Obama in Union Station in DC

Lookie who we ran into in Union Station in DC over the holidays. ;-)

Historic

I know I wasn't alone back in 2004, or even before that, when I saw Obama for the first time and knew that I was looking at our future President, and a symbol of racial harmony, thoughtful and intelligent leadership, and hope.

This has restored my hope in human kind. We're witnessing a future in which racial differences fade away, and the old politics of cynicism and partisanship crumble.

It's really happening, and it brings me such joy.

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off - Watch more free videos

LOLCats on Breastfeeding

Yeah, it's been a few months since I posted here. We've been a little distracted with Larkin. I'll probably be creating a new blog for her to post pics and videos, but needless to say, we're having a blast.

This pic really made me LOL.


more animals

Early Bird

On Saturday morning, April 12th at 6:15am, our first child, Larkin, decided to break her water and come out and play with us. Needless to say, Ashley and I weren't exactly prepared for this since it wasn't supposed to happen for at least another 5 weeks, but we sprang into action, packing whatever we could think of and heading to the hospital in Nashville.

We weren't sure what to expect when we got to the hospital, and were even thinking they may just put Ashley on bed rest, but no, Larkin was really ready, so 30 minutes later Ashley was wheeled into the O.R. for an emergency C-Section, while I placed a number of phone calls and text messages to whoever my muddled brain could think of.

I got my "scrubs" on and waited in the hallway for about 10 minutes, and then they took me into the O.R. to join Ashley. Within about 3 minutes, at 9:13am, I heard Larkin belting out quite a first cry. She got to spend a couple minutes with Ashley, and then they whisked her away to the nursery to do all that new baby stuff they do.

I went with Larkin to the nursery while they finished up with Ashley, and learned that even though she was 5 weeks early, she was a pretty healthy 5lb, 9oz, and 18 inches long.

The neonatal nurses were monitoring her temperature and respiration closely for most of the day. I was lucky to be able to run back and forth between Ashley in recovery and Larkin in the nursery, but poor Ashley had to wait until 12:30 am this morning to get to spend quality time with her little girl again.

Even though patience isn't her best virtue, Ashley did great waiting it out. She's been wonderful and strong from the moment Larkin decided she was going to join us sooner rather than later, in fact. Wow, what an amazing mother she's going to be!

We are back home now and settling in. I'm taking my second and final week of paternity leave, which has been great. We're getting into some semblance of a schedule at this point, and getting some half decent sleep.

Ashley is recovering well from the c-section, and I can already tell it's going to be a challenge to keep her from overdoing it. Larkin is improving quickly, and we're feeling incredible grateful that what issues she has so far are relatively minor in the long run.

Her lungs are in good shape, and we're working on getting her feeding down, both on our end and hers. Since she's 5 weeks early, she is still learning the whole "suck and swallow" thing, but she's getting it down and her appetite is growing rapidly. We also found that most of her clothes didn't fit her, so we had to go out and get some "premie" clothes to tide her over till she catches up in size.

The main concern right now is her little left hip. It's apparently fairly common for first-born girls in the breech position to have Developmental Hip Dysplasia, which means her leg can easily pop out of her hip joint. We took her to the orthopedist and they put a Pavilk Harness on her, which she'll probably wear for 3-6 weeks. It's not as bad as we thought it'd be, and it's a near sure thing to correct the issue and let her hip bone grow correctly and lock her leg into place. She doesn't mind at all, but it does make changing diapers a little more tricky for us.

All in all we feel very grateful that she's healthy and happy, and we're doing great.

Here are a few pics of her first days with us.

Music You Should Check Out

I've been meaning to do a little write up on the albums I've recently picked up, and I've waited and waited, so here's a handful that I highly recommend:

Strung Out - Blackhawks Over Los Angeles
Strung Out have been around since 1990, so I'm shocked that I haven't heard of them until 2008. This album is just plain old good punk rock with some heavy metal thrown in.

Like some of my other favorite punk bands, Bad Religion and NOFX, Strung Out isn't light on social commentary, and the past 8 years have provided a bevy of material for disgruntled punk and rock musicians.
From IGN:

That seventh release, Blackhawks over Los Angeles, is the band's best release to date, both musically and lyrically. As an example, the title track has a searing guitar "battle" that is eerily reminiscent of classic Maiden. Singing over that guitar attack, lead singer Jason Cruz wails, "Curfew tonight in Hollywood as the insurgents drawing near; Helicopters and ecstasy and the shot heard round the world. The camera shines for channel zero as the cool kids running scared. The armies got a brand new toy and they're just waiting for the word."

The tenor of the album stays remarkably focused as the band ratchets up the social commentary on tracks like "A War Called Home" and "A Letter Home". The latter is written from the perspective of a young soldier who is obviously not buying the propaganda his government is selling.

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Trent Reznor is back in a big way with this concept album describing the year 2022, where things are just going from bad to worse as a result of the policies of the last 8 years.

I happen to be a big, big fan of Concept albums, where the entire album strings together a story, and for me, the darker the story the better.

Wikipedia describes the theme:

Nine Inch Nails' 2006 tour merchandise designs featured overt references to the United States military, which Trent Reznor said "reflect[ed] future directions". Reznor later stated that Year Zero was a concept album, and that he "wrote the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist". It criticizes the American government's policies, and how it "could be about the end of the world". Previously, Reznor had called the 2004 US election date "one step closer to the end of the world".

Even though the fictional story begins in January 2007, the timeline of the album and alternate reality game mentions historical events, such as September 11 attacks and the Iraq War. From there, fictional events lead to worldwide chaos, including bioterrorism attacks, the United States engaging in nuclear war with Iran, and the elimination of American civil liberties at the hands of the fictional government agency The Bureau of Morality. Regardless of being fictional, a columnist of The Hartford Courant commented, "What's scary is that this doesn't seem as far-fetched as it should, given recent revelations about the FBI's abuse of the Patriot Act and the dissent-equals-disloyalty double-speak coming out of Washington in recent years." The "recent revelations" he referred to was the Justice Department's inspector general revealing abuses of the Act by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This isn't a hook-laden album and has moments where Reznor spirals out into the sonic ether, but as a whole, this album is an enjoyable piece of art. I'll be interested to see if the movie or television provides this soundtrack with visuals in the future.

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace
It's been a while since I picked up a Foo Fighters album. No particular reason, I just haven't. I loved their first couple albums, but then my entire CD collection got stolen when someone broke into my truck in Atlanta, and I just never replaced my Foo Fighters CDs.

This has been on my "to buy" list for a while, but on the recommendation of Rik, I finally picked it up...well, downloaded it from iTunes...
This is a very, very good album. Dave Grohl has got to be one of the most talented musicians going these days. The album has a nice mix of hard hitting rock, and slow, quiet, reflective moments sung and played beautifully by Grohl and friends.

Johnny Cash - American IV - The Man Comes Around
I cannot believe that I'm just discovering the American Recordings from the Man in Black. Wow. Here's how it happened:

I was watching the season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox, and the final battle at the end, where Federal troops were storming the hotel room of the creepy as hell robot who's hunting John Connor, has "The Man Comes Around" playing as the bot lays waste to the intruders.

The song, with it's apocalyptic theme, is simply awesome in this scene, as we wonder about the future of mankind when technology becomes self-aware and resolves to destroy us.

I went straight to iTunes and found American IV, and I LOVE it. This album, along with American III, was recorded when Cash was facing his own mortality, and his wife, June died in 2003. Cash himself died four months later, and American V was later release posthumously in 2006 to much acclaim. The raw message of death and redemption, along with some other lighter tunes, that Cash's gravelly voice conveys is simply haunting.

He sings a bunch of covers, as well as some of his own songs, but the stark style of the recordings, just Cash, a guitar, a piano, and some famous guest vocals, really evokes the reality of death and hope in a way that I can't easily describe.

I cannot wait to pick up the entire American Recording series eventually, but III and V are on my immediate radar.

Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream
Steven Wilson's prog-rock band originally released Stupid Dream back in 1999, which I didn't realize until after I'd already bought it. No matter, it's more PT, and more is better.

Like every PT album I've gotten, this is very good. PT is much more accessible than other modern prod-rock bands, like Dream Theater, so I'm a bit surprised that Wilson hasn't broken it big in the US yet.

Some of their tunes are actually pretty radio friendly, but hey, we all know commercial radio is dead, so I'm not surprised. Pick this up, as well as PT's last few albums. They're all great.

It's Over, Hillary. Accept It.

For the good of the party, she needs to accept that it isn’t going to happen for her.

Jonathan Alter of Newsweek crunches the numbers and finds that, despite the Clinton camp’s furious spinning and celebration of their victory in Ohio, and their primary victory in Texas, it would literally take a miracle for her to catch up to Obama in delegates.

In fact, as the Texas “Two Step” caucus votes are going to give the majority of Texas delegates to Obama…so Obama really wins Texas.

Thanks to SNL's skit, the media is now overcompensating and not asking Clinton the tough questions, propagating the Clinton campaign's exaggerated victory claims of Ohio and Texas, and seemingly ignoring the fact that the numbers are even less kind to Clinton now than they were before Tuesday...

Back to Alter’s article:

Hillary Clinton won big victories Tuesday night in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. But she’s now even further behind in the race for the Democratic nomination. How could that be? Math. It’s relentless.

To beat Barack Obama among pledged delegates, Clinton now needs even bigger margins in the 12 remaining primaries than she needed when I ran the numbers on Monday–an average of 23 points, which is more than double what she received in Ohio.

…

So no matter how you cut it, Obama will almost certainly end the primaries with a pledged delegate lead, courtesy of all those landslides in February. What happens then? Will Democrats come together before the Denver Convention opens in late August?

We know that Hillary is unlikely to quit. This will leave it up to the superdelegates to figure out how to settle on a nominee. With 205 already committed to Obama, he would need another 200 uncommitted superdelegates to get to the magic number of 2025 delegates needed to nominate. But that’s only under my crazy pro-Hillary projections. More likely, Obama would need about 50-100 of the approximately 500 uncommitted superdelegates, which shouldn’t be too difficult.

But let’s say all the weeks of negative feeling have taken a toll. Let’s say that Clinton supporters are feeling embittered and inclined to sit on their hands. It’s not too hard to imagine prominent superdelegates asking Obama to consider putting Hillary on the ticket.

This might be the wrong move for him. A national security choice like Sen. Jim Webb, former Sen. Sam Nunn or retired Gen. Anthony Zinni could make more sense. But if Obama did ask Clinton, don’t assume she would say no just because she has, well, already served as de facto vice president for eight years under her husband. (Sorry, Al).

In fact, she would probably say yes. When there’s a good chance to win, almost no one has ever said no. (Colin Powell is the exception). In 1960, when the vice-presidency was worth a lot less, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson gave up his powerful position to run with John F. Kennedy.

How about Clinton-Obama? Nope. The Clintonites can spin to their heart’s content about how big March 4 was for them. How close the race is. How they’ve got the Big Mo now.

Tell it to Slate’s Delegate Calculator. Again.

Why Should You Vote for Obama?

For those undecideds out there, watch his response to another undecided voter:

Chicago Sun-Times Endorses Obama

On this Sunday after Obama swept the Feb. 9th primaries and leads Hillary Clinton in the delegate race, I found this excellent endorsement by the Chicago Sun-Times. It's not surprising that the paper chose their hometown hero, but the reasons why are well written, and go a long way toward capturing the Obama phenomenon that is sweeping across the county.

It's really amazing how Barry Obama is igniting the previously apathetic and disaffected. I've got dear friends who have been tuned out of politics since before they could vote, and they're now canvassing and making blind calls in support of Barack. The young people of this country are getting involved and finding passion in their support of Obama and his hope for the future of America.

It really is an amazing thing to experience...something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. The Chicago Sun-Times puts it best:

On June 5, 1986, the curiously poetic name of Barack Obama appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times for the first time. Obama, new to us but presenting himself as a "community organizer" on the South Side, was quoted in a news story calling on Mayor Harold Washington to get asbestos out of a public housing project.

Obama was right about that one -- the poisonous asbestos had to go -- and perhaps we should have weighed in at the time with a strong editorial. It is the job of a newspaper -- especially this newspaper -- to stand with the powerless against the powerful.

And so today, as we mark the 60th birthday of our newspaper, it is a special pleasure to give Obama this newspaper's endorsement in Tuesday's Illinois Democratic presidential primary. Because we believe he's right again.

Obama is right on the issues, right in daring us to believe in a goodness greater than ourselves, and right in having the confidence to appeal to all of us as one America.

Obama has the power of a celebrity's charisma and the grounding of a common man's birth.

There's been talk of Camelot in the last few days. Back then, that young president said to us:

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

And once, we had another great leader, who said, "I have a dream."

Americans took them at their word. They joined the Peace Corps. They marched on Selma. They protested a pointless war.

We need a president and a leader like that again.

Obama Declares War on Drugs "A Failure"

Well, it certainly looks like the new generation of politicians have arrived, led by Barack Obama. Finally a major candidate is willing to say what baby boomers have been denying for decades: that our "War on Drugs" is a failure, and the time for decriminalization is coming.

We've spent billions of Federal dollars since this "War" (which is about as real as the "War on Terror") began, putting millions of Americans behind bars for possession of marijuana, amongst other drugs.

Norml.org reports that Obama, in a 2004 video, states, "I think the war on drugs has been a failure, and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws."

Washington, DC: A newly discovered video of a 2004 appearance at Northwestern University by Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, in which he calls for the federal decriminalization of marijuana, was posted online today by The Washington Times. In that appearance, Obama states, "I think the war on drugs has been a failure, and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws." Obama continued, saying that while he supported decriminalization, he did not support the full legalization of marijuana.

Republicans for Obama

I found RepublicansForObama.Org this morning, and there's an interesting thread on why Republicans are voting for Obama, including this post on how Republicans have lost their way with regard to fiscal conservatism:

The republican party is full of a bunch of jokers right now. Sure, Obama is very liberal on a lot of issues, but he's got to be more conservative than the bozos who were in charge of congress since '94 (and who then lost it) on several different issues.

The most obvious is how the republicans have squandered all of our money. Say what you want about Bill Clinton, but at least he did what the republicans never seem to be able to do-- get a balanced budget. It's hard to believe that Obama will be as dumb as the republicans have been with our nation's money.

And another one which expresses frustration with how the GOP has tried to apply faith to policy:

As an evangelical, I am thinking of supporting Obama precisely because he does not fuse America and American ideals with the Kingdom of God. Nor does he dismiss the importance of faith in challenging our values and behaviors.

Instead, in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, he seems to understand that our task is not to invoke the name of God by claiming God's blessing and endorsement for all our national policies and practices-saying, in effect, that God is on our side. Such thinking leads inevitably to absolutism, self-righteousness, bad theology and "bombastic" foreign policy.

Rather, Obama seems to take the position that we should pray and worry earnestly whether we are on God's side. Such a posture leads to much healthier things such as humility, reflection, repentance and even accountability; things we'd all like to see return to the politics of our day. This is, what I think, part of Obama's vision of a new politics. A vision that can unite us all around the story we find ourselves in.

Sarah Silverman Helps Matt Damon Get Even With Boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel in Music Video

God this woman is hilarious. Silverman's boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel, often tosses jabs at Damon at the end of his late night show with lines such as, "Apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time..."

Well, Damon gets even with Kimmel in Sarah's new video entitled, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon."

You have got to check it out.

Two Sites You MUST Visit in 2008

Make sure you know the truth about what the candidates are saying, and what they stand for. These are non-partisan sites that will help you understand who you're voting for, no matter the party.

Bill Clinton's latest lies about Obama come to mind...man, I hold him in high regard as one of the best Presidents in the last few decades, but his attack dog role for Hillary is really making him look sleazy...

http://www.factcheck.org - Learn the truth about what all the candidates are saying.

http://www.ontheissues.org/ - Learn what the candidates stances on the issues are before you vote.

The Latest Right Wing Attack on Obama

Both I and my friends have been working to correct some of the vicious misinformation that's been floating around right-wing blogs and email forwards. The latest rounds involve charging Barack as an anti-white racist, and spreading the lie that he's a Muslim.

FactCheck.org is a service I've subscribed to for years to keep politicians and organizations on both sides of the aisle honest, and exposing them when they aren't.

The latest article from FactCheck addresses both of the latest anti-Obama misinformation campaigns:

If these two nasty e-mail messages are any indication, the 2008 presidential campaign is becoming a very dirty one.

One claims that Obama is "certainly a racist" by virtue of belonging to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which it says "will accept only black parishoners" and espouses a commitment to Africa. Actually, a white theology professor says he's been "welcomed enthusiastically" at the church, as have other non-blacks.

Another e-mail claims that Obama "is a Muslim," attended a "Wahabi" school in Indonesia, took his Senate oath on the Koran, refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and is part of an Islamic plot to take over the U.S. Each of these statements is false.

These false appeals to bigotry and fear remind us of the infamous whispering campaign of eight years ago, when anonymous messages just before the South Carolina primary falsely accused Republican candidate John McCain of fathering an illegitimate child by a black woman.

Check out the full article for much more information, and when you hear or read people spreading false claims and lies about candidates on either side of the aisle, please step up and fight it with truth.

Barock the House

Here is Barack Obama's victory speech in Iowa.

He says in this speech that one day we'll look back at Iowa as where it all began, but if you really want to see where it all began, read his books: Dreams of my Father, and The Audacity of Hope.

Then watch his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. (Part 1, Part 2)

Barack Obama Wins Iowa Primary

This is fantastic! I can't wait for February when I can cast my vote for him in the TN primary. The moment I saw him speak at the Democratic convention in 2004, I knew he'd be President one day.

It's happening faster than I thought (I hope anyway), but he's the right guy at the right time to heal this country and re-establish our standing in the world.

Funny story: Over the holidays at a family-in-law gathering, an in-law came up and we started talking about the candidates, and after I said I supported Barack, and have since before his run for the Senate in IL, he asked how I could reconcile the fact that Obama is a Muslim...

Wow did that take me aback. Sure, I don't think the world, or the Muslim religion for that
matter, is ready for a Muslim leader of the free world. Until the fundamental and extremist portions of Islam can join us in the 21st Century, we all know this couldn't happen. It'll be hard enough for Mitt Romney to get elected as a Mormon, and ask me how thrilled I am at the prospect of Huckabee mobilizing the evangelicals ala 2000 and 2004...

Religious and cultural aspects aside, I simply said, "Oh, that's easy: he's not. He's a Christian and has been involved in his church for years."

It was an awkward moment, but one that proves that hayseed America will believe whatever their talking heads tell them...