One Useful Election Take Away

The PEW Internet Project reports that social media played a major role in this election. If your organization or business is not communicating via social media and following what your members and / or customers are saying via social media, please consider doing so. Go here for more of the story about emarketing: http://www.mktcom.net

Election = Grassroots Works

The recent election did give us at least one certainty: Internet empowered (social media) grassroots organization works.

Taking this observation to heart, I propose we now have a chance to Do Things Differently and change the USA for the better. America.2, the New American Dream, implemented locally via grassroots organizations is one step in that direction.

My Heart Weeps

My heart weeps for the people of the east coast USA: New Jersey, New York, the Carolinas, Virginia, all of New England and inland, too - Pennsylvania and Canada. The devastation is mind-blowing; Sandy’s wrath over the past few days has left thousands homeless, businesses closed and millions without power.

Those who love their families know that they can not stand by while nature rips their lives apart.

What can we do differently this time to at least try to prepare for the next natural disaster? Isn’t there something we can do?

Yes, there is.

There is one major action step we can take. We can convert to distributed power generation and move away from total reliance on 1900s technology – central power generation.

Let’s begin to minimize our vulnerability by employing the technology which is at hand. Each home and business can now generate sufficient power to meet electrical needs without drawing on power from the local power plant. Yes, even in sun deprived areas, too.

We know there will be more bad weather events in the future. It’s time to apply our intelligence and our technology to take the steps to protect those we love.

Distributed power generation is one step we must take. We can no longer wait. We must begin now.

Go here for the Charlie Rose interview of Jeremy Rifkin, the Third Industrial Revolution:

http://www.encoreboomer.com/encore_boomer_energy.html#rifkin

And, here for the IKEA story:

http://www.encoreboomer.com/encore_boomer_energy.html#ikea

 

America.2, The New American Dream

You have the Power!

Do you know you can out tea party the most extreme tea party people; out conservative the most ardent conservative and out liberal even the most zealous liberal? You can also even out capitalist the most despicable, Wall Street, avarice-prone “banker”, too.

 America.2 is the second American revolutionary plan. It’s a revision of the 1776 version which created the USA and you are one of the revolutionaries who will change our world for the better today by implementing it. Together, we will do no harm in the process; maintain local, hands-on control of every phase of the programs; and realize the financial results it creates in our hometowns.

America.2, The New American Dream

How? In America.2 we have fundamentally combined the “best” philosophical foundations of all the political factions bucking heads today and melded them into a revolutionary action plan. It is a plan which will spark our new economy, employ our people in “American Dream” sustaining jobs; reduce healthcare costs; and improve our quality of life.

America.2 is a “go-to-the-moon”, radical, earth changing plan. It’s exciting and inspiring. It’s to live for; it is for your children and your grandchildren.

It’s more tea party than any vehement tea partier ever imagined because it puts personal responsibility securely in the hands of the people.

It’s more conservative than the most profoundly conservative-at-the-core person because it resuscitates local control over energy and healthcare while it minimizes international corporations and federal government meddling.

It’s more liberal than the most zealous liberal could possible imagine because every step of the plan ensures that no harm is done to any person or to our environment while together we create the highest quality of life for all.

Finally, as for those avarice-prone banker / wall streeters, local control translates into: “we keep our eyes on our wallets; and, invest the plan’s resulting wealth in our own hometowns.

Read about America.2 here: http://www.encoreboomer.com/encore_boomer_about.html#plan

Join With Us - No Matter Who Wins

In the U.S. no matter who wins this November we still have a mission: make our world a better place in which to live.

As a foundation, we base our mission on the pledge: “Primum non nocere” First, do no harm.

By first making sure we do no harm we ensure that each step we take will help all of us and the world in which we live together.

To move toward achieving our mission, I propose a plan and ask your input and dedication to the cause. Please go here to read the plan.

As a member of the boomer generation, I recognize that my days on this earth are time-limited. I also recognize that ultimately I am the master of those days and may choose to direct them as I wish.

I choose to direct my remaining time to achieving our mission.
Please join with us in the Encore Boomer Mission.

Joining is free and not limited to being a Boomer, either. Making the world a better place in which to live requires your day- by-day dedication.

Today, Do What Matters Most

Here’s a novel idea. What if you knew for certain that you had little time left on this earth? What would you do with the days, assuming you’d be granted them?

Recently, after overcoming my negative attitude (or, more likely, months of procrastination) I finally visited one of the U.S. government’s old people websites — you know — Social Security and Medicare.

I’ll skip my: “Who Me? I’m Not Old” diatribe and present my point.

I discovered this “app” on Social Security Online http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/population/longevity.html and entered my gender and birth date. The resulting number brought me back to reality. On average, people of my age and gender have about 20.2 years remaining on this earth.

That’s 20.2 years, barring the world ending or a catastrophic event of some type or another does not intervene. 20.2 years?

Yes.

Why should I be surprised? In the days of youth, due to intervening national agenda items, like the draft and the Vietnam War, I actually did not believe I’d see my 26^th birthday. A few of my high school friends didn’t. Most of the guys in my basic training company were sent to a few weeks of infantry training and then to Vietnam as replacements, right from Fort Polk, LA.

I followed up a few years later and learned most didn’t come home, either —including the drill instructors, too. They already had earned their Combat Infantry badges, but “The Man” wasn’t satisfied and wanted their lives, too.

That was a long time ago.

Back then I decided to concentrate on the things that were in my power to “control”.

The difference between now and then is: today I accept the fact of life that my time here is not unlimited and I may not have another day.

I intend to use every second doing what is most important.

Lights, Please

After months of campaigning and millions of dollars in misleading advertising, most of it outright lies, it’s time for someone to turn the lights on, reveal the garbage for what it is, push it out of the way, and get about doing the business of serving the best interests of the people of the United States.

Good idea, right?

Well, yes, but, hold on a tiny bit. There is just one more thing.

We left a little unfinished business on the table a while ago… that banker stuff… you know… that $7 trillion in home and small business real property equity that is among the disappeared… the thing about “out of control” derivatives, i.e. credit default swaps… and a few other "banker-related" things like fraud.

Well, what can be done?

Fortunately, Robert Reich has a few suggestions to bring us back to correcting some inequities and begin to feed some fuel to our economic engine. For instance: “President Obama should propose that the nation's biggest banks be broken up and their size capped, and that the Glass-Steagall Act be resurrected.” (Please see below.)

Unless you are a member of the top 1% of the US population, there is no reason for you to vote against your self-interest and the interests of those you hold most dear, as well. We all should be voting to return President Obama for another term, if only because he is our best hope of the two candidates for turning the lights on the "banker" issue. Most everyone, save Ann Romney, can see the logic here.

In point of fact... it's really even in the interests of the 1%ers to vote for President Obama, as well. If I were a 1%er I'd want to preserve all that gold in my basement. And, the best way to do that is to do as a former friend says, "...throw a few bones to the undeserving drones, make them feel rewarded," and permit them to make a “living” so they can spend what little we “give” them. That will stimulate the consumer side of the economy once again and we can make even more wealth from their reckless spending and foolishly stupid credit card debt.

Otherwise, the drones (we), might begin to figure things out, open their (our) eyes, and try to equalize things a little bitty bit.

How Obama Can Smoke Out Mitt: Call for Breaking Up the Biggest Banks, and Resurrecting Glass-Steagall

By Robert Reich
Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, Beyond Outrage

Posted: 10/18/2012 11:27 pm Huffington Post

President Obama should propose that the nation's biggest banks be broken up and their size capped, and that the Glass-Steagall Act be resurrected.

It's good policy, and it would smoke out Mitt Romney as being of, by, and for Wall Street -- and not on the side of average Americans.

It would also remind America that five years ago Wall Street's excesses almost ruined the economy. Bankers, hedge-fund managers, and private-equity traders speculated on the upside, then shorted on the downside -- in a vast zero-sum game that resulted in the largest transfer of wealth from average Americans to financial elites ever witnessed in this nation's history.

Most of us lost big -- including over $7 trillion of home values, a $700-billion-dollar bailout of Wall Street, and continuing high unemployment.

But the top 1 percent have done just fine. In the first year of the recovery they reaped 93 percent of the gains. The latest data show them back with 20 to 25 percent of the nation's total income -- just where they were in 2007.

The stock market has about caught up to where it was before the crash. The pay and bonuses on the Street are once again sky-high. So are the pay and perks of top corporate executives. The Forbes list of richest Americans contains more billionaires than ever.

And the tax rates of the top 1 percent are lower than ever -- courtesy of their armies of lobbyists.

Mitt Romney, private equity manager and financier -- well within the top one-tenth of 1 percent, collecting more than $20 million a year yet paying 14 percent in taxes because of tax preferences for capital gains and for private-equity -- is the avatar for all that's happened.

Just like the rest of the Street, Romney used other peoples' money to make big bets, leveraging like mad, pumping and then dumping companies regardless of the human costs.

Worse, Romney wants to cut taxes even further on the top 1 percent -- giving them the lion's share of a $4.7 trillion tax cut -- while shredding safety nets the rest of us rely on.

And he wants to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act that goes some way to preventing the worst excesses of the Street.

And this man has an almost 50-50 chance of becoming president?

The President should counter Romney's extraordinary solicitude toward the Street with a proposal to cap the size of the nation's biggest banks so that no bank is ever again too big to fail. And to resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act, which once separated commercial from investment banking.

In the 1980s the ten biggest banks had less than 30 percent of bank depositary assets. Now they have 54 percent. And the four biggest now dominate the Street almost completely. Because lenders and investors know they're too big to fail, the four biggest banks have a competitive advantage over smaller rivals that pose larger financial risks. That means they'll only get bigger.

Breaking up the biggest banks and capping the size of all banks is hardly a radical suggestion these days. The Dallas Federal Reserve Board, which has never been accused of excessive liberalism, has called for it. So has Sanford Weill, the creator of Citigroup, one of the biggest of the big. So has Daniel Tarullo, the Federal Reserve governor charged with bank regulation. So have conservative commentators such as George Will.

It's not too late for the President to advocate these measures. In fact, now may be the perfect time. Besides, it's not as if Wall Street is going to pour campaign contributions into Obama's coffers anyway; the Street is going with Mitt.

Calling for a breakup of the biggest banks and a resurrection of Glass Steagall would smoke out Mitt Romney -- revealing clearly and decisively he's not on the side of most Americans.

ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock" and "The Work of Nations." His latest is an e-book, "Beyond Outrage," now available in paperback. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/obama-glass-steagall_b_1983777.html

Dear Mr. President...

After reading that the President said he was "too polite" in his debate with Mr. Romney, I had this horrendous nightmare... Mr. Romney, President of the United States, commander of the newly empowered, witch-hunting Tea Party, the FBI, the CIA and the U.S. Military about to "neutralize” the Russians, the Chinese, the whole middle east, plus every registered Democrat, the elderly and people with Latino sounding names… and the French, too… just because he can.

So, I wrote the President a note:

Dear Mr. President,
I have the most respect for you, sir. You have retained your soul and your humanistic compass while serving as our President. For me that is Job One - serve the people - because we know very few in office actually do that.

Job Two is to defend us, and you, from those who have sold their souls and lost their moral direction so that our families might have a fighting chance.

You must never forget that if you lose, we really lose – big time.

Mr. Romney made a major part of his fortune selling cancer-causing cigarettes to the Russian people and a great deal of the remainder selling out the jobs of everyday Joes and Janes to the highest bidder – after ensuring that his gold was "in the bank".

What will he do with the power of the presidency of the United States?

Be polite one more time and Mr. Romney and his 1% supporters will cut your heart out and put your head on a pike – along with ours – the 99%.

My Brother's Note

My brother sent me a link to a tremendous story about heroes, PRI's The World, "History Detectives Help Return Soldiers Diary To Vietnamese Family".

Items belonging to Vietnamese soldier Vu Dinh Doan rest on a table during a handover ceremony in Cay village. (Photo: REUTERS/Kham) Please click on the image and go to: "History Detectives Help Return Soldiers Diary To Vietnamese Family"

The story reminded me about asking our father what among all his WWII memories he felt most positive. He told the story of one night digging his foxhole and remembering a barn not too far away. He went alone to the barn looking for some straw to line his foxhole. He found some, slung his rifle on his back, and filled his arms with straw.

While leaving the barn, two German soldiers came up to him. They had their rifles ready. Dad thought he was dead. But the Germans had something else on their minds. Seeing him, they indicated they wanted to surrender. They couldn’t speak English and he couldn’t speak German. Dad gestured for them to follow him back to the American lines. They all made it back to his unit. Dad must have convinced his buddies that the Germans were surrendering and not to shoot them. That’s what our father remembered as being most positive about his war… to this day I am so honored to have had Dad in my life. He was a hero in so many ways - like the men in this History Detectives, PRI The World story.

A $Trillion here, a $Trillion there…

Don’t you agree? We need accountable-to-us leaders to steer our national boat, Our USA, toward objectives that make a difference to us, the 99%, (the people who create wealth) such as: sustainable energy, sustainable health care, living-wage jobs, and education.

PBS Need To Know - The True Cost of the Bank Bailout - $12.8 Trillion (Please click on the image below to see video report via PBS.)

 PBS Need To Know The True Cost of the Bank Bailout $12.8 Trillion

Way to Go Canada!

There is a great deal to admire about Canadians. One thing is that the Canadians are sharp, as in highly intelligent, in a wonderfully easy going way. Not braggadocios nor arrogant by a long shot, our Canadian friends deserve credit for doing the right energy thing for their people - something a large portion of the USA “R” side of the political spectrum seems to find repulsive.

What have the Canadians accomplished? How about: “an unprecedented $7 billion private sector investment in Ontario to create the largest cluster of wind and solar power anywhere on the planet.”

Here's the story: Samsung C&T, together with some of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, "under Samsung’s Green Energy Investment Agreement with the Government of Ontario, will create 16,000 jobs, kick-start a new industry in Ontario and generate 2,500 megawatts of clean energy – enough to power 600,000 Ontario homes."

Not that it’s been an easy road to this tremendous accomplishment, because the Canadian wing of the anti-sustainable energy people still are hard at work trying to sidetrack solar and wind energy development.

Go here for press info: http://www.samsungrenewableenergy.ca/latest-news and here for how the Canadians are working to make this investment pay dividends: the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) http://www.ontario-sea.org/ and please take a look at Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan, “Building Our Clean Energy Future”. (PDF)

 Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA)

AttaBoys Humana & Walmat! for First Healthy Foods Incentive Program

In what could become the beginning of a "game changing" healthy living trend, insurance provider Humana and mega-store Walmart announced (19 Sept 2012) a joint program to encourage one million members of Humana's wellness program, HumanaVitality, to purchase healthy groceries. Beginning 15 Oct, members will receive a 5% discount on purchases of healthy foods labeled with a “Great for You” icon."

The program's objective is to: "steer customers toward healthier food choices and potentially push down health-care costs — while driving people into Walmart stores".

With more than 40 years marketing experience, I believe this program is not only in the best interests of customers, but also a smart marketing move, that is, in the corporation's interest, too. It's also an excellent example of the "good" side of American-style capitalism.

Go here to read The Washington Post story, "New Humana program rewards purchase of healthy groceries", by Sarah Kliff, http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-humana-program-rewards-purchase-of-healthy-groceries/2012/09/19/9f3473f8-028e-11e2-8102-ebee9c66e190_story.html?hpid=z3

Dilly Dally, Mitch McConnell... Same Person?!

Am I wrong? Or, does Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell look like famed TV star Dilly Dally from the 50s Howdy Doody Show? You be the judge! For more insight, click on the image and watch this clip from the show: (Sorry, the "Dilly Dally can't remember clip" is no longer available. The core is that Dilly Dally never remembers. For me, that's proof enough that Dilly's lookalike will continue not to remember that he is in Washington, D.C. to work for the people of the USA and not at the beck and call of Mr. Grover Norquist.)

O.K. I know you're wondering about the Howdy Doody Show... so go here for a few moments of pure snap, crackle and pop nostalgic heaven!

James Carter IV Hero Award

Only Do Good for Humanity

Incase you didn’t see this, it was a Carter who is responsible for getting the video of  Romney to the Mother Jones reporter. Therefore, James Carter IV has earned the Only Do Good for Humanity award.

I call Carter's work  “divine intervention.”

Jimmy Carter is a great man. He has a soul.

Romney must have forgotten his soul amidst his stash of gold bars in his basement.

Jimmy Carter’s grandson describes furtive efforts to arrange release of secret Romney video
By Associated Press, Published: September 18AP

 WASHINGTON — Midway through a routine Internet search, James Carter IV stumbled upon a video that just didn’t seem right.

The grandson of former President Jimmy Carter and a self-fashioned Democratic opposition researcher, the younger Carter had watched countless hours of footage of Republican Mitt Romney and made it a habit to search YouTube every few days for keywords like “Romney” and “Republicans.”

The candidate’s comments about the "47 percent" come at the worst possible time for him politically.

But on this day in August, one clip jumped out. There was Romney, in an undisclosed location, bluntly discussing a visit to a Chinese factory with substandard conditions.

“The hidden camera video — it was all blurred out at the beginning, and it was mysterious,” Carter said. “It piqued my interest.”

Something told him there might be more there than the brief clip posted on the YouTube channel “Anne Onymous.” Although not affiliated with any campaign or super PAC, Carter had made it a personal mission to help get Democrats elected in 2012 — and to do his part to push back against Romney’s relentless campaign-trail mockery of his grandfather.

So Carter, 35, of Atlanta, set out track down the source of the video. He sent a message to the YouTube user seeking details. No luck. But then, after sharing links to the video on Twitter, Carter realized he had a new follower with the same name as the YouTube account. He quickly shot off a direct message.

“They were wary at first,” Carter said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But they did respond.”

What followed was a delicate, concerted effort to convince the source — still unknown to the public — that Carter could be trusted, and that the world had to see the rest of what was surreptitiously recorded as Romney spoke in May to donors who had paid $50,000 a person to attend the private fundraiser.

In a string of Internet conversations, Carter showed the source evidence that he had helped David Corn, a journalist with the magazine Mother Jones, report a story about Global-Tech Appliances Inc., a Chinese firm that Romney’s Bain Capital briefly invested in. Both Carter and the source suspected it was that firm’s factory that Romney was speaking about in the video.

“That gave me credibility,” Carter said. “They opened up to me a little bit.”

Soon after, Carter persuaded the source to trust Corn with the full video — on the condition that he keep the source’s identity a secret. Corn ran with it, using clues in the video to triangulate when and where it had been recorded.

Then on Monday and Tuesday, Corn posted the clips to his magazine’s website, sparking a firestorm for the Romney campaign over remarks claiming that nearly half of Americans “believe they are victims” deserving government help and that the Palestinians have no interest in peace with Israel.

“James: This is extraordinary. Congratulations! Papa,” the former president told his grandson Tuesday morning in an email obtained by the AP.

For Carter, whose Twitter profile notes he’s looking for work, his success in unearthing the video was followed by a string of job offers Tuesday, from the Ohio Democratic Party to online news sites like The Huffington Post and ThinkProgress.

But the coup de grace for Carter is the irony that Romney has spent many months assailing the elder Carter’s record on everything from foreign affairs to small business policy, hoping to saddle the incumbent president with the less popular vestiges of his Democratic predecessor.

“I’ve gotten a lot of Twitter messages from people supporting me and saying that it’s poetic justice that it was a Carter that uncovered this, considering the way that the Romney campaign has been talking about my grandfather,” Carter said. “I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jimmy-carters-grandson-describes-furtive-efforts-to-arrange-release-of-secret-romney-video/2012/09/18/3cef93cc-01b6-11e2-bbf0-e33b4ee2f0e8_story.html

Hero Nuns

Since my childhood I have considered nurses, nuns and certain clergymen and doctors to be the real heroes of our times. Others like them have historically been the "first responders" when it came to fighting for those who could not defend themselves. Many have lost their lives trying to right social injustices, and certainly, today, they make the difference to millions of everyday Joes, like me.

To say that I was impressed with Sister Simone Campbell's presentation at the recent Democratic National Convention is very much an understatement. She brought tears to my eyes with her clear and uplifting presentation as she related her experiences.

While I have come to consider myself a humanist rather than a religious person of any variety, I feel Sister Simone and her colleagues are heroes, ranking among the most outstanding examples of "the good" which Christianity and the Catholic Church, in particular, has to offer. Why? Because they are standing up for those who have repeatedly been and continue to be the victims of our profit-first society.

It's About Jobs... New Economy Jobs

Mayor Julian Castro delievered a tremendous keynote speech at the recent DNC. He is also right on target on jobs for San Antonio, too. Under his predecessor, San Antonio launched Mission Verde, modeled upon successful sustainable energy programs already underway in Europe. Mission Verde is San Antonio's unique blend of the essential elements - investment, education, training, power companies, big corporations, neighborhoods, small businesses, local government and residents - all actively involved. It is the new economy based upon sustainable energy. It is working now. Other U.S. cities are also launching their versions of Mission Verde, as well.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro

HuffPost video. Interview with Mayor Castro following the Huffington Post-sponsored "Opportunity: What Is Working" jobs panel Wednesday, 5 Sept 2012, at the DNC. Click image above to see video or go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/07/julian-castro-dnc-jobs-panel_n_1865684.html

Who Will We Put into the Driver's Seat?

There were many great speeches last night in Charlotte, with Gov. Granholm's presentation among the best of the best. Last night she was GOV. ELECTRIC!

A few detractors immediately claimed her presentation was "bizarre" and "over the top".

Well, yes, her delivery was animated and performance was charged, even "electric", but in my view now is the time to be over the top and charged-up about the things that matter most. After all, we do have a choice to make in November. We have a path to choose.

For the first time in my life, I see this election offering our nation a distinctly clear choice between the two candidates and their respective "party platforms".

We are in a fight for our beliefs and Gov. Granholm came through with a powerfully motivating presentation for Pres. Obama... and, FOR US as in USA!

Here is the text:

"Good evening, I'm Jennifer Granholm, from the great state of Michigan, where the trees are just the right height! Let me tell you a story about the dark days in my home state. Towards the end of my time as governor, Ford closed one of its biggest factories, a factory in Wixom, Michigan. The Wixom plant had employed thousands of middle-class men and women in neighborhoods near—yet worlds away from—the place Mitt Romney was raised.

When Ford's decision hit, I went down to the local union hall. It was almost empty; a few workers milled about in shock and grief. I talked to a 45-year-old guy who told me, "This is the only place I've ever worked.

I've been loyal. I've done everything they've ever asked. And just like that, it's gone." He looked around the hall and said, "So, governor, is it over for us? Is the American auto industry dead?" Honestly, at that moment, I just didn't know. And that was just the beginning. When the financial crisis hit, things got a lot worse – and fast.

The entire auto industry, and the lives of over one million hard-working Americans, teetered on the edge of collapse; and with it, the whole manufacturing sector. We looked everywhere for help. Almost nobody had the guts to help us – not the banks, not the private investors and not Bain capital. Then, in 2009, the cavalry arrived: our new president, Barack Obama!

He organized a rescue, made the tough calls and saved the American auto industry. Mitt Romney saw the same crisis and you know what he said: "Let Detroit go bankrupt." Sure, Mitt Romney loves our lakes and trees.

He loves our cars so much, they have their own elevator. But the people who design, build, and sell those cars?

Well, in Romney's world, the cars get the elevator; the workers get the shaft. Mitt Romney says his business experience qualifies him to be president. Sure, he's made lots of money. Good for him. But how did he make that fortune, and at whose expense?

Too often, he made it at the expense of middle-class Americans. Year after year, it was profit before people. President Obama? With the auto rescue, he saved more than one million middle-class jobs all across America. In Colorado, the auto rescue saved more than 9,800 jobs! In Virginia, more than 19,000 jobs! In North Carolina, more than 25,000! Wisconsin: more than 28,000 jobs! Pennsylvania: more than 34,000! Florida: more than 35,000! Ohio: more than 150,000! And in the great state of Michigan? President Obama helped save 211,000 good American jobs. All across America, autos are back! Manufacturing is rebounding! Why? Because when Mitt Romney said "Let Detroit go bankrupt," who took the wheel? Barack Obama! When America was losing 750,000 jobs per month, who gave us a lift? Barack Obama! When American markets broke down, who jump-started the engine? Barack Obama! And when America needed it most, who got us rolling again on the road to recovery? Barack Obama!

America, let's rev our engines! In your car and on your ballot, the "D" is for drive forward, and the "R" is for reverse. And in this election, we're driving forward, not back. Let's re-elect our great president, Barack Obama!"

We Have Plans

After the past two nights unexpectedly spent watching the Democrat's convention, my eyes have been opened and I feel a tremendous relief that I can see once again. The soul of America has survived.

I had given up hope and came to believe that I was alone fighting against the dark forces. But with my own eyes, over the past two nights, I saw thousands becoming empowered and charged .

A few months ago I confess I felt that was next to impossible.

So, I decided to give it one more try and present the options – plans – to whomever I could reach. That’s how the Encore Boomer Movement began and why I’ve launched a new website: www.encoreboomer.com

Check it out. We have a new economy to build. We have a way to create new jobs and make our communities whole again. And, importantly, we have a way to take back our homes, our savings and a new way to live healthy.

The Encore Boomer Movement

Heroes Paid the Ultimate Price so the "I's" Can Claim: 'I did it all byMyself'

Just home for a few days after becoming an officially minted “medic” at Fort Sam in San Antonio, I remember my dad talking with me that fall day.

He had tears in his eyes when he asked me, a kid of 21 with no combat experience and no real medical training, if it could have been possible for him to have saved his best friend who had be shot in the chest while they manned a machine gun against a German Army attack in WWII. He propped his friend up in the back of their foxhole and kept firing the gun as they were nearly overrun. When he looked back a few minutes later his friend had died.

Overcome with empathy and love for my hero father, I knew he was suffering a traumatic loss he would never forget. He believed he could have done something more to have saved his friend.

To this day I cry for my father.

Oddly, I was reminded of my dad’s anguish that fall day in 1971, when I listened to Gov. Granholm’s plea to Pres. Obama to become the leader we need.

Yes, Gov. I agree.

We need leadership now, not more of the empty-headed selfishness exhibited all last week in Tampa.

We need the leadership because the sacrifices which gave us our nation were extreme to the max and made by millions of everyday Americans. They were the kids from Everytown USA who paid and to this day are paying the price so the “I”s can claim they did it all by themselves.

Gov. Granholm: Please Pres. Obama Be The Leader We Need Now!

Video no longer available.
http://current.com/shows/the-war-room/videos/rncs-rugged-individualistic-rhetoric-now-behind-us-granholm-looks-to-a-less-selfish-tone-at-the-dnc

Some of The Media Are Getting It

Melissa Harris-Perry has earned my respect with this interview. After years of seeing empty suits and plunging blouses I had surrendered to the mediocrity I found and stopped watching TV/cable “news” programs entirely. I see Ms. Harris-Perry’s interview as an island amid the garbage that passes for “news” today. I applaud her “presenting the facts” and hope that more of the "media" might also follow her lead by confronting the issues and calling out the falsehoods when they are so blatantly offered as truths. Ms. Harris-Perry has renewed my faith and I’ll continue to seek penetrating, investigative journalism which is in search of the facts about the serious issues which we confront us as individuals and as a nation.

Faith in TV/cable News Restored

Go here to watch this video

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/melissa-harris-perry/48870824#48870824