President Obama’s Weekly Address – 03/28/09
This week the President dedicates his address to the people of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota as they face down disastrous flooding. He speaks of what the government is doing, but also stresses that times of crisis like this are reminders of the need and opportunity Americans have to keep their dedication to service. He commends the Edward M. Kennedy National Service Act, which passed the Senate this week following similar legislation in the House last week, for helping to rejuvenate this spirit.
The Right-Hand of Fellowship
by Darrell Holmes
I was recently reading a blog on chron.com’s “Believe Out Loud” section where a debate about whether Satan is real was posed. An actual discussion is to take place between Mark Driscoll, pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Carlton Pearson who authored the book “the Gospel of Inclusion”, Deepak Chopra who is an alternative medicine expert, and Hookers for Jesus founder Annie Lobert. It will air on ABC’s Nightline program on March 26th. The ensuing discussion in the comments section was random and nonsensical as the inevitable debate about whether Christianity or religion as a whole are based in facts.
Truthfully, many Christians are unprepared to have an intelligent discussion about the factual truths from which their faith is based because they haven’t ever spent time studying the Bible from a historical standpoint nor do they spend much time reading at all. When presented with seemingly factual evidence of why their faith may be rooted in myth or hearsay they aren’t able to support their beliefs with either historical data or Biblical scripture that argues otherwise. I know because I’ve been in that situation myself before.
If you are Christian, what would you say or how would you present your argument? Is this a societal problem among Americans where we spend much less time reading in general or is this inherent among Christian believers?
What the President Has Signed Into Law – February 2009
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Obama, Our Rights, Personal Finance, Politics
Yes, I am late and it is almost the end of March. But better late than never. The purpose for this post is to inform you of the new laws and acts enacted by Congress and President Obama. With the advent of the Internet it’s gotten easier to watch every step our government takes. And President Obama is making some nice moves to make what our government does more transparent to the American people. We elected them, so we need to make sure they’re doing their job. The laws I list are posted at govtrack.us, which is a nice site for checking laws in any stage their in. As always feel free to leave any additional comments. Discussion is encouraged.
On Feb 4, 2009, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 2, Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. To amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to extend and improve the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and for other purposes. Read Full Text
On Feb 11, 2009, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 352, DTV Delay Act. A bill to postpone the DTV transition date. Read Full Text
On Feb 17, 2009, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 1, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. Read Full Text
Video of Obama Motorcade in L.A. – 03/19/09
I just thought I’d share this video on Youtube of President Obama’s motorcade leaving the taping of the Jay Leno show. When he was talking about the ambulance and all the people following him around, I thought he was exaggerating a little. Guess not. The video was taken by conorrtobin. Here’s an even closer shot from KierntTruly.
President Obama’s Weekly Address – 03/21/09
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, General, Obama, Politics, Society & Culture
The President reflects on lessons from his time spent outside Washington recently, which only reinforced the core principles in his budget. The budget will be his central focus throughout this week.
MakingHomeAffordable.gov
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, General, Obama, Our Rights, Personal Finance, Politics, Society & Culture, Technology
President Obama is putting web designers to work with ANOTHER website! To ensure that everyone who can take advantage of the President housing plan can do so, the Administration launched MakingHomeAffordable.gov – a site where you can find out everything you need to know about the President’s plan and whether you qualify. As it stands only loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are eligible. If you are not sure who owns your loan, you can contact Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac directly by clicking on the links below and completing the forms for each company.
Fannie Mae
- 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 8pm EST)
- www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup
Freddie Mac
- 1-800-FREDDIE (8am to 8pm EST)
- www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage
Be sure to check out the calculator that allows homeowners to estimate the possible reduction to their monthly mortgage payment they might receive under the plan. To see the press release of the new website visit the whitehouse.gov blog.
AAHMI Celebrates Black Marriage Day
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Family, Relationships
Having a successful marriage is hard work! When dealing with the stresses of every day life, it’s easy to lose focus and get caught up in the rat race. Like a fine tuned sports car, our marriages over time need a tune-up. Here’s a great way to share and learn from others what it takes to keep a marriage strong.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEALTHY MARRIAGE INITIATIVE OF HOUSTON (AAHMI) INVITES YOU TO CELEBRATE BLACK MARRIAGE DAY with A FREE DAY OF MARRIAGE EDUCATION
Sunday, March 22, 2009
9:00 – 5:30 PM
5878 Bellfort Avenue
Houston, TX 77033
If you are interested, please call:
713-867-7764
Ask for Yanira Montes
View the attachment as well as the website (www.houstonmarriage.org) for other dates and locations.
President Obama’s Weekly Address – 03/14/09
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Health, Obama, Society & Culture
In this week’s address, President Barack Obama makes key announcements regarding the safety of our nation’s food.
“We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things that we can’t do on our own. There are certain things that only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat, and the medicines we take, are safe and don’t cause us harm.”
Watch Your Weekly Address below to learn more about the President’s measures to make the food that lands on America’s dinner tables safer.
Identity Politics on the Internet Conference
Filed under: Blog Entries, Education, General, Society & Culture, Technology
I received this information in the comments section of the previous post and thought I’d share it.
Hi guys! This Conference sounds to be great! They have very interesting panels on identity and a featured panel on Barak Obama and you can also make a real African Safari… The Institute of Identity Research (IDmap) announces an international conference on Identity Politics on the Internet to be held in Kenya on the 27th to 29th of August 2009. The aim of the Conference is to create discourse in the area of Identity politics on the Internet and other related topics.
The Conference will be graced by several leading scholars who have written and researched extensively on issues of Identity. We hope that this conference will result in solutions and better understanding of the problems facing issues of identity in the contemporary context.
AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
IDENTITY POLITICS ON THE INTERNET
August 27-29, 2009
Organized by Institute of Identity Research (IDmap)
http://www.idmap-conferences.net
Will be held in Amboseli Wildlife National Park, Kenya
Featured panel: Barack Obama’ Election and Kenyan politics of Identity:
Will he identify himself with the World or with his People?
• The deadline for submission of the Abstracts is 01.05.2009 (200-500 words) in Word or PDF formats
• The deadline for submission of full-text papers is 01.07.2009 Preliminary program of the Conference includes the following panels:
• Kenyan 2007 Presidential elections and the Internet
• Traditions and Identity in Kenyan politics: Barak Obama as a Luo representative of Kenyan identity politics
• Facebook and Identity: do old ethnicity definitions still matter?
• World Identity politics: Case-studies and Comparative Analysis
• Parties and recruitment in the digital world
• Gender, ethnicity and empowerment: what is better to be a white man or a black woman?
• When religion comes to the Internet: the new ways to build and reinforce religious identity
• Government on the Internet: new ways to preserve Nation-state and its identity on the Net
• New English and E-Linguistic: jargon and vocabulary of Internet campaigns
Participants are welcomed to join the following working groups:
• Computers and identity
• Culture and identity
• Mathematical expressions of identity
• Internet and Politics
• Internet Vocabulary
Best Identity MA/PhD Thesis work award:
During the conference the Institute will award the best MA/PhD work submitted for the evaluation. The work should reveal an original and innovative approach in the field of Identity with its expression on the Internet. Information regarding submission procedure can be found on our site or through direct contact of our Administrators.
President Obama’s Weekly Address – 03/07/09
In his March 7th weekly address, the President capped off a busy week in Washington remarking on new lending guidelines aimed at lowering mortgage payments; an initiative to generate funds for small business and college loans; the release of his administration’s first budget which includes $2T in deficit reduction, and the start of long overdue health care reform.
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