Posted by: Audiegrl

Lt Dan Choi

Choi, a West Point graduate and trained Arabic linguist, was dismissed from duty in the spring of 2009, because of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Since then, he’s been a leading voice for the cessation of the policy.

The Advocate has more……

Toward the end of US History II, things get a little rushed. It seems like Ford and Carter get crammed into a week or less to make enough room for Reagan. So how does one assess students on two brief presidents? Surely there’s not enough time for an essay or a class presentation. How about Facebook?

Here is an assignment I used for two 11th grade US II classes. Students completed the assignment with a partner or alone during one class period (about 30 minutes) and then shared their work with the class. The atmosphere was light and many students produced interesting Facebook profiles for their president. It was a good way to show their depth of understanding: students who knew more had more to say, and students who had only read enough to know that Jimmy Carter had something to do with peanuts had much less to say, which was reflected in their grade.

I used the following template for a “blank” Facebook profile. Unfortunately, Facebook changes its appearance every few months, so Facebook doesn’t look quite like that anymore. Taking a screenshot of a more current Facebook and editing out the photos/text in paint or Photoshop would be a good solution.

Here is the text of the worksheet I used to explain the assignment:

Presidential Facebook: Ford & Carter

Facebook is a social networking website used by people of all ages. Your task is to use information from your textbook and notes to create a Facebook profile for Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter. This is an opportunity for you to show me what you know about these Presidents’ accomplishments in a creative way.

You must include:
• Information about his personal & political background
• Major events/issues that occurred while he was president
• His beliefs and goals as president (in the “about me” & “groups” sections, also could be revealed through wall posts, etc)
• Wall Posts: messages written by friends (or enemies)

If you’re not sure of something, such as his birthday or favorite movies, make it up based on what you do know. For example, what movies do you think Ford or Carter might like? Did they have time to watch movies? Make sure, however, that you’re keeping it school-appropriate and demonstrating your understanding of Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

Posted by: BuellBoy

FiveThirtyEight/Nate Silver~One of the more commonplace assertions among pundits on the center-right — made rather carelessly by Victor Davis Hanson and more thoughtfully by Jay Cost, is that agenda put forward by Obama and the Democrats is overwhelmingly unpopular and that Democrats are simply getting their comeuppance for having pushed such a liberal set of reforms forward. These claims, however, rely on selective evidence, invariably citing policies like health care and the GM bailouts which are indeed unpopular (strongly so, in some cases), while ignoring many other issues on which Obama has been on the right side of public opinion.

In fact, a more objective and equivocal evaluation of public opinion on more than two dozen specific issues finds that the Republican Congress has far more often been on the wrong side of it. Attempting to be as comprehensive as possible, I’ve identified 25 issues that Obama and the Democrats have made an affirmative effort to push forward since taking office a year ago, and summarized public opinion on each of them. Most of the numbers that I’ve cited come from PollingReport.com.

More @

In a recent event Obama was asked questions by Repubs and he answered…it was a win for him (and he did not need a teleprompter….a fact that is overlooked by the opposition that accuses him of too much)…..and now there are calls from bloggers, progressives, libertarians, etc for a regular session of questions by the Congress to the Prez and it is suppose to be broadcast…..thoughts?

For me, I think it is a damn good idea……no teleprompter….random questions…..with short concise answers…that would be a win-win for the people and their education on the issues….. I agree with Voltaire, “Judge a man by his questios rather than his answers”……meaning……the question that is asked will be far more telling than the answer that is received….if it is the Repubs then we will see if they truly want to work bi-partisan or just there to say NO to everything……and because it is televised the people will be the winner and become more informed…..

From the website:  demandquestiontime.com:

America could use more of this — an unfettered and public airing of political differences by our elected representatives. So we call on President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner to hold these sessions regularly — and allow them to be broadcast and webcast live and without commercial interruption, sponsorship or intermediaries. We also urge the President and the Republican Senate caucus to follow suit. And we ask the President and the House and Senate caucuses of his own party to consider mounting similar direct question-and-answer sessions. We will ask future Presidents and Congresses to do the same.

It is time to make Question Time a regular feature of our democracy.

Please join us by signing the Demand Question Time petition.

If you believe that this type of thing can make our democracy a bit stronger then I urge you to sign the petition!

Question time has been an institution in the UK for some time now and I am sure that there are those that think it is a waste of time, but I prefer to hear from my friend Quin of Quintessential Havoc (blogroll will get you there…a site worth the visit)……

Posted by: Audiegrl

President Barack Obama signs the memorandum on childhood obesity, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, in the Oval Office of the White House,Washington. Standing, from left are, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Health and Human Secretary Services Kathleen Sebelius, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Mrs. Obama’s East Wing said she will be “joined by members of the president’s cabinet, as well as media, sports, entertainment, and business leaders,” plus mayors, member of the medical community and others at the White House event. Her press office has confirmed the following attendees:

• Mayors Chip Johnson of Hernando, Mississippi, and Joseph Curtatone of Somerville, Massachusetts, who are leading efforts in their communities to reduce childhood obesity
• Dr. Judith Palfrey, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics
• Will Allen from Milwaukee, WI, who is a leader in the effort to bring fresh produce to inner cities and urban areas
• Local students, including a student from DC’s Bancroft elementary school, and members of the 2009 national championship pee-wee football team—Watkins Hornets
• Tiki Barber, NBC correspondent and former NFL football player

“Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled; nearly one third of children in America are now overweight or obese,” the East Wing said in a statement. “The First Lady will announce the elements of the nationwide campaign, which will put us on track to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation.”

First Lady Michelle Obama hugs student Tammy Nguyen in the Red Room of the White House before an event announcing a campaign to combat the rapidly growing problem of childhood obesity while Tiki Barber checks his notes before they take the stage, Feb. 9, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

First Lady Michelle Obama’s PSA for Childhood Obesity

On Tuesday morning, Mrs. Obama sat down with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, and in the evening with CNN’s Larry King to discuss her childhood obesity initiative Let’s Move Here’s are some excerpts of the those interviews:

This is Holly Wagner, a McNair Scholar who is now turning her research on Obama’s American dream into a major project.  I took these for 2 reasons: I needed some shots for my portfolio and she needed a picture of herself for her book bio.   it’s great how things like that work out…

Full set of images here

Posted by: BetsM

President Obama isn’t nearly as scared of the terrorists as Bush was—and that’s precisely why al Qaeda is falling apart

Peter Beinart

That’s the way Republicans think about terrorism. In unguarded moments, honest Republicans will admit that not all of the Bush administration’s anti-terror policies worked. But they tell themselves that at least they know America is at war; at least they know the terrorists are evil; at least they really care about the problem.

In a sense, the Republicans are right: they do worry more about terrorism than Democrats. You can see it in the polls. Democrats–especially liberal Democrats—focus part of their foreign policy anxiety on things like climate change, global pandemics and financial collapse. For many Republicans, by contrast, the terrorists are today’s equivalent of the Nazis and the communists: they’re the only threat that really matters. Everything else is an afterthought.

But as conservatives used to say during the poverty debates of the 1960s and 1970s, intentions and outcomes are not the same thing. Sometimes, ironically enough, not worrying quite so much can produce better results.

Which brings us to Barack Obama’s “war on terror.” Conservatives keep saying that Obama doesn’t really believe we’re at war; that he sees terrorists as mere criminals, not the epic evil-doers that they really are. But here’s the irony: It’s precisely because he doesn’t see the terrorist threat as quite so epic that al Qaeda is falling apart.

More @

Miller McCune, 2-7-10

Calls to work together for the common good during the current crises have been emanating at breakneck pace from the Obama administration. Academics discuss how to get the results of a Roosevelt, and not a Carter.

Historian Gil Troy of McGill University in Montreal also finds that instructive, noting that gearing people up for a metaphorical war can be an effective way of asking them to sacrifice.

In recent decades, “We’ve had an unfortunate tradition for decades of presidents soothing us,” he said. “We have sort of an addiction to having our cake and eat it too. Clearly Bush missed the moment after 9/11. That was a time when Americans might have been willing to give something up. The nation was ready to take collective action.

“Now, Obama has an opportunity to succeed where Bush failed. There’s nothing like a financial meltdown to sober people up! You don’t have an enemy like after 9/11, but you have more pinched circumstances. Obama’s sense prior to the crisis was that Americans were yearning for this sense of community, sense of engagement. Now he may have the conditions that will allow him to achieve that.

“In Obama’s inaugural address, he said America is a place where people are willing to work fewer hours so their friend won’t lose their job. That was a very explicit call to sacrifice — much more explicit than Kennedy’s ‘Ask not what your country can do for you.’ We haven’t had that kind of specifics since Franklin Roosevelt.”

Well, we did have Jimmy Carter, whose failed presidency coincides with Obama’s coming of age. Troy is convinced the new president has learned from his peanut-farming predecessor’s missteps.

“Carter’s mistake was his rhetoric of sacrifice was disconnected from
a sense of hope,” he says. “He allowed himself to be tagged as the
man of malaise. He was preaching the gospel of limits. What FDR did that Carter missed was preach a gospel of self-sacrifice in the context of ultimate salvation.

“FDR’s message was we’re rolling up our sleeves and making sacrifices because we’re going to have a better tomorrow. With Jimmy Carter, you got the sense that we were being asked to put on another sweater, but we would still be cold.”

In contrast, Obama is overtly linking the need to sacrifice with the hope of a better future. If he can continue that balancing act, Troy believes people just may respond. “Americans don’t want to be told we are entering an age of limits,” he said. “We want to be a nation of limitless hope. That’s in the American DNA.”

                       •.¸¸.•´¯`•.♥.•´¯`•.¸¸.•   

Once the ‘awakening’ aspect is over, is it over? No, experience arcs
over time, just like a spark over a gap. Our collective experience is
always alive, wriggling, perhaps invisible, but has a charge nonetheless.
What seemed like sudden action, has been brewing, chips, particles,
falling into place, accumulating, until the next Moment!

The hip bone connects to the thigh bone, meaning, all aspects during a
period are in the same time as each other. One set of aspects, though
not connected by close degrees in our charts, still are observed by
other parts of ourselves, impinges on them, are part of the experience,
transferred. Since their cycles overlap in time, what is experienced
with one set, can be carried on through another, and another, and
another, and…. You can never go on without your pasts, a continuum,
ticking off the degrees in your chart, everything goes forward in concert.
Things really don’t just stop in thin air, they morph and meander.

Aquarius is all about connection and disconnection, equally important
skills, not just within our self, or human to human, but to all of us, in
groups, groups within groups. Knowing when to leave can save our
lives, open space for new channels to be formed. Sometimes we are
free to connect, sometimes we need to be free to be able to connect! In
freedom, free and floating, we can hearken to the current universal
frequency, tuning us all in at the most subtle levels, often called genius.

Just the fact of change, freedom itself, has its way with us. Once you
change, you know something, have a freedom, had a glimpse, you
always know Pandora’s box is there to be opened, again. Just knowing
that, affects every choice that follows. Awakening is never ‘over,’
evolution is, now, this very moment, forever. Keep your links bright
and shiny!

Aquarian Paul Hawken born Feb 8, 1946 in California.    

A few excerpts from his University of Portland commencement address 2009:   

 YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING.
 Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers….
 The living world is not “out there” somewhere, but in your heart.
 This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it. 

The Bush tax cuts didn’t really do much to “stimulate” the economy, contrary to the claims of many.  In fact, they really didn’t do anything other than run up the deficit.

From Angry Bear:

those who thought Bush did a good job and want to repeat his policies sure have some explaining to do. Even Carter created some five times as many jobs as Bush in only four years.

99 years ago today, one of America’s greatest Presidents Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, IL.

Here is a great Reagan quote from 1973.

“There is no question that we have failed to live up to the dreams of the founding fathers many times and in many places. Sometimes we do better than others. But all in all, the one thing we must be on guard against is thinking that because of this, the system has failed. The system has not failed. Some human beings have failed the system.”

One speech many people highlight is President Reagan’s 1964 speech “A Time for Choosing.”

Here’s another “Time to Recapture our Destiny” – the 1980 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Happy Birthday President Reagan!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 45 Years Ago, Same Today As It Was Then (berrylaker.blogspot.com)
• The Reagan Diaries by Ronald Reagan – 5 Star Review.pdf (slideshare.net)
• Obama Seeks to Channel Reagan as Democrats Prepare for Election (businessweek.com)

WhiteHouse.gov—Opening Doors for Small Business~~Reiterating once again his commitment to small business as the engine of our economy, the President urges Congress to move forward immediately on steps to help them expand and create jobs. These proposals include using $30 billion in TARP funds to create a new Small Business Lending Fund to provide capital to community banks to increase lending to small businesses, offering a new tax credit for over one million small businesses that hire new workers or raise wages, and providing targeted support for the most innovative small businesses with the potential to export new goods and products.

February 6, 1999: The public finally sees and hears Monica Lewinsky as excerpts of the ex-White House intern’s videotaped testimony are shown at President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial.

The America Bowl pulls together all of my favorite ways of wasting time.

So says Don Steinberg, creator of the online America Bowl showdown between the U.S. Presidents and the Super Bowls.   I read about Steinberg’s web site in a recent issue of The New Yorker and had to check it out.

This all began as Steinberg was thinking about Barack Obama, the nation’s 44th president, and he wondered about the connections with other famous 44s – like Hank Aaron who wore the number for the Atlanta Braves.

Steinberg soon realized there was a football echo, too – that the 2010 Super Bowl…would be the forty-fourth, or, rather, the XLIVth.  This alignment, like the Rapture, will happen only once.

So a web site – complete with logo featuring a pony-tailed George Washington going head-to-head with a football helmet – was born over Thanksgiving.  The idea is to pit each President against his corresponding Super Bowl.  Presidents are judged on their accomplishments; Super Bowls on their competitiveness.

If you remember anything about the founding fathers and the early Super Bowls, you just know that the Presidents took an early lead.  But you’ll no doubt remember that string of Presidents that led us up to the Civil War, so the games bounced back.

One thing you’ll notice, as you peruse the matchups, is that this country has had to endure a parade of unexceptional chief executives and championship football games.  The Super Bowl, few will disagree, is a bloated, overhyped spectacle, and, more often than not, an anti-climax; this may also be true of the Presidency.

Today, as we enter Super Bowl weekend, we’re at game 41:  George H.W. Bush vs. the Colts/Bears in 2007.  Steinberg makes some telling remarks about dynasties in both politics and football.  Prescott Bush made it to the Senate, but he had to wait for a son and grandson to became President.  Archie Manning was a great quarterback for the Saints, but it took Peyton and Eli to win championships.  Steinberg gives this battle to the Super Bowls, and they lead by a 21-20 margin with three to go.

There are little gems throughout.  Super Bowl 37 (when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for crying out loud, were champs) top Richard Nixon because they avoided scandal.  Super Bowl 3 vs. Thomas Jefferson was an epic, but Steinberg eventually awards it to TJ over Broadway Joe.  It isn’t until Super Bowl 4, when the Chiefs top the Vikings and go up against James Madison, that the Super Bowls finally get a win.  What, you may ask: How does the Father of the Constitution lose, even to Hank Stram and his boys “matriculating the ball down the field”?  Well, Steinberg limits accomplishments to the time these men were actually Presidents, and Madison had that unfortunate thing with the White House being burned by the British against his record.

So, if you want a laugh on Super Bowl weekend head over to The America Bowl and see how your history and sports knowledge hold up.

More to come…

DJB

Well, here we are!  The end.  Football ends on Sunday and people bang their head against the wall…probably because they are drunk!

Of course, we have turned football into a 24 hour a day; seven days a week; 365.24 days a year event.  It does not really end Sunday evening.  It all starts over as we begin looking towards the NFL Draft and then all the analysis that comes with that.  Football is the sports lifeblood of this country.  It is as U.S.ian as…as…well, as the U.S. Presidents.

I heard on public radio the other day about a website called America Bowl.  Given that this Super Bowl will be the last time that [barring a catastrophe]  its number matches the number of U.S. Presidents (44), the creator of this site has matched each Super Bowl with its respective president.  So, for example, Super Bowl I is matched against George Washington, the first U.S. prez.  Super Bowl XX was no match for James Garfield, despite the 20th president’s short stint in office.

I found this to be a novel concept, and well-written.  So, it led me to wonder about presidents and Super Bowls.  And then, I wondered, what have been the best Super Bowls for each of the last eight presidencies.

I use eight because while the Super Bowl spans nine presidents, it is obvious that at this moment President Barack Obama has only one under his belt.  So the choice is too easy.  So, here we go:

President Lyndon B. Johnson

• Term: 22 November 1963 – 20 January 1969
• Number of Super Bowls: three
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl III: New York Jets v. Baltimore Colts

Super Bowl III: Jets 16; Colts 7

LBJ became president under unfortunate terms; the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  So, technically he should not have been president.  Equally, the New York Jets were not supposed to be in the Super Bowl.

But having defied the odds, there the Jets were facing the NFL champion Baltimore Colts.

It really was not an exciting game, although it did usher in the AFL/AFC as a legitimate league (although, it could be argued that the AFL had already become equal to the NFL; it just lack the respect).  But Joe Namath’s “guarantee” really ended up being the storyline as the Jets used solid, opportunistic defense (five turnovers) and some Colts’ miscues to secure the 16-7 victory.

This Super Bowl, the first to use such a moniker, marked change in the professional football landscape.  And Johnson’s tenure was marked by change in the social landscape of the United States.  And nothing stood out more than the escalation of U.S. involvement in Viet Nam, which resulted in a rise in anti-war protests and the peace movement.

And thanks to the situation in Viet Nam, Super Bowl III also marked the end of Johnson’s presidency.  Maybe LBJ should have taken a cue from Namath about how to stand by your words.

“We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.”

President Richard Nixon

• Term: 20 January 1969 – 9 August 1974
• Number of Super Bowls: five
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl V – Baltimore Colts v. Dallas Cowboys

Super Bowl V: Colts 16; Cowboys 13

Let’s see.  A Super Bowl in Miami; Anita Bryant is involved; the Colts are back (but as a member of the AFC).  Makes sense that this Super Bowl would be here.

But like LBJ, there was no much to choose from as most were either blowouts (Super Bowls IV, VI, VIII) or not as close as it appeared (Super Bowl V).  Then again, this Super Bowl exemplified Nixon’s reign.

It was a sloppy game, filled with blunders, turnovers (ten), and penalties (the Cowboys had ten).  The Colts had an extra point blocked and a 52-yarder fall short, which was subsequently downed at the one-yard line (missed FG attempts that did not reach the endzone acted as punts 1974).

The game was so sloppy that linebacker Chuck Howley won the game’s MVP.  Nothing against him, but he was on the losing team (Dallas).

The game was “saved” by its ending, when Colts’ kicker Jim O’Brien nailed a 32-yard field goal with under ten seconds to go in the game.  For Nixon, however, no one could save him from his sloppy administration or the fallout of “Watergate.”

President Gerald Ford

• Term: 9 August 1974 – 20 January 1977
• Number of Super Bowls: three
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl X – Pittsburgh Steelers v. Dallas Cowboys

Super Bowl X: Steelers 21; Cowboys 17

Hey look!  We are in Miami again.  This time it is the Cowboys that reappear.  And once again we see the AFC win the game.

Gerald Ford, the only person not elected as either Vice President or President of the U.S., was in office for one of the better Super Bowls in NFL history.  The game pitted two of the more popular teams in the NFL and, as of right now, two of the more successful teams in the league’s history.

The game was all about Lynn Swann.  Rumored to potentially not play in the big game, Swann exploded for 161 yards on just four receptions.  That was good enough for MVP honors.

The game itself was back-and-forth, with the momentum turning on a blocked punt that went out of the end zone for a safety.  Down 10-7, Pittsburgh’s Reggie Harrison block Dallas’s punt, leading to the safety that was part of 14 unanswered points for the Steelers.  That streak was capped off by a big 64-yard touchdown strike from Terry Bradshaw to Swann, putting Pittsburgh up 21-10  with just over three minutes remaining (the extra point was missed).

Dallas was not out of it, as Roger Staubach drove the Cowboys down for the score making it 21-17.  After getting the ball back with just under 90 seconds to go, Staubach’s desperation pass to the endzone was picked off and Pittsburgh held on for the victory and their second straight Super Bowl title.

While the game was exciting, Ford’s tenure was anything but as he presided over a massive economic crisis.  He barely won his party’s nomination for the 1976 election, before losing to Jimmy Carter.

President Jimmy Carter

• Term: 20 January 1977 – 20 January 1981
• Number of Super Bowls: three
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl XIII – Pittsburgh Steelers v. Dallas Cowboys

Super Bowl XIII: Steelers 35; Cowboys 31

Guess where we are, again?  Yup, beautiful Miami, Florida.  And we have the Cowboys and the Steelers once again.  And Terry Bradshaw has decided to join us, too.

Bradshaw went ballistic, throwing for 318 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Steelers to their third Super Bowl title.  Additionally, it was Bradshaw’s third title as well.

The game was highlighted by big plays from Bradshaw, including a 75-yard pass to John Stallworth, his second TD reception of the game, and a furious comeback by the Dallas Cowboys that once again fell short.

Down 35-17 midway through the fourth quarter, Dallas sustained a long touchdown drive culminated in a Staubach TD pass to tight end Billy Joe Dupree.  After recovering an onside kick, Dallas drove downfield once again, with Staubach finding receiver Butch Johnson in the end zone.

But Dallas’s luck would run out once again as they could not recover a second onside kick and the Steelers prevailed 35-31.

Carter’s luck would also run out as he was swept away by some actor from California.

President Ronald Reagan

• Term: 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989
• Number of Super Bowls: eight
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl XVI – San Francisco 49ers v. Cincinnati Bengals

Super Bowl XVI: 49ers 26, Bengals 21

His term began the day of Super Bowl XIV (one that I considered for this spot), but Reagan’s two-term tenure is best remembered for the return of the Republican Party and the rise of its association with conservatism.

With regards to Super Bowls, his tenure is best remembered for the return to dominance of the NFC.  Beginning with Super Bowl XVI, the NFC would win 15 of the next 16 titles.  It is also during Reagan’s reign that we see the rise of another star and the antecedents of a legend — Joe Montana.

Super Bowl XVI, NOT held in Miami (Detroit), saw Joe Montana lead the 49ers out to a quick 20-0 halftime lead.  San Francisco scored two first half touchdowns (both by Montana; one rushing and one passing), as well as two field goals.  Cincinnati had several chances to score, but came up empty.

The second half was a different ball game, as Cincinnati came out on fire, scoring on the half’s opening drive.  The Bengals’ defense shut down Montana and the Niners, holding them to six second half points.  After one of those field goals (making the score 23-14), the Bengals once again squandered a chance by throwing an interception.

The Niners tacked on the second field goal and while the Bengals did score one more touchdown, they could not recover the onside kick and San Francisco won their first Super Bowl title, 26-21.

Reagan’s tenure was one of dominance and turning the U.S. into the Chicago Bears (circa 1985) while treating the Soviet Union like the New England Patriots (with Mikhail Gorbachev playing the role of Tony Eason).  And, as mentioned above, these eight years were dominated by the NFC.  That would continue with Bush 41st.

President George H.W. Bush

• Term: 20 January 1989 – 20 January 1993
• Number of Super Bowls: four
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl XXV – New York Giants v. Buffalo Bills

Super Bowl XXV: Giants 20, Bills 19

This was a tough decision, choosing between Super Bowl XXV and Super Bowl XXIII, but in the end the former is more impressive for the complete game.  Statistically, the 49ers outplayed the Bengals in SB XXIII.  In the 25th Super Bowl, the stats were quite close.

Super Bowl XXV was played during a heightened sense of U.S. patriotism, coming on the heels of the Persian Gulf War.  That war is what is best remembered about Bush, Sr.’s presidency.  This Super Bowl is what epitomized the Buffalo Bills and their misfortunes.

The Bills came in as the number one seed in the AFC, leading the entire NFL in scoring behind their no-huddle, fast pace attack.  The Giants, the second seed from the NFC, entered with the best scoring defense in the league.  It was the perfect combination.

This game witnessed the emergence of Bill Belichick, who was the Giants defensive coordinator (current Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was also on the Giants’ staff at the time as the wide receivers coach).  His game plan was to control the pace and shut down the pass.  This, coupled with a power running game by the Giants, helped the underdogs prevail over the Bills.

But the game was a battle.  While both Bills QB Jim Kelly and Giants QB Jeff Hostetler had over 200 yards passing (and no interceptions), the story was the running game.  Giants halfback Ottis Anderson, the game’s MVP, had 102 yards on the ground and one TD.  Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas total 190 yards from scrimmage, including 135 rushing on just 15 carries.  His 35-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave Buffalo a 19-17 lead.

After Matt Bahr gave the Giants the lead at 20-19, the teams traded punts before Kelly conducted the two-minute offense to perfection.  The Bills drove down to Giants’ 29 yard line, setting up Scott Norwood’s infamous missed field goal.

The game’s score and stats were close, but the time of possession heavily favored the Giants.  The short time of possession for the Bills reflects Bush 41st’s term in office — short.  Ironically, he would be replaced by a Bill.

President Bill Clinton

• Term: 20 January 1993 – 20 January 2001
• Number of Super Bowls: eight
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl XXXIV – St. Louis Rams v. Tennessee Titans

Super Bowl XXXIV: Rams 23, Titans 16

Statistically, this game was one of opposites.  MVP Kurt Warner led the Fastest Show on Turf with 414 yards passing and two touchdowns.  The Titans, which struggled offensively in the first half, ran for 159 yards, including 95 from Eddie George and 64 by QB Steve McNair.

Although outgained in the first half, the Titans’ defense stiffened when it needed to and only trailed 9-0 at halftime.  The Rams would push the lead to 16-0 before the Titans finally scored on a one-yard George touchdown run (the two-point attempt was no good).

After another short George touchdown run and an Al Del Greco field goal tied the game at 16, the Rams regained the lead on a 73-yard catch-and-run by Isaac Bruce.  The Titans with the ball under the two-minute warning, drove the length of the field setting up one final play from the Rams’ ten-yard line with six seconds left.  That final play was set up by a mad scramble by McNair to avoid being sacked before finding Kevin Dyson open at the ten.

During his impeachment trial, Clinton labored over the definition of the word “is.”  Precision is important and every little word counts.  For the Titans, every little yard counts and on the final play of the game, McNair hit Dyson on a slant at the five but he was tackled one yard short of the end zone.

The victory was the Rams first and only title in three attempts.

President George W. Bush

• Term: 20 January 2001 – 20 January 2009
• Number of Super Bowls: eight
• Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl XXXVIII – New England Patriots v. Carolina Panthers

Super Bowl XXXVIII: Patriots 32, Panthers 29

You might not like “W,” but you have to admit that there were some entertaining Super Bowls during his tenure.  And while most would point to Super Bowl XLII (Giants over the previously undefeated Patriots), I decided to be different and go a different route (very Bush-esque).

And, this game was just as dramatic as SB XLII.  It is often overshadowed by the Janet Jackson incident.  Ironically, Bush 43rd’s presidency is often overshadowed by controversy.

Nevertheless, the game featured two scoreless quarters and two feverish endings to quarters.  The second quarter saw 24 points scored in the last 3:05, initiated by MVP Tom Brady finding Deion Branch in the end zone to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.  The second quarter flurry was capped by a 50-yard John Kasay field goal to bring the game to 14-10 at half.

After Janet showed the world (part of) her goods, the third quarter went scoreless.  Then, the scoring began again.

The teams traded touchdowns early in the fourth quarter before Carolina QB Jake Delhomme hooked up with Muhsin Muhammad for an 85-yard touchdown strike to give Carolina their first lead of the game, 22-21.  That touchdown, the longest offensive play in Super Bowl history, sparked the scoring frenzy.

Brady led the Patriots on an 11-play, 68 yard drive that consumed just over four minutes and culminated in a one-yard TD pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel.  The two point conversion made the game 29-22 with 2:51 remaining.

Delhomme and the Panthers drove back down field and scored on an 11-yard pass to Ricky Proehl.  The extra point tied the game at 29 and set up one final drive for Brady.  And, just as he had done in Super Bowl XXXVI, Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri booted the game-wining field goal with mere seconds remaining.  Ironically, Proehl had also caught the game tying TD for the Rams in SB XXXVI prior to Vinatieri’s winning kick.

President Barack Obama

• Term: 20 January 2009 – present
• Number of Super Bowls: one
• Best Super Bowl: ???

Each president during the Super Bowl era has had at least one defining Super Bowl; one that could be consider great.  Current President Obama still had to complete his tenure before a reasonable choice can be made.  But with the NFL’s two best teams (record-wise) playing in a Super Bowl that is hosted in Miami, it could very well be that Super Bowl XLIV is Obama’s best Super Bowl.

This quintessential Cold War speech was given in June of 1963 in West Berlin.

We have included a transcript of the speech as well as questions and answers.

For more on this time period check out sample slides of our US History PowerPoints:

• Cold War Part 1
• 1960s
• Civil Rights

and some simulation games:

• Critical Decisions of Harry Truman
• Critical Decisions of John F. Kennedy
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 1: 1946-1960
• Causes of the Cold War, Part 2: 1961-1980

Posted by: Audiegrl

Prayer for Unity, Civility, and Progress

At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama reflected that it is often during the times when others are in great need that bring Americans together, as the nation united in its efforts to help the people of Haiti.

It’s inspiring. This is what we do, as Americans, in times of trouble. We unite, recognizing that such crises call on all of us to act, recognizing that there but for the grace of God go I, recognizing that life’s most sacred responsibility — one affirmed, as Hillary said, by all of the world’s great religions — is to sacrifice something of ourselves for a person in need.

And on his hopes for progress and civility in the face of difficulty:

Progress comes when we open our hearts, when we extend our hands, when we recognize our common humanity. Progress comes when we look into the eyes of another and see the face of God. That we might do so – that we will do so all the time, not just some of the time – is my fervent prayer for our nation and the world.

On civility in political discussions and a shout out to First Lady Michelle:

Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable; understanding, as President [Kennedy] said, that “civility is not a sign of weakness.” Now, I am the first to confess I am not always right. Michelle will testify to that. (Laughter.) But surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship. (Laughter and applause.)

Challenging each other’s ideas can renew our democracy. But when we challenge each other’s motives, it becomes harder to see what we hold in common. We forget that we share at some deep level the same dreams — even when we don’t share the same plans on how to fulfill them.

Read the entire set of remarks here

The driving force behind Christian mission, according to Roberts and Kim in the Kalu text was the Christian internationalism of the early twentieth century.  Roberts says that twentienth century Christian internationalism was marked by an optimism in terms of foreign relations, a commitment to pacifism,  missionary zeal and a desire for racial reconciliation with people from other nations  (Kalu, 96-97).  Concepts such as world-friendships and global unity sparked the missions movement.  I sort of disagree with Roberts partially in his assessment of the internationalist movement.  His essay in particular seemed to suggest that Christian missions was mostly energized by Woodrow Wilson’s internationalism; there seems to be missing a concept of mutuality here in which the Christianity of Woodrow Wilson (he was a progressive politically and Presbyterian religiously) actually fuels his idealism for his 14 points and foreign policy which included spreading democracy around the world.  In fact, I would say that Woodrow Wilson is actually a fitting representative of the problem that I wish to discuss for the remainder of this journal entry, and that is, internationalist distancing.  In the mind of the early twentieth century internationalist (and I will include 21^st century missionaries as well), there seems to be this issue with having an overwhelming concern for problems in other nations.

Whenever someone presupposes that I am his/her friend, I always ask the question to myself, “on exactly whose terms?” “is the friendship mutual?”  All the talk from the internationalist about world-friendship was not from a standpoint of mutuality, but a desire for conversion driven by rhetoric of friendship.  We will be your  friends, just give us the opportunity to convert you.  The internationalist movement was an imperialist missions movement with a smiling face.  As I mentioned in the former paragraph, internationalists seem to miss opportunities to help hurting people in their own neighborhoods.  A case in point: Woodrow Wilson, was calling for his 14 points, the end of the Ottoman empire, and freedom for minority people around the globe while at the same time, he RESEGREGATED the United States armed forces.  He was a segregationist, who claimed to love his neighbor over seas, but at home, would treat her/him inhumanely.  What they wanted to bring was not Christianity, but imperialism.  Internationalist distancing, then, is the process or a specific amount of actions taken to distance yourself from local problems and issues by focusing on international problems and issues.  We have all seen it; blonde white conservative girl who wants to go to Africa and help even though she may not know what nation is in trouble at that particular time.  Or perhaps we see it with a recent social work major who wants to join the peace corps, because there are so many problems over there, outside of the United States.  That is how a street evangelist can say to a homeless person here in the US, “Hey, you are in the richest country in the world. Your problems are not more than persons starving in Africa.”  The evangelist, with these words, internationally distances him/her self from the homeless person by remarking on world affairs, for the sake of disregarding the homeless person’s predicament, thus enabling oppressive relationships and structure to remain in place.

Perhaps the vocation of missionary ought to be re-assessed in light of the histories of racial conflict and economic injustice as Soong-Chan Rah suggested in his The Next Evangelicalism (page 162).

Sources:

Interpreting Contemporary Christianity by Ogbu Kalu

Lee Hiller is my Light, My Love & My Inspiration. Because she's mine, I walk the line.

I never ever like to say I am a Horatio Alger story, mainly because I am not. I am part-way there,but still a very long way to go. Maybe I’m a middle-class Horatio.

This is Horatio Alger....Not Me.

In 1997, after twenty years on corporate America, I was put on the sidelines for several diseases, all of which were misdiagnosed. I was unable to collect social security disability because I religiously went to the doctor, took my meds, listened to his or her diatribe of how much better I was getting, and went home feeling worse than I did when I arrived.

I finally started researching as things were pretty rough. My mom had just died and we were very close. I had come home to Mississippi from L.A to care for her but lost my meager job selling ads for a local CBS TV affiliate. I had made a good amount of money working in Washington, D.C. Where I was even named “Entrepreneur Of The Year” but blew most of it taking classes in Los Angeles on how to be a screenwriter. I wrote several full-length screenplays but they now belong to be underbelly of the San Andreas fault. North ridge took them, and every other piece of lifetime memorabilia I every owned.

NorthRidge Earthquake Now Owns My Lifetime Memorabilia

At least I still had my trusted friend who saved my life, a golden retriever name Otis and a Mercedes 280S which got me around. I was forced to give Rusty away because I couldn’t buy another home, and had to go to an unfriendly pet apartment.

I had been gone from Hattiesburg, Ms for about 18 years, and didn’t know what to expect when I returned. But it was no surprise. Anything or anybody that was misunderstood was also hated as fear does often cause hatred, even in the most educated among us,  and or uncared for. Jimmy Buffett had it right on the spot when he gave his critique of Hattiesburg (he was a student at USM right before I was). He talked of many towns in his book, “A Pirate Looks At 50”. The only town he bashes is…you guessed it…Hattiesburg in which he calls it “The city that care forgot”.

Jimmy Buffett relaxes after "A Pirate Looks @ 50" Calls Hattiesburg "The Town That Care Forgot".

I couldn’t have explained it better. Because of the archaic medical system there I was still being treated for depression; something I did not have. I had something called TRD (treatment resistant depression) which is a bit of a misnomer, in that it only mimics depression. It is actually a nonfunctional vagus nerve, the longest nerve in the body that ends at the brain’s mood center. In September 2004 it was approved by the FDA for TRD. Ironically, tIt had already been approved ten years earlier for TRE (treatment resistant epilepsy). It was still not easy to get, as most psychiatrists were not for it. After all, they had large suburban homes and German car notes.

Mercedes Hood Ornament: My Surgeon Drives One Thanks To Me

They had to keep patients. With a very strong aggressive case worker at Cyberonics.com, I was able to switch doctors, find an excellent ENT surgeon and the operation was performed January 25, 2005.  A small ceramic implant was placed right under the skin which sends a magnetic ray to the mood center, keeping all moodiness at bay. It is nothing short of a miracle. I was about the 1000^th in the U.S to receive it, and I believe number three in Arkansas too. Had I been back I Ms, I would still be a trash can for Prozac which did absolutely nothing.

The year was now 1997. I was still in Hattiesburg, but at least I had read in New Yorker Magazine that there was a chance that this VNS implant would be approved. Meantime I had the motivation to work on my cartoon project. I did it with a team. I had no idea within eight years, it would become the biggest independent cartoon on the Internet and Google’s number ranked offbeat cartoons, gifts, and collectibles. I realize that at age 55 this may not mean much to anyone else, but it mean the world to me. I was suddenly interested in myself, hence interested in other people. I very much enjoyed watching them (especially those close to me) succeed, and many did. I had a bad habit of editing and correcting, still do, but I know it is those tiny details that makes or breaks someone in the world of arts and letters.

I come from harsh family background who seemed to do everything right. My great etc. grandfather was Luis Gomez, who came from Spain and quietly bought 6000 acres, built a mansion, let the American Indians keep their home on his land, and was instrumental in bringing people of all religious backgrounds, races etc. Anything Peter Stuyvesant didn’t like, Luis Gomez went out to of his way to get it done in a democratic fashion. Stuyvesant finally threw in the towel. Aside from Irish and Lutherans, Jews were the other “devils” as were many others. Stuyvesant bowed out quietly as quickly as possible with his tail between his legs. In this Gomez family tree also contained U.S. Supreme Court Benjamin Cardozo (who wrote most of the “final say so” books on Constitutional Law which are still used in most major law school today). The New York School Of Law is named after him. Another notable in my maternal family was poetess Emma Lazarus, one of the first womens activist (not the kind you see today) but the kind who truly was interested in equal rights, nothing more, nothing less Her poetry led her into all kinds of door as it was truly classic. The last verse of one of her poems “The New Colossus” appears on the base of the Statue Of Liberty, “Give Us Your Tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to…..”

Paper Artist Dard Hunter Built Acutal Wheel Behind Home when he owned it to help with his artwork. It still stands and works. Dard lived and worked there 8 years

Gomez Mill House Museum (Maternal Side) Near Scarsdale NY 300 Years Old

Poetess Emma Lazarus My Great etc Aunt. Wrote words on Statue Of Liberty "Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Longing...etc."

Needless to say, these were just a few accomplished ancestors and I didn’t feel I stood a chance.By age 40 I was just developing congestive heart failure and by age 44 had a full blown heart attack. This happened in spite of being an everyday runner who ran two marathons, loved the martial arts and taught Ishinru style for years. I even started a program at the Boys And Girls Club where we taught the kids who were otherwise destined for gangs the “true art of being able to say no and mean it”, as well as act, write plays and produce them. They went on to tournaments in Orlando at Disney world and many are now in college. This may have easily been my biggest feat; not just cause I didn’t it but because I did it under the most dire conditions. It took me 5 months to find 4 businesses who would put up $50-100 each. At first I didn’t understand. I had been away too long but then remembered I was back in Ms and though segregation was outlawed, there was and s certain ways to do it economically, and no way to really catch it. So I was hate even more for doing something positive for the community.

I knew I was on a roll, the moment they started liking me, I’d have to move immediately and receive therapy as I would know something was very wrong.  On March 19.1007, I launched Londons Times Cartoons. It went through two different names before that, “Londons Fawg” and “Londons Bridge”. Nobody seemed to like them so I chose Londons Times. I slept on the dirt floor in a sleeping bag in this dirty tin warehouse with my loyal dog ‘Thor” for over a year. We had no oven, no bathtub (I bathed in the sink) and no running hot water. I survived and produced over 1000 cartoons that year with my team from around the world.

Thor My Favorite Dog Ever. Died at 22. Lived 13 years on totally raw diet. An angel.

Within a few more years I our cartoon inventory shot up to 4500. We were asked to be in the Hollywood Celebrity Black Book, asked nearly daily for signed cartoons and a manufacturer in Rhode Island was ready to strike a deal. I was now in Hot Springs Audience and I could concentrate without all the petty hate noise. Within a year I had seven more stores.

One of the store didn’t even sell cartoon products but a shoe style I created called ShoesThatAmuse.com. On the top panel it features a philosopher, poet etc from the past and one of his or her most famous love quotes on both side quarter panels.

There are the occasional days I don’t sell a thing and other days I sell from 10-20 items. I still haven’t figured that one out but I have figured out it has nothing to do with the holidays. People by my products when they feel like ordering.

So if dreams really do come true, I may have found it. It is sitting in the same home-office with my fiancée’ Lee Hiller who was leaving Ebay for a myriad of reasons (mostly not making a profit anymore) and had for many years been a power seller  She has been amazing and made around 7400 products as of this writing. She is an excellent self-taught designer who has won fourteen Zazzle Awards in just three months of work and completed over 7000 gift items designed digitally. Her store is only 3 months old. I can’t wait to see what happens in a year.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (FROM OUR STORES)

Londons Times Cartoons Greeting Card: Dog Lost In Katmandu...In Search Of Dogmandu!

Salad Bar Exam 100% Organic Cotton Tee

Picasso Renders Castro Coffee Mug: Neo CUBA-ism by Londons Times Cartoons

Tacky Flamingo Epiphany "We're Tacky!!" Poster by Rick London's Londons Times Cartoons

We use Twitter and facebook as the place to get out our messages. One funny note. U.S. Keds and Zazzle are business associates so I am allowed to design Keds as well. In February of 2009, I created some Ernest Hemingway love quote shoes. That night I decided to Twitter for the first time and one of the first people I met was Mariel Hemingway. At first I felt it might be a joke but the more we e-chatted the most I knew it was her. By the time we talked on the phone, the voice was so very familiar there is no way it could not be her We talked a long while and though we have had relatively happy lives, we still got a lot of the outcome with a high ratio of drug takers, drinkers, people who committed suicide, and more.

When Bad Things Happen To Good People Checked out At Library. A Londons Times Cartoon On A Mouse Pad

We became close friends and business associates. She is by far one of the nicest most pleasant persons one could befriend on or off Twitter and that goes for her super boyfriend Bobby Williams whom Lee and I love dearly (well, we love both of them). I don’t say it often but with my heart disease, and later in early 2010 a rare sleep apnea operation, Mariel took the time and no cost to

tell me what I was doing right and wrong. She was right. Within days I was well. They plan to come to our wedding which we plan to be high up on a hill. We give this caveat on the invitation. A lot my not make it to the wedding but surely can make it to the reception which will probably be a the Arlington  On an offnote Kathy (Ireland) was the one who asked Lee to marry me. I guess she got sick of me talking about it but I also get the sense she knew I meant it and that I was/am a bit shy. Kathy is not, obviously. Kathy like Mariel are very much alike in their zest and energy for life; yet they are different in so many ways. To me they could easily be sisters. Many don’t believe it, but that is okay as both Lee and I have copies of the tweets, and we both couldn’t quit laughing when they arrived. Though Kathy is a very serious businesswoman, several of her ambassadors and her CEO Jason Winters told me she can also be just as much fun and full of harmless mischief and the kind you would want to hang out with as  a friend. We don’t get to talk much due to our busy schedules but when we do talk, I rarely want to get off the phone.  Both Lee and I are impressed with Kathy and we enjoy her lifestyle, her amazing ability to be creative and make a good income, her love of family and God, and her love of humanity. She gets the facts before she talks publicly. for instance, she was bombarded with the Palestinian propaganda machine in her younger days. She smile her friendly smile. She is now one of Israel’s biggest supporters and their huge national hospital Sheeba, that happens to treat Lebanese for free, is expanding rapidly due to the work she is doing in the region.

Kathy (Ireland) In Israel Visiting Friends & Working with Sheba; One Of the World's Most Avanced Hospitals

Sheba Medical Center In Israel. Patients arrive worldwide for very complex treatment. Kathy (Ireland) Is An Angel For This Facility.

So when I complain about how goofy Twitter is (or can be), all I need remember that I found my fiancée;’ Lee, whom I love dearly. I also found my new best friend from day one on Twitter; and she can be as goofy and even more fun than me (Mariel) and Lee and I love talking to her; if ever there was/is a true friend, she is the one, and finally I because adopted by the best sister anyone should be able to enjoy, Kathy Ireland. She never has led me astray and is not afraid to speak her mind, happy or angry, but either way I learn from it.

I have met so many others on both facebook at Twitter and plan a sequel to this story after the wedding so please stay tuned.

Author Rick London is a freelance writer, cartoonist, inventor SEO professional, nature and animal lover. In 1997, London launched what later became the number one offbeat cartoon on the internet, Londons Times, and has stayed in that position for five years.

London later founded numerous stores such as The Rick London Collection which carries the most popular of his funny merchandise.  He also launched Rick London Organics which is the only offbeat cartoon shop that has dedicated its entire inventory to 100% organic cotton tees.

London also founded Londons Times Superstore which features over 80,000 original funny gifts and the only place to order his farm fresh (from 5 different countries) whole bean gourmet coffee gift baskets. Also included is an oversize cartoon mug with matching coasters. (and of course the gratuitous biscotti. The mega store also offers mugs, greeting cards, trivets, coasters, tees, caps, etc.

Rick London Wear is one of our smaller stores but features items that are not sold in other stores such as cartoon celebrity and rock star  gift and collectibles as well as other very fun gift and collecitbles. Pleasedro by ad hav a look

London is well known for his 2008 launch of Shoes That Amuse. These are the only shoes that feature a famous philosopher, writer, poet, etc and each side panels one of their most famous love quotes. They are colored to perfection. These are probably the most fun and talked about shoes today.

Roach Motel Ending A Londons Times Cartoon

Pink Slip At Victoria's Secret: A Londons Times Cartoon

Salad Bar Exam: A Londons Times Cartoons by Rick London

President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, apparently never gets old.  He will speak at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Monday, February 22 at 7:30pm. President Clinton’s lecture is titled “Embracing our Common Humanity”. The special evening event is presented by Caesars Palace and AEG Live. 

Tickets for the evening event went on-sale Monday, February 1 at 10 a.m. and may be purchased in person at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Box Office, or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, or by visiting http://www.ticketmaster.com  , keyword “Caesars Palace”

Posted by: Audiegrl

US First Lady Michelle Obama (C) seated alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (L) and Democratic Senator Tom Harkin (R) of Iowa

First Lady Michelle Obama: “I want to begin just by thanking you all for taking the time to come and join us today.

So I’m very excited about the conversation that we’re going to have. The initiative that’s going to launch is really going to look at four key areas. And I talked about these before, but we’re going to try to increase the number of healthy schools in this country. We’re going to work hard to increase the level of regular physical activity that kids are getting in this country. One of the tougher challenges that we need to look at is improving the accessibility and affordability of foods because there are many food deserts in this nation, which makes it difficult for families trying to access good options. And we also want to do more to empower consumers to make better choices in their own lives.“

Read more here

Looking for more stories on the First Lady? Check out our brand new section: FLOTUS: All Things Michelle Obama

Posted by: Audiegrl

February 9, 2010 marked the beginning of the 2010 White House music series with “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” – a concert celebrating Black History month.

Earlier that day, the White House also hosted a “Music that Inspired the Movement” workshop. High school students from across the country participate in a workshop to learn about how music influenced the Civil Rights Movement.

Robert Santelli, the executive director of The GRAMMY Museum, and Smokey Robinson, the legendary Motown singer, will facilitate the workshop with performances by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, one of the original Freedom Singers in the 1960s who traveled around the country carrying stories in song of local Civil Rights Movement campaigns to national audiences. Other artists participated as well, including: John Legend, John Mellencamp, and Toshi Reagon.

In the evening, the President and First Lady hosted the “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” concert, featuring songs from the Civil Rights Movement as well as readings from famous Civil Rights speeches and writings with participants including
Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir and The Freedom Singers, featuring Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Rutha Harris, Charles Neblett, Toshi Reagon and more. Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Queen Latifah and Joanne Woodward will be guest speakers.

Queen Latifah’s rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic “What’s Going On” and Yolanda Adams’ spirited rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” were early highlights of a night that continued the Obamas’ effort to open the White House to America’s soundtrack.

“The civil rights movement was a movement sustained by music,” Obama said as he welcomed his audience.

He said activists from coast to coast were inspired by spirituals, felt their will sharpened by protest songs and base broadened by artists of hope. He said their work paved the way toward a more just America that allowed him to make history in 2008 with his election.

“Tonight, we celebrate the music of the movement,” Obama said

The celebration was supposed to come on Wednesday, but faced with another major winter storm the White House decided to move the concert ahead by a day to beat what could be a second crippling snowfall in a week. As guests packed the first floor of the executive mansion, heavy snow landed on the South Lawn and blanketed the rest of Washington.

Morgan Freeman, who read excerpts from historical works throughout the night, harkened back to the song lyrics Obama invoked during his election-night victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park.

“A long time coming,” Freeman said.

He later deadpanned: “I wish I could sing.”

Obama said the music helped the movement’s faith as their leaders were jailed and their churches bombed.

“It’s hard to sing when times are rough,” Obama said. “The hymns helped … advance the cause of the nation.”

The concert was to be televised at 8 p.m. Thursday on public broadcasting stations nationwide as part of the “In Performance at the White House” series. National Public Radio also planned a one-hour concert special from the event to be broadcast nationwide on NPR stations beginning Friday.