Obama offers COOL new “Open Government” tool!

After 8 years of feeling like the American people had no allotted space in government,
I am happy to say: I think that
http://change.gov/ is super cool!

Follow the above link: If you click on the “citizens briefing book” option on the intro page and sign up for a free account you can submit your ideas for the new administration. If you just want to browse, you don’t have to sign up. So far there are thousands of ideas submitted by Americans from every part of the globe and from every profession. Once you’ve logged in, you have several options: you can vote on the ideas that other people have submitted by voting up or down according to what you like or dislike, you can submit your own ideas to be voted up or down by others in the community, or you can abstain from voting and still comment on others submissions. The site constantly updates and you can browse the ideas by subject or by popularity. Following the inauguration, the ideas will be compiled and presented to the newly elected President… MR. OBAMA!!! YAY!!!

Obviously, since my coping mechanism was to spend the last year of the Bush administration writing a mammoth open letter to government, I find this new option WAY exciting! Being the obsessive individual that I am, I have submitted just about every idea that I discussed in my letter. I’ve been such a geek about the whole process… it been fun to read peoples comments and vote on other ideas. It’s the dialogue I had hoped for when I wrote the letter initially. In fact, some of my ideas are so unappealing to people that, they now have a -70 rating. (because each vote is worth 10pts, if your thought gets voted down to zero and another individual disagrees with your idea— that person’s vote puts you in negative territory) I think it’s really cool—great dialogue with great possibilities.

I would love to see more tools like this implemented as we move forward into this new chapter of government. Try it out… you will like it.
For now, I am going to assume that the direction this new administration has chosen is honorable in their intent and in their ability to offer good will, transparency, and openness until they give me reason to feel otherwise—In fact I am giddy with with the desire to participate.

Next week I am headed to DC for the inauguration. I don’t have tickets to anything, so I don’t have high expectations that I will get to see much of the actual inauguration. My plan is to document the landscape of people who traveled to DC for this crazy historic moment—which will of course lead to thousands of photos if all goes well. Lets hope that the cold doesn’t cripple my motivation

Finally!!!

5 years have passed since the beginning of the Iraq war, 7 years have passed since the beginning of the Afghanistan war, we have recently witnessed the foothills of failings in our financial institutions, it has been 7 years since 9/11, we have lost 4,168 brave soldiers to war, and an additional 30,634 have been wounded in battle.

I would like to commemorate the passing of these events with an act of Democracy.

Below you will find the first page of an enormous “open letter” to government that I have written titled “War Is My Concern, but it is Not My Only Concern” My intent is to inspire a global conversation between myself and anyone who might take the time to read my letter —though initially, the intended audience for this letter were the government officials in office and those who aspire to take office in the future. I am happy to share it more broadly now. Perhaps you too will become a part of my conversation with government. I believe that the voices of the people can drive the evolution of our Democracy and I think our Democracy is screaming for direction.

What I ask of you, is not that you agree with me but that you know whether or not you disagree. The 2008 election is 4 weeks away and we cannot afford to be uninformed. The course of this election will change our lives and the lives of the global community. I further ask that you forward this e-mail to as many people as you see fit—even if it you only forward it to one person and ask them to do the same.

Thank you so much for participating.

Sincerely,
Diane DaCruz-DiDonato

You can find the on-line version of this letter at:
http://warismyconcern.wordpress.com/

OR you can send an email to:

warismyconcern@gmail.com

I will gladly send the viral e-mail complete with PDF attachment.

Excerpt:
(Page 1 of 77)

“To whom this may concern:

I cannot write to you on behalf of “we the people.” I am one-person -one small vessel in the many of “we.” I write to you now, in this tumultuous time, because my future cannot forego the price of looking the other way.

On behalf of myself, the ones that I love, and any person in my future that might look to me for explanations: I write this letter to address any and all candidates vying for the presidency of 2008, to all current state and federal officials elected or appointed, to all state and federal officials to be elected or appointed, and to all current and future members of Congress.

My name is Diane. Who I am is irrelevant. I don’t have money, no one knows me, and I can’t offer space or favors. I am a U.S. citizen. I write to you because I love my country. I write this letter because I’ve not met one person who thought this letter could make a difference—not one person who still believes that we live in a society where individual voices dictate change. I write this letter not as a Republican or a Democrat. I write this letter as an American. My bias lies solely in the lap of Democracy. I was raised to believe that America upholds Democracy—a Democracy that elevates the lives of its constituents by distributing equal opportunities amongst the masses—a Democracy that works for the people rather than against the people. I was raised to believe that America upholds a value system that inspires and encourages the human spirit to thrive. What I see today contradicts the values of the founding fathers. I believe that it is my responsibility as an American citizen to give voice to what I see because I see Democracy failing.

I write to you because I see a new version of Democracy emerging that has forgotten the people and that is NOT acceptable. In the 2008 Presidential election, I hear the word “change” being tossed around like a political football from one candidate to another. I don’t want “change.” I NEED restoration. I love our constitution and I would like to see you, who we have elected, do your job. You were hired by the people to protect that, which the founding fathers considered sacred—the United States Constitution. I don’t need any of you to be right or wrong about how we got here. I NEED a plan for how best to implement the restoration of our constitution. Restore the checks and balances that made our country the leading world power that it is. Partisan politics are no longer acceptable. The American people hire government officials to advocate on their behalf and, above all, for their benefit. I write this letter to let you know that I expect every one of you to do your job. Consider this letter a job review as well as an official notice that we might just have to let you go.”

Lies populate like little bunnies in the 2008 election cycle.

http://www.mccainpedia.org/index.php/Count_the_Lies

Check out the tally of blatant lies launched by the McCain/ Palin campaign!

New Found Respect…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

PROPS where props are due! Give it up to “The View” for stepping in to highlight THE ISSUES and the misinformation. I guess they’ve really come into their own. I just got back from three days in Europe and was delighted to see this—after being, pleasurably, out of touch for some time.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/mccain-grilled-on-the-vie_n_125972.html

John McCains New nick name.

On another note: David Bender, of Air America Radio, coined a fantastic nick name for John McCain today. He referred to him as “Republican McCain” I really feel like this name embodies the source of McCains failed ideology.

I am also fond of the brilliant nick name John Kerry coined “Candidate McCain.” With this name, it is easy to convey the drastic difference between the McCain of 2008 and the McCain of 2000.

The nick name I came up with for Our “friend” John McCain is “Same Same McCain.” I love it it, mostly, because it makes clear that the politics of today will not change with the election of John McCain.

Take your pick…. I like them ALL!

**I expect the proofreading of the final letter to be finished soon and have already reserved a new blog space devoted entirely to the letter which is now titled:

War is my concern, but it is not my only concern.”

I will post the link when the blog is published.

Love Me. Love Me Not. Love notes for life.

Recently I published my first collection of cards in book form through Blurb.com:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/294976

In addition, will soon be launching the final edit of my letter “War is my Concern, but it is not my only concern.”

Looking forward to sharing with you!

Diane

YesWeCan.jpg

barackpano.jpg, originally uploaded by ironyspeaks.

OBAMA!!!!!

My latest project…

WHY NOT ?

I’ve decided to write a letter to the President and Congress of 2008. In the letter I plan to address all of the issues that I consider pressing and relevant to the future of the country. Perhaps its naive, but My goal is to post it on my blog and then attempt to distribute it or publish it in whatever forum will accept it. I also plan to send it to all the current presidential candidates and congress members as well as news papers and media outlets. Sounds funny, I know. I’ve written a first draft of the introduction to the letter and I was curious to see what you guys thought. The final letter will break each of my concerns and expectations into domestic and international categories. I’m interested in collaborating with people for the different categories. I want to create a very factual and useful collection of information and resources for this letter. Resources will include article links, quotes and statistics. Thus far, the tone of the letter might seem a bit preachy but that might change…maybe… we will see how it ends. No time like the present right?

Mostly, I expect this letter is going to be cathartic and I’m okay with that. Really I’m just tired of carrying these grievances around in my head and it can’t hurt to share.

Evolving Draft:

(The letter is now finished and is currently being proofread,  will post the letter in its entirety when the last changes are made. below you will find the first Page of 77 pages)

Draft: Sept 16, 2008

War is my concern.
But it is not my only concern.

I cannot write to you on behalf of “we the people.” I am one-person -one small vessel in the many of “we.” I write to you now, in this tumultuous time, because my future cannot forego the price of looking the other way.

On behalf of myself, the ones that I love, and any person in my future that might look to me for explanations: I write this letter to address any and all Candidates vying for the Presidency of 2008, to all current state officials elected and appointed, to all state officials to be elected or appointed, and to all current and future members of Congress.

My name is Diane. Who I am is irrelevant. I don’t have money, no one knows me, and I can’t offer space or favors. I am a U.S. citizen. I write to you because I love my country. I write this letter because I’ve not met one person who thought this letter could make a difference—not one person who still believes that we live in a society where individual voices dictate change. I write this letter not as a republican or a democrat. I write this letter as an American. My bias lies solely in the lap of democracy. I was raised to believe that America upholds democracy—a democracy hat elevates the lives of its constituents by distributing equal opportunities amongst the masses—A democracy that works for the people rather than against the people. I was raised to believe that America upholds a value system that inspires and encourages the human spirit to thrive. What I see today contradicts the values of the founding fathers. I believe that it is my responsibility as an American citizen to give voice to what I see because I see Democracy failing.

I write to you because I see a new version of democracy emerging that has forgotten the people and THAT is not acceptable. In the 2008 Presidential election, I hear the word “Change” being tossed around like a political football from one candidate to another. I don’t want “change.” I NEED restoration. I love our constitution and I would like to see you, who we have elected, do your job. You were hired by the people to protect that, which the founding fathers considered sacred—the United States Constitution. I don’t need any of you to be right or wrong about how we got here. I NEED a plan for how best to implement the restoration of our constitution. Restore the checks and balances that made our country the leading world power that it is. Partisan politics are no longer acceptable. The American people hire government officials to advocate on their behalf and, above all, for their benefit. I write this letter to let you know that I expect every one of you to do your job. Consider this letter a job review, as well as an official notice that we might just have to let you go.

The rest of the letter will soon be posted at the following address:

http://warismyconcern.wordpress.com/

Looking Back…

 

DSCN4954, originally uploaded by ironyspeaks.

 

 

11-12-02
Stoned Gibberish
Words forgotten and thrown away. In a single moment I may have found my cure. Perhaps I’m weighted by the fact that I hold the words. Relentlessly hold on to the phrases and descriptions that thread my life. Possibly lending too much weight to the words—much more so than the actual action. I click “save” and forever frame a moment in my head thus creating memory from memory—each writing building off the next. When in fact had I chosen “do not save” I would have then created words that were instantly forgotten, words which carried no weight other than their effect, leaving no residue-just after taste. A wet mouth wanting more—each experience with new eyes, new vigor.

I’m not certain that any of what I’m writing will actually make sense tomorrow but what if it does because if it does then I will regret having not applied my new epiphany. Maybe that’s the fear itself. . .maybe it’s like quitting smoking. Maybe I hold the words because I afraid they won’t come back. Maybe I knew what I needed to know at a very young age. My mother told me to set the bird free. Maybe I, or what’s inside me, are the bird and I’ve been caging the soul of what gives me passion. Tear a sheet, rip a page, give to the wind a piece of your soul and hope that it comes back. Can one do such a thing?

Soul waves wayward in the wind. Destiny not written nor followed—a signature unknown.
Frail breath becomes deep sigh added to sound becomes slight movement in air touching someone’s neck becomes the soft summer breeze becomes the cold winter wind becomes the storm which strikes beauty into the heart of disbelief, ever evolving, ever soaring, as it is, not as it should be. This is the environment of souls. The soul wears word like fashion or a signature well known. It cannot be caged.

She said let the bird free. I was three but I knew.
Still, I click save.

A little rain on a sunny day.

DSCF1422.JPG, originally uploaded by ironyspeaks.

OF the most recent photos I took this is one of my favorites.

THAT little rain cloud splotch intrigues me. It seems to have a life of it’s own. Something about the light casting across the texture of the brick that blurs the distinction between mistake and intent.

Hmmm…

DSCF1464.JPG, originally uploaded by ironyspeaks.

I thought these people disappeared after high school.