Stephen King Under The Dome
Under the DomeBy Stephen King
Stephen King Writes a Spellbinding Supernatural Novel "UNDER THE DOME"On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.Stephen King’s Under The DomeBook trailers are an interesting recent development in marketing. The very concept doesn’t make a whole lot of sense at first, seeing as books don’t actually have visual scenes to make a trailer out of, but done properly, they can be pretty effective tools for creating buzz around a new novel. And sometimes, they can be pretty cool. The trailer for Stephen King’s new book, Under The Dome, falls squarely into the “cool” category. The novel follows the inhabitants of a small town that is trapped in a huge, clear dome by unknown forces.Some say King’s best years are behind him; I disagree. That’s not to say I enjoy every last one of his books – hell, the man’s written so many, there’s no way they could all be great. But when he’s on, he’s one of the best writers in modern horror (and sometimes science fiction). To me, it seems that he’s at his best when he gives himself room to breathe, page-wise. The Stand is brilliant; so is It. Both are over 1000 pages. The Dark Tower series, his masterpiece, unfolds over the course of seven increasingly long books. Under The Dome will be 1088 pages long; hopefully, that means we can expect the epic storytelling and surprisingly personal character development the author, at his best, is capable of.Check out the trailer below; it’s short, but it got me kinda pumped for this book.
UNDER THE DOME BY STEPHEN KING
Today at 7:49 CST I received the following message from Pres. Obama, thanking me for my service as a veteran on this day. I liked it and wanted to share. I hope the DNC sent it to all veterans in their database.
--Begin quoted text here.--
John --Today, on Veterans Day, my message to you is simple: Thank you. Thank you for your selfless service, for your valor, and for your strength of purpose that make all of us proud to be Americans.Today, Americans will pause amidst a great conversation about the future of our nation to take a moment and recognize your service to our democracy -- a service that guarantees us all the liberty to engage freely in that conversation, no matter what our views may be. We know that we owe you a debt that cannot be repaid. But we can and will fulfill our nation's promise to stand by you and your loved ones. That is why we've worked hard for better care for our veterans, and why we provided the largest increase in Veterans Administration funding in history.Today, we honor those Americans past and present who've served on battlefields from Lexington to Antietam, Normandy to Manila, Inchon to Khe Sanh, Ramadi to Kandahar. You have defended our freedom on land, and at sea, and in the air.You reflect the diversity that makes this America. You share a patriotism beyond question. And you share the same unflinching courage, selfless compassion, and uncommon camaraderie that -- when faced with the tragedy of a despicable and heartbreaking attack last Thursday -- the soldiers and civilians of Ft. Hood humbly revealed to the world. You and your loved ones are the patriotic men and women we honor today, Veterans Day. And you are the men and women we shall honor every day, in times of war and times of peace, so long as our nation endures.Thank you.President Barack Obama
Last year this time I had just returned from Columbus, Ohio, where I had volunteered for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. This link (http://10daysinohio.wordpress.com) will take you to the actual, albeit unfinished, blog. Here is an excerpt:
... Let me break down a little something on what I see as being a real discussion about big and small government. It has little to do with food stamps, government funded charter schools, or the good ole N.E.A. It has to do with an attitude that we, the people, can empower ourselves, or we can trust a suit in a large house that we will never visit on less than a tour (unless we are Tom Hanks) to throw us a bone. I love Obama specifically because he knows he can do nothing for us. He cannot heal a country that is not willing to do the work. He cannot give us better schools if we do not engage with our children. He cannot give us anything, but he can, and has already, empowered us to create something for ourselves. We need a government that only magnifies and enables the will of the people, not one that stipulates our choices on accepting their all-or-nothing rhetoric, that isolates and bates us against each other. There are certain things we will never agree on. That cannot be solved. Our government should not dictate our culture, it should serve as an organizing administrative body. Do you follow me? That is small government – a government that is willing to step back and give all of us choices. Freedom. I am not a Democrat nor am I Republican. I am a pragmatist. I believe at the end of the day, for this country – there is only one choice that includes everyone. Someone who will stay small so we can all become bigger. It is up to us. All of us...
One year ago today our country elected a good, brave and gifted man, Barack Obama, to take on the tremendous burdens of the Presidency. I think this is a good insight from Joseph Nye, Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University:“Look what he inherited -- a global economic crisis, two difficult wars, erosion of the non-proliferation regime by North Korea and Iran, deterioration of the Middle East peace process, and the rising strength of China just for starters. Obama's dilemma was how to manage this sad inheritance while creating his own vision of how Americans should deal with the world.He did that with his theme of ‘a new era of engagement with the world.’ Through a series of symbolic gestures and speeches (Prague, Cairo, Accra, the United Nations and others), Obama worked wonders in restoring American soft or attractive power in his first year of office. As a recent Pew poll reported, ‘in many countries opinions of the United States are now as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office.’
Skeptics regard soft power as over-rated, but it is a mistake to discount the role that transformative leaders can play in changing the context of difficult issues. Power involves setting agendas and creating others' preferences as well as pushing and shoving. Soft power alone rarely solves hard problems. That is why the administration speaks of "smart power" that successfully combines hard and soft power resources in different contexts. But soft power can create an enabling rather than a disabling environment for policy. Diplomats report that Obama's success in brokering agreements at NATO and G-20 summits was assisted by his popularity.
When Obama came into office, his economic advisers told him there was one chance in three that we were on the brink of another depression. We have successfully avoided that, and Obama was able to help organize a surprising degree of international cooperation on economic issues. Unlike FDR, who torpedoed an international economic conference in 1933, and failed to halt the spread of ‘beggar they neighbor’ policies that made the depression worse, Obama's soft power helped to promote international cooperation when it was vital. And there was a certain audacity of hope in that pursuit.”You can read the whole article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-nye/obamas-timidity-is-a-fore_b_344064.html
I prefer our President's "soft power" to the noise and destruction of the previous eight years.
With the new news, that the economy is turning to Mexico for trade goods, instead of China; my face begins to smile. I predicted this would happen long ago, just funny to see it happening, as well, I had a hunch that we would send them approximately, 500 million worth of computers, for any reason what so ever. Well, 200 million have already been sent, with 200 million more on the way. What a nice little touch. The drug dealers getting busted, saw that coming too. When your country is over run and the US, needs you, it is time to help stabalize your country. Well, those are the biggest things going on in Mexico, I saw them coming though. So what is next? What should be next? With the prices going down on products, due to this change, we will see foriegn goods in a different manor. No longer will they be produced from the other side of the planet, but from our friendly neighbor Mexico.
What I see...
RAVE -N-The Search for the Meaning of Life...Love...Wesley Warren Smith
Remembering the campaign makes me relive so many emotions:
Excitement – when he announced his candidacy. YES WE CAN!
Elation – when he was declared the nominee.
Looking online each day for campaign news, music, videos, art! A talent explosion!
Emails to editors and TV news – somebody has to read them!
Caucusing – scary, thrilling, overwhelming! What a turnout! Everyone cared so much!
Talking to complete strangers about then-Senator Obama.
Oh, and friends and family, too.
Bumps, lows, highs in the primary. Asking my Senators and Congressman to endorse.
Another donation request? We’ve still got some money; let’s just give a bit more.
Maybe he can really do it, maybe this country can move forward – YES WE DID!
And so 2008 was a very good year.
2012 will be another. So are the years in between. Our President is at work.
VISIONS OF 2012 DOOMSDAYDear Friend,Are you tired?Tired of all the misinformation out there about 2012?If you've done even one Google search on the topic you know what I'm talking about... SURVIVE 2012Where well-meaning “experts” went wrong... and why all the governments of the world ultimately decided not to tell you the truth.What is really going to happen in December of 2012... and exactly how millions will be devastated, and your world will be turned upside down... forever.How you can safeguard your life... and the lives of your family members. Because you really can survive... and spiritually thrive in the wake of this life-changing event.VISIONS OF 2012 DOOMSDAY - (1)VISIONS OF 2012 DOOMSDAY - (2)VISIONS OF 2012 DOOMSDAY - (3)VISIONS OF 2012 DOOMSDAY - (4)VISIONS OF 2012 DOOMSDAY - (5)The Underground Kingdom of Light - 1Journey Into The Resistance Movement - 2Galatic Wars - 3Liberation of the Planet Earth - 4Vision 2012 - 5It will begin suddenly, without warning. Many scandals that will disclose true backgound about how the System works will shake human masses. Disclosures about how international energetic megacompanies earn billions selling oil, preventing at the same time inventions of free energy to come to public. Disclosures about pharmaceutical trusts that earn money with "healing" diseases that are spread with viruses created in hidden laboratories. Disclosures about efficient cures for AIDS, cancer and other diseases that are known for quite some time, unkonwn to human masses. And about world media and censorship there, which is a logical consequence of a fact that few individuals own most worldly known newspaper, media and telecommunication companies. And finally disclosures about a secret world government that has most prominent politicians as its puppets and which creates profit out of wars and human suffering for millenia, a small group of beings that you work for in your jobs and voluntarily give them a significant amount of your monthly salary.When lists with names, supported with facts will be known, human masses will arise. When facts will be known about what is happening in the stock market and where the money really goes, this will create a world stock market crash and fall of the current monetary system. Riots will begin as a consequence of released emotional energy which was suppressed for so long. In the chaos of those days members of the Resistance movement will reveal themselves to humanity and give guidance and support. They will penetrate to the surface from their undergound realms and bring along technology that will help humanity to get over those critical moments. They will cure most of currently known diseases with their medicaments. With their free energy sources they will end world energy crisis and stop environmental pollution. They will bring information that will open the eyes of people. Finally people will realize that they have lived in quarantine for millenia. Money will disappear and will be replaced with exchange of goods based upon vibrational economy. The Resistance movement will assist in establishing new world government which will be chosen by humanity with its free will and that will lead humanity based on the principles of the Galactic codex. At that point the energy field of the planet will be cleared significantly. Memories of Atlantis will be returning to people and they will begin to create a New Atlantis, a new civillization of light. Buildings will be constructed in a combination of Atlantean and modern architecture which will be in harmony with nature. Many will be in a pyramidal or half spherical shape. Spiritually developed individuals will begin to gather in New age communities, so called islands of light. Everybody there will follow his vision aligned with the divine plan in deep connection with the universe. When people will release the past, everybody will experience clarity of mind, emotional aliveness and physical health. The basic cell of society in islands of light will not be a family of personalities (father, mother and children) but a family of souls (twin souls, soulmates and other members of a soul family). People will connect there energetically and telepathically with angels, guides and extraterestrials. Through islands of light a physical connection between the surface of the planet and extraterrestrial civillizations will be established. There will be teleportation chambers in islands of light through which it will be possible to travel into the Resistance movement, for some people into the Atlantean network and also towards the Pleiadian motherships. When the network of light will be strong and stable enough this will enable mass landings of Pleiadian starships. The Pleiadians will assist humanity during its transition towards the New age and with the process of acceptance of this planet into the Galactic confederation. They will anchor energy columns that will guide planet Earth throuh its transformation during its entry into the inner section of the tachyon belt.When the critical mass of consciousness will be achieved the first wave of Ascension will occur. Motherships of the Galactic confederation will hover as brilliant white clouds above the islands of light, where teleportation beams will descend and lift the volunteers into the motherships. Those volunteers will reappear on Earth shortly in Ascended state in their rainbow bodies of light. Soon afterwards another critical mass will be achieved and the second wave of Ascension will happen. Masses of Ascended masters that will return to Earth will prepare humanity for the third wave of Ascension and for the Evacuation. Great planetary cataclisms will begin then as a cleansing of the physical matter of the planet. At the moment of most intensive cataclisms a polar shift will happen and that will trigger the third wave of Ascension with final Evacuation. Linear time as we know it will end and Earth will enter a new, higher dimension. This is a moment when the Mayan calendar ends, a moment in 2012.
Leading Political, Legal Blogger Glenn Greenwald on Afghanistan, State Secrets, Healthcare and the Media
GLENN GREENWALD: ....I think the real question, though, is, the White House claims in public now that the President favors a public option. There have been lots of reports that, in private, they’ve been working against a public option, urging the senators not to include it in the package, that their deals with the healthcare industry is that there would be no public option. So, now one can only speculate about what the reality is, but I think now the question is, you know, they’ve proven in the past that they’re willing to apply heavy pressure tactics on members of Congress. They applied all kinds of threats against House progressives who didn’t want to vote for the war supplemental bill to force them to do so and support the President.AMY GOODMAN: How?GLENN GREENWALD: Well, according to Lynn Woolsey, who is the chair of the House Progressive Caucus, Rahm Emanuel and other White House political officials were calling House freshmen and saying, “If you don’t vote for the war supplemental bill,” that included the IMF money that the President had promised and the war in Afghanistan and Iraq funding, “you will never hear from us again,” meaning you will have to run for reelection without any support from the President or the Democratic Party infrastructure, which is an enormous threat to make for any member of Congress.So, you know, and the Republicans found a way, in 2004, when Arlen Specter had threatened, as Senate Judiciary Committee chair, to block the President’s Supreme Court nominees, if they thought—if he thought they were going to overturn Roe v. Wade, to humiliate him by saying, “You will not have this chairmanship unless you vow in advance to allow these nominations to go forward.” So parties can apply all sorts of pressure on members of Congress who are being recalcitrant, if they’re actually serious about doing so.And so, now the question is, will they apply that kind of pressure to Joe Lieberman and prove that they—that this talk about the President favoring a public option isn’t just lip service to placate the progressive base? Or will they use the senatorial courtesy to say, well, look, there’s nothing we can do about Joe Lieberman, just like they did during the Bush years when it came time to oppose the war in Iraq and other issues?JUAN GONZALEZ: And speaking of that lip service to placate the progressive base, you’ve also shown a light on the debate among the progressive publications over this issue of how serious the Obama administration is about the public option, in the battles between Daily Kos, on the one hand, and the Huffington Post and The Nation. Could you talk about how this is affecting the progressive media?GLENN GREENWALD: Well, I think one of the most significant issues of the Obama administration has been what role progressives—the progressive infrastructure has played in applying pressure on the Obama administration. One of the very first things that the Obama administration did—and Rahm Emanuel has specialized in trying to control and silence the left; I mean, that’s how he built his power base—in the House of Representatives was, they created these weekly meetings called Unity ’09 and Common Purpose, where members of all of the allegedly progressive groups devoted to progressive causes meet every week on Tuesday, often with members of the White House communications team, including oftentimes Rahm Emanuel, and they coordinate their messaging. So, instead of being devoted to, for example, pressuring the administration on issues relating to labor or to choice or to gay issues or to war, instead they’re coordinating their messaging to insure that their real allegiance is to serve the interest and the agenda of the Obama administration. And it’s really enabled the Obama administration to annex large aspects of the progressive infrastructure and to remove what ought to be an important pressure point.I think they’ve done the same with lots of progressive pundits, who aren’t necessarily attending these meetings, but who have voluntarily ceded their role in the progressive world and in progressive opinion making and activism. And you see this conflict more and more, I think. For example, the Huffington Post had an article critical of the Obama administration, reporting, for example, that they were working behind the scenes, in contrast to what Obama was saying, to sabotage the public option. And you saw in various places, on Daily Kos and others, suddenly declarations that the Huffington Post was suspect, and they were right wing, and they were the enemy, because anyone who reflects negatively on Obama has to be discredited. And I think you see that conflict, and I hope it will continue to grow, because it’s healthier than having progressives devote themselves to cheerleading for the President.AMY GOODMAN: But explain why they’re against the public option, the Obama administration. The Obama administration, who—well, Obama was for single payer for years, and we have all the video that we keep playing of him endorsing it.GLENN GREENWALD: Well, one of the interesting—most interesting aspects of what has happened here—and I think it illustrates the point I was just making—is, when Obama was running for president, he not only vowed, in general, to have the most transparent administration ever, talked about how secrecy was the toxin of Washington, but specifically with regard to the healthcare debate, he said the problem has always been in the past, that all the stakeholders get in the meetings, and they get accommodated, and nobody knows what’s actually happening, because it’s all done in secret. And he vowed that healthcare negotiations that he’s involved in, not only wouldn’t they be conducted in secret, they would be put on C-SPAN. Instead, as it turned out, the White House, early on in this process, beginning in March and April, were meeting with pharmaceutical and healthcare industry representatives and reaching secret deals with them to insure that they would not sabotage the healthcare plan.And they made two deals, one with the pharmaceutical industry, not to negotiate for bulk prices, to pay full prices, even though they’re going to be the largest purchaser of pharmaceutical products; and one with the healthcare industry, not to have a public option to compete with what it was that they would be able to charge. So, essentially, they would force and mandate healthy, young Americans to buy the products of the insurance company without providing a public option to keep costs low. It was a huge gift to the healthcare industry. And I think one reason was they were afraid that the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry would advertise against the program. But I think the more important concern is, right now, most healthcare money and pharmaceutical money goes to the Democrats—it went to the Obama campaign, it went to help Democrats take over control of the Congress—and they want that to continue. They don’t want that money to go to Republican coffers to take over the Congress in 2010. And so, one of their principal priorities was to make sure that whatever happened was not a threat to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. And that’s why, I think, that early on they bargained the public option away.JUAN GONZALEZ: And yet, there was no big furor among—in the progressive circles, as there was, for instance, when Dick Cheney had all his private meetings to develop energy policy at the beginning of the Bush administration, over the failure of Obama to come through with his promise of a more open and public process on healthcare reform.GLENN GREENWALD: Right. And, in fact, one of the principal controversies of the Bush-Cheney administration prior to 9/11, as you just alluded to, was the fact that they refused to disclose the energy executives with whom they were meeting to formulate energy policy. And they invoked all kinds of claims about how White House visitor logs were not part of presidential records. They were outside of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, and therefore not disclosable or obtainable. And that created a huge furor among progressives that this was a horribly secret administration.And yet, when it came time to obtain those lists from the Obama White House of the healthcare executives with whom they were meeting, they originally invoked that same theory and said, “We’re not going to disclose it.” And eventually they disclosed part of it. But I think you’re right. This is a case where there was a specific promise to have these healthcare negotiations out in the open; there was an exact opposite of that occurring, and very little furor.
In less than a year in office, 37 weeks, U.S. President Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize. During his election campaign and after his election victory U.S. President Barack Obama advocated taking the U.S. and leading the international community in a different direction then his predecessor George Bush.
Barack Obama has been very outspoken against nuclear proliferation.
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Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director & Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) announced some “big news” this afternoon. The President signed THE VETERANS HEALTH CARE BUDGET REFORM AND TRANSPARENCY ACT, permanently changing the funding process for VA healthcare.
According to Rieckhoff, the legislation was the IAVA’s number one priority for the year, legislation they’ve been fighting for since January. Rieckhoff says “The new law requires Congress to pass the VA healthcare budget one year in advance. It means no more rationed care for veterans- regardless of what year it is, or what party is in power. Period.”
Hi Dems,
I voted for Obama, I believed in the open government and the change we can believe in. I now feel I was taken for a ride, lied to and my vote should not count. Obama has done a complete turn around of what I thought he stood for. I voted for a radical racist as far as I am concerned.
I hear all of the left calling people racists and this just is not right. I am a white lady and I feel like the new radical left does not even like me. The right has every right to voice their opinions and we should allow them to. If they are so very wrong then show them where they are wrong, quit the racist crap. I did hear the rants of wright and jones and I must agree with the right on those issues. An ex-president jimmy carter has no right at all to call anybody a racist, it just is wrong. I also believe the left has gotten way too radical and wants too much change of America. The damn blacks are complaining all over again like fifty years ago. Will they ever stop with the race card thing? I know jesse jackson and al sharpton makes a good living on race baiting but not from the left come on people.
I read all about the czars and they are crazy as hell with radical views and remarks. van jones is a complete crazy man that has no reason being in this country with his hate of America and for whites. I see no God in Rev Wright what so ever and never knew Obama was in his church 20 years. This man is evil at best and nobody should go to his church. Obama is spending his way into debt we can never pay back and that worries me a lot. The more I hear about Acorn the more corrupt I think they are and Obama is. I did not know mrs Obama said this was a mean country or that she was never proud. Oh my I do not believe I did the right thing by voting for him. I am so sorry I did but maybe I can fix it by changing to a republican and go to their marches. I noe think Obama is an evil evil man and wants people to praise him and not God.
Dear Friends:
I have good news for you who have been fighting for a Health Care Reform Bill with a Strong Public Option.
The fight is far from over since some of our representatives still hesitating. They need to hear that their future aspirations and place in history depends on providing Health Care Insurance with Strong Public Option as the majority voted for on last November 4, 2008.
Thanks,
Richard Charman
(305)636-4400
www.net-tronics.com
