Today’s Talk

OK, I do not rant and rave that often but I will say this about the new bipartisanship that must occur in Washington at the beginning of next year. For years now, the Republican committee has turn its back on the majority of Americans by not passing legislation that will help the middle class. In fact it has done the opposite (i.e. raising student loan interest). For years now, the Republicans have shut the doors to democrats on committees that not only governs the president and his unpopular war but shut the doors to scandal after scandal to what was happening in their own party. Well, realizing they will not be in power in two months, the Republicans are at the foots of the democrats like a dog to his master trying to speak good will and doing what is best for the country. Well I have this to say, what goes around comes around. Let the floodgates open to investigations into the illegal actions of this administration and to some members of congress. Let there be no stone left untouched in two months. The Republicans had no interest in bipartisanship for the last couple years and now that they are face we absolute certainty of being in the background, now they act as if this is the time to put on their good faces. Let me say this, you can clean a rat with the toughest soap but its still a rat ready to go back to the sewers that it came from. So with that said, lets hope 2007 will be a better year in which both parties actually ears their $165,200 salaries that we the people pay for.

Pham Quynh Anh is not an international singer yet but she has sung several songs which have made her a recognized named in Belgium and Vietnam.

Born on January 16, 1987, singer Pham Quynh Anh was a student at the Saint Stanislas School in Belgium, where the family has lived for a number of years. In 2000, her father registered for her to compete in the contest ‘Pour la Gloire’ (For the Glory), organised by the RTBF, Belgium’s official French-language public broadcaster. Amazingly, she won first prize with the song Pour la Gloire (For the Glory). Not too long after, she signed a contract with Universal in 2002.

As far as careers go, 2005 was a great year for Quynh Anh. In March, Lavoine wrote Bonjour Viet Nam for her. Lavoine is a well-known musician and singer in France and Belgium. At the age of 44, he has released nine albums since 1985. In April, she was chosen to sing J’espere (I Hope) with Lavoine in a duet. The song is in the album L’Heure d’Ete (Summer Hour), and was released to acclaim in June. In November, she began a tour with Lavoine, beginning in Liege, Belgium, and ending in Paris, France. Some big-name musicians have even begun calling to offer their voice and assistance on her first album.

Lavoine, after meeting Quynh Anh in Brussels, was moved by her innocent charm and obvious talent. He was struck by the young woman who was deeply Vietnamese, yet born abroad. He then wrote Bonjour Viet Nam for her. Quynh Anh’s rendition of Bonjour Viet Nam was first introduced to overseas Vietnamese communities when a friend of hers posted it on the Internet. Available on the ‘net only, the song spread quickly and became popular among Vietnamese, both at home and abroad. Many said they see the song as a message to the homeland from overseas Vietnamese.

The English lyrics can be found here.

Vietnamese info below:

Nghe đài BBC phỏng vấn mẹ Quỳnh Anh

Site này kèm hình ảnh (flash) không sát với lời nhạc, nhưng khá đẹp.

Ở tuổi 19, cô gái trẻ Quỳnh Anh nuôi hoài bão lớn hơn bất kỳ ngôi sao nào của Star Académicien. Trong khi giới âm nhạc đang có xu hướng thưởng thức những ca sĩ trẻ “bụi đời”, cô gái Bỉ gốc Việt này đã tự xây dựng cho mình một sự nghiệp tươi đẹp.Không chỉ song ca với Marc Lavoine trong J’espère (Tôi hy vọng) và đi cùng anh trong suốt cuộc lưu diễn (sẽ dừng lại ở Forest National vào 30-3-2006), cô đã trở thành một nhân vật nổi tiếng trong cộng đồng người Việt ở khắp nơi trên thế giới.Do sơ ý, bản demo bài Bonjour Vietnam, một bài hát trong album sắp phát hành của cô, đã được tìm thấy trên mạng. Và một hiện tượng thật sự đã xảy ra: bị thu hút bởi bài hát, nhiều người Việt Nam đã dịch lời của nó (nói về quê hương của Quỳnh Anh, nơi cô chưa từng ghé thăm) và tạo cho riêng cô một video clip. Điều này gây thiệt hại cho nhà sản xuất vì tất cả những việc này đều chưa được cho phép.Tuy nhiên, nói cho công bằng, Quỳnh Anh cũng đem “lộc” lại cho người đỡ đầu của mình vì sau việc này, đông đảo công chúng quốc tế có thể biết đến Marc Lavoine.Bernard Carbonez, ông bầu của Quỳnh Anh, cũng là người đã phát hiện ra Patrick Bruel, Elsa và Roch Voisine. Ông để ý đến cô sau khi nghe chuyên mục Pour la gloire do đài RTBF phát. Đối với ông, đĩa 45 vòng mà Quỳnh Anh thu chung với Marc Lavoine là bước đầu tiên của một hành trình dài nhưng đầy hứa hẹn.Trong khi chờ bản đơn ca đầu tiên sẽ tung ra vào mùa thu, ca khúc J’espère (hát chung với Marc Lavoine) sẽ được phát hành vào tháng 5 năm nay. Giống như sự hâm mộ dành cho Bonjour Vietnam trên mạng đã làm mọi người ngạc nhiên, ông giải thích: “Chúng tôi không hề mong đợi điều này! Đây là lần đầu tiên trong sự nghiệp, tôi được thấy một kết quả như vậy”.

As the United States occupation of Iraq continues, many of us continue to watch the news of the endless battles that the American troops are fighting against. One town named Fallujah is right in the heartland of the bloodshed as hundreds of thousands of civilians are caught between two sides. We rarely encounter documentaries on how civilians in Fallujah are expected to survive once the fighting is over. Unfortunately, the fighting is still not over and these civilians trapped inside Fallujah must struggle to keep their families alive.

Mark Manning, an independent filmmaker shows us the other side of the story that the mainstream American media often does not show. He lived with the citizens of Fallujah un-embedded and experienced life from their perspectives after their city was completely destroyed in an operation known as “Phantom Fury.”
So with fulfilling Mark’s promise on sharing his story to the rest of the word, you can watch the two part mini documentary on the aftermath of “Phantom Fury.”

Watch Part One

Watch Part Two

I saw this story last night and it gave me chills. Patrick Henry Hughes is an 18 year old talented genesis. Patrick’s is blind and can not walk due to his body and legs being stunted since birth. He said “”I mean, God made me blind and didn’t give me the ability to walk. I mean, big deal.” Patrick said, smiling. “He gave me the talent to play piano and trumpet and all that good stuff.” He is in a wheelchair but still manages to achieve things some of us only dream of.

His father is right by his side every step of the way. He works the night shift at UPS so that he can be with his son during the day while he attends school and marching band practice. Yes, Patrick is a proud member of the University of Louisville marching band. Patrick’s piano playing skills are simply amazing. Although blind, he has taught himself to play the piano by ear.

Patrick’s mother works full time to take care of the daily household problems and I tip and salute her hard work to her family too.

Lastly Patrick’s final words should be heard by us all, he said “That’s one of the great benefits I’ve found of being blind. I don’t see the skin color, I don’t see the hair length, I don’t see the eye shape, I just see what’s inside the person.”
Watch the interview with Patrick and his father on ABCNEWS here.

Patrick’s website.

Since Bill Maher ousted Republican Ken Mehlman last night, I can only speculate this is the reason he is not seeking another term as reported by the AP. I really think they need to start a club down there in Washington, particularly for the Republican gays! Who’s next to come out of the closet? Will Ken Mehlman seek rehabilitation too at a cost of $30,000 for 30 days? I really had no idea how many gay republicans are out there. I honestly don’t understand how someone who is gay can be republican either. Anyone care to explain that to me?

Well that’s my word on this matter! Watch the CNN video here!

Control of the House in 2007 will rest with the Democrats and the first Madame House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Although the U.S. still has an ultra neo-conservative president in power, I am optimistic that a new direction can take place. Democrats will now have the chance to launch inquiries into the illegal doings of President Bush along with his handling Iraq. This country desperately needs to refocus its efforts both domestically and internationally. And although, the races in Montana and Virginia have not been decided, the control of the House will certainly change the priorities of legislations down in Washington, D.C.

In key results:

• In Pennsylvania, Democrat Bob Casey Jr beat one of his party’s biggest Republican targets this year, arch-conservative incumbent Rick Santorum.
• In Ohio, where the Republican Party has been hit by scandal, Democrat Sherrod Brown won a decisive victory over incumbent Republican Mike DeWine.
• The Senate seat in Rhode Island went to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse after a closely-fought battle with incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee.
• In New Jersey, Democrat incumbent Senator Bob Menendez succeeded in holding off a strong challenge from the Republicans’ Thomas Kean.
• The Senate seat in Connecticut has gone to Joe Lieberman, who stood as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont amid strong anti-war feeling. He has said he will align himself with the Democrats, as has Vermont’s new socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, also an independent.
• Democrat Keith Ellison was elected as the nation’s first Muslim member of Congress, taking a House seat in Minnesota.
• In West Virginia, Democrat Robert Byrd’s victory made him the Senate’s longest serving member. The 88-year-old won a record ninth six-year term.
• Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has strolled to re-election in New York, as expected. Her win opens the way for a potential presidential run in 2008.
• Republicans lost the Florida district of Mark Foley, who resigned after the disclosure that he sent sexually explicit messages to teenage male congressional assistants.

Diebold, the company that will have hundreds of electronic voting systems across the United States has had a history of not complying with state regulations to ensure the accuracy of e-voting. Last year, the state of North Carolina passed a rigorous law requiring the Board of Elections to review all voting systems code prior to certification. Attorney Matt Zimmerman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) stated that “the new law was passed for a reason: to ensure that the voters of North Carolina have confidence in the integrity and accuracy of their elections. In stark contrast to every other equipment vendor that placed a bid with the state, Diebold went to court complaining that it simply couldn’t comply with the law. Diebold should spend its efforts developing a system that voters can trust, not asking a court to let it bypass legal requirements aimed at ensuring voting integrity.”

In an act of defiance, Diebold went to the North Carolina Superior Court to obtain a “void” of this law. I must say with the help of the North Carolina Superior Court, they were awarded a temporary restraining order exempting them. That was a grave failure on behalf of the NC state government. It failed to protect its own laws to ensure all votes are secure and accounted for.

Luckily, EFF intervened and took Diebold to court along with the State of NC to force them to comply with the NC law. To make a long story short, Diebold ended up withdrawing its machine from NC.

Full brief on Diebold v. NC

Complaint EFF v. NC State

The above complaint/brief filed are good to read especially the complaint brought from EFF. Companies should be in full compliance of state laws ensuring the integrity of their machines. In addition, States need to enforce their laws and not bow down to pressure and intimidation from large scale corporations.

What are your thoughts on the Diebold company? Any state that has them, is certainly in for grave errors during next week’s election.

vMany people, including me wonder who exactly in the government writes and defends the Bush’s administration policies in regards to torture. Well, let me introduce you to John Yoo, who some have said “wrote the book on torture.” He was with the U.S. Justice Department in a fairly high level position from 2001-2003.

He has helped Bush by unleashing him from the restraints of the law, thus enabling him to ignore the Bill of Rights and international law. Yoo was at the head of the Tourture Memo and stated that ““the President enjoys complete discretion in the exercise of his Commander-in-Chief authority and in conducting operations against hostile forces … we will not read a criminal statute as infringing on the President’s ultimate authority in these areas.”

He went on to later state in a debate that If the president deems that he’s got to torture somebody including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?” Yoo replied, “No treaty.”

Now that the memos are out there, I think everyone should at least be a little familiar with this as it applies to every American citizen. I can not reiterate this enough that if the President so deems to declare you an “enemy combatant” then you can be subject to torture. No habeas corpus for you or other rights that used to be guarantee by the Bill of Rights.
Mr. Yoo has authored two books:

The Powers Of War And Peace: The Constitution And Foreign Affairs After 9/11 (ISBN 0-226-96031-5). University of Chicago Press, 2005.

War by Other Means: An Insider’s Account of the War on Terror (ISBN 0-87113-945-6). Atlantic Monthly Press, forthcoming August or September 2006.