I wonder if anyone wonders how God feels? How painful it must be to watch His children fight each other over territory, beliefs, wealth and other material items. If we are all a part of God or a higher power, some energy source which creates and has the capacity of a love we humans cannot comprehend and I believe we are all a part of something much larger than ourselves, I can only imagine the agony He must feel. War, like cancer, is a disease and it seems we do nothing but feed it. We can build machines to destroy each other but we can't seem to help the starving and the truly needy. We spend billions of dollars to send people and objects into space but we cannot seem to take care of the human race. Have we lost the ability to truly communicate with one another? Why are our priorities aimed toward destruction instead of taking care of one another? All this energy wasted on such negative objectives, which have very little chance for positive outcome if we don't do something to save ourselves. Like feeding the hungry, offering free health care and creating a sense of compassion felt throughout the world. Even if the belief system is taken out of the equation, for the atheists and agnostics out there, shouldn't it still be common sense to take care of our own? Would you let your children or even your animals for that matter live in the horrible conditions some humans are subjected to? I know I wouldn't. I would do everything in my power to not only help my own family; I feel it would be second nature to help our neighbors as well. It feels as though we are racing towards something and I'm afraid it's our extinction. As long as we abuse the planet the way we do and let apathy be our guide, we are all one huge train wreck waiting to happen.
Months ago I commented: OFA needs to start sending the message that what was started with Barack Obama's election must be continued - his election was not a silver bullet where with one perfect shot he would fix politics. EVERY election is important and has consequences.
I also commented that I was very upset with the new tactic by those who want to discourage Barack Obama's supporters e.g. supporting the fringe and tea-partyers with lies and exageration to activate their base to come out for the midterm elections. The prediction is for this midterm to be like other midterms e.g. only the disgruntled participate.
I hear people are getting discouraged because nine months have passed and President Obama has not brought the change he promised. Remember he said: change is about us not him. Look at how he has been treated by members of both his party and the opposition. Lobbying money is stronger than anything we have except our numbers. We can't help him if we do not vote to support him every chance we get. This is how we create change! Without us he has little power to accomplish anything on his own. In Congress both members of our party and the other party must know we support him and will turn out for him when asked.
Now I sit at home waiting for tomorrow night when I expect to hear how President Obama's election was a fluck because the change he brings is not the change WE wanted and this is why his support is falling. Tomorrow's win by Republican's mascarading as Conservatives will embolden them to work even harder against him and any change he may attempt.
I also hate being misused by the Democratic Party! We are bombarded with emails for support and solicitation constantly. We should be treated as an asset that can be exhausted and used when we are really needed which is exactly the same concept we are trying to communicate about our troops and war.
Its too late to ask you to go vote with me tomorrow but I ask you to not let another election go by without going to the polls.
Thank you.
Seminole County Habitat for Humanity
Come to our Haunted House Fundraiser!!!!
Costume Contest!!!!! Kid Friendly!!!!Good Eats!!!!
$5.00 Admission and $5.00 Dinner
October 29, 30 & 31 - 6:00 - 10:30 PM
Haunted House for Habitat Houses in Seminole County, Florida or go to HabitatSeminole.org
Ask for Gayle (407) 696-5855 for more info.Come join us for a night of fright and delight! It's all for a great cause, as we seek to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make a decent shelter a matter of conscience and action - and there's no better way than by starting in our own community.
This good-time family event includes two haunted houses, games, rides, a costume contest, great eats and fun for all ages.754 Fleet Financial Court next to Big Tree Park in Longwood.Fl$5 Admission and $5 DinnerFor more information please visit HabitatSeminole.org
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-wyskida/why-im-done-with-whole-fo_b_259716.html
I will be literally putting my money where my mouth is...no more whole foods for me. Check out this link.
Liberal's can use this myth-information (part 2; 08/13/09)
Although I respect what President Obama is doing by being so professional and walking his talk as he calls to our better nature; I think that liberals could start health care myths and rumours of their own. One very easy annoucement is that Republicans intend to cut the social programs of social security and medicare to reduce the deficit. They will be keeping tax cuts and enacting a new capital gains tax cut. They will be eliminating these programs to pay for the tax cuts.
Truth: Medicare is Not Safe Even With No Action (part 1; 08/09/09)
Many of those who are so vocal at town halls appear to be in the social security age group. They don't want their medicare "touched" by government. They don't want the program that works for them changed. The truth is that there is no "status quo" in the future for social security or medicare. Combine the numbers of those who will be eligible for social security with the ever increasing costs of health care and the truth about the government deficit becomes clear that it will increase one way of the other: health care reform with an increase now or do nothing with an impact later. I can hear the demonstrations of the future talking about how providing health care for my mother is putting a debt on the heads of my children. This is the message that is not being addressed.
Town Mauls (part 2)
I realized that the 47% against health care reform contains the 45.7% that did not vote for President Obama in 2008. They do not want the change that the majority (54.3%) voted for. They were against the stimulus and are now yelling for "less government invovement" in healthcare. They believe the economy can only be fixed through "tax policy" and are also firm believers in the doom that comes from a large government deficit. They are the other side and will be out demonstrating on anything the President does that they consider as "change". We do need to listen to them but we can't let them prevent us from taking action.
I think that we should give them the opportunity to ask questions but we can't let them prevent us providing information. Perhaps we should actively call them on their shut down actions e.g. let them speak: challenge their incorrect information and ask them what they are proposing as an alternative. When they can't offer counter proposals ask them why they think nothing is the better option?
Shock and Awe Town Halls: base activation for 2010 (part 1)
I am very upset with this new tactic by those who want to discourage Barack Obama's supporter. I hear that elected republicans are supporting this action because it will activate their base to come out for the midterm elections. The prediction is for this midterm to be like other midterms e.g. only the disgruntled participate. OFA needs to start sending the message that what was started with Barack Obama's election must be continued - his election was not a silver bullet to fix politics. Every election is important and has consequences. Lets start by looking at incumbants who are most vested in the status quo.
Believe it or not, the reality of the situation in Cambridge is not race-based. It is about a personal sense of being disrespect and the response to them. This is the teachable moment. Race obscures the reality of the dynamics of the situation that happens in the US every day e.g. forced acceptance of authoritarian demands made by some individuals in public safety. Hypervigilance is defined as abnormally increased arousal, responsiveness to stimuli, and scanning of the environment for threats. Too many public safety employees come into situations primed to respond and reacting to individual responses in a negative way.
Perhaps the training we should be giving our public safety officials is sensitivity to and management of their own physiological state while being in the midst of an emotionally charged situation.
Why is government so inefficient? Because the “other side” (determined by the party in office) refuses to allow any division/department/program to be funded in order to operate adequately. The President asks for so much money to fund a program. The House and Senate each write a bill with their own pet projects in it. Then they reconcile the bills to get one that both can sign. During this process dollars are changed, removed, and added, yet the almighty anxiety of the “deficit” gets dusted off and trotted out. There was a time when business was better than government but that was years ago. That was before the decade of self-interest dawned on the US.
Now health care providers and insurers look more and more like the government e.g. pushed to do more with less. Add to that the fact that those at the top of government want to live the life of luxury like corporate leaders. They too who want more and more. Government employees used to get better benefits than the private because they earned less. Today our government leaders want more pay and the best benefits. Does it really matter who takes our money and gives us little value in return? I hate paying for either corporate executives or elected officials to live a life I won’t ever see. I prefer to give my money to the government to share among more like me than to businesses whose primary mission is greed and whose power is our purse.
Until we change ourselves those we elect to government we will not change anything because those at the top like it this way! We must stop accepting unchallenged incumbants and poor business practices.
Look at this example of government waste (I'm using very rough estimates but as my mother said: take care of the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves): Take Mike Pence who stated on C-span that the cost of his health insurance benefit is over $1,000 a month. The cost of a family health plan at my company is $800.00. Take the $200 difference times the 534 in congress (434 representatives and 100 senators) times 12 months. This is a measly $1,281,600 per year that my taxes are paying for individuals to have better benefits than me. Why not review the costs of health care benefits imbedded in our government and make them more like those of the common citizen?
Harry and Louise in 2009: Where is the picture of the crowded exam room with Maud lying on the bed, the doctor sitting beside the bed on a stool, and Harold standing off to the side looking concerned. On one side is Harold’s employer, his arms are around Harold’s shoulders. Standing next to the employer’s is his health insurance agent. The agent’s arm is around the employer’s shoulders. The agent is speaking to Harold. “Do you really want the government in here with us?”
I listened today to House Representatives give one-minute speeches. They all slipped the line “Where are the jobs” into their presentations. It was so obvious that this was a party strategy and subject of a talking points memo. Given the number of speeches decrying the stimulus plan, raising concerns about looming deficits, and taxing small businesses all as destroyers of jobs, I found myself wondering.
There had to be at least 25 speakers. If each speaker went out and helped even a small number of people create jobs for others then think of the ripple effect. It is not acceptable to allow any group to sit on the sidelines and cheer for defeat! They must be questioned about what they are each doing personally to create jobs through their elected positions. Yes, this is like the argument about “Republicans just saying no” but the creation of jobs is so important that no one can be excused from taking any action they could to create jobs. They can't get off the hook just by voting no and then hand wringing and naysaying. They have a fairly powerful job in their own right and how are they using it? How many jobs has Rep. Boehner personally saved/created in his district verses how many have been saved/created via the stimulus plan? It is up to everyone to get the citizens of our nation back to work not just the democrats in an elected federal position. It is also up to executives of global companies started here not just small businesses. No one should get a pass to sit on the side.
A Bush Administration investigation by a special prosecutor could drown out the republican opposition's drum beat about the negative potential of a looming deficit. People have been so exposed to republican negativity that they have become nervous about looking forward. Unfortunately it is also being echoed by Congressional Democrats. The message "Yes we can!" has been changed to "Yes, we can - but - can we really afford it?" We learned from the last administration that you could run large deficits but we did not learn how to run large deficits with a conscience e.g. an opposition party droning on about the negative potentials of those deficits.
If we are against starting a "tit-for-tat" process going forward by investigating a prior administration for "crimes", then forget it until we change the dynamics of party politics. If we are against the distraction component then get over it because we are losing to the distraction of "fear of the future". As the pressure we felt from our "fear of now" during December and January has been converted into a "fear of the future" over the last few months we may need a distraction to get us through now without fearing tomorrow and ceasing to act for change.
Now the chant is "Oh My God, beware of the Deficit"! Don't stop lobbying, get it out in the open by taxing it and using it for the benefit of all and not the select few. Tax corporate expenses that become mony spent to gain special access and consideration by Congress. Corporations despite the rights they have been given are not people. The expenses are not reasonable and necessary costs of doing business. Put a registration fee on lobbying firms and lobbyists based on their revenues and income. Tax gifts, donations, and contributions made to members of Congress by lobbyists. Define the term lobbyist so as to include any bundler of campain contributions who seek preferance through the act of bundling.
Lobbyists are "spending" 1.5 million on health care to get their Health Care "wants" to Congress. Access to money gives them an unfair advantage over me - my "voice" is too small to be heard. In return for cutting me out of the government law creation process at least reduce the debt I have to cover.
During the Bush adminstration there was never the same loud drum beat about the debt playing incessantly in the background. When was the Bush Adminstration ever told no to spending? How can democrats be so inept to not be able to move legislation with 72% of the public behind them. When were Republicans ever called on the games they played with spending like what they did for the war?
The difference between the two parties is their sense of "ownership of the truth". Republicans act like they own the truth about government, economics, race, etc. while Democrats just don't act that way.
I give up!!! The American Populace deserves no better than to go back to giving tax cuts to those who don't need them, providing social security to those who got theirs before they got out while bankrupting medicare as baby boomers start drawing on it, and giving lifetime health care to elected officals who are pocketing the 1.5 million dollars in gifts from lobbyists.
As a friend commented on me today - You may have challenged me to draw but I know I will win - unlike you I have nothing left to lose.
Read this book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. It talks about politicians who are being told they have been "chosen by God to lead". The author was on the Rachel Maddow show. Rachel was talking about the recent politicians in the news who are members of the "C Street Band". They live at a Christian (as in the Family) boading house on "C Street. The book is about a group who espouse a belief that "Godly, powerful rich men should get anything they want and they get to choose what they want to provide to those less favored". To put their belief about the way power should be wielded another way "more power to the powerful who have been chosen by God to be leaders with trickle down to others".
BOOK REVIEW: Checking in on a friend's brother at Ivenwald, a Washington-based fundamentalist group living communally in Arlington, Va., religion and journalism scholar Sharlet finds a sect whose members refer to Manhattan's Ground Zero as "the ruins of secularism"; intrigued, Sharlet accepts on a whim an invitation to stay at Ivenwald. He's shocked to find himself in the stronghold of a widespread "invisible" network, organized into cells much like Ivenwald, and populated by elite, politically ambitious fundamentalists; Sharlet is present when a leader tells a dozen men living there, "You guys are here to learn how to rule the world." As it turns out, the Family was established in 1935 to oppose FDR's New Deal and the spread of trade unions; since then, it has organized well-attended weekly prayer meetings for members of Congress and annual National Prayer Breakfasts attended by every president since Eisenhower. Further, the Family's international reach ("almost impossible to overstate") has "forged relationships between the U.S. government and some of the most oppressive regimes in the world." In the years since his first encounter, Sharlet has done extensive research, and his thorough account of the Family's life and times is a chilling expose.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Phrases like "group complexion" and "organizational fit" have become accepted. Yet they are ways that have been found to allow small minded people to maintain the comfort of their own cultural identity within a very small protective bubble. Without diversity groups and organizations cheat themselves because they do not expereince the whole range of human conditions & expereinces and the unique gifts bestowed by those events.
I am sick and tired of begging when accessing MY employment benefits and I am tired of big companies who pay top management so much that they can not afford to staff their consumer contact positions adequately. It's time to throw them all out of this country, they do not bring value to our daily activities they only feed on my wallet like the parasites they are. No economy has to be better than jumping through their hoops on a daily basis. Fix health care and break the control of the employer over the life of the employee.
I always ask questions and I will tell you I don't know if I don't.
Takes me back to asking about stuff nobody wants to talk about.
How is it a great man as this goes without mark in my neighborhood?
I go and march anyway.
Back when we lived in the cold of winter, it was a proud day to get out in the cold
and march down the street.
The Cops and the Civic groups would put on colors and hold a banner and were smiling, proud.
Here I wonder what time zone, what time warp and why.
Florida still has a long way.
I imagine D.C. all cold up and frosted, and think....
In order to honor the legacy of a man who knew things could be different, the history books will come back to this day, the last days America had a singular view of what had always been and a few ,small, cold overcast days in January fractiled just right to show the glimmer of shimmering, future-light fruition of his dream in the rainbow of Inauguration Day.
VB, Oviedo
Earl Stafford is describing his investment as "The People's Inauguration Project." The Stafford Foundation on Jan. 20 will host both an adult inaugural ball and a youth event. On Jan. 19, a prayer breakfast and a luncheon are scheduled in honor of the annual Martin Luther King holiday."We will provide hope and prayer for our country," Earl Stafford says, "for its financial stability, for our troops in battle, and especially for President-elect Barack Obama."SOURCEShttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/03/AR2008120304095_pf.htmlhttp://www.executivebiz.com/newsletter-executives-detail.php?who=estafford&check=1http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Stafford-Foundation-Announces-Peoples-Inaugural/story.aspx?guid=%7B7083291B-B512-46F8-9CDB-6B812828E9AB%7Dhttp://hotchicksdigsmartmen.blogspot.com/
I miss the local campaigners!!
VB
With that in mind, I would like to see Mary Boston, or perhaps a person of her choosing from Oviedo, FL get one of the free tickets that will be distributed as a part of Mr. Stafford's People's Inaugural Project for Barack Obama in January 2009. The story of Earl Stafford of UNITECH and The Stafford Foundation, who has proposed The People's Inaugural Project expressed that a third of the free tickets will be distributed to Americans who have demonstrated a positive example by embodying hope and facilitating change in their communities. The People's Inaugural Project will be held at Washington's historic JW Marriott between the Capitol and the White House. The Stafford Foundation is a private foundation committed to helping underserved, marginalized and distressed Americans. What an honor to have our good lady from Oviedo, Florida receive a ticket to history.
Saturday, December 13 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Early Voting for the entire state of Florida has just been extended.
Every Early Vote location in Florida will now be every day from 7am-7pm up through November 2.
Please pass along this great news to everyone you know who will be voting in Florida. Click here to find your nearest early vote location.
Here's the release:
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS ~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~October 28, 2008Contact:GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008. "I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote." Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting. Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting. Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29. Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217. STATE OF FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217 WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties; WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; andWHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008. GOVERNORATTEST:SECRETARY OF STATE
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS
~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~
October 28, 2008
Contact:
GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008.
"I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote."
Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting.
Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting.
Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29.
Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217.
STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217
WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and
WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and
WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and
WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties;
WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; and
WHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:
I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008.
GOVERNOR
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
There is a coaching maxim to runners in track and field. Runners are always told to
"run through the tape" at the finish line, even when they think they are in the lead.
There is a local talk radio host in my area, who, while a Barack supporter, has been insisting
recently that Barack will win easily. Hold the phone! or.... pick up the phone, e-mail undecideds,
fight smear attacks, donate, offer rides to voters on election day. The more you hear about how
well we are doing in the polls, pretend that the news is bad and WORK EVEN HARDER!
Do not take for granted ANYTHING! The Republican wizards of the dark arts will be vicious and
spare no one and no thing to elect John McCain. The WORST fear imaginable is a McCain
presidency. We must fight like there is no tomorrow, because on the day after the election,
all of our tomorrows could be erased. Dig down, reach back and let's give it all we have until the
last vote is counted! Buddy Garrison, Sanford, FL
