Envisioning President Barack Obama

I envision not only a great President, but a great Nation and ultimately, a great World.

I Hope You Are Too...

Unfit for Publication

Indeed.

Bush and the Flag

If a Democrat had done this, there would be hell to pay:

The Courage of a 1000 Dragons

Tibet Activists Stage "Die-In" Protest In Tiananmen Square (VIDEO)

• - Huffington Post

1 hour ago - In Beijing's Tiananmen Square Saturday, four Tibet supporters lay motionless on the ground draped in Tibetan flags representing the bloodshed the activists claim has been perpetrated by the Chinese government on the Tibetan people. Students for a Free Tibet posted a video of the protest online and published the bios of the five participants. As one of protesters shouted with Mao's iconic…

Tiananmen “Tibet Die-in” Protest 080908 from Students for a Free Tibet on Vimeo.

UPDATE:

Go to: Avaaz.org

Teh Ten Commanments of Celing Cat

more cat pictures

Hope Your Fourth Was Independent

Rockaway, B138 and the Ocean with Flag
Independence Day, 2008

Taking a Break from the Netroots....

...the shrieking is at a fever pitch.

So You're Telling Me....

...as Tweety is telling me right now... that in a national poll, 53% vs 33% of the country believe that McCain will protect us from terrorism. I ask you: Where you one of the 53% that thought that the last time around with our current President? See what that got us?

Time to think about terrorism, work some true diplomacy, and see anew our policy. You won't be encountering that, I think, from a McCain presidency (though sometimes I wonder just how Hawkish Obama could be).

I just hope that Senator Obama does not forget the Netroots. I really hope I haven't been wrong. That would be sad.

The First Big "Diss"appointment

The first disappointment is always the worse. Particularly when it's something you really believed in. Giving immunity to the Telecoms for not stepping up to the plate and saying no to a destructive President, ugh. I've longed been angered by this as I feel that the Telecomms knew exactly what the law said and knew it would be an issue down the line. I'm sure they were strongarmed, but I'm sure they also were eager for data experimentation as well. The House and possibly the Senate are going to reel in FISA but still let the Telecomms go free. Oh how I long sometimes for impeachment.

Anyhoo, Obama disappointed on this one. It may be that he's saving it for Bush, or it may be he has some plan down the line. Or he's just like, what I have always feared, like all the others.

We shall see.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Dad at Niagara Falls, 1950s

1930-2006
Dad and Me, Detroit
Circa 1969

Another b-day without you. Very sad.

Sometimes, You Need Some Straight Talk

After eight years, you finally get it:

Obama Press Conference, South Dakota, May 16, 2008

Tell Me

McCain in his own words, in 2006, on negotiating with the terrorist, but otherwise sitting and elected governmental body, called Hamas, in what is currently known as the Palestinian State at this point:



So, my anonymous commenter: why do you believe what the GOP says?

And while you're at it, can you please tell me why I should believe anything that the GOP says when it's obvious that its biggest and loudest cheerleaders don't know a damned thing about history? Give me ONE good reason. Just one... that's all I ask.

Half Liberty

Statute of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry
March 2008
Photo by Elderta

Colbert Gives Me the Verklempt

Stephen Colbert got all excited about talking with an astronaut from the International Space Station. In fact, he gets so excited he gives me the touch of the funny, too.

OMG! SPACE!

Wish You Were Here

There are two people I am missing tonight:

A) My dad would be one of the most proud men on earth just about now because of Barack Obama. He loved Bill Clinton but would be highly saddened by Senator Clinton's campaign because he believed in them more than not.

and

B) One my life heroes, a Loving of Loving v. Virginia, Mildred, died today. It was in 1967 that she sued the State of Virginia, in order to "legally" be able to wed the love of her life, Richard. She was black, he was white. They would have celebrated the 40th anniversary of the landmark case last year (he died in 1975) and recently, she advocated for homosexual marriage.

40 years ago, I was 3 years old. This happened in my lifetime. Do you understand? I don't hang on to it, but I feel it. And I wasn't even cognizant at the time.

Thank you, Richard and Mildred, for one of the greatest love stories ever told.

All I want to do is cry. And heck, I even went to see Iron Man tonight, and it was great. But really, the death of Mrs. Loving made me think of my dad and then that made me think of so many things.

BTW the way, Robert Downey, Jr. is hot. Wish you were here, too. But in a... different... sorta way. So, make that three people I'm missing tonight.

Take the Bush-McCain Challenge!

Really, the McCain of 2000 is not the McCain of 2008. First of all, he's eight years older and a bit more demented, if you ask me. Second of all, he is morphing before our eyes into our current President, and really, I would rather chop off my own foot and roast it over potatoes and fava beans than have Bush in office for another term. Thank God for term limits!!

Lastly, the Republican Party is mentally and spiritually bankrupt. They have sucked the country dry of money and sanity and it's really time to put an end to their rule over the hearts and minds of some of the American people.

WAKE UP OUT THERE! I'M TALKING TO YOU! GET OUT OF BED! WAKE UP! DON'T MAKE ME COME OUT THERE!!!

Ahem... anyhoo, so take this quiz (complete with those pesky things called FACTS), and see if you can tell the difference between McBush. Click on the image above or here. I was actually shocked that there IS a difference between the two... and that difference is...? McCain is even more batshit crazy than Bush. And that, "my friends," should wake you the frak up now.

**hattip, Maryel!

Pop-Up Double-Talk: McCain/Katrina Edition

Speaking as someone who traveled to New Orleans for a conference and left exactly one week prior to Hurricane Katrina blowing in, McCain's atrocious Double-Talk Maverick Express photo-ops regarding New Orleans and the Hurricane left me speechless. This YouTube video made me furious:

I Carry The Memory Everywhere I Go

Keychain Memories - WTC
Photo by Elderta

Wild Eyed: Nature Calendar in New York City

My friend, Erik Baard, has a new website out that discusses all things of an urban nature sort. I wrote a story for his "Wild Eyed" column that lets people post about their encounters with urban nature. I write about the time I came face to face with a powerful and beautiful, Peregrine falcon.

The Falcon and the Smoker
by Tanya Elder
The Riverside Church is located on Riverside Drive between 122nd and 124th Streets on Manhattan’s West Side. The gothic structure looks ancient, but it was actually built in 1928 with a modern-day steel skeleton under a layer of poured concrete and stone hewed in the gothic style. Thanks to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the Church was built as a progressive place of worship, which has continued under influential pastors such as Harry Emerson Fosdick, William Sloane Coffin, and currently, James A. Forbes, Jr.

[snip]

Head to Nature Calendar for more.