Are you a recovering Republican?

Did you vote Republican last election? If you have lost your job, watched your 401K turn into pocket change, lost your home or facing financial disaster, you may be a recovering Republican.

Hopefully, you changed your voter registration to Independent already. If not, you may seriously want to consider doing so. Except for closed primary elections, you can still vote in the candidate of your choice at the ballot box.

Nothing scares politicians quite as much as the ‘wild card’ Independent voters. If you are wanting to make an impact on your incumbent Congressional leaders before November, then change your affiliation over to Independent now. It is easy to do and best of all free.

Most County Registrar offices report weekly on the number of registered voters and their party affiliations to the local Democratic and Republican offices. Don’t let anyone make you feel powerless this election day. Money can buy a great deal of exposure for the candidates, but it all comes down to educated voters on election day.

If you or anyone you know has been hit hard by this difficult economy or the unemployment crisis, just take a look at the Senate voting record of most Republicans on UI extensions this session. It is easy to see who is not in favor of helping the average citizen, struggling to keep afloat in America today. You too just may be a recovering Republican.

Here is the voting record as it pertains to UI extension YES votes by some Republican Senators this session:

Jim DeMint (R-SC), voted 0 out of 12 times for UI extension
Jefferson Sessions (R-AL) voted only 1 of 12 times for UI extension
Tom Coburn (R-OK) voted only 1 of 12 times 

Mike Johanns (R-NE) voted only 2 of 12 times 

Judd Gregg (R-NH) voted only 2 of 12 times 

Michael Enzi (R-WY) voted only 2 of 12 times
John Cornyn (R-TX) voted only 2 of 12 times
Jim Bunning (R-KY) voted only 2 of 12 times
John Barrasso (R-WY) voted only 2 of 12 times
John Thune (R-SD) voted only 3 of 12 times
Kay Hutchison (R-TX) voted only 3 of 12 times

Orrin Hatch (R-UT) voted only 3 of 12 times 

Bob Corker (R-TN) voted only 3 of 12 times
Richard Burr (R-NC) voted only 3 of 12 times
Scott Brown (R-MA) voted only 2 out of 8 times (participated in only 8 votes) 

Christopher Bond (R-MO) voted only 3 of 12 times 

Robert Bennett (R-UT) voted only 3 of 12 times 

David Vitter (R-LA) voted only 4 of 12 times
James Risch (R-ID) voted only 4 of 12 times
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted only 4 of 12 times
Mitch McConnell (R- KY) voted only 4 of 12 times
John McCain (R-AZ) voted only 4 of 12 times
John Isakson (R-GA) voted only 4 of 12 times
James Inhofe (R-OK) voted only 4 of 12 times
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) voted only 4 of 12 times
John Ensign (R-NV) voted only 4 of 12 times
Michael Crapo (R-ID) voted only 4 of 12 times 

Lamar Alexander (R-TN) voted only 4 of 12 times
Roger Wicker (R-MS) voted only 4 of 12 times
Richard Shelby (R-AL) voted only 4 of 12 times 

Pat Roberts (R-KS) voted only 5 of 12 times
Richard Lugar (R-IN) voted only 5 of 12 time
George LeMieux (R-FL) voted only 5 of 12 times
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) voted only 5 of 12 times
Charles Grassley (R-IA) voted only 5 of 12 times 

Thad Cochran (R-MS) voted only 5 of 12 time
C. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) voted only 5 of 12 times
Samuel Brownback (R-KS) voted only 5 of 12 times

IPhone 4 Lovers Tips From Suzannah B. Troy

Apple IPhone lovers what ever IPhone model you have here are some basic tips from an Apple lover. I converted to Apple 3 years ago and fell hard.

Tips to save your battery.... Go into your settings and.....

1) Make sure your Wi-Fi is turned off is you are not using it. In NYC if you have it on and walk around you will drain your phone's battery which ever model you have so turn the Wifi off. In NYC walking down the street it can be hilarious to shocking to read the locals Wifi network custom names' all mostly with locks.

2) lower the brightness of your screen...big battery savor.

3) Not using the phone turning it off is a good thing because the phone works best if you give it a rest occasionally but if not just click the button on the right once and the screen goes dark and saves your battery. This is the same button if you hold it down long enough it gives you a prompt to shut off the phone.

4) Mail: If you are really are concerned about your battery than go to mail, click "fetch data" and and switch to manual.

5) I keep mentioning this on my blog....Just another reminder...if your Iphone appears to be sluggish....double click the round mound at the base of our iphone "home key" and you will see all the Apps you have open.  Surprise!!!!!  There are a lot of Apps open.

Close them all of them or most them and the phone will run faster!!!!!!!!

Loving Apple....big, big way.....

Those are just a fun few tips and for my Mac Book I bought techno-skin at the Apple store and that was a great move. My senior citizen handicap cat walks all over my computer and or has hair balls including on my computer keys so the techno-skin has radically improved my life. All her hair is no longer sinking down in between my computer keys and my cat wants me to tell you no more debris from my Cadbury chocolate bars splatters on my key pad. Highly recommended

I will be back to tell you about my Otter Box Defender for my IPhone 4 soon!

best, peace, love Apple,
Suzannah B. Troy, artist, blogger, YouTuber NYC
also very, very tired but thanks for reading my blogging!!!!

Unemployed Note to Congress: We want JOBS

Note to Congress: We want JOBS but until they arrive, we need UI benefits. We are hard working Americans that you let down. Sure healthcare is important, but you should have spent the first part of the Obama administration creating jobs rather than pass the Health Care Bill. Since you did not focus on creating jobs, we are suffering in mass and now you leave us 99ers stranded without benefits while you take your fourth vacation of this congressional session. Republican or Democrat, you should all be ashamed of how you have let this country and it's citizens down.

Of course, you would have to first understand how horrible it is to watch your children suffer as they do without the food and medical care every parent should have the right to provide. You have no clue what it is like to get your power turned off, live in fear of being evicted from your home or even what it feels like to go hungry. You could not possibly understand the pain and failure we all experience after months on end desperately looking for jobs that simply do not exist.

Making a six figure income, you are all way out of touch with those who pay for that handsome salary and your benefit perks. You really need to go to the empty food banks or spend some time talking to families either on the streets or in homeless shelters during this break time away from Washington, but I doubt that you will. You will be far too busy campaigning for your reelection, or spending time with family to think about the destruction you have caused by your unbelievably callus, cavalier obstructionism (Republicans) or your lack of urgency (Democrats) on this and all matters.

You know full well that you are to blame for this recession, either by allowing our Banks to collapse the economy, rewarding big companies for shipping our jobs overseas or by cutting taxes for the wealthiest among us so they pay only a small fraction of what is their fair share of the burden. By these and other misdoings of Congress, you are turning America into a third world country and transforming us into transients.

We may be down but we are not out. We intend to make your lives as uncomfortable as we possibly can, until we get the help we need or the jobs we want and deserve. In fact, we think you need to be fired for doing such an incompetent job all around.

If you are an incumbent, be afraid. Be very afraid. It will not be the healthcare issue or the deficit that takes you down in November. It will be millions of angry unemployed Americans who cannot feed their families. We may be homeless but we will vote, if it is the last thing we do, if only to fire our tormentors who did this to us.

If you are a Democrat with a primary challenger, we may well vote you out earlier than November. If you are uncontested in your party this election year, then we will back one of your third party challengers perhaps. If you are a Republican, your fear should be the greatest, as you have proven yourselves completely unworthy of public office, period!

We want to return to being the hard working Americans we always were and not the transients that you are forcing us to become. We need your help not cheap talk and a half-assed effort. We are literally dying out here. ***Recession related suicides up 75% nationwide, our children are going hungry, we are scared and very angry at Washington for doing NOTHING to help us.

Truth be told, you are hurting all of America by refusing to stimulate the economy the best, fastest way you can. The economists agree the millions of unemployed without UI benefits to spend into their communities over the past several months, now has us perched on the verge of a double dip recession. Thanks again for all of your hard work, not! It isn't easy to ruin a great country like America, but you are doing one hell of a successful job at it, I must say.

The recession has been ongoing some 195 weeks. The 99ers, for the most part have been without benefits for the past 8 months of this year. Add that to the previous 3 to 4 months without benefits last year (during the fight for tiers III and IV) and you have millions of jobless who have gone 11 months out of 15 with no income whatsoever. Congress: We want JOBS. We are tired of having to beg our leaders for what we need to survive. Why is it that you can pass a bill helping Haiti (who desperately needed it) in 3 days time, but you will not help Americans in desperate need for nearly a year now?

In the past 12 months, Congress has taken more weeks off than the weeks granted to the unemployed in both of the last tiers combined. This is an outrage. The recession is not taking any time off and we do not want any more time off from working. We have had more time off work than we can handle, but none of it has been a vacation I can assure you.

For the good of America and the survival of millions, you need to pass The Americans Want to Work Act immediately when you reconvene in September. If you do not, then you are directly responsible for any additional job loss, suicides, hunger and homelessness that result due to your failure to get the job done and done right. Looks like the next round of job losses will be most of you come November.

***Source: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

CNN's Ed Henry's Kendrick Meek Interview Was Awful

Ed Henry pays more attention to his hair than interviews

CNN's Ed Henry gets hammered all too often for his interview approach, which often has nothing to do with the concerns of the subject he's interviewing. Take the interview he just conducted with Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek today, Sunday.

Congressman Meek just beat challenger Jeff Greene for the Democratic Nomination to be Florida's next Senator. With that, does Ed Henry talk about the campaign? No.

 Ed Henry opens with a not-veiled and wrong-headed attack on the Obama Administration's Economic Stimulus package. The questioning had nothing to do with the Florida Senate race against GOP challenger Marco Rubio.

Instead of giving the viewer what was expected, Ed Henry used Kendrick Meek to do Henry's White House crit for him, or at least tried to.

If Ed Henry wants to take political positions against the White House, he should quit CNN and become a columnist or a blogger. The strategy of trying to use one interview subject to make news about something having little to do with that subject, as Henry clumsily tried to do with President Obama last year (and Wonkette made him look like a fool for doing it) not only doesn't work, it makes Henry look plain silly.

If Ed Henry doesn't know about Florida politics, don't waste my time interviewing Florida politicians. I watched the interview expecting to learn something about the events of last week and about Congressman Meek. Instead, what I got was a big dose of Ed Henry grandstanding for the right to ask irrelevant questions.

Ed, don't do that again. Please. Do your homework before an interview.

MN voters going Blue

Republican incumbent John Kline's getting worried in Minnesota's Second District, because with all eyes on the Bachmann race, a pro-business Democrat, former MN State Representative Shelley Madore, has a message that resonates with fiscally conservative voters.

Madore, recently endorsed by Clean Water Action, ascribes her primary victory earlier this month to her "35 Cent Tour" highlighting that an imbalance of federal tax dollars promoted by Kline is undermining job creation and business investment. The facts support her position.

While Minnesota averages 77¢ back for every dollar we spend in federal taxes, the Second is only getting back 35¢ - which moves the burden for key projects in the community onto other revenue sources, such as property taxes.

"Mr. Kline has refused to request Federal tax dollars for important community projects, even when asked by our trusted county, city and school leaders...”

Shelley J. Madore

There's a belief that Republican ideology is better for the business climate.  Madore's opponent has also adopted an "earmarks are all pork" theory that's clearly costing his district a fair share of federal dollars.

Last week, in "How does Minnesota stack up in business taxation? Pretty well, it turns out" Sharon Schmickle (minnpost blog) pointed out the facts and figures indicate Minnesota's effective tax rates for businesses are somewhat less than neighboring Wisconsin, Iowa, or South Dakota, and substantially less - approaching HALF - the effective rate in North Dakota.

Yet North Dakota's unemployment rate is the lowest in the country right now.

So if lowering taxes and keeping federal dollars out of the state or the District is the secret to creating jobs, why have 10,900 manufacturing jobs moved from MN's 2nd District to China?  That's the worst record for any Congressional District in the state.  Minnesota's population is growing, but Madore's District been shedding jobs on John Kline's watch, and he's just throwing political double-talk at the problem.

If sounding reasonable by relying on Republican talking points equated to "good for the District" John Kline would be just fine: his presentation of GOP rhetoric is polished, and his re-elections prove it's been persuasive in the past. But the fact is he's quietly voting for his ideological theory, not the people of the Second District, and now Madore has got the attention of the media - and the voters.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Restoring Honor: The I Have A Dream Speech Anniversary

We can't allow crackpot talk show hosts to glen or for that matter to beck America into forgetting that Saturday, August 28th was the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech. This blog post is a small action of "Restoring Honor" to that day in 1963.

The ten minute speech was given on Saturday, August 28th 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC; the event drew over 200,000 people. The address is ranked as the top speech in history.

What is forgotten in all of the silliness of yesterday's faked emotionalism, aside from the fact that Dr. King's greatest moment was nearly glen becked by the media, was the actual speech of 1963 came at a time in this blogger's life (I was born in 1962) when white America's view toward blacks in America was largely screwed up.

(It's not accurate to say "America's view" because it implies either that blacks were also treating other blacks the same way, which wasn't the case, and that blacks and other minorities had the same levels of freedoms that whites in America enjoyed in 1963; not so.  Truth, painful as it is to deal with, is the truth. Skin color was the issue.  You could claim to be a black conservative at the time, and that would not save you from racism.)

Blacks and whites could not marry and even something as simple as going to the bathroom was segregated by race. Many of the freedoms younger African Americans are used now to weren't even allowed then. And beatings and lynchings of blacks, particularly in the South, were all too common.

It's always said that one must know history, if only to avoid repeating it. That's what "Restoring Honor" really means.

For those of you who have not seen the I Have A Dream Speech, the video of it is below, followed by the text of what Dr. King actually said.



Here's the text of the speech from MLKOnline.net:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Raiders vs 49ers: Darrius Heyward-Bey Plays Well In Preseason Game

While the Oakland Raiders lost a thriller to the San Francisco 49ers 24 to 28, one player emerged to become a key ingredient in his squad's early-game success: Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Allegedly called a "turd" over the radio airwaves by Former San Francisco 49ers and now KNBR Color Analyst Gary Plummer, Heyward-Bey played as if he didn't hear the radio called. Indeed, its possible Heyward-Bey never heard Plummer on the radio.

DHB

Heyward-Bey's play Saturday was not the work of a turd. He caught 3 passes for 46 yards, was thrown to a total of 4 times, and if it wasn't a preseason game, would have played longer and arguably contributed even more to the offense.

Two of his catches came in the first drive that resulted in a Michael Bush touchdown run: he caught one for 7 yards, and the drive difference-maker, a 22-yard pass over the middle.

Best Games Head Of Him

In an interview last Thursday that was recorded by The Oakland Tribune, Oakland Raiders Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson was excited about the 2010 for the man they call DHB:

I think the sky’s the limit for the young man. I just think he needs to go play and I think he will this week. Obviously we’ve been in one game with him, he didn’t play very much the first game, didn’t make it to last week’s game. I’m looking forward to watching him play. Again, that’s what I’m saying. I’m excited about watching a lot of our pieces finally come out and play together for an extended period of time and see where we are.

Indeed, under Jackson, Darrius Heyward-Bey's going to be a key factor in the Oakland Raiders Offense. In fact, he already is.

Jeffrey Katzenberg and M. Night Shyamalan Featured at 3D Movie Summit

Jeffrey Katzenberg

On September 15th and 16th at The Hilton Los Angeles Universal City, Ca, many of the Movie and Entertainment Industry's key players will meet for something called the 3D Entertainment Summit. But since this is really a story of the emergence of the 3D movie, it's more appropriate and searchable to call it the 3D Movie Summit.

The 2010 event is the third one in this annual meeting. Produced by Unicomm and The Bob Dowling Group, the idea is to have a forum to discuss and share ideas on the current and future state of the 3D art as applied to entertainment. It features DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg as keynote speaker and M. Night Shyamalan (Devil) as a featured participant.

3D Movies Are More Plentiful, But Drawing Crowds?

The 2010 3D Entertainment Summit comes amid a lot of excitement and a lot of concern about the expanded use of 3D. Avatar Producer and Director James Cameron recently spoke out against the conversion of 2D movies to 3D and called for a kind of committee to review and use of 3D in movies. Cameron even went so far as to slam Clash Of The Titans as an example of bad 3D.

About Clash, Cameron said "They worked against themselves with that film. I've heard people say that they couldn't watch (Clash of the Titans) in 3D and thought it looked better in 2D and they enjoyed the film more." Then Cameron added "Let's not do stupid stuff that's going to hurt this burgeoning marketplace."

Cameron attended the 2009 3D Entertainment Summit and reportedly "wowed" everyone as he was set to open Avatar; as of this writing, he's not listed as participating in the 2010 summit.

But Cameron's comment about "stupid stuff" could be leading to the reason why a number of 3D movie efforts don't pay for themselves at the box office.

On top of that, panning 3D has become sport of late. Jon Favreau, producer and director of the Iron Man movie series and the up-coming Cowboys & Aliens, gave an impromptu speech at Comic Con 2010 that's been the talk of the Entertainment Industry.

Favreau said that he wanted to make Cowboys & Aliens in 3D but didn't want to use video. The only option, making it in 2D and then converting it to 3D was one that was so disliked, the Comic Con audience said "NO." Here's the video:



Where 3D goes and is going in the wake of this developing "backlash" will be the talk of the 3D Entertainment Summit.

Stay tuned.

Walking and Talking With Mom On A Georgia Summer Evening

Regular readers of this space know this blogger travels to Atlanta, Georgia to help Mom and just keep her company almost every month. My mother lost her husband and my stepfather in 2005 and to prostate cancer. (In fact, my Mom had breast cancer, and my father and stepfather passed away from prostate cancer in 2005, so that was a hard year.) Fortunately between good friends nearby and my aunts and uncles just four hours by drive in Tennessee, and then me, she's not without company.

Even though it's hard on me as an only child, and I'll explain why later in this post, I do enjoy my company with my Mother and for several reasons. First, she knows who I am as a person. Second, I don't know how much life I have to share with her, she's a breast cancer survivor, so things she may said or done that have bothered me in the past, don't impact me anymore. Third, she's my only family member. And finally, my stress goes away when I'm here. We're out in the country where you need a good car to get to, and the wide open space (which is evident in the video) is incredible.

I find Oakland to be a stressful place to live. If it's not the noise and the constant sirens, it's the fact that at times it seems people are everywhere and you can't escape them. Then there's the occasionally neurotic person who's screwed up for some reason. Then there's the city's constant need for money such that it tries to get it from high parking rates and fees for this and that. And finally it's the large number of people who seem unhappy because they're out of work or for some other reason.

Now, all of that's offset by the fact that I know a lot of people and I am very much part of the fabric of the Oakland community. I have a good set of Godparents in Oakland, and friends I love very much. Plus, there are a lot of small "life fabric" improvements to celebrate in Oakland. But the overall mood of the city has been more negative than positive for most of the time I've lived in it. Oaklanders always talk about potential; I'm tired of hearing about that. After a while that gets to be a bit much.

So all of that brings me here to Georgia. Yes, Mom would love it if I has a family with kids, and that will happen one day. But my priority is to make sure my Mom's doing fine.

That's what my friends - some of them - don't seem to get. I'm an only child - no brothers or sisters to help out with Mom. My mindset is different such that I have to make my schedule with my Mother in mind. Thankfully my work makes that possible.

But all of that's mostly my guilt, which I've learned is common in only children to have. Whatever the reason, I've never felt better about me than over these last few years of my life. And that's because I'm right with my Mom.

Raiders Darrius Heyward-Bey Called "Turd" By KNBR / 49ers Gary Plummer

Darrius Heyward-Bey 

According to a tweet issued by Ann Killion just one minute ago as per this writing, KNBR Color Announcer and Former San Francisco 49ers Linebacker Gary Plummer issued an unfortunate description of Oakland Raiders Wide Receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey just before the Raiders Preseason game against the 49ers.

Killion tweets that Plummer called Heyward-Bey (or DHB), a "turd."

Here's her tweet:

annkillion - On my way to the game tonight in Oakland I heard #49ers broadcaster Gary Plummer call #Raiders DHB a "turd" on the radio. Really.
1 minute ago via TweetDeck

Gary Plummer, who's not a bad guy from personal experience, could have picked a better term to use in talking about Darrius Heyward-Bey. While it's true the Raiders should not have selected DHB as high as they did in the 2009 NFL Draft, they have him and in the middle of a dramatic coaching staff and system change. Give DHB a chance this year; he will surprise observers.

True Blood newlyweds pre-Emmy Bash party by Suzannah B. Troy

Hey all you True Blood fans, first the newlyweds Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer showed up for a pre-Emmy bash and the most adorable photo and dish on the hot couple and other celebs is covered by Pop Watch on EW.com

I am looking forward to tomorrow night!!!  How about you?  Here is a clip from HBO.  It is superb, fantastic, beyond thrilling and very, very  short so here is the link!   It is Eric confronting Russell!!!!!!

The back drop is a painting I wish I could get a closer look at and in a very unusual quiet why the clip made me think of Westerns I used to watch as a little girl when I had a crush on John Wayne.  Eric reminds me of a very slender John Wayne but this scene has an odd elegance and beauty packed to the brim with tension!  Is tomorrow night going to get very bloody?

I watched several times already in anticipation.   I even check TV guide listings to make sure True Blood is on tomorrow.  You might want to check out that link if you haven't.  The page has all kind of fun True  Blood references including an update on the actress Lois Smith who played Sookie and Jason's Granny. Check it out.  Enjoy.  I will meet you back here tomorrow night after True Blood.
Fangs away!
best,

Suzannah B. Troy

Ed Schultz loud and proud in DC

Ed Schultz spoke loud and proud at Al Sharpton’s ‘Reclaiming the Dream’ Rally in DC, today, speaking as a proud, successful product of middle class integrated education. With all the unseemly divisiveness and unexpectedly blatant racist rhetoric today in America, it was refreshing to see American leaders speak up for the dream of peace and social justice Martin Luther King Jr. always preached so eloquently.

Thousands gathered at Dunbar High School in Washington DC today, to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., 47 years ago today. The Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders in attendance gave moving speeches in tribute to MLK and the work still unfinished in America, to make King’s dream a reality.

Sharpton directly addressed states’ rights as incongruous with Dr. King’s teachings and instead focused on education, poverty, jobs and immigration reform. Sharpton told his rally it was important to keep King's dream alive and that despite progress more needs to be done. "Don't mistake progress for arrival," he said.

You may ask, what do I know about racism and bigotry in this country, not being a victim of racial discrimination myself. Well I know the difference between right and wrong and anyone who hates another simply because they may be different from themselves, is truly a sad excuse for a human being, let alone an American.

I voted for Obama, campaigning feverishly for the ‘Change’ America so desperately needs and took a lot of guff from those who told me I had no place in supporting a black candidate for president. I supported the best man for the job period, and personally did not care about anything else.

My family upbringing exposed me to bigotry, but I made my decision to embrace tolerance as a lifestyle when, within a matter of weeks, assassins’ bullets robbed America of two great humanitarian leaders: Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy in 1968. I was only 8 at the time, but felt both losses very deeply.

What I cannot understand is how America in the year 2010 could revert to such rampant racism, not seen so openly manifested in this country for decades. 47 years ago, MLK spoke of the Fierce Urgency of Now. In 2008 President Obama used those same words but in a different context, to describe what needs to be fixed in this country. Have we learned so little in nearly 50 years time that race should still divide Americans?

With Beck’s “I have a scheme” rally in DC not far from Sharpton’s gathering, it was widely speculated that there could be some disruptive or violent outbursts, should the Reclaiming the Dream attendees mingle with the Back Head crowd. Sharpton and the several thousand marching with him did cross paths with some of the crowds leaving Beck's rally. People wearing "Restoring Honor" and tea party T-shirts looked on as Sharpton's group chanted "reclaim the dream" and "MLK, MLK." Both sides were generally restrained, although there was some mutual taunting.

Sharpton’s crowd honored the great words of Martin Luther King Jr., when in his 1963 speech he said:

"In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."

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