It’s now official as President Barack Obama has been sworn in and gave his inauguration speech so America and the world is celebrating for real. I am feeling so many emotions right now…happiness, pride, relief, and angry. Yes, angry toward the now former administration which lasted to long as it appears they will get away with their crimes against America but enough on that since this is a positive post on our future.

As I watch the TV just can’t get over the record millions of people who went to Washington to see this historic inauguration and all with tears of joy. President Obama already has done a lot just in giving the American people hope again. Someone on CNN pointed out that Mr. Obama promised to uphold the Constitution and it originally decreed that black people counted only as 3/5 of a person. Any doubt we have come a long way?

It will be so nice to have a President who knows how to speak the English language correctly and will not promote ideology based on fear over solutions. I like to wish President Obama much success in the coming years for our sake.

Mr. Obama will not be able to celebrate much himself since he will need to start working immediately on the many problems facing our nation. He realizes that the majority of the American people are behind him but he will have no illusions will have the traditional 100 day honeymoon for new Presidents. It’s certainly not the end of the road but the beginning it…

I do want to know if my readers are celebrating Obama’s inauguration today so please vote in my poll located in the upper left hand corner. Those that are celebrating please comment on this post and tell me how you are going about that today. Anyone who is/was in DC live for the inauguration I would like to hear about your experiences. I myself will just be hanging at home today watching TV and being on the Internet all day so while maybe boring for some I will never forget this day.

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Now, most people will get up early tomorrow and try to take advantage of good deals and shop all day. I think people who get in line at 11 PM the day before stores open are not buying for other people but mostly for themselves. I have never felt the need to battle with the crowds on the day after Thanksgiving so would never buy anything myself. Little did I know what I did informally was being done by social activists for years in protest of our over consumption and called it Buy Nothing Day.

It’s now an international event but was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave in 1992 and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine. The event is held in North America every year the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. The point is not that buying nothing on one day will make a difference but that we think about how our consumption effects everything everyday.

Last year Adbusters created a commercial to make the public aware of the cause and to buy nothing. Oddly in our free society of ideas the big corporations would not take their money to air the ad on any of their TV channels. Apparently the concept of taking a day to buy nothing and think about our consumption habits is controversial. CNN did end up airing the ad at the last minute which you can view in this video…

The media giant even interviewed Kalle Lasn of Adbusters to explain Buy Nothing Day and the social, economic, political, environmental, and even psychological side effects of our over consumption.

This year I don’t know of any commercials that Adbusters has produced but Neil Boorman did a short film for the cause on our role in the system titled the “The Good Consumer” which is a must see…

How about not only on Black Friday but for the whole Christmas shopping season we take a break on our credit cards and the interest we can’t afford to cut back on shit we don’t need for ourselves and only buy reasonable gifts for family and close friends. We need to get back to the real theme of this time of the year which is spending time with family and friends and creating good will toward others. Does buying stuff we don’t need ever really make us happy anyway?

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The scariest costume worn to my door this past Halloween was a tiny Sarah Palin outfit. This was a week after the real Palin went on record in an NBC interview arguing that those who would bomb healthcare facilities that provided abortions weren’t necessarily “terrorists.” No tykes ever showed up at our doors pining for Hershey bars dressed as “pro-life” doctor killer James Kopp. That would be in bad taste, even on Halloween. But Palin? Sure. Why not? Most folks were just not aware that the woman soon to be considered for the position of stand-in for the oldest incoming president in history had just went on record legitimizing the bullet or the bomb as a legit alternative to the democratic process. Or maybe she was just too much of a moron to know what she was saying. Either way, the real specter of a McCain/Palin administration made this the scariest Halloween of my life. As a nation, we were about to possibly fall, or get pushed, into an abyss.

A few days later, on Election Day, I finished teaching class, like I always do on Tuesdays, by bidding my students farewell and telling them I’d see them on Thursday. But as the words rolled off my tongue, I hesitated. I didn’t really know if indeed I would see them on Thursday, or if the nation would be locked down under martial law by then. It was a crap shoot. Would Election Day bring a sigh of relief or a curfew?

“click here” to read the whole article at the Artvoice site

The article really caught my eye because when I seen the news video of all the people who gathered for Obama in Chicago and celebrated in the streets around the country wondered what would have happened if the election was close and they said Obama lost? There would have been riots in the streets and I would have been part of them. I do think the Bush Administration would have liked that since would have given him the excuse to label protesters as terrorists.

I was a little worried just before the election with all the media talk of the race tighten and even one poll showing McCain up sightly. Sounded almost like a setup since I knew six months ago the election would not be close. Obama was breaking records over money raised, attracting new voters, and active volunteers over a Presidential opponent (not to mention the Bush albatross hanging over McCain) so never understood why people were saying it would be close. Good thing you can only fix close elections and nothing happened but what was supposed to on Election Day.

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I am going to roll with another Sarah Palin post since she seems to be able to extend her 15 minutes of fame unlike say “Joe the Plumber” (or more accurately Samuel not a plumber). Sarah Palin stayed in the news last week by giving interviews to anyone who would talk to her. Odd, given that Ms. Palin seems to hate the supposed “liberal” media.

I have been known to refer to her as Sarah “dumb dumb” Palin but you can be the judge. Take the quiz below which consists of questions that were asked of Palin during the Presidential campaign. After I will grade you based on how many able to answer and give you Sarah Palin’s score to compare.

All these questions were posed by either interviewers, McCain aides, and one by third graders…

1.) What is the Bush Doctrine?

2.) What magazines or newspapers do you read?

3.) What does the Vice-President do?

4.) What are the three countries that make up NAFTA?

5.) T or F South Africa is a country or a continent?

No answer key since assume you know which questions don’t know the answer to and if not sure can just Google it.

4-5 correct  – Congratulations, you paid attention in government class in high school and read a newspaper semi-regularly (which means you were able to answer question #2).

1-3 correct  – OK, politics and world affairs are not your strong suit and probably voted for John McCain.

0    correct  – You would be a loser if appeared on the FOX game show “Are you smarter then a 5th grader?”.  All is not lost since you would have scored the same as Sarah Palin! This means you would still be qualified and have a chance in running for the GOP Presidential nominee in 2012 just like Sarah (or as she seems to think).

I would have scored a perfect five myself. Do you think it is getting old making fun of Sarah Palin or it will never go out of style until she disappears from the headlines?

There is even a rumour now that she was offered a spot on the TV show Desperate Housewives but ABC executives denied it.

Sarah Palin has been celebrity tabloid material for me a number of times (I just can’t help myself)…

Sarah Palin’s beauty pageant swimsuit catwalk video…

Photo of GOP Vice-President candidate Sarah Palin in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant and others…

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Here are images of the ads used in the campaign…

“click” on image to enlarge

“click” on image to enlarge

The pinheads at FOX News instead of discussing the message just made fun of atheists…

Their discussion was so stupid it’s hard to address everything wrongly said but I like to point out most atheists do in fact still celebrate Christmas and are not lonely this time of the year. The best was at the end of the clip when the head pinhead questioned having the ads on public transportation which is tax payer supported. He quickly follows in about we have freedom of speech. Thanks for confirming that…

The British Humanist Association caused a similar ruckus in the UK last month with this ad campaign slogan – “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

“click” on image to enlarge

I consider myself an agnostic who happenings to believe in God and thinks all religions are man-made but certainly do celebrate Christmas. Many people leave God and religion out of Christmas and just make sure to share some goodwill (and sometimes presents) with their fellow man at this time of year. The “War on Christmas” crowd will not be happy with this ad campaign but they don’t realize not all people have the same beliefs as them or that Christmas always has had a secular side to it.

~ The Spotted Lamb ~

The lambs closest to the middle of the flock are said to be the most cherished – their fleece cleaner, whiter. Because they are closer to the middle, they are closer to the Sheppard – or so they believe. There are other lambs – lambs whose fleece is not so clean, not so white, who surround the lambs in the middle. These lambs shield those in the middle – both a blessing and a curse, for the price paid by those lambs that benefit from this protection is steep – the consequences unpredictable. The lambs furthest from the middle, those on the edge, are charged by the Sheppard with the work that is too often overlooked or more tragically, misunderstood by the lambs that feel nearest to the Sheppard – battling life’s wolves that offer only ugliness and sorrow, taking by force what they desire, leaving a wake of destruction.

The lambs at the edge are no better equipped to fight those wolves who would destroy the Sheppard’s flock, but fight they must, for the battles they wage bring rewards never realized by lambs at the middle, as they know no other way. Often, these rewards are realized through triumph and joy, but on occasion through heartache and sorrow. The lambs at the edge do not question the Sheppard or why they must endure this gambit of danger and emotion – nor do they aspire to run along side those lambs at the middle – for they are satisfied only with the rewards that the battles bring – making them whole.

The lambs of the middle, protected from such travails, are not burdened with the yoke of battle, nor do they reap any benefits. They remain in an artificial state of peace, removed from the taxing reality of such attacks, perpetrated by the wolves. Nevertheless, they are worse for it, because the triumph and heartache, the joy as well as the sorrow, are the critical instruments of life that provide the truest measure of character and depth of devotion. The lambs of the middle are resigned to the protection they take for granted, never to be tested by the fires of life, never realizing the strength of their inner self – always looking to the Sheppard for the answers when the wolves come, as the others fight. They choose not to immerse themselves in the warm springs of unbridled sacrifice for fear of their fleece becoming soiled by the trials of life. They willfully barter these experiences so their fleece may remain white. What they fail to realize is that the experience of these battles can color their fleece, making it more difficult for the wolves to target them against the back drop of a brown earth. This too, is protection. This too, brings safety and peace. It is this they sacrifice.

Occasionally a lamb, maybe one closer to the Sheppard, maybe one further away, strays into the forest where it is taken by the wolves, and soon after that lamb finds itself on a lonesome road of discovery – a road to salvation. It is now that the experience of life comes to call, for the lambs of the middle will once again seek protection – of a lush farm, a farm where the grass is greener than any other, a farm with a gate of gold whose sign above reads ‘heaven.’ Surely this is the place for the protected lambs. It is here the lamb of the middle will take refuge.

The lambs of the edge will walk on the same road of salvation, but will walk in step with the wolves – the same wolves whose goal was to destroy the flock. They will help each other on that road, roots deep in mutual respect and forgiveness – a mutual respect the lambs of the middle struggle to understand. The lamb on the edge, distant from the Sheppard, and the wolf, removed altogether, will approach that same, lush farm, yet they will be told that the wolf is not permitted to enter – he is not worthy.

They will travel on until they come to a second farm, a farm not as lush – a farm not exclusive to lambs. Here, they too will approach, and explain how they were turned away from ‘heaven,’ and the farmer will reply that he is aware of that other place, but still he will allow them to enter, for this is the real ‘heaven.’ The lamb of the edge and the wolf ask why? – And the farmer will reply, “What heaven would bar any lamb, no matter the color of his fleece or a wolf, removed from the Sheppard’s flock – an outcast – an enemy. What farm would follow such exclusive rules placing such demands on it’s lambs, asking them to judge each other’s beliefs and devotion to the Sheppard in life – quashing their right to enter heaven based on false preaching, in death –preaching used for little more than to segregate the flock? Even the wolf believed in his own way, for he needed the Sheppard’s lambs to survive. He believed in his heart, confessing to no one, so he too might enter this place.”

The inauguration cannot happen fast enough…

Editor’s Note – Matthew wanted to call it before the mainstream media and who am I to say no? Looks like Obama will be a big winner and I now can relax. This historic election is only a start and not the end…

It’s Election Day finally and hope all my readers have or will vote today. Please take a second and let me know who you picked for President by voting in my poll.

This is also an open thread to comment about your experiences and feelings on this Election Day.

Are you worried your candidate will not win or not at all?

Please share if you had any polling place problems today…

Every Congressional race is open for discussion also and do you think the Democrats will get to 60 in the Senate and would it be good or bad?

All readers are invited to join me in my chat room (I will be there all day and into the night) to discuss the election as it unfolds in real time and just need to log into any popular IM client you already use when go to the Ideas and Revolution Meebo room.

UPDATED 12/29 – COMMENTS CLOSED ON THIS POST

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