Here are the newsworthy topics. Remember, try to keep your comments to 5 words and…….have fun!

1. Which one of the Williams Sisters is the best?  Serena or Venus?  I would say Venus, but her focus isn’t there unless it is Wimbledon.

2.  Do you know what the Apple tablet, or iPad, is yet and have you considered buying one?

3.  Now that health care reform has stalled, do you think it will ever happen since the Mass. Senate seat is not controlled by the Republican party?

4.  What can be said about those who thought President Obama was a socialist?

5.  If we can’t depend on Toyota to produce safe transportation, who can we depend on?

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

 It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.

I’m sure some people will take this coming monday off without thinking about why they have a paid vacation.  Others may know, but they have a deep-seated hatred in their heart nonetheless.  Here is a reminder to let you know, it is about more than a day off work.

The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was founded as a holiday promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. After King’s death, United States Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) introduced a bill in Congress to make King’s birthday a national holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage. Two of the main arguments mentioned by opponents were that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive, and that a holiday to honor a private citizen would be contrary to longstanding tradition (King had never held public office). Soon after, The King Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single “Happy Birthday” to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 article in The Nation as “the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history.”

At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, United States President Ronald Reagan signed a bill, proposed by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, creating a federal holiday to honor King. It was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986.

The bill established the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to oversee observance of the holiday, and Coretta Scott King was made a member of this commission for life by United States President George H. W. Bush in May, 1989.

Several computer companies like Dell and HP tried to beat Apple to the punch and demo their version of new tablet PCs.  You have to give Apple credit for having such a large impact on the industry, especially since no official device even exists.

The plan, or I should say rumored plan is to use these new tablets as a bridge between the iPhone/iPod Touch and Apple’s entry-level MacBook.  They are also going to be direct competition with the Kindle – there are several magazines and newspapersset to offer digital versions of their product.

But still, Apple hasn’t officially announced the iSlate yet.  So what do you do when you are itching to know if such a product exists?  Well, if you are Valleywag you use $$$ to flush something out.

Contest

Yesterday, Valleywag announced that it is offering a bounty of up to $100,000 for information on Apple’s much-anticipated tablet device. The reward ladder begins at $10,000 for “bona fide pictures” of the device, increasing to $20,000 for video. Potential rewards for more ambitious tipsters include $50,000 for pictures of Apple CEO Steve Jobs holding the device, and $100,000 for anyone willing to let Valleywag play with it for an hour.

The ball was placed in Apple’s court.  You either take action against Valleywag because the information Valleywag is seeking to obtain is a trade secret and thus disclosure of such information would violate California law or you do nothing.  Logic says, if a device doesn’t exist you do nothing because it doesn’t matter, but if you take action then such a device does in fact exist and the company wants to protect details concerning the secret product.

And the winner is…

Today Apple lawyers from the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe sent Valleywag and Gawker a cease-and-desist letter requesting that the contest be discontinued by 6:00 PM Pacific time today.  I guess that pretty much confirms the existence of a tablet Mac and many PC competitors will be all ears on the 27th.

Valleywag has not ended its contest, instead reiterating its position that tipsters should “stay within the bounds of the law” and use anonymous e-mail addresses to prevent identification. It has also named Spillner the first “winner” of the contest for offering “the most concrete evidence yet” that an Apple tablet is under development.

Apple may have spilled the beans by taking action and Valleywag is showing a lot of guts by keeping the contest going.

“On Sunday, NBC confirmed what was Hollywood’s hottest rumor all weekend: The network is dropping The Jay Leno Show from its prime-time lineup after his Feb. 11 show. The former Tonight Show host will return to late night on March 1, after NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics, in a half-hour format in his old perch at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT. The Tonight Show, now hosted by Conan O’Brien, would move from the after-news slot it has occupied since the ’60s to after midnight: 12:05 a.m. ET/PT.”

Jay Leno wants to tell jokes at 11:30pm and Conan O’Brien wants to host the Tonight Show.  This compromise just doesn’t seem right and it all came about when Leno announced when he would quit the Tonight Show.  If not for that announcement, Leno would likely still be hosting the Tonight Show and this wouldn’t be an issue.

“Leno’s return to late night throws into question the future complexion of the legendary Tonight Show— at 55, one of the longest-running shows on television — as well as the future of its new host, O’Brien.

O’Brien now faces a difficult choice: Does he stay at the network that promised five years ago he’d get the primary late-night slot? Or does he bolt for another network and collect an eight-figure penalty NBC would face for reneging on his Tonight Show deal?”

I’m not a big fan of the Tonight Show regardless of who the host is, but I think this is a chance for O’Brien to get paid.  If he can leave and get paid I think he should go that route – I don’t think he can win at this point.  The network has decided that Leno is their late night man and they are bumping O’Brien to show it.  I would have never thought Jay Leno was bigger than the tonight show, but apparently that is the case.

In a world where so many people are just out to get the most money they can, it would be smart for O’Brien to do just that.  Conan, take the money, take a vacation and get paid at another network.

“What the  _____?  Everything he’s saying’s on the teleprompter…..I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived. I saw it all growing up.”

What????!!!!  Okay, so now I understand.  A Black person’s level of ”Blackness” is based on where they live (or have lived) AND if they shine shoes (or have ever shined shoes).  Hmmmm.  I guess he’s blacker than me too!  I have been in denial about the validity of my Blackness all this time.  WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, for the record, the ousted Illinois governor has since apologized.  This morning he told WLS Radio in Chicago that it was a “stupid thing to say.”  Really????!!!!!!!!!!

Here are the newsworthy topics.  Remember, try to keep your comments to 5 words and…….have fun!

1. Tiger Woods.  Why?  What?  How?
2. What is your opinion on President Obama’s response to the failed terrorist attack on Christmas in comparison to (former, it feels good to say) President Bush’s response to 9/11?
3. Should we have health care reform or leave things the way they are?  It is easy to criticize what is on the table without offering an alternate solution so this is more about standing pat versus making a change.
4. Do you know what the Nexus One is?  If so, do you think it will have any impact in 2010?
5. I would like someone to weigh in on the movie Avatar.  Is this movie as good as the box office indicates?

A lot is going on and one thing is for sure: a ton of energy is being spent on bashing President Obama.  One thing I find interesting about the whole thing is that some people say Bush was bashed more while some say Obama is bashed more.  Some say Obama critics are racially motivated and some say it is politically motivated.  When you think about it, the claim of racial motivation was never mentioned about Bush’s critics, but then again race wasn’t an issue with him.

Honestly, I think race has become an issue because 1) it rubs people the wrong way when we have a black president and 2) it rubs people the wrong way when others are happy about having a black president.  Hmmm, I would call that racism, but some people think racial words and actions don’t indicate racism – Rush Limbaugh comes to mind.

I found the comment below on a site and thought some points were interesting.  Are they true or someone’s slanted opinion?  Here we go:

Funny how Republicans take responsibility for NOTHING. Kidda ironic.

Expectations are very high for Obama, period.

America is subjected to a moron cowboy and a warmonger zealot for 8 years and now we have the patience for no one. We have especially little patience for a black man who managed somehow to be the leader of the free world, who makes a REAL easy target.

Conservatives complain that they end up paying high taxes for “free-loaders,” and then they get upset when the President tells the kids who need it most to stay in school, work hard, and get good jobs.

Conservatives complain that this president is piling up the debt, but choose to ignore that he inherited one of the greatest economic disasters in the last 100 years. The Bush administration and Republican controlled congress enacted a 1 Trillion Medicare prescription benefit over 10 years – without raising or saving a penny for it.

The Bush administration cut taxes on the wealthy to the tune of 1.7 trillion over 10 years – all while spending more than any administration in history racking up the debt from a Clinton surplus.

The Obama administration is proposing 1 trillion for health care reform – with a path to paying for it – and conservatives flip their lids and cry “socialism.” What planet do you all live on?

If you prefer a government that governs the least that’s exactly what you are going to get. I don’t believe there can be a intelligent debate with toe tapping Republican propagandists hacks. Hacks don’t want to talk, they just want to be mad about something and government is an easy target.

During the Bush days, the hacks were mad at Saddam, for the wrong reasons but it didn’t stop them from supporting a two trillion dollar tax payer funded unjust war did it? Republican leaders said, “hey be mad at this”, now they are saying, “hey be mad at this”.

The fatalistic elderly of our nation fall in line. Real intelligent.

• Limit Congress from serving more than two terms.  That is all that presidents are allowed.
• Stop Congress from voting on their own raises.  How did that ever get started?
• Stop paying lawmakers’ high-priced insurance premiums.  After all, they are only part-time employees.  They might pass some law changes on the insurance companies, if they had to find one.
• Stop paying lawmakers their full salary after serving just one term, or at retirement.  We need to get rid of that pension plan; they’ve let other companies get rid of theirs.  You were lucky to get 40-50 percent of your salary after working somewhere for 35 years, but they get 100 percent.
• Make Congress pay into the Social Security system.  They make laws for it.  If they spent some of their own money, they might be interested in making it solvent.
• Stop handing out aid to illegal aliens.  If we did, then Medicaid and the food stamp program would have enough money to aid the aged and poor.
• Secure our borders.
• Stop allowing babies born to illegal aliens in the United States automatic U.S. citizenship.
• Stop the abuse of our benevolent welfare system.  We feed children free meals three times a day until they are 17.  Churches give away good, clean clothes.  Companies buy and donate school supplies.  Emergency rooms provide health care at taxpayer expense and the food stamp program is buying food at home.  What are the parents doing for their children?
• Have a computer program that cross checks Social Security numbers with fingerprints to stop fraud on many fronts.  Use it on voter registration, too.
• Stop bailing out mortgage companies and banks that give loans to people who cannot afford them.
• Stop companies from paying CEOs and other executives outrageous salaries and bonuses while doing away with workers’ pensions.
• Stop all unnecessary spending so we will have the money for our nation’s security, and to help needy and elderly Americans.
• Stop permitting anyone to have a photo with their face covered on driver’s licenses.

I wonder when this was printed; if it was a while ago it would seem almost prophetic.  At any rate, I’m sure many will agree with some and dislike other proposed changes.