To me, it's obvious and simple, what else could President Obama do but what he did in Afghanistan and commit more troops? We are in two horrible wars. They were very poorly thought out wars and more abhorrently, we were lied to by the former administration. Bottom line we were put in a veritable no-win situation.
So now what to do? We know that people who wish us harm are in Afghanistan, in Pakistan and many other places. The military says we need to fight them. So President Obama is doing what anyone would do, he's giving the military enough rope to succeed or hang themselves. I don't think he even believes we'll succeed, but he knows there's a chance, albeit a small one.
And more importantly he gave OUR MILITARY a date he wants them to get out. I think that anyone in his position, learning what he must now know (that none of us know) such as the danger of nuclear attacks from terrorists, would have done the same. The difference with this President, is that he made the decision carefully, over time and came to a grim conclusion to proceed. That's not flag waving or hawkish behavior as was common with the last administration. That's intelligent behavior, no rallying cries. For him to be derided for being intelligent, for taking the time to make a careful decision is armchair quarterbacking, but unfortunately not about the triviality of sports, but regarding the importance of our very human existence on Earth which is threatened by terrorists.
We should "back off this man", he's doing his best. Being an armchair quarterback is embarrassing when one is talking about our nation and our world surviving this crisis. Save your armchair quarterbacking for football.
Hello everyone who plans on reading this blog post. I am Nicholas Ahern and I live in southern Rhode Island. I am only 15 years old and I am currently a straight A, sophmore student. I decided that I will join this great family of Obama volunteers and supporters because I wish to go to school to be a politician. This is merely my initial "hello" speech to everyone and I just wanted to say that I will be regularly maintaining a blog on my opinions on the government, the presidents actions, my experiences with volunteer work, etc. And once again, hello to everyone!
Sincerly,
Nick
Today, in the preview video by Buck McKeon, http://www.youtube.com/user/BuckMcKeon
McKeon, our local Congressional representative, said he would be watching for the following points in President Obama’s speech:
Hopefully Obama will provide the number of troops requested by General McCrystal.
Having spoken to McCrystal, McKeon said that 400,000 internal security force would be required to secure the country and that there was ½ that number in Afghanistan right now. This would put a lot of people to work.
Time is another consideration: How soon will we be able to get the troops there?
McCrystal said we needed additional troops in the area w/in 1 year. We are 3 months behind in momentum, so catch up is required.
Winning is also a consideration.
Will the President say that we will have troops exiting after “winning” or “exiting (whether we win or not) Afghanistan w/in the 18 months”, which direction are we going. What is the exit strategy?
Meantime, we can only hope that Obama’s speech covers these concerns and Buck McKeon will find Obama’s momentum favorable for all Americans including our fighting troops in Afghanistan.
Looking forward to Obama’s speech, we can only pray that consensus from the right and left is coming.
In the preview video by Buck McKeon, he said he would be watching for the following points in President Obama’s speech:
Having spoken to McCrystal, McKeon said that 400,000 security force would be required to secure the country and that there was ½ that number in Afghanistan right now.
Time is another consideration: How soon will we be able to get the troops there? McCrystal said we needed additional troops in the area w/in 1 year. We are 3 months behind in momentum.
Winning is also a consideration. Will the President say that we will exit troops after winning or exiting (whether we win or not) Afghanistan w/in the 18 months.
Meantime, we can only hope that Obama’s speech covers these concerns and Buck McKeon will find Obama’s momentum favorable for all Americans including our fighting troops in Afghanistan. Looking forward to Obama’s speech.
The President is still hours away from announcing the “long-awaited” decision on Afghanistan. Dick Cheney is up early already calling the policy weak. Thank God we have a president who actually things through a situation and asks questions. W and Dick simply reached to their hips for a six-shooter - thinking be damned.
Think about it. This is the Dick who led the premature pull-out from Afghanistan to go into Iraq where all those weapons of mass destruction were amassed. We know now that there were no weapons. Dick knew long before sending our sons and daughters into a totally unnecessary war there were no weapons. This is the Dick who was absolutely terrified of the possibility that HE would have to serve in Viet Nam. Using powers and funds unavailable to most of us - he obtained five deferments from military service. In his own words: “I have higher priorities”.
So here we are in 2009 dealing with the mess made by the Dick and his so-called boss.
The situation we now find ourselves in - is a direct result of the complete destruction of American foreign policy - and our military by the Dick. Yet he opens his day with a denouncement of President Obama. Weak. That word coming from the distorted mouth of the Dick would be quite funny, were it not so tragic.
The Obama administration was cast into an impossible situation. Put one hundred options on the table and any one chosen will be attacked. The left will be offended by a continuation and escalation of the war in Afghanistan. The right will be offended that at least 60,000 of OUR sons and daughters are not being sent tomorrow.
I still want to know why the Dick is being allowed to walk away from his war crimes. I want to know exactly what the Dick got out of this. He certainly didn’t offer up any family members to fight.
Here is what Dick can do to at least give some credibility to his horrible tenure as VP. Being an ex VP, he would have no problem embedding - perhaps as a journalist - with a front line unit in Afghanistan. Stay the course. Run into a field of fire to rescue a fallen soldier. Well, one thing is certain. The Dick won’t be going. Weak? Coward? Criminal?
Why does Dick open only one side of his mouth? (Now if he has a medical condition I apologize in advance for talking about it). But it’s true. He never looks anyone in the eye and always uses one side of his mouth to speak.
Finally - I want every adult in America to pay some sort of price for having American in any war. The percentage of folks in the military of the entire eligible population is too low to calculate. Most - certainly not all - of the remainder go about life as normal. The Dick is a billionaire. Much of that was ill-gotten gains from non-competitive construction bids in Iraq. Was that his reason for putting us in there? Those who never served in the military and are gung-ho to “go get em” - should have to do some public service or if they elected - pay a war tax. I think an extra 15% would be fair. Don’t cry WAR, WAR, then refuse to take part in any way.
Dick Cheney - I beg you to keep your mouth shut. You are a bonafide coward as proven when you could have served. You made a horrible (weak) mistake in pulling-out of Afghanistan. You lied to your fellow citizens. Your right to speak is revoked.
Accept the challenge Dick. Go to the war zone and serve for a few years. OK, OK - stop crying. We can’t make you go.
Robert Boseley
rboseley@tampabay.rr.com
rboseley1@me.com
http://www.robertboseley.com
Christmas True Meaning and TraditionsChristmas has had a long and varied history. It has been celebrated for centuries by different people, at different times, in different places, and in many different ways. Here you will find links to information about the different ways that the holiday we know as Christmas has been celebrated, or not celebrated, over the years.»Watch video about the history and origins of ChristmasAn Ancient HolidaySome of our modern Christmas traditions have much older roots, going back to pagan European traditions.»See how people celebrated the winter solsticeSaturnaliaSaturnalia was a Roman celebration in honor of the god Saturn.»Discover what the Ancient Romans celebrated on December 25thAn Outlaw ChristmasThe Puritans didn't believe in the jovial Christmas holiday, so they banned it.»Find out the penalty for celebrating ChristmasChristmas ReinventedAmericans embraced Christmas in the 19th Century, even inventing some of their own Christmas traditions.»See how Americans created their own vision of ChristmasA Christmas CarolCharles Dickens' classic tale reflected and influenced changing ideas about the nature of Christmas.»Learn how Scrooge and Tiny Tim changed ChristmasEnjoy Christmas with Santa Claus at the North pole, an award-winning Christmas web site. Send a letter to Santa Clause or a Christmas card to a friend.»Santa Claus and Christmas at the NorthpoleThe True Meaning of Christmas
Am 2. Dezember 2009 findet in Bremen - wie in den Jahren zuvor vor dem Gebäude der Akademie für Arbeit und Politik der Universität Bremen, Am Barkhof / Parkallee 39, ab 11.55 Uhr - eine öffentliche Aktion statt, in einer Bremer Aktion auch für Kinder.Bereits am 16. November 2009 erhielt Präsident Barack Obama anlässlich des 6. Anti-Mobbing-Tages den Anti-Mobbing-Award 2009 aus Berlin:Sehr verehrter Herr Präsident,schon Ihre Amtsantrittsrede hat uns so beeindruckt, dass wir beschlossen haben, Ihnen, sehr verehrter Herr Präsident, anlässlich des 6.Anti-Mobbing-Tages 2009 (seit 2004 am 2. Dezember in Bremen/Germany) den Anti-Mobbing-Award 2009 zu verleihen.Sie haben sehr deutlich gemacht, dass jeder einzelne Bürger auf der Welt etwas für ein gemeinsames friedliches Zusammenleben tun kann. Ihre Worte haben uns sehr ermutigt, hier in Deutschland weiterhin engagiert einen kleinen Beitrag zu mehr Herzlichkeit, gegen Mobbing (Bullying) und Gewalt, mit unseren Bürgerinitiativen zu leisten. Wir wünschen Ihnen, sehr verehrter Herr Präsident Obama, eine erfolgreiche Amtszeit und bedanken uns nochmals für alle Ihre vorbildlichen Bemühungen für mehr Menschlichkeit, Frieden und Herzlichkeit weltweit.
BAKI-SCHULEBürgerinitiative seit 1986,seit 1993 unter der Schirmherrschaft des Generalsekretärs des EuroparatesErich K.H. Kalkusmobbing-web.deOnline-Bürgerinitiative seit 1999Klaus-Dieter MayDer Anti-Mobbing-Award wurde der amerikanischen Botschaft Berlin, mit der Bitte um Weitergabe überbracht.Arbeitsgemeinschaft gegen Mobbing (Bremen/Berlin)BAKI-SCHULE Bürgerinitiative seit 1986Erich K.H. KalkusUndeloher Straße 12 | 28329 BremenTel.: 0421/ 46 25 40www.bakischule.deeMail: mobbing-webOnline-Bürgerinitiative seit 1999Klaus-Dieter MayGotthardstr.56 | 13407 BerlinTel.: 030 / 49 87 57 54www.mobbing-web.deeMail:
Quelle: http://www.openpr.de/news/374943/
Stephen King Under The Dome
Under the DomeBy Stephen King
Stephen King Writes a Spellbinding Supernatural Novel "UNDER THE DOME"On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.Stephen King’s Under The DomeBook trailers are an interesting recent development in marketing. The very concept doesn’t make a whole lot of sense at first, seeing as books don’t actually have visual scenes to make a trailer out of, but done properly, they can be pretty effective tools for creating buzz around a new novel. And sometimes, they can be pretty cool. The trailer for Stephen King’s new book, Under The Dome, falls squarely into the “cool” category. The novel follows the inhabitants of a small town that is trapped in a huge, clear dome by unknown forces.Some say King’s best years are behind him; I disagree. That’s not to say I enjoy every last one of his books – hell, the man’s written so many, there’s no way they could all be great. But when he’s on, he’s one of the best writers in modern horror (and sometimes science fiction). To me, it seems that he’s at his best when he gives himself room to breathe, page-wise. The Stand is brilliant; so is It. Both are over 1000 pages. The Dark Tower series, his masterpiece, unfolds over the course of seven increasingly long books. Under The Dome will be 1088 pages long; hopefully, that means we can expect the epic storytelling and surprisingly personal character development the author, at his best, is capable of.Check out the trailer below; it’s short, but it got me kinda pumped for this book.
UNDER THE DOME BY STEPHEN KING
Today at 7:49 CST I received the following message from Pres. Obama, thanking me for my service as a veteran on this day. I liked it and wanted to share. I hope the DNC sent it to all veterans in their database.
--Begin quoted text here.--
John --Today, on Veterans Day, my message to you is simple: Thank you. Thank you for your selfless service, for your valor, and for your strength of purpose that make all of us proud to be Americans.Today, Americans will pause amidst a great conversation about the future of our nation to take a moment and recognize your service to our democracy -- a service that guarantees us all the liberty to engage freely in that conversation, no matter what our views may be. We know that we owe you a debt that cannot be repaid. But we can and will fulfill our nation's promise to stand by you and your loved ones. That is why we've worked hard for better care for our veterans, and why we provided the largest increase in Veterans Administration funding in history.Today, we honor those Americans past and present who've served on battlefields from Lexington to Antietam, Normandy to Manila, Inchon to Khe Sanh, Ramadi to Kandahar. You have defended our freedom on land, and at sea, and in the air.You reflect the diversity that makes this America. You share a patriotism beyond question. And you share the same unflinching courage, selfless compassion, and uncommon camaraderie that -- when faced with the tragedy of a despicable and heartbreaking attack last Thursday -- the soldiers and civilians of Ft. Hood humbly revealed to the world. You and your loved ones are the patriotic men and women we honor today, Veterans Day. And you are the men and women we shall honor every day, in times of war and times of peace, so long as our nation endures.Thank you.President Barack Obama
Last year this time I had just returned from Columbus, Ohio, where I had volunteered for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. This link (http://10daysinohio.wordpress.com) will take you to the actual, albeit unfinished, blog. Here is an excerpt:
... Let me break down a little something on what I see as being a real discussion about big and small government. It has little to do with food stamps, government funded charter schools, or the good ole N.E.A. It has to do with an attitude that we, the people, can empower ourselves, or we can trust a suit in a large house that we will never visit on less than a tour (unless we are Tom Hanks) to throw us a bone. I love Obama specifically because he knows he can do nothing for us. He cannot heal a country that is not willing to do the work. He cannot give us better schools if we do not engage with our children. He cannot give us anything, but he can, and has already, empowered us to create something for ourselves. We need a government that only magnifies and enables the will of the people, not one that stipulates our choices on accepting their all-or-nothing rhetoric, that isolates and bates us against each other. There are certain things we will never agree on. That cannot be solved. Our government should not dictate our culture, it should serve as an organizing administrative body. Do you follow me? That is small government – a government that is willing to step back and give all of us choices. Freedom. I am not a Democrat nor am I Republican. I am a pragmatist. I believe at the end of the day, for this country – there is only one choice that includes everyone. Someone who will stay small so we can all become bigger. It is up to us. All of us...
One year ago today our country elected a good, brave and gifted man, Barack Obama, to take on the tremendous burdens of the Presidency. I think this is a good insight from Joseph Nye, Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University:“Look what he inherited -- a global economic crisis, two difficult wars, erosion of the non-proliferation regime by North Korea and Iran, deterioration of the Middle East peace process, and the rising strength of China just for starters. Obama's dilemma was how to manage this sad inheritance while creating his own vision of how Americans should deal with the world.He did that with his theme of ‘a new era of engagement with the world.’ Through a series of symbolic gestures and speeches (Prague, Cairo, Accra, the United Nations and others), Obama worked wonders in restoring American soft or attractive power in his first year of office. As a recent Pew poll reported, ‘in many countries opinions of the United States are now as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office.’
Skeptics regard soft power as over-rated, but it is a mistake to discount the role that transformative leaders can play in changing the context of difficult issues. Power involves setting agendas and creating others' preferences as well as pushing and shoving. Soft power alone rarely solves hard problems. That is why the administration speaks of "smart power" that successfully combines hard and soft power resources in different contexts. But soft power can create an enabling rather than a disabling environment for policy. Diplomats report that Obama's success in brokering agreements at NATO and G-20 summits was assisted by his popularity.
When Obama came into office, his economic advisers told him there was one chance in three that we were on the brink of another depression. We have successfully avoided that, and Obama was able to help organize a surprising degree of international cooperation on economic issues. Unlike FDR, who torpedoed an international economic conference in 1933, and failed to halt the spread of ‘beggar they neighbor’ policies that made the depression worse, Obama's soft power helped to promote international cooperation when it was vital. And there was a certain audacity of hope in that pursuit.”You can read the whole article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-nye/obamas-timidity-is-a-fore_b_344064.html
I prefer our President's "soft power" to the noise and destruction of the previous eight years.
With the new news, that the economy is turning to Mexico for trade goods, instead of China; my face begins to smile. I predicted this would happen long ago, just funny to see it happening, as well, I had a hunch that we would send them approximately, 500 million worth of computers, for any reason what so ever. Well, 200 million have already been sent, with 200 million more on the way. What a nice little touch. The drug dealers getting busted, saw that coming too. When your country is over run and the US, needs you, it is time to help stabalize your country. Well, those are the biggest things going on in Mexico, I saw them coming though. So what is next? What should be next? With the prices going down on products, due to this change, we will see foriegn goods in a different manor. No longer will they be produced from the other side of the planet, but from our friendly neighbor Mexico.
What I see...
RAVE -N-The Search for the Meaning of Life...Love...Wesley Warren Smith
Remembering the campaign makes me relive so many emotions:
Excitement – when he announced his candidacy. YES WE CAN!
Elation – when he was declared the nominee.
Looking online each day for campaign news, music, videos, art! A talent explosion!
Emails to editors and TV news – somebody has to read them!
Caucusing – scary, thrilling, overwhelming! What a turnout! Everyone cared so much!
Talking to complete strangers about then-Senator Obama.
Oh, and friends and family, too.
Bumps, lows, highs in the primary. Asking my Senators and Congressman to endorse.
Another donation request? We’ve still got some money; let’s just give a bit more.
Maybe he can really do it, maybe this country can move forward – YES WE DID!
And so 2008 was a very good year.
2012 will be another. So are the years in between. Our President is at work.
