(Comments of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, July 1, 2009)
Well, good afternoon, and welcome to the State Department. I came off the injured reserve list – – in order to officiate at this ceremony because I could not be more delighted than to make official what is going to be so well received in Ireland and means so much to Americans, not only Irish Americans but all Americans, and that is the swearing-in of our new ambassador to Ireland.
Now, we do have special guests with us, and I thank the Irish chargé d'affaires for being here, Mr. McDaid, and I thank Mrs. Collins for being here as well. Her husband, the ambassador, is in Ireland as we speak. And having Senator Robert Casey, my colleague, here, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder is a special treat.
Now, I’m not sure that we specifically mentioned all of the Rooneys who are here. Please forgive us if we forgot anyone. But this is just a representative sampling of the Rooney family.
You know, we may be meeting in Washington, but the city at the heart of today’s celebration is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And in recent years, Pittsburgh has staged a remarkable comeback. It has made such great strides in transforming its economy and developing its high-tech sector, and those are accomplishments that led President Obama to select Pittsburgh as the site for the meeting of the G-20 this September.
Pittsburgh is rich in arts and culture, and, of course, it continues to shine in sports. It is, I think, an understatement to say that with the Pittsburgh Penguins winning their third Stanley Cup, and, of course, the Steelers winning the Super Bowl for a record-breaking sixth time, the site of Pittsburgh is not only a great place to showcase business, but also the success of American sports as well.
And today, we are celebrating the man behind the Steelers, one of Pittsburgh’s leading citizens and our next ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Dan Rooney. Ambassador Rooney is assuming this post at a crucial time. Ireland is one of our closest allies. Our countries are connected by political, economic, cultural, and certainly familial ties. And we share a deep and rich history, one that continues today. It is sustained and enhanced by the millions of people in both nations whose family and loved ones live in the other. And I witnessed that firsthand when I marched in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh last year. I never saw so many people – until, of course, I got to Scranton, Bob.
Forty million Americans boast Irish heritage, and I expect we have a few in the room today in addition to the Rooneys. And as every American can attest, those of our neighbors and friends who are sons and daughters of Ireland are fiercely proud of their ancestry. And we are so grateful to the Irish immigrants who sweated and sacrificed to build this country and who broke down barriers at every level of society.
The friendship between Ireland and the United States is vital to both of our nations, and President Obama and I are confident that it will deepen with Dan and Patricia Rooney in Dublin. We have a great team here together. This is a partnership. These are civic leaders and successful people who are also lifelong supporters of Ireland.
In the early 1970s, after a trip to Ireland in which Ambassador Rooney saw for himself the destructive effects of deprivation and division, he founded the American Ireland Fund. Today, the Ireland Funds operate in 11 countries worldwide, uniting people of Irish descent to further progress in their ancestral homeland. And as Dan Rooney knows, the children and grandchildren of immigrants often have a deep desire to contribute to the nation where their families got their start.
And so today, Chargé McDaid, we are sending you one of our very best. There is no greater champion of Irish-American relations than Dan Rooney. And in the months ahead, as we work together to address the many challenges we face, from the global economic downturn, to the threat of terrorism, to climate change, to the development of clean energy sources, as well as to our continuing emphasis on the peace process in Northern Ireland, I am confident that with Dan Rooney as our ambassador, our partnership will thrive, and that will benefit Ireland, the United States, and all the world’s people.
So Ambassador Rooney, if you’re ready, I am ready to administer the oath. Please raise your right hand.
(The Oath of Office was administered.)
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/july/125539.htm
http://www.irishamericansforobamabiden.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 17, 2009
Today at the White House, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Daniel Rooney as the Ambassador to Ireland.
President Obama said, "I am honored and grateful that such a dedicated and accomplished individual has agreed to serve as the representative of the United States to the Irish people. Dan Rooney is an unwavering supporter of Irish peace, culture, and education, and I have every confidence that he and Secretary Clinton will ensure America’s continued close and unique partnership with Ireland in the years ahead."
Dan Rooney is the recent recipient of the American Ireland Fund’s Lifetime Achievement Award and honorary Commander of the British Empire for contributions to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, has played an integral role in the Irish peace process since the early 1970s. In 1976, Rooney co-founded the American Ireland Fund, an organization which to date has raised over $300 million for peace and education programs in Ireland. Rooney founded the annual prize for Irish Literature in 1987 and co-founded the Ireland Institution of Pittsburgh in 1989. In 1993, the "Rooney Fellowship" was created to honor his generosity and charitable works. Chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the winners of Super Bowl XLIII, Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. He has been the recipient of various awards in relation to his work within the community and for his involvement with the National Football League over the last 26 years, including: the Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year in 1972 and 2001, the Maxwell Football Club Reds Bagwell Award in 1999, and, in 2008, the YWCA Racial Justice Award and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor presented by the National Ethnic Coalition. Rooney also led the sports world’s efforts to include diversity beyond the field and into the front office through the "Rooney Rule."
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Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss is a few points from Democrat Jim Martin for U.S. Senate in current polling in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff race. Senate Runoff in 35 Language Translations. Runoff election to be held Tuesday, 2 DEC 2008.
Any help you can give polling voters is greatly appreciated. Democrats want to win this race!
The more Democratic Senators in office the easier it will be for President Elect Obama's economic policies to be implemented without a chance of a partisan filibuster.
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Want to vote - call 404.748.2754. A Jim Martin for U.S. Senate volunteer will be happy to hand-deliver an absentee ballot application to you home or office.
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Hello,
How are you doing today? I have entitled this blog entry "Marriage and Divorce, Oregon Style", because for whatever reasons these people have, Oregon laws are written more or less the same as all the rest of the other States, but in practice it is a very different kettle of fish altogether, especially if the Matlands are involved in either doing the ceremonies, or the courthouse for Linn County are doing the divorces.Or yet again, if it is one of the many marriages that the Matlands are actually participating in, when being the new spouse.
So let us look at this a bit closer.There are obviously both men and women at the homeless shelter, and being normal and having the need to be loved or feel wanted, some meet and fall in love.Then they look towards the pastor or the minister to perform the ceremony for however much it is that Matlands charge nowadays.This is supposed to be the happiest day of one's life.By taking money for doing the ceremony,and they most definately do, and the Matlands not being ordained, that alone is fraud.One marriage ceremony whereby the people are charged, can be prosecuted.Think how many have taken place over thirty odd years.
So OK, Matlands will do nearly anything for money.I can understand that.They know that this is fraud, but choose to go ahead anyway.Now I am only referring to people/couples who meet up and fall in love, who either live at the shelter or in the area and think that Matlands really are genuine, and therefore ask them to perform the service.That is fine.Those people are innocent to the crime that they unwittingly get embroiled in.The records of that union are placed in Linn County Courthouse and Oregon Vital Statistics, or when Matlands were in Cave Junction, they were kept in Josephine County Courthouse.
But what when it is one of the Matlands themselves who find a new victim, who usually comes from the homeless shelter and there is perhaps no family that seem to know that that person is perhaps even staying there? Whichever Matland is on the prowl , they chat the unsuspecting person up, letting them see what good church people they are, and impress them with tales of all of the properties that they own, and in general, give them the full spiel, and perhaps that person thinks that they are on to a good little number anyway.But having said that, they still have absolutely no idea of course that this is part of a big scam.So the paperwork is filled out, lodged in the court and the Marriage ceremony goes ahead.Then just weeks or months later, that person is seeing that not everything is as it first appeared.Matlands will work your butt off, open bank accounts, put utilities in your name, steal your mail, and if you have children which came with this new spouse(for want of a better word)put them to work, use and abuse them, and they will do that to the spouse as well.If there is any money to be got from welfare, Food Stamps, or anything that gives Matlands more money, then Gale would be the one to sort that as she is the one who deals with the paperwork because she is a trained forger. She was trained by the best when in California working in a clothing sweat shop.She wanted more money, so they trained her to do the books and the art of forgery.And believe me, she is good at it.What she doesn't know, isn't worth knowing.And you only have to look at what she is doing today, to know how good she is.Right under all of your noses.
So we have the illegal marriage. We have the new spouse sort of getting an idea that not is all as it should be. Nobody perhaps is contacting him/her and they are feeling more and more isolated from past friends and family and 'their mail' and they are not allowed to use the phones.So alarm bells have to surely be ringing in their heads.On top of this there is the violence, plus they have to work their socks off for the Mission, in one capacity or another and therefore have no time to think hardly, let alone cop on that they are just being used for whatever Matlands had plans on using them for.
Then comes the time when they have to leave this situation and find that the Matlands are not wanting that to happen and so do everything to make sure that that person is going nowhere.I have already described some of their tactics whereby they will chase you down like they are a posse, whereby they use their vehicles instead of horses,then God help you if they catch you, then see what happens to you.But that is not the subject of this entry.One man who married Gale had three children. The paperwork went on file, however it was not worth a light.The situation for him became so intolerable that in the end, he had to escape in the middle of the night.But had to leave his children behind with the intention of returning in the daylight to pick them up when he had found a place to take them.Matlands refused to part with his children and things got so serious that he had to go to the police to get a 'Writ of Assistance' to get them back.Now you would think that that was quite straight foreward.The children were only two, three and five years old when this illegal marriage took place.Surely wouldn't the police simply go and knock on Matlands door and pick the children up. It's not as if Gale gave birth to any of them or that Gale had been married to this man for any length of time. But NO! Matlands wanted those three children for their evil purposes.Money being one.To get those children back, the police had to trick the Matlands and when they were out of the way on the street, other police went in and grabbed them back.Had Matlands have not had to part with them, according to Gale, they would have been counted as orphans and were worth far more to them.But doesn't it make one wonder if perhaps there was not a more sinister plan and were they perhaps going to sell them on like a lot of other children were in Oregon, which of course you can read about on the 'Voice for 'Children Website, listed on my Links section.And be sure to see the names of who is featured on the Hall of Shame, pages and read the Supreme Court Hearings and listen to the video recordings and read "The Truth is on Trial" pages and then if you live in Oregon and are reading this, you will see so many of the people whom Oregonians are supposed to look up to.They are the very same people that are running your State offices and courts and SCF and in the Children's Ombudsman's office.
So I am going to close this part of the blog and return with some more food for thought following the divorces that took place with Matlands as Petitioner.
I will keep this short and sweet today.This is more or less just to ponder upon.The weather being cold does turn ones mind to heat, then fire, and it doesn't take much of a guess to know that I would be leading up to my point about how strange it is for one family to be around so many fires.
Let us talk about the latest that I know of, and that was at 705 Lyon Street, the homeless person's shelter owned by The Signs of Victory Mission.This was started by a non-incendary device, around 5 am in the morning. There were families there at the time and with children.This was in January 2003. A pile of cardboard mysteriously caught fire , which the mission had been planning on selling.The shelter had eight smoke detectors.Better still, all of them worked, according to fire officials.This fire caused $25,000 in damage.That's a handy bit of insurance to come back.
Everybody got out safely because the fire started up the east side of the building.Well, I'd have to say "Thank God for that".So that was very convenient that this fire did not start anywhere where there were people around.I wonder how much insurance would have come back then? There were people on each floor including the basement. I wonder if the windows were nailed down that day. I bet they weren't, but they bloody well used to be.Maxine said that it was to stop people breaking in to the building.Is she mad or what! Who the hell in their right mind would break in to a run down hell hole like that? Nobody would, but going back not to long ago, the nails were definately in the windows and that was to stop the Veterans (who stayed in that area) from leaving. And please do not think that they just had to climb the stairs up to the hallway, because that door had a hook and eye shutting it at night.But Maxine said that that was so these men could not get up into the main area of the house.UTTER TRIPE!!!!
These people were not intended to be going anywhere.And that can be proved, like the rest of what I have written.The veterans were worth money to the Matlands and visitors were definately not encouraged,so I find it very strange that on the day of this fire, there were fresh batteries in each of the smoke detectors and this door to the basement was not locked, on top of which this pile of cardbord was able to set itself on fire and was in a position so that nobody got hurt. Now apart from the lady that heard one of the smoke alarms and woke the other people, guess who was first on the scene, to make sure that this fire got put out? Come on now, it's not a hard guess.You've got it. Dear old George Raymond Matland Jnr. himself, bless him.He had it put out before the firefighters arrived.He said "I almost had it out".Now being that it was cardboard that started this fire,by setting alight to itself, and George living in his mother's house in Seventh Ave., who I wonder was phoned for first??? Was it George? did he still have his clothes on at 5 am in the morning? or was it the firebrigade, who are only one block away and used to rushing to fires??? George got there first and put the fire out and then the fire brigade turned up.Isn't this just the biggest load of crap that you just read? Do they all think everyone is stupid? Nobody on that day or during the fiasco of an investigation, had a clue as to who set fire to the Mission (so they say).How then was a story printed a few months later when Matlands were looking for more money, did George tell the reporter that the mission was set fire to by a drunk that got banned from the mission? Excuse me, the main drunks at that mission are the Matlands themselves and how did they come up with that person when on the day of the fire, nobody had a clue as to who started it.It must have been psychic intervention. And once they came up with this man, was he arrested? Not bloody likely.
The next fire was 532 Baker Street,That was March 1996. One fire set in one place which did not do enough damage, so another was set. And who came home not 5 minutes later from being out, George Matland, and the one subject that was not discussed, was the fire at 532 Baker Street. I don't know about you, but if my house burnt down, I would most certainly be discussing it. And Matlands told everybody that it was one of the people who had been staying at the Mission. Well, should I be surprised? He was not even in Albany that time and Matlands were pissed off at him because he had gone off to be at another church.You see they always blame someone at the mission for everything, because they move around a good bit.
Then take the fire again like the first two, started by a non incendary device, but this time at 200 Pacific Blvd., where Matlands had their pallets.Rolled up newspapers were stuffed into the pallets.This was clever. That paper also caught fire and of course, up went the pallets.And who walked in to the house not minutes earlier, puffing and blowing, George Matland.This is a very nifty runner.Did he get done for that fire? No he did not.
Fire number four that happened was on a neighbour of theirs cabin in Cave Junction.They fell out, so his cabin got burnt down.Did George get done for that? No he did not.
Now there is a fifth fire, started again by a non incendary device, and was fairly recent, and in a building that Matlands had occupied.But I won't put that one here, for reasons best kept to myself at this time.
But all I am pointing out is, this is to much of a coincidence surely to be real. And why did the fire brigade officer at the time when I called regarding all these fires, chat for ages, and passed it on to the Batallion Chief who was investigating the Lyon Street fire and unfortunately, it didn't go any further because he happened to be retiring. What a coincidence all this is, don't you think? He didn't even bother to phone me back. Talk to you soon.
Hi Everyone,
I do hope that you had a great weekend. And I certainly hope that your weather is better than it is here.It has been so overcast today and pouring with rain, and then came the gales.Very depressing but then haven't we really got a lot to be so grateful for?
Let us think for a while about this crazy, evil family that I am telling you about.My daughter was still living with George Matland Jnr., this was in January 1998. George gave Andrea the poison to take, when she thought that she was going to be taking Tylanol.He deliberately made her have her dose from the bottle that he kept in his own private cupboard.He gave it to her himself on a spoon.And because it tasted so awful, she swallowed it to get it out of her mouth, thinking that it tasted so bad because perhaps it had gone off. As I have said in another blog, it reacted on her immediately. So suddenly that George got a fright and went to get her milk.He certainly did not get her a doctor or Police I hasten to add, but then he wouldn't would he?But I won't go over all that again, as I already wrote about that.
Two weeks later was the incident whereby the Matlands were doing what they do best. DRINKING THEMSELVES INTO OBLIVION.It was late into the night, the Soup Kitchen was well over and some of the people stayed back for a drinking session and my middle grandson was still working.This was the night that he got attacked by George Jnr., for dareing to go upstairs to be with his mom who was looking after baby George.He shouldn't have left work you see, but he was only a little tot and wanted a rest.George followed and Maxine followed both of them. And George saw him resting, verbally abused him, and attacked him by kicking the chair that he was sitting on, from under him and grabbing his head as he fell and bashed it into the wall.And I have already written about that and how she and this child had to escape. The baby had been picked up by George Jnr. and whatever George told the Police when he took them on one side, they believed him and told him to take the baby for the night and go and stay at his mothers so that things could calm down. But as luck would have it, a kind neighbour realised what was happening and came to the rescue, telling them that he had seen this all before and that she had to get out there and then, whilst she still could. She thought that she would be able to pick the baby up next morning.
In Oregon there is a law that says that if one parent is the abuser, then that child automatically goes to the parent who is the non-abuser.Now that would seem sensible as long as you don't live in Albany, Oregon, or that your name is not Matland, because there is a whole set of different rules where that family is concerned.It's called NO RULES! And Jason Carlile, District attorney and the Police and SCF, all bow and scrape to keep this all a secret.Nobody is going to upset the Matlands.But let me move on a bit.
I already said about how George Jnr. had the cheek to get a Restraining Order against Andrea, accusing her of being the one who was doing the attacking, and as George is so well versed in the court,(after ten wives, you would be) knew that his would come through quicker than hers because Benton County take 24 hours. Whereas George got his imediately, thus allowing him to have temporary custody of the baby.However she had to get different stuff sorted and a bit down the line she had to talk to Children's Services in Albany.She was trying to get an apartment in Albany, but because of the Restraining Order could not go near the Matlands property. Plus months went past before she could even get to visit little George. She could not find an attorney who would take her case.Matlands had used just about every attorney and not paid most of them. They kept saying that it was a conflict of interest and so here she was, no attorney, she had left Matlands pennyless,and although she had got some sort of welfare help, it only tides one over. Plus she had kept her son at the same school as he was happy there and she didn't want to cause him any more upset than possible so travelled between Corvallis and Albany each day.
Anyway, this particular day, whilst still at the shelter for battered wives, she went to SCF in Albany.She saw a woman by the name of Rose Infonte.This woman was as bigger bitch as it was possible to be, who had some hangup about Andrea's nationality.She was asking Andrea how she was going to get an apartment with hardly any money, and was questioning her like it was an interrogation.She was under terrible stress from all that Matlands had done to her and the children,and no proper home at that time, and the bus service was not the best and consequently they were leaving home very early each morning so as to get to the school on time in Albany, so she was very warn down and emotionally at rock bottom.But was trying to keep things together.This bitch got her into such a state , on top of which when she asked Andrea how much she was going to look for an apartment for, and Andrea told her $350 per month, she retorted, "You'll only get a skanky apartment for that and you will never get your child back".She was yelling at her.What sort of person "I can't call her an animal as that is an insult to animals" carries on like that, like a complete lunatic, to somebody who is so stressed out to start with? How the hell did this "THING" get a job in the first place?She was going on about her Green Card and asked where hers was, and yet Andrea is totally legal.So what is this "THING'S problem? And how did she ever get a job working with human beings?
When Andrea got back to the shelter in Corvallis, she was so ill that evening that she was rushed off to hospital with a suspected heart attack. When I phoned that night, the women working there were so worried because I was so far away, that they didn't tell me how bad she was, but then when I called the following day I learnt what had happened.Well, needless to say I phoned SCF. talked to this bitch, talked to one higher and tried to get hold of the man, who at that time was over Linn and Benton County called Pat Melius. I even called him on the emergency number. I was totally ignored. Now Diane Aspengren is the one who is the head one now, and between her and Peggy Davis, covered up what was going on at the mission. I have photos of little George whereby sidefaced you can see where he was punched so hard in the mouth, that the split is deep. I have photos where he had burns, and bruises, was filthy, clothes sticky with dirt. He was full of fleas. Matlands did everything possible (once the court gave her "Supervised Visitation", as if she was the guilty party) to prevent any visitation on Andrea's part. They used a house that Gale and her child sex abuser of a boyfriend squatted in, for Visitation, and Maxine and George hid upstairs in it and men from the Mission hovered around the house to intimidate her and her son.George Jnr. did things like hanging a notice outside saying "Gone Fishing" and did other things all so she couldn't see her baby.He pulled every trick in the book to screw up visits.They even brainwashed the child by telling him that Gale was his mother and that Andrea was not.But I do believe that that also was for purposes of fraud.
A couple of women who were staying at the Mission were in the Soup Kitchen at Matlands one day when they saw baby George on the floor with his dinner. But he was not eating it, so George Jnr., got him by the arm, put his foot under him and carried him hanging like that.These women, who had never met Andrea as this was a good while later, were so shocked at how he treated baby George that they went to SCF and reported what they had seen, to Diane Aspengren. All that woman said was, "Go tell his mother" and did nothing.
A good while later Andrea heard from a neighbour that her divorce was in the newspaper.Her letter from the court was conveniently stolen from her mailbox telling her of the date and time. And who do we know that is into stealing people's mail? George Matland and he would know when it came because he would have had a copy himself.So she never got to go to her divorce, but then she was never really married to George in the first place, because his mother Maxine did the service.Like she did with several of his other wives. And George had done the service on Maxine when she was getting married to another spouse. And George or Maxine would do the service for Gale, when she was getting married.Mind you she also had her fair share of spouses also. Now what, one wonders is so special about getting married illegaly in Albany and why would Linn County Courthouse go ahead with these divorces knowing that they were illegal? On top of which, why would Oregon Vital Statistics knowingly not only leave these records on file, but allow the Matlands to carry on doing these marriages. But here is the worst bit, and even I cannot understand why Gale and George would go along with this.How could Gale let her own children marry lads that they really seem to love,and have a full and proper reception and beautiful dresses, and the whole bit, KNOWING THAT THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE PAPER THAT THEY ARE WRITTEN ON? Now that actually was heartbreaking to hear,and these marriages took place in 2006, and I don't even know the girls to talk to or if they have been told.I know that the courthouse knows because I told them, but I doubt that Matlands will get prosecuted for those marriages either.But I can tell you something. Nobody goes through the cost of marrying and divorcing, knowing the marriages to be illegal, without there being a seriously lucrative scam involved.And Matlands have been doing these marriages on each other and people who pay them who think that they are really getting married, for 30 years.George did the ceremonies on the girls last year .And he is a minister of nothing. More tomorrow.
Hello Again,
Picture this. You have already read in this blog, how George Matland Jnr. verbally attacked Andrea just minutes after having had a C-Section and producing a beautiful baby son.His first and only child that we know of, so one would imagine that he would be delighted and in a loving frame of mind.Also, after having had eight previous wives, all who it turned out to be ,that he had treated them in such an abominable way that each had had to escape so as to save their lives for fear of what the Matland family would do to them, that no other babies seem to have been born with him being the father.Plus he was in his mid forties at the time of this marriage, and was most definately an ugly, evil looking, rednecked cretin, so would hardly be getting the chance to be with many other women as he got older, not unless they were into the same sort of crimes that Matlands were into.Otherwise there would be no point.But my daughter loved him at that time, and as the saying goes "Love is blind".
I mentioned that she was forbidden outside contact with nearly everybody, was left with no money and her Food Stamps taken, thus leaving her dependent on George , but then as he was doping her up via her food, he had her exactly where he wanted her and her other sons.So following the phonecall that I had made to the hospital just as the baby had been born, and him blowing a fuse right there in front of the hospital staff, for talking to me, he had a plan to teach her a lesson for when she came out of hospital.
And you will find this hard to believe what he had planned to pay her back.On the day that she came out of hospital, he took and hid the newborn baby for three days so that she could not see him.Now what kind of animal (I shouldn't call him an animal because that is an insult to them, and he was worse) would do that to the mother of his first child? There was nothing she could do at the time as of course she had no money or way of getting away from him to a different place with the boys, so she had to sit it out.Plus there was the other two dogs to make sure that she went nowhere. Did I say DOGS? I meant Maxine and GaleThe two sickos who openly allowed child sex, as did George.They actually talked about it openly and this was known by people staying at the shelter.And the talk of the area.I can only say here that one child was involved, and it went on for years, but Matlands condoned this although I do know that George was worried about the situation.Not that he had any room to talk, because if prior spouses were questioned, there was some very strange stories that had happened to their children and in one case that I know of, when he was caught actually sexually abusing a child by it's mother and she tried to escape, all three Matlands went out like you see in the cowboy films, in a posse. They each got in their vehicles and tried to track her and her child down. George found them, got them back to the house and beat and raped her so badly that she went nowhere for a couple of weeks, and all that time he was taunting her.When this girl told Maxine (the pretend pastor) all she said was" if he did that to you, then you must have deserved it).
Going back to my daughter and the baby being taken, she got him back after the three days, but they took him again whenever she did something that displeased them.Not only that, they had her convinced that the Police wanted to arrest her.Every so often they would say that the police were parked up outside the front of the church, where her and George and the boys had an apartment over the Thrift shop/Church and then they would bundle her up and bring her out through the back way and take her to another house.They even put her in the boot of the car one day to get her away.But they would keep the baby.Sometimes she would be gone for two or three days.Then they would bring her back.
Another thing that Matlands would be well known for doing, is putting the Utilities in people at the Mission's names.Running up bills for clothes would be Gales' thing and she would even say that she had done it.The Utility people would send the bills, there would be no response and then after a while, they would try and prosecute. That is when the person whose name they had used, would realize what had happened.My daughter was not even married to George, or living in the address that they used on this one particular bill, and Gale was out there spending money freely in my daughter's name.Life policies was another thing that George was into. He tried to get Life policies on each wife.Now as to whether they knew this or not, I don't know. But he definately took out the policies.
It was as if each Matland was responsible for certain crimes.Maxine was out and out into getting properties. Also she would have been a big part of the violence on any of the spouses, but they were known to all join in.I can't say that that is for every case of violence, but I know from other spouses that she seemed to be really into the violence.She even sat and openly discussed how they wanted to kill Gales spouse(well, he thought he was her souse)with George ,and my daughter was sitting there in the car listening. It was as if it meant nothing. But then, it probably didn't because I was assured by families prior to them being in Albany, that they had turned into pusseycats compared to where they had come from before.
Now how low is this? Those poor homeless people didn't know what they were letting themselves in for by going to that Homeless shelter.They used to get the children to rob their belongings and what they used to do was to put a bin liner in the basement at the bottom of the shute and then as the stuff of any use was robbed, they would just send it down and it would go straight into a bin bag.And could the homeless people do anything about it? Not likely.Would you take on three violent, sadistic sicko's like them? I don't think so.
I have to finish for now, but I have a really funny blog for tomorrow. Well, it is funny if you were not the ones involved.Have a great day.
Hello People,
How are you all today? I do hope that your weather is better than it is here in Ireland .Wet and very windy is the best description of what it is like here today.A bit like a baby's bum.But I expect that those of you who are reading this adore babies.In most cases people protect their children.Would die for their children.And if you are one of the few who don't like kids, you still wouldn't want to see any harm come to them, even if they belong to other parents.And for the odd few who hurt their kids physically, mentally,or any other way, there is always SCF to come to the rescue isn't there??? After all, isn't that the idea, and why SCF was invented? To protect the children who were getting hurt.To investigate what was going on? The idea being that anyone in public office or ordinary people could, if worried for a child's safety, could tell SCF and they would see if the child/children were safe and well cared for.And act accordingly.
Whilst we are on the subject of services provided in Albany, Albany Police dept. are supposed to protect people and investigate crimes, it's part of why they join the service.Working in the Police dept. is a bit like a calling.You want to help people.You want to protect the ordinary citizens.So being a policeman is a good way of doing that.
And on top of which, wouldn't you think that if you worked at the Courthouse as a Judge or DA, or in one of the many offices there processing records, which in each case, would be an importent job of responsiblity, that you would want to do that job to the best of your ability?
Then of course there is the Albany Fire Dept., now there is a job where you definately would need to be dedicated.One's life would be at risk everytime one went to a fire.So you would really have to admire the people who joined up for this job .It takes guts and determination, and they save lives just about every day of the week.
Then we have the Sheriff's dept. one would still need dedication, to be honest(as also in the jobs that I have so far mentioned) brave, able to handle people with firmness and integrity.I mean to say, some of the situations that they and the services above must encounter, must be awful, heartrending, dangerous, none know whether they will get attacked, shot or what when they go to a callout, but they put their thoughts and fears to one side, because they are dedicated!
Well, it is nice to dream. So why does that not happen in Albany when it comes to investigating the Matlands many crimes? And why was it the same in Cave Junction. One case of trespass is all that was on record there.? There was kidnap, illegal marriages, abuse both physical and mental on poor unfortunates that went to their Bible School (big joke!) fraud and forgery, and arson.It just strikes me as very odd that for several years there was one case of trespass on record.But doesn't it remind you of exactly the same crimes that the heads of the departments mentioned above, have all gone to such great lengths to cover up for thirty years in Albany?
So I could name names, list the crimes, but I don't have time today.But it is food for thought.If these crimes were carried out by anybody else in Albany, these agencies would be down on those people, like a ton of bricks.So why not the Matlands???
The title of this entry is "Who Do You Sit Next To?" My meaning being that the heads of some of these agencies sit sweetly in their respective churches letting everybody believe that they are more godly than the next person, they bear their testimonies to the congregation, play the piano or whatever, say their prayers, according to which churches they are affiliated to, but behind the scenes and back in their jobs, they are going to great lengths not to bring Matlands crimes to light or deal with them.And believe me, I have tried.Again and again I will say this. There is no justice in Oregon if the Matlands are involved.Ask yourselves why? What do they have that the other people don't have? They have a false church, a shelter for the homeless, a pastor who was never a pastor and a minister who was never a minister. They have many people, men, women and children who are desperate for shelter.They are all very vulnerable, and all have to work for Matlands.And I mean the youngest of children as well. They have access to their mail via the church mail box.Can be quite lucrative at times.Food Stamps are always handy as tithes. They are cheap labor, whatever way you look at it. But there is more then the illegal marriages and the very real divorces whereby Matlands definately are not losing out.So why wouldn't the courthouse look into that. Why would the judges go ahead with these cases, knowing that the marriages were in most cases, illegal to start with. Why is it so hard to get ones children out of Matlands clutches????And why does it not matter what fate befalls those children even when the crimes on them are known about? Why would SCF be so keen to not investigate cases there that they would wait three weeks before going out to a call, and then phone ahead and arrange that the meeting takes place in the dark, out on the pavement and when it is so far past when the original injury was done, that it could not hardly be seen.And this woman investigating stayed sitting in her car whilst the father and child stood chatting to her.This is one isolated incident of several.Doesn't it make you question who the guilty party is there??? And she is the head one there.I wouldn't let her guard the monkeys in the zoo......MORE TOMORROW!
Hi,
Let me add some more of this story regarding what happened to my daughter.Firstly though, I must just make a slight ammendment.I said in yesterday's blog (part 2) that the children were taken for one year so as to give my daughter time to get well after all that had happened to her. It was actually 11 months, but the reason that it was so long was not because they were taken for that length of time in the first place, but because this George Matland, that she had just married, refused to comply with the wishes of the court and so on, and would not attend any of the classes that they were asked to go to.He was definately worried that they would look into his background. So what I am saying is, although I have been researching this family for the past ten years, there has to be more on file either in Albany or Cave Junction and even prior to that.And I firmly believe that it involves something to do with children.
Yesterday I told you about how Andrea was allowed no outside contact with people.Also about how by a sheer fluke that I telephoned the local hospital for the first time ever, because of a gut feeling, and just fifteen minutes earlier she had been admitted into hospital to have baby George.But let me tell you this next part so that you can see for yourselves just what evil bastards this family are.
She had labor pains one day, but it was way to early for the baby to come and so George took her to the hospital and Maxine went as well.When she was examined she was so low in magnesium that Albany hospital decided to get her into Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, as they were so worried about her.She was taken by ambulance and Maxine and George followed in the car.Because she had been examined in Albany just shortly before, she was given a bed in a room and the only people in it were Maxine and George.She had been put on a drip because of the megnesium being so very low. Whatever happened in the room with only Maxine and George in it, by the time the doctor came in, her magnesium level had shot up to three times what it was supposed to be and the doctor was horrified as to what had happened to her.She actually had a complete out of body experience at this time and believed she had died momentorily.Maxine and George stayed with her like guard dogs for the rest of that day and night. Then they went back to the mission where Andrea's two boys were being looked after by Gale(far from looked after, actually)as she is as evil as Maxine and George.We didn't know until later that she had used a leather belt on the seven year old boy.But then her own children were treated very violently also, and this happened for minor incidents, let alone serious ones.
Andrea's labor pains subsided and so the baby was not born then, but the hospital were so worried about the state that she was in as she was so worn down, that they kept her a bit longer(.They even asked her if she could go back to get her doctor to send her back in to their hospital, so as to get her away from the matlands a bit longer). But Maxine didn't like George wasting time going to visit her, as it meant that she had not got him at her beck and call, and one day phoned Andrea in the hospital and was screaming down the phone at her calling her every name under the sun.Like the incident when George caught Andrea talking to me on the phone when she had just given birth to her little boy, and George started yelling at her for daring to talk to me, this incident was witnessed by the nursing staff, as was the one in Sacred Heart when it was Maxine screaming down the phone. She was so jealous of anyone taking his attention away from it just being on her.Whatever way you look at it, these are sick in the head type people.They are hated. It is an awful thing to say, but they really are. That is not me being a bitch.Their properties are so run down, so full of trash everywhere, they yell and scream and are very violent.There are many articles on the disgusting conditions that their tenents are living in,and photos of one place where the raw sewage was coming up in the bath, and the toilet was also in the bath. Ant there were photos of the cockroaches and bugs on the ceiling, almost like a freeze. It was unbelievable how the houses were never closed down, but having said that, the court did give her orders to clean up the place on several occassions and charged them in fines for not doing it. They had so many foreclosures and cases in court that it was ridiculous,but these were all non violent cases, debts and so on, but never was anything done regarding all the real crimes involving violence .Every time they got away with it.The Police and Sheriff and DA did not want to know.
This relationship with Maxine and George was the strangest, most suffocating one that you could imagine. He was 55 years old this year and until she died in March, he was hardly ever out of her sight.The same nearly goes for Gale, who is now 54 years old, but because she had husbands, for want of a better word,it meant that sometimes they lived in a separate house.But with George, he was at her beck and call 24 hours a day. When he was courting Andrea, if he gave her a rose, Maxine had to have a bigger and better one. If they went out for a coffee( that is as near dating as George does) Maxine had to go as well.She was like the ultimate mother-in-law from hell.A well known American saying is "crazy arsed mother fuc---, (nudge, nudge, nod's as good as a wink) well this relationship really sums that saying up. They were sick. perverted.She even had a key to let herself into their apartment and would go round in the early hours of the morning, if she was on her own and had not scored with some poor unfortunate fella at the shelter, and she would ORDER George out of bed and he would have to go round to her place and sleep there.Like I said, they were really sick, buy then there is a much worse case scenario.You think that that is sick, that I have already told you about . Sorry, but this gets worse.I think before I enter that part of the story, that I ought to hang on a bit before saying what else Matlands were condoning.
I already told you that they were involved in performing many illegal marriages.The first marriages were legal, in Texas and California and Nevada. But the violence by the Matlands was beyond belief.It was not just like a normal fight between husband and wife, they ganged up on the victim.That's why there are so many people over the years who have been gathering information on them in the hopes that they could expose them, but because Matlands have some sort of a hold over the people in office, police and so on, nothing gets done.These people are so incensed at the vicious treatment that members of their family received at the hands of the Matlands, that there is a group who are watching and waiting to get something done legally, and quite by accident I stumbled across them.But if I wait much longer for them, nothing will get done, plus also, they are so terrified that the Matlands will find out where they are, that they keep moving.I am talking about over thirty years, and still when I track these people down, their one thing is to tell me not to give away where they are living now.They really are frightened, to the point whereby they are nearly to frightened to talk to me.Matlands play with your mind.And as if that is not bad enough, they don't leave you alone when the marriage (legal or otherwise) is over.And none of these spouses have been able to just decide to leave, like in the case of a couple who know that the relationship has come to an end, they have to escape.Now how crazy is that? And if there are children who came with the new spouse, that's even worse for them to get away.Because they want your children.You could get out, but the children are a different kettle of fish altogether.And doesn't it strike anyone as odd, as to why it is mainly the homeless people in the shelter, who are the ones that they pick to marry (legally or otherwise)?And why after sometimes just weeks, or months, that they have to escape.The people at the mission are used as free or cheap labor and the children work also.There are laws in other States against the wrong treatment of children, or human beings in general, but it seems that Albany do not see why they should enforce them, when it comes to the Matlands breaking the law, time and time again. So doesn't that make one wonder perhaps if this is not part of a bigger story.See my link for : imc portland.given below.
So I will close for now.More to follow. I wish you all well.
The people who read this blog and others that I write, might think that I get great enjoyment out of doing this, but to be perfectly honest, it tears my guts out and rips me apart having to go over and over the inhumane treatment that my daughter and her children suffered at the hands of this vile scum who pose as a Pastor and ministers of a church.But perhaps it is nearly worse that it is the local authorities in Albany, Oregon 97321 (let's make sure that there is no doubt as to who I am referring to) who are doing absolutely nothing to get this family put behind bars. If it was anybody else doing just one or two of the crimes that the Matlands do, these people would be locked up and the key thrown away.
Now take the fact that they did worse before in Cave Junction, which is Josephine County and again before that in California. Now can't you see that there is a pattern that has built up,each time the authorities that be, are turning a blind eye, meaning that there has to be a reason.It could be brown envelopes, or could there be something far more sinister going on???? Now at this point, I am only going to refer to Oregon.And in this blog, just for now, let's stick to Albany because this is all going on, or has done, fairly recently and because there is a situation which desperately needs sorting.
My daughter arrived in Albany halfway through 1994 and happened to go into the Thrift Shop owned by the Matlands. Maxine was in there and Andrea broke down in tears as she was looking for an apartment after having travelled with her children an awful long way.Maxine asked her what the matter was and when she heard all that had befallen her before arriving in Oregon, told her that she could rent her an apartment in one of her many properties, which Matlands owned back then.It was a dump, but it was a roof over their heads.George homed in on Andrea, more or less straight away.She was very, very vulnerable then because she had already gone through hell, and George, Maxine and Gale were decent to her and the children and as she was so alone and nobody knew where she was at that time, she was ideal prey for them and their crimes. George Matland wooed her like in an old fashioned way.He behaved in a gentlemanly way for four weeks.Now, she should have copped on as to the strange relationship between his mother and himself, but although she thought it odd, she put it to the back of her mind, because these few weeks were the first time she had been treated OK since arriving in America.She had been divorced, raped, beaten up by a psycho boyfriend, kicked and so on whilst pregnant and strangled, and just to top it off, she had been advised for her own and the children's safety, by the State Police whom were her friends where she lived, that Oregon was a good place to move to. The only thing was that she travelled with a fella who was heavy into religion and they got safely to Oregon and he flipped out mentally and tried to kill her youngest son.Both children got taken into care for one year, but that also was to give her a chance to build up her health as just about everything that could happen, had happened to her.
After a month of knowing George, he asked her to marry him.He told her that he was a minister in the church, that his mother Maxine was the Pastor of the mission and Gale did the books and played the piano for the services.Now, doesn't that sound like a nice little set up?Three loving, christian people helping the homeless, feeding the homeless, clothing the homeless.They nearly sound like saints.Except I missed a bit out. They were robbing the homeless, taking their Food Stamps, robbing their mail which all went to the one PO Box in Albany Post Office,using them as cheap or free labor, their kids as well.And, being homeless, Matlands had all their personal details ,Social Security numbers, and so on,and looked after their medication.And God help anybody complaining about the way they were treated like slaves and kept in conditions that you would not keep a dog in.George and Andrea got married.Maxine performed the ceremony, the people from the shelter attended the service(if you can call it that).
Now you might think that they were being very kind and considerate by keeping her away as much as possible from the people staying in the shelter.It would seem like that at first, but then they kept her away from nearly everyone because they didn't want people to know that she was actually there. It was like a case of out of sight, out of mind.At this point I hasten to add, I had no idea whatsoever that Andrea had had so much happen to her and also that she was living in Albany.I had written to her old address and it was not until the manager of the mail office saw that I had written several times, that he took it upon himself to tell me that Andrea and family no longer lived in that State. I was dumbfounded and couldn't undersatnd why she had not written for a while. To cut a long story short, I made quite a few calls around the States and eventually a very kind operator got curious as to why I was asking for all these different numbers and helped me out as best as he could.Eventually I found out that she was most likely to be in Oregon and just happened to call the one person who actually was able to get into the correct database and even arranged for Andrea to get my call.
When I finally got through to speak to her, George was there and she explained about some of the things that had happened and he acted the part of the new husband and Iwas told about their church mission and so on, and went back home thinking that everything was great.I was delighted that they were church people and helping homeless people and was so pleased that at last she had met a decent family and ones who were serving the Lord.What more could anybody want??? Excuse me whilst I vomit, talk about being a fool. I really believed what they had told me.I even packed up a big box of all the Christmas presents which I had bought for Andrea and the boys and couldn't send over until I had confirmed their address.I actually went and bought presents for the Matlands so that they didn't feel bad when Andrea and family opened their stuff.I sent over an enormous Easter Egg as well in a basket, so that they could all share it.I heard nothing back to say that anything had arrived. I tried phoning, every time it was the same, I'd ask for Andrea, and Maxine would say "Andrea who????" If Gale answered she would chat, and say "call back at" and it was always that she was not home at that time.This was no joke, believe me. I was using a public phone box and as we are in Ireland, we are eight hours ahead of Oregon. Well, that is fine until Matlands keep on making one go up and down to the phone every two or three hours, just messing you around, when here it was often around two or three in the morning and still I would not get put through.On the odd occassion I did get to talk to her, but like has happened to so many other families of people who have had relatives trying to contact them, they cut down on calls more and more, take the mail that they are supposed to be mailing and throw it in the bin, and when there is incoming mail, they take that also. So neither party realizes this until one has heard nothing because you just assume that they are very busy.
I knew that something was very wrong one day when she could hardly speak to me.She sounded like she was spaced out.It was bad enough that one could never talk to her or the children without a Matland sitting beside them and if the conversation got awkward, that Matland would change the question around or suddenly say that the service was starting and so on. Any excuse, they didn't want any outside communication.I don't know why, but I thought that this was some crazy cult type religion, so I thought that if I could find out what religion this was, I would understand better how to deal with these people.I knew that Maxine had a radio slot of 15 minutes long, on the local KWIL 790 fm religious radio station. But I also thought that if I called the local school, I could find out if the children were doing OK.I called the school, and the phone was slammed down saying that they were not allowed to talk to me. Well I admit that I was shocked to say the least, so I thought that I would call the radio station and see what I could find out.Now, no kidding, to this day I have never had such a strange conversation.Don't forget that I just had talked to the school, and had the phone slammed down, so I was not in the best of humour.I dialled the number, a man answered. I simply said that I was asking about Maxine Matland and the radio slot that she had every evening.And all I really wanted to know was what religion she was affiliated with.Now I swear to God that this is what happened.As soon as I had mentioned Maxine Matland, and her radio slot, this man went to pieces and said, "Ma'am ,I do not wish to discuss that woman with you. To be honest I am terrified of her, and I could hear it was as if he was going to cry and he just wanted to get off of the phone.Now after the first call, I was hopping mad, nearly fit to be tied, so I yelled down the phone at him, and told him not to dare put down the phone on me as that had just happened minutes earlier.I made him write down my name and address and told him that all I wanted was to see who her church were worshipping. Then I thought that I would chance it and asked if I could have a copy of one programme as I couldn't pick up their station from Ireland.He said that he couldn't do that as the tapes were her property. He said to me"To be honest ma'am, she owes us thousands and I am to frightened of her to send her the bill as she would come over here , and I don't want that. It is like she walks with a black shadow. " That is honestly what happened.So ,fair enough he had more or less satisfied my curiosity and I told him that I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this tape or a copy of it, and said goodbye. Four or five days later an envelope came through the door from this radio station.It was from David Winchester, President of the station.It simply said that the man that I had spoken to had voiced his opinion and that it wasn't the opinion of the station. Maxine did not owe them money and her radio slot was still running.Then he added the initials of the group that their radio station standards are geared towards and said that Maxine's talks came just within their boundaries. Fine, or was it? This fool had sent me a copy of their radio programes and times. He must have not realized, as on the back where Maxines programme was, it was all blacked out.So he was lying. Well, he must have caught me on a bad day as I had since found out more that was going on at the mission from people in the area, so I wrote back and told him a few home truths about what he was condoning by sticking up for the Matlands.So he in turn wrote me back another letter, this time threatening to prosecute me, so I answered that one,put him well and truly in his place and sent it to his wife.He shut up after that.That is until a while later when it was killing me with curiosity, as to what this organisation's guidelines that his station followed, actually meant.So I thought that he would not recognise my voice, so I rang the station and a lady came on and I simply just asked her what these Initials stood for and asked for their address. She went to look it up, I thought, but then he came on the phone. He said that his station had nothing to do with this place but instead it was another organisation altogether whose guidlines that they followed.So he proved himself to be a liar twice, and then he suddenly realised that I was the one he had written to, and choked on his words nearly and put the phone down.I should also add that the Democrat Herald had been another place that I had written to and they told me that there had been many complaints about the mission and cheap labour and conditions that these people were living in,to both themselves and the radio station.So I had no doubts whatsoever that there was something very wrong at this place.
And to confirm it even more, I had this feeling one evening that I had to phone the hospital in Albany, but I didn't know why or what I was going to say, but I did anyway. The receptionist answered and I gave Andrea's name and it was as if this woman was continuing my sentence and said,"Yes ma'am, she was brought in fifteen minutes ago, she is in the theater now." Well, I nearly had a coronary and asked her what she was brought in for. The woman said that she was having a C section. I was so shocked that I couldn't for the life of me think what a C section was and I said"But she is pregnant", and the woman said "YES ma'am, that is why she is having a C section. Shall I put you through?" So she did. The baby had just been born, George had just gone to get a cup of tea and Andrea was delighted with herself and telling me all about the birth.George came back into the room, came on the phone and I was saying all about being a proud father, and he said all the right things, and we said our goodbyes. It wasn't until Andrea had escaped from Matlands that I heard what had happened. He had entered the room and seen Andrea on the phone and thought that she had waited for him to leave the room to make a call out. Matlands do not or did not, back then, allow anybody to make calls out to anyone nor to answer the phone for incoming calls.That was just another way of stopping outside contact.Really of course it was me just having a gut feeling to call the hospital. But he had gone mental in the labour room in front of the hospital staff, all because he thought that she had disobeyed their rules and contacted me.You see, Matlands had poisoned her mind so badly convincing her that I was so evil, that no contact was allowed.And as for the big box of presents that I had sent, they had been got rid of. And I had made story books for the children so that hopefully they would remember bits in my stories that would let them know where I lived. They were made to tear these books up and flush them down the toilet.Nothing of mine was kept. And as for what happened to Andrea just weeks prior to the baby being born, is something that you will need to come back to this blog to read, and that will be tomorrow.But I can tell you now, you will find it hard to believe and this is only just the first of many incidents that happened, just on her alone.That is not counting all of the other so called spouses that had to escape, and some with children.You are going to have a job believing it all, and I have hardly scratched the surface on Matland's crimes.Talk to you tomorrow. God bless.
My husband moaned and groaned as always about the traffic and the streets blocked off. I had no control over that but I was happy that it seemed everyone in the city was going to see the president too. Nothing was gonna stop me from the joy I felt. A black man a competent black man was in town and after all that black people have been through look how far we had come.
Brit asked me how her dad could be so negative about everything that day. Everything he could fuss about he did, look at the traffic, this is dumb, why didn't u tell me the street was closed, why did u say US 33. Map quest was not to blame for the road blocks. I later found out this is a security measure to make sure everyone is going in and out the same way, no short cuts no hidden turns.
We had to walk 4 mi each way to get to the high school. There was nowhere to park close to the school. We walked from near the highway to the school on a main road. I didn't care if we had to walk 20 miles we were together, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Somali's, Asians, Muslims, Christians and everything in between. We hiked together. I paced myself so I wouldn't get tired to quickly. People passed me in a hurry to get to the event and wait. At that moment the motorcade drove RIGHT passed us. Three huge buses one with Barack inside went right past us. We cheered, and knew the president was that close to us. I became agitated that the lady behind us rolled her eyes and didn't wave or cheer. WHY ARE U HERE?? Don't u know this is history? What are u hot? Yes its 90 degrees but guess what it was hotter in those fields the slaves worked in, it was hotter in the quiet shacks were black women were raped while their husbands watched in horror, but maybe that doesn't matter much to you. Does it make sense that many people stood in hot picket lines to scream for the right to vote for you lazy tail. Hmm I went on my way.
As we entered the stadium it seemed as if everyone in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Ohio was here. WOW!! Republican Ohio full of Obama/Biden supporters. The energy in that stadium was high!!! I immediately forgot about my feet, my back, and the sweat. The secret service men smiled at the kids, which was a surprise.
Looking in the eyes of my children was all I needed that day. They were mesmerized. And my oldest daughter said, "Momma Obama is gonna win" Yes baby he is! We found a spot amongst a group of older white supporters (who says older whites don't know what is best for this country). They made us feel at home. We laughed and they hung on to all of the jokes I told. A lady wiped grass off my feet and I told her to watch out for those toes. It was like a family, a family of thousands.
The Dems began bringing out the senators, the mayor, and the governor. I thought to myself hmmm I just voted straight Dem. I know the officials in Indy better than I know these folks. I have lived here for 3 years and still don't call Ohio home. Well at least I know Mayor Coleman (another black man, look how far we have come) and Strickland.
Everyone was getting anxious. C'mon President Obama. A Whip came out and told us in one moment and then he stopped to mess with us and then…… They arrived like royalty, Biden and Obama our President and VP. We all went nuts; I yelled like never before, forget that I have to sing tonight time to get CRAZY!!!!! The kids stood up and cheered. He came right over to us and shook everyone behind the lines hands. I was in shock I just shook the hand of our next President!!We all looked at each other, we were so happy to share in this experience.
My husband's eyes lit up. All the groaning and moaning disappeared into a great shout. He was loudest and highest above all of our voices.
Biden spoke first. He revved up the crowd, telling us about "McCain" I call him McPAIN. He told us what he is planning, he explained that the so called new plan that Bush came up with to talk with Iran is the same idea Barack came up with years ago. Now all of the sudden Bush has a conscience and wants to do what's right. AFTER 8 YEARS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE!! Biden talked about how McCain and Bush are synonymous. He had us on our feet saying yes to Obama and no to McCain. He stated all of the issues and everyone was met with applause.
He took breath and said now the man u have been waiting for, your president, my president, Barack Obama. I went deaf, my hands hurt from clapping, and just like at the DNC we clapped for a long time. Mike held us up so we could get a good glance up close. Tre held Ana on his neck. I was speechless and just listened as the words I have heard so many times fell out of his mouth.
But it was different seeing him less than 100 yards from me. He brought up the issues again, healthcare, the economy, our future, seniors and social security. When he talked about McCain's idea about the middle class I was all ears. I have been studying this issue for a year now. We all know that soon there will only be 2 classes of people, the very rich and the very poor. Unless we change this by becoming financially empowered and giving the poor a helping hand, job training, help with college degrees, and making fathers responsible for their children so the state doesn't have to care for them.
He ended with my fave statement the one he made at the DNC "McCain says he wants to hunt down Bin Laden, but you can't find him in the cave he's hiding in". I yelled out, that's because he is looking for all that oil, not Bin Laden. All the folks around me nodded their heads. During the speech a lady passed out and PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA gave her his water just tossed it to the man who was helping her. We broke into another cheer.
It's a great feeling having a president who loves people, not just black people ALL PEOPLE! In the last election I was so worried, what will happen? Will they have enough social security to care for the baby boomers, my mom and dad and Uncle and Aunt? What is the meaning of this war, how long will it last and will my brother go back to Afghanistan? And what about the children?? Will they always be last on the list? When will every child have adequate healthcare, good schools, programs that benefit them? When will we protect them?
I have not been worried this year at all. In May when we voted I was confident. When Hilary though she had it in the bag, I laughed. I know that President Obama cares about us. He cares about the children first, just look at his eyes when he looks at Sasha and Malia. He cares about our seniors' just listen when he speaks of his grandmother, the same way we speak about ours. He cares about what we care about. And that is why as we took the long walk back to the car, we all knew that black, white, Asian, Nigerian, man, woman, boy, girl Barack will work for us. He is our next president.
We talked on the long car ride home. I waved at people I had never seen before. I felt a sense of community with these people. This is our generation and this is our man!!!
"YES WE CAN"
It was a packed day for the Obamas and the Bidens yesterday in Ohio, as the two families criss-crossed the state and made nothing short of four stops for a variety of events.
The climax of the day was no doubt the Rally in Dublin, at Dublin Coffman High School, where 19,000 people packed both sides of the football stadium, not to mention the sprawl of the sidelines, to hear Barack and Joe. The two Senators were introduced by Governor Ted Strickland, Senator Sherrod Brown, and Ohio hero and former Senator John Glenn. Pictures from the event, and the rest of the day, are posted below:
Even before Barack took the stage and shouted "O-H!" (to the roaring reply of "I-O"), the energy in the open air stadium was off the charts. Joe Biden aptly explained what's behind all the excitement in his introduction of Barack:
"I watched a guy tap into, just by his very being and his ideas, tap into the age-old American belief that many have forgotten. And that is, you don't have to accept a situation you cannot bear; you can change it."
The rally was preceded by a stop in tiny Marengo, in Morrow County, where Barack and Joe stopped at a sweet corn stand.
Before that, in Cleveland, the families attended the memorial service of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died on August 20th. Senator Clinton and President Clinton were also present, and though the service stretched to four hours, Barack stayed for the duration, and made remarks as well.
The duo kicked off the morning with some breakfast at the Yankee Kitchen Diner in Boardman, near Youngstown. The stop was caught on video, which you can check out here:
Today, Barack and Joe were in Lima and then Toledo, for a discussion on the economy at the Toledo-Lucas Library. More on those events coming soon...
JUST ANNOUNCED: As part of their "On the Road to Change" Bus Tour through this election's battleground states, to be launched right after the Convention, Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as Joe and Jill Biden, will be rolling through Ohio!
The first event has just been announced--the team will hit Dublin this Saturday, after the OSU game. Go to THIS LINK to RSVP, but the basics are below:
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are NOT REQUIRED but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. To RSVP, please visit http://oh.barackobama.com/dublinroad .
Public parking lots are available at the corner of Coffman Rd. and Emerald Pkwy, as well as the corner of Post Rd. and Emerald Pkwy.
Further details to be announced as they become available.
The Obama Bridge photo done last Sunday in Lavardin, France included a video with everyone singing,(to the tune of Sur le Pont d'Avignon)"sur le pont, Lavardin, on y chanter, on y chanter, sur le pont, Lavardin, on y chanter "YES WE CAN!"[Translation: On the bridge of Lavardin, we all sang: YES WE CAN"!
(Maybe they should have sung Yes We SPAN....;-)
Here's the YouTube link:http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=JZeIKBUq_NsNext bridges photo ops coming up this Saturday: Sydney, Berlin, Castres [France--my Gallic home town!]
This project is a way for Americans overseas and other nationalities to show how much they support Obama.
The bridge is an ideal symbol for his candidacy.
Today my cardboard cutout life-size Obama arrived by UPS from Oregon. He'll be on in our photoshoot on Saturday in Castres (home of a great rugby team, BTW).
Below a report from the Irish Times on the recent Dublin bridge photo.We have 44 bridges on our list in 22 nations and growing....
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bridgesforobama/pool/. Deadline for the shoots: May 25th!YES, WE CAN! YES, WE SPAN!!!P.S. he lost in PA by 9.2% --and don't let the spinmeisters tell you differently!Irish Times4.25.08 Obama followers gather at Ha'penny BridgeHARRY McGEE Liv Gibbons,...has been a superdelegate since 2004, when she became a member of the Democratic National Committee. She is one of only eight superdelegates resident outside the US and one of four in Europe.Yesterday Ms Gibbons was one of about 50 people wearing "Obama 08" T-shirts and stickers at the Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin. The event was part of the "Bridges for Obama" project, which involves Barack Obama's supporters congregating at famous bridges around the world. The message is that he is capable of spanning divides in the US and in the wider world. The resulting images - taken from bridges such as the Rialto in Venice and the Pont Neuf in Paris - will be used to make a short film that will form part of his campaign. ..."Obama has an incredible mind and intelligence. He has it all. He is exactly what America needs." http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2008/0428/1209158498919.html#
What can you expect at a Central Ohio Happy Hour for Obama?
FUN. This optional icebreaker gives each person a paper with the following traits (Thanks, Brian Fulcher, for putting this together. This will change for each event.) The goal is to get signatures from people with each trait. The person with the most signatures wins something...anyone want to donate a prize? This is fun for everyone and you will get to know a lot of people that are dedicated to our Ohio effort.
find someone who...1. voted for John Kerry in 20042. voted for George W. Bush in 2004 or 2000 (maybe?)3. has campaigned in Iowa or New Hampshire4. can name the last 5 presidents and the years they held office5. was a Dean supporter in 20046. has been to camp obama7. has donated to the Barack Obama campaign8. can name the five freedoms in the first amendment of the bill of rights9. has seen Sicko10. has read an Al Franken book11. knows Mitt Romney's religion12. knows on which tv program Rudy Giuliani appeared in drag13. has dated a Republican14. was against the Iraq war from the start15. is from Chicago16. has ever voted for Dennis Kucinich17. knows which state Mike Gravel is from18. has ever been to Hawaii19. can name 5 supreme court justices20. knows how much John Edwards paid for a haircut
Tables. You can browse tables to see what we are up to, meet committee chairs and talk about our latest initatives. Want to take a road trip to Iowa? Are you ready to do a tabling event? Are you interested in ethnic outreach? Find out about all that and more. You can also buy bumper stickers, buttons and signs.
Food. Some people like to have dinner. Servers will be circulating to take your order from their regular menu. We'll have a really yummy Obama cake...chocolate.
Meeting. Do you just want to hear the basics? Come to the meeting at 7 PM. Find out what our plans are for the future. And...we expect to know more about Senator Obama's expected visit to Ohio by then and will fill you in on that as well.
The next Happy Hour is Wed Sept 26th at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe (1421 Olentangy River Rd). To sign up: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vddq
Come on out...we'd love to meet you...and we can use all the help we can get. Let's win Ohio for Senator Obama!
