The Michigan Militia launches the 10-Week Project Contest in preparation for the 2008 elections. The group begins arrangements over concerns for public safety in the ten week period between the conclusion of the national elections and the proclamation of the president. The contest aims to get members and non-members involved in the preparation, training and planning for the potentially tumultuous time.

The 10-Week Project Contest calls for essays that detail the exact strategy to be undertaken by concerned citizens in the event of turmoil during the ten weeks before the president is officially sworn in. Preparations include the accumulation of food, first aid training, transportation and the preparation of gear. The essays required are persuasive in nature, asking contributors to delineate why they feel the need for these measures to be taken.

The Michigan Militia is a long standing organization based in Michigan that is composed of several militia sub groups. The group has recently resurfaced and made its presence known on the internet by having its own MySpace page, YouTube account and Facebook profile. Most of these were put up and being managed by the subgroup called the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia.

There are monthly tactical training courses given by the Michigan Militia. Often these are held on the first Saturday of each month in Camp Stasa in Bancroft, Michigan. Members of the Michigan Militia train people in the handling of weapons, first aid and give them safety instructions.

Most of the Michigan Militias training focus on guns and weapons as well as combat training for different climates and terrain. They have regular activities which are open to the public and announced on their website and their profiles on social networking sites. Some of their most notable activities include the Snow Dog Winter Training and Survival Weekend as well as the Militia Field Day.

The Militia Field Day allows members and non-members to practice their target shooting using different caliber weapons. Children as young as 10 years old are taught to handle guns and practice target shooting. Contests are also held wherein the participants have to practice accurate and speed shooting.

The Michigan Militia prohibits the bringing of alcohol, illegal substances and weapons on the premises of any of their activities. The East Central Volunteers of Michigan and the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia facilitate most of their activities.

Originally called the Michigan Militia Corps, the group was originally established in 1994 and has enjoyed a rise in membership after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Buildings.

Lobbying 101 What is Lobbying? Lobbying, quite simply, is:

noun 1.an entrance hall, corridor, or vestibule, as in a public building, often serving as an anteroom; foyer. 2.a large public room or hall adjacent to a legislative chamber. 3.a group of persons who work or conduct a campaign to influence members of a legislature to vote according to the group’s special interest. verb (used without object) 4.to solicit or try to influence the votes of members of a legislative body. verb (used with object) 5.to try to influence the actions of (public officials, esp. legislators). 6.to urge or procure the passage of (a bill), by lobbying.

Many people with whom I correspond on forums and message boards profess to hate lobbyists and “special interests” and their influence in state and national government. However, anyone who has signed a petition, been involved in a demonstration, paid union dues, or written a letter to a legislator has been involved in lobbying. Like it or not.

Legislators are incredibly busy people. And, as a result many do not get the chance to hear what the people want from their government. That’s where the lobbyist comes in. His job is to get the client’s message across. If the client has a bill he or she wants to get passed into law, it is the lobbyist’s job to explain the benefits of the bill to the legislators, find an author for the bill, ask for each legislator’s support, and babysit the bill through the legislative process.

Contrary to popular belief, lobbyists as a whole are not shady, evil individuals. Yes, there are some who are entirely unethical and give the rest a bad name, but, for the most part, lobbyists are doing a job. In Oklahoma, where I live, the state Ethics Commission has strict rules for what a lobbyist can and cannot do. Woe to the lobbyist who does not abide by those rules.

Lobbying is a vital part of the legislative process. It allows legislators to make more educated decisions before voting on issues that will affect YOU!

For more information, or if you just have questions, please feel free to visit my website at S.E.G. Group, LLC and use the contact area.

To be continued……

Shawn Garza is president of S.E.G. Group, LLC, a lobbying and legislative consulting firm in Oklahoma City, OK.

Living in today’s metropolitan world of cellular phones, mobile computers and other high-tech gadgets is not just hectic but very impersonal. We make money and then invest our time and effort in making more money. Does it end? Not usually because we are never satisfied. How many times have we convinced ourselves that if only we had some more money, life would be so sweet? But then, after receiving a substantial raise, we realize that it wasn’t enough and that we need more?

What Should You Do?
I have read many books on life such as Robin Sharma’s Monk says this and the monk says that, and they all seem to say that money is not necessary. But it is. Can you do without cash and a lot of it? I know I can’t.

So, I went to the neighbourhood Rabbi and asked for advice that will help me find my true way in life.

The rabbi nodded and took me to the window. “What do you see?” he asked me.

Promptly, I answered, “I can see people walking to and fro and a blind man is begging for alms at the left corner.”

The Rabbi nodded and guided me to a big mirror. “Now look and tell me what you see?”

“I can see myself,” I man answered.

The Rabbi smiled. “Now you can’t see anyone else. The mirror and the window are both created from the same raw material: glass, but because on one of them they have applied a thin layer of silver, when you look at it all you can see is your own reflection.”

The Rabbi placed his arm on my shoulders. “Compare yourself to those two pieces of glass. Without the silver layer, you saw the other people and felt compassion for them. When you are covered with silver, you see only yourself.”

I looked at the Rabbi and stared. “I don’t understand.”

The Rabbi continued. “You will become someone only if have the courage to remove the silver covering over your eyes in order to again see and love others.” He patted me on my back and sent me on my way.

I have thought of what he said and come to the conclusion that he had a point. Yes. We need money and we should not aim to lead a moneyless existence; its pointless and will only cause us and our families many heartbreaks in the future.

Instead, I suggest that we should follow the advice the Rabbi gave me. When we approach life through a silver covering, all we are able to see is ourselves. But discard that covering, and you will be able to see and feel everyone else.

Conclusion:
In life, we are allowed to and should be able to look at both kinds of mirrors, but we should remember that a mirror reflects only us; a window is the door to compassion, health and true wealth. In other words, seek wealth by all means, but don’t let it dissuade you from life, people, children and the poor and needy.

Track all sources of traffic generation.

John Reese stresses the need to track where all traffic comes from and at what cost. It is crucial to know exactly how many sales, newsletter sign-ups, or other leads your particular marketing campaigns generating. This enables you to work smarter and not harder. By tracking all traffic to your site you can make twice as much while working fifty percent less.

Content is King

On the internet, people are searching for one thing……. Content! Load your website with as much content as possible. Then, continuously add content. Search engines love information and they will love your site if you’ve got lots of it. There’s plenty of free content for the taking on the internet. You can load up your site with articles from article directories like ezinearticles.com. Or, you could be like John and use content from the public domain. Or, you can use content that is in the creative commons. This type is now easier than ever to find now that Yahoo and others have come out with a search engine designed specifically for content that is in the creative commons.

An affiliate program is critical to maximum traffic and sales. Lots of internet marketers don’t take advantage of this powerful traffic-generating technique. An affiliate program allows you to have your own personal salesman spread all over the web. The best part about it is that there is absolutely no risk involved but tons of traffic and sales to gain. Your website simply cannot grow to its full potential without an effective affiliate program.

Banner Ads

John Reese advocates the use of banner ads during a time when they are largely an untapped marketing source. Banner ads are one of the most overlooked sources of targeted traffic online.

Also, banner ads are now one of the cheapest sources of targeted traffic. In the late 1990’s during the dot-com boom, people were selling banner ads for 40 and 50 CPM. Then the dot-com bubble hit and these rates hit the floor. You can now buy banner ads dirt cheap, at 1 to 1.50 CPM. This is 1 for 1,000 banner impressions. The key here is to find the perfect place to advertise that will send targeted, willing to buy customers to your site.

Create viral reports that can quickly spread around the internet. This method works best when you have an affiliate program. Allow others to brand your report in order to encourage its distribution.
A quality free report can be a powerful promoter when passed around the internet. This same phenomenon can occur when you submit your articles to article directories and popular newsletters.

Take advantage of your virtual real estate.

Take advantage of the different parts of your website. Don’t let any of your web pages go to waste. You can do this by adding a link to another one of your web sites or pages on your thank-you or sales confirmation pages. If you have articles on your site, place links to related articles on the bottom of the page. The longer you keep a visitor at your web site, the more valuable they become.

It is very important to funnel traffic from within the multiple sites you may have.

Continually seek out other web sites to link to you. Now, we’re not just talking about any kind of link here, but powerful, traffic-generating links from respected sites. Here are some quick suggestions:

Send a related web site an article that you have written and allow them to display it on their website with a resource box at the end. Offer to exchange articles and tell them about the benefits of doing so.

Allow multiple, related web sites to distribute your free e-book or report. All web masters are looking to add value to their web site, why not make it easy for them.

There are unlimited possibilities, be creative!

Online group participation can produce a no-cost stream of traffic and sales.

Get involved in email discussion lists, online groups and forums that are related to your target market. Becoming involved in discussions makes you very credible. Traffic from forums can produce a much higher sales conversion rate.

This method can produce quite a bit of sales for you just by helping others out. Not to mention, you’ll learn a lot along the way.

Unless you live in Arizona there is a good chance you have never heard of Joe. He is a sheriff in Arizona. He was recently re-elected to his position in Maricopa County. Why do I think he should be President? Because he is actually trying to make a difference. He doesnt care if he is pleasing everybody, he is trying to please the good citizens of his county and punish the bad ones.

Joe is not your typical politician. Technically he is a politician because he needs to be voted into his role but he is not the non-committal, always trying to please everyone while never actually doing anything politician. He makes decisions and stands by them.

Some things Joe has done are to charge prisoners for their meals. He cut off porno movies and magazines from the prisons. He only allows G rated movies. He took away the weights from the inmates. He has brought back chain gangs for both men and women. He tried taking out TV but was ordered to put it back in the prison because a federal court decision said he had to. So, he put them back but only allows the Disney Channel and the Weather Channel. When asked why he allows the Weather Channel his reasoning was, so the inmates will know what the temperature will be the next day when they are working the chain gang. He cut out coffee because it has no nutritional value.

These changes are excellent in my opinion. We need to stop babying criminals because if we dont they will never want to leave and always want to come back. We should stop allowing TV, Sony Playstation, porn movies, etc Some of the above changes prompted some complaints from the prisoners and the Sheriffs response was, This isnt the RitzCarlton. If you dont like it, dont come back.

As if these changes werent good enough they get even better. Sheriff Joe started tent housing at his prison. Approximately 2,000 prisoners live in a tent outside in the prison yard. During the summer months it can obviously get quite hot in the tent being that they are in Arizona. Reported temperatures last summer were up to 138 degrees in the tent. Prisoners claimed this was inhumane. The Sheriffs response was, It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!”

Too often politicians are so concerned about not winning enough votes they do not ever commit to an answer that will upset anyone. A perfect example is the fact that a federal court made the decision that TVs need to be allowed in the prisons. Maybe the prisons should be lined with books to help the prisoners learn new skills and become more educated. By doing this they would have a better chance to succeed outside the prison walls. There is a good chance there is a large amount of people in the prisons across this country that cant read and write. But, at least they are entitled to TV, that ought to make things better.

We need more politicians like Joe Arpaio. We need more people that are concerned about doing the right thing and spend their time working on doing those things rather than slinging mud against the other side. A perfect example is the recent issue involving the high gas prices. President Bush has come up with a plan, and a bad plan in my opinion, to resolve the gas price crisis. The Democrats are bad mouthing his plan instead of getting together to come up with a good plan.

Anyone that has read some of my other articles knows my stance on politics. I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I think they both stink for the country. I think they have manipulated the system so badly that it will be the downfall of our country at some point in the future. It may not be in our lifetime but they will be the reason this country fails. They spend recklessly, they make laws that favor themselves and the corporations that fund their campaigns, and they very rarely do the right thing for their voters.

As a parting word I ask that anyone that is reading this article do me a favor, please keep an eye out for more people like Joe Arpaio and vote them into office. They will repair all that is wrong with our country right now.

The President of China – Hu Jintao, announced Sunday that the economy grew faster than expected – 10.2 percent in the first quarter of 2006 compared with one year earlier, but said the government was concerned about overly rapid growth. Chinese leaders have warned repeatedly that rapid growth could spark inflation or leave the country littered with unneeded factories and luxury apartments, causing problems for banks that financed them. “We do not seek high-speed economic growth,” Hu Jintao said during a meeting with a former Taiwan opposition leader in Beijing.

The Premier Wen Jiabao and other members of the State Council, or Cabinet, on Friday called for the policy changes after examining data on money supply and investment in buildings, factories and other fixed assets.

China plans to reduce its GDP from an annual average of 9.5 percent in the past 25 years to 7.5 percent in the next five years from 2006 to 2010 by improving economic quality and making domestic consumption the major driving force for economic growth.

Hu Jintao announced first quarter growth figures during a meeting with former head of Taiwan’s Nationalist Party Lien Chan carried live on state-run television. China issued new rules allowing mainland tourists to visit Taiwan, continuing Beijing’s efforts to court the disputed island with economic overtures, but it was unclear when any Chinese tourism to the island would start.

China announced possible aviation, agriculture and finance concessions to Taiwan at an economic forum in Beijing attended by Chinese Communist officials and Taiwanese opposition politicians. However Taiwan must accept it belongs to “one China” as the precondition for talks, Hu Jintao told Lien Chan, the former chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition Nationalist Party, who led the delegation of business leaders and party officials to the two-day forum. Chinese President Hu Jintao says new talks with rival Taiwan should begin as soon as possible to maintain peace in the region.

The U.S.Israel coalitions have been at odds with the Iranian government over Irans nuclear program. Diplomatic efforts have soured over the U.S. Israeli belief that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran contends that the nuclear program is to make energy and resents any interference from countries deemed hostile to their cause. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad states that he is willing to talk about the program to anyone except Israel who has keeps bombs over our head.

Iran has won support among many Muslim Leaders for his uranium enrichment program. Members whom Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke with included prime ministers from Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt and Bangladesh.

Although the meeting held on the island of Bali was to discuss ways to boost economic and political cooperation, alleviate poverty, restructure debt the discussion quickly swayed to Irans stand off with Israel and the U.S. Our people need to do more to help one another, and that Islamic countries should work together to increase the development of renewable and alternative energy resources stated Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhovono

To add to the complicated conflict an anonymous UN inspector pushed his political agenda by indicating that traces of highly enriched uranium of bomb making quality were found at a research center that works with the military. The statement was quickly rebuffed by an agent from the International Atomic Energy Association who clearly indicated that no such high grade uranium was found. He also went on to state that the uranium that was found was well below bomb making quality.

The European Union posted on their websites that their ministers were prepared to support Irans nuclear energy program if international concerns could be resolved. Such a decision would further leave the U.S. and Israel at odds with the rest of the world.

Since the years of sanctions on Iraq, and the subsequent invasion that went against the grain of the international community, the U.S. and its close ally Israel have been further alienated from having a dominate opinion in international affairs. Due to the miss information handed to the public through traditional media sources such as CNN (hence the recent growth in alternative news sources) Americans have been in great support of Israel. In blind furry politicians make decisions to support their ally without consideration to the validity, political fall-out or long term ramifications of doing so. Honesty, integrity and forethought should be considered before making international policy.

Someone had perhaps rightly said that serious threat to India comes from within the country itself rather than from outside. Although the above observation was made in a different context, the hulla baloo created recently by the left and, of all major political parties, the BJP over the US-India nuclear deal at its final stage, goes on to prove that the above proverbial statement is very very true.

It is interesting to know that the much-publicized Indo-American nuclear deal has not been struck over night. It has a three-year-old history. The deal has already been discussed, seriously been examined by the experts and ultimately approved by the cabinet too. The left as well as the right[BJP] both had maintained golden silence over the issue all these years. Now, when the time came to put the final seal on the deal to make it operational, the left all of a sudden rose up from the deep slumber, as it were, and threatened to pull out of the Manmohan led coalition government at the center, if the government did not scrap the deal. Not to be cowed down, the prime minister hit back declaring that the deal was as good as final and there is no question of re-negotiating it. Mr. Singh was so disturbed that went on to challenge the left saying that they may quit the government if they show desire.

Sensing an opportunity to topple the government, the BJP soon jumped into the fray and egged the left on to withdraw the support to the government over the nuclear deal. BJP went on provoking the left saying, it was time for the communist to bite and not to bark alone. Expectedly the left did not take the bait from the BJP. Senior CPM leader Jyoti Basu soon gave a hint that the government will not be toppled, as he ruled any mid-term poll. This perhaps settled the issue for the BJP since that point it had stopped being very critical of the deal. BJP is known for its pronounced pro-American tilt. Deviating suddenly from its age-old policy only to teach the congress party a lesson has not done any good to its nationalist image. An over helming number among the followers of the party if believed to be in favour of the deed. So is the case with the followers of the left too.

The deal, as has been certified by the experts, dose not compromise on the nations sovereign power. There may be some merit in the lefts concern that some of the clauses in the deal are ambiguous which may not be in Indias favous. But the point is that what these people oppose to the deal, were doing all these years? The deal was presented thread bare before the critics both in India and America for there scrutiny. If there were any objections those should have been put up immediately. Instead of doing that, they left waited perhaps for instructions from china its friend, philosopher and guide. It is perhaps china and its nuclear ally Pakistan who feel most uncomfortable as India strikes a deal with Washington in the nuclear area. China already wants to dominate Asia and is eager to perform the big-brother role in the sub-continent. It is never pleased with Indias emergence as a super-power. Two counter Indias growth it started assisting Pakistan in acquisition of nuclear weapons ever since India tested its first bomb in 1974 at Pokhran. China and Pakistan have signed a nuclear co-operation treaty. China had clandestinely smuggled nuclear devices to Pakistan even after joining the non-proliferation treaty. It has already earned Pakistan to the hilt with nuclear warheads caring missiles. Arming Indias greatest enemies with arms and ammunitions that can play havoc with lives and properties clearly shows the intention of Indias northern neighbors. But that perhaps dose not bother Indias left brethren.

The Indo-American nuclear deal, if it goes into effect, promises to do a world of good to the nations interest. As soon as the deal is final, the three-decade-old technology sanctions would be lifted. These sanctions were imposed on India in 1974 when its first atom bomb was tested. When the sanctions are lifted the trade in nuclear technology and materials will be boosted. Besides, the deal will allow India to achieve its target of 20,000 MW of power by 2020 AD. To achieve greater growth rate the country badly needs power at a cheaper rate and the nuclear energy is the cheaper alternative to oil and gas. The country has to part with a huge sum in importing expensive gas and oil. Clearing the deal will also make India a friend to the nuclear suppliers group and consequently boost up Indias industry and trade. This will also help India fulfill its dream of becoming an economic super power. On the other hand, if the deal falls though china will be immensely pleased, but India will not only be deprived of all the benefits listed above, but its international goodwill and credibility will be severely damaged and no country will in future believe in our commitments.

Meanwhile Mr. Manmohan Singh may also be aware of the fact that in the end all the threats spelt out by the left might prove to be empty ones because in the case the present government falls, it will be the BJP which stands to gain most in the by-election and the left will certainly not venture to do anything which will have even the remotest chance to benefit the BJP in any way! So the Manmohan Singh can stay in peace and go ahead with his program to put the final seal on the deal.

Immigrants and Converts responsible for Muslim Terror Violence in the West

When we think of terrorist assaults, we visualize hate spitting imams or a serene Osama Bin Laden in front of us; we think of Palestine, Syria, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. However, as you will see below, this is a very wrong representation of the facts. Although the people and countries that are mentioned are pulling the strings, the real danger is coming from another side.

According to Robert S. Leiken’s “Bearers of Global Jihad? Immigration and National Security after 911″, Muslim immigrants have carried out 86% of all major terrorist attacks; converts to Islam executed the remaining acts of violence. The Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 is the only exception. We can conclude that in our Western countries, jihad has grown mainly by way of Muslim immigration.

Two methods have been employed for the execution of violent acts against the West: “the sleeper cell” and the “hit squad”.

Hit squads: these are foreign nationals who enter the country with a specific assignment, such as the 911 hijackers.

Sleeper cells: consist of unsuspicious people quietly living in immigrant communities. They work, they have kids, they have studied, are polite, they have fixed addresses, they pay the rent; in other words, they act as exemplary citizens.
The lifestyle of Muslim immigrants in Western Europe and the United States is significantly different.

In Europe, the Muslim second generation is culturally alienated, socially marginalized, and economically unemployed, with raging fundamental ideologies and terrorism (gang rapes, anti-Semitic attacks and anti-American violence).

In the United States, immigrated Muslims are not as alienated as the European Muslim immigrants are. Consequently, jihadist violence is here carried out by hit squads from abroad.

Opposite to expectation, terrorists do not come from countries like Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia or Egypt, for the simple reason that the leaders of the terrorist organizations are not brainless and try to stay away from special attention and extra scrutiny. Recruiting predominantly happens in Europe and countries under the Visa Waiver Program.

In Israel, the situation is as follows: according the Israeli Intelligence (Mossad), Hezbollah has seldom attempted to gain access to Israel, restricting its operations to the Israeli-occupied security zone in south Lebanon. Mossad has however, indications that Hezbollah’s military wing has started recruiting European converts to Islam to carry out terrorist attacks against targets in Israel. Terrorists have found out that Europeans can move around in Israel more easily than Arabs can. Mossad also expects that Hezbollah may be moving its base of operations to Europe in the event it is forced to disarm in accord with Syrian-Israeli peace talks.

An example is Steven Smyrek, a British-educated German, converted to Islam and recruited by Hezbollah for a potential reconnaissance expedition with the aim of bombing targets in Israel followed by a suicide mission (he was caught before he could strap on a bomb).

From what is mentioned above, the West must draw the necessary conclusions:

- Assimilating indigenous Muslim populations is critical to the West’s long-term security.
- Islamist threat in the West originates above all from Europe.
- European and United States security services should recognize they face different problems: one primarily internal, the other mainly external.
- The West should concentrate on immigration systems that keep out sleepers and hit squads.
- For Americans, the Visa Waiver Program must be adjusted or abolished.
- Controlling land borders is a much higher priority than worrying about Iranians and Syrians.
- Europe must urgently stop today’s easy reliance on euphemisms concerning Muslim violence. Political correctness must be put aside and the State’s security must have priority above increase in votes.

It just happened in the Netherlands where thanks to excessive concessions to the Muslim Immigrants, the Socialist Party obtained after the municipal elections, 80% of the immigrant votes and came into power. Thanks to preferential votes, more than eighty Muslims are invested with a seat in the councils. Observing the Dutch result, the Belgian Socialists propose to teach Arabic in the schools and consider to make Arabic the second language (Belgium has already 3 languages, Flemish, French and German). Meanwhile terrorist Erdal escaped under the nose of 32 national security guards.

So the UK Government has had its way on banning smoking in all enclosed public places and places of work. This ban was carried through on the grounds of ensuring a safe working environment for all employees across the country. This ban applies everywhere except of course the House of Commons itself. One would presume that this is because it is not open to the public and nobody works there! This is just another example of the hypocrisy of our government; Dont do as I do, do as I say. You do not know what is good for you but We do. You cannot have a wage increase or it must be restricted because it is not good for the economy; however we will vote ourselves a very large increase because we are a special case, and so it goes on.

They also got their own way for the moment on ID cards. Arguments on this have shifted from combating terrorism, to combating illegal immigration to the current one of stopping ID fraud. I actually had no idea that that there were millions of people out there stealing each others identity. I suspect the only people guilty of identity fraud are the members of the government itself as they seem to take on a number of different guises depending upon what they next want to ban or subject us to.

I would suspect that the whole thrust of most of this recent legislation in the western world is an attempt to regain control over the population. In the past if you stepped out of line or had a counter argument you were threatened with hell fire and damnation. With the decline of the Church and its more modern approach this line of control has vanished. With the immediacy of communications around the world we all now know what is going on at any moment in time. Consequently governments have lost control of situations unless you happen to be in China!

There was talk of putting chips into cars so that there movements could be tracked all the time. I do not know why the government just do not forget about ID cards and go the complete step and put chips into all of us. This would act as a means of verifying your identity and have the added advantage of being able to track us and our movements all of the time. Any body visiting the country could have a temporary chip implanted. That way the police would not have to stop you and ask for a card they could simply scan you from a distance and if you happened to be chipless they could lock you up for 90 days.

Strange isnt it that it all started with the banning fox hunting. I periodically feel I have had enough and should move somewhere else, but where do you go? This seems to be like a tidal wave sweeping across the whole of the western world and it is impossible to stop.