Levy Rivers's List: Obama resources

• One of the primary exercises I request, early in a coaching relationship, is for each client to write a short essay answering - what does he or she want to be known for. In the case of a corporate client I request that a process be established that produces a Character Statement that describes most of the same elements as in the case of the individual.
• So the first element for which I will be known is to stand for tactics of transparency from which ‘I’ is speaking: authenticity.
• The bare description of the world for this ‘I’ is that it conspires with other ‘I’s, and not ‘I’s to create reality: a maker of reality not a seeker.
• Simply, we in community confront and engage objects in our meaning making efforts to organize and describe our lives. In this age, we have come to recognize that everything is made up of buzzing atoms or as patterns of energy or as chemical formulae that have no consciousness of human feeling or intent.

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• making a difference in the lives of the people they serve,” leaders who had “a deep sense of purpose” and who recognized “the importance of their service to society.”
• mentioned the tensions and the walls of separation. "We made mountains out of molehills," says Narcotics Anonymous (1982, p. 93). Addicts know how to increase intensity of their lives. Relationships are often rancorous facts, thoughts of revenge rival any Hollywood movie, are embellished to make life-stories more interesting. Even a simple flat tire is used by the addict as proof that God, Himself, has singled out the addict for punishment.
• An addict’s obsession/alienation is understood as the process whereby they struggle with and against being divorced or isolated so as to conform to the society around them.
• In religious terms alienation is corruption to the perfection in history. It is eliminated in that moment when humanity and God are one.
• 1. For the exclusive Christian history is the story of a rising church or Christian culture and a dying pagan civilization.
  
  2. For the cultural Christian, it is the story of the spirit’s encounter with nature.
  
  3. For the synthesist, it is a period of preparation under law, reason, gospel, and church for an ultimate communion of the soul with God.
  
  
  4. For the dualist, history is the time of struggle between faith and unbelief, a period between the giving of the promise of life and its fulfillment.
  
  5. For the conversionist history is the story of God’s mighty deeds and of man’s responses to them. He lives some what less “between the times” and somewhat more in the divine “Now” than do my various brothers listed above. Eternity to the conversionist, like me, focuses less on the action of God before time and less the life with God after time and more on the presence of God in time. Hence the conversionist is less concerned with conservation of what has been given in creation, less with preparation for what will be given in a final redemption, than with the divine possibility of a present renewal.

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• They’re the same ones, I guess, that didn’t tell us about the housing subprime lending crisis. They’re the ones that didn’t tell us about the dot-com meltdown. And they’re the ones that didn’t warn us about inflation that’s coming up. I have to fall back on the old adage that if you took all the economists in the world and put them end to end, they still wouldn’t reach a conclusion. So I trust the people, not the so-called economists. … to give the American people a little relief.

• So what is it that makes a president a good economic president? Here’s what Felzenberg says:

   

  Most economically successful presidents were genuinely interested in business and economics. They availed themselves of multiples sources of information both inside and outside their administrations and selected good advisers and competent department heads … Nor did they resort to short-term gimmicks … While often reacting to short-term challenges, these presidents developed coherent policies designed to boost long-term economic performance. … None of [the failed] presidents, save for Carter and Hoover, showed much interest in business or economics.

• WASHINGTON - A new ad from John McCain's presidential campaign contends his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." In fact, Palin was for the infamous bridge before she was against it
• THE FACTS: Palin did abandon plans to build the nearly $400 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport. But she made her decision after the project had become an embarrassment to the state, after federal dollars for the project were pulled back and diverted to other uses in Alaska, and after she had appeared to support the bridge during her campaign for governor

• He said he was alarmed by the report that she'd triggered a conflict with the local librarian in Wasilla, Alaska by inquiring about the possibility of banning books.

   

  "Any time someone goes to the library and says, 'I want to ban books,' and the librarian says 'no,' and she threatens to fire them -- that's scary,"

• "I've agreed to do a substantial number of things. Whatever I'm asked to do," Clinton told reporters before sitting down to a meal of sandwiches, flatbread pizza and salad with Obama at his foundation headquarters here.

• The newest ad showcasing their hard line includes unflattering footage of McCain at a hearing in the early '80s, wearing giant glasses and an out-of-style suit, interspersed with shots of a disco ball, a clunky phone, an outdated computer and a Rubik's Cube.
• He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class," it says. It shows video of McCain getting out of a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush and closes with a photo of him standing with the current President Bush at the White House. "After one president who was out of touch, we just can't afford more of the same."

• Obama’s ad reflects the sharper tone his campaign has adopted since the McCain camp last week exploited his remark that the GOP candidate’s policies were “lipstick on a pig.” McCain’s surrogates accused Obama of calling McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, a pig, which drew heavy media attention.

   

  Obama’s ad starts off with a clip of McCain declaring, “I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land.”

   

  “What’s happened to John McCain?” a narrator asks.

• It is hard to watch someone that has shown courage - become a parity of himself - but McCain has. In the last few months has repeatedly shown new lows in campaigning as he attempts to capture the highest office. Could it simply be senility or do the Republicans insist that their candidates take a serum cooked up by Rove. Whatever - here's what he's done!

• Debbie Minden of Pittsburgh described receiving the call from "Research Strategies" late yesterday afternoon. And a Key West woman, Joelna Marcus, reportedly received a similar-sounding call from the same group, according reports from the Obama-backing organization JewsVote.org and from a liberal blog.

• Here’s what I believe we need to do. Reform our tax system to give a $1000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs. End the “anything goes” culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions.  
   
  Fast track a plan for energy ‘made-in-America’ that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work. Crack down on lobbyists, once and for all, so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans. And yes, bring a responsible end to this war in Iraq so we stop spending billions each month rebuilding their country when we should be rebuilding ours.  
   
  Doing these things won’t be easy. But we’re Americans. We’ve met tough challenges before. And we can again. I’m Barack Obama. I hope you’ll read my economic plan. I approved this message because bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and the right won’t solve the problems we face today. But a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.

• McCain is only the last worst example of what the Republican Party has come to stand - reduce the scope of voter interest my making the process so disgusting - changing the subject from collaboration to isloation - making the subject FEAR not HOPE.

• One would think concern for their reputation would limit, if stop throwing character bombs as Sarah and John have engaged - NO - you would think they would have little or nothing in their background that could offer the opportunity for counter attacks - not so
• An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, your reputation is the distortion that is shared and spread like a virus. The point of this post is to put you in position to formulate, spread and maintain a reputation that makes a difference. The structure that your reputation is most easily measured is by how your name shows up in a search - whither it is the most important Google or more specialized like Rushmoredrive.
• Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."
• "He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?
• The argument I’m making here is that McCain has failed to demonstrate that type of leadership. That his investment in a reputation strategy – formed after the Keating 5 case and consistently implemented up to the time of his latest presidential campaign can no longer forestall the widespread Voter exit

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• CBS Insta Poll shows Barack Obama won 39% to John McCain's 25% with 36% saying the debate was a draw.

   

  Insider Advantage reports those polled Obama won 42% to McCain's 41% with Undecided 17%

   

  CNN reports voter opinions that Obama "did better" 51%, McCain "did better" 38%

   

  The CNN poll showed men were evenly split, but women gave Obama higher marks 59% to 41% for McCain.
• The MSNBC on-line (non-scientific) poll showed Obama winning the debate 52% to 33%. (But this is what one would expect from such a poll at MSNBC because of the nature of its viewers.)
• women voters especially would be turned off by McCain's sarcastic tone because women do tend to be the conciliators in our society and saw Obama display those conciliatory qualities very well in the debate. Obama looked at McCain, and McCain wouldn't return the eye contact but rather glared or displayed a tight and angry expression.
• Senator McNasty. I believe older voters will also be reassured that, though McCain has been around longer, Obama has a good grasp of foreign affairs and can learn quickly. He impressed as a statesmen, in marked contrast to McCain's warrior demeanor.
• McCain's condescenion felt annoying; to the listener who might agree or disagree with Obama, Obama nevertheless was making good points, not naive ones.

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• Much need not be said - except that Sarah continues to parody herself.

• To listen to Sarah is sometimes tough due to her “raw” way to making her point. Beyond that its funny and her point is real.

• An oversight board will be created. The board will include the Federal Reserve chairman, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, the Federal Home Finance Agency director and the Housing and Urban Development secretary.

• McCain tends to be action-oriented and given to dramatic gestures. He listens to his gut instinct and rattles off ideas. He can also come across as impulsive and temperamental.

  Obama strikes a reflective and cautious pose. He collects information and labors over pros and cons. He is so studious that he sometimes appears detached and indecisive.

• Despite his junior status in Congress, the first-term Illinois senator was given the authority to take the lead for Democrats by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He peppered drafters of the administration's plan with questions. At one point, Obama said it was time to hear from McCain.

  The GOP nominee was silent for much of the session. A veteran at Capitol Hill negotiations, McCain is mindful of seniority and was outranked. He deferred to House GOP leader John Boehner and other senior Republicans. Aides said McCain also didn't want to get into the "contentious shouting match.