So, one day you look down and see your feet in shoes you don't recognize. Maybe you like them, maybe you don't. This is where life begins. Welcome to WSATA.
Another heartbreaking story of a home lost before the holidays, but the home in this story is not a casualty of the foreclosure crisis, freak fire, or tornado. This loss is the result of a poor Kentucky woman hiring a fly-by-night company to move her mobile home and a Kentucky sheriff's frustration.
The company did not move the home properly, and so the house was stuck in the middle of a highway. After nine hours of rescue attempts, the local sheriff felt his only recourse was to destroy the home.
CARLISLE, KY (WAVE) - A Kentucky family is in disbelief after their home was destroyed because of an order given by a county sheriff. It is something so unbelievable that WAVE 3's Scott Harvey and photographer Nick Goldring made the two-hour drive to see if it was true.
Frances Barton thought things were getting better.
"I bought some land, beautiful land, to give my children a better life," said Barton.
Friday, she was having her mobile home moved when the trailer broke. That left it stranded in the mud, partially blocking U.S. 68 in Carlisle.
"They paid somebody $200 and that is what you get for $200," said Nicholas County Sheriff Dick Garrett. (WAVE 3 Louisville, KY. Read more)
Now the family has no place to go for the holidays, and the mother faces hefty fines if she can't remove the mobile home, which includes all the family's possessions, in compliance with the sheriff's time line. Tragic.
Per WTVQ, "Anyone who would like to make a donation to help the family start over, or to help in the clean-up, they can do so at the Farmers National Bank in Paris." Possibly this one.
Watch this video! "Human beings operating computers, writing emails, and driving wheelchairs with nothing but their thoughts."
People who are completely paralyzed due to illness or trauma are getting help communicating with a new technology that connects their brains to a computer. (Per CBS's 60 Minutes)
When I heard a commercial for this 60 Minutes story in late October about the human brain possibly working a computer or a robotic limb through a direct computer-to-brain interface, I thought Neo, welcome to The Matrix aka "I Know Kung Fu." (See clip below.)
Okay, so, we're not as far along as Neo and Morpheus yet, but still, this new technology is pretty darned amazing.
I hoped to catch the 60 Minutes story when it aired, but due to the craziness building up to and after the presidential election, I missed the segment. Fortunately, 60 Minutes has it online. One of the the videos is embedded at the beginning of this post, and you can watch more at the CBS site.
At the University of Pittsburgh, they've implanted directly into the brains of monkeys the same types of electrodes that some paralyzed humans have connecting their brains to a computer via a scalp cap interface (a brain-computer interface, BCI). As a result, one monkey is able to operate a robotic arm with only his thoughts. Researchers hope that eventually humans may have brain implants, allowing those who've been completely paralyzed to control "bionic" limbs.
One woman, Cathy Hutchinson, already has a direct computer-brain interface. She's a stroke survivor who moves her computer cursor with her mind and has been able to drive a wheelchair as well with her thoughts; however, the chair was empty when she drove it.
Welcome to our brave new world, closer to "merging man with machine."
More food for thought on the medical breakthroughs and the advancement of science and technology. Tonight I saw on CBS News with Katie Couric the potential to grow our own organs for transplant: "Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs." That story is here.
Per several news sources, Al-Qaida's second-in-command called President-elect Barack Obama, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of State Colin Powell "house Negroes," comparing them unfavorably to Malcom X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), an African-American leader and Muslim who was assassinated in 1965. In 1964, Malcolm X converted from the splintered form of Islam practiced by the Nation of Islam (Black American Muslims) and converted to traditional Islam, taking the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
At that time he adopted a less combative attitude toward Caucasians, but possibly was not as conciliatory as some sources report because some people believe he may have only embraced brotherhood with whites who were Muslim, not all whites. However, as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he shook off some of the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam of racial separation and that all whites were devils.
In his own words:
Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities -- he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the wall and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth -- the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to. . . .
I believe that God now is giving the world's so-called 'Christian' white society its last opportunity to repent and atone for the crimes of exploiting and enslaving the world's non-white peoples. It is exactly as when God gave Pharaoh a chance to repent. But Pharaoh persisted in his refusal to give justice to those who he oppressed. And, we know, God finally destroyed Pharaoh. (Malcolm X as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, source)
It's speculated Malcolm X's change of heart and move toward a "universalistic" message led in part to his assassination. Others believe his assassination resulted from a power struggle.
According to the HuffPo story, Al-Quaida's Ayman al-Zawahri condemned Obama via an 11-minute 23-second video which also included clips of old Malcolm X speeches discussing the term House Negro.
Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house Negroes."
The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters' house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the latest message was just "more despicable comments from a terrorist."
The Al-Qaida message further berated Obama for dishonoring his father's blood. In a Bloomberg News story, al-Zawahri is quoted saying Obama turned his back on his father's faith to "pray the prayer of the Jews" and to claim the Christian faith for political gain.
Reading the bit about Obama's father, I thought but Barack Obama also gets his name from his father, Barack meaning "blessed," so may God's blessing be a shield against this nonsense. Obama's father, btw, while born into a Muslim family, may not have been Muslim.
"Things are dwelt on that in our family are non-issues," said Auma. "His [Barack's] father was never a Muslim although he was born into a Muslim family with a Muslim name. He [Barack] himself was never a Muslim." (The Guardian)
As unforgiving as words in the Al-Qaida video seem, the speech stopped short of specific threats to America. More from HuffPo:
He said Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist.
"Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them," he said.
Al-Zawahri did not threaten specific attacks, but warned Obama that he was "facing a Jihadi (holy war) awakening and renaissance which is shaking the pillars of the entire Islamic world; and this is the fact which you and your government and country refuse to recognize and pretend not to see."
He said Obama's victory showed Americans acknowledged that President George W. Bush's policies were a failure and that the result was an "admission of defeat in Iraq." (HuffPo)
I wonder how these insults play with people who bought Sarah Palin's accusations that Obama "pals around with terrorists." While her accusations were based on Obama's think association with a man accused of domestic terrorism, she pushed her supporters to equate Obama with foreign terrorists. Perhaps her ilk will assume Al-Qaida's only putting on a show for us.
Closing
Here is YouTube of Malcom X explaining the psychology of the house Negro. You can listen to a full speech on this subject that he gave in 1963, more than a year before his conversion to traditional Islam, at American Rhetoric.
It's a good thing the President-elect is known for being so even-tempered and cool-headed because he'll be attacked from all sides. We Americans should have the good sense to rally around him and pray for him daily, and that includes black people who might buy into the belief that Obama is a house Negro.
I do not think Obama is a house Negro, but Nov. 5 comments from Independent Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader suggest he may give Al=Qaida's grievance credence. After the election Nader suggested that Obama leans toward being an Uncle Tom. He queried "Will he be Uncle Sam or Uncle Tom?" (Uncle Tom is the quintessential house Negro.)
Nader attempted to explain himself on Fox News, no less, information I found via The Opinion Mill, where Steve Hart calls Fox News, Fox Noise.
I guess al-Zawahri, perhaps due to his isolation, and Nader, for other reasons, didn't get the memo that America's exploring a possible post-racial existence. Some people think this means a color-blind, racism-is-dead world. But before you swallow that view, please see Dr. Cornell West's definition of "post-racial" in this post. We may be progressing, but we're still human.
I think Rush Limbaugh also missed the memo that America wants to move onward and upward. In fact, Limbaugh and al-Zawhri seem to have a something in common; they both spout divisive propaganda and prefer to stir up confusion to further their own agendas.
Apparently the Al-Qaida message also warns:
The speaker reminded Americans that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden told them to leave Muslim lands.
Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri are believed to be living in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
"So choose for yourself whatever you like," the speaker warns. "And bear the consequences of your choice, and as you judge, you will be judged." (CNN)
How's that for ominous?
However we feel about the term "house Negro" and whether it applies to our President-elect, Al-Qaida's latest message should raise a different big question in our heads, one CNN correspondent Peter Bergen asks, "Where is Osama bin Laden?"
Somewhat intriguing. The CNN video below has man-on-the-street and expert's insights about the inner workings of President-elect Barack Obama's doodlings, one of which sold on E-bay in 2007 for $2075, and Gov. Sarah Palin's doodling from her early days in politics. Under the video you'll see Obama's drawing and Palin's doodling for your own analysis.
Obama's doodle
Palin's doodle I found the copies of Obama and Palin doodles at The Western Standard. Sarah Palin's doodle goes back to June in The New Republic. I think I'll agree with the Western Standard's assessment of the interest:
Sarah Palin's doodles wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that a doodle by president-elect Barack Obama could be sold for six figures (and if CNN didn't make a big deal out of it by putting together this video). Wayne Berzon, a memorabilia collector, purchased an Obama doodle for $2,075 during an eBay charity auction in May of 2007. (TWS)
However, I'm glad CNN picked up the story otherwise I would never have considered this topic, which probably makes for decent conversation.
Back in 2007, The Huffington Post reported on the sale of Obama's doodle on eBay. for $2075, back when the President-elect was the Senator from Illinois, and The Chicago Tribune reported that the purchaser, Berzon, says he will not sell it. The paper further reports that Obama's sketch may easily sell for six figures now that he's won the White House. More on Obama's drawing:
The Obama doodle, composed on the charity's inaugural "National Doodle Day" in May 2007, contains likenesses of some of the Senate's most powerful members: Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democratic colleagues Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles Schumer of New York (The Chicago Tribune)
Folks in the CNN video seem far more complimentary of Obama's doodles as insight into his mind than Palin's, very critical of the governor, and one expert said her doodles resembled those of a teenager, which made me think of how Palin sounded when speaking to those Canadian pranksters. Also, I tend to associate anything like hearts or circles to dot an "i" with childhood. Plus, the drawing of her own name so big may indicate she's a bit self-absorbed, unless she was attempting to visualize how her campaign poster might look.
The expert said Palin's smart, but a bit scattered.
The future first-family is still in the market for a presidential puppy. However, future First Lady Michelle Obama said during a 60 Minutes interview with her and husband, Presidential-elect Barack Obama, that Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, won't get a puppy until late winter or spring. The Mom-in-Chief wants to wait until she's established a routine for the family and settled the girls in to their new White House home and schools.
Nevertheless, I saw this potential puppy while watching CNN's Anderson Cooper on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (video at HuffPo of Cooper), and found the story to which Cooper referred in The New York Post for the feature Mr. Prez, Adopt this Puppy. The dog's name is Kody. He's a poodle mix, a mutt, which is something the President-elect says his family prefers, and even better, he's hypoallergenic, a requirement since Malia has asthma.
"He's smart, playful and willing to please," said Melissa Barnes, a spokesman for Animal Lovers League in Glen Cove, LI.
This small pup who is hypoallergenic weighs about 20 lbs and is 3 to 4 years old.
"He loves to go for rides in the car." (NYP)
The article begins discussing a different dog named Gipesy. Technically I don't think either dog is puppy because puppies are less than one-year-old.
Here is part of Mr. & Mrs. Obama's 60 Minutes interview from last night.
Mrs. Obama said Laura Bush is gracious and a "very sweet person" who made them feel welcomed. Watch more at 60 Minutes. She also talks about her expectations for the future of the girls at the White House, and how life's changed since they began their journey toward the White House.
I haven't been blogging much lately due to a family crisis, but I needed to post on this historic meeting of President-elect Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. It appears the video clip below was a photo op designed to show reaching across the aisle, mending fences, and healing underway that will help us solve our problems post election and work together.
Obama seem pretty relaxed here. He called the press incorrigible as they tried to get in a few questions. He and McCain talked football as cameras clicked around them.
CNN has more at this link, "Obama, McCain Discuss Need for 'New Era of Reform'."
(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain said Monday that Americans are looking for leaders who will come together and "change the bad habits of Washington."
In a joint statement issued after their first meeting since the presidential election, the former rivals said they hoped to work together on challenges like the financial crisis, creating a new energy economy and protecting the country's security. ...
Obama and McCain met Monday at Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.
The two were not expected to talk about any possible Cabinet position for McCain, according to both McCain and Obama advisers. (Read more)
HuffPo also has a story with longer video from CNN.
A girlfriend of William Balfour, Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law who seems to be the primary person of interest in the murders of Hudson's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew, claims she saw Balfour with the gun that authorities identified as the murder weapon, per CNN. If you wish to read more on the history of this case, try my Jennifer Hudson's posts.
Below is video from CNN's Showbiz Tonight about the case's recent development.
As a different note, ShowBiz is also promoting a discussion about Jennifer Aniston blasting Angelina Jolie in Vogue for telling how she and Brad Pitt fell in love, an affair that blossomed while Pitt was married to Anniston. Yeah, I guess it still hurts even three years after Aniston and Pitt's divorce. Supposedly Anniston vented further on Oprah today but more to say she's over Brangelina, and that her comments about Brangelina's timeline have been overplayed (See video here.). She also talked about turning 40.
The talk show host also had Beyonce on the show saying young people are supposed to work hard while discussing boundaries and balance in her life and her marriage to Jay-Z, plus the secret wedding. Naturally Beyonce's promoting Sasha Fierce, embracing the alter ego that I'm sure has psychologists and some fans scratching their heads. She said Sasha doesn't do interviews. She only performs.
Speaking more on her marriage, Beyonce said marriage is more successful when you know who you are first and keep your own life. I agree.
The singer also said she's not pregnant, and she'll be playing the role of Etta James in a new movie. Please tell me ya'll know who Etta James is?
Later Beyonce performed "If I Were A Boy" with her girl band. Taking in her entire interview, it feels like she's doing self-exploration.
Now and then I do a little sump'n sump'n on the celebs. Don't know what brought on the stargazing today other than I wanted something to take my mind off my own stresses. Otherwise, I tend to steer clear of celebrity-focused magazines unless it's something shocking such as the murder of Jennifer Hudson's family members that invokes sadness in most of us.
