My Bubba & My Barack

(JACOB LANGSTON, ORLANDO SENTINEL / October 30, 2008)



For those of us who struggled with the Clinton/Obama primary, what could have been better than Senator Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton at the Kissimmee, Florida Midnight rally October 29-30, 2008???

I had the warm fuzzes. It was a great night for democrats. A Love Fest at long last ~ so while I have already cast my vote, made my phone calls and knocked on doors, ultimately, in the end I got everything I wanted.

My Bubba, Barack and a democrat in the White House ~

OH WAIT! The Dream is still A DREAM! Four days LEFT! Join me in doing your part...

MYBARACKOBAMA

Can we really stand McCain/Palin lies 4 more years? Their fear mongering and racism can not be given any oxygen.

Stay out of our vaginas, bedrooms, prayer rooms and stop perpetuating war and scare tactics! November 4th SHUT Palin UP!

5 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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WE also have today, a Tom Tidbit
Thanks Tom, for reminding us that TODAY we Chicagoans and Evanstonians are wishing Grace Slick a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE! She turns 69 ~

Tom 2

Part 2 of our reading of an article by Thomas Brennan:

In 1977, (a year before Deng Xiao Peng revolutionized the country with his economic reforms) “Red China was FAR below the United States in term of economic influence. The “Cultural Revolution” of 1966 to 1976 was a colossal failure, and at least a few enlightened leaders came to the realization that they had to make some big changes or go broke.

Today, China is a full fledged member of the World Trade Organization, and our trade deficit with them is on the order of $200,000,000,000 a year.

CLICK HERE FOR THE GDP 1977 BY COUNTRY

Due to the fact that their economic future is so strongly tied to our economic future, China is no longer considered to be a military threat, as it was in the 1950‘s and 1960’s, when the “commies” provided a great deal of military assistance to both the North Koreans and the North Vietnamese.

Not every place in the Middle East is teeming with crazy radicals who are out to get us, for the same reason that China is no longer considered to be a threat.

On October 5, 2008, the Chicago Tribune ran a story with the lengthy title “Gulf states turn oil wealth into glitter at home, influence abroad”. If you’d like to read the entire article CLICK HERE.

The six nations that collectively make up the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Qatar, Dubai, and the United Arab Emirates, now control $1.9 trillion in assets.

(Dubai)




China is the only place in the world that controls more assets than that.

In other words, neither the United States nor the European Union controls most of the marbles. If you’ve been watching the news this past week, the marbles have been falling out of the bag pretty rapidly as of late, and there have been quite a few references to the crash of 1929.

It is estimated that the United States, as well as most of Europe, will transfer $600Billion to the region this year alone. While our national debt continues to skyrocket, and congress continues to fiddle with a $700 Billion economic rescue package, the gulf countries are continuing to rack up surpluses between 250 and 300 billion dollars a year.

Perversely enough, if you haven’t driven your Ford lately (because you can no longer afford the gas) it may make you feel better if you can understand the fact that our heavy dependence on foreign oil has actually helped the world become a safer place, not a more dangerous one.

The battle cry of ”drill,baby,drill” makes absolutely no sense, for a lot of reasons.

Due to the fact that their economic well being is tied so strongly to our economy, the enlightened leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council have come down hard on political dissent and religious radicals at home simply because all those crazy people just aren’t good for business.

Unlike the 1970’s, when oil wealth was squandered on fancy palaces and expensive cars (the sultan of Brunei is said to own 3000 cars, and a lot of them are Rolls Royces and Ferraris), today’s oil wealth is being invested abroad in projects that will help to diversify their economies. As a result, once the residue from those old dinosaurs finally runs out, there will be ways to pay the electric bill other than drilling for oil.

In addition to investing in projects that will bring in future income, Qatar (a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council) has been investing heavily in education.

On page 6 of Section 1 of the October 2 section of the Chicago Tribune was an article titled “Medill in the Middle East”, and it describes the expansion of Northwestern University’s school of journalism.

Qatar first approached Medill in 2006 about conducting journalism classes in their country, and the first classes started in August of 2008. Medill joins Cornell University’s Weill Medical College, Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, Carnegie Mellon, Texas A&M, and Virginia Commonwealth, who were also hand picked by the leaders of Qatar.

If you managed to make it all the way through my 17 page book report on the Koran (may Allah have mercy on you) you may remember that my key point is that education will almost always defeat brute force.

What is happening right now in Qatar is a unique experiment that will do us far more good as a country than anything else that we are doing right now.

The six countries that make of the Gulf Cooperation Council are 99% Muslim. If you don’t believe me, just read the attached link:CHRISTIANITY IN THE GULF

The reason that I read the Koran is that I wanted to try to understand why Muslims think the way that they do.

As it turns out, the Muslims are also trying to learn from us.

They’ve invited us to plant a garden in their back yard, and the seeds that are being sown there are the ideas generated by our universities, which we take for granted here.

Eventually, those seeds will grow and flourish.

In conclusion, if you’re waiting for the Janis Joplin connection, here it is:




Have a good day


Tom

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Thanks Tom.

FRIENDS ON FRIDAY PRESENTS: Tom, the Moose, Bobby McGee and the Muslims

Our friend Tamera over at Pentads has really been an inspiration these past weeks as the election tactics have taken a nasty turn. Read her assessment and get motivated. Thanks to her I just went on and voted today to let the McCain/Palin ticket know where I stand!

With that said, let me tell you a bit about how my week went.

It was a hectic, crazy week, but I always like to think that no matter what troubles you happen upon, there is something magnificent to guide you through it.

My beloved truck, having 97,000 miles on it and nearing its ten year mark had to be put down. It ran great but, you know that inner voice, well it said part ways with it now as it is time, so I did.

I take everything as a spiritual journey. I did my research, did my internet search, made calls, and set out on my adventure.

It took me to many dealers and many salesmen. They were all nice, but one in particular will be our Friend On Friday today!

You all know by now how I treasure "Forest Gump" and quote him often, so my take is that car salesmen are like boxes of chocolate, when you walk in, you never know who you're gonna get! Well I met Tom Brennan, and he transitioned me into my next vehicle. It was, as all car deals are, a trip! But, that aside, our experience was one of a love of writing, the world, and getting to know people and learn.

While typically our Friends On Fridays are interviews, this day will be a re-printing of a piece that Tom wrote. It is timely because it coincides with my view on General Colin Powell's assessment of his endorsement of Senator Obama AND also what I have been saying for months! SO WHAT IF SENATOR OBAMA was an ARAB???

I had the chance to locate the photo of the American mother, Elsheba Khan, who lost her American son, Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, in the Iraq war. Seeing her draped over his tombstone made my soul bleed.

Photographs: Platon

We as Americans have continuously repeated hatred and bigotry upon our fellow man. SHAME on us!!! It needs to STOP, TODAY.


SO, enjoy Mr. Tom Brennan's piece. It will span over a few days...it's pretty long, but enjoyable! THANKS TOM!

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Me and Bobby McGee – and the Muslims
by Thomas M. Brennan


Due to all of the political goings on right now, as well as the scary free fall in the stock markets, both here and abroad, the anniversary of a major event in American history went completely unnoticed last week.

On October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin died in Los Angeles of a drug overdose at the age of 27.

Like two of her contemporaries (Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, who also died at the age of 27) she left an indelible mark on music in America and throughout the world, even though she had a brief career. Her songs are still played on a very regular basis today, nearly 40 years after her passing.

Out of all the songs that she sang, my all time favorite is “Me and Bobby McGee”, which you can listen to again if you click on the link to the YouTube performance below:



Strange as it may seem, lessons learned from Janice can help us understand a few folks that don’t like us very much, and can also provide some clues on how to live in harmony with them in the future.

One of the lines in “Bobby McGee” is “freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose “..

If you click on the link below, you’ll discover that the countries that concern us the most (by and large) are countries that aren’t very well off financially

There are more than 200 countries in the world today.


The GDP rankings of the countries in the “Middle East” (according to the International Monetary Fund) are as follows:

25- Saudi Arabia
39 – Iran
37 – United Arab Emirates
52- Egypt
53 – Kuwait
60 – Qatar
70- Oman
73 – Syria
86 – Yemen
94- Bahrain



VIEW WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK BY CLICKING HERE


If you listen carefully to the words of this song, and watch the visual images, you’ll quickly realize that Janice Joplin was clearly on a “self destruct mode” for most of her career.

If you don’t care what happens to you, or if you truly believe that the next life will be better than this one, than self destructive behavior actually makes a lot of sense.
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MORE TOMORROW!



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I found this guestbook online should anyone want to share a note of condolence

Kareem Rashad Sultan Kahn, Cpl., US Army 2-12-87 ~ 8-6-07

'Assalamu alaikum'

Man In The Mirror ~ CHANGE

Save The World & Wake UP!!!!

Poverty & BLOG ACTION DAY!!!

IT'S BLOG ACTION DAY!!!! Yippee! YAY!

I LOVE Blog Action Day, it is so much fun to share and care on a special day!

This year's theme, as you are probably aware, is POVERTY. As the world begins to shrink with internet use, our neighbors are really closer than they used to be. We have international concerns and relationships now more than ever!

Through blogging we are a family that reaches across the globe! AND I know we love our families & friends!




So today I will be reminding everyone about the CHALLENGE I proposed of giving just $1 today to the American Red Cross. Yes, I know, it's not worth what it was yesterday, or what it was by the time I finish this post! But, when dear friends are in dire, desperate need, donations of any kind help masses ~ as we speak Tropical Storm Omar is forming...we just never know when there will be another disaster. The American Red Cross are always the first responders ~ So reach out and give them a hand, you may use the donation bar at the side!!

Our other friends here at "Healthier, Happier, You!!" are also in need!! Battling poverty is about to reach new heights as our global economic struggles continue. Americans are hurting as we have not since the 1930's. Poverty is about to have a new meaning. When we are unable to reach out, what happens to the rest of the world and the countries that have counted on us to survive??

Well, I read a blurb yesterday on some online paper that wealth is really relative. Money is imagination, it is not tangible, hence that dollar bill. In essence it's just a promise, so we have a lot of empty promises floating around. And if you somehow fall out of line, well you are quickly introduced to poverty.

No one should suffer because they somehow fell out of line or missed one opportunity, or was born where lines are just too long.

We can feed villages with what we spend in one day on soda, chips and a large fry. With what I spend everyday on coffee, I can send to Kericho and Pastor Jonah!!!

Please check out our friends sites to find out what they need.





We also have a friend in W.I.P writer Rose-Anne Clermont's mom's mission: JACLERMONTHOME.COM

Rose-Anne's parents were born in Haiti and came to the United States full of dreams and missions. Dr. Clermont served well in his east coast community, as well as service to those back home until he was tragically killed in an automobile accident. His wife has carried on his dream of service to Jacmel, Haiti. As you can imagine, with the devastation of these recent hurricanes, Haiti's youth are especially vulnerable and could use whatever we can give.

SO! With so much to do, and so little time, grab a hand and make it our mission to help someone in need today. Devote a bit of your time to any of these friends OR investigate a few of your own!

It's a great way to love one another, feel good about our neighbors, and who knows, you just may make a few friends for life!!

And in this HOUSE, we say, what could be better???

HAVE A GREAT BLOG ACTION DAY!!!!

Would the Three Kings Be Welcome In Your Humble Home???

Now I know that the internet can be a place where you can get lost for hours picking up all sorts of information that must be validated, AND I also know that at 75 years old, your wheels are starting to turn a bit slower...believe me, I KNOW. My dad is 77 years old and is quick as whip IF A. He can hear you and B. He is not attempting to multi-task.

He has limited cell phone capabilities and has no idea about computers/email/the internet. SO, when I want to smack Gayle Quinnell for being an ignorant, racist, quack ~ I really can not because she lives in a small town in Minnesota, and she is 75 years old. But when she shared with the media that her entire family absorbed her inaccuracies, well, who do you blame there?

YOU CAN READ THE MADNESS HERE from a paper's news feed. Ignorance and fear really is spread like wildfire. I am reminded of what scared me and I passed on about Sarah Palin wearing that bikini toting a rifle! But I guess what is troubling me moreso than just typical fear induced inaccuracies are the roots of the fear.

It makes me embarrassed. I feel total embarrassment for the woman, Gayle Quinnell. She is probably a "Christian", and her family, and all the families around them who have never ventured from the confines of their own minds, their town limits or their non-meandering ways. Not to belittle that way of life, but it can be so constricting if you never take the time to expand, venture and learn about others!!! And as one is always told at some point in their youth, "How do you know if you don't like something if you have never tried it?"

Arab. "He's an Arab" she said. Gayle Quinnell said she was given a flier from a McCain campaign volunteer. She read it, said it was "bad" and promptly went to Kinko's and made 400 copies and distributed them. Is Minnesota another planet? Do they read? Have cable? I know that they do, so what were the McCain Campaign volunteers thinking when they knowingly distributed this message of hate and befoulment?

When I first met Barack Obama, the first thing that came to mind was not "is he an Arab?" His name was So out there, and NOT Arabic sounding really...I could not even fathom where he was from, so my mind left it right there. My name is out there too, so, maybe I am not a good example. Had he been an Arab, what does that really mean? Pre-9/11, I guess it would have made no difference. Post 9/11, I guess it is safe to say, I suppose, we are all still ignorant and fearful of our neighbors. My favorite line when I hear someone being a total racist-ass is remember, Jesus was Jewish! The temperament of small town America is so "Christian", but none of those folk in the Good Book were Christians! They were all Arabs, Africans, Romans, and Jews!

Then if they're still listening,I remind them that Moses married an African princess, they were all over the Middle East, heck, does anyone remember Moses was raised an Egyptian??? Forging that piece of literature that so many spend so much time reading, and throwing around in everyone's face, but no, not absorbing is poor comprehension to say the least. The Three Kings would not have been welcome in many of these bigots homes.

Kings Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar, the Three Kings(Magi), brought gifts for the Baby Jesus and were welcomed into the humbled manger.

Shame on all the fear mongers, for as the season bears upon us, and we clasp our fingers to pray, ONCE AND FOR ALL FINALLY proclaim that to really be a Christian, Arab, Jew, or variation of all three, Muslim, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hinduism ~ heck, human, is to love and embrace ALL. Learn about all you can, never hate and always give a hand!

I can't wait for Gayle Quinnell to be interviewed properly. Maybe it will all start with her. Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us...
grant us peace.

CHALLENGE!

Just a little challenge for my readers. October 15th is BLOG ACTION DAY and the focus is POVERTY.

As you may or may not know, we here at "Healthier, Happier, You!!!" always challenge each other to GIVE.

A gift of service or money if you have it, goes a long, long way.

On the 15th, I will be updating the needs of a few of our friends, AND challenging us all to give. If you notice the DONOR box located at the side-bar is set up securely so that if any one so chooses they can give a monetary gift directly to the charity the American Red Cross.

SO, I challenge everyone on the 15th to give at least $1. My goal on the 15th is to raise $25. If it is successful, I will challenge everyone each month on the 15th for the remainder of the year to give just $1 to the American Red Cross!

What Say YOU!! One coffee, one donut, one cookie to help your neighbor! I KNOW you won't let them down!

CHOMP CHOMP, Clap clap!

I was JUST TOO superstitious to even write about my poor White Sox. They managed to outlive the Cubs, sort of, and lived to see another day, only to fail, flitter, and fall apart on the final go-around. Ah, c'est la vie.

So where does a dejected baseball fan turn??? Well of course I am licking my wounds about the Bears (loss of Nathan Vasher) and Saints (loss) misfortunes last week ~ BUT THERE IS ALWAYS MY GOGO GATORS!!! I love Louisiana State University, BUT NOT on a day when they play Florida University!

WHAT A GAME yesterday, Gators beat LSU 51-21!


This video is from YOUTUBE a few years back but it really captures that Gator spirit! If you follow NCAA football, you'll know that they went on to win the 2006 NCAA championship!

I was in Florida five or six years ago when I was "bitten" by the Gators and fell in love with the "Swamp"!

I think it was the overall fever for their team that captured me. There is nothing like it that I've seen! That trip I came home with all kinds of GATOR GEAR. Notwithstanding a huge Green alligator in an orange t-shirt! He is my constant Gator Game Watching companion! Hey, you gotta have fun in this life, right?!



12 days til they meet Kentucky. You should check them out. I'll be smacking my hands together like a crazed Gator fan should! And if you let the Gators nibble you ~ maybe you will too!

An Open Letter To Senator John McCain

Dear Senator McCain,

There were many points you made out of frustration on the night of the debate. There were many half-truths and blunders. Your constituency supports you and thought you did a fine job, and I suppose you did considering.

I have cast aside your dismissive, disingenuous, remark, calling a black man, your colleague, "that one" on live national television. An apology would be nice, but hey, you're teaching our kids "all is fair in love and war."

My letter to you today revolves around two points. I was listening to a supporter of yours in New Mexico who stated that for him, the election was all about life. He went on to say he supports you because you don't support murder. He proclaimed he is pro-life. Well his statement is a challenge. Do you really support life? What about our soldiers' life. What about quality of life. What about educating about life. What about preserving life.

Senator, what about being able to live life?

Which brings me to my next point. You so incriminatingly suggested that Senator Obama's pursuit of $3 million dollars for a Adler Planetarium "projector" was earmarking at it's worst. Has anyone in your campaign bothered to REALLY research the venom that spews from your mouth? It appears you are counting on fear and ignorance to prevail in order for folks to vote for you. Shame.

The "projector" is the unsuccessful attempt to replace the awe-inspiring machine that projects stars on to the ceiling of the planetarium's auditorium dome. I really want to call you a "meat-head", but I won't, because it's not nice!

Hundreds of thousands of students, myself included, have gone during educational field trips, leaned back into our seats, before the "show" began, and stared into the assimilated sky, making plans...daring to dream! It was installed in 1967 and is beginning to disintegrate.

Wow, senator. You want rights for a zygote...good luck taking care of it once it becomes a child...don't educate it...whatever...because you're just going to send it off to war.

Thanks but no thanks to your bridge to no where, whose gonna vote for you? Not this one!

Best regards,

~House

The Audacity Of Hope...

The AUDACITY of Senator Obama...thinking he could go on LIVE television for a national presidential debate and NOT be called "THAT ONE"?

I mean really, what was he thinking???

I am being SO sarcastic - I am reeling!!!

Having to put to bed a 12 year old colored male child who had to watch the debate for class, all while explaining to him that ~ I'm sure Senator McCain misspoke and did not mean anything by the condescending remark ~ could leave one to be just a tad bit sarcastic. Deep in my heart, once the words left Senator McCain's lips and he flung his hand gesturing pompously, it became painfully certain that what he really wanted to call him was "boy", or any derivative within the GOODOLEBOY'S dictionary!

I watched, as I do, on CSpan, so I will have to wait until the morning to see if America even caught this wild exclamation.

CSpan offered no immediate pundit commentary, though I was so angry I threw the remote thus turning the tv(tonight it is an idiot box!) off.

Maybe my household is overreacting. Maybe we are lost in a viscious time warp OR flashback of Vintage TV and this is a "Twilight Zone" episode.

Before sitting down to my keyboard, I became overwhelmed by a realization that Senator McCain would have never addressed another senator in that tone, or any other colleague, or joesixpack for that matter. How odd to use this forum to declare that he really has a superiority complex.

If you notice, I have never written an ill word or remark regarding Senator McCain ~ after all, he is a servant and war hero. However, this really poked at my decency barometer. All I can retrieve from this debate is that if this is how far we've come, then nothing in this election matters because once again, it is all about the brutal history of our ancestors and how we have done nothing about it. Absolutely nothing.

Nimrod's, nucular and bust!

Reluctantly I watched the Vice-presidential debate last night moderated by Gwen Ifill.

I'm REAL sorry ALL, I tried to abide by my mother's favorite saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything". Well Mama, I held onto this ALL day, and if I don't say it, I just may bust! Or is it burst? Okay, but I'm NOT running for the Vice-Presidency of the most powerful country in the free world!

We already have a special ed sitting in the White House, and I know special ed is "near and dear" to Gov. Palin, she said so last night, but just the thought of one more year looking up phrases the Nimrods' say, that make you think you're ignorant, just has to stop. Honestly, the woman had me looking up NUCULAR, cuz I'm thinking, okay, she does have a B.A. in journalism...my expertise is in Criminal Justice, maybe I missed something.

After visiting the blogosphere, it has been revealed she, and Special Ed, are far from prolific where intelligence is concerned and butcher words quite frequently.
Journalism major, huh?

Here is the definition of NUCULAR.

I'm taking a MIDOL.

October IS Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This should have gone up yesterday, but all this campaign work is exhausting me! In a good way of course!!

Our friends over at "UPTOWN LIZ" have news! I am sharing this email with all of you!!
HAPPY BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH! I say "happy" because we CAN tackle this beast AND do it with a smile! Sharing, crying, and making our way through obstacles together:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we encourage all women to make their health a priority. Give yourself a breast exam every month, be an advocate with your doctor and listen to your gut (that little inner voice). Awareness and education leads to prevention which saves lives.

We are excited to introduce "The Liz Collection" - handbags supporting breast cancer charities that were designed by a young sister team in Sacramento. The two bags - that were seen on the red carpet of the 2008 Emmy Awards - are black with pink lining with one of my favorite quotes inside (see below). You can also have the charm that is attached to the bags hand stamped with the name of a loved one or word of significance. My deepest thanks to Fuffy J. Couture for naming this collection after my sister and donating proceeds to help fight breast cancer.

The 2nd Annual Gal to Gal Virtual Walk starts today! For just a few dollars, you can design your own gal (and now guy) to virtually walk through 31 cities across the country with Larry King, Stephen Covey, Marg Helgenberger, Lisa Rinna, the cast of Guiding Light and many others. All of the funds raised will go to Stage IV breast cancer patients and their families.

You can now become a fan of Uptown Liz on Facebook - hear the latest news, see new product and read our blog! And don't forget to check Uptown Liz for all the new goodies supporting breast cancer! ~ Ramona Russell, UPTOWN LIZ

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Thanks Uptown Liz! Ladies, and gents, Let's support this great cause today!