Photos: Remembering Sen. Ted Kennedy

Senator Edward M. Kennedy 1932-2009

Statement from The Kennedy Family
August 26, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.”

Statement from President Obama
August 26, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I wanted to say a few words this morning about the passing of an extraordinary leader, Senator Edward Kennedy.

Over the past several years, I’ve had the honor to call Teddy a colleague, a counselor, and a friend. And even though we have known this day was coming for some time now, we awaited it with no small amount of dread.

Since Teddy’s diagnosis last year, we’ve seen the courage with which he battled his illness. And while these months have no doubt been difficult for him, they’ve also let him hear from people in every corner of our nation and from around the world just how much he meant to all of us. His fight has given us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you — and goodbye.

The outpouring of love, gratitude, and fond memories to which we’ve all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives — in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new opportunity, in children who know education’s promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just — including myself.

The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party. And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth, and good cheer. He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines.

And that’s one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.

His extraordinary life on this earth has come to an end. And the extraordinary good that he did lives on. For his family, he was a guardian. For America, he was the defender of a dream.

I spoke earlier this morning to Senator Kennedy’s beloved wife, Vicki, who was to the end such a wonderful source of encouragement and strength. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, his children Kara, Edward, and Patrick; his stepchildren Curran and Caroline; the entire Kennedy family; decades’ worth of his staff; the people of Massachusetts; and all Americans who, like us, loved Ted Kennedy.

Krugman: Age of Reaganism Should Be Over

The debate over the “public option” in health care has been dismaying in many ways. Perhaps the most depressing aspect for progressives, however, has been the extent to which opponents of greater choice in health care have gained traction — in Congress, if not with the broader public — simply by repeating, over and over again, that the public option would be, horrors, a government program.

Washington, it seems, is still ruled by Reaganism — by an ideology that says government intervention is always bad, and leaving the private sector to its own devices is always good.

Call me naïve, but I actually hoped that the failure of Reaganism in practice would kill it. It turns out, however, to be a zombie doctrine: even though it should be dead, it keeps on coming.

Let’s talk for a moment about why the age of Reagan should be over.
(Read Full Article)

How the Bush Administration Used Terror Alerts for Political Gain

The first and former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge has written a soon to be released book. It has confirmed what Keith Olbermann and many on the left had suspected all along, that the DHS infamous color coded terror alert was misused to put the nation on high alert in order to a) manipulate the news cycle in order to distract the nation’s attention from news unfavorable to the Bush administration, and b) to boost it’s political advantage by placating to the populous that was convinced that the administration and the Republican party’s tough on terror image would go over well if the country was in fear of an imminent terrorist attack.

Watch how Keith Olbermann chronologues long before this revelation by Secretary Ridge with stunning accuracy and frequency how the Bush administration used fear mongering for either political gain or political cover.

This can easily be categorized as a conspiracy to mislead or defraud a government agency, a federal crime. However, even if the statue of limitation had not expired, good luck in getting the Democratic controlled Congress to investigate these serious matters. Although it is disturbing that those tasked with protecting the American people chose instead to scare, it unfortunately doesn’t rank as highly as other crimes committed by the Bush administration such as torture, outing a CIA agent or lying us into a war with Iraq.

Why We Need Health Care Reform

By President Barack Obama

OUR nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven’t heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them.

These are people like Lori Hitchcock, whom I met in New Hampshire last week. Lori is currently self-employed and trying to start a business, but because she has hepatitis C, she cannot find an insurance company that will cover her. Another woman testified that an insurance company would not cover illnesses related to her internal organs because of an accident she had when she was 5 years old. A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died. (Read Full Article)

AIPAC’S PROXY WAR ON OBAMA

(Former President or Ireland Mary Robinson, center, congratulates Sidney Poitier, left, after he received the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room at the White House August 12, 2009. Fellow recipients looking on are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, right, and back row, left to right are; Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Chita Rivera, Dr. Janet Davison Rowley, and Muhammad Yunus. The medal is the country’s highest civilian honor. Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

On August 12, 2008, President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor, to 16 individuals whom he described as “agents of change”. Among the awardees were: Senator Edward Kennedy; former Congressman and Cabinet Secretary, the late Jack Kemp; and Grameen Bank founder, Muhammed Yunus.

One of the recipients, Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first woman President and world renowned advocate for human rights, was singled out for attack by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and AIPAC. They argued, on the flimsiest of grounds, that Robinson was biased against Israel (though for the ADL and AIPAC, anything short of effusive praise for Israel is seen as evidence of bias). (Read Full Article)

Fight Back Against Health Care Insurance Lies

While successful at derailing health care reform under Bill Clinton, the health care insurance companies finally have something it hasn’t had in a long time – a fight on its hands. Not only is the White House launching rebuttals against the scare tactics planted by the insurance companies to prevent true reform, but also organizations like Moveon.org are producing television ads to help debunk the myths deliberately planted by the health care lobbyists which are being paid $1.5 million a day to prevent passage of a meaningful health care reform bill.

Joining in the fight is Brave New Films with this mini-documentary Sick for Profit . It highlights the human toll behind the wealth and very lucrative lifestyles of health care CEO’s, exposing the true motives of the push back against health care reform – money and greed.

Finally, this campaign against changing the broken health care system in America has something that the previous one was sorely lacking – an all out assault by the White House and third party groups against misinformation . Maybe we really do have a shot at true change.

Quit Negative Thinking – Three Steps to Stopping Negative Thinking and Self Defeat

by Shannon E. Cook

Many people struggle with negative thoughts that hold them back from achieving their true potential in life. Mindset is hugely important in any endeavor – the direction the energy is flowing makes a huge difference. If your thoughts align with your goals, your goals are much more likely to be achieved. Negative thoughts send energy the opposite direction and impede or halt any progress on your goals and challenges. Here are 3 steps to stopping negative thinking and the corresponding self defeat:

1. Let go of your anger at others. Holding negative energy internally takes up space where positive energy could reside. First, let yourself feel the full experience of the anger. Note how it effects your physically as well as emotionally. Next, allow for the possibility that the person who wronged you did the best he or she could with whatever survival tool he or she has to work with – even if these tools are destructive. Then, visualize releasing this person into the universe, to whatever God has in store for him or her. Feel yourself releasing the responsibilities that come with desiring revenge – it isn’t your job to punish that person anymore. Finally, begin thinking about what you learned and how this experience might benefit you in the future.

2. Stop negative thinking cycles in their tracks. When a persistent negative thought comes into your head, say “cancel” or “stop” out loud and imagine a big red “X” through the thought. You can also slap your hand on a table or change activities to break that thought circuit.

3. Begin to imagine your dreams, goals, and aspirations. Think of them in full sensory detail – the way it looks, smells, sounds, tastes, and feels to achieve this goal in present time. The more you do this, the more likely it is to be attracted into your life.

Are you interested in addressing your life challenges from a holistic standpoint, assessing the physical, emotional, and relationship components?

For a free copy of my ebook, “Natural Methods To Fight Depression”, click here: http://www.stoptoxicrelationships.com/gifts-naturalmethodstofightdepression.html

Shannon Cook is a personal coach and resource guide who has written a number of informative articles and ebooks on the topic of toxic relationships and holistic personal growth, including physical, emotional and relationship health.