Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics!

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

The very famous quote above is popularly attributed to Mark Twain. But Twain himself attributed the quote to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881). Historians, however, can find no reasonable explanation for Twain to have attributed the quote to the equally famous Disraeli. Its real origins will probably never be known.

It is ironic and somewhat appropriate that many people today know the quote from the popular political television series, The West Wing. In today's hyperventilating political environment, it is certainly reasonable to think the quote applies to politicians.

Numbers are easy to misuse, misquote and misrepresent. Hide money here, move money there and you can get any result you desire. Sadly, that is exactly what Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are doing with the Health Care Restructuring costs.

Frankly, I think it's just a damned lie.

You can't cut Medicare by $500,000,000.00 and then say there will be no change in the program and no reduction in benefits. It is a lie. And if you're a senior on the excellent Medicare Advantage Program, it's a damned lie. It is mostly the very poorest seniors on Advantage and it saves them, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Medicare IS NOT the wonderful medical insurance some might claim it to be, There is much Medicare doesn't cover and much more with often huge deductibles. Advantage almost eliminates all these deductibles and covers many procedures at a much lower cost.

Seniors can be forced into bankruptcy just covering Medicare deductibles or paying fro procedures Medicare doesn't cover. Thanks to Nancy Pelosi's damned lie, this is going to happen 500 million dollars more often than it did before.

What really pisses me off, as a Democrat, is that if some Republican President proposed gutting $500,000,000.00 from Medicare every Democrat would have stood in lock step to prevent it. Now Nancy Pelosi just pretends it isn't happening. And most Democrats will vote Sunday to kill the enormously popular Advantage progam.

By the way, Health Care Restructuring won't reduce he deficit one penny once Congress permits cost of living increases for Doctors as they have every single year since Medicare first began. The bill being voted on Sunday has doctor's reimbursements going down every year for the next 20 years. That is just another damned lie.

Lawrence O'Donnell and James Cramer Tag Team Against the Horrific Health Care Bill

When James Cramer, Ultra-Capitalist of Mad Money on CNBC agrees with Euro-Socialist Lawrence O'Donnell you know the Health Care Restructuring Bill being crafted by Congress is a complete disaster.

This is the most IMPORTANT 9 MINUTES you can possibly spend today. Watch it all.

Call Your Congress Person TODAY and demand they stop the current Health Care Legislation.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Disaster at 23.1%

The local radio station, WLIN, is just about the only source of news in Durant, Mississippi. Durant is located in Holmes County. Today the radio station had this somber news to report:

"Holmes County had a whopping 23.1 percent unemployed in January, according to figures released Wednesday. Meanwhile Attala County is well above the state average in jobless numbers, at 17 percent. Mississippi's unemployment rate stood at 12 percent in January, up from 10.3 percent in December and higher than the national rate of 10.6 percent. The state Department of Employment Security released figures Wednesday. Unemployment ranged from a high of 23.1 percent in Noxubee and Holmes counties to 8 percent in Rankin. MDES says 22 of Mississippi's 82 counties posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state's rate of 12 percent and 74 counties reported double-digit rates for the month."


This isn't news to the folks who live in Durant. The Piggly Wiggly Supermarket closed as has every name brand gas station in the city. Only a few retailers are hanging on and a respected furniture store in a neighboring town is going out of business after 106 years.

The current recession is merely another nail in the coffin of this north central Mississippi county. NAFTA drove out the many, many small and medium size factories in this county that included some of the nations leading electrical companies. Those factories and jobs are now down in Mexico.

This heavily Democrat and heavily Black county has received surprisingly little Federal help in the last ten years. And, curiously enough, the Stimulus Package passed them over, too, in spite of the fact that one of the nations leading and most powerful Democrats in Congress, Rep. Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, represents this county.

It seems to me that the gerrymandering that has carved out politically safe districts in every state has done much more harm than good. This district is safe. Representative Thompson will never face a challenge. Not even if unemployment reaches 50%.

So political plums, gifts and favors are going to the Blue Dog Democrats who's swing votes are critical to reaching the President agenda. Senator Ben Nelson and Nebraska can demand and receive huge bonuses. Joe Lieberman can extract what ever he wants to gain his vote.

A Democrat who faces a tough re-election can make sure extra construction, more police officers or a new highway goes through a town whose votes he needs. There is really nothing wrong with that system.

It's the safe towns, the politically safe counties that suffer. Why pay for the cow when the politicians can get the milk for free.

Health Care Reform, anyone?

The Red Sox Fans Won

What Happened in Massachusetts? How did Scott Brown win?

I can't believe that all the PROGRESSIVE bloggers, Tweeters, Pundits, Television Guru's and Washington Insiders can't see what every Boston Red Sox fan saw so very clearly.

The Red Sox Fans saw it clearly all the way back in August. They even held impromptu protest rallies. Real rallies with hand written signs and everything.

The Red Sox fans and the Oakland Fans and the Texas Ranger's fans and the Royals fans. And the Cleveland fans. The Baseball fans. The football fans. The hunters and the fishermen. All the people who live ordinary, non-political, lives. The workers. The housewives. The little people.

They did their level best to tell the President they adored what was going on. They held their rallies, small ones at first, and called 'em Tea Parties. These protesters called their Congress Persons. They wrote their newspapers. They appeared on FOX NEWS (sadly the only network that actually figured out what was going on).

But the President they loved, the President they voted for, wasn't listening. And Nancy Pelosi wasn't listening. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews weren't listening. They actually made fun of these "little people." They belittled their efforts. Made fun of their misspellings and their homemade signs.

They accused these people of being dupes for big corporations, paid protesters or some such thing. This wasn't the least bit true.

Then Nancy Pelosi actually accused them of being traitors, enemies of Democracy. They same Nancy Pelosi who embraced and praised the Iraq war protesters, said these protesters were enemies of Democracy.

It started to get much worse as the Progressive bloggers led by the MSNBC trio of Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews began using a thinly veiled sexual slur, "Teabaggers" to characterise the efforts of these protesters to alert the President of the problems they so clearly saw. All Obama had to do was listen.

But, after several hundred thousand of them arrived in Washington to protest, Barack Obama claimed he knew absolutely nothing about them or their protest. He actually blamed FOX News for covering the event. And Obama banned FOX from Administration interviews.

It became obvious that the Democrats in Congress were not going to listen to them. The "peoples party" was ignoring the people.

Isn't it obvious what happened in Massachusetts? The Red Sox fans showed the Democrats who really was the boss.

Here's a fact we all need to remember: It is the Red Sox Fans who decide every election. They decided this one. They are the fabled INDEPENDENTS Scott Brown spoke of last night.

But it was EXACTLY those same INDEPENDENTS, those same Red Sox Fans who decided the Obama election. It was not the Progressives. And Coakley DID NOT LOSE because Progressives stayed home. Nope. Give credit where credit is due. It was the Red Sox Fans whose Scott Brown so deftly courted at Fenway Park in the icey cold of a Boston night.

Those Red Sox Fans were also the Tea Party protesters. They were the little people. They were everyman.

In the end the Independents were disappointed by Obama's biggest failure: TO CHANGE THE CLIMATE IN WASHINGTON and TO END BUSINESS AS USUAL. Obama PROMISED to usher in a new era of BIPARTISANSHIP. And he could have done that. Instead he turned his legislative agenda over to Nancy Pelosi, the most partisan (and the absolute WORST) House Majority Leader in History.

If Obama had done exactly as he promised and let every faction have a seat at the Health Care Reform table and then televised the negotiations, we wouldn't be here today.

If Obama had done as he promised and eliminated pork barrel spending and gone through the appropriations bill line by line, we wouldn't be here today.

Let's hope President Obama hears them now. And let's hope Obama stops taking advice from the far left Progressives and the bloggers and (heaven help us all) the IDIOT TRIO (Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews) over at MSNBC. These are the Pied Pipers who will lead our President over the cliff.

If President Obama decides to really play ball with Senator-elect Scott Brown, trust me, all the Red Sox Fans will cheer them both.

Please Help Haiti....

The following was written by Gwendolyn H. Barry and posted originally on MadMikesAmerica, one of my favorite political blogs. Mike is a passionate commentator here. But we all agree the tragedy in Haiti is perhaps the worst to occur in our lifetime. Please help however you can......

Please Help Haiti

Pray for Haiti. Send whatever you can afford. Keep a good thought.... pray. Remember how close to us they actually are. We must demonstrate compassion for our island neighbors. This is a near total devastation.

It is the worst earthquake to hit the Caribbean in 200 years. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Haitian Capital of Port-au-Prince, where it has devastated the tiny nation, causing an unknown number of deaths and widespread destruction and health concerns. Despite being the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's Internet connected devices were key tools in telling the rest of the world about the emerging crisis.

We live in an era of instant access... we must make it an era of instant compassion. On Twitter and Facebook, eyewitness accounts and pictures are pouring out. The depletion of Hope begins a struggle to recover. Still; there are bight tweets... Carel Pedre, most visible Haitian tv / radio personality has been tweeting the story of Haiti as it picks itself up and realizes the destruction.



Watch CBS News Videos Online

Richard Morse used Twitter to convey a sense of how the people were reacting to the devastation: "I'm hearing singing and praying from the carrefour feuilles area. My prayers go out to the folks there."

A Wordpress-powered blog called Haitifeed is also delivering a steady stream of first-hand accounts as well as mainstream media reports from across the globe.

On Facebook, a group called Earthquake Haiti already has over 14,000 members. The group is largely being used for people to show support and trade news reports; however, there are some users who seem to be posting critical information including pleas for assistance to injured Haitians. [PC World]

The blogging community can take a lead and pass the news around while making the plea for compassion and help.

[From] Bay County, Florida:

American Red Cross is moving quickly to provide assistance to victims of yesterday’s tragic earthquake in Haiti. Red Cross estimates as many as three million people are homeless as a result of the devastating earthquake. The American Red Cross has pledged $1,000,000 to the relief effort and is preparing to move relief supplies to the affected areas as soon as transportation becomes possible. Sources on the ground in Haiti are now reporting that the American Red Cross office in Haiti has been totally destroyed and the fate of employees is unknown at this time.

The local Red Cross Chapter has begun receiving calls from local residents attempting to locate friends or relatives who live in or were visiting Haiti. All calls for this assistance are being referred to the State Department at 1-888-407-4747.

The local chapter is also receiving calls from local residents who want to volunteer to assist is Haiti. The Red Cross deploys experienced, highly trained volunteers to work in disaster relief operations. Spontaneous volunteers will not be deployed. Local citizens interested in becoming a trained Red Cross volunteer can find out how by contacting the local chapter. Local residents who would like to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti can make a donation to the Red Cross disaster relief effort.

Donations can be made at the local chapter by calling 850- 763-6587, by going on line to www.redcross.org, or by...

Texting “HAITI” to “90999” (each text will result in a $10.00 donation to the Red Cross International Relief Fund).

Please help.

posted by Gwendolyn H. Barry on MadMikesAmerica

Please FOLLOW The Red Cross on Twitter

Massachusetts Senate Race is Proxy War over Health Care

As public support for President Obama's Health Care Reform Bill craters (as it rightfully should), the race to fill the late Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat has become a proxy battle over the bill itself. Forces nationwide, both for and against the bill, are aligning themselves with the Democrat or Republican candidate in hopes of confirming or defeating the legislation.

The vast majority of the population oppose the bill as it has formed in Congress. I don't believe there is a single state where supporters outnumber opponents. And this includes the great state of Massachusetts.

The nation has determined, quite correctly, that this bill is a disaster that will likely destroy the budget, the struggling economy and, most assuredly, health care as we have known it in the United States. Liberal states have determined the bill harms Union contracts and threatens traditional Medicare, especially Medicare Advantage, which the bill virtually eliminates. Medicare Advantage is especially popular in Massachusetts.

So poor Democrat Martha Coakley, who ought to have been a shoo-in for Ted Kennedy's seat is facing the battle of a lifetime against ruggedly handsome and articulate Scott Brown, a Republican who only weeks ago had no chance of winning.

Coakley has fallen into line and supports Obama's Health Care Plan. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind she would win in a landslide if she only had the courage to oppose the bill. But, alas, she is stuck with supporting a bill no one with an ounce of integrity would ever endorse.

I don't care how good you are, you cannot do anything but look like a sock puppet when you support this bureaucratic nightmare of a bill.

Last night Scott Brown easily raised 1.3 million dollars on the Internet in just a few hours after his brilliant performance in a debate against Coakley. And national Republicans who wouldn't have bothered the answer his phone calls just two weeks ago and scrambling over each other to endorse him and campaign with him on the stump.

It helps that Brown is a moderate and not a reactionary conservative, but he still agrees with most Republican positions.

I still don't think he can win in Massachusetts but it helps that he is on the right side of the Health Care Debate.

The Bill Absolutely No One Likes

I've poured over the blogs this past weekend, reading literally hundreds of posts. And I watched every Network News show on Sunday from Meet the Press to Fox News Sunday. And I've searched and read analysis and editorials from dozens of newspapers.

And I've been nearly continuously on Twitter and followed the arguments from some of Twitter's finest 140 character pundits.

After all this reading of all the passionate posts I've made a startling discovery. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE LIKES THE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE RESTRUCTURING BILL EMERGING FROM CONGRESS THIS WEEK.

Really, NO ONE. Its Democrat supporters least of all.

You can read dozens of well written, well researched, well documented articles about just how really terrible this bill has become. The damage this bill will do to Health Care and to our economy is well documented. Opponents, both conservatives and Wall Street analysts, can give you extremely specific arguments detailing the problems with this bill. No generalities, no hyperbole. Just the facts.

You can also read political posts from Republican leaders and famous pundits giving passionate, but rather generalized arguments against the bill. From "Death Panels" to Medicare's demise, the hyperbole never ends. These folks are possessed.

I swear I've read a hundred posts titled something like "Ten Reasons to Defeat Health Care Reform'."

But you know what you can't find? Not one single similar post titled "Ten Reasons To Pass Health Care Reform."

Instead all the so-called supporters are really just apologists. They wax poetic about what might have been or what should have been or what, someday, might emerge from the fatally flawed bill that may or may not pass.

And the Democrats virtually NEVER MENTION A SINGLE FEATURE OF THE BILL! Their arguments generally revolve around just how mean spirited and evil the Republicans are. The number one argument on the blogs and on Twitter is "Republicans just want Grandma to Die!!!"

This debate alone quickly illustrates just how very bad this bill has become.

The question is will a single Democrat in Congress have the courage to stand up and tell President Obama, "Sir, this bill is bad for America."

You Vote Obamacare, We're Gonna Vote You Outta There...

This video has gone viral becuase the vast majority of the people identify with it. And agree with it. Why can't my fellow Democrats see the handwriting on the wall?



And, yes, we are playing this catchy little number on Wizard Radio.

C-SPAN Fights Dem's Secret Health Care Resturcturing

There really shouldn't be any debate. The Health Care Restructuring Plan being secretly negotiated by top Democrats can, should and must be defeated. Not one single ethical, honest, principled Democrat should support this betrayal. And the Republicans already won't support it. The damned vote should be a unanimous and resounding "NO!"

But, alas, President Obama has decreed that any bill, no matter how flawed, is better than no bill at all. And Nancy Pelosi never had any principles. She is a pure partisan who only cares about victory. Therefore, Pelosi, Harry Reid and members of the President's team are negotiating in secret to develop the final albatross to be hung around America's neck.

However, as more and more Democrats and all Americans realize the Barack Obama has consistently broken every campaign promise, there are the seeds of rebellion in the ranks. Today's domino falling is C-SPAN, the broadcaster of record for the United States Congress.

C-SPAN Challenges Congress to Open Health Care Talks to TV Coverage: "The head of C-SPAN has implored Congress to open up the last leg of health care reform negotiations to the public, as top Democrats lay plans to hash out the final product among themselves."

"C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb wrote to leaders in the House and Senate Dec. 30 urging them to open "all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings," to televised coverage on his network."

""The C-SPAN networks will commit the necessary resources to covering all of the sessions LIVE and in their entirety," he wrote."

President Obama had specifically promised these negotiations would appear on C-SPAN as he campaigned for the Presidency. His silence is deafening now.

Why is this happening? Any daylight will most assuredly kill this bill. It stinks to high heaven. If the public were to get even a whiff of this putrid and poisonous concoction, they would demand its defeat.

So Obama and Pelosi and Reid will keep it top secret until mere hours (or even minutes) before forcing a vote, probably in the middle of the night, on a weekend.

The American Public has been lied to, and now betrayed.

Even C-SPAN has noticed.

Every Liberal SHOULD Oppose The Health Care Restructuring Bill

It is simply stunning to me that a single Democrat would vote for the convoluted, wasteful, bloated, complex and pork laden Health Care Restructuring Bill that is now in the early stages of reconciliation.

It is stunning to me that a President as bright and seemingly idealistic as President Obama would ever consider signing it.

This bill is a hopeless mess of bureaucracy that institutionalizes into law Sarah Palin's notorious death panels, fails to live up to President Obama's promise of being able to keep your current insurance, raises taxes through the roof and insures drastically higher insurance costs.

Worst, it will destroy the one part of Medicare that works so exceedingly well, the Advantage Program, that is a lifeline to many senior citizens.

It is literally a damned mess.

If we, as liberals, have any principles left, we cannot endorse a program that pays off the drug companies, actually prohibits or completely eliminates competition, rewards the insurance companies, taxes current health care programs, hides new taxes under every rock (most of which will hit low wage earners hardest), and fails to cover many Americans.

What the hell are the Democrats in Washington drinking. Virtually every American KNOWS this bill is a disaster that will completely destroy our current health care system, hurt the economy, hurt Medicare, raise prices, and ultimately ration health care. How is it that there are almost no Democrats in Washington that are as aware of the facts as the voters?

I am reminded of all this as I watch Senator Ben Nelson fight for his political life. Things are so bad in Nebraska that Nelson is going to be forced to air a political ad during the Nebraska-Arizona Holiday Bowl Game and, literally, beg his constituents for forgiveness.

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you Senator, but it ain't gonna work. When you sell out your principles for this load of crap, you will be punished by the voters who used to look up to you and used to respect you.

Nelson is just the first. You cannot vote for a bill so horrifically bad that every voter on earth knows is a failure and not pay the ultimate price.

Can The People Stop Health Care Restructuring?

With the last holdout, Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, announcing he will finally support the massive Health Care Restructuring Bill now before the Senate, nothing stands in the way of this bill passing.

The American public have made it increasingly clear for many months they want nothing to do with the tax grab and benefits cutting monstrosity. But, under massive pressure from President Obama and his staff, Democrats have caved and are willing to defy the public wishes and pass the bill that could have and should have been the crown jewel of the Obama Presidency.

However, after months of buying off Senator after Senator, the bill is no longer a jewel, but just a pork filled bag of bacon larded up for the drug industry, the insurance industry and, rather curiously, the A.A.R.P., whose Medicare supplement insurance program (run by insurance industry giant, United Health Care) stands to make millions off Medicare cuts.

Certainly the worst feature of this bill is the disastrous cuts in Medicare which will result in denied benefits through the establishment of a health care panel to provide guidelines to Doctors on approved treatments Medicare will cover. This absolutely is Sarah Palin's famous "Death Panel." It will become a reality.

While Republicans make every effort to delay the passage of this bill, they have done a poor job of making every American aware of the massive tax increases we will face once the bill passes. Five Hundred Billion Dollars in tax increases will touch every American, even those who will supposedly receive aid in purchasing insurance.

Unions hard won insurance policies will be devastated by the proposed taxes on "Cadillac Plans" which are, in fact, not owned by the wealthy, but mostly by union workers won through years of hard negotiations. Benefits in these plans will be stripped.

But the fix is in, the backroom deals are done. Harry Reed will push the whale through the keyhole on Christmas Eve. Nothing can stop this from happening, except.......

Well, except the people. If all the Tea Party people, a disorganized lot if there ever was one, can somehow break out of their Christmas routine and mount a massive campaign to call their Senators, especially the Democrat Senators, they might just derail this process.

Here's the number: 202-224-3121. You need to call today! Saturday! Today!

Michelle Malkin is alerting her readers:

Now, make sure to take time out of your busy Saturday before Christmas and burn up the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) with a clarion message for your Senators:

No. Hell no.

Say it louder and often. Spread the word. Sound the alarm. They are pretending not to hear you yet.

A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!

Religion Versus Science

Throughout history the conflicts between religion and the scientific community have been explosive, emotional, violent and, occasionally, deadly.

When we think of science versus religion we often think of Galileo Galilei, whose on-going battle with the Catholic Church resulted in his imprisonment and, ultimately, in his death in 1642.

Galileo is best known for is his studies of astronomy, free fall, and his several inventions. His inventions include the telescope, microscope, compass and thermometer. Galileo studied medicine, philosophy and mathematics and taught mathematics at the University of Pisa and at the University of Padua.

While teaching his theories, Galileo gained a following of students that recognized his genius. In 1616 however, he came into disfavor with the church. Galileo, as a man of science, expressed his support of the Copernican theories that stated the earth and other celestial bodies rotated around the sun.

Unfortunately his teaching directly contradicted the teachings of the church and he was summoned to Rome and reprimanded for his "heresy". In 1633 he was sentenced to life in confinement. Even though his health was declining and became completely blind by 1638, he continued developing his theories and communicated, often in secret with his followers.

Over 300 years after his death, a statement by the Pope before the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1992 is interpreted as the official rehabilitation of Galileo by the Catholic Church.

Any time an idea or philosophy becomes a religion it tends to lose all flexibility. True believers defend the orthodoxy at all costs and make every effort to silence, or even imprison or kill opponents.

Ultimately, it tends to all be about power. The church in Galileo's time had enormous power and wealth. It felt terribly threatened by Galileo's ideas. If people no longer believed the earth was the center of the universe, they might not continue to support the church with tithes, taxes and lavish gifts.

Today we have a rather strange twist on the old science versus religion battle. But, in this case, the "religion" is the orthodoxy of "global warming" or, as it is now more properly called, "climate change." The great religious leaders of climate change are still hounding, censuring and trying to silence the scientists who dare to question the established religion.

And, just as in the time of Galileo, it is still about money and power. There is the opportunity for great power and immense wealth in climate control. One Prophet of the new religion, former Vice President Al Gore, has already made millions of dollars, won a Nobel Prize and is poised to make billions. But the issue certainly isn't Al Gore. Governments and corporates stand to gain immense profits and power from the enforcement of climate control regulations.

For some time a rapidly growing number of scientists have realized that climate change models just don't work. We've had global cooling for eleven straight years and it now appears this cycle of cooling will continue for at least twenty more years. In addition, some models point to entirely different, and occasionally more dangerous scenarios going forward. And the solutions being proposed by the established global warming religion might make matters a whole lot worse.

The very unscientific efforts to hide conflicting facts, destroy historical data and marginalize those who dared to question global warming all came to light when a huge series of emails were hacked and then released to the public. And, as is often the case, the cover-up quickly became worse than the original crimes.

The more the established global warming community attempted to explain the email, the obvious it became that the cover-up was long running and unacceptably extensive. The most recent "disclosure" that historical data was destroyed to "save space" is so laughable that all remaining integrity of the climate change community has been lost.

Science will ultimately prevail, as it always does. Those who forecast global may ultimately be proved correct. Or, it may be determined that the global warming heretic's ideas were censured or imprisoned under false pretenses.

But certainly the warnings about the dangers of turning scientific research into a political or religious cult should be learned and heeded.

Excellent articles that should all be read:

Financial Times: Secrecy in science is a corrosive force By Michael Schrage

The Telegraph UK: Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation

Associated Press: UK climate scientist to temporarily step down

US News and World Report: Penn State Will Investigate 'Climategate'

Finally, a real and genuine tip o' the Wizard's Pointy Cap to Lee over at Lee's Tid Bits who has been at the leading edge of this controversy for over a year. Like the scientists who dared to question the global warming orthodoxy, Lee has been subject to great harassment and persecution. Lee has constantly held his own. His blog is a must read in my book (for this and for many other reasons, including that he is just a great guy).