My Choice for President - Indiana a True Blue State

I am excited about voting for Barack Obama tomorrow on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. I have admired Barack since he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Here are my reasons for voting for this dynamic candidate.

Climate

• Investment in clean and efficient domestic technologies
• Help developing countries preserve biodiversity
• Participate in global efforts to enforce emission reductions
• Implement market-based cap and trade mechanisms or systems to reduce carbon emissions
  

On Criminal Justice Reform

• Reducing recidivism
• Community programs to avoid juvenile delinquency
• Recognizing the right to own firearms
• Closing the gun show loophole
• Background checks
• Banning assault weapons

On Disabilities

• Protecting the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities
• Options for home care instead of institutions

On Discrimination

• Ending discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and disability

On Domestic Violence

• Ending violence against women
• Creating a special advisor to the president
• Increasing funding to domestic and sexual assault prevention programs
• Strengthening sexual assault and domestic violence laws
• Providing job security to survivors
• Building foreign policies that are sensitive to issues of aggression against women around the world
  

On Human Sexulaity

• Ending discrimination in all forms (including sexual orientation)
• Repealing "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" military policies and implementing policies for men and women to serve openly
  

On Immigration

• Comprehensive immigration reform that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for citizenship;
• Penalizing businesses for hiring undocumented immigrants;
• Increasing number of visas for families and workers

On A Living Wage

• Increasing minimum wage and indexing it to inflation
  

On Marriage

• Inclusion of all families
• Opposing the Defense of Marriage Act

On Middle East Peace

• Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons
• Implementing tougher sanctions and high-level diplomacy
• Working with the international community to enforce unilateral and multilateral sanctions
• Ending the war in Iraq responsibly
• Launching a comprehensive regional and international plan
• Ending any permanent base agreements in Iraq
  Actively securing peace for Israelis and Palestinians
• Establishing a Palestinian state and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

On Taxation

• Providing tax cuts to the middle class
  
• Increase tax on families making over $250,000 to support programs, including healthcare
  
• Eliminating corporate tax loopholes and tax havens

On Torture

• Rejects the use of torture

On Healthcare

• Access to affordable comprehensive, health care for all
• Sharing the costs for care
• Decisions being made by patients and healthcare provider

On Worker's Rights

• Labor organizations and collective bargaining
• Opposing Right-to-Work laws in states
  

On Friday night, October 31, my husband and were fortunate to attend Obama Rally in Highland, Indiana. The event was exciting and charged with energy. Additionally, the weather was wonderful for this outdoor event. The crowd was energized by the music, the Indiana Democratic candidates, and presidential nominee.

Hoosiers waiting patiently in line to see the next president of the United States. We are all waiting to see Indiana counted as a blue state in the 2008 election. However, the candidate himself observed that Indiana is red, white and blue, and indeed we are.

Barack Obama in Highland, Indiana on October 31st, 2008

Fun Monday - Halloween Memories

I wonder if I remember how to do this. I have not posted an entry since September 14, and I have not participated in Fun Monday since August 17. Although my last two entries were about our flood woes, we have not suffered dire consequences or ill effects because of the flood like some others in our county. However, I have been busy.

For this week's Fun Monday event, our friendly and not even frightful hostess, Sayre of Sayre Smiles, is requesting. "Tell us about your favorite Halloween as a kid (pictures, if you have them!), and show us your costume for this year. If you're not dressing up, show us a picture of a pumpkin carving that really tickled your fancy or how you decorated your house."

That is me middle in my nurse costume at a neighborhood Halloween Party.

I may not have a specific favorite Halloween memory, but I have many fond memories of this holiday. When I was a child, Halloween was a big event. Regardless of the Fun Monday icon borrowed (stolen) from our hostess Sayre, I did not and do not think of Halloween as a scary holiday. I remember Halloween as a community event mostly for children but also for kind and giving adults. In our city, trick-or-treating began the week before October 31st so we went door to door begging for candy not only the night of Halloween but a few days before the 31st as well.

The children portraying a scary ghost and a frightful bat.

When our children were young, trick or treating was restricted to a few hours on Halloween night. Most years, I would sew costumes for the boys. The very first costume that I created for our oldest son was a king costume. The crown was made of green poster board, and he had a black velvet cape made from his mom's torn velvet slacks. Both the cape and the crown were trimmed in gold. As our sons grew, they requested a variety of costumes including a rabbit, a bat, a ghost, and Batman's sidekick Robin. Since our sons grew up in the 70's and 80's, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader were natural choices for costumes. Although these costumes were make-shift, the boys seemed to be satisfied with these creations

Our son Luke is Darth Vader and his brother Matt chose to be Luke for this Halloween.

Daddy D , the science teacher, joining in on Halloween fun in his mad scientist costume and the appropriate libation.

To read about other Halloween memories and festivities, visit Sayre Smiles. Happy Halloween

And then some more...

Yesterday, I posted pictures of our recent flood. Although the water in the stream (drainage ditch) in front of our home breaches its banks from time to time, the water usually recedes in a few hours. On Saturday, Weather Underground, reported that our town had received 4.01 inches in 24 hours. A weather station at the school where I teach science to seventh graders, recorded 6.71 inches in a 24 hour period. Whatever the amount at our home, both reports amount to a great deal of rain. Yesterday's water did recede although the ditch was quite full.

Neighborhood Flooding

This morning when Daddy D and I left for church, the ditch was quite full from yesterday's torrential downpour. Also, although rain was falling, the precipitation was light as we left our home. However, when we attended the worship services, the rainfall steadily increased, and perhaps 2-3 more inches fell. As we arrived home the lake in front of our home was even more expansive. We knew the water was at least knee deep in places so we parked the car at a local business and waded through the floodwaters to our house. When we arrived at our house, we were delighted to find the power on and the sump pump was steadily removing water from the seeping basement.

More Water in the Neighborhood

Although this flooding is bothersome and inconvenient, we are really doing well. Currently, the water level is slowly dropping outside. Additionally, the rain has virtually stopped falling. Furthermore, as Annie sang, "The sun will come out tomorrow." Or at least, there is sunshine in the forecast.

Although there are flood waters in the foreground if you look closely, you can spot a faint rainbow in the sky, a symbol of the good weather to follow. Friends, take care and stay dry.

Lakefront Property

Who doesn't want to live on a lake? Well, if that is your dream, you would have been ecstatic to wake-up in my neighborhood this morning. We are currently surrounded by water. And no, this is not a lake, these are the rising waters from the stream (drainage ditch) in front of our home. And if the water outside the house were a lake, you might call the water inside the house in the basement...a swimming pool or at least a wading pool. Yet, the situation is better than what we experienced in August. This time we have power, and if we lose power , we now have a generator to run the sump pump to rid the basement of water. Additionally, the water is currently receding. Finally, our water is a minor inconvenience compared to the damage that Hurricane Ike must be reeking in Texas and other places along the gulf coast.

If you would like to know good news, look at my previous post.

Our view from the bottom step of our porch.

Our neighbor's front yard to the north.

Looking south

The Good News..."She is having a little brother."

The lovely little lady in my last post is having a little brother. Yesterday, her parents, Frema and Luke, found out that their second child, who is expected to arrive in February, is a boy. This means that very soon Daddy D and I will be the proud grandparents to three grandchildren, our two fabulous granddaughters and our new little grandson.

We have guests

Michigan and Home again

Daddy D and I have returned to our short Labor Day vacation to Michigan. We did see several sites. We saw the Old Rugged Cross Church, where the old Methodist hymn written by Reverend George Bennard was first performed. The church itself was built in 1862 as a hops barn. When the hops industry failed in 1876, a Methodist Episcopal congregation bought the building and converted the barn into a church. In 1915, the church building was sold to a farmer and was used as a barn for 83 years. In 1998, a local couple purchased the building and with others founded The Old Rugged Cross Foundation, a multi-denominational non-profit organization. The organization is in the process of renovating the building to a church.
Today, we left Niles traveling down US 12 to Three Oaks and then on to New Buffalo. In Three Oaks, we discovered a delightful concern called the Featherbone Factory, which is a gift and curio store as well as a manufacturer of concrete stepping stones. The Featherbone Factory building once housed just that, a company that produced bones of corsets in the 19th century. The bones of the Featherbone Factory were actually made from ground-up turkey quills. Edward Warren developed a process to use the featherbones in corsets revolutionizing an industry that had been relying on whalebones to provide structure in women's corsets. The inventor also was responsible for preserving the Warren Dunes shoreline.


Finally, in New Buffalo we stopped at the beach. After all what is a trip to Michigan, without visiting one of the Great Lakes?