2014; nothing else matters. It is okay if the Obama touch snatches defeat from the jaws of victory as long as his position on the specific issue furthers the progressive crusade to transform America. If you haven’t seen the ugly face of his transformation yet, take off your blinders. Stop giving him a pass every time he makes something worse.

What has he made worse? Let’s look at a few examples. Start with sequestration. The idea came from the president. He threatened to veto any bill coming to him that would lessen the impact. When sequestration was imminent, he refused a Republican offer to give him flexibility in deciding the 2 percent cuts. Then to make sequestration seem worse, the president and his legion of lemming Cabinet members rushed to the nearest camera to paint pictures of disasters the Republican sequestration would cause. When sequestration became the law of the land the gutless Cabinet resorted to pettiness. Closing White House tours, national parks, air control towers, Blue Angels, and furloughing hardworking federal employees. But no cuts in the campaigner-in-chief’s agenda. Just months into his second term and he is out raising money instead of dealing with our monstrous debt, antiquated tax policy, and unsustainable social programs. Unlike all our other presidents who tried to work out solutions to critical issues, this president works to make the issue worse and blame it on the Republicans. He is very good at the blame game.

Is immigration a good example? Yes, one of the best. The president doesn’t want a solution. He wants an issue he can use to pound the hapless Republicans if the group of eight senators working on an immigration bill reach agreement. President Obama will find a way to wreck any bi-partisan solution. What good is a solution to him? He already owns the Hispanic vote. But he will make it look like the bill failed because of the Republican position on border security. Janet Napolitano, the bewildered head of Homeland Security, is out telling all she has worked with border issues for more than 20 years and the border is now more secure than it ever was. Really not what the professionals working the issue say. Maybe someone should tell her, she is entitled to her own opinion but not her own facts. Rest assured the president will work to make any immigration solution worse so he has a stronger issue to use in the 2014 election for the House of Representatives. Having Nancy Pelosi re-instated as the Speaker of the House is really scary.

How about another issue? Sometimes the way to use an issue to transform America into a socialist elite nation is to take the issue away from the opposition, in this case the Republicans. There are times in our history when the president’s lack of action and leadership over the killing of Americans at Ben Ghazi would have destroyed the president’s effectiveness as a commander-in-chief. President Reagan bombed Libya into submission over the killing of American servicemen by a Libyan terrorist in a German cafe. There are always other things but the cafe bombing was the trigger. President Obama did not want the Ben Ghazi attack on our consulate to show that after all his talk, al Qaeda was still alive and well. So it all had to be downplayed. One meeting with his National Security Team. No follow up even though the fighting was still going on. No attempt to help the beleaguered Americans fighting for their lives. The next morning with the consulate and annex still smoking, President Obama goes off to Las Vegas for a fundraiser. (That he knows how to do.) But that is not the end. For two weeks his administration avoided putting the terrorist label on Ben Ghazi. Even arrest some poor film maker who made an anti-Muslim film. A despicable act but not a felony offense. For weeks the White House refused to identify any survivors and make them available to the Congress. I don’t think his handling of Ben Ghazi was a winning strategy but it shows how in his mind the issue is never the issue. He doesn’t play the near term game, only the long strategic one of presiding over a one-party government.

For him there is nothing to be gained by bi-partisan solutions of our big issues. For he believes we do not have a spending problem. How can you work with a president who thinks his talk is more important than his actions? Guess again we are a nation where we judge people and presidents by their actions. Then, there is Obamacare and growing unemployment!

by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series. www.factsandfictions.com

Eight Decades of Insights 34 (factsandfictions.com)

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Filed under Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions, Progressives, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | April 3, 2013 · 8:39 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 43

Border Patrol (Photo credit: Brian Auer)

NEW CITIZENS

We need immigration from south of the border, even with the unemployment figures being more than 12 percent (if we do an honest count of the unemployed). The men, women, and children who have risked crossing our porous border bring a freshness to our work force. Their work ethic is like ours used to be. All the immigrants I’ve met are super workers. They work hard, don’t whine or complain, and are enterprising entrepreneurs. They are strong family people, most are Christians and fit in with our Christian heritage. The young men and women are serving well in the armed forces. What’s not to like about them? Sure, they may be here illegally. We can deal with that. What we can’t deal with is a border no administration has been willing to close. Not so that no one will be able to get through. But so hundreds and thousands cannot cross illegally into America. Borders can be controlled. And with that we can find a way for the many law-abiding illegal immigrants (I recognize the oxymoron) to become citizens.

Unfortunately, President Obama does not want an immigration bill that has bi-partisan support. There is no benefit in that for his transformation of American into a one-party socialist country run by the Progressive elite. If you don’t believe that just wait and watch what happens. Obama knows the Hispanic vote is his no matter what he does. They can wait until he uses the immigration issue along with several other issues to destroy the Republican Party and seize control of the House of Representatives, which is the last legal obstacle in his drive for power. President Obama will not sign nor support a bipartisan immigration bill. He will keep moving the bar until the Republicans can no longer get over the Obama barrier. The saddest part of this scenario is that very few Republican politicians understand what is happening.

The lack of employment in the United States is responsible for the drop in border crossing statistics. Not the administration’s border security actions. Why cross if there are no jobs? Except that the path to citizenship is a stronger magnet to attract mass crossings. Get here before the immigration legislation is passed. I hope that is right and we have real border security and a reasonable path to citizenship.

Rubio: Reports of immigration deal ‘premature’ (miamiherald.com)
Immigration deal at hand, focus turns to details (crainsnewyork.com)
US Senator says President Obama is not serious about immigration reform, it’s only a ploy (ConservativeActionAlerts.com)
Eight Decades of Insights 38 (factsandfictions.com)

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Tagged as Border control, House of Representatives, Immigration, politics, Republican

by Barry Kelly | March 28, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 42

HEY AMERICA (Photo credit: SS&SS)

If Americans like their presidents to be predictable, we should love President Obama. No matter where he speaks or what the subject is, he gives a predictable speech, a speech designed to improve his shrinking numbers and move him closer to transforming America into a socialist economy. The politics will follow. Remember, he has only one issue: take control of the House of Representatives in 2014. To do that he has to destroy the credibility of the Republican Party, his only obstacle to total power. No other issue matters. Remember he often changes his positions on issues when it is pragmatic to do so. Any doubt that he is a disciple of Saul Alinsky who preached, the issue is never the issue? In the president’s talk before Israeli students he referred to Mr. Alinsky’s guidance which he recommended they should use in their struggle to be heard.

His Middle East foreign policy is in shambles. He has failed at every turn. Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya (especially in Ben Ghazi and the control of Libyan weapons), Syria, and with Hamas and Hezbollah. Why go to Israel and what would he say? His poll numbers were falling. No sense maintaining his previous anti-Israel position, i.e. Israel should stop all settlements so peace talks can begin. Israel also should agree to moving back to the 1967 borders as a pre-condition.

Obama’s first major foreign policy address on the Middle East was given in Cairo. A pro-Muslim speech. He was right next door to Israel a traditional strong ally of the United States but did not visit. He deliberately dissed the Israeli prime minister on at least two occasions in Washington. Now why should he go to Israel and talk like he is a staunch ally of Israel? The answer is simple: To keep the Jewish vote and to make it look as if he had changed his policy and now was in line with historic American foreign policy objectives. Nothing could be further from the truth. He still has the same pro-Muslim Progressive foreign policy stance. Don’t trust his word. He doesn’t.

American foreign policy pundits have mostly bought into this change in Obama’s position on Israel. Even the Israelis believed him. I hope some of them are wise enough to see through his changing positions. The president is a master at changing sides on issues and never earning the “flip flop” label he deserves. Give him credit: With his strongly held Progressive positions, his belief in Alinsky’s end game, and early Muslim and socialists influences in his life, he does not believe he is lying. He is merely keeping his eye on the ball. If he wins in the 2014 elections he will transform America. There will be no return. And maybe that is the way it should be. People get the government they deserve. Given our record of electing Mr. Obama twice, it is hard to argue we deserve better.

By the author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series. www.factsandfictions.com

Obama Quotes Alinsky, is Heckled in Israel; Huckabee Says Palestinians Don’t Want Peace (joemiller.us)
Obama Quotes Radical Socialist Saul Alinsky In Speech To Young Israelis (patdollard.com)
NOT Surprising: Obama Quotes Dead Lucifer-Lover, Saul Alinsky In Israel (themadjewess.com)
Obama Spreads The Alinsky Gospel To Israeli Students (youviewed.com)

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by Barry Kelly | March 25, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 41

Duty, Honor, Country (Photo credit: Roger Smith)

LYING IS THE ISSUE

I’ m positive President Obama is a disciple of Saul Alinsky. Mr Alinsky published his guidelines for Progressives. He put forth several rules but the essence of his teaching is that the issue is never the issue. The practical effect of that simple statement is Progressive politicians and supporting radicals should never get bogged down in political battles over any issue. They should remain focused on using all issues to destroy the existing government structure and all opposition. The pragmatic advantage of Mr. Alinsky’s theory is that radicals are free to take any side of any issue at any time. How can you debate against a team using Alinsky’s rules? The answer is you can not.

But there is a serious weakness in Alinksy’s dictum that radicals can change their positions at anytime. It is not a pragmatic flaw. It is one derived from generations of codes of honor. There is a reason why parents tell their children not to lie. Parents look their sons and daughters right in the eye and with all the seriousness they can muster tell them, “You are only as good as your word, if you have nothing but your word you will be respected, don’t say things if you don’t mean it, and people must be able to count on your word.” Did President Obama never hear those words? Maybe not if we judge him by what he says.

Let’s look at some examples. I realize that those of you who are emotionally tied to the Progressive Movement or left wing of the Democratic Party will not believe the president’s shifting positions damage the trust Americans give to their leader. My definition of lying is when a person knowingly makes a statement they know is untrue. Mistakes or errors are not lies. The following are all summarized statements or positions of Candidate Obama, President Obama, or those of senior staff members who were speaking with his approval. You judge if the president was lying or not.

*Under Obamacare you will be able to keep your doctor and your current insurance plan.

*Obamacare will save money.

*President Bush’s spending that increased the National Debt and saddled our children with paying our bills was unpatriotic.

*Sequestration was a Republican idea. I’ll veto any attempt to change it. Terrible things will happen if sequestration is not stopped: Air flights delayed, teachers, policemen and firemen laid off. Thousands of jobs lost.

*We do not have a spending problem.

* The White House was not aware of the dangers to the Ben Ghazi Consulate.

* I told our security officials to do everything possible to help the Americans fighting in Ben Ghazi.

* My energy policy includes all of the above, both green and fossil fuel resources to make America energy self-sufficient.

*Taxes should not be increased in a struggling economy.

*My plan is to reach out to Republicans to bring our finances under control.

* (An open mike slip in a comment last year to President Medvedev of Russia): “Tell Putin I will have more flexibility after the election.”

I believe there are enough lies associated with the issues above to cause many of our citizens to lose trust and confidence in President Obama’s word and, therefore, in his presidency. Alinsky followers may believe the issue is never the issue but a lie is always a lie. Alinsky’s morality is not ours.

By the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.

http://www.factsandfictions.com