Archive for the ‘News’ Category

The 100 Days Overkill of President Obama

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

http://www.deconstructingthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/obama-100-days.jpg

April 29th has been a hell of a day, with every news network killing themselves with the 100 day milestone of President Obama.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Barack Obama and what he stands for, but I do not recall all these daily milestones for any other president, but I guess things in our society have become so "instant" that we have become addicted to constant updates, with Twitter, Myspace, Facebook and every other social network and tracking platform on the web.  I think people are beginning to tire of all the media over-saturation with him and the markers… Even the President himself ranted on about "the 100 days and the next 100 days" in his address tonight.  There’s nothing wrong with analyzing what the President has done and is doing, but people should be able to form their own opinions based on what has been reported and known of his actions.

Overall, with all of the positive and negative press, President Obama receives on television, online, print and radio, I think he has done an exceptional job.  And my main reason for saying this is because he has shown the American people and the rest of the world, that a US President is human being, just like them.  He shows compassion and understanding and chooses to listen, before speaking.  I really give him a great deal of credit for his re-shaping of perception of Americans.  Being a Canadian, I grew up hearing and seeing that American people could be some arrogant and cocky individuals, but I let a lot of that slide, because the arena was sports related and they were 9 times out of 10, better than we were in every way.  As I got older, I started to see that these attitudes were not only related to sports but many other areas, where America didn’t have the upper hand that they did with sports.  Barack Obama is showing Americans that things can be achieved with out beating your chest and saying how great you are.  Everyone that hasn’t been living under a rock knows that America is a "super-power" when it comes to world affairs and if you don’t know, just take a look at who everyone looks to for help when their country is in crisis. 

The public just needs to realize that Barack Obama is a man, not a miracle working.  He is not going to be able to change the way that politicians operate overnight or even in his first term as President.  The old ways of reciprocal back-scratching to get things done is going to be a hard system to break and with far right Conservatives offering criticism rather than solutions, they are only making things more difficult in the long run.

Continued success, President Obama, don’t let anyone change your sense of responsibility to your fellow man.  If you’ve made a mistake, own up to it like you’ve done in the past.  No one expects you to be perfect, but we are all appreciating your honesty.

See you in the next 100 days or so!

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President Obama : 50 Days in.

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

President Obama - 50 days in As I mentioned before, I listen to radio shows of Presidents harshest critics quite a bit.  Rush, Hannity and the insane Mark Levin (although I can only stomach him before has has his daily “spaz” attack), but I think it is always a good idea to hear what people have to say, whether you agree with it or not.  It helps to give you a different perspective, may change your views and if nothing else, give you more reasons to know you are on the right course for yourself. 

All of these daily milestones for the president don’t make a lot of sense to me, because many of the actions and decisions of a president do not have an immediate impact.  Having said that, they can be used as a gauge of promises made during a presidential campaign.  The website PolitiFact has done just that.  They have compiled a list of more than 500 promises President Obama made on the campaign trail and they are keeping track of what has been done to make them a reality or if they have been broken entirely. 

Here’s a snapshot of  President Obama’s progress:

The Obameter Scorecard

    1. Promise Kept17
    2. Compromise7
    3. Promise Broken2
    4. Stalled2
    5. In the Works39
    6. No Action – 446

via PolitiFact

Not that politicians are known for keeping their promises, I think Barack Obama will do the best he can to shape an America that is a little more compassionate and understanding.  I think he truly understands that it’s not all about the “haves” and “have nots”, it’s about giving everyone an equal opportunity to do the best for themselves, their families and their country.  I’ll wait for the 4 year milestone and see if President Obama is elected for a second term to really determine if he’s doing what the voting masses want.

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Female teen attacked in holding cell.

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

A kick, slammed  into a wall, dragged to the ground by her hair and punched in the back or back of the head a couple times, is what you’ll see in this video and no, it’s not Mixed Martial Arts.  It’s a male officer and a male co-worker (that seems uncomfortable with what takes place, but does nothing to stop it), delivering a beating to a young female that they have in some type of holding cell.  There hasn’t been much information on this, although CNN highlighted the video earlier today. The video says enough, although there are people somewhere defending what these officers or guards did to this young girl. Wishful outcomes are no suspension with pay, no pension, no more job and no leniency in their jail sentences because they work in law enforcement.  As a matter of fact, they should be treated more severely because they work in law enforcement.  Truly a shameful display and one can only imagine how the parents of this girl are feeling after seeing this video.

Thanks to Happy Nappy Head for the video link.

Update:

SEATTLE (AP) — A King County sheriff’s deputy kicks a 15-year-old girl, slams her to the floor of a jail cell, strikes her and pulls her hair in violence captured on videotape.

Prosecutors released the surveillance video Friday in the assault case against Deputy Paul Schene, who is accused of using excessive force on the girl. Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault in Superior Court on Thursday.

Schene was investigated previously for shooting two people — killing one — in the line of duty in 2002 and 2006. Both times his actions were found to be justified, said Ian Goodhew, prosecutor’s deputy chief of staff.

Here is what seems to be the full video. Showing what takes place from the outside of the cell. I especially love the part where Sgt. Jim Laing says he has no comment, when clearly he should have many comments and actions as well.

More info on Paul Schene:

In June 2006, Schene fatally shot a suspect, Pedro Yo, who attacked him during a traffic stop. Yo had run back to his car and disobeyed Schene’s orders to stop. Schene said he saw Yo reach for something in the seat, so he fired 11 times after he ran back to his car. An inquest jury found Schene’s shooting was justified. – Mike Barber seatttlepi.com

Thanks to Group News Blog for the update information.

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What’s the deezy Chris Breezy?

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Rihanna & Chris Brown

Now I’m not one for all this show biz gossip and drama, but my daughter is a fan of Chris Brown, and this story came as a bit of a shock to me.  Chris seemed like a clean-cut, focused and talented young man.  So to hear of his beating a woman and then finding out that the woman was Rihanna, made this a topic of interest. And it’s obvious that Chris Brown doesn’t really know what the girls like, as stated in a song with him and Ludacris.  But seriously, this is quite a let down for me.  I’m not sure what this incident was all about, but there are plenty of rumors floating around. The bottom line is however, that a man should not be beating down a woman and you can’t judge a book by it’s cover either. I would have never expected to hear about this young couple having this type of drama.

Here are some of the details as reported by CNN.

Chris Brown, 19, and Rihanna, 20, were seen together Saturday night at a pre-Grammys dinner at the Beverly Hills Hilton, about five miles from where police said the alleged incident happened at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

The police statement said Brown and a woman were in a vehicle near Hollywood’s Hancock Park when “they became involved in an argument.”

“After stopping his car, Brown and the woman got out and the argument escalated,” police said.

After receiving a 911 call at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found the woman at the scene of the alleged fight, but Brown had left, the department said.

Investigators were treating the incident as a possible felony battery case, police said.

Executives with Brown’s record label at the Grammy Awards told CNN they knew nothing about the incident and declined further comment.

I hope Chris is ready for the exit of several sponsors after an incident like this hits the press.  I’m not sure Wrigley and Got Milk want an alleged woman beater on the payroll.  Note to self guys… Instead of beating your wife, girlfriend, significant other down… No matter what has happened… WALK AWAY!  Get your keys, open the door and walk away. 

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Waiting for Obama tickets that didn’t exist.

Monday, February 9th, 2009

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Driving out to the Harborside Event Center at about 2 am, I had a bad feeling about the 1500 tickets that were being given away for President Obama’s town hall style meeting in Fort Myers, Florida on February 10.  As I arrived, it was obvious that I was too late. There were quite a few hundred people already in the line, with their blankets, tents, coolers and everything they needed to stay for the duration; at 9 am the ticket counter opened.  Their spirits seemed to be high, because they were going to have an opportunity to see Barack Obama in person.  Going with my gut, an injured shoulder and it being a might chilly, I headed back home. I just didn’t think there were going to be enough tickets to go around.

To my surprise, I watched the news this morning and heard that people in positions of 150 to 180 did not receive tickets.  Now, I’m no mathematician, but 2 tickets per person from 1500 tickets should mean that people at least to the 700 person mark, should have received their free tickets.

It sadly became apparent that 1500 tickets were never available to the general public.  I have no problem with Democratic volunteers receiving tickets, but politicians and news media personnel?  The bottom line however is that the people who put out the number of 1500 tickets were wrong in doing so.  I know people want to try and blame President Obama for this, but please use your head.  Do you think Obama was directly involved with the ticket process for this or any event?  I think he has bigger fish to fry.  And from what I see in him as a man, he will not be very happy when he does hear about what happened with this ticket fiasco and his trip to Fort Myers.  I totally understand the anger and frustration of people that waited for hours, when there was no chance of them receiving tickets.

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