Jade Simmons - Talent To Spare

I believe that everyone has a talent for something. Sometimes we have to search for it. Sometimes it is immediately apparent. For most of us, we are gifted in a particular way and, hopefully, we work on perfecting our use of that gift to benefit others. However, there are a few people who seem to have had the "talent bucket" spilled upon them. Jade Simmons is one of those people. She is an exciting, inventive, superb pianist; an engaging, humorous, passionate speaker and educator; a diverse and energetic choreographer and percussionist; and a vibrant, inspiring designer and artist. I may have forgotten a talent or two. For this, I offer my sincere apologies to Ms. Simmons. The main point of this post, however, is not to heap praise upon her but to encourage you to see her. If she is coming to your area during her tour, don't miss her. No matter your age, she will entertain and amaze you with the talent she has so wonderfully honed and generously shares. If you are a young person who can take part in her master classes or hear her speak, do not cheat yourself by missing that opportunity. Connect in some way with Jade Simmons and you will come away a better person. And, if by chance you see this post, Ms. Simmons, Thank You, (again) for coming to Lewistown, PA! (from the guy who yelled out his van window in the high school parking lot)
Technorati Tags: Jade Simmons, pianist, educator, speaker, designer, artist, choreographer, percussionist

War in Iraq - Clock

2065 Days since the start of the War in Iraq

U.S. Military Casualties since the start of the War in Iraq

(Includes casualties from fighting in Afghanistan)

Deaths - 4828

Wounded - 30802

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Gulf War Illness Is REAL

FINALLY, the Congress mandated "Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses" has determined that approximately one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the Gulf War suffer from "Gulf War Illness." Eighteen years after the war ended, we finally have a thorough reporting of the illnesses that over 170,000 Gulf War One vets have been experiencing for almost two decades. Perhaps now there will be a serious effort by the medical community to find cures for these brave men and women. President George W. Bush has said that he is most proud of leading the selfless men and women in the United States Armed Forces during a time of war. Certainly, he should be most shamed by the lack of care that these same selfless men and women have received before, during, and after he and his father sent them into combat. By the way, CNN was afraid to post these comments in the "comments" section listed below the story on its website: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/gulf.war.illness.study/index.html?

War in Iraq - Clock

2055 Days since the start of the War in Iraq

U.S. Military Casualties since the start of the War in Iraq

(Includes casualties from fighting in Afghanistan)

Deaths - 4817

Wounded - 30802

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Republicans Dig The Hole - Democrats Look For Way To Climb Out

What is it with this country? The Republicans have been making it very clear with their last 3 presidents. They will completely abandon the party platform to spend us into HUGE deficits, engage in preemptive strikes to start wars, trounce our individual liberties for more centralized power, and hand hundreds of billions of dollars to corporations and the wealthy. Yet, Americans will COMPLETELY IGNORE these facts and elect the Republicans back into power after DEMOCRATS balance the budget, reform welfare, improve our infrastructure, and keep us at peace.

It's remarkable! No matter how many times the Republicans break their promises of "small government, balanced budgets, and a strong economy," the citizens of this country keep getting suckered and voting them back into power. It's as if the country has "Attention Deficit Disorder" and cannot remember what happened during the last president's term. This country really is easily distracted from the truth and from the issues of national importance. The population becomes wrapped up with the sex life of a president and ignores the gains made in the economy, schools, and healthcare.

So, here we are again. This time, we are left with at least $1,500,000,000,000 in debt. There is at least $800,000,000,000 of debt from the war in Iraq, and another $700,000,000,000 more to bailout the banks and mortgage companies. THANK YOU, REPUBLICANS! Can we dig out from under it? Yes, We Can! Will the country remember how difficult it was and demand that Republicans return to their platform before they elect them back into power? If history is an indicator, I doubt it. The electorate will find some trivial reason for ignoring the big picture and put the deficit spending, liberty raping Republicans right back in the White House to do it again.

ADDENDUM: From today's headlines...
(CBS/AP) Long-term jobless claims reached 3.84 million, a 25-year high, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Prior to this report, government data showed that retail sales in October sank to it's worst showing since 1969. Worker productivity slowed down by 3.6 percent, the Labor Department reported.

Limbaugh Shows His Rascism

Yesterday, I caught just a few minutes of the Rush Limbaugh show, which I have not heard for over a decade. In just the few minutes that I listened, he said that people in Philadelphia who dared not to vote for Barack Obama needed to be afraid of being attacked by the "Black Panthers." Is this where Rush Limbaugh has gone - to blatant race baiting? The last time I heard his show was when Bill Clinton was president. I did not like him then either, but at least he was able to use intelligence and humor to get his point across. Now, apparently, his intellect is sinking or he is feeling so desperate that he believes race baiting is the only way to make his point and save his ratings, which are no where near what they were in the 1990's. It appears that Limbaugh is now just a washed-up, irrelevant mouthpiece for the neo-cons.

Barack Obama Elected President of the United States of America!

YES WE CAN !!!