Happiness Enhancing Activities With Evidence They Work
PsyBlog by Jeremy Dean www.spring.org.uk
“The ‘How to Be Happy’ article has become a staple of newspapers, magazines, books and, increasingly, of websites. We should ‘accept reality’, or ‘take a break’, or ‘be honest with ourselves’, or ‘surround ourselves with happy people’.
“These things are unlikely to do us any harm but that doesn’t stop them reading like a list of platitudes – the kind that people are always doling out but never follow themselves.
“We can all create our own lists of happiness enhancing activities and argue endlessly about which is better and for whom. While that’s fun for a bit, I always want to ask: which activities have evidence to back up their claims for increasing happiness?
“Psychologists have only started investigating this question relatively recently, so there’s not a very long list and it is obviously far from exhaustive, but at least there’s some research to back them up. The activities psychologists have investigated are gratitude, helping others, and firstly, visualising your best possible self.
1. Visualising your best possible self
Visualising your best possible self may sound like an exercise in fantasy but, crucially, it does have to be realistic. Carrying out this exercise typically involves imagining your life in the future, but a future where everything that could go well, has gone well. You have reached those realistic goals that you have set for yourself.
Then, to help cement your visualisation, you commit your best possible self to paper. This exercise helps draw on the proven benefits of expressive writing.
The effectiveness of this activity was tested in a study by King (2001). Students were asked to write about their best possible future selves for 20 minutes over 4 consecutive days. This group was compared with one writing on a neutral topic, one writing about traumatic life events and another writing about both traumatic events and their best possible future selves.
The results showed that those who had only written about their best possible selves showed greater improvements in subjective well-being compared to all the other groups. The benefits of the exercise could even be measured fully five months later.
Since the results were so encouraging after only a four-day exercise, two other studies have investigated longer periods. Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2006) and Dickerhoof et al. (2007) carried out studies over 4 and 8 weeks respectively. Both of these backed up the previous findings.
It’s not hard to speculate on why this exercise might be effective, it probably helps to:
Create a sense of efficacy, meaning and purpose.
Foster optimism.
Set written goals and plan means of achieving them.
2. Helping others
Even if you haven’t come across the ‘best possible selves’ exercise, you’ll almost certainly have heard the idea that helping others is beneficial to the self. Helping out at a soup kitchen, volunteering on a helpline, visiting shut-ins – all are certainly virtuous activities. But isn’t helping others for no tangible personal benefit too much like self-sacrifice?
Actually, the research suggests there’s a very good selfish reason to help others – it really does seem to make us happier. In one study students were asked to perform five acts of kindness each week for six weeks (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon & Schkade, 2005). These were things like writing a thank-you note, giving blood or helping a friend with their work. Students were told either to perform one act each day or all five acts on one day.
Both experimental groups showed a better outcome than the control group whose well-being declined over the six-week period (perhaps exams were looming!). Those who performed their acts of kindness each day showed a small increase in well-being.
But the highest well-being was seen in those students who carried out all their acts of kindness on one single day on each of the six weeks of the study. Their well-being increased by an impressive 40%.
Lyubomirsky, Sheldon and Schkade (2005) suggest the reason for the difference is that a single act of kindness each day doesn’t make an appreciable difference to the everyday routine, especially as these were only small acts.
3.Practicing gratitude
I’ve already covered the third activity that has shown promise in increasing happiness: practicing gratitude. A study conducted by Emmons and McCullough (2003) found that sitting down weekly to write about five things we are grateful for increased happiness levels by 25%. If you’re short of ways of practicing gratefulness, this list of ways to be grateful culled from Dr Emmons’ book will be useful.
You might also be interested in my review of Dr Robert Emmons’ book ‘thanks!’ which details his experiments and expands on practicing gratitude.
Reasons to be cheerful
I’m sure these are only a tiny subset of the ways we can increase our happiness. At the moment, though, these are some of the ones that have the research to back them up.
In many ways these findings are encouraging. None of these activities involves spending vast amounts of money (or any money really!), none take up that much time and they are all within almost everyone’s reach.
The real challenge they present is in making changes to our daily routines, our standard ways of thinking and behaving. Compared to what we often perceive as a long and winding road to happiness, this trip looks like a doddle, if only we’d open our eyes and look.
» Discover more articles in this series on the new science of happiness.
» Read more evidence on the power of gratitude.
References
Dickerhoof, R., Lyubomirsky, S., & Sheldon, K. M. (2007). How and why do intentional activities work to boost well-being?: An experimental longitudinal investigation of regularly practicing optimism and gratitude. Manuscript under review.
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377-389
King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 798-807
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111-131.
Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 73-82.
Tkach, C. (2005). Unlocking the treasury of human kindness: Enduring improvements in mood, happiness, and self-evaluations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Riverside.
There are numerous mother-in-law jokes and step-mother jokes. Remember the wicked step-mother in Hansel and Gretel?
I over-heard recently: At a family re-union the step daughter (who has two children) said to her step mother over lunch hearing that a half-brother and wife were soon to have a child: “Oh, now you can finally be a grandmother!”
That comment, certainly insensitive, probably sums up how the step-daughter views her step-mother. Dad is Dad and she comes to see her father. She brings him a card for his birthday. But she does not view her step-mother as a grandmother figure for her children. Overtures, conversation, gifts and contact may occur. But the step-daughter only thinks of her biological mother as the one and only grandmother.
And why those feelings? I know the family fairly well. What the step-mother says is that many, many years ago stories were taught to that step-daughter Not true stories. Just stories. And those stories get passed on through the generaltions. Through stories passed down from biological mother to daughter those children are taught who is kin and who is not.
Maybe that’s something that Christian churches and other faiths can offer people: a way to see “family” much more broadly. Family is more than blood ties.
Obama Administration view of federalism: drop dead. Noteworthy where Obama ranks the political authority of CA legislature enactment versus the political clout of a union. See complete article in Wall Street Journal, May 10. www.freedomOK.net
CA has a 42 billion dollar deficit abyss. The California legislaure passed a budget with steep tax hikes and spending cuts. Now Obama threatens California with a cut of $7 billion of federal stimulus money unless the state restores legislated wage cuts for unionized health-care workers.
So who is holding the California stimulus money hostage? The Service Employees International Union (SEIU). That is the union that wants Card Check passed — which will eliminate the secret ballot when workers vote whether they want to join a union.
Cafe Rio has excellent, inexpensive appetizers. You can get two glasses of house wine and an appetizer for less that $10. Then walk on the beach outside. www.FreedomOK.net/wordpress
WASHINGTON — What did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi know about harsh questioning of detainees, and when did she know it?
“Today, the California Democrat was forced to issue yet another press release, reiterating her past assertions that she had been briefed in 2002 only on new interrogation techniques that had been deemed legal and were planned for future use.
Pelosi had made the same comments in 2007 when word first leaked that she was aware of the interrogation program and had not objected to it.
Her latest statement came three weeks after the Justice Department released formerly classified legal memos that detailed the once-secret CIA harsh interrogation program, and two weeks after she told reporters that when she got her sole CIA briefing on interrogation back in 2002, she had no idea the technique of waterboarding had already been used on a prisoner.
Waterboarding is a form of simulated drowning that President Barack Obama last week called torture.
The House speaker was responding to this week’s release of CIA records that show Pelosi was briefed in September 2002 on the harsh methods that were then being used. That appeared to contradict Pelosi’s version, which said she understood the techniques were only planned for future use.
The CIA’s records were vague on what exactly she and then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss were told. The CIA identified
39 other congressional briefings on interrogation methods, spanning nearly seven years. In only 13 of them was waterboarding specifically noted as a topic of discussion. It was not specifically noted in the sole Pelosi briefing. That briefing only references “enhanced interrogation techniques” that had been approved and used. By inference, that would include waterboarding.
Goss claimed in an opinion piece in the Washington Post two weeks ago that Pelosi and he were specifically told waterboarding had been used against Abu Zubaydah, one of three CIA prisoners subjected to the method. But even the CIA suggests that its account of the meetings will not settle the debate over who knew what and when.
“In the end, you and the committee will have to determine whether this information is an accurate summary of what actually happened,” states the May 6 cover letter from CIA Director Leon Panetta to Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Pelosi is one of many Democrats who favor a truth commission to fully examine the CIA’s Bush-era interrogation program. Her critics claim she is trying to distance herself from the program now that it has been publicly examined and condemned by the new administration.
Anglican faith schools get ‘values’ on websiteArchbishop of Canterbury praises scheme in video message on site.
The Church of England is urging its 5000 schools to practise what they preach by launching a new website – christianvalues4schools.co.uk.
The project, commissioned by the Church of England’s National Society , is aimed at making the country’s CofE schools “distinctively Christian”, and the site includes a section on the values upon which church schools are supposed to be based, with biblical verses and theological explanations.
In a video message to launch the site, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, says: “A Christian school is one in which the atmosphere has that kind of openness about it, that sense that people are worth spending time with, that people need time to grow, need loving attention.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean than everyone involved has to share the same theology or philosophy. But a Christian school is one in which the entire atmosphere is pervaded by the conviction that there is something mysterious, and potentially wonderful, in everybody.”
He said: “It is most welcome that the Church of England has set out what it means by a ‘Christian ethos’ for its schools. But what is now abundantly clear is that the Christian ethos that the Church seeks to promote is fundamentally at odds with the practices of many of its schools.”
Unions sue state for more school funds
By Sharon Noguchi, Mercury News
“To secure billions of dollars in additional funding for education, two school employee unions filed a lawsuit against the state of California on Thursday.
“The lawsuit argues that the state must repay schools the amount it’s taking away — and sooner than other funding schemes would allow.
“Faced with a state budget crisis, Sacramento has taken $8.6 billion from K-12 and higher education over two years. The lawsuit argues that the state must repay much of that, and cites a 1988 voter initiative that guaranteed minimum funding for education.
This week, the state Department of Finance suggested that schools may lose an additional $3.6 billion.
That threatened reduction “made it imperative to file” the suit, said Marty Hittelman, president of the California Federation of Teachers, which filed the suit in San Francisco Superior Court. It was joined by the Service Employees International Union Local 99, in Southern California, which represents janitors, secretaries and other support staff. The CFT represents about 100,000 teachers, librarians and other credentialed school employees, and is the smaller of two unions representing public school teachers in California.
Hittelman denied that the CFT filed the suit after polls showed most of the six propositions on the May 19 ballot badly trailing. Two of those, Propositions 1A and 1B, are key to funding education. Prop. 1B sets how much the state owes education and outlines a repayment schedule.
Even if 1B passes, the teachers union argues that schools would be shortchanged by freezing the repayment amount at $7.9 billion and deferring repayments until 2011-12.
The lawsuit argues that the state uses the wrong formula to determine whether schools will be reimbursed in the future for reduced funding.
H.D. Palmer, deputy director of the state Department of Finance, said the state owes school districts money for 2007-08, but not the current school year. “The Constitution is straightforward in this regard.”
Contact Sharon Noguchi at snoguchi@mercurynews.com or 408-271-
CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of ‘Enhanced Interrogations’
By Paul Kane
“Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against al-Qaeda prisoners, seemingly contradicting her repeated statements over the past 18 months that she was never told that these techniques were actually being used.
In a 10-page memo outlining an almost seven-year history of classified briefings, intelligence officials said that Pelosi and then-Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) were the first two members of Congress ever briefed on the interrogation tactics. Then the ranking member and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, respectively, Pelosi and Goss were briefed Sept. 4, 2002, one week before the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The memo, issued by the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency to Capitol Hill, notes the Pelosi-Goss briefing covered “EITs including the use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah.” EIT is an acronym for enhanced interrogation technique. Zubaydah was one of the earliest valuable al-Qaeda members captured and the first to have the controversial tactic known as water boarding used against him.
The issue of what Pelosi knew and when she knew it has become a matter of heated debate on Capitol Hill. Republicans have accused her of knowing for many years precisely the techniques CIA agents were using in interrogations, and only protesting the tactics when they became public and liberal antiwar activists protested.
In a carefully worded statement, Pelosi’s office said today that she had never been briefed about the use of waterboarding, only that it had been approved by Bush administration lawyers as a legal technique to use in interrogations.
“As this document shows, the Speaker was briefed only once, in September 2002. The briefers described these techniques, said they were legal, but said that waterboarding had not yet been used,” said Brendan Daly, Pelosi’s spokesman.
Pelosi’s statement did not address whether she was informed that other harsh techniques were already in use during the Zubaydah interrogations.
In December 2007 the Washington Post reported that leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees had been briefed in the fall of 2002 about waterboarding — which simulates drowning — and other techniques, and that no congressional leaders protested its use. At the time Pelosi said she was not told that waterboarding was being used, a position she stood by repeatedly last month when the Bush-era Justice Department legal documents justifying the interrogation tactics were released by Attorney General Eric Holder.
The new memo shows that intelligence officials were willing to share the information about waterboarding with only a sharply closed group of people. Three years after the initial Pelosi-Goss briefing, Bush officials still limited interrogation technique briefings to just the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the so-called Gang of Four in the intelligence world.
In October 2005, CIA officials began briefing other congressional leaders with oversight of the intelligence community, including top appropriators who provided the agency its annual funding. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam and an opponent of torture techniques, was also read into the program at that time even though he did not hold a special committee position overseeing the intelligence community.
A bipartisan collection of lawmakers have criticized the practice of limiting information to just the “Gang of Four”, who were expressly forbidden from talking about the information from other colleagues, including fellow members of the intelligence committees. Pelosi and others are considering reforms that would assure a more open process for all committee members.
By 44 Editor | May 7, 2009; 7:29 PM ET Dem. Leaders
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CommentsPlease email us to report offensive comments.
Worthless lying B****.
RESIGN.
NOW!!!!!
Posted by: mdsinc | May 7, 2009 7:58 PM
As reported in ABC News, bunch of other Dems not in the Post article:
“On Feb. 4, 2003, a briefing on “enhanced interrogation techniques†for Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., revealed that interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri were taped.
In addition, that briefing “described in considerable details†the techniques used, including “how the water board was used.â€
A similar briefing the following day included Goss and Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., who by that time had become the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, when Pelosi moved on to become minority leader.
The report is accompanied by a letter from CIA Director Leon Panetta to intelligence committee leaders that describes the way it was compiled: “This letter presents the most thorough information we have on dates, locations, and names of all Members of Congress who were briefed by the CIA on enhanced interrogation techniques. This information, however, is drawn from the past files of the CIA and represents [memorandums for the record] completed at the time and notes that summarized the best recollections of those individuals. In the end, you and the Committee will have to determine whether this information is an accurate summary of what actually happened. We can make the MFRs available at CIA for staff review.â€
Posted by: nitewinde | May 7, 2009 8:12 PM
the only way to keep this issue silent is getting blood on everyone’s hands who were direct/indirectly involved.
Posted by: infoshop | May 7, 2009 8:14 PM
See the detailed Briefing list with Dem after Dem listed here:
Well, is anyone surprised that many members of the political class hold themselves above the law. As far as I’m concerned, they should all be held accountable.
Posted by: protagoras | May 7, 2009 8:47 PM
Is Madame Speaker really stupid enough to think she can call the CIA a bunch of liars without any retribution? They were here long before her, they will be here long after her and they will protect themselves against opportunist over-botoxed politicos.
Posted by: wave41 | May 7, 2009 8:50 PM
Frankly, although a Democrat, I found the party’s using this issue to bash Republicans morally repugnant from the beginning. Moreover, I was certain that, despite denials, some of them would have had to be briefed.
Let also us recall that the overwhelming majority of Dems signed off on the Iraq invasion, most of them without having read the relevant documents.
Neither of the two parties in the “two-party” system is looking good right now, haven’t looked good for a long, long time.
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | May 7, 2009 8:51 PM
“It’s the Democrats’ fault, because they didn’t stop us!!”
Posted by: gkam | May 7, 2009 8:52 PM
Pelosi’s behavior over the last couple of years has been downright peculiar.
This article simply states the obvious:
That there was a reason for her peculiar behavior.
Claiming to be a Democrat, while espousing the corrupt values of any old Republican, and especially while single-handedly presuming that she had the authority to prevent the very impeachment for which impeachment itself was invented, all this made a very bad smell, which any human being with a functioning brain was aware of.
Why we had to wait until now to see this in the press is anybody’s guess.
My personal guess is that the same Republicans are behind today’s Congressional decisions as were behind them during the Bush maladministration, and Pelosi is as much on their payroll as Bush was.
Posted by: wardropper | May 7, 2009 8:52 PM
this is why the lying, backstabbing Obama has joined the rest of the war criminals in protecting the Bush gang agaisnt prosecution,i.e., we’d have to arrest the Dem leaders of Congress also.
Posted by: dochi1 | May 7, 2009 8:53 PM
There is no honor among thieves.
And, unfortunately, no honor among most politicians, especially those who make a career of it; ala Ms. Pelosi.
Posted by: LAWPOOL | May 7, 2009 8:53 PM
I don’t understand why you people are so surprised.
You just refuse to believe when you are been told about what your ‘representatives’ do and don’t do. You wait until it’s too late.
EACH AND EVERY SINGLE senator knew what was going on and APPROVED it. It’s common sense.
They are briefed. They are informed about things that we are supposedly not capable to know because we are children. Things they say must be kept secret for ‘security reasons’.
You citizens suck big time.
Posted by: sapitos44 | May 7, 2009 9:02 PM
Why don’t we post more articles for the enemy to view in our own newspapers . This captured terrorists are from no known country and wear no uniform and thus are not allowed Geneva rights .
Then ask yourselves ..”Where are all the US POWs?”. After Afghanistan since 2001 and Iraq since 2003 , where are the US POWs ? The correct answer is , there are none, this sub human enemy takes no prisoners and thus why are we so worried about the rights of these fighters ?
It’s a real shame that the left and this newspaper along with the NY TIMES has become source material for our enemy . As a military family I am repulsed by your treachery and the folks who post here calling for the prosecution of people who have prevented further terrorists attacks.
Posted by: skunkdad7 | May 7, 2009 9:03 PM
Wardropper
Get a clue dude !
Posted by: skunkdad7 | May 7, 2009 9:05 PM
Well I guess ALL these Dems must have been in on it,the full briefing list has more:
Nancy Pelosi
Bob Graham
John Rockefeller
Jane Harman
Harry Reid
*Full Committee
John Murtha
Evan Bayh
Russ Feingold
Diane Feinstein
Carl Levin
Barbara Mikulski
And this is just the list being briefed prior to 11/16/06 **** They have known for a very long time well before the election and are ALL still lying.
Posted by: nitewinde | May 7, 2009 9:19 PM
Pelosi is a liar. So is Obama and the whole bunch.
thank you idiots for voting this bunch into office.
Biggest disaster ever
epic fail
Posted by: rdb2 | May 7, 2009 9:32 PM
LIAR!!! Time to step down Botox Pelosi.
Posted by: sprayadhesive | May 7, 2009 9:32 PM
I REALLY hope that the CIA finds a way to effectively deal with Pelosi — a way that will end her lying and arrogance once and for all . . . permanently.
Posted by: DocChuck08 | May 7, 2009 9:33 PM
So in other words… “Pelosi was actually FOR waterboarding before she was AGAINST waterboarding!” Typical flip-flopping, try to have it both ways, liberal. It’s one thing to change your mind… but to try to have it both ways then deny your previous position is just pathetic.
http://www.UpYoursObama.com/
Posted by: UpYoursObama | May 7, 2009 9:33 PM
Pelosi is a Democrat only as far as it is able to increase her power base.
People whine about Reid but it’s Pelosi who is the poison in the party.
She should have gone long ago.
Posted by: buzzsaw1 | May 7, 2009 9:34 PM
Well, she was there, but she wasn’t actually listening, because she was trying to talk instead.
Posted by: davidwc | May 7, 2009 9:39 PM
Pelosi according to Daly is like the lady who ‘only had sex the one time’ and accordingly ‘I’m still really a virgin’.
This TOQ ( tired old queen ) is one of the reasons a dark cloud of depression is descending on our great nation. She is not the only reason…. but her inner ugliness is disgusting.
What a role model for American women !!!
She is a disgrace to honesty and dignity.
Posted by: DeLyonGetty | May 7, 2009 9:39 PM
No surprize that a lying manipulative b**ch like Pelosi would eventually get caught. Probably she will claim she didn’t remember, like Clinton did with the Whitewater affair. She is toast, and should be removed from office.
Posted by: sniper609 | May 7, 2009 9:39 PM
HOORAY!!! OVER 10,000 Signatures!!!
Join us at: w w w * THANKYOUPRESIDENTGEORGEWBUSH * C O M
Posted by: typgwb | May 7, 2009 9:40 PM
OH GEE, SUDDENLY AS MORE AND MORE TOP DEMOCRATS BECOME EXPOSED AS ACCESSORIES AND ENABLERS (to what I don’t know, since there is no “crime” whatsoever for anyone – but whatever, we’ll play their silly game), THE MORE THE RAT PARTY SUDDENLY DECIDES ITS ALL A BAD IDEA AND WANTS TO DROP IT!
If the DemocRAT Party fire bombing hundreds of thousands of civilians, women, babies, monks and school kids to death,
if the DemocRAT Party nuking hundreds of thousands of women and children, wiping out hospitals, schools and children on outings, delivering DEMOCRAT TORTURE by Thermonuclear Immolation and Radiation to innocent civilians – on multiple occasions,
if the DemocrRAT war of atrocity, massacre and savagery in Vietnam,
if the DemocRAT rounding up tens of thousands of Asian-Americans and putting them in concentration camps,
if the DemocRAT attacking the sovereign nation of Pakistan without legal authority,
If DemocRAT atrocities against Native Americans,
If all these War Crimes, and more, that have been delivered to this earth by the hand of the Democrat Party are not “War Crimes” and “Crimes Against Humanity”…
…THEN neither are advanced interrogation techniques.
Its just that simple.
Fess up to your Democrat crimes or shut your pie holes you partisan pansies.
Repeat loud and repeat often. Right back in their puss filled faces.
Posted by: C0rrupt_0_Crats | May 7, 2009 9:43 PM
Pelosi is a horrendous, partisan, lying, manipulative witch.
Posted by: ac7880 | May 7, 2009 9:43 PM
I have no problems with water boarding terrorists. It is not torture. I have grave problems with lying, hypocrisy, defamation, and treason. Nasty Pelosi and the Democrat party leadership are guilty of those sins. We need Senate committee hearings on the conduct of Democrats over the last seven years. They did all they could to destroy our war effort.
Posted by: pokenhorn | May 7, 2009 9:46 PM
She’s about to say that it depends what you mean by “water” and “boarding”. She thought it was some So. Cal. surfer dude talk. Really. Ingratiate ourselves with AQ by showing them some gnarly waves. Show them how cool, peaceful and laid back we are.
My guess is that CIA did more than a little CYA. She’s lying. Code Pink knows how slippery she is.
Sigh…
Posted by: maxtel1910 | May 7, 2009 9:47 PM
How can you tell if Nancy Pelosi is lying? When her mouth is moving. She would sell this country down the river for fifty cents. But then again, so would 90% of the current Democrats in Congress. I’m hoping that someone in the 10% remaining will finally realize the country is in danger, and broadcast it widely.
Posted by: RightStuff | May 7, 2009 9:49 PM
Don’t you guys understand by now? This is an outrage, criminal, impeachable offense when a Republican does it. When it’s the “progressive” Dims, it’s someone else’s fault. You see, the corrupt biased mainstream media refuse to get out of bed with the Dims and hold them accountable. And they wonder why they are losing business rapidly.
Posted by: STomPayne | May 7, 2009 9:50 PM
Water boarding with doctor present to save countless lives or chop someones members off because they are fighting the great satan? Convert or die is their goal. Hmmm, are some here who post really young and haven’t experienced the real world? I got news for some of you, everyone in the world doesn’t share your ideals. Pelosi is a typical lying left wing nut. Surprise, surprise. Unbelievable how naive some of these post are. Letting liberal professors fill you with socialist/progressive view is great as long as you realize their eutopian world does not exist. Evil exist. Time to wake up.
Posted by: mugsy511 | May 7, 2009 9:57 PM
What a stupid, lying,..C##T!..Mean and clueless!!Bravo you old Ho!
Posted by: chips3 | May 7, 2009 9:58 PM
Pelosi should be held accountable for this blatant lie. The MSM would cover this for years if this were a Republican yet with a Democrat, crickets.
How this woman can be trusted in politics from this point on is beyond me.
Posted by: PupsMcCann | May 7, 2009 10:00 PM
does anyone think still Pelosi in NOT a bold faced LIAR?
Posted by: shotgunplanet | May 7, 2009 10:02 PM
HEY, Pelosi—STRETCH FACE!!
You FACE and YOUR MOUTH—FALSE, FALSE.
You vermin, louse.
RESIGN and GO AWAY. You and your face DISGUST ME!
BTW, I saw you in a low cut blouse. Couldn’t you afford to have your chest stretched? It looks like a map of the Mississippi Delta—with all those furrows and deep lines.
YOU DISGRACE ALL AMERICANS!!!
Posted by: igorhunan | May 7, 2009 10:03 PM
Pelosi Lied… Freedom died
Posted by: shotgunplanet | May 7, 2009 10:04 PM
Her name was McGill, she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy. OOPs
Aloha,
Nancy Peeloucy sure practices her Joseph Goebbels technique, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it… and his second rule: “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and overâ€
nuff said
Mahalo
Posted by: Warrior07 | May 7, 2009 10:06 PM
Pelosi should be Baker Acted. But she will likely employ the Bill Clinton playbook tactic of “it depends on what ‘is’ is. Seriously, she must be forced to resign. Isn’t their any accountability in our government anymore. I mean, we even have a party that hires and now funds election thugs like ACORN. Obama and this adminstration are a disgrace. President Narcissist has not told the truth about anything. Not one thing. Campaign fund sources, earmarks, lobbyists, pork spending for political payback, 5 day vetting by the public on budget bills…..it is a bunch of lies. And the press looks the other way. Huffington Post has NOT even printed anything about the Pelosi disgrace. Just shows you what America is up against. A bunch of Fascists bankrupting our country for their own power, control and financial gain. As for Michelle, …for the first time in my life I am ashamed to be an American. Impeach Pelosi and Obama.
Posted by: aroleflin | May 7, 2009 10:06 PM
Well, the good part is that this particular witch hunt is over!
Posted by: scott3 | May 7, 2009 10:07 PM
HEY STRETCH PALEO-LOUSY:
Waterboarding a few muslim killers is NOT torture.
Having you as the Speaker of the House—THAT IS TORTURE!! Seeing your face, and your furrowed, ugly wrinkled chest— from FACELIFTS R US—THAT IS TORTURE!!
If we did not have Eric “THE RED” Holder as Atty General, you would be in stocks, and on your way to prison.
LIAR!
RESIGN!
Posted by: igorhunan | May 7, 2009 10:07 PM
PupsMcCann,”How this woman can be trusted in politics from this point on is beyond me.”
Who trusted her to begin with? Who trusted any of the Dems? Reid, Frank, Murtha, Dodd, Kennedy, Obama et al are liars. The progressives lie,cheat and steal their way into power to accomplish their agenda.
Posted by: mugsy511 | May 7, 2009 10:07 PM
Let me get this straight. Desperate Conservatives who applauded the Bush Gangs approval of these techniques, are condemning Nancy for knowing about them and not telling, even though she was forbidden by law to do so? Seems like your protests – like your principals – are a bit misguided.
Posted by: rhahn2 | May 7, 2009 10:08 PM
So, are all those worthless hags from Code Pink going to hold sit-ins at Damascus Nan’s office? Or will she get a free pass because she is a pro-abortion woman and that is all that really matters.
Posted by: kmne68 | May 7, 2009 10:10 PM
Perhaps Nancy Pelosi can claim that she did not know about the EITs because she has mastered Orwell’s 1984 art of doublethink, which is to hold two contradictory thoughts simultaneously in ones mind while believing both to be true.
Posted by: panhead101 | May 7, 2009 10:10 PM
One Big Ass Mistake America. Not only him but the vermin that goes with him
Posted by: OleGunny | May 7, 2009 10:13 PM
The problem is not that they had to keep this information secret at the time briefed.
The problem is that there is no reason to LIE now and the DEMS involved have made a conscious decision to LIE about wether they were ever briefed at all !
That is what makes a LIE a LIE, when you LIE and know your LYING is bad enough but to know your LYING and still LIE after getting caught is just crazy.
Posted by: nitewinde | May 7, 2009 10:13 PM
NO, NO, NO!!
Nancy, please don`t resign! We need you and Harry Reid to continue to help our beloved President Obama resurrect the Republican party. Besides, if you left, who would we laugh at every morning?
Posted by: CDNassif | May 7, 2009 10:13 PM
There MUST be a criminal investigation of this liar.
Posted by: EWGSHL | May 7, 2009 10:14 PM
My guess is this is Hussein using the CIA to pull on Pelosi dog leash to show her who is boss. Maybe the CIA will do something to save America like leak the marxist’s BC.
Posted by: Franc33432 | May 7, 2009 10:16 PM
The Democrats did the same thing with the Iraq War as this EIT deal – agree with Bush initially, and then turn on him and paint him as a monster/warmonger.
Watch Hilary on March 6, 2003 make the case for attacking Iraq based on pre-Bush intelligence from her husband Bill’s admin:
Then, Obama ran against Hilary, McCain and Bush largely on his superior judgment in being against the Iraq War- he was not in Congress or Senate; then once elected he appoints guess who to be point person in his administration on foreign policy!! Yes, your Sec of State, Hilary. whatever
The press was and is so in the tank for Obama and Democrats, they turn a blind eye to all the hypocrisy. BTW, they were so quiet in opposing the Iraq War for one reason, Democrats were taking them aside and telling them the intelligence on the WMD was really there and Bush was not making it up. They told the media it was old intelligence that pre-dated Bush and IT WAS!! Slam dunk George Tenet CIA director was a Clinton appointee. He wimped out too, turning on Bush.
This isn’t just politics either – we could have won that Iraq War years ago if we had been united. Real soldiers lives at stake.
Posted by: evanpastor | May 7, 2009 10:16 PM
rhahn2, I got news for you, the left wing is in full display now and are intoxicated with power. This is a great thing for America, because they are showing the lying, vicious scumbags they are. The majority is still conservative and you will see them take the country back soon. If Pelosi admitted to knowing and accepting to protect the country I would have more respect for her. But with her it’s about power and not the country.
Posted by: mugsy511 | May 7, 2009 10:17 PM
Pelosi should not resign.
She should “Hang herself” the way the DC Madam Deborah Palfrey & her callgirl Brandy Britton “Did.”
Ask Gary Condit how.
Posted by: rickahyatt | May 7, 2009 10:18 PM
Nancy, Dearest, its extremely difficult not to go with my base instincts and spew justifiable venom at you. Instead, I propose those poor fellows from Gitmo be released in San Francisco and invited to tea with you on Sundays.
Posted by: go_figure | May 7, 2009 10:19 PM
Botox must affect the memory. Californians, please, THINK when you go to polls.
Posted by: clayp72 | May 7, 2009 10:19 PM
Let me get this straight. Desperate Conservatives who applauded the Bush Gangs approval of these techniques, are condemning Nancy for knowing about them and not telling, even though she was forbidden by law to do so? Seems like your protests – like your principals – are a bit misguided.
Posted by: rhahn2 | May 7, 2009 10:08 PM
SHUT UP! Forbidden by law? Who has the misguided principals?
Posted by: gippers1 | May 7, 2009 10:20 PM
Pelosi is such a liar. And that is really saying something considering how much Democrats lie on a regular basis.
Posted by: bug45 | May 7, 2009 10:20 PM
Concerned citizens should demand that Pelosi be subjected to a water-based enhanced interrogation technique. My bet is that her memory of what she was told in those briefings would improve significantly. Meanwhile, she’s a pathetic waste of space, time and air.
Posted by: Finnzport | May 7, 2009 10:21 PM
Just like everything else Madam Pelosi is involved with, this has a certain stink. It’s really a shame members of congress enjoy the protection they do and avoid responsibility for their actions or inactions plus the lies they utter.
Posted by: kiethrich | May 7, 2009 10:22 PM
Does anyone Left, Right or Center really believe this Political Gargoyle. If you do stick with Loony-Tunes that’s about your speed.
Posted by: ALL-AMERICAN1 | May 7, 2009 10:22 PM
Some of you (like gkam–always a pleasure to see you here) attack the strawman view that Pelosi’s culpability is being used to excuse the Bush Administration’s conduct. Wrong. What she did or didn’t do about what she knew or didn’t know has no bearing on the culpability of the former administration. It might be relevant to her culpability, although I doubt she has any. It is definitely relevant to her ability to claim the moral high ground, which she now cannot do. She can just shut her mouth and let someone who was not briefed take up that cause. Sorry, Nan, you have to sit this one out.
Posted by: Compared2What | May 7, 2009 10:22 PM
Aloha rhahn2, Desperate Conservatives???
I think “Amused Conservatives” is a better description. We don’t hate like our Liberal Counterparts. We don’t practice charactor assassination like our Liberal counterparts.
We stand amazed at the number of Liberal Jerks who can’t let go of W or Dick C., and amused that they aren’t aware of the disaster the USA is headed for under the guise of “Change U can Believe.”
Conservatives will always survive, its in our genes. Liberals are like, lemmings always looking for a judas goat to lead them over the cliff, into victemhood…and we enjoy watching the debacle that always occurs under liberal, dare I say it, leadership(?).
Mahalo
Posted by: Warrior07 | May 7, 2009 10:24 PM
“Well lets take a long look at that Briefing list of Dems that were briefed and to this day keep lying about it:
Nancy Pelosi
Bob Graham
John Rockefeller
Jane Harman
Harry Reid
*Full Committee
John Murtha
Evan Bayh
Russ Feingold
Diane Feinstein
Carl Levin
Barbara Mikulski
And this is just the list being briefed prior to 11/16/06 **** They have known for a very long time well before the election.”
Nitepost.
Thats allot of Democrats who should be investigated on what they knew and when they knew it.
Posted by: PupsMcCann | May 7, 2009 10:25 PM
We should send Obama and all the left wingnuts to California and close the borders with Nevada, Arizona and Oregon. Let them live their and party in their own eutopia. That will keep the rest of us safe. lol
Posted by: mugsy511 | May 7, 2009 10:25 PM
If it is torture, and that word does not appear from journalism, is it torture? Is journalism hedging its bets?
Who is the final arbiter of the term, international law, our own law? What do our laws say, what does international law say?
Ought journalism not be reporting that?
Posted by: khmaio | May 7, 2009 10:39 PM
SURPRISE SURPRISE, PELOSI IS A LIAR! THIS IS A DUMMIE THAT CANNOT TELL TRUTH FROM HER FICTION SO LYING FOR HER IS PATHLOGICAL. SHE NEEDS TO BE WATERBOARDED DAILY TO REVEAL HER DECPTIONS, FRAUD AND CORRUPTION THAT IS HER NORMAL ACTION. SHE MAKES ALL DEMS LOOK BAD AND THE SPEAKER’S POSITION A JOKE. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK NANCY! JUST LIKE YOUR MAFIA PAPA!!!
Posted by: jblosage | May 7, 2009 10:40 PM
Nancy Pelosi is a lying sack of sh&tt. Yu know it, I know it, she knows it…get rid of this evil witch!!!!!!
It will all come back and bite Obama in the butt…he is cut from the same cloth. They will all get there’s and it won’t be pretty!
Posted by: anaf | May 7, 2009 10:44 PM
I don’t care what side of the aisle you fall on, playing political games on this subject like that is as reprehensible as it gets. Her flat out denials that we all now know to be outright lies speak for themselves. Look politics is a dirty business, and I can understand trying to play for political points on issues like healthcare or gun control. But this is our very safety and the safety of all our honorable men and women that put their lives on the line every day for us. Just despicable. And just for the record, Sarah Palin’s son is one of those brave men serving in our armed forces. I know The Left’s opinion of them is rather condescending (considering they brand them as potential “right wing extremists), and I know she’s a “joke”, but at least she’s got skin in the game. It’s incredibly hard for The Left to give her credit for anything but hopefully we can all at least acknowledge that.
go to myangryelphant dot com for more. www.myangryelephant.com
Posted by: myangryelephant | May 7, 2009 10:44 PM
The corrupt politician and career criminal, Nancy Pelosi, was elected to Congress from San Francisco with only 149,000 votes (2006 Election), not enough to get elected as Mayor of New York (754,000 votes in 2005). Nonetheless, this traitor is arguably the most powerful woman in the world. Meanwhile the US Main Sewer Media permits her to act as if she has been elected to represent the United States of America. No – I did not vote for her, nor did 122 MILLION (non-San Franciscan) voters that voted in the 2004 Presidential election, 62 MILLION of which voted for George W. Bush.
Posted by: Americanus | May 7, 2009 10:46 PM
The only difference between a democrat and a republican politician is the route to power. The desire to rule is the same.
If we allow these people who desire power at any cost to rule, we get what we deserve…
“Same as the old boss”
Posted by: NoRespect | May 7, 2009 10:46 PM
Wag your finger again, Nancy! Say it LOUDER, Nancy! “I did not sex with that waterboard …”
Posted by: WilliamJB | May 7, 2009 10:48 PM
Wouldn’t it be nice if the enemy waterboarded our soldiers and then we could trade our captives for their captives. Why is this crap crazy? Do we want Americans to be saints when the enemy does not take captives alive. How could we be so stupid and how can Obama have credibility when he is a liar and a traitor.
Posted by: rick1013 | May 7, 2009 10:48 PM
These Dems are all Liars and will say anything to get and keep power…
Now Wash Post tell the world that these same Dem Liars are the morons who ran the economy into the ground with their manipulation of the mortgage system (Fann/Freddie) and the banks with their social engineering scheme to give loans to illegals and those who could ill afford them. The dem Congress ran the budget for two years before the election and this is THEIR mess. This is a DEM ECONOMY.
The press should be shot for treason for it’s refusal to tell the people the truth about the economy and much else.
Let’s watch the MSM ignore this tonight.
Someone at the the Washington Post have awakened to realize what this koolade press is doing to the country, their 401K’s and future generations.
Posted by: Meme27 | May 7, 2009 10:52 PM
As a person who feels this whole approach to criminalize the Bush admin’s actions is greatly misguided, I am very happy that Pelosi was briefed and then lied about it. This witch hunt is now over.
Its especially sweet to see how even the most “profound” moral concerns of the Democrats will be quickly swept aside as one of the chosen ones is threatened.
This will be all the proof I need that concerns about torture were really just rancor against the Bush Admin.
Its just too bad that these people have seriously misled the American people. They used shabby sophistry to call into question the morality of those that protect this country and saved thousands of lives. The media is complicit in this libel.
Posted by: scott3 | May 7, 2009 10:53 PM
I know she is lying I saw her lips moving…… As long as she is running the House this type of leadership will continue!
Posted by: rgroce | May 7, 2009 10:55 PM
You’re surprised here?
2002: The Democrats voted for the war, because thats what the polls told them to do.
2006: The Democrats campaigned against the war, because thats what the polls told them to do.
Nancy was for waterboarding before she was against it.
Typical liberal hypocrite. She’ll do and say anything to get her and fellow Democrats elected and keep them there.
And the American people trusted Democrats with national security???
They’ll abandon the troops in the field if it gets them votes.
Posted by: RaiderDan | May 7, 2009 10:58 PM
It is clear that Pelosi knew what was going on and did not object. No matter what she now says, she is simply trying to appease her far left constituents by lying about what she knew. Obama and his cabal of DC leftists are putting this country in ever greater danger day by day. The so-called torture issue is small potatoes when it is compared to the massive budget cuts in our national defense budget. The real question is, “Do you feel safer now, or did you feel safer two years ago?” I felt a lot safer two years ago when I had a president who really cared about our national security and who made no apologies about it.
Posted by: PatrickCurry | May 7, 2009 10:58 PM
Is this the same Nancy Pelosi that constantly trashed George Bush calling him every slanderous name in the book. Is this the same Nancy Pelosi who is the democratic house speaker who has all the power in the world….she tell the president what to do…..but the Pope chewed out her liberal rearend. Is this the same Nancy Pelosi that has a lifetime supply of botox. If this is then she needs to catch a bus or rent a car and go back to the left coast
Posted by: drcusmc | May 7, 2009 10:58 PM
Republicans are very confused. I am a life long Democrat. I think I can speak for every other Democrat when I say that if Nancy Pelosi gave the OK for torture, she should go to jail. Repugnicans don’t get it. They are so loyal to their party, they want to give their “leaders” a free pass outside the law. Dems don’t think their leaders are Gods, and if they break laws, SEND ‘EM TO JAIL. Repugnocrats, on the other hand, seem to idolize their leaders, and, unlike Dems, if their leaders break laws, they don’t seek their dismissal and incarceration. Refusicans rearrange the American Experiment such that their leaders are not constrained by legal codes and laws, because what they do they do “from the heart.” Dems believe that corrupt pols, of any stripe, need to go to jail, hence the idea of releasing papers etc.
Posted by: owlk | May 7, 2009 11:00 PM
WHAT? Nancy was lying? Whoda thunk it?? I’ll have to listen to NPR and see if this really is true…
Posted by: fourechodog | May 7, 2009 11:01 PM
TERM LIMITS, TERM LIMITS, TERM LIMITS!!!! Two terms then throw the bums OUT!!!!
This country did not vote for Ms Pelosi. She does not represent this country. She represents San Francisco.
THROW THE BUMS OUT!!!!!!!
Posted by: bobster01 | May 7, 2009 11:03 PM
OWLK,
Don’t hold your breath.
There may be a DEM that is held to task, but all the DEMS briefed that LIED on this won’t be held legally accountable.
Posted by: nitewinde | May 7, 2009 11:05 PM
Pelosi? Intelligence Committee? Mickey Mouse’s dog, Pluto, would have been a far better choice.
We are in the very best of hands.
It would be appropriate for the Speaker of the House to report San Fran Nan to the Ethics Committee for lying to Americans.
Oh, yeah, San Fran Nan IS the Speaker of the House. And the Ethics Committee is just for show, created and manipulated by San Fran Nan herself.
Plus, a politician who lies to Americans isn’t committing an “ethical” violation, anyway. Lying politicians are just SOP.
Indeed, Pelosi is likely up for a Whopper award, or at least some wall certificate, for her sustained lying under pressure.
Posted by: JRS2U | May 7, 2009 11:05 PM
This lady knows all about torture techniques–and your little dog, too.
Posted by: vlscpa | May 7, 2009 11:08 PM
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! We need to clean house in 2010. I’ll do my part by voting against Dodd (I voted for him when I live in CT and I’m moving back there later this year) but you people in MA (Franks) and CA (Pelosi) and PA (Murtha) and all over the country have to do your part too.
Posted by: daleinfl | May 7, 2009 11:09 PM
These days with all the gaping wounds in politics and the media I can’t help but ask ‘Who would want to be a politician anyway?’
Then I see the likes of Nancy Pelosi and realize we all need to be politicians and give her a year to get the hell out of Dodge!What an unabashed embarassment.
Posted by: rmoorejr30 | May 7, 2009 11:10 PM
suck it Dumb-o-rats.
Posted by: DrPearl | May 7, 2009 11:13 PM
If the Dems want to bring this stuff then the information that they had their hands in it every step of the way will also come out. They agreed with every decision Bush made from going to war to torture. There is no differance between them and Bush except Bush was more honest. You always knew where he stood on issues.
Posted by: jschmidt2 | May 7, 2009 11:13 PM
It should be no surprise to anyone with a brain, Pelosi is a liar and should resign. She makes me sick every time I see her ugly mug . She is a disgrace to this country.
Posted by: BC1358 | May 7, 2009 11:13 PM
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The Obama officials recommend that the three lawyers who gave advise to the Bush administration on how to interrogate war detainees should lose their state licenses. No criminal prosecution. That should send shivers down the backs of ANYONE who gives ANY advise to the OBAMA government. Under what theory is it a crime to give advise? www.freedomOK.net
“Widespread cutbacks at local cities and schools are being hastened by yet another bad year for real estate and projections of an unprecedented plunge in property tax revenue.
“New county estimates suggest falling home values will push taxes owed on property down for the first time in at least 40 years. Revised forecasts by the Assessor’s Officer, which has reassessed thousands of county homes at lower values over the past year, indicate that property tax collections in the coming fiscal year, beginning in July, will drop 3.3 percent over the current year.“The real estate market was inflated,” said county Administrative Officer Pat Busch. “There was a bubble and that bubble has burst.”
The county, as well as cities, schools and special districts, rely on property taxes for as much as 20 percent of their annual budgets. While just a few years ago many public finance directors across the county were seeing double-digit growth in property tax revenues, most are now slated for declines.
“This decline increases the level of service reductions and cuts that we have to plan for,” said Marc Pimentel, finance director for the city of Watsonville.
Watsonville is expected to see its property tax revenue fall nearly 12 percent next year. That estimate has prompted city officials to revise their projected shortfall up to $4.5 million of their $37 million total budget, and propose 10 percent pay cuts for employees.
Property tax revenues from the unincorporated communities, meanwhile, which make up the largest portion of the tax pool, are expected to drop 3 percent. Revenues in the city of Santa Cruz are expected to decrease 0.8 percent.
The new estimates have forced cities and schools from Santa Cruz to the Pajaro Valley Unified School District to seek even deeper cuts than what they had planned just a month ago.
Earlier this year, the Assessor’s Office released a slightly rosier projection for the property tax roll, suggesting next year’s revenue would remain about the same as the current year, not fall.
County Assessor Gary Hazelton declined to comment on the new estimates but said his office, in the wake of the real estate slump, has reassessed more than 15,000 properties. Those reassessments have prompted the projected slip in the tax roll.
Collections for the current year are expected to be $347 million, up from $336 million in 2007-08 and, if the new projections hold, also above the roughly $336 million slated for 2009-10, according to the Auditor-Controller’s Office.
“Negative growth sounds like a weird term, but that’s what it is,” said Auditor-Controller Mary Jo Walker.
The expected 3.3 percent decline would be the first time the county has seen a downturn in property tax revenues since current record-keeping began in 1968-69. The previous low is a growth rate of 2.76 percent in 1996-97 when the economy was similarly sluggish.
Santa Cruz Finance Director Jack Dilles, who faces a $6.5 million hole in his city’s $75 million budget, doesn’t see much good ahead. He expects homes in Santa Cruz County will continue to be assessed at lower rates and that property tax revenues will slip again in the year after next.
“Lots of folks are still thinking we’re trying to find bottom,” he said. “I don’t like being such a pessimist because I’m an optimist at heart, but it just looks pretty gloomy right now.”
County’s Property tax growth:
For the first time in at least four decades, Santa Cruz County is projecting a decline in property tax revenues, meaning cities, schools and special districts will be forced to make additional cuts.09-10: – 3.3 percent *
