This morning I want us all to see the world through the eyes of Miracle.
On a fresh late-summer’s afternoon of the 22nd of September, 2007, Miracle Lewis came down to New Orleans to see her newly restored room. Miracle’s family was rebuilding the home after the house had been filled with ten feet of water and damaged by a massive tree. After being forced out by the storm to Port Allen, LA, and on to Houston, TX, her family had made it a little closer to their goal of returning to their roots by finding temporary-stay housing in Baton Rouge. The gleeful approval in Miracle’s eyes after seeing her room on this day, however, was truly a milestone on the soon-to-be-realized path of bringing the family back home.
Early the next morning, however, a cruel turn of events quickly devastated their dreams. Some time during those early morning hours someone had parked a stolen vehicle their backyard, removed the tires, and set the car on fire to presumably destroy any evidence linking the perpetrator to the vehicle. The resulting inferno engulfed the the home, and burned it entirely to the ground. A firefighter was quoted as saying that “the flames were seen from a mile away, that’s how intense it was.” Hours before, the house was 80 percent complete, and the electricity was scheduled to be turned on the coming Monday. All that remained now was ash….
Scout Prime at First Draft and I keep in regular touch, because her work on Katrina and NOLA has truly been exemplary, and I like to be able to help shed some light into that darkness where I feel I can be of help. She picked up this family’s story, and it just tugs at my heart, so I wanted to share it with all of you. This family is doing everything they can to hold it together after not one, but two, devastating losses in a such a short period of time.
They are holding onto family with as much love and work as they can. But at the moment…they need some help.
Some medical students at Tulane, public officials, community leaders and others have banded together to set up a fund for this family. If you would like to do so, you can donate here. The fund is dedicated to rebuilding the family home after the devastating fire. Also, they have set up a web page where you can leave the family a message of hope — Scout tells me that this has been such a wonderful source of inspiration for the family, and I encourage you to leave a note of hope and support for them.
The headlines, the political back and forth, the nastiness, the stress, the anger, the disgust…it all falls away in the face of being able to give a little bit of hope or support to another human soul in need. Sometimes, it is good to remind ourselves that there are things we can do for each other. And in the doing of them, we redeem something of the nation and the people we ought to be. Pull up a chair…
(Photo of Miracle’s lost home on Dauphine in the Holy Cross District of the Ninth Ward)
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Good morning all.
Good morning Christy!
Good morning Christy!
Good Morning
You’re right
“Sometimes, it is good to remind ourselves that there are things we can do for each other. And in the doing of them, we redeem something of the nation and the people we ought to be.”
we’ve got a lotta redemption in front of us.
…everyone must still be sleeping… z z z z z z z
twolf1 @ 6
lol. i wish i was…
Thanks for posting this Christy.
After all the $$ I’ve been dishing out to politicians lately, it’s good to have the opportunity to give to someone who really needs it.
SO much to do.
selise @ 7
me too.
reminds me of what i’ve read about gandhi’s “constructive program” – the prerequist and foundation to resisting oppression via his “obstructive program”… sorry, but i’ve been thinking more about nonviolence recently, which somehow makes me see things through that lens.
Christy -
If you have the opportunity to pass the word to the person(s) responsible for spearheading this effort, please thank them for having the wisdom to establish a snail mail address for donations.
It is becoming increasingly fustrating that many of the blogs and other places that post pleas for support to deserving causes/individuals apparently assume people who refuse to donate on-line are some kind of luddites who have no interest in helping others.
Yeah, that may sound a bit harsh and I realize that it *does* require a different and additional type of effort to provide alternate methods of payment but yet and all the same……….
Will get a check off this week; every brick helps raise the roof.
PS -
Am I the only person for whom “screech” disappeared for a while this morning?
RevDeb @ 9 -
hey RevDeb!
i finally gave up getting any more sleep, and made some coffee. i think this is going to be a 2x or 3x coffee day.
hope your lack of sleep is from having fun, and not insomnia.
selise @ 10
Thanks for that lense Selise,
Gandhi was an example of hope and non-violence.
I want my country back.
selise @ 7
selise, i left you a link at the end of late late nite.
I’m still loving the idea of being a “whip”. Good morning whippersnappers.
selise @ 12
On the threads until 12:30 am and then with the help of cats woke up at 6. Not enough sleep. Full days today and tomorrow. Really upset that I have a meeting at 4 tomorrow and will probably miss most, if not all of the John Dean book salon—unless he honors us this time as he did last and sticks around. Fingers crossed, pretty please .. . .
dannyM @ 15
ooooh I like that.
Waccamaw @ 11
Nope. Also for a while I could see the post but got a “404″ when trying to see comments.
Christy thank you for bringing us news of this family. I am happy to send a donation. There but for the grace of God….
RevDeb,
But Book Salon is at a different time this week, 2:30 eastern [11:30am pacific]. So you could probably catch the beginning of John Dean.
My church has organized 3 trips to Mississippi to help in the rebuilding. I went the first time, but this time I’ve felt that the expense of the trip, the addition to our carbon footprint, the small amount of work that we actually get done (the families appreciate the 4 rooms being drywalled)were making me feel frustrated.
This is just the opportunity I was looking for – a direct way to help, with no 2,000 mile roundtrip.
Thanks Christy yet again for your humanity and hardwork, and your spotlight on real needs of real people.
twolf1 @ 14
thank you! left you a reply.
Morning all — thank you to Mr. ReddHedd for the sleep-in and the fresh coffee this morning. Thanks to everyone for understanding the need for this post…between donations and expressions of support, I thought this would give us all something we could do and feel really good about today.
RevDeb @ 16
that sucks. good luck with your work today and tomorrow. i went to sleep a little bit after 10, but then woke up a little after 2. but, i’m lucky – no one is depending me to preach tomorrow. hope you get a great night’s sleep tonight.
i used to be pretty good operating on lack of sleep (pulling the occassional all-nighter, or going for a couple of weeks on low sleep).
but i’m getting older and it’s getting harder… especially the chronic insomnia. i’ve gotten 8 hours of continuous sleep twice in about 4 months. if i get 6 hours nowadays, that’s a good night. blegh.
Waccamaw @ 11
what a lovely thought. i don’t have much to give, but you’ve inspired me to send a little bit. thank you!
OT-Please forgive me.
Christy, I’m still thinking about your diary “Troubling”. The payback against critics is unnerving. I wasn’t able to comment when I first read your piece so let me say now that I’m glad to hear your planning on writing about this subject. Actually, this subject deserves a book….”Those They Destroyed”.
For my part, I recall reading somewhere that Rumsfeld had a habit of accusing critics in the military of being gay. I think it was in “State of Denial”. So, I pulled out my copy last night to skim through it. Will let you know when I find it. Someone needs to expose these people. Their attempts to stifle criticism is just to dangerous to ignore and the MSM is indeed ignoring it. I’m going to close with that revealing quote about the Frosts from RedState. The whole thing is horrifying but especially the last line.
Think twice about what? Disagreeing with the republicans?
Deb — The book salon is at an earlier time tomorrow — begins at 11:30 am PT/2:30 pm ET.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 26
Thanks much! I can probably hang out for an hour—good news.
Now I have to finish reading the book—after the 11 am weekly peace rally and after the Human Relations Council luncheon. Lots of reading to do this evening.
I passed along the Miracle story to my brother the folk singer. Maybe he can spread the word and help out too.
Have a great day everyone.
Throughout the country, there are sooo many churches(and schools, hospitals, etc.) named “Holy Cross”–let’s see if we can’t organize them to help Miracle’s family(and others). I’ll start gathering contacts/addresses–others can do the same in their locales….
What concerns me about charitable giving and political giving, is that the people who can least afford to give are always asked to pony up and they do.
The people who can afford it are not being reached and seem to largely not care about these things. All the heavy lifting is being done by the little guys.
Is anyone targeting the deep pockets or just assuming they are going to give?
The catholic church is the richest institution in the world. I’m sure they given, but really… how much?
How about the Queen of England… she is enormously wealthy owning shares in all the blue chips.
Has anyone asked the crown to help the old colonies out a bit?
I saw this story via a watertiger linky, then elsewhere. I’m glad I have a roof over my head and a job and bits of money to send people. Also it felt good to give some $ to Smirking Chimp and Arthur Silber and Act Blue.
It’s what $ is for.
The right has such disdain for people aside from their family and friends. It’s appalling. We’re surrounded by these monsters.
Sander at 29 — That’s an inaccurate assumption of our readership, for starters. There are a lot of folks with means who donate frequently for things like this. Truly. It’s not just people with little means reading here — the economics are all over the map, just based on who I know is reading and conversations that I’ve had with any number of people the last few years. We’re a mixed bunch — but one with very big hearts that sometimes exceed our wallets…and sometimes do not. Just FYI…
SanderO @ 29
i think there may be some truth to this – although plenty of exceptions too.
i will make a confession… i used to be sorta libertarian in my outlook. i really thought that most everyone could be counted on to pitch in and help out. when i first got out of college and got a job, i immediately started giving money to their scholarship fund (not a small amount either) a few years later i was shocked to find out that everyone else wasn’t doing the same… so i started asking around among co-workers (about what kinds of things they liked to support with their donations)…. that was an eye opener.
so, yeah. we should live in a better world. but we don’t. and i for one, don’t think that people with less than i have should suffer because those with more aren’t all pitching in. we can and do try to change the system, but until/unless that happens, we’re all just going to have to pitch in where we can.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 32
christy, i think you’ve hit on one of (if not the) biggest reasons i like hanging out with you-all (well, virtually anyway). we have lots of different ideas about what to do… but we all want a better common good – and not just our own good. it’s a refreshing antidote to what ails us our collective national pysche.
selise at 35 — My sentiments exactly. :)
I’ve moved from one Commonwealth (MA) to another (PA). Folks in this country are too into me, me, me and forget that we are all in this together. We’ve lost sight of the concept of the Commonwealth thanks to the “greed is good” mantra of the repigs. It’s long past time to get over that. We are all merely one major health crisis away from bankruptcy.
RevDeb @ 37
A sermon is born :)
OT – But look at this article
Qwest illegal NSA wiretap PREDATES 911
This should stop the FISA immunity requests in its tracks.
Its cold and grey this morning. Apartment could use a little cleaning. I’m sleep deprived, but can’t sleep.
But I must say that the threads these past few days, plus Gore’s Nobel Prize, has gotten me feeling positive.
egregious @ 37
hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right. Thanks :-)
Even worse than we imagined: AT&T contract for NSA to surveill all internet traffic, foreign and domestic, started before 9/11
…The NSA program was initially conceived at least one year prior to 2001 but had been called off; it was reinstated within 11 days of the entry into office of defendant George W. Bush.
http://www.correntewire.com/ev…..efore_9_11
Blackwater Is Soaked
Oct. 15, 2007 issue – The colonel was furious. “Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers.” He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad’s Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21…../newsweek/
I’m on my way out the door in a cold, dark Pacific Northwest October morning, but we’ll send a few dollars to Miracle and her family this week.
Thank you, Christy, for telling us about her.
-S
SanderO @ 30
Morning all;
I couldn’t let this one slide. I’ll preface by stressing that I’m not a monarchist; I think the Royal Family is an anachronism. Having said that, they do support charities-RSPCA, RSPCC are two that spring immediately to mind. Raising funds is something they do; it keeps the proles from rising up and overthrowing them ;)
Secondly, are you saying that the US is poor enough to qualify for international aid? Why would the UK give to the US on the basis that it’s a former colony? The US revolted and violently overthrew British rule. Too bad ;)
This should’ve been the headline in US papers:
Al Gore wins Nobel peace prize. And this time, no one can take it away from him
This is one prize the supreme court won’t be able to take away from him. The five votes of a committee in Oslo yesterday awarded Al Gore the world’s most exalted award, the Nobel peace prize, finally putting to rest the votes of the five judges who stripped him of Florida in 2000 and kept him from the White House…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/…..25,00.html
RevDeb @ 37
[my bold]
This is a point I wish the Malkinites and their ilk would understand.
When I went to pick up the paper this morning, I noticed there are 15 collection jars in the “Help a Neighbor” section at the counter. A 6-year-old’s family in need of help to pay medical bills after liver transplant. A 55yo man needs help to cover expenses from his quadruple bypass. A 22yo woman with brain cancer and bills insurance won’t pay. … It goes on and on.
Of the 15 jars, only one said “I have no insurance.” Having health insurance is not immunization against catastrophic medical bills.
Pectopah @ 39
Amazing…that’s about the time they were shutting down the Able Danger program that was supposed to be actively following bin Laden and al Qaida ABROAD. And yet the NSA wants to start a program that spies on ALL AMERICANS? Aound like a Cheney-Poindexter plan to find out “dirt” on their political opponents to cement that “permanent Republican majority” to me!
They had very little rationale for this before 9/11…and even if they had wanted to figure out who to trace they could have gotten FISA warrants IF they had actually applied for them based on the names already on the CIA “watch list” or those who were contacting other known bin Laden associates.
Yet they wanted to cast a BIGGER net with even larger holes to see if they could capture intelligence? They already knew that a lot of these guys were associates of bin Laden!
Given their complete (apparent) haphazardness, and failure to hold any sort of cabinet level meetings on terrorism, one has to wonder if “terrorism” was the rationale behind trying to force Qwest to start spying on Americans.
RockPaperScizzors @ 41
does this mean it was oringinally a clinton era plan? if so, that might explain why so many democrats (not all) seem so gung-ho to support the administration on this one.
you know what we need to start doing?
we need to start pointing out that the gulf cost is the second largest contributer to national income, the only thing higher is income tax
we need to point out that these people paid into the system and without them we would all be paying much higher taxess and we would all have much less
instead of using the angle that new orleans needs something from us we need to promote the fact that new orleans has PAID for relief for generations and now that the bill is being called these wing nuts want to welch out of their obligations and they want to welch out of their bills
this is NOT charity, relief is THEIRS, it’s doesn’t come from “the goodnes of our hearts”, it’s THEIRS
And while you’ve got your tinfoil handy, heads up about the terrorism simulation planned for Portland, Phoenix, and Guam for Monday. Large scale operations for a simulated dirty bomb attack. Hope it doesn’t go live.
PA_Lady @ 46
The musicians (love these folks constantly holding benefits while making it easy to give) and churches in my community regular have fundraisers to help those who have had some catastrophic health emergency and fall into a group where they couldn’t afford appropriate insurance OR would not be covered for a “previously existing condition”. nd then there are all the walks and runs that raise money for groups dealing with chronic conditions and the disasters that the Feds utterly failed to respond to!
wait… this tickles a vague memory….i think i remember reports of a clinton era (never implemented) plan that supposedly had mechanisms in place to protect the identity of individuals… maybe required a warrant to get the personal info? that plan was scrapped by bushco in favor of a plan that didn’t protect privacy.
well, i may have it quite wrong… but if this is so, maybe we need to advocate for better methods and not just better fisa laws.
PA_Lady @ 46
I was in a bike wreck earlier this year, in which I sustained a concussion and was kept overnight in hospital. I have insurance and my out of pocket for care and follow-up has been over a thousand dollars. It doesn’t take much. I can afford it; many can’t.
The fact that that was there true motive was revealed when Teddy Kennedy turned up on the no-fly list. They must have gotten their ‘listen to’ list mixed up with their ‘no fly’ list.
well, i feel like i’m swimming in coffee now, let’s see if i can pretend to be awake and get going with what needs to get done today. catch you-all later…
PA_Lady @ 46
Malkin does understand that she could be bankrupted by a catastrophic health issue. Her plan to avoid such a calamity is to build enough personal wealth to avoid it personally and to hell with everyone else.
She must be raking in a hundred thousand a year already. If she can gain more prominence in the MSM, she will hit pay dirt. Like the rest of the talking heads, she doesn’t care that she has to lie to people to do it.
Beautifully said Christy!
Thank you.
Sending a message of hope or a few dollars can make the Joseph family’s dream to return home to New Orleans a reality, if we reach enough people. So pass it along and pay it forward….as someone above said But for the Grace of God.
And the Tulane medical students are doing a wonderful thing here. Bless their hearts
Perhaps we are waking up in Oklahoma.
“City, school and community leaders had confidence a multimillion-dollar bond issue for Oklahoma City’s schools would get voter approval. But did it seem realistic to think they’d clear the 60 percent hurdle with thousands of votes to spare? Hardly.
Oklahoma City hasn’t seen that margin of voter support for schools in decades. Four propositions totaling $248.3 million passed with at least 77.9 percent of the vote Tuesday. Even with the widespread support of MAPS for Kids in 2001, the bond issue portion of that project passed with only a few hundred extra votes.”
Plus, in the Oklahoma county in which I was born, the Democrat just beat the Republican candidate for commissioner. And we have a Democratic guv and a Dem Lt. Governor (a woman and former judge).
solai @ 54
The quoting on that came out all wrong, but, you get the picture.
Off Topic
But here are a couple of interesting items passing through the Friday News Dump Cycle.
In addition to trying to squelch the activities of the CIA Inspector General it appears the Administration is attempting to block Congress from obtaining the information of the Inspector General investigating with Fraud and Embezzlement in Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20…..39Y3GsOrgF
And a major Shiite politician has said that permanent basing of US troops in Iraq are “not acceptable”. He wants a deadline on when ALL US troops are going to be out of the Country.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20…..8HGCSQOrgF
Wow OK Kiddo that’s quite a report. Congratulations! Blue Oklahoma!
Good post…
One typo?
“But the moment…they need some help.”
But AT the moment…?
[Mod: fixed, and thank you]
PA Lady points out the large number of Help a Neighbor collection jars at just one store counter. I see the same thing everywhere I shop too. I have no doubt this is the norm countrywide except for the gated community world. I just don’t remember seeing these SOS jars 20-30 years ago. I also don’t remember homeless families & disenfranchized teens in my area being an issue either.
How far we have fallen as a country. Yet, I still hear local wingnuts rhapsodizing with the cross, stars & stripes in their eyes about the greatest country on earth. Their theme song is “Don’t worry, be happy.”
Oklahoma kiddo @ 58
School bonds are almost always a harbinger of a big psychological shift in the political landscape. It indicates that people really have moved away from self-interest to thinking about what is in the long-term benefit of the community they live in. They start realizing that what is good for their kids (and themselves) requires some investment in schools, healthcare, etc.
The USA is not going to get out of Iraq… Ever.
Can some explain why the US embassy in Iraq needs to be as large as it is?
Has the State Department explained that?
Bush-Democrats budget fight up next
Democrats are pressing to spend more than $22 billion more on domestic programs than Bush suggested last February.
“Only in Washington can $22 billion be called a very small difference,” Bush said recently.
Health research, education, homeland security and community health centers are among the scores of programs that get boosts under the Democrats’ spending bills for the 2008 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.
Recall we are spending $12,000,000,000 month on the Bush wars and occupation.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..ng_battles
cinnamonape @ 51
Same here. Every Saturday there’s something going on to raise money for those in need. Concerts by local bands, car washes, chicken barbeques, spaghetti or chicken & biscuit dinners, motorcyles rides, boot drives, etc.
One local lumber/building company is even competing (and holding its own) against Lowe’s, thanks to its events. Every other Sunday, 100% of their profits for the day go to an individual in need. People remember, and are shopping there instead of Lowe’s.
hackworth @ 56
Too true.
SanderO @ 65
Because the buildings where the Embassy staff are holed up have to be outside the range of the mortars being fired from the militias (ie. the Iraqi National Forces) that want us out.
What infuriates me about Iraq and the MSM is that the world is no longer allowed to see photos of Iraq. That should be included in every MSM story coming out of that country. It should be mentioned by every dem when talking about the war. And the soldiers are even having their email censored. This is insane. We’re being fed only the news that BushCo wants and we’re not stopping it.
cinnamonape @ 60
The buses in our school district are literally rusting to pieces. You can imagine how the schools are struggling in every area. I have hope the bond issue coming up will pass this time. I think people are waking up here too.
SanderO @ 65
No time to explain. Condi’s too busy failing at negotiations.
When does Republic swiftboating of Ricardo S. Sanchez begin?
Disconnect:
ABC Nightly’s Grandpa Charlie — oh, everything is beautiful in its own Iraq…Gen Petraeus told me so….
General Sanchez — we are in a nightmare with no end in sight.
Suffer the little children. In NOLA. In Iraq. In America, thanks to George W. Bush.
Prairie Sunshine @ 73
At least Princess Jenna’s not being inconvenienced.
Good morning.
OT – For those who missed Jane’s poll yesterday, there is an unofficial Triple Poll that addresses some of the issues brought up in the comments.
The results are on a free service with annoying advertisements and audio, so please forgive the inconvenience. It does have a pretty bar chart that makes it easy to read. The poll is still open if you want to add your votes.
The current standings are:
116 votes total
If you were limited to the following, which one would you choose?
Hillary Clinton (5) 4%
John Edwards (105) 91%
Barack Obama (4) 3%
A Republican (1) 1%
If you had to choose the current candidate that best represents your views, which one would you choose?
Joe Biden (1) 1%
Hillary Clinton (2) 2%
Chris Dodd (5) 4%
John Edwards (65) 56%
Mike Gravel (1) 1%
Dennis Kucinich (37) 32%
Barack Obama (3) 3%
Bill Richardson (1) 1%
A Republican (1) 1%
If Al Gore Decides to enter the race, who would you choose?
Joe Biden (0) 0%
Hillary Clinton (3) 3%
Chris Dodd (0) 0%
John Edwards (46) 40%
Al Gore (58) 50%
Mike Gravel (0) 0%
Dennis Kucinich (8) 7%
Barack Obama (0) 0%
Bill Richardson (0) 0%
A Republican (1) 1%
cinnamonape @ 64
Or someone threatened their football team. *sigh* One of our area school districts over the border in NY couldn’t get its budget approved by the voters for a second year in a row. (Which means the school ends up limited to the same budget as the previous year.) So, the school cut the football team.
The outrage was incredible. People cursed the school board, and held fund drives to save “their” team.
When asked to comment, the school board president said, (paraphrasing) “I think it’s great the community is this supportive of a sport, and we welcome their assistance. Maybe they’d like to contribute to the arts and music programs we had to cut last year when they failed to approve that budget.”
This year, the budget passed with some 80% approval. Football’s back (as a school expense) but so are the arts and music programs.
Good morning Christy. Morning pups.
That poor child. Poor family.
SanderO @ 65
Perhaps it’s Bush’s retirement villa ? /s
I just started reading the Nov issue of Vanity Fair. In the article about the embassy in Iraq, there is a photo of the embassy (with the caption “Closed for business”) that really packs a visual wallop. It’s obscene.
Gee, who could have predicted that Iraqis would think the US has no intentions of ever leaving or allowing them to run their own country? Who are they to believe, the adm or their lying eyes?
Anyone home?
AP – Alarmed by slipping support for free trade even among Republicans, President Bush is arguing that protectionism will cut Americans out of chances for more — and better — jobs.
SanderO @ 65
I’m surprised that they didn’t do a geophysical survey first and place the Vatican-sized embassy over the richest of the oil-bearing deposits in the country. Embassies are the sovereign territory of the nation occupying them! But maybe they’ll just have to settle for making a Northern Marianas like industrial district inside ;-)
Office of Special Counsel orders probe into charges that key NOLA pumps are still faulty
http://southernstudies.org/gul…..probe.html
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers insider alleges that the 40 pumps protecting New Orleans from catastrophic flooding still suffer from serious flaws that put the city’s residents at risk — and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has found her concerns so compelling that it’s ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to respond to the charges.Maria…
Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch -
Susan Madrak: Slightly Closer To A Miracle
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..68316.html
Some other bloggers picked up Miracle’s story, and yesterday brought $3000 in donations to the Joseph family in New Orleans – which is great, but nowhere near what they need. (There’s now a place to send checks, for those of you who don’t like to donate online.) Mail to: Capital One Attn: Mail Teller PO Box 60150 New Orleans, LA 70160-1050
OT again -
Christy, if you or Jane would prefer I didn’t post the poll, please let me know.
TexBetsy @ 83
That’s so suprising. I thought that Barbara Bush’s donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund for the purchase of Neil Bush’s software would have fixed that.
good news from Texas:
Senator affirms she will vote to override
from HoustonChronicle
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Friday she “of course” will vote to override President Bush’s veto of a children’s insurance program expansion that she supported.
Thanks for letting us know about this family. We just made a contribution. I will check back with the hopeingrace site from time to time to check on their progress.
It’s just a drop in the bucket but it still feels good.
Kevster @ 88
We’re a whole lake, we can surely find enough drops to fill that bucket.
cinnamonape @ 64
Perhaps it would benefit everybody in all communities to be introduced to the video that CNN introduced to the me this morning. Pretty interesting, it was reportedly created by a teacher who wanted to make sure they were teaching kids for the future world.
October 13, 2007
Davenport, Ia. — Republican presidential candidate John McCain said the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize should have gone to someone other than former Vice President Al Gore.
McCain congratulated Gore but also said, “I would have liked to see that prize go to the Buddhist monks who are suffering and dying in Burma,” referring to a continuing struggle between military rulers in Myanmar and protesters, led by monks, seeking democracy. His comments came after a speech Friday in Davenport.
I guess that McCain thinks the democracy movement started this year instead of a loooooooooooog time ago
and that the Nobel Committee has recognized the work in Burma. Unfortunately not McCain and his ilk, they are years behind the Nobel Prize committee.
Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel prize in 1991.
PA_Lady @ 76
Now that’s a strategy! Too bad sometimes you have to “trick” people into doing the right thing. Bet folks could think of lots of other examples of the same.
Cat got your tongue? Come on up to Phoenix Woman’s new thread.
Come Saturday Morning: It’s A Cat Thing
katherine Graham Cracker @ 91
The pretenders; McCain, Hillary, etc.. and other pres. candidates are anxious about Al Gore. Do they fear that Odysseus has returned to Ithaca?
katherine Graham Cracker @ 91
Rarely do I defend McCain, but he has long been a supporter of the Democracy Movement in Burma, writing many op-eds and pressing for Congressional and Presidential action against the regime.
http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/reg…..00094.html
He also sent a letter back on the tenth anniversary of Ang San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Prize to the Commemoration Events. I think that he was just trying to be demeaning to Gore and the Scientific Committee that was awarded the prize. Unless he has gone absolutely senile, he’s quite aware that ASSK received the Nobel Peace Prize.
It IS a bit sad that he doesn’t yet seem to understand the process for nomination for and winning the prize. The monks would have had to be nominated several months before these recent protests broke out. I think that’s why he was pretty much using the statement to demean Gore and the Study Commission of Climate for receiving the award…which is offensive enough.
If Ron Paul had made this statement I would be far more abrasive. Paul was one of only TWO House Members that mysteriously voted NAY to the Resolution condemning the dictators of Myanmar for their attacks on the peaceful demonstrations.
we can feild a NEW party, call it “the constitutionalists”
that will get members from BOTH parties, it will be a SECULAR party, it’s platform will be religion OUT of politics, corporations are NOT people, only PEOPLE can contribute to political campaigns
and it will be the party of GOVERNMENT FOR PEOPLE, BY PEOPLE
it will be AGAINST government for corporations by corporations
corporations will be FORCED to pay THEIR SHARE of the expense of governing in America, they will pay LIVING wages, they will NOT import their product if they intend to make profit from US
I cannot begin to know how Miracle must be feeling. She must be thinking that there is no hope for her and her family to ever get a home. I hope that the comments left here will lift her spirits and keep her striving forward.