❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
NO REST FOR RAFA ........................................................
........................................................ Young boy delighted to unexpectedly spot Rafael Nadal coming out of the supermarket, while Rafa was on vacation September 2008
One of my favorite pictures of Rafa ........................................................ ........................................................
and another ........................................................
........................................................ ........................................................ ........................................................ Sorry it's too big, but I don't have the heart to cut it down. ........................................................ ........................................................ Well, except for this ........................................................
Pictures after Feliciano Lopez won over Sam Querrey in dead match Davis Cup 2008 ~ Madrid Above and five pictures below photo credits are Getty and unknown
Below more pictures after Feliciano Lopez' win of the dead match over Sam Querrey Davis Cup Madrid 2008
Photo credits of seven pictures below: Getty
Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the Davis Cup semi-final 2008 Photo credit: unknown
Rafael Nadal watching the doubles match of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the Davis Cup semi-final 2008 Photo credits of the above 3 photos: DPPI Antone Couvercelle
............................................................. The pictures in this slideshow are credited to Mary - from The Forum at www.rafaelnadal.com They are of the Davis Cup in Madrid 2008
McCain and Palin or Obama and Biden ....................................................
.................................................... THE CHOICE promotional ad Link to online viewing when it comes available: Frontline
Text from PBS website:
IN A HISTORIC ELECTION YEAR, FRONTLINE PRESENTS THE STORY OF TWO UNLIKELY PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS AND WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT AMERICA
FRONTLINE Presents The Choice 2008 Tuesday, October 14, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS
Encore broadcasts: Sunday, October 26, and Monday, November 3, 2008
Download free from iTunes beginning October 15, through the end of November.
It has been called one of the most historic presidential elections in our nation’s history--Barack Obama versus John McCain. It is a race that pits the iconoclast against the newcomer, the heroic prisoner of war against the first African American nominated by a major party. FRONTLINE's critically acclaimed series The Choice returns this election season to examine the rich personal and political biographies of these two men in The Choice 2008, airing Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings).
The Choice 2008, part of "PBS Vote 2008" election coverage, draws on in-depth interviews with the advisers, family and friends closest to these unlikely candidates, as well as with seasoned observers of American politics, who together tell the definitive story of these men and their ascent to their party's nominations.
When FRONTLINE first aired a profile of presidential candidates during the 1988 election, The Choice redefined political journalism on television. Now, in an unprecedented election year, veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush's War, Cheney's Law) goes behind the headlines to tell a deeper political story about the candidates, the decisions they made, and why their nominations may indicate a historic change in American politics.
The story begins at the Democratic Convention in 2004 when Barack Obama, a little-known candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, stepped forward to tell his personal story and to call for a move beyond partisan politics.
"All around were people with tears in their eyes," Obama's chief political adviser David Axelrod tells FRONTLINE. "And I realized at that moment that his life would never be the same."
Also that summer, the future Republican nominee John McCain, a self-described maverick and sometime adversary of the Bush administration, took the stage at his party's convention to defend the president's national security policy. In an effort to win the support of his party, the longtime senator from Arizona had decided to try to walk a fine line--a line he had had trouble walking all his life--between being an unconventional outsider and a team player.
"I think McCain's goal was to make himself more acceptable to the party base without completely surrendering his outsider independent persona, and that was a very complex balancing act," says Mark McKinnon, a member of McCain's inner circle and former media adviser to President Bush.
As McCain the maverick was trying to make peace with his party, Obama the newcomer was discovering the afterglow from his speech was leading party elders to suggest the freshman senator consider a future run for the White House. Within two years of his arrival in the Senate, a window of opportunity seemed open if he was willing to take the chance.
"I told him he should do it," former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle tells FRONTLINE. "The longer he's in Washington, the more history he has, and the more history he has, the more he's going to be explaining his votes and his actions and his statements and his positions that undermine his message"--a message that was all about breaking with the past.
FRONTLINE follows the two candidates from deep inside their campaigns as they run the gauntlet of the 2008 primary.
"This primary, more than any in recent memory, severely tested the candidates," says producer/director Kirk. "Watching how Obama and McCain won reveals much about the men, their ideas, the kind of organizations they have built, and the way they face adversity."
In the summer of 2007, only months after McCain had officially launched his campaign, he was declared a "dead man walking" by the media and party leaders.
"McCain was stuck in this political purgatory where the people that liked the maverick, the independent, didn't trust him anymore, and the establishment conservatives still wouldn't embrace him," says political observer Charlie Cook.
But McCain persevered, firing much of his staff, scaling back the campaign, and focusing almost entirely on New Hampshire. FRONTLINE tells the dramatic story of this turnaround, with insiders involved every step of the way, which friends say was reminiscent of his determination during his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
At the same time, an Obama candidacy was still seen as a curiosity by the Washington punditry. He was a newcomer to national politics and facing the formidable political team of Hillary and Bill Clinton, but Obama and his advisers sensed an opening.
"The Obama campaign felt that Clinton was vulnerable if they would make the race about something different than the old rules," journalist Mark Halperin tells FRONTLINE.
One key to that strategy, Obama told his advisers, was to avoid being pigeonholed as an "African American politician." But as the contest between Obama and Clinton heated up, comments by former President Clinton and the release of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright tapes brought the issue of race, always lurking, to the forefront of the primary campaign.
"In the long run," observes House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the highest ranking African American in Congress, "it allowed Barack Obama to confront the one thing he was trying to avoid, and that's the whole question of race, because sooner or later, he would have to confront it."
With the race narrowed to two men--one whose life was focused by his military service and his years as a POW in Hanoi, the other a black child raised by his white family who found identity in grassroots organizing and politics in the African American community of Chicago--America is truly at a crossroads: historic lows in the public's confidence in our country's future; a battered incumbent overseeing an unpopular war in Iraq; a faltering economy as gasoline prices soar.
"This is a moment where people are both terrified and also hopeful," says Kirk. "They have a choice between two extraordinary candidacies, two men who are trying to embody change in a time where many Americans seem to believe partisan dysfunction has curtailed the ability of our political parties to lead."
As journalist Matt Bai concludes, "Both of them in what they convey to voters--one in a long career spanning decades, the other in a lightning flash of a career spanning what seems like minutes--[is] a sense of breaking with the status quo, a sense of change, a sense that things need to be done differently than they've been done before. And the question I think a lot of voters will have to ask themselves is, who's actually going to deliver?"
The Choice 2008 is a FRONTLINE co-production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The writer, producer and director is Michael Kirk. The producer and reporter is Jim Gilmore. The co-producer and co-writer is Paul Stekler. FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation. Additional funding for The Choice 2008 is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS Program Challenge Fund. FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and described for people who are blind or visually impaired by the Media Access Group at WGBH. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is David Fanning.
PBS goes behind the headlines throughout the summer and fall with the "PBS Vote 2008" election lineup, offering Americans a unique opportunity to explore the presidential election. PBS' trusted news brands and personalities bring viewers in-depth information and insight into the issues and candidates. PBS' election coverage will be led by The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill & National Journal, NOW on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal and Tavis Smiley, and enhanced by programming from other trusted PBS sources, including American Experience, FRONTLINE, Nightly Business Report and P.O.V. PBS.org's election hub page, pbs.org/vote2008, will provide further perspectives. The site will aggregate video from PBS, feature syndicatable content from across public media and highlight innovative Web-only projects from PBS producers and stations.
.................................................... John McCain asked about health insurance that covers Viagra but not contraception. Uploaded by McCainHub
TRANSCRIPT: REPORTER: Insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control.
MCCAIN: I certainly don't want to discuss that issue.
REPORTER: It was unfair that health insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?
8 second pause
MCCAIN: I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer.
Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings.
A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.
Today, the Obama-Biden campaign released a new two minute TV ad, Same Path, which includes Senator Obama telling America he knows we can steer ourselves out of this crisis, but not by driving down the very same path and how that’s what this election’s all about.
In the ad, Obama details how his plan to jump-start our economy, create millions of jobs, and bring back our Main Streets all across America differs with John McCain’s plan to continue the same failed policies. Obama specifically lays out how his tax plan which offers three times as much tax relief to the middle class and cuts taxes for small and startup businesses differs from McCain’s which will continue giving hundreds of billions in new tax breaks to big corporations and oil companies and extends the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest.
To gain and keep perspective in my life, I visualize and feel what I expect to feel if I get to my end knowing my death is soon to be. It instantly makes all things right for me. What will be important then comes front and center and what I once labored or fretted over just loses its grip on me. It won't matter that my family is broken, disconnected or differs from me in their beliefs, politics and ways of handling the truth. What will matter is how I lived my life. What I said, but more how I said... It will matter to me if I chose to be silent when I should have spoken up. Clear and with passion. It will matter to me if I consistently had truth as my anchor, strength and target.
This is one of those things that has my attention. And I feel stories such as these are neglected, dismissed and thrown out while our narcissism consumes our behavior.
The peace process in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is on the verge of collapse due to resumed hostilities between Government forces and rebels loyal to Congolese general Laurent Nkunda. Absent immediate and robust diplomatic pressure on the Congolese government and a more impartial effort by United Nations peacekeepers to stop the fighting, the region could descend back into total war.
After weeks of tit-for-tat violence, large-scale fighting between the Congolese army and Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of People, or CNDP, began again on August 28 in the territory of Rutshuru, North Kivu. Violence has since spread to Masisi territory in North Kivu, and Kalehe territory in South Kivu. The clashes are the largest violations to date of the cease-fire agreement signed last January in Goma (capital of North Kivu) between the Congolese government, the CNDP, and 21 other armed groups active in the East.
The fighting has newly displaced an estimated 100,000 civilians in North Kivu, and has curtailed access for humanitarian aid agencies across the province. On September 25, the Enough Project -along with 82 other NGOs-released a statement on the humanitarian costs of faltering peace efforts. This follow-up examines why those diplomatic efforts are failing and what steps the international community must immediately take to halt the violence and reinvigorate the peace process.
......................................................... Luis Moreno-Ocampo keynote address Uploaded by lbfoundation The following article gives me hope. Especially the last three paragraphs of the article. Source: sudantribune.com From Sudan Tribune
Sudan's al-Bashir and NCP: Watch Ocampo is coming
Sunday, September 28, 2008
By Steve Paterno
September 27, 2008 — Against all odds, the National Congress Party (NCP) and its President Omar al-Bashir are consistently reminded that their time is running out as they embark on political and diplomatic de fenses to deter a pending international arrest warrant about to be handed down against al-Bashir. The three-judge panel of International Criminal Court (ICC) who will decide on al-Bashir’s fate are already back to work from their long summer vocation. They are already deliberating on the case and will soon hand their verdict, which in all likelihood, will rule in favor of immediate arrest of al-Bashir.
The NCP last chance lays on the UN General Assembly sessions, currently held in New York. In their bid, the NCP assembled what it regards as its best team and dispatched them to New York with a daunting task to lobby for invocation of article 16 of ICC, which will result in deference of potential arrest of al-Bashir for another year. However, a close examination of the members of the NCP team and the process in which the members are selected can alone reveal a clear crack; leave alone the daunting task placed ahead of this team.
On the onset, the selection of NCP team shows the growing internal oppositions toward the NCP and against President al-Bashir. All along, NCP falsely portrays that it has managed to rally internal sympathy for al-Bashir. The first move was to issue a Pre sidential decree/law, appointing Salva Kiir, the chairman of Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), to head the crisis committee to thwart al-Bashir’s potential arrest. But before long, Deng Alor, a prominent SPLM/A official and Minister for Foreign Affairs who is also a member of the crisis committee, bailed out himself in an effort to save SPLM/A from embarrassment. Alor goes on to call on NCP to “cooperate with the ICC.” Since then, Alor had joined the prominent voices, warning the NCP that they have little time left to face justice.
Reacting to Alor’s stand on the issue, the NCP dropped him from being the head of the team to be dispatched to New York. Traditionally, the team is usually headed by a Foreign Minister and Alor was slotted to head the delegation; but he was dropped out in the last minute. However, as a mockery, the NCP designated Bona Malwal, a South Sudanese like Alor, but an apologist of al-Bashir to be a de facto foreign minister among the members of the team. Alor is retained in the team without any official capacity. Nonetheless, Alor who has a family in the US, does not seem to have a problem to get his travel to America paid for by Khartoum—an opportunity in disguise.
Of all the people, the NCP fo und no one but Ali Osman Taha, Khartoum’s vice president and an ideologue of NCP to head the team to New York. Today the discussions around Washington and New York change from the potential arrest of al-Bashir to that of Taha. There has already been wide consensus around the notion that the NCP top officials including Taha are next targets of ICC indictments. This leads many to believe that the indictments of these officials may be sealed to nap the suspects like in the case of the Congolese Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, who under a sealed indictment was arrested in Belgium while on a visit. Many concluded that those of Taha who are on their visit to New York are likely awaiting the same fate as Gombo did.
According to the documents released to the public by ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, Taha is found to have played instrumental role in mobilizing Janjaweed forces against the innocent Darfur civilians. In one of the instants, Taha is alleged to have declared that the NCP “are willing to supply weapons, ammunition, camels, salary and horses,” and even treat the wounded in this war of genocide. Taha is alleged to have added, “please also accept greetings from the President Omer Al Bashir.” And he then went on to conclude, “I don’t want one single village of Zurgas in Darfur. All the Zurga lands a re yours.” These leave no doubt that Taha is an accomplice to the crimes al-Bashir is charged with, which include crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Taha may still be walking around in one piece, but for how long.
If the dispatched NCP team to New York is not diminished yet on the infirmity of its composition and the growing internal oppositions that it has so far revealed, then the presence of the team can only be matched and measured with the thunderous touchdown of ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo to New York.Ocampo came to New York for the opposite reason that NCP team came, which is to assure the arrest of President Omar al-Bashir. Ocampo mocked the UN Security Council that it will only make its role illegitimate if it so stupidly decides to invoke article 16 of ICC to defer the arrest warrant of al-Bashir. Ocampo reminded them that after all it was they, the UN Security Council members who in the first place referred the case of al-Bashir to ICC. Thus far, the call by some UN Security Council members to defer al-Bashir arrest warrant faded away; seemly dying a natural death. One firm member, the US even assured that it will use it powers to veto any attempt to defer al-Bashir’s arrest warrant. To the UN General Assembly members,20Ocampo says that if they think he is going to drop the case against al-Bashir, then they are just dreaming. Ocampo went on to assure the human rights activists that they don’t have to worry as he has more than enough evidences to pursue and convict al-Bashir.
Ocampo will fly back to Europe victorious. If anything, Ocampo had well understood the role of politics in this process and mastered it so well that he can secure the indictment and the arrest of al-Bashir through both the political process, which he has just done and the legal process, where he is the strongest. He is already called to appear this week in front of ICC three-judge panel so that he can clarify things in his application of arrest warrant against al-Bashir. This is a sign that the verdict is too close to call, and that al-Bashir is clearly running out of time.
It is worth mentioning that Ocampo is elevated into the most feared name in Khartoum, beating that of another name of a person who died not long time ago, Dr. John Garang. If the ill practice of NCP that nowadays results into the entire country20crumpling down does not bring about the demise of NCP, then the NCP should watch out; Ocampo is coming!
............................................................ Pictures of Rafael Nadal's 2nd semi-final match against Andy Roddick in Madrid, Spain Rafa won 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 Photo credits Abaca Press, Davis Cup Website, DPPI Antone Couvercelle, Getty and unknown More pictures will be coming.
..................................................... New Rules by Bill Maher September 26, 2008 Uploaded by TULLYCAST2 The part about racism is the last new rule A candidate for President should not be judged by the color of his skin...... As Bill talks about "white" substitute the word "black"or Mexican or Native American or Indian or ... ..................................................... ..................................................... Chris Rock with Bill Maher September 26, 2008 "Obama thinks the vote count matters" Uploaded by TULLYCAST2
According to clinical, personality, and political psychologist and neuroscientist Drew Westen
Today on C-span 2, which is where Book TV airs authors speaking, I watched a show that explained why campaigning is about soliciting our emotions, especially our unconscious ones. Including discrimination. The author Drew Westen ofthe book The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation explained how grab-our-attention words and images should be framing issues in a positive way and how they are used unethically and amorally. The best was when he dissected a campaign ad that had covert racial messages. I always thought that many of the ads and messages during the primary Democratic party's season were covertyly racist. And when I say covert, I mean covert to white people, primarily, including the media. Black people have experience with it and it is in the overt category to them. I am white by the way. Very white. I sunburn easily.
The show isn't on the Cspan website, yet. However, I have included some bits of Drew Westen speaking that have been posted on Youtube. The person who uploaded the following video thinks it is funny. This is HIS text from the youtube page where the campaign ad is posted: "A funny video poking fun at Harold Ford Jr, made by Scott Howell." The post titles this as " Harold Ford Jr. not for Tennessee". ......................................
...................................... This is the ad that Professor Westen used in the C-span 2 Book TV airing where he detailed and illustrated race baiting embedded in the political ad. This is an example of how Tennessee Bob Corker used racist covert messages against the losing candidate Harold Ford in 2006. Westen went into some detail with different parts of it. Westen said that it took him a few viewings of the ad to figure out why he was bothered by the ending that reads Harold Ford He's Just Not Right with white letters against black which Westen says is the opposite of the usual way of black letters on white. What Westen decided after repeated viewings is that the hidden message at the end was Harold Ford He's Just Not White
Also, Westen said that the idea of a white woman soliciting Harold Ford was using the fear of white men: a black man with a white woman. I was told years ago that it is much less bothersome to whites that a white man "has" a black woman. Black women were subjugated by white masters during slavery. It was considered a right by whites. So not so bothersome to white racists. Personally, my black partner and I received many looks until people got used to us or until I stopped noticing.
Westen also pointed out that it was intentional to have the woman appear like she could have been nude. It is the image that is intended and the rest is left up to your psyche.
Westen said that if we had a functioning FCC these ads and comments used on Fox News (such as "terrorrist fist jab", adding Barack's middle name of Hussein every time his name is said, etc) wouldn't be allowed on the air.
Westen goes into more of the messages laid out in the ad above than I have abbreviated here. But if you are not a racist, you will catch some of the not so subtleties with your own brain. No matter your race. ......................................
...................................... Chris Matthews shows his disgust with the race-baiting ad that was run against Harold Ford in the 2006 Tennessee Senate race. Uploaded by jazzcyclist
I don't believe for one minute that Corker didn't have full knowledge of this ad before it ran. There are some candidates who are after the morally retarded voters. They will never fund education programs because they want stupid voters. Voters smarter than them are a threat to them. They will call you elitists. ......................................
...................................... dsf3g text of this uploaded video "The RNC is running patently racist advertising against Harold Ford in Tennessee..." Westen also said that Hillary Clinton's ad that used words in the Primary such as lightweight, muslim and two others I can't rememeber had racism beneath it.
Barack Obama needs to hire this man.
These words are from the C-span 2 Book TV page: About the Program
Psychologist Drew Westen argues in The Political Brain that Americans vote not based on reason, but on their emotions. Mr. Westen contends that Republicans are more skilled than Democrats when it comes to making emotional appeals to voters.
About the Author
Drew Westen is a clinical, personality, and political psychologist and neuroscientist. He teaches in the psychology and psychiatry departments at Emory University. He is also the founder of Westen Strategies, a political and corporate consulting firm. He has been an adviser to several political candidates and organizations. He is the author of Self and Society : Narcissism, Collectivism, and the Development of Morals.
...................................... The Political Branin, Part 1 Drew Westen discusses emotions over mind, and how this fact has failed Democratic candidates Uploaded by goodmanl ......................................
Here is one has no embed with Katie Couric, but here is the link.
Harold Ford's concession speech: ......................................
...................................... Uploaded by bsm1970 Text by the poster: "Nov. 7, 2006 Harold Ford, Jr. gives a classy concession speech in the Tennesse U.S. Senate race."
Having migrated from my home state of Indiana, in 1972 to New England, after a year in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and one summer in Westerly, Rhode Island, I moved to Portsmouth, Rhode Island in Newport County.
I don't remember the year. It was a long time ago. Somehow developing a love for dance from an upbringing that considered dance a sin, I was attending Newport's Rogers High School auditorium for a summer dance program. Standing in the "lobby" which was more like a large hallway, I noticed Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward walking by me. Just walking by me. They were headed into the auditorium. Joanne Woodward was there to support dance.
It was a memorable moment. I was born on the edge of a small unremarkable Indiana town of Huntington in my parent's bedroom. And moved to this beautiful seaside area of Rhode Island. And there Paul Newman was. It was sort of special. And he merely walked by me. But it was special. I haven't seen much of Paul_Newman's movies or Joanne Woodward's either. But I will now. I'll search them out. Paul Newman and Me: A Hole in the Wall kid remembers
TMZ ~ Legendary Actor Paul Newman dies at 83 ........................................................... ........................................................... Uploaded by icebergfor Mr. and Mrs. Bridges I did see Mr. and Mrs. Bridges. Even though I got a late start with movies (because they were forbidden in my upbringing also), I see a lot of movies. But not many stay with me. This one always did. ...........................................................
........................................................... Uploaded by Cammie37 Posted January 18, 2008 Text by poster: This is a tribute to one of the longest lasting marriages in Hollywood. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman met in 1952 and married on January 29th 1958. Today, they remain as in love with each other as they were fifty years ago. Clips include footage from films they made together; The Long, Hot Summer, Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, From The Terrace, Paris Blues, A New Kind of Love, Winning, WUSA and Mr and Mrs Bridge. To the Theme of Anastasia "At the Beginning".
........................................................... ........................................................... Man of the Week on ABC News ~ November 3rd, 1989 Uploaded by backfile
By the way, where was John McCain's patriotic flag pin? And where was the media flack about him not wearing one for the debate? Maybe, POW's aren't open to the haranguing that Barack received over not wearing a piece of medal on his lapel.
It is a mystery how anyone can cast a vote for these two. McCain and Palin. Especially after 8 years of a republican administration. ......................................................... ......................................................... From Cool Hand Luke ~ Uploaded by sandynroses "What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don't like it any more than you men."
What we've got here is not only a recession of the economy but of intellect in the United States of America. If you have developed your intellect and are deeper than a shallow bucket, you are called an elitist with negative connotative implication.
What we have got here is people lacking minds that can apply critical thinking.
Our republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain graduated 894th out of 899 at the Naval Academy. He joked that Eisenhower - at his graduation - asked to shake hands with the lowest ranked graduate and if he, John McCain, had just done worse he could have shaken hands with Eisenhower. If McCain-Palin win this election, the same pool of people will be drawn from for cabinet positions and Supreme Court Justices and we will have two self-proclaimed, word-toting mavericks priding their way through left-overs. Left-overs of our shredded U.S. Constitutional rights and international credibility.
It has been interesting - the day after the debate. Because I have increasingly felt better about Barack's performance the day after. Not so much because of my internet perusing or listening to the pundits. Frankly, the pundits bother me. Their read on how it went only carries more weight than mine, because they are on the screen spouting off. But because what has stuck with me about what Barack said is better than how I was feeling during the debate. I wanted Senator Obama to stop being defensive on the economy and make offensive statements too. I wanted him to say the debt amount that we have been building up over the Iraq war waaaaaay before he finally said it in an almost passing way. It is the one time I cheered outloud when he finally said it. More could have been said about our HUGE debt to China and Japan. But, on the whole Senator Obama was carrying many layers of pressure on his shoulders and did a fine job.
From the producers of College Humor comes the wackiest family comedy of the year, an Alaskan hockey mom becomes Vice President. Found at Teeth Maestro Teeth Maestro is the blog of Dr. Awab Alvi, a Pakistani dentist practicing in Karachi.
Yes, I am worried about closet and openly discriminative white vote that would rather vote for the devil than Barack Obama. The other day I read some comment on Youtube saying she wasn't racist, but she would never vote for Obama and to prove it she named three black people she would vote for. I only remember two names: Bill Cosby and Al Sharpton. Seriously, Barack is by far more qualified than these two. Just because a white person says that they aren't a racist is no measurement.
Senator McCain speaks to us about what we should fear and shows us how to put-down others such as Senator Obama in his own actions. From the way he runs his campaign we see his governing style will be from impulsiveness and has no real vision to move us in incremental ways to a better future.
Senator Obama speaks to us of how it can be better within our own country and how to maintain a level-headedness about huge problems. And Senator Obama illustrates how to maintain rare decency in the world of politics while letting us see his thoughtful way of governing by the way he runs his campaign.
I see a mantra from some im-posters around the blogs, which is that Barack Obama is an empty suit who is a lot of hot air. I disagree. We know an empty suit. He has been President for the last 8 years. It will be a mistake to put McCain into that same suit.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
