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Mason
(Editor's note: Christy posted some exciting news in the previous thread. In honor of Mason, here is his own thread. Congrats!)
My family has a strange tradition, going back atleast 7 or 8 generations. All of the males that carry our family name have always been named an M name. Miles, Micheal, Matthew, Monroe, ect.
But my father was an only child, and my two brothers never got around to having kids... so it appeared the long tradition was over and there would be no more of an unbroken male line to carry on our family name.
I think my mom even gave up on my brothers. Until the night of the second debate between Obama and mcPOW. My brother Matthews wife gave birth to a son just as the debate was wrapping up. They named him Mason.
But all I could think about that night as I watched Obama overtake/eclipse mcPOW, was what a fitting night it was for him to be born. On that night, of all nights, just at the moment it became obvious a black man could very well win the presidency after all this time... Mason not only ensured one more generation of an unbroken male line, but he is half black and half white too, just like Obama. He has the strength of BOTH races. He is the first known black child in our family line.
If my father knew his name was being carried on by a black child, he would roll in his grave.
When I saw his first pics the next morning I just cried. He is so CUTE! Huge eyes! VERY huge!
But it reminded me like nothing else could that all of the risk we have taken, all of the racism we have fought against, all of the times we are so afraid looking at the future... It is all worth it.
We don't have to be afraid of the future. A new world is being born right before us and it will be brought into the world with OUR hands. If we can just keep the next generation safe a little longer, they will grow up in a world we never believed we would see in our lifetimes. They will change the world. Maybe even mankind itself.
Just the existance of someone like Obama, or Mason, or my friends daughter who is also half white and half black, or your cousins, just their presence will heal the rift between our families/tribes and force an accord between the races forged in love and blood. An unbreakable, indivisible people that transcend race, and religion, and EVOLVE.
When I looked at Mason I thought the same thing I think when I look at Obama. I can't get that British Officers words out of my head. 'It was as if I were looking at a new race of men.' I think we are exactly that, the mothers and fathers of a new race of man. Not divided, but combined as one. E Pluribus Unum.
Even more important than our government is our people, and every child like Mason born is slowly erasing the rifts among our people and uniting all the bloodlines like never before recorded in history. Combining...To become stronger than all of them.
That is the true promise of America, of the USA. One family of all races. All religions, all languages, all cultures, all histories. A new race of men. Indeed.
Anyways, I just wanted to share because we spend so much time fighting against the twisted sick way they see the world that it really is hard to remember sometimes how beautiful and bright our future really could be.
If we can hold on for just a little while longer, push a little harder, that beautiful new world will slip right into our hands.
Change the world! Vote Obama!
(BTW, Mason does not yet 'look' black or white. He just kinda looks like a big headed alien with gi-nourmous eyes. I am looking forward to torturing him as much as my brother looked forward to torturing my kids. They love him for it. Go figure.)
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Very cool. TY!
In honor of Mason, and with special thanks to lou at Liberal Cowgirl, this gives me such hope:
Rasmussen:
(No mention of potential voting machine hijack)
------------
...only 53% of Ohio voters are now Very Confident that the votes will be properly counted and the right candidate declared the victor. Another 34% are Somewhat Confident in the outcome.
Forty-five (45%) say people who shouldn’t be allowed to vote are likely to vote on Election Day. Just 28% say it’s more likely that some who are eligible will be denied the chance to vote.
-------------
McCain-Obama Tied in Ohio, Just 53% Very Confident Votes Will Be Properly Counted
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/ohio/election_2008_ohio_presidential_election
My My. WaPo has endorsed...OBAMA!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603436_pf.html
Beautifully written, Christy. Mason is lucky to have an auntie like you!!!
You brought a tear to my eye.
Karen, thanks for posting the video!
Yes - Mason is our great sign for the next few years. And Karen - where do you find these amazing singers and their words and music? Wow!
Kayakbiker's sister and mother in North Carolina voted and they are pictured here. There is also a link to his sister's DailyKos diary which far too few people saw, so I put it on our blog at http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2008/10/mountain-main-w.html and also sent it to Seattle for Obama.
The amazing thing is her Mountain Man ("Joe Six Pack") friend who got tired of Obama signs being stolen and vandalized so he made these super huge wooden ones that have to be installed with a post hole digger. See him with one and behind him, note the Confederate flag. That explains the Howard Dean quote.
Also see the other "stolen sign" photo and the swarm of Texans going to vote. It's utterly refreshing!
We are also having fun with the McCain Tongue Out examples of "De-evolution" - they put me in the mind of the infamous Kerry/Bush "Timber" video.
Interesting...
Election Projection 2008 shows GA, MS, LA & AK as pink. I'd say it's stretching things except maybe GA. Just think though... could the South break up?
Mississippi?? *really* a stretch
http://www.electionprojection.com/president08.shtml
GOP launches calls attacking Obama on Ayers, national security
Republicans launched an enormous wave of phone calls Thursday blasting Sen. Barack Obama for "having worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers," party sources said.
snip
"Hundreds of thousands" of calls are being made in at least six hard-fought states including Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio, the sources said.
...pukes...
again from: GOP launches calls attacking Obama on Ayers, national security
Here is the text of the call referring to Ayers:
"Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC [Republican National Committee] because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500."
Hope people just hang up... How many people listen through robo-calls?
FBI offices examining activities of community organizing group called ACORN
Ayres, ACORN... 2004 swiftboating started at end of RNC
2008 swiftboat after last debate
methinks I smell a Rove...
Ohioan: Cross-burning was for Halloween
A man who burned a cross in front of his home says he was arrested in a misunderstanding over his Halloween decorations.
Welcome to the world, Sir Mason!
I'm glad you liked the video, woz and Carol. It came from lou, who has a great little blog of her own called Liberal Cowgirl.
So many of the former K-E blog mods have branched out to build their own blogs/online communities, which was always something we hoped would happen. DiAnne, Christy, Ally, and the rest of you have developed such strong voices as writers, activists, and citizen journalists. It gives me hope every day when I follow the trails to your work.
I'll put up our latest analysis in a bit, but you can all see what we see: change is gonna come. Thanks for being on the journey with us.
For Immediate Release: October 16, 2008
Movement Analysis of the Third Presidential Debate: The Cheese Stands Alone
In the nursery game, The Farmer in the Dell, the last one picked is the cheese, who gets to choose no one. On so many levels, John McCain was left alone and behind last night.
And yet, he started well, bursting into the space with a gregarious and startling wave of his arms and a big smile. Much of the constraint of the past debates appeared to be gone. He spoke to the camera and even to Barack Obama. What remained from the previous debates was his urgency to communicate something, anything, causing him to interrupt Barack Obama often.
But McCain’s enthusiastic outlaying of his plans and readiness to lead became hampered as he got angry. His reaching gestures became sharper and closer to his body, turning inward, while he created smaller and smaller boxes to hold his ideas and responses. His jaw tightened. He failed to look at Sen. Obama or the camera. He was smallest and most confined when defending his choice of Sarah Palin, but other issues created that internal pressure as well:
When John McCain spoke about autism and special needs families, health, and Roe vs. Wade, he often raised his eyebrows, with pleading eyes. He shifted from attacker to victim.
Meanwhile, Obama’s complexity was revealed in his constant movement, moving head, bouncing torso, and ability to modulate from slow to fast, strong to relaxed. During his hesitancy at the beginning of a statement the dance between his open expressive face and descriptive hands revealed someone prolonging time, trying to determine which of the myriad of possible responses was the right one for the moment. The short, simple boxlike cuts of Sen. McCain’s gestural interactions were simplistic and defensive in contrast to the sweeping and embracing presentation of Sen. Obama. Barack’s free flow may not be appealing to all. He stays easy-going, soft and refined, which some read as arrogance or distance, but he also shifts into strong clarity when he makes specific points.
It all changed at the end, however. John McCain relaxed and opened up in his final offering to the American people, even touching his heart, demonstrating just how he had managed to outlast the charm, good looks, and fame of the other Republican candidates and clinch the nomination. He was grounded, warm, and confident. Barack Obama, in some contrast, suddenly appeared tired, as if some of the air had gone out of his body, leaving him present but depleted.
And then, in moments perhaps not seen by all, the story of the 2008 campaign came to an end in a most revelatory way. As the Obamas hugged and kissed, the McCains gave each other a quick peck, stood side by side with distance between them, unconnected to each other, waving to the audience. Barack put his arm around Michelle and they exited the stage. John McCain came down from the stage to greet the audience, leaving Cindy unsure of what to do. She followed at a distance. He hesitated and then forged ahead, alone and awkward, smiling uncertainly.
The farmer takes a wife…and the cheese stands alone. And that is our choice: complex and partnered vs. simple and ultimately alone. We have pointed out the Obamas extraordinary partnership before, and we have compared John McCain to Ronald Reagan, but at the end last night, he reminded us far more of another Republican president who found himself isolated and alone: Richard Nixon.
##
The above is based on observations made using Laban Movement Analysis by three Certified Movement Analysts sharing observation data and coming to consensus at the end of the third Presidential debate, October 15, 2008. Karen Bradley is the Director of Graduate Studies in Dance at the University of Maryland, College Park, Director of Research at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City and a Senior Research Fellow at the James MacGregor Burns Center for Leadership Studies at the University of Maryland. Dr. Martha Eddy is a Senior Research Associate with the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies and Director of the Center for Kinesthetic Education in New York City. Karen Studd is Associate Professor of Dance at George Mason University and Coordinator of Modular Movement Analysis Training Programs at the Laban/Bartenieff of Movement Studies. The three are available for follow-up questions, further analysis, or future consulting.
Karen...Have you ever studied the 'micro emotions' on someones face?
You know, for lie detection purposes...?
I am not sure that is part of motion analysis, but it is very neat. It is what I look for in someones 'motions', micro emotion. It is a highly accurate way to detect lies.
BTW, me too, I LOVED the video. Forgot to say so. my bad.
Karen
Thanks for the analysis.
I feel sad for McCain. For me, he doesn't bring about visceral disgust like Bush or Cheney.
Before 2004 I respectfull dieagreed with McCain. In 2004, he gsve away something in himself that he could never get back. It's the source of disorder & inconsistency in his campaign... it's the outer manifestation of inner fragmentation after selling out.
Very sad
WOW! 'Pugs can's even claim a "liberal biased court" these days...
Justices Rule Against Ohio GOP in Voting Case
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court’s order requiring state officials in Ohio to supply information that would have made it easier to challenge prospective voters. The decision was a setback for Ohio Republicans, who had sued to force the Ohio secretary of state, a Democrat, to provide information about database mismatches to county officials.
(continued)
The court said it expressed “no opinion on the question whether HAVA is being properly implemented.” But it said that Congress probably had not intended to allow private litigants like political parties to sue to enforce the part of the law concerning databases.
Justices Rule Against Ohio GOP in Voting Case
Once again Republicans managed to control the language framing an issue:
voter fraud
rarely registration fraud
DRational's diary at DailyKos
Obama Goes after GOP on Vote Fraud Fraud
Lots of links...a must read!
Thanks sparrow
"Vote Fraud Fraud"
love it
Hmmmm....Charges of potential vote fraud volleyed by Republicans, including Sen. John McCain himself, are out of proportion to reality, according to election experts.
Signs that Republican Colin Powell will support Barack Obama for president
Sources close to the retired four-star general and American icon cautioned that Powell's support for Obama over John McCain might stop short of a formal endorsement when he's interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.
Given Powell's cautious nature, he might decide to make his endorsement of Obama implied, rather than explicit. Even so, a well-informed source told the Daily News:
"After Sunday people aren't going to have any doubt who he's voting for."
Bush administration declares Alaska's Beluga whales endangered
The Bush Administration today declared a small, isolated population of Beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet as endangered species, rejecting arguments from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that these small, white whales were on their way to recovery.
Karen
Just got home .. enjoying reading
I think you're right! Our little blogs are kind of "democracy cells!"
Especially this election when we aren't so much working in the same exact way for a candidate as we were for Kerry. I mean, we are doing things but in different ways. & there wasn't YouTube (as a major player) yet!
GOP Senator Slams McCain Robo Call
Embattled Republican Sen. Susan Collins is calling on Sen. John McCain to stop paying for automated phone calls which describe Sen. Barack Obama as having "worked closely" with "domestic terrorist Bill Ayers."
"These kind of tactics have no place in Maine politics," said Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley. "Sen. Collins urges the McCain campaign to stop these calls immediately."
Pukes new lawsuit to supress PA vote-- trying to force all new PA voters to use provisional ballots... Hope SCOTUS steps in again.
Republicans File ACORN Lawsuit
...Republicans say there aren't enough safeguards in place to make sure fraudulent votes don't get counted. That's why they want newly registered ACORN voters to use paper, provisional ballots. They say unless the court acts quickly and decisively, the right to Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes may be determined by illegal ballots.
... then again, the paper ballots may be a better voter safeguard than if Pukes had left things alone...
Scanning several articles about the puke robo-calls... people are disgusted & are making public complaints. More than one article interviewed voters who say the calls caused them to decide to vote for Obama. FOX puts "outraged voters" in quotation marks & insinuates that they have been organized to make complaints. GOP operatives are the only ones liking the calls...
Excellent!
US newspapers endorse Obama for president
October 18, 2008 - 11:44AM
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, two of the most influential US newspapers, backed Barack Obama today to become the next US president, praising his leadership abilities despite his relative inexperience.
Obama also picked up hometown support from the Chicago Tribune - marking the first time since its founding in 1847 that it has come out for a Democratic candidate.
Their editorials took to 51 the number of US newspapers endorsing Obama so far in the November 4 election, against 16 for McCain, according to a tally by the Editor and Publisher trade journal.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-election-2008/us-newspapers-endorse-obama-for-president-20081018-53gc.html
aimzzz
I am very concerned about both eligible voters (blacks, homeless, etc.) being denied the right to vote, and ineligibles (South Koreans in California, etc.) being able to vote for McCain.
Besides, I am not going to let my guard down, when I am sitting in a country whose government is hellbent on installing McCain as your next President, at any cost. It is using the same strong, offensive language against its domestic left-wing opponents as it (and its Republican allies) does against the Democrats and the liberals in the US.
Honestly, when W said today he was going to allow South Koreans into the US visa-free in a month, I should've been glad, as it'll also mean I can come here without a visa too. But honestly, knowing that it's W's way of rewarding his buddies here in Seoul, I am enraged.
Karen
Thanks for your encouragement of individual blogs of some of our rank-and-file. I love blogs by Christy, DiAnne, Lou, and many others!
I must say, however, that I've given my own blog such a strong Korean accent in the past month or two, that it hardly qualifies as an American current events blog anymore. :)
woz
Los Angeles Times rarely endorses presidential or gubernatorial candidates, so for it to come out in support of Obama is very significant.
Don't forget that "blue California" really refers only to San Francisco, and that Los Angeles is home to hard-line right-wing whites who are fed up with high levels of immigration into the region. The immigrants themselves are hardly any better, with Koreans, Vietnamese, Mexicans, and Central Americans supporting the Republicans' reactionary social agenda all the way.
Well, I am going to post these in reverse order since the first one didn't work. This one is "C'est la vie said the old folks":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuM2FTq5f1o&feature=related
That's French.
Now, trying again to post Shakespeare (Henry V "Once More Into the Breach"):
http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/henryV/11/
Chuck in Houston
PS: I KNOW it is over-wrought, but it is Shakespeare....
Not the Marley I was searching for, but while I'm searching, Stir it Up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6U-TGahwvs&feature=related
Chuck
This is the opne I was looking for: "Positive Vibrations":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97aYxpt8HY8&feature=related
"If we get down and we quarrel every day,
We are givimg praise to the devil, I say...."
FAMOUS PLUMBERS
Mario the videogame guy, Ron Jeremy the porn actor, Joe the Plumber the McCain plant, & G. Gordon Libby the Nixon plumber
http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com
(sorry about the visuals - more on-site)
Political Contributions in my zip code
All-American
What a difference a day makes...
Yesterday I posted (above) that McCain didn't bring on the visceral disgust I feel about Bush, Rove, Cheney. My stomach officially has turned. Twisting a few instances of voter registration fraud into nationwide vote fraud that will determine the election... pardon me while I puke...
slugbug
Clearly you don't live in the real America
Aimzzz
Unfortunately we have Dino Rossi running for Governor - & he is as slimy as McCain or Bush. I am going to walk my absentee ballot in as I don't trust him.