The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

It may be time to put this old Chinese/Arabic saying to the test. I've been taking some hits at the OS site for not calling for an investigation into republican participation in the illegal torture of prisoners and detainees. Although we are all going to face judgement by God, this does not preclude man punishing his fellow man for criminal activity. (Goodness knows I've paid my dues)

This is actually an issue on which the left and the right can find common ground. We have blind extremists on both sides who will not press for punishment of members of their own ideology/party, but have no problem going at the other party. The law is the law. If we are to have any possibility of maintaining an organized and perpetuating society, then our laws must apply to all Americans regardless of wealth or political party affiliation.

The United States certainly has a checkered past, but by and large we have done a remarkable thing in that we have a society of 300 million people of all races, religions and most cultures that actually understand the need to cooperate on the general issues that make for an organized society. We all agree we need a stable government, basic utilities, safe food, clean water, police, fire and rescue services and our freedom to pursue our given liberties.

The text of the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Most of our government and many of our private sector businesses are run by evil people. People who only serve their selfish interests and do so at the peril of the entire nation. It may already too late to stop a cascading series of events which could lead to worldwide calamity, but do we try to stop it anyway? Can the left and the right bury the hatchet and cooperate on the major issue of ridding ourselves of criminal leadership?

There is no point in debating the abortion issue if we are all living in a wasteland and having to scavenge for basic necessities. I'm willing to put aside my tremendous differences with the left and cooperate on the critical issues that determine our very survival as a nation.

From John Locke, the famous English philosopher :

The Second Treatise of Civil Government (1690) -The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man,but to have only the law of nature for his rule...freedom of men under government is, to have a standing rule to live by, common to every oneof that society...and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown,arbitrary will of another man....Life and liberty as integral parts to a whole. He goes on to say:

This freedom from absolute, arbitrary power,is so necessary to, and closely joined with a man’s preservation,that he cannot part with it,but by what forfeits his preservation and life together:for a man, not having the power of his own life,cannot, by compact, or his own consent,enslave himself to any one....

=================================

We, as citizens as a whole, have sat on our hands and allowed our freedoms to be eroded by tyrants who WE put into office and knew we were screwing ourselves when we did it. Hopefully, our laziness and stupidity can be reversed before it's too late.

Contact info for Senators of the 111th Congress.

Akaka, Daniel K. - (D - HI)
Class I
141 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6361
Web Form: akaka.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Alexander, Lamar - (R - TN)
Class II
455 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4944
Web Form: alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact....
Barrasso, John - (R - WY)
Class I
307 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6441
Web Form: barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs...
Baucus, Max - (D - MT)
Class II
511 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2651
Web Form: baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue
Bayh, Evan - (D - IN)
Class III
131 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5623
Web Form: bayh.senate.gov/contact/email/
Begich, Mark - (D - AK)
Class II
144 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3004
Web Form: begich.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Bennet, Michael F. - (D - CO)
Class III
702 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5852
Web Form: bennet.senate.gov/public/?p=TransitionalSiteEmailSenatorB...
Bennett, Robert F. - (R - UT)
Class III
431 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5444
Web Form: bennett.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email
Bingaman, Jeff - (D - NM)
Class I
703 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5521
Web Form: bingaman.senate.gov/contact/
Bond, Christopher S. - (R - MO)
Class III
274 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5721
Web Form: bond.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.Con...
Boxer, Barbara - (D - CA)
Class III
112 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3553
Web Form: boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm
Brown, Sherrod - (D - OH)
Class I
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2315
Web Form: brown.senate.gov/contact/
Brownback, Sam - (R - KS)
Class III
303 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6521
Web Form: brownback.senate.gov/public/contact/emailsam.cfm
Bunning, Jim - (R - KY)
Class III
316 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4343
Web Form: bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Co...
Burr, Richard - (R - NC)
Class III
217 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3154
Web Form: burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Conta...
Burris, Roland W. - (D - IL)
Class III
387 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2854
Web Form: burris.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Byrd, Robert C. - (D - WV)
Class I
311 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3954
Web Form: byrd.senate.gov/contacts/
Cantwell, Maria - (D - WA)
Class I
511 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3441
Web Form: cantwell.senate.gov/contact/
Cardin, Benjamin L. - (D - MD)
Class I
509 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4524
Web Form: cardin.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Carper, Thomas R. - (D - DE)
Class I
513 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2441
Web Form: carper.senate.gov/contact/
Casey, Robert P., Jr. - (D - PA)
Class I
393 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6324
Web Form: casey.senate.gov/contact/
Chambliss, Saxby - (R - GA)
Class II
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3521
Web Form: chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactU...
Coburn, Tom - (R - OK)
Class III
172 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5754
Web Form: coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSena...
Cochran, Thad - (R - MS)
Class II
113 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5054
Web Form: cochran.senate.gov/email.html
Collins, Susan M. - (R - ME)
Class II
413 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2523
Web Form: collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=Contact...
Conrad, Kent - (D - ND)
Class I
530 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2043
Web Form: conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm
Corker, Bob - (R - TN)
Class I
185 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3344
Web Form: corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo...
Cornyn, John - (R - TX)
Class II
517 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2934
Web Form: cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Con...
Crapo, Mike - (R - ID)
Class III
239 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6142
Web Form: crapo.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
DeMint, Jim - (R - SC)
Class III
340 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6121
Web Form: demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Dodd, Christopher J. - (D - CT)
Class III
448 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2823
Web Form: dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/3130
Dorgan, Byron L. - (D - ND)
Class III
322 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2551
E-mail: senator@dorgan.senate.gov
Durbin, Richard J. - (D - IL)
Class II
309 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
Web Form: durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Ensign, John - (R - NV)
Class I
119 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6244
Web Form: ensign.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Con...
Enzi, Michael B. - (R - WY)
Class II
379A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3424
Web Form: enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInform...
Feingold, Russell D. - (D - WI)
Class III
506 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5323
Web Form: feingold.senate.gov/contact_opinion.html
Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
Class I
331 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3841
Web Form: feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactU...
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. - (D - NY)
Class I
478 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4451
Web Form: gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/
Graham, Lindsey - (R - SC)
Class II
290 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5972
Web Form: lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Em...
Grassley, Chuck - (R - IA)
Class III
135 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3744
Web Form: grassley.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Gregg, Judd - (R - NH)
Class III
201 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3324
Web Form: gregg.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Cont...
Hagan, Kay R. - (D - NC)
Class II
521 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6342
Web Form: hagan.senate.gov/?p=contact
Harkin, Tom - (D - IA)
Class II
731 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3254
Web Form: harkin.senate.gov/c/index.cfm
Hatch, Orrin G. - (R - UT)
Class I
104 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5251
Web Form: hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Cont...
Hutchison, Kay Bailey - (R - TX)
Class I
284 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5922
Web Form: hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Inhofe, James M. - (R - OK)
Class II
453 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4721
Web Form: inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Con...
Inouye, Daniel K. - (D - HI)
Class III
722 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3934
Web Form: inouye.senate.gov/abtform.html
Isakson, Johnny - (R - GA)
Class III
120 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3643
Web Form: isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Johanns, Mike - (R - NE)
Class II
404 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4224
Web Form: johanns.senate.gov/public/?p=ContactSenatorJohanns
Johnson, Tim - (D - SD)
Class II
136 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5842
Web Form: johnson.senate.gov/contact/
Kaufman, Edward E. - (D - DE)
Class II
383 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5042
Web Form: kaufman.senate.gov/services/contact/
Kennedy, Edward M. - (D - MA)
Class I
317 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4543
Web Form: kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm
Kerry, John F. - (D - MA)
Class II
218 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2742
Web Form: kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Klobuchar, Amy - (D - MN)
Class I
302 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3244
Web Form: klobuchar.senate.gov/emailamy.cfm
Kohl, Herb - (D - WI)
Class I
330 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5653
Web Form: kohl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Kyl, Jon - (R - AZ)
Class I
730 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4521
Web Form: kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Landrieu, Mary L. - (D - LA)
Class II
328 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5824
Web Form: landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Lautenberg, Frank R. - (D - NJ)
Class II
324 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3224
Web Form: lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/index1.cfm
Leahy, Patrick J. - (D - VT)
Class III
433 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4242
Web Form: leahy.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Levin, Carl - (D - MI)
Class II
269 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6221
Web Form: levin.senate.gov/contact/
Lieberman, Joseph I. - (ID - CT)
Class I
706 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4041
Web Form: lieberman.senate.gov/contact/
Lincoln, Blanche L. - (D - AR)
Class III
355 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4843
Web Form: lincoln.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Lugar, Richard G. - (R - IN)
Class I
306 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4814
Web Form: lugar.senate.gov/contact/
Martinez, Mel - (R - FL)
Class III
356 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3041
Web Form: martinez.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorMartinez
McCain, John - (R - AZ)
Class III
241 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2235
Web Form: mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Con...
McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO)
Class I
717 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6154
Web Form: mccaskill.senate.gov/contact/
McConnell, Mitch - (R - KY)
Class II
361A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2541
Web Form: mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm
Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ)
Class I
528 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
Web Form: menendez.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Merkley, Jeff - (D - OR)
Class II
107 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3753
Web Form: merkley.senate.gov/contact/
Mikulski, Barbara A. - (D - MD)
Class III
503 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4654
Web Form: mikulski.senate.gov/Contact/contact.cfm
Murkowski, Lisa - (R - AK)
Class III
709 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6665
Web Form: murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactM...
Murray, Patty - (D - WA)
Class III
173 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2621
Web Form: murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Nelson, Ben - (D - NE)
Class I
720 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6551
Web Form: bennelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Nelson, Bill - (D - FL)
Class I
716 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5274
Web Form: billnelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Pryor, Mark L. - (D - AR)
Class II
255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2353
Web Form: pryor.senate.gov/contact/
Reed, Jack - (D - RI)
Class II
728 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4642
Web Form: reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm
Reid, Harry - (D - NV)
Class III
522 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3542
Web Form: reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Risch, James E. - (R - ID)
Class II
483 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2752
Web Form: risch.senate.gov/webform.cfm
Roberts, Pat - (R - KS)
Class II
109 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4774
Web Form: roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInf...
Rockefeller, John D., IV - (D - WV)
Class II
531 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6472
Web Form: rockefeller.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Sanders, Bernard - (I - VT)
Class I
332 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5141
Web Form: sanders.senate.gov/comments/
Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY)
Class III
313 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6542
Web Form: schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm
Sessions, Jeff - (R - AL)
Class II
335 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4124
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Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH)
Class II
520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Shelby, Richard C. - (R - AL)
Class III
304 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Snowe, Olympia J. - (R - ME)
Class I
154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Specter, Arlen - (D - PA)
Class III
711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Stabenow, Debbie - (D - MI)
Class I
133 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Tester, Jon - (D - MT)
Class I
724 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Thune, John - (R - SD)
Class III
493 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Udall, Mark - (D - CO)
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317 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Udall, Tom - (D - NM)
Class II
110 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Vitter, David - (R - LA)
Class III
516 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Voinovich, George V. - (R - OH)
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524 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Warner, Mark R. - (D - VA)
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Webb, Jim - (D - VA)
Class I
248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Whitehouse, Sheldon - (D - RI)
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502 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Wicker, Roger F. - (R - MS)
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555 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
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Wyden, Ron - (D - OR)
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House of Representatives 111th Congress phone numbers and room numbers Link: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html

Once you go black you'll never go back.

Associated Press Excerpt: "Maggie and John Anderson of Chicago vowed four months ago that for one year, they would try to patronize only black-owned businesses. The "Empowerment Experiment" is the reason John had to suffer for hours with a stomach ache and Maggie no longer gets that brand-name lather when she washes her hair. A grocery trip is a 14-mile odyssey.

"We kind of enjoy the sacrifice because we get to make the point ... but I am going without stuff and I am frustrated on a daily basis," Maggie Anderson said. "It's like, my people have been here 400 years and we don't even have a Walgreens to show for it."

So far, the Andersons have spent hundreds of dollars with black businesses from grocery stores to dry cleaners. But the couple still hasn't found a mortgage lender, home security system vendor or toy store. Nonetheless, they're hoping to expand the endeavor beyond their Chicago home.

Plans are under way to track spending among supporters nationwide and build a national database of quality black businesses. The first affiliate chapter has been launched in Atlanta, and the couple has established a foundation to raise funds for black businesses and an annual convention.

"We have the real power to do something, to use the money we spend every day to solve our problems," Maggie Anderson said recently at a meet-and-greet in Atlanta. "We have to believe that black businesses are just as good as everybody else's."

Now, the Andersons are following up with 4,000 people who signed up for the experiment on their Web site to gauge their commitment and set up online accounts to track their spending. Hundreds have also joined the experiment's Facebook page, Maggie Anderson said.
Gregory Price, chairman of the economics department at Morehouse College, said black visionaries like Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey made similar calls to action.

"The idea is a sound one, given that black Americans are still underrepresented in the ranks of the self-employed and that entrepreneurship is a key component to wealth," Price said.
There are one million black businesses in the United States accounting for more than $100 billion in annual sales, according to the National Black Chamber of Commerce. The latest U.S. Census numbers report that blacks have more than $800 billion in expendable income each year.
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Of course, if this were a bunch of whites trying to patronize white owned businesses the cry of racism from the left would be deafening.

Maggie Anderson's comment that "It's like my people have been here 400 years and we don't even have a Walgreens to show for it" shows just how ignorant Maggie is. Had blacks not decided to sell themselves out to the party of Nathan Bedford Forrest there would be considerably more wealthy blacks than we have today since segregation meant black business owners had a captive audience. (Historical note: Although Forrest has been associated with the KKK, no actual link was ever established. He did own and trade in slaves, but advocated reconciliation after the war. It is likely, however, that he did in fact have some klan involvement.)

After the Civil War, blacks amassed a considerable fortune due to segregation and they began to enjoy political clout as well. This was too much for the racist democrats to tolerate and so, a deal was more or less struck whereby blacks would vote democrat and the democratic party would "take care" of the blacks. Sure looks like that deal worked out well. (current President excepted)

During reconstruction, blacks had taken control of several southern state legislatures. (Mississippi and South Carolina) In 1870, Hiram Revels became the first black member of the Senate and also in 1870 Joseph Rainey became the first black member of the House of Representatives.

There were many black businesses that developed during reconstruction, from barber shops and insurance companies to hotels, restaurants and newspapers. White racist democrats were starting to get pissed that blacks were gaining so much clout. They had to put a stop to it. How? Desegregation was the easiest answer. As soon as blacks could start patronizing white owned businesses, many black owned businesses closed up and as the money dried up so did black political clout. Blacks apparently have yet to figure out how bad they have been chumped by the democrats, but one can hope that one day they can see the light.

On a personal level, I have no problem with limited segregation as it does tend to keep money within certain communities and it can spread the wealth around. The American Asian community is pretty tight and I really do not have a problem with that, nor do I have any particular issue with the Hispanic community. The key is moderation. As long as folks can have the opportunity to shop at desegregated stores within a given community then there should be no major issue with a few black only, white only, Hispanic only etc. business operating within the community.

Yeah, yeah, I know America is the big melting pot, but as long as we realize we ARE all Americans, a little segregation may not be all that bad...............as long as it doesn't get out of hand.

Brother can you spare a................kidney?

From the Times Online: "A MACABRE traffic associated with poor countries in Asia and Latin America has sprung up for the first time in western Europe as the credit crunch reduces Spaniards to selling organs to “transplant tourists”.

Spanish “kidney for sale” advertisements have proliferated recently on the internet as people struggle to make ends meet in a country whose 17% unemployment rate is the highest in Europe.

Spanish medical experts said that prices in Spain were much higher than in countries outside Europe. For instance, a kidney can be acquired in Pakistan or Brazil for £1,000. Transplant tourism has been thriving in many Asian and South American countries for years.
Some buyers might prefer a kidney from Europe in the belief that it is healthier than one from the Third World. However, a doctor in a hospital outside Europe would have to perform the operation, said Rafael Matesanz, director of Spain’s national transplant office.
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Who knew? While one has heard of any number of desperate unsavory practices emanating from third world countries, it is none the less surprising to hear of people willing to sell their organs for money coming from an industrialized European nation.

Is this the kind of thing we have to look forward to here in the U.S.? Certainly, the fact that some Spaniards are desperate enough to sell their internal organs does not bode well for the rest of the world. Those of us in the (now former, for some of us) appraisal profession saw the handwriting on the wall up to two years before most folks did.......at least as it relates to real estate. (When an estimated 80% of the loans written during the boom had some RESPA or TILA violations, you can figure trouble was looming on the horizon).

As we sow, so shall we reap. The selfishness and greed of man is coming home to roost. It sure would be nice if we could wrangle ourselves out fo this economic mess, but I doubt we will.