The Obameter tracks Obama’s promises
Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in politics, startling statistics
As you consider tonight’s State of the Union speech, you might want to refer back to the Obameter at PolitiFact. This service of the St. Petersburg Times tracks which of President Obama’s more than 500 promises have been kept, broken, stalled or compromised. The current status is shown in the graphic below. I’ve added the total and the percentages of each.
If you click on the underlined categories to the left, you’ll see which promises are in that category, aside a short explanation of the status of the promise.
I wish there was a chart like this for every politician. I bet that most politicians don’t make so many promises, and that they break more than 3% of the promises they do make.
We’re just 1/4 of the way through this presidential term. I think we should be patient, and understand that the wheels of government move slowly.
Protest over President’s speech to schoolchildren reveals true paranoia
Posted on 05. Sep, 2009 by kchristieh in education, politics
Maybe it’s good that some people are protesting President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren this week. By labeling his call for hard work and staying in school part of a Socialist agenda, they’re revealing how illogical and paranoid they are, and therefore lose any shred of credibility they may have had left. Would they protest so much if he weren’t at all Black? I’m guessing not.
Today’s LA Times reports the following LCUSD position:
“We’re an academic institution, and our responsibility is to cover specific content standards,” said James Stratton, superintendent of schools for La Cañada Unified School District, where the school year got off to a late and rocky start because of the nearby wildfires. In his district, he said, the speech will be shown only in those classes where it “has any relation to the California content standards for that particular class.”
Hopefully my kids’ English and Sociology teachers will decide that the speech relates to “content standards.” It may not relate directly to their lesson plans for the day, but it never hurts to hear good messages about diligence and academic success, and it will demonstrate rhetoric and cultural values. I think it’s also a great message to come from our President. And yes, I’d be saying that if Bush were still in office.
Some day when my grandchildren are taking U.S. History and puzzling over this strange incident, I want my children to be able to say that they heard the speech live and it was indeed inspirational.
How Obama gets his cellphone fixed
Posted on 14. Aug, 2009 by kchristieh in politics, shopping, technical
Imagine my surprise when President Obama’s name showed up after mine in the queue at the Verizon store last night! He didn’t push on the “c” hard enough, but I’ve had that problem before, too.
Hopefully the Verizon folks were able to figure out how to work with his phone’s special encryption.
I wonder if he wishes Verizon carried iPhones. I sure do!
Separated at birth: Spock and Obama
Posted on 17. May, 2009 by kchristieh in art, politics
| When the new Star Trek movie was released last weekend, there was a rash of articles comparing the cool demeanor and brilliant minds of Spock and Barack Obama. The best part of these articles was the morphed pictures. |  |
| Here are my favorites: | |
Here’s the first one I saw, from Maureen Dowd’s article. As she says,
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| Princess Sparkle Pony “I STILL keep track of Condoleeza’s hairdo so you don’t have to!” has another great version on her blog. She was ahead of the curve, and blogged about the Spock-Obama connection back on October 17th. Impressive! |  |
| Here’s a great one done in the style of Shepard Fairey. Ironically, it’s on a blog called “Bad Spock Pictures.”My favorite part is the pin on his lapel. |  |
| One of the best Spock-Obama pictures is the caricature that Drew Friedman drew last fall for the New Yorker showing Obama as Spock and McCain as Kirk. Perhaps this summarizes why Obama won. |  |
| Live long and prosper! |  |
Amazing close-up view of inauguration
Posted on 04. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in cool websites, history, politics
No matter how you voted, you should check the amazingly detailed Fullscreen Gigapan View photo of the inauguration. You can click on the upper lefthand side to zoom in or zoom out, and then drag the picture as you wish.
What an amazing view of history!
The stitching errors are a bit spooky. It looks like Aretha Franklin has a ghost on her lap. She’s in the upper lefthand corner of the second picture I cropped below. You can get MUCH closer than this picture shows.
Today I saw someone who swore she saw me on television at the Neighborhood Ball. I had a hard time convincing her that it wasn’t me, although I wish it had been. She must have had me confused with Shakira. :)
I’m often confused with other people that look like me. I wish I could meet one of these lookalikes sometime!
You can wear Aretha Franklin’s inauguration hat
Posted on 27. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in art, politics, shopping
Here’s my public service for the day: graphics which allow you to “virtually” don the marvelous “church hat” that Aretha Frankin wore to Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Just copy the images below, remove the backgrounds, and you’re good to go. I’ll also link to a few other formats that have the backgrounds already removed. I’m including one with a bright pink background, since that’ll be easy to remove the background from.
Interested in buying the real thing? According to the blog To Live and Buy in L.A.,
Orders are pouring into Luke Song’s Detroit-based Mr. Song Millinery, a store the Queen of Soul has patronized for 20 of its 25 years. Though the heather-gray wool hat ain’t cheap — it costs upward of $500 — Hsu writes “fans are welcome to drop $179 on a similar satin-ribbon version.”
The following two are jpgs:
Here it is in a PNG and TIFF format.
Track how many of Obama’s 500 promises he keeps
Posted on 24. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in cool websites, politics
I don’t think I’ve made 500 promises in my whole lifetime, but apparently that’s about how many promises Barack Obama made before he took office.
The St. Petersburg Times’ Politifact.com is tracking President Obama’s progress toward fulfilling his promises. After three full days in office, here’s where he stands:
I think that’s pretty good, so far! I’m sure he’ll knock some of the easy ones out of the way first, as well as the ones that he’s really passionate about. I looked through the first 100, and they looked good to me. I hope he’s able to fulfill as many of his promises as possible.
Here are the ones he’s kept so far:
On a side note, I hadn’t realized he’d made promises regarding autism research and treatment. (See #81, #82 & #91) That’s so specific, and really cool.
The Top 10 Quotes from President Obama’s inauguration speech
Posted on 22. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in inspirational people, politics, quotes
I love to find quotes that distill timeless wisdom into a few key words or a sentence. It’s rare to hear quotes being spoken for the first time, so I enjoyed hearing some quotable phrases in Barack Obama’s inauguration speech. Sometimes separating quotes from their context can give them more lasting power.
Here are what I consider to be the Top 10 quotes from Obama’s inauguration speech:
- “America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.”
- “We gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”
- “We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”
- “It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.”
- “Greatness is never a given. It must be earned”
- “They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.”
- “Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.”
- “Our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint”
- “As the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself.”
- “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
My favorite is #9. I actually wrote that down when I heard it, to remind myself to remember it.
Reading this speech again makes me proud and grateful to be an American.
Satellite view of the inauguration
Posted on 21. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in cool websites, politics
There’s Malinee, and Joe, and Gaye, and Vickere…don’t you see them?
If you go to the CNN satellite view of the inauguration, you can zoom in and see your friends, too!
Why I understand why Barack Obama invited Rick Warren to speak even though I wouldn’t
Posted on 29. Dec, 2008 by kchristieh in religion
Since I took such a long break between postings, I figured I’d step back into blogging feet first and post something controversial…
Two summers ago, my son played on a travel baseball team. One weekend he had a tournament in Costa Mesa, so he and I spent a few nights at a hotel there. Because his Sunday game didn’t start until the afternoon, we decided to worship at Saddleback Church in the morning and hear Rick Warren preach. I’d seen him in the videos for “The Purpose-Driven Life” book our church small group studied, and I was curious to see what he and his church were like in person.
I was very impressed. Although the church campus was huge, we were made to feel very welcome. As for Rick Warren, he was an amazing preacher. He spoke for several times longer than any pastor that I’d ever heard, but I didn’t look at my watch once. He challenged us to give more of our money to people who need it and causes that make a difference, and spoke about how he and his wife “reverse-tithe” and give 90% of their money away. He was sincere and thoughtful, and I talked about that sermon for weeks afterward. In fact, a few weeks later, when our whole family was in Orange County on a Sunday, I brought my husband and daughter to Saddleback.
Even so, I don’t agree with everything Warren says. For example, I opposed Prop. 8 (the anti-gay marriage proposition), whereas he supported it. There are very few people I completely agree with, so I’m still willing to appreciate the way he’s challenged me to grow in my faith because I believe him when even though he doesn’t think they shouldn’t be able to legally marry. In fact, he and Barack Obama are in agreement on Prop. 8 – with full marital rights, but not marriage itself. They disagree on abortion, however.
I believe that Obama chose Warren to speak at the inauguration because he wanted people to hear an outstanding orator who would inspire them to come together to support each other at a critical time in our country’s history. Choosing Warren demonstrates that people can disagree on key issues but still agree to come together for the greater good.
I’m sure Warren will inspire, but I don’t think I would have chosen him. I think he stands for divisiveness in many peoples’ minds, and I’m sure Obama could have chosen someone more inclusive who would articulate how his vision fits with a spiritual one. However, I have no idea who an alternate speaker might be. Is there an amazing preacher out there who can inspire without dividing? There must be. And I wish Obama had asked that person to speak.
Pray for Obama and write that check to the Southern Poverty Law Center
Posted on 27. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in politics, religion
The current breaking news is that authorities have foiled a white supremacist plot to kill Barack Obama and African-American schoolchildren and adults.
I cried when I heard this. It’s times like this when I’m completely ashamed of some of my fellow Americans. I’ll keep praying that no plot like this ever comes to pass.
I also just signed up to be an automatic monthly donor to the Southern Poverty Law Center. They do great work building cases against people who perpetuate hate crimes, and have developed incredible classroom resources as part of their Teaching Tolerance project, which helps teach kids to appreciate people different from themselves.
Who drives the silver minivan with license plate ending in “354″ who just stole my Obama sign?
Posted on 17. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in politics
At 11:40 p.m. tonight, I was working at my desk in the front of my house when I noticed a silver minivan drive slowly to the front of our house and turn off its headlights. I turned off my monitor and desk lamp and peered out the window. We’ve been tp’d before, and I don’t want it to happen again.
The minivan backed up, and someone got out of the car near our Obama sign. They got back into the car and drove off. Being the crazy lady I am, I ran outside in my bare feet to see if they’d taken the sign. They had. But they were stupid enough to turn around and drive back past me.
So if you see a silver minivan with a license plate ending in “354″, please ask them if they have my sign. I’d like it back.
Hopefully the Sheriff’s deputies will get them first. I just called them.
How much of this presidential race is about race?
Posted on 05. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in politics
What if the background and qualifications of our current presidential and vice presidential candidates were reversed? Tim Wise’s insightful essay, “This is Your Nation on White Privilege,” takes a stab at how much race may be affecting peoples’ view of the race. Here are a few of the points it makes:
- White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
- White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” – while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
- White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.
- White privilege is being able to dump your first wife after she’s disfigured in a car crash so you can take up with a multi-millionaire beauty queen (who you then go on to call the c-word in public) and still be thought of as a man of strong family values, while if you’re black and married for nearly 20 years to the same woman, your family is viewed as un-American and your gestures of affection for each other are called “terrorist fist bumps.”
Nicholas Kristof examines America’s racial attitudes in his column, “Racism Without Racists.” He notes that avowed racists aren’t likely to consider ever voting for a Democratic candidate, but it’s the aversive racists who may be swayed to vote a different way by someone’s race.
“In the U.S., there’s a small percentage of people who in nationwide surveys say they won’t vote for a qualified black presidential candidate,” Professor Dovidio said. “But a bigger factor is the aversive racists, those who don’t think that they’re racist.”
Faced with a complex decision, he said, aversive racists feel doubts about a black person that they don’t feel about an identical white. “These doubts tend to be attributed not to the person’s race” because that would be racism — but deflected to other areas that can be talked about, such as lack of experience,” he added.
Some people believe that everyone’s racist at some level. Perhaps that’s true. Also, racism can work both ways: for example, some people assume that Asian students are naturally smarter than Whites. I think it’s good when we’re aware of how our opinion of someone may be affected by their race. Recognition is the first step to recovery, and I hope that most people would at least believe that they should try not to be racist.
Anonymous anti-Obama article left in my mailbox
Posted on 14. Aug, 2008 by kchristieh in my life, politics
Ah, the joys of having a street-side mailbox. Thieves can steal your mail, tree-trimmers can litter it with their cards, and anonymous people can leave newspaper articles in your box.
Someone’s noticed the Obama sign in front of my house. They left me a Wall St. Journal article written by Michael Boskin that slams Obama’s economic policy with a note that says, “Just wanted to make sure you were fully informed!”
Thank you very much. I’m informed. But I’m still choosing Obama. It’s past midnight and I haven’t finished my work yet, so I don’t have time to have a political argument with someone who won’t even say their name and whom I doubt reads this blog.
At least they didn’t steal my sign.
Why Barack Obama should read “Three Cups of Tea”
Posted on 15. Jul, 2008 by kchristieh in books, inspirational people, international, politics, religion
For all the money we’ve spent fighting terrorism in Pakistan, it seems to me the situation is far worse off now than it was several years ago. Too bad our government doesn’t adopt Greg Mortenson’s tactics. Nicholas Kristof agrees:
Mr. Bush has focused on military force and provided more than $10 billion — an extraordinary sum in the foreign-aid world — to the highly unpopular government of President Pervez Musharraf. This approach has failed: the backlash has radicalized Pakistan’s tribal areas so that they now nurture terrorists in ways that they never did before 9/11.
Mr. Mortenson, a frumpy, genial man from Montana, takes a diametrically opposite approach, and he has spent less than one-ten-thousandth as much as the Bush administration. He builds schools in isolated parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, working closely with Muslim clerics and even praying with them at times.
You can read all about Greg Mortenson in the book, Three Cups of Tea. (Wow. It’s as of this time.) I finished reading it recently, and was totally inspired by this humble American mountain climber who sacrifices his time with his family and a potentially higher standard of living to help people halfway around the world. His willingness to adapt to local customs and the love he has for the people he is trying to help have earned him immense respect among people who are usually suspicious of Westerners.
Today I had lunch with a friend who’s involved in a ministry in Ethiopia that builds schools and especially tries to educate girls. Hopefully I’ll be able to help them by creating a website in the next few months so that they can convince more people to support them. Here’s an impressive ministry our church supports that I think someone should write a book about: The Free Burma Rangers. They brave incredible dangers to bring emergency assistance to the indigenous Karen people of Burma, as well as document human rights abuses.
We’re so blessed in this country, and it’s incumbent that we share our blessings. Hopefully our next President will understand this and we’ll make REAL progress towards peace and understanding.
Why I couldn’t put my Obama magnet on the back of my Prius
Posted on 10. Jun, 2008 by kchristieh in politics
Yay!! I finally received my Barack Obama car magnet.
Too bad it doesn’t stick to the back of my car. I’ll assume my Prius is partially constructed of high-tech, durable composite materials.
In any case, I could only add the magnet to the side of my car. Now my car looks like an Obama campaign vehicle.
Hopefully no one will steal it. Many years ago I tried adorning my antenna with a and a Los Gringos Locos guy in a sombrero, but both promptly disappeared.
Is Obama White or Black? WHO CARES?!?
Posted on 28. Apr, 2008 by kchristieh in my life, politics
Viva Berkeley Breathed! Yesterday’s Opus cartoon spoke volumes to me:
Are my kids White with a Latino father? Or are they Latino with a White mother?
WHY DOES IT MATTER?!?!?!?
Vote for the best candidate, not one just because they match your gender or race. Appreciate the fact that our country has advanced enough that race and gender don’t prevent a person from being a viable candidate, then vote for the person you think has the best leadership qualities.
I’m so sick of this race.
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