I want to see more news like this. HER SMILE IS EVERYTHING!
92 year old Cancer survivor Harriette Thompson, completed the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon in about 7 hrs 24 minutes.
She’s 92 years and 65 days old, which makes her the OLDEST PERSON TO COMPLETE A MARATHON. The previous oldest was 92 yrs and 19 days old, Gladys Burrill when she did the Honolulu Marathon in 2010. Which is also worth mentioning. Because don’t say you can’t do something. JUST DO IT.
Text of President Barack Obama’s speech at Cairo University, as provided by CQ Transcriptions.
Good afternoon. I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has had stood as a beacon of Islamic learning. And for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress.
I’m grateful for your hospitality and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. And I’m also proud to carry with me the good will of the American people and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: Assalamu-alaikum.
(APPLAUSE) Continue reading
My childhood was pure childhood. I knew nothing of what went on outside my lil area. I read my books, did my lessons (education was/is very imp in my fam), & played. We didn’t really watch any tv. Maybe on Saturdays. Cartoons in the morning; & I remember there was a Disney movie every Sat evening. Sometimes after school cartoons, but not when we were really young.
The books I read as a child were Indian stories; my grandfather would always ship or bring back books (written in English) of Indian tales. We even had a subscription to Chandamama, an Indian magazine for kids. It’s all hip now & online as an interactive website. It was similar to Highlights magazine; even had a good boy/bad boy page, Vikram & Vetal like Goofus & Gallant. It had some religious stories, & a serial fiction story that was to be continued every month. I looked forward to each magazine!
Then, I think around the time I turned 10, we started watching the news as a family. The local news & national. It was the Evening News w/ Dan Rather at first, then switched to World News Tonight w/ Peter Jennings in the early 90s.
Why is this important? I think b/c what’s going on in the world is important. I’ve always believed that any one person, & every one person should do what they should (not what they can, but what they should do, as in it is their duty to do it).
I’ve told y’all before that I was naturalized as a US citizen when I turned 18 so that I could vote.
But the whole point of this is that I was looking at pictures from a recent Indian election, & it made me proud of where I come from. India has the largest democracy in the world. The largest. & they take their responsibilities seriously.
Ppl make such a big deal of this last election here; w/ the highest voter turn-out. & that’s great. But it’s only great if the voter turn-out continues to increase election after election. I’m interested to see what this country does in Nov. 2010, & Nov. 2012.
129,446,455 showed up & voted in the Nov. 2008 election. That’s just under 43% of the population at the time (304,059,724 in July 2008).
Last week in India, about 714 million ppl voted (out of a population of 1.2 billion, that’s about 60%, folks). That’s good stuff.
Check out these pictures from the recent Indian election. Truly amazing. In #5, you’ve got an older woman who walked 68 miles to vote. And I know everyone’s aware of Hindu-Muslim tensions all over the world, but #25 & #35 say it all. We’re talking about tensions that go back thousands of years, yo!
You have to check out the pictures. They are amazing. Ppl hanging out on rooftops to attend an election rally. Ppl taking cable cars across valleys/rivers to get to the election site.
I really can’t imagine ever living in a non-democratic nation.
Ok, I made a collage of 4 of the pix to try to entice you to click on the link to view the pix. Also, if you click on the pic below, it’ll take you there. I did NOT take any of the pix, the credits are on the page when you click on the link!
President Barack Obama Delivers Inaugural Address
at US Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Jan. 20, 2009
Full transcript as prepared for delivery of President Barack Obama’s inaugural remarks on Jan. 20, 2009, at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Just a relief. I feel relieved. Today is a beautifully, gorgeous, amazing day. It’s 72 & sunny here in gorgeous Cleveland, Ohio. The leaves are amazing shades of oranges, reds, browns, yellows. The sun’s hittin ’em just right. In my head, it’s like this all over the US of A today. And all over the world!
Also, from Idle, I’ve discovered this, by Mr. Patrick Moberg, a new bookmark of mine:
I really couldn’t care less what color he or anyone is. But that illustration above did look like it could use a lil color, didn’t it? I hope in the next hundred years, it has all types of different color & sexes & orientations.
But that’s really just secondary. I can just feel that we have now a leader that will steer us forward. I haven’t felt this good about a prezzy since (or before) Bill. I know we are in for great changes.
And wasn’t it Dave Thomas that said “Change is Good”?
I have to admit, I’m kinda excited to see these gals grow up with their puppy in the White House. This is a photo-journalist’s dream. And I know those 2 girls are going to grow up to do something amazing with their lives & for our lives!
The US Supreme Court granted a stay in the case of Troy Davis while they consider his appeal.
All that’s fair is that they hold a trial & listen to what the 7 of the 9 witnesses who recanted their statements said.
One of the ones that didn’t is the other suspect (Sylvester Coles).
And there’s been new evidence in the case, including 3 new witnesses who say that Coles confessed to them (or in 1 case, was bragging) about killing the officer.
Anyway, all I’m hoping for now is a fair trial so that I can believe in my Justice System.
_______________________________
From the WTOC , Savannah, GA news:
Stay of execution granted for Troy Davis
Posted: Sep 23, 2008 05:22 PM
Updated: Sep 23, 2008 06:59 PM
JACKSON, GA (WTOC) – The US Supreme Court has granted a week-long stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis just under two hours before he was scheduled to be put to death.
Davis is in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia where family and supporters gathered to protest the scheduled execution.
Davis’ sister Martina Correia knows it’s a long road, but says they’re not giving up.
“We still have to get the Supreme Court to hear the case and hear the arguments but I know if they will take this case that one day my brother will be vindicated and walk free,” she said. “I just want to pray for the victim’s family. I know that they’re hurting and everything but Troy is not guilty of this crime. We dishonor Officer MacPhail by killing Troy and I think that the Supreme Court showed us today there’s something going on when we’re rushing to execute somebody before they even have an opportunity to review the case.”
Activist reverend Al Sharpton led Davis’ supporters in prayer after they found out about the stay.
Members of MacPhail’s family also issued a statement after the stay was issued.
The US Supreme Court will review Davis’ request for an appeal on September 29.
Hey everyone,
I feel sick to my stomach. I opened up my email today & saw that Troy Davis’s execution has been scheduled for Tues evening @ 7 pm!! Please go to Amnesty International’s site & click on the link to sign the letter to Georgia’s Board of Pardon & Parole.
I can’t believe we are about to execute (EXECUTE!) a man that may be innocent. There has been SO MUCH doubt in his trial. I’ve posted about him since June of 2007, & I thought for sure the court would be fair. But alas….
Let’s go over the facts:
Ok, so remember the ppl who recanted their stories? Well, Abolish the Death Penalty has what they specifically said about it:
Darrell Collins: “[The police] were telling me that I was an accessory to murder and that I would … go to jail for a long time and I would be lucky if I ever got out, especially because a police officer got killed…I was only sixteen and was so scared of going to jail.”
Antoine Williams: “After the officers talked to me, they gave me a statement and told me to sign it. I signed it. I did not read it because I cannot read … I was totally unsure whether he was the person who shot the officer. I felt pressured to point at him … I have no idea what the person who shot the officer looks like.”
Jeffrey Sapp: “The police came and talked to me and put a lot of pressure on me…. They wanted me to tell them that Troy confessed to me about killing that officer. The thing is, Troy never told me anything about it. I got tired of them harassing me …. I told them that Troy did it, but it wasn’t true.”
Daniel Kinsman: “[T]here was and is no doubt in my mind that the person who shot the officer had the gun in and was shooting with his left hand.” Davis is right-handed.
Shirley Riley: “People on the streets were talking about Sylvester Coles being involved with killing the police officer, so one day I asked him if he was involved …. Sylvester told me he did shoot the officer.”
Joseph Washington: “I am positive that it was Red [Coles] who shot the police officer… [He] was wearing a white shirt…I had no idea that the shirt…was important because no one ever asked me…I would have testified to this but I was not asked by the state or by Troy’s lawyers.”
Please, everyone, click on the pic below to go to Amnesty International’s site & read about him. I’d love for all of you to sign the letter for him, but I’d be happy if you just read about him & share it w/ someone (ANYone) else.
The letters need to be faxed, & I know from experience that sometimes these ppl turn off their fax machines when all these faxes start comin in. In that case, you can click HERE to go to the contact information page for the GA State Board of Pardons & Parole. You can email the Pardon Administration Unit for Restoration of Rights or Pardons at Pardon_Administration@pap.state.ga.us and/or Clemency_Information@pap.state.ga.us.
You can also click to sign a petition.
You know how sometimes you pay a diff price for gas depending on if you pay in cash or use yo plastic?
So, I just found out that Visa and MasterCard explicitly prohibit merchants from charging consumers extra for paying with a credit card. (American Express & Discover don’t.)
But all the cards do allow the station to offer a discount for using cash.
So, all they need to do is increase their regular price & give the discount to the ppl who carry green. Sneaky.
Do any of you feel the same way?
Few weeks ago, over $4.00.
Last week, $3.77.
Yesterday, $3.55.
My mom said it’s supposed to go down to $3.41 soon.
I feel like this is the gov’t.’s way of giving me blood money. My heart sinks everytime I see the prices go down. The lower we fall, I know the more we’re going to pay for it later. It’s gonna hit us in the gut & I’m afraid some of us won’t be able to rise back up.
I knew this would happen. I wanted to blog about this on July 14th. The day Bush overturned that ban on offshore drilling, I felt punched in the stomach. I just felt so sick to my stomach. Like seriously nauseous. I just hoped that we’ve elected a Congress smart enough to not make his executive order come to fruition.
The very next day, the price of oil per barrel dropped. It’s been dropping since. I know it’s only dropping cause ppl think that we’re gonna be drowning in all the crude oil our lil hearts can take real soon. But that ain’t happenin, Charlie.
What’s gonna happen when ppl realize that this isn’t the solution? It’s just gonna skyrocket way past what we thought was high before. The truth is, this country’s been spoiled as far as gas prices go for decades now. If ppl think they can’t afford gas now, they’re gonna be in for a rude awakening when it hits over $8.00 a gallon. That’s what I think will happen when ppl realize that offshore drilling’s not the end-all to this prob.
Please don’t let this congress let us down.
Here’s the long & short of it (mostly long, cause c’mon, you know I ramble):
– if (if) there’s oil to be found, it will be decades (decades) before we actually got that oil & the price drop from it would be minimal. It would come out to a 2¢ drop, 20 years from now.
– 80% of US produced oil (from US reserves) is from 4 states: LA, TX, AK, & CA. If we wanted to find more, our best best would be the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
– Um… do you know what “National Wildlife Refuge” even means? It means, you told those animals that you weren’t going to destroy their home for your own evil means.
– If they spent a decade looking/finding/drilling for oil, there’s only realistically a year’s worth up there. You’re gonna destroy the sanctuary for that? Really? Really?
– It is very (very) likely that any oil drilled from ANWR will never be sold in the US. It will be sold off to the highest International bidder (most likely China). (C’mon, ppl, didja forget we’re a capitalist society?)
– Currently, we have 500 oil spills in Alaska every year. Yeah, they don’t exactly advertise that. You don’t think that’s gonna decrease when they have more new drilling monstrosities?
– Seismic testing to locate oil creates decibel levels of 260 – twice as loud as an ambulance – underwater. Exposure to these levels of noise underwater can cause disorientation, brain hemorrhaging, or even beaching for whales and dolphins. Only last week over 100 melon-head whales beached off of Madagascar close to where ExxonMobil was conducting seismic testing. (6/19/2008, from Greenpeace website)
Here’s a video of a guy who spent 3 months hiking across Alaska, & spent a LOT of time in the ANWR (it’s 3½ mins ppl):
What we need is an alternate solution. My main concern is that we will lose track of what’s imp: trying to develop alternative renewable energies.
Like this Pickens Plan that this guy T. Boone has.
Here be the plan:
(click pic to go to site)
So you know how R. Kelly got off?
Yeah, that didn’t link to what you thought it was gonna link to, eh? You sick, sick ppls! 😉
Anyway, I have a couple thoughts on that.
1- they say one of the main factors is that the girl in the video didn’t testify. I’m wondering if anyone’s checked for any weird (& extreme) activity in her bank account since this case has arisen. I’m just sayin.
and deux- I think anyone who has that video on their computer should face some sort of child porn charges. Yes, that prob means a few of the ppl who come to this post googling this whole situation.
No, I haven’t seen the video. No, I have no plans to ever see the video. (And yes, I did just write that in a huffy-pretentious voice.)
UPDATE: Ok, I was gonna post a comment, but it turned really long, so I’m just adding it here as a radio edit.
It’s absolutely crazy. Kids are having sex at the age of like 12 in suburbs & even younger in inner cities. I’ve heard this from kids! It’s insane & outta control.
I’m so scared for our youth.
The other thing is, I think she was totally willing (as were other teenage girls). And they don’t regret it when they’re older. It’s a “cool thing”. And if they did regret it (doubtful), they would never testify against someone so famous that so many ppl love. Some crazy fans would try to stalk/hurt them if Kells ever went to jail.
I was listening to a radio show while in Chi-town one weekend, & there were a couple girls who called in bragging about having slept w/ him a decade ago when they were teens. Who knows if they were legit, or if they were making it up? But regardless, it was seen as a cool experience.
Sweet Sunshower 