BARBRA STREISAND AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD

Last night Barbra Streisand returned to her West Village roots and gave a concert at the historic Village Vanguard for the 100 people lucky enough to win the Streisand lottery. My luck never runs that way and although I asked Rosie O'Donnell to take me as her guest (ha) I was NOT in attendance.

Below are five clips from the show that I found on AOL. I have not listened to most of them, but I wanted to get them posted, and I may post my reaction later.

Provecho! Oh.. that means enjoy!

Barbra Streisand - Some Other Time

Barbra Streisand - Wee Small Hours of the Morning

BARBRA STREISAND - MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY

BARBRA STREISAND - IF YOU GO AWAY

BARBRA STREISAND - HERE'S TO LIFE

BARBRA STREISAND - MAKE SOMEONE (ME) HAPPY

So Barbra Streisand was on Oprah two days ago to promote her newest CD, "Love is the Answer," and I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. Her appearance was way too short and she shared the show with Jay Z.

I don't have anything against Jay Z, I actually don't know that much about him other then he is a rapper/producer and is married to Beyonce, but with a career spanning nearly 50 years (so hard to believe) there is more then enough material on Babs to fill a complete hour, or more.

Barbra looked beautiful - actually the best I have seen her look in many years (I suspect she has had some work done, but I who cares) and she was relaxed and funny.

In her brief interview, she and Oprah discussed dolls and Barbra retold the story (for the umpteenth time) of how poor she was growing up that the only doll she had was a hot water bottle with a sweater knitted by her babysitter. She also discussed her fear of performing in public and what lead to her stage fright (forgetting the words in her central park concert in front of 135,000 fans).

Oprah didn't ask her about the new album or anything about possible upcoming projects she is working on (the new Fockers or The Normal Heart movies). There wasn't anything special about the interview other then we got to see a fantastic looking Barbra on TV - which is so rare.

The highlight of her appearance on the Oprah show was her singing "Make Someone Happy" from the new CD (which is being released Tuesday, September 29th.) It’s always a treat to see and hear Barbra singing, whether it is live in concert or on television.

I previously read that Oprah's crew went to Barbra's house and they filmed a tour of the property (guided by Barbra as I understand it.) Unfortunately, this footage was not used on the show.

She also sang her classic "Evergreen,” and while this was not shown, it is available on Oprah’s website.

At 67 years old, Barbra Streisand is still sublime and without contemporary. While the voice has mellowed with age, there is still no one, NO ONE, who can touch her vocally. She is the ultimate interpreter of songs and you feel her every note - even the one she messed up while singing “Make Someone Happy” (see below).

Two other heavy-hitting females are releasing new CDs on Tuesday as well - Madonna and Mariah Carey, and while these two ladies may sell more albums today, neither of them have the charisma or talent of Babs.

Although I read that "Love is the Answer" has become Sony Records' most pre-ordered CD of all time on Amazon.com, I am sure these two other ladies will outsell her next week (because they skew to a younger demographic) but I will be watching to see where Barbra charts with this new CD.

Tonight Barbra is performing at the Village Vanguard in the West Village for 100 lucky fans who entered and won seats (I entered but didn't win). What an experience that would be. I wrote to Rosie and asked her to take me as her date, but she is doing a show on Broadway and will not be attending. I'm sure that is the only reason she isn't taking me.

Tonight's Village Vanguard concert will be streaming later in the week on Barbra's website.

Barbra is doing two other interviews in the coming days and I am hoping someone will talk with her about something new. Set your DVRs to record for her tomorrow on CBS Sunday morning and then on the Today Show Tuesday.

Below is a clip of Barbra singing “Make Someone Happy.”

The Teabagger's Socialist-Free Purity Pledge

A friend of mine emailed this to me and I immediately knew I have to include it here. Thanks Brent.

What follows is the Teabagger's Socialist-Free Purity Pledge. I haven't checked, but I imagine it is making it's way around to all fair-minded, responsible individuals.....


I, ________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2nd Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls. Also, I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

• Social Security
• Medicare/Medicaid
• State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)
• Police, Fire, and Emergency Services
• US Postal Service
• Roads and Highways
• Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)
• The US Railway System
• Public Subways and Metro Systems
• Public Bus and Lightrail Systems
• Rest Areas on Highways
• Sidewalks
• All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 federal senate appropriations)
• Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)
• Public and State Universities and Colleges
• Public Primary and Secondary Schools
• Sesame Street
• Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children
• Public Museums
• Libraries
• Public Parks and Beaches
• State and National Parks
• Public Zoos
• Unemployment Insurance
• Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services
• Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)
• Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)
• Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)
• Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD's ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking
• Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies
• Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies
If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care
I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:

• Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History
• The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments
• The government-operated Statue of Liberty
• The Grand Canyon
• The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials
• The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery
• All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forego their government salary and government-provided healthcare.

I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF __________ IN THE YEAR ___.


_____________ ___________________________________
Signed Printed Name/Town and State

GAGA FOR LADY GAGA

For too many years we have been told by pop performers that they can not dance and sing at the same time, and followers have accepted lip-syncing as the norm. Ever since MTV killed the radio star (i.e. singers who can truly sing), we have been subjected to performance over vocal ability - looks over talent - and although Lady Gaga does not have the voice of a Barbra or Whitney, she sings live.

My disinterest in today's music, and the majority of the pop-tarts we have been force-fed for the past thirty something years, is they can't sing. They can dance, look sexy in their half naked costumes, and grab headlines by being provocative, but they cannot sing. Lady Gaga does it all.

The below video is from tonight's Video Music Awards and Lady Gaga's live performance - not to a pre-recorded track.

Lady Gaga - New Music - More Music Videos

Five postscripts:

- Oddly enough, I liked watching Lady Gaga prance around in what appeared to be only panties, and the way it made me feel was a little shocking - almost unnerving.

- When she won the award tonight for Best New Artist her final words were, "...this is for my F#*king fans. You are the best fans in the whole world and I love you, and it's for God and the gays." Where have you ever heard that before? Gotta love her!

- Pink singing live from a trapeze - so why can't the others sing live! I like Pink - the anti-pop, pop star.

- Beyonce was amazing tonight! The portions of her song she prerecorded she didn't even pretend to sing - and her dance moves were amazing. Her generosity towards Taylor Swift (whoever the hell she is) was pure class - she was raised right.

- The typical lip-syncing females did not perform at the VMA's tonight - with the exception of Janet Jackson. I will cut her some slack since she is in morning but she almost never sings without a pre-recorded track. Another offender, Madonna, didn't sing, but she spoke touchingly about Michael Jackson.

FANTASTIC FIND - SAM TSUI - PART DEUX

Below is another video from Fantastic Find Sam Tsui. You can see my original post here:FANTASTIC FIND - SAM TSUI

Below is another video featuring Sam Tsui singing a cover of "Down" by Jay Sean that was uploaded last week . In this video he plays the piano and is joined on guitar by his friend and collaborator/arranger Kurt Schneider, the "mastermind" behind the music and videos. Even with the flub at the 2:30 minute mark, I think these two are fantastic (keeping with the theme).

Enjoy!

PRESIDENT TO DETRACTORS - WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO?

Today President Obama spoke about healthcare reform to the masses gathered at the AFL/CIO annual Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, and asked the cynics and naysayers "What are you gonna do? What is your solution?"

The answer is simple. They don't want change. They want to continue pillaging so they will continue to instill fear and fight the truth with lies and distortions!

Americans need to stop special interests and corporations from deciding what laws get passed.

Corporations are accountable to a board of directors who insist of profit - even at the expense of the American Family - and Congress is accountable to us.

Write or call your congressional representative and senator today and tell them you support Healthcare Reform and you demand action now.



Below is an article of interest I found from "The American Prospect" by Paul Waldman entitled "The Public Option and the Hope of Health Care Reform," dated December 23, 2008.

Since the remarkable results of Nov. 4, there has been much discussion about the new progressive moment in which America finds itself. But it has actually been evident for some time that we're talking about old issues in new ways. Let's take just one -- health care reform-- which could actually happen next year. One thing we know is that there will be a serious, even vicious fight over the issue. What we don't know is whether President-elect Obama will seize the moment, or succumb to the same fear that has stayed Democrats' hands for so long.

In the presidential primaries, all three top Democratic candidates -- Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards -- featured in their health care plans something that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, a public option. The public option is a government health insurance program akin to Medicare, which would be open to anyone. Credit should go to Edwards, who not only was the first of the three to propose it, but who said that if so many people chose the public option that over time it evolved into a single-payer system, that would be fine with him. That kind of talk used to come only from candidates with no chance of winning.

Although the public option wasn't the topic of a great deal of discussion during the campaign, for many progressives it amounts to a beautiful jewel hidden amidst a pile of compromise and disappointment. Ask average progressives what they think ought to be done about health care, and many will reply, "Well, a single-payer system would obviously be the best thing. But since that's politically impossible…" At the end of 2008, some things seem a little more possible than they used to.

That isn't to say a public option is just a modified single-payer system. It would be one option among many for individuals and businesses, and would leave the private insurance system in place (you can read more on the benefits of the public option here). But it does crack the door open for expanding the number of Americans who get their health insurance through the government. And this is what terrifies the insurance companies and conservatives. Their fear is that it will actually work. If the program operates well, more and more people will make the rational decision to choose it over private insurance (what we're supposed to do in a market, after all) and the insurance companies will lose customers.

For all their paeans to the power of private enterprise, we know that private insurers simply can't compete with the government, because they offer an inferior service at higher prices. We know this because of the example of Medicare, which operates more efficiently than private insurance (Medicare spends only around 2 percent of its costs on overhead, a fraction of what private plans do) and gets higher satisfaction ratings. We also know this because the government set up a program to allow private companies to compete directly with Medicare.

It's called Medicare Advantage, and the "advantage" was supposed to be that by allowing private companies to handle insurance for Medicare enrollees, costs could be reduced. Using their free-market mojo, the private firms would naturally bring in the coverage at a lower cost than having the big, bureaucratic government do it.

So does it work? Only if by "work," you mean "do the opposite of what it's supposed to." In fact, the government pays insurance companies more to provide a service it is providing to other enrollees for less. According to this recent report by the Commonwealth Fund, in 2008 the government paid Medicare Advantage plans 12.4 percent more per enrollee than it expended to administer traditional Medicare benefits (see this lengthy postby Maggie Mahar that lists the myriad ways Medicare Advantage amounts to an insurance company scam). It's no accident that the program in its current form was enacted as part of the abomination that was the Republicans' 2003 Medicare drug bill, a giveaway to insurance and drug companies so lurid it will stand as an eternal monument to legalized corruption. (The bill's chief architect, Louisiana Congressman Billy Tauzin, left Congress upon its passage to become the president of PhRMA, the lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry. Tauzin's starting salary was reported to be $2 million a year, a well-deserved reward for services rendered.)

One piece of good news on this front is that during the campaign, Obama pledged to "reduce waste in the Medicare system, including eliminating subsidies to the private insurance Medicare Advantage program" (you can read the promise on his campaign web site). That's one more promise he ought to be forced to keep.

But driving a stake through the heart of Medicare Advantage could wait (although Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus has already targeted the program's "overpayments"). The Obama team has signaled that it has no intention of putting off its larger effort to reform health care. The appointment of former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle as both Secretary of Health and Human Services and White House "health czar" indicates that Obama wants reform that will actually pass Congress (recall that Bill Clinton's 1993 health reform effort never even came to a vote). Our once-in-a-generation chance to reform health care has come again.

There is no doubt that the insurance companies and their Republican allies in Congress will fight the inclusion of a public option with every bit of power they can muster. They'll call it "socialized medicine" -- but by now we should all have realized that Republicans will call any health care reform Democrats propose "socialized medicine" (that's what they said about Clinton's 1993 health plan, whose chief cost containment measure was enhancing the role of HMOs). They'll scream about "government bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor." But anyone who has tried to get reimbursement for a medical service from an insurance company that didn't want to provide it knows that government bureaucrats are pussycats compared to insurance company bureaucrats. Republicans will offer some bogus plan of their own, presented for no purpose other than pretending that they're not operating in bad faith. But their goal will be to stop any effort at health care reform – particularly the public option.

Republicans fear that the public option would work, and therefore undermine their broader arguments about the evil of government and the perfection of the market (and make voters thankful to Democrats to boot). All true. The insurance companies fear that the public option would work, and therefore put them out of business. Is that true? Not really. Although there are a lot of variables, a much more likely outcome would be that the insurance companies would continue to exist, but their business would shrink. If we're smart and lucky, we might end up with a system resembling the one they have in France (rated by the World Health Organization as the world's best), where basic health insurance is provided by the government, but most people have supplemental private insurance to fill in the gaps in coverage (the Prospect's Ezra Klein has helpfully laid out the basics of the French system here and here). That kind of hybrid system would still allow "choice,", yet cover everyone and hold down costs.

It's a beautiful dream, one that the insurance companies and their Republican allies in Congress will do everything in their power to crush. So the question is whether Obama will see the public option as something he will fight for, or as a useful bargaining chip to be sacrificed in order to get a bill through the Senate. In one troubling sign, John McDonough, Senator Ted Kennedy's senior health adviser, told Congressional Quarterly that the purpose of the public option was to "provide cost accountability," and "Maybe there are other way to achieve those ends." Ah, the time-honored Democratic tradition of making concessions before negotiations begin.

This is a different environment than it was even a few years ago, let alone in 1993 when Bill Clinton's plan went down in flames. The public is more open to ambitious government solutions to pressing problems than they have been in decades. And perhaps both big business and small business can finally be persuaded that a strong public insurance program is in their interest, since it will save them money (their prior opposition to health care reform has always been more ideological than economic).

Up until now, Barack Obama has displayed a keen understanding of when to compromise and when to fight. He surely knows that his attempt to reform our ridiculous health care system is going to be a fight from start to finish. Let's just hope he doesn't give up on the best thing about his plan.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA ENCOURAGES CHILDREN ACROSS THE USA

Below is the speech President Barack Obama will deliver tomorrow at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."


So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.
I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.

And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

I'm certain there is a lefty (read communist), subversive (probably subliminal) message in the text that I am not smart enough to decode. Perhaps I needed the encouragement of a president (or teacher) when I was in school.

GO'HEAD MISTER PRESIDENT!

REPUBLICANS DEMAND EQUAL TIME TO CORRUPT YOUNG MINDS

In response to President Obama’s planned speech to school age children set for next week across the country, a republican organization, The Right is Right, has invoked the “equal time rule,” and has disseminated pamphlets to the nation’s school superintendents (except those in California and Massachusetts), suggesting four alternatives to counter the president’s far reaching, left-leaning agenda. School districts are encouraged to pick from one option below to be held immediately following daily Morning Prayer:

Option One - All children are encouraged to watch the season premier of Dancing with the Stars and write an essay on the merits of Republican Tom Delay’s old-white-man foxtrot versus Afro-centric singer Macy Gray’s Samba.

Option Two – Actually two separate sessions – one for girls and one for boys:

-Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin presents a discussion on the importance of abstinence entitled “Everything I Taught Bristol and How To Learn From My Mistakes.” Governor Palin will also demonstrate how to “Woo Voters with a Wink and a Nod.”

-The boys’ session will be conducted by Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Bob McDonnell. He will instruct the boys on how to keep your bitch in her place, and explain why if you let her work outside the home, she will be indoctrinated into a life of bull-dykery.

Option Three - Students are encouraged to discuss the dire consequences of Obama Healthcare reform after viewing the new documentary entitled “A Foreign Born, Socialist Negro Wants to Kill Grandma and Sweet Crippled Aunt Gertie.” A strict dress code is enforced for this option: White sheets required.

Option Four – The final option is entitled “Earning your Wings” and consists of a field trip to the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. This session explains how through church fund raising and the assassination of the President of the United States, students can guarantee themselves a place in Heaven. Following a showing of the short film “Why Teddy and Queers Deserve Brain Cancer,” there will be a question and answer session. Light refreshments will be served during the raffle where one lucky attendee will win a one way greyhound bus ticket to the Washington DC, $50 spending money, a high powered rifle and 400 rounds of ammunition.

Interested parties are encourage to learn more, and obtain educational materials, from “The Right is Right” by calling toll-free 1-877-336-6887 (877-EFN-NUTS).

REPUBLICAN

In response to President Obama’s planned speech to school age children set for next week across the country, a republican organization, The Right is Right, has invoked the “equal time rule,” and has disseminated pamphlets to the nation’s school superintendents (except those in California and Massachusetts), suggesting four alternatives to counter the president’s far reaching, left-leaning agenda. School districts are encouraged to pick from one option below to be held immediately following daily Morning Prayer:

Option One - All children are encouraged to watch the season premier of Dancing with the Stars and write an essay on the merits of Republican Tom Delay’s old-white-man foxtrot versus Afro-centric singer Macy Gray’s Samba.

Option Two – Actually two separate sessions – one for girls and one for boys:

-Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin presents a discussion on the importance of abstinence entitled “Everything I Taught Bristol and How To Learn From My Mistakes.” Governor Palin will also demonstrate how to “Woo Voters with a Wink and a Nod.”

-The boys’ session will be conducted by Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Bob McDonnell. He will instruct the boys on how to keep your bitch in her place, and explain why if you let her work outside the home, she will be indoctrinated into a life of bull-dykery.

Option Three - Students are encouraged to discuss the dire consequences of Obama Healthcare reform after viewing the new documentary entitled “A Foreign Born, Socialist Negro Wants to Kill Grandma and Sweet Crippled Aunt Gertie.” A strict dress code is enforced for this option: White sheets required.

Option Four – The final option is entitled “Earning your Wings” and consists of a field trip to the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. This session explains how through church fund raising and the assassination of the President of the United States, students can guarantee themselves a place in Heaven. Following a showing of the short film “Why Teddy and Queers Deserve Brain Cancer,” there will be a question and answer session. Light refreshments will be served during the raffle where one lucky attendee will win a one way greyhound bus ticket to the Washington DC, $50 spending money, a high powered rifle and 400 rounds of ammunition.

Interested parties are encourage to learn more, and obtain educational materials, from “The Right is Right” by calling toll-free 1-877-336-6887 (877-EFN-NUTS).

WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY?

What follows in italics is Michelangelo Signorile's description of his conversation (above) with nut-job "Pastor" Steven L. Anderson, who resides not far from me.

This is my interview with Pastor Steven L. Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Temple, AZ. He has prayed for President Obama to die, calls for the execution of gays and told me it would not be murder if a group of gays and lesbians were gunned down with a machine gun, or if the president were killed. He does not believe the killing of Dr. George Tiller was murder. He also said, after I told him I was gay, that he hopes I "get brain cancer like Ted Kennedy" and die and insisted I must be "molesting children."

I am appalled that a "so-called" man of God would advocate the murder of another human being - specifically our President - Barack Obama.

It's it frightening on so many levels. This "man-of-the-cloth" not only holds un-Christian views, he has a platform in which he is able to spread his hate. What also frightens me is this man is not alone.

Hate queers all ya like, but nowhere in the New Testament does it say (unless I missed that part) it is allowable to kill another person. Sure the "Old Testament" has "An Eye for an Eye" (Exodus 21:23–27) but if we are going to cherry pick the bible, lets start having fun. This could be a really great conversation.

George W. Bush ordered the senseless murder of thousands of innocent men and women, both Iraqi and American, and at no time did I ever hear anyone propose murdering him. What has Barack Obama done that so incites this type of hatred among the "religious" right?

If there is one political figure in my lifetime deserving of incarceration, not assassination, it is George W. Bush, or perhaps more appropriate Dick Cheney.

The "right" truly scares me.

Because of their position within churches, these freaks, yes I said freaks, are able to whip up the masses and gain support for their extreme agendas.

Heed my warning!

All blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and gays better start watching their backs. These people are no different then Hitler. Their way is the only right way. They want to rid the world of people that do not look like them, think like them, or worship like them.

It is time to rise up against the haters in this country. Point your fingers and lift your voices because these people, who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ are the ones who will bring this country to anarchy.

As "they" like to say - What Would Jesus Do? Like Martin Luther King, and Gandhi, he was a man of peace and would not condone murder, or incite others to commit it.

REINCARNATED THROUGH FOOD

Last night I made a traditional Willi dinner.

When it is my turn to cook, which happens infrequently, I typically turn to one of the meals of my childhood - usually a meal my grandmother cooked for us on any given weekend occasion - no offense mother.

As a kid, one of the perks of staying overnight at Grandpa and Grandma Willi's house, on the weekend, which I did often, was waking up knowing that Gramma would prepare German Pancakes. I've seen recipes for German pancakes, baked concoctions that puff up in the oven, but Gramma's German pancakes were made of a light eggy batter that she fried. They were almost crepe like and crispy, golden brown.

Hot from the pan we would slather them with butter and spread on the strawberry preserves, usually homemade from Gramma's garden, and then we would roll them up, again like a crepe, and sprinkle powered sugar over the top.

Gramma would stand at the stove for a couple of hours each weekend morning, serving each one of us grandchildren an individual, piping hot serving and then she would return to the stove to make the next one with as much love as batter.

Weekend mornings at 2288 Beckley Road are some of my best childhood memories.

Some years later, I would make German pancakes for my children, hoping they too would taste the love in each bite - trying to instill a sense of tradition.

When Noelle came to live in Phoenix, one of the first things I did was start making her German pancakes on Sunday mornings. She was only a year old. By that time I also knew if I wanted to spend any time with her Aunt Christy, German pancakes were an easy lure. All I needed to do was text Christy to let her know of my plans to make German pancakes, and she would show up bright and early.

The German pancake tradition continues and I hope that one day Noelle or Christopher will ask me the recipe. My Gramma Willi lives through us in food.

Yesterday I had to go into work early (we had a 6:30 AM conference call) therefore I left early. Before leaving I texted Fettit to let him know I would stop by the market to pick up dinner, not having a clue what I was going to make.

I asked him if he had a suggestion and he said it was up to me so I went to the store and walked around aimlessly, not knowing what to make - then it hit me.

After getting the organic grapes that were on sale, and buying a bottle of tequila (with a $3 off coupon), I walked over to the meat counter and picked out some pork loin chops, then grabbed the Aunt Nellie's red cabbage and mashed potatoes.

This is the most traditional Willi meal.

Gramma never cooked pasta or chicken - ever - that I recall. Although she could throw anything at a minute's notice and have it turn out delicious. There were several signature meals, however, the most iconic meal in Margaret's house was breaded pork chops, mash potatoes, and red cabbage.

Fettit and I sat down to watch The Young and The Restless (our nightly tradition) and eat the traditional Willi meal. At the last minutes Fettit remembered we had seeded Jewish rye bread so we each grabbed a few slices and some butter.

With the first bite I was hit by a long ago memory and I told Fettit how the meal tasted like 2288 Beckley Rd - home. He didn't say a word, he just turned and gave a nod to the photograph of Gramma that sits next to my bed.

Gramma lives in each of us - even Fettit. She lives on - reincarnated through food.