Dont miss this post 2008 election wrap-up with J. Scott and Chuck Browder with several special return guests.

Steve Young, a former stand-up comedian, whos social and political satire is recognized as some of the funniest, yet still poignant, observations with his stories regularly gracing the op-ed pages of major newspapers across the country and placing Steve in demand as a TV "pundit" on networks such as the Fox News Channel and CNN, as well as appearing on The Today Show, Connie Chung and Good Morning America.

As contributing editor at the Writer Guild Of Americaâs "Written By" magazine, Steveâs reputation has given him serious entrance to the best writers and producers in the industry while also allowing him one more outlet to lampoon the entertainment business he cares so much about.

No matter what the venue, Steve always seems to be creating something unique and important.  In TV he has written for Boy Meets World, Cybill, The Smart Guy and (the new) Family Affair, as well as being acknowledged with the Prism Award and a Humanitas nomination. 

As a film director/writer Steve turned the power brokers of Hollywood on their funny bones with his biting/satirical film, My Dinner With Ovitz (www.mydinnerwithovitz.com).

As an author of the inspiring "Great Failures Of The Extremely Successful" (Tallfellow Press, Sept 2002) he was able to get the greats of many different fields to share their remarkable stories of adversity. Of "Great Failures...", Jack Canfield, co-creator of "Chicken Soup For The Soul," said, "When you finish reading this amazing book, you will never let failure or fear of failure stand in your way again."

Steve has more than shown his grasp of creating stories and characters that both entertain and enlighten (without it being jammed down our childrenâs throats).  Executive editor, Rosemary Brosnan of his whacked-out novel, "130 Tales of Winchell Mink" (Harper Collins 2004), "...it's one of the funniest and freshest manuscripts I've ever read."  "15 Minutes" (Harper Collins, 2005), another fun adventure novel, will follow.

Check out Jill Zimon, at themoderatevoice.com, her blog writeslikeshetalks.com as well as her own personal site jillmillerzimon.com

Senior Policy Analyst

John Odom Republican candidate for NC Insurance Commissioner, Richard Morgan Republican candidate for NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, Teresa Sue Bratton Democrat candidate for U.S. Congress NC-6, Mark McMains Libertarian candidate for NC Insurance Commissioner, Christopher Cole Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, Mike Munger Libertarian candidate for Governor of NC, and IWF's Senior Policy Analyst Amy Watson 

Insurance Commissioner Jim Long is finally retiring, and the Journal endorses Republican John Odom to replace him. Odom is not an insurance expert, but he is an experienced political leader, a conservative Republican who was a tremendous asset to the Raleigh City Council for years. He promises to be a consumer advocate in the job. Long's hand-picked successor, Democrat Wayne Goodwin, has experience in the department, but Goodwin has always struck us as a too-eager politician.

As your candidate for insurance commissioner, I want to thank you for visiting the JOHN ODOM for Insurance Commissioner website.
The Department of Insurance affects your pocketbook more than any other department in Raleigh.

I believe the insurance commissioner should serve the people by helping to provide the best climate for insurers to operate, and should be the state's consumer advocate in insurance matters.

Making sure insurance companies live up to their agreements to provide services to the insured and to the public is important to me. The insurance industry provides a vital service to the public, and I salute those in the industry who take on this burden with the priority of serving the people they insure.
I stand for serving the people of North Carolina with honesty and integrity.
We need to insist on good government. People have had enough of reading about scandals and corrupt politicians.

I stand for a workers' compensation system that is affordable to employers yet fair to employees.

I will make sure the Department of Insurance responds to consumer complaints quickly and efficiently. I will make sure the Department responds to AGENTS quickly and efficiently-- and with courtesy and respect.

Having the best qualified employees, especially the Deputy Insurance Commissioners and Chief Deputy, must be a priority and will be a priority with the John Odom administration.

I appreciate your support and your vote in November.

Richard Morgan has held almost every top leadership position in the North Carolina House of Representatives; however, it is most important to note his Education Committee assignments for multiple terms. They included the Education Budget Committees such as the Full Appropriations Committee; Appropriations Sub-Committee on Education and the Substantive Policy Committee on Education.

Morgan was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1990 and was Speaker of the House 2003-2004. He served eight consecutive terms as a member. He served as Speaker ProTempore 2005-2006, House Minority Leader and Chairman of the House Financial Institutions Committee 1999-2000, House Rules Chairman 1995-1998 and Vice-Chairman of the House Finance Committee 1993-1994.

He was the recipient of The Governor"s Award and recognized as Legislator of the year by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation in 1997.

Morgan received the Legislator of the Year Award from the North Carolina Association of Home and Hospice Care in 2004 and the North Carolina Association of Manufacturers in 2003 as well as the Champion of Transportation Award from North Carolina GO in 2003.

Richard Morgan was chairman of the very first Moore County Drug Task Force. He has also been active in the Southern Pines Jaycees and supports the Boy Scouts of America. He has served the administrations of two North Carolina governors and was appointed by them to the North Carolina Council on the Status of Women and the North Carolina Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Morgan was special assistant to the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Human Resources and also served on the staff of the Governor of North Carolina. He has been a Republican nominee for North Carolina Insurance Commissioner and for the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Richard Morgan is noted for his leadership not only in business, but also in civic, government and political service. He has been active in the Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills, serving as a member of its board of directors and receiving the Legion of Honor award for 25 years of service. He was chosen to receive the 1993 Distinguished Alumnus designation from Sandhills Community College and in 1991 he was selected as one of the Five Outstanding North Carolinians. He served a three-year term as a member of the board of directors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill General Alumni Association.

He married the former Cindy Richardson, also a Moore County native and a nurse. She is an Associate Vice President with the Association for Home and Hospice Care of North Carolina. They make their home on a farm near Eagle Springs and his office is in Pinehurst.

Following college graduation, Morgan served in North Carolina Government until 1977, and by 1981 he had started his own insurance brokerage firm "from scratch.â Through long hours and determination, he built it into a successful business serving insurance clients throughout Moore County and North Carolina. He is also a North Carolina Real Estate Broker, a cattle farmer and is involved with several other businesses.

Soon after high school graduation, Morgan enrolled at Sandhills Community College where he obtained an Associate of Arts degree with honors and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honorary Society. He completed his formal education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Throughout his education, Morgan worked to pay the costs.

Richard Timothy Morgan, 56, was born and grew up in the small town of Southern Pines, Moore County, North Carolina. His parents, also Moore County natives, lived and worked in the county.

Teresa Sue Bratton is a civic and professional leader, a wife and a mother, who believes that our nation must once again focus on the issues that are important to American families: health care, education, jobs, national security and the environment.

Teresa believes that we must secure the future for our children and our grandchildren. We must make sure they have every opportunity to be healthy, to be prosperous, and to be safe.

Teresa is running for Congress because she wants to help change the future - for them ... and for us.

Career Background
For 25 years Teresa served Piedmont families as a pediatric allergist. She retired from private practice in 2006 but continues to help local families through the allergy/asthma clinic for indigent children at Guilford Child Health. She also helps train the doctors of the future as an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor for the Department of Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine.

Civic Service & Service Organizations
Teresa has been active in the North Carolina Pediatric Society's Environmental Health Group, has testified before the US EPA on air quality issues, served as president of the Guilford County Medical Society and the American Lung Association of North Carolina's Piedmont Chapter and has been active in efforts to improve both indoor and outdoor air quality in Guilford County and the Triad. She is a distinguished member of numerous medical and professional associations.

Teresa has lived in Greensboro for over 25 years. She and her husband, Dr. Gustav Blomquist, Jr., are the proud parents of Gus (31), Kerstin (29), and Michael (26). She is an accomplished tennis player and avid hiker and cyclist. She enjoys gardening and recently graduated from the Master Gardener program of the Guilford County Agricultural Extension Agency. Teresa is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro.

Teresa was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1948, graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970 and her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1974.

Insurance Goals

• Decrease auto insurance for younger adults enrolled in school and improve discounts for working families.
• Lower home owners insurance for all the people and strengthen insurance coverages for the people who live in the southeast of the state. Residents should be able to have both their primary residence and vacation homes covered under the same policy.
• Lower insurance rates for anyone that takes a driver refresher or safety class every four years and maintains a safe driving record.
• Create more affordable business insurance for locally based and operated companies. Repeal workmans comp premiums to help insure their affordability factor, which will in turn promote commerce, and keep companies operating and employing the citizens. The insurance industry needs to invest their profits to improve the economy.
• Lower insurance for the family farmer. Encourage agricultural development to promote more jobs for rural areas.
• We need to lower the cost of insurance for all teachers in the state. It will include home, auto, family health care, and life insurance. They are responsible for our children and we need to repay them for insuring our children's future.

Health Care choices in North Carolina

• Insurance companies must encourage all doctors to accept insurance by paying them a customary and usual fee for their services.
• Insurance companies need to stop promoting participation in their companies based on below standard fees. This will only result in lowering quality of health care in this state. People should be able to choose a physician and be properly compensated without increased costs.
• Health insurance companies need to allow college students to be covered under their parents policy for up to 24 months after graduation or until they obtain a full time job. Well being promotes good health, thus lowering health costs. These students are our future and they are in our hands now, we will be in their hands later.
• Free drug care for the elderly of North Carolina is ideal. These people should not have to live their golden years worried about paying for the medications they need to survive. Drug and insurance companies should work together to absorb the cost.

For State Employees

• My goal is to decrease auto and home insurance by 40%.
• For current and retired state employees I plan for free family health care premiums.

 At the age of 46, I have accomplished many of my long-term goals. My family is most important to me and extremely supportive. I am happily married to my wife, Denise and we share 3 wonderful children. Our oldest daughter, Elizabeth, is a Senior at N.C. State University where is she is finishing her undergraduate degree in Economics. Steven is an 8th grader at Centennial Campus Middle and Brian is a fifth grader at Fuquay-Varina Elementary.

I have been a resident of North Carolina for more than 31 years and am proud to call this great state my home. My family lives in Fuquay-Varina, a growing town in southern Wake County. I served on the Board of Directors for the Fuquay-Varina Fire Department for 2 years and worked hard to make sure that firefighters were well equipped.

Currently, I am the owner of Cary Towing and Carolina Towing and with my wife in 1998 started Cary Auto Body Specialists. Our business has prospered in the past few years and daily we deal with auto insurance companies, which is why I am well aware of the high insurance premiums and determined to help customers.

If you are interested in knowing more about me or my goals as Insurance Commissioner, please Email me at markmcmains@earthlink.net or call me at 919-552-2533.

Prof. Munger received his Ph.D. in Economics at Washington University in St. Louis in 1984. Following his graduate training, he worked as a staff economist at the Federal Trade Commission in the first Reagan Administration. His first teaching job was in the Economics Department at Dartmouth College, followed by appointments in the Political Science Department at the University of Texas (Austin, 1986-1990) and the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 1990-7). At UNC, he served as Director of the Master of Public Administration Program, training city and county managers. He moved to Duke in 1997, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2000. He also became chair of the Political Science Department in 2000, and still serves in that post. Mike also has joint appointments in the Economics and Public Policy departments at Duke.

Prof. Munger's academic research has focused on Presidential - Congressional conflict, campaign finance, and regulation of markets. In addition to more than 80 articles and papers published in professional journals and edited volumes, Prof. Munger has coauthored or coedited (with Melvin Hinich) three books, Ideology and the Theory of Political Choice (University of Michigan Press, 1994), Analytical Politics (Cambridge University Press, 1997), and Empirical Studies in Comparative Politics (Kluwer Academic Press, 1998). His fourth and most recent book, Analyzing Policy: Choices, Conflicts, and Practices, was published in August 2000 by W.W. Norton. Current research interests include the evolution of the ideology of racism in the antebellum South, ballot access reform, and a study of how human subjects playing a computer simulation choose platforms in virtual "elections."

He blogs at Kids Prefer Cheese (link: http://mungowitzend.blogspot.com). Mike is married to Donna Gingerella, an attorney for the U.S. Treasury Department.

Senior Policy Analyst

Author Martine Ehrenclou, MA, received a thorough education in hospitals with the extended hospitalizations of both her mother and godmother. Having spent the equivalent of a full year in three separate hospitals in different states, Martine was determined to find out if her family members' hospitalizations were the norm.

After interviewing fifty families, she found out that in fact they were the norm. Family members all reported feeling completely lost, overwhelmed and stymied by the hospital system. They couldnât reach doctors when they needed them, nurses didn't respond to the call button, medication mistakes put their loved ones in peril, and infectious diseases delayed patients' recoveries, if in fact the patients made it out alive. Many were convinced that medical errors had killed their family members.

Alarmed by what she heard, Martine became extremely motivated to undertake further investigation of hospital patient care. She interviewed over eighty-five registered nurses who worked in hospitals, dozens of physicians, physician assistants, hospital social workers, psychologists, and other medical staff to find out what was going on in hospitals and why so many family members were distraught over their loved onesâ hospitalizations.

From all of the interviews and hundreds of hours of research, Martine realized that hospital care was in crisis. She set out to do something about it. She understood there was no way for her to fix hospital care, but knew that if she could educate family members and get them involved, patients would have safer hospital stays. Hence, the writing of her book, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive.

Martine is a writer and public relations and marketing executive, with clients that include authors, psychologists, and entrepreneurs. As past owner of Love Letters Ink, she was interviewed as the "Contemporary Cyrano" by national TV talk and news shows (Phil Donahue, Jenny Jones, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, etc.), national magazines (Time Magazine, Inc, The Economist, Glamour, and others) and newspapers (The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and others). She has had several of her stories published in bestselling books and has written for newspapers and magazines.

She received her masters degree with honors in psychology from Pepperdine University, Los Angeles, CA. She conducted research for the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and research for a forensic psychologist. Martine has had a psychiatric article published in The Journal of Forensic Sciences and presented her own research paper at a national AAFS conference. She also worked as a counselor at Southern California Counseling Center.

She currently runs writing groups for at-risk teenagers and adults.

Hospital care has become hazardous to the patient's health. It's a topic that hits news desks across the country every week. Recently Arizona State University released a shocking study. Their findings, with regards to the number of deaths caused by hospital errors is staggering. Just to get a perspective, the study uses a startling analogy..."if if a jumbo airliner crashed every day, it wouldn't equal the number of deaths in today's hospitals as result of deadly medical errors, medication and surgical mistakes and hospital acquired infectious diseases!" According to The Fifth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, 2008, nearly a quarter of a million preventable deaths occur in hospitals nationwide.

These highly publicized and alarming statistics were the basis for Martine Ehrenclou's new book, Critical Condistions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive. Ehrenclou believes that hospital deaths could be prevented if patients had an advocate - a family member, close friend, or someone who can act as a sentinel to prevent medical errors. Patients who receive the wrong drug or the wrong dosage is the leading cause of hospital deaths, and these incidents touch everyone's life at one time or another. America finally faced this growing problem when actor Dennis Quaid brought media attention to the near death of his newborn twins, Thomas and Zoe, after they were given an overdose of the drug heparin.

Critical Conditions is a step-by-step guide to traverse the unfamiliar hospital maize. Based on over 150 interviews with registered nurses, physicians and hospital staff, families, Martine's own experiences with hospitalized family members and hundreds of hours of research. It is a book for family members written by a family member who has been there.

If someone has a parent, spouse, sibling or child in the hospital, they must get actively involved to monitor and oversee the medical care that is provided. Critical Conditions will arm you with helpful facts to:

Prevent deadly medical errors, medication mistakes & infectious diseases.

Reach doctors when you really need them - every time

Be proactive as you oversee your loved one's hospital care

Navigate and manage the hospital system with confidence.

Also, make sure to listen to the return of John Villarreal as he takes on Ron Paul Hunter in an all out brawl, you don't want to miss this.  You may check John and his brother Paul's work at www.youtube.com/user/

PaulFVillarreal and www.villarrealsports.com

Matthew Stein holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.  He is an engineer, author and building contractor. He has also worked as a schoolteacher, carpenter, and rock climbing and ski instructor. As the owner of Aloha Aina Builders, Stein built hurricane resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes. As a mechanical engineer and president of Stein Design, he has designed consumer water filtration devices, commercial water filtration systems, photovoltaic roofing panels, medical bacteriological filters, drinking fountains, emergency chemical drench systems, computer disk drives, portable fiberglass buildings and automated assembly machinery for Open Energy, Hewlett Packard, Seagate, Plantronics, Duraflame, Haws, and IGT, among other companies. He currently resides with his wife Josie (see www.inner-journeys.com) in the High Sierra Mountains near Lake Tahoe, CA. Additionally, Stein holds a number of US patents and was a National Merit Scholar. For many years, Stein has pursued avid interests in renewable energy, alternative healing, sustainable growth, and preventative medicine. He is available for lectures and workshops. Check out his green building and mechanical engineering web site at www.stein-design.com and his book's web site at www.whentechfails.com.

Stein's outdoor experience includes considerable backpacking and camping (starting at age 5), alpine ascents in the Canadian Rockies and High Sierras, solo winter ascents of peaks in the High Sierras and numerous Yosemite Valley hard rock climbs (including several Half Dome and El Capitan big walls).  He volunteers his services as a guide and guide trainer for blind skiers with the Ski for Light blind cross-country skier program.

Matthew Stein has written a clear, concise book on the subject of survival that, while educating, also does what few others have managed to do - entertain and engage the reader. Throughout the book you'll find personal stories accompanying the text to further illustrate or drive home a point. The use of these asides brings you into Matthew Stein's life, as he recounts personal stories of survival and tells the stories of others who have managed to overcome the odds to survive. Not just a survival book, Matthew also covers topics like alternative therapies; how to create a survival mindset; survival strategies; renewable energy; companion gardening; prophecies etc. as well as all the regular topics found in such books - edible plants; first aid; making a survival kit; growing, hunting and foraging; making tools; creating shelters; spinning/weaving/tanning etc. The book has some great illustrations that make plant identification and first aid that much easier to understand and each chapter finishes with a reference section listing books (along with a short review) and resources (with web addresses where available).

Amy Watson joins the Independent Women's Forum as a senior policy analyst focusing on legal and legal reform issues.  She is currently responsible for the new Mothers for Education using Sound Science project.

Prior to joining IWF, Amy participated in the Charles G. Koch Associate Program where she worked with the Civil Justice Reform Group, a national organization founded by corporate general counsel to address civil justice reform efforts at the state level.  She has also worked for the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Before moving to Washington, DC, Amy began her career working alongside several influential members of the Georgia General Assembly.  During this time she participated in the passage of a number of substantive pieces of legislation, and served in various roles on several Congressional and state legislative campaigns. 

Amy holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgia State University College, a Master of Public Administration degree from Georgia College & State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in political science also from Georgia College & State University.

Major General Timothy M. Haake retired from the United States Army Reserve on May 11, 2006 after more than 35 years of service. He formerly served as the Deputy Commander, Mobilization and Reserve Affairs, United States Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. Prior to that assignment, he served as Director of Legislative Affairs, United States Special Operations Command, Washington, D.C.

General Haake was born in Schenectady, New York. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (1969) from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio; a Law Degree (1973) from Syracuse University College of Law, Syracuse, New York; and Master of Laws Degree (LL.M.) in Taxation (1978) from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C. He completed the Judge Advocate Generalâs Officer Basic Course in 1978; the Judge Advocate Generalâs Advanced Officer Course in 1982; Civil Affairs Officer Advanced Course in 1985; Command and General Staff College in 1987; and the Army War College in 1994.

General Haake served in the Army National Guard as an enlisted member from 1970 through 1976, where he completed the Special Forces Qualifications Course in 1973. He then served in the Army Reserve from 1976 through 1978 and received a direct commission October, 1978.

In 1978, General Haake served as the Staff Judge Advocate for Headquarters, 11th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Meade, Maryland. In 1982, he became the Legal Officer for the 450th Civil Affairs Company in Riverdale, Maryland. In 1984, he returned to the 11th Special Forces Group to serve once again as their Staff Judge Advocate. In 1992, he became the Legal Advisor (IMA) for the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Concurrently, beginning in 1995 he assumed command of the 157th IMA Detachment for the Army Reserve in Washington, D.C.

General Haakeâs awards include the: Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal (one oak leaf cluster), Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (one oak leaf cluster); Army Meritorious Service Medal; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal; Joint Service Achievement Medal; Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (silver oak leaf cluster); National Defense Service Medal ( two bronze service stars); Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal (silver hourglass); Army Service Ribbon and Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon. He is a Master Parachutist, Special Forces Military Free Fall Parachutist, and holds German, Italian, and British military parachutist badges.

Mr. Haake is a legislative consultant and lawyer and the owner of Haake & Associates. His specialties include tax, energy, trade, health, and defense issues. He held several administrative, legal, and Congressional positions prior to starting his own firm.

At the Internal Revenue Service, he served in a professional legal capacity where he drafted private rulings, issued advisory opinions to field offices, and drafted broadly applicable rulings.

For the next five years, Mr. Haake served as Counsel to members of the United States Senate Committee on Finance and the United States House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, advising Members of Congress on all issues coming before the Committees, including matters of tax, trade, and health policy. He assisted in formulating legislative initiatives and guiding them through the legislative process to enactment. He was later head of the tax department in the Washington office of O'Connor & Hannan, a law firm based in Minneapolis.

Mr. Haake holds a Master of Law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, a Juris Doctor degree from Syracuse University College of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch College. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Haake is a contributor to Fox News, Nightline and CNN as an expert on foreign affairs, military and political issues. He is married and has three children ages fourteen, seventeen and twenty.

Jim Sciutto is ABC Newsâ Senior Foreign correspondent, based in London. Since moving overseas in 2002, he has reported from more than 40 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, where heâs completed more than 100 assignments. His globe-trotting role for ABC News has put him on multiple trips to war-zones from Iraq to Afghanistan to Israel-Palestine, undercover in Zimbabwe and Myanmar, under fire in Beslan, Russia, and on frenetic cross-country tours of China and India for special, multi-part ABC series. When he was named senior foreign correspondent in 2006, he was the first person to carry the title since Peter Jennings and Pierre Salinger.

Sciutto won the 2007 George Polk Award for television for his undercover reporting in Myanmar during the military regimeâs brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations in October 2007. He won Emmy awards in 2004 and 2005 for best story in a regularly scheduled newscast, covering northern Iraq for âIraq: Where Things Stand.â He was nominated for other Emmys in 2005 for outstanding coverage of a breaking news story for âCrisis in Beslanâ and in 2007 for his contribution from Cambodia for Good Morning Americaâs âAround the Worldâ series.

Sciutto was the only western reporter to make his way inside Myanmar during the 2007 crackdown, the first television reporter to interview Saudi Arabiaâs King Abdullah and one of a handful of journalists allowed inside an Iranian nuclear plant in 2005. During the Iraq war, Sciutto was the only reporter embedded with the U.S. Special Forces.

Prior to joining ABC News in 1998, Sciutto was Hong Kong correspondent for Asia Business News, an Asia-wide TV network owned by Dow Jones. For ABN, he covered Hong Kongâs return to China in 1997, and reported on every country in the region, including assignments to China, Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore and South Korea.

Sciuttoâs first job in television was as moderator and producer of âThe Student Press,â a weekly public affairs talk show for U.S. and Canadian college students broadcast on PBS.

Sciutto earned a degree in history from Yale University in 1992. He was a Fulbright Fellow in Hong Kong from 1993 to 1994. In 2008, he was selected as a lifetime member of the Council of Foreign Relations. In 2002, he was appointed Associate Fellow of Pierson College at Yale.

He lives in London with his wife, Gloria Riviera, also a London-based correspondent for ABC News.

A foreign correspondent for ABC News, Sciutto examines and explains the increasingly negative attitudes toward the United States among citizens of Muslim and Arab countries in this deeply insightful book. Structured around interviews conducted in the Middle East and the U.K., the book offers ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that anti-American sentimentâonce the province of fringe groupsâhas gone mainstream, becoming in effect, a form of Middle Eastern nationalism, uniting moderates and radicals, Muslims and Christians for whom freedom implies the freedom from American interference. Sciutto weaves together interviews with historical background, poll data and personal experience in this consistently informative and captivating account. In the strongest interviews, including one with a young, reform-minded Iranian activist and another with an Iraqi doctor, the book sets intense, sometimes horrifying experiences against a complicated and changing political backdrop. The author makes a few amorphous foreign policy recommendations on the basis of his research, but the book is less interesting for what it reveals about American policy than for its empathetic and candid depiction of its subjects and their lives.

Todd A. DuBord was raised in the Bay Area of Northern California, in an atheist and agnostic background. As a young adult, he sensed that there was much more to life than he had been led to believe. Initially incorporating a wider pursuit of the world religions, Todd prayed to God, âIf you show me the truths and purpose of this life, I will spend the rest of my life helping people to understand them.â

In his years of research, both informal and formal (B.A. From Bethany University; M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary), Todd accepted that the claims of Christianity were true. Toddâs areas of expertise are in apologetics, biblical languages and studies, American religious history, historical and ecclesiastical theology, leadership equipping, and pastoral care and counseling. While going through his seven years of undergraduate and graduate studies, Todd also worked in business for a copier corporation, at which he served as Operations Manager for the entire region of Southern California.

Throughout his initial years as a Christian in the Bay Area and Southern California, Todd also served in areas of prison ministry, homeless ministries, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, various discipleship programs, and in various Church leadership roles. Through seminary Todd also served as overseer of a thirteen-facility retirement home and convalescent hospital ministry, as well as a chaplain intern at U.C. Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Chaplain Todd served as a youth pastor (in a Foursquare Church) in the 1980âs, an Associate Pastor (of a Presbyterian Church) in the 1990âs, and the past twelve years served as Senior Pastor of Lake Almanor Community Church, located near Lake Almanor on the edge of the Lassen National Forest in Northern California. In April 2008, he accepted the invitation of Chuck and Gena Norris to join them full time in serving the diversity of their humanitarian efforts and ministries as the Chaplain of Topkick Productions (and other Chuck Norris enterprises). Todd also accompanied Chuck Norris to Iraq in September of 2007, where they visited 15 military bases and over 18,000 troops. Toddâs revisionist ministry and research, as well as his story of their trip to Iraq, can be located, read, and downloaded at this website.

Over the past two years, Chaplain Todd has gained national recognition in his work to restore Christian revisionism and reductionism from American historic sites and landmarks. He has successfully led restorations of our Christian heritage to the Jamestown Settlement (first English colony in America) and the Washington Monument (advances that were broadcasted on Fox News and other news agencies across the country). He continues to march against revisions at Monticello (Thomas Jeffersonâs estate), the U.S. Supreme Court, and other historic landmarks that are revising Americaâs religious history.

Todd is known as a passionate, caring chaplain, who respects all people and inspires others to genuinely live and grow spiritually. He is a leader of leaders, and loves to simply serve God and encourage others wherever heâs called. As a speaker, Todd is an inspiring educator and motivator, using a blend of information, historical quotes, visuals, and contagious humor. His past messages, given as a Senior Pastor of Lake Almanor Community Church, are heard by people all over the world from his website and can be downloaded for free at www.iTunes.com (at the latter by typing in âalmanorâ or âdubordâ to find link for âLake Almanor Community Church).

Born and raised on his family's farm in rural Caswell County, Hugh Webster is not what you would call a "polished politician." He is blunt, brash, and firm in his straightforward, common sense convictions.  Hugh Webster has never been accused of pandering to political correctness, but has earned the reputation of one unafraid to tell the truth and stand by his convictions.

That straightforward, common sense manner served the taxpayers of North Carolina well while Webster served in the State's General Assembly from 1995 through 2006.

During those 12 years, Webster never once voted in favor of a state budget that included a tax increase and he never voted in favor of legislation that went against the provisions set out by the North Carolina Constitution. Webster led the fight to stop illegal aliens from getting NC drivers' licenses and fought against liberal legislation to allow illegal aliens to get in-state tuition and register to vote. He sponsored legislation known as "The Baby Greer Act" that would allow those convicted of murdering a pregnant woman to be charged with double homicide instead of a single murder.
In Raleigh, Hugh Webster stood firm in his defense of the State's Constitution and protected the wallets of North Carolina's taxpayers.

Webster has pledged that as your Congressman in Washington, he will continue to take a firm stance defending the US Constitution, America's sovereignty, and protecting the property of American taxpayers.

Mr. Hawkins is a professional blogger who runs conservativegrapevine.com and rightwingnews.com He also writes a weekly column for Townhall.com and consulted for the Duncan Hunter for President campaign.

Sabrina L. Schaeffer is the Managing Partner of Evolving Strategies.

Prior to launching Evolving Strategies, Sabrina worked in numerous communications positions. She served as the speechwriter for Senator George Voinovich of Ohio, the Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington, DC, where she frequently served as a spokeswoman for the organization, and a member of the communications team for Bob McEwen's primary campaign in Ohio's second district. 

Sabrina was also a Communications Associate at the White House Writers Group, where she worked extensively on designing and orchestrating communications projects for a range of intellectual, government, and corporate clients on a variety of issues including energy policy, transportation policy, and telecommunication deregulation. While working for the White House Writers Group, she also acted as a liaison at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she helped launch "The Skilled Trades Initiative." 

Sabrina began her career in Washington as an assistant to former United Nations Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick at the American Enterprise Institute.

Sabrina has commented on politics and political culture in publications such as the Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, Philanthropy Magazine, Doublethink, Policy Review, Tech Central Station, American Enterprise Online, and National Review Online, as well as on Press TV.  She received her B.A. from Middlebury College, her M.A. in American History from the University of Virginia, and her M.A. in Politics also from UVa.

Zephyr R. Teachout graduated in 1999 with both a JD from Duke Law School, summa cum laude, and an MA in Political Science from the Duke University.  She was also editor-in-chief of the Duke Law Journal. She received her BA from Yale University, where she was editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News Magazine. Following graduation from Duke Law School, she clerked for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia. In 2005, she was a non-residential fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. Her teaching interests are election law, federal legislation, the law governing corruption, Internet and politics, comparative law, administrative law, law of democracy and local government.

Prior to acceptance in the Visiting Assistant Professorship Program, Ms. Teachout served as the National Director of the Sunlight Foundation, Washington, DC, where she created a policy platform for transparency in Congress, drafted and lobbied for transparency legislation, and developed new tools for making Congressional information more accessible to citizens. Her efforts were featured on NPR and CNN, and in The Washington Examiner, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, PC World, and The New York Times. She is an internationally recognized expert on the impact of the Internet on electoral politics and government.

Ms. Teachout spent three years in Burlington, Vermont. From 2005-2006 she was a lecturer at the University of Vermont, teaching Internet and politics, and introduction to international relations; and drafted briefs in environmental law, tort law, energy law, and federal administrative law for the firm of Shems, Dunkiel, Kassel & Saunders. Prior to that, she served as Director of Internet Organizing for Dean For America, where she also created a technology policy advisory council and drafted the first presidential open source policy platform. She also provided consulting services to non-profit and citizen journalism organizations such as The War Tapes, Music for America, Current TV, and the International Rescue Committee, and America Coming Together. She was a co-founder and Executive Director of the Fair Trial Initiative in Durham, where she also served as a staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

Some of her selected publications include Mousepads, Shoeleather and Hope: Lessons from the Howard Dean Campaign for the Future of Internet Politics (Editor) (forthcoming August 2007, Paradigm Publishers); "How Politicians can use Distributive Networks" (New Assignment, November 2006); "Youtube? It's so Yesterday," (with Tim Wu) (Washington Post, November 2006), and "Powering Up Internet Campaigns," book chapter in Lets Get This Party Started (Rowan and Littlefield, 2005.) She is currently writing about the meaning of corruption in the American constitutional tradition.

Kristen Fyfe joined the staff of the Culture and Media Institute on November 20, 2006. Fyfe will serve as a Senior Writer for CMI. Fyfe was recently employed by the Alexandria, VA office of the Parents Television Council as a Senior Writer and Editor. In the spring of 2006 she authored a study documenting the violent content of childrenâs television. That study received unparalleled press coverage for the organization.

Fyfe is also an Emmy-nominated producer and writer having worked most recently for South Carolina Educational Television. There she hosted and produced two weekly public affairs programs and specials that aired on the statewide network. She graduated summa cum laude with a Masterâs of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University.

The Culture and Media Institute is an American non-profit organization focusing on promoting what it believes to be traditional values in American culture and beliefs and fair treatment of conservatives in the news media. It was founded in October 2006 as a division of the Media Research Center, a group that monitors perceived liberal news media bias.

CMI promotes its mission through editorials and research reports. "Eye on Culture" is a regular feature in which CMI writers express their opinions on the state of American popular culture. Among its viewpoints include opposition to the Fairness Doctrine and opposition to same-sex marriage. In March 2007, the CMI published a "National Cultural Values Survey" and concluded from its results that most Americans perceived a decline in moral values. One study released by the organization in July 2007 claimed that television viewing time correlated directly with one's liberal attitude, even possibly degrading to moral attitudes.

The CBS crime drama Cold Case has been twice criticized by the CMI for alleged anti-Christian prejudice in two episodes.  In May 2008, CMI released another report, one that claimed a moral decline in "Dear Abby" columns.

Clintons4mccain was started as a grass roots effort by Cristi Adkins, Anne Franklin, Peter Boykin and a team of Clinton Supporters who are adamantly opposed to the DNC, the media and Hollywood selecting their presidential nominee. âWeâre mad as hell and not going to simply fall in line like Stepford Wives.â The Clintons4mccain group plans to join other organizations across the country for a large army of dedicated soldiers devoted to ONE unified missionâ

For Information on Operation NOBAMA, go to www.Justsaynodeal.com

To Join the group, you can go to www.clintons4mccain.com as well as the myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/clintons4mccain and get the latest updates on the www.youtube.com/clintons4mccain channel.

With the pressure building on Senator Obama and masses exodus, itâs only a matter of time before the DNC realizes itâs biggest failure in âVotergate 08â was the smoke and mirrors game they played on the entire 2008 Primary âSelectoralâ process.

Co-founder Anne Franklin is a retired executive with a background in sales, marketing, strategy, operations and human resources. Like Hillary, Anne graduated from an all-female college. The nun (now Saint) who founded the college said, "If you educate a man you educate a person, if you educate a woman you educate a family." That phrase stuck with Anne and according to Anne, has proven to be true from what she has seen in life. "Hillary has a similar philosophy of taking care of the educational and healthcare needs of women/mothers to enable them to raise children who are less likely to drop out, abuse drugs and alcohol, commit violent crimes and end up on welfare, which is one of the things about her that appeals to me."

Anne is an Independent and believes that Independent voters are the most well-informed since, "we don't let Party leaders or others decide for us for whom we will vote. We have to do our own research on all of the candidates from both parties. This year, Hillary was my first choice, followed by a Republican, followed by McCain, followed by another Democrat. I am a moderate (as I believe are most Americans). Hillary and McCain are both moderates. They belong to different Parties, but I am not aligned with a Party. So, I research all candidates' policies, their character and what each done in the past (which is the best predictor of future behavior). I donât agree with any of the candiates 100% on their policies. So, I look at the ones that are most important to me, where they stand and whether or not they are likely to get things done."

Also, make sure to listen our lively segment with Paul F. Villarreal and his brother John.  You may check out their work at www.youtube.com/user/PaulFVillarreal and www.villarrealsports.com

Fraser P. Seitel is a veteran of more than three decades in the practice of public relations. In 2000, PR Week magazine named Mr. Seitel one of the "100 Most Distinguished Public Relations Professionals of the 20th Century."

In 1992, after serving for a decade as senior vice president and director of public affairs for Chase Manhattan Bank, Mr. Seitel formed Emerald Partners, a management and communications consultancy, and also became senior counselor at the world's largest public affairs firm, Burson-Marsteller.

Mr. Seitel is a frequent contributor to cable television. Among other programs, he has appeared on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, Fox and Friends, Rivera Live, Fox Weekend, and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren; MSNBC's The News with Brian Williams and Nachman; CNBC's Wall Street Journal Report; and CNN's Connie Chung Tonight, Inside Politics, and Larry King Live.

Mr. Seitel has counseled hundreds of corporations, nonprofits, associations, and individuals in the area for which he had responsibility at Chaseâmedia relations, speech writing, consumer relations, employee communications, financial communications, philanthropic activities, and strategic management consulting.

Mr. Seitel is an Internet columnist at odwyerpr.com and a frequent lecturer and seminar leader on communications topics. Over the course of his career, Mr. Seitel has taught thousands of public relations professionals and students.

After studying and examining many texts in public relations, he concluded that none of them "was exactly right:" Therefore, in 1980, he wrote the first edition of The Practice of Public Relations "to give students a feel for how exciting this field really is:" In more than two decades of use at hundreds of colleges and universities, Mr. Seitel's book has introduced generations of students to the excitement, challenge, and uniqueness of the practice of public relations.

Will Bower was bred, raised, and educated in the epicenter of the Electoral Universe: Ohio. He began his political life in 1987 (at the age of 14) as a Youth Ambassador to the Soviet Union. The following year, he became a Youth Campaigner for Michael Dukakis. He went on to be chosen as a member of Boys' State Ohio (1989) and ended up winning the prestigious Delaware County Democratic Scholarship in 1990 -- which he applied to his studies as a playwright at Kenyon College, Class of '94. Will spent most of the late 1990s traveling the world, living mostly in Paris, Sydney, and Los Angeles. However, the events of 2000 and 2001 inspired him to move to Washington DC, where he intended to work for the DNC. After a series of stellar interviews there, he realized to his disillusionment that the parties are mostly about fund-raising, for which he had little interest. However, he has remained in Washington DC, where he has been learning the politico-way from such Huffingtonian friends as Steve Clemons and Scott Shrake. He is currently a chief contributor for The Huffington Post and for Florida-Delegates.com and is a researcher for Thomson CompuMark.

Bill Bishop lives in Austin, Texas. He wrote The Big Sort with retired University of Texas sociologist Robert G. Cushing. Bishop has worked as a reporter at The Mountain Eagle, in Whitesburg (Ky.); a columnist at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader and on the special projects staff of the Austin (Tx.) American-Statesman. Bishop and his wife, Julie Ardery, owned and operated The Bastrop County Times, a weekly newspaper in Smithville, Texas. They now co-edit The Daily Yonder, a web-based publication (dailyyonder.com) covering rural America.

Pulitzer Prizeâfinalist Bishop offers a one-idea grab bag with a thesis more provocative than its elaboration. Bishop contends that as Americans have moved over the past three decades, they have clustered in communities of sameness, among people with similar ways of life, beliefs, and in the end, politics. There are endless variations of this clusteringâwhat Bishop dubs the Big Sortâas like-minded Americans self-segregate in states, citiesâeven neighborhoods. Consequences of the Big Sort are dire: balkanized communities whose inhabitants find other Americans to be culturally incomprehensible; a growing intolerance for political differences that has made national consensus impossible; and politics so polarized that Congress is stymied and elections are no longer just contests over policies, but bitter choices between ways of life. Bishop's argument is meticulously researchedâsurveys and polls proliferateâand his reach is broad. He splices statistics with snippets of sociological theory and case studies of specific towns to illustrate that while the Big Sort enervates government, it has been a boon to advertisers and churches, to anyone catering to and targeting taste. Bishop's portrait of our post materialistic society will probably generate chatter; the idea is catchy, but demonstrating that like does attract like becomes an exercise in redundancy.

Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna has written about music for such music magazines as Billboard, Spin, RollingStone.com and Alternative Press. She has covered the celebrity world, most recently for People, where she served as a staff correspondent before resigning to work on her next book, as well as Us Weekly and Teen People. The writer also penned the sex and relationship advice column âDr. Loveâ for Gene Simmons defunct Gene Simmons Tongue magazine and the âMiss Truthâ gossip column for the also-defunct award-winning allstarnews.com. She has appeared as a music and/or relationship expert on MTV, VH1, Fuse, E!, CNN, and MSNBC among others.

Borzillo-Vrennaâs first book, Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day by Day Chronicle, was released in 2000 and the expanded Nirvana: The Day to Day Illustrated Journals was released in 2003, both via Carlton Books.

The Wallingford, Connecticut nativeâs new book, âCherry Bomb: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick, and a Hotter Girlfriend, and to Living Life Like a Rock Starâ is due on Aug. 5, 2008 via Simon & Schusterâs Simon Spotlight Entertainment. The non-fiction book is an A-to-Z reference for everything an edgy girl needs to know, including the obvious (style, beauty, dating, and sex tips) and the not-so-obvious (how to prepare Absinthe, how to hit on a celebrity, how to sneak backstage at a concert). Itâs a girlâs guide with a difference; one that shows readers how to identify, go after, and get whatever they want in life, be it a hot guy, a great job, multiple orgasms, or a sexy new lookâall while marching to her own (rock) beat.

She lives in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles with her Grammy Award-winning husband Chris Vrenna, who plays keyboards with Marilyn Manson.

Lee Marks grew up outside Boston, MA and has always been a natural born comedian. Ever since he was young, he realized the best way to make friends is to make people laugh. When the reality television craze began several years ago, friends encouraged Lee to follow his dream and take his comedic act to a worldwide audience. All it took was one tryout for one show before Lee got his big break and was cast on the 2007 VH1 hit show "I Love New York." The trashy nature of the show appealed to Lee, because it allowed him to be himself and express his sometimes raunchy yet hillarious style of humor without holding back. Now, millions of fans and hundreds of lays later, Mr. Boston is still on the top of his game, getting recognized virtually everywhere he goes. He has done numerous club appearances in Dallas, Phoenix, Miami, Charlotte, Buffalo, Minneapolis, and many other cities, all of which bring in a packed audience. Being asked by the producers to make an appearance on the second season of "I Love New York," Mr. Boston is clearly one of the breakout stars of the show, and it remains a distinct possibility that he could eventually get his own show. With this rising star, sky is the limit!

Some loyal Mr. Boston fans have decided to start a petition for him to get his own show.  Check it out at www.petitionspot.com/petitions/mrboston

Note from Mr. Boston:

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE A GIRL ABOUT TO GO ON A DATE WITH ME, AND YOU STUMBLE UPON THIS PAGE TO "RESEARCH ME" BECAUSE YOU'VE HEARD WHO I AM BUT YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THE SHOW, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE EVERYTHING I SAY SERIOUSLY!!!! I'VE HAD MULTIPLE GIRLS CANCEL DATES WITH ME BECAUSE THEY REALLY THINK I'M HAVING SEX WITH A DIFFERENT GIRL EVERY NIGHT. NOT TRUE! I'M PROBABLY HAVING LESS SEX THAN YOU! I REALLY AM A NICE GUY AND THIS PAGE IS SIMPLY THE CHARACTER I PLAY ON THE SHOW. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR DATE.