Paul's Place

Nov 10

2008

Fifty things you might not know about Barack Obama

Filed Under (Fun, Lifestyle, Politics) by Sheern Tami on 10-11-2008 

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

• He was known as “O’Bomber” at high school for his skill at basketball

• His name means “one who is blessed” in Swahili

• His favorite meal is wife Michelle’s shrimp linguini

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed

• He has read every Harry Potter book

• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can’t stand ice cream

• His favorite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

• He can speak Spanish

• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

• His favorite drink is black forest berry iced tea

• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn’t

• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs

• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name

• His favorite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister’s fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived

• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy

• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books

• His favorite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck

• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date

• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

• He doesn’t drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician

• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

• His daughters’ ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)

• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside

• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal

• His house in Chicago has four fire places

• Daughter Malia’s godmother is Jesse Jackson’s daughter Santita

• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

• He uses an Apple Mac laptop

• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300

• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits

• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)

• His favorite fictional television program are Mash and The Wire

• He was given the code name “Renegade” by his Secret Service handlers

• He was nicknamed “Bear” by his late grandmother

• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds

• His favorite artist is Pablo Picasso

• His speciality as a cook is chilli

• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were “street urchins”

• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life

• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

Courtesy Telegraph UK

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President Obama

This has always been one of our greatest fears. So we pray for the health and safety of our Brother President Obama and his family.

Life really does imitate art.

 Dan Quale must really appreciate this.

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Report: Palin thought Africa was a country


Nov. 6: Michael Cooper of the New York Times and MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell discuss the tension between the Palin and McCain camp during the campaign, and a report suggesting Palin was unprepared for V.P.

 Are these people kidding or what? Obama wins, buy a gun? Just don't make sence.

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Gun sales spike following Obama win


Nov. 6: Texas gun stores reported a huge surge in sales following the presidential election. KXAS-TV's Scott Gordon reports.

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Emanuel to be Obama's chief of staff


Nov. 6: Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has accepted Barack Obama's offer to become his White House chief of staff. MSNBC's Mike Viqueira reports.

MSNBC Video

The political right are complaining about Mr. Obama's choose for Chief of Staff. Are for real? The COF is the gatekeeper to the White House. Emanual will be like Luca Borsie in the God Father. He cannot be weak. He most hard nosed

  Actually, I look at the Electorial College as a safeguard built into our Constitution. The thing that I have never trusted is the Cult of Personality and the media's power to minipulate the peoples opinion.

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Vote 101: The Electoral College


Americans often think they vote for a president, but the electoral college does the real voting.

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MSN covers the 2008 presidential election

By Heidi Schuessler, User Education Producer, MSN.com

With the presidential election just around the corner, many of you have written to MSN with your thoughts about the campaigns, candidates and our political coverage during this unprecedented election season. This week I had a chance to sit down with Don Sena, MSN’s managing editor, to talk about how MSN covers the election news.

Some background: Here at MSN the pace and volume of election coverage started in 2007 as candidates first entered the race. In early summer 2007, MSN launched Your Vote ’08, a robust election guide with comprehensive political analysis, daily polls, videos and more.

News and analysis come from MSN’s primary election content partner, MSNBC, as well as Slate.com, Newsweek, The Root.com and MSN Video. MSN’s many channels also cover politics. For example, MSN Money recently published stories about where the candidates stand on pocketbook issues such as health care bills and energy costs. And MSN City Guides recently ran a story on which American cities are most red or blue.

Issues, issues, issues

The primary goal of MSN’s political coverage is to give you a broad range of accurate, fair and timely news and analysis about the election and candidates. Some people want to know about the “horse race”; others are following their local races or are only interested in specific issues. MSN covers all these topics, said Sena, but “we want to allow users to filter out the rhetoric and focus on the issues.”

Sena also said a talented team of editors has been guiding the MSN election coverage, led by Dave Herman, lead election editor.

If you’ve clicked around on Your Vote ’08, you may have seen the section called Where They Stand that compares McCain and Obama on everything from abortion and taxes to how each candidate would deal with Iran. Another popular feature is The Podium, where you can compare candidates and issues side by side using an interactive mash-up of Live Search and Silverlight.

Balance and fairness

MSN constantly works to achieve balanced coverage of the candidates and the parties. “Fairness is always top of mind and influences how we choose stories and how we place photos,” said Sena.

Many readers write in with feedback about what they view as a liberal or conservative slant to the coverage, and Sena and his election team monitor these comments. “When I see reader feedback slamming us from both sides, I know we’re probably getting it right,” said Sena. (Send your feedback about the Election Guide.)

Cool features

Did you know that MSN can help you find out where the polling places are in your town? Many voters have also taken advantage of our register to vote page.

“I find it interesting that some of our competitors have just recently added a ‘register to vote’ feature,” said Sena, who says MSN has long emphasized service tools. “We’ve had that feature live since before the primaries.”

Innovation is key to MSN’s election coverage, and the Web makes features like The Podium possible – and allows MSN the freedom to present political news in ways that you won’t see or hear on TV, radio or in newspapers. (More of this is coming on election night – see below).

For a global perspective, MSN International sites also have been programming innovative election content to capture interest abroad. (Who would those abroad elect as the new leader of the free world? Check out this interesting feature from our international teams.) MSN Latino presents a version of the MSN Election Guide, as well.

Looking forward to Nov. 4

On election night, you can expect special coverage and features that will closely follow national and state results, as well as new layouts, a new design on the homepage, and new interactive features. Most of all, said Sena, count on MSN’s election coverage on Nov. 4 to be accurate and fast.

We want to hear from you!

As always, thanks for your feedback and keep it coming. Tell us what you think about this blog by clicking the “send message” link below. Or, share your thoughts about other articles you’ve read on MSN.com by sending Letters to the Editor.

Yet in 2008, I am still inspired by first. Barbara Hillary at the age of 75 became the first African American Women to ski to the North Pole.

Barbara Hillary.com

One Drop

To be raised White and discover Flavor.

Hope by Frederick Watt

I wrote this blog and then got very ill. Many people responded wonderfully and I wanted to put a cap on the bottle.

This painting was the inspiration for the title of Sen. Barrack Obama's book The Audacity of hope.

What I observe in this painting is the instrument. It looks like the women is painfully strumming a lyre. Isn't that ironic? I use to tell one of my brothers that he never told a lye that he did not want to be true. Anyway this woman is painfully trying to play this instrument. Even though her world and this instrument is falling apart, she is determined and convinced that music is going to come from it. Notice the lone string on the lyre.  It is hanging by a thread; but she is clinging to the hope.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen." The Bible

Recently a famous economist explained the recent economic downturn by comparing the economy to a poker game. It was very interesting but a bit technical. I believe I can explain it different.

The economy is like a game of Monopoly. Everyone starts off with the same amount of wealth and the same opportunity for luck with the roll of the dice. This is a caveat. We do not start off equal. We start off where we are supposed to be and our luck and opportunity comes from God. It is up to us to use it properly.

We buy property and improve our lives on each turn. We also pay taxes and other penalties. We go round and round until one player has all the money and all the property. Now this may seem like a time to celebrate but it really is not. Everyone is bankrupted. The game is over. Now we either pack the game up and life is over; or we start again, wealth is redistributed.

The moral of the story is that the rich and powerful forget that  the middle and lower class are essential to life. Who else will buy the cars and bling and stuff. It is the obligation of the rich to keep the economy going. The rich should be glad to pay higher taxes; because it gives the rich a playground, or work space, a way to stay rich.

So like the king with the Midas Touch. At the end gold became worthless and the king was poor.

The election is so close and these days I find myself wondering if Sen. Obama really has a chance to be this nations first African American president. I absolutely feel in my soul that our country needs this man as it's leader. I pray that the polls reflects truth and Sen. Obama wins.

Is race the only factor that counts in this country? Has healing finally taken place?

Colored People: A Memoir

This is Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. autobiography which to me is a touchtone of African American life in the 20th century. You could also title it What makes a genius America. I found so many parallels with may own family growing up, despite the fact that he is a bit older that I.

Apparently I am drawn to reading about the lives of great people. Dr. Gates is of course one of the greatest minds of our time.

Hope by Frederick Watt

Think about this painting. I will be featured in a near future blog.

B

in the blog Like Water For Chocolate there are a number of relevant issues from today's political scene. I don't want to add oil to the fire, but to cool it out a bit.

There is a pretty embarrassing open email going around about Rev. Jackson by Mr. Najee Ali; who in my opinion is another paragon of virtue. In it he state the gossip about Rev. Jackson's personal business and historical behavior that we Black folk talk about at family barbeques. We've heard it all before, that's the reason why Sen. Obama's statements on family hit Rev. Jackson so hard.

This is the whole deal in one sentence. Rev. Jackson needs to repents and spend time with his daughter, Mr. Ali should review the behavior of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, and Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. should meet his little half sister.

The "Skee-Wee?" for Mrs. Obama was cute. I wonder did she pledge in college and if not , why not. Maybe AKA snubbed her. Well it seems that AKA has extended honorary status to Mrs. Obama. The rumor is that AKA did this is to have a fellow sister as a potential First Lady of the United States. This is not the first time that that happened because they extended sisterhood to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short...". I choose the side of the Bible.

Hotep and God Bless.

This is Cook. She is my wife and Best Friend For Life (BFF).

She emailed me this letter today,

"So this is how you feel about me,

"Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you' re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, "thats her"....
-Unknown (Website)"

So I emailed her back saying, "How do you know that I am not the unknown. I tell you that stuff all the time."

When I think of my wife, I refer to the Bible,

"(Proverbs 31:10 KJV)  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Pro 18:22  Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

(Song of Solomon 4:8 KJV)  Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

(Song of Solomon 4:9 KJV)  Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

(Song of Solomon 4:10 KJV)  How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

(Song of Solomon 4:11 KJV)  Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

(Song of Solomon 4:12 KJV)  A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

(Song of Solomon 4:13 KJV)  Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

(Song of Solomon 4:14 KJV)  Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

(Song of Solomon 4:15 KJV)  A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

(Song of Solomon 4:16 KJV)  Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits."

I can't say it better than that.

I love you Cook, you are my BFF.

Pastor Joel Olsten of Lakewood Church spun a very funny tale about a group of scientist that approached God one day. They said, "God, we don't need you anymore. We got all kind of technology. We invented cloning, and are about to end hunger in this world." God said, "So you boys think you are just as powerful as I am huh?" All the scientist answered, "yes." So God purposed a wager, "You boys do have a lot of knowledge, but can you make a man out of dirt like I can?" The scientist replied, "With all our new technology I'm sure we can." God reached down and scooped up a handful of dirt and said, " I'll give each of you a crown of gold if you can make a man from a handful of dirt like me." All the scientist answered to God, "Lord, you got a bet." Then they all reached down a scooped up a handful of dirt. God said, "Wait a minute boys! You got to make your own dirt!"

The Bible says, "(Genesis 1:26 KJV)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

(Genesis 1:27 KJV)  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

(Genesis 1:28 KJV)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

I have a question. Do you think it is ok with God that man has polluted the water and air? Do you think that it is good to rape the world of all it's natural resources and hunt animals to extinction or near extinction? God loved man so much that he put us in charge of everything in and on this world. And what did we do with this power. We have done everything that we could to destroy this planet and everything in it.

Now I have heard some religious teachers say that global warming is just a unproven theory and that we don't need energy alternatives, because no matter how bad the planet is God will always fit it.

Let me tell you a true story. I wanted to buy my only son Micheal a nice watch, because I like watches. I saved up about 3 month to buy him a real nice watch. You should have seen his face when I gave him this "Buck Rogers" looking thing. He ran off to shown the thing off to all his friends. Well, about two weeks later I found that watch under some books in his room with the crystal cracked and the band snapped. I nearly cried. What was I crying for? It was his watch. He could do whatever wanted to do with it after I gave it to him, right?

When God looks at this planet do you think he cries? God made this world for us to enjoy. He did not give it to us to mess all over it. So the next time you see corporations raping the planet and treating it like it's their own private juke yard, or you see somebody cruising along in an empty SUV, using all that gas and spouting out all that exhaust; just remember that nobody has the right by power or money to misuse this world. This world belongs to God and He left us all in charge. And God is coming back soon for us to explain our actions.

'

 Rick Taylor is in a situation that everyon can learn from. 

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Former Landlord is a Crook!

I wanted to blog about this for two reasons:

a) Therapeutics

b) Public shame

 

I moved to the Seattle area a year ago and thought it better to rent for a year until the housing prices went down.  So a fellow Microsoft employee rented one of his homes to me.  Worked out great, at first.  Sure I had to pay for a cleaning service to clean up--and I had to do some cleaning outside from trash, but it was no big deal.  He put in a patio in the back yard which looked OK, except the excess bricks and wooden pallets were left.  Even after emails to have him have the contractors clean up did no good.  I paid for the removal which cost almost $300.  Other than those incidents most things were fine.

When the opportunity came to move I needed to break the lease almost a full year early.  He suggested three options:

1) Find a responsible subtenant to take over the lease.

2) Transfer the responsibility to a good property management company, who would take care of all the nitty-gritty details from marketing to upkeep of the home.

3) reach a settlement to mutually void the reminder of the lease term for a fraction of the remaining total rent. one-third of the remaining rent is what he asked (~$10K)

 

So I found a tenant, paid for the background check and application fee and the landlord accepted it.  What transpired immediately following was when the truth about his nature came out.

The new tenant wanted to pay less than the rent.  It was an amount that I found comfortable paying for a year, so we wrote up a contract between us that had me paying him the difference every month.  The landlord requested a copy of this contract; for some unknown reason but we gave him a copy out of courtesy.  The new tenant asked for some things to be done to the house which the landlord agreed to do.  The thing was:  he wouldn't commit to a date to have it done.  His excuse was that he needed to get quotes; but I had already done that for him.  I received FOUR WRITTEN quotes and told both the new tenant and the landlord that they could agree to one of them.

The next issue was that that he now wanted a contract with the new tenant.  The new tenant objected.  Technically the landlord could collect twice having two lease agreements with two separate parties.  The landlord agreed to terminate the lease agreement with me and signed the addendum (with witnesses present).  So now that the lease agreement terminated, according to the contract (AND Washington State Law RCW 59.18.270) he must, within 14 days, return the full deposit OR a letter outlining why a part of it was retained.

After multiple emails and phone calls I send a nasty email to him.  He calls me and says that he couldn't respond because he was "offsite" so he couldn't respond.  That sounded like an excuse my kids would give.  Even an email that told me he was offsite would have been sufficient but he chose to totally ignore me and use being offsite as an excuse.  sheesh.

Then he hangs up on me.  He calls back and apologizes for hanging up (I'm thinking someone came into his office and he needed privacy.  I let it go.  As the conversation continues he says that I already received the deposit from the new resident.  He said that I admitted to receiving it from him.  This was totally untrue and I'm wondering what dope he's smoking.  And even if I *had*, it would have been a deal between the new tenant and myself--something that did not concern *him*.   He calls me a crook.  I ask him why he thinks I am a crook and he hangs up on me.  I haven't been hung up on since Junior High...ok maybe High School.

I'm thinking about calling his manager and telling him what type of employee he has.  I am really not wanting to go the legal route as I would have to go back to Washington....sigh...what a punk he is.

Friends, if you are ever in this situation, alway consult the county and state "Landlord Tenant" statues and have an attorney review your situation as to how you should proceed. Also have your attorney advise you about going to a 3rd party (in this case the landlord's manager); because it may constitute "defamation" on your part. Not good. And lastly, never rent from a co-worker, friend, or family member(including parents, siblings, and children).

Comingling relationships only muddles the water and generally ends up like Rick's situation. Gifted knowledge is better than the purchased kind. Hotep and God Bless you.

Anthony Bourdain

I admit it. When I first picked up this book, I thought that I was getting some tips, techniques, and maybe recipes from one of my favorite chefs. What I got was a reason to tell the next person who tells me, "You need to open a restaurant." to shut up; because they don't know what they are talking about.

Yes I can cook and love to cook; but Anthony Bordain describes the most insane world that I have ever heard of. Why would someone want to get all that culinary training and be subjected to and environment akin to a pirate ship. Anthony Bordain likes it that way.

He shares his life with you, his childhood, even his life as a functioning drug addict; all the time becoming one of the most well known, well traveled, and creative chef in the world today.

This book takes you to the place where food is created, before it even gets to the restaurant. The mind of a chef is created by his whole life experience. Like some great person once said,"A great artist is born by his pain." I believe that. I have a greater respect for the time I spend at a restaurant waiting for my order to appear before me. The eating of a well conceived meal is an experience like going to the theater. It is a team effort by a group of artist, one patron (or plate) at a time. The chef is a player coach that, manages, sets the tone, and pinch hits for the team.

So if you get impatient while waiting for your meal, or shorts the customary 20% tip for good service or 25% for great service, try McDonalds. That's all you deserve. This book let me discover that eating a great meal at a great restaurant, is like viewing Van Gouge's Violets at a great art museum, or hearing jazz at a club. It is human interaction on an intimate level. You are allowing someone to created art to be ingested by you, hoping that you will be satisfied. I hope that you will notice the adventure.