DEAR BUBBE AND ZAIDYBy Howie GreeneOctober 15, 2008
I've been thinking a lot lately about my Uncle Milty. It usually happens this time of year around the High Holidays. He was the one who made sure I carried on the family tradition of going to shul, admitting my sins and asking for forgiveness before G-D. My father, being a Holocaust survivor abandoned his religion way before I was born. So it was left to the uncle.
This year, however, my wife had to drag me to Yom Kippur services. Why? Well, maybe it's because I've seen the people I respected the most, all of the bubbes and zaidies who put up with bigotry, racism, religious zealotry and Nazis abandon the basic tenets of what it means to be a Jew.
With all due respect to Sarah Silverman, I do not see this as a laughing matter. It is impossible for me to justify how "my people" will not vote for Barack Obama because he has a funny name, or, worse, to paraphrase Jackie Mason, is a "fancy schvartze."
Have you become so comfortable, Bubbe and Zaidy down in your South Florida condo communities that you have completely forgotten from whence you came? Even though, on these, the holiest of holy days on the Jewish calendar we promise our redeemer that we will never forget? That we will be tolerant, and righteous and KIND?
My Uncle Milt was once turned down for a job at Con Edison, the New York-area utility. It was the late 1930's, his father had just passed away, and it was up to him to support his immigrant mother and his younger brother and sister. He dropped out of high school. There were jobs at Con Ed. The interviewer asked him if his last name, Grosswirth, was German? Uncle Milty said, "It's Jewish." The interviewer insisted it was German…my uncle, however, did not relent. The interviewer told him that Con Ed would not hire Jews so please say he was German. Well, my uncle never got the Con Ed gig.
All of you, my dear Bubbes and Zaidies, have family stories like these. When did you forget? How did you forget?
Some of you won't vote for Barack because of his name. Okay. Did you know that Barack is the Muslim equivalent of Baruch…Hebrew for Blessed? The beginning of EVERY blessing to G-D we ever utter. Some of you have said you'd vote for him if he changed his name to Barry. WHAT? When did we forget as a people, our being persecuted for our names? How many times did your name exclude you from employment, club membership or staying at a hotel?
Surely my family wasn't the only one asked to display our "horns" by ignorant Southerners back in the 1960's. Surely my family wasn't the only ones that were told to go find a "jew hotel." At what moment did you forget this, Bubbe and Zaidy?
Not voting for Senator Obama because you are afraid is an insult. It's an insult to those who were murdered because of our names and our religion. It's an insult to those of us who came after you. To vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin simply because they are not Barack Obama is not only a shondeh, it is quite simply, ignorant.
McCain/Palin have come to South Florida to scare you. To drop the name of the Holocaust on your laps. They've intimated that Obama consorts with terrorists. That he is not a friend of Israel. But here is the record:
Gov. Palin belongs to a church that believes Jerusalem is the launching pad for the Rapture. Gov. Palin sat idly by in this church while leaders of Jews for Jesusproclaimed that Israel was getting what it deserved because they refused to acknowledge Jesus as the messiah. Gov. Palin is not a friend to our people.
Sen. McCain, for all of his "straight talk" has advisers on his campaign staff that have records as lobbyists for Saddam Hussein and Saudi Arabia.
And the most heinous is that these two Americans who claim to put "Country First" have spent the past two weeks whipping up crowds into frenzy with hatred for Obama. Didn't those hate-filled rallies with cries to do harm to Obama remind you of anything, Bubbe and Zaidy? Have you finally forgotten the Nazi rallies in the 1930's that were used to whip up crowds into similar frenzies while blaming the Jews of Europe for all of its economic ills?
Surely, Bubbe and Zaidy, you recall the days of McCarthyism, where scores of Jews were blacklisted from ever working again in this nation because they went to a meeting or a party that happened to have a Socialist or Communist as a guest. And Jewish lives and livelihoods were wiped out because of our names or loose, quite loose, associations.
That is why your refusal to vote for Barack Obama because of his race and name is so perplexing and disturbing. When did we become the very people who threatened our existence?
Bubbe and Zaidy…listen to me. You owe this to us. You gave us eight years of George Bush. Okay, maybe it was an accident. But, you had your Franklin Delano Roosevelt whom you no doubt still revere. Barack Obama is OUR FDR! Let us have our chance to have the America I thought you always wanted for us.
I don't know how my Uncle Milty would have voted. He's gone now. But, I DO know he would not have dismissed Barack Obama because of his name, race or out of unsubstantiated fear!
Look, if you want to vote for McCain/Palin because you think they would be a better team, then go vote. But, if you are voting for them because they are not a fancy schvartze with a scary name, then PLEASE, on Election Day, stay home, for us. Or better yet, find a good mah jongg or pinochle game and leave the future to your little bubbelehs.
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Jack Lifton of "Resource Investor" Wrote:
"
Lithium. As for lithium for large scale batteries for vehicle propulsion I need only to point out the obvious. It is estimated by General Motors that a typical lithium technology battery based vehicle propulsion system will require 1 kg of lithium. World production of lithium in 2007 was 25,000 metric tons, and the largest single producer was the Chilean company, SQM, a subsidiary of POS, Canada’s Potash of Saskatchewan. SQM produced 10,000 tonnes. The U.S. consumes a total of around 5,000 tonnes of lithium a year, 20% of the world’s total. Almost none of this is used to manufacture batteries! In fact, it is estimated by the USGS that although existing battery use may be the fastest growing use of lithium the total used worldwide today for this purpose, batteries, is less than 13%, or 6,500 tons.
There is no surplus or deficit of lithium today. In fact, its price has dropped in the last year, albeit by only less than 5% a kg. Since the lithium supply is in balance it is logical that the predicted use for batteries for passenger vehicle propulsion will need to come from new production. Lithium however, is produced by a laborious energy-intensive process utilizing the sun’s energy to slowly evaporate the water from lithium-rich subsurface brines brought to the surface and allowed to evaporate until they are concentrated enough to be separated for further processing. It typically takes 18 months for completion of this natural process. Speeding up this process by building and heating containment vessels would be so enormously expensive due to the volumes of material to be treated. So it would be uneconomical unless the price were to increase dramatically and permanently. In addition Chile, like the U.s., requires a long regulatory approval process before a new ‘mine’ can be built or operated. SQM is now in the fourth year of a five year process and so it will be able to begin producing an additional 5,000 tonnes of lithium annually by 2010.
Assume that all of this new lithium from SQM can be used for vehicle propulsion batteries. This means that one must additionally assume that such a battery will have been developed and ready for mass production in 2010, then there would be enough lithium just from this source for 5 million vehicles. Each uses a 1 kg lithium charge in its battery system. Note that the global demand for motor vehicles in 2010 was predicted earlier this year to be 100 million units.
Unfortunately if the world’s economy goes into a downturn then the enormous cost of the first lithium batteries-today estimated at $1,000 a kilowatt of output where a Chevrolet Volt will need a 16 KW battery-will certainly inhibit their mass production or the further expansion of lithium production until it is clear that the new demand generated is permanent. Investors and automotive greens take note: Lithium prices and demand have been recently flat while the prices for the rare earth metals and the nickel and cobalt used for the production of nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries for the Toyota Prius and the new Honda Fit hybrids have been climbing steadily. I think that the market for technology metals is telling us that In a period of economic downturn it will be proven technologies that are mass produced not unproven ones.
Naturally the U.S. Congress is subsidizing the further development of technologies limited in ultimate scope by natural resource limitations and simple economics. No one will buy a Chevrolet Volt with a 40 mile range on its unproven lithium battery if the only incentive is a $7,500 tax credit against an expenditure of $40,000 - $45,000 for the car when they will be able to get a Toyota Prius with a range of 500 miles for $25,000 with a battery of proven long duration and reliability extending to nearly a decade-long warranty.
And, if no one mass produces a car using a lithium battery then no additional lithium production will occur since it will not be a bankable project."
PA Women for Obama Invite You to CHANGE ROCKS A Very Special Acoustic Appearance By: Bruce Springsteen Saturday October 4th, 2008 Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 20th and 22nd Streets Philadelphia, PA Gates open: 2:00 p.m. Program starts: 3:30 p.m. FREE AND OPEN TO PENNSYLVANIA RESIDENTS & STUDENTS For ticket info, visit: http://PA.barackobama.com/Springsteen
McCain seems to get it, but Barack does not.Barack said that he would address our energy dependence as the third or fourth item on his list of important issues.When asked where he would make cuts in his budget, he said he would have to postpone some of the programs he would want to make us energy independent.McCain on the other hand seemed to realize that our nation is at risk, and that more than any other issue - our dependence on fuels from Russia, the middle east and Venezuela put our nation at EXTREME RISK of CATASTROPHIC failure.
If you think the bank crisis is bad, you ain't seen nothing. A disruption of our oil supply is going to make the bank crisis look like a walk in the park.
If the conservatives have a different idea, listen to them and use the best parts of their plan in a compromise plan that fights this problem on many more than one front phased in over several months.
Bi-partisan does not mean having a filabuster proof majority, it means listening to the other side and taking what they say into consideration.
It is time to work together.
If Obama goes on and speaks alone at the debate he may get the spotlight for the moment, but the flag waving crowd will drown out what ever gains he makes in the following weeks.
Scrap this debate and wait for the next scheduled debate. Foreign policy is not a winner this year anyway.
There are many issues facing this nation, but to me, the economy, our security and our prosperity are all dependent on energy independence. Without energy independence our future is at risk.
I was called this weekend by the Obama campaign to answer a poll.
Among the questions was what is the most important issue in this campaign.
Energy independence was not even on the list!!!
Since I have no voice in this campaign and Energy dependence is not a priority here I will be donating my money and time to NON-Partisan groups determined to save this country and its future by insuring that out elected officials wake up and start addressing the issue of energy independence.
As the first line in my profile I think it only fitting that I write a blog about the futile use of my own blog.
Yesterday I saw the first commercial about my last blog entry. There has been no response from the Obama Campaign.
I have several good ideas how this could be countered, first and foremost by making a joke out of the accusation and going after the people responsible for the ads themselves. PR is not my profession, so I can only imagine that people who do this for a living should be able to handle something like this, especially when they have MONTHS of advance warning that it is comming.
It never ceases to baffle me when I see the Obama campaign get caught in apparent surprise by these things.
Personally, I have stopped bothering to look out for this junk - why bother when no one seems to be interested until it is too late.
While there is not chance in hades that I will vote for John McCain, I am not encouraged by what I see from the Obama campaign. It looks too much like the Kerry Campaign.
On a last note I would like to add that in my opinion there are only two things that need to be addressed in earnest by the next president, first and foremost energy independence (the only thing preventing this from happening within 10 years is leadership) secondly healthcare, it is broken for a vast portion of americans and needs to be fixed.
Hopefully I will see something start to happen so I can feel comfortable enough to feel like I am not throwing my money away should I choose to contribute again.
For easy reference, I thought I'd post the upcoming debate schedule here, as it is hard to find anywhere else in the Obama site.
First presidential debate:Friday, September 26University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Vice presidential debate:Thursday, October 2Washington University in St. Louis, MO
Second presidential debate:Tuesday, October 7Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Third presidential debate:Wednesday, October 15Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
This morning, as Senator Hillary Clinton was preparing to endorse Barack Obama for President of the United States, I arrived in Newburgh, New York to work a voter registration event I’d learned about on www.mybarackobama.com. Having registered new voters in the Pennsylvania communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Milford, and as part of the Vote For Change effort in Buffalo, New York, it was nice to be able to be home and do what I’ve been doing elsewhere for many months.
Imagine my surprise when the first person to arrive at the event did so in a vehicle prominently displaying a Hillary Clinton bumper sticker! Imagine my further surprise when the other folks who worked the voter registration event all turned out to be folks who had also originally begun their efforts in this election cycle in service to the campaign of Senator Clinton!
As I had traveled to Maine and Vermont, so a counterpart had journeyed to New Hampshire. As I had participated in events in the Pennsylvania communities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, so too had she! My friends, we are blessed to have as allies so spirited, dedicated, and energetic supporters as those who had originally found the embodiment of their aspirations in Senator Clinton.
In the immortal words of Lennon: One thing I can tell you is you got to be free; Come together right now over me! In the perhaps equally immortal words of Sister Sledge: We Are Family!
Yes, we can!
I wish to help your campaign nomination for President.
On May 14, 2008, Bush says in a speech in Israel:
“America stands for peace. . . . we must understand the realities of the world in which we live. . . . We must be strong in the face of those who murder the innocent to achieve their objectives.”
Yet the current President does NOT stand for peace and, more importantly, he doen't understand. He has murdered more than 4,000 innocent people to achieve his political objective in Iraq.
If anyone knows how to get this message to his campaign headquarters, please advise.
In love and light,
Karena (and it's pronounced Ka-wren-a) Myers
On May 10th, Barack Obama launched Vote for Change, an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. And the hospitality of the good people of Buffalo, New York assured that I was able to take part in the start of this six-month voter registration drive.
Simply, by registering more voters and bringing more voices into the political process, we can shape the outcome of elections up and down the ballot this November. The idea is that the more Americans get involved, get registered and show up to vote on November 4th, the more we can change Washington. By facilitating the involvement of millions of new voters, we send a powerful message to the special interests that dominate the old politics: Yes we can!
I have now been so blessed as to have seized the opportunity to seek out people in communities in several different communities in several different States to register to vote. And it has been tremendously gratifying! Won’t you join me in registering new voters in your community? Hey, invite me to your registration drive, and we’ll do the work together! Fired up, and ready to go!
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 3 minutes ago
Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign.
Obama picked up the backing of five superdelegates, including Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who had been a Clinton supporter.
In addition, the American Federation of Government Employees announced its support for Obama. The union claims about 600,000 members who work in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments.
Obama, who won a convincing victory in the North Carolina primary and lost Indiana narrowly on Tuesday, has been steadily gaining strength in the days since.
Clinton also gained a superdelegate.
The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 268 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63.
In addition to Payne, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and two members of the Democratic National Committee from California announced they were supporting Obama.
"The election is over, everybody knows that. Obama has won," said Vernon Watkins, one of the two.
So, too, John Gage, president of the AFGE.
"Our people, I think, recognize the enthusiasm and vitality behind Senator Obama's campaign," he said in a statement.
"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," said Payne, who in a statement said that Clinton is a good friend and he still holds her in high regard. Clinton's new supporter was Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa. His congressional district voted overwhelmingly for the former first lady in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
Both Obama and Clinton have courted superdelegates in recent days in private meetings at party headquarters not far from the Capitol.
Despite Watkins' assessment, Clinton has shown no signs she is ready to quit the race. She is heavily favored to win Tuesday's primary in West Virginia, and is in the midst of a two-day swing through several other states with upcoming elections.
___
Associated Press Writers Jesse Holland and Matthew Daly in Washington and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects Obama total; UPDATES with Payne quote)
Some of you may already know this bit of information, but I stumbled across it today. You can find a great song about Obama that has apparently been out for at least a couple of months. It's really beautiful.
It's called YES WE CAN. Find it at www.google.com/s2/sharing/stuff?user=104655212047013244749
Peace, love & light.
Great Article about our Pike Obama Chairman Ryan. Way to go and JOB WELL DONE leading the way to get out the vote for Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday March 22nd!!
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/NEWS/804200329/-1/NEWS
