Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

obama

the GOP gets introduced to reality (and facts)

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What a spectacular and stunning loss for the GOP. Record numbers of women and minorities (muslims, gays, latinos, asian-pacifics, blacks..) were voted into office on Nov 07, and were for the first time in history a majority of each party’s caucus in the House of Representatives.

For fast-tracking this inevitable reality, I give my heartfelt thanks to the misinformation campaign of Karl Rove, the Faux News spin machine, and the most vile members of the GOP who hijacked the platform to preach dogma, promote hate and blacklist those with opposing views. These charlatans have failed their party and America by keeping their believer base cocooned in a bubble of lies and fear. Without facts to inform GOP strategy, it’s advantage team blue. That this outcome came completely out of left field, and rendered Republicans so speechless that night is icing on the cake for those of us who respect science/math and have been increasingly shocked at the growing contempt for facts over the past decade. They need a reboot to stay relevant cuz America badly needs a viable opposition party (parties!).

Photo taken from the Democrats Abroad (Washington DC’s) Facebook stream

The New Idealist Social Network

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The New Idealist Social Network, from the kid who co-founded Facebook and got Barrack Obama into the White House: a new social venture for connecting volunteers with their causes, Jumo.

Whether the non-profit sector is ready to embrace a new social networking platform remains to be seen, especially given these organizations’ often-limited staff time and lack of familiarity with cutting edge technology. And there’s competition—Ning, for instance, allows non-profits to build their own branded social networking websites using pre-fabricated tools. But the most formidable rivals are [Chris] Hughes’ old friends at Facebook, which already offers the application Causes, on which users can donate money and promote non-profits to friends. Hundreds of thousands of non-profits are members of Causes, and in the application’s first two years, 25 million Facebook users “joined” at least one of the causes. But according to a Washington Post report, the majority of Causes non-profits have never received a single donation through the application.

Letter to congressmen: support Public Option!

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Dear Representative James Moran:
The US health care system is in deplorable state. Upon repatriation for any number of reasons your ~7 million expatriates are the only citizens of OECD member countries with no social health protection mechanism in place to assist in transitioning back home.

As a voting constituent in the 8th Congressional District of VA, I respectfully urge you to vote for a strong and comprehensive public option that guarantees all Americans with the choice of a public health insurance plan, as proposed by President Barack Obama.

This reform package, which aims to provide all Americans with access to affordable health insurance, must include a strong and comprehensive public option that:

  • is available to ALL Americans on DAY ONE. Co-ops or triggers weaken the public health insurance option and make it ineffective. I ask you to oppose these proposals.
  • is national, available everywhere, provides transportability and thus a continuum of benefits.
  • has government-appointed decision-makers and thus are accountable to Congress.
  • provides substantial bargaining leverage against providers and pharmaceutical companies.

I also ask you to put a statement on your web site’s home page supporting these points. As aptly stated by our fellow American expatriates in Canada: health insurance in a civilized society is a collective moral obligation, not a discretionary consumer good.

We voted for Change in 2008 and I ask that you support what voters have overwhelmingly demanded from our representatives. I look forward to reciprocal support for you on the 2010 ticket.

Sincerely,

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Look up your representative(s) in the House here.

Look up your US Senators here.
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Has the entertainment factor gone, post-Bush?

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When the prevailing social constructs are blown to hell and back with the election of a black man to the White house [sic], there are social repercussions of a most disturbing kind, namely, what the heck do we do for entertainment now?? It was totally within the realm of political correctness to poke fun at Palin, who embodied the stupid white bimbo persona to a tee, and of course we had eight years of Bush, the perfect caricature of the cowboy simpleton we’ve come to love (or not) from decades of Westerns. Ditto with all the other white males (and females) whose daily grind and spiel are immortalised in the reels of Saturday Night Live and the late night cadre of satire and wit.

But what do we do with Obama? Granted, he doesn’t provide much fodder for wit in the gaffes and boneheaded blunders department that Bush was so obliging with. But why can’t we get a good laugh at the expense of this Commander-in-Chief? As with any unchartered territory, this massive ideological shift presents extremely dangerous grounds for comedians of any color and progressives of all objections. Someone of such historical significance can be brought down for the sake of a simple joke, sure, but it’s a colossal gamble just beyond the ability of our prevailing cultural zeitgeist –just yet.

And a telling commentary on progress in race relations…

Unprecendented heights of popularity worldwide and mammoth support for Obama aside, I hope we can move past this social hiccup where comedy runs smack into race, cuz it’s only been four days and all the seriousness is gettin’ kinda dull…
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… and the Inaugural Madness continues!!

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Because for a moment so long anticipated, celebrating once is not enough… This time a cocktail party, so more mellow and in a stylin’ swank joint. I include the menu prices for future gasp factor.


ALL-NIGHT PARTING SHOTS $2
Rejoice y’all! At long last, Bush is disembarkitating!
Burning BUSH (Tequila)
Dead-eye DICK (Vodka Caramel)

CELEBRATE “A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM”
Raise a glass to the new President of the United States!
ALE to the Chief $1 (Tiger Draught)

BEVERAGES YOU CAN BELIEVE IN
Coke
Sprite
Ginger Ale
Lime Juice
Lime Soda
Juice Box
Montfleur
BARACK Berry Chill

CENTRIST LIBATIONS $3
Obama-politan
MICHELLE-mojito
BIDEN Margarita
YES WE DID Bubbly Cocktail

ROAD TO THE WINE HOUSE $2.20/glass
(CHOW “Exclusive” Red or White)

RECESSION-PROOF CHOW BITES $3
Fish Cakes
Calamari
Spring Rolls
Choi Mei

BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT OPTIONS (served with a side of Optimism)
Sirloin Steak $15
Salmon Steak $10
Pad Thai $5
Nasi Goreng $5

Top 10 things we’ll miss about Bush

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#1 might have to be the entertainment factor …

..and circulating about cybersphere today is this fun piece about the tech-savvy Obama team descending into the dark ages of the White House IT infrastructure. “Like going from Xbox to Atari”, one of his aides said. Have I mentioned lately how much I like our freakin’ cool new Techie-in-Chief??
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