Caution, graphic photos. May be emotionally disturbing to some viewers. This video stirs painful memories, but it is important that we never forget the innocent lives lost that horrific day. The Oklahoma City bombing was a bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19th, 1995. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6,and injured more than 680 people. Within 90 minutes of the explosion, Timothy McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon.[8][9] Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Terry Nichols to the attack; Nichols was arrested, and within days both were charged. Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, an American militia movement sympathizer, had detonated an explosive-filled truck parked in front of the building. McVeigh's co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, had assisted in the bomb preparation. The group admitted to shared interests in extreme right-wing politics, opposition to any form of gun control, and support for the militia movement. McVeigh said he was motivated to carry out the attack by his hatred of the our democracy. He said he hoped to inspire a revolt against what he considered to be a tyrannical federal government. He denounced government agents as "fascist tyrants" and "storm troopers" and warned: "All you tyrannical people will swing in the wind one day for your treasonous actions against the Constitution of the United States." His rhetoric has been repeated in some right-wing circles ever since. McVeigh was convicted of 11 federal offenses and sentenced to death. His execution took place on June 11th, 2001 at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute. Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier were also convicted as conspirators in the plot. The bombing was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Prayer Service Address by President Clinton April 23rd, 1995 in Oklahoma City, OK Today our nation joins with you in grief. We mourn with you. We share your hope against hope that some may still survive. We thank all those who have worked so heroically to save lives and to solve this crime -- those here in Oklahoma and those who are all across this great land, and many who left their own lives to come here to work hand in hand with you. We pledge to do all we can to help you heal the injured, to rebuild this city, and to bring to justice those who did this evil. This terrible sin took the lives of our American family, innocent children in that building, only because their parents were trying to be good parents as well as good workers; citizens in the building going about their daily business; and many there who served the rest of us -- who worked to help the elderly and the disabled, who worked to support our farmers and our veterans, who worked to enforce our laws and to protect us. Let us say clearly, they served us well, and we are grateful. But for so many of you they were also neighbors and friends. You saw them at church or the PTA meetings, at the civic clubs, at the ball park. You know them in ways that all the rest of America could not. And to all the members of the families here present who have suffered loss, though we share your grief, your pain is unimaginable, and we know that. We cannot undo it. That is God's work. Our words seem small beside the loss you have endured. But I found a few I wanted to share today. I've received a lot of letters in these last terrible days. One stood out because it came from a young widow and a mother of three whose own husband was murdered with over 200 other Americans when Pan Am 103 was shot down. Here is what that woman said I should say to you today: The anger you feel is valid, but you must not allow yourselves to be consumed by it. The hurt you feel must not be allowed to turn into hate, but instead into the search for justice. The loss you feel must not paralyze your own lives. Instead, you must try to pay tribute to your loved ones by continuing to do all the things they left undone, thus ensuring they did not die in vain. Wise words from one who also knows. You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything. And you have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes. If ever we needed evidence of that, I could only recall the words of Governor and Mrs. Keating: "If anybody thinks that Americans are mostly mean and selfish, they ought to come to Oklahoma. If anybody thinks Americans have lost the capacity for love and caring and courage, they ought to come to Oklahoma." To all my fellow Americans beyond this hall, I say, one thing we owe those who have sacrificed is the duty to purge ourselves of the dark forces which gave rise to this evil. They are forces that threaten our common peace, our freedom, our way of life. Let us teach our children that the God of comfort is also the God of righteousness: Those who trouble their own house will inherit the wind. Justice will prevail. Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear. When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. In the face of death, let us honor life. As St. Paul admonished us, Let us "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." --------- Let us remember the victims in our hearts, minds and prayers, for all time. God bless you and yours Please visit http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/
4/28/2010 Yesterday on capitol hill, Goldman Sachs executives got grilled. In a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing, Carl Levin and other lawmakers questioned Goldman Sach's role in structuring and selling certain deals and investments during the financial crisis and housing market meltdown. *Warning video contains use of grown up language. FACT-This is not the first time such words have been used in our nations capitol. In 2004 then Republican Vice-President Cheney told Senator Patrick Leahy to .."go ______ himself." For more http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html ------------------------(Reform Wall Street Now!) What has become completely obvious for all the world to see is that Goldman Sachs is a hedge fund dressed up like a client business and that they are absolutely not interested in clients except to use them as screen for their own proprietary trading activities. As a hedge fund, Goldman Sachs is just a group of astute risk managers, brilliant market strategists who managed during the crisis to weather the storm. Their claim that they were not "directional" in their proprietary or principal business was absolutely disingenuous. Even in their origination business, the firm's interest went first. ----------------------------------- 4/27/2010 Washington, DC. - Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is testifying this morning in front of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which alleges the company's executives misled investors with toxic mortgage securities, earning billions at the expense of their clients. The panel, lead by Senator Carl Levin, points to internal emails that suggest the company knowingly shorted the housing market throughout the year. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against the bank this month, saying Goldman neglected to tell buyers that investments were put together by a hedge fund client, Paulson & Co., which was betting on the investments to fail. "We didn't have a massive short against the housing market, and we certainly did not bet against our clients," Blankfein said. "Rather, we believe that we managed our risk as our shareholders and our regulators would expect." In addition to Blankfein, CFO David Viniar, Michael Swenson, Craig Broderick, Daniel Sparks, Joshua Birnbaum and Fabrice Tourre are testifying. Chairman Carl Levin, to the delight of the crowd, continually repeated a descriptive, colorful word typically left out of family newspapers that was used by a top Goldman executive to describe a deal it made for clients. The security, named Timberwolf I, a collateralized debt obligation of other collateralized debt obligations that were based not on actual home mortgage bonds but instead on those bonds' movements, was referenced in a June 22, 2007, email from a Goldman senior executive, Tom Montag, to another, Dan Sparks. Sparks is testifying today before Levin's panel. In his email, Montag remarked of the Timberwolf I deal, "[B]oy, that timeberwof [sic] was one s***** deal." Levin used the cited word about the deal 11 times -- eliciting multiple rounds of quiet giggles -- in questioning Dan Sparks, the former head of Goldman's mortgage department, about why Montag would describe it as "s*****," how long they had known it was "s*****," and whether they knew the deal was "s*****" when they peddled it to clients. "Our clients' interests always come first," Goldman says on its website. That security was rated less than three months prior to Montag's email. It lost 80 percent of its value within five months of issuance. Sparks and Montag have since left the firm. Levin grew exasperated with Sparks' non-answers: "I don't think you want to answer." The next panel member to ask questions, Susan Collins (R-Me.) also grew frustrated, saying that she was already getting tired of Sparks' evasiveness after 30 seconds. ----------------------------------------------- ( Related Comments) They commited fraud and need to be prosecuted, yet Republicans are still blocking even debate on any reforms? Republicans have sided with the greedy Wall Street bankers and do not care that our pensions and homes were ripped-off by Bush de-regulation and that hard regulations need to be placed on these crooks so that they can't continue to do this like they are doing right now. They will continue to steal legally, from the working man until they are imprisoned and Republicans are backing them. Levin destroyed this liar. He tries to lie his way out, but Levin circles back and nails him with a truth bomb. --------------------------- Corruption has NO party lines. Goldman Sachs exemplifies the domination of the banks over government policy and both political parties. It has supplied the top personnel for government economic policy-making in the Democratic Clinton, Republican Bush and Democratic Obama administrations. Bush’s treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, formerly the CEO of Goldman, saw to it that the government bank bailout paid especially rich dividends to his former company. This included a bailout of AIG that allowed the company to pay off billions of dollars in derivatives debts to Goldman at 100 percent. There is a word to describe this type of socio-economic order: Plutocracy, i.e., rule by the rich. This is the reality behind the increasingly thin veneer of democracy in America. Every day Wall Street celebrates the fact that it has in Washington a whole bunch of lackeys on the Right and a few on the Left who can be counted on to do its bidding. We must have complete reform. People over Corporations. Republicans are pimps. It would be a fatal mistake for our Nation if we gave the keys to the car back to the guys who drove us into the ditch.
Haiti Earthquake. Aide et prieres pour les enfants de Dieu. The January 12th, 2010. Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake, the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years. The epicenter of the quake was just outside the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. Widespread damage resulted from the quake. The capital city was devastated. The Presidential Palace was badly damaged, with the second floor entirely collapsing onto the first floor; the Haitian Parliament building, UN mission headquarters and the National Cathedral were also destroyed. International aid flowed in but was hampered by damaged infrastructure: the main port was damaged beyond immediate use, the one local airport was of limited capacity and border crossings with the Dominincan Republic were distant and crowded. As many as one million Haitians were left homeless. The death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has risen to at least 230-thousand people as of mid-February. The number of dead in Haiti does not represent the bodies buried by private funeral homes and cemeteries, or bodies buried by family members. The Haitian government says an additional 300-thousand were injured. Haiti declared Friday February 12th, 2010 a day of mourning to mark one month since a massive earthquake devastated much of the capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding area. Four weeks after the quake, an estimated one million people remain displaced with the government acknowledging that it has no clear idea how to resettle them before the rainy season starts around April. "What the world needs now is love, sweet love It's the only thing that there's just too little of..". “My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti. May God bless the people of Haiti and those here in America and around the world working on their behalf.”-The 44th President of The United States of America, Barack Obama 1/12/2010 On January 19th, 2010 President Barack Obama tapped former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to lead private sector fund-raising efforts. For more log on to http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/ "People around the world know the hardship you are going through and that we care deeply about your lives," President George W. Bush 1/20/2010 Following a heart procedure and exactly a month after the earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left some 1.2 million homeless, President Clinton said there had been "a generous outpouring of support from donors all over the world." "In my capacity as UN Special Envoy for Haiti, I will continue to work with the Haitian government and people, international donors and multilateral organizations," Clinton said in a statement. He said the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and his own Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund had secured "impressive" donations. "So far, we've allocated seven million dollars to organizations providing medical care, food, water, shelter, and education," he said, "and we will continue to provide assistance in the months and years to come." 2/12/2010 Please pray for Haiti and help in any way you can by calling 1-800 RedCross or Texting HAITI to 90999. http://newsroom.redcross.org/2010/01/12/disaster-alert-earthquake-in-haiti/ All taxpayers who make a monetary donation for Haiti relief before March 1st will be able to deduct the donation on their 2009 tax returns. Song-"What the World Needs Now Is Love"- Performed by Jackie DeShannon and written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, 1965.
"Belief becomes reality!"/"Ch-ch-ch-changes!"/"It's a musical journey."/"A long time coming." :) Let us pause to consider our times :) November 2009...A look at recent history from the heart. Over the course of three days we see Health Care Reform move forward, an Evansville (Gen X/Y) landmark damaged by fire, and the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall....the beginning of the end of the Cold War. History is now. The impossible becomes possible. Features Bernstein conducted "Ode An Die Freiheit - Symphony Number 9" by Beethoven and Schiller along with some great pop music released between 1961 and 2009. TRT 12 minutes 25 seconds 44 previous views in test mode For Teddy, Dad and those who put dreams into action. Pray for Our Troops! Peace, Love and God bless