Thoughts on the world of open source
From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved the book. Beck Dorey-Stein is a great writer and I look forward to more of her work. This is a very interesting book and story of the Obama administration from an unlikely perspective.
This week we’ve seen stalling and grand standing on health care reform by folks who don’t need health insurance because they already have government provided health care. We the people demand change. Those who represent us would have us believe that health care reform is a bad thing. Why then is the rest of the world not moving to the United States because our health care is without peer. Truth be told is that while Americans do have great health care, they do not have great health care coverage. Health Care Reform will be good for all Americans including doctors and nurses. Call your representative now and demand health care reform. It’s a matter of social justice and believe it or not it will actually benefit business both large and small. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain lying to you.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83FvLjsUOJg]
This is my favorite quote in all of scripture and has been for longer than I can remember. President Obama’s call to service and to give up childish things encourages me.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:35-40.
This came from a friend it just speaks for itself. Truly a remarkable use of technology.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYrZZ68zhSs]
My heart is filled with gratitude tonight. I’m grateful for life in general, but also that we witnessed a peaceful transfer of power today in our land. I wanted to watch the inauguration on television but that didn’t work out so I listened to it on NPR and perhaps that was better. I was driving back to work from a morning meeting at the University at Buffalo. I wept a lot and they were all tears of joy and happiness. I thought often of my nephew Tom and how proud I was of him and how proud my Dad would have been. Dad’s been gone almost thirty-six years now. He checked out early at 46. He missed a lot.
I listened to the swearing in. I really loved Rick Warren’s benediction. I thought he did a great job. I loved the orchestral arrangement. It was a lovely piece and captured the grandeur for me. I loved Dr. Lowery’s final blessing. I was sorry to see that some people booed former President Bush. I thought that was poor taste.
President Obama’s speech was the best inaugural address I’ve ever heard. I think it will rank up there among the top. His delivery was impeccable and maybe it was because I listened to it on the car stereo but he seemed to thunder like a clap of lightning. It was magnificent. I’ve watched more television in the past few days than I have in a long time.
Tonight it seems like morning in America again. I’m glad I lived long enough to experience this day.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
–President Obama
I came across this very good video clip from Charlie Rose’s show. It’s an interview with Larry Lessig who himself is a really great thinker. I like what he says about Barack Obama being neither left nor right. That’s what draws me too, because I don’t like being classified as left or right. Those titles are so limited.
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Lots of thoughts today. I got up this morning to bone chilling cold. Our home is warm, but it was -9 degrees fahrenheit outside. I thank God that we have heat and a well insulated home. Our daughter is home this weekend. She and I headed to the gym earlier for a good workout. I got in 40 minutes on the eliptical machine and Dara varied her workout among eliptical, weights and a stationary bicycle.
As we headed to the gym I let Dara know that 34 years ago I put on my dress blues and headed to work at the Naval Hospital in New London, Connecticut and reported to the officer of the day who signed my orders to leave. That was my last day of active duty. I was happy to be going home. Now, all this time later I’d like one more day with or at least a few hours with those men and women with whom I served. I’d like to say thank you again and catch up a bit. The perspective at 56 years of age is different than it was at 22.
I’ve been relaxing on the couch next to our pellet stove most of the rest of the day. I had some rice krispies with milk and honey which is my favorite breakfast. I’ve been watching C-Span, CNN and MSNBC most of the day to see President-elect Obama, Vice-President-elect Joe Biden and their wives touch the lives of millions of Americans with their train ride from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. There is quite a contrast from four and even eight years ago. Obama isn’t God and he’s got his work cut out for him but people everywhere along that route and in much of our country and around the world are excited too. I’ve been thinking about my nephew Tom who is a sailor serving in the United States Navy Ceremonial Guard in DC. Tom’s going to be marching with our new president on Pennsylvania Avenue on Tuesday. I wish I could be there. I’m so proud of Tom and wish I could be there in person to see him. Many times today I’ve been moved to tears as I watched the President-elect’s train and listened to he and other speak along the way.
My brother Brian and his friend Lillian will be in Washington for the inaugural too. Lillian stood on the mall with Dr. King in 1963 as a teenager. How special for her to return now to see a member of her race inaugurated. I’ve been thinking too of Dr. King himself and what he would have thought of all of this. Today is a day that makes me proud to be an American. It’s one of those signature days. I’m grateful to be an American and a veteran of the United States Navy. I salute my countrymen, our President and Vice-President Elect, their families and the millions of soldiers, sailors, marines and coast guardsman who serve us. God bless America and may America bless God again.
The inauguration of Barack Obama is still a few days away, but I cannot hide my delight. I’ve been getting emails from Republicans or folks concerned about Obama. President Obama is not super-human. He’s charismatic and intelligent. He’s engaging everyone even his adversaries. He’s not easily pinned down nor pigeon-holed. He’s got a lot of work to do and the country hasn’t been in this much trouble in decades. We face a crisis much greater than anyone we’ve faced since World War II and if the United States of America is to survive we must pull together. That doesn’t mean we all have to agree, but it does mean we have agree not to be disagreeable. For too many decades now we’ve been alienating and marginalizing people. That’s got to stop.
The United States of America is a melting pot. We are “E Pluribus Unum.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmUUYo9o9eg]
The so-called progressives in this country are going nuts about President-elect Obama’s choice of Rick Warren for the invocation at his inauguration. Rick Warren’s not my kind of guy, but give Obama credit for doing what he promised and attempting to change the culture. We are not a gay America, nor a straight America. We are not blue America and red America. We are the United States of America, a country of many hues and voices that needs to become one. I’d have chosen Jim Wallis myself, but I applaud the President-elect’s choice of Rick Warren because he believes as I do that it’s okay to disagree as long as we don’t become disagreeable. We’ve been too disagreeable for too long and it’s killing us.
I’ve been following the transition of Barack Obama and I’ve enjoyed how President Elect Obama and his team continue to leverage the web. They’ve skirted traditional media outlets and they’ve taken their case right to the people. This is a groundbreaking approach and I believe it will be the end of politics as usual. Sunday talk shows will become passe. No longer will CNN, Fox, CBS and other cable outlets be the prism through which we view our leaders. They’ll be coming direct to us. It’ll be refreshing not to have the filter of the main stream media. I’ve grown weary of food fight television shows where guests are shouted down by loud mouth hosts. Meaningful discourse instead of talking points supplied by corporate managers. Valerie Jarrett spells some of this out in this useful Youtube presentation. Gobama!
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