Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace. www.youtube.com www.myspace.comYou can read (every version of) the bible online at www.biblegateway.com You can read or listen to excellent biblical teaching online at www.preachtheword.com You can read this little book online “Jesus Loves Me” at www.jesuslovesme.org You can read my blogs, listen to more music, and find more links at www.myspace.com You can listen to my favorite online radio station at klove.com You can post a comment, rate this, etc. PLEASE do so – to help spread the MESSAGE of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Where is God when things go wrong? Read this book online at www.preachtheword.com Always ride with your LIGHTS ON! A lot of the beautiful, Spirit filled artwork featured in this video is from gwen@drawneartogod.com – Please let her know that her light is shining …
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On the other hand, he’s been dead for about 60 years.

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Politics is the echo chamber of our latent obsessions. It is the sum total of our collective cultural worldview, and every single grain of rice that we consume. It speaks from heart of the nation, while standing garishly poised in the mirror of our society. This is the body of our democratic free will, boldly facing down the physic crucible fronting scene and script of all that the nation collectively has been, and all that it has allowed itself the capacity to become. It is the narrative of the nation’s soul crystallized in campaign combat. No candidate or candidacy has ever done more to reveal the true nature of American life and culture than Barack Obama. However, the real task of bringing transparency to the government has only now just begun.

     The scene took place in Washington D.C. It was the winter, of the year 2000. While the Vice President was busy somewhere, probably adorning the digs of his brand new un-disclosed location, the new president sat comfortably in his limousine as it was endlessly pummeled with eggs (Moore, 2003). All that he could do was to flash a wide Bubba version of a Cheshire grin. This was the inauguration of Bush the Younger, and it was the end of civic innocence in America. Who does not recall the ubiquitous sense of frustration, of hanging chads and bureaucratic ineptness, the ominous feeling that the Republicans may have actually stolen an election, and then the reality slowly setting in that hundreds of thousand of voters of color were disenfranchised at the blink of an eye?  They were purged from the voting rolls we were told, due to the theory that they just might happen to become felons in the future. It was as if the Tom Cruse movie Minority Report were recast for us, only to be acted out in real time. It was all just so truly amazing. Who would’ve thunk it?

     Nevertheless, if the first Bush election was amazing, the second one was surely a charm. Estimates are that in 2004 upwards of more than three million mostly black and brown voters were simply disenfranchised though a combination of either being tossed off of the voter rolls in county after county, from New Mexico to Cleveland Ohio, or they were disenfranchised and their votes were simply not counted (Palast, 2004). During that year, many votes it was said had been “spoiled”; not because they were left out in the midday sun, but because for some reason they were simply thrown away. Voting suppression was rampant in 2004, due to a plethora of Republican machinations; like caging for instance (Ibid ). This is the devious scheme where registered voters in targeted areas are sent mail marked “DO NOT FORWARD” and then the retuned mail is used to challenge voter’s right to vote (Kennedy, 2008). Despite the cleverly crafted pre-election accusations cast against the so called “liberal-democratic-leaning Obama-supporting group” ACORN, who were said to be involved in some sort of grand conspiracy to fix the 2008 vote, let us not forget that it was Karl Rove et al. who were the real experts at voter suppression during the last four national elections. Not to mention the fact that Bush won the 2004 election based solely upon the 119,000 votes plucked from notorious Diebold voting machines and certified by Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican Party State Chairman who also happened to be the Secretary of State in Ohio (Palast, 2004). Diebold C.EO, Walton O’ Dell was not even shy about making his intentions clear, “I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral vote to the president…” he said (Harris, 2004). These facts are a part of the public record and cannot be disputed. Oddly enough, in his state there were 153, 237 ballots that were simply tossed aside; or “spoiled” that is to say. In Iowa, an additional 36,811 votes were spoiled, and in New Mexico it was reported that over 600,000 ballots were not even counted (Palast, 2004). Over the last eight years, Rove and company have actually made an art out of voter suppression.

    The Help America Vote Act passed by the Republican Congress in 2002, as a result of the resounding clamor for free and fair elections after the 2000 debacle, actually produced the opposite effect. As strange as it may seem, some of the most diabolical provisions of the HAVA, which allow for the purging of tens of thousands of voters from the voting roll, were actually written by convicted felons former Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) and the infamous Jack Abramoff; both of whom are currently serving time in federal prison (Kennedy, 2008). It is the Republicans who have skillfully used this piece of legislation to create a maze of confusion that would ultimately disproportionately disenfranchise millions of mostly black and brown voters. Not since the all white primaries of the Jim Crow era has so much effort been spent trying to keep U.S. citizens from voting. If Barack Obama was serious about bringing transparency to the government in Washington D.C., there can be no better place for him to start than with this fundamental American right. How amazed they must have been in capitals throughout the world, in nations that were once condemned by the U.S. for their unfair elections, just to see the images of millions of voters from California to Connecticut waiting in line for hours, frustrated but nevertheless determined to vote this year; simply because they wanted change. Should we not be embarrassed when we learn that elections in East Timor and Nicaragua are actually run more judiciously than our own? Obama can make it an immediate priority to appoint a commission that will finally put an end to the shenanigans at the ballot box once and for all. He can assure us that we will receive a receipt the next time that we vote, and he can bring transparency to the voting process. Now that would be change that we can believe in.

References

Harris, Bev (2004) Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century. Tailon Publishing. p.81

Kennedy, Robert Jr., Greg Palast. (2008) Drinking the ACORN Kool Aid: How cries of voter fraud cover up GOP elections theft. Retrieved from:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-greg-palast/drinking-the-acorn-koolai_b_138390.html

Moore, Michael. (2004) Fahrenheit 911. Lions Gate Films

Palast, Greg (2006) Armed Madhouse: Whose Afraid of Osama Wolf? Cranks and Kooks: Kerry Won in ‘04Harris, Bev (2004) Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century. Tailon Publishing. p 189,193

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VeraSun Energy Corporation announced in June 28 the opening of the first E85 retail fueling location in Washington, D.C. The inauguration was the result of an ongoing joint effort of VeraSun and General Motors, maker of quality GMC exhaust system, to expand the availability and consumer awareness of E85.

A blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that is now available at the Georgetown Chevron, VeraSun’s branded VE85(TM) is situated at 2450 Wisconsin Ave. N.W., and in Arlington, Va., at the Navy Exchange station near the Pentagon. The addition of two retail fueling locations augments the number of stations selling VE85(TM) to more than 90 in nine states and the District of Columbia.

Don Endres, VeraSun’s Chairman and CEO, said their partnership shows the efforts being made to improve the availability of E85 in the nation. He explains E85 has been available throughout the Midwest for years, and several Americans have used it almost exclusively to fuel their vehicles. He extends his gratitude to have worked jointly with their partners to bring VE85(TM) to the D.C. metro zone so that drivers in Washington, D.C. may experience the clean, high-octane product which strengthens the country’s energy independence and helps the environment by minimizing both greenhouse gas and tailpipe emissions.

Since the companies began working together to expand availability and increase the awareness of VE85(TM), the announcement marks the fifth collaboration VeraSun and GM have entered with a third-party retailer. The first initiative was launched in May 2005 with pilot stations in Sioux Falls, S.D. It has widened to include locations in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Pittsburgh.

Elizabeth Lowery, GM vice president of environment, energy and safety policy, said they believe renewable fuels like E85 give US the greatest near-term potential to actually minimize gasoline consumption and vehicle emissions.

On this initiative, Enterprise Rent-A-Car joined VeraSun and GM by announcing that it is designating its premier rental location in Washington, D.C., as an official “E85/FlexFuel branch”. Owning the world’s largest fleet of FlexFuel Vehicles, with over 41,000 cars and trucks, Enterprise committed to fuel 50 GM FlexFuel vehicles from its location at 1029 Vermont Ave. N.W., at the Georgetown Chevron. Moreover, the vehicles will be stocked with materials about VE85(TM) and directions to the fueling location.

Matthew G. Darrah, Enterprise Rent-A-Car senior vice president of North American operations, said they are privileged to work with VeraSun Energy to make it easier for their customers to make sustainable choices.

Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee Sen. Jeff Bingaman said a title that promotes the production, distribution and use of clean, renewable, made-in-America transportation fuels like E85 is an important part of the energy bill the Senate just passed.

The Georgetown Chevron location, owned by Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Properties, marks a vital accomplishment for the fuel retailer in offering E85 at the first of its 23 company- operated locations in the Washington, D.C. metro zone.

Carlos Horcasitas, Chairman and CEO of Mid-Atlantic, said Mid-Atlantic is proud to be the first retail chain in Washington D.C. to offer its customers E85 and, in particular, VeraSun’s branded E85, VE85(TM).

Also backed up during the June 28 announcement were the representatives from the District, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

VeraSun Energy Corporation is headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota, and a leading producer of renewable fuel.

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One individual can often bring about a change in fortunes of a team ? If this statement had to come true, then Washington Huskies definitely stand to gain a lot!

Here is a team that often in the last few games shown how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Looking at the kind of talent Washington Huskies possess, it really is surprising to see them languishing at any spot below the number 1 position. Huskies? supporters blame this on a defeatist attitude built up in the players of Huskies.

If that really is the case, consider a lot of talent wasted by the roadside. But with Sarkisian at the helm of the affairs, things could pan out differently for the Washington Huskies. For a change, Sarkisian himself is a man of no mincing words. From the day he arrives at the Huskies, he would make no bones of the fact that he would like to win at all costs. Maybe, this could be the impetus Huskies need.

Huskies for one, cannot boast of missing one thing ? Quality players. They have this through all the ranks. They have good quality offensive line players. They have quality running backs. They also have good quality receivers and defense line. Put all of them together, and be surprised that this team has lost so many matches. In essence, this could really be the rarest of rare cases when a team has all the fundamentals in place, yet is not able to deliver the goods consistently.

Yes, there is an odd victory here and there, but considering the quality of players Huskies have, this should be a frequent occasion, not an aberration. People who have been closely following the performance of Washington Huskies term this as individual complacence. People believe that players in the Huskies believe a lot in them but do not believe as a team. Statistically, the percentage of individual runs in Huskies? games is uncomfortably high. It could yet work out against a couple of teams, but in the long run, may prove dangerous.

Sarkisian for a change though has a problem, which if he wants, can be solved within a matter of days. For starters, he would have to get the team believing as a unit. He must make them think that winning matches is possibly more important than winning a few points here and there. Knowing Sarkisian and his background, this may not be a tough task. Or does it seem so?

You could wake up a person who is sleeping but try waking a person who is pretending to sleep? Given this statement, some hard decisions may be taken by Sarkisian. He has to take them in the best interests of the team, and there are no two ways about it. All said and done, it is for the world to see if Sarkisian can bring about change in fortunes of the Huskies. Well, looking at how Sarkisian manages things, this seems to be a reality!

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