Headlines from around the world.....

And here is another massive site........

A new day has come!

So..... When I was riding into work today, already ecstatic from last night's events, the radio station played the song that Will.I.Am put together after Obama's inspiring speech in New Hampshire, and like it did, when I first heard/saw it, it made me cry. I posted the video up here back in February when I first saw it and I credit that video with turning the tide for me on my choice for which Democratic candidate I wanted to back for president.

So I was looking online for the video or song "Yes We Can" this morning (I mentioned it in a previous post as something that helped influence my decision to support Barack Obama in the primary) and I found this article on Huffington Post written by Will.I.Am about why he was inspired to create something that inspired so many others....


Will.i.am
Posted February 3, 2008 | 12:11 PM (EST)

Why I Recorded Yes We Can

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I'm still not big on politics...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it's not that simple...
our choices aren't as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it's not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I'm not talking about a "black thing"
I'm talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech affected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends Sarah Pantera, Mike Jurkovac, Fred Goldring, and Jesse Dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It's all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandela...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn't stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that's all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

As it unfolded....

I get daily email alerts from the Wall Street Journal and they have been coming out one after the other as the election results are being announced. When I got this one from this now more conservative periodical a couple minutes before CNN projected the winner, I knew it was done!

date Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 10:50 PM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama on Verge of Historic Victory
_________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal


Nov. 4, 2008

Barack Obama appeared set to become the nation's first African-American president, after beating John McCain in key battleground states.

Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio earlier in the night, and was projected to win Colorado and Virginia as well.

California releases results at 11 p.m. ET.


And then these came.....

date Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 11:35 PM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: McCain Concedes Race, Saying Americans 'Have Spoken'
__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Nov. 4, 2008

Sen. John McCain conceded the presidential race to Sen. Barack Obama, telling his supporters in Arizona that the "American people have spoken, and spoken clearly." He congratulated Obama in a phone call shortly after 11 p.m. EST, Obama's spokesman said. Obama thanked McCain for his graciousness, accepted his concession and asked his rival for help in leading the country.


date Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 12:20 AM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama Tells Supporters 'Change Has Come to America'
__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal


Nov. 5, 2008

Barack Obama claimed victory at a speech in Chicago, telling thousands of cheering supporters: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

He applauded John McCain's hard-fought campaign and his long record of service to the country.

Obama said: "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day ... change has come to America."

Wow!..... Yeah! That is what I'm talkin about!!

Today is the day!!

The thing that is so amazing to me about this whole presidential campaign is how Obama has given dis-enfranchised some hope, belief in the possibility that they can actually affect a change in their lives by voting! And they are waiting in lines, sometimes 2, 3, 5, 8 hours long to exercise their right to that change!

It is really something......

And in that spirit..... a musical contribution produced by Babyface featuring many artists you should recognize.

Get out and VOTE, people!

I love David Letterman.....

Check out David giving John McCain a little grief.....

What a bargain!

Last weekend I bought some bad a** boots for 4 cents!

Now, how did she do this you might ask........

So I am a member of the DSW Rewards club. I got a certificate for $70 because of some prior purchases I made. I went into the store looking for something to spend it on. I found these boots..... I can't remember how much they were but they were more than $70 --- probably more like $85. But there was a spot on them. So I got the manager to knock 20% off of them!

So then, I was under $70 so, I bought a bunch of these gel inserts I like and the total came up to...... like $69.96. But, the terms of the certificate says that it can't be applied unless there is a cash transaction. So, and the complete logic of this escapes me, I was charged 4 cents..... I didn't really question it though. 4 cents!!!! And I love them!!

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

I was beginning to think that sanity was becoming an endangered quality in this political season.....

Here is a little sanity from across the pond!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/03/sarah.palin.debate.feminism

Listen, I am all for women in the White House and OEB but.... not this woman! My IQ drops more each time I hear her talk! I think the writer has a point here, read the transcript of the debate just to underscore how incoherent it actually was.

Stress Management

This morning I forced myself to go for a little run since I had only been up for less than an hour and my shoulders were already feeling tight. The weather seems to have broken here and it is actually cooler than 70 degrees in the morning here now!

I didn't have that much time but I thought 20 minutes was better than nothing.

So I ran up my street, around the corner, and up the hill to this other residential neighborhood. And all of a sudden, ahead of me I started seeing women in pink t-shirts walking up the street. As I knew what it was...... I was coming upon the route for a breast cancer walk. And I started tearing up.

For my birthday in 2006, I participated in the Susan G Komen 3-day Breast Cancer Walk. It was an amazing, inspiring experience that I undertook partially because a friend of mine from grad school had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer a couple months after we graduated, and 2 weeks after she got married to another classmate, at the age of 29. I will have to paste more about her later......

I need to find a way to do more to others......

Options

Isn't it great when you are in the middle of a difficult situation and discover an option that you didn't know that you had that opens up some new possibilities!! I am feeling encouraged!

This fall is proving to be very challenging for me. But just when I thought I was out of options and faced with a really unpleasant choice, I discovered an alternative path.... A temporary solution but hopefully I will find a permanent one soon.

Unpresidented!

So one thing that I have been really surprised and pleased by is the unpresidented involvement of the black music artists in the Presidential race this year.... regular comments on concert tours, making calls for candidates, creating politically aware content to support the candidates.....

But, today I was watching BETJ Soul Sessions and I saw the video for a song by Big Boi and Mary J Blige called "Something's Gotta Give." I had actually heard it on the radio before and thought it was a politically aware song but I didn't truly realize how direct the political message was until I saw the video today.

Take a look! (Sorry, embedding is disabled for this clip...)

Good for them!