From a Romanian Newspaper
We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA
Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.~An Ode to America ~ Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts.. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !' I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth can unites the Americans in such way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles. Cornel Nistorescu (This deserves to be passed around the Internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !
GOD BLESS AMERIC A !!!
We need healthcare reform in order to prevent the continuing spread of the vicious infection of personal and corporate bankruptcies linked to radically escalating healthcare costs, which are coinciding with a worsening deterioration in quality of coverage and quality of care. We need reform to make healthcare coverage affordable, reasonable, and undeniable. We need reform to save tens of thousands of lives per year and establish a sustainable long-term economic path, to help protect the market system and make protecting and sustaining life more cost-effective, liberating people to live the lives they dream they can.
We are watching a massive, nationwide movement of propaganda and mobilization spread one after another wild fabrication and spur sometimes violent anger about the most promising healthcare reform proposals our nation has seen. It is intolerable to stand by and watch this campaign of malicious fear-mongering sow hate and anger and derail reform in order to serve the morally bankrupt political strategy of those who want to "kill reform" for their own electoral gain.
We need to organize not just at the local level, but we need to organize nationally, set a date for a massive demonstration of support in Washington, DC, and march on Washington. The demonstration should be set for early October and we need to spend big to get the message out and treat this cause like a second inauguration. We stood in the freezing cold to support Pres. Obama and his message of transformative change, and now we have to do the same, in the midst of this firestorm of distortions and tempers, to show the true grassroots movement demanding a response is pro-reform.
Let's get moving on setting the date for a march. We can launch a group on this website and use it to plan and to mobilize support.
Two days after my tearful, transfixed position in front of my television watching the farewell rites to Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy I am able to see clearly to convey personal gratitude to the lion-sized, politician who dignified the U.S. senate.
That he gave so much throughout almost five decades is one thing but I will never forget how he pulled himself together, travelled to Denver, Colorado last year in order to support the nomination of Barack Obama despite his ailing condition.
How special was that? Who does that in this selfish universe? Only Sen. Ted.
Fact is, he never seemed ill.
His roar was as powerful as ever.
His gait as commanding as never before.
And without baring any claws he showed his colleagues -- cubs and seniors -- how and why they should follow his lead.
On the very same day, Sen. Ted was funeralized, I planned to celebrate the 51st birthday of music icon Michael Jackson. More than ever, I wanted to celebrate life. Brooklyn's Prospect Park held a huge outdoor birthday party at the Nethermead from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and although I had convinced myself not to watch television, I could not resist a quick peek.
Needless to say, the dignity of the Kennedy clan held me hostage. From the youngest offspring, Teddy III to the eldest Sargent Shriver -- they all displayed enviable strength and pride in family.
I did manage to attend the MJ party. And in celebrating the life of the king of pop also hailed the lifelong contribution of the king of the jungle AKA the US senate.
Since the election of the first Black president, I have virtually shunned debates on health care. The non-sensical arguments give me no reason to join the discussion. Talking with friends overseas, I have become apathetic. None of them understand why America does not want universal health care. I have stopped trying to explain the ignorance and racism that has clouded Republicans and Democrats who are fighting the proposal.
But that Sen. Ted died knowing there was a fight is such a dishonor to his legacy. Some Republicans are even saying had he lived he would have changed his mind. How ingracious of these manipulators to concede.
My apathy is shameful and perhaps disloyal to the president but I am exhausted by the stubborn, selfish, rantings and most recently the comment from an insult to all women who said "we need a great white hope."
What we need is introspective. Especially now that Sen. Ted, an advocate for the American majority is no longer able to lead the way. Ted, the lion sleeps tonight.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/171263-nfl-players-from-hbcus-to-pro-football-part-three
WASHINGTON (CNN) "It is an honor to be here: a place where Lincoln served, was inaugurated, and where the nation he saved bid him a last farewell," Obama said at the Capitol on Thursday.
"As we mark the bicentennial of our 16th president's birth, I cannot claim to know as much about his life and works as many who are also speaking today, but I can say that I feel a special gratitude to this singular figure who in so many ways made my own story possible -- and who in so many ways made America's story possible."
Thank you President Abraham Lincoln for helping to make President Obama's story possible.
On the Playing Field –
Intensity and Integrity
By Jacqueline Brannon Giles
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Psalm 45:1
The coach tells a player to go out there on the playing field and catch that ball, get a touchdown, and complete that “Hail Mary” pass. The player does it and he does it so well and so often during his career that his numbers stand out even in the 21st century. Who was that player with intensity and player integrity—the kind of player whose results have taken many years to exceed. His name is Warren Wells.
Take a good look at the players’ averages and tell me what you see. During the first five years of Warren Wells’ career his averages were better than some of the Super Bowl 43 wide receivers. For example, if you compare Wells (1), Fitzgerald (2), Rice (3) and Boldin (4), clearly Wells’ average exceeds the others during the first five years. Respectively, their numbers are:
23.1
14.9
14.8
11.7
Senior Wide Receiver during the First Five Years
WR Year** Avg TDs
John Gilliam 67 (1) 12.0 1
Gary Garrison 66 (1) 14.0 4*
Warren Wells 64 (1) 10.5 0
John Gilliam 68 (2) 11.8 0
Gary Garrison 67 (2) 17.5 2
Warren Wells 67 (2) 23.2 6*
John Gilliam 69 (3) 19.2 9
Gary Garrison 68 (3) 21.2 10
Warren Wells 68 (3) 21.5 11*
John Gilliam 70 (4) 21.2 5
Gary Garrison 69 (4) 20.1 9
Warren Wells 69 (4) 26.8 14*
John Gilliam 71 (5) 19.9 3
Gary Garrison 70 (5) 22.9 12*
Warren Wells 70 (5) 21.5 11
Note 1: * means peak during the ordinal year.
Note 2: **Ordinal data for first five years in professional football
Source: http://www.databasesports.com/
A Baseline Comparison
In September 2002 Paul Zimmerman is quoted: Hayes began to make his mark on the NFL as soon as he arrived: He led the league with 21.8 yards per catch in his rookie season, and he sustained that career average of 20 yards per reception, a figure few players even approach nowadays for a single season. The zone defense had existed in the NFL before his arrival, but it was crude by today's standards, and Hayes could destroy that kind of coverage the same way he did man-to-man alignments. So coaches came up with a double zone to try to control him. A cornerback would play him tight as he came off the line—in those days defenders could do anything they wanted to a receiver, except grab and hold—and another defensive back would pick him up deep. Or coaches would assign the deepest defensive back, usually the free safety, to make sure he stayed behind Hayes, which opened up vast areas underneath. No other player caused that kind of strategic overhaul of the defensive game.
Zimmerman continued, That alone should have earned Hayes a spot in Canton, but in 1979, two years before he became eligible for enshrinement, he was sentenced to five years in prison for selling narcotics; he was paroled after serving 10 months. His alcohol and drug problems were a shock to those who knew him. He was a decent, forthright person with...well, major problems. But that was enough to keep him out of Canton, even though, according to the guidelines, a candidate should be judged solely on the basis of his performance on the field.
By the 1990s he was no longer a modern Hall of Fame candidate. He had been relegated to the Seniors pool, which can yield only one candidate a year and sometimes produces none.
"The situation with Bob Hayes and the Hall of Fame is one of the most tragic stories I've ever been associated with during my time in professional football," said Tex Schramm, the Cowboys' former president and general manager. But Schramm was a one-man selection committee for the Cowboys' Ring of Honor, and he never admitted Hayes. Jerry Jones, the team's owner since 1989, didn't admit Hayes until last year.
Based on Performance
The reality of the quote is that the HOF is to select a candidate and judge a candidate solely on the basis of his performance on the field. So when a player delivers on the playing field, so then the HOF must deliver in accordance with the guidelines, otherwise the integrity issues arise.
For example, just as Zimmerman noted that Hayes “led the league with 21.8 yards per catch in his rookie season, the data shows that Wells was outstanding during his rookie year with Oakland, with 23.2 yards per catch. Furthermore, the year before Wells attained this number, he was in the military in Alaska, serving his country after being drafted into the U. S. Army. He willingly served his country although that service caused a gap in his professional football career.
Wells’ overall average exceeds Hayes. In fact, his average is well above the 2009 Super Bowl wide receivers.
If we compare Wells with Hayes, a conjecture would be that Hayes had speed and Wells had speed on the playing field. Zimmerman said that the defensive strategy had to change to control or stop Hayes, and a reasonable conjecture is that it had to change to stop Warren Wells, too.
It’s about time we exhume the records and take a good look, rather microscopic in nature, to study the DNA of the situation. Innocent oversight is one thing; but intent to overlook excellent performance on the football field is not acceptable in the 21st century. The power of a critical eye, and the power of the media will have to be blended to jointly reconsider the performance on the field and come into compliance with the HOF guidelines.
Another important point for rebuttal is career length. The argument can be discussed in the context of the average career length of an NFL player. According to research, we have: “The average career of an NFL player is 3 1/2 seasons according to the NFLPA.”
The amazing fact about Wells’ career is that he made history during an intense five year career and his career length exceeds that of the average NFL player, and his length has qualified him for his NFL benefits, so why not give him his glory commensurate with his mark on history.
I am reminded of how heartbroken I was as valedictorian of a class in 1961 and the committee who had the power to award the one scholarship that I sought and was qualified to receive, made a political decision to give the scholarship to someone else. Similarly, can you imagine the depression of someone who knows that he gave his best on the football field, but was not judged for the content of his character on the field in accordance to the HOF guidelines? Just as the Obama campaign promised change so there must be change in how we honor those who did their best on the job, on the field, yet have been overlooked so long that some of them are finally recognized posthumously.
Hayes passed away in 2002, and 7 years later he is being honored. Wells is 66 years old, alive and well in his hometown, and he needs to be honored for his performance on the field in a game that gave him joy and a place to excel. As a child before he was eight years old, Warren Wells and his family lived on a plantation in near Franklin, Louisiana. What great heights he attained after such a humble beginning which reminds us of the struggles for freedom, dignity and justice for all in America.
In 1999 Pope John Paul honored Galileo 359 years after his death—the Catholic Church failed to recognize its error in judging Galileo and it took years to correct the flawed thinking.
Henry Flipper, the first black man to graduate West Point was overlooked and falsely accused, yet the strength and integrity of President William Jefferson Clinton addressed the errors and corrected them, thereby restoring honor to Mr. Flipper who was honored in a Presidential ceremony in the Twentieth century. This article sets forth a proposal to set the record straight, do the research and find all of those who have been overlooked and suppressed by selective exposure. It is time for change.
For example, Henry Flipper suffered ill-judgment, but President William Jefferson Clinton erased the cloud around his honorable achievements. Research indicates,
Clearing His Name--It was the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s and a concerted effort by historians to tell the story of all Americans that brought attention to the circumstances surrounding Flippers dismissal. The case was reviewed by the Army Board for Correction of Military records. In late 1976, the board changed Flipper's dismissal to an honorable discharge. While acknowledging that Flipper had falsified reports and lied to his commanding officer, the board ruled that the sentence of the court and its approval by the president was ". . . unduly harsh, and therefore unjust."In the1999 Executive Grant of Clemency, President Clinton granted "a full and unconditional pardon to Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper." Source: http://www.africanamericans.com/HenryFlipper.htm
There are numerous examples of “unduly harsh and unjust” acts in world history and American history. Similar oversights and injustices have impacted the lives of professional athletes, some of whom were from very modest sociocultural backgrounds before they achieved on the professional football field.. In many cases, the legal, political and media support systems were not in place to uphold and defend the good in their careers on the field, thereby leaving them to become overlooked and plagued by “hearsay” rather than by rigorous research to present the data to characterize their impact on the playing field.
A contemporary example of performance on the football field is Santonio Holmes, the Super Bowl XLIII MVP, who has several off the field challenges yet we must respect his data. During his second year in professional football his 18.1 Y/R (2007) average is outstanding, but it was exceeded by Wells in 1969.
Let’s us take a good look, and let us exercise an intense passion for truth, clearer perceptions, and let us recognize men and women for their performance on the field.
Student Project for Calculus
For this project, we compared the “greatness” of two very talented football players, Jerry Rice and Warren Wells. To do this, we examined a list on rankings for several categories. We then took this information and created a graph for each player.
We decided that we could determine the area under the curve and that the player with the largest total area would be “the greatest.” To do this, we divided the graph into sections and determined the area of each section and then took the sum of the sections.
We took the first two ordered pairs, for Jerry Rice that was (5, 27) and (10,27).
We used these to find the slope:
m= (y2-y1)/(x2-x1) = (27-27)/(10-5)= 0/5= 0
We then plugged the slope and the first ordered pair into the slope-intercept formula:
y-y1=m(x-x1)
y-27= 0(x-5)
y= 27
To get the area under the curve, we next took the integral of the equation we just got:
∫05 y dy
∫05 (27)
27x ]05
((27)(5))-((27)(0))
135
The following is a list of the sets of ordered pairs we used:
Jerry Rice:
(5,27) (10,27)
(10,27) (15,13)
(15,13) (20,29)
(20,29) (25,32)
(25,32) (30,27)
(30,27) (35,33)
(35,33) (40,28)
(40,28) (45,29)
(45,29) (50,6)
Warren Wells:
(5,6) (10,10)
(10,10) (15,33)
(15,33) (20,28)
(20,28) (25,28)
(25,28) (30,33)
(30,33) (35,29)
(35,29) (40,10)
(40,10) (45,28)
(45,28) (50,11)
The total areas we calculated were:
Jerry Rice =1177.4
Warren Wells =1047.5
Therefore, we concluded that Jerry Rice is overall the greater of these two football players.
Note: This project is suitable for precalculus, using the area of trapezoids and rectangles.
Online access
Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | J Benton Grimmett ...
By Jacqueline Brannon Giles. The coach tells a player to go out there on the playing field and catch that ball, get a touchdown, and complete that “Hail ...my.barackobama.com/page/community/person/ggTGk - 76k - Cached - Similar pages
Vision - Potential : Number 84, September 2008
In the three categories for "Rushing" Warren Wells, Don Hutson and Jerry Rice all rank No. 1. Hutson, the first NFL wide receiver, dominates "Yards/Game" ...www.contemporarycollegealgebra.org/newsletters/84Sep08.html - 22k - Cached - Similar pages
Student Project for Calculus 2
File Format: Microsoft Word - View as HTMLme in the hallway at Texas Southern is Warren Wells. He became a professional football player, ... the NFL or on his career. On May 18, 2008, however, a ...www.victoryintheword.us/files/Take_a_Good_Look_Math.doc - Similar pages
Feb 7, 2009 ... His name is Warren Wells.Take a good look at the players’ averages ... According to research, we have: “The average career of an NFL player ...my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/jackiegiles/gGx2rK - 42k - Cached - Similar pages
It's been almost three weeks since the inauguration and I'm just now starting to see Obama's face in my head when they mention "the President" on t.v. It seems too good to be true.
At last, after many weeks in the planning and development stage, our very own Mybarackobama.com (MYBO) inaugural celebration event has finally found its form, nature and place, and we are thrilled and proud to announce the...
MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, the Social!
http://grassrootsball2009social.eventbrite.com/
We've come full circle, right back where we were supposed to be!
Initially intended to be held in a Capitol Hill church social hall -- and always imagined as an "alternative" ball --, the event grew rapidly in the early flush of euphoria and excitement of our victory in the days following the election, but through the worries and the vagaries of fundraising and just exactly how crowded Washington, DC would be for this historic occasion that we all want to witness and celebrate in a financial environment that encouraged anything but confidence, the MYBO alternative ball's future in the balance, we find ourselves welcomed by the Universalist National Memorial Church, "a liberal Christian church in the heart of the city."
The MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, the Social is intended, as one of our fundraising volunteers put it, to be a ball:
“that will celebrate Obama's election, and celebrate the hard work we did to get to this point – and provide a space to network with fellow Obama supporters to get "fired up" for real change, going forward.
There are tons of official and unofficial inaugural balls, but the difference is this one will be affordable (hence the need for sponsorship) and Obama volunteers will have the first crack at tickets (rather than the tickets just going to the highest bidder.)”
Universalist National Memorial Church provides us an ideal space in the community at a price that allows us to accomplish our mission -- tickets priced so that everyone who would like to attend to meet so many people with whom they have exchanged on MYBO and want to meet after all these months can afford to attend.
For tickets -- $26 per person!! -- http://grassrootsball2009social.eventbrite.com/
BYOC, or bring your own champagne! The event will include food and a bar featuring wine and beer, an assortment of non-alcoholic beverages, but if you would like to raise a toast to Obama with bubbly, please feel free to bring your own bottle, or one to contribute to the bar. You may also help us off-set bar costs by contributing a bottle of white -- the church asks for no red in their furnished parlor, sorry! --, and the caterer will accept for refund any unopened bottles they provide and we do not need to consume.
There will also be music with performances by local and home-grown MYBO talent.
Attire is cocktail or semi-formal, but please wear what makes you feel comforable. If you need to come directly from another event that doesn't permit you to dress for the evening, such as the Day of Service at the MLK Memorial Library, please feel welcome to come as you are.
Sponsors needed! Help make the MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, the Social a success -- become a sponsor at any level you can. Your non tax deductible donation will help with food, bar and entertainment for the evening. It's simple. The more those of you who can afford to give something more, the better the evening for all. It's The Obama Tax Plan at work, so let's put our money where our mouths are! Click here to make your donation. It's easy and fast with Google Check-out.
DC for Obama and Mayor Fenty Office's MLK Day of Service Activity (9 am to 4 pm).
The MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, the Social is joining together with DC for Obama, which will be collaborating with Mayor Fenty's Day of Service events and will be sponsoring supporting those in need through serving food at the MLK Memorial Library throughout the day. Please join us and take a step towards supporting others who may have less.
We will be providing further information on how you can become a part of this important day of community service and hope that you will be able to join us in taking this step to fulfil President-elect Barack Obama's call to community service.
Then, join us for a memorable evening getting to know in person so many of the people with whom you have worked, and with whom you have become friends, on MYBO.
Thank you!
Mary Ritter Jacqueline Ashton de Floris The Organizing Committee
Perhaps you have been checking here for news from time to time, wondering what's happening, if anything at all. I have sworn myself to a sort of discretion, a virtual white-out of news on the Ball because it is a complex and delicate business to organize, but we are in the final hours of decision-making, and we are not all of the same mind.Wait. That's what happens in government, too.We all felt so monolithically committed in our support for Obama, even while we fought monumentally over whether he was right or wrong to vote for the FISA bill this year, or right or wrong not to hate Hillary Clinton forever, or to pay her campaign debt, that it was always rather surprising to find ourselves in désarroi.But that is what is starting to interest me the most, oddly; it's the process itself, how we can start with a shared dream, build momentum from one another's excitement and passion, discover our points of désaccord, experience let-down, frustration, and even anger as we encounter difficulties, set-backs and conflicts, and then -- out of respect for one another and the importance of our relationships and work -- sit down and think about how to proceed, even manage to at all because the people involved are as important to all of us as the success of the project itself.How many times in the MYBO listservs did the atmosphere become tense, did a voice or two speak out and remind us all of why we were there, and that we hold one another in esteem, did cooler heads prevail and we go on? It's the same. It's a process that can teach us all a lot that we can use in our lives, at home, at work, in political action. Speak your heart, as well as your mind, and do it from that place in yourself.The ball has been hard. Harder than we imagined when we started out. I suppose no one starts out imagining the obstacles, or no one would ever begin anything. Those of us working to put it all together have made many discoveries about people -- most heartening, some laughable. There are some flakes out there, and they are not all falling to the ground to blanket Chicago in snow for its white Christmas.We succeeded, and we failed. Or, perhaps better said, we have met with success and with failure. We have raised money that can be considered significant from among the individuals supporting our ball, and we nearly did from an individual, who chose in the end not to, without ever really making that choice final, or clear. Inference is sometimes good enough, or has to be.
There have been successes that were very important to me. Yesterday, a $50 contribution arrived in the PayPal account from someone who has nothing to gain from their contribution to help make the ball happen, other than perhaps to help make sure there would be a ball for which to purchase a ticket, and at a price we can call "grassroots". That person might have thought that their $50 was "nothing" compared to others' $2,000, $1,000 or $500 (non tax deductible) donations, but that isn't how it felt to me when I heard. I felt indebted to that person and grateful for their gesture of support, that is really a gesture of belief in the dream that I had, that the other organizers had, that the more than 600 people who contacted us to get themselves and their friends and family on our list for news of the ball, when the tickets would be available had, too.And the people who have joined us to offer their time and energy, their encouragement, their contacts, anything they had, and offered their thanks for our efforts. No matter what happens to this ball, I will carry forward their group of people like a community that will live inside me. I don't know how to visit that place, or see all those people, but knowing they are there is about enough. I know that one day there will be another project, another mission, and I will reach out to them, or they will reach out to me.Today, we are asking everyone on our lists to go to the website and take a survey. The answers to the three questions are "Yes, I still planning to purchase tickets to the Grassroots Ball for the people of Mybarackobama.com to meet and celebrate our victory in Washington, DC on January 19, and hurry up!", "No, thank you, I have already made other plans for the inauguration," and "No. I just can't get to Washington, after all." Please have each person in your party register and take the survey so we can get an accurate number.
We need to know if 700 people sure will purchase tickets so that we can make the deposit on the space in downtown Washington with confidence. It can hold up to 1,500, and we have the option to grow the event to that capacity if ticket sales are strong.We have become timid about committing our sponsor's money in an event that might have lost its momentum without our knowing it, especially in such uncertain times. Asking you is our best way to know if your silence has been your polite and remarkable patience, or proof of your loss of interest.Like Barack said to us throughout the campaign, more and more frequently as the numbers coming to see him grew beyond anyone's wildest imagings, this ball was never about we, the organizers, it's about you, and it's for you if you want it. If you don't, that's fine. Personally, I can accept hearing that, but I can't as easily accept ending it all because we are worried the time and the opportunity are already behind us without having asked you if they are.We shall see what happens today, and in the next hours, and then we will know.For those wondering why nothing has been happening on the website, we decided spontaneously to communicate via our email lists rather than continue to promote a ball there that was at risk of not happening owing to fund-raising disappointments and their impact on the ticket prices that we could offer.As it stands, they would be a minimum of $175, possibly closer to $200, and we would try to offer a percentage of the total tickets available at the $100 level for those whose means are limited. As we had always intended with our "Joe-the-Plumber" Ticket Plan, we would ask everyone to stop and think before purchasing and ask themselves if they really needed that $100 ticket, or if they could leave it for someone who does, each according to his conscience, and the fiscal philosophy Barack Obama laid out to Sam Wurtzenbacher in Ohio.Thank you, everyone.http://www.grassrootsballdc2009.com....
Hello MYBO People,
The very first Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009 -- originating right here in MYBO -- has a challenge for 40 people in our network of campaign volunteers.
We are trying to secure a venue in Washington that is convenient, on the Metro with space for more than 1000 people, and we are trying to do this for what is regarded as the inauguration that will be the most widely attended in our nation's history. Everybody wants to be there to witness this historic event and celebrate, and maybe nobody more so than those of us here on the MYBO listservs. Obama's Internet Army soldiers.
It's really, really hard to get space in Washington right now, and MYBO has done it. Almost.
So, The Challenge.
We are on the verge of signing a contract for a venue, and to do it we need 40 people to kick in $1,000 so that we can be ready with our check for the down payment before someone else beats us to it.
Your underwriting of the down payment not only assures us the space to hold our very own Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, it will cover $40,000 of our total budget. Think of yourselves as part of Barack's tax plan. That top 5% that will help to reduce ticket prices and make our ball more affordable for everyone--most especially for the 95% of MYBO who need a break after all the donating to the campaign!
What else will you get? You will receive:
What else, you ask?
The undying thanks and devotion of everyone who wants this ball to happen. You can also choose one of our sponsor gifts, once we figure out what they will be.
We need this as quickly as possible. Don't think it over. Reply right away to Russell Miller, our treasurer, at Russell@grassrootsballdc2009, and we go to contract to have a ball!
You don't have $1,000? That's okay.
If you have $500 to help us underwrite the ball, we can guarantee you:
And If you don't have five hundred dollars to get the ball rolling, don't worry. We'll be rolling out other sponsor levels, and tickets will be available shortly at a range of prices that make sense for every working American. (We revere the Constitution, but we're breaking the law of supply and demand.)
This ball is going to be for EVERYONE—or at least as many as the fire codes allow.
Jacqueline Ashton de Floris, Mary Ritter, Russell Miller
Members, Organizing Committee
PS: Money Where Our Mouth Is Department—All three of us are already in as sponsors. It's lonely out here, but we know it won't be for long. Join us!
PPS for shy folks: You can be anonymous sponsors if you like!
PPS: Your sponsorship is not tax deductible.
Dear MYBO volunteers, This is to let you know that a core organizing committee has formed and has been working round the clock since Friday to get our Grassroots Ball 2009 off the ground . We have chosen a URL for the event, the website is being developed and will be ready to go soon, we are negotiating with venues and are working to solicit sponsors and underwriters to help keep the ticket price as low as we can make it. This last is an urgent need, and anyone interested in sponsoring, purchasing advertising in the program, underwriting, or investing to help us raise the down payment on the venue should get in touch with one of us right away.
We need to rasie $40,000 before the end of next week to secure our venue big enough for a couple of thousand Obama-supporter volunteers to celebrate the fruits of our hard work, and, for many, finally meet face to face. That may sond like a lot, but remember, it was all our little donations that put Barack over the top!
If you are a fundraiser or have experience as a volunteer doing fundraising for a charitable organization, have the time right now and want to take this on, please let us hear from you! We can help put together a team to assist you.
Once the website is up, we will put the word out so you can check it for information and the announce date for ticket sales. We can no longer accept any requests for reservations by email.
Please contact one of us if you are a volunteer field organizer for the campaign.
Dear all,
You know what they say about from little acorns grow the mighty oaks? Well, we had a little idea. So many of us have worked so hard and felt such dedication to the Obama campaign and to one another over these months, and so many of those so many plan to be in DC for the inauguration. I could see us passing one anther by, with no idea that so and so was there, too, no place to meet up, no place really to go. We needed a ball of our own. We got Obama elected, why not throw ourselves a ball?
Well, it's happening.
We have about 200 people RSVPed since Friday evening, and the responses are still coming in, and that is only from a handful of MYBO groups. An organizing committee has formed, with satellites in Cambridge (Harvard), NYC (Columbia -- his two alma maters, forgive our pride) and the DC area, and volunteers proposing themselves from all over. We are working on DJ, live entertainment, and celebrity appearances. You can guess the main one we want! We're his Internet Army, he is our president-elect, he will come! Let's make it happen by coming in strong numbers the 20th!
Time is of the essence (as usual), so we are moving very quickly. We will have a basic website ready to roll soon for ticket sales, but we want to give the members of the MYBO first dibs. If you are interested in attending Our Very Own MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball in Washginton, DC, please let me know. If you have skills and time to offer us, let us know, and we will get you plugged in to help.
We are also asking everyone if they know anyone who can take in a campaign volunteer like ourselves who has no place to stay in the DC area. Floor space would be great! Let me know if you do! We look forward to hearing from you!
You may reply to this at jacqueline.defloris@gmail.com, subject "Grassroots Inaugural Ball". Let us know how many tickets you will want, and please feel free to forward this to any MYBO gorups in which you have participated.
Thank you.
Yes.We.Can do this, too!
Jacqueline Ashton de Floris
"But that spirit can't just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here today and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there's some folks that are going through their own quiet storms." Senator Barack Obama, on the campaign trail in Milwaukee, September 1, 2008
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The historic nature of Obama’s victory and eventual election into the White House cannot be over emphasized, not now or even in the near future as a result of its magnitude, challenges, hope and inspiration for the people of this great country and by extrapolation the entire global. Simply put it was the epitome and personification of the fundamental idealism of the principle that America was built upon; democracy, opportunity and freedom for mankind.
By winning the White House, Obama has succeeded in finally ending the civil right war and to a greater extent the war of discrimination, the dogma of hegemony and succeeded in rally the people along the commonality of the necessity for man to co-existence with his neighbor even when they disagree. Furthermore, America as a nation has pragmatically confronted the last ideological mentality of treating man on the basis of color rather than the content of his worth.
Today the historic event retrospectively belong primarily to the American people especially and coincidentally those who were more or less excluded from partaking fully in the various civil responsibilities ascribed to some Americans prior to the 1963-1965 civil right era that led to the inclusion of Blacks to vote in the USA. Obama performed creditably well among first and foremost women, then the Blacks, but the most essential section that in my opinion I feel made the difference are the youths that defile all speculations, pundits and cynicism and came out in record numbers to usher in the change we have been waiting for since the transition of the greats like Dr. King and others that have sacrificed so much for their beloved country.
Where do I begin? I have seen a three month old Black baby sleeping in his stroller...his shirt spoke for him with the words "Future president." At 11 p.m. Nov. 4th in Harlem, a woman revealed a brand, new black shirt lettered in white with the words "my president is Black." The lettering bordered a flag of the United States minus the red and blue. Those T-shirt branding pictures of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin with the words "Mavericks My A**" are everywhere. I have received text messages saying: They promised us 40 acres and a mule, we took the White House and 50 states." I have seen newstands minus newspapers. Imagine the New York Times is now selling for $1,000 -- the Nov. 5th Obama edition. There were no free AM or Metro papers to be found yesterday. The Daily News and NY Post went like hotcakes. The New York Times will now republish another 75,000 copies of its post-election day edition. Whoa!
I was exhausted yesterday after celebrations at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building. The atmosphere was pure euphoria. Jubilation prevailed with drumming, dancing, singing, cheering. Funnyman D.L. Hughley showed up to celebrate. So did rapper Doug E. Fresh, GQ and a long list of entertainers. Of course the politicians capitalized on the opportunity. First up was Cong. Charles B. Rangel. Although he did not initially support Sen. Barack Obama he postured tall sponsoring the jumbotron, food and watch night event. Media showed up in droves. With Times Square and Rockefeller Center jammed to capacity, Harlem was second only to Grant Park, Chicago where the president-elect accepted his new place on the global stage.
Even after the president-elect delivered his acceptance speech, everyone remained in Harlem. Obama supporters at the Sheraton Hotel took the A Train uptown arriving as late as 3 a.m. to continue the celebration. It was an awesome night. New York delivered a whopping 20 percent majority for Sen. Obama and we are devoted to helping him be the best president ever. But now I am trying to find the best dress ever for inauguration day, Jan. 20th, 2009. See Ya!
My mother gave birth to me and made it possible then for me to be in this beautiful world created by God. She has and will always remain the anchor for my father as they both navigate the turbulent world and thrive to provide for us.
However there is another fundamental role that nature has designed for woman and we have read and seen in the work of salvation for those who believe in the salvation of Jesus Christ and the role of his mother, the Virgin Mary.
The current political dispensation has once more manifested the sensitivity, objectivity and the intervention role that woman play in our society and life. The pundits upon analyzing the various exit polls have concluded and rightly so that women made the difference in help electing Sen. Obama as President Barack Obama.
I am not surprised at all, rather exceedingly grateful to them and want to express my sincere appreciation for their dynamic role in always rising to the occasion. The youths must also be commended for their innocence and zeal to forge ahead with their idealistic country which is now a reality.
For the men, thank you so much for the support and otherwise.
God bless USA
God bless Obama & Biden
This was posted on huffingtonpost by one of the bloggers & I felt the need to post it here...
I think the Good Lord took Toot home because he wanted to personally congratulate her tomorrow when Obama wins. Think of that party in Heaven. To Toot!To Obama!To Biden!To all great Americans who have made this happen!
All the noise being generated by the Republican campaign has made it seem to many like the accusations against ACORN are somehow a justification for the GOP's vicious voter-suppression efforts. There may be literally millions of Americans barred from casting votes because of registration purges, voter caging and other such tactics. The Republican party has been working round the clock for 8 years straight to make sure that this time, like in 2004, they would have the best chance possible of rigging the vote by frustrating it.
We will likely see at the very least hundreds, if not thousands, of cases of deliberate voter suppression, leading to the disenfranchisement of millions nationwide. We need to defend these rights in court, we need to make sure that any attempt of any kind, at any level, made by any Republican party operative be severely punished, according to federal law. I propose arranging for a team of lawyers to be read to file federal class-action lawsuits on behalf of us all, for even one case of deliberate vote corruption on the part of Republicans.
If one voter in one swing state is denied the right to cast a ballot, and that ballot turns out to be the difference in the winner of that state, and that state (as in Florida 2000 or Ohio 2004) turns out to be decisive, then my vote has been negated by the corrupt official behind that act of voter-suppression. Consider that usually these cases hit thousands or even hundreds of thousands of voters (again reference Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004, where in both cases the number of votes suppressed was far superior to the margin of victory), and you will see that one single sweeping act of voter suppression is enough to strip you or me or anyone of the right to have my intent as voter accurately recorded in history.
The Republicans have argued, starting in Bush v. Gore in 2000, that there is no constitutional right to have one's vote counted. I would argue this is as close as a proclamation of guilt as you will find any litigant make in court. It is an unbelievable disgrace to our nation that this remains an issue, and I believe firmly that if there is a credible risk of such crimes against our Constitution undermining the integrity of our process yet again, we need to see prosecutions at the highest level, precisely for crimes against the Constitution of the United States. I believe the evidence for those prosecutions can be gathered in the course of a civil trial, and that this process can begin literally on November 4, as soon as even one case has come to light.
Let's fight this to the end. There is no way we can expect salvation from the tragedies gathering around our nation if we do not defend this basic right.
