<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523</id><updated>2011-07-08T07:19:49.659-07:00</updated><category term='HipHopolitics'/><title type='text'>In Case You Haven't Heard...</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>57</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-664524476193953621</id><published>2009-09-24T09:56:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-09-24T10:11:02.516-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='HipHopolitics'/><title type='text'>Something to think about</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://static.hiphopwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/krs-1-copy.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 675px; height: 360px;" src="http://static.hiphopwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/krs-1-copy.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT SUPPORTING THE VIEWS OF KRS ONE HIPHOP WIRED OR THEIR  AFFILIATES... THIS WAS INTERESTING AND I WANTED TO SHARE... ENJOY&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One Breaks Down The New World Order &amp; The Obama Deception&lt;br /&gt;Features&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;» by MICHAEL ICEBLUE HARRIS August 26, 2009, 10:31am&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Blastmaster KRS-One has been educating Hip-Hop and the masses for over 20 years. As he gears to release his latest project Survival Skills on September 15 with Duck Down front-man Buckshot, KRS spoke to Hip-Hop Wired exclusively about the controversial documentary The Obama Deception. In the film, KRS speaks on secret societies running the United States and the world as well as his views on the nation's first African-American President. Receiving some flack for his outspoken views, KRS-One addresses the film and his real feelings about President Obama and it's not exactly what you think. His philosophy never is but edutaining nonetheless. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“If they controlled it before, what makes you think they're not controlling it now? The country was on the verge of revolution. They threw a Black man up, now we like this (complacent). They put a Black face on the New World Order and now we all happy. KRS ain't buying it.” …KRS-One (The Obama Deception).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: KRS, you've never been one to hold your tongue but you feel that some misconceptions about you and your feelings about President Obama have been distorted. So do you support the film The Obama Deception where you raised some interesting questions on the government and The President?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: I'm not in support of it but I am in support of everything I said. No doubt but when I did the interview it wasn't supposed to be a movie. It wasn't supposed to be what it is. I'm sensitive to the struggle. There's a whole truth movement separate from Hip-Hop. There's a whole 9-11 anti-war movement that needs me in that capacity so I don't really beef with it too much and I allowed the movie to come out without lawsuits and all that type of stuff. But really, no. I'm not personally in support. I have my views on that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: So were your words taken out of context and will you do your own documentary on The New World Order?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: Maybe somebody should one day. We can do our own documentary even answering The Obama Deception but what I will say is that it's just like when I was misquoted with 9-11 when The Daily News misquoted me saying that I said, “We cheered when 9/11 happened.” The Daily News then put me on blast saying that if Osama bin Laden was to buy an album, it would be KRS-One's. And then everybody in America was like, “Aww, fuck KRS.” But around the world, the Muslim community was busting shots, like, “Yeah, KRS.” And it was a misquote. So in colleges, even though certain Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs …come up to me. Not that they was with 9/11 but they understood what I was saying about the cheering of that system going down. That whole fake, that corruption finally falling. They and the world understood it and the same thing is with The Obama Deception as well. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't really support the movie or how they tried to pull Obama out like that, I'm not in support of that. But Obama is on that shit too on another level. He is The President. Fuck all the dumb shit, he is the President and he has people that he must answer to that are not me and are not you and they don't have our interest in mind. No government does in that sense. It's about people power so in that instance I'm not ashamed of the message. I don't disagree with the message of the movie but KRS is a little deeper than the movie projects. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Everyone is pointing to Barrack right now, President Obama and saying, 'You gotta get the economy together, you gotta get the economy together.' When in fact the president has very little to do with the economy. It's the Federal Reserve Chairman that at least sets the policy… that's a privately owned company. The Federal Reserve Bank, they set the agenda.” ...KRS-One (The Obama Deception) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: So how did you come to interview for The Obama Deception?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: That was after a show. Somebody asked me a couple of questions and I gave them my heart and that was the end of it. Now to turn that into a movie and market it as my political view, that's a little over the top but when you're a revolutionary, sometimes you take one for the team and that's what I'm doing right now. I believe more in that movement than what I'm saying. I don't even care even if they had lied about me and said some shit that I didn't say. I'm more interested in the fact that 9/11 is being covered up. Firefighters and police officers did run into those buildings and now New York City doesn't want to pay their health expenses. I am concerned about that. I'm concerned about you putting up a new Freedom Tower in New York in the same place yet you not hiring New York City contractors to build that shit. I'm concerned about that shit so yeah, KRS-One is a lil' deeper than what the movie is about but nonetheless the movement itself I still support. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The people who put the movie out, Alex Jones, all of them…that's my crew. Straight up. 9/11 Truth, all of that, we get down. All that shit, Conspiracy Theory all day. Judd, Maxwell, David, Ike, all of them. That's my crew. We hang out, we talk. That's what it is. But it's best that the message went out. I'm glad the message went out because it's better for a Black man to critique another Black man, I think, than any other race in that sense. America is not that grown up yet to have to have a White man critique Obama and have the country feel good about it. The reason why the Republicans even now can climb into Obama is because of The Obama Deception. Believe that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: That's true and no one is above criticism. And just because you disagree with someone and provoke thought doesn't mean you're hating on them. What made you question The President and his mission while the majority of the country was wrapped up in the Obama cloud? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: The first week. Before anybody said anything that was critical about the presidency, you first heard KRS-One, simple and plain. We spoke the week he was inaugurated. The week that Obama was inaugurated was the week that the interview went up and nobody understood. My own community, African Americans was like, “Fuck KRS” because he said “Fuck Obama.” And that's what I had to endure. But then the White population, the Republicans, looked at that said you know what, “Brother got a point of view here.” We here at N.R.A. agree. We Christians over here, we agree. We Wal-mart, Target, all that shit, we agree with this Black man over here. And then you get the Republican Party like let's now take a look at this and that. But first you need a credible Black man to first ask credible questions before anybody else can say anything. And I'm not the only one because my man Dr. Cornell West peeled into the President as well, nicely and respectively. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: You say respectively and nicely. Who went about it in some tyrannical manner? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: Not on no nigga shit like Jesse (Jackson) did who straight up called him a “NIGGA.” They was on some old school “Nigga Shit” like Jesse came straight out, “You a nigga” and that's it. We wasn't on that, Cornell West wasn't on that. That brother's a scholar and he came right out with it and “lets not get so emotional over a Black president. We got to clean this country up.” This is from Cornell West so you got KRS on one side, Hip-Hop talking. And we're saying, “Nah, Barrack is cool. He's the man no doubt. We don't disrespect that” but that could be the New World Order too, dawg. Don't get so wrapped up thinking just cause John McCain lost, you now got something. Nahh man. Keep your eyes open. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: Definitely. And you're not alone with those thinkings. Did you incorporate some of those thoughts with your new album Survival Skills with Buckshot?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: A lot of young Whites, Blacks, Latinos, the young Asians and Native Americans, they agree. And that's what makes the film important. Even though I think the film goes a little over the top, I mean it's a conspiracy film so it goes over the top. But people agree so you match The Obama Deception with the Town Hall meetings that are happening all over the country right now and then you match that with Survival Skills the album with songs like “Think Of All The Things.” We're talking about being a father to your child and what are you doing. KRS talks to the mothers and Buckshot talks to the fathers. We coming with cuts like this is what new Hip-Hop is. This is what it is and we're a part of this debate. Don't just look at this album as KRS and Buckshot did an album that represents their art. This album is being put out very timely when citizens are in governors' and presidents' faces. We got a cut called “On The Grind” with Mary J. Blige and play that as you're watching CNN or FOX news because it's all relevant and it all sinks in.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I'm really proud of this project because this is what KRS-One's career is really all about. Survival Skiils, the videos, the subject matter, the beats, the people on the album. This is what KRS-One needs right now. This is what Hip-Hop needs right now. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Buckshot: Politically this (album) is what the world needs. Kris didn't say the word F-U-C-K but he said Mr. Sean Hannity (Conservative Fox News Host and tyrannical Obama hater) is not gonna like that. I personally would say Fuck Mr. Sean Hannity. I don't even like saying his name. I personally feel like throwing a tomato at my T.V. anytime my channel skips past it so he'll be another political issue that'll come up later on but that's for another day. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HipHopWired: People are quick to tear down the youth movement in Hip-Hop and say that they don't respect their elders and uplift the culture. Yet, you being The Teacha, you feel that they are as important and relevant as you are. You've even bigged up Soulja Boy and T-Pain so what do you want the youth to learn from you at this date and time?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;KRS-One: When I did the quick little interview with Alex Jones, spoke my mind and shit went up on the Internet, everybody was like, “Ohh shit, KRS is dissing Barrack.” And after I did like 20 interviews, I was like I'm not dissing Barrack, I'm dissing all motherfucking presidents. First it was just an interview and then they made it into a movie. They took “my movie” and turned it into part of the movie The Obama Deception and put my views up there. And right away, they was like “KRS is dissing Obama.” And again I made it clear, I not dissing Obama. I could never diss Obama but all presidents are politicians and you know me with my conspiracy theories and the New World Order, I don't see it the way everybody else sees it. So I spoke my mind but look at that. A lot of elders felt the way I felt but they were just scared to talk and now I spoke up, just spoke my mind. Because ain't nobody kicking my ass, ain't nobody feeding my kids or paying my mortgage. So what nigga, I'm bussing my guns. So I'm gone speak the way I speak and that's that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I stepped up and I talked so now all of a sudden the young kids are like, “Oh Shit, who is that?” “Yo that's that dude called KRS-One.” Their older brother and sisters… their mothers and fathers are telling them that, “Oh yeah, that's KRS-One. That's that dude, he don't give a fuck. He'll tell you straight up and down what it really is. Or you can catch him over here. I mention all of that to say just because you're an elder doesn't mean that young people have to respect you. Fuck that. If you're an elder, young people will work you harder for your respect today. You should be trying to get the respect of your children, not asking them to respect you. At 50 years old you shouldn't need mother fucking respect. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Link for the full-length documentary "The Obama Deception"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You may have to copy and paste... Sorry &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE: ONCE AGAIN NOT ENDORSING THE VIEWS OF THE MOVIE OR THE CREATORS, DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS, OR GRIPS OF THIS MOVIE JUST SOMETHING TO WATCH IF YOU HAVE THE TIME&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-664524476193953621?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/664524476193953621/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=664524476193953621' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/664524476193953621'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/664524476193953621'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/09/something-to-think-about.html' title='Something to think about'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8241363990263544562</id><published>2009-04-28T09:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-28T09:35:47.127-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Update: Arlen Specter Senator of Pennsylvania Press Release (Updated)</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SfcsjbBhaCI/AAAAAAAAABU/pZukyqvsT98/s1600-h/Arlen+Specter.bmp"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 235px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SfcsjbBhaCI/AAAAAAAAABU/pZukyqvsT98/s320/Arlen+Specter.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329777671077455906" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;April 28, 2009&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Statement by Senator Arlen Specter &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, my Party has not defined who I am. I have taken each issue one at a time and have exercised independent judgment to do what I thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I deeply regret that I will be disappointing many friends and supporters. I can understand their disappointment. I am also disappointed that so many in the Party I have worked for for more than four decades do not want me to be their candidate. It is very painful on both sides. I thank specially Senators McConnell and Cornyn for their forbearance. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am not making this decision because there are no important and interesting opportunities outside the Senate. I take on this complicated run for re-election because I am deeply concerned about the future of our country and I believe I have a significant contribution to make on many of the key issues of the day, especially medical research. NIH funding has saved or lengthened thousands of lives, including mine, and much more needs to be done. And my seniority is very important to continue to bring important projects vital to Pennsylvania’s economy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am taking this action now because there are fewer than thirteen months to the 2010 Pennsylvania Primary and there is much to be done in preparation for that election. Upon request, I will return campaign contributions contributed during this cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While each member of the Senate caucuses with his Party, what each of us hopes to accomplish is distinct from his party affiliation. The American people do not care which Party solves the problems confronting our nation. And no Senator, no matter how loyal he is to his Party, should or would put party loyalty above his duty to the state and nation. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy’s statement that sometimes Party asks too much. When it does, I will continue my independent voting and follow my conscience on what I think is best for Pennsylvania and America.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/30456926#30456926" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8241363990263544562?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8241363990263544562/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8241363990263544562' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8241363990263544562'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8241363990263544562'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/04/update-arlen-specter-senator-of.html' title='Update: Arlen Specter Senator of Pennsylvania Press Release (Updated)'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SfcsjbBhaCI/AAAAAAAAABU/pZukyqvsT98/s72-c/Arlen+Specter.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7526652935773354960</id><published>2009-04-21T13:41:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-21T13:48:18.343-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Update- On the Defense</title><content type='html'>Last night former Vice President Cheney (arguably the most powerful VP since the first VP –John Adams- was sworn in on April 21, 1789) spoke to Sean Hannity in regards to President Obama’s release of Bush Administration memo’s post -911 about interrogations and terrorist suspects.  Former VP Cheney stated concern over how he felt that President Obama was “apologizing” for the US actions and his action can be seen as “weak” amongst our allies and enemies alike.  He also blasted Pres. Obama for shaking hands with  and accepting gifts from Hugo Chavez claiming it “set the wrong standards”…  Honestly at this point any and everything the President does will come with some form of criticism… It is the nature of the beast.  But honestly the last eight years of administrative practices has left the US military stretched to the brink and the US on more people’s @#*&amp; list; so why is it not time to try to regroup?  Try another strategy.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/21/obama.memos/?iref=mpstoryview&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/21/cheney-i-dont-think-weve-got-much-to-apologize-for-2/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In other news… Miss California 2009 Carrie Prejean was blasted by Perez Hilton, celebrity blogger and Miss USA 2009 judge, for her response to the questions of gay marriage right in America.  The short story is Mr.”Hilton” asked Ms. Prejean her views on gay marriage and she gave her honest answer stating that due to her biblical beliefs and upbringing she believed marriage was between a man and a woman.  Many have stated that this answer, which visibly upset “Hilton”, cost her the crown.  Ms. Prejean later went on the TODAY show and defended her answer and her beliefs and felt that even if she had played the politically correct role she would have been untrue to her beliefs.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regardless of how one feels about any subject everyone has a right to their opinion.  Why this very polarizing politically charged question was even allowed in the pagent is beyond me, but the bigger issue is why people feel like if you don’t agree with their view you are wrong and are deserving of ridicule (“Hilton” went on his blog and called her a “Dumb Bitch”) while they expect their view to be tolerated and respected.  Perez Hilton has done nothing but be a bad representative of the LGBT community… With that being said kudos to you Ms. Prejean&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/30322011#30322011" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7526652935773354960?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7526652935773354960/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7526652935773354960' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7526652935773354960'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7526652935773354960'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/04/update-on-defense.html' title='Update- On the Defense'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6979196404420084306</id><published>2009-03-27T07:06:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-27T07:19:36.670-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Update:We're getting Bailout Money (Gov't Remix)</title><content type='html'>Hey all,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not much to say the videos below will definitely speak for themselves... This is definitely something to follow if I can find more I will definitely pass along!  I have also put in a link to the Republican "Road to Recovery" Plan to go along with the Rachel Maddow video&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/29911621#29911621" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/29911621#29911621 (Video Link)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/29911691#29911691" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/29911621#29911691 (Video Link)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/29904566#29904566" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/29911621#29904566 (Video Link)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gop.gov/solutions/budget/road-to-recovery-final"&gt;http://www.gop.gov/solutions/budget/road-to-recovery-final&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6979196404420084306?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6979196404420084306/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6979196404420084306' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6979196404420084306'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6979196404420084306'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/03/updatewere-getting-bailout-money-govt.html' title='Update:We&apos;re getting Bailout Money (Gov&apos;t Remix)'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-989307235610698111</id><published>2009-03-23T06:15:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-23T06:25:17.951-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Silver Bullet</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:NxA1mjW0dapDlM:http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/whitehouse.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 135px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 90px" alt="" src="http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:NxA1mjW0dapDlM:http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/whitehouse.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Well I know it has been a while no real excuses except I have been real lazy and honestly uninterested in the Bailout back and forth or anything else political for that matter. However, a question did come up… If a system is not currently working (in this case a major breakdown of the current capitalist society that we live in) does the government have an obligation to make it whole, or is that truly going above and beyond the scope of what we are founded on? On the other hand if nothing is done and total collapse is the outcome should the government then be held accountable for not doing something to prevent it? How dire is dire, are we on the verge of food lines again or are we just in a deep recession and will eventually come out of it and back to our gluttonous consumer lifestyles?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have had many discussions with different people that see situation in totally different ways. Some are so scared they are hoarding money that they have, others are so unconcerned they are pretty much living life as usual with no real worries and then some are still pretty much keeping there normal lives going just with a little less extravagant spending and a little more saving for a rainy day. See the thing is no one has the perfect solution on what is the best course of action. Some people are trying to yank what’s left of there money out of the stock market, while others are willing to ride it out and other are even putting money into the market hoping that whatever they buy will last at least for the big turn around. The point of this is that if on a small household to household scale there is no succinct solution; then how is it expected for the government to have the silver bullet to make this all go away? For whatever reason people have forgotten that Politicians and those that work with them are just human like you and me; they are about as clueless with this as anyone of us would be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Something we all can agree with… There is NO reason any company that is on corporate welfare (see-bailout) should give bonuses to the clowns that put them in the position to need “government assistance”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/20/news/companies/bankers_meeting/index.htm?postversion=2009032012"&gt;http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/20/news/companies/bankers_meeting/index.htm?postversion=2009032012&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:foVwQFTbsNLrzM:http://www.thegio.net/kazakhstan/american-flag.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 148px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 93px" alt="" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:foVwQFTbsNLrzM:http://www.thegio.net/kazakhstan/american-flag.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-989307235610698111?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/989307235610698111/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=989307235610698111' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/989307235610698111'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/989307235610698111'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/03/silver-bullet.html' title='The Silver Bullet'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6445002354761785480</id><published>2009-02-19T16:40:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-19T16:43:27.299-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Update- RNC's Hip-Hop</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/02/19/art.steele.gi.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/02/19/art.steele.gi.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hello All,&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;I know it has been a minute, but honestly, I was not really interested in giving you the play-by-play of the Stimulus Bill passage (I am sure you had had enough of that from the media)…  Besides we knew it was going to pass eventually anyways (the why, how and what for was irrelevant) and like any negotiation you start high to get to your (or at least in the vicinity) of your end figure, which is essentially what happened.  Also FYI, all the other spending initiatives that were taken out of the bill, will eventually find their way in subsequent Appropriation bills (with little to no raucous from the Repubs).&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Anyhow, what I wanted to address today was RNC Chairman Michael Steele and his recent statement on where he plans on taking the (struggling to find their way) GOP.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;“We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;He added, jokingly, that “we need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets.”&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Yes you read correctly he wants to apply the conservative principles to a HIP-HOP Setting… He has to be joking (and I don’t mean just about the one-armed midget).  How can someone as intelligent and driven as Mr. Steele disrespect not only a whole culture and sub-culture, but his own party?!?!?  What does he plan on, maybe a cute hippity-hoppity jingle “Vote Repub if you like Yo Dubs” is Ann Coulter going to do a spread in KING next to Lola “Angel” Luv, is Bill O’ Reilly going to start co-hosting with Luda down at the many shake-em clubs in ATL?  What the heck does this even mean –“…apply them to urban-suburban hip-hop settings…” &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Okay so I will play along just to prove a point…  Since Mr. Steele is down playing young, black and latino voters to “hip-hop” lets dumb down the Republican principle “get rich and stay rich”… Now who does this in the “hip-hop” world apply to, follow me below:&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Jay-Z &lt;br /&gt;(Yes, he’s rich and plans on staying rich; he even did a song called black   Republican)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Young kids growing up in the projects of DC, LA, NY, The Lower, Ninth, Ward, Chicago, etc.&lt;br /&gt;  (Nope, these children are not rich do not come from rich and according to the      principles of the Repubs- no public assistance- will have a pretty hard time getting rich)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Nas&lt;br /&gt;            (Yes, once again rich and staying that way and in fact did the Black Republican song with Jay- Z)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;The latinos that do the hard grunt and necessary work that many Americans would not dream of doing&lt;br /&gt;            (Nope, once again, they aren’t rich, may not be rich ever)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Bottom line, if you are not already rich the Republican Party may not be for you.  I do not discount anyone that is not White, Male and Rich that decide to become registered Republican that is the beauty of America you can, essentially, do you with no consequence.  However, until Chairman Steele finds a way to incorporate the needs of Women, Children, Gay and Lesbian rights and any other minority within the Conservative, Republican Principles.  He can keep his hip-hop slang avant-garde PR promo BS! &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/19/rnc-chair-plans-off-the-hook-campaign-tells-critics-to-%E2%80%98stuff-it%E2%80%99/" target="_blank"&gt;http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/19/rnc-chair-plans-off-the-hook-campaign-tells-critics-to-%E2%80%98stuff-it%E2%80%99/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6445002354761785480?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6445002354761785480/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6445002354761785480' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6445002354761785480'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6445002354761785480'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/02/update-rncs-hip-hop.html' title='Update- RNC&apos;s Hip-Hop'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-2146480699490262722</id><published>2009-01-30T14:46:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-30T14:49:00.582-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Update.... And the RNC Chair is... Michael Steele‏</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Michael_Steele.jpg/225px-Michael_Steele.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 225px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 302px" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Michael_Steele.jpg/225px-Michael_Steele.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So this was inevitable.... Remember the whole Sarah Palin thing?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Repubs: "So Barack didn't pick Hillary and they voters are not really interested in voting a man in at your advanced age... So we've found a young, hot and slightly potty mouth chick in Alaska named Sarah Palin that will get your ticket moving"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCain:"Well... if it will get me elected... What's her name again?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Repubs:"Small details, you have a press conference in 10 to introduce her"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No please don't get me wrong Micheal Steele is no Sarah Palin... He was former Lt. Gov. of Maryland... The Maryland State RNC Chair and a chief fundraiser for the party, (and played the politics game well, making enough friends within the Party to bypass the rednecks within the Party and STILL get elected).... But if the Repubs think that a putting a blackman in the face of minorities (no matter how unaligned said blackman is politically to the base in which you are trying to attract) then they are sadly mistaken...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hats off to you Chairman Steele... You (along with your golden Resume) have positioned yourself to be the first Black RNC Chair and (even though I am not supporting your party, or your rhetoric) I hope you do make the Repubs AT LEAST viable opponents for the dems... To the rest of the Repubs in general... I hope this shit bites you in the ass! AGAIN!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/30/rnc.chairman/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/30/rnc.chairman/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S._Steele" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S._Steele&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-2146480699490262722?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/2146480699490262722/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=2146480699490262722' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2146480699490262722'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2146480699490262722'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/01/update-and-rnc-chair-is-michael-steele.html' title='Update.... And the RNC Chair is... Michael Steele‏'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-5285414843368979616</id><published>2009-01-29T04:35:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-29T04:38:56.549-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Update- Week 1 Down, 207 to go (415 hopefully) --- THE MIDDLE EAST‏</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/photo-hub/news_gallery/5/9/597568/1232596116613.JPEG"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 456px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 304px" alt="" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/photo-hub/news_gallery/5/9/597568/1232596116613.JPEG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am sure you enjoyed the inauguration of our 44th President, and I am SURE you all engaged in the countless prayer meetings, helping homeless people and quiet reverence of this historic event... I am SURE none of you great intellectuals partook of the drunken debauchery that encapsulated Washington DC and the 1.5 million "visitors" ;-) But now that the fun is over the work begins, and (as expected by many) President Obama has been on his job.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/28/obama.first.week/index.html?iref=mpstoryview" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/28/obama.first.week/index.html?iref=mpstoryview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In his first formal interview since his inauguration, President Obama, with Dubai-based Arabic Satellite News Channel Al-Arabiya reiterated his promise of a true diplomacy in the Middle East. This comes on the heels of newly tapped Middle East Envoy, George Mitchell, trip to Egypt to discuss new diplomacy and, more importantly, Gaza ceasefire. During the interview President Obama spoke of extending the hand of peace and diplomacy to Iran as long as Iran "Unclenched it's fist"; he also took the time to share with the, predominately Muslim, Middle East that the US are not enemies of Muslims and that the US had made some mistakes in the past, but there will be much more open diplomatic efforts (I really appreciated how he was able to insult President Bush in the nicest way possible)... President Obama also took this time to show support for Israel and their security, although, he did make it known that Israel and Palestine will have to make "tough desicions" to achieve peace.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7852650.stm" target="_blank"&gt;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7852650.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HO_lLttxxrs&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HO_lLttxxrs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LvnNYNc7HSA&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LvnNYNc7HSA&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-5285414843368979616?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/5285414843368979616/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=5285414843368979616' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5285414843368979616'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5285414843368979616'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/01/update-week-1-down-207-to-go-415.html' title='Update- Week 1 Down, 207 to go (415 hopefully) --- THE MIDDLE EAST‏'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7254622037325452768</id><published>2009-01-11T16:05:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-11T16:06:45.575-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama's Weekly Address</title><content type='html'>Obama's Weekly Address&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="295" width="480"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cTDln2f0GvQ&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cTDln2f0GvQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7254622037325452768?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7254622037325452768/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7254622037325452768' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7254622037325452768'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7254622037325452768'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/01/obamas-weekly-address.html' title='Obama&apos;s Weekly Address'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-3275435591095681839</id><published>2009-01-08T11:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-08T11:31:39.125-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Update- Obama's Economic Plan...</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the event you missed P/E Obama's Economic Adress to the Public at George Mason University this morning... Peep below!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28560030#28560030" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type="text/css"&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class="msnbcLinks"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt; (George Mason Video)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also an interview given yesterday on CNBC&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28548378#28548378" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type="text/css"&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class="msnbcLinks"&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com"&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507"&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072"&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt; (CNBC video)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-3275435591095681839?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/3275435591095681839/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=3275435591095681839' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3275435591095681839'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3275435591095681839'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/01/update-obamas-economic-plan.html' title='Update- Obama&apos;s Economic Plan...'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-5675793787082615707</id><published>2009-01-06T13:22:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-06T13:35:06.204-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Welcome 2009!!!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMYGTeN8I/AAAAAAAAAA8/KTImh8sBfTs/s1600-h/2009-print-preview-blog.png"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288295101844305858" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 130px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMYGTeN8I/AAAAAAAAAA8/KTImh8sBfTs/s200/2009-print-preview-blog.png" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well Hello Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hope everyone had a splendid holiday and may I start my first Update of 2009 with a wish for a blessed and prosperous year for everyone!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2009 will be an exciting and keep you on your toes year as we all watch President Obama take his position as the 44th President of the United States; with the economy on a seemingly downward spiral, a war that needs to end and Foreign Relations around the globe left tattered and in desperate need of repair, it will be interesting to see Obama's plan in action.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's begin with the economy: P/E Obama will begin his first week as a Washingtonian on the hill lobbying support and expediency of his economic plan. This economic rescue proposal will focus on tax-breaks for the consumer estimating around $300billion, tax breaks for small businesses, and other corporate tax breaks for those that create jobs and keep jobs form going over seas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Below you will find the President Obama's weekly Radio Address briefly discussing his economic plan and a CNNMoney Report&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="295" width="480"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4sZKlKEU2do&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4sZKlKEU2do&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/05/news/economy/obama_stimulus/index.htm?postversion=2009010505"&gt;http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/05/news/economy/obama_stimulus/index.htm?postversion=2009010505&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMeycrXfI/AAAAAAAAABE/S3fbnKqVzo0/s1600-h/RolandBurris.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288295216773291506" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 163px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMeycrXfI/AAAAAAAAABE/S3fbnKqVzo0/s200/RolandBurris.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Roland Burris Goes To Washington?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why anyone would want to stand their career within 10 political feet of Rod Blagojevich is beyond me, but of course then we meet Roland Burris. Roland Burris has been an upstanding civil servant for years with not one drop of dirt on him and would probably make an excellent US Senator, however, placing himself within the presence of a megalomanic such as Blagojevich gives Mr. Burris a stench that Gucci cologne couldn't cover up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Burris"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Burris&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6577805&amp;amp;page=1"&gt;http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6577805&amp;amp;page=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh and if you didn't see the world's most peculiar press conference (or you just need a good laugh)... Enjoy&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object id="1064" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" height="394" width="448"&gt;&lt;param value="always" name="allowscriptaccess" /&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.nbcchicago.com/syndication?id=36894974&amp;path=%2Fstation%2Fas_seen_on"/&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.nbcchicago.com/syndication?id=36894974&amp;path=%2Fstation%2Fas_seen_on"  type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" height="394" width="448"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama's Cabinet has a good shaking up this week. The pick of New Mexico Governor/ Former Democratic Presidential Nominee hopeful Bill Richardson as Secretary of Commerce was always an odd fit (being that it was speculated that he was on the short list for Secretary of State and that the nomination was given to keep the latino constituents from getting pissed that Richardson did not receive SoS) and never felt stable... Well this Sunday Gov. Bill Richardson issued a withdrawal from the nomination due to a "Pay-to-Play" investigation involving a political donor of Richardson's that he has insisted he will be cleared of all wrong doing (NOTE CLEARED OF WRONG DOING NOT NECESSARILY INNOCENT... I'M JUST SAYING) but doesn't want to hinder the confirmation process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28493919/"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28493919/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMvrV3m5I/AAAAAAAAABM/_Pq4g0rMiSE/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288295506923461522" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 197px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMvrV3m5I/AAAAAAAAABM/_Pq4g0rMiSE/s200/untitled.bmp" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another Appointment critcism came from the appointment of Leon Panetta as head of the CIA... Briefly... Mr. Panetta has been a fixture with in Washington for years (Clinton Chief of Staff) and although he was there in every Foregin Policy briefing and has budgetary experience (which CIA is in desperate need of) and has the connections to get the big money (Also something CIA needs) he has no direct Intel experience!! This lack of experience is proving problematic for Senator Feinstein and many others on the hill, but think about it... How many of us are doing what our degrees indicate we studied 4+ years for at whatever accredited institution we attended? OR EVEN BETTER... How many of us work for or with those that have been working in their field for YEARS and are about as competent as 3 year olds? I'm just saying.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&amp;amp;sid=aasczRWOqoI0&amp;amp;refer=us&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential"&lt;/em&gt;- Anonymous &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-5675793787082615707?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/5675793787082615707/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=5675793787082615707' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5675793787082615707'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5675793787082615707'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2009/01/welcome-2009.html' title='Welcome 2009!!!!!'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SWPMYGTeN8I/AAAAAAAAAA8/KTImh8sBfTs/s72-c/2009-print-preview-blog.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6507360852106499512</id><published>2008-12-16T08:18:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-16T08:21:24.760-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Dec. 16, 2008</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As I am getting ready to spend the much needed Holiday break with my family in beautiful California I wanted to just briefly put some links up that you might be interested in reading at your leisure.  I am sure you politic savvy people are already up on game but... In Case You Haven't Heard&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28248202/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28248202/&lt;/a&gt; (Bailout)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28247508/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28247508/&lt;/a&gt; (Blagojevich)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28244612/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28244612/&lt;/a&gt; (Education Secretary.... Another Chicagoan to make up for that clown Blagojevich)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28252355/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28252355/&lt;/a&gt; (Cheney given Obama's Security Team Chooses the thumbs up!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28242572/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28242572/&lt;/a&gt; (Obama's Energy and Environment Team)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I usually try not to make my opinion's on this blog (I said try I sometimes don't succeed) but this article below absolutely infuriated me.  In short this gentleman (and I use that term loosely) Doug Patton who writes for the GOPEagle (I have no idea WHY they keep sending me things) wrote about the firebombing of the church attended by Gov. Sarah Palin and her family in Wasilla, Alaska.  This is a horrible thing that happened and I DO NOT under ANY circumstances think that a church or ANY religious institution should not have the freedoms afforded to them to practice and preach what they choose as long as it does not harm anybody physically or mentally so that is said and done.  But to insinuate that one church actually deserves (Reverend Jeremiah Wright's church) this treatment over another church is unChristian-like, unChrist-like and UnGod-like.  AND DOUG PATTON NEEDS TO SIT HIS ASS DOWN AND RE-READ THE BIBLE, because there is SOMETHING THAT HE MISSED ENTIRELY!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/dpatton/2008/dp_12161.shtml" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/dpatton/2008/dp_12161.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On a LIGHTER and more Holiday Friendly Note...  ENJOY&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/efvfVSb4kXk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/efvfVSb4kXk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6507360852106499512?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6507360852106499512/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6507360852106499512' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6507360852106499512'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6507360852106499512'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/12/dec-16-2008.html' title='Dec. 16, 2008'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-1415333671939835098</id><published>2008-12-08T08:14:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-08T08:16:11.791-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Obama Exclusive Interview On Meet the Press Sunday Dec. 7th‏</title><content type='html'>For your viewing pleasure, enjoy!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;iframe src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28096829#28096829" frameborder="0" width="425" scrolling="no" height="339"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-1415333671939835098?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/1415333671939835098/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=1415333671939835098' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/1415333671939835098'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/1415333671939835098'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/12/obama-exclusive-interview-on-meet-press.html' title='Obama Exclusive Interview On Meet the Press Sunday Dec. 7th‏'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-3044066814440040379</id><published>2008-12-05T10:57:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-05T11:01:46.739-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Dec. 5, 2008- Update: At a Loss</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.al-dorado.com/catalog/images/CIMG2754.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 639px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 458px" alt="" src="http://www.al-dorado.com/catalog/images/CIMG2754.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hello,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It has been a minute I know, I could blame the holidays, massive work schedule, beyond hectic social schedule and the like which is partially true, however the real reason is I was being lazy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyhow what I have been doing is spending my work day with the background of the "Big Three" CEOs testifying (which is on while I am typing) to congress again after being told to comeback with a viable restructuring plan/model in regards to where exactly this money will go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you remember right before Thanksgiving the B3 came down in their "Private jets with tin cups in their hands" asking for $25billion in rescue funds to keep a catastrophic plunge of job losses and economic upheaval at bay. However, the B3 and the UAW made no concessions of changes that needed to be made in regards to business model restructuring, downgrading of executive compensation and worker pension and legacy that greatly exceeds the average pension plans. With that Congress told them go back, try again with an actual plan on what funds are NECESSARY to keep their businesses and "AMERICA AS WE KNOW IT" (sarcasm added) afloat, and maybe when they returned coming in THREE SEPERATE PRIVATE JETS should be avoided!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well they did return to a critical and skeptical congress, without the jets, in fact they came in each of their respective hybrids and ride-sharing with a generally vague restructuring plan filled with Auto Industry Jargon and little in the way of actual dollar amounts BUT this time they needed $34Billion! But they can't promise that they will close only foreign plants (so there is no confusion) THIS MEANS THAT EVEN THOUGH THEY WILL GET MONEY THEY WILL STILL CUT AMERICAN JOBS... But I swear that is why they need the money... To keep jobs in America!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mind you if they had restructed at the top over twenty years ago, not sent soooooo many jobs overseas, didn't focus so much on BIG GAS GUZZLING vehicles, and put forth effort and ingenuity towards fuel efficiency and fuel free vehicles THEY WOULD NOT BE HERE!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/28031554" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnbc.com/id/28031554&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a id="EC_linkImgRelatedPhotos" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28068717/displaymode/1176/rstry/28067433/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/081205-unemployment-hmed-6a.hmedium.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 423px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px" alt="" src="http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/081205-unemployment-hmed-6a.hmedium.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Let's keep the 34 theme going... For the first time in 34 years the highest number of jobs slashed 533,000 has made the unemployment rate soar to 6.7%!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17858408/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17858408/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SOOOOOO just another aside. Chryslers parent company Cerberus Capital Management which owns 80% of Chrysler and has the money to make the loan without batting an eyelash... IS REFUSING TO INJECT ANYMORE MONEY INTO CHRYSLER!!!! Unreal...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.progresspolitics.com/2008/12/04/breaking-chrysler-parent-company-cerberus-refuses-to-lend-chrysler-the-7-billion-it-is-requesting-from-taxpayers/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.progresspolitics.com/2008/12/04/breaking-chrysler-parent-company-cerberus-refuses-to-lend-chrysler-the-7-billion-it-is-requesting-from-taxpayers/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-3044066814440040379?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/3044066814440040379/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=3044066814440040379' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3044066814440040379'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3044066814440040379'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/12/dec-5-2008-update-at-loss.html' title='Dec. 5, 2008- Update: At a Loss'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-3737230652336765004</id><published>2008-11-22T15:00:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-22T15:02:04.199-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nov. 22, 2008- Obama's Weekly Address</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m17pz0R_qZo&amp;amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m17pz0R_qZo&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For your viewing pleasure!!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-3737230652336765004?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/3737230652336765004/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=3737230652336765004' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3737230652336765004'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3737230652336765004'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-22-2008-obamas-weekly-address.html' title='Nov. 22, 2008- Obama&apos;s Weekly Address'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6553359237674262006</id><published>2008-11-14T09:22:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-14T09:39:13.355-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nov. 14, 2008- LB Who?!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Lbj2.jpg/225px-Lbj2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 225px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 338px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Lbj2.jpg/225px-Lbj2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I have been trying to rack my brain about what my next entry was going to discuss. Will it be President-Elect Obama's speculated cabinet choices and who it should be, who it may be and why? Well that was squelched with a conversation that was had within my office. One of our consultants that is a DNC Vice-Chair made a simple statement that put all the cabinet appointee specualtions into perspective... " ... Those who don't know talk, those who KNOW DON'T TALK!" So in the event you don't already know this link &lt;a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111202628.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111202628.html&lt;/a&gt; will help you get acquainted. (Transition Team... hmmm done)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then I was all into getting an indepth analysis about the economy, especially on the heels of this GM/Auto Industry crisis (depending on who you ask) and I was reading tons and tons of articles looking at different sides etc. But I don't want to talk about that either... Fact of the matter is that the US-heck the WORLD- economy is in the toilet right now; as P-E Obama said 'it is going to get worse before it gets better" well welcome to worst... The bailout is on a new agenda -not rescue mortgage back assets but inject money DIRECTLY into institutions, everyone is coming out of the wood works for money, the drag on the taxpayers pockets are getting heavier BUT there still is no proper oversight... There is no nice way to put this; it is bleak, but we should take solice in the knowledge that it has been worse and we pulled through so I have no doubt... This too shall pass!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For your reading pleasure: Some really interesting reads some all the way back to 2004&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/b3971057.htm" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/b3971057.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2111294/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.slate.com/id/2111294/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/business/11auto.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/business/11auto.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3683270/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3683270/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27331275/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27331275/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858702-2,00.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858702-2,00.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is just to make you smile, because sometimes it just needs to be done&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081006150152.aspx" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081006150152.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A conservatives view... Some interesting points indeed&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=826" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=826&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 334px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 236px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://sharonamolo.googlepages.com/lbj_mlk.jpg/lbj_mlk-full.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;What I did want to talk about was an issue I have... I, as I am sure you have as well, have been bombarded with tons of emails about Obama powerpoints, picture collages, words of encouragement, etc. Many of which have pictures on MLK, Lincoln and JFK all proclaiming from above that their dreams have finally been realized.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Which leads me to believe that there are some that are unaware that President Lyndon Baines Johnson not only passed the Civil Rights Act of '64 and those subsequent but passed it in spite of the cost of political capital... Now don't get me wrong upon research of Mr. Johnson it is speculated that he was racists in private valiant to the plight of minorities in public; generally a prick to everyone in Congress (and everyone in general) and pretty much strong armed all legislation through. How much of that is true is actually unknown but it seems to be consistent so I suppose you make your own assessment (upon reserching)... But all will agree that LBJ's "Great Society" was not a farce for political gain (because it truly served him none) but a belief that America was morally obligated to stand behind it's constiution and that all living under it to have the freedoms afforded within it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will not go on and on but I will give you some links below and I urge you to research LBJ and the Civil Rights Movement thoroughly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Lyndon_Baines_Johnson.htm" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Lyndon_Baines_Johnson.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MxEauRq1WxQ&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MxEauRq1WxQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q11kvbJy0cs&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q11kvbJy0cs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6553359237674262006?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6553359237674262006/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6553359237674262006' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6553359237674262006'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6553359237674262006'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-14-2008-lb-who.html' title='Nov. 14, 2008- LB Who?!'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-9177900995908331979</id><published>2008-11-05T09:18:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-09T18:09:06.946-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nov. 5, 2008- Update: The Dream Realized</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SReWssmhuKI/AAAAAAAAAAM/Xuk7aFdNOeE/s1600-h/obama+potus+fam+pic.bmp"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266843983864248482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SReWssmhuKI/AAAAAAAAAAM/Xuk7aFdNOeE/s320/obama+potus+fam+pic.bmp" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;What a Wonderful Day it is...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BARACK OBAMA IS PRESIDENT ELECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had to shout it! I cried and screamed hooped and hollered, jumped ran and spoke- no shrilled- into the phone over and over again and damn near doubled over in disbelief. I thanked the Creator, I congragulated everyone on their VICTORY and silently thanked all those that went before me for this moment to take place... 44 years after the Civil Rights Movement was won the 44th President was named Barack Obama... 40 and 43 years after the assasinations of Dr. King and Brother Malcolm respectively the Dream was realized... 143 years after slavery was abolished and while African brought to America were still viewed as not human we elected an African-American to be our Commander in Chief!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of: &lt;a title="Albany Movement" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany_Movement" target="_blank"&gt;Albany Movement&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Birmingham campaign" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_campaign" target="_blank"&gt;Birmingham campaign&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Black Power" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Power" target="_blank"&gt;Black Power&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Brown v. Board of Education" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education" target="_blank"&gt;Brown v. Board of Education&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Civil Rights Act of 1964" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964" target="_blank"&gt;Civil Rights Act of 1964&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Civil Rights Act of 1968" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1968" target="_blank"&gt;Civil Rights Act of 1968&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Freedom ride" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_ride" target="_blank"&gt;Freedom Riders&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Freedom Summer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Summer" target="_blank"&gt;Freedom Summer&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_v._Virginia_Board_of_Elections" target="_blank"&gt;Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Little Rock Nine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine" target="_blank"&gt;Little Rock Nine&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom" target="_blank"&gt;March on Washington&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Freedom_Democratic_Party" target="_blank"&gt;Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Montgomery Bus Boycott" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Bus_Boycott" target="_blank"&gt;Montgomery Bus Boycott&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Poor People's Campaign" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_People" target="_blank"&gt;Poor People's Campaign&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Selma to Montgomery&amp;#13;&amp;#10; marches" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches" target="_blank"&gt;Selma to Montgomery marches&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" target="_blank"&gt;Twenty-fourth Amendment&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Voting Rights Act" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act" target="_blank"&gt;Voting Rights Act of 1965&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks to:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="Ralph Abernathy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Abernathy" target="_blank"&gt;Ralph Abernathy&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Victoria Gray Adams" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Gray_Adams" target="_blank"&gt;Victoria Gray Adams&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Ella Baker" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Baker" target="_blank"&gt;Ella Baker&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Stokely Carmichael" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokely_Carmichael" target="_blank"&gt;Stokely Carmichael&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Shirley Chisholm" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Chisholm" target="_blank"&gt;Shirley Chisholm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· &lt;a title="Vernon Dahmer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Dahmer" target="_blank"&gt;Vernon Dahmer&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a class="EC_mw-redirect" title="Annie Devine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Devine" target="_blank"&gt;Annie Devine&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Medgar Evers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers" target="_blank"&gt;Medgar Evers&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="James L. Farmer, Jr." href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Farmer,_Jr." target="_blank"&gt;James Farmer&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="James Forman" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Forman" target="_blank"&gt;James Forman&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Fannie Lou Hamer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Lou_Hamer" target="_blank"&gt;Fannie Lou Hamer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· &lt;a title="Dorothy Height" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Height" target="_blank"&gt;Dorothy Height&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="T. R. M. Howard" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._R._M._Howard" target="_blank"&gt;T. R. M. Howard&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Jesse Jackson" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson" target="_blank"&gt;Jesse Jackson&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Clyde Kennard" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Kennard" target="_blank"&gt;Clyde Kennard&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Coretta Scott King" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coretta_Scott_King" target="_blank"&gt;Coretta Scott King&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· &lt;a title="Martin Luther King, Jr." href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr." target="_blank"&gt;Martin Luther King, Jr.&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="John Lewis (politician)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis_(politician)" target="_blank"&gt;John Lewis&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Viola Liuzzo" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Liuzzo" target="_blank"&gt;Viola Liuzzo&lt;/a&gt; · Malcolm X · &lt;a title="Robert Parris Moses" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Parris_Moses" target="_blank"&gt;Bob Moses&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Rosa Parks" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks" target="_blank"&gt;Rosa Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· &lt;a title="A. Philip Randolph" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Philip_Randolph" target="_blank"&gt;A. Philip Randolph&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Bayard Rustin" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin" target="_blank"&gt;Bayard Rustin&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Modjeska Monteith Simkins" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modjeska_Monteith_Simkins" target="_blank"&gt;Modjeska Monteith Simkins&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Fred Shuttlesworth" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Shuttlesworth" target="_blank"&gt;Fred Shuttlesworth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;· &lt;a title="Roy Wilkins" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Wilkins" target="_blank"&gt;Roy Wilkins&lt;/a&gt; · &lt;a title="Whitney Young" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Young" target="_blank"&gt;Whitney Young&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because of the strength and vision mistakes and mishaps of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, JFK, RFK, LBJ, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, William Jefferson Clinton, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush this day I can shout BARACK OBAMA IS PRESIDENT ELECT!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I know that the celebrations won't end anytime soon; infact they have just began to be planned we-as Americans- are celebrating a coming of age of a country that is long over due. We as Americans cried for change and rallied for a new direction... We as American went from door to door, held meetings, voting registration drives, barbershop discussions ensued, and November 4th we let our voices be heard! 8 years ago after a long court battle Democracy had seem to lose it's way but November 4th 2008 democracy rang loud and free.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to exit polls, Obama crushed McCain among women voters (56 percent to 43 percent); voters under 30 (66 percent to 32 percent); African-American voters (95 percent to 4 percent); Latino voters (66 percent to 32 percent); first-time voters (68 percent to 31 percent); and voters making less than $100,000 a year (55 percent to 43 percent). -(As found on CNN.com)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As President-Elect Obama thanked a crowd of over 100,000 tear stained faces beaming with pride and joy he spoke of the long road ahead. He is correct this is just the beginning; with a Democratic Presidency and a majority Democratic Congress (see link on Senate Race below) the United States of America has said enough with the current road in which the country is on and gave a clear and concise mandate of change and prosperity. But it is not just the elected officials that have work to do... We the People have had it proven to us that apathy in regards to the politics that shape our everyday life is NO LONGER ACCEPTED!!! No longer can you say my vote won't count, my voice won't be heard... NO LONGER will it be acceptable to stand idlely by as the legislators make descisions... We can be heard... "Yes We Can" "Yes We Did" and "Yes We Will"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/index.html?iref=mpstoryview" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/index.html?iref=mpstoryview&lt;/a&gt; (Transcript of President-Elect Obama's Victory Speech)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senator McCain gave one of the most gracious, inspiring and respectful concession speeches I have had the pleasure of hearing...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCain urged his supporters to "join me in not just congratulating [Obama], but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited." -(As found on CNN.com)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/mccain.transcript/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/mccain.transcript/index.html&lt;/a&gt; (Transcript of Senator McCain's Concession Speech)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is not the end it is the end of the beginning...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/senate.races.results/index.html?iref=mpstoryview" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/senate.races.results/index.html?iref=mpstoryview&lt;/a&gt; (Senate Race)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ALSO Give a Shout Out to my boy Andre Taylor and his company On.us.tees and the limited run "Oh Yes We Did" T-Shirts being sold at the special price of $20.08 NOW OFFERING LARGER SIZES!!!! Don't wait... Be the first on your block with the hot "Oh Yes We Did" T-Shirt!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266844878517584610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 109px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 162px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SReXgxcgQuI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Cid2Mwrwp6s/s200/onustees+logo.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="blocked::http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg" href="http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="blocked::http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg" href="http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a title="blocked::http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg" href="http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.onustees.com/onustees-home/docuploads/docs/doc_5OhYesWeDid.JPG.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;AND WHEN YOU GO TO THE SITE PRINT IT OUT AND HANG IT UP BECAUSE.....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"OH YES WE DID"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-9177900995908331979?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/9177900995908331979/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=9177900995908331979' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/9177900995908331979'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/9177900995908331979'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-5-2008-update-dream-realized.html' title='Nov. 5, 2008- Update: The Dream Realized'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mHI9qLsDWOs/SReWssmhuKI/AAAAAAAAAAM/Xuk7aFdNOeE/s72-c/obama+potus+fam+pic.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8473001928891130558</id><published>2008-11-04T13:07:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-04T13:09:53.242-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nov. 4, 2008- Election Day (Updated)</title><content type='html'>Just a little tid bit for all of you that will be watching the election results like it's the Super Bowl!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If not already begun some with their findings for Exit Polling; now Exit Polling differs from the opinion polling mainly because these are polls taken after a person has already voted and those are suppossedly actual numbers &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_poll" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_poll&lt;/a&gt; .  Pollsters believe that opinion polling lends to the Bradley Effect taking place.&lt;br /&gt;Essentially the Bradley Effect, named after Tom Bradley after he lost the 1982 Governor's race in California, is the phenomenon that white voters will only claim that they will vote for the minority fearing that there true preference will be seen as racially motivated.  &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect&lt;/a&gt; . &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As this may shape up to be a long Redbull kind of night with polls closing on the eastcoast around 7PM or 8PM it may take about an hour possibly longer to call the election for a particular state and with the subsequent timezones closing late into the evening on the east coast the electoral number may not be known until close to 1AM EST...  However if the big battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia come with definite results we should have a good indication on how this will go.  Obama takes three of the four and it is pretty much a wrap; McCain takes at least two it will be a LOOOOOOONG night!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27516998/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27516998/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8473001928891130558?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8473001928891130558/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8473001928891130558' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8473001928891130558'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8473001928891130558'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-4-2008-election-day-updated.html' title='Nov. 4, 2008- Election Day (Updated)'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6164103062981478937</id><published>2008-11-04T09:13:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-04T09:14:37.171-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nov. 4, 2008- Election 2008</title><content type='html'>Today is the day and I going to get right to it so I can get back to getting information for you.  Problems at the polls have already begun incorrect registration books at polling sight non-working electronic voting booths, historically long lines, accessibility problems, raining, snowing, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/wrong-registration-books-in-kansas-city/" target="_blank"&gt;http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/wrong-registration-books-in-kansas-city/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/vachesapeake-more-wet-ballots/" target="_blank"&gt;http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/vachesapeake-more-wet-ballots/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DO NOT KEEP YOURSELF FROM THE POLLS!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you find yourself with a problem at your polling sight get on the phone and call the national Board of Election phone number 866- 687- 8683 it is working and two people have already called and gotten things taking care of...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I want to give big props to my Aunt June back home in Cali who will be taking 250 people to the polls herself!!!!! She got two busses and will be shuttling people back and forth!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The link below will get you information to the other important elections in the House and the Senate.  The Senate is looking to grab 9 seats giving them a 60 Filibuster proof majority.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27400251/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27400251/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/senate.races.results/index.html?eref=rss_politics&amp;amp;iref=polticker" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/senate.races.results/index.html?eref=rss_politics&amp;amp;iref=polticker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/house.races.results/index.html?eref=rss_politics&amp;amp;iref=polticker" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/house.races.results/index.html?eref=rss_politics&amp;amp;iref=polticker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6164103062981478937?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6164103062981478937/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6164103062981478937' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6164103062981478937'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6164103062981478937'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-4-2008-election-2008.html' title='Nov. 4, 2008- Election 2008'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4569612693224275978</id><published>2008-11-03T14:19:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-03T14:21:30.572-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nov. 3, 2008- Update: The Eve Before the Dawn</title><content type='html'>Hello My beautiful people,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fall is here, the air is crisp, the leaves are vibrant with color and the sun is dipping out on us earlier everyday. Fall is a time of change and we are on the dawn of one of the most historic changes in US History.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One Hundred forty-three years after slavery was abolished, 88 years since women were granted the right to vote and 44 years since the civil rights movement tomorrow evening may see Barack Obama become the 44th President (44 years since the civil rights movement/ 44th President...) .... It is truly electric, butterflies in the stomach, can't stand it excitement...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm not about to go over the campaign for either side... You already know the issues, you know the people, you know that it is crunch time and for the last few weeks it had gotten ugly (on both sides), you know the economy went to (well you know) AND that is has been over 2000 days since we "won" in Iraq but that there is no end in sight... You've heard the rhetoric over and over and over and over again... I am not here to reiterate any of that to you today I am hear simply to tell you a few things you need to know for tomorrow&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1- Time.com had a great article in 2004 that explained the electoral college &lt;a href="http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,749496,00.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,749496,00.html&lt;/a&gt; as you may remember in 2000 Bush won the electoral college vote while the popular vote (the people went to Gore) THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOUR VOTE DOES NOT COUNT IF YOU DON'T VOTE YOUR CANDIDATE WILL NOT WIN PERIOD!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2- There is a lot of misinformation going around that should be addressed&lt;br /&gt;2a. YOUR LAST DAY TO VOTE IS NOVEMBER 4TH YOU CANNOT VOTE AFTER&lt;br /&gt;THAT&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2b. You cannot wear candidate paraphernaila (hats, buttons, shirts etc.) within 100 yards of a polling sight (it is considered campaigning which is prohibited) You must take it off to vote and they cannot send you home and tell you that you cannot vote at all&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2c. If you feel your right to vote is being violated please call 1-866-687-8683. It's a legit number. I dialed it myself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3- for a good anaysis of where the election stands read &lt;a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/167186" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.newsweek.com/id/167186&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4- IT WILL RAIN IN SOMEPLACES, LINES WILL BE LONG DO NOT LET THAT KEEP YOU FROM VOTING IF YOU DON'T VOTE YOUR CANDIDATE WILL NOT WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will keep you updated throughout the day tomorrow VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4569612693224275978?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4569612693224275978/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4569612693224275978' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4569612693224275978'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4569612693224275978'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/11/nov-4-2008-update-eve-before-dawn.html' title='Nov. 3, 2008- Update: The Eve Before the Dawn'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-2368524553588883179</id><published>2008-10-30T13:42:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:44:12.317-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Oct. 22, 2008- Update- Link</title><content type='html'>Hey everyone,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is short and sweet please find below a link from CNNMoney that gives a split screen between the candidates on the issue of economy, taxes, healthcare, and others.  Very good article that gives a layman's explanation on the candidate's differences.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0806/gallery.election_issues/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0806/gallery.election_issues/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-2368524553588883179?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/2368524553588883179/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=2368524553588883179' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2368524553588883179'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2368524553588883179'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/oct-22-2008-update-link_30.html' title='Oct. 22, 2008- Update- Link'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-1887442963282727206</id><published>2008-10-30T13:41:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:42:36.031-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sept. 30, 2008- Update- In Brief</title><content type='html'>Because if I don't do this I won't do anything...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you didn't see the debate Friday or don't read any newspapers or watch any news here is a brief rundown...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama and McCain's first debate was... Not that spectacular... Where McCain should have shined( Foreign Policy) he fell short; instead of showing the how and why's for the "victory in the surge" in Iraq and the reasons behind staying and exactly why Afghanistan (where the terrorists have been located) has been neglected and instead of Pakistan being engaged diplomatically instead of hostile etc. etc. he just continued saying that "The surge is working and Senator Obama does not think so"... But please note that Senator Obama has defintiely admitted many times over that the surge has in fact worked, however, it is past time to turn the working surge over to the Iraqis. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next Senator Obama should have had the economy and healthcare on lock; however, he as well fell short.  Especially with the financial market turned on it's ear and McCain making all that hoopla about "I am suspending my campaign to focus on the economy" (By the way I have direct knowledge of people fundraising on behalf of the McCain campaign all during this "suspension")... As I said before it is Obama's golden opportunity and I hope the subsequent debates he lampoons McCain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you did not see the debates here you go&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youdecide2008.com/2008/09/27/video-obama-mccain-debate-from-mississippi-9-26-08/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.youdecide2008.com/2008/09/27/video-obama-mccain-debate-from-mississippi-9-26-08/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In regards to the economy basically the chickens have come home to roost!  About 15 years ago or so President Clinton vowed to increase  homeownership to 70% by the end of his Presidency he drafted a bill that would allow this to take place. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Basically the legislation was meant to downgrade the requirements needed to receive a home loan; it actually was a win for all sides more consumers could bye homes and banks and the real estate sector stood to make alot of money.  However, a problem arose... In the mist of requirements being lowered for loan approval many consumers got in over their heads and bought houses they couldn't actually afford but was approved through means of predatory lending (not properly explaining terms of a contract -and their consequences if not followed- to a potential loanee), along with that homeownership became a investment instead of an American Dream component with people buying multiple properties to flip them later after some half done "improvements" had been made. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;People began having homes foreclosed on and banks and financial instiutions went into the business of buying debt and that became big business and while companies were carrying debt they made it appear as assets building up their self-worth for investors to continue to put money into the company through stock and (you see where this is going right?) Anyway the "mess" hit the fan and now the government who initially set this in motion is now scrambling to stop the hemorraghing in the form of a $700 billion bailout for the companies that have been running wild on wallstreet for far too long.  But now the politicans are racing against the clock to pass this bill in a form that their constituents won't go ape on them and keep them from being re-elected AND keep the economy from spiraling into a modern day Depression.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fun isn't it!!?!??!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-1887442963282727206?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/1887442963282727206/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=1887442963282727206' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/1887442963282727206'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/1887442963282727206'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/sept-30-2008-update-in-brief.html' title='Sept. 30, 2008- Update- In Brief'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4815527413639069238</id><published>2008-10-30T13:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:38:37.924-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sept 28, 2008</title><content type='html'>Hello Good People,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NOTE:THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO COME OUT FRIDAY AFTERNOON IT IS A TAD BEHIND AND PLEASE LOOK OUT FOR THE DEBATE AND BAILOUT UPDATES TOMORROW... I'VE BEEN ILL!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First... I cannot for the life of me figure out why why why is Sarah Palin the VP choice for the McCain campaign. She has proven over and over again that she is inept; remember that old saying "Better to let people think you are a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt!" apparently that is not known in Alaska (you know right next to Russia)!  John McCain (I mean the McCain Campaign heads) have gone far and above insulting woman/minority voters and the general public at large!  At the very least McCain's camp (Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, Charlie Black all three of the biggest lobbyists in Washington by the way) need to sit this broad down and hand feed her what she needs to say!  Russia and Canada being near Alaska does not give anyone Foreign Policy experience period!  If that is the case EVERY Californian, Nevadian, Colorodian, New Mexican, Floridian, Arizonian, or anyone that went to Cancun for spring break could be a Secretary of State!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I still don't understand why this woman was even on the list for VP when there are Republican woman like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-TX that are more than qualified!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Bailey_Hutchison" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Bailey_Hutchison&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In short if the American voter is dumb enough to take anything this woman says seriously they deserve whatever is ahead!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4479049n" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4479049n&lt;/a&gt; (You need to watch this video!!!)THE BELOW LINKS ARE SOME COMMENTARY ON THE BAILOUT PRIOR TO THIS WEEKEND WATCH IT BE INFORMED AND WE WILL DISCUSS TOMORROW!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/26900438#26894467" target="_blank"&gt;http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/26900438#26894467&lt;/a&gt; (Chris Hayes)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/26900438#26894431" target="_blank"&gt;http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/26900438#26894431&lt;/a&gt; (Rahm Emmanuel)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/26900438#26901275" target="_blank"&gt;http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/26900438#26901275&lt;/a&gt; (Joe Lieberman)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4815527413639069238?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4815527413639069238/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4815527413639069238' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4815527413639069238'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4815527413639069238'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/sept-28-2008.html' title='Sept 28, 2008'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6252676568620789750</id><published>2008-10-30T13:35:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:37:19.714-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sept. 2, 2008- Update-- Wrap-Up</title><content type='html'>Hello My Beautiful people,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This has been a VERY busy political weekend; Obama ended one of the most successful Democratic conventions in recent history to over 84,000 at Invesco Field and over 40 million via the TV and internet live feeds, John McCain (trying to regain his "Maverick" title) picked Sarah Pollen the 20 months strong Gov. from Alaska who is a mother of 5 a former beauty queen a hunter and a mother of a developmentally disabled 4month old baby Trig (she's pro-life) and Trak (?) the son that is deploying to Iraq on September 11th (oh did I mention she was under federal investigation?) AND then we find out that Sarah Paulen's daughter Bristol is 17 unmarried and 5 months pregnant (she's pro-life)... A Republican convention overshadowed by three powerful storms gunning for the gulf coast the largest since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and marred by rain (that repubs prayed would befall the heads of the democrats... God don't like ugly)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My intention was to go in depth about the fantastic speech that was delievered by Senator Obama on the final day of the Democratic Convention.  However, I suspect that the audience in which I am currently engaging has watched it and all agree that he could not have done better so on and so forth... And since I am not trying to make this TOO long I want to get straight to the republicans namely Sarah Palon&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I warn you this is more opinion than update&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My issue is this does McCain and the GOP think the voter (women and women's rights supporters) are so daft as to just vote for anyone that is using or has used at some point Pamparin? Do they believe that men are so stupid to jump on the band wagon just because this lady has a cute face, nice rack and knows how to sling a gun?  What about her experience, just because she is a working Mother of 5 she is qualified to take over the Presidency (and let's be honest this man has had 4 bouts with skin cancer and looks like he is falling apart at the seams)? If that is what the qualifications are pretty much every black woman in America that is heading a single parent home is over qualified.  But she is a conservatives dream, Pro-life, NRA life member... and...um...let me think.... Oh she has nothing else on her resume.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Well she fought corruption in her own party"... After she spent her mayoral tenure working with lobbyists to get MILLIONS of earmarks for her town of 5.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Well since Alaska is closest to Russia she defintely has Foreign Relations experience"- Cindy McCain... Enough said&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I don't know what experience she has for this position and I am not sure if I will vote for her ticket or not"- Her own Mommy&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the interest of time I will make the rest of this brief... You know about the teen pregnancy etc. etc. I will get off my soapbox now if you haven't discussed this before discuss now!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6252676568620789750?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6252676568620789750/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6252676568620789750' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6252676568620789750'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6252676568620789750'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/sept-2-2008-update-wrap-up.html' title='Sept. 2, 2008- Update-- Wrap-Up'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6437310324718179050</id><published>2008-10-30T13:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:35:40.784-07:00</updated><title type='text'>August 28, 2008- Update DNC Day 3</title><content type='html'>Wednesday night at the Democratic Convention was an electrifying night that was a wonderful precursor to the finale this evening; the double headliners for the evening were Former President Bill Clinton and VP nominee Joe Biden and they did not disappoint.  Much of the media and republican pundits have tried to down play the support that Senator Clinton vowed for the Campaign of Senator Obama; insinuating that it “Wasn’t enough” and that is “Was what she HAD to do to not seem like a sore loser”.  However, any doubt that the Clinton Camp did not truly support Obama and Senator Biden was greatly dispelled last night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;President Clinton began with congratulating his wife on her spectacular campaign and as any supporter was admittedly disappointed that his candidate, wife, did not win.  But that he was fully supporting Barack Obama, not just for unity sake but because he is the right man for the job; he elaborated on Obama’s capability in proper decision making, referring to his running mate choice of Senator Biden, how through the knowledge and capability of Barack and the proven record of Biden they are a team that will not only take back the White House but will take back the economy, health care, education and foreign diplomacy.  President Clinton left the podium leaving not a shadow of a doubt that he and Senator Clinton fully supported Barack Obama and Joe Biden.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senator Biden is known for his “gift of gab” and at times that being not as much a gift, but Senator Joseph Biden took the opportunity to show the convention and the viewing audience that he is a Father, a Son, a Husband, a Widower, a Grandfather, a Civic Leader and a supporter of Barack Obama and the America the Obama wants to build.  Nothing brash or harsh only truth and honesty, which reminded us why Joe Biden was a favorite in the early running and why Barack choose him as his running mate.  Joe Biden is the Delaware Senator with blue collar charm and the Foreign Relations know how and he left everyone feeling a lot more comfortable and a lot more energized.  The speech ended with a surprise appearance from Senator Obama that further intensified the dynamics of the evening. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6437310324718179050?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6437310324718179050/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6437310324718179050' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6437310324718179050'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6437310324718179050'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/august-28-2008-update-dnc-day-3.html' title='August 28, 2008- Update DNC Day 3'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7281502191712929727</id><published>2008-10-30T13:32:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:33:39.037-07:00</updated><title type='text'>August 27, 2008- Update DNC Day 2</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PLEASE NOTE I WAS REAL BUSY TODAY AT WORK.... THIS RECAP IS A MEMO I DID FOR SOME OF OUR CLIENTS ...  SORRY NOT AS IN DEPTH BUT IT GETS THE POINT ACCROSS I SUPPOSE!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Last evening the Convention was all about Hillary Clinton and whether her remarks would reflect on her support for the party’s nominee, Barack Obama.  Republicans were suggesting that Senator Clinton would be tepid in her support of her Democratic rival. By all impartial accounts and based upon our observations from the floor of the Convention, Senator Clinton did a superb job.  Indeed, many of us who have followed Hillary Clinton for years believe that this was her finest speech.  Firm and self confident, Senator Clinton reviewed the central themes of her campaign and asked her supporters to set aside their disappointment over her loss of the nomination and close ranks “as a single party, with a single purpose…We are on the same team.”  In one of her most memorable statements, she said, “I want you to ask yourselves:  Were you in this just for me or were in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While the McCain campaign has attempted to claim Senator Clinton did not fully endorse Senator Obama, our view from the convention floor was quite the opposite.  She ignited the hall and left no doubt of her support for the Illinois Senator.  As many supporters told us, she did exactly what she needed to do.  Former President Clinton speaks tonight and again all eyes will be on his performance and his level of enthusiasm for the Obama/Biden ticket. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week we also heard from former Democratic Governor of Virginia Mark Warner.  Warner’s speech was more mild and less attack oriented than the traditional keynote address.  Former Governor Warner argued that this election was “a race for the future.”  This theme leaves voters to contrast Obama, 47, to John McCain, 72, and asks who is best suited to lead in a world of dynamic change, the economy and technology.  This is similar to the  “future/past” argument that Bill Clinton used against the much older George H.W. Bush in 1992.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tonight, as noted above, former President Clinton will address the delegates as well as Obama running mate, Joe Biden.  Each of these will be closely watched and we will report our views tomorrow."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7281502191712929727?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7281502191712929727/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7281502191712929727' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7281502191712929727'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7281502191712929727'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/august-27-2008-update-dnc-day-2.html' title='August 27, 2008- Update DNC Day 2'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7431419837733993599</id><published>2008-10-30T13:29:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:31:57.245-07:00</updated><title type='text'>August 26, 2008- Update DNC One</title><content type='html'>Hello My Beautiful People,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hope you all enjoyed the summer thus far and hopefully you are savoring the last few weeks!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Democratic Convention has finally descended upon us and I will admit until last night I had lost sight of the historical magnitude of what has been taking place over the last 19 months.  I have been an political junkie for a minute now so the Convention was nothing really new to me; it was pretty normal blue and black suits with a splash of liberal color and style here and there, political pundits giving there two cents about everything and everyone, national and state senators, local legislatures making appearances and speeches hoping that they will leave an impression on the viewing audience in  the event they make a big move in the future and so on. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was deeply moved by Senator Ted Kennedy's speech for two reasons 1- because this may very well be his last convention and even though he said he would be there in January to see Barack's inauguration, there is a chance that he may not be the case. 2- his speech was a changing of the guard turning over the torch to the Debbie Wasserman Schultz's, the Jesse Jackson Jr.s (notice how J2 is making his best effort to NOT be viewed in the same ineffective light as his father) and the Harold Ford Jr.s. Great speeches, musical acts pretty much status quo.  All going on with a banner on the bottom of the screen with the announcement of Michelle Obama's speech.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Until they showed an earlier recorded moment of a woman being mic checked looking palpalably nervous and serious, young techs fluttering around her que card people checking with her a bevy of movement...  Then it hit me...  That woman looks like me... The skin tone the hair, not the clothes (I haven't made it to that tax bracket yet) but she looks like ME!!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I began to get nervous for her I thought about the importance the spouse plays in the election, how the role of the First Lady is to represent the person that her husband is to the world.  How Hillary played her role well for the time she needed to, how if she had been the Hillary we know now how it would not have went well for Bill. How in 2004 you saw the beginning of the end of John Kerry's candidacy with Teresa's speech.  Lady Bird Johnson, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Laura Bush, Nancy Reagan all woman distinguished in their own right and all gave their husbands stong support and the world gracious candor. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Michelle Obama came to the stage and embodied those qualities.  She spoke of her upbringing in "South Side Chicago", the parents that mentored and supported her, the lasting memory of her Father, the brother that dreamed with her and preceded her to Princeton and went on to his own success, the young presistent law staffer that wooed her with an ice cream cone and their historic journey to the White House. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last night's speech was to set the tone for the week.... Last night's speech set the tone for this campaign!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26400281/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26400281/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/26/dncspeeches.irpt/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/26/dncspeeches.irpt/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7431419837733993599?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7431419837733993599/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7431419837733993599' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7431419837733993599'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7431419837733993599'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/august-26-2008-update-dnc-one.html' title='August 26, 2008- Update DNC One'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-5621657042945959489</id><published>2008-10-30T13:27:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:29:38.254-07:00</updated><title type='text'>August 21, 2008-You may already know... And you may not understand‏</title><content type='html'>But Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones passed yesterday.  She was discovered unconscious in her car as her car was seen "weaving erractically" done the highway. After she was rushed to the hospital it was discovered she sufferred a brain aneurysm.  She was a wonderful woman who was raised in the district she would eventually serve as it's congresswoman.  She was a woman strong in her convictions and was one of the ONLY elected offical that called Bush out on his mess and voted against the increased funding on the Iraq war.  She also spearheaded the "cleaning up" of the House of Reps following the disgraceful scandal of Rep. Foley and the House Page...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's sad to admit that there are so many people that we can still look up to and nobody cares to acknowledge them.  No disrespect (AND I AM NOT DOWN PLAYING THE LOST LIVES OF ANYONE), but when an artist passes it is a great uproar amongst our community, but someone who spent their lives trying to serve and uplift our community is barely given a mention. As I have said time and again we need to do better and expand out berth of knowledge.  If you want to learn about this great woman who passed please read the link below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Tubbs_Jones" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Tubbs_Jones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g69eFoFAV_TuMuhxP8zy2W3ut_egD92ML9E80" target="_blank"&gt;http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g69eFoFAV_TuMuhxP8zy2W3ut_egD92ML9E80&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-5621657042945959489?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/5621657042945959489/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=5621657042945959489' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5621657042945959489'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5621657042945959489'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/august-21-2008-you-may-already-know-and.html' title='August 21, 2008-You may already know... And you may not understand‏'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4180729336989788188</id><published>2008-10-30T13:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:27:27.992-07:00</updated><title type='text'>August 20, 2008- Update---VEEP</title><content type='html'>NOTE: THIS IS ONLY SPECULATION I AM NOT... REPEAT AM NOT SAYING THIS IS 100% FACT BUT I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR IT ANYWAY... SO IF IT ENDS UP NOT BEING TRUE I DON"T WANT TO HEAR ANY "BUT YOU SAID" :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is a strong rumor surfacing that Joseph Biden Senator of Delaware may be Presidential Nominee Obama's pick for VEEP.  MSNBC reported on it yesterday and a source of my own was playfully hinting that that may be in fact the case. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although many democrats that have got wind of this information thinks it would be not the best of choices due to Biden's penchants for "Foot in Mouth" disease.  If you remember the first time he did it was the whole "He's clean and speaks well" mess that he had to retract which was the first of other oratory blunders he has made.  But there is still Tim Kaine from Virginia with the LEAST amount of experience or Indiana's (which really doesn't matter electorally) Evan Byah as possibles as well which for the life of me I can't remember... By the way if anyone can tell me why I would appreciate it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyways I will not go on since this is just rumors and all, but the convention is next week so many things will be flying around until then.  If anything more substantial comes up I will let you know&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4180729336989788188?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4180729336989788188/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4180729336989788188' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4180729336989788188'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4180729336989788188'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/august-20-2008-update-veep.html' title='August 20, 2008- Update---VEEP'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-3106409138580279800</id><published>2008-10-30T13:23:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:26:02.501-07:00</updated><title type='text'>August 8, 2008- Summer Update-ish</title><content type='html'>Keep your friends close and .....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Copy and Paste link if you can't click on it!http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/august/0807_aa_ban2.shtml&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;____________________________________________&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;GOPUSA - Bringing the conservative message to Americahttp://www.gopusa.com/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-3106409138580279800?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/3106409138580279800/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=3106409138580279800' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3106409138580279800'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3106409138580279800'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/august-8-2008-summer-update-ish.html' title='August 8, 2008- Summer Update-ish'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7440946512079801861</id><published>2008-10-30T13:21:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:23:22.818-07:00</updated><title type='text'>July 30, 2008- Update Summer Session</title><content type='html'>Take a look-see&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/?hpid=topnews" target="_blank"&gt;http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/?hpid=topnews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/mmalkin/2008/mm_07301.shtml" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/mmalkin/2008/mm_07301.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7440946512079801861?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7440946512079801861/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7440946512079801861' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7440946512079801861'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7440946512079801861'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/july-30-2008-update-summer-session.html' title='July 30, 2008- Update Summer Session'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8138307765285491571</id><published>2008-10-30T13:21:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:21:53.135-07:00</updated><title type='text'>July 8, 2008- Update Summer Session</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This will be short and sweet... It is summertime and until Convention or the candidates pick a VEEP; politics is not at the forefront of my mind so this may very well be the only official summer update!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyhow for whatever reason my email is bombarded daily with GOP lit and I have no idea why and usually I just delete it but it made me think... The best way to beat the opposition is to know the opposition; know what their views are what rhetoric they are using and if their is any truth to it or not. If there is not truth in their statements keep it moving ang continue on the high road and toward the REAL goal; if there is truth in their words find ways to lead by example et cetera. So I began reading the emails and links becoming quite intrigued and I feel that I would be remised not to pass this along. Enjoy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/tsowell/2008/ts_07081.shtml" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/tsowell/2008/ts_07081.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/july/0708_candidates_economy1.shtml" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/july/0708_candidates_economy1.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=738" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=738&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also John McCain's camp is currently working on a new education policy that will revisit the voucher program (fiasco depending on who you ask) but this time going in the direction of voucher-type services in the Supplemental Education Services division aka tutors.  I don't have all the details yet but when I find them I will pass them along as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8138307765285491571?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8138307765285491571/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8138307765285491571' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8138307765285491571'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8138307765285491571'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/july-8-2008-update-summer-session.html' title='July 8, 2008- Update Summer Session'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4631525004281164037</id><published>2008-10-30T13:19:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:20:58.348-07:00</updated><title type='text'>June 13, 2008- Update Tim Russert</title><content type='html'>If you did not already know I have the unfortunate news to bear of Tim Russert's passing today of a heart attack at the age of 58.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am actually crying right now because I absolutely adored and respected this man.  He was able to be tough on all issues to all parties never letting anyone pass on anything. I had the pleasure to meet him late last year and I became even more of a fan due to his wonderful personality... Tim Russert is the reason I love politics and he will be very missed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4631525004281164037?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4631525004281164037/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4631525004281164037' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4631525004281164037'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4631525004281164037'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/june-13-2008-update-tim-russert.html' title='June 13, 2008- Update Tim Russert'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-43426285426882709</id><published>2008-10-30T13:17:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:19:29.303-07:00</updated><title type='text'>June 6, 2008- Update- Amb. Bolton's op ed in today's Los Angeles Times‏</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was sent this article and thought you might find it interesting.  Former Ambassador John Bolton from the Bush Admin basically  feels that Obama is not qualified nor prepared to properly deal with rogue leaderships (Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea etc) and is being foolish in his proposed diplomatic approach.  This is based on comments made in the July 2007 YouTube sponsored debates.  After you read Amb. bolton's op ed I also took the liberty to find that particular Q&amp;amp;A in the transcripts (should be in blue).  Have a great weekend.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Amb. Bolton thought you would find this article of interest:&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Los Angeles Times&lt;br /&gt;Obama the naive&lt;br /&gt;His views on world affairs ignore history and imperil the U.S. and our allies.&lt;br /&gt;By John R. Bolton&lt;br /&gt;June 5, 2008&lt;br /&gt;Barack Obama's willingness to meet with the leaders of rogue states such as Iran and North Korea "without preconditions" is a naive and dangerous approach to dealing with the hard men who run pariah states. It will be an important and legitimate issue for policy debate during the remainder of the presidential campaign.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Consider his facile observations about President Kennedy's first meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, in Vienna in 1961. Obama saw it as a meeting that helped win the Cold War, when in fact it was an embarrassment for the American side. The inexperienced Kennedy performed so poorly that Khrushchev may well have been encouraged to position Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962, thus precipitating one of the Cold War's most dangerous crises.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Such realities should cause Obama to become more circumspect, minimizing his off-the-cuff observations about history, grand strategy and diplomacy. In fact, he has done exactly the opposite, exhibiting so many gaps in his knowledge and understanding of world affairs that they have not yet received the attention they deserve. He consistently reveals failings in foreign policy that are far more serious than even his critics had previously imagined.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Consider the following statement, which was lost in the controversy over his comments about negotiations: "Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. ... Iran, they spend 1/100th of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance."&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Let's dissect this comment. Obama is correct that the rogue states he names do not present the same magnitude of threat as that posed by the Soviet Union through the possibility of nuclear war. Fortunately for us all, general nuclear war never took place. Nonetheless, serious surrogate struggles between the superpowers abounded because the Soviet Union's threat to the West was broader and more complex than simply the risk of nuclear war. Subversion, guerrilla warfare, sabotage and propaganda were several of the means by which this struggle was waged, and the stakes were high, even, or perhaps especially, in "tiny" countries.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;In the Western Hemisphere, for example, the Soviets used Fidel Castro's Cuba to assist revolutionary activities in El Salvador and Nicaragua. In Western Europe, vigorous Moscow-directed communist parties challenged the democracies on their home turfs. In Africa, numerous regimes depended on Soviet military assistance to stay in power, threaten their neighbors or resist anti-communist opposition groups.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Both sides in the Cold War were anxious to keep these surrogate struggles from going nuclear, so the stakes were never "civilizational." But to say that these "asymmetric" threats were "tiny" would be news to those who struggled to maintain or extend freedom's reach during the Cold War.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Had Italy, for example, gone communist during the 1950s or 1960s, it would have been an inconvenient defeat for the United States but a catastrophe for the people of Italy. An "asymmetric" threat to the U.S. often is an existential threat to its friends, which was something we never forgot during the Cold War. Obama plainly seems to have entirely missed this crucial point. Ironically, it is he who is advocating a unilateralist policy, ignoring the risks and challenges to U.S. allies when the direct threat to us is, in his view, "tiny."&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;What is implicit in Obama's reference to "tiny" threats is that they are sufficiently insignificant that negotiations alone can resolve them. Indeed, he has gone even further, arguing that the lack of negotiations with Iran caused the threats: "And the fact that we have not talked to them means that they have been developing nuclear weapons, funding Hamas, funding Hezbollah."&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;This is perhaps the most breathtakingly naive statement of all, implying as it does that it is actually U.S. policy that motivates Iran rather than Iran's own perceived ambitions and interests. That would be news to the mullahs in Tehran, not to mention the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;It is an article of faith for Obama, and many others on the left in the U.S. and abroad, that it is the United States that is mostly responsible for the world's ills. In 1984, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick labeled people with these views the "San Francisco Democrats," after the city where Walter Mondale was nominated for president.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;Most famously, Kirkpatrick forever seared the San Francisco Democrats by saying that "they always blame America first" for the world's problems. In so doing, she turned the name of the pre-World War II isolationist America First movement into a stigma the Democratic Party has never shaken.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;This is yet another piece of history that Obama has ignored or never learned. There may be one more piece of history worthy of attention: In 1984, Mondale went down to one of the worst electoral defeats in American political history. We will now see whether Obama follows that path as well.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;John R. Bolton is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He is now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of "Surrender Is Not an Option."&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt; Portion of YouTube sponsored debate Transcripts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;QUESTION: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since.&lt;br /&gt;In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;COOPER: I should also point out that Stephen is in the crowd tonight.&lt;br /&gt;Senator Obama?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous.&lt;br /&gt;(APPLAUSE)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, &lt;a title="More articles about Ronald Wilson Reagan." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/ronald_wilson_reagan/index.html?inline=nyt-per" target="_blank"&gt;Ronald Reagan&lt;/a&gt; and Democratic presidents like JFK constantly spoke to Soviet Union at a time when Ronald Reagan called them an evil empire. And the reason is because they understood that we may not trust them and they may pose an extraordinary danger to this country, but we had the obligation to find areas where we can potentially move forward.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I think that it is a disgrace that we have not spoken to them. We’ve been talking about Iraq -- one of the first things that I would do in terms of moving a diplomatic effort in the region forward is to send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria because they’re going to have responsibilities if Iraq collapses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They have been acting irresponsibly up until this point. But if we tell them that we are not going to be a permanent occupying force, we are in a position to say that they are going to have to carry some weight, in terms of stabilizing the region.&lt;br /&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-43426285426882709?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/43426285426882709/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=43426285426882709' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/43426285426882709'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/43426285426882709'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/june-6-2008-update-amb-boltons-op-ed-in.html' title='June 6, 2008- Update- Amb. Bolton&apos;s op ed in today&apos;s Los Angeles Times‏'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4280410391041581721</id><published>2008-10-30T13:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:17:07.154-07:00</updated><title type='text'>June 4, 2008- Update!! And the Nominee Is....</title><content type='html'>January 16, 2007 Illinois Junior Senator Barack Obama formed an exploratory committee with the intention of testing the Presidential Candidacy Waters... For the next year and a half he catapulted his way from a Dream Differed to a Reality; Black America put their hopes in him, "Educated" White America fell in love with him and the rest simply could not resist the charm and mysterious steely demeanor, he even had a political agenda that everyone could get behind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;June 3, 2008 Barack Obama is called the Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee...  History has been made indeed; the publishing companies are already making new additions of school history books, celebrations are in the works, the air is thick with promise and... change... It is taking me a while to write this because of the sensitive subject in which I am about to approach...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was on the train today and everyone was just delighted and excited but the same thing came out of their mouths... "You know there will be attacking him in the campaign because he is black"... That right there is what can be the downfall of this candidacy... Overlooking the ultimate goal what black America needs to do to assist in getting this well qualified man in office is remembering that yes this country is still teeming with racism and that may never go away.  However, instead of always reverting to the "it's because he/she/we are black" mantra that has become a crutch; when Barack is attacked , attack back with why he is the "best person" for the job.  If you don't know why he is the best person find out research all of his accomplishments, his diplomatic outreach, his benchmarks during his state legislator career etc.  Ask what an Obama administration needs to acomplish to make this country flourish again (make public education viable again, make good healthcare attainable, make working class America worthwhile again, make the country safe and not a constant target because we need to bully everybody.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I could go on and on, but I have work to do... So I am going to leave you with the above food for thought as the General Election commence and the true battle begins.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4280410391041581721?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4280410391041581721/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4280410391041581721' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4280410391041581721'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4280410391041581721'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/june-4-2008-update-and-nominee-is.html' title='June 4, 2008- Update!! And the Nominee Is....'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-156945480695257535</id><published>2008-10-30T13:13:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:15:23.925-07:00</updated><title type='text'>May 14, 2008- Big Endorsement</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24628804/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24628804/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MSNBC.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Edwards to endorse Obama&lt;br /&gt;Obama signs on to former Democratic rival's poverty initiative&lt;br /&gt;NBC News&lt;br /&gt;updated 5:52 p.m. ET, Wed., May. 14, 2008&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Democrat John Edwards is endorsing former rival &lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16438329/" target="_blank"&gt;Barack Obama&lt;/a&gt;, fresh signs of the party establishment embracing the likely nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.&lt;br /&gt;Edwards was to appear with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as Obama campaigns in a critical general election battleground state.&lt;br /&gt;The endorsement comes the day after Clinton defeated Obama by more than 2-to-1 in West Virginia. The loss highlighted Obama's work to win over the "Hillary Democrats" — white, working-class voters who also supported Edwards in large numbers before he exited the race.&lt;br /&gt;Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and the 2004 vice presidential nominee, dropped out of the race in late January.&lt;br /&gt;Both Obama and Clinton immediately asked Edwards for his endorsement, but he stayed mum for more than four months. A person close to Edwards, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he wanted to get involved now to begin unifying the party. Obama also signed on to Edwards' poverty initiative, which was a major cause for Edwards in his campaign and since he left.&lt;br /&gt;When he made his decision, Edwards didn't even tell many of his former top advisers because he wanted to make sure that he personally talked to Clinton to give her the news, said the person close to him. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who has spoken favorably about Clinton's health care plan, did not travel with him to Michigan and is not part of the endorsement.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-156945480695257535?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/156945480695257535/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=156945480695257535' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/156945480695257535'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/156945480695257535'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/may-14-2008-big-endorsement.html' title='May 14, 2008- Big Endorsement'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4520595900660958778</id><published>2008-10-30T13:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:13:00.946-07:00</updated><title type='text'>May 6, 2008- Update One-on-One</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally I was planning on commenting on Senator Obama's appearance on Meet the Press this past Sunday, his views on Jeremiah Wright, this proposed (and mathematically inept) gas tax Holiday et cetera, but I want to go in a different direction so I have attached the link to actually watch the show for yourself below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24452804#24452804" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24452804#24452804&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However this morning I was watching the Today Show and the anchors were discussing the recent cyclone tradgedy in Myanmar (aka Burma) and they played a clip of First Lady Laura Bush.  Mrs. Bush commented on how the ruling party of Myanmar rescue efforts for the citizens were deplorable and disgraceful... WHAT?!??!!?  I could have sworn that when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans that the water logged ninth ward looked like the lost city of Atlantis except with DEAD BODIES floating around, crying babies, crying adults, and many other unspeakable conditions and where was Laura's husband?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh how soon we forget how the President just sat on his behind for what seemed like an eternity while the people of N.O. were left to fend for themselves in "deplorable" and "disgraceful" conditions... And where was Laura then? Who was she speaking out against then?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please please please I am begging be extra mindful this election, it is so not a game... Economy out of control (high gas and oil prices, rising food prices, homes going into foreclosures at an alarming rate),  losing countless young lives daily in a war that should have been over long ago, education and healthcare systems that are in desperate need of overhaul... And this is what matters&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just in case you like First Lady Bush forgot about Hurricane Katrina...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4520595900660958778?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4520595900660958778/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4520595900660958778' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4520595900660958778'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4520595900660958778'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/may-6-2008-update-one-on-one.html' title='May 6, 2008- Update One-on-One'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8072407993729832867</id><published>2008-10-30T13:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:11:43.882-07:00</updated><title type='text'>April 30, 2008- Update</title><content type='html'>Hello My Beautiful People!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So at this point I am tired of all this non-issue related stuff and I personally want to tie Reverend Wright to a chair, tape his mouth shut and leave him in a corner somewhere!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyhow I found some great commentary on CNN this morning that pretty much sums up everything that I want to say today so here you go   &lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/30/roland.martin/index.html?iref=topnews" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/30/roland.martin/index.html?iref=topnews&lt;/a&gt;  have a blessed day!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BTW I realized I have been lacking on the black history portion so...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;April 30, 1828&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Shaka Zulu killed&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_Zulu" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_Zulu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;April 30, 1983 "Memphis Blues" honored at Smithsonian (I am not sure if this is referring to the song composed by W.C. Handy in 1917 or the actual genre)&lt;br /&gt;**** just in case... &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Handy#Awards.2C_festivals_and_memorials" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Handy#Awards.2C_festivals_and_memorials&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8072407993729832867?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8072407993729832867/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8072407993729832867' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8072407993729832867'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8072407993729832867'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/april-30-2008-update.html' title='April 30, 2008- Update'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6486458414988791360</id><published>2008-10-30T13:08:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:10:22.105-07:00</updated><title type='text'>April 17, 2008- Pennsylvania is a coming!!</title><content type='html'>Hello,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well  let's start off with a quick reality check... Oil is trading at $115.04 per barrell. education in the US is under-funded, teachers are under-paid under-resourced and under-appreciated.  The US currently has the worst medicare plan with the least amount of people covered. As of today the applications for unemployment benefits have risen to 372,000 an increase of 17,000 from last week, with a government based commerce group stating that the economic activity has risen 0.1% while a private ownes company finds that there has been an annual decline of economic activity since March 2007... All the while continuing a war that at this point I am not sure if it is worse to stay or go and is steadily heading towards the $1 TRILLION DOLLAR price tag which will only add to our already 'impressive" $9 TRILLION national debt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With all that said can someone please tell me why are the debates mainly consisting of talks of Mrs. Clinton "over-exaggerating" her 1992 close call with snipper fire, Mr. Obama's "misunderstod/misstated" "bitter small town people" remarks, Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan,  Bill Ayers of the Weatherman Underground (who was an activist- and although I do not condone everything that they did- were exercising their constitutional rights AND Bill Ayers is now a law abiding citizen educating the masses at UOI), or anything else that has NOTHING to do with the issues at hand... I really don't care if Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton is elitist or not (Guess what... Most of them are... Maybe not all intentionally, however after you get to a certain point economically, class-wise, in regards to education you enter a new echelon of social status and you have to remind yourself of your humble beginnings if you even had humble beginnings to begin with!- Which many statesmen don't) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What I care about is how much more Uncle Sam is going to take of my humble earnings, when I start a family how is the education going to be, how much?  My parents are getting older so when they get to a place where thay may need more medical assistance (No time soon Thank God) will they be able to afford it will I have to take on the responsibility because after years of working the government have taken their tax money and now won't help them out?  When will this recession end and how close are we to a depression?  THAT is what I care about!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;************************************* End Rant************************************ ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is less than one week away from the Pennsylvania Primary and possibly the beginning of the end of this marathon democratic nomination contest.  Just to be up to date (According to MSNBC) Obama has 1416 elected delegates + 231 superdelegates* which makes a total of 1647 Clinton has 1252 elected delegates + 259 superdelegates* for a total of 1511 towrards the 2025 needed for the nomination and John McCain is the presumptive republican nominee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pennsylvania is a big notch in the election belt for both candidates; for the fact that it is a middle America predominantly working class state. The ecomony, healthcare and education are the main issues focused on while there is also a huge rift in within the states in regards to gun rights... It has been predicted that the outcome of this contest will very well decide if surrender flags will go up or if the battle shall continue and with Senator Clinton's lead being anywhere from 4 pts ahead to 20 pts ahead I predict this may lead to nothing at all but a continued uphill battle (but I can hope for the best).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24128155#24128155" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24128155#24128155&lt;/a&gt; (Obama talks gun control)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24128155#24128610" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24128155#24128610&lt;/a&gt; (McCain Addresses NRA)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the mean time McCain has given his proposed economic agenda which is filled with Gas Tax holiday's, a total shut down of earmarks and government backed mortgages... Very ambitious to say the least... Also on the republican front the biggest non-surprise is the fact that McCain is heavily toying with the idea of Romney as his running mate and Romney may be considering it (of course this is all speculation nothing solid yet).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/15/mccain.economy/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/15/mccain.economy/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1730546,00.html?xid=rss-politics-cnn" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1730546,00.html?xid=rss-politics-cnn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6486458414988791360?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6486458414988791360/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6486458414988791360' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6486458414988791360'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6486458414988791360'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/april-17-2008-pennsylvania-is-coming.html' title='April 17, 2008- Pennsylvania is a coming!!'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8953504780485629791</id><published>2008-10-30T13:06:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:08:07.267-07:00</updated><title type='text'>April 9, 2008- Update Quick Fix</title><content type='html'>Good morning All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please enjoy this update quick fix&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/09/871046.aspx" target="_blank"&gt;http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/09/871046.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8953504780485629791?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8953504780485629791/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8953504780485629791' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8953504780485629791'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8953504780485629791'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/april-9-2008-update-quick-fix.html' title='April 9, 2008- Update Quick Fix'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4899099170826786554</id><published>2008-10-30T13:05:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:06:40.849-07:00</updated><title type='text'>April 4, 2008- Guess Who's Back!!</title><content type='html'>Hello My Beautiful People,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know I have been crazy neglectful lately, but for somewhat good reasons... Anyhow, I definitely wanted to restart my updates today because it is a very important day for all of us...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On April 4, 1968 The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside his motel room in Memphis, Tenn., days after his unforgettable "I've been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple.  No I will not insult all of you well read and educatd individuals with an essay on Dr. King this is just a historical reminder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the political side I have been utterly board with the whole scene as of late.  This dem nom race has become mundane and counter productive.  I care less what supporters in either camp says about anything really; as I have always said everyone is entitled to there own opinions.  With that being said if one is a supporter with close ties to their candidate of choice and there is an inkling of a possibility that -in this uber fast information age- you will be recorded expressing your opinions PLEASE TAKE PRECAUTION with what you saw and how you say it!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BTW democrats John McCain and the Republican party is loving the dem in-fighting... Especially the (If Obama doesn't get the nomination I am not voting) mantra... If the democratic party is not mindful this "historical nomination" will become the trees of the obligatory missed forest... It is time for the dem leaders to take control and make a stand we all know numerically what the outcome will be it just needs to be done... We've got 7 months to focus on the real issues!  Let's go!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have attached a video from yesterday's Today show... My FAVORITE political pundit Tim Russert gives his take on the numerous ways the race in November can pan out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23933119#23933119" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23933119#23933119&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4899099170826786554?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4899099170826786554/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4899099170826786554' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4899099170826786554'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4899099170826786554'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/april-4-2008-guess-whos-back.html' title='April 4, 2008- Guess Who&apos;s Back!!'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4689134628591533399</id><published>2008-10-30T13:03:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:05:07.289-07:00</updated><title type='text'>March 12, 2008- Win In The Delta</title><content type='html'>Good Morning All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well Obama had an overwhelming win last night in Mississippi with over 90 percent of the black vote and 25 percent of the white vote taking 15 delegates to Clinton's 12 delegates with 6 delegates are left for allocation (but Obama will get at least half).  Now the focus is on the 6 week campaign to Pennsylvania with 158 delegates up for grabs and Clinton still has a double digit lead in Pennsylvania to date...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is it only me or is the thrill fading? Between stripped delegates, and this backwards way of the democractic party distributing delegates proportionately as oppossed to winner take all is slowly sucking the life out of this "historic event"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23590151/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23590151/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/121444" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.newsweek.com/id/121444&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also the statement that I have been waiting for has finally been said (surprisingly though it came from a former white female vp candidate)... If Obama was not a black man he would not get the support and hype he has attained thus far... Well of course that goes without saying... This is still America where race matters (Obama), gender matters (Hillary), religion matters (Romney), money matters (EVERYONE)... When geraldine Ferraro was the first viable woman VP nominee I am sure it did not bother her one bit that she received so much support because of her gender...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Clinton supporters with there flip mouths are doing nothing for the public opinion of Hillary and the direction of her campaign... The increased negativity is disappointing to say the least and is compromising the entire democratic party&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/121444" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.newsweek.com/id/121444&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4689134628591533399?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4689134628591533399/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4689134628591533399' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4689134628591533399'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4689134628591533399'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/march-12-2008-win-in-delta.html' title='March 12, 2008- Win In The Delta'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-2612551733700924739</id><published>2008-10-30T13:00:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:03:32.197-07:00</updated><title type='text'>March 5, 2008- Last Night Changed It All?</title><content type='html'>Hello my Beautiful Black People&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Coming into Jr. Super Tuesday with Clinton on the business end of an 11 straight contest loss it was predicted that if Obama went on to win that the Democratic Party would urge Senator Clinton to bow out as to clear the path for preparing for the big showdown in November. With that said last night was a much needed win for Senator Clinton and as she did in New Hampshire, when her back was against the wall, she pulled through (with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island Obama took Vermont).  So what does this mean?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well mathematically Clinton would have to win the next 16 contests with a margin well above 51% to win enough elected delegates for the nimonation; although that is virtually impossible she can now go to the super delegates and plead the case that she has carried Ohio (historically what Ohio says goes for the country) and can carry it against John McCain in November.  This win has prompted talks of a do-over in Florida and Michigan (which if you remember lost their delegates back in January for holding their primaries before Super Tuesday but Clinton winning a "symbolic")... So basically without either candidate dropping out and Clinton gaining momentum again last night has come to mean absolutely nothing... This is the nomination that never ends.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you watched the debates "way back when" before super tuesday, one of the final questions were "What about an Obama, Clinton Clinton, Obama dream ticket" and the crowd went absolutely wild.  Both candidates played coy and laughed it off, but it looks like Senator Clinton is showing a little leg and openly flirting with the constituents and the idea of "The Dream Ticket" on CBS morning show she said " Well it could head that way, I mean we need to work out who is on top and I think Ohio said it should be me" (Paraphrased).  All while Obama and his camp are keeping completely mum on that possiblity instead staying on task of fighting for the nomination.  But as an FYI past nomination rivals that ended on a winning ticket... JFK and LBJ/ Reagan and Bush 41&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the Repubs side, no real news, McCain won necessary delegates for nomination, Huckabee bowed out, Bush is endorsing McCain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23480254/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23480254/&lt;/a&gt; (Hillary Wins Texas, Ohio , RI Shared Ticket?)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/05/march.4.analysis/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/05/march.4.analysis/index.html&lt;/a&gt; (CNN analysis of Last Night)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23481178/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23481178/&lt;/a&gt; (McCain Bush endorsement)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23480189#23480189" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23480189#23480189&lt;/a&gt; (Video of Tim Russert's analysis)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Item of interest...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23472875/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23472875/&lt;/a&gt; (OT Vermont votes to have Bush and Cheney indicted)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23471804/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23471804/&lt;/a&gt; (State of African American women)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today in Black History...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1770- Crispus Attucks became one of the first casualties of the Boston Massacre.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-2612551733700924739?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/2612551733700924739/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=2612551733700924739' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2612551733700924739'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2612551733700924739'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/march-5-2008-last-night-changed-it-all.html' title='March 5, 2008- Last Night Changed It All?'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-5216430792803899955</id><published>2008-10-30T12:58:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T13:00:54.681-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 20, 2008- Update (Results/Michele Obama)</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Momentum is defintiely on the side of Senator Obama with his tenth straight victory and, thus far, 150 delegates (excluding superdelegates) ahead of Senator Clinton.  At this point Senator Clinton actually needs victories in Ohio and Texas on March 4th a position that no candidate wants to be in. McCain also won his contest; all but solidifying his front-runner position. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/20/feb19.analysis/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/20/feb19.analysis/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23241739/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23241739/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/20/feb19.contests/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/20/feb19.contests/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Michelle Obama's comments " For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country" has brought a little heat to the campaign.  I thought I would find many more articles than I did (of course one article I found was from FOXNEWS); however it seems that although some people are scrutinzing the comment it seems to be few (for now). Cindy McCain tried to make a snide remark "... I don't know if you heard those words, but I have always loved the US" (paraphrased). Between cindy's "not so subtle" jab at Michelle and Senator McCain stating that we need " more than words eloquent words of hope" it almost resembled a possible Obama v. McCain '08 political bout.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/19/michelle-obama-takes-heat-for-saying-shes-proud-of-my-country-for-the-first-time/" target="_blank"&gt;http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/19/michelle-obama-takes-heat-for-saying-shes-proud-of-my-country-for-the-first-time/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/19/cindy-mccain-michelle-obama-in-patriotism-flap/" target="_blank"&gt;http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/19/cindy-mccain-michelle-obama-in-patriotism-flap/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FYI February 20th 1895 Death of Frederick Douglass/ Sidney Portier born&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-5216430792803899955?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/5216430792803899955/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=5216430792803899955' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5216430792803899955'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5216430792803899955'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-20-2008-update-resultsmichele-obama.html' title='Feb. 20, 2008- Update (Results/Michele Obama)'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-3239365348073248339</id><published>2008-10-30T12:56:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:58:20.884-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 19, 2008- Wisconsin, Hawaii and Other Things</title><content type='html'>Hi Everyone,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am so sorry I know I have been MIA; My Mother was in town last week (Hi Mommy!!!), then I have bgeen working on presentations ALL week!!  I am still working on presentations so I will have to make this quick, but I promise I will update regularly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1- The Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries are tomorrow.  The race is still very close but if Obama continues to forge ahead and gain wins with these smaller contest the other side of winter may look very different for both candidates.  Another problem is that the closer this race gets the more negative the campaigns get and if this divide continues the democratic party will definitely lose.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23232655/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23232655/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2- I had mentioned to a few friends and Mommy ;-) that I had a real problem with no one being able to articulate why they support Obama outside of the fact that he can "bring about change".  I personally think that Obama and Clinton both deserve more than that; one should not pick a candidate because they are this race or that gender or because they have catch phrase that sounds good, or any other reason outside of that their proposed policies and addressed issues align with your own.  With that being said I was shown a clip from you-tube of a brother that not only knows why he is supporting Obama but also how to articulate it in superb detail (Thanks! )... Made me proud!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kica8hmSdAM" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kica8hmSdAM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.barackobama.com/issues/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.barackobama.com/issues/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23229108#23229108" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23229108#23229108&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Be Blessed&lt;br /&gt;Ashanti C. Brown&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-3239365348073248339?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/3239365348073248339/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=3239365348073248339' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3239365348073248339'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/3239365348073248339'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-19-2008-wisconsin-hawaii-and-other.html' title='Feb. 19, 2008- Wisconsin, Hawaii and Other Things'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-2605563215843715552</id><published>2008-10-30T12:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:56:35.824-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 7, 2008- Romney 'Suspends' Campaign and More</title><content type='html'>Just a bit of info for you...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/07/romney.campaign/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/07/romney.campaign/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/election.clinton/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/election.clinton/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/super.dems/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/super.dems/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-2605563215843715552?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/2605563215843715552/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=2605563215843715552' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2605563215843715552'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/2605563215843715552'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-7-2008-romney-suspends-campaign-and.html' title='Feb. 7, 2008- Romney &apos;Suspends&apos; Campaign and More'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7639903110029927838</id><published>2008-10-30T12:53:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:55:06.360-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 6, 2008- Superdelegates vs. Pledged Delegates</title><content type='html'>Hello All Again,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This may also account for the numerical and statistical data differences&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Superdelegates are &lt;a title="Delegate" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate" target="_blank"&gt;delegates&lt;/a&gt; to a &lt;a title="Presidential nominating convention" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_nominating_convention" target="_blank"&gt;presidential nominating convention&lt;/a&gt; in the &lt;a title="United States" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" target="_blank"&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt; who are not legally bound by the decisions of &lt;a title="Primary election" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_election" target="_blank"&gt;party primaries&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a title="Caucus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucus" target="_blank"&gt;caucuses&lt;/a&gt;. Superdelegates are current elected officeholders and current party officials as well as former elected officeholders and former party officials. They are sometimes referred to as "unpledged delegates," but some unpledged delegates are not superdelegates[&lt;a title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" target="_blank"&gt;citation needed&lt;/a&gt;]. In addition, some elected officeholder delegates and party official delegates are pledged.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whereas pledged delegates ARE legally bound by the party primary and caucus decision.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have been told that Obama has more PLEDGED DELEGATES and Clinton has more SUPERDELEGATES (which is good for Obama not so good for Clinton)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THANKS LAMONT&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7639903110029927838?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7639903110029927838/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7639903110029927838' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7639903110029927838'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7639903110029927838'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-6-2008-superdelegates-vs-pledged.html' title='Feb. 6, 2008- Superdelegates vs. Pledged Delegates'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4459815644807120385</id><published>2008-10-30T12:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:53:39.600-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 6, 2008- Update</title><content type='html'>Okay I am not exactly sure what is the cause, however I have been informed AND looked for myself and MSNBC has the delegate count at 838 Obama 834 Clinton while CNN has 811 Clinton 720 Obama.  I can only guess that a percentage of West coast votes are still being tallied OR the contest was so close that there are recounts in progress (maybe both)...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will do my best to keep up and let you know!  (Thanks Shak)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22419475" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22419475&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4459815644807120385?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4459815644807120385/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4459815644807120385' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4459815644807120385'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4459815644807120385'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-6-2008-update.html' title='Feb. 6, 2008- Update'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-7086909785810959328</id><published>2008-10-30T12:47:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:51:56.674-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 6, 2008- ST Update</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well Super Tuesday has come and gone and the outcomes for the Dems and Repubs are pretty much what was expected (Clinton took the big delegate rich states Cali, NY. Missouri etc. she held on strong to women and Latino votes and Obama won most of the small states doing an impressive political "beatdown" in the south).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the democratic side; Senators Obama and Clinton ended up in a statistical dead-heat with 485 and 582 delegates respectively. On the Republican side McCain, although propelled himself further to the front with 516 delegates (clinching 43.3% of the necessary delegates needed for nomination) Romney (207) and Huckabee (142) both vowed to ride it out.  Romney who originally said that this is a battle and essentially there is no "crying" in battle did just that; complaining that McCain's win was only due to a "backroom deal" between him and Huckabee. But in actually a strong Evangelical voter base of Hucakbee keep him above water last night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/05/super.issues/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/05/super.issues/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/super.main/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/super.main/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/06/super.main/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22419475" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22419475&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I personally was very excited about the voting turnout; the youth vote (18-29) and the African American vote was defintiely felt and interestingly enough Obama received a huge White Male Vote ages (39-60) mostly baby-boomers. I sent in my absentee ballot early (I refuse to give up my Cali status especially with my fellow constituents voting in Swartzenegger and other foolishness), however many of my friends voted (some that have never voted before) and they said the lines were thick and no one was leaving until their vote was counted!!  If nothing else Senators Clinton and Obama's campaign have created a synergy that is overflowing into the masses and breathing new life into democracy...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please find below links in regards to past women and African American Presidential candidates. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_United_States_presidential_and_vice-presidential_candidates" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_United_States_presidential_and_vice-presidential_candidates&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://african-american-non-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/africanamerican_history_month" target="_blank"&gt;http://african-american-non-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/africanamerican_history_month&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Got to earn my pay now!! Have a blessed one!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-7086909785810959328?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/7086909785810959328/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=7086909785810959328' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7086909785810959328'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/7086909785810959328'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-6-2008-st-update.html' title='Feb. 6, 2008- ST Update'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-9074067424100446564</id><published>2008-10-30T12:45:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:47:22.791-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 5, 2008- Super Tuesday</title><content type='html'>Good Morning All&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today is Super Tuesday please see the links below for a brief explanation and history of Super Tuesday.  Also some links from MSNBC and CNN that will give you some insight on predictions, and what the political pundits and political gurus are speculating.  If any HUGE developments arise throughout the day I will certainly let you know, but for the most part things won't really start taking shape until later this evening. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The big state to watch is the beautiful state of California ;-) ... With California having 173 delegates up for grabs (a large number of Latin-American and women voters); a win in Cali may be inconclusive however it will speak on the current sentiments of voters on the democratic side of the table.  In contrast, for the republicans a big win in all the states (since many more states on the repub side are winner-take-all darwinism at its finest) would all but crown the Republican Presidential nominee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Duper_Tuesday" target="_blank"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Duper_Tuesday&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23004395/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23004395/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23006750/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23006750/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/05/super.issues/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/05/super.issues/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have a great day!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-9074067424100446564?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/9074067424100446564/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=9074067424100446564' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/9074067424100446564'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/9074067424100446564'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-5-2008-super-tuesday.html' title='Feb. 5, 2008- Super Tuesday'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-6001381623413440951</id><published>2008-10-30T12:42:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:45:14.746-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Feb. 1, 2008- History</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For everyone that watched the debate last night... Could you feel the electricity? This truly historic election was solidified last night!!! It was very fitting that the venue was the same place that the Oscars are held and it included all the glitz and glamour of any Hollywood event.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As I sat watching the debates I just could not help but repeating to myself "Wow"... A black man or a woman this is unbelieveable; THIS is what Dr. King, Bother Malcolm, JFK, RFK, Rosa Parks, Gloria Steinem, The Freedom Riders, our own Parents and Grandparents fought for ... This surreal moment right here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have to admit I was extremely proud of both candidates; Senators Clinton and Obama were able to actually discuss the issues, their views, and they even made thought-provoking and humorous quips to keep the moment light. I completely respected Senator Obama's Immigration response, repubs trying to use the low employment rate in the African American community to justify the ridiculous immigration reform bill they have come up with is simply proposterous. To be perfectly frank, immigrants, for the most part, do the jobs that most Americans (black, white, or polka dot) think they are "too good" to do, and getting rid of the current immigrants is going to do nothing but cut off our own noses to spite our faces! But I digress.. My favorite line of the night came from Senator Clinton 'It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush and it will take a Clinton to clean up after this Bush" (Paraphrased).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/debate.main/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/31/debate.main/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is a rushed transcript from CNN of the debate&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0801/31/se.01.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0801/31/se.01.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the Repubs side... I cannot believe the turn of events for that party, it has gone from a moshpit of candidates to McCain v. Romney and it got real ugly real quick... The repub candidates main goal right to prove who is the truer repub and would represent the repub views the best (especially to that all important Evangelical/Bible Belt constituency). Well for the sake of brevity please go to the links below about that debate...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0801/30/se.01.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0801/30/se.01.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/26/politics/main3755518.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3755518" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/26/politics/main3755518.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3755518&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22920891/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22920891/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SUPER Sunday this could be the first time in over 30years that a team goes undefeated all the way to the Super Bowl and SUPER Tuesday no matter how this plays out American History is currently being written right before our eyes!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have a great weekend!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-6001381623413440951?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/6001381623413440951/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=6001381623413440951' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6001381623413440951'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/6001381623413440951'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/feb-1-2008-history.html' title='Feb. 1, 2008- History'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-1580298855297850890</id><published>2008-10-30T12:41:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:42:25.857-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Jan. 22, 2008- Debates</title><content type='html'>Hello,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First I hope everyone had an enjoyable, relaxing and reflective holiday weekend!! This particular MLK holiday was special for a few reasons; this being the first holiday without Mrs. Coretta Scott King. This woman was one of the iconic mother, wife and leader of the civil rights movement and the fact that if it were not for the tears, blood, sweat and lives of those that fought for US this historic election would not be taking place!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now on to the debate... Now for the most part I try to make my emails without opinions about anything because to be honest I have made no decision on who to support and last night was a perfect example on why... Although the verbal bout between Obama and Clinton was entertaining I think that it was soooo not on topic... We get it you guys don't like each other...  I mean, yeah Obama and Clinton both glossed over the regular tax, education, and healthcare rhetoric  but it was more on the "Watching two elementary school children go at it on the playground" vibe with the audience (peanut gallery) adding their boos, ooohhs and aaaahhs. Not like two people that are concerned about the welfare of the country in which they hope to lead into a new more socially prosperous direction!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;John Edwards managed to stay out of the mud and made one of the ONLY statements I agreed with...&lt;br /&gt;"This kind of squabbling -- how many children is this going to get health care? How many people are going to get education because of this? How many kids are going to get to go to college because of this?" Edwards said to cheers from the crowd. "I respect both of my fellow candidates, but we have got to understand this is not about us personally."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well I am done with my little rant look below for the links of the CNN article and debate transcripts.  Please read through the transcipts and ask yourself where these candidates stand on the ISSUES!!  If not enough information is giving get on the net and see where they stand via statements made and US Senate floor vote records&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/22/debate.main/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/22/debate.main/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Transcript part one&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.transcript/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.transcript/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Transcript part two&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.transcript2/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.transcript2/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Transcript part three&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.transcript3/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/debate.transcript3/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-1580298855297850890?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/1580298855297850890/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=1580298855297850890' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/1580298855297850890'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/1580298855297850890'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/jan-22-2008-debates.html' title='Jan. 22, 2008- Debates'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-5129272092875071684</id><published>2008-10-30T12:39:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:40:34.129-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Jan. 16, 2008- Las Vegas Debates and Michigan Primaries</title><content type='html'>Good Morning All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Starting with the Nevada debates (without Dennis Kucinich who lost a last minute court battle to participate in the debate due to his lacking of 5% public interest to participate)... &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama and Clinton publicly kissed and made-up spending time to show respect for each others civil rights commitments and showing respect for EVERYONE that was involved in our ancestors fight for civil right liberties.  They did their best to placate the recent intense (and overdone) race debates between the two camps; blaming "over zealous supporters" for the flurry of race-laced sound bites!  While John Edwards tried to use the debate as an opportunity to remind the voters about the issues (Iraq, Environment, etc.) and that he is still a relevant factor in this race...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22656153/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22656153/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;( make sure to follow the links about the Kucinich court battles and the "reconcilliation" between the Obama and Clinton camps)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the Michigan Primary side Romney edged out a much needed when for his camp; which many believe was due to his "Native Son" campaign.  With Romney winning last nights primary it really leaves this thing wide open for the Repubs and the outcome in South Carolina is going to really shape the primaries moving forward.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22660529/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22660529/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have a blessed day!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-5129272092875071684?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/5129272092875071684/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=5129272092875071684' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5129272092875071684'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/5129272092875071684'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/jan-16-2008-las-vegas-debates-and.html' title='Jan. 16, 2008- Las Vegas Debates and Michigan Primaries'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8207959807104913580</id><published>2008-10-30T12:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:38:55.683-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Jan. 11, 2008-Republican Debates</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because total knowledge is power please find the link for a MSNBC article of the recent Republican debates in South Carolina... FYI Tim Russert moderator of "Meet the Press" on NBC will have an entire hour with Senator Hillary Clinton... ( Sunday 10:30am EST and 8:30PST)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22594425/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22594425/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8207959807104913580?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8207959807104913580/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8207959807104913580' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8207959807104913580'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8207959807104913580'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/hello-all-because-total-knowledge-is.html' title='Jan. 11, 2008-Republican Debates'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-4024170043578609639</id><published>2008-10-30T12:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:36:53.907-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Jan. 9, 2008-New Hampshire</title><content type='html'>Hello All,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yesterday's "surprise" wins for the dems and the repubs proves that this is so far from over on either side. No matter who you are for in this monumental race you have to admit last night was a thrilling nail biter, once again a record number of voters turned out, proving that this is (hopefully)  a revival of true democracy in America. I was very excited to see so many young 18-32 year olds voting and I am very interested to see how the black vote is really going to affect this.  As we all are aware as much as we voice our opinion in the streets, on songs, tv, protests etc. we do not utilize the voting rights that many of our ancestors died for and that is where we are truly heard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please find below some links about last nights primaries and the road ahead.  Stay blessed!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22551718/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22551718/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22565162/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22565162/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22564628/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22564628/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22563145/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22563145/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22563579/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22563579/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/08/Dobbs.January8/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/08/Dobbs.January8/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#D" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#D&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#R" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#R&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-4024170043578609639?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/4024170043578609639/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=4024170043578609639' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4024170043578609639'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/4024170043578609639'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/jan-9-2008-new-hampshire.html' title='Jan. 9, 2008-New Hampshire'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-8372483414122667072</id><published>2008-10-30T12:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:32:14.566-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Jan. 4, 2008- Iowa results</title><content type='html'>Here are some links of last nights caucus results... And their implications...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/04/iowa.caucuses/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/04/iowa.caucuses/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22501956/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22501956/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22501290/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22501290/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exit Polls...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225980/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225980/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21228177/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21228177/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fox News... just to remain unbiased ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/04/through-the-eye-of-the-caucus-goers-how-to-cast-a-vote-in-iowa/" target="_blank"&gt;http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/04/through-the-eye-of-the-caucus-goers-how-to-cast-a-vote-in-iowa/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-8372483414122667072?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/8372483414122667072/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=8372483414122667072' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8372483414122667072'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/8372483414122667072'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/jan-4-2008-iowa-results.html' title='Jan. 4, 2008- Iowa results'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005444205632637523.post-458212605749117553</id><published>2008-10-30T12:19:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-30T12:30:34.527-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Jan. 3, 2008- Iowa Caucuses</title><content type='html'>Hello My Beautiful People-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today is the Iowa caucuses the official start to the 2008 Presidential Campaign season!!!  This particular election will be the most remembered and influential in over 40 years for many reasons.  Since we are all extremely busy and may not have the time to follow every detail I will take it upon myself to pass along significant information to help your descision making process over the next 10 mos. I do implore you to take sometime and do your own research in regards to your respective locations in regards to politics!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Below please find an article found on Yahoo that explains exactly what the caucus is and the reason why there is such a big fuss over it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the way Happy Year and an overflow of blessings and success in 2008!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Basic facts on the Iowa caucuses&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By The Associated Press Wed Jan 2, 2:03 PM ET&lt;br /&gt;Some questions and answers about the Iowa caucuses this Thursday:&lt;br /&gt;Q: What is a caucus?&lt;br /&gt;A: A party meeting at the precinct level at which citizens express their candidate preferences and pick delegates to their county conventions. It's the lowest level of party politics — the real grassroots. These meetings, held in each of the state's nearly 1,800 precincts, typically draw anywhere from a handful of people in rural areas to hundreds in suburban areas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: Who takes part?&lt;br /&gt;A: Anyone who is old enough to vote in the November general election and is a member of the party is eligible, but traditionally only a small number of Iowans show up. This year, about 120,000 to 150,000 people are expected to vote in the Democratic caucuses, while 80,000 to 90,000 are likely to participate in the GOP contest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: Why is it politically significant?&lt;br /&gt;A: Persuading a group of average citizens to show up in support of a candidate is considered a sign of organizational strength. Each candidate courts politicians and activists at the state and local level in hopes of getting strong numbers of supporters to show up and participate. At the same time, the caucus system allows candidates to develop and hone their message before relatively small groups.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: What happens at a caucus?&lt;br /&gt;A: Participants, led by a chairman or chairwoman, indicate their preferences for their party's presidential nomination, pick delegates to their county conventions and discuss party business, including their party platforms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: What happens next?&lt;br /&gt;A: Delegates chosen at the caucuses go to the county convention later in the year. There, the field is winnowed and delegates are chosen for the district convention. This happens again at district meetings and again at the state convention, where delegates are named to attend the party's national convention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: Why are the numbers different?&lt;br /&gt;A: The Republicans essentially hold a straw poll — a head count — at their precinct caucuses, reporting real numbers. One head, one vote.&lt;br /&gt;The Democrats do not report straight numbers, but use a mathematical formula to determine support for a presidential candidate in percentages. A candidate must have the support of 15 percent of those present at any meeting, precinct caucuses through the state convention, to remain "viable." This is meant to ensure greater consistency throughout the process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: Will there be exit polls in Iowa?&lt;br /&gt;A: Yes. The Associated Press and the television networks will survey voters as they enter the caucus sites. Those surveys will help readers understand what issues and qualities motivated Iowans to vote for a specific candidate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: How did the Iowa caucuses get started?&lt;br /&gt;A: A commission appointed after the riots disrupted the 1968 Democratic National Convention recommended proportionate representation and affirmative action. Iowa Democrats decided to use new rules in 1972, adopting a regulation that there must be a month between events — the caucuses, county, district, state and national conventions. The caucuses wound up being held as early as January.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Growth is always worth the price you pay, because the alternative is a limited life with unfulfilled potential&lt;/em&gt;"- Anonymous&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8005444205632637523-458212605749117553?l=haventheard.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/feeds/458212605749117553/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8005444205632637523&amp;postID=458212605749117553' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/458212605749117553'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8005444205632637523/posts/default/458212605749117553'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://haventheard.blogspot.com/2008/10/jan-3-2008-iowa-caucuses.html' title='Jan. 3, 2008- Iowa Caucuses'/><author><name>Ashanti C. Brown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
