Philadelphia for Obama

Peace

Walt — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:48:15 EST

These are some of the words of the Dalai Lama when he accepted the 1989 Nobel peace prize. The Dalai Lama is the leader of the Tibetan people in exile and someone I admire very much.

"Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighbouring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free. True peace with oneself and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace. The other phenomena mentioned above are similarly interrelated. Thus, for example, we see that a clean environment, wealth or democracy mean little in the face of war, especially nuclear war, and that material development is not sufficient to ensure human happiness."

How to Win

Walt — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:51:34 EST

How to win a Fight with a Conservative by Daniel Kurtzman is a book of humor with some good, practical advice mixed in. He has also written a companion volume entitled How to Win a Fight with a Liberal. At the back of the book is a table consisting of three columns, A, B and C. Each column contains 30 insulting words or short phrases that yield 27,000 unique insults that can be used in arguments with conservatives. Just choose one word or phrase from column A, one from B and one from C and combine them in you ABC conservative. Now I don't recommend this procedure but it is interesting to see an example of how easy it is for the opposition to come up with the mud some of the other side slings.

Lieberman

Gaylord from Philadelphia, PA — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:10:00 EST

Here's my question: if we're going to let Lieberman push us around on healthcare and, essentially, eradicate any REAL healthcare reform, what about the other issues we need to tackle like financial reform, or immigration reform? We need his vote on those, too. Do we just let him crap out those initiatives, too, just to get 60 votes?

Global warming

Walt — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:45:18 EST

Global warming is fact, not fiction. We can disagree about the causes: natural, man-made or a combination, but we cannot argue about its existence. Here in the West, we are concerned about oceans rising and severe weather, but in the Orient, their concerns are more grave. The glaciers of the Himalayas are melting. If you doubt that, ask anyone who lives in that neighborhood. The glaciers of the Himalayas are the source of the major rivers of Asia. They supply drinking water and water for food crops to India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and several smaller countries in that area. About half the people of the world depend on that water for survival. We can expect major flooding downstream on those rivers initially. Then as the glaciers continue to melt and the flooding subsides, severe drought will follow. Famine will ensue. War and pestilence usually accompany severe famine. It is up to us to try to prevent this from happening.

Yes

Walt — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:29:37 EST

Yes I can
Yes I will
Yes you can
Yes you will
Yes we can
Yes we will
Yes I, you, we will prevail.

No

Walt — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:01:08 EST

No birds
No bees
No leaves on trees
No sunny days
No starry nights
November
November 2010

In November 2010, the Party of No will seek to regain power in Congress. Here is their platform. Please consider it and then vote your conscience.

No healthcare
No healthcare reform
No healthcare reform at prices we can afford
No jobs
No jobs here in US
No good jobs here in US that pay well
Nothing
Nothing for you
Nothing for you, everything for me and my contributors.
Vote for me
Vote for me or don't vote
Vote for me or we will obstruct your right to vote.
No, no, no
NO, NO
NO

COBRA bites

Walt — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:28:47 EST

Beginning yesterday, the emergency government subsidy that lasted 9 months began expiring for the first recipients of COBRA help. COBRA is the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and it enables the unemployed to keep their health insurance for 9 months after losing a job if they can afford to make the exorbitant payments. When my wife and I moved to Utah, we paid about $850 per month for just the two of us. The average cost for a family across the US is about $1100 and the government subsidy paid about $700. Imagine being unemployed and being required to pay $400 per month with government help or $1100 per month without government help for health insurance. COBRA really does bite.

Ends/means

Walt — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:44:22 EST

Do the ends justify the means? That is a question all of us have been asked in school. Usually the discussion is about hypothetical's and when we are young, the alternatives don't mean a lot. However, now the discussion is about to get very real and each of us will be asked to decide if the ends have justified the means. Let's assume that everyone in the Bush administration had the best interests of the US at heart when they tried to protect the country from future attacks. We soon will be asked if the means they used were justified by the ends they sought. It is going to be a very difficult time making those judgments.

Incomes

Walt — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:43:05 EST

In our system of capitalism, competition and effort and luck determine how much one earns. Those who earn a lot say that the system works well since it rewards them for their hard work. They earned their success. Others can work just as hard or harder and earn much less. If hard work is not rewarded, then hard work by itself cannot justify the enormous differences that some experience. If a low paid individual must work a full time job and a part time job to survive, then he/she is working as hard or harder than a person who works one well paid job. The person who makes $250,000 per year is not working ten times as hard as the person who earns $25,000 per year.

What are we going to do about this discrepancy? Ultimately the people who decide what all of us earn are the members of society here in the US, all 300 million plus strong. I like to simplify society for clarity to three members, you and I and the other guy. Three members so that there are no tie votes. Society decides what to pay each sector of the economy and then lets each sector decide how divide its share of the national income. People at the top of a sector issue instructions that pass down the chain of command until they reach our level. Our supervisors decide on on our compensation following instructions from their supervisors. Each year at salary review time, my supervisor tells me that he would like to pay me more because I am worth it, but he cannot. I understand his position. But as members of society, you and I and the other guy have the power to change his instructions if we have the will. It may require changing laws or custom, but we have that power. The markets only carry out our instructions. We are not ruled by the capitalist system; we made the rules and we can change them if we wish. A more equal distribution of income/rewards would be a good thing.

Enhanced interrogation

Walt — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:56:54 EST

George W. has said, "We do not torture" so often that I think that he actually believes that lie. At some point, not yet, the American people are going to demand the truth. By then Dick Cheney will probably be too old or ill to be prosecuted and Barack will probably pardon George W. Those who facilitated torture and the many who carried it out will face prosecution.

Joe the plumber

Walt — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:01:18 EST

Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacker, paid a visit to St. George yesterday. He addressed a small audience at a local college and I attended. Dress was casual. Joe says exactly what he thinks and he asked for our support for politicians who do the same. I applaud his words.

It was interesting to hear his side of his encounter with Barack during the campaign. Barack was in Joe's neighborhood and Joe was curious to see what was happening. Joe had recently discussed with his boss the purchase of the small business where Joe worked. That was on his mind when he encountered Barack. Barack made the now famous statement that he wanted to spread the wealth around. I think that Barack wanted to say that he favored a more equitable distribution of the nation's income.

Joe talked at length about everyone taking responsibility for the results of our politics. I agree wholeheartedly with his ideas although I disagree with other positions he endorses. I believe that to make democracy work requires three steps: vote, express your opinions frequently, and donate/time money to a cause of your choice. Joe talked about the second item and I believe that he would support all three if questioned, which I did not do.

Joe also complained about the taxes a small business must pay. I might or might not agree with him if I knew more about how small businesses are classified, either as business or individual taxpayers. After WW2, individuals provided 65% of federal revenue while businesses paid 35%. Gradually over time with the advent of more and more loopholes, businesses now pay 10% of federal taxes while individuals pay 90%. Businesses should pay their fair share. If big businesses can pay their top officers millions or tens or hundreds of millions of dollars per year, they are not paying enough in taxes.

A new day

Walt — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:21:04 EST

A new day dawned
Exactly one year ago tomorrow.
His critics see a glass half empty
Barack sees a good beginning.
The road ahead is hard and long
The BushMess will not yield
In a day or month or year.
Those of us with Barack
Should stop from time to time
For a bit of fun and to survey the path
How far to go and how far we have come.
The Right may raise their voices
But that is all they raise
Everything else they lower
Hopes, expectations and results.
The BushMess is their doing
As much as it was George W.'s.
BushMess, BushMess go away
Don't return another day.
Wishing will not prevent a repeat.
Only hard work and constant vigilance
Will preserve our freedoms and our democracy.

Vote Nov 3 for the Democratic Statewide Judicial Candidates

PA Field Team - Centre County Obama — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:16:42 EDT

We need your help on Election Day to keep PA Blue!

Download the PA Democratic Statewide Judicial Candidates Voter Guide at this link:

http://www.padems.com/Officials/Candidates/PA_Dems.pdf

US Constitution

Walt — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:03:52 EDT

There are 27 amendments to the US Constitution. When an elected official swears to preserve and protect and uphold the Constitution, he or she is swearing to preserve and protect and uphold all of it, not just those amendments favored by some voters, such as the 2nd and the 10th. The first amendment guarantees free speech and religion, the 14th makes you a citizen if you were born in the US, and the 16th added the income tax. The 18th instituted prohibition while the 21st repealed the 18th. The most recent amendment, the 27th, regulates the timing of increases in Congressional salaries.

To be given the honor of a Nobel winner...

Otto Holland — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:57:16 EDT

Congrats Mr. President. You are called many names but today, being called Nobel is truly honorable. Before your presidency is over, you will be known for more and better deeds.You are now in a unique situation as the world looks to you for leadership. Your plate is full, your duties immense but at the end of the day; we know you are human. Keep up the good work because humanity depends on it!

If Not the 2016, then 2020 Olympics in Chicago will be a GO

ARK — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:57:17 EDT

Some Republicans who know nothing but failures would like the US President to fail as well on every issue, even if it would mean a lack of success for the US as a whole. Their latest failure wish was for him NOT to go to Copenhagen to attempt a bid for 2016 Olympics in Chicago. The President went and Chicago did NOT win, but the US policy as a whole did win, why? Due to following reasons which are beyond some Republicans comprehension:

1- Although it was crucial for US, President Obama, the First Lady and all Americans to have Chicago host the 2016 Olympics, yet the US President did not use any bullying tactics with the Olympics Committee and the US Government did not throw its weight around during decision time. This Administration abided by FAIR PLAY rules of game and did not try to influence the come. An A for honesty.

2- President Obama was the first to congratulate the people of Brazil for such a first time accomplishment in South America. He mentioned that he was happy such and event was conducted in AMERICAS thus sharing common interests and participating in Brazilian people’s joy for this unprecedented event. At the same time he sincerely showed that the US really cares for others as well.

3- By doing so with such an important South American country the instrument of anti US propaganda is taken away from some people. Henceforth the US strategic interests are further secured in that very important part of the world.

4- The US has now a better chance of securing 2020 Olympics and could really count on the help of its 2016 host as well as many other Latin American countries.

5- By not securing the 2016 bid, this country could save about 10 Billion US$ in expenses for such an event. Such savings could be helpful during present economic times. Of course there could be Tourism income resulting from such an important event but as was the case in Australia, Athens and Montréal, where such incomes never materialized and expenses remained, one can never be too sure of the revenue!

However, international policy wise the US President & other Americans are winners again. So for the 2020 Olympics bid, the US President with his 2020 Policy vision will surely be the front runner.

Republican Metcalfe: Domestic violence a family value?

PA Field Team - Centre County Obama — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:32:12 EDT

A simple resolution to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was halted by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican representing Butler. Why? Because, he said, “It has a homosexual agenda.”

On the same day, also on the House floor, he made matters worse. The House was about to vote on increasing marriage license fees from $3 to $28, with the increased amount going to a fund for victims of domestic abuse. Metcalfe opposed the measure, calling the funding a domestic violence programs “a slap in the face to family values.”2 The bill passed despite his outrageous claim.

Letter from Senator Ted Kennedy to President Obama

Jill 4 Obama — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:50:16 EDT

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 9, 2009

Below is the text of the letter from Senator Edward M. Kennedy referenced by the President in tonight's address to a Joint Session of Congress.

May 12, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me - and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth. On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life. You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society.

For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination. There will be struggles - there always have been - and they are already underway again.

But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family's health will never again depend on the amount of a family's wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will - yes, we will - fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America's behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become. At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on. And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.

With deep respect and abiding affection,

Ted

Let’s Do a National Poll of President Obama’s Speech to School kids

ARK — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:18:28 EDT

And find out what percentage of Americans thought it was an honest to goodness back to school speech and what percentage of extremist ultra conservatives thought otherwise. Let the truth prevail and the President will surely finish on top AS USUAL..

The President's Address to America's Schoolchildren

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:04:33 EDT

THE BRIEFING ROOM

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release September 8, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN A NATIONAL ADDRESS TO AMERICA'S SCHOOLCHILDREN

Wakefield High School
Arlington, Virginia

12:06 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer? (Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.)

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could've stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she'd say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster." (Laughter.)

So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now, I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked about responsibility a lot.

I've talked about teachers' responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working, where students aren't getting the opportunities that they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write that English paper -- that English class paper that's assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice -- but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now, I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what it's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us the things that other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I'm not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was -- I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, she has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have a lot of money. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Neither of her parents had gone to college. But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University -- is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer -- hundreds of extra hours -- to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind. He's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They face challenges in their lives just like you do. In some cases they've got it a lot worse off than many of you. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you're not going to be any of those things.

The truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject that you study. You won't click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. J.K. Rowling's -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and that then allows you to learn something new. So find an adult that you trust -- a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don't ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation. Young people. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask all of you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country?

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books and the equipment and the computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part, too. So I expect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down. Don't let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don't let yourself down. Make us all proud.

Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. Thank you. (Applause.)

END
12:22 P.M. EDT

Support the Public Option Sign the Petition

PA Field Team - Centre County Obama — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:08:27 EDT

Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Friday night, Keith Olbermann led his show talking about the PCCC's latest campaign:

"More than 200 former Obama staffers, 13,000 Obama volunteers, 23,000 Obama donors on a petition: A bill without a public option would not be 'change we can believe in.'"

And those numbers are increasing! All weekend, former Obama organizers are putting their skills to use -- calling and emailing other Obama organizers to get them involved in this campaign.

Will you add your voice to theirs -- and join the thousands of Obama voters, donors, and organizers who still believe we can defeat the insurance interests and bring real change to the health care system?

Please sign the petition at this link:

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5649/t/4951/content.jsp?content_KEY=2802&tag=pod_e2-non

Then, please forward this to friends. Time is of the essence. This Wednesday, President Obama will speak to Congress about his health care priorities.

We're making a national ad that will highlight the voices of former Obama staffers who want the public option -- and it will include the number of petition signers. So let's get the number as high as possible.

We need to make sure President Obama (and any White House staff urging him to capitulate) knows that the overwhelming majority of Americans want a public option -- and that includes those who worked hardest to get him elected. Can you add your name to the petition?

Thanks for being a bold progressive. -- Adam Green, Stephanie Taylor, Michael Snook, Evan Miller, Andrew Perez, and the PCCC team

http://boldprogressives.org/

It would be an excellent public relations strategy to pay compensation to…

ARK — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:37:37 EDT

It would be an excellent humanitarian and public relations strategy to pay sufficient compensation to those civilians who get injured or die in Afghanistan and Iraq. Believe me in the long run it would cost a lot less in terms NATO forces lives lost as well as material costs incurred. GUARATEED!

OBAMA KENNEDY (O.K.) HEALTH CARE PLAN IS REALLY A-OK

ARK — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:23:31 EDT

One of the major goals of President Obama as well as that of late Senator Ted Kennedy is a comprehensive healthcare for all Americans. A father does not have to worry about finances at the same time as dealing with the cancer of his daughter. It simply is NOT FAIR. In order to find out how grave the situation it would be, one only need to put one self in the shoes of parents whose child has developed such a severe illness and they would have to deal with financial problems as well. More than 40 Million Americans would not be able to give suitable care to a very sick loved one. Is that fair? CERTAINLY NOT! One could sit aside and say that is not my problem as long as I have good health insurance for my self and my family. But that selfish person should rest assured any shortcoming in one’s society will sooner or later become their problem as well, one example would be increased crime rate in one’s society. That is why there is an ancient Persian saying which states: “People are members of the same club of humanity, if one gets sick, then others will feel a lot for her/him and that is called real humanity”. Walking on two feet is not the only sign of humanity, if that was the case, then Kangaroos would be humans as well. Perhaps Kangaroos are more human than some humans I know, in Australia one of them tried to knock on the window of a burning house in order to wake up a sleeping person in that house. That Kangaroo did not say I don’t care as long as I am out here in the open let that person burn! So let us act like real humans who care about others as well and help President Obama pass this A-OK healthcare plan and make the soul of late Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy happy too. Let's keep the Kennedy spirit of HELPING THOSE WHO HAVE LESS alive.

March for Health Care!

Jill 4 Obama — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:59:59 EDT

March For Healthcare - Global

Organize a march on September 13th across the USA.

Every city in the country needs you to come out on that day and March For Healthcare.

If there are a million of you out there then we can make our voices heard.

Let's March!!!

Contact Info Email:

Website: http://www.marchforhealthcare.com

Since Mrs. Palin is already serving on TWO Death Panels, then she should be quiet and NOT spread Rumors about this administration’s pro elderly health insurance efforts

ARK — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:12:07 EDT

Mrs. Palin is already serving on two death panels in Alaska; a-Poor Unsuspecting Moose’s Death Panel (PUMDP) and b- Poor Unsuspecting Wolves’ Death Panel (PUWDP). So she should NOT go around and spread rumors about the very health care plan which will help senior citizens and poor people the most! After all THE DOMCRATIC PARTY is the party which has mostly helped senior citizens as the poor and has maximized their benefits wherever possible and NOT the Republican Pro-Rich People Party (RPRPP). Mrs. Palin DO NOT try to show that your care for any body but your self and your 2012 candidacy. This type of candidacy will be based on spreading rumors to make sure that President Obama’s humanitarian National Health Insurance efforts fail. You Mrs. Palin can NOT fool any body, your pro-rich report card is known to every body.

Defender of the Nation

Walt — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:24:14 EDT

In a time of endless troubles
When the nation is sunk in despair
Who will lend a steady hand
To the stalled ship of state?
Barack Obama has the confidence to try
Who will stand by his side?
Will it be you or I?
Some will respond, some not
When the troubles are history
When the economy is restored
When we enjoy freedom and democracy unfettered
Will you be able to proclaim?
I stood by Barack's side
I met the challenge
I am proud of the part I played
I was a defender of the nation.

As was the case during the past 8 years, sanctions AND THREATS DO NOT WORK AGAINST THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT, BUT FRIENDSHIP & DIALOGUE WILL, GUARANTEED

ARK — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:46:52 EDT

A) Those people in Iran will NOT respond well to threatening language and sanctions but are ready, willing and able for dialogue. The sooner, the better, later could be too late! Why? Because usually the rightist/conservatives in Iran are those who will oppose dialogue, so if they approve and start the dialogue, then moderates who are pro dialogue will not oppose it. But if moderates start the dialogue, then rightist/conservatives could easily oppose them.

B) Now the US Senate has passed tougher sanctions in order to prevent gasoline exports to Iran. Who do you think will get hurt by those sanctions, the Iranian Government or the people of Iran? Certainly ONLY the Iranian people! Perhaps it would be all for the best because then Iranians will move towards more self sufficiency in gasoline production and consumption to replace the 40% which is being imported. But these types of actions will NOT help the progress towards dialogue; neither will it help Western exports to that country during these tough economic times.

C) Perhaps the main issue NOW is past election demonstrations and rioting in Iran as well as the government’s response to those actions. One can rest assured that in no time in recent Iranian history so much freedom of expression has been permitted. I have heard that some people openly insulted President Ahmadinejad and security forces just watched. However when some undesirable elements decided to: 1-use fire bombs, 2-burn buses, 3- burn bikes, 4-burn trash cans, 5-break windows of businesses and 6- break windows of banks, then those previously quite compromising security forces acted swiftly and unfortunately some innocent demonstrators were caught in the middle.

Consumer Protected Health Insurance

Jill 4 Obama — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:05:28 EDT

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29TH, 2009 AT 5:59 PM

The President Highlights Health Insurance Consumer Protections

Posted by Katherine Brandon

Speaking to North Carolinians at a town hall in Raleigh, the President made clear why health reform will benefit all American: "if you’ve got health insurance, then the reform we’re proposing will also help you because it will provide you more stability and more security. Because the truth is we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn’t work well for you." We all know the horror stories, which is why the health insurance consumer protections that are part of reform are so important.

At the town hall, the President outlined these core principles: Let me be specific. We will stop insurance companies from denying you coverage because of your medical history. (Applause.) I've told this story before -- I will never forget watching my own mother, as she fought cancer in her final days, worrying about whether her insurer would claim her illness was a preexisting condition so they could wiggle out of paying for her coverage. How many of you have worried about the same thing? (Applause.) A lot of people have gone through this. Many of you have been denied insurance or heard of someone who was denied insurance because they got -- had a preexisting condition. That will no longer be allowed with reform. (Applause.) We won't allow that. (Applause.) We won't allow that.

With reform, insurance companies will have to abide by a yearly cap on how much you can be charged for your out-of-pocket expenses. No one in America should go broke because of an illness. (Applause.) We will require insurance companies to cover routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies -- (applause) -- eye and foot exams for diabetics, so we can avoid chronic illnesses that cost not only lives, but money. (Applause.) No longer will insurance companies be allowed to drop or water down coverage for someone who's become seriously ill. That's not right, it's not fair. (Applause.)

We will stop insurance companies from placing arbitrary caps on the coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. (Applause.) So my point is, whether or not you have health insurance right now, the reforms we seek will bring stability and security that you don't have today -- reforms that will become more urgent and more urgent with each passing year. So, in the end, the debate about reform boils down to a choice between two approaches. The first is projected to double your health care costs over the next decade, make millions more Americans uninsured, bankrupt state and federal governments, and allow insurance companies to run roughshod over consumers. That's one option. That's called the status quo. That's what we have right now. I want everybody to understand this. If we do nothing, I can almost guarantee you your premiums will double over the next 10 years because that's what they did over the last 10 years. It will go up three times faster than your wages, so a bigger and bigger chunk of your paycheck will be going into health insurance. It will eat into the possibility of you getting a raise on your job because your employer is going to be looking and saying, I can't afford to give you a raise because my health care costs just went up 10, 20, 30 percent. And Medicare, which seniors rely on, is going to become more and more vulnerable. On current projections, Medicare will be in the red in less than 10 years. So that's the status quo. When everybody goes around saying, why is Obama taking on health care -- that's the answer. That's one option. I don't like that option. You shouldn't either. (Applause.) That plan doesn't sound too good. That's the health care system we have right now. You can read more about the President’s eight health insurance consumer protections here, and figure out how reform will directly affect you and your family.

The Cast of 'HAIR' on 'Late Nite'

Bob Bethany — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:56:31 EDT

Excellent performance by the 'Broadway Cast' of 'HAIR'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n4bSTvsWvM

Torture

Walt — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:42:31 EDT

When are our leaders finally going to denounce US torture? The longer they wait for popular opinion, the lesser their remaining moral authority. This is especially true of our religious leaders. The editorial pages of our newspaper are filled with calls by US opinion leaders for Moslem moderates to denounce al-Qaeda and other extremists. Yet those same leaders are silent on US prisoner abuse.

Barack Obama Walter Hecht

Walt — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:17:31 EDT

After a 6 month hiatus, I am again posting to my blog at www.barackobama.com since the healthcare reform fight is heating up and in preparation for the 2010 election. If you Google search for Barack Obama Walter Hecht, you will find a link to the blog. There you can read as many of the 372 posts or as few as you wish. Re-reading some of the posts, I am satisfied with the overall quality of the writing and encouraged by some favorable comments. I am particularly pleased with some of the poetry. Hope you enjoy the posts and will recommend the site to others. Thanks.

Stand With President Obama to Reduce Health Care Costs

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:42:14 EDT

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG THE BLOG

MONDAY, JULY 20TH, 2009 AT 2:30 PM "Not This Time" Posted by Jesse Lee

download .mp4 (89.5 MB) | read the transcript

This afternoon the President continued his conversation on health reform with a roundtable at the Children's National Medical Center, a conversation that has taken him to every region of the country and encompassed every imaginable perspective on health care reform. It has been a conversation that has brought more people and more stakeholders into the fold supporting strong reform than ever before, and taken us further down that road than ever before. And so it is no surprise, perhaps, that those who feel they would profit financially or politically have come out swinging furiously to try to kill reform.

Surrounded by those who heroically do everything they can to help the young and the ill, today the President made clear that whereas those special interests and their voices in Congress have stopped change in the past, they would not win this time: And over the past decade, premiums have doubled in America; out-of-pocket costs have shot up by a third; deductibles have continued to climb. And yet, even as America's families have been battered by spiraling health care costs, health insurance companies and their executives have reaped windfall profits from a broken system. Now, we've talked this problem to death, year after year. But unless we act -- and act now -- none of this will change.

Just a quick statistic I heard about this hospital: Just a few years ago, there were approximately 50,000 people coming into the emergency room. Now they've got 85,000. There's been almost a doubling of emergency room care in a relatively short span of time, which is putting enormous strains on the system as a whole. That's the status quo, and it's only going to get worse.

If we do nothing, then families will spend more and more of their income for less and less care. The number of people who lose their insurance because they've lost or changed jobs will continue to grow. More children will be denied coverage on account of asthma or a heart condition. Jobs will be lost, take-home pay will be lower, businesses will shutter, and we will continue to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on insurance company boondoggles and inefficiencies that add to our financial burdens without making us any healthier. So the need for reform is urgent and it is indisputable. No one denies that we're on an unsustainable path. We all know there are more efficient ways of doing it. We just -- I spoke to the chief information officer here at the hospital and he talked about some wonderful ways in which we could potentially gather up electronic medical records and information for every child not just that comes to this hospital but in the entire region, and how much money could be saved and how the health of these kids could be improved. But it requires an investment.

Now, there are some in this town who are content to perpetuate the status quo, are in fact fighting reform on behalf of powerful special interests. There are others who recognize the problem, but believe -- or perhaps, hope -- that we can put off the hard work of insurance reform for another day, another year, another decade. Just the other day, one Republican senator said -- and I'm quoting him now -- "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."

Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses, and breaking America's economy. And we can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time. Not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake. There are too many families who will be crushed if insurance premiums continue to rise three times as fast as wages. There are too many businesses that will be forced to shed workers, scale back benefits, or drop coverage unless we get spiraling health care costs under control.
(President Barack Obama roundtable with health care providers at Children's Hospital, July 20, 2009.
Official White House Photograph by Pete Souza)

Double Standards in Western Broadcasting; Just to Influence Western Nations and Leaders or to Get Improved Ratings or Both

ARK — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:08:31 EDT

Two tragic incidents happened during June and July 2009. One was covered extensively and every day by people and the FREE Western media, the other was briefly reported and then forgotten all about!

The first incident was the accidental shooting of an Iranian demonstrator called Neda by an unknown assailant. In this case there were a couple of cell phones with cameras filming Neda from the minute she got off her car till the moment when she passed away. After her unfortunate and accidental death, in a matter of minutes her picture was all over the Internet and in about couple of hours all over the so called free Western Broadcasters. It was covered extensively and commented on day after day. So far we could say that all of this was not planned and it just happened. The real assailant is still unknown and the President of Iran has ordered a detail investigation of this tragedy.

The second very tragic incident happened in a very prestigious German court?! A young and prestigious pregnant Moslem lady with a 3 year old son, married to a Medical Doctor had filed her complaint against a Neo Nazi who had insulted her. While she was testifying in court, the Neo Nazi defendant attacked her and murdered her right in front of watchful eyes of the German Judge and the court staff repeatedly saying she was NOT human and did NOT have rights! Unfortunately her son and her MD husband were also present. When her husband tried to stop the Neo Nazi murderer, he was also stabbed and as the icing on the Nazi Cake, the German Police shoot the MD husband as well?! During this very tragic incident there was not even one cell phone with a camera in that German courtroom to capture 18+ fatal stabs and the subsequent shooting by the German police?! This is really outrageous; perhaps there are no cell phones with cameras in Germany! And the so called Western free press passed this tragedy with a simple and short report? And the German Chancellor has not even ordered a detailed investigation to this matter? Justice for all but for all White, Catholic Germans! As the saying in the book Animal Farm goes: “All people are equal but some people are more equal?!”

What was the difference between these two cases? In the first tragic incident the unknown assailant could have been a Moslem. In the second incident all known killers and assailants; the Neo Nazi woman/husband stabber as well as the German Police are all White Catholic Germans and members of the Superior Arian Race! Certainly extensive broadcasting of such an atrocity would NOT would sit well with other members of such a perfect and civilized race!?

Conclusion

1- It is a very sad fact but humanity and human rights; fairness, etc. are exploited every day by the so called Western free media and some other interested parties , either for political exploitation of unsuspecting nations or for sensationalism or both in order to get improved ratings and more advertising Dollars.

2- Unfortunately all of the above has always been used to create a rift between Iran and the US. So far those with such mal intentions have very much succeeded.

3- If the world stays indifferent to such racist hate crimes by White Racist Extremists Crazy Klan’s (W.R.E.C.K.) persons, then no one is safe. Thousands of years ago it was the Jewish people who were slaves in Babylon (Present day Iraq) and a Persian King called Cyrus the Great freed them all and told them they were free to worship, live and work as equals among other citizens. During the late 30s and early 40s the reprehensible act of the Holocaust happened. Couple of centuries ago the contemptible act of African slave trade occurred. Afterwards it was the anti Black, anti Chinese and anti Jewish despicable discriminations in the US and some parts of Europe during 19th and 20th Centuries. Then it was the sad anti Japanese American discriminations in the US during the World War II. Today it is the shameful Anti Moslem discriminations; tomorrow it will be anti Asian, anti African, anti Eastern European, anti American Indian, anti Latino and anti… Henceforth this type of racist attitude will harm us sooner than later. So we should CARE about what happens around us, even if it does not seem to harm us right away.

Then what shall we do? We shall UNITE against racism and discrimination. We should form an international NGO group called “Very Concerned about Racism Extremism (V.C.A.R.E.).” V also stands for VICTORY, so we will WIN! Presently there are quite a few anti racist groups protecting a certain minority or a few minorities, but as far as I know there isn’t a single NGO that would represent and protect all minorities. When these minorities are added up, then they will make an international and powerful majority with lots of positive lobbying clout. I look forward to that day.

Who is a TRUE Friend? A TRUTHFUL Friend

ARK — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:30:07 EDT

The person who tells a friend what they like to hear! Or an honest world leader who gives an advice to the same friend about what is best for them in the long run? Certainly the later, because true friends tell their friends the facts even if those friends wouldn’t like it. When Presidents Obama emphasizes below facts, then he certainly has the best interest of Israel in mind…And that is a durable and comprehensive peace for Israel and its neighbors after 60 years of conflict, as well as economic prosperity and happiness for the region as a whole. Those who tell Israelis what some conservative Israelis like to hear are not true friends of Israel, just old fashioned politicians trying to please those people. , Those types of statements would harm the cause of peace and prosperity in the Middle East for the long run. When the US President makes a statement, then the rest of the US administration should follow his lead and DO NOT make contradictory foreign policy statements. Those types of statements send contradictory signals to present as well as potential friends and allies…

Fact 1: Any type of new settlement activity would very much harm the cause for peace and prosperity for the Israelis as well as in the Middle East as a whole.

Fact 2: Attacking Iran would very much create an unprecedented turmoil in the region and will delay indefinitely a comprehensive and durable peace in that part of the world. Henceforth such actions would be very much against the strategic interests of US and Israel…And those who say otherwise do NOT have the best strategic interests of these two countries in mind.

Saudis and others are again trying to interfere in US policies and influence the strategic Interest of this Great Country

ARK — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:11:39 EDT

The VOA/Persian has a permanent political commentator, a London Based journalist called Mr. Norizadeh. This person also gets paid well to write articles for a Saudi financed Middle Eastern newspaper. That same newspaper is the one which wrote a few negative articles AND prevented positive efforts of Mr. McFarlane to bear fruits and improve US/Iran relations during the era of President Reagan…Imagine if this Saudi backed paper had not done that, due to improved US relations with Iran, this Great country’s strategic Interests could have been further improved. ..But they did it then and they are trying to do it again! When President OBAMA, this very positive World Leader, came to power those who had VERY MUCH supported other candidates during the 08 US presidential elections, got very nervous. Especially since this very positive President wanted dialogue with Iran, the Saudis thought their regional interest of divide-US/Iran-and-rule the Arabian Peninsula would be in jeopardy. So they did every thing to prevent all that positive effort made by this positive and dialogue oriented US president NOT to bear fruits, just as was the case in the 80s…Now Mr. Norizadeh is a guest at VOA/Persian every night and is trying to set guidelines for the Iranian opposition leaders?! Mr. Norizadeh’s last recommendations/instructions to Mr. Mousavi and his followers: “He should keep up the momentum of street demonstrations or the crowd would do it without him?!” A journalist on Saudi payroll TRYING TO give instructions to an experienced Iranian opposition leader through VOA/Persian, this is really incredible! However, Mr. Norizadeh and his supporters should know that all Iranian opposition leaders are quite experienced politicians and very wise. These leaders and their followers will NOT fall in to this amateurish divide-and-rule trap. The post election dispute in Iran is an internal matter and nobody should try to fish in muddy waters and certainly NOT YOU and your supporters, Mr. Norizadeh. To date I have not seen a piece of solid and documented evidence to suggest that the elections were rigged to the degree that it could change the outcome. BUT I have seen two (2) solid evidences to suggest Mr. Ahmadinejad had won outright: 1-A pre-election poll done by an independent US organization, 2- The election results and recounts in Iran. There are rumors, speculations, emotions and international media hype but not one piece of documented and solid evidence. And since most high ranking US politicians are lawyers, and then they should know better. These people should base their conclusions on documented evidence and NOT rumors, speculations, emotions AND Media hype as well as desperate foreign propaganda. President Obama has always mentioned he would not like to meddle in Iranian affairs. Yesterday the British Foreign Minster also stated: “others should not meddle in internal affairs of Iran”…So perhaps the US State department as well as Saudis and some other US politicians could follow suit. If there is any documented and solid evidence about vote rigging, then it should be shared with the world. If there is NONE as it seems to be case right now, then politicians should act like politicians and not fall in to divide-and-rule traps set by interested third parties who are NOT even citizens. One day I certainly would like to see at least one third of the present Iranian Democracy in Saudi Arabia, just 33%, but I think even that is wishful thinking.

The same divide-and-rule trap was tried in 08 during the Democratic Primaries. When President Obama got nominated, some so called American well wishers convinced Mrs. Clinton and her followers that the nomination was not fair and they should either not vote at all or vote for the Republican Party?! In other words some third parties wanted Mrs. Clinton and her followers to commit political suicide! Thanks to the wisdom and leadership of style of Mr. Obama as well as compromises made by both sides those plots and rumors were neutralized and then the present US Unity Government was created. God bless Presidents Lincoln and Obama as well as those who follow in their path and those who DO NOT make foreign policy statements of their own.

'Nina Simone' 1969 Harlem Music Festival

Bob Bethany — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:25:59 EDT

Ain't Got No...I've Got Life from the musical 'HAIR'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcXI2BIUOQ ...Bob

June 27th, 2009's Health Care Reform Rally, Rockford, IL

Christopher Donshale Sims — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:56:35 EDT

Let me update you all:
We had a very successful healthcare reform rally at State St. and Alpine Rd here in Rockford. After having gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL to register, make signs, and listen to a speaker, we enjoyed the "honks for health care" we received.

In Rockford, people are up in arms about health care reform. This is what the people showed us.

I can recall listening to a woman at the light about health care reform. She had none and it was because of her job. She was angry and showed it.

This is what makes us organize around this issue and do something about it.

Stay tuned and interested.

On Saturday July 11th, 2009 at 12 PM I plan on showing Sicko by Michael Moore at Katie's Cup. Afterwards we will have discussion. Come on out. 502 7th St., Rockford, IL Right across from Amcore Bank.

Christopher D. Sims
Community Organizer and Activist

Pre-election, Election & Post-election Events in Iran

ARK — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:58:07 EDT

1)Pre-election Events; Hundreds of candidates most without any political or management experience, aging from 15 to … submitted their application forms to the Guardian Council in order to be a Presidential candidate in Iran. All applicants were vetted by an authority called the Guardian Council and four experienced politicians were approved. All four were former and present politicians of the Islamic Republic of Iran; 1-Mr. Ahmadinejad who is has been the President of Iran for the past 4 years, 2-Mr. Mousavi, who was the Prime Minister during the same period when the Present Supreme Leader was the President of Iran, 3-Mr. Karoubi who had been the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament for two terms and 4-Mr. Rezai who is the Secretary at the Expediency Council and a former head of the Iranian National Guards. Now if the Iranian System of Governance did not want any of them, then they could have easily rejected their application. But they wanted to have all of these candidates so they approved all of them. Now one could say, they wanted them to have a high voter turnout, but they do not want liberal views of Mr. Mousavi now?! My reply to that comment would be: “Then why did they allow Mr. Khatami who has exact same views as Mr. Mousavi to be the President of Iran for 8 years?” As a matter of fact former President Khatami was also a candidate for this election but he withdrew in favor of Mr. Mousavi, because their ideologies are very close. AND it is the same system of Islamic Republic Government as the time when Mr. Khatami served his two full terms as the President of Iran, so nothing has changed. Now some people are saying Mr. Mousavi is more liberal than Mr. Ahmadinejad. I do not know about that because I really do not know much about 8 years of Iran Iraq war when he was the Prime Minister. All I know is that there were two exchange rates one at 70 Rials for each US DOLLAR and one at an average of 700 Rials/$. Some people got the preferred 70 Rials rate to open Letters of Credits for their business and factories and part of that money was used to open factories but large sums were also taken out of the country by some people in the form of over-invoices. Now let’s say we start with $1.000 USD Dollars at the preferred rate of 70 Rials/$ then we would exchange that rate in open market for 700 Rials/$ or sell those goods which were imported at 10 times the price based on the open exchange rate. So each time we will make ten times our investment. So by making five transaction with a good access to the preferred rate source, we will have 10,000,000 US$ (1,000 x10x10x10x10) not bad! But it is very bad because while some people made lots of money, many people made a little and had to live of coupons during the war or what is called the War time economy with mostly negative GDP growth. Now during the debates, Mr. Rezai who has a good economic and management plan has asked Mr. Mousavi whether he really believes in privatization and does he believe in the free and fair enterprise system and NOT just a selected few receiving preferred exchange rates. Mr. Mousavi’s response to date is NOT clear, all he says is to read his book, he was not even willing to briefly explain for TV viewers what is written in this book?!
2)The Election; After vigorous and some times without policy issue debates as well as day and night street demonstrations by some Middle Class and Upper Middle Class as well as upper class Internet savvy supporters of Mr. Mousavi, came the election day. There were an international record number of turnouts (85%) which was very good for the reputation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Around 2:00 am election night, one of top level Mousavi supporters calls him up and tells him he has won and he should prepare his victory speech. Afterwards election authorities in the Ministry of Interior formally announce Mr. Ahmadinejad as the landslide winner. Then Mousavi supporters claim that there should have been some vote rigging, and their representatives were kicked out of the Ministry before vote counting. Some supporters claim the election should have gone to a second round while others say that Mr. Mousavi had won out right and there were millions of votes displaced?! I was not there, AND I do not have ESP, so I can not say who is right and who is wrong but I could ask these questions: 1-If there was vote rigging then how could a top level supporter of Mr. Mousavi claim victory on election night? Certainly rigged votes would show otherwise! How come the Mousavi Camp claims votes could NOT be counted so fast, yet one of their top level officials congratulates Mr. Mousavi that same night while claiming their representatives were kicked out and not allowed during the vote counting process?? Do these people have ESP, because there are no exit polls in Iran!
3)Post-Election Events; The elections were held on Friday. On Saturday as is customary the Supreme Leader of Iran as well as Head of Judiciary and the Speaker of the Parliament & one of the candidates, Mr. Rezai congratulated Mr. Ahmadinejad. Mr. Rezai’s message was indirect. And Messer. Mousavi & Karoubi, the other two candidates claimed vote rigging. Right after these claims all candidates were given the right to file their claims with the Guardian Council and have representatives present during the recount of 10% of votes randomly selected. Since it is randomly selected then statistically it is like 98% of the vote counted. Messer. Mousavi & Karoubi refused saying that millions of votes were replaced! Even if that was the case they could requested independent hand writing experts to randomly view some ballots boxes, because those so called misplaced millions of votes could have been written by a few thousand people at the most and not millions! So every few thousand votes would have to be rewritten by a person, so hand writing experts could detect those irregularities in some suspicious ballot boxes. BUT Messer. Mousavi & Karoubi refused and wanted the election annulled based on some rumors and speculations? So more street demonstrations started and the amazing thing is that most CNN i-reporters spoke English so fluently and were so computer savvy while by some statistics only 35% of Iranians are Internet users! So let’s talks statistics and say all of those middle Class and up scale Internet users voted for Messer Mousavi & Karoubi and we all know 40 Million people voted. So 40 Million x 35% will give us 14 Million and that is roughly the number voters for those people. Now we all know that all of those people did not vote for Mr. Mousavi all of the other 65% did not vote for Mr. Ahmadinejad, but the silent majority who are not so computer/Internet savvy could have voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad as well as the majority of 35% middle and upper classes who voted for Messer. Mousavi & Karoubi and adding all of these up could give us that 62% for Mr. Ahmadinejad and 38% for others. But if there are any doubt, then those doubt should be pursued through legal channels and not street demonstrations which have given some opportunist a chance to promote violence and trying to cripple the city for that past 8 days.
4)Demonstrators - I believe 98% percent of the demonstrators are some of those 35% or 14 Million computer savvy, English speaking supporters of Messer Mousavi and Karoubi who honestly believe there is some vote rigging and this is the only way to confront it. However there are those 2% very dangerous elements who would want to create violence in order to get a harsh response from the Iranian security forces. Those 2% rioters burn buses, burn motorcycles and trash cans through the City, break bank and business glasses, attack Basij (Civilian Defense) Bases and Mosques with Cocktail Molotov (Homemade fire bombs), beat and throw stones at the police; in order to draw a harsh response. Unfortunately they have succeeded in some cases and there has been some shootings in response to those attacks and some people were caught in the crossfire. Recently there were some members of an internationally outlawed MKO terrorist group who have confessed to those provocative attacks on Press TV. Due to helping Sadam during his invasion of Iran, MKO terrorist Group has no popular base in Iran and no contacts whatsoever to Mr. Mousavi’s Green Movement, but they are using this peaceful Movement as cover for their atrocities and are trying to create riots and violence in Iran in order to get a harsh response from government forces and unfortunately they are using peaceful demonstrators as human shields. So some of these 98% peaceful demonstrators get caught in the crossfire and have been badly hurt and that is the saddest part. Just as was the case in Afghanistan were Taliban had used civilians as human shields and when US forces tried to attack them in May 09, 26 civilians by US account and 140 by Afghan Government account were killed.

5)Media Commotion – It is true that CNN and others should improve their ratings at any cost, BUT showing people dieing LIVE on TV in order to create and uproar and GET improved ratings; that is really too much. It is good to have morality but showing graphic, unverified and uncensored death pictures in our living rooms where our children also watching, that is NOT responsible journalism AND it is not called morality! This type of behavior understood from Al-Arabiya and Al-Jaazera reporters who could never have such freedoms in their own countries, to be envious of Iranian elections with 85% turnout and then mostly free street demonstration for weeks. If such demonstrations happened for an hour in their own countries GOD knows what kind of a blood bath would have resulted from that. Now Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera are shedding crocodile tears for the victims in Iran?? But for CNN, just to get improved ratings and more advertisers; to show those types of unverified pictures, that is really beneath this credible American network. Specially since one of the methods used by the MKO terrorist group bedsides bombing, riots and street violence, is the Psychological Warfare of using the international media for their own evil intentions. Now BBC calls millions of Basiji Iranian Civil Defense Reservist thugs. It is like calling the very much respected US National Guard Reserves thugs. Shame on you BBC!

Barack Obama's Official Fathers Day Proclamation

Jill 4 Obama — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:58:02 EDT

« What Obama just said and meant about Iran and democratic protests | Main

Barack Obama's Official Fathers Day Proclamation

A PROCLAMATION FOR FATHER'S DAY, 2009, By President Barack Obama

The journey of fatherhood provides unique and lasting joys. Cradling a baby in his arms, a father experiences the miracle of life and an unbreakable bond. Fathers imagine a world of possibilities awaiting their children and contemplate the privilege of helping them reach that expanse of opportunity.

As kids grow and mature, they look to their dad for a special kind of love and support. Providing these necessities can bring great happiness.

Fatherhood also brings great responsibilities. Fathers have an obligation to help rear the children they bring into the world. Children deserve this care, and families need each father's active participation.
Fathers must help teach right from wrong and instill in their kids the values that sustain them for a lifetime.

As they encounter new and challenging experiences, children need guidance and counsel. Fathers need to talk with their kids to help them through difficult times. Parents must also help their children make the right choices by serving as strong role models. Honest and hard-working fathers are an irreplaceable influence upon their children.

Communities must do more to counsel fathers. Family and friends, and faith-based and community organizations, can speak directly with men about the sacrifices and rewards of having a child. These groups can support men as they take on the great challenges of child-rearing.

Through honest and open dialogue, more men can choose to become model parents and know the wonders of fatherhood.

On Father's Day, we pay tribute to the loving and caring fathers who are strengthening their families and country.

We also honor those surrogate fathers who raise, mentor, or care for someone else's child. Thousands of young children benefit from the influence of great men, and we salute their willingness to give and continue giving.

We also express special gratitude to fathers who serve in the United States Armed Forces for the sacrifices they and their families make every day.

All of these individuals are making great contributions, and children across the country are better off for their care.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in accordance with a joint resolution of the Congress approved April 24, 1972, as amended (36 U.S.C. 109), do hereby proclaim June 21, 2009, as Father's Day.

I direct the appropriate officials of the Government to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on this day. I urge all Americans to express their love, respect, and admiration to their fathers, and I call upon all citizens to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

/s/ BARACK OBAMA

On Father's Day: Remembering What Makes a Good Father

Jill 4 Obama — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:44:14 EDT

Remembering What Makes a Good Father

Words from Barack Obama

Father's Day 2007:

"Let's admit to ourselves that there are a lot of men out there that need to stop acting like boys;

who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception;

who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise a child."

Father's Day 2008:

"Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father.

It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father."

Father's Day 2009:

"We need to step out of our own heads and tune in.

We need to turn off the television and start talking with our kids, and listening to them, and understanding what's going on in their lives."

The Audacity of Hubris

Primary Colors — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:22:37 EDT

This week, so-called 'Blue Dog' democrats and centrist GOP members have been meeting secretly and at length to produce proposals meant to derail a central tenet of President Obama's health insurance reform plan, a strong public health insurance option. Available nationwide to anyone who chooses it, such a plan would be able to negotiate with health providers and drug companies on behalf of its members (American taxpayers) and pass on the savings in the form of affordable premiums. Recent surveys show that 73% of voters nationwide (77% Dem, 79% Ind, 63% Rep) support health reform that includes such an option while only 15% are estimated to support reform that does not. So why would middle-of-the-road Democrats and Republicans work so hard to undermine something that most of their constituents desire? Because the disconnect between the motivations of our congressional representatives and the interests of the voters they supposedly represent has never been greater. Healthcare lobbying groups have reportedly committed some $100 Million to be spent over just the next few weeks in an all-out assault on the Obama health care initiative. What percentage of that amount might be destined for the campaign funds of past recipients, many of them part of this GOP/Blue Dog alliance? I'd bet it's safe to guess that it's probably a similar portion of the funds that mortgage industry lobbies mobilized to defeat a measure that would have empowered bankruptcy judges to re-write the loans of millions of homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. The measure was widely seen as the 'teeth' in Obama administration measures to deal with the mortgage crisis, and they were conveniently pulled by the same cadre of legislators now collaborating in rare bi-partisan fashion against the physical welfare of their electors and the American people as a whole. Enough is enough. I just hope that as Democrats we have the guts to field strong primary opponents to the Blue Dogs that share the idealism of our President and not the self-centeredness of this faction so obviously gone astray.

The EVEN HANDED Message of PEACE & UNDERSTANDING, given by President Obama in Cairo was excellent

ARK — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:30:17 EDT

That message was one of the few fare and balanced messages given by any US President on the Middle East Conflict. However, there are some issues to be clarified:

A) Iran’s Peaceful Nuclear Program; All Iranians and especially the Supreme Leader of Iran have said and are saying: “This Program is for peaceful purposes, Nuclear weapons are against Islamic Principles and nuclear weapons are NOT part of Iran’s defensive strategy.” The Leader of Iran recently also mentioned: “Iran wouldn’t want to have nuclear weapons even if some one paid them to have some.” Now the West says Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon program?! The International Atomic Energy Agencies (IAEA) says Iran is abiding by NPT rules but they have not been able to inspect all of Iran’s military installations. Iran says “of course NOT, because they do have conventional weapons and IAEA inspectors could easily give those details to Westerners just as they did in the case of Iraq and that is very much against Iran's national & strategic interests.” Then IAEA says that is unverified Iranian behavior?! Now if IAEA has some evidence on an Iranian nuclear weapons program; then they should show some documentation or be quite about it. One can not guess and speculate on what a country could have without solid documentation! ONE CAN CERTAILY NOT RELY ON FALSIFIED REPORTS GIVEN BY A KNOWN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATION CALLED the MKO!

B) On The SAD EVENT of the Holocaust – While some European countries want the world to forget about this very important historical atrocity; Iran President’s statements and request of debate on this issue; has brought this very sad genocide event to the forefront of international recognition…AND henceforth for the first time a US President visited a genocide camp…And from now on this very sad event will be commemorated every year. The other positive effects of this debate is that now some underground Western Neo Nazi groups have resurfaced again, so from now on they could be easily watched and their racist actions controlled and limited.

C) VOA/Persian willingly or unwittingly mistranslated some very crucial points of President Obama’s speech in Cairo and used a harsher tone. Why? However, their coverage of a few other issues has become less biased, thanks to the even-handed policies of the HOPE LEADER.

Healthcare Reform - State your Support

Jill 4 Obama — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:17:18 EDT

Sunday 31, May 2009 | 8:11am Sunday, May 31, 2009 Search

On the Front Lines

Doctors are on the front lines of the country’s health care crisis and see firsthand every day why Americans are demanding reform. That’s why on Wednesday, White House Director of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle hosted the latest in a series of White House Stakeholder Discussions with doctors from around the country.

Larger Vision

President Obama's Saturday address to the American people caps a week which saw major health care players, from providers to payers, meet face-to-face at the White House to work out ways to cut more than $2 trillion from the nation's health care costs.

Larger Vision

The current health care system does not work for women. On Wednesday, Secretary Sebelius met with women small-business owners at a knitting shop in Washington D.C. to discuss health reform.

Larger Vision

A Discussion with President Obama: The President held a meeting in the Roosevelt Room on May 12, 2009 with employers to discuss innovative workplace practices to improve the health of workers and reduce the rising rate of health care spending.

Larger Vision

1234

Health Care Reform

Many Americans are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of care goes up while others face losing insurance as businesses struggle to cover employees.

Dear Friend,

Last week was National Small Business week, and I would like to talk about a top concern of those Americans that run and work in these companies: health care. Read more

President Obama is committed to enacting comprehensive health reform this year that lowers costs, guarantees choice of doctors and plans, and assures quality affordable health care for all Americans.

Read more about recent events supporting this commitment.

The current health care system does not work for women. A new report Roadblocks to Health Care: Why the Current Health Care System Does Not Work for Women explains how the system leaves too many women without access to coverage for care.

View Report | Printable PDF | Watch Secretary Sebelius Discuss the Report

View Hard Times in the Heartland Report | View Bottom Line Report | View Costs of Inaction

A Weekly Update on Health Reform

Weekly Video Posted May 29

Archived Weekly Updates |

Captioned Version

If you see a red box in the place of the view player, please install the latest version of Flash from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer.

Join the Discussion on Health Reform

We want to hear what you think about health reform. Send us your story, proposals and ideas.

Health Care Community Discussions

The recommendations from more than 3,200 Health Care Community Discussions were systematically analyzed to compile the report, Americans Speak on Health Reform.

View Report

Printable PDF

Read a Sample Report From Your State

HealthReform.gov Recognized

The Innovations Gallery celebrates the innovators and innovations who are championing the President’s vision of more effective and open government. HealthReform.gov was recognized by www.WhiteHouse.gov for allowing Americans to take part personally in the health reform process.

Watch Video

The White House Forum on Health Reform

President Obama brought together leaders with diverse views at the White House Forum on Health Reform. The White House issued a report highlighting the productive discussions from the event.

Read the White House Forum on Health Reform Report (PDF)

Read Director of the White House Office of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle’s blog post

Health Reform and the Budget

The President’s 2010 Budget lays the groundwork for reform of the American health care system, most notably by setting aside a deficit-neutral reserve fund of $635 billion over 10 years to help finance reform of our health care system to bring down costs, expand coverage, and improve quality.

Over the past ten years, which has increased faster: the average cost of a home, or spending on health insurance premiums?

Check Out The Answer

Thursday, May 28, 2009

“Health Bill Would Fix What’s Broken”

Today, Senator Ted Kennedy wrote an Op-Ed in the Boston Globe, underscoring the need for health reform this year. In the piece, Senator Kennedy shares how his recent battle with cancer has given him extra incentive to ‘fix what’s broken’ in the health care system. Senator Kennedy outlines some of the key principles of what he and President Obama seek in a health reform bill.

Read Excerpt

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

More Small Firms Drop Health Care

Rising health care premiums and sharp declines in revenue from the recession are forcing some small businesses to choose between dropping health insurance or laying off workers – or staying in business at all. A recent Wall Street Journal article highlights the struggles small business owners face from rising health care costs.

Read Excerpt

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

“Time is Now to Fix Health Care”

On Sunday, the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald published an editorial, urging Congress to pass health reform this year. The Herald-Telegraph pointed at the increasing percentage of uninsured Americans and the increasing price of prescription drugs as two of the most pressing reasons to reform health care.

Read Excerpt

Thursday, May 21, 2009

America cannot afford to wait

Americans across the country realize that the health care status quo is unsustainable. However, nurses are on the frontlines of health care. Today, Margaret Drugay, a nurse from Arizona writes an opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star, appropriately stating that “America cannot afford to wait.”

Read Excerpt

Read more

Secretary Sebelius
Discusses Women
and Health Reform
Watch Video
A Weekly Update
on Health
Reform
May 13, 2009
Watch Video
2009 AFSCME
National Nurses
Conference
Watch Video
A Weekly Update
on Health
Reform
April 27, 2009
Watch Video
A Weekly Update
on Health
Reform
April 22, 2009
Watch Video
President Obama
Discusses Health
Reform Before
Congress
Watch Video
A Weekly Update
on Health
Reform

Watch Video
President Obama
Speaks at the
Forum
Watch Video
Meet Travis
Ulerick
Watch Video
White House
Regional Forum
in North Carolina
Watch Video
White House
RegionalForum
in Iowa
Watch Video
White House
Regional Forum
in Michigan
Watch Video
Americans Speak
Out
Watch Video

Accessibility | Contact Information | Privacy Policy | WhiteHouse.gov | USA.gov

President Obama's Call from Air Force One, reprint-Christopher Hass

Jill 4 Obama — Sun, 31 May 2009 07:29:02 EDT

Obama for America
Post from Obama for America:

President Obama's Call from Air Force One By Christopher Hass - May 30th, 2009 at 7:46 am EDT

On Thursday, President Obama took time to speak by phone with thousands of Organizing for America volunteers about the urgent need to organize for health care reform.

“If we don’t get it done this year, we’re not going to get it done,” the President said.

He stressed that health care reform will only become a reality if grassroots supporters mobilize support for it in every community in America. The fight over health care reform, he noted, offers a "big chance to prove that the movement that started during the campaign isn’t over.”

Also speaking on the call was David Plouffe, OFA Director Mitch Stewart, OFA Deputy Director Jeremy Bird, OFA New Media Director Natalie Foster and OFA volunteer Diane Robertson, who offered her advice on how to organize support in your community.

The fight over health care reform begins in your neighborhood June 6th. Sign up to host or attend a kickoff event in your area.

Show 235 Reader Comments

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.

To date the ONLY person who had said the bombing in an Iranian Mosque was INDIRECTLY the work of US and Israel is a substitute/temporary leader of one of Tehran’s Friday prayers and he is NOT a high ranking Iranian government official!

ARK — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:56:55 EDT

As of today neither the Leader of Iran nor its President, nor any other Iranian government official have blamed the bombing in a Mosque located at Zahidan, Iran on US or Israel. The only person who had expressed that opinion is a substitute or temporary leader of one of Tehran’s Friday prayers. It is a free country and a person is entitled to his opinion but that should NOT be called an official governmental statement. So the report by Agence France Press (AFP) is EXAGGERATED.

However, that is quite different from the US State Department intestinally and wrongfully calling another country “The number one sponsor of terrorism” and making sure to ignore the real threat which is the Al-Qaeda and those regional allies who support them!

A Personal Message for Obama Supporters from Judge Anne Lazarus-Vote May 19,2009

PA Field Team - Centre County Obama — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:40:15 EDT

A Personal Message for Obama Supporters from Judge Anne Lazarus

Democratic Candidate for Pennsylvania Superior Court – Vote Tuesday May 19,2009

My name is Anne Lazarus and I am a Democratic candidate for Superior Court. I'm asking for your support on May 19th.

I began my career as a judge nearly 20 years ago when I was appointed by Governor Robert P. Casey as a merit selection judge to the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. On the Court of Common Pleas, I have served as a judge in both the Criminal and Civil Divisions and currently on the Orphans’ Court. I remain as excited today about the opportunity to dispense justice fairly and equally as I was when I first joined the court.

For the past four years, I have served as Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, a role that requires me to provide guidance to judges throughout the Commonwealth on standards of ethical behavior as directed by the Code of Judicial Conduct. I am proud to say that no judge that has sought an advisory opinion from the committee, and has followed our advice, has ever been disciplined for misconduct.

As committed as I have been to the law, I have been equally committed to the community and volunteering. I have served as a board member of the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program and in 2006, the Pennsylvania Bar Association recognized my work with the first-ever Judicial Pro Bono Award. I also serve as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, the National Judicial College, and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

I believe it was for all of these reasons that I was again given the Bar Association’s highest rating “Highly Recommended” for this campaign. They wrote that I am “intelligent, thoughtful, candid and scholarly, … and demonstrate superior writing ability, knowledge of the law and exceptional judicial temperament.” I am the only Democrat running for Superior Court who won the Bar’s highest rating.

I hope I can count on your vote on May 19th. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me at anne@lazarusforsuperiorcourt.org or 215-687-6348.

Thank you.

http://www.lazarusforsuperiorcourt.org/

According to teachings of Quran, a Good Moslem is also a Good Jew, a Good Christian and a Good Zoroastrian

ARK — Sat, 09 May 2009 09:47:54 EDT

There are many versus in Quran about Jesus and the fact that he was born from Saint Virgin Mary. There also many versus about Prophet Moses & the TEN COMMANDMENTS, In Quran there is also lots of detail about what good thoughts, good words & good deeds should be, these teachings are also the basics of an the ancient religion of Iranians ( Zoroastrian) as well as all the above mentioned religions. So if one wants to be a really good Moslem, then she/he should also be a Good Jew, a Good Christian and a Good Zoroastrian. Certainly an extremist religious fanatic can neither be a good Moslem nor a good Christian nor a Good Jew, nor a Good Zoroastrian. So Al-Qaeda, Neo Nazis & ..., as well as their followers/ sympathizers are NOT RELIGEOUS AT ALL. Since the Zoroastrian religion came first, then it is an ancient religion dealing with basics or an equivalent of what we call a high school Diploma. According to Quran Prophets: 1-Noah, 2-Abraham, 3-Moses, 4-Jesus & 5-Mohammad (Peace be upon all of them) were all sent by GOD. Since there are extensive writings about the teachings of Prophets Noah & Abraham in Torah, Bible & Quran, then after Zoroastrianism every Moslem should know about true Judaism which is equal to a Bachelor’s Degree. Afterwards Moslems should be Familiar with the real teachings of Christianity which is like a Master’s Degree and then they should know about real Islam which is like a Doctorate Degree. I look forward to the day that true believers in all these Godly religions unite and respect/love each other. Hopefully that day will come sooner than later, but we all should work hard to bring about such a peaceful era. I am counting on all true believers of all faiths. There is Persian Poem that says: “All human beings are members of the same team, if one member is in pain, then others should also scream.” If people don’t sympathize with others who are in pain, then they lack self esteem!

GOP "faithful" respond to "Send Cheney Packing"

Peter and Linda — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:36:00 EDT

I don't think he would be on the scene if this administration would stop trying to nail the last administation to the cross for war crimes. We are supposed to be going forward (CHANGE), not living in the past.

First of all, the GOP has been very, very neagtive since day one, way before anything about the war crimes came out. I would have to agree with you, but after the disastrous last 8 years, Cheney should be ashamed of their record and quietly ride off into the sunset. He is a major factor in all the negativity against the new administration, as if his era was such a huge success.

By the way, you're 100% correct. We are supposed to be going forward (CHANGE). That's what the Obama administration is trying to do. That's what the MAJORITY voted for ... OBAMA and CHANGE. Unfortunately, if you look at the GOP voting record, they're doing EVERYTHING in their power to derail any advances toward real change. If the "party of no" continues their arrogance, we will remain stagnant and we will ALL continue to suffer because of their arrogance and obstinacies.

I'm ashamed to admit I was a lifelong Republican. What the hell was I thinking????

Why nobody paid any attention to this February 15, 09 BLOG of mine about stray DOGS in Iraq and BOMB SNIFFING K9 Training?! Since then, hundreds of innocent people have been killed by terrorist suicide bombings.

ARK — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 07:07:50 EDT

Baghdad PUPS & K9- Bomb Sniffing Training

Since stray dogs in Iraq, Pakistan & Afghanistan are being killed every day, then there might be a solution to save these DOGS & many people as well in those countries. Perhaps we could ask the US and local Armies to train quite a few of them to become trained K9 Bomb sniffing. Then they could be freed every morning and evening on two different shifts and sent to crowded places, watched by under cover personnel, and asked to come back to their special kennels after every shift and then the evening shift would take over. These K9 dogs would have a collar to show they are army dogs so nobody should harm them...If some one would want to harm them then that person (he/she) would be mal intentioned and would be arrested. These K9 Bomb Detecting/Sniffing Dogs (K9BD2) would every day & night roam about in crowds and pick would be suicide bombers and bark at them to alert the security personnel as well as potential targets. Under the Islamic Law guard dogs such as sheep dogs are permitted.

Who inspires and finances Al-Qaeda & that Type of Extremist Wahabi Activities? Saudis, Drug Trafficking &...

ARK — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:44:38 EDT

There is ONLY ONE source of inspiration for Al-Qaeda: The Saudi style Wahabism

There are a few sources of Al-Qaeda financing: drug trafficking, Saudi financing &… Now for VOA Persian, using a very unreliable source in Turkey to claim they were some contacts between the Al-Qaeda and the Shia Hezbollah in that country is a total farce. Perhaps Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda cars passed each other on a crowded Street in Istanbul?! Just recently in separate bombings in Iraq, the Al-Qaeda and their cronies killed more than one hundred Shia Moslems…Now to claim the Shia Hezbollah had some thing to do with this terrorist group who murder innocent civilians is really wrong! To date tens of thousands of Shia Moslems & about eight thousand Americans have been murdered by these terrorist extremists who think they are religious! Perhaps these Al-Qaeda terrorists and their Saudi mentors should also be listed as murderous and racist tugs who commit genocide right there on top of the list, next to Hitler…Or is there a plan to create division among Moslems and make Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan & … their battle ground. Those who finance and plan such attacks should know that in the event of such a disaster, no country involved in such planning will be safe and negative economic effects of such a conflict will be far reaching. Or perhaps they want to bog down US troops in Iraq, so they would not be able to move to Afghanistan & Pakistan were these terrorists have their head quarters.

Popular Initiative calls for removal of Bush appointee in Haiti

Jacob Fran�ois — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:25:14 EDT

Popular Initiative calls for removal of Bush appointee in Haiti

by Kevin Pina

HIP - A spokesperson for grassroots organizations aligned with Haiti's Fanmi Lavalas party demanded the Obama administration remove current US Ambassador Janet Sanderson. Reached by telephone in the capital of Port-au-Prince a leader of a group calling itself the Popular Initiative stated, "She is lying about last Sunday's elections by not acknowledging it was our boycott that kept voters away." He continued, "She claims it was because this was not a regular election year and that people may be tired of the political process. The only voter fatigue we have in Haiti is with undemocratic elections. Allow Fanmi Lavalas to participate and we'll show you the voters have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for an authentic democratic process. She is out of touch with reality in Haiti."
Haiti held controversial Senate elections last week that were boycotted by Fanmi Lavalas after all of their candidates were excluded on procedural grounds. Voters mostly stayed at home on election day after Lavalas launched a campaign called Operation Closed Door. The Obama administration is widely seen as having green lighted the contested elections after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Haiti three days prior to the ballot.
The Popular Initiative has also called for a re-evaluation of US policy in Haiti by the Obama administration claiming that its current direction is a holdover from the Bush administration. A second spokesperson in the conference call declared, "It is time for a real change in Haiti and that can only come by breaking with the past which means the policies of the Bush administration. A good place to start is with the removal of Ambassador Sanderson who was put in place by the Bush government."

They also blamed Ambassador Janet Sanderson for pressuring the Preval administration to issue arrest warrants for 42 of the organizers of the election boycott including five hunger strikers who were forced out of the parliament building by police earlier on Monday. "She made remarks on the radio that the organizers should be investigated. Since then several of our people have been forced into hiding including Rene Civil and Nawoon Marcellus. They have invented a new and bizarre charge, obstruction of democracy," concluded the spokesperson.
At a press conference yesterday, the Popular Initiative and other groups aligned with Lavalas announced they would step up the pressure for the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide from exile in the Republic of South Africa. They declared May and June months of mass mobilization against elections that exclude Lavalas and to fight what they call the "growing misery and poverty as a result of the removal of our democratically elected president on Feb. 29, 2004."

The New US Ambassador TO IRAQ who is an Experienced Peace Promoter could be a Very Good Choice.

ARK — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:09:58 EDT

Mr. Hill negotiated the Bosnia peace settlement. While working on Balkan issues, Ambassador Hill worked closely with Mr. Holbrooke, the US Envoy to Afghanistan & Pakistan, serving as his deputy at the Dayton Peace Talks in 1995. Mr. Holbrooke described Hill as "brilliant, fearless and argumentative" in his book on the Dayton negotiations and said that Hill manages to be both "very cool and very passionate." The combination, Holbrooke said, enhances Hill's "extremely good negotiating skills." Hill said the negotiations with the Bosnians, Serbs and Croats were successful because all the parties "were all ready to settle.'Hill had a diplomatic failure as special envoy to Kosovo “because the Serbs were not ready to relinquish their stranglehold on Kosovo, so we ended up in a NATO bombing campaign.” “Like a lot of things in life: you’ve got to do everything you can do” Hill said, to ensure “that you have left no stone unturned, that you have really tried.”

Source: Wikipedia.com

HOLBROOKE & HILL (H & H) PARTNERS IN PEACE; WHO ARE GOOD FRIENDS AS WELL. & DO RESPECT EACH Other’s EFFORTS. Very good CHOICES FOR IRAQ, PAKISTAN & AFGHANISTAN. H & H could also stand for Humanitarian HELP towards PEACE in the REGION. I certainly wish the BEST for the HOPE LEADER & HIS ADMINSTRATION. May GOD HELP ALL OF THEM SUCCEED to BRING PEACE & PROSPERITY to THE MIDDLE EAST as WHOLE, and DO NOT let the region to become more of an Al-Qaeda RAT HOLE! The H & H TEAM Can do it.

HAITI: Fanmi Lavalas Banned, Voter Apprehension Widespread

Jacob Fran�ois — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:51:41 EDT

HAITI: Fanmi Lavalas Banned, Voter Apprehension Widespread
By Jeb Sprague*

NEW YORK, Apr 17 (IPS) - Weekend senatorial elections in Haiti are mired in controversy as Fanmi Lavalas (FL), the political party widely backed by the poor majority, has been disqualified.

As the global financial crisis unfolds, U.N. officials in New York City and Port-au-Prince are struggling to defend a troubled electoral process while gathering donor aid.

Meanwhile, a recent study by the Florida-based advocacy organisation Haiti Priorities Project (HPP) has found widespread popular apprehension and disaffection among Haitians ahead of the upcoming senatorial elections.

During eight days in early April, seventy HPP volunteers, 10 from the United States and 60 from Haiti, dispersed across the country. Their goal was to survey how people viewed the upcoming election.

"Only 5 percent of potential voters nationwide say they are ready to go to the polls in order to elect 12 senators for the upcoming elections on April of this year," said the group in a press release. Many of the respondents had never heard of the candidates fielded in the election.

Jacob François of the HPP explained to IPS, "We organised our census primarily through town hall meetings, where organisers spoke to people in groups and individually. From this we tallied the opinions of what was estimated to be 65,000 people out of a population of 8 million."

In February it was announced that Haiti’s Conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) would not recognise candidates from FL in the upcoming senatorial elections. The reason given was that the candidates - listed in two different slates - did not have the signature of the party’s head, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted by the George W. Bush administration in 2004.

FL is in a process of reorganisation that even sympathetic observers have termed "disarray." After the initial failure of the two separate FL slates to gain CEP approval, the factions came together agreeing upon a unified slate. The slate was signed by Emmanuel Cantave - keeper of the party's seals - who has approved FL slates for the past 13 years.

Still, the CEP rejected the list. Its stated objection was that the list lacked Aristide’s signature; giving just days notice, it requested a non-fascimilied signature from Aristide, exiled in Pretoria, South Africa.

U.N. officials initially urged the CEP to include all parties.

Praising the efforts of FL to be included within the electoral process, the U.N. representative for a Security Council delegation, Jorge Urbina, stated that they "were glad to hear from (Lavalas) that they are using every legal instrument in their power to reverse this decision."

In a press release, the secretary general of the Organisation of American States, José Miguel Insulza, stated, "I cannot help but express my concern about the possibility that an important group of Haitian citizens might feel that they are not being represented in this process."

By early March, Haitian Judge Jean-Claude Douyon had ruled that the CEP could not disqualify the FL candidates. Concluding that "[t]he political rights of the Lavalas have been violated," he ordered the "reintegration of candidates of that party, if they each individually meet the legal standards."

However, not long after, Judge Douyon was mysteriously removed from his post, and the CEP disregarded his ruling.

In recent weeks, following a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a consensus cemented among government elites to go forward with elections without FL. Criticism of the exclusion ceased.

In late March, U.N. press agencies reported that 100 tonnes of election equipment had arrived in the country, divided into 12,000 voting kits.

CEP and U.N. officials now lay blame at the feet of ousted President Aristide. The U.N.'s Urbina says that FL's exclusion was due to Aristide’s unwillingness to sign.

Some proponents say Aristide, who has been kept from returning to the country, does not wish to give his support to elections under which holdovers from the U.N.-backed dictatorship of 2004-2006 remain and the potential for fraud and vote rigging are high.

Top leaders of his movement have been systematically targeted, in part explaining FL’s internal dissension. The highest former office holder of FL, Yvon Neptune, spent two years in jail, and has a case hanging over his head despite it being ordered dismissed two years ago by a Haitian appeals court, and almost a year since the Inter-American Court of Human Rights told Haiti to halt the case. Another FL leader, Father Gérard Jean-Juste, who spent seven months in jail with untreated cancer, is sick in a hospital in Florida.

At the same time, FL political prisoners, such as Ronald Daulphin, remain in jail after five years without being tried. A justice process for thousands imprisoned and killed under the interim government remains out of sight.

Even so, since Aristide's ouster, a few senators have, without Aristide's endorsement, run in elections claiming to represent FL without any objection made by the CEP. Only in recent months, with violence decreased, has FL come together nationally to participate in elections.

François of the HPP, discussing the U.N. and Haitian government's actions, explains, "They just do not learn. They can’t exclude a major party in Haiti from an election, that's total exclusion. It will undermine the entire process. In addition, the CEP has no business going into the internal affairs of Lavalas."

The tenuous political alliance between Haiti’s President René Préval and FL has collapsed.

Elected in 2006, Préval had the support of the impoverished majority who hoped, through his candidacy, for a return to normality and an end to post-coup repression that left thousands dead.

Once elected, critics say, Préval's administration imposed the priorities of foreign donors and elites. The emphasis today is on garment exportation.

Thousands of Lavalas activists have mobilised against the disqualification, more demonstrations are planned for the weekend.

With the credibility of the upcoming elections badly damaged, foreign donors have attempted to smooth things over with a hastily organised conference pledging aid disbursement.

Speaking to donors and NGOs, whose influence in Haiti is colossal, U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon explained, "Haiti is at a turning moment...by acting now, we will protect the considerable investment and progress we have made so far."

Meanwhile, grassroots Haitian activists, such as a Ronique, a member of a women’s collective in Cité Soleil, condemn what they claim has been a thwarting of democracy led by Préval, the CEP and the U.N.

"In the matter of elections, basically what you have is a decision to explode Fanmi Lavalas, that is the way we in Haiti see it, that this was a decision by the international community with the complicity of President René Préval to get rid of and exclude Lavalas from the election because everyone knows FL is the majority party in the country," she said in a radio interview.

She added, "People are not enthused, it is a complete silence around this election. You don't see candidates going through the neighbourhoods where the people are suffering. Nobody is interested because they don't see themselves participating in this process."

With sadness in her voice she mentions Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, one of the most internationally recognised FL leaders. He was abducted in late 2007, just after announcing his intention to run in senatorial elections, and remains missing. A leading human rights activist, he worked tirelessly to bring former death squad leaders to justice.

IPS has found that one death squad leader has been living in a luxurious hotel overlooking Port-au-Prince. Louis Jodel Chamblain, a founder of the infamous FRAPH death squad that murdered and raped thousands during the early 1990s, was interviewed by IPS a year ago at the Ibo Lele Hotel. Within earshot, U.N. officials and NGO dignitaries dined and slept.

*Wadner Pierre in Miami contributed to this story.

Perhaps and ONLY If They Decide to Do so, then Rightist in The Middle East Could be more Empowered, Inclined and Able to do a COMPREHENSIVE as well as a FAIR & JUST PEACE DEAL.

ARK — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:47:30 EDT

Whether one likes it or not those Middle Eastern rightist are better equipped to do a Peace Deal than moderates; that is IF THEY WOULD WANT TO DO SO! Why? I believe the following points are sufficient:

1-Mr. Menachem Begin who made the one and only durable peace deal in the region (with Egypt) was a rightist prime minister of Israel at the time. Mr. Robyn who was a moderate politician tried to do another peace deal and he was assassinated by an Israeli extremist…I repeat an extremist and NOT a rightist/conservative because there is BIG DIFFERENCE between the two. Rightist/conservatives oppose peace deals through political means and extremists assassinate peace promoters!

2-Those who usually oppose any kind of a deal are the rightist/conservatives and when they approve a deal, then moderates who usually support peace will not & COULD NOT oppose them;

3- On the other hand, if moderates try to make peace, then rightist/conservatives who usually oppose any kind of a deal based on their previous stance CAN and WILL easily oppose it; because if there would be any kind of a deal, then they want to be a major part of it;

4- The same goes for some other countries in the region; those legitimate and elected governments who have the power to make war can easily make peace as well AND from the position of power and nobody could blame them for doing so from a position of weakness or fear.

5-Those regional fearful dictators who ask Israel to do their dirty work and attack Iran do NOT have the best interest of Israel in mind. They neither have the power nor the domestic and international legitimacy to make peace…And all they want is to create more conflict between Israel and Iran so they could fish in muddy waters! BUT I certainly believe Israelis are much smarter than falling in to such a NO WIN trap. Iranians have a saying: “It is good to have wise friends, but a wise enemy is better than an unwise friend. A wise enemy will help you reach a new height; an unwise friend will create for you an unprecedented plight.”

May all REAL as well as FAIR & JUST PEACE PROMOTERS in the WORLD WIN! I repeat my claim that Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas could be positive peace partners. Those people could easily negotiate a FAIR & JUST PEACE ACCORD from the position of power and international respect and not from the position of fear and weakness like some regional dictators who try to persuade Israel to do the ultimate unwise act…And as eight years of Bush Administration threats proved; Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas do not respond well to threats BUT respond very well to a positive treat. So all threats can do is to ALIENATE THESE POTENTIAL, REAL & POWERFUL PEACE PARTNERS and I certainly HOPE wise Israelis who want REAL PEACE in the region would refrain from such a language, even if it is just words…Because even words could be misinterpreted!

Recovery in Action: "Beginning to Percolate Nationwide"

Jill 4 Obama — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:21:44 EDT

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG
Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 6:00 pm Recovery in Action: “Beginning to Percolate Nationwide” This morning, having made progress on an international response to the financial crisis in Europe, the President met with Treasury Secretary Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, SEC Chair Mary Shapiro and Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan to start working on next steps here at home. (President Barack Obama confers with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke following their meeting
at the White House, April 10, 2009. White House Photo/Pete Souza) Meanwhile, the Recovery Act continues to pick up steam… Nationwide, Washington Post, 4/10/09: "Building repairs are underway on public housing in Imboden, Ark., and Cumberland, Ill., states across the country are receiving money to weatherize the homes of low-income residents, and the Silver Star Construction Co. is about to start work on two road-resurfacing projects in south-central Oklahoma with a total cost of $12 million. ‘We were thrilled to get some work,’ said Steve Shawn, president of the company. ‘Some of the work had started slowing down from the economy. The new work came in just around the right time.’ Slowly but surely, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- better known as the economic stimulus package -- is beginning to percolate nationwide, six weeks after President Obama signed the legislation." Nationwide, Modern Healthcare, 4/9/09: "Stephen Lieber, president and CEO of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, looked tired but sounded pleased with the outcome of the trade association’s annual convention in Chicago… Offsetting the economy was the American Recovery and Reconciliation Act of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama in February, which by some estimates contains as much as $35 billion in federal dollars directed toward healthcare information technology spending. ‘We had more provider organizations represented here than we’ve ever had,’ Lieber said. ‘What else could you attribute it to? It’s the stimulus… They (providers) knew they had to pick up whatever intelligence they could this week.’ And that understanding of what the stimulus act held in store for them came not just from the educational sessions—government officials were somewhat limited in what they could say, since Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, HHS secretary nominee, has not yet passed through Senate vetting and been sworn in—but by ‘sitting across the coffee table’ at breaks during the show, exchanging ideas and information with IT industry peers, Lieber said." Colorado, Business Journal, 4/8/09: "The Denver area will have at least 38 active road construction projects this summer totaling $234.4 million, 14 of which are being paid for with federal stimulus money, the Colorado Department of Transportation said Wednesday. "With the funds we are receiving from [the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act], we will now be able to have a construction season similar to those of recent years," CDOT Executive Director Russell George said in a statement. "We will be able to resurface roadways, replace poor bridges and improve safety all across the Denver metro area." Kansas, Kansas City Business Journal, 4/9/09: "Kansas will get $18.4 million for child care and disease prevention for children, and $2.1 million for children’s vaccines, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site. Nationwide, $2 billion in stimulus money for the Child Care and Development Fund will help states support child-care services for working families, those seeking employment or those receiving job training or education." Michigan, WMMT, 4/9/09: "Lieutenant Governor John D. Cherry, Jr. today announced that 67 communities in 27 Michigan counties will benefit from a total of $47.3 million in transportation enhancement (TE) funding. This total includes 22 projects funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). The funding will complete 176 miles of bike paths and paved shoulders; enhance local roadways in communities statewide with lighting, landscaping, sidewalks, crosswalks and other improvements; preserve a historic bridge and two historic rail facilities. The projects are planned for the 2009 and 2010 construction seasons and will create or retain more than 1,300 jobs. ‘This is a positive step for Michigan’s economy,’ said Cherry. ‘These enhancement projects will create jobs and improve communities so they are more attractive to residents, businesses and visitors.’" Missouri, Kansas City Star, 4/10/09: "Within a couple of years, Kansas City could become a green model for turning around some of its poorest neighborhoods, officials said Thursday. Up to $200 million in federal stimulus money will weatherize every home that needs it in a 150-block area, upgrade bus services and provide much more help, they said. ‘I’m so excited, I'm trying to calm down,’ said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat who came up with the idea for a Green Impact Zone. ‘This is a perfect storm of opportunity.’ Kansas City is taking the lead in the nation by funneling as much stimulus money as possible over two years into rebuilding one area of the city, Cleaver said. Local, state and federal governments have agreed to work together on the plan. ‘The key is we are investing federal money wisely and building an inclusive green economy strong enough to create jobs for residents,’ said Cleaver, who met with more than 50 neighborhood and community leaders Thursday." New Hampshire, New Hampshire Business Review, 4/10/09: "Over the next three years, New Hampshire will receive more than $23 million in federal stimulus money designed to create jobs and increase energy conservation by funding a major boost in home weatherization projects. The program is one piece of the job creation puzzle presented by the more than $900 million targeted for New Hampshire through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in February…’This is great, exciting stuff,’ said Charlie Wolfe, weatherization manger for the Dover-based Strafford County Community Action Committee. ‘We’ve talked before what we could do if we had more money, and now we will have a chance to make a big difference.’ According to the Department of Energy, the low- and moderate-income participants in the Weatherization Assistance Program on average see a 32 percent reduction in heating bills – cutting a $2,000 annual heating bill, for example, to about $1,400." New Mexico, Daily Times, 4/10/09: "The state of New Mexico has awarded contracts for four highway reconstruction projects to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Gov. Bill Richardson said this week. Construction on the projects, worth a total of nearly $50 million, is scheduled to start within 30 days. Among the projects is U.S. 491, the main north-south thoroughfare through the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Nation. The highway, which has earned a variety of notorious nicknames, is among the most dangerous in the United States. Construction began on the road formerly called U.S. 666, or the ‘Highway to Hell,’ almost a year ago. The ground-breaking ceremony occurred last May, signaling a $100 million collaboration between the state and the Navajo Nation to widen the two-lane corridor to four lanes. The agreement came after a nearly four-year struggle over rights-of-way and state funding. A compromise calling for the Nation to contribute $10 million in cash and in-kind donations was reached in January 2008, just months before construction began. Stimulus money, however, will not be used for the widening project. The state Department of Transportation awarded $8.9 million for rehabilitation of a portion of the two-lane highway, spokesman S.U. Mahesh said." New York, Democrat and Chronicle, 4/10/09: "The 1,776 jobs expected to be created by the federal stimulus money earmarked for roads and bridges in the Rochester region give this spending package a patriotic ring. But in announcing the job-creation number in Canandaigua on Thursday, Gov. David Paterson noted that the projects must meet federal standards…To date, Paterson has certified projects for about $24 million of the $74 million that the seven-county region is scheduled to receive. The funds are slated to go to 115 projects." Oregon, Washington Post, 4/10/09: "Take, for instance, what Oregon's Housing and Community Services Department needs to do to secure its $82 million. It has already applied for $38 million to weatherize low-income residents' homes, and just received the first 10 percent of that, but still needs approval from the state legislature to spend it. It is awaiting guidelines for applying for $27 million in tax credits for affordable housing development. It just received the guidelines for applying for $8 million to help prevent homelessness, and expects that it will not spend that money before July. And Oregon will not apply until July for ‘neighborhood stabilization’ funding that will be distributed on a competitive basis for states to renovate or demolish abandoned homes. In fact, it is still getting ready to spend $19.6 million that it received for a similar purpose from a housing recovery bill President George W. Bush signed in late July. It is a lot of hoops to jump through, but officials say it is worth it. ‘This is a huge investment for us,’ said Rick Crager, Oregon's deputy housing director. The process ‘is not an issue for us. It's important that we're accountable.’" Texas, San Marcus Mercury, 4/9/09: "U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett today announced that $2.4 million in federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used for flood control projects along Plum Creek in Hays County. ‘Upgrading flood control along Plum Creek will protect people and property along the rapidly growing Kyle-Buda corridor,’ said Rep. Doggett, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and House Budget Committee. ‘This recovery funding will create jobs, promote future construction in Hays County, and reduce the danger from any future flooding.’" West Virginia, US Fed News, 4/10/09: "United States Senators Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., along with Congressman Nick Rahall, W.Va.-3, today announced that West Virginia is slated to receive more than $1,643,000 in federal funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The monies will be distributed through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of a $197 million spending program across the country… The funds will be used for overseeing the assessment and cleanup of leaks from underground storage tanks or directly paying for assessment and cleanup of leaks from federally regulated tanks where the responsible party is unknown, unwilling, unable, or the clean up is an emergency response. ‘Many West Virginia families rely on groundwater as a source of their safe drinking water,’ said Byrd. ‘This funding will help to eliminate the backlog of more than 950 underground tank clean-up projects in West Virginia. And through this funding we will both create jobs and improve the health and safety of West Virginia communities.’ ‘The protection of West Virginia's drinking water is essential. West Virginia families should be able to trust that the water coming from their faucet is safe," said Senator Rockefeller." Wyoming, Jackson Hole Daily, 3/23/09: "A Teton County pathway project will receive $300,000 to complete a route from Jackson to the Gros Ventre River in Grand Teton National Park. On Thursday, the Wyoming Department of Transportation Commission approved $300,000 of federal economic stimulus money for the first phase of the pathway along Highway 89 north of Jackson. Tim Young, director of Friends of Pathways, said the stimulus money likely will provide the final funding needed to finish the path. Teton County has won competitive federal grants totaling $3 million, but Young said that money was just shy of what it will take to finish the project. ‘This stimulus funding helps bridge the gap,’ he said."

'Stand By Me' - International Performance

Bob Bethany — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:35:58 EDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

A notable and important part of the Iranian Leader’s reply to President Obama’s Persian New Year message; “If you (the US) CHANGE, then WE (the Islamic Republic of Iran) WILL CHANGE”

ARK — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:25:21 EDT

Ayatollah Khamenehi, the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran reply to President Obama’s Persian New Year message was CHANGE FOR CHANGE. The Iranian Leader specifically mentioned: “If you CHANGE, then WE WILL CHANGE”

Hence forth, I am sincerely optimistic about brighter days and improved relations between two former friends. Looking forward to the day when based on mutual respect, these two great nations will be GOOD friends and allies again. ARK

Whitehouse Blog, March 24, 2009

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:01:36 EDT

TUE, MARCH 24, 9:53 AM EST The President Calls NASA Astronauts

President Obama, joined by Congressional leaders and middle school students from the Washington, DC area, is currently calling to congratulate the astronauts on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Discovery on their successful ongoing mission.

WhiteHouse.gov/live.

UPDATE: The call has concluded.

TUE, MARCH 24, 8:58 AM EST

“A Time for Global Action”

With the G20 meeting approaching on April 2nd, this morning the President published a rare "simultaneous op-ed" in thirty papers around the world, calling for a collective effort to address the economic peril found in all corners of the globe. "The United States is ready to lead, and we call upon our partners to join us with a sense of urgency and common purpose," he writes. His op-ed appeared in the following publications: Al Watan (Gulf States), Arab Times (Gulf States), Asharq Al Awsat (Arab-wide paper in Arabic), The Australian (Australia), Bangkok Post (Thailand), Chicago Tribune (United States), Clarin (Argentina), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Die Welt (Germany), El Pais (Madrid), El Mercurio (Chile), Eleftyropiea (Greece), Estado de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Gulf News (Gulf States), The Hindustan Times/ The Hindu (India), International Herald Tribune (London), Kristeligt Dagblad (Denmark), Le Monde (Paris), Lidove Noviny (Czech), Los Angeles Times (United States), The News (Pakistan), NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), Saudi Gazette (Saudi Arabia), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Straits Times (Singapore), Sunday Times (South Africa), Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden), Syndey Morning Herald (Australia), WProst (Poland), Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan) The President calls for a coordinated approach to three central issues, namely the need to "stimulate growth" (pointing to the Recovery Act as an example); the need to "restore the credit that businesses and consumers depend upon" including an "honest assessment of the balance sheets of our major banks" (pointing to the plans laid out yesterday); and extending "a hand to countries and people who face the greatest risk" to help emerging economies remain stable and avoid plunging the global economy into deeper trouble. The President closes with a broader vision: While these actions can help get us out of crisis, we cannot settle for a return to the status quo. We must put an end to the reckless speculation and spending beyond our means; to the bad credit, over-leveraged banks and absence of oversight that condemns us to bubbles that inevitably bust. Only coordinated international action can prevent the irresponsible risk-taking that caused this crisis. That is why I am committed to seizing this opportunity to advance comprehensive reforms of our regulatory and supervisory framework. All of our financial institutions -- on Wall Street and around the globe -- need strong oversight and common sense rules of the road. All markets should have standards for stability and a mechanism for disclosure. A strong framework of capital requirements should protect against future crises. We must crack down on offshore tax havens and money laundering. Rigorous transparency and accountability must check abuse, and the days of out-of-control compensation must end. Instead of patchwork efforts that enable a race to the bottom, we must provide the clear incentives for good behavior that foster a race to the top. I know that America bears our share of responsibility for the mess that we all face. But I also know that we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people.

What the President of Iran means by saying Israel has to disappear?

ARK — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:32:55 EDT

He has explained several times the purpose of this comment. He has said just like South Africa the system of Apartheid should disappear in Israel and the right of Palestinians to a sovereign state recognized; and Mr. Ahmadinejad has specifically mentioned similar to the way Apartheid was CHANGED in South Africa and rights of blacks recognized…Now one could agree or disagree with this comment but let’s NOT put it out of proportion. After all in Iran the rights of Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians to vote and to be represented in the Islamic Republic’s Parliament is also recognized…And although the population of many of these minorities is less than the minimum number required to have parliamentary representation but they all DO enjoy that privilege. Let us read between the lines…And in some cases reading the lines correctly is very essential!

I believe the US and the rest of world are saying the same thing but the way of saying it as well as the method of implementation differs!

New blog for Generation X-Y Democrats

Edward — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:23:40 EDT

Hi all. After working with many of you who are my age (late 20's) and have the same passion for politics, I felt inspired to start a blog from our point of view and a group where we can all relate. The blog is at http://www.generationxydemocrat.blogspot.com/ and I have also stated a Facebook group where we can all sound off at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=57528568002&ref=nf. I will comment and post all OFA activites on here as well. Please join the group, and also visit the blog to read and comment often. Thank you!

- Ed

Come on voters and taxpayers lets revolt against AIG!

Arthur Long Precinct Delegation Chair and Capt for *Precinct 0372* Houston, TX — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:55:52 EDT

Hello fellow voters,

Call your insurance agent and change your policy form AIG to another carrier (Probably better to pick a respectable mutual insurance company, ex.. Guardian, Mass Mutual, Northwestern Mutual, New York Life). AIG is not going to apologize or correct their misuse of our tax dollars, unless we lower their amount of the policies in force dollars. So, if you are really upset change your policy, I don't care if its life, long-term care, short and long term disability, auto, or health insurance. Just hit them where it works and let’s ask the President to put a special tax on AIG and or request for all our money back. Let’s make an example out of AIG, to set a standard for all other financial and non-financial firms.

Please people lets use common sense when changing your policy, make sure you apply, get the underwriters acceptance, and the in-force policy with the final policy letter, then cancel your AIG policy. This process should take 20 to 30 days.

Sincerely,

A disgruntle taxpayer.

'Soweto Blues' Mariam Makeba

Bob Bethany — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:47:48 EDT

Mariam Makeba - Soweto Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTj4qjC4akM

Killing Me Softly (original 1972) Lori Lieberman

Bob Bethany — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:11:30 EST

Press to watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2eHqctEPJE

Twitter- Know Your Obama

Jill 4 Obama — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:56:12 EST

TWITTER

KnowYourObama

Following

You follow KnowYourObama
KnowYourObama's updates

Obama is getting out of the bubble. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...21 minutes ago

HOPE

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
- Emily Dickinson

Support the PA Democratic Judicial Candidates

PA Field Team - Centre County Obama — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:46:33 EST

Obama Supporters the PA Democratic Judicial Candidates Need Your Help

Judge Jack Panella for Supreme Court http://votejackpanella.com/

Judge Anne E. Lazarus for Superior Court http://www.lazarusforsuperiorcourt.org/

Judge John Milton Younge for Superior Court http://www.judgejohnyounge.org/

Judge Robert J. Colville for Superior Court http://www.judgecolville.com/

Dan Bricmont for Commonwealth Court http://danbricmont.com/

Judge Jimmy Murray Lynn for Commonwealth Court http://www.padems.com/node/1765

Reminder it is petition time in Pennsylvania.

First day to circulate and file nomination petition February 17

Last day to circulate and file nomination petitions March 10

PA Democratic Municipal Primary May 19, 2009

Obama supporters stay active and engaged at the local level.

Your local Democratic Party needs your help and ideas.Use the PA Democratic Party map to locate your local party website.

PA Democratic Party County Map: http://www.padems.com/about/map

If the local county party does not have a website listed on the PA Democratic Party Map contact the PA Democratic Party for local contact information.

PA Democratic Party: http://www.padems.com//

http://www.padems.com/about/staff

The Quickest and Broadest Tax Cut Ever

Jill 4 Obama — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:28:04 EST

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG
Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 5:00 am The quickest and broadest tax cut ever Two important takeaways from the President's Weekly Address this morning.

#1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will start having an impact as soon as a few weeks from now, in the form of the quickest and broadest tax cut in history:

"Because of what we did, 95% of all working families will get a tax cut -- in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign. And I’m pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks -- meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month. Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans."
#2, once the economy has recovered and we’ve laid the groundwork for a sustainable future, the President is committed to taking on the massive deficits we inherited:

"That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we’ve inherited. On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities, and on Thursday, I’ll release a budget that’s sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and that lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline."
Watch the full address and read the text below.

function loadSWF(url){ var params = { allowscriptaccess: "always", allowfullscreen: "true" }; swfobject.embedSWF(url, "flashcontent", "480", "295", "8", null, {}, params); }

White House photo 2/20/09 by Pete Souza

SATURDAY, February 21, 2009
WEEKLY ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION

THE PRESIDENT: Earlier this week, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history. Because of this plan, 3.5 million Americans will now go to work doing the work that America needs done.

I'm grateful to Congress, governors and mayors across the country, and to all of you whose support made this critical step possible.

Because of what we did together, there will now be shovels in the ground, cranes in the air, and workers rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our faulty levees and dams.

Because of what we did, companies -- large and small -- that produce renewable energy can now apply for loan guarantees and tax credits and find ways to grow, instead of laying people off; and families can lower their energy bills by weatherizing their homes.

Because of what we did, our children can now graduate from 21st century schools and millions more can do what was unaffordable just last week -- and get their college degree.

Because of what we did, lives will be saved and health care costs will be cut with new computerized medical records.

Because of what we did, there will now be police on the beat, firefighters on the job, and teachers preparing lesson plans who thought they would not be able to continue pursuing their critical missions. And ensure that all of this is done with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, I have assigned a team of managers to make sure that precious tax dollars are invested wisely and well.

Because of what we did, 95 percent of all working families will get a tax cut -- in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign. And I'm pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks -- meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month. Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans.

But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. And we can't fail to complete the journey. That will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values, and doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, which is exactly what the housing plan I announced last week will help us do.

It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system, and getting credit flowing again to families and businesses. It will require reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible, and recognizing that it's only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.

And it will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover. That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress, to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we've inherited. On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities. And on Thursday, I'll release a budget that's sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline.

No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us. We can't help people find work or pay their bills unless we unlock credit for families and businesses. We can't solve our housing crisis unless we help people find work so that they can make payments on their homes. We can't produce shared prosperity without firm rules of the road, and we can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control. In short, we cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing them all. And that is exactly what the strategy we are pursuing is designed to do.

None of this will be easy. The road ahead will be long and full of hazards. But I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis. And if we do, our economy -- and our country -- will be better and stronger for it.

Thank you.

New Accountability Site- Recovery.gov

Jill 4 Obama — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:22:00 EST

privacy policy | download .mp4 | also available here The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be carried out with full transparency and accountability -- and Recovery.gov is the centerpiece of that effort. In a short video, President Obama describes the site and talks about how you'll be able to track the Recovery Act's progress every step of the way. Accountability and Transparency This is your money. You have a right to know where it's going and how it's being spent. Learn what steps we're taking to ensure you can track our progress every step of the way.

Learn More Share your Recovery Story Tell us how the Recovery Act is affecting you. What's working? What isn't? We want to hear from you.

Share your Story
Where is Your Money Going?

* Learn More
Welcome to Recovery.govRecovery.gov is a website that lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going. There are going to be a few different ways to search for information. The money is being distributed by Federal agencies, and soon you'll be able to see where it's going -- to which states, to which congressional districts, even to which Federal contractors. As soon as we are able to, we'll display that information visually in maps, charts, and graphics.

On Our Way: Read the Bill The President recently signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Read the full bill here.

Timeline - Milestones at a Glance

Whitehouse Pictures

Jill 4 Obama — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:46:26 EST

Enjoy the Whitehouse Slideshow at www.Whitehouse.gov......

President Obama Celebrates Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

Jill 4 Obama — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:37:22 EST

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG
Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 12:19 pm Happy Birthday, Abe

The Great Emancipator would have been 200 years old today, and President Obama is marking the occasion in several ways. This morning he spoke at the Lincoln bicentennial celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and tonight he’ll address the 102nd Abraham Lincoln Association Annual Banquet Dinner.

Last night he appeared at the Re-Opening of Ford’s Theatre, the site of the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Lincoln. Big names like Katie Couric, James Earl Jones, and Jeffrey Wright, appeared, and there performances by the President’s Own Marine Band, violinist Joshua Bell, and Audra McDonald, among others.

The 44th President commended the 16th’s many accomplishments, but made particular note of his commitment to the future, even amid the upheaval of the Civil War.

"When President Lincoln was finally told of all the metal being used at the Capitol, his response was short and clear: That is as it should be," President Obama said in his remarks. "The American people needed to be reminded, he believed, that even in a time of war, the work would go on; that even when the nation itself was in doubt, the future was being secured; and that on that distant day when the guns fell silent, a national capitol would stand, with a statue of freedom at its peak, as a symbol of unity in the land still mending its divisions."

White House photos 2/12/09 by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama, First Press Conference

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:44:45 EST

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG
Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 8:10 pm

President Obama is holding his first press conference. You can watch it streaming at WhiteHouse.gov/live.

He opened up with some brief remarks, which you can read in full (as prepared for delivery) below.

OPENING REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA -- AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
First Presidential Press Conference
East Room, The White House
Monday, February 9th, 2009

Good evening. Before I take your questions tonight, I’d like to speak briefly about the state of our economy and why I believe we need to put this recovery plan in motion as soon as possible.

I took a trip to Elkhart, Indiana today. Elkhart is a place that has lost jobs faster than anywhere else in America. In one year, the unemployment rate went from 4.7% to 15.3%. Companies that have sustained this community for years are shedding jobs at an alarming speed, and the people who’ve lost them have no idea what to do or who to turn to. They can’t pay their bills and they’ve stopped spending money. And because they’ve stopped spending money, more businesses have been forced to lay off more workers. Local TV stations have started running public service announcements that tell people where to find food banks, even as the food banks don’t have enough to meet the demand.

As we speak, similar scenes are playing out in cities and towns across the country. Last Monday, more than 1,000 men and women stood in line for 35 firefighter jobs in Miami. Last month, our economy lost 598,000 jobs, which is nearly the equivalent of losing every single job in the state of Maine. And if there’s anyone out there who still doesn’t believe this constitutes a full-blown crisis, I suggest speaking to one of the millions of Americans whose lives have been turned upside down because they don’t know where their next paycheck is coming from.

That is why the single most important part of this Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is the fact that it will save or create up to 4 million jobs. Because that is what America needs most right now.

It is absolutely true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or economic growth. That is and must be the role of the private sector. But at this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life. It is only government that can break the vicious cycle where lost jobs lead to people spending less money which leads to even more layoffs. And breaking that cycle is exactly what the plan that’s moving through Congress is designed to do.

When passed, this plan will ensure that Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own can receive greater unemployment benefits and continue their health care coverage. We will also provide a $2,500 tax credit to folks who are struggling to pay the cost of their college tuition, and $1000 worth of badly-needed tax relief to working and middle-class families. These steps will put more money in the pockets of those Americans who are most likely to spend it, and that will help break the cycle and get our economy moving.

But as we learned very clearly and conclusively over the last eight years, tax cuts alone cannot solve all our economic problems – especially tax cuts that are targeted to the wealthiest few Americans. We have tried that strategy time and time again, and it has only helped lead us to the crisis we face right now.

That is why we have come together around a plan that combines hundreds of billions in tax cuts for the middle-class with direct investments in areas like health care, energy, education, and infrastructure – investments that will save jobs, create new jobs and new businesses, and help our economy grow again – now and in the future.

More than 90% of the jobs created by this plan will be in the private sector. These will not be make-work jobs, but jobs doing the work that America desperately needs done. Jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our dangerously deficient dams and levees so that we don’t face another Katrina. They will be jobs building the wind turbines and solar panels and fuel-efficient cars that will lower our dependence on foreign oil, and modernizing a costly health care system that will save us billions of dollars and countless lives. They’ll be jobs creating 21st century classrooms, libraries, and labs for millions of children across America. And they’ll be the jobs of firefighters, teachers, and police officers that would otherwise be eliminated if we do not provide states with some relief.

After many weeks of debate and discussion, the plan that ultimately emerges from Congress must be big enough and bold enough to meet the size of the economic challenge we face right now. It is a plan that is already supported by businesses representing almost every industry in America; by both the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. It contains input, ideas, and compromises from both Democrats and Republicans. It also contains an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, so that every American will be able to go online and see where and how we’re spending every dime. What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.

Despite all of this, the plan is not perfect. No plan is. I can’t tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans. My administration inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion, but because we also inherited the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression, doing too little or nothing at all will result in an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes; and confidence. That is a deficit that could turn a crisis into a catastrophe. And I refuse to let that happen. As long as I hold this office, I will do whatever it takes to put this country back to work.

I want to thank the members of Congress who’ve worked so hard to move this plan forward, but I also want to urge all members of Congress to act without delay in the coming week to resolve their differences and pass this plan.

We find ourselves in a rare moment where the citizens of our country and all countries are watching and waiting for us to lead. It is a responsibility that this generation did not ask for, but one that we must accept for the sake of our future and our children’s. The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose. That is the test facing the United States of America in this winter of our hardship, and it is our duty as leaders and citizens to stay true to that purpose in the weeks and months ahead. After a day of speaking with and listening to the fundamentally decent men and women who call this nation home, I have full faith and confidence that we can. And with that, I’ll take your questions.

Creating Jobs and the US Stimulus Plan

ARK — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:25:05 EST

Some Republican politicians have raised the question of how this stimulus plan would create jobs. But of course this Stimulus Plan should create lots of jobs in modern transportation, construction, environment, IT, solar, wind, thermal and electrical energy, etc. One way of assuring success in the above mentioned fields would be the T.I.T. after T.A.T. method.

T.A.T. is the Technical Aptitude Test and T.I.T. is Training and Investment in Technology/Entrepreneurship which comes after TAT:

1- Technical Aptitude Test (TAT)
All those who have lost their jobs in the past 36 months and are still unemployed should take this Test. First they would mention what field(s) they like to be tested on. Then they will take the test in those fields so that they could be become practical technicians/Entrepreneur in that field who could hire other people as well. If they score 100/100, then they will get a $1000 Test bonus and will be registered to start the technical/entrepreneurial expertise to succeed in that specific field. If they get 95/100, then they will get $950 and so on down to 60 where they get $600. any lower than 60/100 and they fail so they would have to be given a study manual and participate in the next round of TATs or participate in another field. In order to prevent people taking too many unnecessary tests, we could give them the first TAT free and then charge an admission fee of $5-10 Dollars for each TAT and the same for each technical/ entrepreneurial manual. 80% of questions of each TAT could be basic technical questions in that field and 20% will be about basic and every day managerial skills such as Human resources management, accounting, taxes, insurance, pricing, etc.

2- Training and Investment in Technology/Entrepreneurship (TIT)

Training - each person will be trained in the field he/she has scored well. The training will also emphasize technical aspects as well as basic and useful every day managerial skills for a very small business enterprise such as Human Resources management, accounting, taxes, insurance, pricing, etc. During a 6 month full time training period, trainees will also be paid salary based on their grades, i.e. 100/100 will get a salary of $2500 per month and 60/100 will get 1500 per month. Those who get less than 60 in monthly exams won't get paid. Those trainees who score 85 and higher, will act as assistant trainers and would help others with their studies.

Investment in Technology/Entrepreneurship - Each person who passes the training with the grade of 60 OR HIGHER will get a graduation certificate saying that such a person is a Technician in that field…And if she/he applies, then WILL GET An Entrepreneurial loan equal to 300 times his/hers graduation grade. So for 100/100 that person gets $30,000 government backed loan and the 60/100 graduate will get $18,000 to start a new business in that field. So the average amount of loan given out will be $24.000.

The average salaries paid over a 6 month period is $12,000. so we have $12,000+$24,000=$36.000 cost per each trainee/entrepreneur. Now that trainee/entrepreneur will have 10 years after the start of his business to pay back this loan. If she/he hires 20 other people or more for at least 1 year each then she/he only has to pay back only 10% of his loan amount, if the trainee/entrepreneur hires 19 people then he has to pay back 15% and 15 people=pay back of only 35% and so on… The loan that seems to be lost, the government makes up in income taxes and less unemployment benefits paid.

So for one million trainee/entrepreneurs this program will cost $36 Billion and we add another 36 Billion for administrative costs, etc. This 36 billion could also create 100,000 jobs in the field of TAT and training… On the average each one of those one million trainee/entrepreneurs could hire at least 4 others, so we have spent $72 Billion Dollars to create at least 5 Million technical jobs. If those one million trainee/entrepreneurs only partially succeed and hire less people, then we need to redesign the test as well as the training system… And we will eventually fully succeed.

Compromise

Jill 4 Obama — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:24:11 EST

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG
Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 5:00 am Compromise There was bad news and then there was good news.

Yesterday we learned that in January, the country suffered its largest one-month job loss in 34 years.

But last night, the Senate struck a compromise on the economic recovery plan and put us on our way to giving the economy the short-term jolt and long-term investments it needs.

"Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us," the President says in this morning's Weekly Address. "Let's show them that we are."

Watch the President's address and read the full text below.

function loadSWF(url){ var params = { allowscriptaccess: "always", allowfullscreen: "true" }; swfobject.embedSWF(url, "flashcontent", "480", "295", "8", null, {}, params); }

privacy policy | download .mp4 | also available here

REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
WEEKLY ADDRESS
The White House
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis. But I'm pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years. Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January. We've now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands.

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face. That was, after all, what last November's election was all about.

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come. But we can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary. The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now.

Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe. Millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, and their health care. Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let's be clear: We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place. We can't rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges – the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

The American people know that our challenges are great. They don't expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000. It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who've lost their jobs. And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

That's what is at stake with this plan: putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment on the American Dream that serves our children and our children's children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us. Let's show them that we are. And let's do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

Thank you.

Field Organizing Job in NYC

Ashley — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:49:19 EST

Seeking an individual who is passionate about progressive politics....

Field organizer needed ASAP for special election in NYC on February 24th.

This organizer will be working to elect a progressive Hispanic Democrat running for a vacant seat in a diverse community. The organizer will have general field duties, including running canvasses and phonebanks, working to recruit and manage key volunteers, etc. Requirements: Must have worked at least one previous election cycle. Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus. Must have experience organizing in African-American communities.

How to Apply / Contact
To apply, please send a resume to wjhowell1220@gmail.com

Change The White House to The People's House, Repost by Denise Hawkins

Jill 4 Obama — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:25:38 EST

Hello All,

I think the White House should be renamed to mark President Obama's historic Inauguration which represents true change and it will assuredly usher in a new a era of diplomacy and accountability in gov't. A gov't that will give more power to the people!

President Obama has called the White House, the "People's House"
several times!

What do you think, there's a precedent for this!

In 1791, President George Washington and Pierre L'Enfant, an architect who helped plan the layout of Washington, D.C., chose the site of the "President's House." (It would later be known as "President's Palace" and the "Executive Mansion," before President Theodore Roosevelt christened it the White House in 1901.) In a contest to choose the architect, Irish-born James Hoban beat out eight other proposals with his practical and handsome design, and the first cornerstone was laid in 1792

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The White House is the only private residence of a head of state that is open to the public, free of charge. Thomas Jefferson held the first Inaugural open house in 1805, and he welcomed visitors to annual receptions on New Year's Day and the Fourth of July. In 1829, a horde of 20,000 Inaugural callers forced President Andrew Jackson to flee to the safety of a hotel while, on the lawn, aides filled washtubs with orange juice and whiskey to lure the mob out of the mud-tracked White House.

Inaugural crowds continued to attend receptions at the White House through much of the 19th century. But when Grover Cleveland was first sworn in as President in 1885, he held a presidential review of the troops from a flag-draped grandstand built in front of the White House -- an event that evolved into the official Inaugural parade we know today. Receptions on New Year's Day and the Fourth of July continued to be held until the early 1930s.
====
Please help me e-mail the White House, if you agree!
Thanks, Denise

    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20500

.
Phone Numbers

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD

Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
Windows Live™ Hotmail®...more than just e-mail. See how it works.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to 406 members of Obama Rapid Response
Your reply will be sent to: hawkinsdr@hotmail.com

Repost of YES WE DID, YES WE MUST by Carla Mays, Jan 23rd, 2009

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:36:29 EST

YES WE DID, YES WE MUST By Carla Mays - Jan 23rd, 2009 at 10:01 am EST Also listed in: 8 groups

YES WE DID! YES WE MUST:

Þ Protect him from harm both verbal & phyiscal

Þ Stay "FIRED UP" by staying active

Þ Work Bi-Partisan to bring "Change" together

Þ Don't just bitch, get active and stay engaged

Þ Start and join a local "Change" group

Þ Be philanthropic, serve your community, state and nation

Þ Stick by Obama, STOP smears on the Right & the Left!!!! Hold yourself responsible as you hold Barack!

Join the future of this movement!!

http://change.gov/joinus

http://www.communityorganize.com

http://www.ourpresidency.com

http://www.usaservice.org

http://www.whitehouse.gov

Barack's DNC 2004 Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0&feature=PlayList&p=B1939005B8A4D4ED&index=188

Barack's DNC 2008 Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ato7BtisXzE&feature=channel

Barack’s Election Acceptance Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJ-2Zu_Iic&feature=channel

Barack’s Inauguration Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnygQ02aW4

President Obama's Letter to Malia and Sasha

Jill 4 Obama — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:03:17 EST

'What I Want for You — and Every Child
in America'

By President-elect Barack Obama

Publication Date: 01/18/2009
Photo By Kwaku Alston/Corbis
Barack and Michelle Obama with daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10.

Inauguration Specials Headline-Making First Kids Spotlight-stealing moments from the White House's younger set

Who Said It?
Match the president to his memorable quote

Wise Words
Watch the most famous inaugural addresses

More on Parade.com

• Hope and new beginnings
Great inaugural moments »

On Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them.

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

Sasha (l) and Malia Obama at play in New Hampshire in 2007. Bumper cars at the Iowa State Fair in August 2007. That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

Inauguration Day is a time of hope and new beginnings. Read about the greatest inaugural moments »

'How Sweet The Sound'

Bob Bethany — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:14:58 EST

ACME Missionary Baptist Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BttL4iY_V0M

Barack Obama, Inauguration As President of the United States

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:23:18 EST

President Barack Obama is inaugurated as President of the United States of America!

Hope fills the hearts of everyone watching.

Peace remains foremost in the minds and hearts of Americans and People around the world.

Change is coming to our U.S. Government, banks, corporations, businesses, and People.

Amazing grace has uplifted the spirits of People everywhere.

Responsibility is awakened again for our Nation to be an example of Goodness in the World.

We all have a part in determining our personal happiness and a responsibility to others.

We, as a nation, are blessed and united with this new First Family, the Obama Family.

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Malia and Sasha are the greatest example of a happy, responsible family that we could ever hope for.

We, all together with the Obamas, make History, each of us and all of us Together!

Nina Simone - Why (The King of Love is Dead)

Bob Bethany — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:01:37 EST

This performance is a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx-pfZDVm0Y

Whistle Stop Tour Details for January 17, 2009

Jill 4 Obama — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:03:18 EST

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 05:05pm

BY Amy Hamblin

Whistle Stop Tour Event Details Announced

We just released more details about the events along President-elect Obama’s Whistle Stop Tour from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. on January 17th. Tickets already have been distributed for the first event in Philadelphia, while the other events in Wilmington and Baltimore will be open to the public.

The train tour marks the final leg of the President-elect’s incredible journey that began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Illinois and will end on the steps of the United States Capitol. The President-elect and the Vice President-elect – who will be joining him in Wilmington – will travel alongside a group of everyday Americans with extraordinary stories. Read about Rosa Mendoza and Mark Dowell, whom we’ve profiled on the blog.

Here’s all the event details…

Philadelphia, PA
Event Begins: 10:05 AM
Tickets: Tickets are required and have been distributed to the public.

Wilmington, DE
Where: Back of Wilmington Train Station, 100 South French Street, Wilmington, DE
Doors Open: 9:30 AM
Event Begins: 1:00 PM
Tickets: Event is open to the public

Baltimore, MD
Where: War Memorial Plaza, 101 N. Gay St., Baltimore, MD
Doors Open: 1:00 PM
Event Begins: 4:15 PM
Tickets: Event is open to the public

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song

Bob Bethany — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:18:56 EST

I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style, and so I came to see him & listen for a while..and there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eye. Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words... Roberta Flack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpNdMIAnKko

Dionne Warwick

Bob Bethany — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:05:12 EST

Dionne Warwick music video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnbA_vjCR8w

Blood Banking for Obama

Tricia — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:58:20 EST

After the election, President-elect Barack Obama challenged us to perform a community service project before his inauguration. Be the Change Baederwood, a group of over 150 area members which formed after the election, accepted the challenge and announces the O-Positive Program.

The O-Positive Program encourages residents of Montgomery, Bucks, Philadelphia and surrounding counties to donate at least 500 units of any blood type to celebrate the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Please consider donating blood to help save a life.

Here is how people will participateBetween January 4 - January 17:

1. Sign up to donate blood (if you can) at any American Red Cross sponsored blood drive in the area at http:///www.opositiveprogram.org

2. Spread the word about this initiative by asking your friends, family and neighbors to donate blood. Feel free to use the attached flyer.3. If you donate blood, please revisit http://www.opositiveprogram.org, click on the drip so your donation can be tallied and send a personal note to President-elect Obama.

Nina Simone - Four Women

Bob Bethany — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:48:03 EST

Nina Simone - Four Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCwME6Jpn3s

Rescue Me - Fontella Bass

Bob Bethany — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:26:33 EST

This song fits the times we're in. Originally performed by -Fontella Bass-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXSocE_M1G4

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, January 19, 2009

Jill 4 Obama — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:06:10 EST

Make it a Day On... Not a Day Off!

During the 1950s and ’60s, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals.

Initiated by Congress in 1994, King Day of Service builds on that that legacy by transforming the federal holiday honoring Dr. King into a national day of community service grounded in his teachings of nonviolence and social justice.

The aim is to make the holiday a day ON, where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned.

With thousands of projects planned across the country, the 2009 King Day of Service on January 19 promises to be the biggest and best ever!

Curtis Mayfield-We Got To Have PEACE

Bob Bethany — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:38:02 EST

Curtis Mayfield - We Got to Have PEACE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QglEbgON9o

Rev Joseph Lowery To Deliver Benediction Jan 20th

Hussein The Hope Monger — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:51:57 EST

Reverend Joseph Lowery began his work with civil rights in the early 1950s in Mobile, Alabama, where he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, an organization devoted to the desegregation of buses and public places. During this time, the state of Alabama sued Lowery, along with several other prominent ministers, on charges of libel, seizing his property. The Supreme Court sided with the ministers, and Lowery's seized property was returned.

In 1957, Lowery and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and Lowery was named vice president. In 1965, he was named chairman of the delegation to take demands of the Selma to Montgomery March to Alabama's governor at the time, George Wallace.

Lowery is a co-founder and former president of the Black Leadership Forum, a consortium of black advocacy groups. The Forum began protesting apartheid in South Africa in the mid-1970s and continued until the election of Nelson Mandela. In 1979, during a rash of disappearances of Atlanta's African American youth, Lowery provided a calm voice to a frightened community.

After becoming president of the SCLC in February of 1977, Lowery negotiated covenants with major corporations for employment advances, opportunities and business contracts with minority companies. He has led peace delegations to the Middle East and Central America.

In addition to serving as pastor to several churches over the years, Lowery's efforts to combat injustice and promote equal opportunities has led to the extension of provisions to the Voting Rights Act to 2007, the desegregation of public accommodations in Nashville, Tennessee and the hiring of Birmningham, Alabama's first black police officers.

Dr. Lowery is 'the real deal'.

Wind & Solar Power Grids And Rechargeable Pure Electric Hybrid Cars Are The KEYS To Revitalizing America & The World’s Economy AND Ecology

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:43:19 EST

For weeks I have been beating the following drum of analysis on how properly restructuring the auto industry with pure electric hybrids is THE critical magic bullet response to everything from global warming to restoring America’s manufacturing sector to drastically curtailing our oil-producing enemies ability to fund global terrorism.

Mickiboop, a Veteran Obama Blogger, gave me a link to a recent 60 minutes episode which details the Saudi Oil Biz. While the segment is largely a commercial for the wonders of the Saudi’s Oil Empire... there were several EXTREMELY revealing moments in interviews with high Saudi officials. Especially take note of what the Saudi Oil Minister says at the end of segment #1 and the look of deep fear and defensiveness in his eyes when he says it... it totally backs up this analysis...

“ But the oil companies know the cats are out of the bag now... just like when the cigarette companies finally couldn't resist the pressures of the ultimate high court... the court of global mass public opinion (no matter how many lying 'scientists' they trotted out to support their nefarious claims that cigarettes did not cause cancer... or in the case of big oil... that global climate crisis isn't real).”

We need to take the Auto CEO's up on what they said at the house and senate hearings... that they were ready to allow for federally mandated restructuring... meaning we can finally get them to build the kind of pure electric hybrids which will actually become best-sellers all over the world.

That old addage about the Chinese symbols making the word 'crisis' are one for 'danger' and one for 'opportunity' combined was never more apt. We are literally on this razor's edge brink... on the brink of destroying ourselves via global climate destruction and on the brink of saving ourselves via a complete restructuring of the auto AND energy industries towards wind/solar electricity grids and rechargeable pure electric hybrids (especially at a time when China and India are developing exploding middle class populations who will all be looking to buy the cars of the future).

If Obama stays resolute and doesn't compromise the obviously MASSIVE leverage we now have to make a revolutionary shift to save the planet AND millions of jobs by shifting to mass production of electric hybrids... we may very well get to witness an even more momentous historic accomplishment than his Presidential victory.

Mass production of pure electric, wind/solar powered hybrids is the lynchpin essential to every aspect of Obama's America and World Transforming agenda... whether we're talking about greening the planet or creating millions of good-paying jobs, or limiting our oil-producing enemies abilities to fund global terrorism thereby greatly reducing the threat of future wars over oil.

PS-- Why do you think gas prices are going so low right now? Because the oil industry has read the above-mentioned handwriting on the global wall and they are rightly panic stricken. Better start learning how to make long-life car batteries boys if you want to survive cause we're about to break the mass homicide/suicide pact you've attempted to foist upon the entire world, WIDE OPEN.

How perfect that our American economic recovery/revitalization via pure electric hybrid vehicle production should also be intimately linked to our global ecological recovery/revitalization.

Poetic justice of historic proportions by simply applying common sense solutions.

Sounds like a winner to me.

Link

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/05/60minutes/main4650223.shtml

Wind & Solar Rechargeable Electric Hybrids Are The KEY To Revitalizing America AND The World

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:47:41 EST

We need to take the CEO's up on what they said at the house and senate hearings... that they were ready to allow for federally mandated restructuring... meaning we can finally get them to build the kind of pure electric hybrids which will actually become best-sellers all over the world.

But just ask Bob Baer, the ex-CIA middle east expert who wrote "Syriana" what the oil industry does to the people who get in the way of their profits. That explains the genuine look of fear and resignation in the CEO's eyes at the hearings.

But the oil companies know the cats are out of the bag now... just like when the cigarette companies finally couldn't resist the pressures of the ultimate high court... the court of global mass public opinion (no matter how many lying 'scientists' they trotted out to support their nefarious claims that cigarettes did not cause cancer... or in the case of big oil... that global climate crisis isn't real).

President-Elect and Vice President-Elect Events on January 17, 2008

Jill 4 Obama — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:15:07 EST

President-Elect and Vice President-Elect to Host Events in Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Monday, December 15, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced that the President-elect, Vice President-elect and their families will travel - via railroad—to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 17th and host events along the way in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The trip marks the final leg of a journey that began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Illinois and will culminate on the steps of the United States Capitol.

“As part of the most open and accessible Inauguration in history, we hope to include as many Americans as possible who wish to participate, but can’t be in Washington,“ said Emmett S. Beliveau, Executive Director of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. “These events will allow us to do that while honoring the rich history and tradition of previous inaugural journeys.“

In the tradition of past Presidents-elect, the daylong trip will include a series of events on the way to Washington, DC. Saturday morning, President-elect Obama and his family will hold an event in Philadelphia before boarding a train bound for Wilmington, Delaware, where he will be joined by Vice President-elect Biden and his family. Together, the families will travel to Baltimore, Maryland, and hold another event, before finally arriving in Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening.

In keeping with the theme of the 2009 Inauguration, “Renewing America’s Promise,“ the President-elect and Vice President-elect will hold events in some of the cities instrumental to that promise: Philadelphia, where that promise was realized; Baltimore, where that promise was defended, then immortalized in our national anthem; and Washington, where Americans of all backgrounds will gather over four days, united in common purpose and resolved to renew that promise once more.

Additional details of the inaugural trip, including information on each event, will be released at a later date.

For the latest information on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, please visit www.pic2009.org.

As The LAST Substantial Manufacturing Jobs in America... Suggesting Auto Bankruptcy Is Worse Than Ludicrous... It Is Downright Dangerous

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:57:36 EST

For all those suggesting bankruptcy as an option.

___________________________________________

By the time chapter 11 proceedings are complete... these brands would be utterly destroyed in domestic and global terms. Any corporate marketing analyst will tell you... once a brand has been destroyed... it TAKES MORE THAN A DECADE TO REGAIN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AND TRUST.

The American automakers are doing well overseas... why?... because they have been forced to build and supply ENERGY EFFICIENT VEHICLES.

BY FORCE INJECTING OBAMA'S GREEN VISION ON THESE WAYWARD BEHEMOTHS... WE CAN SAVE THE COMPANIES AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC MARKETS FROM WHAT MOST ECONOMISTS PREDICT WOULD LEAD TO TRIGGERING A GLOBAL DEPRESSION. Even if this assessment is only 50% likely to be correct... that is not a chance worth taking.

MILLIONS of American jobs are intimately connected to the auto industry.

Additionally, no one will buy a car from a bankrupt company.

Case closed.

700 billion for white collar Wall Street and not even 14 billion to save millions of blue collar jobs here at home? Stop smoking crack and get better informed before spouting off your union-busting, depression instigating swill here.

The top Automobile Executives have already pledged to allow the Fed to have a HUGE hand in restructuring this vital and stricken industry. It is CRITICAL to the revitalization of the American and Global economies that we accept their desperate invitation and finally manage these companies in a way which will benefit everyone... by building products the world market will be clamoring for... pure electric hybrids.

Lincoln's Better Angels vs. Ike's Warned of Demons... The Defining Life & Death Struggle of All Human History

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:47:48 EST

No corner of the globe is yet immune to the painful condition that has plagued the entirety of human history... our self-destructive worst instincts and behaviors vs. our best attempts to live as one... free of the fear and loathing which leaves the world enslaved and leads inevitably to ruin.

America the Promised Land vs. America the front for global thieves has been a battle raging since the Revolutionary War when the first congressmen included war profiteers who got rich by selling shoddy equipment to our armed forces. Sound familiar?

Angels and demons... angels and demons... for as much as we like to pretend how far we've advanced in the last two hundred years... hell... the last two thousand... not much has really changed... sure, the slaves have better quarters now and we live longer... but the same old master/servant paradigms of fear and the minions who serve them, scratch and claw for every twisted minute of control they can wrestle away from the all-inclusive sane.

If we're going to change this struggle for the soul of the world and the shape of reality... it will start with a continuation of the self-same mass awakening that it took to get Obama elected in the first place.

But let's not kid ourselves good people of this Good Fight... electing Obama has simply gotten the epic battle between our better angels and our worst demons to a draw... which is a whole lot better than the parade of "go f yourselves" evil we've had to endure for the past eight years... hell, since the modern war profiteers blew up Jack and Martin and Bobby...

So now we've got to finish the job with a combination of the love of harmonizing saints and the cunning of ruthless wolves... because the industries of mass death are like deeply dug in ticks, and they're not going to give up their blood feast willingly... we'll have to outsmart the vampire zombies if we expect to truly save this nation... we'll have to show them better ways to make even more money than the way they are doing it now via war and the mass strangulation of the planet with fossil fuels.

Like I said... as patient and loving as harmonizing saints and as cunning and ruthless in our right makes might purpose as well-coordinated wolves.

If I haven't bored you to death by now...see my posts on transforming our industries of mass death into the means of American reconstruction... helping to build high speed rail to link our cities to our suburbs... helping to build massive solar arrays and the wind corridor..

We'll beat our swords into soaring stock shares (at least a goodly portion of the antiquated budget bloating ones that the Dept. of Defense should have ended years ago)... the beast will be exorcised and our Promised Land Balance restored... and so too the world... because the lifeblood of every culture under the sun courses through the heart of this American Dream... and the Founders' sacred trust of Liberty and Justice for ALL shines in the still-believing faces of every culture's color and in the generational songs of every faith and therein resides our greatest hope.

The cost of Liberty IS eternal vigilance... that and the courage to stand up for what we know in our hearts, minds and very bones is RIGHT.

YES WE CAN !!!

YES WE WILL !!!

YES WE MUST !!!

IN THE COMMON GOOD, AMERICA AND OURSELVES WE TRUST !!!

LIVE FREE OR BUST !!!

I'm Trying To Be Civil, But Some Of The Ignorance Being Expressed About The Auto Industry Is Truly Appalling

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:39:12 EST

For all those suggesting bankruptcy as an option.

___________________________________________

By the time chapter 11 proceedings are complete... these brands would be utterly destroyed in domestic and global terms. Any corporate marketing analysts will tell you... once a brand has been destroyed... it TAKES MORE THAN A DECADE TO REGAIN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AND TRUST.

The American automakers are doing well overseas... why?... because they have been forced to build and supply ENERGY EFFICIENT VEHICLES.

MILLIONS of American jobs are intimately connected to the auto industry.

Additionally, no one will buy a car from a bankrupt company.

Case closed.

A Proud Nation

Walt — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:56:26 EST

Once upon a time
There was a proud nation
Conceived in liberty
Now deceived by its leaders
Everything is for sale
Everyone has a price
Everything 70-90% off
Going out of business
Unless we say NO!
USA under new management
Business not as usual
Business as conceived
By the founding fathers
A proud nation once again.

I'm Trying To Be Civil, But Some Of The Ignorance Being Expressed About The Auto Industry Is Truly Appalling

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:30:10 EST

For all those suggesting bankruptcy as an option.

___________________________________________

The American automakers are doing well overseas... why?... because they have been forced to build and supply ENERGY EFFICIENT VEHICLES.

Additionally, no one will buy a car from a bankrupt company.

Case closed.

Open Letter To Bloggers "Josh and Kade" On Their Brain-Dead Union-Busting Tripe

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:06:46 EST

As a general rule I try never to get personal in my responses here but this time I am compelled to make an exception considering HOW MANY MILLIONS OF AMERICAN FAMILIES ARE ON THE LINE... NOT TO MENTION A LOOMING NATIONAL AND GLOBAL ECONOMIC DEPRESSION.

__________________________________________________________________

"Josh and Kade"...I suggest you research the history of how and why unions got started in this country to begin with.

Women and children shot down in cold blood by corporately owned goon squads for daring to protest HORRIFIC working conditions.

Once you've absorbed that, if you still hold the same opinions as expressed in your ignorant post... you need some serious help.

The unions have stated REPEATEDLY that they are ready willing and able to make concessions regarding everything from pay to pensions.

Not to mention... that once Obama and Congress deliver on universal healthcare reforms... a big fat chunk of the financial solvency problems will be taken care of.

For example... by simply mandating that all health insurers go to a single computerized claims protocol... fully 40% of healthcare costs will be reduced.

But hey... if giving even MORE power to the same corporate barons who have raped the working class since the industrial revolution is your thing... then might I suggest you join up with that dying dinosaur of a political party across the street since you're already supporting them anyway with your union-busting tripe.

At this critical point in American History... the ignorance you display in your comments is worse than just ill-informed, it's downright dangerous.

Your so-called 'independent contractors' 'negotiating' with corporate owners would truly be laughable if it wasn't so completely inane and destructive to workers rights.

History has proven that collective bargaining ALONE is the only way to get corporate power to the table in the first place, let alone achieve reasonable living wages and benefits.

Try peddling your union-busting snake oil somewhere else.

WE"RE NOT BUYING.

Senate RepubliThugs Continue To Hang Themselves With Depression-Provoking Stupidity

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:06:52 EST

The brain-dead party of Herbert Hoover, The "Great Depressor" is at it again.

Why would the RepubliThugs block the auto bailout of 14 billion for millions of American workers after serving up 700 billion dollars to the fat laughing thieving pigs of Wall Street?

Because the ill-informed public has shown it does not support the auto bailout. Translation? The desperate and dying RepubliThugs are playing poll-driven politics plain and simple.

What do they care if millions of Americans lose their jobs, their health benefits, their homes. These RepubliPigs all got paid already, have the best healthcare money can buy, and usually two homes AT LEAST.

Keep it up swine... we'll be casting you out soon enough until all that's left in Washington are Progressives, independents and moderates who actually give a crap about WE THE PEOPLE.

PS -- Remember Old fart Bush the first's promise that "America would be dragged kicking and screaming into the 'new world order'"... well folks, this is exactly what that fossilized f*** meant.

Gut American manufacturing... sell it all off to slave labor markets because hell... America has just become a nation of cross-breeding mutts anyway right KKK RepubliThugs? Remember Katrina? The war of lies in Iraq? The Wall Street Steal-a-thon called a 'bailout'?... they are selling us out and selling us off... and when millions more homes are foreclosed on... they can repay their buddies in Saudi Arabia and China who will then buy everything up {which they've already BEEN doing for years now by the way} until all that's left of America is the flag these sleazoid vampire zombies hide behind the entire time they are raping and pillaging the American Dream.

Wake up good people. Electing Obama was only step one. Until we cut the corporate puppet strings controlling Congress and their lawmaking capacity we will continue to be sold down shit creek.

See my previous posts on the 'No Bribes Allowed' Constitutional Amendment which bans corporate lobbyist corruption of our Congressional lawmaking function once and for all. Until then, prepare for more of the nightmarish same.

END CORPORATE LOBBYIST CORRUPTION OF CONGRESS NOW BEFORE THE AMERICAN DREAM ONLY EXISTS AS AN HISTORICAL REFERENCE.

THE HARD PART HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED... GATHERING OURSELVES INTO A POLITICAL FORCE... NOW IT'S TIME TO EXERT THAT FORCE TO THE MAXIMUM SO WE CAN SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY AND SO... OURSELVES.

YES WE CAN !!!

YES WE WILL !!!

YES WE MUST !!!

UNITED WE STAND... DIVIDED WE GO BUST.

The Bomb Trigger That Is Washington DC Is Still Wired For National DestructIon And Disgrace

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:46:44 EST

Until we muster the courage to pass a Constitutional Amendment banning all lobbyist corruption of our Congressional lawmaking function via legalized bribery that keeps the house and senate legislating in favor of corporate interests above and beyond the interests of We The People... until THAT historic day... we will continue to be mired down by the swamp of corruption even if we do have a good man as President.

Yes... Obama will be the chief executive... but he cannot write the laws. As long as THAT critical function is left to the lobbyists... a government for and by we the people, is nothing more than words on a page... a cruel hoax.

The men and women who have DIED for those Liberty preserving words deserve better...we all do.

The lobbyist legalized bribes that have virtually destroyed our Constitution are completely against everything our founders ever intended.

The airwaves that broadcast all TV are owned by THE PEOPLE. Make all national political ads free and there is no need for the bribes which bind.

Prostituting the first amendment as a cover for raping the national treasury and trust is NOT what the Founders had in mind, and is clearly superceded by the essential need to restore our Congressional lawmaking body to serving the interests of a TRULY REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT THAT IS FOR AND BY WE THE PEOPLE.

LET'S GET IT DONE BEFORE THIS MALIGNANCY IN THE HEART OF OUR DEMOCRACY CAN DO ANY MORE DAMAGE.

RepubliThug Party Continues To Hang Itself

{:{:{:{Quantum Being}:}:}:} {:{VOB}:} {:{http://obamablogger.org/}:} — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:22:49 EST

Why would the RepubliThugs block the auto bailout of 14 billion for millions of American workers after serving up 700 billion dollars to the fat laughing thieving pigs of Wall Street?

Because the ill-informed public has shown it does not support the auto bailout. Translation? The desperate and dying RepubliThugs are playing poll-driven politics plain and simple.

Keep it up swine... we'll be casting you out soon enough until all that's left in Washington are Progressives, independents and moderates who actually give a crap about WE THE PEOPLE.

PS -- Remember Old fart Bush the first's promise that "America would be dragged kicking and screaming into the 'new world order'"... well folks, this is exactly what that fossilized f*** meant.

Wake up good people. Electing Obama was only step one. Until we cut the corporate puppet strings controlling Congress and their lawmaking capacity we will continue to be sold down shit creek.

END CORPORATE LOBBYIST CORRUPTION OF CONGRESS NOW BEFORE THE AMERICAN DREAM ONLY EXISTS AS AN HISTORICAL REFERENCE.

THE HARD PART HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED... GATHERING OURSELVES INTO A POLITICAL FORCE... NOW IT'S TIME TO EXERT THAT FORCE TO THE MAXIMUM SO WE CAN SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY AND SO... OURSELVES.

YES WE CAN !!!

YES WE WILL !!!

YES WE MUST !!!

UNITED WE STAND... DIVIDED WE GO BUST.