And Another One...

This situation (in short) involves a young black male who rolled through a red light in route to a hospital, trying to make it before his mother-in-law dies...he is stopped (and understandably so) but then, the officer pulls a gun on him & his family. What was the point? Who knows, but needless to say, it was unfortunate. Watch the videos - Part 1 & Part 2.

Excerpt from SI article:

DALLAS (AP) -- A police officer was placed on administrative leave Thursday over a traffic stop involving an NFL player whom he kept in a hospital parking lot and threatened to arrest while his mother-in-law died inside the building.
Officer Robert Powell also drew his gun during the March 18 incident involving Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats in the Dallas suburb of Plano, police said.
"I can screw you over," he said at one point in the videotaped incident. When another officer came with word that Moats' mother-in-law was indeed dying, Powell's response was: "All right. I'm almost done."

I won't even say this situation was racist at all, but the cop is an inconsiderate dumbass.

Presidential Press Conference

I thought President Obama did a great job in terms of his performance and also offered solid information about the future of our country during his press conference March, 24, 2009.

I don't understand how people still don't realize why the solutions to our problems seem so massive. If we, within our government and our society, decided to operate based on what was best for America instead of deciding what was best on the bottom line, health care costs wouldn't be so high, there would be more affordable access to higher education, and we would not have to send billions of dollars around the world to support our oil addiction. All I hear from opponents is, "It's too much.", "We can't afford this now.", and it goes on and on.

(As I write this, I see news that House Republicans have crafted a budget that cuts Obama's proposal in half, I haven't compared them yet, but I'm sure it'll be interesting.)

Stay informed, people. This juncture in our history and in our lives is way too important to hide until we think it's safe to come out. And, it doesn't just mean, following the political games, but taking the necessary steps to educate the children in your lives, conserving energy, recycling, practicing healthy lifestyles, etc. One on my friends is fond of this quote, "It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies." - Noam Chomsky. To me this quote means that if you know better , you should do better, and if you do better, the people and community around you will be better because of it. Let's "be the change" because "in a small way you can shake the world." - Gandhi

Get Involved

www.usaservice.org/

www.Together.com/US

www.energystar.gov/

http://earth911.com/

http://www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org/

http://www.bgca.org/

And if you don't have time to join with an established organization, start where you are. Help the kids in your family, in your community. Let's Go!

Finally, A Financial Plan From The Obama Administration

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/23/news/companies/treasury_plan/index.htm

I haven't gone over the details with a fine-toothed comb, but from what I gather this plan will allow private investors to buys bad assets with the government matching what the investors put up. This plan also gets credit flowing again to make it easier to get loans.

And I guess Wall Street like the plan because as I write this, the Dow is up 265 points.

Obama Extends Hand To Iran

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE52L0P120090322


Iran became a major player in the region because of the War in Iraq, but has since become more financially fragile due to the global economic crisis. I think common ground can be found if the U.S. and Iran worked on having a better relationship - America needs to increase safety measures and Iran needs sanctions to be lifted. I think the Iranian people are growing tired of their government, just as we grew tired of ours...this may be the best time for policy reform (I Hope). Leaders in Iran have voiced their opinions about Obama's recent actions, so I guess we'll have to stay tuned.