Everyone has a down day

I had a disagreement with my Dad, yesterday. After a night of trouble sleeping, I awoke quite sad. I figured out that I was more mad at circumstances with my brother since my mom died. I found a website that was rather helpful. It is the blog for Martha Williamson who was the Executive Producer of the TV seires "Touched By an Angel." I figure that all Queens (from the Queen of England to the Queen of Hip Hop) have bad days. So, I put Ms. Williamson's blog link in the Connections area of this page. That is, on the left side of the page. I hope it helps someone else, too. In the mean time, I need to call and apologize to my Dad.

IRamat2

Candidacy Withdrawals

Well, Fred Thompson and John Edwards have withdrawn as Presidential candidates for their respective parties. I am not convinced that Fred had the heart to deal with the dirt of politics and John believed too much in the rights of the poor without seeing those struggling simply to be born as part of impoverished America. Fred never sent his supporters a farewell letter, but John did. They are interesting. John Edwards, in particular, sounded alot like Bobby Kennedy in his farewell letter (I do not recall that he sounded that way in the campaign.) I reprint their letters below for your consideration as we continue to figure out who will be the next POTUS (President of the United States).

Here is Fred Thompson's announcement to supporters:



Fred and Jeri Thompson and Family outside of Ames, Iowa airport

A Goodbye »
A Statement from Fred Thompson
Posted on January 22nd, 2008

Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.

John Edwards sent a long announcement to his supporters followed by his withdrawal speech and a video (he had very Hollywood promo videos on his side). His is John Edwards withdrawal announcement to his supporters:






John and Elizabeth Edwards waiving from their campaign bus

Dear Friend,

Let me start by saying, "Thank you." You have stood with Elizabeth and me throughout this campaign. Your support has sustained us as we have traveled across this country.

Earlier today, I suspended my campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. I made this announcement from where our journey began just over 12 months ago: New Orleans.

I began my presidential campaign in New Orleans to remind the country that all of us -- as citizens and as a government -- have a moral responsibility to each other, and what we do together matters.

Now, it's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to the White House -- but what we do know is that our Democratic Party will make history.

And, along the way, all of you who have been involved in this campaign and this movement for change and this cause, I am asking you to continue speaking out for those who have no voice, just as Elizabeth and I will continue to do. We need you.

Do not turn away from the great struggles before us. Do not give up on the causes that we have fought for. Do not walk away from what's possible, because it's time for all of us -- all of us together -- to make the two Americas one. We need you.

I hope you will take a few moments to listen to the video clip of my speech in New Orleans earlier this afternoon or to read it below.

In the meantime, Elizabeth and my family join me in thanking all of you for your support and for working so hard on my behalf. We are truly blessed to have such friends.

Thank you.

John Edwards
January 30, 2008

Thank you all very much. We're very proud to be back here.

During the spring of 2006, I had the extraordinary experience of bringing 700 college kids here to New Orleans to work. These are kids who gave up their spring break to come to New Orleans to work, to rehabilitate houses, because of their commitment as Americans, because they believed in what was possible, and because they cared about their country.

I began my presidential campaign here to remind the country that we, as citizens and as a government, have a moral responsibility to each other, and what we do together matters. We must do better, if we want to live up to the great promise of this country that we all love so much.

It is appropriate that I come here today. It's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but what we do know is that our Democratic Party will make history. We will be strong, we will be unified, and with our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November and we'll create hope and opportunity for this country.

This journey of ours began right here in New Orleans. It was a December morning in the Lower Ninth Ward when people went to work, not just me, but lots of others went to work with shovels and hammers to help restore a house that had been destroyed by the storm.

We joined together in a city that had been abandoned by our government and had been forgotten, but not by us. We knew that they still mourned the dead, that they were still stunned by the destruction, and that they wondered when all those cement steps in all those vacant lots would once again lead to a door, to a home, and to a dream.

We came here to the Lower Ninth Ward to rebuild. And we're going to rebuild today and work today, and we will continue to come back. We will never forget the heartache and we'll always be here to bring them hope, so that someday, one day, the trumpets will sound in Musicians' Village, where we are today, play loud across Lake Ponchartrain, so that working people can come marching in and those steps once again can lead to a family living out the dream in America.

We sat with poultry workers in Mississippi, janitors in Florida, nurses in California.

We listened as child after child told us about their worry about whether we would preserve the planet.

We listened to worker after worker say "the economy is tearing my family apart."

We walked the streets of Cleveland, where house after house was in foreclosure.

And we said, "We're better than this. And economic justice in America is our cause."

And we spent a day, a summer day, in Wise, Virginia, with a man named James Lowe, who told us the story of having been born with a cleft palate. He had no health care coverage. His family couldn't afford to fix it. And finally some good Samaritan came along and paid for his cleft palate to be fixed, which allowed him to speak for the first time. But they did it when he was 50 years old. His amazing story, though, gave this campaign voice: universal health care for every man, woman and child in America. That is our cause.

And we do this -- we do this for each other in America. We don't turn away from a neighbor in their time of need. Because every one of us knows that what -- but for the grace of God, there goes us. The American people have never stopped doing this, even when their government walked away, and walked away it has from hardworking people, and, yes, from the poor, those who live in poverty in this country.

For decades, we stopped focusing on those struggles. They didn't register in political polls, they didn't get us votes and so we stopped talking about it. I don't know how it started. I don't know when our party began to turn away from the cause of working people, from the fathers who were working three jobs literally just to pay the rent, mothers sending their kids to bed wrapped up in their clothes and in coats because they couldn't afford to pay for heat.

We know that our brothers and sisters have been bullied into believing that they can't organize and can't put a union in the workplace. Well, in this campaign, we didn't turn our heads. We looked them square in the eye and we said, "We see you, we hear you, and we are with you. And we will never forget you." And I have a feeling that if the leaders of our great Democratic Party continue to hear the voices of working people, a proud progressive will occupy the White House.

Now, I've spoken to both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. They have both pledged to me and more importantly through me to America, that they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.

And more importantly, they have pledged to me that as President of the United States they will make ending poverty and economic inequality central to their Presidency. This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause.

And I want to say to everyone here, on the way here today, we passed under a bridge that carried the interstate where 100 to 200 homeless Americans sleep every night. And we stopped, we got out, we went in and spoke to them.

There was a minister there who comes every morning and feeds the homeless out of her own pocket. She said she has no money left in her bank account, she struggles to be able to do it, but she knows it's the moral, just and right thing to do. And I spoke to some of the people who were there and as I was leaving, one woman said to me, "You won't forget us, will you? Promise me you won't forget us." Well, I say to her and I say to all of those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you.

But I want to say this -- I want to say this because it's important. With all of the injustice that we've seen, I can say this, America's hour of transformation is upon us. It may be hard to believe when we have bullets flying in Baghdad and it may be hard to believe when it costs $58 to fill your car up with gas. It may be hard to believe when your school doesn't have the right books for your kids. It's hard to speak out for change when you feel like your voice is not being heard.

But I do hear it. We hear it. This Democratic Party hears you. We hear you, once again. And we will lift you up with our dream of what's possible.

One America, one America that works for everybody.

One America where struggling towns and factories come back to life because we finally transformed our economy by ending our dependence on oil.

One America where the men who work the late shift and the women who get up at dawn to drive a two-hour commute and the young person who closes the store to save for college. They will be honored for that work. One America where no child will go to bed hungry because we will finally end the moral shame of 37 million people living in poverty.

One America where every single man, woman and child in this country has health care.

One America with one public school system that works for all of our children.

One America that finally brings this war in Iraq to an end. And brings our service members home with the hero's welcome that they have earned and that they deserve.

Today, I am suspending my campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency.

But I want to say this to everyone: with Elizabeth, with my family, with my friends, with all of you and all of your support, this son of a millworker's gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine.

And I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard – all those who have volunteered, my dedicated campaign staff who have worked absolutely tirelessly in this campaign.

And I want to say a personal word to those I've seen literally in the last few days – those I saw in Oklahoma yesterday, in Missouri, last night in Minnesota – who came to me and said don't forget us. Speak for us. We need your voice. I want you to know that you almost changed my mind, because I hear your voice, I feel you, and your cause is our cause. Your country needs you – every single one of you.

All of you who have been involved in this campaign and this movement for change and this cause, we need you. It is in our hour of need that your country needs you. Don't turn away, because we have not just a city of New Orleans to rebuild. We have an American house to rebuild.

This work goes on. It goes on right here in Musicians' Village. There are homes to build here, and in neighborhoods all along the Gulf. The work goes on for the students in crumbling schools just yearning for a chance to get ahead. It goes on for day care workers, for steel workers risking their lives in cities all across this country. And the work goes on for two hundred thousand men and women who wore the uniform of the United States of America, proud veterans, who go to sleep every night under bridges, or in shelters, or on grates, just as the people we saw on the way here today. Their cause is our cause.

Their struggle is our struggle. Their dreams are our dreams.

Do not turn away from these great struggles before us. Do not give up on the causes that we have fought for. Do not walk away from what's possible, because it's time for all of us, all of us together, to make the two Americas one.

Thank you. God bless you, and let's go to work. Thank you all very much.

Big Difference, huh!?! Fred says thanks and good-bye. John becomes Bobby Kennedy.

Politics is really interesting. I am going back to reading posts by the Queen of the Poor, tonight, and will start back at it again tomorrow.

Stay well!
IRamat2

Queen of the Poor

I stumbled on the blog of one of my acquaintances. There is so much involved in the "immigration issue" discussed in the presidential campaign this year. MORE than anyone on TV or even next door can imagine. My friend Lilly commented that "Walls and Laws" won't work not matter how many are built and passed. The reason people chance everything to come to Mexico and then the US "illegally" is monetary. I think there is a way to help. (I like the idea of outsourcing call center services to Mexico, not India.) I know that just this comment is "fightin' words" to some people. They would call me a bleeding heart who is not tough on immigration. I know that side of things. I have to deal with it everyday. If you wouldn't mind, just consider reading Lilly's blog. Lilly doesn't just whine and complain that we should take care of undocumented workers and their fmailies once they are here. No, she goes to them and takes care of them where they are. You can read about her experiences at a shelter on the southern end of Mexico (through which migrants from South America travel)at http://llintap.blogspot.com . I don't mean to turn you into "bleeding heart liberals," but to just see what the other side is like (just not the way the TV news presents the story).

I know that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Queen of the Poor, but in her own way, Lillly is also the embodiment of the queen of the poor.

Remember, this is at:

http://llintap.blogspot.com


IRamat2

Tessie Santiago is THE Queen!

Or so I read at a Yahoo! Group tonight (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TSEnthusiasts/) . It is called "Tessie Santiago Enthusiasts" and seems to be comprised of a group of fans of this little known actress. Well then, alright! Somebody else out there has heard of this lady and her first TV series called "Queen of Swords."

Anyway, the poster, whose name is Manx, wrote about the first episode of the series:

"..... It had everything; murder, cruelty, honour, justice, bravery, cowardice, treachoury I could go on all day, lol! And of course, the sublimely gorgeous Tessie Santiago! Tessie IS the Queen!"

He then went on to lament the untimely demise of the series by saying:

"For the show to be taken off after just one season was a criminal waste of an excellent story, superb supporting cast; Valentine Pelka as Colonel Montoya was one of the best villains I have ever seen on tv; and of course Tessie Santiago.....! A terrible, terrible, waste of talent."

Now don't you wish you could see this series on DVD? The best I can figure is, if we were to all write to Paramount Pictures, which was involved in the production, maybe we could get them to put the series on DVD and sell it someplace like on Amazon or at Best Buy.

It is something to do while we mourn Fred Thompson's decision to drop out of the 2008 Presidential campaign, today. Political commentators seemed to think that happened because Fred came in third in three states which held primaries or caucuses. I think it happened simply because the dear man was low on cash. His staff had to take pay cuts yesterday. (And his blessed mother is sick having been placed in the hospital this past weekend. Fred had the honour to take care of his family first. I respect him even more for doing that.)

So who will I vote for now? The John Edwards camp seems to think that Senator John McCain will be the Republican nominee for president. The Edwards camp is armed with a letter of support from Martin Luther King III. Hilary is trying to build her campaign war chest by promising two seats at her next televised presidential debate in Los Angeles to the winner of a comapign donation lottery. It sounds like the seats will be awarded lottery style to a contributor, but since rules are not clear, she might just give the seat to whoever contributes the most money. She doesn't seem to be aware of the middle income folk like Fred is. (Remember his $10.00 at 10:00 pm campaign? Most of us with Internet access could afford that.) I wonder if this favor for cash lottery that Hilary is running hints at how she will run the White House? Doesn't like something a noble Queen would do to her subjects or to the electorate.

I am not on any mailing lists for Obama right now. I just can't stomach the idea.

Speaking of mourning, but on a truly somber note, actor Heath Ledger died today. He was only 28 years old. He had already had such a fine career that this was a shock to me. He did not seem reckless like so many other young celebrities. You may remember Heath from "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson, "Broke Back Mountain," "A Knight's Tale," and the short lived TV series "Roar" in which he played a reluctant hero thrust into the position due to local atrocities similar to Tessie Santiago's character in "Queen of Swords."

Rest in peace Heath, be well Fred, and long live the Queen!

IRamat2

Queen of Crossroads

I was thinking about Queen Isabella of Castille this past weekend (the news described her marriage to Ferdinand as "arranged" in order to unite two kingdoms). I wrote about her in the last blog post for "Life according to the Queen." If you think about it, a better title for that post and for Isabella is "Queen of Crossroads."

Just thought I would mention it.

Happy birthday Dr. Martin Luther King (who had a wonderful Queen in Coretta Scott King).

IRamat2

Queen Isabella of Castille

Hi Everybody,

I just wanted to stop in and say hello. Thank you to Delta and Rick for your kind comments. Even it it is just online, it is nice to meet other Fred Heads and/or believers in the freedom we cherish as we look for the next American President or the POTUS as Delta calls the position. (I am definitely going to remember that acronym. I love it!)

I have been studying the histories of the various Caminos Reales in North and South America. Any road built by Spain's kings and queens, was called a Royal Road or a Camino Real. For example, before the canal was built in Panama, folks would take the Camino Real from one coast to the other when cutting time off of boat trips from California to Spain. In California, they seem to refer to these roads in English as as the King's Road rather than the Royal Road. Oh well, it is just a different interpretation.

So relating all of this to a Queen, let us take a look at Queen Isabella of Ca stile, Spain. the year 1492 was a big year for her and her husband King Ferdinand. Early in the year, they were able to win a battle at Santa Fe de Granada in Spain and drove the Moors our of power. In the summer, they funded the expedition of a Portuguese explorer, Christopher Columbus. By October or so of that year, the explorer had identified a new continent and new land holdings for Isabella and Ferdinand.

Was this all just dumb luck? Maybe, but it is the sort of "dumb luck," we could all strive for as we consider which path to take whenever we come to the crossroads of our lives.

If you would like to learn more about Queen Isabella of Castille, just go to:

Queen Isabella of Castille at Life Script

where you can find a brief history of the grand lady. It is published by Life Script Connect Network.

Take good care of yourselves everyone. Be sure to evaluate the possibilities at your crossroads of life and exercise your right to vote.

IRamat2

Queen of Independence

I was about to tell you all that, although I have a favorite in the race for the American president this election year, you should make up your own minds on the subject. A great way to learn what politicians think--unhampered by rhetoric and unfiltered by the media--is to go to their official websites where you can even sign up for newsletters to read what the candidate wants voters to know. Currently I am getting newsletters from Fred, Hilary, and John Edwards. Eventually I will sign up for more. For now, below are the websites for all of the current presidential candidates:

www.johnmccain.com
www.fred08.com
www.mikehuckabee.com/
www.joinrudy2008.com/
www.mittromney.com/
www.ronpaul2008.com/
www.hillaryclinton.com/
www.barackobama.com/
www.johnedwards.com

So how does that relate to the Queen, you wonder. (Actually I wondered the same thing myself.) Well if you remember the Queen of Swords, she had moved from Spain to California and lived in a terrible regime run by Colonel Luis Montoya (played by my pal, actor Valentine Pelka seen, in character, below.)









Valentine Pelka as Colonel Luis Montoya in the year 2000







Rather than live under Colonel Montoya's tyranny, she chose to fight villainy and free the people of Santa Helena, California giving them the independence they craved to make their way in life, unhampered by this evil overlord.

Naturally, since we now belong to Google, I also googled Queen +Independence. I found some interesting things. First was an article from the New York Times dated December 28, 1902 in which a woman tried to destroy a large picture of Queen Anne of the United Kingdom in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, because, according to the woman, Queen Anne's ascension to the throne ruined her chances of ever ruling all of Great Britain. "Hmmm," you say. That explains the Queen plus Independence concept, but who was Queen Anne and how were these two related. The answer is they weren't related at all. They never even lived in the same time period. I suspect the woman in Philadephia in 1902 of being mentally imbalanced or a time traveler who got stuck in the wrong time. Just FYI, Queen Anne lived between 1665 and 1714. She was 37 years old when she ascended to the throne in 1702--two hundred years earlier. You can read more about the two women (the one in Philly and Queen Anne) at the links
below:

New York Times Queen Anne article

and

Queen Anne in Historic UK

I believe that both the painting attacker at the Smithsonian and Queen Anne demonstarted independence of thought based on what they said and did.

Even though I support Fred Thompson for president, we Americans need to evaluate the issues and demonstrate our own independence of thought and choose the person we think would best serve as the Next American President.

Have a great night!

IRamat2

Queen of the Underdog

I checked to make sure a Google search did not turn up someone with that title and, except for an objectionable comment on one post which we will ignore, nobody has that title. So, I am taking it. Well, at least for as long as Fred Thompson is running for president. I noticed on some poll on "Good Morning, America" today, only 8% of people polled somewhere said that they would vote for Senator Thompson. How sad. Well, I say "Lie to pollsters and vote for Fred." I am going to keep standing behind his campaign either until he decides to drop out of the race or is elected president. So this Queen of the Underdog encourages you to do the same thing.

Have a great day!!

IRamat2

Other Queens

I decided I need to start remembering the names of other Queens in life. Two that came to mind today are:

1) Queen Latifah
2) Drag Queens (but I do not know much about this subject)

Queen of the Pen! Where are You?

Well...when I say "pen," I mean a writing instrument. Looking around the internet, I found that the word is used to mean the farm pen--as in Dolly the Sheep, Queen of the pen--and the prison nickname (pen)--as in a South American Drug Leader who is now Queen of the pen. I found one person at a pen pals' site who called her self Queen of the Pen and Paper. Unfortunately, no one was called just Queen of the (writing instrument) Pen.

I really wanted to know if there was a Queen of the Pen, since I think I experienced genuine email libel this week and I wanted to ask her what to do about it. Without a genuine Queen of the Pen out there, I read various internet sites about libel and learned that Mosaic and Solomonian laws in the book of Exodus in the bible protected individuals from defamation of character. For something to actually be libelous, it must contain three elements:

1) it must be specific,
2) it must be presented so that those who would care will read it, and
3) it must harm another's character (and that harm can be implied not necessarily specific).

The person performing the questionable act of libel, sent an email to various professionals with whom I work saying I said something which I never said or wrote. In fact what she said I said made it look like I was refusing to perform my job. When I sent out a correction saying that I had never said what she said I said, this person performing the questionable act of libel fired off an email telling me to stop "picking." I told her that I was not picking on her, I was just setting the written record straight as I do not need people thinking I said something I did not say.

Did you get all this? I think one must write in a confusing manner in order to complain about another and still avoid libel.

I suppose if I was truly picking, I could have sent her copies of the anti-defamation of character laws in Exodus, a definition of libel, and a request for an apology. Finally, I could have warned her of an upcoming call from my personal lawyer regarding cyber-libel, but I didn't do any of that.

So was I picking on her? I suppose I was a little, but I did not want other professionals thinking I was shirking the duties of my job and it was easier to just clarify the comment rather than contact a lawyer in order to get an apology.

Too bad that there was no Queen of the Pen I could contact, like Dear Abby, in order to make sure I did everything correctly. I avoided the office Christmas party since this woman's comment made me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Thinking about it, since I didn't have a Queen of the Pen to call on, I could have used the Queen of Swords to help bring home my point this week

....too bad she is a fictional character, but that is another story.







Copyright Romil Ilagan 2003, Used with permission
Based on an idea by David Abramowitz, 2000
No infringement of rights is implied or intended

I Am NOT Queen of the Internet

Today seems like a great day to start the blog. An acquaintance on the other side of the world wrote yesterday to tell me that my server was down and that her emails to me were bouncing back to her. (Funny thing is my family and I have been easily sharing emails all the time this acquaintance says my server was down….and they live half a world away in the other direction.) When she told me she wanted to know what I was going to about this, the whole matter started to get on my nerves. A few months earlier, another Internet acquaintance wrote wanting to know how I was going to fix a Yahoo! Group in which he was having trouble posting because he had had the same problem at another Yahoo! Group. That discussion has become rather ugly. So, here and now, in my first blog post, I want to announce that I cannot fix the Internet, because...I AM NOT QUEEN OF THE INTERNET.

Of course, that begs the question, “Who IS Queen of the internet?” Not knowing that answer, I did a web search. As it turns out that title belongs to a few different folks depending on which search engine one uses. The hands-down, number one, title of “Queen of the Internet” on most search engines, though, is: Britney Spears. Check out the December 28, 2001 story at The Hollywood Reporter by going to http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1229464 .

Ok, so I would like to tell these Internet acquaintances of mine who want Internet answers immediately to go ask Britney if they have questions. Unfortunately, Brit is on her honeymoon and might be a little hard to get hold of for a while. So, I found the other folks who hold the title “Queen of the Internet.” Maybe those two acquaintances could ask the following women if they have Internet questions:

1) Hatshepsut - The Queen of the Internet at
http://www.geocities.com/hatshepsut_tut
2) RAVEN MADD --Rainbow-Akron.com's Queen of the Internet at
http://www.rainbow-akron.com/rba-07.htm

Of course they might not reply. (I had no luck with that. Maybe their servers are down, too.) So, as a last resort, I think I found the ideal “Queen of the Internet” to whom these acquaintances of mine could pose their questions. Elizabeth Regina II! Of course!! She’s powerful and has her own website (http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page1.asp). Yeah, that’s it. Next time these two demand that I spend time fixing their Internet problems, I will just tell them to go write the Queen of England. It works for me.

Talk to ya'all next time.