NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama recently visited the Standing Bear Sioux Reservation of the Lakota and the Dakota. Here are some pictures:

The Honorable Xavier Becerra Democratic Caucus Vice Chair and Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, California 2012 Democratic National Convention Thursday, September 6, 2012 The American dream—it’s built not with words or speeches but from sweat and tears. Its heart and soul reside not in the boardrooms on Wall Street, but in the shops and factories on Main Street. Its promise is simple: work hard, play by the rules and you can make it in America. That’s Barack and Michelle Obama’s story. Like so many of you, that’s my parents’ story, too. My father was a construction worker who dug the ditches and laid the pipe and concrete to build our highways. My mother arrived in this country as a newlywed with no money, no English and no family of her own. Together, they realized their dream of sending their four children where no man or woman in our family in America had ever gone before: college. El sueño Americano! The American dream! In any language, that’s wha

Full text of First Lady Michelle Obama’s remarks to the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 4 in Charlotte, as prepared for delivery.  Thank you so much, Elaine…we are so grateful for your family’s service and sacrifice…and we will always have your back. Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country. And everywhere I’ve gone, in the people I’ve met, and the stories I’ve heard, I have seen the very best of the American spirit. I have seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls. I’ve seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay. I’ve seen it in people who become heroes at a moment’s notice, diving into harm’s way to save others…flying across the country to put out a fire…driving for hours to bail out a flooded town. And I’ve seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud

President Barack Obama is scheduled to come to Guam next week, although its still uncertain what his visit will entail. Its clear that he will speak to soldiers and local leaders, but will that mean he'll leave the base to hold a public meeting with the community? Hekkua'. I'm waiting for an article by Blaine Harden from the Washington Post to be published this week, and hope that it will have an impact on the Obama administration and what they decide is politically necessary or important in Guam. Harden was on Guam last week researching his piece on the buildup, and when I met him was impressed with his concern and his level of engagement on the issues. The local press obviously doesn't have much impact on policy in Washington D.C., but a single in-depth piece from a national paper, floating amidst a sea of general ignorance (about Guam or the buildup), might have a very real impact. As we await Obama's official schedule, I thought I would share a letter sent to

I'm writing my dissertation right now, but my lack of blogging lately has been bothering me, so I might just post other peoples' stuff for a while, so I can finish my third dissertation chapter, without too much guilt for not posting anything the past week. I came across this on the Daily Kos: LATE NIGHT POLITICAL SNARK : "Attention passengers: The Straight Talk Express is no longer in service. ... Barack Obama is our new president. I think I speak for everybody when I say, 'Anybody mind if he starts a little early?' ... At the end of the night, the electoral vote count was 349 for Obama, 148 for McCain. Or as Fox News says: 'too close to call.'" ---David Letterman - "People were worried about the Bradley effect. Apparently, it was not nearly as strong as the Bush effect." ---Jay Leno - "You know who I blame? The Large Hadron Collider. It is the world's largest and highest particle accelerator. You may remember we were warned tha

I'm still getting the hang of teaching this week and so I haven't posted anything yet, despite the fact that there is so much to post about! For the moment, it'll have to be i nobia-hu Rashne, who shares with you the excitement about the election of Barack Obama. I'll be back soon though and promise to post some things this weekend! ******************************** Dear family and friends, It's been forever since I wrote an e-mail but today feels like a good day. As some of you might already know, I've been in Las Vegas the past 13 days volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign. And while there was nothing glamorous about the work (it was hard work though - 12-13 hours everyday, non-stop) it was something that I marvelled at even while I was there, right bang in the middle of it. Marvelled at because of who I was working with - tons of folks from California, travelling down each weekend just to knock on doors making sure people were voting, high school stude

My wife made me canvas for Obama; here's what I learned This election is not about major policies. It's about hope. By Jonathan Curley from the November 3, 2008 edition Christian Science Monitor Charlotte, N.C. - There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization. I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election. Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again. I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the S

I was completely drenched, estaba sen sohgon yu' in American Presidential politics, for all summer and most of the spring. My blog was grateful for the attention, as plenty of times I was writing on it about Obama being smeared by Republicans or Race and Gender in the campaign , when I should have been working on my dissertation. I remember several times writing on my blog that I wouldn't be posting for a week or so, and then ending up posting about Palin or something else which had just pissed me off. This obsession reached its climax in August when I attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver and for almost two weeks, I thought of nothing else but Presidential politics, race, militarism, colonialism and US territorial - Federal relations. Now that I'm Guam, my intense link to the race is weakening, the need to constantly write about it, follow it and so on is dumidide dumidide muma'pos. Its slowly fading away. There are several reasons for this. 1. I&

I'm getting tired of hearing pundits and Republicans complain that Obama should have been dominating and winning this election in a landslide and that somehow the fact that polls have been tight for months, states that he can't "seal the deal." A more mature look at the electoral landscape of the US, and the tendencies that we can find in terms of race, gender, class, political ideology, all of these factors make clear that we should actually be shocked beyond belief that Obama is close at all. That if anything he should losing this election horribly, because of America's unwillingness to deal with issues of race and racism, and the extra criticism it forces upon those from marginalized groups when they emerge into the "mainstream." If we actually take into account much of what the media and the American people refuse to accept, we see a country which will elect the worst possible, least qualified and most intellectually crude "white people."

Guest blogged by Rashne Limki ... In the time Miget and I have been in Denver thus far, I’ve picked up one invaluable possession – a badge with a beautiful image of Michelle Obama that states “America’s Next First Lady: Michelle Obama” Other than the fact that it’s pink, I absolutely love it. I’m a massive fan of Michelle Obama, much more so than Barack. Tonight, thanks to Miget’s magnanimity in sharing press credentials, I stood approximately 10 feet away from her. It was beautiful. If you didn’t watch her speech, you can do so here. (omg…I was so close, I’m one of those heads in the third row, a little to her left!!) It had some delegates sobbing... all sniffly and red-eyed. One of the lines of attack used against Michelle Obama has been the labeling of her as “an angry black woman.” Quelle surprise! If smart white women are viewed as emasculating , imagine how a woman of color who speaks the truth would make male genitalia quiver. But as far as I’m concerned, if Michelle Oba