The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
God Bless you, Barack Obama, and be with you, right with you, in the days ahead.
Many people who know me and my pioneering equality work in the UK will find this post, in particular, rather strange, and might, in fact, fall off their chairs in some surprise! But that is the beauty of evolving in life from one stage to another. If we are learning, we are always developing and always changing perspectives. If we are entrenched in what we believe and have closed minds, we've stopped learning and are in danger of solidifying into fossilised rocks of dubious certainty. It has to be far more exciting to learn!
Being on a holiday in Chicago by myself has allowed for a lot of free thinking time and I believe the most profound thought I might have had on the whole trip was triggered by a comment from a member of an online diversity group I had joined. Some members had not taken kindly to comments by two other French members and had blasted them somewhat for their views. One member, in particular was so upset by this, she wrote:
"I am very disenchanted with a group entitled Diversity for Obama that does not welcome diverse comments from its members and does not stop to think that everyone may not be familiar with email etiquette."
She had made an excellent point which immediately gave me a new insight into my own work, as I had spent the last 15 years advocating diversity in very strong terms. Retired from it now, it was easier to see the wood from the trees and appreciate that accepting true diversity, not the cosmetic form like our recent 'Black History Month' etc., actually comes with a cost for each group/individual.
Sen. Obama becoming the next president of the United States of America is sure to bring the world together and increase our commonalities and share values for the sake of mankind.
No song reminds me better than the "we are the world song" of the 80's as I reflect on what Obama's candidacy portend for humanity beginning from home.
Take the time to listen once more to this oldies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcrwu6WGoMs
God bless USA
God bless Obama & Biden
The nation was ready for a change.
It had been through a depression, a war, and sixteen years of government by the same political party. The incumbent was an unpopular man who had been a "last choice" pick four years earlier for the Vice-Presidency. The challenger was an intelligent, charismatic, well-spoken and experienced governor of a major state who had been nominated once before and whose time had finally come. Everything was in place, the polls looked great, and on election night, the media was so certain of the challenger's imminent victory that a major American newspaper reported that he won before all the votes had come in.And then Thomas Dewey lost. The great hope of the Republican Party failed to take the presidency away from Harry Truman, a man who inherited the office in the shadow of Franklin Roosevelt.Fast forward sixty years, and we Obama supporters find ourselves in a similarly dangerous situation. The polls look great, and our opponent looks like a beaten man who made a bad choice for a running mate, and can't seem to do much of anything right. Our guy looks presidential, and no one can deny he has the charisma of a classic American leader. The whole world wants him to be elected. But just as in 1948, the only thing that matters is the final vote count. Not polls, not charisma, not clever slogans. And if we do not work every day to until November 4th to win this election, as if we were the ones who were ten points behind, we could well find ourselves mourning a numbing loss of the White House the next day.If you're young, it's so easy to feel over-confident about all of this. Hell, even if you're old it's easy. It's so obvious that Obama is the best choice for the job, right? How could anyone not see that? But many don't, and many won't, and you and I will never understand why they won't, because we just don't think that way. What I'm trying to say to everyone who reads this is that we can lose this election. The only way to prevent that is to resist the temptation to believe that we have already won it. The media is singing into our ears about how great our campaign is, how well-funded and well-organized we are. How naturally presidential Obama looks and sounds. Don't believe it. Work as if we have nothing and need to gain everything. Speak passionately but patiently to people who are not yet convinced that Obama is the right choice to lead the nation. We need them to join us if they can. If you are living in a part of your state where our victory is very clearly assured, then consider going to another part of your state where it's an uphill battle, and your help is desperately needed. This election symbolizes deep change on many levels, but only one of them has to do with the election. We are at a point of cultural and generational change in this nation that will take place no matter what the result of the election may be. The people who remember the Great Depression are now all near 80 or older. The youthful generation of the 1960s that we still see in films and television shows, the ones who are often seen as eternally youthful hippies; they are now all near or over 60. So change is going to come; the question for us is will we get the political leadership we want to steward us through those other kinds of inevitable changes.Time has done its part; it's up to us to do the rest. As Barack Obama has said from the very beginning, it's not about him, it's about us. He can do nothing unless we make him the next President.Let's get out there and make the change we want.
Andrew Hammer is a writer, speaker and activist with over fifteen years of experience as a consultant on faith and politics to progressive political parties throughout the world.
Full disclosure: I am a socialist. I have been a socialist ever since I could learn about and understand political ideas, and I'll be bold enough to say that I know better than most people in this country what that idea truly means. Even my Democratic friends who are sympathetic to the idea, don't quite understand that socialism is really not about rigid, centralized government control of the entire economy, or the absence of all enterprise. The politically astute Democrats I know look to the Nordic nations for their concept of socialism, as do I, but are often stunned when I inform them that over 70% of the Swedish economy is in private hands, and that successive socialist governments in that country actually allowed it to be that way while running the country for a mostly uninterrupted clip of eighty years. I'm shocked that the "S" word has been introduced into this increasingly nasty campaign in the way it has, especially after the partial nationalization of banks by what purports to be one of the most conservative capitalist administrations in American history. But as we have entered a political Alice-in-Wonderland scenario in the past few weeks, I feel compelled to attempt some kind of brief explanation as to why I, as a real-live, bona fide socialist, am not willing to claim Barack Obama with the word I use to describe my own politics.Let's look at a few things I would want as a socialist, and compare that to what Barack Obama is willing to give me as President. First and foremost, I want a health care system that is understood to be, and is structured as, an essential right of any self-respecting society. A system based upon the idea that in order to have a chance in an increasingly competitive global economy, a society must commit to maintaining a healthy workforce, one that does not have to worry about their being and staying healthy. In the same way that most of us agree that providing basic education to children is a good idea, I do indeed want the government to create, and guarantee to me and all others, rich and poor, a national health insurance system on either the Canadian or British model, which takes the profit motive out of the matter of people's health entirely. Barack Obama has no intention of giving that to me, and in fact, I was reluctant to support him when he first declared his candidacy because I thought his health care proposal leaned too far to the right. Unlike John McCain, he wants to provide Americans with some kind of health care, a plan that is better than what we currently have, but nothing that could even be remotely described as socialist. And let's consider education. As a socialist, a publicly funded grade school education is not enough for me. I want publicly funded universities, so that those with the merit and aptitude can attend college without regard to their ability to afford tuition. I want the concept of scholarships extended well beyond charities to the public sector, so that communities and states can fully fund the best students in their area and send them to the best colleges in the same way we send our young children to school each day.
This is a simple matter of reinvesting in ourselves and our future, in the same way that any successful and enterprising businessperson understands that "it takes money to make money," and that the next generation must be properly trained to take over if that business is going to grow. Obama has not promised that kind of public higher education to me, and until he does, he will not be a socialist in my eyes. Next I'm concerned about energy. For this socialist, the continued use of oil is way too detrimental to our environment, as well as to the necessary goal of energy independence from all oil cartels, and the foreign policy decisions that are derived from them. I do not want any more drilling anywhere for this substance that has caused so much harm to both humanity and nature for the past hundred years. I think the potential of humanity to go beyond purely profit-based fuel is enormous, and I want to invest in those individuals and institutions who will remove energy from the profit table, once again because energy is a basic need of modern society.
Let me be clear: I'm not at all against profit, or enterprise, or individuals becoming wealthy as a result of their ideas. But as with health care, I do want the profit motive removed as the primary incentive for innovation in human needs, and here again, Barack Obama is nowhere near addressing this concept. He has gone on record in support of more drilling on our coasts, and that can only benefit the very same petroleum companies that I would like to see made obsolete. Nothing whatsoever of appeal to socialists there.So what is the basis of this accusation that Obama is a socialist? Apparently it's based on three key ideas that Republicans have identified as being socialist: taxes, government intervention in the economy, and the notion of spreading the wealth around to those who have fallen on hard times. Of course the McCain-Palin campaign apparently now considers any form of taxation for the public good to be socialistic, so by their standards, even the Constitution is now a socialist document. [See the 16th Amendment, openly advocated by such rabid socialists as President William Howard Taft.]On the face of it, they've got him (and me). I do believe in all of those things, and Obama has in the past few days used those words —spreading the wealth around— and come out in favour of a government intervention in the economy. But let's look at that a bit closer. You see, I'm actually not in favour of the bailout. You know, that massive "nationalization" that we socialists are supposed to like so much, if the Right is to be believed.
Why?
Because there is absolutely nothing socialist about it. True, it is the largest government intervention in the economy in the history of this nation, which I can't resist emphasizing again was carried out by an administration that talks like the John Birch Society while putting the former Soviet Union to shame in terms of spending. But the idea of a state taking money from its citizens, or here I want to say subjects, to prop up the failed decisions of the rich, is as old as Egypt.
While it's clever to use the phrase "socialism for the rich", there is nothing even remotely socialistic in robbing the poor and disadvantaged to fund the stupid irresponsibility and libertine habits of the unusually wealthy. In fact, this kind of behaviour on the part of any nation-state is exactly what gave birth to the socialist movement itself: the notion that the rich so badly misused the funds they stole from their subjects, that perhaps it was a good idea for the flow of funds to be reversed in the other direction. That brings us to the "spreading the wealth" part of the argument. Well, we socialists surely did not invent the idea, and I'm surprised that the Right would become so incensed over it in the first place. After all, for at least the past 1700 years, the Western world has been teaching itself the Judeo-Christian worldview as revealed in the Bible. Now, in addition to being the foundation of the moral code for the Western world, the Bible offers up a wealth of insights into this question of sharing the wealth, and not just in some idealistic notion of spiritual wealth or hope for wealth in the world to come. Of particular interest would be the Second Letter to the Corinthians, where Paul is talking to the Corinthian congregation about the poor Macedonians. The Macedonians have come upon hard times, but they're a hearty people, and they keep on giving it all they've got, even though they are truly suffering and don't really have much to spare. You might say their economy has take a turn for the worse. Paul asks the Corinthians, who have been doing very well, and are successful in everything they do, to share their wealth with the Macedonians. "It is not that that you ought to relieve other people's needs and leave yourself in hardship," the verse reads, "but there should be a fair balance—your surplus at present may fill their deficit, and another time their surplus may fill your deficit." Very interesting. That sounds a lot like "spreading the wealth around." But looking at the historical timeline, that's obviously not something we socialists can claim as our own; it's the teaching of the New Testament, which in this instance is also derived from a much older teaching in the Jewish Torah about that same idea. Viewed in that way, Barack Obama would appear to be more of a Christian or a Jew than a socialist. I wonder if the McCain campaign will now accuse my friend Barack of being a Christian. At least that accusation would, at long last, be true.
Andrew Hammer is a writer, speaker and activist with over fifteen years of experience as a consultant on faith and politics. He is Secretary General of the International League of Religious Socialists, an associated organization of the Socialist International, which works with people of faith in social democratic parties throughout the world.
The article below goes a long way to show the essentiality and power of judgment and the choices we make. McCain made the wrong choice of a running mate, appealing to just the Republican base when in reality he should have picked a candidate with national appeal.
Further more, the mere fact that he continue to insist that his decision was the best in spite of some of his surrogates suggesting otherwise clearly manifest his limitation and out of touch syndrome.
By and large America is not pragmatically ready for the candidacy of Sarah Palin with due respect to her what she has accomplished and of which I am happy for her.
Last week, Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor, said that Senator John McCain might now be on the verge of winning Pennsylvania — the mainly Democratic state where McCain is investing considerable time and energy in these final days of his presidential campaign — had he chosen Ridge as his running mate.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/27/america/27webnagourney.php
I am confident in Obama and the Biden ticket.
The need for a fresh start in America has grown markedly in the two years of this presidential campaign, and became imperative as the crippled financial system punishes workers, families and retirees in the country.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/10/18/2008-10-18_daily_news_endorses_obama_for_president_-3.html
Sure enough the entire world is anxiously waiting for the USA to once more lead the global effort of making our earth an abode of haven for mankind and in Obama we have the potential to fulfill wholly or partially our dream and and hope.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has opened up a 10-point lead over Republican opponent John McCain two weeks before the November 4 U.S. election, according to Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on Tuesday.
The poll found 52 percent of voters favor Obama compared with 42 percent for McCain, up from a 6-point Obama edge two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The 10-point lead is the largest in the Journal/NBC poll to date and represents a steady climb for Obama since early September, when the political conventions concluded with the candidates in a statistical tie, the newspaper reported.
The poll also found that the popularity of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has fallen. Voters are less likely to see the Republican vice presidential nominee in a positive light, and much more likely to report negative feelings, the Wall Street Journal said.
Forty-seven percent view Palin negatively, compared with 38 percent who see her in a positive light.
Fifty-five percent of voters say Palin is not qualified to be president, up from 50 percent two weeks ago.
The poll of 1,159 registered voters was conducted from Friday to Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
(Writing by Joanne Allen; editing by Chris Wilson)
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The Power of Life and Death is in Your Tongue
The Bible says that the power of life and death is in your tongue. Joel Osteen’s messages have the power of life. Just like a drug addict seeks their next fix, I seek the Word of God to make me high. When the Holy Spirit awakens the Word so that it is able to give my dead body life, I have my Word fix so that I can be ready to battle the barrage of words that I may encounter during the day that may kill my spirit.
Laughter is the best medicine. Brother Jesse Duplantis’ messages have the power to heal inner hurts. When King Saul was troubled he brought in David to play his harp and sing. Word junkies seek out people who will give them words to make them weak on the knees with the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Word is for you, then that Word empowers your inner spirit and makes your flesh tremble, hair stand up on your arm, all the endorphins in your body numbs your pain and releases serotonin in the brain so you feel happy. You have life.
Presidents have the glorious and honorable God given task of moving the heart of a nation with words. The nation has one heart as we are united. To discover the heart of a nation, presidents use words that will move all the people in the nation. The awesome task of finding those words comes when you understand the people. Like Forest Gump said, “I may not be a very smart man but I know what love is.” Everyone knows when the words they hear are words of love. God is love.
Freedom of Speech is a right of We The People, given to us by the Constitution of the United States of America. I am proud to be an American. There are millions of people living in the United States who are unable to vote (permanent residents, illegal immigrants, and unregistered voters). I am not sure, but I do not think those in prison or released felons can vote either. They depend on God to put the person in office that He wants to lead the greatest nation in the world.
Thank you Senator Barack Obama and his supporters, for giving us the honor and privilege to exercise our Freedom of Speech in this historic election by having public posts and by being able to list serve and e-mail thousands of people across the nation and world in a split second. We The People can be heard so quickly internationally and permanently through the internet system set up by this political machine.
Well, I listened to the Presidential Inaugural Addresses of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, President Kennedy, President Ronald Regan, President Bush, President Clinton, and our current President Bush. I put their speeches through the Word Test to see how many times there were words of life to move my body, soul, and spirit in one accord. Well, in both of our President’s speeches in 2001 and 2005 , there were more moments where Words of Life were able to move a nation.
As a teacher, I listened to C-SPAN's book TV on Saturday, where Vice President Chaney’s wife told about the book she had written about “We the People: the story of our constitution". Her words inspired me as she taught the children and they asked questions indicating they were thinking about the process of creating accurate illustrations for the book and researching interesting and accurate facts to include in the book . It seemed like the children felt that it was a fun text. It is a book that will help immigrants pass the citizenship test.
Another thing that inspired me as a teacher - I hear it on Fox news: in public schools in Washington D.C. they are paying children cash who earn good grades and also rewarding them with cell phones and cell phone minutes. God bless us as Americans as we seek to find innovative ways to motivate children who do not value education. Money is an international reinforcer and can increase test scores. We are motivated to work and to get raises. I am glad we are using effective motivators to produce results in public schools. I know these words may not please all adults but ask the children and see what they think about this idea. They are digital natives and the cell phone can be programmed like computers to deliver the essential elements of the curriculum in the form of video games so they can master the skills using their language. Teachers or adults who use books and blackboards will not be able to communicate as effectively with children who are raised up using technology.
The most inspiring thing I heard on television this week was that parents are teaching infants to read at the same time as they are learning to speak and they start life speaking and reading at the same time. The method is to use flash cards with words, say the words, and show the real life action or object to the child whose brain is busy creating synopsis or mental images that will be with the child for a life time.
I was buying some coffee when a lady told me there is a group of people who have been fasting and praying starting forty days from the election interceeding for God's will to be done in this election and so that we will extend our hand of protection to the unborn citizens of this country. This is an area that I am sensitive about as I have three children in heaven now, but two I have never seen or named. I love them and I want to hug them when I get to heaven and learn their names. I am donating my property in Arkansas to all the mothers who want to put a memorial to allow their aborted children to have a burial site. I was healed when I sang the song I learned at the Glorious Women’s Retreat at Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse Duplantis Ministries International Headquarters. These are the words of the song, “God has made everything glorious, so what does that make me?” We are glorious. We have the glory of God. God bless America.
© Lillene Ebanks
Self-esteem is the opinion we have of ourselves. If we believe we are wonderful, we have high self-esteem and if we think we are worthless, invisible and insignificant we carry around a low self-esteem which not only affects our potential, but also dictates the reactions of others. Gradually they pick up the negative body signals we send out and treat us accordingly.
Any feeling of well-being is controlled by how we feel about ourself. We are prone to more illnesses, more problems and more difficulties when our self-esteem is low because we tend to feel bad, laugh less, become more critical of our situation and others, often hate ourselves and systematically lower our resistance to cope with the rigours of life. Talk about walking disasters: with a lack of confidence we make far more mistakes because we become unduly anxious, especially if we are being watched, which reduces the quality of our performance.
A few years ago, I was absent-mindedly watching the regional news on television when I was suddenly rooted to the spot, overcome by feelings of surprise, elation and excitement. I had to share the moment with someone else and, in my rush to get my husband to see what was rapidly reducing me to a babbling state of incoherence, I knocked over the cup of tea, caught my jumper sleeve on the door handle and grazed my knee on the coffee table.
I had never seen anyone I actually knew on television before, and there, being interviewed large as life in front of me, was the owner of the local furniture shop who had sold us our dining room chairs only the week before. I was so thrilled, anyone would have thought that I was on the box. Television suddenly gave her superhuman status and, having actually spoken to her, that somehow made us part of the unfolding scene. For days I could talk of nothing else.
This event returned to mind when I received a Christmas card some months later from a girlfriend I hadn't seen in seven years. Her brief note said simply,"Saw you on television again recently and told everybody I knew you." Having seen me as a panel guest on a programme, she had reacted in exactly the same way, wanting to share vicariously in the brief moment of glory.
Seeing Barack Obama making his magnificent speech, surrounded by so many enthusiastic people who liked him, believed in him and was anxious for him to win, brought these experiences back vividly to mind. I felt I was there in the midst of those people, sharing that wonderful moment. It also reinforced the key part RECOGNITION plays in success in modern times because of our media age. If it is not confirmed by the public or the media in some way, success is not really defined in social terms. Having that recognition in all aspects of our lives is essential and it is clear that Barack now has his in abundance.
