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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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Archive for the 'Love, Sex & Relationships' Category
I have discovered that I am totally enthralled with Sarah….and no I am not speaking of Palin. Sarah Dunant is an author that I just discovered the other day while listening to the radio. Her interview was fascinating and her stories intrigued me so much that they are on my wish list.
Sarah Dunant is the author of the international bestseller The Birth of Venus, which has received major worldwide acclaim and In the Company of the Courtesan. With the publication of Sacred Hearts, she rounds out a Renaissance trilogy bringing voice to the lives of three different women in three different historical contexts. Sarah Dunant’s tireless research has resulted in vivid reconstructions of womens’secret histories in the characters of a Florentine Noblewoman, a Venetian Courtesan and with Sacred Hearts the spellbinding and fascinating lives of the Sisters of Santa Caterina.
Here’s a clip featuring her latest Book, “Sacred Hearts’:
If you are interested in hearing more about her previous two books in this trilogy, or about Sarah herself, click here to go to Sarah’s website. And no I am not getting paid to push these books, nor did I receive these books for free. (I wish:)
Doug: Thanks for tweeting – How do I get a button to facebook share on my site? – enlighten me.
Anna: I forgot, yes, holiday wishes are always welcome. Thank you.
Enjoy the weekend!
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
I thought this was appropriate for my post today in light of the recent conversations.
This film ‘A War For Your Soul’, was produced and created by a young man named Reginald Bullock, who is a vibrant voice and accomplished role model for the youth of today. It was released this past March and reaching many, but not enough in my mind. I am hoping that with my readership we can get some momentum going.
This video was created to inspire young at-risk African-Americans not to fall prey to some of the problems they face in society. The “Master of Darkness” represents that abstract concept of evil that has the potential to reside in the consciousness of mankind.
This video shouldn’t be used to divide people (Black & White).
This video shouldn’t be used to criticize all aspects of hip-hop.
This video shouldn’t be used to allow society to escape from their responsibility to help with financial & academic support.
If used properly, this video will allow our youth to see some of the horrific conditions that their ancestors fought through, and some of the horrific conditions they face today.
I am posting it in 3 parts that I found on youtube as the original 25 minute video is not formatted well. So please watch all 3 parts.
What do you think?
*************
Doug: Hilarious and much needed – thanks for the lift!
Anonz: Your post yesterday is hard to digest and seems unbelievable. It is hard to fathom that the republicans and the religious white supremacist groups would go to such levels by being part of the plan to execute a nuclear attack on US soil….all to regain their position in the government; a return to power…a return of control. Control over what? Death aside, as it would be a given and obviously they could care less, a nuclear bomb would destroy our economy if it leveled New York, or worse, California. – What would be left to control? But more importantly what is being done to prevent it?
And your comments about the secret service is exactly what I was hinting at when I wrote about it a few days ago. The message was clear and you have confirmed it for me. Now what? What does our president need to do in order to gain the confidence and trust from key leaders again, and lose the role of impotent nigger in the White House? What influence will he have if leaders are sending subordinates? This is out of control.
I trust Obama, but he is in a very delicate position in my opinion, not to mention those that are assisting him in this. I just hope he has some good advisers…those in the know, and the balls to do what is needed, so he isn’t left hanging and vulnerable. Please keep us posted on your findings when you can. We all want to know what and if we can do anything. Be safe yourself.
Readers: If you’re interested, here’s the latest on what I could find on Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure), a.k.a. Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Lashkar e-Toiba; Lashkar-i-Taiba. Click here and here. Some interesting reads.
Anon: Your post was very interesting. I have been wondering about Dubai. Mostly that I want to go there and play :)
It’s my early day…I’m outta here. Great to hear from all of you! Carry on….
Peace out.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile now, you will know that I have written about the lives and plight of women in Congo, a few times here. Unfortunately, not much has changed.
My topic this morning is about Congo Gold.
‘Five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a war fueled primarily from gold mined in the country by warlords and smuggled out to be sold on the open market.‘
Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to inform you that 60 Minutes was presenting a feature segment on Gold in the Congo last Sunday evening. If you did not see it, I am posting the video below for your viewing.
This is devastating, but I am hopeful that the more we hear and learn, the more many of us will take action…and the more we take action, the more affective our actions will be.
Do you want to learn how you can help stop it? I received this below e-mail that shows us how we can help.
YOU SAW IT ON 60 MINUTES. NOW IT’S TIME TO ACT
JOIN US FOR AN ACTIVIST CONFERENCE CALL
If you happened to catch 60 Minutes last night, then you know we have to do more to ensure our consumer purchases, such as gold necklaces and cell phones, aren’t fueling some of the world’s worst human rights abusers in Congo. Last night’s ”Congo Gold” episode revealed how the mining of gold and other conflict minerals fuels Congo’s war, the deadliest in the world. Now learn how to stop it.
Join us on Tuesday, December 1 at 4:30 PM EST/1:30 PM PST for a special discussion with Enough’s John Prendergast, International Rescue Committee’s Brian Sage, and Run for Congo Women’s Lisa Shannon, to get an update on the humanitarian crisis, find out what’s being done to end the scourge of Congo’s conflict minerals, and learn how you can be a part of the solution
Date: Tuesday, December 1 Time: 4:30PM EST/1:30 PM PST Conference ID: 44050208 (Reference the Congo’s Conflict Minerals Conference Call) Toll-free Dial-in:887-254-9825 International Dial-in:281-913-8965
Readers: I know that I ask all of you to participate in a lot. We all can’t do everything that I ask of you here. But if every one of us can just pick one or two areas that pull at our hearts, one or two issues that we feel strongly about, and just give a little bit more of ourselves in some way, shape, or form, we can affect change. As always, thanks for all that you do.
It was surprising to see comments from all of you – thanks for not giving up and being persistent so that you can share your thoughts with me and the other readers.
In regards to those that commented on the Secret Service: Good points about the couple never being able to get in if the were otw’s, and if the president was white, the head of SS would be asked to resign. Those thoughts never came to my mind. Just one of the reasons why I love my blog.
Ken: You tell me :)
Peace out….
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
So how is everyone doing? I see the racists were in full rage on my blog yesterday sans George – Do we have a replacement for dear George our resident racist, now Larry?
In fact the racists are in full rage across the country sporting the psalm that 109:8.9 that BSK mentioned and Cindi witnessed on a young girl’s t-shirt. I got an e-mail from a friend who went out the other night and informed me that he too saw a young child around 10 years old wearing the psalm 109:8.9 t-shirt. The psalm was flanked with crossing guns – And displayed on a young Asian boy! What is wrong with these people? I am not as surprised to find it on a white child, considering the racist whites that we all know are out there, but an Asian child?
And, it’s worse enough that these t-shirts are in children’s sizes, but to use your child as a walking sandwich board to express your racist feelings is just disgusting. It is not only disgusting but it should be illegal. This is a wish for the president to be assassinated (!) as BTK so articulately pointed out. I only hope that I run into someone wearing this t-shirt so that I can express my feelings.
Nicely said Doug. When ever I hear someone say that Obama is a Muslim, the first thought that comes to my mind is, ‘So what if he is’, followed by, ‘Why is that considered a bad thing?’ Racists say these things as if it is a bad thing – like all Muslims are bad people. It just blows me away how because of ones religion, race, culture, etc., that they don’t approve of, everything else about a person doesn’t matter; everything else gets thrown out the window. Muslim=Bad. Sickening.
Brittany: I’m with Ruth – You go girl! Love your logic – love your comment.
Mike: I know, it’s amazing isn’t it? Who let open the flood gates? It just tells us how much work needs to be done to erase this racism.
Evelyn: Well said. Unfortunately there are many *Kellys in this world that feel that way. We need women such as myself, and you, and so many others on this blog to be the counter balance to, as you say, ‘these idiots’. And ultimately we need to tilt the scales big time. All in time…
I’ve got to run now.
*Proud not to be a real white woman,
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
The saying used to be, ‘Behind every great man, there’s a great woman, ‘ no longer applies to the modern woman….well maybe except for those modern women who are happy to walk behind their men. A nod to Ruth who posted, ‘Behind every man there’s a smart woman,’ a few days ago. Just love that Ruth.
So, I’m changing the tune one more time and saying, ‘Beside every great man is a smart woman.’ And Obama is lucky; he has two. We all have had the chance to get to know Michelle Obama over this past year, and I can safely say, we all think she is the cat’s meow. But what about his other leading lady?
She is a woman who doesn’t like to be in the limelight. She would rather have the attention off of herself and the focus be on ‘the team’. So it’s no surprise that we don’t see her often in the media. But from what I have read and heard, every important decision that Obama needs to make is run by her first. She is the other woman beside Obama. The woman I am referring to is Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s official advisor.
Ms. Jarrett is one cool lady; I’d like her on my personal team. Here’s the article that I think you will enjoy too, just in case you want a quick read instead of watching the video:
Washington (CNN) — Valerie Jarrett does not like to talk about herself.
I know this because we’ve sat down on numerous occasions for interviews, going back to the early days of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. But this one was perhaps the most challenging because the focus was on her.
She is fiercely loyal to Obama, as one of his closest friends. But she also advises him as president, with the title of Senior Adviser and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison.
The ultimate insider does not spill the beans. But doing a series on the power players inside the White House would not be complete without looking at Jarrett’s role.
She has called her relationship with the president a “mind meld.”
“We’re good friends who have known each other for a long time,” Jarrett says. “Eighteen years, you get a pretty good sense of him.”
Her first sense of him came in 1991 when Obama was a young law professor in Chicago, Illinois.
Jarrett was interviewing his fiancée, the future first lady, Michelle Robinson, for a job in Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s office. The protective partner, Obama, was making sure Jarrett was on the up and up.
Jarrett first explained the scene when I interviewed her in May 2008.
“They sat next to each other and when she was speaking he would just look at her with this adoring look,”Jarrett said with a laugh, “but he was really tough on me in the nicest possible way.”
The three became fast friends. Now Obama says he runs every important decision by Jarrett, trusts her completely and considers her family.
When I bring this to her attention she accepts her role humbly.
“Well, I hope he would trust me the way any close friend does. He knows I have his best interest at heart and that I understand, because I’m part of the administration, the myriad of challenges he faces,” Jarrett says. “So I hope he views me a sounding board, someone who’s going to be honest, direct and candid with him at all times.”
She laughs when I suggest perhaps she is his consigliere.
“You can tell I’m uncomfortable with this,” she says when I try to get her to focus more on her role.
She does not like to be singled out from the rest of the White House team.
Instead she paints a picture of what it would be like if I were in an Oval Office meeting with the president.
“When everyone’s done talking, if there’ve been a couple of people who’ve been quiet, he’ll say, ‘Well, Suzanne, what do you think of this issue?’ ” Jarrett says.
She describes his style in running the meetings as “accommodating.”
“He reads people very well. He’s extraordinarily perceptive. He can tell from the body language if someone is uncomfortable with something,” Jarrett says.
But she can also read the president’s body language when he’s heard enough talk.
“He’s not moody, but you can tell when he’s ready for a conversation to end,” Jarrett says. “He enjoys making sure there is robust debate, but when he’s finished with debate he’s finished. He’s ready to move on. So I can detect when enough is enough, let’s bring in the next issue.”
Jarrett says newcomers to the administration have pulled her aside to get her take on how things were going.
“Particularly early on, people who didn’t know the president as well as I did would come to me after a meeting and say ‘What did he really mean? I know he said this, but what is he really thinking?’ and I took such delight in being able to say he meant exactly what he said. That’s who he is.”
It’s the intangibles that Jarrett sometimes brings to the table.
“People are always looking for the hidden intent, the body language, and he is about as straight a shooter as you’re going to ever come across. So I think part of what I do is go around and give people some comfort to really trust what he said. He meant exactly what he said. You can take him at face value.”
Jarrett says the president does not make deals after his meetings are done. People don’t trail him through the back door trying to change his mind.
“That’s just not the way he operates,” Jarrett says. “He likes to hear from everybody at the same time. Then he makes a decision.”
Jarrett’s job includes acting as a liaison to the business community and conducting outreach to African-American groups. But it’s her role as confidante to the president that makes her the ultimate insider.
Jarrett sits in on Obama’s daily briefings in the morning that deal with national security and the economy. She also attends policy meetings regarding the president’s agenda on health care, energy and education. She facilitates and hosts small groups of CEOs to have lunch with Obama. And she heads the Office of Public Engagement as the president’s contact with outside groups.
Jarrett says she also spends “a good deal of time” with Michelle Obama both personally and professionally. Part of her portfolio is working closely with the first lady’s team, “making sure there’s seamless interaction between the East and West Wings.”
Jarrett occupies the office previously used by Karl Rove and former first lady Hillary Clinton.
She is often the only woman in the room in briefings with the president. But she dismisses talk of tension with “the boys,” as some of the male power players are referred to in the White House.
“We really do pull together as a team,” Jarrett says.
While Jarrett’s ability to freelance as the president’s senior adviser has rankled some, Jarrett says being inside the circle of power is a “warm” and “inclusive” environment.
As for Obama’s all-male pickup basketball games, Jarrett says that’s not where the real power resides.
“I think what’s really important is who does the president surround himself with and give substantial responsibilities to.”
Jarrett’s got plenty of responsibility.
Her challenge is separating her friendship with the president from her job. Often she takes her cues from where she stands.
“If we’re in the Oval Office, I call him “Mr. President.” It’s very formal. I think it’s appropriate. It’s not just deferential to him but to the office,” Jarrett says.
“I really try to compartmentalize our friendship and what my role is outside the office, and my role as senior adviser.”
When I ask her if that’s a difficult thing to do, requiring her to flip a switch, she says “no.” She says when she’s in the Oval Office, they’re all about business, outside, “everything but business.”
“The one thing I don’t do is try to mix the two. I don’t try to be his friend when we’re having a business conversation and I try not to burden him with office issues when trying to have downtime,” Jarrett says.
When they’re hanging out as friends, it’s often indulging in their favorite pastime.
“We like to eat,” Jarrett says with a hearty laugh. “He’s a healthy eater. I’m not. We have a lot of wonderful conversations around the dinner table — something we’ve always enjoyed.”
But now that dinner table is in the White House. The movies they enjoy watching, they now take in at the White House movie theater. But despite that, Jarrett insists her longtime friend is the same.
She says what she finds “so appealing” is he’s still “grounded.”
“He has a very good sense of self, he’s steady. His temperament is very predictable,” she says.
A year after Obama captured the White House, Jarrett is still in awe.
“Not a day goes by I don’t pinch myself and treasure this experience and opportunity to serve this president who also happens to be my friend.”
*************
Hey Zen Lill: I was going to respond to your ditch digger comment, but the boys on the blog said it better than I ever could – thank you. BTW…liked the e-mail that you received – an oldie but a goodie. I hope work picks up for you.
Mike: I am tempted to join too. That Ann Coulter is a total trip. When ever I watch her my mouth is agape; I can’t believe she is for real. I feel the same way when I watch Rush -They need to bed each other if they haven’t already. - they’re perfect together.
Hi Anna - Hi Peter- Hafa Adai.
BTK: Thanks for posting. No disrespect to all of you veterans reading, but Veterans Day caught me on a bad day, and I was speechless that morning as you can tell from my post yesterday. In my mind there should be no other choice but to give the men and women that fight for our country the care and benefits that are due to them. If we can afford to spend billions on bombs, we can afford to take care of the people who risk their lives every day. This issue should never be an issue.
Linda: Good article -thanks for posting. And yes some men are loony…some women are too.
Kent: Hello Mate. Sorry for all of the trouble you have had making a comment but it looks like your wish has come true. If you have to join something to get on my blog, I certainly don’t know about it. So…I guess my blog address is still on your bar? :) Good luck with the Mensa girls…and school.
Alexander: Hi there. Thanks for the info to share. I want to know if there was anything to learn behind the space shuttle Columbia’s explosion on February 1st, besides the shocking organization problems discovered that we are already privy to, - any surprises we need to know about?
Readers: I am done. It is a tad early for me this morning to articulate as well as I would have liked to. And this weekend I am in a workshop from 8am-6pm Saturday and Sunday. Just giving you a heads up…I’ll still be here checkin’ in and writing a little, but don’t expect much from me.
Happy Friday….flap those lips if you wish…
Peace out.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
