I always tell my children that no matter what we look like, where we come from, who our family is, or what the world throws at us, we can do anything we set our minds to. We each can become anything we want to be. And today, I'm overjoyed to show them proof.


And now, my children won't have to grow up in the world I grew up in. They won't be told by society that people with dark skin are somehow less valuable or capable than people with light skin. We can have hope for our children's future, for their health care, for their education, for their security, for the environment, for beauty, and for peace for everyone.

A nation is not just a group of people who live within the same borders; it's a family, a community. The community starts in our houses, stretches out our front doors through our neighborhoods, expands across the continents, and envelops the world. And with technology, the boundaries of our community grow larger every day. Gone are the days of thinking that we only need to focus on the the people in our own houses. Gone are the days of us vs. them. Gone are the days of selfishness and greed. I welcome the days when each individual in the nation will reach out to his or her fellow citizens in the same way that we each reach out to our loved ones and help them when they are in need and lift them up to fulfill their potential. That is the only way that we can prosper and succeed to create the type of lives we want. By helping others achieve greatness, we become great ourselves. By helping other achieve success, we find our own success.

And at last, the people who understand the importance of this community, and recognize how vast our community has expanded with technology, are finally going to lead our community. I can only imagine that it will lead to greater things.

Labels: Activism, Deep Thoughts and Philosophy

It's about 7 pm Pacific Time on November 4, 2008, Election Day.

According to the news websites...

MSNBC = Obama's in the lead (200 to 124)
CNN = Obama's in the lead (199 to 78)
ABC = Obama's in the lead (200 to 130)
NPR = Obama's in the lead (207 to 95)
CBS = Obama's in the lead (206 to 135)
USA TODAY = Obama's in the lead (195 to 70)
NY TIMES = Obama's in the lead (138 to 17)
WASHINGTON POST = Obama's in the lead (128 to 51)
LA TIMES = Obama's in the lead (195 to 70)
YAHOO NEWS = Obama's in the lead (195 to 70)
GOOGLE NEWS = Obama's in the lead (195 to 70)

FOX NEWS = It's a tie! (0 to 0).

I guess when defeat is looming, delay admitting it as long as possible.

Labels: Activism

I can't help but be sickened by the abuse of a child. And I'm tired of listening to people mindlessly say things like "Somebody should do something to keep this from happening," and "Why would anyone do such a thing." Start coming up with solutions.

#1) We need to educate people better about child development, child raising, and non-violent methods of managing problems. We need to do this in schools as a mandatory part of education. We need to do it in churches, family focused organizations, and community centers. We need to do it in welfare programs. And we certainly need to do it when letting people become foster parents, even if those foster parents are relatives. If we spent more money training people to avoid abusive behavior, then we'll spend less money having to treat abused kids, prosecuting abusive adults, and housing convicted child abusers in prison. (Good education always ends up paying for itself.)

#2) We need to do a better job of training all government workers to identify signs of abuse. Whether you're a teacher, a police officer, a postal worker, or state representative, you should be trained in protecting our children, the future of our nation and world, and you should be a mandatory reporter. Sometimes, the only non-abusive adults abused children come into contact with are mail carriers or bus drivers, so they too need to be trained to help those kids.

#3) Any person who works directly with children should be better trained in identifying abuse. A DHS worker who doesn't know how to recognize child abuse or deception by abusive parents obviously needs better training.

#3) To protect vulnerable kids in foster care, kids in the foster system should be required to get a quick medical evaluation at least once per month. All it would take is 5 minutes by a trained health care worker (e.g. school nurse for kids in school, in-office nurse for most other kids, home visit nurse for kids with special needs, etc.)to check a child's body for signs of abuse. If your foster kid doesn't get their check up, then that child gets removed from the home.

#4) Become a foster parent if you can. We need more loving, trained, qualified adults to help these kids who are removed from abusive homes.

Labels: Activism