OBAMA - KANYE?     

Sometimes you just have to call things the way you see them. And, whether you find yourself siding with President Barack Obama on healthcare, the economy, or the war in Afghanistan, you have to hand it to him for speaking his mind and getting it right when he called Kanye West a jackass. Now, unfortunately, he was speaking to a small group around him before the start of a press conference. He never intended for the world to hear his comments. But, in today's world, not much goes unnoticed, and some ABC news employees overheard the comments and posted them on Twitter. They have since deleted the tweets, after discovering their "off the record" source. But I for one am happy that the news got out. It is such a relief when a politician speaks his mind about something that Americans are talking about. SO many people in positions of power hold their opinions for fear they wi ... Read More »

Somewhere over our heads today is 47 year old Jose Hernandez, a NASA astronaut orbiting the earth in the space shuttle discovery. As amazing as modern-day space travel is, the neatest thing about this mission is Hernandez himself. The son of Mexican migrant farm workers, Hernandez and his brothers and sisters spent weekends working the fields and weekdays working the books. His parents made sure he got an education, and during the little downtime the family enjoyed, Hernandez' job at home was adjusting the rabbit ears on the old family TV so they could all see the picture. Here is a guy who didn't feel sorry for himself that his parents were migrant workers. He applied himself, behaved himself, and decided he would make something of himself. He ascended the ranks within a tough NASA astronaut program, and now his tweets go out in Spanish and English from thousands of miles above the earth. He proves a few things. One--Anyone can acheive, even if their parents don't speak English and perhaps came here ... Read More »

... those were some of the first words I ever heard from Michael Jackson, a young, adorable, smiling little boy-- singing along with his brothers. What an incredible talent in a young, magnetic body-- the possibilites seemed limitless. And, truly, they were. Emerging from the Jackson 5 as the true superstar talent of the family didn't take long. The more the world loved him, it seemed, the more he acheieved. Until perhaps, the light became too bright, and the weight of the expectations his fans and the media at large became too heavy. Slowly, the world caught glimpses of Michael as he morphed from a a strong, handsome, very physical stage presence into a frail, disfigured, almost transparent form of his former self. Whispers talked of strange skin conditions which "necessitated" the lightening of his skin---tales were told of oxygen tanks used for sleeping, and odd overnight visits from the children of star-struck fans.
 
Finally, accidents while performin ... Read More »

Saving GM
 
      Today's news about GM's bankruptcy has come as no suprise to anyone who has paid attention to the past year's events at the Michigan car maker-- a company whose name and log have become synonymous with the American workforce.  As the daughter of an Ohio car dealer who sold Lincoln-Mercury products, I regard the inevitable bankruptcy with a measure of sadness, but a great amount of hope.  My father was a lifelong Republican, but his beliefs were more rooted in financial beliefs than anything else.  He believed it was no one's business how much money you brought home, as long as you took the repsonsibility of your family seriously.  He believed in hard work, ingenuity, and second chances.  Still, I wonder how much money he would be bringing home if he were selling those cars today.  Back in the 1970s in Ohio, it was the very ... Read More »

Obviously, all eyes were on the big one in Washington, DC. Two million people stood in freezing temperatures to try to feel a bit of the hope that was contagious in our nation’s capital. President Barack Obama accepted what might be the toughest job around right now. He did so with an uncommon grace and an incredible gift for wielding the English language in a way that inspires hope and creates great dreams while speaking directly to the hearts of each person listening. Of course, he pointed out the great struggles facing our nation, perhaps understating the matter by saying “The State of our Economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality....”&# ... Read More »