❧❧❧ 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 ❧❧❧
I think there should be a required test that you not only have to pass with a B or above, but the completed test should be made public - online - before you can accept the nomination for President or Vice-President.
And I think we should get to submit questions for the test.
We have a tight race between an intelligent and articulate candidate - Barack Obama and one, John McCain, who has spoken with so many mistakes - mixing up countries that don't exist anymore, associating the wrong Presidents with the appropriate countries, confusing Shiites and Sunnis when talking about Al Qaeda in Iraq and lying repeatedly about Barack Obama - then selecting a running mate he met...once, before he offered the job. Thank goodness, Russia is next to Alaska otherwise we wouldn't be able to have any confidence in Sarah Palin's international knowledge. She did get her passport, but that doesn't comfort me.
Many times, John McCain has stammered and looked like a deer caught in headlights when asked a question. This alone makes me question his intelligence.
.................................................. Maps of the world Uploaded by POPobscura ..................................................
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.................................................. Uploaded January 26, 2007 by bravenewfilms .................................................. .................................................. Uploaded June 04, 2008 by Veracifier ..................................................
.................................................. New Hampshire Primary night Uploaded January 09, 2008 by BarackObamadotcom
.................................................. John McCain and Mortgages Uploaded by bravenewfilms
If I have to listen to John McCain and Sarah Palin for the next four years I will have to consider how I can cope. It will be a problem. Any country looking for good USA expatriates?
................................................... ................................................... John McCain interviewed This includes the question about Spain and Spain's President Zapatero Uploaded by tpmtv I CAN'T STAND IT - McCAIN CAN'T GET STRAIGHT WHAT THE QUESTION IS
Repeatedly John McCain says stupid things, contradicts himself, lies, makes stuff up, and chose Sarah Palin as the first person in line if he dies to run the country
JOHN McCAIN IS NOT FIT TO BE PRESIDENT
but that doesn't mean the USA won't elect him as President
We are on shaky ground, here.
I have tried to restrain myself about John McCain. But McCain scares me. And the fact that so many USA citizens feel McCain is the one to lead the USA causes me to be very worried.
I know I'm not qualified to lead this country. And I am smarter than John McCain or Sarah Palin. The fact that these two think they are qualified to be President scares the living daylights out of me.
................................................... John McCain didn't know who the President of Spain was or that Spain is a democracy that USA is friendly with. Here is a report on John McCain and Spain
Politics has always been lousy with blather and chicanery. But there are rules and traditions too. In the early weeks of the general-election campaign, a consensus has grown in the political community"a consensus that ranges from practitioners like Karl Rove to commentators like, well, me"that John McCain has allowed his campaign to slip the normal bounds of political propriety. The situation has gotten so intense that we in the media have slipped our normal rules as well. Usually when a candidate tells something less than the truth, we mince words. We use euphemisms like mendacity and inaccuracy ... or, as the Associated Press put it, "McCain's claims skirt facts." But increasing numbers of otherwise sober observers, even such august institutions as the New York Times editorial board, are calling John McCain a liar. You might well ask, What has McCain done to deserve this? What unwritten rules did he break? Are his transgressions of degree or of kind?
Almost every politician stretches the truth. We journalists try to point out the exaggerations and criticize them, then let the voters decide. When McCain says, for example, that Barack Obama favors a government-run health-care system, he's not telling the truth"Obama wants a market-based system subsidized by the government"but McCain's untruth illuminates a general policy direction, which is sketchy but sort of within the bounds. (Obama's plan would increase government regulation of the drug and insurance industries.) Obama has done this sort of thing too. In July, he accused McCain of supporting the foreign buyout of an American company that could lead to the loss of about 8,000 jobs in Wilmington, Ohio. McCain did support the deal, but the job loss comes many years later and was not anticipated at the time. That, however, is where the moral equivalency between these two campaigns ends.
McCain's lies have ranged from the annoying to the sleazy, and the problem is in both degree and kind. His campaign has been a ceaseless assault on his opponent's character and policies, featuring a consistent"and witting"disdain for the truth. Even after 38 million Americans heard Obama say in his speech at the Democratic National Convention that he was open to offshore oil-drilling and building new nuclear-power plants, McCain flatly said in his acceptance speech that Obama opposed both. Normal political practice would be for McCain to say, "Obama says he's 'open to' offshore drilling, but he's always opposed it. How can we believe him?" This persistence in repeating demonstrably false charges is something new in presidential politics.
Worse than the lies have been the smears. McCain ran a television ad claiming that Obama favored "comprehensive" sex education for kindergartners. (Obama favored a bill that would have warned kindergartners about sexual predators and improper touching.) The accusation that Obama was referring to Sarah Palin when he said McCain's effort to remarket his economic policies was putting "lipstick on a pig" was another clearly misleading attack"an obnoxious attempt to divert attention from Palin's lack of fitness for the job and the recklessness with which McCain chose her. McCain's assault on the "�lite media" for spreading rumors about Palin's personal life"actually, the culprits were a few bloggers and the tabloid press"was more of the same. And that gets us close to the real problem here. The McCain camp has decided that its candidate can't win honorably, on the issues, so it has resorted to transparent and phony diversions.
This new strategy emerged during the first week of Obama's overseas trip in late July. McCain had been intending to contrast his alleged foreign policy expertise and toughness with Obama's inexperience and alleged weakness. McCain wanted to "win" the Iraq war and face down the Iranians. But those issues became moot when the Iraqis said they favored Obama's withdrawal plan and the Bush Administration started talking to the Iranians. At that point, McCain committed his original sin"out of pique, I believe"questioning Obama's patriotism, saying the Democrat would rather lose a war than lose an election. Ever since, McCain's campaign has been a series of snide and demeaning ads accompanied by the daily gush of untruths that have now been widely documented and exposed. The strategy is an obvious attempt to camouflage the current unpopularity of his Republican brand, the insubstantiality of his vice-presidential choice, and his agreement on most issues"especially economic matters"with an exceedingly unpopular President.
The good news is that the vile times may be ending. The coming debates will decide this race, and it isn't easy to tell lies when your opponent is standing right next to you. The Wall Street collapse demands a more sober campaign as well. But these dreadful weeks should not be forgotten. John McCain has raised serious questions about whether he has the character to lead the nation. He has defaced his beloved military code of honor. He has run a dirty campaign.
This is the letter I sent to Jim Lehrer (and a modified letter also went to Gwen Ifill)
Jim Lehrer MacNeil/Lehrer Productions 2700 South Quincy Street Arlington, VA 22206
Dear Mr. Lehrer,
My name is Sandra Hammel and although I was raised in Indiana, my entire adult life I have lived in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as a public school music teacher. I am __ years old and for the first time in my life have volunteered for a Presidential campaign because I am so worried about the direction of our country. Since retiring a few years ago I have been a community leader and lobbied with other concerned individuals of all ages about ending genocide of Darfuris with our U.S. Senators, Representatives and the President.
I haven’t always been aware of the history of genocide. Not until the ten year anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, when I caught the PBS Frontline airing of Ghosts of Rwanda did I know much of what happened in 1994 in Rwanda. Stunned by my ignorance and the horror of the reality, I educated myself further. Frontline was merely a springboard to my becoming a part of activism and engaged in our “We the People” government. I did not want to be defined by complicity. And I believe neither should we allow our representative government to be in the case of the Darfuris and the government-supported genocide that is in its sixth year.
In July, I did a study on Darfur and media coverage in my state and it was published in my local newspaper as a Letter to the Editor. With overwhelmingly higher media mention of any one of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or Britney Spears than Darfur, I made my personal effort to sound an alarm of underreporting important stories, especially the genocide of the Darfuri families.
Mr. Lehrer, I would like to thank you for mentioning Darfur to the extent that you do on PBS. It is noticed by the citizen activists. We sincerely appreciate your efforts and your fair and balanced reporting.
As the moderator of the up-coming Presidential debate, I ask you to consider asking the candidates to express their views about genocide and why it is important for a country that is the leader of the world to support the human right of the Darfuri families to live out their natural lives. Historically after a genocide has played itself out, our national leaders say the words “never again”. But those words do nothing more than assuage our guilt after it is safe that we will have to do nothing more than speak these words of a future promise. It is so depressing that we have broken that promise with Darfur. I urge you to ask Senators Obama and McCain to speak of their future administration’s specific plans to stop the five and a half year genocide of the Darfuris. It is important that the USA supports the ICC in their indictment of al-Bashir because no accountability is license to continue the genocide strategy. I urge you to consider asking the candidates why they would or wouldn’t strongly support the ICC. Please, include this subject in this important election debate.
I feel that this issue needs to be included in the debate because the USA stands for justice and genocide is not justice. And complicity makes the USA a tool of Bashir’s army. Genocide can only be successful if we remain silent and maintain empty rhetoric of concern.
I apologize if I sound preachy. It is not personal toward you, but out of my passionate plea to state the case for the Darfuri families who have no voice in the debate. Better to speak up than to be still about genocide. My freedom to speak with my voice is all that I have.
Thank you for your time and interest in the USA citizens who believe that we are defined by what we do or do not do about the Darfur crisis. Your consideration is appreciated. We will watch with interest.
On September 10th the government of Sudan launched new attacks on ZamZam Camp for internally displaced persons. Many of those who were injured and killed were already forced to flee their homes one, two or three times. This attack comes a week after an attack on Kalma Camp by government troops. This violence is unacceptable. Our leadership has not done enough to end this violence. We need to build the political will to move our leaders to action.
When we speak to refugees in the camps, they tell us that peace will not come before justice.
The candidates have spoken out on Darfur, but they have yet to stand behind the ICC case against Sudan’s Presidnet al-Bashir. This case will begin the process of justice and reconciliation for Darfuris who have suffered, and continue to suffer every day. The Kalma Massacre, recent attcks on ZamZam Camp, and al-Bashir’s threats against humanitarian aid workers are war crimes. We cannot allow his threats and military action in Darfur to continue as we stand by. Violence has led to yet another NGO pull out leaving 1/2 million people without aid and another attack on World Food Program envoy may push them to also pull out, leaving millions without assistance. The next President must be prepared to uphold justice and bring peace to the region today not tomorrow. The first step is for both Obama and McCain to support the ICC case.
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.
