How to be a great anything

First, consider what great ones do. For instance:

Flannery O’Connor wrote: “Vocation implies limitation.” In other words, if you want to be good at something, there are other things that you have to give up. You can’t have it all, unless you want to be average or mediocre at everything you do. O’Connor wanted to be a great writer, so after morning Mass and breakfast, she spent the next three hours of every day, writing, with no interruptions. She said “no” to appointments, to visits, and even to reading before lunchtime, so that she could devote her entire self to writing, in order to become a great writer. It worked.

Limit yourself. You can neither be nor have everything.

Republicans endorse Democrats for the U.S. Senate!

From guest blogger Mike Fahy: More Evidence that Republicans never blow an opportunity to blow an opportunity.

Republicans endorse Democrats for the U.S. Senate!
Republicans need to take over the Senate if we have any chance of stopping RobertsCare, yet two elected Republicans are now endorsing two Democrat candidates for the U.S. Senate!

(a) Republican U.S. Representative Don Young of Alaska endorsed Democrat Mazie Hirono for U.S. Senate from Hawaii, and even made a television commercial for her campaign.

Republican, Linda Lingle, former governor of Hawaii, has a fairly good chance of winning the Senate seat. Why did Young endorse Hirono? Because he is for “bipartisanship”!

(b) Republican U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma endorsed Democrat Joe Manchin for U.S. Senate from West Virginia, and even contributed money to his November campaign so that he can defeat John Raese, the Tea Party Conservative who won the Republican primary.

On June 27, 2012 Republican Senator Coburn donated $250 to the reelection campaign of Democrat Senator Manchin who is seeking his first six-year term running against Conservative Republican John Raese. Why? Because, “We don’t agree on everything, but he’s a good guy,” says Tom Coburn. Manchin has a 15% rating by the American Conservative Union (2011).

Two years ago too!
Two years ago, three Republicans helped three Democrats win U.S. Senate seats! Establishment Republicans gave us a Harry Reid Senate by defeating Conservative candidates in November 2010.

(1) Christine O’Donnell was hit by Karl Rove who savagely attacked O’Donnell immediately after she clobbered ultra liberal Michael Castle in the Republican primary, 53% to 47%.

(2) Joe Miller was hit by John Boehner who gave all House perks including committee assignments to the non-Republican opponent of the Republican primary winner.

(3) Sharron Angle was hit by Tom Coburn (Okla.) who allowed Harry Reid to win reelection by cutting Republican Angle’s ground funds for the final ten days of her campaign.

Famous last bipartisan words: “My friends, you have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency.” (John McCain, 11/4/8)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Romney Agrees to Two-Against-One Debates
In May 2011 Sarah Palin said she would not agree to presidential debates unless half the moderators were Conservatives, or at least non-Liberals. Mitt Romney has agreed to presidential debates where all moderators are Liberals. N.B., FOX (most viewers) was excluded while CNN (least viewers) was included.

Presidential Debate No. 1 (domestic policy)
Jim Lehrer (PBS)
Wed., 10/3/12
University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

Vice Presidential Debate
Martha Raddatz (ABC)
Thu., 10/11/12
Centre College, Danville, Kentucky

Presidential Debate No 2. (town-meeting style)
Candy Crowley (CNN)
Tue., 10/16/12
Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York

Presidential Debate No 3. (foreign policy)
Bob Schieffer (CBS)
Mon., 10/22/12
Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Convention Speakers and Non-Speakers
Not yet confirmed — Colin Powell is rumored to have accepted a key speaking role at the Democrat National Convention. Will Colin Powell be drummed out of the Republican Party? Of course not.

Confirmed — Will the most popular Republican speaker address the Republican National Convention? Of course not. Incumbent Veep nominee Sarah Palin has been blackballed by the Bush/Romney Country Club.

Two other possible speakers at the Democrat National Convention: Repulican John Warner and Republican Chuck Hagel.

Wise old cat to young ones about Bavette’s!

Hep cats, too late, but don’t you wish you’d known about it, you who didn’t?

. . . soft opening mode tonight through Thursday, and you will pay full fare, but the cool part is— 100% of the proceeds will go to Heshima Kenya, a youth refugee organization in Nairobi, Kenya.

So they’re using this first world problem [soft openings] to benefit a third world problem— even if Bavette’s feast at this “traditional American steakhouse with a European influence” doesn’t thrill you, you’ll know your money went somewhere good, which is a smart way of blunting any possible criticism.

And hey, you know that with Sodikoff being to food what Andrew Lloyd Webber was to 80s musicals, it’ll be packed soon enough, so why not go now. To get a reservation tonight through Thursday, call 312-624-8154. [312 Dining Diva] [italics mine]

So it went. Better luck next time. Or if yr dying to send $ direct to Heshima Kenya,go to its site, silly!

Kenya girls saved by Anne & friends

Our daughter-in-law in Kenya, her report on her work with refugee women and girls:

Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 1:48 PM
Subject: Nairobi News!

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you all very well!

I can’t thank you enough for your patience and understanding with my lack of communication throughout the past several months! I would like to share some updates with you, and to also thank you for supporting the Yoga Challenge and our second annual Fashion Challenge in October – it is going to be an amazing event!

It has certainly been a whirlwind couple of months for my husband and me since arriving in Kenya last January, but it’s also been amazing to be back and to witness the tremendous impact of Heshima Kenya’s programs. I’ve worked with refugees for nearly 14 years, and I unequivocally find the refugee crisis in Kenya to be among the most horrifying humanitarian situations in the world, not only in scope but also because the majority of these refugees will never return home – this includes many of the 200,000 refugees who fled DR Congo two weeks ago. I think what is most daunting for myself – and our staff – is when we think about these girls’ lives without our programs and the support network it provides. It makes us believe more in what we do each day.

131 young girls and women have been supported by Heshima Kenya’s programs since January 2012: 40% are from DRC, 31% Somalia, 16% Ethiopia, 1% Sudan , 7% Rwanda, 2% Burundi and 4 % Kenya. We get to know the girls on such a personal level and witness their lives with peace; to know the profound impact that education will have on their futures and for their children; to see girls smile after grieving for so long. Adnan, a 15-year-old girl from Somalia who joined our programs a year and a half ago, couldn’t speak after being assaulted by a gang of street boys. Not only is she mentally challenged and epileptic, she also was abused by her mother who left her abandoned on the streets after the assault. Heshima Kenya was able to get a placement order for Adnan to stay at our Safe House and she is now attending a special education school during the day. Adnan is writing her name, speaking Swahili, and is helping staff and the girls look after the little kids at the shelter, twelve of whom are children of young mothers in the program. Other girls like Clementine from DR Congo are also thriving within the peace and security of Heshima Kenya’s programs. 17-year-old Clementine came to Heshima Kenya in January after losing her family and fleeing Congo to Kenya. After finding a place to sleep at a local church in Nairobi, she was raped on the steps and became pregnant. When I first met Clementine, she couldn’t speak and slept for days. She was completely traumatized, both physically and emotionally, and refused to hold her baby boy after being born. Six months later, Clementine is now one of our leaders – she is still residing at the Safe House but hopes to join the Maisha Collective soon where she will earn money, care for her baby independently, and possibly live with another Heshima girl within Nairobi. The other week Clementine presented a doll she made as part of a larger art therapy project. She spoke proudly in front of a group of 30 peers and talked about what her doll meant to her. It was truly humbling to witness. Clementine is learning tools to recover with peace, raise her baby with confidence, and believe in herself and the possibilities she has in life.

Some updates to share:

Recently Heshima Kenya has been receiving increased referrals of younger children, mainly siblings below 12 years of age, including 4-year-old Flora and her 11-year-old brother, Emilie, who is HIV positive and from DR Congo. Along with the challenge of identifying safe foster care families, securing education sponsorship has also become an issue because of cost – nearly $600 per year a child because of transportation and general fees.

The Maisha Collective has experienced exciting growth in the past couple months. IOM, the international organization responsible for arranging travel for refugees to the United States, recently ordered 1,200 scarves for its refugee travel kits. This means you may see a Maisha scarf on a newly arrived refugee in Chicago! We’ve also had a slew of other orders because of the tremendous work of the Chicago team and our new partnership brochure. This success truly speaks to the grassroots efforts of our supporters in the US and the power and beauty behind each scarf, especially when we’ve done minimal marketing. We still search for seed support to help manage the overall program in Chicago and Kenya, but with the help of a local Kenyan designer who is consulting with HK twice per week, we are finally on the path to creating new items – most importantly, the girls are committed to balancing their classes in the morning with making Maisha scarves in the afternoon – all while attending to their babies!

We received a $150,000 grant from Bright Future International for our Safe House program in January. This has allowed up to build the resource and staff capacity of our shelter program, including hiring a nurse, additional security guards, and purchasing a second van. We also received a two-year grant of $100,000 from American Jewish World Services. This grant will allow us to focus on outreach in the Somali community, especially identifying and supporting unaccompanied refugee girls and young women who fled drought and violence in Somalia in 2011 and remain undocumented and without protection in Nairobi. We will also be mobilizing graduates of our programs to support with outreach and training.

We are in the final stages of completing our customized database that will capture demographic data of the girls served in our programs since January 2008 to date. We hope to share this information with partner organizations, including UNHCR and the State Department, to help close significant gaps in knowledge about this specific population. We are also preparing to produce a larger research piece early next year about migration trends and violations experienced by girls and young women near the borders of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Uganda/DR Congo.

Imgrad Krop, a local Kenyan journalist, will be volunteering with Heshima Kenya next month to help create a series of video news stories written and produced by the Heshima girls. Our goal is to produce a news piece each quarter and share on our new website that we will hopefully launching next month.

Our Safe House is the first shelter of its kind for refugee children in Kenya to be legally recognized by the Children’s Department of Kenya. This is a tremendous victory after 22 years of refugee crisis and will hopefully be the first among a handful of wins led by Heshima Kenya in helping the government recognize the specialized needs and rights of refugees.

Finally, I feel extremely privileged to know first-hand about the power behind the army that got us here — that army is made up of all of you, and I know with certainty that Heshima Kenya could not have grown to where we are today without your support. There are thousands of non-profits here in Kenya and the US that are built from the bottom-up, just like Heshima Kenya. They are simply trying to survive and will most likely not make it because they lack opportunities to connect with supporters. Yes, of course leadership and donations are critical, but without Heshima Kenya’s fundamental base of auxiliary members, I know that we would have only remained a great idea. You are our ambassadors that drive Heshima Kenya’s story and get people to care about the thousands of vulnerable girls and young women in Nairobi who are trying to find their voice.

All the best to you,

Anne

Anne Sweeney
Executive Director
Heshima Kenya
heshimakenya.org

Heshima (Swahili): Respect, Honor, Dignity

Say it ain’t so, Harry, please

Oh brother (where are thou when we need thee?), not only must we wonder if Harry Reid’s parents were married, pending production of a wedding certificate, but now a worse allegation has arisen, in the much-acclaimed or at least -consulted Urban Dictionary:

“Harry Reid,” the dictionary now says, is defined as “[a]n unofficial rap sheet of alleged pederasty and sexual abuse of minors by anonymous sources that may not exist.”

The definition emerged, the dictionary notes, “after an explosion of reports surfaced online and on the airwaves, that [Reid] is a serial pederast. The outlets reporting the allegations all protected the anonymity of their sources, and no one knows if the allegations are true, but they’re out there. A spokesperson for Reid declined to deny them.”

Come onnnnn! A majority leader about whom such important matters are uncertain? We can’t have it, I say. We simply can’t have it!

(Mature readers only)

The tone-deaf mayor

Bloomberg and the Sikhs:

Mayor Bloomberg, on a visit yesterday to a Sikh community in Queens, turned a moment that called for the delivery of condolences to magnificent, patriotic population of immigrant Americans into yet another opportunity for posturing and double-speak on guns.

His one-track mind:

The mayor’s hysteria on this issue is pushing him into a territory where, if he goes much further, his integrity is going to be questioned.

Says crime not guns is his concern, but:

he keeps talking about illegal guns. To the Constitution, he feigns fealty. “Guns,” he said yesterday, “you have a right to carry by the Second Amendment. The courts have said that municipalities, states, and the federal government have the right to enact reasonable protections to the public.” In fact the Supreme Court has left only a little leeway to the states and municipalities — schools, hospitals, government buildings — and the Mayor doesn’t agree with the court.

Turn him off.

If this isn’t sweet, I don’t know what is

On Sat, 8/4/12, Michelle Obama <info@barackobama.com>wrote:

From: Michelle Obama <info@barackobama.com>
Subject: Barack‘s birthday card
To: “James Bowman” <jimb . . . >
Date: Saturday, August 4, 2012, 12:06 PM

Obama for America

James –Today is Barack’s 51st birthday, and the girls and I are pulling together his birthday card.Last call for names: Want to sign it?

Clicking on the link below will add your name to Barack’s card automatically:

http://my.barackobama.com/Baracks-Birthday

This election’s only going to get tougher, so I know it would mean a lot to Barack to know he has your support on his birthday.

Thanks,

Michelle

This email was sent to: jimb. . .
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Gabby Douglas’ $90 million not her achievement?

Making silk purse out of sow’s ear

. . . by responding to D. Wasserman Schultz, Dem spokesperson, who said:

Republicans in Congress would obstruct President Obama from having cereal for breakfast if they could.

The only chance we have to change Washington is to defeat the House Republicans standing in the way of America’s progress.

Etc.

To which I:

Debbie, give us time on that cereal for bkfst thing.

signing it, Loyal oppo.

Deucedly clever, I know.

The ghosts of Gutenberg . . .

. . . in our midst every day:

[I]f the monastery gave birth to the intellectual of the medieval world, it was capitalism that let him loose with the printing press.

(I wonder if Pres. Obama believes that publishers and authors, such as the New York Times Company and Thomas Frank, owe royalties and other money to the heirs of Johannes Gutenberg.)