The First Black American US President: Barack Obama

Obama triumphs, will be first black US President

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation's first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.

The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Iowa.
A huge crowd in Grant Park in Obama's home town of Chicago erupted in jubilation at the news of his victory. Some wept.
McCain called his former rival to concede defeat — and the end of his own 10-year quest for the White House. "The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly," McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona.
Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009.
As the 44th president, Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.
The popular vote was close, but not the count in the Electoral College, where it mattered most.
There, Obama's audacious decision to contest McCain in states that hadn't gone Democratic in years paid rich dividends.
Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.
Fellow Democrats rode his coattails to larger majorities in both houses of Congress. They defeated incumbent Republicans and won open seats by turn.
The 47-year-old Illinois senator was little known just four years ago. A widely praised speech at the Democratic National Convention, delivered when he was merely a candidate for the Senate, changed that.
Overnight he became a sought-after surrogate campaigner, and he had scarcely settled into his Senate seat when he began preparing for his run for the White House.
A survey of voters leaving polling places on Tuesday showed the economy was by far the top Election Day issue. Six in 10 voters said so, and none of the other top issues — energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care — was picked by more than one in 10.
"May God bless whoever wins tonight," President Bush told dinner guests at the White House, where his tenure runs out on Jan. 20.
The Democratic leaders of Congress celebrated in Washington.
"It is not a mandate for a party or ideology but a mandate for change," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California: "Tonight the American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America."
Shortly after 11 p.m. in the East, The Associated Press count showed Obama with 338 electoral votes, well over the 270 needed for victory. McCain had 127 after winning states that comprised the normal Republican base.
The nationwide popular vote was remarkably close. Totals from 58 percent of the nation's precincts showed Obama with 51 percent and McCain with 47.9.
Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama nationwide, while men leaned his way by a narrow margin. Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004.
The results of the AP survey were based on a preliminary partial sample of nearly 10,000 voters in Election Day polls and in telephone interviews over the past week for early voters.
Democrats also acclaimed Senate successes by former Gov. Mark Warner in Virginia, Rep. Tom Udall in New Mexico and Rep. Mark Udall in Colorado. All won seats left open by Republican retirements.
In New Hampshire, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican Sen. John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 race, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole fell to Democrat Kay Hagan in North Carolina.
Democrats also looked for gains in the House. They defeated Republican incumbents Rep. Tom Feeney and Ric Keller in Florida, 22-year veteran Chris Shays in Connecticut and Rep. Robin Hayes in North Carolina.
At least two Democrats lost their seats. Rep. Kevin Mahoney fell after admitting to two extramarital affairs while serving his first term in Florida. In Louisiana, Democratic Rep. Don Cazayoux lost the seat he had won in a special election six months ago.
The resurgent Democrats also elected a governor in one of the nation's traditional bellwether states when Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon won his race.
The White House was the main prize of the night on which 35 Senate seats and all 435 House seats were at stake. A dozen states elected governors, and ballots across the country were dotted with issues ranging from taxes to gay rights.
An estimated 187 million voters were registered, and in an indication of interest in the battle for the White House, 40 million or so had already voted as Election Day dawned.
Obama sought election as one of the youngest presidents, and one of the least experienced in national political affairs.
That wasn't what set the Illinois senator apart, though — neither from his rivals nor from the other men who had served as president since the nation's founding more than two centuries ago. A black man, he confronted a previously unbreakable barrier as he campaigned on twin themes of change and hope in uncertain times.
McCain, a prisoner of war during Vietnam, a generation older than his rival at 72, was making his second try for the White House, following his defeat in the battle for the GOP nomination in 2000.
A conservative, he stressed his maverick's streak. And although a Republican, he did what he could to separate himself from an unpopular president.
For the most part, the two presidential candidates and their running mates, Biden and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, spent weeks campaigning in states that went for Bush four years ago.
McCain and Obama each won contested nominations — the Democrat outdistancing former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton — and promptly set out to claim the mantle of change.
Obama won Colorado, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Florida, Virginia, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey, as well as the District of Columbia.
McCain had Nebraska, Idaho, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia, Utah, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, South Dakota and North Dakota.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/election_rdp

Worst Best Man Ever...

Very Funny Video... hehehhehe

Worst Best Man Ever @ Yahoo! Video

Princess Bride..

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Happily Ever After

Veneta Leonard

Brooke was our little princess. She was spoiled not only by me, but by her father and four older brothers as well. She was beautiful and intelligent, but also compassionate and loving. She never put herself first; she lived to make others happy. She made our souls sing.

Brooke met Dan in her junior year of college. I loved her phone calls even more now. Her laughter and giggles when she talked about Dan made my heart smile.


But when he graduated, Dan took a position two states away with an esteemed accounting firm. Over the next year, Dan and Brooke kept in constant contact. I could tell my daughter was in love, so I prayed nightly their hearts would remain strong and true, and would someday be united as one.

Brooke graduated with honors and applied for several jobs near Dan’s home. It didn’t take her long to be offered one. Now they were not only close in heart, but also close in proximity as they shared day-to-day life. Two years passed before I got the phone call I dreamed of and prayed for.

My princess was getting married!

They set a date for the following summer. Since it was already January, we had a year and a half to prepare for this joyous occasion. Brooke and I began planning a fairy-tale wedding―the only kind fit for a princess.

But on December 2, the fairy-tale world came crashing down. A simple yearly exam revealed horrifying news: Brooke had breast cancer and it was already quite advanced. We cried for hours.

Why was this happening? Why Brooke? Why my baby? Why not me? I just didn’t understand. I was terrified, confused and angry all at the same time. But I soon brushed all my emotions aside to put Brooke first.

I assured her we would beat this thing and life would go on as planned. She would grow old with Dan and the children they would one day have. I knew my princess would be okay. She had to. She was my baby and I would not say goodbye to her. After all, this wasn’t the way things were supposed to happen.

But the doctors were honest from the beginning. They only gave Brooke a 20 percent chance of survival. Because of her cancer’s advanced stage, a regimen of drugs and chemotherapy began immediately.

After only a month or so of treatment, the disease spread and my daughter got weaker. We knew Brooke had only a short time left. My heart was broken and beaten.

Throughout, Dan remained strong. He was there for Brooke every step of the way. She had lost all of her hair, dropped so much weight she couldn’t even sit without help and could stay awake no longer than ten to twenty minutes at a time. Yet Dan was there to love and support her.

One day, Dan asked for our blessing to marry Brooke before she passed away. He had loved her so long and only wanted one thing in his life: Brooke as his wife. Even if her days left on Earth were uncertain, he wanted them to be spent as a married couple.

We knew she still dreamed of the fairy-tale wedding she would now never have. But we also knew she would not want Dan to marry her when they both knew she was dying. So, we decided the wedding would be a surprise. With help and cooperation from the hospital staff, Dan secretly arranged a lovely ceremony.

When Brooke first realized what was happening, she strongly objected. But Dan explained the most important thing in his life was her. And all he wanted was her as his wife―be it for fifty years or for only a day. Brooke sobbed, but agreed. It was her dream, too.

Dan brought a simple but beautiful white gown, delicate lace scarf and sheer veil to her hospital room. The nurses and I dressed the fragile bride, using the scarf to cover her smooth head and draping the veil gently over it. Even pale and broken, my princess daughter shined. This was her day, the day she had dreamed of and planned for.

There was no elegant church as we’d once imagined. None of her family and friends were in attendance as we’d once hoped. But her beloved Dan was there, they were getting married and that was what mattered most. The two exchanged vows and a touching, sweet wedding kiss. It may not have been the fairy tale, but it was still a dream come true.

Brooke spent sixteen days as the wife of the man she adored and loved. And it wasn’t until after she passed away that I found a letter tucked into her hospital nightstand.

In it, Brooke wrote that she had only ever wanted to love, be loved and to matter to others. She expressed her gratitude for wonderful brothers and loving parents. The day Dan married her, she said, all her dreams came true. She had truly lived her life’s dream. Brooke felt her life was complete; she was neither afraid nor disappointed. And, compassionate to the end, she wished only that none of us had to suffer her loss.

Today, we often see Dan and we love him as our son and Brooke’s husband. After all, he made our daughter a princess when she most deserved to be.

Source: http://www.beliefnet.com/nllp/ChickenSoupSoul.aspx?date=9-23-2008&WT.mc_id=NL49

Charice and Celine Dion Duet: Because You Love Me...

I want to share this video with all of you Guys... Go Charice... We are so proud of you...

The Wedding...",)

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dads and Daughters
John P. Walker

Jack and Jean were among our earliest friends when I began ministry in my very first church as full-time pastor. Their friendly faces and warm smiles were a great encouragement to a young preacher with the Sunday morning pulpit jitters. The smiles were genuine, and that was a surprise to me. They had been through more trials than almost anyone I’d known.

Jack had been a chemist with a successful company. Over a period of ten years, a diagnosis of severe rheumatoid arthritis took Jack from being a healthy workingman to someone confined to a wheelchair and living on a disability pension. By the time I met him, he could move himself from the wheelchair only with great difficulty, and then, only to shift to another chair, or to stand for a moment. Pain and effort showed in his face when making these transitions, which were usually few and far between.


He and Jean got around well in a new van, converted for the wheelchair. A small elevator installed in their townhouse moved Jack between the floors, and despite his misshapen, arthritis-bent fingers, he learned to use a computer and assisted us at the church with some of our financial work.

Through Jack and Jean, I came to know their now-adult daughters. When Susan, the eldest, arrived at my office to ask me to perform a wedding for her and her fiancé, Eric, it was no great surprise. Her father had hinted only a few weeks earlier that this might be coming.

The counseling and the planning of the ceremony seemed to go by very quickly, and soon it was almost time for the wedding. One day Susan made an unscheduled stop at my office. From the look on her face, I knew that something was seriously wrong. She came straight to the point. “My dad wants to walk me down the aisle,” she said, close to tears. “He really thinks he can do it. He absolutely insists on it.”

“I’ll practice until the wedding. I’m going to do this,” he told me adamantly while we sat at his kitchen table drinking tea the next day. “Please pray for me!” I knew there was no changing his mind when he was determined to do something, and so I let the subject drop. I did, however, pray.

When the evening of the rehearsal arrived, we set up several scenarios which would allow Jack to “present” the bride. Only one of the three involved him walking, and we included it only to please Jack. A brief experiment that evening seemed to deflate Jack’s determination as he only took a few steps before he had to sit back down. From the platform, I watched sadly as he hung his head where he sat. Again I prayed.

The wedding day arrived. Everything was going as planned. At the top of the hour, I found myself standing on the steps of the platform with groom and groomsmen awaiting the bridal party.

The music began playing and the bridesmaids proceeded down the aisle. Each paused and turned as she passed the front row of pews and took her place opposite the groomsmen. The maid of honor was last to walk, and as she turned in her appointed position, the music softly concluded.

After a brief pause, the organist played the dramatic opening notes of the wedding march. “Will you all please stand,” I instructed.

I found myself thinking of Jack. He had been brought up the steps to the sanctuary earlier, and now waited in the wheelchair by the door. With the struggles of the previous evening still in mind, I was sure that Jack would not be walking the aisle today. I was disappointed for his sake, but I couldn’t imagine his hurt. This had meant so much to him.

The doors to the church sanctuary opened to the side at the rear. This meant that the bride would have to walk behind the last row of pews before turning into the center aisle. I could just make out Susan’s progress above the heads of the now standing congregation because of the puff of white taffeta that stood up from her veil.

I saw that puff of white stop, and then murmuring began near the back of the church. A moment later, the beautiful bride made her turn into the main aisle. It took a second to realize what was happening. Susan was being escorted by her father, and he was walking!

Slowly, and painfully, Jack took a few steps and then paused to catch his breath. With a cane in his left hand and her arm on his right, father and daughter moved toward me. It seemed as if the entire congregation was holding its collective breath, all of us fearing that the next step would be the last. I believe, in that moment, that we were all unified in prayer for Jack.

The organist looked at me with panic in her eyes as the music came close to its conclusion. I motioned for her to continue playing, and a few more minutes inched past before the bride and her father finally arrived at the front.

As the music concluded, I quickly gathered my thoughts. Still awestruck, I voiced a rather shaky introduction. I almost choked up when I asked, “Who presents this woman to be married to this man?” Jack’s voice came back clear and strong, and not without some measure of pride: “Her mother and I do.”

As Susan hugged her father and then took her place alongside her soon-to-be husband, I noticed that her face was wet with tears. I noticed my own face was wet. In fact, it seemed like the whole congregation had been deeply moved.

The wedding reception which followed was a wonderful affair. It was one of the grandest I had ever attended. But whatever the charm or excitement of the post-wedding celebration, the highlight of the day, in everyone’s eyes, remained the miracle we had witnessed shortly before. The miracle of Jack, with determination born of love, and with faith in the living God, escorting his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day!

No truer words express the miracle of that day as those written in Mark 10:27: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Source: http://www.beliefnet.com/nllp/ChickenSoupSoul.aspx?date=9-12-2008&WT.mc_id=NL49

I'm Looking for this Hand...",)

Anne and Darios Wedding

I have my vacation leave yesterday (August 26, 2008) just to attend the wedding of my classmates anne. I have so much fun yesterday especially seeing the beautiful couple anne and darios with so much love for each other. Everything is perfect and no one can seperate them as there eyes spark madly in love. When you see them right in that moment you will wisper to yourself "how I wish my right guy will come along and love me for what I am and will have this perfect moment..." haay Love Life kailan ka kaya darating...."

For anne and darios Congratulations and more power to you. Have faith in God and enjoy each other as a newly weds. May Love and God be the center of your relationship. Just remember your responsiblity and always be open to each other. I attached some photos from the wedding together with my classmates. I still don't have the photos from the couple, I will just try to have one for you to see anne and darios. I have already the picture, thanks to rogelyn.

Thank you for dropping by...

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On My Own...",)

by: Lea Salonga
I can relate on this... Pretending he's beside me...",)


And now Im all alone again
no where to turn no one to go to
Without a home without a friend without a face to say hello to
And now the night is near
now I can make believe hes here

Sometimes I walk alone at night when everybody
else is sleeping
I think of him and then I'm happy with
the company I'm keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head

On my own,
Pretending he's beside me,
All alone, I walk with him till morning.
Without him, I feel his arms around me,
And when I lose my way, I close my eyes,
And he has found me...

In the rain,
The pavement shines like silver,
All the lights are misty in the river,
In the darkness the trees are full of starlight,

And all I see is him and me,
Forever and forever...

And I know it's only in my mind,
That I'm talking to myself and not to him,
And although I know that he is blind,
Still I say, there's a way for us...

I love him,
But when the night is over,
He is gone, the river's just a river
Without him the world around me changes,
The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers.

I love him,
But everyday I'm learning,
All my life,
I've only been pretending,
Without me,
His world will go on turning,
A world that's full of happiness,
That I have never known...

I love him... I love him...
I love him... But only on my own...
___________
I Love this...

The Five Fingers of Prayers...",)

1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember.

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain.

5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all. Which is where we should place ourselves in relation to GOD and others. Your pinky should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Source: http://www.funpages.com/fingersofprayer/

_____________________________
Remember them in your prayers...

Famous Last Words...",)

From the Chicken Soup for the Soul

Famous Last Words
by:Barbara LoMonaco

Oh those dreaded words! But here was my trusted, very best friend calling me and telling me that she was fixing me up on a blind date. A blind date! Was she out of her mind? We were juniors in high school and she and I had been the best of friends since first grade. We had grown up together, shared our secrets, shared our parents and had laughed and cried together. Did she want to end our friendship here and now? She must have been crazy thinking that she was going to fix me up with her boyfriend’s friend. She had never even seen this guy and here she was insisting that we were going to double date and go to Disneyland. And the date was tonight! Was she crazy? I was not going to go out with some strange geek, and I was especially not going to be stuck with that geek at Disneyland for hours and hours. Couldn’t we go to a movie instead? At least if we were going to a movie, it would be dark and I wouldn’t have to talk to him or look at him.

My friend, Sue, and I had a huge fight. She insisted that I was going on this date, and I insisted that there was no way that I was going. Back and forth we argued. She said that I was just being stubborn—like that mattered. She said that if I didn’t go, she couldn’t go—like guilt was going to make any difference to me. Who cared? We were at a complete impasse.

I decided to talk to my mother. I knew she would be on my side and back me up. She always did. To my surprise my mother told me that she thought I should go. I couldn’t believe my ears. What was my mother doing on Sue’s side of the argument? My mother said that I really enjoyed going to Disneyland and, since Sue was going, too, she knew that I would have a good time. Sue and I always had good times together. Then, after the date, we could talk on the phone for hours and hours going over all of the details again and again. After all, it was only for one short evening. My mother said to me, “You’re just going to Disneyland—you’re not going to marry the guy!”

Famous last words! Not only did I go to Disneyland on that blind date, but four years later I did marry that very same guy! And now, some thirty years later, my blind date, Frank, our three sons and I still tease my mother about her famous last words. And I am still the very best of friends with Sue—who is more like a sister to me than a friend. We still share our secrets and our memories and she still tells me that I am stubborn. Well, we all know which one of us is the stubborn one—and it’s not me! She never gives up until she gets her way. And after all of these years she still gives me a hard time about not wanting to go on that blind date. Who knew it would turn out the way that it did? Thanks, Sue.

Source: http://www.beliefnet.com/nllp/ChickenSoupSoul.aspx?date=7-30-2008&WT.mc_id=NL49

My Friends....",)

Picture taking... Mamsy joanna, Em2x, rogelyn, mild and me...",)
At Upper Kibalang, Marilog, Davao City