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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Political Showdown: Obama in Face-Off with House Republicans

*** For complete full length video of this political showdown and full text transcript, go here: Obamas Political Showdown with Republicans: Full Length Video and Text

From Denny: For twenty years the American public has been fed up with the partisan bickering, lack of political spine from the Democrats to fight the takeover of our government from the lobbyists and Big Business and lack of real governing to do anything for the average American coming from the Republicans who just want to line their pockets and hold onto to power indefinitely.

President Obama decided to walk into the political ambush and give the Republicans the chance they have been claiming they don't have: the ear of the President. Republican lawmakers spend too much time lying just to stay in office instead of taking care of the people's business.

Now it's in the Republicans' court to prove they can be bipartisan. Personally, I don't hold out much hope for cantankerous stubborn arrogant people to change their tactics. However, they can no longer get away with this particular lie as it's now on news videos beaming all over the world.

As to the most recent lies they don't have any provisions in the health bill, well, nothing could be farther from the truth. Try a few hundred of their proposals are in it, all of which they must not believe in too much because not one of them voted for the very bill they crafted.

One thing is for sure, Prez Obama is finally out there establishing himself as top dog with the local junkyard dogs. While the Republican dogs are still sneering and snarling at Obama, one thing is now cemented: Obama is the leader of the pack and challenging him will get them nowhere.

Good going, Mr. President. It's about time you got aggressive and made the struggle of wills public.





People can say what they want about this President but one thing is for sure - the man has a great sense of humor about his own situation and life in general! A real sense of humor about yourself is one way to handle stress well and keep your balance. Take a look at what he had to say recently that gave a few grins, referencing his showdown with the House Republicans:




*** For complete full length video of this political showdown and full text transcript, go here: Obamas Political Showdown with Republicans: Full Length Video and Text

*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Cartoons: American Public Angry at Prez Obamas 1st Year in Office

*** The real reason Americans are so intensely angry at President Obama and Congress is because for the entire first year of this "change" presidency they gave away power to those famous for abusing power: the Republican Party and Big Business.

From Denny: For anyone who was naive enough to think the Republicans would let go of power willingly - and choose to cooperate for the good of the country - or that this new President would be able to solve any of the massive problems in one year, well, they were unrealistic. It took more than eight years of Bush and 25 years of a Republican dominated Congress to get America into this rabbit hole and it's going to take more than a couple of good years to pull us out.

At the rate the Republicans are throwing the taxpayers all off the cliff the Democrats had better buckle down and start working fast and furious. Enough of the niceness thinking Republicans will cooperate if you talk sweet to them. Get real. A junkyard dog is a junkyard dog even when you dress him up in a suit.

Get tough and get real. The Republicans don't respect nice. All they respect is tough and hard-nosed strictness like Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. They hate her which means they fear her. Obama could take a lesson from her. Either that or the country needs to hire a dominatrix to discipline the Republican Party. Oh, wait a minute, Louisiana Senator David Vitter probably already has one on retainer. Maybe he will loan her out on a pro-bono basis. Prez Obama and his team have walked on egg shells long enough while real people are losing their jobs, their homes and their savings to Big Business who are taking unfair advantage.

That anemic credit card legislation Congress passed a year ago just motivated the banking industry to jack up everyone's interest rates on a whim, changing all the rules of the original contracts with their customers. And all the banks had to do was send the customer a fine print notification they changed the rules? And you wonder why the news keeps reporting there is a public revolt against paying mortgages and credit cards now? If changing the rules of the contracts is good enough for the banks, then it must be good enough for the customers too.

Who gave Obama this really bad advice about bailing out Wall Street in the first place? Who advised Obama to go moderate on Big Business? Hmmm... "do ya think?" it could be those same advisers are planning to return to Wall Street and want to cultivate some goodwill for their wealthy return? Come on; Big Business is a behemoth that steam rolls over everyone it can. Why has Obama not stopped all those Big Business job visas, replacing American workers when our economy is so fragile?

Yes, jobs loss, jobs creation and the economy is what is utmost in the upper mind of Americans. People are frustrated at where they are in life as they watch the economy slide down for them but huge bonuses for Wall Street with taxpayer monies. One note though: just how many of those same very frustrated people goose-step marched along with the Bush-Cheney duo when things were going well and voted them into that disastrous second term? Those voters should not be taking their anger out on Obama but rather need to kick themselves around the block a few times in the driving rain.

Here's a news clip of the Obama year in review:





And the cartoonists sure have some caustic things to say about Obama's first year. The GO BAMA TEAM sure needs to pick up the pace:






















*** For humor - Funny Video: Colbert Says Obama Is Doing Nothing and Destroying Everything - Colbert points out the bizarre double-speak of conservative talk show hosts.

*** ALSO: Political Cartoons: Obamas State of the Union

*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave a comment, a big thank you and shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mission of Hope Run by American in Haiti

Coat of arms of Haiti
Coat of arms of Haiti (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




From Denny: A few years before the disaster struck in Haiti, American Brad Johnson decided to move there and help the people in his parents' ongoing Christian mission to Haiti. He was in a unique position to help after the earthquake as he already had an established school, an orphanage and a medical clinic operating, along with plenty of supplies. His mission is just outside of Port-au-Prince. He is busy distributing supplies to survivors and has been within hours of when the disaster hit.



Saturday, January 23, 2010

Editorial Cartoons This Week - 23 Jan 2010

Rush Limbaugh Cartoon by Ian D. Marsden of mar...
Rush Limbaugh Cartoon by Ian D. Marsden of marsdencartoons.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From Denny: This week's news was dominated by the terrible disaster still unfolding in Haiti and the editorial cartoons fell in line trying to bring awareness to the plight of Haiti.

Of course, cartoonists - and most of the entire world - is critical of mean-spirited people like Pat Robertson who claims to be a compassionate minister of God and Rush Limbaugh for being so caustic about the Haitian disaster. Frankly, I think both of them, and most of the conservative commentators - and people in general who are so cruel - are really in dire need of medications for their emotional illness. Short of that, they would probably be accurately diagnosed as suffering from acute dementia.

Steroid abuse was in the news with athletes finally ponying up to the Truth or Dare Bar and admitting what everyone else in the world already knew: they abused drugs while playing professional sports. Gee, "do ya think?" their unusual muscular size gave them away? Sometimes, you wonder if these guys ever looked in the mirror. But then, when a person gets off course in life they are usually "the last to know."

Glassy-eyed followers of Sarah Palin are thrilled to know they can get more of her now because she has joined the cast of Fox News as an "expert political commentator." Considering the amount of provable lies found in her latest book I guess she qualifies as much as the next guy for the job.

The huge NBC gaffe of messing with the late night shows' schedules and pitting Leno and O'Brien against each other has finally settled down into a healthy buy-out for O'Brien to "shut up and please go away quietly with the $45 million we poured into your bank account." O'Brien, the injured party, definitely came out on top of the latest ratings now.

The Democrats screwed up what should have been a "slam dunk" win of replacing Ted Kennedy's famous seat in Massachusetts. The cartoons were so good on that one that I just had to do a separate post and parked it over at Dennys Funny Quotes for your enjoyment, go here.

Haiti earthquake:







































This really sums up what the American people have been thinking about all week:








Google pulling out of China because of censorship issues with the government and the internet:




Athletes and the ongoing issue of steroid abuse - "juicing" - to gain unfair advantage over other athletes who do not, whether in professional sports or the Olympics:













Sarah Palin on Skewed News (Fox). Guess they thought she might bring up their ratings out of the cellar as Americans increasingly pull away from Liar News:




Wall Street still continues to trumpet their billion dollar earnings every quarter as they continue to fee and squeeze the American people:







On the terrorism front...





The late night show "crisis"







*** ALSO: For the latest editorial cartoons on the Dems losing the Senate seat in Massachusetts - Its Official: Folks Bring Back Thiefing Republicans, Hand Senate Seat to Them

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort!  You rock!



Subscribe to A Truth Journal

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my 24 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

2 Inspiring Haiti Stories: Woman Pulled From Wreckage, New Baby Born on USS Carl Vinson

Coat of arms of Haiti
Coat of arms of Haiti (Photo credit: Wikipedia)






From Denny: Finally, a happier story of triumph as a woman named Jeanette was pulled from the damaged building in strong health with minor injuries and dehydration after six days pinned down. This is an awesome story of her faith in God and her determination to survive to be reunited with her husband.



Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Inspiring Quotes About Disaster - Cheeky Quote Day 20 Jan 2010

Coat of arms of Haiti
Coat of arms of Haiti (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
*** Is it possible to be inspired from so much devastation and suffering? You would be surprised at how much goodness and thoughtfulness exists in humanity in the toughest of times.




From Denny: I've been writing so much about the Haiti earthquake disaster for my hard news blog, Dennys Global Politics, that I'm emotionally saturated. Of course, while preparing for today's weekly cheeky quotes post the first thing my mind turned to wondering was whether there were any quotes about disaster. Besides, with the somber mood of everyone watching the news these days for a blow by blow agonizing account of what the folks in Haiti are struggling to live through, I wondered if it was possible to find anything that was remotely humorous about the concept of disaster.

As I started combing my way through disaster quotes I was struck by how superficial our American culture can be at times, too much self-absorption, exaggerating personal issues as if they actually qualified as a disaster. When times are normal and life is easy it's funny to be cheeky about our circumstances. Somehow, right now with the Haiti situation still unfolding...

There are a few quotes that are amusing. Others I found were in reference to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, still so fresh here in south Louisiana where I live, that echo the same frustration with relief efforts as is heard about the Haiti disaster today. Governments still don't have their act together in a timely fashion.





Excepting Israel, last night's news reported that Israel arrived with a complete mobile hospital, electronic records ability, personnel, supplies for them and the patients. These folks have all the IT equipment they need to send out X-rays of patients and talk to specialty doctors thousands of miles away to consult. Pretty cool. It's also what Americans expected how we would come into Haiti. The military machinery is good for establishing order and security but they were missing the medical component on the Israeli level who far out-shined us.

What America has done right is to staff and organize the Haiti airport. Why was that so important and such a big deal? It's a small airport and before the earthquake only managed about three flights a day. Once the American military came in they got it up to 60 flights a day and now up to 100 flights a day. The need is to get it up to 180 flights a day as that is what is truly needed. It does make you feel good to know that the whole world is flying in to help on this massive a scale. There still is so much good in the world.





Researching these quotes also made an impression on me about how people have been making the same commments about the concept of disaster for generations in regard to war situations. What really surprised me, pleasantly, are the many inspiring quotes found that teach us how to wrap our brains around difficult times and grow from it.

Of course, my take on it too is that human nature is both terribly stubborn and often emotionally lazy. We require extreme situations like disaster to get us to change on a fundamental level as that is all that can motivate us. In this Haiti situation, the people of Haiti are tested to change but so is the world around them, every person watching the news. We all have come to the realization that our world can change in a flicker of a moment. How will we choose to react when we no longer have the familiar to run to for security?





Meanwhile, for those who are wondering, an update on my female cousin trapped in Haiti. While we still have not received word of her survival, we have heard from a number of Haitian friends and other Americans who know her that she is fine because they all have seen her in person or talked to her on the phone. She was in Jacmel and has been reported at the College St. Pierre music school area.

She's a classical trumpet player and music teacher who donates her time in Haiti several times a year. The word is she gave away all her medicine to help which is typical of her "what's mine is yours." She also was to have said she "wants to remain in Haiti in their time of need to do what she can for them." Also typical of her. So, time will tell. As the country gets dug out and communication begins to improve beyond hearsay and spotty phone lines available, we will all keep praying strength into the survivors as they journey through their ordeal.

When tough times strike it's good to have a small time to laugh, and, hopefully, to get inspired. Inspiration lifts up your spirits making you stronger to walk through the situation until it is resolved. That's why I leave so much humor on my blogs, knowing thousands of people are stressed from their jobs and life situations. A little quirky intelligent humor entertains the mind, pulling it away from the emotional stress, giving temporary relief. It's like a soothing mind bath, soaking away all the worries so you can catch your balance once again.

The quotes are arranged in a way to take you through the roller coaster of emotions we feel about the idea of a disaster, be it a personal failing of which we joke or something very serious like a natural disaster of epic proportions. Then there are the deep thinkers who wrestle with how to grow and benefit from the worst of times in our lives, inspiring us.

Take a look at what I found:



Photo of Greece, a country no stranger to earthquakes

Quotes

First the amusing; Oscar Wilde is always good for a grin:

* The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster. - Oscar Wilde

* I attended a very small junior high and specially in the end that became a disaster. The principal was pretty senile and a drunk, so the children more or less ruined the school. - Jonathan Brandis

* I don't admire Freud as much as some people do. Imagine Shakespeare being aware of the Oedipal complex when he wrote Hamlet. It would have been a disaster. - Nathalie Sarraute

* If you put yourself in a group of people you cannot work with it's obviously going to be a disaster. - David Cronenberg

* It is always one's virtues and not one's vices that precipitate one into disaster. - Rebecca West

* There are two sighs of relief every night in the life of an opera manager. The first comes when the curtain goes up. The second sigh of relief comes when the final curtain goes down without any disaster, and one realizes, gratefully, that the miracle has happened again. - Rudolf Bing

* Society is not a disease, it is a disaster. What a stupid miracle that one can live in it. - Emile M. Cioran

* Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to reveal a social disaster. - Jim Wallis

* The pursuit of approval usually ends in disaster. - Chris Morris

* Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster. Otherwise, why do so many people walk upright and with open eyes into their misfortune? - Elias Canetti

* France, and the whole of Europe have a great culture and an amazing history. Most important thing though is that people there know how to live! In America they've forgotten all about it. I'm afraid that the American culture is a disaster. - Johnny Depp

* Those who mistake their good luck for their merit are inevitably bound for disaster. - J. Christopher Herold

* We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces. - Carl Sagan

* We not only romanticize the future; we have also made it into a growth industry, a parlor game and a disaster movie all at the same time. - Eugene Kennedy

* I think the inherent right of the Government is to lie to save itself when facing a nuclear disaster is basic. - Arthur Sylvester

* If a poem is each time new, then it is necessarily an act of discovery, a chance taken, a chance that may lead to fulfillment or disaster. - A. R. Ammons

* If a sufficient number of management layers are superimposed on top of each other, it can be assured that disaster is not left to chance. - Norman Ralph Augustine

* The bosses of our mass media, press, radio, film and television, succeed in their aim of taking our minds off disaster. Thus, the distraction they offer demands the antidote of maximum concentration on disaster. - Ernst Fischer

* One person cooking at home cannot pay attention to too many things. If a woman makes three dishes, she will get nervous on the first, the second will suffer and the third will be a disaster. - Rene Veaux



Photo by subflux @ flickr

Now the serious quotes that deal with the anger and frustration we all feel after a disaster of epic proportions has struck be it a war or an earthquake:

* A great power has to have the discipline not only to go when necessary but to know when not to go. Getting involved in ethnic, religious civil wars is a recipe for disaster. - John Kasich

* Americans rightly asked, if this is the way our government responds to a natural disaster it knew about days in advance, how would it respond to a surprise terrorist attack? How would it respond to an earthquake? - Russ Carnahan

* Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster. - William Tecumseh Sherman (American Civil War in 1860’s)

* First, those images help us understand the general and specific magnitude of disaster caused by the tsunami. The huge outpouring of aid would not have happened without those images. - Bruce Jackson

* Get off you’re a$$ and get down here to fix the g. d. biggest disaster in the nation's history. - Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, whose calls for help were ignored by the White House, President George Bush, for the first 3 days and longer after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, flooding the city, stranding residents who died from lack of rescue, food and water that could have easily been provided by the federal government in a timely fashion.

The military blocked the interstates so those of us who wanted to drive into New Orleans and get them were turned back. Then the FEMA head, Brownie, overruled the Governor of Louisiana when she tried to send in buses to gather up the stranded at the Superdome.

You know why she was denied from helping her own people? Brownie declared those buses were not air-conditioned and, therefore, could not be used. He hung up his cell phone and ordered off the high-priced restaurant menu to settle in for an expensive meal on the taxpayers' dime. All the while people were dying in New Orleans. Unbelievable arrogance and insensitivity while the whole world watched. Hopefully, America has learned from that disaster to help those to come.

* My heart goes out to victims and survivors of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy and to their families. This disaster will go down in history books as one of the largest natural disasters in U.S. history. - Ellen Tauscher

* Never in our country's history have we witnessed a natural disaster that has impacted so many people in such a wide area. In fact, as of the writing of this column, millions of people along the Gulf Coast have been displaced from their homes in a period of only five days. - Jo Bonner

* This is a Disaster. This isn't something somebody can control. We ain't stuck on stupid. - General Russel Honore, commenting at Bush’s terrible handling of relief effort to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit.

* The one thing that I have been struck with, after coming here to Congress is, how many people in Washington, D.C. talk about job loss like they are talking about the weather, or a natural disaster like an earthquake. - Stephen F. Lynch

* If you have a major disaster involving hundreds of thousands, or in this case millions of people, whether it be a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, the first 72 hours are going to be totally chaotic no matter what you plan to do. - Warren Rudman

* In the past, people worked together only when some great disaster threatened. - Walter Ulbricht

* It is imperative that when thousands of selfless volunteers respond to those who have incurred the wrath of a natural disaster that legal liability need not be hanging over their heads. - Jon Porter

* I can only hope the federal aid made available today will be sufficient in our recovery efforts, and pray that our citizens continue to be safe from the fallout of this dangerous natural disaster. - Mike Rogers

* Only disaster can follow divided counsels and opposing wills. - Thomas John Barnardo

* Pride and excess bring disaster for man. - Xun Zi



These are the delightful quote gems I found that inspire us to think differently and do differently:
* I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity. - John D. Rockefeller

* I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and the atrocity. - Edgar Allan Poe

* Today, as never before, the fates of men are so intimately linked to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody. - Natalia Ginzburg

* I beg you take courage; the brave soul can mend even disaster. - Queen Catherine II

* I didn't lead a very wise life, myself, but it was a full one and a grown-up one. You come of age very quickly through shipwreck and disaster. - Philip Dunne

* If I could learn to treat triumph and disaster the same, then I would find bliss. - Kathie Lee Gifford

* The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. - Elizabeth Bishop

* I believe that if you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience. - Eddie Rickenbacker

* To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster. - Stirling Moss

* Trust your hunches. ... Hunches are usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level. Warning! Do not confuse your hunches with wishful thinking. This is the road to disaster. - Dr. Joyce Brothers

* Trusting our intuition often saves us from disaster. - Anne Wilson Schaef



Photo by romarosa @ PhotoBucket

* If I'm interrupted, it's just a minor inconvenience, but not a disaster, because it's easy to get back where I was: that is, the paint has not changed consistency; the light has not moved. - Buffy Sainte-Marie

* There is humor in the specter of the worst disaster in our nation's history. All I have to do is sweep away the debris of shock to find it. - Will Durst

* Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. - Sun Tzu

* Knowledge is going to make you stronger. Knowledge is going to let you control your life. Knowledge is going to give you the wisdom to teach their children. Knowledge is the thing that makes you smile in the face of disaster. - Avery Brooks

* Much as we may wish to make a new beginning, some part of us resists doing so as though we were making the first step toward disaster. - William Throsby Bridges

* My mother was a phoenix who always expected to rise from the ashes of her latest disaster. She loved being Judy Garland. - Lorna Luft

* Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow. Retire when the work is done. This is the way of heaven. - Tao Te Ching

* There is such a thing as tempting the gods. Talking too much, too soon and with too much self-satisfaction has always seemed to me a sure way to court disaster. The forces of retribution are always listening. They never sleep. - Meg Greenfield

* The most dire disaster in love is the death of imagination. - George Meredith

* The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple: you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster. -
Quentin Crisp

And, for the People of Haiti:

* Noble souls, through dust and heat, rise from disaster and defeat the stronger. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* Many a happiness in life, as many a disaster, can be due to chance, but the peace within us can never be governed by chance. - Maurice Maeterlinck

And a wonderful poem from Rudyard Kipling:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give away to hating
And yet don't look too good nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,
And treat those two imposters just the same,
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss . . .
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!



*** ALSO at Dennys Global Politics is something life affirming -
2 Inspiring Haiti Stories: Woman Pulled From Wreckage, New Baby Born on USS Carl Vinson


*** ALSO at Dennys Funny Quotes the latest political cartoons on one weird election -
Its Official: Folks Bring Back Thiefing Republicans, Hand Senate Seat to Them



* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort!  You rock!



Subscribe to A Truth Journal

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my 24 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!