Obama Health Care

Blog destaque em tecnologia, o Blog ATI & D do amigo Tiago Dias, com a notícia YouTube chega ao PlayStation 3 e Wii.

O Blog ATI & D do Tiago Dias leva você leitor a conhecer as loucuras da tecnologia, e vídeos impressionantes. O artigo que levou o Metal Ômega a escolher para o Top Ten foi a notícia: YouTube chega ao PlayStation 3 e Wii.

Porquê eu escolhi esta notícia. Primeiro porque tudo que o Google faz, faz a diferença. Segundo porque isso será revolucionário. O Youtube rodando direto no PlayStation 3 e no Nintendo Wii, isso é fantástico, e impenssável. É uma revolução. O Tiago Dias acertou a mão noticiando o artigo: YouTube chega ao PlayStation 3 e Wii.
Certamente em fóruns, por todos os lados já estão questionando, como o Youtube rodará direto no PlayStation 3 e no Nintendo Wii. Talvez você esteja se perguntando: Mas se o Google está preparando o Youtube para rodar no PlayStation 3 e no Nintendo Wii, então quer dizer que quem tiver o XBox ficou de fora? Repondo: sim e não. Sim porque como todos sabem o XBox é da Microsoft o arquirival do Google. E não porque o Google ganhará em cima da Microsoft deixando o serviço pago, e mostrando superioridade total em cima da Microsoft.

Agora é hora de você ver a notícia na íntegra do Tiago Dias do Blob ATI & D

Artigo: http://siteatied.blogspot.com/2009/01/youtube-chega-ao-playstation-3-e-wii.html

Aproveite e baixe a nova Toolbar (Barra de Ferramentas) do Metal Ômega, acompanhe os Feeds do Metal Ômega e dos vencedores do Top Ten, além de outros sites de notícias que são referência no Brasil. Tem a vantagem de ter um chat, para falar com o Metal Ômega, e um buscador do Google e dos Blogs campeões do Top Ten Metal Ômega, para você achar o que precisa.
A instalação é simples e rápida, não pesa no seu navegador, e ainda ajuda financeiramente o Metal Ômega. Não fique de fora, baixe já:

Agora a notícia que eu me encontro, o artigo: Desemprego, o lado mais cruel da crise mundial, noticiado pelo amigo Catarino, do Blog do Catarino.

O Blog do Catarino nos dá uma visão geral do país, dos problemas recentes, e alguns alertas e dicas. O Catarino tem uma visão privilegiada da sociedade, e expressa bem no seu blog, o Blog do Catarino, tanto que é o maior sucesso, inclusive internacionalmente… quem diria. Mas então, o artigo: Desemprego, o lado mais cruel da crise mundial, realmente é impactante, pois tudo está gerando em torno desta crise mundial, e muitos estão perdendo seu emprego. O Catarino foi feliz em escrever um artigo sobre o desemprego, dando uma visão do lado mais cruel da crise mundial. Eu por exemplo já estou sentindo na pele esta crise, mas é bom conferir a visão do Catarino sobre o assunto. Acesse lá:

Artigo: http://www.blogdocatarino.com/2009/01/desemprego-o-lado-mais-cruel-da-crise.html

Outra notícia que merece atenção, e já tão conhecido por nós, foi publicado pelo amigo Eli Raimundo, este o mais privilegiado por ter cinco Blogs, foi o artigo: Cuidado com o mosquito da dengue, publicado no Blog Online na Web, onde ele se diverte com tudo que acontece na web, encontra dicas de cinema, saúde, jogos e outros artigos.

Embora esta notícia: Cuidado com o mosquito da dengue, já ter em um monte de lugares, sempre é bom atentar-nos, pois todos esquecem, assim que passa a temporada de chuva ninguém mais liga, aí a crise do mosquito da dengue volta.

Por ser um assunto sério, é sempre bom lembrar: Cuidado com o mosquito da dengue!
Visite o Blog Online na Web e veja o artigo:

Artigo: http://online-naweb.blogspot.com/2009/01/cuidado-com-o-mosquito-da-dengue.html

Vocês irão achar estranho do porque eu escolhi uma piada como um Artigo de Impacto. A razão é bem simples, pois esta não é uma piada qualquer, embora seja muito engraçada, pois ela remete-se ao dia-a-dia, e não duvido que algo parecido já tenha ocorrido. É um assunto muito sério, e, por isso, escolho o Blog Só Piadas, onde você irá morrer de rir, e se divertir. Mas voltando a atenção ao assunto impactante, a notícia é: Esta sogra é muito esperta.

Muita gente não gosta de sogra, eu por exemplo sou um dos raros prefiro minha sogra ao meu sogro. Mas não vem ao caso. Esta piada do cotidiano é um ato muito sério, pois fala de traição. Quem gosta de ser traído? Vale a pena? Por que trair o cônjuje?

Somente entrando no site do amigo Eli Raimundo mesmo para entender esta piada, que se tornou a notícia impactante.

Artigo: http://sopiadasaqui.blogspot.com/2009/01/esta-sogra-muito-esperta.html

Mais um site do Eli Raimundo. E este assunto dá o que falar: Relações de valor. Noticiado no Blog Minha Empresa o artigo “Relações de Valor” fala não somente o que tem que ser feito para o sucesso da empresa, seu valor de mercado, sua imagem. Fala também para nós, bloggeiros, sobre a relação do seu blog para os visitantes, a sua imagem, se condiz com o que você transmite, pois não adianta nada ser apenas maquiagem, pois um dia a casa cai, e mancha seu blog e sua imagem. Mas aplica-se também na imagem pessoal, embora um pouco diferente, você verá como se aplica. Veja o artigo, não deixe passar, e boa leitura:

Artigo: http://eli-minhaempresa.blogspot.com/2009/01/relaes-de-valor.html

Agora o último Blog de Eli Raimundo: Receitas. Apesar de que o artigo escolhido não seja uma receita, mas faz parte, afinal para a realização de uma boa receita exige-se um bom Fogão. E como escolher um bom fogão? Você acha isso fácil? Pois não é tanto quanto se parece, pois os Fogões exigem maior investimento financeiro e devem ser escolhidos pensando ao longo prazo. As necessidades são diferentes para cada pessoa, sendo grande a variedade de escolha.

Portanto, uma notícia mais que útil, e que merece toda a sua atenção. Você vê aqui no blog Receitas:

Artigo: http://eli-receitas.blogspot.com/2009/01/escolha-um-bom-fogo.html

Agora vou falar de outro assunto que você se perguntará: esta notícia é impactante, ela faz diferença? A resposta é sim, e desde já não é notícia, e sim Poemas e Poesias, do Luciano Tulr, que é autor de 10 Blogs sendo 4 em línguas estrangeiras.
Desta vez, foi escolhido o blog inteiro, Poemas e Poesias, já que o blog tem artigos pequenos, frazes e imagens com artigos, o que não caberia falar apenas de um. Mas todos são impactantes, e muito forte, alertando-nos em diversas situações. Frases de encorajamento e de amor. Frase de reanimar, e de reestabelecer. Vale a pena acompanhar, veja o que a palavra pode fazer, e realmente faz, toda a diferença.
Visite já:

Artigos: http://poesiasnanet.blogspot.com/

Outra vez você pode se perguntar: ah, mas essa notícia todos os blogs e sites grandes noticiaram. Tudo bem, mas não desta forma, confira e veja. Embora possa ter igual, o artigo do Marcelo França, em seu Blog Último Click, foi merecedor do prêmio Top Ten Metal Ômega pelo fato de apresentar de maneira diferente a notícia da Posse de Barack Obama, notícia mais impactante para o mundo, pois todos nós dependemos de seu governo, direta ou indiretamente. Mas tudo gira em torno do discurso, pois é a pedra fundamental do período de eleição.

Todos os presidentes batem a mesma tecla em seus discursos, portanto, seu governo se baseará nelas. E de forma muito inteligente, o Marcelo França, no Blog Último Click, mostra todas as palavras chaves de Barack Obama e também de outros presidentes, na forma de nuvens de tags, um tanto diferente. Muito criativo da parte do Marcelo França, e é bem interessante você comparar as palavras chaves do Barack Obama com o dos presidentes anteriores, tais como: Bush, Clinton, Reagan, e Lincon.
Veja como ficou no Blog Último Click:

Artigo: http://www.ultimoclick.net/2009/01/21/a-posse-de-barack-obama/

Agora você poderá se questionar: o que tem haver imagens com notícias impactantes? Simples, imagens falam mais que palavras. Este outro lado das notícias, são apresentadas diferentemente pelo Rodrigo Piva, em seu Blog Curiosando com imagens incríveis, e de arrepiar.

A sessão escolhida foi Fim de Semana Animal, pelo simples fato de que se há desmatamentos, não há como tirar estas lindas imagens. Se o homem destruir as matas, e acabar com os animas, estas imagens simplesmente ficarão somente na memória. Por isso é importante alertá-los. Não somente o desmatamento em si, mas muito provém da poluição, automotiva e industrial, barcas cheio de petróleo e etc… É inacreditável de quantas maneiras o homem destrói a natureza. Por isso digo, entre e visite o Blog Curiosando, veja estas imagens, analise-as, e repense da próxima vez que tiver poluindo e destruindo parte do nosso planeta.

Artigo: http://www.curiosando.com.br/01/2009/fim-de-semana-animal-2009-wallpapers-24-de-janeiro/#more-2886

Parando de falar sobre destruição, vamos falar de construção, recuperando o que está perdido, levantando o que estava caído, dando Vida às Traças. Esta foi a proposta do Monthiel, autor do Blog que leva o seu nome, ao falar sobre o artigo dando Vida às Traças. Monthiel expõe um artigo que nos faz pensar, analisar, rever o que deu errado e tentar consertar, para assim chegar-mos ao sucesso. Fala sobre estrutura, que é a base para a realização dos nossos objetivos, que creio que todos temos. E o Monthiel dá o exemplo de homens vencedores, embora o que ele tenha usado como exemplo, Lula, que é um vencedor, mas que trilhou caminho diferente, dando um “geitinho brasileiro” do qual eu quero distância. Sigo o exemplo do maior vencedor, e mais importante dos últimos tempos, o Barack Obama, já que venceu as eleições de maneira impressionante num país onde o racismo é como briga entre Palmeirense e Conrinthiano, ou como a Favela da Rocinha e os Policiais.

Obama é um estudioso, e seguiu caminhos certos, e é respeitado por onde passou, não está envolvido em encrencas como o caso do Lula, e é tão inteligente quanto.

Este artigo irá fazer você refletir melhor sobre como estruturar a sua vida. Vale a pena ler, e se você quer vencer, leia:

Artigo: http://monthiel.com/2009/01/vida-as-tracas.html

Top Ten é dez! Mas… com para toda regra há uma excessão (e eu gosto disso) vou lhes apresentar um site de Arrepiar. O porque? É ver pra crer!
Deixo a curiosidade com vocês, saiba o porque, mas por favor, não entre várias vezes, isso irá atordoar a sua mente, é sério:

http://www.goldenmean.info/

Aqui eu finalizo o 1º Top Ten do Metal Ômega, e se o seu Blog não está aqui, então não perca tempo, mande seu artigo de maior destaque que irei analizar, faça um bom conteúdo, um bom título principalmente, e mãos a obra. Espero premiar o maior número de pessoas possíveis, mas… desde que seja impactante. Boa sorte na próxima edição, e tomara que você seja o escolhido.

Pegue o seu selo, você que foi selecionado, aqui e veja as regras:
Regras para o Top Ten Metal Ômega

Veja:

http://metalomega.blogspot.com/2009/01/primeiro-top-ten-metal-omega-artigos.html

Metal Ômega
http://www.articlesbase.com/blogs-articles/1-top-ten-metal-mega-artigos-da-semana-739134.html

BEING STREET SMART

___________________

Sy Harding

CLIMBING A WALL OF WORRY! Dec. 12, 2008.

The largest sectors of the economy continue to plunge into a seemingly bottomless hole; the housing industry (where it all started), the financial sector still locked in a credit crisis, the giant auto industry possibly within weeks of major bankruptcies, retailers struggling in their worst holiday season in decades.

Almost three million jobs have been lost since the recession began last December, more in the last six months than in the entire 2001-2002 recession. The loss of 533,000 jobs in November was the largest monthly decline since December 1974.

Investors have lost several $trillions in savings and investments in the worst bear market in stocks in 75 years. Income yields on bonds are at unbelievable lows.

Headline making scandals are showing up all over the place. The Governor of Illinois trying to sell his influence, even the former senate seat of President-elect Obama. Bernard Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, and a respected Wall Street presence for almost 50 years, arrested and charged with fraud, in what the SEC is calling a $50 billion ‘Ponzi-scheme’ swindle of investors, “a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions”.

Is it any wonder that the confidence of consumers and investors is also in a deep dark hole?

And it is. Over the last three months fearful investors have pulled a record amount of money out of mutual funds, brokerage accounts, and even hedge funds, in a panicked rush to get out of the stock market. Recent polls show a surprising percentage of investors and consumers now don’t even believe that money in government insured savings accounts or money market-funds is safe, and have been piling into short-term U.S. Treasury bills at a pace that has dropped the yield on T-Bills close to zero. They are willing to loan their money to the government for nothing rather than risk it anywhere else.

What is going on reminds me of a remark attributed to J.P. Morgan back in the early 1900’s that, “Bear markets return stocks to their rightful owners”. By that he meant that smart money or ‘rightful owners’ sell their stocks temporarily to public investors at high prices near market tops, but then buy them back at low prices when investors bail out at the lows of the subsequent bear markets.

What is going on reminded me of his arrogant remark because, while public investors have been bailing out at such a frenzied pace over the last couple of months, others have been quietly buying so heavily that not only did it offset all that selling, but was sufficient to produce a gain of 20.8% by the S&P 500 from its November low to its high last week.

The volatility has continued, but in the process the market has been in a bullish pattern of higher highs on the rallies and higher lows on the brief pullbacks.

And more importantly, it has been rallying in spite of the economic reports and worries becoming even more dismal and foreboding, including ugly employment numbers, plunging retail sales reports, threat of an auto industry bankruptcy, and soaring home foreclosure rates.

That is, for it three weeks anyway it has been climbing the proverbial ‘wall of worry’.

That is a good sign. As I have been saying for the last couple of months on my free daily blog, “The market always looks ahead and begins its next bull market while a recession is still underway and worsening, while public investors are at an extreme of pessimism. So obviously at some point it has to begin to rise in spite of continuing bad economic news. Since public investors aren’t buying, it has to be institutional and other ‘smart money’ that begins to buy in anticipation of improving economic conditions six to nine months ahead. And the market has to continue to climb a wall of worry for quite some time, until the economy itself begins to recover and public investors become less fearful.”

As regular readers of my column know, all year this year I have been predicting that the stock market would not bottom until the October/November time-frame, and that the bottom would be followed by a substantial bear market rally that would be well worth going after. Nothing so far had disabused me of that expectation. With the S&P 500 down 52% at its October low it would take a gain of 104% to get back to its peak of last October. It would take more than a 50% gain to retrace half of that decline in a bear market rally.

Stay tuned!

Sy Harding publishes the financial website http://www.streetsmartreport.com/ and a free daily Internet blog at http://www.syhardingblog.com/. In 1999 he authored Riding The Bear – How To Prosper In the Coming Bear Market. His latest book is Beat the Market the Easy Way! – Proven Seasonal Strategies Double Market’s Performance!

Sy Harding
http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/climbing-a-wall-of-worry-dec-12-2008-681645.html

As a person who goes on record as a passionate advocate for community building, I’m nervous talking politics. I suppose I fear that anything I say on the topic will be as polarizing as inserting myself in the middle of a sibling squabble, with half my audience nodding its head in smug “Hah!-mom’s-on-my-side” superiority while the other rolls its eyes in “Whateverrrr” disgust.

This does not a come-together message make. For the record, it does little to create a peaceful family dinner either. But in life and in parenting, sometimes a side must be taken.

If you’re the sibling who’s audacious enough to swipe the last clean pair of socks from her sister’s dresser, or you choose to sneak off with the last three homemade chocolate chip cookies while leaving her with nothing more than some shards of stale graham crackers in the back of the cupboard, I will rise up in my Kevlar vest and stand up to you about what is right.

What is right, for me, is usually summed up in a way that manages to be both simple and daunting at the very same time – it is a desire to live in peace, harmony and unity; both in the micro level of my house and the macro level of this whole wide world we live in.

Yes, this is a wish that is as ambitious of a prospect at home as it is abroad.

As I write this, though, during the week we inaugurate our new president, I feel so very empowered in the belief that our collective small efforts can amount to great change, both right here in our Bay Area communities and in the role we play in the world. If only President Obama could work his inspiration all the way down to the micro-micro level of inter-sibling relations, I could be a one-woman, “Kumbaya” karaoke act.

While it is true that many of my daily thoughts are directed to the relatively shallow injustices involving snickerdoodles and socks, my concerns for our nation run deeper. So with my vital organs protected with some virtual Kevlar, I stand up today to the people – both the strangers and the members of my extended family – who did not vote for Obama.

I realize that you, like me, voted your mind and your heart for what you felt was the best direction for our country. But now that it is done, I beg you not to sit in your armchair waiting for our president to fail. The price to pay for your being right is simply too high to pay, because Obama’s failure would be our own. The state of our economy is too dour to expect the government to throw money at every one of the problems we face. This means that, as individuals, we have to stand up and do what we can with our own human effort.

While all of this sounds daunting, it is anything but. The way I see it, if every one of us takes a moment to remember why we chose to raise our family in our respective communities, we can start right there. For my family, the choice to set up our home in Almaden Valley was about the quality of our schools, the beauty of our geography and the sense that we could live in a small town within a big city.

By pinpointing why we made this choice, we clarify our priorities and can easily determine where we can make a difference with a genuine sense of passion. Those of us who are bold and ambitious can create groups and organize legions of people to support us in our mission, and the rest of us can choose to quietly work as individuals towards our cause.

When I give my time and energy as a classroom volunteer or PTA member; when I pick up the pieces of trash we all seem to think someone else should pick up; when I greet my neighbors by name and act inclusively in my gatherings, I am making sure that my community will go even further towards being all of the things that drew me here.

If each individual in our communities makes these small efforts, President Obama will have proven that we not only can and will, but after four years of individual accountability for the common cause, he will be able to tell us, Yes We Did.

###

Shana McLean Moore is a resident of Almaden Valley. In addition to being a columnist and staff writer for the Almaden Times, she is a motivational speaker who specializes in community building. She can be reached through her blog: http://www.sunnysidecommunications.com

Shana McLean Moore
http://www.articlesbase.com/causes-and-organizations-articles/working-toward-yes-we-did-738422.html

As some of you may know…I am a big fan of board games.

I am happy to devote an entire weekend to the likes of Pictionary, Scrabble, and of course my personal favourite: Operation (You know there is something delightfully obscene about a game that revolves around trying to replace a little plastic spleen with a pair of tweezers into a bizarro man with a large red blinking nose. After a few wines you can take that barrel of fun to the bank…..in spades!)

However, there is one board game that, even with three bottles of my favourite plonk under the belt, you could not get me to play.

That game is Monopoly.

My aversion to this snotty and greedy little game probably dates back to my childhood, when my disdain for the millionaire in the top hat spawned, along with a morbid fear of clowns and raisin sandwiches.

When I was eight, our neighbor’s children would come around on a Saturday afternoon with said game in hand and an evil Gordon-Geckoesque glint in their eyes wanting to know if we would like to play. My parents, eager to offload their offspring for a few hours of peace and a few glasses of Chateau-De -Headache, would promptly agree on behalf of my sister and myself that “there would be nothing we would love to particpate in more”.

Begrudgingly, we would sit on the floor, have our multi-coloured bills doled out to us, set up a little Scottish Terrier or a Vroom-Vroom car and wait for the inevitable.

The game would always start out in a reasonable fashion. You would roll the dice, land on a coloured square and then buy it, hoping to collect a set of properties and start reaping the rewards from your fellow players’ misfortune when they would make pit or toilet stops on one of them.

My sister and I are not stupid, and quite often we would kick start a match with very promising results…a Trafalgar Square here… a Park Lane there … all very much in the spirit of good, juvenile fun.

However, about twenty minutes into the venture we would notice that our neighbors suddenly had at least DOUBLE the cash and more lego-like houses than even Coomera Realty could develop in such a short time.

When accused of dodgy dealings, our neighbors would suddenly claim “Off-shore Swiss bank accounts” and “Legitimate Tax refunds” to explain their rapid accumulation of wealth;  and, when we argued that landing on “Free Parking” did NOT entitle the player to all of OUR money, the reponse would be “Don’t you KNOW what the rules of the Parker Brothers 1979 edition are?”

Even when either my sister or myself overcame such questionable regulations and still looked very favourable to cross the finish line, we would always be hit with the “She Who Smelt It Dealt It” Tax when landing on “GO”.

The end result was usually ugly, with little, green plastic houses being shoved into various orifices and an almighty indignant holler to “MUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!”

So, you could say that I get very angry and resentlful when I think about those games of Monopoly, or any other competition, where one party, upon realising that he or she is losing, decides to change the rules to serve his or her position.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that I was more than a little peeved when, this morning, I watched a re-run on the news showing  the Democratic National Committee hand down its decision on the unseated delegates from Florida and Michigan as part of the US Electoral Primary process.

For those of you who follow American politics, you would know that, at the end of last year,  both Florida and Michigan were banned from having their Democratic Party delegates seated at the convention coming up in August. This was due to each of those states’ decisions to go against the Democratic Party’s rules by moving their states’ primaries to earlier dates than when they had been directed to conduct them.

As a result, the powers that be at the highest echelon of the Democratic Party punished both states by declaring that their delegates would not be counted in the process of electing a nominee for the general election in November.

At the time of this decision, Hillary Clinton remained silent. Tacit then, in her agreement with these findings. In fact, in the latter part of 2007, she was quoted as saying that the findings were “fair”.

When the numbers and polls started to look decidely shifty for the Senator from New York, a murmur from the Clinton camp began to circulate about how potentially unreasonable this decision was.

This murmur grew to a grumble, which grew to a whinge, which now has blown out to an almighty “MUUMMMMMMMY” howl of indignation from Clinton and her supporters, now that the nominee for the Democratic party, if the numbers are correct, can only be Barack Obama, given any current scenario.

 After much deliberation, the committee ended up awarding the majority of Florida delegates to Clinton and divided up half of Michigan between the two remaining candidates (again, favouring Clinton by 10 delegates I might add) even though Obama went along with the original party decision to not campaign or put his name on the ballot in this state.

And yet……

….the screams, foot-stamping and hissy-fits from Clinton supporters that followed the decision, could probably have been heard from Washington all the way down to those who reside on their porches in the Appalachians (whom apparently have heard the call and are on their way down to protest  as well…those nice, fair-minded, white working folk from West Virginia)

There was strong talk from Clinton’s camp about appealing this decision and taking this argument/all the way to the Democratic convention.

Does this not remind anyone of a certain horrific incident…umm…let’s say 8 years ago?????

In short, it is a divisive and desperate call from a wing of the party that is critically wounded, and will take “whatever means necessary” to try and shift the goal posts in order to favour their candidate.

The USA has had eight years of disasterous governing with the Bush Administration. The election in 2008 is there for the Democrats to “lose” at this point.  If this issue with Florida and Michigan is taken beyond today, it can only weaken the result for the party in November.

And for what?

An overwhelming, bitter sense of “entitlement” is my guess.

Those of you who know me, know that I have been a Barack Obama fan since….well, since first saw him speak in Chicago back in 2003.

However, this is not a Pro-Obama/Anti-Clinton rant. It is an observation that what seems to transparantly obvious to me, is not shared by others.

This is a blog about playing fair.

You play the game, according to the rules.

If you are losing the game, it is not then reasonable to change those rules because you are pissed off that someone landed on Mayfair before you did, or that you just don’t like the look of the little silver dog.

At any rate, the way things are going, the only board game that Hillary and Obama might be playing over the next seven days will be “Battleship”.

Kylie Evans
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/do-not-pass-go-do-not-break-the-rules-679089.html

Last Monday I sought and secured an apt with an acupuncturist seeking relief from excruciating leg and back pain.  I’ve had some pain these past months, but Sunday it flared up in a new way–uber pain–and I needed relief.  The highly trained and expert acupuncturist explained to me that in a perfectly healthy body oxygen and blood flow freely through our veins and arteries to feed our organs and muscles.  Yet when blockages occur in our arteries and veins, the potential for disease erupts, often followed by symptoms; i.e., pain.  Well, yes, I was definitely in the pain category!

After pressing on various locations on my leg, ankle and hip he nearly had to scrape me from the ceiling where I rocketed to from the pain.  He deduced that I had obstructed circulation.  Basically a narrowing of the all important arteries & veins was causing poor circulation and the pain was symptomatic of that.  Always curious I asked, “What are the principal causes of these narrowed arteries?”   He replied, “Well genetics is #1, followed by a couple other potential causes.”  I leaned forward, “what’s #2?”  He answered, “Stress.”  I didn’t feel any need to ask about #3; the conversation turned another direction from there.

He warned me that one treatment wouldn’t be viable.  I would need to commit to at least 3 treatments, to which I readily agreed.  He inserted several needles and immediately I felt relief.  He chattered about the different treatments-pain relief or symptom cure-listed on his intake form.  Not being an acupuncture specialist, I had checked the box stating, “Whichever the doctor recommends” so we agreed on both pain relief and addressing and curing the cause of the blockage(s).

One day later as I luxuriated in all the TV coverage of the inauguration of our 44th United States’ President, it dawned on me.  Of course!  We, in the United States of America were in pain of one sort or another-lost job, foreclosed home, inability to afford health care, failure to sell our homes, battered investment portfolios, general depression or dismay at our downward slide as a nation on so many fronts.

We had managed to obstruct the healthy circulation of money in our banking systems and on Wall Street.  We had also managed to obstruct the healthy circulation of truth and honor in our government such that we were as a nation suffering from VERY poor circulation indeed.  Our collective organs were suffering and our muscles weakened.

The powerful Wall Street executives had blocked the flow of capital; lies had obstructed and narrowed the flow of truth, such that we were plenty diseased, and plenty pained.  No longer is that pain reserved primarily for ENRON, WorldCom, Lucent or Lehman employees.  I hearken back to April 13, 1958 when Harry Truman stated in the Observer, “It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.” Ouch!  Indeed our nation and many of her people are pained amidst disease; the perfect storm of the confluence of our financial, regulatory and government impotency and failures.

Yet on this day, this 20th day of January, we gathered together-amidst our pain-in spirit and flesh to witness the swearing in of Barack Obama, the people’s president.

Over a million (maybe 2) people-some famous, most commoners–somehow planned ahead, fought traffic and security check points, and reassured their bodies of their warmth amidst freezing cold temperatures, to attend.  No, they weren’t crazy; they were committed.  They exchanged emails and texts and formed community in a few short hours.

I digress to the analogy that we rally behind our athletic teams or sport stars because it interests us, and it focuses us/joins us together, we share a common bond.  We’ll not be “in their league” yet we find ways to relate.  I, for one, bought a #10 NY Giants Official NFL blue jersey after watching Eli Manning deftly dodge that sea of New England Patriots’ defenders last Super Bowl and I don it when I need or want a confidence boost.

Somehow however I felt differently about an Obama jersey…kinda like it wasn’t adequately “befitting” to honor my President by wearing his image on a jersey.  Mind you, I don’t begrudge anyone’s buying Obama paraphernalia-God knows the economy sorely needs consumer spending-and moreover it certainly did seem to unite people, allowing folks to display their unwavering support.

Yes he is; President that is.  Yes, this President IS different.  In the past weeks, we’ve seen a man who despite his polish and cloak of calm, chattered freely about the verdict on what breed of dog that he and Michelle will give to Malia and Sasha, to fulfill their campaign promise.  We’ve seen a man who despite the continued swirl of economic ills and world unrest since his resounding victory on November 4th reminded us respectfully that we have only “One president at a time.”  We’ve seen a President-Elect that has been uncharacteristically committed to bi-partisanship within his cabinet.  And on the eve of the Inauguration President-Elect Obama graciously hosted a dinner honoring his general election rival, John McCain.

This time we see a President who more than tapped into young people’s social networking-he actually evoked and enlisted the interest of our youth and they responded….VOILA!  Mutuality at work.  I’m jumping ahead of myself here, yet as President Barack & Michele Obama danced at the Inauguration Youth Ball-wasn’t that a 1st?-he paid a very gracious and more-than-fitting thank you to those under age 35 in his speech.  Apparently his new interactive White House website (another first) was up before he even uttered the oath.

Yes, this Inauguration was different.  While millions watched what otherwise was an expertly choreographed MEGA event (during which not 1 arrest was made) it was the brilliant Chief Justice John Roberts who flubbed” his once-memorized 35 word President’s oath of office.  Wasn’t that graceful how Barack stopped, allowing the Chief Justice to correct himself?  I think Barack’s rolling with Roberts’ colossal misstep bodes confidence for his handling future “mistakes”.

The speech was crafted with Kennedy, Lincoln and FDR overtones and was delivered with a masterful balance of force and feeling.  It was a speech that expertly addressed both the pain and the proposed symptom cures.  Forget the nation’s expectations.  Forget Black American’s expectations.  Forget non-black American’s expectations.  Malia’s words delivered to her father atop the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last weekend were, “First African-American President.  Better be good!”

The media nearly immediately fed us the line, “not a Home Run acceptance speech” which I will comment on in a separate blog.  “He got millions there,” one commentator aptly retorted.  Malia beamed.  Even my father, a right-wing Christian fundamentalist, who surely has voted Republican every election including this one, uttered “good job” immediately after Obama uttered, “God bless the United States of America.”  I was so moved and relieved—THAT gave me hope right there in my own living room!  A `Morrison microcosm’ of hope over fear that regardless of whomever we campaigned or voted for, we can indeed put aside our differences and come together as one nation under God.

Debra L. Morrison
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/inauguration-provided-much-needed-pain-relief-745923.html

After the election, I wrote about the ineffective pastel blue ties that currently permeate Washington. Both President-elect Obama and VP-elect Biden wore pastel blue ties for their first press conference after winning the election. The blog was entitled “Barack Obama States that CHANGE IS COMING. If Only He Meant That Blue Tie!” Two weeks later, Wendy Donahue wrote an article for The Chicago Tribune entitled “Obama’s Call for Change Doesn’t Extend to His Blue Ties.” Hmm…Although I don’t mind the apparent parallels in our choice of words, I am troubled when she deems “powder blue as the new power red”.

While there may be an art to style, there is a definite science to color, and to color psychology. It’s time to face up to the fact that the baby blue tie Bush made popular is not a good choice for a strong world leader. It is a pastel, and pastels suggest passiveness. It is wimpy! It might be an appropriate tie to wear if you were an insurance salesman calling on the widow of your client, hoping that she would choose you to invest the money she received from your insurance company.  So a power tie would make you look too “businesslike” and less compassionate for her situation.  

What President-elect Obama needs to project is strength to guide this nation through the tough times ahead. Just as young teens don’t really want their teachers to dress like they do for “identification,” neither do we need a president to dress sweet and kind given America‘s current situation. Teachers need to look big and strong so they can challenge bullies. Presidents need to do the same.

The darker the color, the higher the authority, so a better “blue tie” would be a striped version with a small navy blue or black stripe alongside a wider stripe with a Chinese blue, for example, instead of the pastel blue that pervades the scene today. Chinese blue is super-friendly but not wimpy, and the dark blue stripe would give the blue greater substance and authority. I would also suggest Obama continue to wear navy blue suits; that would provide plenty of “blue for trust.” I salute his choice of a dark red tie, but true red ties are still appropriate for the Commander in Chief. Purple ties in classy shades are also a good choice, since purple is a regal color. Other good choices are the newer shades in the raspberry family, particularly those that are close to maroon.

Red needn’t be an aggressive color. Donahue’s article quotes several people saying red is bad, “bullish” and belligerent. One even said “I seriously doubt that he will need to drag out the red tie too often going forward, and hope that he chooses not to.” Red is not evil, the notion that it should be banished is impractical; colors have both positive and negative connotations. Obama is our President-elect, and so should look presidential. While pastel blue ties may be “in fashion”, they do not convey the authority, courage and assertiveness – traits we sorely need in our leaders right now – that are positively associated with red.

A tie is the only place where a man can make a statement. Pastel colors do not make statements, and are best kept for the country club or Palm Beach. Barack Obama has probably the most difficult agenda ever handed to an incoming president. He has already shown his self-confidence in his Cabinet choices: strong-willed, brilliant individuals that he must inspire with loyalty and conviction for his vision. Although a powder blue tie won’t doom those prospects, I guarantee it won’t help either.

Sandy Dumont
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/washington-needs-to-give-up-the-blue-tie-affair-674460.html

Since the election of Barack Obama, Viscape – the world’s first Web site to combine vacation home search, real estate, travel planning, and social networking – has announced the availability of more than 300 Washington, D.C.-area affordable rental homes and housing swaps for the upcoming presidential inauguration. Viscape has seen a 1,000 percent increase in D.C. rental property listings and DC destination page views. Community members for the site continue to add short-term and vacation rental properties daily and travelers continue to discover reliable and affordable deals for their inauguration stay.

“Many Obama supporters and political enthusiasts want to travel to D.C. for the inauguration, but haven’t found a way to fit the trip into their budget. Viscape wants people to know that ‘yes you can’ make the trip, you just have to be creative,” said Caroline Allison, president of Viscape. “Viscape provides travelers with non-traditional, affordable housing options throughout the Washington, D.C. area and offers a place to connect with other people looking to travel to the inauguration.”

Obama’s inauguration is expected to draw a crowd of more than one million to Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas.  There are approximately 90,000 hotel rooms in the Washington, D.C. area, with the majority of those rooms booked months ago. With more than 300 available rental properties listed on www.viscape.com , Viscape is confident that anyone wishing to travel to DC can find suitable options on the site. Currently, rental properties hold anywhere from two to 20 people and rent from as low as $41 to more than $3,000 per night.

Viscape realizes that people may have never rented their home to travelers, and many travelers have never stayed in a rental home or participated in a swap. To assist renters, swappers and travelers through the process, the Viscape blog (http://blog.viscape.com) is offering relevant information and tips leading up to the inauguration. For travelers, the blog provides suggestions on how to plan an affordable inauguration trip and an attractions map with markers designating inauguration events.  For private Washington home owners, the Viscape blog will provide rental tips and suggestions to ensure a smooth and intelligent transaction.  Lastly, Viscape will offer tips for locals hoping to swap homes or travelers on a budget and will provide home-swapping and home-sharing advice while connecting people from all over the world. 

For more information or to find affordable Washington D.C. rental properties, please visit www.Viscape.com or Viscape’s blog at http://blog.viscape.com.

About Viscape:

Based in Arlington, Virginia, Viscape.com is a next generation social marketplace for vacation properties and second homes, where travelers can connect with other passionate travelers. Use Viscape to list properties free for sale, rent, or swap. 

Bradley Jackson
http://www.articlesbase.com/vacation-rentals-articles/are-you-one-of-the-million-people-traveling-to-washington-dc-for-the-obama-inauguration-you-need-to-read-this-717288.html

Hip-hop heavyweight Kanye West has publically shown his support for president-elect Barack Obama ever since the senator from Illinois announced his decision to run for president earlier this year, and West is nothing but floored coming out of Obama’s victorious campaign this week. Paying tribute to the Obama campaign, West wrote the words “Hi Mom, Obama Won!” on his website’s blog, a touching move from the rapper whose mother Donda passed away less than a year ago after complications with surgery.

Other fervent Obama supporters in the hip-hop community include artists Will.i.am, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Stevie Wonder, Will Smith, Q-Tip, John Legend, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Ludacris, Common, Mos Def, Ne-Yo, Nas, Young Jeezy, the Game, Herbie Hancock, Usher and more. Chicago talk show guru Oprah Winfrey has also been a supporting figure in the Obama campaign, and she was in attendance at Grant Park in Chicago Tuesday night as Barack Obama made his historic election speech. Brad Pitt was also in the crowd, and several other public figures celebrated Obama’s victory on television programs, websites and interviews as the presidential election concluded. Kanye West’s declaration on his website was one of many, but the shout-out to his late mother was one of the most memorable notes of Obama excitement.

West, a Chicago, Illinois native, has been incredibly involved in the presidential campaign this year, but before he was dominating the music (and now, political) scene, the fresh rapper was blazing through the Midwest with his hip-hop talent and unrelenting perseverance. West first burst on the music scene in the late ’90s and early ’00s, getting his foot in the door by appearing on Jay-Z’s Blueprint album. West’s 2004 album The College Dropout was the massive success the rapper had been waiting for, and songs like “Jesus Walks” and “Slow Jamz” placed the name Kanye West among the big dogs in the hip-hop industry.

Since 2004, Kanye West has recorded and released several number ones on the Billboard charts ranging from “Gold Digger” and “Good Life” to “Stronger,” also garnering eight Grammy Awards in the wake of his musical peak. The rapper’s confident feel-good anthems have dominated radio waves and television channels for several years now, and he’s been rocking out live performances to everyone with Kanye West tickets just as long. If you haven’t heard West’s live rendition of “Stronger” in concert, head over to http://www.stubhub.com/kanye-west-tickets/ and discover the Kanye West magic for yourself.

Aside from producing some of the most powerful hip-hop music on the scene these days, West has also become a fearless public icon in the media for anything and everything he believes in. The rapper has been tapped on camera saying that George Bush doesn’t care about black people in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, also depicted as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and now his strong support for president-elect Barack Obama has earned him some time in the spotlight, as well. West is still busy performing and supporting his new album 808s & Heartbreak, and the rapper hasn’t shown any signs of a slowdown.

Jenna Jay
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/kanye-west-tickets-locking-down-love-for-obama-684283.html

When asked which of the Caribbean islands is the most beautiful, the debate is endless and almost always without consensus. Barack Obama may well change that. Very few travelers who have hiked the trails through La Sierra de los Organos to the spectacular Vinales Valley , or strolled the white sands of Varandne will vote for anyplace other than Cuba . The only factor standing between Cuba being a travel destination of choice for the U.S. traveler is of course, the U.S. Policy toward Cuba .

But what if the U.S. Policy would change? What are the implications for Cuba , as well as the Bahamas and the Caribbean nations whose economies depend almost entirely on tourism? When Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009, there will be change. Only the nature and pace of the change is as of yet unknown.

During a campaign swing through Miami , celebrating Cuban Independence Day, Obama said, “My policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: ‘libertad,’ the Spanish word for liberty. His promise to the Cuban-Americans was to lower travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans visiting family members, plus an increase in the allowable money transfers to Cuba . Many expect this promise to be honored in the first 30 days of the Obama Presidency. He is also expected to expand the people-to-people exchange policy initiated by the Clinton administration, and all but eliminated under the Bush administration. The number of academics, church groups, students and other groups without commercial purpose traveling to Cuba would increase dramatically.

The real question is whether Raul Castro will respond favorably to these changes in U.S. Policy and begin his own policy changes affording the Cuban populace more personal liberties. If that door opens would Obama and the U.S. Congress consider lifting the embargo and allowing unlimited commercial and personal travel? And what would that mean?

The U.S. traveler will win; Cuba ‘s economy will win, but I wonder what of the other countries of the Caribbean and their need for the tourist dollar? Is there enough to go around? While the residents of the Bahamas and the Caribbean countries overwhelming favored Obama for president, citing “change” as the critical factor, many experts are concerned harder times are coming for the tourism industry. These difficult times would only be exacerbated by an increase in Cuban tourism.

Furthermore, the government coffers of many Caribbean countries have grown fat with the influx of high end resort developments spending, and promises to spend, hundreds of millions of dollars to develop large tracts of land, often very remote, into high end developments featuring golf courses, casinos and marinas built for the largest luxury yacht. These vacation, investment or second homes often are priced well over a million dollars. A cornerstone of the Obama campaign was his promise to raise income taxes for anybody who could afford one of these properties. An entry from an expat blog, the Belize Gringo, “………the tax reforms that Obama plans to put in place would severely cut the disposable income that this income tax bracket previously spent on vacationing and investing in Belize ” is representative of the concern.

For those Caribbean countries whose financial and banking sectors generate a significant source of national income, Obama policies may also have an impact. He is a staunch supporter of eliminating tax havens in the Caribbean , having proposed the “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Bill” while in the Senate. The French and Germans have suggested a primary blame for the world wide banking crisis is the existence of these tax havens and have discussed embargos to force change. It would be strange world if at the end of the Obama presidency the trade and travel restrictions now imposed on Cuba have been moved to the Caymans and other “tax havens.”

The first ninety days of any presidency is often viewed as a measuring stick for the next four years. No group will be watching the Obama Presidency closer than the Caribbean community.

Roger Washburn
http://www.articlesbase.com/hotels-articles/the-obama-factor-tourism-in-the-caribbean-673852.html

Did you know that the former mayor of San Jose, Tom McEnery started his own blog on the San Jose inside site? The former mayor began his blog as a way to communicate with the residents of San Jose about the goings on in their city and to let them know what he was thinking and concerned about. The site also features a humor column and a very popular column called “Single Gal” the author of which is rumored to be part of the McEnery family.

The fact that the San Jose mayor had a blog through which he could communicate candidly with his constituents is amazing, especially considering the fact that a few years ago most people considered blogging to be a fad. Guess what—it looks like blogging is here to stay. If you aren’t convinced, consider the fact that President Obama’s administration has a blog of their own, contained on whitehouse.gov.

But this post is about San Jose’s Tom McEnery’s blog.

The blog is part of a larger site called San Jose Inside, which is an up close and personal look at the city of San Jose and what goes on within its borders. The site features quite a few columnists including Eric Johnson, Dan Pulcrano, Gary Singh, Leonard McKay and—obviously—Tom McEnery.

Tom McEnery’s blog is far from pigeonholed. He has posted several times about a trip to Saigon. He wrote about the city of San Jose’s New Year’s resolutions, which involve revitalizing the downtown neighborhood, the continuing refurbishing of Bart and cutting back on the crime that used to plague the BART stop.

Commenters frequently leave notes and opinions on his writing. Not all agree with him, which is nice to see and most of the conversation appears intelligent and informed.

Often it is President Obama who is given credit for promoting an air of transparency in all forms of government. He pledged that the American people would never have to wonder what was going on in Washington and that he would always ask the people their opinions before making decisions. It is nice to note that some public officials have been doing this for a long time. San Jose is just one of the towns in which the Mayor has regular posts on the internet. Many cities have pages devoted to their public officials’ communications.

As far as we can tell the new mayor of San Jose, Chuck Reed, does not have nor does he have future plans for a self-written blog. It is good to know that the former mayor shows no signs of leaving his blogging days behind and will continue to work for the betterment of San Jose residents even though he has officially handed the mayoral hat over to someone else.

Do you think that Chuck Reed should start his own blog? Are you a fan of Tom McEnery’s blog? Do you think the government should be completely transparent or do some shadows need to be retained?

For more information on San Jose, visit http://www.sanjosemicroblog.com and http://www.pomonamicroblog.com.

John Parks
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/former-san-jose-mayors-blog-slowing-down-756202.html