There’s not really one part of the speech that one can focus on, it touched on so many segments held dear to Democrats. Obama, more than anything set the agenda for the platform that he intends to run on in the fall. This is where Obama will fight and attack on multiple fronts. Jobs, tax breaks, all were part of his strategies. Obama’s goal tonight was to create the beginnings of a grassroots campaign.

President Obama hinted toward cutting toward cutting or reforming social security and medicare. In some respects Obama is still trying to compromise with Republicans. We will see where this all in ends up, but the one constant that gives all Democrats room for optimism is that Republican policies and strategies will always ultimately fail.

As anyone knows this is been a pretty solid reason that Kodak has not been able to turn  the corner and introduce products that are in high demand. Kodak has introduced too many products that have failed to move the needle. One can speculate on why this happened but the reality is Kodak has to do a better job in defining the market And in going to market.

Somehow this situation will make us stronger as Americans. Our voices will still be heard and we will ultimately select the right candidate. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich,  Rick Santorum, Ron Paul are all candidates that in my opinion bring little or nothing to the table. This makes the political process a charade. This is actually the first time in American history when we have candidates on the Republican side that are less than qualified to lead the country. Where we go from here no one really knows. What we do know is that this is a desperate situation.

Republicans need to think long and hard about who they put up to face President Barack Obama. This is a legitimate question and is one that should not be taken lightly. Republicans have an obligation to the American people to put someone up with a legitimate chance to defeat President Barack Obama. Not put up a sacrificial lamb. And if anything this political primary process will be one to remember for many years to come. We’ll sit back and enjoy the ride.

Submitted by Sports Postings on Sat, – Shelbyville,  KY

If you haven’t heard, the University of Louisville men’s basketball coach finished off his Friday press conference with a 6-minute diatribe directed at Brown, the UofL beat reporter for The Courier-Journal. (Full disclosure: I did not attend the press conference, but watched the video from it a couple of times late Friday and early Saturday morning)

It was in regards to Brown’s article in Friday edition of the newspaper headlined “Louisville basketball’s coach Pitino: Practices not the problem.” An article, Pitino readily admits, that he did not read. In his semi-rant Pitino told Brown, “Don’t write erroneous things because you hear things,” and “you’re not telling the truth.”

This angered me for several different reasons.

1. Pitino didn’t even read the article so he doesn’t even know exactly what Brown wrote, he’s just going off what was told to him by UofL Sports Information Director Kenny Klein, and who knows if he fully understood what he was told. I’m guessing not since he seemed to think the article was a personal attack against him and his work ethic. Pitino told Brown, as well as the rest of the room: “If I ever have to take away and apologize for my work ethic, that will be the day. So you are not changing me with your nonsense you wrote in that article…”

I’ve read the article a couple of times tonight and can say from the perspective of a fellow journalist that it is fair and balanced. About the only thing I could see in it that might draw Pitino’s ire were a couple of comments that former UofL coach Denny Crum made about him to a local television station (and Brown quoted) and then the following sentence, which includes a partial quote from former Cardinal Preston Knowles.

Brown wrote: “Knowles said UofL players are never at 100 percent – ‘you’re playing at 80 percent like the whole season’ – because they practice so hard so often.”

2. I have to agree with Jason Anderson, of the local ESPN radio station, who said that Pitino’s calling out of Brown at the end of his news conference “unprofessional.” If Pitino did have a problem with what Brown wrote he should have addressed him privately, one-on-one in the hallway before, or after, the press conference.

3. The thing that angered me the most, though, was this personal and public attack against Brown. I have known C.L. for more than 10 years. We used to work together and for more than two years my desk was right across from his, and there is one thing I can tell you for sure about him – he is a consummate professional and is a very fair journalist. Pitino all but called Brown a liar (“you’re not telling the truth,” he said) in front of his peers. That would be like Brown, or any other journalist for that matter, calling Pitino a cheater in front of his fellow coaches. To top it off I can tell you that Brown is one of the nicest members of the Louisville media you’ll ever meet. I’d bet you’d have a hard time finding anyone in the Louisville media, or at UofL, with a bad word to say about Brown. The Courier-Journal is lucky to have him as a journalist and people in his area are lucky to have someone who works as hard as he does giving them information about the UofL men’s basketball and football teams.

Hopefully sometime after Friday’s press conference Pitino, who could be feeling the pressure of his team having lost four of its last five games with a batch of recruits (as he mentioned) coming in this weekend, had a chance to actually sit down and read Brown’s article. If so, hopefully he realizes he was wrong in going after Brown. Hopefully he makes things right and starts off his post-game press conference after Saturday’s contest against DePaul with an apology to Brown. A big one

Ricky Rubio is a solid player out of the Euro basketball league. The Spanish player is making an impact with the Timberwolves. The best way I can describe him is  he is a throwback to “Pistol” Pete Maravich, particularly the trick passes  through the defenses leg, behind the back passes, you name it Rubio can do it.  Maravich was more skilled at doing the same thing and Maravich was also a lot better outside shooter. But most of Maravich was a great scorer.   Rubio is good, but he is definitely not a Derrick Rose or a Chris Paul, or a Pete Maravich.

Kentucky-Auburn

Auburn gave Kentucky all it could handle on Wednesday night, Kentucky prevailed. I wrote this recap while watching the game.  As I look at this game, it follows the pattern in the SEC where Kentucky makes a habit of delivering a more than a decent record in the pre-season, but always subject to upsets in the SEC.  That’s the nature of SEC Basketball. The score is inconsequential as Kentucky will grind out a victory at Auburn.

Louisville- Providence

The big story here is the meltdown by the Cardinal who lost by a significant margin to Providence, a team that was 1-4 in the Big East Going into the game at Providence.  Louisville is in big trouble this season. The season was supposed to be a breakout season with a stellar recruiting Class headed by Chane  Behanan and Wayne Blackshear. A not so funny thing happen though, they are coached by Rick Pitino. This in itself may be a recipe for another dismal season.

Look, most of us feel voting is our civic duty.  It is something that is our right to do as Americans. If we don’t vote, we are not only throwing away one of our most cherished rights, but we are unappreciative of many people who gave their lives so we could have this privilege. Many Americans respect that right and thank the men and women who made it possible.

If you are one of those who regularly vote, you respect our civic duties and you are to  be commended.  But there are so many who could care less about their civic duty.  The challenge is how do  we reach these people, who fall in the category of “could care less”?   You know if they are in this category they are probably not registered. Which is an entirely  different issue and fuel for another blog post.

These are more of the issues facing our American electorial system.  The debate  must continue to improve the situation.

Another in law is my fraternity brother in Omega Phi Phi Fraternity and he pledged at Murray State, so I  have a special attachment to the school. 

The basketball lineage at Murray State includes some very good players paticularly during the Cal  Luther era,  like Claude Virdin and Les Taylor during the early seventies.

Now Murray State is accomphlishing the  astounding by  actually going undefeated and ranked  14th or 15th depending on which basketball Poll you believe.  All we can say at the point is  ”Go Racers”.

Tim Tebow one throw in OT wins the game and takes advantage of the NFL new overtime rules that says the first team that scores a TD wins the game. Guess what Tim Tebow throws a pass on the first possession of overtime and it’s a touchdown!  Unbelievable. This is one of the greatest NFL Moments in quite some time; the last one that I can remember was the improvable fumble recovery by Franco Harris, ironically of the Steelers in the seventies.   This overtime lasted less than on minute.

Tim Tebow won this game with his arm 10-21 passing and throwing for 300 plus yards, 2 TD, and rush for one TD.  Thus is a quarterback that they said could not play in the NFL. One week ago we did not know that the Denver Broncos would even make the playoffs. Tim Tebow helped this team come back to win five times this year.  The Broncos were buried in oblivion. Without him the Broncos would not be in the playoffs.   It pays to be a man of faith who follows  the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This Article Was Originally Publish By The ROOT……………………

One thing I hate to do is act as teacher to the clueless. But it’s clear, after the speaker of the Kansas House, Republican Mike O’Neal, forwarded an email with pictures making fun of first lady Michelle Obama’s appearance and calling her “Mrs. YoMama,” that school is once again in session. You would think these folks — including Wisconsin GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner, with his unhealthy obsession with what he called the first lady’s “large posterior”; the South Carolina Republican activist who once compared her to a zoo’s escaped gorilla; and all the other offenders — would have at least learned self-control. But since they can’t seem to help themselves, some lessons bear repeating. Read and learn.

1. When people who aren’t black use slang that purports to be “black,” it just makes them look incredibly foolish. To all who thought the email O’Neal sent was hilarious, you need to know that black people don’t go around saying “YoMama” in conversation. (After holiday visits with family, I can report that the term did not come up once.) Use the term around anyone, particularly your actual mother, and random black people within earshot will make that circle-around-the-head motion and slowly back away. (Hint: Black people call other black people by their names.) Words such as “YoMama” are used by people who don’t know anything about black people to mock them. It’s how they imagine black folks speak, and the fact that they spend so much time imagining such things is something they probably should discuss with a doctor. Either that, or spend some time with black people.

2. The cartoon in O’Neal’s email showed Mrs. Obama’s hair blowing in the wind and compared it to an image of Dr. Seuss’ Grinch. Hair is hair. A black person’s hair is no exception. It comes in all different textures and styles. We wash it, dry it, curl it, straighten it or leave it be — and sometimes it even blows in the wind. Our hair is not a secret weapon or a hiding place for one.

3. An apology goes something like this: “I messed up; I’m sorry.” In O’Neal’s apology, first reported in the Lawrence Journal-World, he said he didn’t read the email before he forwarded it and had no idea it labeled Mrs. Obama with a racist slur. He made clear that he did indeed intend to share the cartoon, which he thought was a real thigh-slapper. In a statement, O’Neal said, “I’ve had bad hair days too … To those I have offended, I am sorry. That was not at all my intent.” Did you write that statement — the one that repeats one part of your insult before implying that anyone who had a problem with the email might be too thin-skinned — with a straight face, Mr. O’Neal? No apology at all would have been better.

4. No woman likes to be insulted and demeaned or compared to cartoon characters. Just because black women are used to such treatment (and worse) in America does not mean they think it’s OK. Would your wife or mother, daughter or sister, like it? What would you do to the guy who spread insults about them? Keep it up, and even no-drama Obama might be tempted to punch you in the mouth.

5. A little history and geography lesson is also in order for those who continue to grumble that the president and first lady took a Hawaiian vacation on the taxpayers’ dime. All presidents take well-deserved breaks; many Americans, for that matter, return home for the holidays. For me, that meant seeing hubby’s mom in New York and my family in Baltimore. President Bush loved to clear brush in Crawford, Texas. President Obama returns to Hawaii because he was born and mostly grew up there. (Yes, it is a state.) It’s where the grandmother who helped raise him lived until her death in 2008. He can’t help it if his home has beaches, warm weather and killer optics. In November 2012 there will be an election when all those who want a new family in the White House will have the chance to make their dreams a reality. It’s how America works. Until then, the first family we have is the image the United States presents to the world. Some respect, or at least good sense, is in order.

And one final lesson: When you receive a nasty email, “delete” works so much better than “forward.” Mary C. Curtis, an award-winning Charlotte, N.C.-based journalist, is a contributor to the Washington Post’s She the People blog, The Root, NPR, Fox News Charlotte, Creative Loafing and the Nieman Watchdog blog, and she was national correspondent for Politics Daily. Follow her on Twitter.