Inauguration Speech Minute Updates

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Here I am at school watching the Inauguration.  I will be logging notes throughout this special moment in time leading up to the final speech.  This is being written for my own personal reference but I'd imagine someone will wind up reading this.

ALL TIMES ARE IN CENTRAL

10:16 AM:  Hilary and Bill Clinton have arrived at the White House while CNN reports that George Bush Sr.  trails along.  CNN:  "Age has taken a toll on former President Bush."  Bush looked to walk at a very slow pace.  

10:18 AM:  U.S. Capitol - Jimmy Carter, Presidents Bush, and Clinton are being seated on the platform for the inauguration.  

10:26 AM:  Michelle Obama and children are introduced to the public.  I've been to the White House before for a Fourth of July celebration when I was younger but I've never seen anything like this.  If you thought the turnout for the victory speech in Chicago was something, this will blow you away.  CNN reports that this may be the most watched footage ever in the history of television.  

10:36 AM:  Soon to be former Vice President Dick Cheney is shown entering on a wheelchair.  Apparently he twisted his back while moving boxes into his new home in Virginia.  I was just notified that Obama will be sworn into the Presidency using the same very Bible that Abraham Lincoln was sworn into.  The last President to have that honor -- no one.  The Lincoln Bible was pulled from the library of the White House.  Amazing.

10:42 AM:  Obama is the fifth youngest person elected President.  The crowd is riled up and extremely excited.  "Ladies and Gentleman..."  

10:45AM:  Obama enters the Platform.  He is sporting a red tie.  Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Join Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, opens the ceremony.  

10:49AM:  Rick Warren provides an invocation speech.  It was a very emotional speech.  It is too bad the satellite signal tends to fail often.  

10:55AM:  Aretha Franklin sings America (My Country, Tis of Thee)

10:58AM:  Joe Biden is currently being sworn into the Vice Presidency.  It is done.  We have our new VP!  Although it would have been nice to see his eyes while he was being sworn in.  Sometimes you can see the sincerity in people when you look straight into their eyes.  

11:01AM:  Yo-Yo-Ma cellist along with several other musical composers are performing a special piece of music to Barack.  It is a composition with the cello, violin, clarinet, and piano.  It had a very soft sound to it.  

11:06AM:  Crowd is wild.  Barack is currently being sworn into the Presidency.  It is done.  President Obama fumbled a few of the words but you can see how nervous he was.  Who wouldn't?  My peers around me all laughed but were very receptive to the calling of our new President.  Congratulations President Obama, you are now the 44th President of the United States.

11:09AM:  Obama begins his speech.  

11:29AM:  Wow.  That was something.  He reminds of me Martin Luther King.  It feels good again to be an American.  

Time to get lunch.   

Inauguration Day 2009

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No, George W. Bush will not be getting any shoes thrown at him today but he will receive the boot when President-elect Barack Obama takes office to become the first African-American President in the history of the United States.  

Although I do feel terrible that Barack enters the Presidency with quite a load of tasks to fix.  We as Americans should understand that rebuilding the economy back into shape will prove to be a lengthier process than anticipated.  

I was listening to the radio today as an interesting topic came along.  An award winning researcher from NASA,  Dr. James Hansen, told Obama that his next four years will be the Earth's most important ones.  Hansen insists that the United States must act as the leader to promote cleaner emissions to avoid the most recent ice-cap meltings.  In relevance Hansen connects the irregular weather conditions due to carbon emissions being released into the Earth's greenhouse.  I can make sense to that.  

Dr. Hansen first warned the U.S. about the earth's possible climate change in 1988 until he was shunned by the government.  Funny to believe that Bush Sr. was in office at the time.  Why did we ignore this man for twenty years?  Furthermore how did we let another degenerate generation of the Bush family into office in those twenty years?  

I am not one to fickle with the past but we as citizens must take on the knowledge and responsibility of providing a place for our future grandchildren.  Please excuse me as I am off to watch a QUALIFIED President take the reins of our country.  

Good luck Obama.

Chicago weather conditions

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Not the most comforting sight to see while driving on the road...

Scary story

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As you all know I am a huge fan of sleep (Cecilia can testify to this). Four days ago I fell asleep on my daily yet arduous forty-minute train ride to school. When I woke up from my brief nap, the train took an extra long pause at the Lisle station. Five minutes later we were notified by the conductor that the Police would be entering the carts of each train. No explanation as to why. I immediately called my sister to investigate the matter as she was supposed to ride along with me that morning. Best decision she ever made. Minutes later I saw dozens of squad cars arriving to the station in a frantic fashion. The officers popped their trunks to pull out shotguns, assault rifles, and pistols. My family called me back saying the story was all over the news because there was reported to have a suspicious male with a gun on the train. NOT THE BEST WAY TO START OFF AN EARLY MORNING! While the train is being evacuated, the cops yelled "WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!" "How comforting" was my initial thought. Then the faces of all the tension struck males around me turned white. Another man replied back, "What about us?!" I sat there pinching myself hoping that this was all just a dream. Didn't work. It was most definitely real. The cops waited outside with their rifles aimed, ready to fire as each individual was being escorted outside into the freezing snowy weather. After my cart fully filed out, the search had stopped.


WHAT HAPPENED NEXT???

You can read it here. And here. And even here too.




Pictures from four days ago.




All I have to show for it is a higher blood pressure and some cool pictures. Why me?