New Members

Welcome to new members, Lauren, Ricky and Shari...

We just received your membership information from Eva, and are happy to have you. Please feel free to check out our weblog for our northeast Ohio Dennis Prager Discussion group/Meet up.

You'll be getting an email with log in instructions and the password, so please feel free to make yourself at home and blog away.

There's quite a bit of information there now, but we can always use more. If you have a web site or group that you're involved in and would like to share, please do.

I've attached a spreadsheet that has all our names and emails on it, too. I've broken up the membership by area, sections 1 - 4, just to give people an idea where I think we all live. "Cleveland" could be anywhere, east side or west side, but I generally put those folks in NEO-3 section.

We have a new meeting date, March 9, at 2 PM. We also have a meeting place, in Westlake, and we'll send out the directions to you when you RSVP.

So, put the new meeting date on your calendars and watch February fly by. I'm sure to be emailing everyone before then.

Come out and mingle and meet up with other Dennis Prager fans! Bring your favorite Dennis Prager'ism and share the impact he's had on your life. You'll find other Conservatives - different breed that we are - who are comfortable in their own skins.

See you March! And Welcome!

Members' web sites....

Remember I said we Dennis Prager Group members were dynamic in our commitments? Here are two of our members' web sites - Milla and Sonino.

Milla's group founded www.plan2succeed.org/grassroots.

"Grassroots American Values exists to promote and defend the right to life,marriage, traditional family values, small government within the Constitutional boundaries of the Founders, personal responsibility, and American sovereignty."

And Sonino wrote the book, "GOD versus The Cleveland Museum of Natural History: Whose Side is Science On?" Read more at "http://soninojohn.com/.

"... 'GOD versus The Cleveland Museum of Natural History: Whose Side is Science On?' makes it clear that science is on the side of God and His Word, the Holy Bible, when it comes to telling us how the universe, earth, and all life forms originally came into existence: all were simply created by God the way the Book of Genesis tells us. That’s the most rational and logical answer based on the current scientific evidence."

New York Times columnist Daniel Pipes to give free public lecture on the Bush Administration and the Middle East on Feb. 5

New York Times columnist Daniel Pipes to give free public lecture on the Bush Administration and the Middle East on Feb. 5

Middle East expert, author and columnist Dr. Daniel Pipes will speak on “The Bush Administration and the Middle East: an Assessment” at Cleveland State University on Tuesday, February 5 at 7 p.m. His address, followed by a question and answer session, will take place in Waetjen Auditorium in the Music and Communication Building, located at 2001 Euclid Ave.

The lecture is free and open to the public and is organized by Cleveland State’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

Renowned for his analysis of Middle East and Islamic issues, including terrorism, Pipes is a historian and prize-winning columnist now writing for the New York Times Syndicate. He is the director of the Middle East Forum and a former member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

The Wall Street Journal calls Pipes “an authoritative commentator on the Middle East” and CBS Sunday Morning says he was “years ahead of the curve in identifying the threat of radical Islam.”

Pipes began writing his column, which focuses on the Middle East, Islam and U.S. foreign policy, in early 2000. From 2001-03 it appeared in the New York Post and then in The New York Sun. The column is also published regularly in such newspapers as the Philadelphia Bulletin, Israel's Jerusalem Post, Spain's La Razón, Italy's L'Opinione, Canada's National Post and the Australian. It appears on many websites, including FrontPageMag.com and Townhall.com. He is frequently invited to discuss the Middle East on American network television as well as by universities and think tanks, and has appeared on the BBC and Al Jazeera.

Pipes is publisher of the Middle East Quarterly. He has written 12 books and his website, http://www.danielpipes.org/, is among the most accessed sources of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. Two presidents have appointed him to government positions. He earned a B.A. in history and a Ph.D. in medieval Islamic history from Harvard University.

For more information, please call Cleveland State’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at (216) 687-2290.

"Young America’s Foundation teams up with Hot Air"

Know any young people struggling against the Liberal mainstream? They might appreciate this video:

Our first meeting of 2008

Eight members of the Dennis Prager group NEO met last Saturday evening, half of us for the first time.

Left to right: David Golladay, Dan Dolesh, Angie Hall, Melissa McCutcheon, Steve Terranova, Dianne Mueller, Phil Armada and David Sauter.

We took the opportunity to get to know each other that evening, and how we came to be part of the Dennis Prager fan club. Our life experiences are as varied as our ages, but our commitment to our conservative values are not. The way we express those values is pretty dynamic.

We all have Dennis Prager to thank for opening the door to a vibrant community, if a little far-flung, where our differences pale in comparison to our unity.

I hope that each of you eventually has the opportunity to meet and spend some time with other Dennis Prager fans - just folks - trying to make our way in a world that thinks "conservative" is a four-letter word. Fortunately, we know better, don't we.

Another special thank-you to Angie Hall for her hospitality and amazing desserts - all fat-free, of course :).

Until next time...

Books in the interest of happiness

In the interest of promoting happiness, "How to Make Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie is quite good. I know the title sounds a bit hokie but really is a book everyone should read.

Welcome to Aaron, Amy, Brian and Sonino, and Milla!

We just received your member information from Eva, and have added you to our northeast Ohio (NEO) membership list. You will see emails every-so often addressed to all the members and copied to our Ohio organizers, Jim Searcy and Jim Feuer, both from Southern Ohio.

Eva tells us that Milla is from Huron and a new Ohio organizer, too.

You all have arrived just in time to join us for our first Prager Group meeting of 2008. This meeting will be in North Ridgeville, this coming Saturday, the 19th at 7 p.m. I'll send you directions to Angie Hall's place if you plan to come.

And if you can come, please let me know,if you plan to bring anyone with you. If you want to bring a snack, please let me know that, too. It's really short notice, but if you can make it we'd love to have you.

On December 2, 2007 we introduced a blog site for the Prager Group NEO and encourage you to visit the site and when you get your "invitation" to join and "author," we hope you do just that. This is one of the ways we will begin to get to know each other and share in our "conservativeness." If you have any trouble getting into the site, please let me know.

If you have your own blog already started be sure and link to it. It's already apparent that although we're conservatives we're a very diverse group and the appeal of Dennis Prager is far-reaching.

I've attached the spreadsheet that I've been using to add new members. Please notice that the location ID corresponds to map quandrants I used to divide up our territory; the dividing line runs through downtown Cleveland north to south and from east-to-west along I-480. The PragerGroup NEO blog site shows the map with the 1-4 quadrants. I thought it would be an easy way to plot our approximate locations, and to give the Dennis Prager staff an idea where we all are. (For those of you who gave your location as Cleveland, I put you all in the NEO 3 section, by default)

Again, welcome to the NEO Prager Group, and watch your email for the invitation to the blog site. We look forward to meeting in person one day soon, probably at an evening social, after the New Year, after the busy-ness of the holiday season.

If you have any questions or suggestions on what we can do or what you would like to see happen with the group, please let me know. We're new at this and hope to evolve over time.

Best regards,
Dianne Mueller,
NEO logistics

Saturday night Prager Group meeting!

Just a reminder, Gang -

Saturday at 7 p.m is our first Dennis Prager Group NEO meeting of 2008 at Angie and Dan Hall's house:

They're going to leave leave the Christmas lights up around the door and wil turn them on that night to make it easier to locate.

This time I will remember to bring my camera out for a group picture.

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and if you would like, I'd love have you share how Dennis has influenced you, or how he has changed your life. Dan got me thinking about topics and I'm sure you all will some of your own to offer. I just have to remember to bring them with me!

By the way, I tried to make plans to go and hear Dennis speak on February 7, in Cherry Hill NJ, a mere 7 hour drive from here, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to go. If one of you decides to make the trip, here's the information web site: http://www.congregation-bethel.org/calender.asp . I wouldn't wait too long to order your tickets, though.

If someone does go you can share the experience with the rest of us!

See you Saturday!
Dianne

A 'History of Thought..."

Please forgive me for sharing something from Hugh Hewitt's program on Dennis Prager's NEO blog site, but I just can't keep a good thing to myself.

Some of you may have already heard Hugh's six-part interview series with Hillsdale College President, Dr. Larry Arnn last week, a "history of thought." It seems to have been Dr. Arnn's choices of the world's great thinkers and from Socrates to Churchill.

I've been working at temp job for a couple of weeks, on a pretty boring although necessary project, and I turn on my I-Pod Shuffle in the morning when I arrive and leave it on all day, listening over-and-over again to the wonderful capsulettes Hugh and Dr. Arnn put together for us.

I recommend at least one run-through of the series for everyone; its' just that the soft and rhythmic sound of Dr. Arnn's stories has become like music to my ears and I have yet to tire of it. I especially love the vignette about George Washington.

When you go the Townhall.com web site to listen to the podcasts remember there are six of them, across two pages. Enjoy!!

Welcome and Happy New Year!

Hello, Barbara, and Happy New Year to the whole northeast Ohio Prager Discussion Group!

We just received your member information from Eva, and have added you to our northeast Ohio (NEO) membership list. You will see emails every-so often addressed to all the members and copied to our Ohio organizers, Jim Searcy and Jim Feuer, both from Southern Ohio. I try to do logistics for our northern group.

Hope everyone's 2008 is off to a good start. A couple of you have taken a crack at posting on the PragerGroupNeo blog. Keep up the good work! (I'll be adding you, Barbara, to the list of members, and a separate email to let you know how to sign in and post your own thoughts. If you have any trouble getting into the site, please let me know.)

Did anyone go and hear Happiness Hour theme song? - Lyrics by Alan Miller. I would love to see us sing along - on video, of course - at our January 19th meeting. I'll be adding a link to Allan's YouTube rendition by the end of the week - maybe even tonight.

I have RSVP's from those of you planning to come to the January 19th meeting at Angie and Dan Hall place (in North Ridgeville) but if you plan to bring a guest would you please let us know ahead of time. We might need more chairs. And, if you can bring a dessert or snack it would be appreciated.

We're really looking forward to meeting and if you would like, we'd love have you share how Dennis has influenced you, or how he has changed your life.

A few of you have ask about adding some Dennis-oriented topics to our meeting so we'll all have an opportunity to drop an "agenda" item into the Suggestion Box that will waiting there for you. (Paper will be provided.)

How would you all feel about meeting every other month?
Please let me know, okay?.

We have had an offer to use one of our members party room facility in Westlake. We're grateful to Angie Hall for housing us on the 19th.

Again, welcome to Barbara, and Happy New Year one and all.

Dianne

Iowa 2008 Caucus

The results are in from Iowa and Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama are the winners for their respective parties caucus. While I am still a free agent for whom I will support, a large part of me is glad to see Huckabee win in the face of Romney's multi-million dollar barage of Iowa.

As for Barack Obama I believe he is a nice man with an honest agenda. Unfortunately it is the antithesis I what I would like to see. I do not buy into his change revolution. Every four years we here about change. Two words that make me cringe are "change" and "progressive. Progressive really means oppressive and the change we need is to change back to the morals and values that brought our country to this point. That said, when I see and hear Obama I am reminded of the quote the classical compose Claude Debussy made about the music of Richard Wagner, and I am paraphrasing; "He is a magnificent sunset mistaken for a dawn".

"BASEBALL, DENNIS AND THE FRENCH"

As promised, I proudly share "BASEBALL, DENNIS & THE FRENCH."
by Paul Croshaw.

Hello,

My name is Paul Croshaw and I'm the producer of the documentary BASEBALL, DENNIS AND THE FRENCH -- which features Dennis Prager.

You all are "hardcore" Prager fans like me. And the websites and blogs you all have created are really good. Like you , it's become my mission to promote Dennis Prager and Judeo-Christian values. Most of you are leaders of Prager discussion groups and I want to know if you would forward this email to your members.

It's a Special Update e-blast with a unique fundraising request. Read the Update and if it's appropriate, I would really appreciate it if you would forwarded to your members and anyone else who cares about the values we share. Some of you, without solicitation, have already donated to help make this film.


Thank You! I would also be happy to link your website or blog on my website. Let me know -- I'm flexible.

Again, thank you so much and if I'm ever in the area I would love to come to a meeting.

Paul Croshaw, Producer http://www.BaseballDennisandtheFrench.com