Vigil Commemorating Iraqi war

Largo, Fla.--A vigil commemorating the sixth anniversary of the start of the U.S./Iraq war took place at the southeast corner of East Bay Drive and Seminole Boulevard Tuesday. The vigil, which began at 7:00 a.m. and was slated to go until 7:00 p.m., was one of many held across the country.

Mike Fox, of MoveOn and Progress Democrats of America, an energetic activist, helped set up the vigil, sending out emails to encourage other activists to show up to support the protest/vigil. To the sound of horns honking and passers-by shouting encouragement to protestors, he explained why he felt it important to be here. "Six years is too long," he said. "Let's hope it's not another six."

BetteJo Indelicato, a peace activist and relief worker in Iraq, was actually in Iraq when the bombing began six years ago. In the accompanying video, she describes trying to comfort children during the early days of the war.

From 10 a.m. until noon, approximately 8-10 people drifted in and out to help with the vigil, holding signs; Fox expected more to arrive during the afternoon.

A protest in Washington, D.C. over the weekend is expected to bring thousands to the streets.

Have you seen the Coen Brothers' new ad?

Folks, I'm on an email list from from Care2 news.

So what? you ask. Isn't everyone on an email list these days?

Care2 news is an environmental email list. The lastest one had a link to the Coen brothers' latest ad, which is on YouTube. It's about "clean coal" and very important. Usually, I don't want to put someone else's YouTube post on here, but, darn it folks, this is important. (And yes, it is from the Coen Brothers. Please, do not think that I made this; they did. But it is still important.)

Video from January 14

Here is a video from January 14.

More Buffalo Soldier Photos

More photos of St. Petersburg's Buffalo Soldiers, taken shortly before St. Pete's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade on January 19, 2009. This year's parade had few marching bands than usual, as many of the regular bands were gathering in Washington, D.C. for Barack Obama's inauguration.

St. Petersburg's King Parade

I figured I'd post some of the photos I took from St. Petersburg's Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade. The parade took place on January 19, 2009. One of the largest in the southeast, there were fewer bands in attendance this year, as many of the bands were in Washington, D.C., gearing up for the next day's inauguration of Barack Obama.


Florida's Buffalo Soldiers.



Roy Nixon, Buffalo Soldier



Close up of the Buffalo Soldiers

I'll post a few more parade photos at a later time.

Historic Inauguration

I watched last Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama during a Visual Communications class. About ten minutes into class, the instructor asked if there were any questions.

"Yeah, can we watch the inauguration?" someone asked. It was the question on everyone's minds.

A computer hooked up to a projector came on so we could watch.

I've watched my share of inaugurations on television, been aware of others. When one has lived over five decades, one does notice a few things.

There were many historic aspects to this inauguration, though. Of course, there's the obvious: the first African-American to become elected president. Backing up to the election, it became clear early on that the Democratic nominee would be a first: either the first African-American or woman as a major party's nominee. That alone seemed to get many people's attention.

Then there is the number of people who flocked to Washington, D.C. to watch Obama's inauguration in person. According to The New York Times, "An estimated 1.8 million people watched the inauguration of Barack Obama in person, the most for any inauguration. At least that is what the mayor of Washington said; the Park Service, no longer in the head-counting business, won't contest that number."(1) (Referrenced footnotes at end of today's blog.)

According to The New York Times' article's multimedia segment, 44,000,000 people watched on their computers using live streaming web videos. This broke down to 26.9 million watching CNN, 9.1 million on MSNBC and 8.0 million on AP. (2)

These are record breaking numbers. This alone would indicate interest. I do know that those around me were excited. Almost everyone I spoke with over the days surrounding the 20th mentioned excitement, hope, a sense that our collective lives had taken a turn for the better. Yes, there are nay-sayers, but they seem to be in the minority.

When Obama was sworn in, those in the class room cheered. We watched President Obama's speech in its entirety. I mention this because the speech ended at 12:30, fifteen minutes after the class ended. Only one or two students left at the end of the class period; the rest of us watched, enraptured, at history taking place.

My oldest son, Jason, lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. He does phone tech support. He told me that an older African-American lady named Anne works there. Everyone calls her Ms. Annie. She works part-time; as a part-timer, she doesn't always get to sit in the same place. But she usually tries to sit next to Jason.

Tuesday morning, Jason managed to save a place for Ms. Annie so she could sit next to him. Just before the inauguration was to take place, Jason and Ms. Annie left their phones, along with several other employees, so they could watch Barack Obama sworn in.

"Tears just rolled down Ms. Annie's face," Jason later said. Ms. Annie told the small group watching the inauguration that her father had been beaten up years ago for not crossing the street fast enough to let several whites pass, that he'd been hurt several times because of his skin color. "She told us, 'And now, we have an African-American president.' I wish my daddy were alive to see this."

So do I, Ms. Annie. So do I.


(1) "Streaming Onto the Mall, and Into Laptops," by Brian Stelter and Noam Cohen, January 24, 2009; Week In Review; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/weekinreview/25stelter.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=inauguration,%202009&st=cse

(2) http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/01/25/weekinreview/20090125-stelter-graphic.html

St. Pete protest

On January 14, 2009, a group of protesters gathered outside Congressman C.W. Bill Young's St. Petersburg, Fla. office to bring attention to Barack Obama's heath care plan. Following the hour-long protest, the group of twenty-five then had ten MoveOn-ers deliver 392 signed petitions to Young's secretary, Yvonne. (Young was out of his office at the time.) Joe Illingworth of MoveOn addressing protesters. Illingworth presenting the petitions to Rep. C.W. Bill Young's secretary Yvonne.