Casi's Blog Spot

The Undomestic Goddess

2011-08-26T23:39:00.000-04:00

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought it would be corny... how can a supposedly brilliant lawyer not be able to get herself out of being a housekeeper? But the story is funny and heartwarming and smart. I loved the characters, even Trish and Eddie. It's a light getaway and a perfect chick-lit style beach read.

View all my reviews

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

2011-08-26T23:34:00.000-04:00

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Typical Nicholas Sparks style. Heartwarming, selfless and kind characters mix with a story of revenge. Quick, easy read. If you love Nicholas Sparks (and let's face it, who doesn't?) you'll love Safe Haven as well.

View all my reviews

The Adjustment Bureau

2011-08-21T01:21:00.004-04:00

Lauryn and I managed to snag a copy of The Adjustment Bureau from the Redbox and we watched it tonight. It was pretty good. Not the action-packed thriller that we thought it would be but the storyline was original, the characters (Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie) were very likable and the movie was actually a lot of fun to watch. There were some snarky laugh out loud moments and some OMG! moments. Very enjoyable. Glad we checked it out. Now we get to decide what's next! Any ideas?

(Note: Keep in mind that Lauryn is only 13 so R-rated flicks aren't up for consideration. Tx!)

Action Movie Mania

2011-08-19T23:38:00.002-04:00

So, lately Lauryn and I have been on an action movie kick. I think it all started with Iron Man 2 (on DVD) and we've been trying to fill our weekends with action ever since. Aside from IM2, I've been trying to catch her up on some classics such as Speed and Speed 2, and the Mission Impossible franchise in preparation for MI4 which comes out in December. We also loved Captain America (Thor was good but not as good as CA) and I loved how they all tied back to Stark Industries. And how Nick Fury comes in to bring them all together. We're excited for The Avengers movie; I hope it lives up to the hype. We still plan to watch The Incredible Hulk because it is tied in to the Avengers but the actors are all different. We also saw Transformers 3 which was great considering how bad Transformers 2 was. Awful! Three definitely made up for it.

We saw the last chapter of Harry Potter at the Imax Theater in Atlantic City. What a great experience that was! Great books, great movie. If you haven't read them, make sure you do so. It's so easy to immerse yourself in that world.

I've also seen a few on my own: Salt, The Tourist and Wanted, all of which made me a huge Angelina Jolie movie fan. I can't wait until the sequels come out for them (Salt 2 comes out in 2014, still hoping for a Wanted 2).

And I highly recommend The Other Guys. One of my favorites from last year!

Today we watched Minority Report. It was so nice to watch a movie with a plot that hasn't been seen a million times before. Maybe we'll try another Phillip K. Dick movie like Blade Runner or Total Recall. They were pretty good and filled with lots of action. I wonder if The Adjustment Bureau is in the Redbox yet? Hmmm! (Update: I just checked and it is!)

I don't think Lauryn's seen any of the Die Hard movies, either. They are all classics. I think they may be next on the agenda. We'll see. I'll try to keep up with where Action Movie Mania takes us next...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

2011-05-23T00:19:00.000-04:00

I got a NookColor for Mother's Day. One of the best gifts EVER! After Darryl bought me the original Nook 3G for Christmas a couple years ago, I didn't think I could love any e-reader even more. I do! My birthday just happens to fall the day before Mother's Day (I know - lucky me!) and my brother gave me a wonderful, beautiful and timely Barnes and Noble gift card. It was all so perfect!

The first book I read on my NookColor was Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith based on a recommendation from a co-worker. What a wonderful story. It was so much fun to read a story where fiction is woven so seamlessly into fact that I almost forgot that it was a work of fiction. Or was it?

The story starts with the vampire that "recruited" Abraham comes to Seth (the author) and asks him for a favor. From there the book takes off and I had a hard time finding places to take a break. It follows Abe from childhood through his presidency and, all the while, you will find yourself becoming more and more empathetic to his motivations, and disdain, for vampire hunting.

I highly recommend this book, especially for those who love history with a twist. Due to the graphic theme of the story and a few mature references, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone under the age of 13.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I love JANY - A Short Documentary

2011-05-22T22:11:00.002-04:00

Shot in Canon 5D in New York by artist Sasha Huber, this story is about Jany Tomba, a naturally pretty Haitian girl that moved to NY as a child with her family. It explains how she became one of the first black girls to be featured on magazine covers in the US, simply by chance.

IloveJANY on Vimeo

Let's Move!

2011-05-22T22:09:00.000-04:00

Love this video. It's extremely motivating!!!

Jan Lewis is the ETS December Volunteer of the Month

2010-12-08T11:27:00.012-05:00

--by Christopher Lentz

Jan Lewis, Accounting Clerk in the Finance Division, has been actively involved with helping those affected by autism since 2004.

"In 2004, my son was three years old, and with the help of early intervention, he was diagnosed as autistic," she says. "I was frozen with fear of the unknown. I had no idea what autism was or what it meant to my beautiful, perfect child."

My Aunt Jan with her sons John (l) and Ty

With the help of a pediatrician, a neurologist and the organization Autism Speaks, Lewis learned enough to not only help her son but to also begin the journey toward finding a cure.

The journey started about ten years ago when she heard about Angel's Wings, a nonprofit organization in Trenton, N.J. Lewis was there when the first baby arrived at the 30-day emergency respite care facility for newborns and children up to age 12 who come from the N.J. Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).

"I started volunteering for four-hour shifts on the weekends, but was often there more frequently taking care of these incredible children. It's an amazing experience to care for and comfort several children after a long, exhausting workweek."

Soon, Lewis was taking foster-parent training.

"A few months later a three-month-old was brought to Angel's Wings crying his heart out. My heart broke. My first son came home with me a month later, and his younger brother joined us about 18 months after that.

"Through my research, I was learning the steps I needed to take to help my oldest son. What I learned helped me to recognize early signs of autism in my youngest son."

Lewis's adopted sons are now seven and nine years old.

"They were receiving limited services in the public schools, so I used what I had learned to fight for the services they needed and rightly deserved. They have since been placed out of the district and into a private school that can better meet their special needs."

But Lewis was determined to do more. She wanted to make a difference by helping other families and helping to find a cure. "I wanted to do it for my sons, and I wanted to do it for the many individuals and family members who were living with autism every day."

In 2001, ETS recognized Lewis with its first ETS Volunteer of the Year Award for the time, energy and dedication she had given to the children of Angel's Wings.

In 2007 Lewis became actively involved with Autism Speaks and participated in her first "Walk Now for Autism Speaks" event. Autism Speaks is the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research on the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.

Last April, during Autism Awareness Month, Lewis worked with the ETS Social Investment Fund to bring autism information and awareness to an ETS lunch-and-learn session. On October 10, Lewis participated in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event on the campus of Mercer County Community College, where she was accepted as a V.I.P. member of Autism Speaks 2010 Grand Club for raising over $1,000.

"Through the many generous donations made by ETS employees, family and friends, I raised $1,200 that will fund research to find a cure. I will continue to support Autism Speaks in any way that I can. I will continue to have discussions about autism with anyone who cares to engage in a conversation.

"The fight for services that will help my sons with their daily struggles has been a battle that will undoubtedly last for the rest of my life and theirs — but I will continue to fight, because I have to."

--------------------------------------

About Autism
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). Some other pervasive developmental disorders include Asperger's Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, often referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Learn more about autism by visiting the Autism Speaks website.

--Article from the ETS Company website

Great Meal Ideas

2010-09-20T15:16:00.002-04:00

So, I'm always looking for great meal ideas, especially for a family that is so painfully divided in what we eat.

Last night for dinner I made oven fried chicken for my non-vegetarian husband and son, cheese tortellini with mushrooms and peas as a side for them and a main course for my vegetarian daughter and me, and steamed baby brussel sprouts with butter and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for everyone.

Lauryn and I had bowls of pasta with brussel sprouts on the side. The sprouts were especially delicious slightly dipped into the creamy pasta sauce. My hubby only had chicken and pasta because he didn't "want" brussel sprouts. I think "he thinks" he doesn't like them but they taste just like cabbage and he eats that with no problem. But I digress. My son, who really only likes noodles, pizza, hamburgers and bacon, ate a little bit of pasta. And that's all.

But I did find a winner yesterday as well. For lunch I made tomato pesto sandwiches. I wish I could take credit for the idea but it actually came from the cafe at Barnes and Noble, where Lauryn and I spend a significant amount of time noshing, drinking and reading our Nooks.

Their sandwich, called the Roasted Tomato Caprese, is pretty simple: Sliced mozzarella and provolone cheese with basil pesto and slow roasted tomatoes on an Asiago basil focaccia roll. Trust me, these are delicious.

In my home (kid-friendly) version, I substituted the roasted tomatoes with freshly sliced ones and used only mozzarella cheese (although I will probably add different ones in the future) and I served them on 100% whole wheat bread. Lightly buttered and then grilled until the cheese is melted, these sandwiches were a hit at our house. So much so that my son (who saw me adding pesto and became a little weary until I told him it was really just a "pizza sandwich") asked to take one to school today for lunch.

Boy, that felt like a huge win!

And the adventures in vegetarianism continue...

Adventures with Tofurky

2010-09-08T15:14:00.005-04:00

I’ve never been very good at packing lunch. First of all, my office is always freezing so the idea of a hot lunch is always appealing. I drink coffee and tea all day long just to keep my insides warm. So when Lauryn suggested, as part of our dive into vegetarianism, that we buy Tofurky (for those of you not familiar, it is turkey-flavored tofu. I know… sounds delicious!) I was slightly hesitant. Ok, I was two aisles away when she convinced me to go back and take another look.

For some reason, I pictured myself having to slice pieces of Tofurky from a giant, gelatinous loaf for our lunches. It wasn’t that way at all. In fact, the package looks pretty much like Oscar Mayer or Butterball and the “turkey” was pre-sliced.

The consistency was pretty much like actual turkey and, surprisingly, so was the taste. The coloring is a little darker, which would be disconcerting to someone like my husband who only eats tofu when it’s floating in his miso soup. But we added whole grain flatbread, a little mayo, a little mustard and a couple slices of colby jack cheese and lunch was “in the bag!” (I know but I couldn’t resist!)

All-in-all, I would give Tofurky a great rating! And, let’s face it; it’s even fun to say!

When Lauryn came home from school yesterday, I asked how her lunch was. She said she loved it and took the same sandwich again today. We seem to have a winner!

And the pescetarian adventures continue…

From Carnivore to Pescetarian

2010-09-07T09:51:00.006-04:00

Recently my peace-loving, environmentally conscious twelve year old declared that she was giving up meat after a decidedly "traumatic" shopping excursion. "As of today, I'm a vegetarian!"

"Really?" I said. "That means no more burgers, ribs, chicken, cheesesteaks..."

"I know. I don't want to eat them any more."

"Does that include fish?"

"No more meat, Mom!"

"Ok, but that means giving up sushi."

After a moment... "Ok, maybe not fish!"

"Well," I replied to her supportively, "if you're serious, I'll do it with you!"

So that's how we got where we are today: Pescetarians! This didn't just come out of the blue. Lauryn has always been a very "conscious" person. Sensitive to animals and people's feelings (except her brother's of course!), very kind and considerate when it comes to other people. She's a very sweet girl. All of her clothing designs (website coming soon!) are accented with the peace sign. So, really, in my mind, it was just a matter of time until we got here.

And here's the thing... I've gone (red) meatless for years with no problem. Unlike my husband, I don't "love" steak and probably wouldn't order one in a restaurant unless it was that restaurant's specialty (such as Arthur's Tavern in Hoboken or The Steakhouse at Circus Circus in Las Vegas.) It's something I can easily live without. Chicken will be a bit harder to give up but, honestly, we both love tofu and all kinds of seafood so I think we'll be all right! And, it's much healthier in the long run!

And, let's face it, Lauryn and I both need to drop a few pounds. Hopefully, this will lead to more healthy eating overall. We are also protesting fast food (as much as we can - but sometimes a baked potato from Wendy's can make an inexpensive and satisfying meal!) and getting out to get more exercise.

I'll check back in often with our progress (yes - both the satisfying highs and the embarrassing lows!) Here's hoping there will be very few lows!

Help Us Out
Any ideas or suggestions on great boxable lunches or tasty homemade meatless dinners would be greatly appreciated. Drop me a line if you have a delicious recipe that you're willing to share! Thanks!

Next stop: cutting down on our sugar intake! (It won't be easy but we can't eat what we don't buy, right?)

The Jester by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

2010-09-03T10:26:00.002-04:00

I finished The Jester last week while on a wonderful beach vacation. Because I am a big fan of James Patterson, I was very surprised about the premise for this story. I know what a Jester is but, for some reason, I thought maybe The Jester was just a code name for a crazed killer rampaging Washington DC in typical Alex Cross-novel style.

But no!

The Jester is actually about... well... a court jester during the Crusades. It was actually a very good story. And, although I would like to say that it was "a lot of fun" to read, it really wasn't. The story is very adult in nature; definitely not for the kiddies. There is quite a bit of sexual reference, lots of crude jokes and lots and lots of extreme violence. So while fun wouldn't be a good word, I still didn't want to put it down.

The beginning of the book is out of place and unnecessary. It starts in the present but the remainder of the book flashes to the past and never returns to the present. Although the book's end explains what happens in the prologue, it was a weird transition that added to my initial "period piece confusion."

But once I was in the correct time period, I really enjoyed the story and was able to picture the action from the very descriptive text with no problem. Hugh De Luc, the main character, was very sympathetic and extremely likable. I found myself rooting for him from the very beginning of his quest.

So, while I probably wouldn't recommend this book to huge fans of chick lit and romance novels, I would recommend it to fans of historical dramas and fantasy novels.

For mature audiences only. Not for the young or faint of heart!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (The Movie)

2010-08-20T11:18:00.004-04:00

I just found out that Noomi Rapace, who played Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo) in the Swedish version of the movie, may be nominated for an Oscar for her role.

As soon as I finished reading the book, I stopped by the RedBox to grab a copy of the movie (the Swedish, subtitled version.) And although a few of the characters didn't really look as I expected that they would, including lead character Blomkvist and his business partner Erika Berger, most of the rest of them did (especially Harriet, Henrik and Martin.) But When I first saw Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth, I thought, "Wow! Perfect casting!" She looked and acted exactly like the character in the book. Exactly!

The movie veered off of the book in a few ways, which they usually tend to do, so I tried not to be bothered by that; in the end, the result was the same. And there was the fact that it was clearly not a "big-budget" picture. Sounds were a little funny, cutaways were abrupt and sometimes a scene started and you had to get your bearings to realize what was going on. The American remake will undoubtedly blow this original film away. Rooney Mara, a virtual unknown, is set for the lead role in our version. (And sometimes that's a good thing!)

So, I said all of this to say that I hope Noomi Rapace at least gets the nod. She was very good! And I hope we get to see more of her versatility in in the US. If she spoke English (and I don't know that she doesn't), she would be perfect to play the American version as well. She did all three Millenium Trilogy movies as well as the Swedish TV series called Millenium, also based on the books.

By the way, If you haven't read the book, read it. It's slow to start but once it gets going, it's a really good story. It's definitely worth all the hype.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2010-08-15T18:41:00.005-04:00

The Help is the story of a reluctant "hero" nicknamed Skeeter - a young, affluent white woman growing up in Mississippi during the heart of the Civil Rights movement and the passion and commitment she had to follow her dreams in spite of all of the societal roadblocks placed genteely in her way. The story also centers around Aibileen and Minny, two black domestics, living in her city and working in her community and the stories of the families to which they, and so many other domestics, dedicate their daily lives. Ms. Stockett writes from the perspectives of all three of the main characters so, not only does the perspective change throughtout the book, so does the writing style.

This story has moments that are both heartwarming and heartbreaking; humorous and horrible. It is an emotional rollercoaster through two and a half tumultuous years of "proper" southern living. I found it to be a wonderful story with lots of emotion without ever feeling sappy or corny. I could picture the houses, the farms, the women, their husbands, the children. There were times when I needed to put the book down because I was afraid of what was going to happen. There were times when I felt the tears well up because of what did.

Although historical fiction doesn't usually interest me, I would highly recommend The Help. I loved this story. Once I started it, I found that I couldn't put this book down. I just had to know what was going to happen next!

If you liked The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, you will love The Help by Kathryn Stockett!

New Nook!

2010-08-13T11:24:00.000-04:00

I got my new Nook yesterday. Finally! It is new and gorgeous, charged up and ready to read! The only thing is... I couldn't wait. I don't go very long without a story in-hand so I started reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett (an actual book) the day that I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So far, so good.

But in the meantime, I spent the afternoon re-loading my books including a few new ones that I got for free from the Borders ebooks launch (which I sent to my Nook using Adobe Digital Editions), and gave my Nook a new name.

In the tradition of Psych's Shawn and Gus (if you are not familiar, Shawn always introduces his partner Gus with a ridiculous made-up name - our favorite by far is Ghee Buttersnaps!) my daughter Lauryn named her Nook Dr. McLee Sugarsnaps III.

My original Nook was simply called Casi's Buena Lectura, which simply means "Good Reading" in spanish. But now that I have a new unit, a new name seemed more appropriate.

Lauryn and I tossed around a few silly names and I finally settled on a silly one that I think kind of flows. So my new Nook's name is now Amelina Nookenpox.

I know it's silly but it just shows how happy I am to be back in the Nook business. And just in time for Free Friday!

Use Your Powers for Good!

2010-08-12T11:44:00.004-04:00

So, I just verified that my newest (and hopefully LAST) Nook is on its way to my home. I can't wait to get it back and all set up for happy reading again. I'll update on that situation tomorrow.

I want to blog today about computer security. Several times in the last few weeks I have received emails from from friends who have apparently been hacked. A few times it has happened from their personal email accounts and a few of those happened right on Facebook. I just have one question about all of this: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THESE HACKERS?????

Seriously!!! You have nothing better to do with your time than to pray on innocent strangers and send random messages to their friends and family? I can't stand this anymore! These people are so intelligent. I mean, really! Why can't they direct that intelligence to positive efforts - like cleaning up the oil spills or building a colony on Mars or verifying the string theory or something? Why spend hours at a computer sending illiterate and ridiculous requests for money to be wired to a "friend" stranded at the British Embassy or in the African jungle with no money? And it's 2010; how many people still fall for these tricks?

Here's my advice to prevent this stuff from happening to you:

1. Make your passwords more complicated. I know that its our habit to use the same passwords over and over again but you need to make sure that they are not too easy to guess. Throw a capital letter, symbol and/or number in the middle of the word and you've got yourself a more secure password.

2. Change your passwords regularly. At work, I'm forced to change my passwords every 60 days. At home, with all of the accounts that I have, that feels a little ridiculous. But every once in a while, just go through your main accounts, especially your email and finance-related ones, and change the passwords. Better safe than sorry!

3. Set up your security questions and remember your answers. This is the best way for a secure site to verify who you are and the easiest way for you to be able to reset passwords painlessly. I try to never use the questions like "What is your favorite book/restaurant/song" because, quite frankly, that information can change at any moment. Try to use the questions that have stagnant answers such as your father's middle name or how many siblings you have or the month that your oldest child was born. That way, you won't have to think back to a time in your life when you really loved Pakistani food but can't remember the name of that restaurant on the corner that you used to go to when you worked for your last company.

Hopefully this will help you to keep out of the way of the hackers. And hopefully, the hackers will eventually realize that they can use their considerable talents to make lots of legitimate money working for a great computer software company or NASA or NOAA rather than causing distractions and inconveniences in people's daily lives. They should be using their powers for good before they really hurt someone!

Nook Flux

2010-08-11T11:47:00.001-04:00

So... I'm still in Nook limbo. I did receive my new Nook yesterday, as promised. I opened the boxes and threw it on the charger and then did some running around with Darryl. When I got home, I settled myself down to re-load my wallpapers, screen savers and books.

When I started the system up, I noticed a few shadowy lines in the background of my screen. I ignored them, at first, and kept on with my re-registration process and adding my WiFi data which all went very smoothly. But I could still see the shadows in the background. I clicked on a book in my library and opened it up. I could still see the shadows but it wasn't so bad. I thought, "It's just my imagination. I can live with this."

Let's hope the next unit is NEW and not another refurb!

Then I turned a page. Not only do I still see the shadows but I have a double flash and I see rows and rows of vertical lines running through my unit. "Ugh!" I tried it again. Two flashes, lots of lines. "Huge sigh!" I called B&N again and spoke to Jerome, who was very patient with me while I explained to him that my supposedly "new" unit has double flashes, shadows and lots of lines.

He walked me through the whole reset six times routine and... you guessed it... I still had lines. So, I put BOTH units in the box I just received, wrapped them up tightly and am headed to the post office this afternoon to make sure that they get back to B&N safe and sound. And my THIRD unit is on it's way. I still love the Nook. I'm not giving up! Let's just hope this one's the keeper!

Nook Swaps

2010-08-10T10:24:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows how much I love my Nook. In fact, I tout it's advantages so often that I've sold several units (commission-free by the way) since I received my own Nook back in January. But, as with all electronic devices, there is always a glitch or two along the way.

On Saturday, I was happily skimming through "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (see my review here) while my husband took us on a leisurely drive through Philadelphia. All seemed to be going well... the sun was shining, the car was full of gas and the kids were quietly occupied in the back seat. When lo and behold... my Nook caught a glitch.

Nooooo!!!

I'm still not exactly sure what happened. Suddenly, everything moved to the center of the page so I could only see the first half of my pages. "OK," I tell myself, "don't panic." So I put the Nook to sleep and then woke it up. Problem still there. Turned it off completely, waited 30 seconds, turned it back on. Not fixed. I turned it over, removed the back and the battery, waited 30 seconds, popped it all back together. Huge, sad sigh. Still not fixed. So I called B&N, eyes glassy, and explained my problem to Ryan who answered my call.

Ryan was wonderful. He walked me through resetting the Nook (which consisted of holding the power button for 30 second intervals 6 times in a row) and then he unregistered me remotely. Although he tried, nothing helped. So he placed an order for a replacement Nook. It should arrive today.

In the meantime, I wanted to finish my story - I was less than 100 pages from the end. So I borrowed my daughter's Nook (fortunately we share an account so she has all my book and I have all of hers) to pick up where I left off. As she handed me her device, she says, "Be careful here. It's cracked." And she points to the right page turning arrow.

"No," I say, "that's just the design."

"No." she replies. "Look." She touched the arrow and it is actually cracked in the frame.
"I read about that issue," I told her. "It's a manufacturer's defect. Don't worry. We can get you a new one."

So after dinner last night, we drove to the local B&N store where we originally purchased her Nook just a couple short months ago and we were able to swap out her cracked Nook for a new one hassle-free (thanks to Nick who was so kind and patient.) Apparently the newer design is a softer plastic that doesn't crack anymore.

When I got her new device home and onto the charger, I did notice that the casing was a little more pliable. I hope when my new one arrives today, it's got that same new design.

We are still a Nook-loving family. And because our exchanges were both hassle-free and our Customer Service agents were both wonderfully helpful and genuinely nice people, we will remain huge fans of Barnes and Noble for a long time to come!

If you're looking for me over the next couple of days, I will be sideloading ebooks, screensavers and wallpapers to a couple of new Nook devices.

Step Up 3D Review

2010-08-07T00:31:00.008-04:00

We are HUGE fans of So You Think You Can Dance on Fox. It's undoubtedly my favorite show. Every year we meet and feel passionate about new dancers and have watched as some of their careers have risen at meteoric rates. This year the show brought back All-Stars so we have been treated to a wonderful season of seeing some of our favs again and again.

So any dance movie produced by Adam Shankman and starring the likes of Choreographer Dave Scott and dancers Twitch Boss, Joshua Allen, Musa Cooper, Legacy Perez, Ashlee Nino, and Ivan Koumaev, all of SYTYCD fame, was a must-see summer event for us.

Well... If you are looking for great acting and a plausible storyline, this is certainly NOT the place where you want to spend $15 and 2 hours of your life. The acting was horrendous. The only actor that I even recognized was Disney kid Alyson Stoner, who I first recognized as a backup dancer for Missy Elliott but has made several movies, her own TV show and tons of TV commercials since then. As expected, she was terrific. Everyone else... eh!

The plot was predictable and, really, I couldn't have cared less for the characters' plight. They were nice kids but I really just wanted them to get to the dancing.

However, if you like dance, especially hip hop, crunk, be-boy, locking, popping, parkour and breakdancing, then this movie is a MUST SEE!!! (They even threw in a little bit of tango. It was very classy!)

I have to admit that I don't know if I would have enjoyed the movie as much if we hadn't chosen to see it in 3D. The effects were magnificent (the colors, the lights, the Icees - you'll see!). The dancing was phenomenal. Everything from their rehearsals to the big battle scenes were spectacular to watch. So good, in fact, that the small audience in the theater applauded wildly after the final battle scene ended. It was that good!

I wish they had shown more of Johsua Allen - he was the Season 4 winner of SYTYCD. This would have been a great place to showcase his many talents to the masses, beyond the audience of the show.

So, while the acting was mediocre and the plot was contrived and corny, the dancing makes it all worthwhile! Next time they should just forget the storyline altogether and let those awesome dancers just do what they do. Dance!

The movie is rated PG-13 but I went with my 12 year old daughter and didn't find anything particularly offensive in the film. No sex, no nudity, no real violence, just a little kissing. Enjoy!

The Passage by Justin Cronin

2010-08-06T11:00:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. Although it was only released in June, I anxiously downloaded this to my Nook based on recommendations from other readers. This is an author I've never heard of and a book I'd never seen advertised, but I thought I'd take a chance.

Boy, did it pay off!

I was captivated by this book from the very first chapter. It initially appeared to be several short stories (very captivating ones) that were unconnected but when the story came together, it came together with a bang (and I mean that literally!)

You don't have to be a die-hard sci fi buff to enjoy this story. Although the premise is fantastic, it also has aspects of love and relationships and epic struggles for mere survival in the most unusual of circumstances. You feel what the characters feel - hungry, cold, afraid. That's what a good book is supposed to do!

The Passage is the first novel that I've read in a long while that I would give 5 stars*. It was that good. I highly recommend it.

*Contains some mature language/violent material - recommended for ages 14 and up.

I Love My Nook!

2010-08-02T10:29:00.002-04:00

I'm an avid reader. I read all the time. I almost always have a book with me, just in case the remote possibility of boredom presents itself. I am always fully armed to keep myself entertained with something riveting (or at least more interesting than staring at strangers while waiting for my turn at the DMV or standing in line at the Toronto airport.)

When Amazon first introduced the Kindle e-reader, my mom called me and said, "I think I've found something you'll love. Take a look at the Kindle on Amazon." I looked at it. Really, it didn't catch my fancy and I'm not sure why. I called her back and told her, "I don't really think I want that." I mean, at the time, it was around $350 and for me to look at it and say, "Eh!" didn't really warrant spending that kind of money. Then I saw an ad for the Nook.

Immediately, the Nook grabbed me. I can't explain the pull. Maybe it was the color touch screen. Maybe it was the fact that it was linked to Barnes & Noble, my favorite bookstore. Maybe it was the fact that I can download books from my local library right to my device for free. Honestly I can't say. But from the time it was presented until it was actually for sale, I had decided that that was what I wanted.

Last year, Christmas was a breeze for my husband. All season I said to the kids, "If Daddy asks you what I want, tell him I want a Nook! Now repeat that back to me. What does Mommy want?" I told my mom as a backup, just in case. And, surprise, surprise, among all of the other wonderful things that I received for Christmas, I got my Nook! (Yes, my husband is awesome!)

Since then, we have been inseparable. Any purse that I buy has to have enough room to carry it. I have about 75 books on there, some read, quite a few still on the waiting list, some sideloaded in pdf format. And since B&N offers new free books every Friday, my list keeps growing steadily and I am introduced to new authors that I probably never would have read otherwise. And, of course, once I learned how to create my own screensavers and wallpapers, I was completely sold!

My daughter has her own Nook now, as does my mom. We're a Nook family. We have been known to spend hot Saturdays in a the confines of a cool B&N store, having lunch and taking advantage of the free coffee or dessert coupon (only presented while in the store).

I know that there are still people out there that would prefer a good old, page turning paperback, and that's fine. But there are lots of advantages to the Nook, the main one being that I no longer have to find room to store all of those new books that I just can't live without reading. Oh, and no more late fees from the library. When a book is due, it's automatically "returned."

The built-in hard drive holds 1500 books and the 4GB micro SD that I added means that I won't run out of room, or reading, for a long, long time.

Seriously, if you're a reader and are trying to decide which e-reader to buy, I would suggest that you consider the Nook. If you have any questions about it before you decide, feel free to drop me a line. Or check out Unbound, B&N's Nook blog and hear from other happy Nook readers.

Happy reading!

Charter school in tough neighborhood gets all its seniors into college

2010-03-12T13:39:00.000-05:00

Just sharing this incredibly positive story from the Chicago Tribune:

Urban Prep Academy senior Keith Greer, along with his classmates, celebrates the news they will receive a free prom in Chicago because 100 percent of the graduating class was accepted into 4-year colleges or universities. (Tribune photo by Heather Charles / March 5, 2010)

The entire senior class at Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges. At last count, the 107 seniors had earned spots at 72 schools across the nation.

Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at an all-school assembly at Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood this morning to congratulate them. It's the first graduating class at Urban Prep since it opened its doors in 2006.

Huberman applauded the seniors for making CPS shine.

"All of you in the senior class have shown that what matters is perseverance, what matters is focus, what matters is having a dream and following that dream," Huberman said.

The school enforces a strict uniform of black blazers, khaki pants and red ties -- with one exception. After a student receives the news he was accepted into college, he swaps his red tie for a red and gold one at an assembly.

The last 13 students received their college ties today, to thunderous applause.

Ask Rayvaughn Hines what college he was accepted to and he'll answer with a question.

"Do you want me to name them all?"

For the 18-year-old from Back of the Yards, college was merely a concept--never a goal--growing up. Even within the last three years, he questioned if school, let alone college, was for him. Now, the senior is headed to the prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. next fall.

Hines remembers the moment he put on his red and gold tie.

"I wanted to take my time because I was just so proud of myself," he said. "I wanted everyone to see me put it on."

The achievement might not merit a mayoral visit at one of the city's elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls using a lottery in one of the city's more troubled neighborhoods, faced difficult odds. Only 4 percent of this year's senior class read at grade level as freshmen, according to Tim King, the school's CEO.

"I never had a doubt that we would achieve this goal," King said. "Every single person we hired knew from the day one that this is what we do: We get our kids into college."

College is omnipresent at the school. Before the students begin their freshman year, they take a field trip to Northwestern University. Every student is assigned a college counselor the day he steps foot in the school.

The school offers an extended day--170,000 more minutes over four years compared to its counterparts across the city--and more than double the number of English credits usually needed to graduate.

Even the school's voicemail has a student declaring "I am college bound" before it asks callers to dial an extension.

Normally, it takes senior Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On Dec. 11, the day University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana was to post his admission decisions online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him home.

He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he remembers screaming. His mother, who didn't dare stray far, burst in and began crying.

That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting "I got in" on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.

"We're breaking barriers," he said. "And that feels great."

deldeib@tribune.com

Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune

What it is about hugging?

2009-10-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

I thought it was just me. I'm not a hugger - never really have been. It's not that I'm "germophobic" per se, althought I tell people that because it's what they understand. It's more about the discomfort in touching (and sometimes smelling) others, especially people that I really don't know. Strangers that insisted on touching my protruding belly during both of my pregnancies drove me insane (as did the question, "How are you feeling?" but that's a story for a different day.) I hug because, socially, it's what people do. But I would much prefer a handshake or, quite frankly, no touching at all.

Check out this article by Danino Hughes. At least I'm not alone!

NASA Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring Around Saturn

2009-10-07T15:37:00.001-04:00

Absolutely fascinating!!!

NASA Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring Around Saturn

Shared via AddThis

GWEN LEA Modern Portrait Design: KAMRI - Wichita Collegiate 2010 Senior#links

2009-08-05T09:35:00.000-04:00

This is my cousin Kamri.

GWEN LEA Modern Portrait Design: KAMRI - Wichita Collegiate 2010 Senior#links

FunniBonz BBQ Sauce and Rubs

2009-08-03T23:24:00.002-04:00

I'm easy to find...

2009-06-13T16:16:00.004-04:00

Find me on Facebook: www.fbook.me/casibk

Find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/casibk

FunniBonz Press Release

2009-06-09T13:18:00.001-04:00

Click HERE and check it out!

"Ain't nothin' funni 'bout a sauce this good!"

Poor? Pay Up!

2009-05-21T16:36:00.004-04:00

Having Little Money Often Means No Car, No Washing Machine, No Checking Account And No Break From Fees and High Prices

By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 18, 2009

You have to be rich to be poor.

That's what some people who have never lived below the poverty line don't understand.

Put it another way: The poorer you are, the more things cost. More in money, time, hassle, exhaustion, menace. This is a fact of life that reality television and magazines don't often explain.
So we'll explain it here. Consider this a primer on the economics of poverty.

"The poor pay more for a gallon of milk; they pay more on a capital basis for inferior housing," says Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). "The poor and 100 million who are struggling for the middle class actually end up paying more for transportation, for housing, for health care, for mortgages. They get steered to subprime lending. . . . The poor pay more for things middle-class America takes for granted."

Poverty 101: We'll start with the basics.
Like food: You don't have a car to get to a supermarket, much less to Costco or Trader Joe's, where the middle class goes to save money. You don't have three hours to take the bus. So you buy groceries at the corner store, where a gallon of milk costs an extra dollar.

A loaf of bread there costs you $2.99 for white. For wheat, it's $3.79. The clerk behind the counter tells you the gallon of leaking milk in the bottom of the back cooler is $4.99. She holds up four fingers to clarify. The milk is beneath the shelf that holds beef bologna for $3.79. A pound of butter sells for $4.49. In the back of the store are fruits and vegetables. The green peppers are shriveled, the bananas are more brown than yellow, the oranges are picked over.

(At a Safeway on Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, the wheat bread costs $1.19, and white bread is on sale for $1. A gallon of milk costs $3.49 -- $2.99 if you buy two gallons. A pound of butter is $2.49. Beef bologna is on sale, two packages for $5.)

Prices in urban corner stores are almost always higher, economists say. And sometimes, prices in supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods are higher. Many of these stores charge more because the cost of doing business in some neighborhoods is higher. "First, they are probably paying more on goods because they don't get the low wholesale price that bigger stores get," says Bradley R. Schiller, a professor emeritus at American University and the author of "The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination."

"The real estate is higher. The fact that volume is low means fewer sales per worker. They make fewer dollars of revenue per square foot of space. They don't end up making more money. Every corner grocery store wishes they had profits their customers think they have."

According to the Census Bureau, more than 37 million people in the country live below the poverty line. The poor know these facts of life. These facts become their lives.

Time is money, they say, and the poor pay more in time, too.

When you are poor, you don't have the luxury of throwing a load into the washing machine and then taking your morning jog while it cycles. You wait until Monday afternoon, when the laundromat is most likely to be empty, and you put all of that laundry from four kids into four heaps, bundle it in sheets, load a cart and drag it to the corner.

"If I had my choice, I would have a washer and a dryer," says Nya Oti, 37, a food-service worker who lives in Brightwood. She stands on her toes to reach the top of a washer in the laundromat on Georgia Avenue NW and pours in detergent. The four loads of laundry will take her about two hours. A soap opera is playing loudly on the television hanging from the ceiling. A man comes in talking to himself. He drags his loads of dirty sheets and mattress pads and dumps them one by one into the machines next to Oti.

She does not seem to notice. She is talking about other costs of poverty. "My car broke down this weekend, and it took a lot of time getting on the bus, standing on the bus stop. It was a waste of a whole lot of times. Waiting. The transfer to the different bus."

When she has her car, she drives to Maryland, where she shops for her groceries at Shoppers Food Warehouse or Save-A-Lot, where she says some items are cheaper and some are higher. "They have a way of getting you in there on a bargain. You go in for something cheap, but something else is more expensive." She buys bags of oranges or apples, but not the organic kind. "Organic is too much," she says.

"When you are poor, you substitute time for money," says Randy Albelda, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. "You have to work a lot of hours and still not make a lot of money. You get squeezed, and your money is squeezed."

The poor pay more in hassle: the calls from the bill collectors, the landlord, the utility company. So they spend money to avoid the hassle. The poor pay for caller identification because it gives them peace of mind to weed out calls from bill collectors.

The rich have direct deposit for their paychecks. The poor have check-cashing and payday loan joints, which cost time and money. Payday advance companies say they are providing an essential service to people who most need them. Their critics say they are preying on people who are the most "economically vulnerable."

"As you've seen with the financial services industry, if people can cut a profit, they do it," Blumenauer says. "The poor pay more for financial services. A lot of people who are 'unbanked' pay $3 for a money order to pay their electric bill. They pay a 2 percent check-cashing fee because they don't have bank services. The reasons? Part of it is lack of education. But part of it is because people target them. There is evidence that credit-card mills have recently started trolling for the poor. They are targeting the recently bankrupt."

Outside the ACE check-cashing office on Georgia Avenue in Petworth, Harrison Blakeney, 67, explains a hard financial lesson of poverty. He uses the check-cashing store to pay his telephone bill. The store charges 10 percent to take Blakeney's money and send the payment to the phone company. That 10 percent becomes what it costs him to get his payment to the telephone company on time. Ten percent is more than the cost of a stamp. But, Blakeney says: "I don't have time to mail it. You come here and get it done. Then you don't get charged with the late fee."

Blakeney, a retired auto mechanic who now lives on a fixed income, says: "We could send the payment ahead of time but sometimes you don't have money ahead of time. That's why you pay extra money to get them to send it."

Blakeney, wearing a purple jacket, leans on his cane. He has no criticism for the check-cashing place. "That's how they make their money," he says. "I don't care about the charge."
Just then, Lenwood Brooks walks out of the check-cashing place. He is angry about how much it just cost him to cash a check. "They charged me $15 to cash a $300 check," he says.

You ask him why he didn't just go to a bank. But his story is as complicated as the various reasons people find themselves in poverty and in need of a check-cashing joint. He says he lost his driver's license and now his regular bank "won't recognize me as a human. That's why I had to come here. It's a rip-off, but it's like a convenience store. You pay for the convenience."

Then there's credit. The poor don't have it. What they had was a place like First Cash Advance in D.C.'s Manor Park neighborhood, where a neon sign once flashed "PAYDAY ADVANCE." Through the bulletproof glass, a cashier in white eyeliner and long white nails explained what you needed to get an advance on your paycheck -- a pay stub, a legitimate ID, a checkbook. This meant you're doing well enough to have a checking account, but you're still poor.

And if you qualify, the fee for borrowing $300 is $46.50.

That was not for a year -- it's for seven days, although the terms can vary. How much interest will this payday loan cost you? In simple terms, the company is charging a $15.50 fee for every $100 that you borrow. On your $300 payday loan -- borrowed for a term of seven days -- the effective annual percentage rate is 806 percent.

The cashier says that what you do is write First Cash Advance a check for $345.50 plus another $1 fee, and it will give you $300 in cash upfront. It holds the check until you get paid. Then you bring in $346.50 and it returns your check. Or it cashes the check and keeps your $346.50, or you have the option of extending the loan with additional fees. You'll be out $46.50, which you'd rather have for the late fee on the rent you didn't pay on time. Or the gas bill you swear you paid last month but the gas company swears it never got.

But now the payday advance place has closed, shuttered by metal doors. A sign in the front door says the business has moved. After the D.C. government passed a law requiring payday lenders to abide by a 24-percent limit on the annual percentage rate charged on a loan, many such stores in the District closed. Now advocates for the poor say they are concerned about other businesses that prey on poor people by extending loans in exchange for car titles. If a person does not pay back the loan, then the business becomes the owner of the car.

All these costs can lead the poor to a collective depression. Douglas J. Besharov, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, says: "There are social costs of being poor, though it is not clear where the cause and effect is. We know for a fact that on certain measures, people who are poor are often more depressed than people who are not. I don't know if poverty made them depressed or the depression made them poor. I think the cause and effect is an open question. Some people are so depressed they are not functional. 'I live in a crummy neighborhood. My kids go to a crummy school.' That is not the kind of scenario that would make them happy." Another effect of all this, he says: "Would you want to hire someone like that?"

The poor suspect that prices are higher where they live, even the prices in major supermarkets. The suspicions sometimes spill over into frustration.

On a hot spring afternoon, Jacob Carter finds himself standing in a checkout line at the Giant on Alabama Avenue SE. Before the cashier finishes ringing up his items, he puts $43 on the conveyor belt. But his bill comes to $52.07. He has no more money, so he tells the clerk to start removing items.

The clerk suggests that he use his "bonus card" for savings.

Carter tells the clerk he has no such card.

He puts back the liter of soda. Puts back the paper towels. Sets aside $9 worth of hot fried chicken wings. He returns $13 worth of groceries. "Y'all got some high prices in this [expletive]," he says, standing in Aisle 4, blue shirt over work clothes.

The clerk suggests that he take his cash off the conveyor belt, because if she moves the belt the money will be carried into the machinery. Then the money will be gone.

Carter, a building engineer, snatches up the money, then gives it to the clerk. His final bill is $39.07.

He looks at the receipt and then announces without the slightest indication as to why: "Just give me all my [expletive] money back. It's too high in this [expletive]." The clerk calls the supervisor, who comes over. The supervisor doesn't argue with Carter. She just starts the process of giving him a refund.

"I want my money back. This [expletive] is too high. My grandmother told me about this store."
The supervisor returns $39.07 in cash. "Sir," she says, "have a blessed day."

The food in this supermarket might be cheaper than the goods at a corner store. But Carter still feels frustrated by what he thinks is a mark-up on prices in supermarkets in poor neighborhoods. Carter walks out.

The poor pay in other ways, ways you might never imagine. Jeanette Reed, who is retired and lives on a fixed income, sold her blood when she needed money. "I had no other source to get money," she says. "I went to the blood bank. And they gave me $30.

"I needed the money. I didn't have the money and no source of getting money. No gas. No food. I have to go to a center that gives out boxes of food once a month. They give you cereal or vouchers for $10. They give you canned tuna and macaroni and cheese. Crackers and soup. They give you commodities like day-old bread."

The poor know the special economics of their housing, too.

"You pay rent that might be more than a mortgage," Reed says. "But you don't have the credit or the down payment to buy a house. Apartments are not going down. They are going up. They say houses are better, cheaper. But how are you going to get in a house if you don't have any money for a down payment?"

There is also an economic cost to living in low-income neighborhoods.

"The cheaper housing is in more-dangerous areas," says Reed, who lives in Southeast Washington. "I moved out of my old apartment. I hate that area. They be walking up and down the street. Couldn't take the dog out at night because strangers walking up and down the street. They will knock on your door. Either they rob you, kill or ask for money. If you're not there, they will steal air conditioners and copper. They will sell your copper [pipes] for money."

And then there is the particular unpleasantness when you make too much money to fall below the poverty line, but not enough to move up, up and away from it.

For our final guest lecturer on poverty we take you to the Thrift Store on Georgia Avenue and Marie Nicholas, 35, in an orange shirt, purple pants and thick black eyeliner. She is what economists call the working poor.

She is picking through the racks. The store is busy with customers on a Monday afternoon. There is the shrill sound of hangers sliding across racks under fluorescent lights. An old confirmation dress hangs from the ceiling. It has faded to yellow. It's not far from the used silver pumps, size 9 1/2 , nearly new, on sale for $9.99.

"People working who don't make a lot of money go to the system for help, and they deny them," Nicholas says. "They say I make too much. It almost helps if you don't work."

She says she makes $15 an hour working as a certified nursing assistant. She pays $850 for rent for a one-bedroom that she shares with her boyfriend and child. She went looking for a two-bedroom unit recently and found it would cost her $1,400. She pays $300 a month for child care for her 11-year-old son, who is developmentally delayed. She tried to put him in a subsidized child-care facility, but was told she makes too much money. "My son was not chosen for Head Start because I wasn't in a shelter or on welfare. People's kids who do go don't do nothing but sit at home."

Money and time. "I ride the bus to get to work," Nicholas says. It takes an hour. "If I could drive, it would take me 10 minutes. I have to catch two buses." She gets to the bus stop at 6:30 a.m. The bus is supposed to come every 10 or 15 minutes. Sometimes, she says, it comes every 30 minutes.

What could you accomplish with the lost 20 minutes standing there in the rain? Waiting. That's another cost of poverty. You wait in lines. You wait at bus stops. You wait on the bus as it makes it way up Georgia Avenue, hitting every stop. No sense in trying to hurry when you are poor.

When you are poor, you wait.

Obama ignores the 'rules,' stirs the pot

2009-05-19T09:57:00.002-04:00

By Gloria Borger

CNN Senior Political Analyst

(CNN) -- In politics, particularly after you've arrived at the White House, the rule of thumb is this: retreat from controversy. When it happens, as it inevitably will, try to back off. Change the subject if you can. And remember, calm is good. Pot-stirring, not so good.

But when President Obama went to Notre Dame to deliver the commencement address over the weekend, he threw the conventional rules away, or at least ignored them.

It would have been easy (some might say, even advisable) to lightly gloss over the obvious elephant in the room: the debate over abortion rights.

After all, there he was at a Catholic university, whose very invitation to the pro-choice president sparked the vitriol of anti-abortion activists -- and the disapproval of those who simply believe that Obama at Notre Dame was a wrong time-wrong place kind of invitation.

It might have turned out that way, in fact, had the president decided to avoid the controversy. But instead, he purposefully stepped into it, elevating the mundane political imbroglio into a national "teachable moment" -- a discourse about the civil way to disagree on an issue that has largely been characterized by its emotional turmoil.

Sure, there was some detour into commencement platitudes about a "search for common ground" and the like, but not much. Instead, Obama waded right in, acknowledging the "controversy surrounding my visit here."

But he did not stop there, although he certainly could have. Instead, he preached his own political gospel from the Notre Dame pulpit.

"Maybe we won't agree on abortion," Obama told the students. "But we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually. It has both a moral and a spiritual dimension."

And he spoke of working to try to find ways to reduce unwanted pregnancies and to promote adoption -- reasonable political detours around the minefield. But mostly, what the Notre Dame graduates heard was a president -- indeed, a politician -- who had actually pondered the issue beyond the bumper sticker.

This is someone who took down the wording "right-wing ideologues" from his Web site when he ran for the Senate after being challenged on it by an anti-abortion activist. And he's a president who told the students that "the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt."

Try to put that in a 30-second TV spot.

You can't. And that's precisely why the Republicans -- and some Democrats -- are having so much trouble getting a handle on this president.

He doesn't shy away from this kind of controversy, but chooses to confront it civilly. He makes decisions (eliminating military tribunals), then decides to change his mind (he'll have another version of them) when he's wrong.

He thrills liberals (closing Guantanamo, releasing the so-called "torture memos"), then disappoints (when he decides not to release photos of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan allegedly being abused by their American captors). He calls for bipartisanship, yet is happy to pass a budget and economic bailout plans with hardly a GOP vote.

For their part, six out of 10 Americans like Obama, according to our latest CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. While nearly half disapprove of the polarizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Obama gets credit for trying to bring change to Washington. She's the old politics; he's the new guy who wants to change things.

In some ways, of course, he's failed. Partisans still bicker; the cavernous ideological divides remain. But when the president decides to stir the pot on abortion, it's because there needs to be a dialogue, and it's clear there's more to come.

More conversation, that is -- and maybe less culture war. As someone once famously said, bring it on.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gloria Borger. Gloria is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull," "AC360" and "State of the Union with John King," as well as special event coverage.

A Quick Laugh

2009-05-05T11:46:00.002-04:00

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated in an algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. A hole has been found in th e nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger.. Then it hit me.

15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said:'Keep off the Grass.'

16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

18. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

19. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

20. A backward poet writes inverse.

21. In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

22. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

23. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!

A New Era

2009-04-16T23:02:00.001-04:00

Just got a new PC with Vista on it. So far, so good. Actually… it’s gorgeous. I’m confident that all of the bugs that I was so afraid of are all gone. Personally, I think I’m loving this new PC!

The Debate Over Online News: It's the Consumer, Stupid

2009-04-10T14:01:00.005-04:00

It is my pleasure to re-post Arianna Huffington's brilliant article regarding the apparent attempt to "lock down" news on the internet. Read, enjoy and leave your comments here or on the Huffington Post website.

The Debate Over Online News: It's the Consumer, Stupid

by Arianna Huffington

The discussion about the aggregation and distribution of content on the web heated up this week when the Associated Press announced plans to "launch an industry initiative" designed "to protect news content" online.

The announcement -- characterized by the New York Times' Saul Hansell as a "war on search engines and aggregators" -- drew considerable fire, including blasts from Google, BusinessWeek, the Online Journalism Review, TechCrunch, and this classic broadside from Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land.

The conversation continued last night when Charlie Rose invited me to discuss the issue with Tom Curley, AP's president and CEO. The video of the segment is below.

As you'll see, for me the key question is whether those of us working in the media (old and new) embrace and adapt to the radical changes brought about by the Internet or pretend that we can somehow hop into a journalistic Way Back Machine and return to a past that no longer exists and can't be resurrected.

As my compatriot Heraclites put it nearly 2,500 years ago: "You cannot step into the same river twice."

Towards the end of the segment, Charlie summed up what I was saying: "We have seen the future and it is here. It is a linked economy. It is search engines. It is online advertising. That's where the future is. And if you can't find your way to that, then you can't find your way." Precisely.

The great upheaval the news industry is going through is the result of a perfect storm of transformative technology, the advent of Craigslist, generational shifts in the way people find and consume news, and the dire impact the economic crisis has had on advertising. And there is no question that, as the industry moves forward and we figure out the new rules of the road, there will be -- and needs to be -- a great deal of experimentation with new revenue models.

But what won't work -- what can't work -- is to act like the last 15 years never happened, that we are still operating in the old content economy as opposed to the new link economy, and that the survival of the industry will be found by "protecting" content behind walled gardens.

We've seen that movie (and its many sequels, including TimesSelect). News consumers didn't like them, and they closed in a hurry.

And the answer can't be content creators huffing and puffing and trying to blow down Google and other news aggregators. That one falls under Be Careful What You Wish For. As Jeff Jarvis points out, doing that is a one-way ticket to oblivion -- and a 50 percent drop in traffic.

HuffPost has a good working relationship with AP -- we pay a monthly fee to license AP stories and photos. But I was really surprised to hear Tom Curley describe what he called "the Internet experience" as "a bomb. Unlimited competition, unlimited inventory, a bad customer experience."

A bomb? Really? Tell that to the consumer. And since when does "unlimited competition" and "unlimited inventory" (i.e., lots of options and choices and freedom) add up to "a bad customer experience"?

Indeed, it's just the opposite.

Can anyone seriously argue that this isn't a magnificent time for news consumers who can surf the net, use search engines, and go to news aggregators to access the best stories from countless sources around the world -- stories that are up-to-the-minute, not rolled out once a day? (That's one of the things we try to do at HuffPost: guide our readers to the most interesting and timely news and opinion from places they know and from places that we introduce them to, as well as offering them original reporting, 200 original blog posts a day, citizen journalism, and our new investigative fund). Online news also allows users to immediately comment on stories, as well as interact and form communities with other commenters.

Consumer habits have changed dramatically. People have gotten used to getting the news they want, when they want it, how they want it, and where they want it. And this change is here to stay.

In many ways, the news industry has appropriately adapted to these changes.

Take online video. Not that long ago, content providers were committed to the idea of requiring viewers to come to their site to view their content -- and railed against anyone who dared show even a short clip.

But content hoarding -- the walled garden -- didn't work. And instead of sticking their finger in the dike, trying to hold back the flow of innovation, smart companies began providing embeddable players that allowed their best stuff to be posted all over the web, accompanied by links and ads that helped generate additional traffic and revenue.

When I hear the heads of media companies talking about "restricting" content (as Curley did) or describing news aggregators as "parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the Internet" (as the editor of the Wall Street Journal recently did), I can't help feeling the same way I did in 2001, when I was one of the cofounders of The Detroit Project, and watched as the heads of the auto industry decided that instead of embracing the future they would rather spend considerable energy and money lobbying the government for tax loopholes for gas-guzzling behemoths, fighting back fuel efficiency standards, and trying to convince consumers through billions in advertising that SUVs were the cars that would lead America into the 21st century.

Instead of trying to hold back the future, I suggest that media execs read The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (since I keep mentioning the book and giving copies to friends, I'm thrilled that Christensen is now blogging for HuffPost), and see what he has to say about "disruptive innovation" and how, instead of resisting it, you can seize the opportunities it provides.

Or go to any college, as I often do, and ask a group of students how many of them, during the campaign, saw Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin. It's usually 100 percent. Then ask how many saw it on Saturday Night Live. It's usually no more than one or two. Yes, SNL could have said tune in to NBC Saturday Night at 11:30 or don't see it at all. But Lorne Michaels and Jeff Zucker obviously don't want to go the way of Rick Wagoner and his Detroit buddies.

Delivering the keynote address at the Newspaper Association of America's annual conference on Tuesday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt cut right to the chase, telling the assembled newspaper men and women: "Try to figure out what your consumer wants. If you piss off enough of them, you will not have any of them."

After we posted the Charlie Rose segment, HuffPost commenter osage weighed in: "EVOLVE OR PERISH. If AP refuses to adapt to the demands of the internet marketplace, it will disappear just as surely as 5 1/4" floppy disks and public pay telephones have disappeared. Resistance is futile."

I'd love to hear your take. Fire away in the comments section.

3rd Annual Autism Family Night at TGIFriday’s

2009-04-09T14:25:00.003-04:00

May 19, 2009 will be the 3rd Annual Autism Family Night at TGIFriday’s!!

Created by Alexandra Abend, this event provides families the opportunity to enjoy a stigma-free ni ght out as a family at select TGIFrriday locations in NJ, CT and NY.

Click here for a listing of participating restaurants. New locations are being added all the time. Keep on checking back!

Free Gift Cards available
Courtesy of the NJ State Federation of Women’s Clubs, a limited number of $25 gift cards are available for families in need of financial assistance. Click here to download the application.

April is Autism Awareness Month

2009-03-25T11:02:00.001-04:00

Fireman dresses as Spider-Man to rescue boy

2009-03-25T10:58:00.002-04:00

An autistic Thai boy frightened teachers when he sat on a third floor ledge on his first day of school. He did, however, allow a quick-thinking firefighter dressed as Spider-Man to rescue him.

Read the whole story here on MSNBC.

What Does One TRILLION Dollars Look Like?

2009-03-23T14:00:00.002-04:00

Click HERE to find out!

Watchmen: Waste of my time and money

2009-03-09T12:03:00.003-04:00

This was the most boring movie I have ever seen. It was the biggest waste of $13 I have ever spent (we saw it at an IMAX!). I thought there would be action, excitement, maybe even some explanation of how these "heroes," aside from the very anal and boring Dr. Manhattan, obtained "super" powers. Why does Rorschach need to wear the crazy mask and why does it move? What was so funny about The Comedian? He was the darkest, meanest character there was. I understand "irony", I just wanted to know WHY he was like that.

Instead we got an incredibly corny and disjointed story that included attempted rape, prostitution, homosexuality, child abuse, bullying, alcoholism, violence, gratuitous sex and nudity with no real substance.

I know there are a lot of fans that have read the comic and probably really enjoyed this movie. I tend to be the type of person that likes to read (usually novels, not comics) before I see the movie it was made into because I truly believe that back story really makes a difference.

However, I also believe that a person should be able to see a movie and enjoy it just as well without knowing the back story if they so choose. I never read Spiderman or Superman or X-Men and really enjoyed ALL of those movies (and their sequels) immensely. This is not the case with Watchmen. I was bored by a movie that did not elicit any emotion from me for any of the characters at all.

The single bright light for me was Jackie Earl Haley's portrayal as Rorschach. His prison scenes were the most compelling and humorous. I found myself just waiting for what would happen next while he was there.

Do not waste your money on this snooze fest unless you are a true fan. Otherwise, save your money for Transformers 2 or X-Men Origins: Wolverine. There's guaranteed to be more action and less sleeping in those movies!

Miracle on the Hudson

2009-01-30T16:48:00.003-05:00

Google has a FREE 411 Program

2009-01-12T15:05:00.006-05:00

Google's new 411 service is free, fast and easy to use. Give it a try now and see how simple it is to find and connect with local businesses for free. Put it in your speed dial directory and never pay the phone company additional fees for information again!

And don't forget, for those of you that prefer to send and receive texts, Google SMS is a handy way to get a listing for a nearby restaurant, find the definition of a word, or look up the price of a product, an area code or Zip code. You can even use Google SMS to calculate a tip.

If your phone is enabled for text messages, just send your query to this 5-digit US shortcode: 46645 (GOOGL on most phones). Your query results are sent as text messages, not links.

Learn more about using Google SMS on their help page or by sending a text message with the word 'help' to 46645.

Arts Cow Photobook Offer

2008-12-05T15:00:00.012-05:00

Use one of the z-codes below to get a 30 page 8" x 8" photobook (ProductID: 315) from ArtsCow.com for only $11.99 with FREE SHIPPING!

Hurry! The codes can only be used once and the offer expires on January 20, 2009 so get yours now!

Here are the coupon codes for 8" x 8" Photo Book (30 pages):

ZHBVKUY

Z5695P6
ZN1SZ2Z

ZLR2C82
ZTZWX98

Z3LA3CC
Z6MNN1E

ZQ29ARM
ZPVMSEY

Z2TJXQS

Good luck and have fun!

2008-11-26T09:48:00.003-05:00

Here are some Important Holiday Eating tips!

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think.

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted cookies in the shape and size of little pumpkins or trees, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely
in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,
chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming
"WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wassup 2008

2008-11-10T21:30:00.001-05:00

A Change is Coming...

Happy Veteran's Day!

2008-11-10T17:10:00.002-05:00

Takin' it Back with Barack Jack!

2008-11-06T19:08:00.001-05:00

Enjoy!

2008-11-05T00:44:00.002-05:00

5 More Friends uncensored

2008-11-03T22:30:00.001-05:00

It's more important now than it has ever been! Get out and vote!

WARNING: DON'T VOTE (Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo Dicaprio, Halle Berry, Sarah Silverman, ...)

2008-11-03T20:42:00.001-05:00

'Nuff Said...

2008-10-30T14:04:00.002-04:00

I Didn't Vote For Obama

2008-10-30T09:43:00.007-04:00

by kentuckyscott

Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 01:24:08 PM PDT

I'm a middle-class white guy living in Jacksonville , Florida. I've got a wife and two kids. Because the kids had no school today, I took a vacation day from work, and took the kids downtown to vote early. Fifty-nine minutes later, two smiling children and I proudly sported "I Voted" stickers.

But I didn't vote for Obama.

I voted for my ancestors, who believed in the promise of this country and came with nothing as immigrants.

I voted for my parents, who taught in the public schools for decades.

I voted for Steve, an acquaintance of mine from Kentucky . (Killed by an IED two years ago in Iraq).

I voted for Shawn, another who's been to Iraq twice, and Afghanistan once, and who'll be going back to Afghanistan again soon -- and whose family earned eleven bucks a month too much to qualify for food stamps when the war started.

I voted for April, the only African-American girl in my high school – it was years before it occurred to me how different her experience of our school must have been.

I voted for my college friends who are Christian, Jewish, Mormon, and yes -- Muslim.

I voted for my grandfathers, who worked hard in factories and died too young.

I voted for the plumber who worked on my house, because I want him to get a REAL tax break.

I voted for four little angels from Birmingham.

I voted for a bunch of dead white men who, although personally flawed, were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor, and used a time of great crisis to expand freedom rather than suspend it.

I voted for all those people and more, and I voted for all of you, too.

But mostly, I voted selfishly. I vote for two little kids, one who has ballet in an hour, and [one] who has baseball practice at the same time. I voted for a world where they can be confident that their government will represent the best that is in this country, and that will in turn demand the best of them. I voted for a government that will be respected in the world. I voted for an economy that will reward work above guile. I voted for everything I believe in.

Sure, I filled in the circle next to the name Obama, but it wasn't him I was voting for -- it was every single one of us, and those I love most of all.

Who else is there to vote for?

Question: Where is Obama Tonight?

2008-10-29T14:28:00.004-04:00

Answer: EVERYWHERE!!!

From television networks CBS, Fox, Univision and NBC to cable's TV One, Univision, MSNBC, BET and Comedy Central, it's all Obama all the time! If you're still undecided (quite frankly, I can't understand it - either you want change or you don't - what's there to decide???) here's your best last chance to find out about the Man and his plan.

Hopefully after tonight, you will make the right decision (and move gracefully to the LEFT!)

"Voz Unida" created by Rafael López

The New York Times Endorses Obama

2008-10-24T14:48:00.001-04:00

As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Political Videos

2008-10-22T20:15:00.003-04:00

Here are some links to some great political videos. Enjoy!

Ain't Funny

John Stewart Clarification

Results of The Great Schlep - Part 1

Results of The Great Schlep - Part 2

Sarah Palin's Visit to SNL

Christopher Buckley Endorses Obama

How Obama Deals With It All!

Another Soap Box Moment

2008-10-22T14:35:00.009-04:00

You know, I keep thinking about things like this and this, And (yes, glass half full again) what we have to realize is that Obama wouldn't be where he is now if more than half of the country wasn't over this whole horrible racism thing. When we went to work at the Obama HQ last weekend, we were the only Black people there. All of the other workers, old and young, were of some other nationality. We met a kid on the street that was clearly American but his family was from Pakistan. He said he was amazed at the number of people that were still supporting McCain.

Muslims are lining up behind Obama, Jews are lining up behind Obama, as well as all of those cultures and "large" towns that the GOP has snubbed or neglected. Obama crosses all racial lines, not just black and white. Even other countries are lining up behind Obama and prominent Republicans other than Colin Powell are defecting like Cubans from the old Castro regime.

Oh, and by the way... Al-Qaeda supports McCain. If they had come out with a statement like that regarding Obama, McNasty's people would have been all over it. Robo-dialing would never have seen such fervor! (Fortunately, we Hope-mongers are above that sort of thing!) Instead, McShame's representatives held a press conference to make the claim seem absolutely incredible. Could that be any sweeter? Couldn't have happened at a better time. Awesome!!

This soap box moment has been brought to you by the good feelings about the Obama/Biden 2008 campaign! :-)

Can't Make It To The Polls?

2008-10-21T14:11:00.005-04:00

Business trip? Family vacation? Permanantly disabled? Your vote still counts!!!

Click here and request an absentee ballot. Make sure you get your request in before the deadline!

Don't let the election get away from us this time! Let your voice be heard!

Check out Afro Whigs

2008-10-20T09:15:00.001-04:00

It's short and cute! And it has a good message. Get out and vote!

Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama

2008-10-19T09:46:00.005-04:00

Gold Standard endorsement!

With only two weeks left in the campaign, former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced on Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."

He also said that he was concerned about Gov. Palin and doesn't think that she is ready to lead and was troubled by Sen. McCain's negativity and attempts to de-Americanize Obama by trying to attach him to terrorism and socialism.

If Colin Powell thinks Sen. Obama is ready to lead, shouldn't you?

Check out the rest of the article here!

Or see it for yourself here.

Incidentally, here is the website dedicated to the Muslim soldier that died for America over in Iraq. Don't forget his name or his legacy!

Keith Olbermann Has A Little Something To Say!

2008-10-17T15:14:00.005-04:00

All I can say is Damn!!!!

Click here to see this ass-whoopin"! Here's a quote but you gotta go see it for yourself!

Senator McCain, your supporters, at your events, are calling Obama a terrorist and traitor and are calling for him to be killed. And yet you keep bringing back these same rabid Right Wing nuts to deliberately stir these crowds into frenzies. And then you take offense when somebody who remembers the violence in our political past, calls you on it. You, sir, are responsible for a phalanx of individuals who are shouting fire in a crowded theatre. There are some things to respect and honor about you, Senator McCain. But on this, you're not only a fraud, Senator but you are tacitly inciting lunatics to violence. If you want to again grand-stand and suspend your campaign here's your big chance. Suspend your campaign now, until you, or somebody else, gets some control over it and it ceases to be a clear and present danger to the peace of this nation.

RIP Levi Stubbs

2008-10-17T14:42:00.004-04:00

Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs (far left with Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir) passed away today at the age of 72. Although I grew up with the sounds of the Four Tops ringing through the house, my children are familiar his voice since he was Audrey II, the giant man-eating plant, in the movie version of Little Shop of Horrors.

His voice, his presence and his genius will be greatly missed!

Tonight's Debate

2008-10-15T11:09:00.004-04:00

If John McCain tried to bring up William Ayres in tonight's debate, Barack Obama needs to bring up William Timmons. Because let's face it, right now Professor Ayres past actions are completely unrelated to Obama's campaign today and Timmons is going to be front and center if McCain takes office next year. It's completely relevant and fair game. Not only is it time to take the gloves off, Obama NEEDS to bring this up!

So many lies, so little time!

2008-10-09T15:09:00.007-04:00

AP: McCain Tied to 'Nazi Collaborators...Right-Wing Death Squads'

The End Of Sean Hannity's Career!

Olbermann: McCain, Palin have questionable ties of their own

The Palins’ un-American activities

The GOP goes back to its ugly roots
Excerpt:

Sarah Palin, confidently pronouncing on Obama’s bona fides despite the fact that she has repeatedly revealed herself to a terrified world to be someone who must be kept as far away from the presidency as possible, joined in the smear campaign. Citing Obama’s acquaintance with former Weatherman founder Bill Ayers, Palin said about the Democratic presidential nominee, “This is not a man who sees America as you and I do — as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”

terrified world Excerpt:

'Watching the current American presidential contest brings these issues to the fore once again, especially on the Republican side. The Democrats have selected a pair of candidates who pretty faithfully perpetuate that party’s traditions, with the added act of an African-American candidate with a Muslim father. The Republican ticket of McCain and Palin, on the other hand, is a much stranger beast, especially in the vice presidential slot.

The fact that someone like Governor Sarah Palin, who lacks any national or international experience -- perhaps even basic knowledge -- can be a potential vice president is a sign of American democracy at its worst. In one swift, serendipitous moment, she was transformed from a moose hunter in Alaska to a global mullah hunter in a contest and a world about which she knows zilch -- as she reconfirms every time she opens her mouth.'

Never mind the fact that Palin herself supported, and her husband belonged to, a secessionist Alaska political party that advocated armed opposition to the U.S. Never mind the fact that Obama’s relationship with Ayers, as detailed in the very New York Times story that Palin cited as her source, was utterly casual. Facts are for those in the reality-based community. The point is to paint Obama not just as a terrorist sympathizer and America-hater, but as an alien. Hence Palin’s description of him as “not a man who sees America as you and I do.”

Sarah Palin And The Alaska Independence Party
By Greg Sargent - September 1, 2008, 11:12AM
This seems worth digging into a bit. The Alaska Independence Party, which was formed with the goal of seceding from the union and establishing Alaska as an independent state, says that Palin addressed their 2008 convention.

The AIP has posted video of what it claims is her address on its Web site.

Video of Sara Palin addressing the Alaska Independence Party (AIP)

Agence Global (AG) is a specialist news, opinion and feature syndication agency. The magazines and authors we syndicate are leaders in their fields or areas of expertise, and offer points of view that are often at variance with the mainstream of U.S. and international media. Think of it as 'Uncommon Commentary.' AG is the exclusive international agency for The Nation, America's oldest and largest circulation political magazine, as well as expert commentary by authors such as William Beeman, Richard Bulliet, Juan Cole, Paul Denlinger, Mark Hertsgaard, and Rami G. Khouri.

Thanks to cousin Harold for all of this data.

Seeing the Dream Come True

2008-10-01T11:10:00.008-04:00

Check out where we are now: See How They Run

Obama Holds His Own

Be Sure To Catch It!

2008-09-28T00:10:00.009-04:00

He's got a valuable message through jokes.

"The Black man gotta fly to get something that the white man can walk to."

Be sure to catch it on HBO the next time it comes on. Seriously!

Also, if you haven't seen it, make sure you see The Black List, Vol. 1. Great show with some wonderfully heart-warming life perspectives from Black celebrities. (Louis Gossett, Jr. was a favorite of mine! Great storyteller!) This show is a definite must-see. Can't wait until Vol. 2!

To Debate or Not To Debate

2008-09-25T15:44:00.005-04:00

What? Ok, let's SWYM for a moment, here. Is he kidding? This is just some self-centered grandstanding stunt on the part of McCain to delay (read: add study time for) the upcoming debate with Barack Obama and thereby put off (read: cancel completely) the much-anticipated VP debate between Palin and Biden scheduled for next week. Seriously? Who is he kidding?

Let's face it... he's tired. This is McCain's way of sweeping into the Presidential sessions, sitting back while some decisions are made and then holding an emergency press conference to let us all know that he's saved the day. Give us a break! This doesn't make him more of a "patriotic stateman." This just shows he doesn't have the capacity to walk and chew gum at the same time. And as Obama put it so elegantly, "I think that it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."

"This doesn't smell right," David Letterman said during a routine that only half appeared to be a joke. "This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil."

How can you argue with reasoning like that?

Senseless - A Racial Rant

2008-09-22T11:18:00.008-04:00

Willingboro borders Burlington, NJ, where I live. While Burlington Township may not be immune to crime, I feel safe here. I am often concerned about the violent crimes that happen in Willingboro, especially because I have young children and it is so close to us. It is a middle class, predominantly Black community and we spend a lot of time there... we shop there, our salon is there, and we have close family there.

So why does this particular shooting stand out? Because, although I did not know the victim personally, he is part of my family. Sad that this is the way I had to find out. Knowing that he was only 23 years old and the father of two young boys makes it even sadder. I remember being 23. It was one of the best years of my life. I had just graduated college and started a new job by that age. Life was beginning for me, not ending!

So this is a small plea from a complete nobody to those who are still embroiled in daily gang activity, to those prone to senseless violence, and to those who look at the two paths in front of them and choose the wrong road rather than the right. Please STOP!

What we need to realize is that Racist America has made guns and drugs easily accessible in Black communities. Then they perpetuate the "coolness" of the thug mentality, droopy prison pants and all, and then sit back with folded arms and satisfied smirks while we do their job for them like hired hands, except the return payment is death.

And what are these kids dying for? "Territory" that has never belonged to them in the first place? A stolen girlfriend? A 'look'? A blue shirt? Or, as in this case, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. (He was one of the GOOD guys! Senseless!) Give me a break! If we could get these kids to take a step back and look at themselves, they may actually see what they could become. Instead they just fuel the fire. Rather than bringing one another down, we need to pull together as a community and lift one another up.

Parents need to be more involved in their children's lives. For that matter, children need to stop having babies of their own. How can they "parent" when they are babies themselves? Mothers, take hold of your daughters. Don't let them become parents until they are married with education behind them, a husband beside them (if they so choose!), and jobs and homes of their own. Let them be proud of who they are to become.

BAW has a study on the website today that shows that 40% of white Democrats won't vote for Obama just because he's Black. They say this because they have such negative views of Black people as a whole. So no matter how right Obama is about what needs to be done for ALL Americans (and he IS right!), he won't get votes from people that can only see the negative aspects of his Blackness. And that is because of people like this shooter. It needs to STOP. These people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become PRODUCTIVE members of society. It's the "Butterfly Effect" and it's affecting all of us.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. Thank you for listening to my rant!

Mario Saves the Princess

2008-09-20T10:22:00.003-04:00

Ok, this was too funny not to share.

Check out the whole video (and more) here:
http://video.aol.com/video/super-mario-rescues-the-princess/2239004

More Flip Flopping from McSame

2008-09-18T13:47:00.009-04:00

Suddenly, we're not the only ones to see it? He's been flip-flopping since the beginning. It seems that everytime he speaks without a tele-prompter in front of him (and quite frankly, even when there is one) he puts his size 12 right in his yap! Please? Can someone spare us from this man, and soon?

By Katharine Zaleski
From the Huffington Post
September 18, 2008

John McCain has been all over the map recently, especially when it comes to the economic crisis that's been hammering Wall Street. He also managed to make some interesting - or rather, bizarre - remarks about Spain on Wednesday. See more articles below on McCain's actions over the last few weeks.

McCain Remarks Appear To Reject Spain As Ally:
Late Wednesday night, news made its way from the other side of the Atlantic that John McCain, in an interview with a Spanish outlet, had made a series of bizarre responses to a question regarding that country's prime minister.

"Would you be willing to meet with the head of our government, Mr. Zapatero?" the questioner asked, in an exchange now being reported by several Spanish outlets.
McCain proceeded to launch into what appeared to be a boilerplate declaration about Mexico and Latin America -- but not Spain -- pressing the need to stand up to world leaders who want to harm America.

McCain Flip-Flops On AIG Bailout: Rejects It Tuesday, Says It's Okay Wednesday:
Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a day after flatly rejecting the idea of a taxpayer bailout for American International Group Inc., said Wednesday that the government had been "forced" into proposing an $85 billion loan to the nation's largest insurer.

McCain appeared to soften his opposition to the bailout proposed by the Federal Reserve, treating the plan as a necessary evil to protect ordinary Americans with finanical ties to AIG and asserting that such a financial collapse should not be allowed to happen again. He also called for an investigation to uncover any wrongdoing.

NY Times: McCain All Over The Place On The Economy:
On Monday morning, as the financial system absorbed one of its biggest shocks in generations, Senator John McCain said, as he had many times before, that he believed the fundamentals of the economy were "strong."

Hours later he backpedaled, explaining that he had meant that American workers, whom he described as the backbone of the economy, were productive and resilient. By Tuesday he was calling the economic situation "a total crisis" and denouncing "greed" on Wall Street and in Washington.

McCain Slams Wall Street "Fat Cats" Who Are His Biggest Donors:
John McCain struck a tough, quasi-populist pose this morning during his morning sweep of the television news shows. Speaking to NBC's Matt Lauer about the current crisis on Wall Street, the Republican nominee said executives have "treated it like a casino and need to be held accountable and stop walking away with these fat-cat packages."

Leave aside for the moment the fact that one of McCain's top economic advisers, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, walked away with a $42 million "golden parachute" after being fired. Overall, the generic Wall Street "fat cat" is a tough character for McCain to cast as his nemesis, given his success in fundraising among their ranks. As Bloomberg reported Monday night, securities and investment companies have collectively donated millions to both McCain and Barack Obama.

Time's Joe Klein: "Increasing Numbers Of Otherwise Sober Observers... Are Calling John McCain A Liar":
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?

By the way... check out the anti-Palin rally on the Daily Kos that took place in Alaska this week. Lots of pictures of the protesters like the one on the left that came out to express their views. You go, Alaska!

A Woman's Worth

2008-09-17T09:17:00.008-04:00

A Woman's Worth

Tuesday, September 09, 2008
By Goldie Taylor

I have been a mother all of my adult life. A single working mother. I put off dating, took menial jobs far beneath my qualifications and baked my share of ginger bread cookies for PTA Night, all so that three incredible children could have better. I chose their lives over mine. I don't have to tell you that it wasn't easy. Unfortunately, my story, our story, is not unique.

We slept in cars, bought groceries with food stamps and prayed for a better day. When that wasn't enough, I put myself through school at Emory University and took a part-time job as a staff writer at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. That was over a decade ago. Along the way, things got better.

I've been an executive at two Fortune 500 companies and a practice director at two multinational public relations firms. Today, I own an advertising agency and I've authored two novels. A third and fourth are on the way, God willing. All of this was possible because somebody laid a brick or two on the road for me.

A few weeks ago, I woke in tears. It was my 40th birthday and certainly not a time for sadness. Rather, I cried in joy because for the first time I realized and could embrace the value of the struggle. The bright little girl, who once cried in my arms because we didn't know where we were going to live, was headed off to Brown University. The small boy who had been the 'man of the house' far too soon was now truly a man. And the tiny, angelic baby who had come to this world precious and innocent just 15 months after him was now a 16 year old girl headed out to her first job interview.

For all of this, maybe I should be proud of a woman like Sarah Palin. Maybe, just maybe, I should be rejoicing in John McCain's selected running mate. But I'm not.

I'm not 'bed wetting liberal' nor am I a 'right-wing zealot.' What I am is a working mother. And I cry foul. I won't, for a moment, denigrate her experience or lob spit balls at her family. I will, though, take issue with what she knows. Or more succinctly, what she does not know. Living in Alaska, I'm not sure how much she knows about the people living in inner city Baltimore. I don't know how much she cares about the 125 murders this summer in Chicago. I have no idea what she believes about HIV/ AIDS and the havoc it wrecks on Black women or the cancer rates in East St. Louis. She has said nary a word about Hurricane Katrina or the infant mortality rates in Appalachia.

I do know that she's a life-time member of the NRA, a proponent of individuals who wielded the very weapons that killed my father and brother. I do know that she "lives really close to Russia," but I'm not so certain she is ready for Putin. I know she wanted to ban books for public libraries and sex education in schools, but that her 17 year old is pregnant and preparing for a shotgun wedding. I know that she loves her husband enough to allow him (and probably did herself) use her office to settle a personal score--one that the McCain campaign would now like to cover in under a blanket of Juneau snow. I know that the Alaska Independent Party, and its secessionist platform, was enticing enough for her to attend its conference (and for her husband to become a card carrying member). Does she love her country? I'm sure. Enough to support those who want to leave it.

But I have no earthly idea what she knows (or could possibly know) about national domestic policy or foreign diplomacy. For all of her working class values, she never once mentioned the Middle Class in her diatribe that mocked her opponent's experience. Having been the mayor of Wasilla (pop. 6,000 at the time) and governor of Alaska (a state a smaller than the county I live in) for a little over a year, she felt she was qualified to do that. And obviously, so did John McCain.

If she's qualified, then so am I. But in this country I love, she has been afforded the ability to run. The very constitution she says doesn't apply to the men at Guantanamo says she can. But this is about more than that.

As Gloria Steinem said in a recent Los Angeles Times editorial, 'Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.'

The good news is thanks to Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Angela Davis, Condoleeza Rice, Anita Hill, Madeline Albright, Maxine Waters, Kathleen Sebelius, Hilary Rodham Clinton and a slew of others, there are 18 million proverbial cracks in the ceiling. Our collective political and economic power is due to the strides (and leaps) they, and others, took on my behalf. I am grateful. I am deeply humbled to stand on the bricks they'd laid before me.

But, whatever our struggle was (and is) that last thing I want is to be patronized. Just as I cannot support just any African American who decides to offer themselves up for public service, I will not toss my vote to someone just because we share the same chromosome mix. To do so would dishonor the vow I made to my children, to myself. I did not vote for Al Sharpton, wasn't old enough (nor would I have) voted for Jesse Jackson and I certainly will not support Sarah Palin. Identity politics, especially in this case, are a sham of the worst order.

When I cast my vote, it will be for people who will lay more bricks for people like me. It will be for people who will put diplomacy before war, challenge us all to provide healthcare for the sick, help another child go to college, and check the special interests in Washington. This fall, I'm not looking for a woman. I'm looking for a brick layer. I couldn't care less if that person hasn't spent 'enough' time in Washington or can 'properly field dress a moose'. I couldn't care less if that person likes hockey, soccer, football or table tennis. I couldn't care less if they graduated from Harvard or the University of Iowa. I'm a Christian, but I couldn't care less if they are down with Deuteronomy, Leviticus or Numbers. I want them to uphold the Constitution.

So no, I will not sit idly by as they attempt to suspend habeas corpus at Guantanamo Bay, engage wiretaps on American citizens without a warrant, and hide behind executive privilege when they are caught firing attorney generals based on how well they tow the Republican line. I won't let them cost us $12 billion a month fighting a war that should have never been authorized and never been waged. Not while working people lose their homes to predatory lenders and watch as we bail out the financial institutions that created the housing crisis.

I will not, in the name of history, vote for a woman like Sarah Palin who does not share my values.

But here’s what I will do. I will continue raising money for Barack Obama. I will get on the phone again and call people in distant states I've never met. I will e-mail, call, and knock on doors until the final vote is cast. I do this, not because he shares my skin, but because I admire his principals and he shares my values. I do this because Barack Obama is more than a community organizer, he is a bricklayer. And he sees -- just as he sees the light in Michelle's eyes -- my struggle, my worth as a woman.

Goldie Taylor is CEO of Native Brand Communications and chairman of Goldie Taylor OmniMedia, LLC. She is the author of In My Father’s House (Wheatmark, 2005) and The January Girl (Madison Park, 2007 & Warner Books, 2008) and is currently working on her third novel, Come Sunday. Taylor and her children live in Atlanta and New York. For more information, visit http://goldietaylor.wordpress.com/

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

2008-09-15T11:08:00.002-04:00

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

Sep 13, 2008 By Tim Wise

Tim Wise's ZSpace Page / ZSpace

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

* White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

* White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

* White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

* White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

* White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

* White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

* White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

* White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

* White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

* White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

* White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

* White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.

* And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull. For review copies or interview requests, please reply to publicity@softskull.com.

Change. Hope. Dream.

2008-09-15T10:49:00.003-04:00

Change. Hope. Dream. is a website that allows anyone and everyone to express their hopes and dreams for a better America. And to give us the opportunity to address their feelings for the new President of the United States. Please take a moment to go to Change. Hope. Dream. and tell the world how you feel and what you want in the future. Raise your voice!

From Slavery to Presidency

2008-09-15T09:30:00.002-04:00

By Stephanie Lewis-Brown

Joke of the Day

2008-09-09T16:37:00.002-04:00

One sunny day in 2009, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench.

He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine looked at the man and said, 'Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'

The old man said, 'Okay' and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine again told the man, 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.'

The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U. S. Marine, saying 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, 'Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?'

The old man looked at the Marine and said, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.'

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'See you tomorrow.'

Political Joke of the Day

2008-09-08T10:43:00.006-04:00

A teacher in New York asked her 6th grade class how many of them were McCain fans...

Not really knowing what a McCain fan was, but wanting to be liked by the teacher, all the kids raised their hands except for Little Johnny.

The teacher asked Little Johnny why he decided to be different...again.

Little Johnny said, 'Because I'm not a McCain fan. The teacher said, 'Why aren't you a McCain fan?'

Johnny said, Because I'm a Democrat.' The teacher asked why he's a Democrat. Little Johnny answered, 'Well, my Mom's a Democrat and my Dad's Democrat, so I'm a Democrat.'

The teacher asks, 'If your Mom was a moron, and your Dad was an idiot, what would that make you?'

With a big smile, Little Johnny replied, 'That would make me a McCain fan.'

(Click the title above for more political laughs...)

Who Says Republicans Don't Have Double Standards?

2008-09-06T01:47:00.002-04:00

Priceless video from Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Be sure to take a moment to watch!

Letter from an Alaskan

2008-09-03T09:20:00.008-04:00

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 19:20:09 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

This is from a Bryn Mawr college grad to her fellow alums:

Dear Classmates –

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than most of you about her and frankly, I am horrified that he picked her.

The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles.

She is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system. We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country.

Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links to informative web sites.

She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies. The only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience.

She has consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.

Prior one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a small red neck town outside Anchorage. The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.? Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about.

These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of them wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.

Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light.

Clearly McCain doesn't care.

When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems - you name it.

The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.

In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin.

The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain i ntroduced her today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.

To those of you who, like me, supported Hillary and were upset that she did not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin.

To those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in favor of McCain.

Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no choice for president.

But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment.

While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president. I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high. I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.

The Skinny on Palin

2008-08-30T20:05:00.003-04:00

MoveOn.org has done some research on McCain's new running mate. If you're a member, you got this in an e-mail. If you're not, click here and read all about her! Enjoy!

Bomb Bomb McSame Makes His Choice

2008-08-29T12:16:00.013-04:00

Sarah Palin. Ahahahaha!!!!
So much for his "lack of experience" argument!

Could this really be why she was chosen?

For Paul Begala's (hilarious) perspective, click here!

Or is this just a trick to see how stupid we all are?

"Eight is enough!"

2008-08-29T09:26:00.013-04:00

Singer/actress Jennifer Hudson opened up the show with a powerful version of the Star Spangled Banner on a night that felt like both a rock concert and pep rally all rolled into one. Will.I.Am and John Legend performed their award-winning song "Yes We Can" and Sheryl Crowe sang a few of her most popular songs as well. Stevie Wonder came with a few hits too and ended his run with the Obama-minted "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" (which we certainly hope it is!) Michael MacDonald sang "America The Beautiful."

The day was historic in another way. It happened to land on the 45th Anniversary of Marin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III came out and gave emotional homilies on the significance of the day to them and to Black people across the country. Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, gave a wonderful short oration in favor of Barack Obama and an argument change in this country. Very compelling!

Al Gore delivered a powerful environment-centered speech that touched on the damage that Bush has done to the country and what would have happened if the national decision had been different four years ago.

"Today, we face essentially the same choice we faced in 2000, though it may be even more obvious now, because John McCain, a man who has earned our respect on any levels, is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them, the same policies all over again. Hey, I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous."

He wrapped up by asking Americans to stop voting their fears and to vote their hearts instead.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardon and VP Nominee Joe Biden also came out and gave supportive speeches but the star of the night was, of course, Barack Obama. He was introduced by a short film created by the Democratic Committee that summarized his life and his journey to becoming the first African American nominee for President of the United States.

"Tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and inependents across this great land -- enough! This moment -- this election -- is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On November, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough." "

Obama did everything he could have done to convince nay-sayers (are there still any left?) that he will do the right thing for the country. CNN's Anderson Cooper kept joking about "drinking the Kool Aid" but in a time when people are so desperate for change, when mortage companies are going down in flames and people can't afford their own homes, when joblessness is high and education is unaffordable, we need someone to lift us up and out. John McCain can't do that. Barack Obama can!

Obama was sure to lay out his plan, this time and I was so proud when I heard these words: "So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am president."

I thought, "Finally! They can stop saying that he's not specific." Obama spoke for almost an hour and laid out his plan for his presidency. I am not so deep in the Kool-Aid that I believe that all of these things will happen. I know that on the day of his election, rainbows wont pop up and it will always be 80 degress, and starving people will miraculously learn to cultivate their own lush green gardens.

But I do believe that the hope of a better tomorrow will help to lift the spirits of a country of great people that feel as if the government, the people in charge, have left them behind. We are supposed to be the greatest country in the world. We used to be a superpower that everyone aspired to emulate. Now our dollar is weak and we have little or no international credibility. If we don't remember anything else about Barack Obama, we always need to remember these words:

"There has never been anything false about hope!"

Incidentally, according to the Huffington Post, Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year. Obama talked before a live audience of 80,000 people in Denver.

The Measure of a Man

2008-08-28T09:44:00.014-04:00

"I believe the measure of a man is not the road he travels but the choices he makes along that road."

Joe Biden delivered a very inspiring speech to the DNC last night. He finally tackled some of the specific ways that Obama will change this country for the better. Analysts always spend the evening telling us what speech-makers don't say or forget to say; but it's hard to deny what Biden said last night. Proof that Obama has a penchant for making great choices. Joe Biden was definitely a great choice. Read his entire transcript here.

In other DNC news, President Bill Clinton also spoke at the convention. His speech was the perfect compliment to Hillary's speech the night before. He filled in the gaps and said all the things that the pundits said that Hillary missed. His speech opened with the fact that he was there to support Obama, thereby melting all of the GOP-infused tension both at the DNC and within the Democratic Party.

"Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she'll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us. Actually that makes 18 million of us — because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November."

His speech was powerful, interesting and heartwarming all at the same time. And didn't leave any room for doubt that the "rift" is over. Read his entire speech here.

So long PUMAs!

No Way, No How, No McCain

2008-08-27T10:29:00.005-04:00

Sen Clinton did an awesome job of trying to pull the party back together, no matter what the pundits say! The vidoe bio was great and Chelsea was the perfect person to narrate it. Everyone is so busy trying to pick out what she didn't say or study Michelle's body language during the speech that no one is taking time to just enjoy the moment. As an Obama supporter from the start, I found her to be both sincere and exciting. Hopefully her avid supporters will feel the same way about the Democratic campaign as we move on the the final leg. It's so important that the Dems win this one. The fate of the country lies in the balance.

Catch her entire speech here!

Also greatly downplayed by big media once Senator Clinton took the stage was a rousing speech by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. He was fun to watch and enthusiastic about getting Obama in the White House for the benefit of the environment.

"We simply can't drill our way to energy independence, even if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards, including the ones he can't even remember," he said.

There is so much hope for the future of this campaign and this country. Hopefully Pres. Clinton's and Sen. Biden's speeches tonight with clinch it for the party!

Any minute now...

2008-08-26T11:07:00.002-04:00

CNN waits for the announcement!

And here's one for those who refuse to let go!

Hysterical!

Michelle Obama was "WOW!" as Convention Begins

2008-08-26T09:17:00.004-04:00

"And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, You see I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be."

Check out the entire transcript here!

Goodbye to the Olympics!

2008-08-25T09:36:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the ticket, Sen. Biden!

2008-08-24T20:37:00.001-04:00

McCain's Cheat Sheet

2008-08-22T15:53:00.003-04:00

(Click graphic to enlarge)

No Blacks, Mongolians Allowed At Beijing Bars: Report

2008-08-18T15:51:00.002-04:00

WHAT?!?

(Please comment, if you can!)

Rest in Peace Pervis Jackson!

2008-08-18T14:30:00.003-04:00

The Spinners from left John Edwards, Bobby Smith, Henry Fambrough,

Pervis Jackson and Billy Henderson pose for photographers in 1997.

Criss Angel Walks on Water

2008-08-15T23:25:00.002-04:00

I don't care how he does it! He's a true entertainer!

John Kerry Joins the Fight

2008-08-13T13:15:00.006-04:00

On a brand new website that will work in conjunction with Senator Obama's FightTheSmears.com website, developed to counter-attack lies, myths and rumors about Senator Obama and his campaign, Senator John Kerry will target the attacker, rather than the actual attack, and promote the truth from a different angle. According to the website launched on July 21, 2008:

We're all about replacing smears, lies and distortions with intellectual honesty and an aim for truth.

Here's hoping that readers and voters support Sen. Kerry's attempt at truth and justice and those with doubts about Sen. Obama will go to one of the many sites now available to learn the truth and stop spreading the hurtful lies about him. We need to get him elected this year or else this country is in big, BIG trouble!

Rest In Peace Bernie Mac

2008-08-09T13:58:00.006-04:00

1957-2008

Don't Be Fooled!!!

2008-08-07T14:20:00.004-04:00

Apparently a memo has leaked showing McCain's strategy to portray Sen. Obama as "A Job-Killing Machine."

The strategy, which was authored by Taylor Griffin -- a veteran of the Bush White House and Treasury Department who serves McCain as a senior adviser -- seems built around traditional themes. The McCain campaign will paint Obama as being "aligned with trial lawyers" and "unions (card check, trade, education reform)," and push the frame that he "raises taxes" and "will kill jobs."

I hope everyone checks out the story here before anyone believes any more information revealed in future John McCain ads.

13 Things To Know About The 3rd Straight Mac Attack Ad

2008-07-30T14:18:00.003-04:00

William Bradley has posted a very revealing article about the truthfulness of John McCain's latest attack ads against Senator Barack Obama. Check it out for yourself (but only if you can handle the truth!)

We're back!!!

2008-07-28T13:00:00.005-04:00

We had an awesome time in Mexico. Flew to Cancun, stayed in the Riviera Maya and played in Playa del Carmen and Chichen Itza. Awesome vacation. I would highly recommend Mexico as an ideal vacation spot, especially for families. There is so much to do there. And there is "nothing." Fantastic. Here are some photos from the trip:

If you're looking for me...

2008-07-14T16:48:00.005-04:00

...this is where I'll be!

Click the link above for the details and photos of the trip.

A Lewis Family Reunion

2008-07-14T09:29:00.015-04:00

On Saturday, the Lewis Family had a reunion celebration that was long overdue. My mom, all of her brothers and sisters, their spouses and children and all of their grandchildren (as well as some close family friends) got together for a barbecue and swim party. It was a wonderful day! Check out some of the photos from the event.

The Whole Gang!

Shannon, Tony, Lexi, Linda, Stephanie & Torrey

Ryan, Freddy and Bryce

Ryan, Bryce, Freddy, Shirley & Sammy

Tee, Kim, Teddy, Elyssa & Cierra

Darryl, Casi, Lauryn, Jimmy, Joe'y, Jordan, Jim & Evonne

G.G. Ann

Jeannie, John, Jan & Ty

Stephanie, Torrey & Lexi

The sibs!

The Grandkids (minus Cierra!)

Look! There's Cierra! :-)

Charles, Max & Andrienne

Ryan, Lesley, Milo and Chase

Sandra, Casi and Lesley

Click here if you'd like to see more!

Oogles-n-Googles

2008-07-07T13:13:00.015-04:00

Trouble finding an original idea for your child's birthday party? Been to Chuck E. Cheese's one too many times? Here's a wonderful alternative guaranteed to be a ton of fun for all of your guests!

Oogles n Googles of Central New Jersey offers unique and zany "all inclusive" themed birthday party rental packages for kids ages 3 to 10. From set-up to clean up, you place or theirs, they do the work so you don't have to! These parties will provide your child with an unbelievably memorable birthday experience.

If you live in the Central NJ area, check out the Oogles-n-Googles website for more information!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T10:08:00.003-04:00

Your Whiteness is Showing

2008-07-03T16:05:00.003-04:00

An Open Letter to Certain White Women Who Are Threatening to Withhold Support from Obama in November
By Tim Wise

For former Clinton supporters that are threatening to stay home or vote for McCain rather than cast a vote for Barack Obama, this is an article directed at you. Please take the time to read it and pass it along to undecided or "improperly" decided friends and neighbors. The facts speak for themselves and Tim Wise, aptly named, speaks for the rest of us!

So... Omar Tyree is retiring with an attitude!

2008-07-02T10:16:00.004-04:00

I have so much respect for writers. As an avid reader, I would love to be a writer myself. To hold the gift of storytelling in your hands and to be able to spread it to anyone who chooses to take it is magical to me.

But Omar Tyree, who clearly has that gift, is leaving the business that has made his a household name because he doesn't like the direction that "urban" writing has taken. I tend to agree with him in the fact that "urban" readers and writers tend to migrate toward street life, drug dealing, sexcapades, and whatever else sells books. Heck, even 50 Cent has written some gun and drug-soaked gangsta novels. I'm sure, based on his name alone, that they are selling like hotcakes.

But I think that Tyree is missing the boat on this one. I understand that he wants to be an inspiration to his devotees, but maybe his marketing team is directing his new brand of novels toward the wrong readers. Maybe he can keep writing good quality novels that just happen to contain black characters and sell his books to the mainstream. Maybe he doesn't have to pigeonhole his titles on the African-American shelves. Why can't he put them out there on the mystery, fiction, thriller shelves? Because that's where I look for books.

Don't get me wrong, I've read books by a myriad of black authors; not specifically because they were black, but because they were good writers. I'm still waiting for Marcus Major to come out with a new one. His characters are definitely among my favorites. But I also like Dickey, Baisden, Harris, McMillan, Hurston, Weber, and Channer.

I've also read books by Zane, Roby, Karen Grigsby Bates, Stephen L. Carter, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and even "The Coldest Winter Ever" by Sistah Souljah. Once was enough for me of those authors. (Sometimes it clicks with me, sometimes is just doesn't.)

But I didn't grow up in the "hood." Gangsta life is something I see on TV and in the movies. If you look at my Shelfari shelf, you can clearly see that I also enjoy fantasy (MacHale, Sage & Rowling), humor (Evanovich & Rivenbark), thrillers (Patterson & Deaver) and chillers (King and Koontz). None of these are found in the African-American section. And I am a black woman who loves books.

And although I've never read a book by Omar Tyree, I hope that his "retirement" article was just written in the heat of the moment. I hope that he continues to hone his gift and to realize that he's not the one that needs to change. Maybe it's just his audience.

Jordan and Avana Made the Autism Speaks site

2008-06-27T09:55:00.002-04:00

Among the children playing in the water on the Autism Speaks Southern New Jersey Walk summary page are my son Jordan (denim shorts) and cousin Avana (yellow shorts). We were among 3,500 people that participated and helped raise $263,000 for Autism. It was a hot day and the Mount Laurel Fire Dept made it so much fun for the kids (and adults) to cool down.

The next walk is in October. The weather should be cooler but we expect to have just as much fun!