I received this awesome email from my friend Dan:

Hey Marenda!

Thanks for the email with the great photos. I was there with my father. Monday night we went into town and on our way back to the Metro station we actually had Barack (and his motorcade) pass directly in front of us (like 20-30 feet) at an intersection. We were beside ourselves to have seen him the night before!! My dad: “That was HIM! We saw him!”  Read more... (295 words, 1 image, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

My friends thought I was nuts last year when I shared my enthusiasm for outspoken Dennis Kucinich. I think his Wake Up America speech shows exactly why I have so much love for him and hopefully woke some folks up.

Dennis Kucinich’s Speech at the Democratic National Convention:

It’s Election Day 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake-up call. Wake up, America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy and have added 4 trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt. We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil and twice what we paid for health care.  Read more... (586 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

“Lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. Although America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage.” —Institute of Medicine

I find it absolutely mind-boggling that America spends the most money on health care yet ranks #37 out of 191 countries. How does a country spend more money than any other country on health care but its citizens have a lower life expectancy than countries that spend less? Where is all the money going?

Instead of Americans being healthier we are seeing increases in:

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• Obesity
• Cancer

How is it that citizens in countries with free health care systems (France, Canada, and UK) have longer life expectancy rates than Americans? I told my husband last week we should consider moving to France. He looked at me like I was crazy. But France has the best health care in the world and its free!

I know a middle class family of 5 (husband, wife, & 3 kids) paying $900/month for health insurance! Hello…. $900 for health insurance is alot when you also have to pay mortgage, utilities, car insurance, put gas in the car, food on the table, clothes on backs, plus other living expenses and incidentals! This is why so many Americans do not have health care insurance. Barack Obama is right, “people want health care but can’t afford it.” Hillary Clinton is right, “everybody has got to be covered.” John McCain is right, “we need to reduce health care costs.”

We Americans are often quick to turn our noses up at at other countries. We often think we are better and have all of the answers. Perhaps its part of our conditioning or mis-education. We are spoon fed lies that we actually believe about the evils of free health care for every American. Our American wisdom tells us that free health care for all Americans is too much like socialism and socialized health care is the enemy… If so called socialized programs are destructive then how do we explain our current systems for police, fireman, schools, and libraries?

With our infinite wisdom, wealth, and resources our health care system is ranked #37!

As our people grow sicker and deeper in debt with medical bills or die from inadequate medical care; health insurance and health service providers like Humana are literally raking in Six BILLION Dollars! What is wrong with this picture?

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“Americans are stupid people by and large. We pretty much believe whatever we are told.” —The Wire

After waiting a year for the final season of the best show on television, HBO delivered the goods last night with the premiere of season five: Read Between the Lines.

The Wire is known for authentically depicting all aspects of urban life. Every episode peels back layers of hidden truths that are often startling, uncomfortable, and unforgettable. The season premiere packed a major punch that should serve as a serious wake up call to us all:

The Bigger The Lie, The More They Believe!

Would you say that this is a true statement? Most of us would like to believe that we are highly intelligent…too smart to be hoodwinked or bamboozled. Perhaps some of us are…However, its the majority of us that counts. Considering this is an election year, this assertion is worth examining because

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