Obama may have a lot of charisma and funding, but is he really the most able to pull off the role of President of the USA?  McCain knows how to endure the rough times and is able to move on without holding a grudge, but his support of the Iraq War is bothersome.  Will McCain work to end the war in Iraq and move on to other more relevant battles?  McCain sure has more ability and experience than Obama, but I feel that his character is a little flawed in that he wants to continue the futile War in Iraq.  If we have to go to war, it should be with Al-Qaeda itself on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

     When Nader publically criticized GM on its automobile, Corvair, they tapped his phones, investigated his past and even sent prostitutes his way so they can influence him to transgress.  Ralph Nader remained a man of character and ethics and GM found nothing amiss in his past. 

     Nader has good character and experience working under Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the government.  He also is an attourney.

     Another good thing about Nader is that he speaks Arabic.  During our times of trouble in the Middle East, it is a good idea to have a leader who is fluent in at least one of the languages that is widely used in the Middle East.  He’s of Middle Eastern descent which would make it easier for the Middle Eastern natives to relate to us if Nader was President. 

     He’s been running as a candidate for the past five elections.  He’s been a political insider for at least 20 years and understands the Middle Eastern culture.  I think we should give him a chance.  He may not be very charismatic and may not have the funding the other two candidates have, but do we judge a person by how much money one has or by his character?  I guess it depends on our own character.  I don’t know about you, but I judge a person by his or her character, not by his or her bank account and ability to schmooze.  

     Hitler was one of the best schmoozers history has ever known, but did he have good character?  Think about it.  Schmoozing is the art of manipulating people without letting them acknowledge that they have been manipulated.  The penchant to schmooze is a sign of a character flaw.  If one can’t attract people without resorting to manipulation, there’s a problem not only on the part of the individual, but on the society.

     For many centuries, England has been one of the richest nations on Earth.  It ruled the world.  But, did that mean that England was of good character?  Not at all.  England had treated minorities with cruelty.  For example,  England used to discriminate against native Indians (India Indians).  The British were very violent toward them.  For example, if an Indian burned his ID card in protest against how they were treated by the British, they would be wacked by a bobby stick until knocked uncoscious.

     So, when voting, please cast your vote for someone based on their character and not their ability to schmooze or raise money.  You’ll be glad you did.

Ellwood left behind his beloved daughter Sue; his cat, Skippy; Sue’s brother Stephen "Slim" Henry, adopted daughter Kathy and grandchildren sired by Kathy.  He also left behind my wife who always thought of him as her second father.  

Ellwood died of pneumonia, but the worst part of it was that the staff at Ellwood’s nursing home never called Sue to tell her that he was taking a turn for the worst.  The week before, Sue tried to encourage her father to take his medication, but he refused.  Sue’s a nurse at a hospital in Rhode Island.  Ellwood, a fan of ritzy restaurants, refused to eat as he normally did.  Sue was very upset and cried profusely saying that she should have visited him last Friday, the day before his death.

Ellwood specialized in pointilism and graduated from an art institute in New Hampshire.  Said art institute wanted to hire him in a position that would have changed his life forever had he taken it.  He declined the position stating that he wanted to stay in Rhode Island to take care of his wife and young children.  That’s sacrifice and familial dedication we don’t find too often now in the for-the-most-part Capitalist West where much greed and avaricious ambition led to the near-collapse of a world’s economy.  Ellwood still worked his art and magic for all around him to see.

On a humourous note, Ellwood was doing some legerdemain at a Christmas party at Sue’s house.  He then, to the guffaws of our friends family, said in a mystical voice, "I will now retrieve a quarter from my wife’s bra."  For the sake of respect for Ellwood and his family (as I still see Ellwood as a spiritual force to be reckoned with as he definately had the creative sparks all fired up throughout his life) during this time of grief, I will not go into here what he did next.  Use your imagination. 

I chose to use the following quote from John Milton in the poem because I felt that it reflected Ellwood’s penchant for fancy restaurants and festive rabble-rousing that he may have made manifest during the horror that was the Korean War: "…Pomp, feast and revelry/With mask and antique pageantry/ Such as youthful poets dream/on Summer eves by haunted stream".  The haunted stream being the Yalu, or Amnok, River which forms the Northern boundary between the Korean Peninsula and China. 

In the poem, I included seven geographic features as Ellwood was a master cartographer for the Navy during the Korean War.  The Yalu, or Amnok, River, the island of Jeju-do which, although belonging to South Korea, lies South of the Jeju Strait with the Yellow Sea to the West and Sea of Japan to the East; the Yellow Sea, itself; the city of Seogwipo, on the Souther coast of Jeju-do, and, of course, the dreaded 38th Parallel.

We go to water aerobics twice a week.  This helps her movement.  Our niece was at water aerobics with us.

Everyone, to be honest, has the right to chose.  This right is called Free Will by theologians.  What most people forget to acknowledge is that there are consequences to our choices.  People have a hard time facing the consequences of their choices.  Even before there was a U.S. Constitution, people have had the right to chose.  God gave us that right.  But God also wants us to acknowledge the consequences of our choices, both good and bad.

The consequences of abortions are always bad.  Studies have shown that women feel guilt after their abortions.  The loss of a life is pretty obvious.  The destruction of the woman’s soul after having an abortion can be catastrophic.

One thing I wonder about is the freedom of the unborn child to live.  Life is the greatest of God’s gifts and we all, born and unborn, have that God-given gift.  The unborn are very fragile and should be taken care of and preserved.

I saw the movie Underdog which I was in.  I was a gardener and on screen for a minute or so as Underdog flew above me.  Although my fellow actors were friendly and helpful knowing of my hearing disorder, the Assistant Director was not so nice.  I’m 38 now and started acting since I was 11.  I performed at such venues as Harvard University.  The assistant director had the gaul to tell us (and there are some very talented stage actors here in New England who are members of SAG) to shut our yaps and that there are people who are being paid big money who know what they are doing.  Well, with my acting credentials and those of my fellow Boston Regional SAG members, I think we know what we were doing.  For some egotistical reason, Hollywood thinks that the only people who can act are living in LA or NYC.  50% of SAG membership actually lives outside of those two cities.  The Union continues to discriminate against half of its members by not allowing us non-LA/non-NYC residents who are members of SAG equal opportunity in performing major roles in film.  The age-old excuse as paraphrased from a speech Boston SAG President Dona Sommers is "It’s always been done that way".  The only reason she could think of to justify the constant discrimination SAG allows is that it’s always been that way.  Why can’t things change?  As Obama is fond of saying, "It’s all more of the same". 

I had lunch with Underdog ‘s star and talked with the girl cast to play Molly (Polly Purebred’s owner).  The kid was a total moron with only three years of acting experience behind him.  When I was his age, I only had three years of acting experience, but because I lived in New England, Hollywood would think that the only parts I could play would have been Extra Parts.  The only difference between a star and an extra is that the stars live in Hollywood or New York City and the extras live elsewhere.  Believe you me, there are plenty of well-credentialed actors outside of Hollywood and New York City who are getting the shaft.  Another thing that bothers me about SAG, is that the more you make, the less dues you have to pay per centage.  If you earn more than $100,000 you don’t have to pay dues at all.  It’s absolutely criminal.  The only way to make $100,000 or more as an actor is not to have a lot of stage experience.  The only  credential you need to be paid that much is to live in New York City and LA.  I could have over 20 years of acting behind me in Ivy League Universities as an actor-in-residence (as I was at Brown University since 2003 until my Artistic Director died and a new person was put in charge and decided not to pay it’s ‘in-residences), that doesn’t matter.  For as long as I live outside of Hollywood and New York City, I will never have the chance to shine in a major role in a unionized film.  I refuse to sell out and move because I feel that the system is totally unfair.  If I had my way, I’d arrest all of the Union leaders in Hollywood and New York City for location discrimination.  I’d also have all Producers who feel entitled to discriminate against 50% of the SAG membership arrested.