Thursday, January 31, 2008

Stop purpetuating email propaganda

The Truth About Obama’s Faith
(by Obery Hendricks)

Everyday there seems to be some new outrageous charge leveled at Barack Obama. One of the most pernicious is that he is a Muslim who is dishonestly masquerading as a Christian. This charge is so malicious - and so untrue - that it is time to set the record straight.

Barack Obama has never been a Muslim. He has never attended a Muslim school. From about age eight to age nine Obama lived in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country on earth, with more Muslim schools than one can count, yet his parents chose to enroll him in a secular, non-religious school comprised of teachers and students of all faiths. Nor can it be said that during his brief sojourn in Indonesia that his worldview was tainted by Islamic extremism; when Obama lived there, the practice of Islam in Indonesia was still among the world's most moderate.

(Read the whole article)

Tell Burger King to stop being a Scrooge

Dear friend,

Farm workers who toil to pick tomatoes for Burger King's
sandwiches earn 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of
tomatoes they pick, a rate that has not risen significantly in
nearly 30 years. Workers would have to pick 2.5 tons of tomatoes
just to earn minimum wage for a typical 10-hour day.

But instead of joining other fast-food chains in paying an extra
penny per pound for its tomatoes, this Christmas Burger King is
working to undermine those chains' existing agreements with the
Coalition for Immokalee Workers. As a result, tomato pickers in
Florida are facing the prospect of losing the first significant
raise some of them have seen in nearly 30 years.

I just told Burger King to stop being a Scrooge and and start
paying farm workers fair wages - will you join me?

http://go.sojo.net/campaign/burgerking_scrooge?rk=O7w9LjdqwQbFW

******************************
This email is Powered by Convio, Inc.

http://www.convio.com

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Mired in mud, war wages on

“Tsuanmi Tuesday” is coming up next week so, here’s my take on what I’m calling “the Malevolent Seven,” the men and woman who would be President. In the interest of making it arbitrary, thereby giving the false impression of impartiality, let’s do it in reverse alphabetical order.

Former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt “perfect hair” Romney (R) has still got the money and the machinery. How will he do on Tuesday? Hard to say, he’ll probably do great in the big states where he’s run ad after ad on TV. He’s taken a lot of flack for being a flip-flopper.

But as appealing as his Reaganesque hair is, I think his biggest drawback will be his biggest strengths. He’s smooth, he’s good looking, and he has a captivating style. Just what any candidate needs right? But he’s too smooth, too good looking, and too stylish. Voters are gonna think he’s a phoney-McFake-pants and avoid him the way you avoid plastic people who are too perfect to be real, which is sad because they might be nice people, but they try too hard.

I am frankly, frightened for Illinois Senator Barrack Obama (D). He genuinely wants to heal our country and be a bridge-repairing consensus builder who reaches across party lines, racial lines, and probably even socio-economic levels. Nobody wants that. Get real. People hate a goody-goody. We like being angry at each other, calling each other names, and blaming each other for our problems.

How could he actually think he could get anywhere with a message of hope and reconciliation? If Bill and Hillary don’t take care of him, the Republicans will find a way to “swift-boat” him. And if he makes it though both of those onslaughts, I’m afraid that the majority of Americans are only pretending to be ready to elect a woman or a Black man. We’re still way more tribal than we want to admit to ourselves.

When you really get down to it, Arizona Senator John McCain (R) is about as old-school Republican as you get, but Republicans don’t think so. See, he proposed the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill years ago. Yeah, at one time he actually wanted to clean up politics. He’s also come out and publicly said that he’s opposed to torture- which makes sense, seeing as he was once a victim of it.

Be that as it may, he’s said that he’s willing to keep our troops in Iraq for a hundred years if that’s what it takes to win. I guess he forgot that we already won, several years ago. We deposed Saddam Hussein, defeated the Iraqi army and removed the Bathist Party from power. Since then, we’ve pretty much been hanging out, building the world’s largest air base and the world’s largest embassy, and ticking people off.

Then there’s Arkansas Governor Rev. Mike Huckabee (R). Ya want so much to like him because he’s nice and likeable and best friends with Chuck Norris, but there’s just something about him that makes you wonder if he’s not playing that guitar with a few strings missing, no pick, and his amp unplugged.

I’m not talking about the violent criminal activity of his sons, or the fact that he thinks that Pakistan is in Latin America. Even those of us who are on the same page with him on his Evangelical Christian faith and values need to step back and think twice before rushing to amend the Constitution. Of course, he also want so get rid of the IRS- who isn’t for that? Except, funny thing about government services is that they need revenues to pay for them. Even the most radical libertarian likes having an army protect us and appreciates things like roads, bridges, the Center for Disease Control…

How did former New York City Mayor Rudy Guliani (R) do in the Florida primary? When I wrote this a week ago, I could not imagine that his candidacy was going to last too much longer. But who knows? I have a friend who actually thinks that both of the nominations won’t get decided until the conventions this summer.

I feel bad for former South Carolina Senator John Edwards (D), because no one’s really listened to him since the Iowa Caucus. Ah, but not only does he have even better hair than Mitt Romney, but he also has a lot of delegates. He may just end up being the Democratic “King-maker” (or Queen maker, as the case may be). Eventually at least two people are going to start paying attention to him.

Finally there’s New York Senator and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton (D). If a Republican gets elected in November, I won’t blame any third-party candidates, I’ll blame the dirty campaigning and lying that she and her husband Bill were doing back in January.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Bubble-Gum Rocker



Had some fun with our HS pep-band's "chick-rocker."

Caught thinking between games


The shot was meant to be of a cheerleader reviewing her list of chants, but then she looked up. It turned out to be very striking, so here it is.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Ran across this by a youth pastor

Since a lot of people have been receiving and/or forwarding on that now infamous email accusing Barack Obama of being a Muslim, I thought that I'd bookmark this short article written about it by a pastor and Christian author. He makes a good point about how Christians get caught up in the emotional aspects of politics and forget to think. We somehow mistakenly think that Jesus NEEDS us to defend Him no matter what it takes, and as if in human warfare, the ends justifies the means, but Jesus is not Machiavellian, and He, being omnipotent, is perfectly capable of defending Himself.

http://relevantmagazine.com/releblog/deeperwalk/obama-and-simple-christian-truthfulness

--
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Boyer Valley Community Schools,
Challenging all students to meet their full potential
http://www.boyer-valley.k12.ia.us

Ted's Column & Cartoons in the Mapleton PRESS
http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com

JUST Cartoons
http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

Art, photos, graphic design and more
http://tmal.multiply.com

Miranda

Just a quick water color study of a student model.

Web Art

I made this up today to use on our school's website- but of course I can't put it there for three more days. But I was so excited, I just had to post it somewhere.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Teddy endorsed Obama

Grandma's favorite babysitting supper


Category: Other
Style: American
Special Consideration: Quick and Easy

Description:
Every time I make this and Grandma is at our house for supper, she thinks it's great and asks me for the recipe- even though every time she babysits for us she has us put out these ingredients so that she can make it for our kids.

Ingredients:
1 can of chicken
1 can of cream of mushroom soup*
1 cup of macaroni noodles**

*can substitute cream of chicken if you want to be REALLY fancy
**can substitute other kinds of noodles, preferably flat, curly, or shell not spaghetti or linguine or anything too fancy like that.


Directions:
Boil noodles,
drain noodles,
dump noodles back into pot
open can of chicken and dump it in the noodles
open can of soup and dump it into the noodles and chicken*
stir and serve

*can alter the order so that the soup goes in second and the chicken goes in last if you really want to.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Laugh before you cry

I can't get over how much I like Lester's cartoons, I so wish he were a left-winger. This cartoon just gave me a giggle fit. Just the kind of thing you need when you're fighting all the anxiety and depression of these scary days we're living through.

This one speaks to me politically, socially, and spiritually. This is the whole problem with our country. We don't believe in helping everyone and we're never willing to take responsibility for our greed. As funny as that first one was, this one is tragic.


I am a huge Luckovich fan. He's a laugh riot. The visual and comedic tension is perfect, the dorky little caricature of Bush that he's been doing for so long, the absolute and devastating truth behind it all- this is just a phenomenal cartoon. I wish God would grant me even a tiny dash of this guy's genius.

Break your New Year's resolutions already? Make a new list and start over


I’m a big one on lists. I’ll have a list of things I need to get done during the course of the week and then another list for things to do that particular day. Sometimes I’ll have one list for work and another for home.


There’s a list that most of us never learn that has helped millions of people recover who suffer from a debilitating disease that not only destroys their own lives, but sometimes irrevocably damages the quality of lives of the people around them.


The list is the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and the disease is addiction, whether to alcohol, drugs, or even things like gambling, pornography, shopping and over-eating.


I was blown away once at a Bible study by a man who revealed that he felt more spiritually connected to and more able to be open and honest with his AA brothers than with anyone at our church, even in small group Bible studies, men’s prayer breakfasts or Promise Keepers.


That got me thinking, so I researched the steps. While AA members identities are protected, I don’t believe that the 12 steps are any mystic secret like some kind of Masonic rite. What I do believe is no matter what your faith these steps could help us all.


I don’t care who you are, we all do and say things that hurt people. We all have things that damage our relationships with others and prevent us from having a healthier relationship with God. And, we all make choices that are against our own best interests out of fear, greed, or impatience.


Consider these steps and I think you’ll agree, our churches and civic organizations would be drastically different places- intimate communities; if they taught and encouraged their members to all follow these steps. Family members may be more genuine with each other, partners would allow themselves to be more vulnerable with each other. Businesses and governments would be more ethical and transparent if their members practiced these steps.


1. Admit we are powerless over our addiction and that our lives have become unmanageable. Usually we’re all too proud to admit that we aren’t totally in control.


2. Come to believe that only a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.


3. Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.
C.S. Lewis believed that we’re all born with a “God-shaped hole” that only He can fill. Someone else once said, “if God is your co-pilot, you’re in the wrong seat.”


4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Don’t you wish that some of those corporate CEOs at the oil companies and sub-prime mortgage lenders would do this? How about our politicians?


5. Admit to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.


6. Be ready to have God remove all these defects of character.


7. Ask Him to remove our shortcomings.


8. Make a list of all the people we’ve hurt and be willing to make amends to them.


9. Make direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.


10. Continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it. It’s not a one time deal, it’s a continual, life-long process. “One day at a time” as people in recovery say. Martin Luther thought that people had to “die to sin,” and ask God to renew them every day.

11. Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out. Now me, I’d rather pray only for my own comfort, or maybe to win the lottery without buying a ticket- but as I understand His will for us, it’s more about looking out for others than myself.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we try to share the message with others and practice these principles in all our affairs. Amen. How about we ALL try this, rather than just leaving it to the addicts?


Ted Mallory lives in Charter Oak and teaches at Boyer Valley Schools in Dunlap. 'Ted's Column' has appeared weekly in the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper since 2002. You can see all of Ted's cartoons, some even in color at http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The forces of nature


I first posted this back in 2005. With all the commotion about the recession, the markets, the war, oil companies, and the election, I think it is the perfect time to remind people about it.
This is a frightening bit of movie history- because it so accurately predicted the troubles of globalization and corporatism. It's almost as terrifying as George Orwell's 1984. Rent it and see how much of it has come true, from reality TV to monopolies. This is from the 1970's Oscar winner 'Network' (the movie where we got the line "I'm mad as Hell, and I'm not gonna take it any more.") Listen to the Audio version

The chairman of sleazy tabloid-TV network UBS, Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty), moves in to "convert" Howard Beale (Peter Finch) to sell the values of corporate culture on air. Here near the end of the film, Jensen predicts the future of a corporate world, both fascinating and horrifying.

Arthur Jensen: You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples.

There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no regions; there are no Arabs. There is no third world; there is no west.

There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast interwoven, interactive multivariant multinational dominion of dollars, petrodollars, electrodollars Reich marks, rands, roubles, pounds and shekels. It is the international system of currency that determines the totality of life on this planet.

That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. It is the international system of currency that determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things.

You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone!

You howl about America. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, ITT, AT &T, and Dupont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.

We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies. The world is a college of corporations inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business.

The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live to see that perfect world in which there is no war or famine, oppression or brutality.

One vast and ecumenical holding company for which all men will work to serve a common purpose and in which all men will own a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxiety tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you to preach this evangel.

Beale: Why me?

Arthur Jensen: Because you're on television, dummy.

Beale: I have seen the face of God!

Arthur Jensen: You just might be right.


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Great quote

In response to the viral email accusing him of being a terrorist, Sen. Barack Obama asked supporters not to delete it in anger, but to reply kindly and lovingly tell their friends that it's a smear and not to be swayed by fear tactics.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

College Student Suprise


Description:
A staple of young people without decent jobs or real lives.

Ingredients:
A pouch of instant Ramen noodles

Directions:
Open pouch, put noodle mass in sink or some kind of container, pour hot water on them, wait until andante...

Or not- if you're really hungry or in a big enough hurry, just bite into the crunchy, dry mass of noodles right out of the packaging! Yum!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Thursday, January 17, 2008

MLK Day, Monday January 21, 2008


Rev. Michael King Sr. grew up a poor, Black sharecropper in Georgia at the turn of the last century. As a young man he moved to Atlanta, fell in love with a Baptist preacher’s daughter and eventually followed in his father-in-law’s footsteps and studied to become a minister.

In 1934, Rev. Michael King, Sr., attended the World Baptist Alliance in Berlin. He was so moved by the teachings and sacrifice of sixteenth-century German church reformer Martin Luther, that he changed his name from Michael King to Michael Luther King and finally Martin Luther King. His teen aged son chose to change his name to Martin Luther King Jr, after his father.

MLK Grew up in segregated Georgia during the Great Depression, but went on to become one of the greatest leaders of the civil rights movement. Now, on the third Monday in January, Americans observe the legacy of his contributions with a national holiday.

King Jr. studied sociology in college and then went to seminary to become a pastor like his father and grandfather. While serving in Alabama, Pastor King became involved with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group of mostly Black pastors committed to achieving racial equality through non-violence.

Many people either think of Martin Luther King Jr. as just a Black hero, with nothing to offer to the rest of us. Others take him for granted as just another pop-cultural icon along with JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. For me, he is a hero of the faith. A courageous Christian leader like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who stood up to Adolf Hitler and the NAZIs.

One of my favorite books that I wish everyone on Earth would read is Dr. King’s “Strength to Love,” (1963) in which he explores the parable of the good Samaritan and what it means to love your neighbor and love your enemies, as Jesus taught. In it, he also wrote about the parables of the friend who knocked on his neighbor’s door at midnight and the rich fool who hoarded his wealth in his barns, only to have his soul required of him that night. King addresses fear and speculated on what sort of epistle the Apostle Paul might have written to America.

I think that even in mostly white, rural Iowa, it would be good to consider some of the lessons of Dr. King today in 2008. We forget that he was a Baptist minister like Mike Huckabee and a PhD who could analyze domestic and foreign and military policies just like like a Barack Obama or a Bill Clinton. We forget that King was a Nobel Peace Prize winner like Al Gore.

I recently found a speech that he made about Vietnam back in 1967 on April 4, 1967 at a meeting at Riverside Church in New York City. He was assassinated a year later on April 4, 1968 trying to help striking garbagemen in Memphis, Tennessee.

People wondered why a civil rights leader was suddenly turning into a war protester.

“I cannot forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commission -- a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for ‘the brotherhood of man.’…but even if it were not present I would yet have to live with the meaning of my commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ. To me the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I'm speaking against the war. Could it be that they do not know that the good news was meant for all men -- for Communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative? Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the One who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them?”

After three decades of supply-side economics, Americans have seen the high-tech bubble burst, and the real estate bubble burst, the stock market repeatedly crash and rebound, more millionaires than ever before yet a disappearing middle class, disappearing manufacturing jobs, jobs shipped over seas, high gas prices yet record profits for oil companies and a widening gap between the super rich and the working poor. No wonder so many voters in Iowa responded to the messages of John Edwards as he railed on big corporations and unfeeling insurance companies.
King talked about our problem with consumerism in his 1967 speech too.

“…We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.”

Black , White, Red, Yellow, or Brown, Dr. King’s teaching may have as much to say to us today, as it did forty years ago.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

The woman who made Clinton cry
voted for Obama

Yeah, maybe it was a "real" moment, maybe it wasn't a calculated act, I recognize that they're all exhausted. But I still found this story terribly ironic. Alas, my man Richardson plans to bow out today. Onto Nevada for the big 3.

The woman who made Clinton cry
voted for Obama

Suzanne Goldenberg
Thursday January 10, 2008
The Guardian


The woman whose question produced the tearful moment from Hillary Clinton that helped her win the New Hampshire primary ended up voting for Barack Obama.

Marianne Pernold Young, 64, a freelance photographer, was one of a small group of women who went to meet Clinton at a coffee shop in the town of Portsmouth on the day before the vote.

Although a lifelong Democrat, Young and the others were undecided at that point in the race. She acknowledges the power of that moment.

"It showed us that she is human and manages to still perform in the way she does, and still has a person inside of her. She is a human being. She is not a robot," Young told the Guardian.

But although she was moved by Clinton's display of emotion, it did not influence her vote on polling day.

"I was leaning towards Obama and I voted for Obama. It's strange, but he made me cry when I went to see him," she said. "We need new blood."

Young said she was not persuaded that Clinton's display of emotion had been entirely sincere.

"Her response to me was heartfelt for the first 10 seconds," she said. "She put her hand on her chin and kind of looked at me like someone she had known for a long time and we were in a coffee shop just her and I," Young said.

But the moment was fleeting. "When she turned away from me, she assumed political posture again. I felt that her body language was rigid and she assumed that political language."

Thus endeth the candidacy

Here is a portion of the email that Bill Richardson sent to his supporters after he dropped out of the Presidential race today. He didn't endorse anybody yet. Maybe that way all 3 of the remaining candidates will keep him in mind for VEEP. But I appreciate what he said about all of the other Democrats. I still think he's a class act.

Running for president brings out the best in everyone who graces the stage, and I have learned much from the other candidates running. They have all brought great talents and abilities to the campaign.

Senator Biden's passion and intellect are remarkable.

Senator Dodd is the epitome of selfless dedication to public service and the Democratic Party.

Senator Edwards is a singular voice for the most downtrodden and forgotten among us.

Senator Obama is a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years.

Senator Clinton's poise in the face of adversity is matched only by her lifetime of achievement and deep understanding of the challenges we face.

Representative Kucinich is a man of great decency and dedication who will faithfully soldier on no matter how great the odds.

And all of us in the Democratic Party owe Senator Mike Gravel our appreciation for his leadership during the national turmoil of Vietnam.

I am honored to have shared the stage with each of these Democrats. And I am enormously grateful to all of my supporters who chose to stand with me despite so many other candidates of accomplishment and potential.

Now that my time in this national campaign has come to an end, I would urge those who supported my candidacy to take a long and thoughtful look at the remaining Democrats. They are all strong contenders who each, in their own way, would bring desperately needed change to our country.

MLK in a speech on Vietnam in 1967

Guys, I was reading this speech that MLK made on Vietnam back in 1967. He always amazes me. People take him for granted as some kind of pop-cultural icon, but he was SO smart and SUCH a man of God. We forget that he was a Baptist minister like Mike Huckabee and a PhD who could analyze domestic and foreign and military policies like Barack Obama, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner like Al Gore. If you have the time or the inclination, read or listen to the whole speech at:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Here are a couple of excerpts. Try this- read this first one and think about the run up to the Iraq war back in 2003-04. And replace when you read either the first one or the last one, replace Vietnam with Iraq and replace communism with Islam. Remember Jesus said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.


Let us not join those who shout war and, through their misguided passions, urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. We must not engage in a negative anticommunism, but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against communism is to take offensive action in behalf of justice. We must with positive action seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity, and injustice, which are the fertile soil in which the seed of communism grows and develops.

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours.

This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words, and I quote:

Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom, and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism (unquote).

Letter from your past; time travel isn't easy


One of the drawbacks to writing a once-weekly column is that you have to write it a week ahead of time. That really makes it difficult to respond to current events. For instance, I’m writing this on January 2. On December 31 the big news was still the instability of Pakistan after the assassination of opposition candidate Benazir Bhutto. This morning, nearly 300 people have been killed in Kenya amidst violence after President Mwai Kibaki allegedly stole re-election. Kenya used to be considered one of Africa’s most stable democracies. Now slums in Nairobi are burning, leaving thousands homeless and suggesting that tribal violence may soon tear the nation apart as it has in neighboring Somalia and nearby Rwanda.

God only knows what will be happening in the world when you’re reading this, sometime after January 10.

I’ve been itching to poke fun of twelve different candidates for the U.S. President, but of course I have no clue as I write this what the outcome of the January 3 Iowa Caucus will be.

We should all thank God that there probably won’t be riots or mass murders as a result of the results. And don’t be too quick to assume that we’re too advanced or evolved for that sort of thing to happen here. How different would America be in 2008 if Robert Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated before he had a chance to get his parties nomination back in 1968.

Tuesday, January 8th was the New Hampshire Primaries. As I write this, some people say that if Barrack Obama wins or gets second in Iowa, he will attract droves of voters in New Hampshire and win handily over Hillary Clinton. Still others anticipate that John Edwards will surprise both of then in Iowa and then New Hampshire and by now (Jan 10) his people will be talking to Obama’s people about the V.P. spot. But from where I sit, a week ago (Jan 2) I think that both states are anybody’s race.

January 19 will be the Republican primary in South Carolina. From Jan 2, I can see Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee absolutely swamping both Guliani and Romney in South Carolina- however, from what I’ve been reading on the web, libertarian Texas Congressman Dr. Ron Paul may be the surprise victor in both Iowa and New Hampshire, throwing the GOP into chaos.

Ron Paul may seem like a fringe candidate, but he has some serious supporters. Recently, when FOX excluded him from presidential debates in New Hampshire, his supporters organized a mass sell-off of their stock in NEWS Corp., FOX’s parent company. No joke, it dropped almost half a point in one day.

Maybe we still won’t have a clear idea of who the two final candidates are until after “Super-Duper Tuesday,” February 5 when 23 states have their primaries and around 40% of the summer convention delegates are decided. Then again, maybe you, living there in Jan 10 know more than I do back here in Jan 2.

Come to think of it, next week (my next week, your last week) Jan. 7 there will be a little gathering of folks in Tulsa that may have a major impact on the shape of America’s oligarchy. At the University of Oklahoma, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be having a pow-wow with some movers and shakers to talk about mounting a third-party campaign for the White House. Bloomberg claims that he’s not planning to run for President, but listen to some of the big-Whigs he has coming to this conference: Democrats like former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.) and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republicans like Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.

Other people planning to attend include William S. Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary in the Clinton administration, Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida; Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman from Iowa; Susan Eisenhower, a political consultant and granddaughter of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower!

Now, if they aren’t up to something serious, then Ralph Nader didn’t screw things up for Al Gore in Florida in 2002.

Who knows, what the future holds? Well, I guess you do since from here in Jan 2, my future is your past there in Jan 10. Lets hope it’s a good one.

Hope lives



Wednesday, January 09, 2008

The elements

Our first assignment in second semester painting class was to interpret the four elements; earth, wind, fire, and water using only crayons on an 8x10 panel. I went the obvious route., dividing it the canvas into four. Most of my students have one scene or image where all four elements appear together. I broke out a flat iron and my pocket knife to really work the surface like an abstract expressionist might. One of the criteria was to make it LOOK like a painting, rather than a stereotypical childish crayon drawing. We'll see if the kids follow my lead with the iron or try something else. No matches or lighters allowed in school!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Monday Night Basketball




Yes, we CAN


Sen. Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" Speech:

A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.

But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment – in this election – there is something happening in America.

There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.

There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit – who have never before participated in politics – turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.

There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common – that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.

You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness – Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve – no destiny we cannot fulfill.

Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.

Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.

We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.

We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.

And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.

But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.

That’s why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.


Wordle: Yes We Can

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Some Sports photojournalism


Look at Jake defy gravity!!! Basketball photography can be so fun.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Fwd: Results from Crawford County Precinct 8

A friend of mine is a middle school teacher in Wisconsin. He asked me how I'd explain caucusing to his students and this is what I came up with-

Luther College over on the Eastern side of Iowa reported on a mock-caucus where the candidates were cookies and pie and like that. You're always up for those simulations and stuff, maybe you could hold a mock-caucus.

http://chips.luther.edu/modules/news/article.php?storyid=169


One of the great participatory-democracy aspects of the Iowa caucus is that immediately after the voting part, members of both parties work on platform resolution proposals and try to recruit neighbors to volunteer for committees on the precinct and county levels- like who'll set up chairs at the county convention, who'll man the booth at the county fair, and who gets to be delegates to the county and state conventions. So it's a great way to get involved at the truly grass-roots level.

Republicans just show up and hold a secret ballot straw-poll.
They like things simple, like their candidates (SLAM!)

The Democrats form groups depending on who they like best (kind of like middle school kids at lunch). Dopey Wolf Blitzer on CNN called it a "VERY COMPLICATED formula" for deciding delegates. It's not complicated really.

  • You count how many people are there. You divide that number by 15% (multiply times 0.15) That's how many people a candidate has to have in their group to earn a delegate to the county convention.
  • People in groups smaller than that are said to have a non-viable candidate. They are given a chance to "re-align." That means that they get a second chance to vote for their second choice. They don't HAVE to, but...
  • Let's say that there are three non-viable groups, none of which are big enough to get a delegate. They could all join together to make a group big enough to get a delegate, who would be "undecided," or independent. Undecided delegates can change their vote last minute at the county convention. OR...
  • Voters in non-viable groups could decide to join bigger groups. Sometimes that means more delegates for the group they join. Sometimes they had already made up their mind who their second choice would be, sometimes other voters manage to persuade them, and sometimes the candidates ask their supporters to vote for one of their opponents. This year, both Richardson and Kusinich suggested that their voters vote for Obama if they didn't have big enough groups in their precincts. I hope that's not TOO complicated for 6-8th graders. All part of the process of "thinning the herd," so that now people can REALLY start spending money on TV ads in all those states that have their primaries next month.

I'd like to see our congregation elect Elders that way!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Re: Results from Crawford County Precinct 8

Caucus Corollary (Addendum? Caveat?)...

I don't think all Edwards supporters are racist (or even negative)
I don't hate all Hillary supporters (or even winners, of course, turns out... not so much after all)
Democrats should stand together, like Rev. Huckabee said- "don't hate who's in front of you, love who's behind you. Ooops, wrong party.

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in about tonight's coverage on CNN;
Bill Schneider is always fun
Wolf Blitzer is annoying, but not as bad as Anderson Cooper
Jack Cafferty is so crusty, ya gotta love him
and doggonit Soledad O'Brien is just dang cute
Candy Crowley may not be so cute, but she's a damn good reporter
What, no Dr. Sanjay Gupta?

And here's my 2 cents on the speeches, like you give a crap;
Edwards- good job, very firery, very stirring, a little too long
Clinton- not bad, not bad, not insanely great though, she just doesn't have the magic her hubby had. But points for staying on message.
Huckabee- What a likable guy. What a positive, hopeful message, how un-Bush? I can see why Iowa Republicans dig him. But New Hampshire, New York, California, and Florida aren't nearly as home-spun or as religious. How about that Chuck Norris and his pretty Hollywood wife? If there's one thing I know about Iowans, we like Walker Texas Ranger- even better than Matlock!
Obama- NOW, finally he comes on like a JFK or an MLK. Usually he's really smart, but somewhat slow and dry. Tonight he finally had the passion and conviction that I for one have been waiting for (for the last year now). Let's hope he can keep that fire.

  • Jan 8 NH
  • Jan 19/26 SC
  • Feb 5 Super DUPER Tuesday
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Hmmmm. what's up with THIS? A 'Dream Team?'

Posted: 10:08 PM ET

ALT TEXT

Obama and Richardson chat at Sen. Tom Harkin's Steak Fry in Iowa.(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

(CNN) — CNN’s Candy Crowley reports that supporters of Bill Richardson in Iowa are now moving over to Barack Obama as their second-choice candidate — a vital designation in the Democratic caucuses. A Clinton source tells her that “The 'Richardson thing’ is real," and that Clinton supporters in the caucuses report “people are moving en masse from Richardson to Barack Obama.”

Obama supporters dispute the reports.

Earlier Thursday, word spread that Richardson caucus goers in precincts where the former New Mexico governor was not “viable” – could not meet the required 15 percent threshold — were being urged to go with Obama as their second-choice candidate.

A Richardson spokesman told CNN that “no deal was cut between the two campaigns.”

The spokesman also said that there is a “natural overlap between Richardson and Obama supporters” on such issues as the war in Iraq and bringing change to Washington.

Results from Crawford County Precinct 8

First, I'll give you the bottom line-
Charter Oak had 49 attendees, 8 Delegates to our county convention March 15.
15% for viability meant that each candidate needed at least 7 supporters to get a delegate;

Clinton 3
Edwards 3
Obama 2

Incidentally, Ricketts used the room next to us, this dinky little town of MAYBE 80 people had like 19 people caucus- good for them!
Both of their 2 delegates went to Edwards

I get in there like just barely at 6:59, but there were two or three people behind me. I'm immediately assaulted by this sweet little old lady with a beehive hairdo and a Hillary sticker trying to make sure I'm for Hill- "uh, no, sorry," I say as I take off my parka to reveal my 60's Hippy vest with like a million different campaign buttons on it (the "Re-Elect Gore" one is my favorite.)

Not too much later Precinct Chair (and County Assessor) Denise Meeves volunteers me for Caucus Secretary again. Good thing I turned down the Richardson Precinct Captain job- I'd hate for there to be a conflict of interest. Obviously Denise does not remember my handwriting from the 2004 Election cycle.

Se we get in our groups-
All the Clinton people are up against the right side of the room, well stocked with food and yard signs like the moneyed machine they are. Pretty much the same people who were all for Kerry last time. They just want to win, they're winners (sort of, they are Democrats after all) How I loath winners.

And all the Edwards people are in the middle of the room. How'd that happen, I thought he was the progressive guy, not the moderate guy.

Then all the Obama people are over on the left side of the room, half of them standing.

What's this? Where are all the Richardson people? I thought he was running 4th? Oh great, this is going to be like last time when I was the only Dean person in a room full of Kerry and Edwards people. Or like 2000 when I voted for Bill Bradley. Or like 88, when I voted for Paul Simon in the primaries in Arizona, Remember the guy with the bow tie? No of course not, you're too young. Why am I such a loser? Why can't I be a winner? Because Hillary is a Republican, that's why! Oh, oh yeah.

So anyway, there were 2 people for Biden, one undecided, and me. It really doesn't matter where we realign, it won't change the number of delegates...
But I threw in with the Obama camp anyway and I'll tell you why. I love John Edwards, I love what he's campaigning on and what he stands for, I even love how damn angry and indignant the guy is- hell I'm angry and indignant. But the Edwards supporters didn't bash on Bush, or brag about what Edwards wants to do, they just bad mouthed Hillary a tiny bit and went on and on about how un-electable (translates to "Black?") and inexperienced Obama is. And then the Obama precinct captain said something that really flipped all the circuits in my brain and heart- she said "I've always thought that Obama-Richardson is my dream team."

So of course, I probably jinxed Obama.
Or maybe not...

Sioux City TV is now reporting
Obama 36%
Clinton & Edwards each 30%
Richardson 2%

and on the GOP side
Huckabee 34%
Romney 25%
McCain 15%
Thompson 14%
Ron Paul 10%

That's with 89% of precincts reporting at 9 PM CST.

Go O!
O as in hOpe
O as in Oprah!
O as in Oh my.

--
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Boyer Valley Community Schools,
Challenging all students to meet their full potential
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Still Running, and running and running...

Political Cartoon for the January 10, 2008 Mapleton PRESS.
See more of my cartoons at http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

Campaign for 2032 begins


Yet another phone call from yet another computer bank representing yet another candidate reminding me to caucus today came over our answering machine last week. This prompted our six year old, Ellen to ask who was calling.

“Oh, just another person who wants to be President,” I answered nonchalantly as only those of us who live in Iowa and New Hampshire can.

To which she gasped- “You mean, President Bush is been FIRED?!”

“Uh, no…” (I WISH! But I wasn’t about to go into the intricacies of impeachment with a six year old) “In our country you only get to be President for four years at a time and next year we elect a new one,” I explained instead.

“Then what are they going to do on ‘Cory in the House’ on Disney? Who’s gonna be Sophia’s daddy?” she worried.

The light bulb went on over my head. “Oh, no, honey- that’s not President Bush, that’s not the real president. That’s just a pretend character on a TV show. His name isn’t even President Bush, what is his name anyway?”

“PWesident MaWtinez,” her older sister Grace piped in (Grace has a bit of a speech impWediment- hope she doesn’t read this. I didn’t mean to make fun of you honey, you know I love you). Grace is very smart and she loves reading and Social Studies. She went on to explain that “There have been TWO Pwesident Bushes, first President Bush’s FATHER, and now the other President Bush’s SON!” She like to remind Ellen who’s the oldest by emphasizing how much more she knows. But sometimes she doesn’t know as much as she thinks, “There have been THWEE President Bushes.”

“Uh, no honey, just the two,” I tried to gently correct her, “although President Bush’s brother Jeb was governor of Florida.”

She capitulated on this point, but then decided to make sure we knew that the President has three daughters and that we have to call them all “America’s Angels.” This is another feature of the Disney Channel’s sit-com about Cory, a boy from California who moves to DC to live with his dad who’s hired as the White House chef while his mother returns to law school and his sister, Raven Simone, whom you might remember from the old “Cosby Show,” attends college in Europe. It’s a spin off of her show. President Martinez is a widower with a precocious, spoiled daughter nicknamed “America’s Angel.”

Before kids, we watched lots of different things on TV.

I explained that President Bush only has two daughters, twins named Jenna and Barbara who were young adults but that they’re not exactly angels, but I didn’t see the point in explaining why.

I did explain that I before and after lunch with some former students that day I had listened to two different presidential candidates speak in Denison. One was Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico. They thought that was cool, we had driven through New Mexico last summer on our way to visit their grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin in Arizona.

Then I explained that the other candidate I saw was Senator Clinton, that her husband had been president between the Bushes (Grace had never heard of him) and that if elected, she would be our first woman president.

“Then I want HER to be president because girls rule and boys drool!” declared Ellen with gusto. That’s when my wife explained how just because it would be nice to have a woman president someday, we want to vote for someone who would make the best president, not vote for her just because she’s a woman… and that Senator Clinton may not necessarily the best person to be president. (all the Republicans out there are probably saying “Amen.)

Then I pointed out to Ellen that when her Great-Grandma Laura was her age, women weren’t even allowed to vote, let alone run for president. Although I don’t think that’s quite right, maybe within a margin of error of about a decade.

At this point, Annamarie, our two year old announced “Daddy, I want to be PWesident!” with a very determined look on her face. By the way, she doesn’t have a speech impediment, she’s just two.

“Well, okay, Annamarie,” I told her, “You’ve got MY vote.”

I understand that after Barack Obama told someone that he hadn’t always wanted to be president, the Clinton campaign went to work and discovered that he had written in kindergarten that he’d like to be president someday- no doubt hoping to paint him as somehow less than honest. I hope my daughter’s opponents don’t try to do the same kind of thing with this column someday.

Good luck honey. You may or may not be the first woman president, but I know you’ll be the best.

Do you caucus?

Who can participate in Iowa's Democratic caucus?

Here are the qualifications to participate:

  1. Must be a citizen of the United States, and a resident in the precinct.
  2. Must be 18 by election day, November 4, 2008.
  3. Must be a registered voter, registered as a Democrat.
  4. Must be in the registration line or signed in by 7:00 PM

You must be a registered Iowa voter AND be a Democrat to participate. You can register and/or change your party to Democratic at the caucus. If you are not already registered to vote, or if you have moved since you last voted, you will need to register at your caucus on January 3.

PLEASE come a bit early on caucus night if you will be registering to vote or changing party affiliation.

Click here for the official State caucus information website