January 19
A start in America
Well today our US friends celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King. A on Tuesday they celebrate the 1st non white President of the United States. "The Dream" that Dr. King had really never hit me. Until I looked at some of the past footage and understood the history of what the black person had in the USA. When I boy in 60's I really did not understand the major events that was hhappingg in the 60's. Until I got older I sat in amazement how one part of society could treat another part of society. The human race can be mean and bunch of S.o.b's sometimes.
Now The USA has got new person and turned the page in their history. But it is only the start there is a lot of work down there. But there is a lot of work in our counrty to do also. With our 1st nations people. There is a in my opinion lost generation of 1st nations people in this counrty. I hope they get spark from this election in the USA. They have to take up matlee of leadership. There are great leaders in the 1st nations community . I hope one of them finds strength in the election in the USA . To come a lead in Canada . The status quo not working here. it is time for new leadership new ideas to help moving this coucounrtyong. " I always lived by the moto If you are a jack ass you are a jackass no matter what color or creed you are. There is no color in the word jackass" So the good will win out. Good will beat evil. In my opinion.
Here the story's that inspired my rant for today,
Monday January 19, 2009 - 09:49am (CST)
Entry for January 19, 2009
Washington locals excited, but bracing for inconvenience
By Kristi Keck
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Washington residents are bracing for the estimated 2 million people flocking to Washington to see Barack Obama's inauguration Tuesday.
A car decorated with support for Obama moves through the capital.
Road closures, tourist-flooded streets and long lines for, well, everything, mean locals will have to be patient.
"You just have to give yourself a little extra time when everything's going on so you don't get caught up in it," said Aisha Williams, who works at a camera shop off Pennsylvania Avenue.
She plans to arrive at work at 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday -- more than 5 hours before the store opens -- to avoid the traffic.
Her co-worker, Ken Kwiatkowski, is doing more than that. He stayed in a hotel for the past two nights in order to avoid a congested 20-mile commute from Springfield, Virginia. He's going home later Monday and avoiding work altogether on Tuesday.
It's not just their schedules they have to change. The Secret Service has stopped by "more than I care to see," Williams said, to tell them what they can and cannot sell during the inauguration. As a security precaution, vendors have had to remove backpacks, picture frames and some types of cameras.
Alecia Cole, who lives just outside of Washington said she and her husband are "getting out while the getting's good."
"We're actually leaving town," Patrick Cole said. "There's going to be too many people here, and I'd rather just let them have their fun, and I'll come back when it's over."
But not everyone is as easygoing. On a flight from Atlanta, Georgia, to Washington on Sunday morning, one woman burst into tears as she found out not all of her relatives would be seated on the overcrowded plane.
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As the flight attendant pointed out how busy they were with the inauguration, the woman made it quite clear she didn't care about the inauguration; she was just trying to get home for work.
Getting to Washington is one thing, but navigating the city is another. On Sunday night, crowded streets gave a glimpse of the inconveniences that are bound to grow as more visitors arrive.
Sidewalks and restaurants were packed near the National Mall and those hoping to go to their neighborhood Starbucks might want to think again -- the line was to the door on the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. A sign in the window said the store will be open round the clock on Monday.
One woman passing by made a comment about the crowds and said she's never seen it like this during past inaugurations.
The crowd expected Tuesday would smash the current inaugural record, set in 1964 when 1.2 million people came to see Lyndon B. Johnson take the oath of office. About 300,000 showed up for George W. Bush's first inauguration, and about 800,000 turned out to see Bill Clinton's first swearing-in ceremony, according to various estimates.
Washington's Metrorail is expanding its hours, starting service at 4 a.m. on Inauguration Day.
"We expect that our stations, trains and buses will be packed as people head to the Inauguration, and we expect to see even more crowded conditions afterward," Metro General Manager John Catoe said on the Metro's Web site. "People should plan to wait in long lines to get back into Metro stations after the Inauguration, at least for an hour or more."
People will likely opt for the Metro, because two of the major routes coming into the city, I-395 and I-66, will be closed to inbound traffic for private vehicles.
And for those coming from Virginia, all of the bridges to Washington are going to be shut.
Amtrak, charter buses and taxis are other options for those planning to attend.
As stressful as the travel situation may be, people like Kwiatkowski are enjoying the hustle while it lasts and taking solace in knowing that Wednesday may bring calm.
"It's all worth it," he said. "It's historic, it's very busy and I get to meet so many nice people
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than two-thirds of African-Americans believe Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision for race relations has been fulfilled, a CNN poll found -- a figure up sharply from a survey in early 2008.
Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
The CNN-Opinion Research Corp. survey was released Monday, a federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader and a day before Barack Obama is to be sworn in as the first black U.S. president.
The poll found 69 percent of blacks said King's vision has been fulfilled in the more than 45 years since his 1963 "I have a dream" speech -- roughly double the 34 percent who agreed with that assessment in a similar poll taken last March.
But whites remain less optimistic, the survey found.
"Whites don't feel the same way -- a majority of them say that the country has not yet fulfilled King's vision," CNN polling director Keating Holland said. However, the number of whites saying the dream has been fulfilled has also gone up since March, from 35 percent to 46 percent.
In the 1963 speech, delivered to a civil rights rally on the Mall in Washington, King said: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
"Has that dream been fulfilled? With the election of Barack Obama, two thirds of African-Americans believe it has," CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said.
"Most blacks and whites went to bed on election night saying, 'I never thought I'd live to see the day.' That's what the nation is celebrating on this King holiday: We have lived to see the day," Schneider said.
What about the Voting Rights Act, one of the signature achievements of the civil rights movement, which will be reviewed by the Supreme Court later this year? Two-thirds of blacks questioned in the poll say the U.S. still needs the Voting Rights Act today, but white respondents are split down the middle over whether that law is still necessary.
In November, a majority of black respondents said that Obama's victory signaled a new era in race relations. The poll suggests that a majority today no longer feels that way, although most blacks predict some improvement on racial issues.
"In the immediate aftermath of Barack Obama's victory in November, African-Americans were cautiously optimistic about the future of race relations in the U.S., but some of that optimism has faded since that time," Holland added.
In November, a majority of blacks for the first time believed that the U.S. would eventually find a solution to its racial problems; now a majority of blacks believe that race relations will always be a problem in this country. Blacks do believe that the Obama presidency will be good for them -- 61 percent say that the quality of life for African-Americans will improve over the next four years. Optimism for a new era has also dropped among whites.
"We saw a burst of enthusiasm about race relations immediately after Obama's election. The initial excitement has cooled a bit. But most blacks and whites still foresee some improvement in race relations," Schneider said.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted January 12-15. Pollsters questioned 1,245 adult Americans, including 798 whites and 332 blacks, by telephone. The survey's sampling error is 3 percentage points for the overall sample and 4.5 percentage points for the breakdowns by race.
