www.padresunidosca.ning.com is an internet social network connecting parents in California to each other via multi-media sources which include internet radio, videos, blogs, events posting, email blast and twitter messages. The future of California, our children are in need of parent advocates who will expose the school-prison pipeline. Our Latino students are not receiving the same protections under federal law 14th Amendment Equal Protection Under the Law. Our parents are advocating for educational opportunity and equity. We want equity in achievement as evidenced by increased graduation rates and admission to post secondary programs or universities. We demand an end to the abuse of power by some school officials who racially profile our children. Our children must have full participation in the democratic prinicples of our nation-life-liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We demand that our state elected representatives in California abide by the California State Constitution and fully fund and provide free public school access to all. We insist that a shift in the educational school system move into the 21st Century Schools focus by incorporating technology into curriculum and strategies that fully engage the students to be problem solvers for the ever changing world we live in. The ability of parents to advocate for our California students of Native American, Mestizo- Latino and African American heritage will promote unity and equity for the students who currently have the largest disparity in educational options and opportunity. We are forming coalitions of parents and elders in the state to promote California Peace Movement. www.heartsandhandselders.com We have access to internet radio to promote music and commentary to moms. dads and grads who endorse our goals at www.qvoradio.com
This social-political alliance is open to parents of California. The majority of the media posting will be in English. Join us to create safer communities and better learning communities for our children the students of California. Peace-Paz-Shalom-Umoja
I agree with the Pres! By some strange coincidence, I wrote a song called "Great Opportunity" a few weeks ago, and now President Obama has echoed my sentiments! Here is a link to a video of me performing the song for the first time ever on stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf_KCBhUnWw
It was part of a cabaret show I did. I wanted to write something akin to the great Depression-era songs like Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella, or Keep Your Sunny Side Up, but with more of a social responsibility theme. I hope you like it!
I can remember growing up in the 50’s, when our communities were more self-sufficient. To me, Affirmative Action divided and destroyed what semblance of togetherness we had as a people. Affirmative Action was designed to Window Dress, creating a crabs in the barrel black society.
Affirmative Action is kinda like the Pyramid schemes. Most of those educated and skilled, who understood the scam, took advantage of the opportunity. They were the ones, who were serving as role models, that began moving on up and out of the neighborhoods.
When Malcolm talked of self-sufficiency, he was accused of separatism. The reality is that within the 50 states we are many nations in one nation. During this presidential campaign it was made clear that family and social values were paramount in connecting with candidates. We African Americans are a family and it is time that we begin working toward our own families’ interests. “Charity begins at home”, is not separatism nor selfishness. The neglecting of ourselves and relying on others to provide for us, nurtures that negative perception other families have of our community.
Until we as a people take ownership of our own financial, political and social destiny we will be seen as not deserving of others’ respect. Today it is not a whole lot about fighting for our rights: it is more of how we should exercise our rights. For one, making sure that we are being treated fairly with the allocation of government contracts, loans, grants, scholarships, etc. and with the contracting of capital improvement projects. With a unified voice some of these infrastructure projects will be developed and buil[t]d by us in our communities.
This new world market, which can only expand, provides opportunities that abound; we have family and in-laws around the world, and when the companies and industries begin finding that potential clients and customers are looking to patronize businesses that are more reflective of their family members, those qualified will be in high demand and will be represented from the top executives to the receptionist.
Those of us who are more fortunate should become entrepreneurs in revitalizing our communities. We as a family need to get out of debt and pool our resources, and make our children, our elders and the legacy of our Ancestors, Proud!
Ivan Butcher II
Unemployment: Regardless of the tax breaks, housing issues and all other ideas in any proposal. If you don’t stop the unemployment and put people back to work so they actually have money to benefit from the tax breaks and housing benefits proposed and so they can start purchasing items, getting loans for homes and vehicles, investing in stock and or otherwise spending money, then regardless of the amount of the package, you will not have stimulated spending or our economy. JOBS are the foundation of stimulation.
JOBS: It is vitally important that the jobs created are created throughout the country with various skills. I assure you that those that have lost their jobs and will lose their jobs are from various locations and with various skills. So specific projects, proposed in any bill, will not suffice since they are limited in both location and skill.
How do you create Jobs?: I continuously hear everyone say, including the President, that our small businesses are the backbone of job creation and our economy. Why is that? It’s because they are all across the country and provide a variety of jobs and they borrow and spend?How do you stimulate small business?: Normally small businesses which are existing or that which wish to start up seek private funding through investement, loans and federal assistance. However due to the current economic EMERGENCY, the private sector options are no longer available. This leaves only Federal funding for small businesses. Our Federal agencies hold many applications from small businesses.: Various agencies have applications from small businesses that want to do work, some of which the government is requesting to be done. Some of which they have come up with on their own, which are called “unsolicited proposals” but which could still be of value. Some of this work is manual labor, some of this work is research and a lot of it is a variety of other opportunities.Some funds could already be available!: Many of these Federal agencies most likely already have some funds set aside for Grant funding or other funding. These agencies could pull all small business applications and Grand Total the amounts needed to fund all of them and the stimulus package could authorize additional funds, which may or may not be needed. The stimulus package and/or a Directive by the President should order these agencies to "clear their coffers". This may seem like an extreme measure, but these are extreme times.Some may argue that this will diminish private investment opportunities.: Contrarily by providing these small businesses with funding to start up or perform work, they can begin to invest and seek investors with the capital which is provided to them and/or with their success as they grow .Perhaps some of the funds being directed to the TARP packages could be redirected here.: Since the issue for our financial institutions is not neccesarily having the money available, but rather a way to move the money, our small businesses can provide for two means of helping with this issue. First they can provide the monies through creating bank accounts and/or making deposits into existing accounts. They will conduct daily business that will begin to rotate these funds and stimulate the economy.The definition of small business has already been defined.: The Government has already defined the term "small business", so there is no need to redefine it or figure out what articulates into a small business.These small businesses have already gone through the Grants.gov verification processes!: Before applying for Grants, SBIR’s and/or STTR’s each business must go through a verification process.There are already established monitoring systems set up.: Government auditing, reports and etc..are already established by each agency.Grants.gov already has bank routing numbers for each business.: As a requirement during the verification process, Grants.gov requires that a bank account already be established. The funds could be dispersed quickly and put to use quickly. Unfortunately the amounts they offer, $100,000 to $150,00 in most case are not sufficient to actually start a business. A business beginning with nothing has to have the funds needed to buy supplies, lease property, purchase equipment etc… and cover salaries for at least a year to allow the business to grow and build a customer base which can sustain them. Another source for small business interest is the Small Business Administration.It is important to provide enough funding: to allow for these businesses to start and to have enough to sustain them for at least a year, two years would be best, so that they can build a customer base to sustain themselves. Not all will succeed and it could be required that unused funds be returned if they fail. But I believe there will be many more that will succeed and some may even provide us all with some unexpected benefits.So have theses agencies, a list of Granting Agencies is on Grants.gov, pull all small business applications and provide funding. Open up more opportunities for small businesses. These small businesses are ready, willing and able to begin work and put others to work, so let them. What is the real benefit of small business?They employ, they buy, they bank, they borrow, they invest, they provide investment opportunities and they spend all across the country.: This stabilizes current businesses and allows them to hire more employees, to buy, to borrow and to spend. They all pay taxes to their states, they pay for permits from municipalities, counties and/or other forms of government, creating State and local revenue. They are perpetual, in that they continue, whereas a stimulus check to Americans may help, it does not provide a continuing of spending and rotation of capital as small businesses would while conducting daily business. They do not require any trade agreement specifications or a “Buy American” provision.Their employees buy, bank, invest, borrow and spend all across the country.: They pay State and local taxes which creates revenue for them.
How do you create Jobs?: I continuously hear everyone say, including the President, that our small businesses are the backbone of job creation and our economy. Why is that? It’s because they are all across the country and provide a variety of jobs and they borrow and spend?
How do you stimulate small business?: Normally small businesses which are existing or that which wish to start up seek private funding through investement, loans and federal assistance. However due to the current economic EMERGENCY, the private sector options are no longer available. This leaves only Federal funding for small businesses.
Our Federal agencies hold many applications from small businesses.: Various agencies have applications from small businesses that want to do work, some of which the government is requesting to be done. Some of which they have come up with on their own, which are called “unsolicited proposals” but which could still be of value. Some of this work is manual labor, some of this work is research and a lot of it is a variety of other opportunities.
Some funds could already be available!: Many of these Federal agencies most likely already have some funds set aside for Grant funding or other funding. These agencies could pull all small business applications and Grand Total the amounts needed to fund all of them and the stimulus package could authorize additional funds, which may or may not be needed. The stimulus package and/or a Directive by the President should order these agencies to "clear their coffers". This may seem like an extreme measure, but these are extreme times.
Some may argue that this will diminish private investment opportunities.: Contrarily by providing these small businesses with funding to start up or perform work, they can begin to invest and seek investors with the capital which is provided to them and/or with their success as they grow .
Perhaps some of the funds being directed to the TARP packages could be redirected here.: Since the issue for our financial institutions is not neccesarily having the money available, but rather a way to move the money, our small businesses can provide for two means of helping with this issue. First they can provide the monies through creating bank accounts and/or making deposits into existing accounts. They will conduct daily business that will begin to rotate these funds and stimulate the economy.
The definition of small business has already been defined.: The Government has already defined the term "small business", so there is no need to redefine it or figure out what articulates into a small business.
These small businesses have already gone through the Grants.gov verification processes!: Before applying for Grants, SBIR’s and/or STTR’s each business must go through a verification process.
There are already established monitoring systems set up.: Government auditing, reports and etc..are already established by each agency.
Grants.gov already has bank routing numbers for each business.: As a requirement during the verification process, Grants.gov requires that a bank account already be established. The funds could be dispersed quickly and put to use quickly.
Unfortunately the amounts they offer, $100,000 to $150,00 in most case are not sufficient to actually start a business. A business beginning with nothing has to have the funds needed to buy supplies, lease property, purchase equipment etc… and cover salaries for at least a year to allow the business to grow and build a customer base which can sustain them. Another source for small business interest is the Small Business Administration.
It is important to provide enough funding: to allow for these businesses to start and to have enough to sustain them for at least a year, two years would be best, so that they can build a customer base to sustain themselves. Not all will succeed and it could be required that unused funds be returned if they fail. But I believe there will be many more that will succeed and some may even provide us all with some unexpected benefits.
So have theses agencies, a list of Granting Agencies is on Grants.gov, pull all small business applications and provide funding. Open up more opportunities for small businesses. These small businesses are ready, willing and able to begin work and put others to work, so let them.
What is the real benefit of small business?
They employ, they buy, they bank, they borrow, they invest, they provide investment opportunities and they spend all across the country.: This stabilizes current businesses and allows them to hire more employees, to buy, to borrow and to spend. They all pay taxes to their states, they pay for permits from municipalities, counties and/or other forms of government, creating State and local revenue. They are perpetual, in that they continue, whereas a stimulus check to Americans may help, it does not provide a continuing of spending and rotation of capital as small businesses would while conducting daily business. They do not require any trade agreement specifications or a “Buy American” provision.Their employees buy, bank, invest, borrow and spend all across the country.: They pay State and local taxes which creates revenue for them.
They employ, they buy, they bank, they borrow, they invest, they provide investment opportunities and they spend all across the country.: This stabilizes current businesses and allows them to hire more employees, to buy, to borrow and to spend. They all pay taxes to their states, they pay for permits from municipalities, counties and/or other forms of government, creating State and local revenue. They are perpetual, in that they continue, whereas a stimulus check to Americans may help, it does not provide a continuing of spending and rotation of capital as small businesses would while conducting daily business. They do not require any trade agreement specifications or a “Buy American” provision.
Their employees buy, bank, invest, borrow and spend all across the country.: They pay State and local taxes which creates revenue for them.
In the end, the only real stimulation you could provide which can do what needs done, is through creating jobs all across the country with a variety of work skills. To meet that objective effectively you have to build up your small business base.
That way when all the other bills such as TARP and others can actually do some good.
Americans have a way of pulling themselves up. Give us a chance to show you how well we can do that and help us, help you, help us all.
Small Businesses, existing and new, could play a big part of stimulating our economy and progression to recovery. It should be included in conjunction with other ideas which are currently a part of the plan.
Aberdeen * Alder * Allyn * Amanda Park * American River * Anacortes * Anatone * Arlington * Ashford * Auburn * Bangor * Baring * Battle Ground * Belfair * Bellevue * Bellingham * Benton City * Beverly * Bingen * Birch Bay * Blaine * Bonney Lake * Bothell * Bow * Bremerton * Bridgeport * Brinnon * Brownsville * Burley * Burlington * Camas * Carson * Cashmere * Castle Rock * Cathlamet * Central Park * Centralia * Chehalis * Chelan * Chewelah * Chico * Chinook * Clarkston * Cle Elum * Clinton * Coles Corner * Colfax * College Place * Colville * Concrete * Conconully * Cosmopolis * Cougar * Coulee City * Coulee Dam * Coupeville * Crystal Mountain * Darrington * Davenport * Dayton * Deer Park * Deming * Des Moines * Diablo * Discovery Bay * Dishman * Eatonville * Easton * Edmonds * Elbe * Eldon * Ellensburg * Elma * Enumclaw * Ephrata * Evans * Everett * Ferndale * Forks * Fortson * Fox Island * Freeland * Garfield * George * Gig Harbor * Glacier * Glenoma * Glenwood * Gold Bar * Goldendale * Gorst * Graham * Grand Coulee * Granger * Granite Falls * Grandview * Grapeview * Greenbank * Greenwater * Hansville * Hazel * Holly * Hoodsport * Hoquiam * Humptulips * Husum * Ilwaco * Index * Indianola * Ione * Issaquah * Kalaloch * Kalama * Kelso * Kennewick * Kent * Kettle Falls * Key Center * Keyport * Kingston * Kirkland * Kittitas * Klickitat * La Conner * La Push * Lake Stevens * Langley * Leavenworth * Liberty Lake * Lilliwaup * Little Boston * Long Beach * Longview * Lummi Island * Lynden * Lynnwood * Manchester * Manson * Marblemount * Marysville * Mattawa * McCleary * Mill Creek * Moxee City * Mazama * Metaline Falls * Methow * Mineral * Moclips * Monroe * Montesano * Morton * Moses Lake * Mossyrock * Mount Baker * Mount Vernon * Naches
America has always been known as a " land of opportunity ". Currently proven by President Elect Barack Obama who rose from a humble background to the highest office in his country. What he represents is a country which is truly a land of possibilities. It represents what a man or woman can achieve if he puts his heart and soul into it. What this man represents is an equal opportunity for all. In regardless of background or race " Yes You Can " his favorite quote. Americans have shown that they can unite as one , be they black , white , Hispanics or Jews , young or old to elect an African-American to the highest office in their country , is really admirable.
The world rejoice because they feel America is long overdue for a change. All the years wasted on wars and now their economy is in deep crisis . Eight long years been unpopular in many countries and targeted by terrorist. President Elect Barack Obama is going to change all that and bring more stability back and fixed all those problems and issues , is a tough job but with his positive mindset , he knows he can and will deliver what he promise to the American people. He has already inspire people all over the world with his vision and he is going to unite his country and also established a good connection with the rest of the world in a new light.
New leader that bring new light and hope to the American people and unite the world towards peace. The Obama effect was contagious from his homeland to Japan to Africa to Asia and some parts of Europe , people dance with joy and sing. His popularity can be felt all over the world. He stand on the stage as someone that project a better future for America and its people and redeem America back to its past glory fill with endless opportunity and possibilities to all people.
Cutting all earmarks (which would include cutting funds for many worthwhile local projects) would not make up for renewing the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy and would result in more debt for future taxpayers. So what else would McCain cut? He voted against safety equipment for the troops and against health care and education benefits for veterans. He voted against most initiatives for development of alternative sources of energy. It does not appear he will put money into rebuilding the nation's infrastructure.
By allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, Obama is returning the country to the situation under the Clinton administration, when millions of jobs were created, new industries emerged, and there was prosperity for the rich, poor, and middle class. As Obama points out, we have done the experiment and it is clear: the trickle-down tax policies of the last 8 years did not produce new jobs, and problems such as crumbling bridges, climate change, health care costs, and access to energy were ignored. Obama recognizes that government spending can be used to solve problems and stimulate growth, providing opportunity to all Americans.
Obama has innovative curiosity that our country needs to compete in the world!
We cannot afford to be held back by old disproven suppositions, we need Obama because he like you and I. believes in he future of this country and that our country must be involved the top technology and science challenges, that we must have a open internet and access to all people in our country, and that education equals more and better job opportunities. No one can give us jobs, or educations, but the right president helps make it available to us, has the same interest in the next developments in technology and innovation, and has a mind burst with the creativity and belief that we can make things happens, that the best of us is when all of us together, are united in the belief that none of us can afford to let our friends and neighbors not make it, that we must take ownership of our future, and this is something we can do when we have the right partners sitting in the Whitehouse an congress! Just one feature is that after Obama is elected he will greatly increase transparency in government as well as simplifying the obtuse government websites! there is no reason why the government should have sites that are full of tremendous information, but which is exhaustingly impossible to navigate for lack of intuitive design and poor search capabilities. our future, our technology, our education and jobs, these are not simply things that one can toss some money at and have someone else "fix it" these things, like most things in our life, work real wonders, captivate us and surprise us and offer up the true bounty when there is something put into from people with great interest, with a thirst for knowledge and in the case of Obama a person who helps inspires us that we can risk dreaming and hoping and we can risk trying, that we can put all of ourselves into something, because we know that we have a common ground, a common interest that drives us to allowing our best energies to spark, that encourages us that we can make the world a better place and make the country something that reflects more what we would hope it can be, of the best of all of us.
No one person can do it alone, and Obama has made it this far by all the people that have helped him, all the supporters, and volunteers and people in his family and life. Obama is doing his part and we are doing ours as well. Now when he is elected there will be another part for all of us. And that is we must not stop dreaming and doing, and being the great creative people that we are. We all want change, and we all want a better country that reflects our best dreams and aspirations. Obama and the congress will do their part and we must do ours. Part of it is to continue to support them as well as s to tell them what we are concerned about it is important to be organized, and to keep in mind how great it feels to be giving, in so many ways to this campaign. How good that feels, to do something for the country and other people. This is something we will need to continue to do to make this country as great as it can be. There is no stopping us! We have seen so much creativity in his campaign, and we need to see it after Obama is in the Whitehouse. People will be given new opportunities to do this during the Obama administration. This election is about us, and we have to take some ownership after Obama is in Office. He can’t do it all. We can not sit back and wait for everything to arrive on our doorstep!
One of the problems in the past has been the slowness of government! We need people that can think, work, and interconnect at today’s speeds, like the speeds of business and the speeds of the internet age. This is the moment we will remember for a long time, this is the moment that we must have, for us to have the future that we all envisioned, but seemed trapped in the past 8 years in some sort of horrible fugue, that time is over! This is now the time that we the people can have the best shot at remaking life and this government with our input, our interests, and our creativity! but for now we MUST GET OUT THE VOTE BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!!
I don’t see where the Republicans get off accusing Obama’s policies as socialism (connoting it in a bad sense). As near as I can tell, America does not yet achieve the goal of providing its citizens equality of opportunity. Surely, a major factor of one’s opportunity is an individual’s economic means, i.e. that they can afford food, shelter, clothing. In addition, a gov’t that spends progressive taxation’s revenues on better public primary education, increased access to healthcare, as well as improving our nations, and particularly our inner cities’ and outer rural crumbling or absent basic infrastructure is making long strides in improving our nation’s promise of equal opportunty.
We aren’t talking about creating equality of economic status, but rather a tax policy that helps guarantee equal access to the engines of personal advancement - that’s what our government should be looking to enable.
We all seek respect daily, but how does it come about? Is it automatic or does it have to be earned?
We tend to respect people for what they do, their birthright and the role they play. If we did not acknowledge and validate them as the source of that status, action or expertise, we would not show them respect. Respect is automatic during the initial first impressions, but it is never static and has to be earned afterwards to be maintained. It is difficult to respect someone even when they are being negative and hostile, so we tend to wait for people to 'earn' that respect, though it is awarded without question at the beginning. In effect, a kind of respect with probation.
Respect does not come easily either. The very act of respecting someone means putting them either on par, or above, ourselves, in estimation. We tend to respect people only when we personally recognise them as the source of something wholesome, unique, beneficial or empowering: for example, a particular knowledge, action, expertise or leadership, not just through their work or social status. We have to feel we can trust them. That is why some people who are simply 'in charge', and have failed professional expectations, are not really respected.
Where there is opportunity our hard work has a purpose. Our dreams have a chance -- to become real and create more opportunity. This is how America works when we stand and strive together to reach our dreams -- not against each other or against the world.
Few find opportunity in a culture of fear or greed, where a life's labor is swallowed up and our dreams whither.
Let's stand and work together again to live our many American dreams.
Graduation from college. An Associates Degree in Web Design and Web Development. I've learned a basic understanding of:
This story just in from the International Herald Tribune
Did anyone think it would happen? Just the other day, I was wondering, "Have we viewers forgotten about Pakistan? Take a look.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who has little experience in governing, was elected president of Pakistan on Saturday by a wide margin.
Zardari, 53, who spent 11 years in jail on corruption charges that remain unproved, succeeds Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month under the threat of impeachment. He is expected to be sworn in on Monday or Tuesday, Pakistani officials said.
Zardari has the tacit approval of the United States, which views him as an ally in the campaign against terrorism. He has promised a tougher fight against members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda ensconced in the nation's tribal areas, from where they mount assaults on American and NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan.
His election coincides with a stepped-up effort by the United States to root out the Taliban and Al Qaeda from the tribal areas. American commandos attacked militants in a village near the Afghan border on Wednesday, in what American military officials said could be a continuing campaign in Pakistan's tribal region.
Zardari becomes president amid increasing evidence that the Pakistani government and military face almost overwhelming difficulties in battling the militants, who now virtually control the tribal areas. In a reminder of that challenge, a suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and wounded 80 at a police checkpoint near Peshawar on Saturday.
Official results from voting in the two houses of Parliament and four provincial assemblies showed that Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, won 481 of 702 votes. His closest competitor, Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, won 153 votes, and a third candidate, Mushahid Hussain Syed, received 44 votes.
After Bhutto was killed in December, Zardari became the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which was founded by Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and is considered to be almost a cult of the Bhutto dynasty.
Zardari led the party to victory in a parliamentary election on Feb. 18 and formed a coalition with Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N.
That coalition collapsed last month amid recriminations over the reinstatement of some 60 judges fired by President Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule in November.
In a sign of conciliation, Sharif telephoned Zardari on Saturday to congratulate him on his victory and pledge his support, according to television accounts of the call.
The White House issued a supportive statement on Saturday. "The United States congratulates Asif Ali Zardari on his election as president," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman. "President Bush looks forward to working with him, Prime Minister Gilani and the government of Pakistan on issues important to both countries, including counterterrorism and making sure Pakistan has a stable and secure economy."
Zardari's aides have promised that as president, Zardari would agree to the elimination of a constitutional provision that allows the president to dismiss Parliament, long considered a weak institution.
The minister of information, Sherry Rehman, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said the relationship between the presidency and Parliament would be better balanced under Zardari, resulting in a "new era of democratic stability." Rehman added, "Today, every Pakistani can raise his head with pride."
After the vote, Zardari spoke briefly outside the prime minister's residence. Flanked by his two teenage daughters, Bakhtawar and Asifa, Zardari said he would uphold the democratic philosophy of Bhutto.
"Parliament will be sovereign," he said. "This president shall be subservient to the Parliament."
But there was considerable skepticism among politicians and in the news media that Zardari would agree to a diminution of power. An editorial on Saturday in the daily newspaper Dawn said it hoped that "his commitment to make himself a titular head of state will not waver."
Most Pakistanis looked on the presidential vote with considerable indifference, a sharp contrast to the excitement during the campaign leading to parliamentary elections.
In the Aabpara market in Islamabad, some storekeepers viewed Zardari's victory as a foregone conclusion.
Several said it was good for Pakistan to have a president and a prime minister from the same party, reflecting the official line of the Pakistan Peoples Party. "He can be a good president because the whole party is behind him," said Malik Zahoor, 50.
But some vendors said the corruption charges against Zardari made him unsuitable for the presidency.
"He's a certified thief," said Akhlaq Abbasi, 60, the owner of a fabric and tailoring shop.
Copyright © 2008 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
-- Frederick II (the Great)
It is increasingly clear: desperation, which has always been part of human experience in some form, is becoming the pervasive mood of our time. During the Cold War/Korean War/Vietnam War era, anxiety was prevalent. The Seventies brought frustration. The Eighties and Nineties were about distraction. Now desperation has taken center stage. Desperation is the driving force on Wall Street and in the inner city. It shapes our foreign policy, as well as our domestic policy. From the board of General Motors to the single mother in abject poverty, financial decisions are made in the context of desperation.
Despair is the sense that everything is going badly and there is no hope. Desperation is a state of despair that results in reckless or extreme behavior. A few months ago, when Senator Obama was talking (off the record, if there is such a thing anymore) about bitterness. Behind that bitterness that some people are expressing is the desperation that most of us are experiencing. Once you distinguish the desperation, you can see it occuring everywhere.
We are holding on to our attachments to value, our pictures of how it should be, our preferred "lifestyles." We are encouraged to hold on. The President recommends shopping more. In a time of climate change and crunchy credit, no one is suggesting that we let go of unnecessary excesses. We want to hold on to our big resource-destroying vehicles and two-hour commutes, iPods and cellphones, and being so busy we cannot find the time to cook healthy, fresh food for our families. We want to hold on to our self-styled "greatest nation in the world." We want to hold on to our bombs, our military and our international force projections.
Paradoxically, it is the holding on that produces the desperation. It is possible to lift ourselves out of despair and end our mood of desperation. The World-as-it-is has given us the profound opportunity to begin giving up our romantic notions, our attachments, our pictures of how it should be (phisbe). It is up to us to fulfill the promise of the American experiment, rather than to perpetuate its distortion.
I got the email today, Message from Barack: Listening to America, and he's opening up the party platform.
Interesting...
If you've got issues that feel the country isn't being addressed, no matter how "crazy" people perceive them, this might be an interesting opportunity.
Well, it should be about uniting the country anyway...
The platform may be an opportunity to address grievances and show some of the issues that the MSM aren't showing us... (See this Florida ruling concerning a reporter who wanted to report a story: FL Second District Court of Appeal, Case No. 2D01-529. I don't think people watching the MSM are getting the whole story about issues these days.)
Well, I may be reaching here, but the platform idea is a clever idea by Obama.
Lata!
EMK
I mean- one day these guys and gals are trying to convince America that Barack Obama is an extremist Muslim, and the next day the same people are trying to pressure Barack to cancel his membership at his Christian Church!
Anybody remember the movie 'Sybil'?
http://www.truthout.org/article/republican-campaign-against-likely-democratic-voters-begins
