Partnership over Partisanship?

This is going to be a long one so hang in there: 

 Day 2 of the DNC is winding down after a wonderful and passionate speech by former President Bill Clinton. But I will get to that later.

One of the main highlights of the DNC tonight was Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke, who shot into the spotlight earlier this year when Republicans refused to allow her to testify to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the importance of insurance plans to cover birth control during a discussion on whether insurance should have a contraception mandate.  Miss Fluke made her way to the national stage tonight to address the Democratic delegates and show her support for President Obama.

Sandra Fluke painted a horrifying picture of what the USA would look like if Mitt Romney were elected President. “An America in which access to birth control is controlled by people who  never use it, in which politicians redefine rape so survivors are victimized all over again” which she received a high reception from the audience, which she should have. Because we all know, as women, no one knows the vagina and the women’s reproductive organ better than a group of old white men, who still give a shit about Castro, Oh wait, we have Castro! Who may I say has an Obama-esque way and we may see him as the next Democratic Nominee, he is a force to be reckoned with!

Fluke singled out running mate Paul Ryan who worked on legislation that would actually “redefine rape” banning all abortions under any circumstance and cut off all federal funding for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. “It would be an America in which you have a new vice president who co-sponsored a bill that would allow pregnant women to die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms,”

She spoke specifically to women when she said that we have to ‘amplify our voice” and to “keep moving forward and stop fighting old battles.” Miss Fluke could not be more right. The talk of a women’s right to choose has flooded the political arena and with the gender and age gap in both of the parties, women are a minority that has to be worked with. Many women do not feel, for whatever personal reasons or circumstances, that they are ready to raise a child. Women have the right to choose either abortion or to deliver and raise the child. Personally, I don’t not want to have children and have been on the pill since I was 15 years old. I don’t judge people who want to have children, it’s your right. But for me I cannot see myself having children, ever. This basic and important reproductive choice should not be made by the government or any other outside force against the woman's wishes but solely by the individual woman herself.

Miss Sandra concluded with a powerful “Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s now time to choose.”…

Now let me gush for a minute.

I admire President Clinton I everything he does. To me, he is a political Rockstar whose presidential legacy will live on for years to come.  Anyone who has Mr. Bill Clinton as an endorser, will surly have a surge in the polls, but I digress

Former President Clinton, who rocked a blue suit and a red and blue tie, fired up the democratic audience, saying that the policies of incumbent Barack Obama her in fact healing the country, slowly. The improvements made now will lead to dramatic enhancements in his second term.

Bill Clinton sure brought the house down. If Tuesday was about reminding voters of the excitement that surrounded Barack Obama’s first White House race, tonight presented voters with a sharper contrast with Mitt Romney and his Republican allies. But Clinton dipped his knives in honey and offered voters the most comprehensive rebuttal of GOP attacks on the president this year.

To the cheers of democrats packed onto the convention all, Mr. Clinton said of Obama "I want to nominate a man who is cool on the outside but who burns for America on the inside." This speech was CLASSIC Clinton, it was long, the delivery was precise with the insults followed by a folksy grin, all designed to improve Obama’s chances for re-election in the area where the unemployment is at a painfully high 8.3%. 

Mr. Clinton stressed one point that has been bugging me for years: Why is there so much hatred from the right? What was surprising was that president Clinton worked with republicans in Congress to have a budget agreement to cut spending. “President Obama, a gusher of new spending” Why there is so much opposition from the right. Well maybe it because he is skinny. The republicans are jealous because they don’t have a body like Barack. I hope you can see my sarcasm. But I think we all know why there is so much opposition for the right. It’s because he is black. I hate to say this but it just blatant racism that is coming from the right. But I digress, again…

 “The most important question is, what kind of country do you want to live in,” Clinton asked. “If you want a winner-take-all,  you’re-on-your-own, you should support the Republican ticket.  But if you want a country of shared opportunity and shared responsibility, a we’re-all-in-this-together society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

In conclusion, the speakers of the night praised Obama record: passing healthcare reform, fighting to lower student loan costs, supporting veterans, bailing out the U.S. auto industry. They all said and agreed that things have gotten better under his watch.  The country is no longer bleeding jobs, each speaker noted even if the rate of recovery is slow. But the great weight of effort of tonight seemed to be to cast a bad light on the Romney and Ryan team.

In Conclusion Clinton said it best:

“Look, I love our country so much. And I know we’re coming back. For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we’ve always come back. People have predicted our demise ever since George Washington was criticized for being a mediocre surveyor with a bad set of wooden false teeth. And so far, every single person that’s bet against America has lost money because we always come back. We come through ever fire a little stronger and a little better. And we do it because in the end we decide to champion the cause for which our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor — the cause of forming a more perfect union. My fellow Americans, if that is what you want, if that is what you believe, you must vote and you must re-elect President Barack Obama. God bless you and God bless America. 

This is who we are!

Honesty, integrity, perseverance are some of the key words used in the many speeches made at the Democratic National Convention.

The highlight of the convention would have to be the Keynote speaker, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. Castro, at the ripe age of 37, is the youngest mayor to give a keynote speech, ever. His life story was one of great triumph. In his keynote speech, he explains his first introduction into politics, his mother Rosie. Rosie raised 2 boys as a single mother, pushing them to stay out of trouble and to keep excelling in school. It is a success story not unlike the President's himself. She was also a pioneer in fighting for Mexican American Civil rights.

Castro went on to paint a picture of Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan. He explained that this budget plan would "dismantle the middle class" who, as he said later in his speech, is the engine of America. This is making reference to the auto industry that our current president bailed out to save the economy.

He also painted Mitt Romney as a man against women's rights "when it comes to respecting women's rights, Mitt Romney says No. When it comes to letting people marry whomever they want Mott Romney says No. When it comes to expanding health care, Mitt Romney... Actually Mitt said Yes, and now he says No" this last remark was in reference to the Massachusetts health care overhaul, which he championed while he was Senator in my great state of Massachusetts. Tonight, the main point of his speech opportunity. This is our chance to reelect President Obama and bring America successfully into the future.  We need to invest in opportunities for people who care about education and invest in the skills that will help America compete in the global economy. There is more hard work to do. But that is what America was built on, hard work. There was no "starting a small business and borrowing money from your parents" America was built on hard work and perseverance. I do agree with the  San Antonio Mayor, we do have a choice to make, between a country where the middles class pays more, so that millionaires can pay less? How does that work? I have always that if you made more, you were taxed more. I guess I misunderstood. We  have to be a nation of "fairness" where everyone has a fair chance at a great education, a fair chance to succeed, and a fair chance live the American dream.  Barack Obama answered the call and made a historic lift in our nation’s schools. By expanding Pell Grants, more young people can afford to go to college. This is to ensure that there is no talent that goes unharvested or  unnoticed.

This is who we are, a nation of hard workers. Personally, I have gone to 4 years of high school, 4 years of college and plan to go to law school. I have worked multiple jobs to pay for school. Most of my schooling was covered by grants and loans. I don't know if you all have ever had student loans but you have to maintain a certain GPA in order to keep getting the student loans. This is who we are. The 18-25 age group, we are the future. We have to make the right decision and vote!  We are the talented, hardworking individuals that San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro talked about in his speech. We are the next generation. we have to make a difference and now is our chance.  Although at times, Mitt and Barack may have the same message like changes in healthcare, education and foreign policy. I actually feel like he means what he says. To me, he generally WANTED to make changes and not just what he wanted to change; we have to look what he has been faced with in these last 4 years. In my opinion, no president since FDR has had it harder than he does right now.  I can say that not everything he promised came true, but there was a hell of a mess when he came into office. It is going to take time to bounce back from this economic decline, just like it took time to get to this point.

We all need to look at what San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro said "It begins with re-electing Barack Obama. It begins with you. It begins now"

White Limos to the right, Black limo's to the left.

A few months ago, I had gotten a letter in the mail concerning my high school reunion. (It’s been 5 years)  I politely responded with no and went on with my day.

Fast forward to today…

A letter that lists a “whites graduates only” party as one of the activities planned for a class reunion was put on the invitation in St. Martinville, La.

For over 40 years, the graduates of St. Martinville High School Class of 1973 have been holding racially segregated class reunions.

But…..this year, ABC affiliate KACT reported that they graduates have decided to change this, making the reunion non-segregated.

However, a letter announcing the change also included a letter for an after party for "white graduates only." is to be held at a home of one of the graduates, after the actual reunion. 

This was not the first “white only” event that has caused a uproar in recent months, According to the Huffington post in July, Pastor William J. Collier and his church where planning to hold a “white only” Christian conference in Alabama In his explanation to this  awful incident he responded with “we don’t have the facilities to accommodate other people. We haven’t gotten any to Black Muslim events” (yeah because everyone who is black is Muslim) of course we are not invited to Jewish events and stuff” Nothing says being Christine like segregation. Even in 2012, when we are supposed to be advanced in all walks of life, we still have this. I can’t believe that this was the FIRST year they attempted a desegregated reunion. I wonder what people thought when they got the letter in the mail. Were they mad?? Were they happy??  One might say that they issue isn’t about a private person having the “right” to be racist with respect to who is allowed in his or her home. The issue is that the school’s reunion planning committee has clearly given its official stamp of approval to this racist behavior but letting them put it on the invitation.

How would they feel if it was the other way around? Racism is an irrational belief in the superiority of any given group, nation or people. It amazes me to hear that racism has declined because it obviously hasten. If states continue to be as blind as they are, we will never live up to the name “The United States of America” We may look different, but we all serve a very important purpose. We are all fingers on the hand of life. I hope that we would be able to overcome all those incidents and live in a place where we do not care about an individual skin color or nationality.

My thing is if a reunion is being held for the class of 73, all individuals she be invited, PERIOD! 

Lets watch a group of white trash Americans parade on stage...Oh I mean the RNC!

The RNC has come and gone, I know you are as sad as I am, but what did we learn from these republicans???

Lets start off with ratings. The new TLC show Honey Boo-Boo pulled better ratings than the RNC did on any signal network. What is more astonishing is that the RNC ratings were down on every network except FOX during Mitt Romney's acceptance speech.  Our of 300 million Americans, a staggering 9.6 million in total watched Romeny's speech, that is an estimated 1 in 30 people.  We can all agree that the "convention, whether it be Republicans  or Democrats  has no greater impact than strictly campaigning. ( We will not know the ratings of the DNC, but I think they wont be much higher). American's just see these as a ginat infomercial. 

What I saw that was of may substance was the fervent attempt to shun Ron Paul supporters. In a current interview  former GOP chairman Michael Stelle called this "the height of rudeness and stupidity" because of they way they ostracize what could be a new generations of young voters. for what reason I might ask??

The nomination was wrapped up regardless of how many Ron Paul delegates were seated or who spoke at the convention. 

What I think needs more attention is Marco Rubio's speech. We all know that he is a political rock star. His speech on Thursday night showed his is a major political star. I can say, with confidence, his speech was the best of the night. He was at ease in the MASSIVE national spotlight. His story telling was a compelling touch, but he did mix in jabs directed towards the president. One example was that he said that the president is not a bad person, but just a bad president) I hope that they republicans see what a gem they have in this party. He is force to be reckoned with in the coming presidential races. 

I would be remiss if I did not bring up Clint Eastwood. Stick to your scripts, Clint! I cannot believe this part would allow this side show to be conducted in this manner. Invisible Obama telling Clint to "Go Fuck yourself" this is very inaccurate to how I have seen Obama. Clint proceed to ramble off the script repeatably. He was downright incoherent at times and was a unnecessary distraction to the convention. 

 

New Mars photos!

So, NASA has released a new series of high-definitions from Mars!! (Yippee)

The Images from the Martian surface where taken by different cameras in NASA’s Rover over the past few weeks. The images show the landing site, various features of Gale Crater, Mount Sharp and the tracks that were created by the rover all over the surface of Mars.

NASA has been releasing pictures since the beginning of August, when Curiosity landed on Mars. The first color photo was released on August 7^th, but it was in poor quality and was coated with fine debris.  

The new high resolution images include 360 degree color photos as well as animated GIFS!. 

here is a link to see the other photos:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/new-hd-mars-pictures-curiosity_n_1840585.html?ir=Technology

Now there have been some people how have citizen the government for making use of billions of tax dollars on space exploration. They feel that the money could be used for other, more urgent, issues. But what I think they don’t realize is that space travel helps us with things on earth. study of meteorology, for instance, has received a major boost from our ability to launch satellites into orbit and monitor the earth’s atmosphere through them. We are, therefore, able to make better weather forecasts with the help of the eye in the sky.

The implementation of the GPS equipment in cars and trucks to guide drivers to their destination places. The system makes use of a group of satellites up in the sky to precisely monitor the position of the GPS-equipped vehicle anywhere on earth. Without the advancements in space exploration, we would not have been able to enjoy all these technological innovations that greatly increase the quality of our lives down here on earth.

CNN Politics: I'm voting!

I was just on Facebook and I had came across a like that CNN.com had put up. Its called "I'm voting" and it gives a tally of how many people have promised to vote in the upcoming election. But what it also has is sample questions about what you think are the most important issues in this election.

Example: How does Rep. Paul Ryan make you feel about the GOP ticket? You may answer by clicking More enthusiastic, Less enthusiastic, Doesn't change my opinion. On the side  of the webpage it shows the percentages of each option.  It really is a cool interaction and I will put the link here:

http://apps.facebook.com/cnnimvoting/index.html

But what shocked me was that on the top of the page it says 11, 359 people have pledged top vote in this election.  Um... we have 235,809,266 people of age to vote in the USA. Voter turnout is not something that The United states excels in, at all. In the 2008 election, the voter turn out rate was 57.37%  and in 2004 it was 56.69% so we only went up 0.68% ? So why is voter turnout so low? I say this because in my age group 18-24, we are the least likely to vote, which angers me.

I understand that certain elections seem to encourage the voters and get them out to the polls. For example, in the 2008 election there was an increase in the number of young people and ethnic minorities; but in the 2010 midterm elections, these groups did not turn out in large numbers. When there is a candidate that is seen to a be an outlet of change (Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama) people turnout because they do believe that this candidate will change the country direct ion for the better. Also,  research also has shown that many people believe politicians are corrupt and dishonest, (Those campaign adds don't help)  and there is no difference between them. While this is not always true, the belief that things are not going to change contributes to voter apathy, and keeps voter turnout low.

All I am saying is that we should all at least try to vote. Every election is an important one. You have the right, so use it! who cares if you have to get up early in the morning to get to the polling station, you are on your way to work anyway. It's quick and easy! Come on, we are Americans, we love things quick and easy, like Hotpockets, Netflix, and the always reliable McDonald's

Also, look up some of the issues on the "chopping block". Get to know what is going on in the world, and if it makes you mad, change it. In America, there is NOT enough people speaking out. If you think that marijuana should be legalized( which I do) DO SOMETHING!!! organize rallies, sign petitions, picket! take a page out of the occupy wall street book and MAKE SOME NOISE!!! If you think that abortion should be illegal( which I don't) but of you do, MAKE SOME NOISE!!! 

So do something for the greater good. If we don't challenge our leaders, we have no right to complain about how they lead. In the coming months we are going to hear the phrase "voice your choice" a lot! take this seriously. If you can call in 100 times to vote for the next American Idol. I am sure you can get off your butt and vote for the our next leader! No excuses!

You also have the right to ignore all of the above statements and do nothing! If so, you have no right to complain!

There's a hurricane a'commin'

Tropical storm Isaac is in full swing making its way to Florida, while destroying everything in its path.

UMMM this sounds a little like another storm to hit the Florida coastline, but this one is tall, salt and pepper hair, and his favorite toy is an etch-a-sketch!

Yes, the Republican National Convention is also in full swim with Mitt Romney as the leading tropical storm.  Paul Ryan, who is the wind and rain in Romney's tropical depression is said to have already "touchdown" in Florida and is scheduled  to speak on Wednesday night with a backdrop of high winds and storm surges pounding the Gulf coast, which is almost seven years to the day that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans

In a recent interview Paul Ryan said "We are not just picking the next president for a few years. we are picking the pathway for America for a generations. What Mitt and I pledge is to make sure that you get to choose, what kind of country do we ant to have? What kind of people do we want to be?

Does anyone else think that this GIANT coincidence that the Republicans choose Florida for their convention and a giant tropical storm hits????? talk about a sign from "God"

I guess we will have to see??