After all the hammering by the Republicans this past week, lest we forget:
What follows is a partial list of Obama’s accomplishments so far. Unlike many such lists, there is a link to a citation supporting every single one.
From the site: Addicting Information
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/01/a-long-list-of-president-obamas-accomplishments-with-citations/
Legislative Prowess
Despite the characterizations of some, Obama’s success rate in winning congressional votes on issues was an unprecedented 96.7% for his first year in office. Though he is often cited as superior to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson’s success rate in 1965 was only 93%. http://n.pr/i3d7cY
Fiscal Responsibility
Within days after taking office, he signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse. http://1.usa.gov/dUvbu5
Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money. http://n.pr/hcgBn1
On his first full day, he froze White House salaries. http://on.msnbc.com/ewJUIx
He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending. http://www.cio.gov
He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems, and also signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system. http://bit.ly/hOw1t1 http://bit.ly/fz8GAd
Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. http://bit.ly/hwKhKa
Improving the Economy, Preventing Depression
He pushed through and signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package,” despite the fact that not one Republican voted for that bill. In addition, he launched recovery.gov, so that taxpayers could track spending from the Act. http://1.usa.gov/ibiFSs http://1.usa.gov/e3BJMk
In his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy 3.5%. http://reut.rs/i46CEE
He completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, and recovered virtually all of its costs. http://1.usa.gov/eA5jVS http://bit.ly/eCNrD6
He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan. http://1.usa.gov/goy6zl
He oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. http://bit.ly/hrrnjY
He oversaw a bailout of General Motors that saved at least 1.4 million jobs, and put pressure on the company to change its practices, resulting in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world. http://lat.ms/zIJuQx
He also doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency. http://bit.ly/eYD4nf
He signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system. It also created a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown. http://abcn.ws/g18Fe7
He signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. http://1.usa.gov/gIaNcS
He increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect. http://bit.ly/f77aOw
He signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures. The bill also provided $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and to stabilize the housing market. http://bit.ly/eEpLFn
Through the Worker, Home Ownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, he and Congressional Democrats provided tax credits to first-time home buyers, which helped the U.S. housing market recovery. http://bit.ly/dZgXXw http://bit.ly/gORYfL
He initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses.
http://1.usa.gov/eu0u0b
He created business.gov, which allows for online collaboration between small businesses and experts re managing a business. (The program has since merged with SBA.gov.) http://www.business.gov
He played a lead role in getting the G-20 Summit to commit to a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. http://nyti.ms/gHlgp5
He took steps to improve minority access to capital. http://bit.ly/f9xVE7
He created a $60 billion bank to fund infrastructure improvements such as roads and bridges. http://bit.ly/e1SSaQ
He implemented an auto industry rescue plan, and saved as many as 1 million jobs. http://bit.ly/ibhpxr Many are of the opinion that he saved the entire auto industry, and even the economy of the entire Midwest. http://bit.ly/gj7mt5
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he saved at least 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors that would have otherwise been lost. http://1.usa.gov/ez30Dc
He dismantled the Minerals Management Service, thereby moving forward to cut ties between energy companies and the government. http://nyti.ms/bw1MLu
Provided funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police and firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession. http://bit.ly/g0IKWR
He used recovered TARP money to fund programs at local housing finance agencies in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. http://on.msnbc.com/i1i8eV
Crafted an Executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. http://bit.ly/eyqsNE
Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection
Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/eAi9Qq
He pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/hWCPg0 http://bit.ly/geHpcD
Dodd-Frank also included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG
He made it so that banks could no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
He supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
He wholly endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/esOdfB http://bit.ly/eG4DPM
He made a deal with Swiss banks that permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/htfDgw
He established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
He oversaw and then signed the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/gxkCtP
Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination
He advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7
He pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/fdahuH http://bit.ly/mZV4Pz
He appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0
Helped Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8
He extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj
He’s appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/g1lA7D
He issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT
He established a White House Council on Women and Girls http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM
He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg
Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/e1puTk
He expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x
Under his watch, National Labor Relations Board has issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011. http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ
Fighting Poverty
He provided a $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps). http://nyti.ms/gfLqyM
He signed an Executive Order that established the White House Office of Urban Affairs. http://wapo.st/eWECA8
Improved Foreign Relations and American Status Abroad
He visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any previous president during his first six months in office. http://bit.ly/hZycda
As he promised, he gave a speech at a major Islamic forum in Cairo early in his administration. http://nyti.ms/dKvY4g
He did much to restore America’s reputation around the world as a global leader that does the “right thing” in world affairs, at least according to the rest of the planet. http://bit.ly/h743y7 http://bit.ly/ho4TCr
He re-established and reinforced our partnership with NATO and other allies on strategic international issues. http://1.usa.gov/e7QuDj
Closed a number of secret detention facilities. http://nyti.ms/rpUc9l
He improved relations with Middle East countries by appointing special envoys. http://1.usa.gov/tiGAGe
He pushed for military to emphasize development of foreign language skills. http://bit.ly/AxUCLV
Offered $400 million to the people living in Gaza, called on both Israel and the Palestinians to stop inciting violence. http://bit.ly/9axfWh
He refused to give Israel the green light to attack Iran over their possible nuclear program. http://bit.ly/xVmSZK
He worked to make donations to Haiti tax-deductible in 2009. http://huff.to/6YkAVY
He established a new U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. http://1.usa.gov/eX28DP
Issued Executive Order blocking interference and helping to stabilize Somalia. http://1.usa.gov/hxdf8U
He established new, more reasonable policies in our relations with Cuba, such as allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families and send money to support them. http://n.pr/hY3Kwa http://nyti.ms/emQBde
He ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It was Republicans (and a smattering of Democrats) who prevented him from following through. http://bit.ly/eW6CVF
Ordered a review of our detention and interrogation policy, and prohibited the use of torture, or what Bush called “enhanced interrogation.” He ordered interrogators to limit their actions to the Army Field manual. http://bit.ly/g6MTuC
He ordered all secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere to be closed. http://bbc.in/h6N9ax
He released the Bush torture memos. http://bit.ly/hWJ5z0
On his second day in office, he signed a detailed Executive Order that banned torture, reversed all Bush torture policies, and put the United States in compliance with the Geneva Convention. http://1.usa.gov/dL6Zve http://nyti.ms/hzWWys
In response to the emerging “Arab Spring,” he created a Rapid Response fund, to assist emerging democracies with foreign aid, debt relief, technical assistance and investment packages in order to show that the United States stands with them. http://bit.ly/zfmGv9
Passed the Iran Sanctions Act, to prevent war, and to encourage Iran to give up their nuclear program. http://1.usa.gov/wLtNjb
Ended the Iraq War. http://tgr.ph/ru0tyS
He authorized and oversaw a secret mission by SEAL Team Six to rescue two hostages held by Somali pirates. http://bit.ly/y8c9Fz
Better Approach to “Defense”
Created a comprehensive new strategy for dealing with the international nuclear threat. http://1.usa.gov/gDX1nE
He authorized a $1.4 billion reduction in Star Wars program in 2010. http://1.usa.gov/gLFZl2
He restarted nuclear nonproliferation talks and built up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols to where they had been before Bush. http://lat.ms/gkcl3i
He signed and pushed to ratification a new SALT Treaty. http://bit.ly/f3JVtw
Negotiated and signed a new START Treaty that will last until at least 2021. http://1.usa.gov/cI1bC4
Through the Defense Authorization Act, he reversed the Bush Administration and committed to no permanent military bases in Iraq. http://bit.ly/hk73OJ
He developed the first comprehensive strategy with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan designed to facilitate the defeat of al Qaeda and the withdrawal of most troops, as well as the rebuilding of Afghanistan. http://wapo.st/ee4Xcs
He returned our focus to Afghanistan, stabilized the country, and began the process of withdrawing our troops. http://bit.ly/lNXUna
Fulfilled campaign promise and ended our involvement in Iraq, and will complete full troop withdrawal before Christmas 2011. http://onforb.es/nTUk4Z
He took steps to severely weaken al Qaeda and limited their ability to terrorize the world. http://yhoo.it/n5lXs6
He negotiated and signed a nuclear nonproliferation treaty with India. http://1.usa.gov/aHp0Cn
He took decisive action to use NATO to limit the slaughter of innocents in Libya, so that the Libyan people could topple a despotic government and determine their own fate. http://aje.me/qAh4Sj
Treating Soldiers and Veterans with Respect
He made sure that families of fallen soldiers could be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB, by providing funding for it. He also ended the media blackout on coverage of the return of fallen soldiers.http://nyti.ms/glqN66 http://bbc.in/gWSSkA
He funded Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with an extra $1.4 billion to improve veterans’ services. http://1.usa.gov/huhqfo
He provided the troops with better body armor. http://bit.ly/hzSv2h
Created the Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record program for military personnel, in order to improve the quality of their medical care. http://1.usa.gov/f4yaxW
He put an end to the Bush-era stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan beyond their enlistment date. (personal note: my son will be in harm’s way for six fewer months with Obama as president, so you know I love this one). http://nyti.ms/e2YQ7Q
He supported and signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which made more money available to enable better medical care for veterans. http://1.usa.gov/fN4ur1
He ushered through the largest spending increase in 30 years for the Department of Veterans Affairs for improved medical facilities, and to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and extended care facilities. http://1.usa.gov/gY8O3x
He created the Green Vet Initiative, which provided special funding to the Labor Department to provide veterans with training in green jobs. http://bit.ly/epwUQY
He oversaw a $4.6 billion expansion of the Veterans Administration budget to pay for more mental health professionals. http://bit.ly/gjzTxX
Education
He has repeatedly increased funding for student financial aid, and at the same time cut the banks completely out of the process. http://bit.ly/gYWd30 http://bit.ly/e9c7Dr http://bit.ly/eEzTNq
Completely reformed the student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate. http://nyti.ms/dMvHOt
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , he invested heavily in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education.
http://1.usa.gov/gGRIAr This includes a major expansion of broadband availability in K-12 schools nationwide http://bit.ly/fNDcj3 , as well as an expansion in school construction. http://bit.ly/fYwNrV
Also through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he put $5 billion into early education, including Head Start. http://1.usa.gov/tzT2Rr
Signed the Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as GI Bill 2.0 http://bit.ly/hPhG7J
He oversaw expansion of the Pell Grants program, to expand opportunity for low-income students to go to college. http://bit.ly/hI6tXz
He passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provided an extra $12.2 billion in funds. http://1.usa.gov/dQvtUe
Greater Transparency and Better Government
He signed an order banning gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the Executive Branch. http://bit.ly/fsBACN
He signed an order banning anyone from working in an agency they had lobbied in previous years. He also put strict limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House. http://nyti.ms/gOrznV
He held the first-ever first online town hall from the White House, and took questions from the public. http://bit.ly/gVNSgX
The Obama White House became the first to stream every White House event, live. http://1.usa.gov/kAgOP5
He established a central portal for Americans to find service opportunities. http://www.serve.gov
He provided the first voluntary disclosure of the White House Visitors Log in history. http://1.usa.gov/hQ7ttV
He crafted an Executive Order on Presidential Records, which restored the 30-day time frame for former presidents to review records, and eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews. This will provide the public with greater access to historic White House documents, and severely curtails the ability to use executive privilege to shield them. http://1.usa.gov/gUetLb
He improved aspects of the Freedom of Information Act, and issued new guidelines to make FOIA more open and transparent in the processing of FOIA requests. http://1.usa.gov/gjrnp2
National Safety and Security
He’s restored federal agencies such as FEMA to the point that they have been able to manage a huge number of natural disasters successfully. http://bit.ly/h8Xj7z
Authorized Navy SEALS to successfully secure the release of a US captain held by Somali pirates and increased patrols off the Somali coast. http://nyti.ms/efBO7B
Has repeatedly beefed up border security http://bit.ly/mMYB4i
Ordered and oversaw the Navy SEALS operation that killed Osama bin Laden. http://bit.ly/jChpgw
Science, Technology and Health Care
He created a Presidential Memorandum to restore scientific integrity in government decision-making. http://1.usa.gov/g2SDuw
Opened up the process for fast-tracking patent approval for green energy projects. http://bit.ly/j0KV2U
He eliminated the Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. He also provided increased federal support for biomedical and stem cell research. http://bit.ly/h36SSO http://ti.me/edezge
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he committed more federal funding, about $18 billion, to support non-defense science and research labs. http://nyti.ms/fTs9t7
He signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first comprehensive attempt to improve the lives of Americans living with paralysis. http://bit.ly/fOi2rb
He expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership program, which provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families, to cover more first-time mothers. http://bit.ly/jRRRJc
His EPA reversed research ethics standards which allowed humans to be used as “guinea pigs” in tests of the effects of chemicals, to comply with numerous codes of medical ethics. http://bit.ly/bKgqdS
Conducted a cyberspace policy review. http://1.usa.gov/gmbdvC
Provided financial support for private sector space programs. http://bit.ly/fn8ucr
He oversaw enhanced earth mapping, to provide valuable data for agricultural, educational, scientific, and government use. http://bit.ly/dNTRyP
He ushered through a bill that authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. http://on.msnbc.com/fiKViB
As a result, the FDA has Ordered Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients and banned sale of cigarettes falsely labeled as “light.”
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he provided $500 million for Health Professions Training Programs. http://bit.ly/ecQSgA
He also increased funding for community-based prevention programs. http://bit.ly/frMPG3
He oversaw a 50% decrease in cost of prescription drugs for seniors. http://bit.ly/e5b1iq http://1.usa.gov/fVNkt9
He eliminated the Bush-era practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug companies on price. http://bit.ly/fOkG5b
Two weeks after taking office, he signed the Children’s Health Insurance Re-authorization Act, which increased the number of children covered by health insurance by 4 million. http://bit.ly/fDEzGv
He held a quick press conference, and urged Congress to investigate Anthem Blue Cross for raising premiums 39% without explanation. Rep. Waxman responded by launching a probe, and Anthem Blue Cross put the increase on hold for two months. http://yhoo.it/e8Tj9C
Ushered through and signed the Affordable Health Care Act, which expanded health insurance coverage to 30 million more people, and ended many common insurance company practices that are often detrimental to those with coverage. He also established http://www.healthcare.gov/
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, he allowed children to be covered under their parents’ policy until they turned 26. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, he provided tax breaks to allow 3.5 million small business to provide health insurance to their employees, and 29 million people will receive tax breaks to help them afford health insurance. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, he expanded Medicaid to those making up to 133% of the federal poverty level. http://nyti.ms/ekMWpo
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, health insurance companies now have to disclose how much of your premium actually goes to pay for patient care. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act have already resulted in Medicare costs actually declining slightly this fiscal year, for the first time in many years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Last year’s increase was 4%. Compare that to the average 12% annual inflation rate during the previous 40 years. http://1.usa.gov/oMxpTh
Strengthening the Middle Class and Families
He worked to provide affordable, high-quality child care to working families. http://bit.ly/fNfidS
He cracked down on companies that were previously denying sick pay, vacation and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare tax payments through abuse of the employee classification of independent contractor. http://nyti.ms/fOGLcj
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , he cut taxes for 95% of America’s working families. http://bit.ly/eSEI4F
Under Obama, tax rates for average working families are the lowest they’ve been since 1950. http://bit.ly/f74pD8
He extended and fully funded the patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax for 10 years. http://bit.ly/eFeSdP
He extended discounted COBRA health coverage for the unemployed from 9 months to 15 months, and he’s extended unemployment benefits several times. http://aol.it/evtVxD http://nyti.ms/emrqKJ http://bit.ly/hOtIpg http://bit.ly/fTT7kz
Environment and Energy
He fast-tracked regulations to allow states to enact federal fuel efficiency standards that were above federal standards. http://nyti.ms/e8e94x
He fast-tracked increased fuel economy standards for vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year. It was the first time such standards had been increased in a decade. http://politi.co/hiaPKM
He oversaw the establishment of an Energy Partnership for the Americas, which creates more markets for American-made biofuels and green energy technologies. http://bit.ly/lZp73y
His EPA reversed a Bush-era decision to allow the largest mountaintop removal project in US history. http://bit.ly/lP3yEL
He ordered the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances. http://1.usa.gov/g3MTbu
He ordered energy plants to prepare to produce at least 15% of all energy through renewable resources like wind and solar, by 2021. http://reut.rs/fV155p (As you can see, Republicans are trying hard to kill it.)
He oversaw the creation of an initiative that converts old factories and manufacturing centers into new clean technology centers. http://bit.ly/mjnq2R
Bypassed Republican opposition in Congress and ordered EPA to begin regulating and measuring carbon emissions. http://bit.ly/froaP5
His EPA ruled that CO2 is a pollutant. http://bit.ly/iQTSNN
He doubled federal spending on clean energy research. http://bit.ly/iN0sCE
He pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars. http://bit.ly/j8UP5Y
He created a program to develop renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that will produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. http://1.usa.gov/fgfRWq
He reengaged in the climate change and greenhouse gas emissions agreements talks, and even proposed one himself. He also addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference, officially reversing the Bush-era stance that climate change was a “hoax.”
http://bit.ly/dX6Vj3 http://bit.ly/fE2PxK http://nyti.ms/hfeqvv
He fully supported the initial phase of the creation of a legally binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide. http://bit.ly/eJ6QOO
He required states to provide incentives to utilities to reduce their energy consumption. http://bit.ly/lBhk7P
Following Bush’s eight year reign, he reengaged in a number of treaties and agreements designed to protect the Antarctic. http://bit.ly/fzQUFO
Created tax write-offs for purchases of hybrid automobiles, and later he and Democrats morphed that program into one that includes electric cars. http://bit.ly/glCukV
Mandated that federal government fleet purchases be for fuel-efficient American vehicles, and encouraged that federal agencies support experimental, fuel-efficient vehicles. http://bit.ly/h5KZqy http://1.usa.gov/fLWq5c http://1.usa.gov/hmUSbk
He oversaw and pushed through an amendment to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 authorizing advances from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://1.usa.gov/yTRYVo
He also actively tried to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to eliminate the liability limits for those companies responsible for large oil spills. http://nyti.ms/bxjDi3
He initiated Criminal and Civil inquiries into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://nyti.ms/bVuB7a
Through his EPA, he asserted federal legal supremacy, and barred Texas from authorizing new refinery permits on its own. http://bit.ly/ww8eMd
He strengthened the Endangered Species Act. http://bit.ly/hscjsH
His EPA improved boiler safety standards to improve air quality, and save 6500 lives per year. http://bit.ly/jYH7nt
Through the EPA, he took steps to severely limit the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, to increase their efficacy in humans. http://bit.ly/fBuWd2
He increased funding for National Parks and Forests by 10% http://bit.ly/fbJPjY
He announced greatly improved commercial fuel efficiency standards. http://1.usa.gov/oQiC1K
He announced the development of a huge increase in average fuel economy standards from 27.5mpg to 35.5mpg starting in 2016 and 54.5 starting in 2025 http://1.usa.gov/qtghsW
Other Stuff
He has expanded trade agreements to include stricter labor and environmental agreements such as NAFTA. http://bit.ly/etznpY
He oversaw funding of the design of a new Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History, which is scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015. He protected the funding during the recent budget negotiations. http://on.fb.me/fD0EVO
http://bit.ly/ff5Luv
Oversaw and passed increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. http://bit.ly/dFb8qF
He nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Justice in the court’s history, and the women represent only the third and fourth women to serve on the court, out of a total of 112 justices. http://huff.to/eOChg6
http://bit.ly/i02wgP
He appointed the most diverse Cabinet in history, including more women than any other incoming president. http://bit.ly/dX6vNB
He eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education, and he rescinded the global gag rule. http://bit.ly/eCFAI1
http://bit.ly/f92drF
He loosened the rules and allowed the 14 states that legalized medical marijuana to regulate themselves without federal interference. http://huff.to/eQfa7j
His FDA banned the use of antibiotics in livestock production. http://bit.ly/jUjLzo
Ushered through and signed national service legislation, increasing funding for national service groups, including triple the size of the Americorps program. http://bit.ly/idgQH5
Sunday, September 02, 2012
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Pennsylvania's Required ID for November 2012 Elections
Photo ID required for November 2012 Election
ALL voters will be required to show a photo ID before voting at a polling place
All photo IDs must contain an expiration date that is current, unless noted otherwise. Acceptable IDs include:
If you do not have one of these IDs and require one for voting purposes, you may be entitled to get one FREE OF CHARGE at a PennDOT Driver License Center. To find the Driver License Center nearest you, and learn what identification and residency documentation you will need to get a photo ID visit PennDOT's Voter ID website or call the Department of State's Voter ID Hotline at 1-877-VotesPA (1-877-868-3772).
NO ONE legally entitled to vote will be denied the right to do so. If you do not have a photo ID or are indigent and unable to obtain one without payment of a fee, you may cast a provisional ballot, and will have six days to provide your photo ID and/or an affirmation to your county elections office to have your ballot count.
If you have a religious objection to being photographed you can still vote by presenting a valid without-photo driver’s license or a valid without-photo ID card issued by PennDOT.
If you plan on voting by Absentee Ballot on the November 6, 2012 General Election, you will need to provide proof of identification. Be sure to see what identification is required by the Voter ID Law.
ALL voters will be required to show a photo ID before voting at a polling place
All photo IDs must contain an expiration date that is current, unless noted otherwise. Acceptable IDs include:
- Photo IDs issued by the U.S. Federal Government or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
- Pennsylvania driver’s license or non-driver’s license photo ID (IDs are valid for voting purposes 12 months past expiration date)
- Valid U.S. passport
- U.S. military ID - active duty and retired military (a military or veteran’s ID must designate an expiration date or designate that the expiration date is indefinite).
- Military dependents’ ID must contain an expiration date
- Employee photo ID issued by Federal, PA, County or Municipal government
- Photo ID cards from an accredited Pennsylvania public or private institution of higher learning
- Photo ID cards issued by a Pennsylvania care facility, including long-term care facilities, assisted living residences or personal care homes
If you do not have one of these IDs and require one for voting purposes, you may be entitled to get one FREE OF CHARGE at a PennDOT Driver License Center. To find the Driver License Center nearest you, and learn what identification and residency documentation you will need to get a photo ID visit PennDOT's Voter ID website or call the Department of State's Voter ID Hotline at 1-877-VotesPA (1-877-868-3772).
NO ONE legally entitled to vote will be denied the right to do so. If you do not have a photo ID or are indigent and unable to obtain one without payment of a fee, you may cast a provisional ballot, and will have six days to provide your photo ID and/or an affirmation to your county elections office to have your ballot count.
If you have a religious objection to being photographed you can still vote by presenting a valid without-photo driver’s license or a valid without-photo ID card issued by PennDOT.
If you plan on voting by Absentee Ballot on the November 6, 2012 General Election, you will need to provide proof of identification. Be sure to see what identification is required by the Voter ID Law.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Women's health care and contraception
I AM A WOMAN
And NO MAN
NO GROUP OF MEN
NO INSTITUTION OF MEN
hold dominion over me, my mind, my body, my life, my choices, my vagina, or my uterus
If you attempt to restrict my access - or my sisters' access - to health care or contraception
WE WILL FIGHT YOU AND WE WILL WIN
Do not fool yourselves for ONE MOMENT that you have the right to speak for women, their choices, their thoughts, or their lives ANY MORE
Your attempts to own us, to harm us, to control us, to dictate policy to us, to impose your will over us -
IS AT AN END
You look scared, and I can smell your fear. And you should be afraid. Cause we aren't going to take your shit anymore.
We know how to direct 80% of the buying power and we know how to vote.
The age of old, crooked, white men is over. Consider this the death knell. Deep down, you know it. And we know it too.
Oh, and one more thing - deprive us of access and we will deprive YOU of access. If you take my meaning.
WE ARE THE MAJORITY
WE ARE THE 52%
And NO MAN
NO GROUP OF MEN
NO INSTITUTION OF MEN
hold dominion over me, my mind, my body, my life, my choices, my vagina, or my uterus
If you attempt to restrict my access - or my sisters' access - to health care or contraception
WE WILL FIGHT YOU AND WE WILL WIN
Do not fool yourselves for ONE MOMENT that you have the right to speak for women, their choices, their thoughts, or their lives ANY MORE
Your attempts to own us, to harm us, to control us, to dictate policy to us, to impose your will over us -
IS AT AN END
You look scared, and I can smell your fear. And you should be afraid. Cause we aren't going to take your shit anymore.
We know how to direct 80% of the buying power and we know how to vote.
The age of old, crooked, white men is over. Consider this the death knell. Deep down, you know it. And we know it too.
Oh, and one more thing - deprive us of access and we will deprive YOU of access. If you take my meaning.
WE ARE THE MAJORITY
WE ARE THE 52%
.......Thank you, FaceBook
Related Tags: Women's Health Care, contraceptives
Monday, February 13, 2012
Clay Aiken Speaks Out Against Amendment One
Well, sometimes I do put politics into this blog. not often because I'd alienate quite a few people as I am a flaming liberal and proud of it, but not everyone is of my political persuasion and that's OK, you won't go to hell or anything *g*. I keed! I keed!
Anyway, I believe in equality for all. Being a woman of a certain age, I remember when it was perfectly OK for a male boss to tell a female employee to come into work with no bra so the customers could ogle her and if she protested, he had every right to fire her. I know what it's like to make less than a man for the same job, still happens today. I know what it's like to have to work harder and be better than a male in order to get the same recognition he does. I know what it's like to be discriminated against just because of gender. It ain't fun.
I don't live in North Carolina, but Clay Aiken does and since I'm a fan of his, I blog about some things that are important to him and, at the same time, open my eyes to things that I might not necessarily hear about in my neck of the woods. This video was pointed out to me today and as I watched it, Clay said something about how this certain amendment that 'they' are trying to pass in NC would affect children. I never thought of it that way.
Let's start from the beginning. Check out this website: http://www.protectncfamilies.org/home
This is where I got my information. Evidently, North Carolina is proposing an amendment called "Amendment One". From the website:
I never thought about how an amendment like this one could, potentially, strip children of medical insurance or affect the way the law treats domestic violence batterers. The website is very interesting and they lay out the issues in a way that makes for easy navigating the site. Here's Clay's video:
Let me know your thoughts.
Clay Aiken
North Carolina
Amendment One
Anyway, I believe in equality for all. Being a woman of a certain age, I remember when it was perfectly OK for a male boss to tell a female employee to come into work with no bra so the customers could ogle her and if she protested, he had every right to fire her. I know what it's like to make less than a man for the same job, still happens today. I know what it's like to have to work harder and be better than a male in order to get the same recognition he does. I know what it's like to be discriminated against just because of gender. It ain't fun.
I don't live in North Carolina, but Clay Aiken does and since I'm a fan of his, I blog about some things that are important to him and, at the same time, open my eyes to things that I might not necessarily hear about in my neck of the woods. This video was pointed out to me today and as I watched it, Clay said something about how this certain amendment that 'they' are trying to pass in NC would affect children. I never thought of it that way.
Let's start from the beginning. Check out this website: http://www.protectncfamilies.org/home
This is where I got my information. Evidently, North Carolina is proposing an amendment called "Amendment One". From the website:
On September 13th, the North Carolina Legislature proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would ban legal recognition for all unmarried couples, strip protections and benefits from families across our state, hurt our business climate and economic development and put our children in danger.
I never thought about how an amendment like this one could, potentially, strip children of medical insurance or affect the way the law treats domestic violence batterers. The website is very interesting and they lay out the issues in a way that makes for easy navigating the site. Here's Clay's video:
Let me know your thoughts.
Clay Aiken
North Carolina
Amendment One
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Clay Aiken: 2011 The Year in Review
Dear Clay,
Hey Clay! How ya been? It's been a year since we've talked, well OK, since we've talked and you listened (humor us here). In Clay Nation, things started off wack! We've had some wacky times with all kinds of wacky people. 2010 ended a bit wacky, too, didn't it? We can take a little wack, we're the Clay Nation.
Some fans don't like being lumped into a 'we' situation (and I so want to say, too bad, so sad...scroll, but I'll refrain) but in trolling the internetz, 'we' took the general pulse of the fandom, The Clay Nation, as is were, and amalgamated the thoughts, feeling, and prose of your very prolific fans. What were you up to this year? Turns out, all sorts of things......
January
We were gearing up for the Tried & True Tour and were very excited when the meet & greets started showing up on the ofc. Your PBS Special played in various markets across the USA and you got to sing the National Anthem at the NHL All-Star Game. You spoke with Bill & Linda about it on WRAL on the 28th. You said you were prepared to be boo'ed because hockey fans aren't there to see you. Silly hockey fans.
February
On February 7th, you performed on BROADWAY BACKWARDS 6 to benefit BCF/EFA and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York City. You sang 'Home' from 'The Wiz' and you sounded fantastic. And yes, there's Clack of that. You were on the Matt & Ramona Show and gave various interviews about the Tried and True Tour.
Opening night of the Tried and True Tour, or TnT, began on February 10th in Miami and rolled across the country. And may we say that you looked marvelous on the Tour? 'Cos you did. Even your hair looked good....for the most part *g* OK, some didn't like your hair, some did, some didn't care at all what your hair looked like, they were just happy to see you in person again. The sweater-shirt-tie combo really worked well on-stage, we mean, Really. Worked. Well. One of your fans described it as 'casual grace'. The band was great! The theme from 'Love Story' was a wonderful song to open the set with (somewhere in there, a grammatically incorrect head-thumping can be heard). Lush, dramatic, building to a fantastic finish. Good choice!
The various musical styles for 'Who's Sorry Now' were hysterical. Country, disco, rock 'n roll, Bollywood, Mummers. Wait. Mummers? You never heard of them? Heh. Boom-bah music by the fancy dress brigade :-) Philly, New Years' Day...check it out. The audience really enjoyed that part of the concert.
The auto-tune segment was a lot of fun between the banter and the song choices and, of course, you play off the audience like very few current, contemporary performers do any more. The medley of your songs in a 50's/big band style was....interesting. We loved the shirt tug during 'Invisible', This is the Night, The Way, Measure of a Man, On My Way here, A Thousand Days, some sounded OK as a big band/50's style song, others? Not so much.
The PBS Meet & Greets were really a cattle call but we thank you for doing individual pictures in most of the venues, even the ones where there were 100 people in line. And you did that on top of the fan club M&G, and who-know-what other M&G's you do each day. So....thanks, Clay!
As we were skimming through the recaps, a few songs stood out as the ones the fans mentioned affected them the most. 'Theme from Love Story', 'Mack the Knife', 'In My Life', 'Both Sides Now' and 'Solitaire', Unchained Melody, Crying, some mentioned that they think your hands sing, too, that they are so expressive during your songs, almost a part of the song. You got great hands, Clay.
You ended most of the shows with a bit of banter that turned serious as you thanked us for being there from the beginning, then you sang 'In My Life' written by the late, great John Lennon. The lyrics of that song especially got us in the gut...'some are dead and some are living' made us think of our Clay friends that have passed. The song was poignant, you sang it to perfection and left us feeling sad that the show was over.
The general consensus is that although Clack is wonderful, it doesn't convey your voice in all its glory. Seeing and hearing you sing live is an experience like no other. Your voice fills the venue back to the rafters and that's why, no matter how much Clack there is, we'll still try our best to get to a concert or two. Or seven. Or all of them *g*
March
As the tour wound down, VIP tickets went on sale for the 2011 Champions Gala being held in October.
April
General admission tickets went on sale for the 2011 Champions Gala.
May
You sang the National Anthem at the Durham Bulls game on May 9th.
June
Geez, Clay, give us something to work with here! April, May, and June were pretty boring on the Clay news front. We actually had time to clean our houses! Stop that!
July
Finally! Some Clay-doings! We got the news that you would appear on the Outfest 2011: The 29th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival panel. Outfest is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media.
On the 17th, you guest-starred on an episode of Drop Dead Diva as a scam artist in a mail order bride scheme. A lot of your fans think that you could play a 'bad' guy very believably. This wasn't so much a 'bad' guy but you were VERY good in your scenes.
On the 18th, you made an appearance on The Talk and discussed........retiring from performing? It seems like the message board discussions went from eeeeee! to WTF? in a matter of minutes. We think heads exploded all over the Clay cyber world. Speculation about why you said that you wanted to eventually stop performing to teach was from self-preservation (yours) to boredom (yours, again). Of course, you've said those words before so after a small melt-down, the fandom returned to normal.
August
Your very first video chat! We loved it! The chat portion flew fast and furious but you managed to do a good job threading through all the OMGS! and Hi Clays! to get to the questions. And thank God you did that because that one chat was all we had of you that month.
September
Nuttin' honey!
October and into November
Thank the heavens that you did another chat in October because we lived in a vast Clay desert in September. September was rough Clay!
You were also spotted in NYC on quite a few occasions in October. Why? We had about as much of a clue as a red stallion would. While in NYC, some people went to a cafe to eat sandwiches, others attended a beach party, but wonder of wonders....no one got lost because they bought these guide books that were for sale on a street corner from a bunch of good-looking guys.
Also in November, The National Inclusion Project was named as a finalist for $50K to increase awareness of the benefits of inclusion for ALL. Pepsi will confirm later in December. You had some awesome partners - SWOOP, St. Anthony's, & North Central Troy - and many other friends whose voting efforts kept you at #2 for the entire month!
December
Cyndi Lauper said: "When I first learned that up to 40 percent of all homeless youth in this country identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender I was shocked and saddened. For far too long homeless youth have not received the attention, resources and funding necessary to bring an end to this epidemic. My hope is that through this inspiring evening of music and comedy we can raise awareness and much needed funds to help these young people."
You made an appearance for Cyndi's True Colors Fund at a benefit in NYC on December 4th and sang 'My Grown-Up Christmas List', one of your best Christmas songs. The fans also really enjoyed Alan Cumming's performance mash-up of Lady Gaga and Adele. The entire show was so very entertaining from beginning to end. We hope you had fun, too.
December 8th: An independent Hot AC radio station based in LaSalle, Illinois, pits a NEW Clay song, "Bring Back My Love" against another song as part of their "Two Song Battle." It wins easily and does so for the next five days. December 9th saw the first listing for the song on Amazon.
December 9th was also the Adam Corolla video/podcast. We loved it, even though we knew most of what you talked about, there were some gems let loose that we didn't know. It's kind of hard to do that Clay. Good job! We loved Brett's response when you told him you were gay, "I'm straight enough for the both of us". Bwah! Good for Brett! Please pass him our thanks for a little glimpse into your relationship with your brother.
Friday the 9th saw the start of the National Inclusion Project's 2011 Champions Gala. From their website (some transposed):
Over 500 attendees enjoyed the many festivities planned by the staff, board, and numerous volunteers of the National Inclusion Project. From silent auctions, to a carnival, a luncheon, and a wonderful evening of recognition and entertainment, this year’s Gala event was a rousing success.
Friday evening's event was a dessert reception for sponsors hosted by Executive Director Jerry Aiken. Attendees previewed silent auction items, photos were taken with co-founders Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel. Clay and Diane hosted a question and answer session about the work and direction of the Project. The evening was capped off by an engaging performance by The Chris Burke Band who performed some favorites including the theme song from Chris’ television series, "Life Goes On." They had the whole audience upon their feet singing, signing, dancing, and clapping.
Saturday morning brought the "Through A Child’s Eyes" Carnival. Volunteers set up booths in the Marbles Children’s Museum and welcomed over 50 children and their parents to join in the fun. Face painting, games, crafts, fun with music, trains and a clown university kept the kids busy. Without a doubt the volunteers had as much fun as the families in attendance.
The Champions Awards ceremony took place Saturday night at Fletcher Auditorium. The evening was a success from beginning to end. Guests were led into the auditorium venue for an evening of recognition, music, and raising some money! Clay Aiken opened the evening with a triumphant rendition of "All Is Well." Linda Lovelace was the evening's emcee, Jerry Aiken re-capped all the accomplishments of the Project.
The Champion Award Winners:
Walgreens who received the honor for their commitment to providing the opportunity for people of ALL abilities to work together, side by side. Angela Mackey accepted the award on behalf of Walgreens.
The recipient of the first Lifetime Achievement Award was Chris Burke. Chris was born with Downs Syndrome. His parents...treated him just the same as his siblings and he went on to star in films and television, most notably as Corky in "Life Goes On." Chris now works for the National Down Syndrome Society as the Editor of their quarterly newsletter "Upbeat". Chris reminded everyone, "We all have disabilities, it’s what we do with our abilities that counts."
The third Champions honoree of the night was Kevin Connolly. Kevin told stories about growing up in rural Montana and how his family challenged him. He taught the crowd a little about living life to the fullest. Kevin was born without legs and his terrific humor, his outlook on life, and his adventurous spirit is something to aspire to. His recent memoir, "Double Take, A Memoir," challenges people to explore how they view themselves and what it is to truly see another person.
The Bubel/Aiken Founder’s Award for outstanding volunteer commitment was awarded to the late Margi Deluca. Her passion and enthusiasm for the work of the National Inclusion Project and the mission of inclusion was remembered by Clay and Diane. Her friend, Irene Williams, accepted the award on behalf of Margi’s family.
After intermission, Jonathan Bunzey, a former attendee at the AE Finley YMCA Let’s All Play camp program and 2009 Champions Honoree, took the stage not as a camper, but as a counselor at that very same camp. He told the audience of the impact the camp had on him and how his dream came true when he became a counselor.
The Awards and Recognition program was followed by a very lively Live Auction as competition got fierce and bids kept going up and up! Congratulations to all the winners! The Live Auction was followed by the exciting "Send A Kid to Camp" auction which has become a favorite of the evening’s activities. Once again supporters came through and a LOT of kids will be going to camp in 2012!
Way to go, National Inclusion Project, way to go!
Clay took the stage to thunderous applause for a much anticipated concert of Christmas favorites and some of his own fan favorite songs. Thanks to Clay, Quiana Parler, Ben Cohn, Sean McDaniel, and the entire band for a wonderful night of music and fun.
'Bring Back My Love' was debuted to wonderful reviews. Made us all want to be there but alas, not all of us could travel due to work or health issues, previous plans, families, whatever, we missed a good mini-concert and your new song. We can't wait to hear it on the radio *prays to the Baby Jesus*
Through the generous support of all of the attendees, the National Inclusion Project was able to raise over $500,000 to support the advancement of inclusion across the country. The 8th Champions Gala was an outstanding weekend filled with many special moments where everyone was reminded that Inclusion means ALL participate and ALL belong!
Read the entire account of the Gala at www.InclusionProject.org.
'Hallelujah'. Really Clay? Really? Really??? The one song that a vast majority of your fans wanted to hear you sing and there was no Clack. NO CLACK! ACK!
The 20th saw the release of 'Bring Back My Love'. Geezus, Clay, you done killed us once again. Most everyone loves the song and agrees that you sound spectacular singing it. The production is first-rate and arrangement is first-class.
Well, bet you're glad this long diatribe is almost over. For the New Year, we wish you the same thing we wish for you every year....joy, peace, and love. Take pride in your family and friends, Clay, for you have assembled a 'family' outside the norm that includes your bandmates, your friends, and yes, your fans. Love you!
Your Internet Fans
*All factual errors are solely the fault of the author
**Many thanks to the Clack House Calendar thread, to Finding Clay Aiken for the yearly timeline, and to all in Clay Nation for your unwavering enthusiasm, support, and for posting your thoughts and feelings so prolifically...and often *g*
Hey Clay! How ya been? It's been a year since we've talked, well OK, since we've talked and you listened (humor us here). In Clay Nation, things started off wack! We've had some wacky times with all kinds of wacky people. 2010 ended a bit wacky, too, didn't it? We can take a little wack, we're the Clay Nation.
Some fans don't like being lumped into a 'we' situation (and I so want to say, too bad, so sad...scroll, but I'll refrain) but in trolling the internetz, 'we' took the general pulse of the fandom, The Clay Nation, as is were, and amalgamated the thoughts, feeling, and prose of your very prolific fans. What were you up to this year? Turns out, all sorts of things......
January
We were gearing up for the Tried & True Tour and were very excited when the meet & greets started showing up on the ofc. Your PBS Special played in various markets across the USA and you got to sing the National Anthem at the NHL All-Star Game. You spoke with Bill & Linda about it on WRAL on the 28th. You said you were prepared to be boo'ed because hockey fans aren't there to see you. Silly hockey fans.
February
On February 7th, you performed on BROADWAY BACKWARDS 6 to benefit BCF/EFA and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York City. You sang 'Home' from 'The Wiz' and you sounded fantastic. And yes, there's Clack of that. You were on the Matt & Ramona Show and gave various interviews about the Tried and True Tour.
Opening night of the Tried and True Tour, or TnT, began on February 10th in Miami and rolled across the country. And may we say that you looked marvelous on the Tour? 'Cos you did. Even your hair looked good....for the most part *g* OK, some didn't like your hair, some did, some didn't care at all what your hair looked like, they were just happy to see you in person again. The sweater-shirt-tie combo really worked well on-stage, we mean, Really. Worked. Well. One of your fans described it as 'casual grace'. The band was great! The theme from 'Love Story' was a wonderful song to open the set with (somewhere in there, a grammatically incorrect head-thumping can be heard). Lush, dramatic, building to a fantastic finish. Good choice!
The various musical styles for 'Who's Sorry Now' were hysterical. Country, disco, rock 'n roll, Bollywood, Mummers. Wait. Mummers? You never heard of them? Heh. Boom-bah music by the fancy dress brigade :-) Philly, New Years' Day...check it out. The audience really enjoyed that part of the concert.
The auto-tune segment was a lot of fun between the banter and the song choices and, of course, you play off the audience like very few current, contemporary performers do any more. The medley of your songs in a 50's/big band style was....interesting. We loved the shirt tug during 'Invisible', This is the Night, The Way, Measure of a Man, On My Way here, A Thousand Days, some sounded OK as a big band/50's style song, others? Not so much.
The PBS Meet & Greets were really a cattle call but we thank you for doing individual pictures in most of the venues, even the ones where there were 100 people in line. And you did that on top of the fan club M&G, and who-know-what other M&G's you do each day. So....thanks, Clay!
As we were skimming through the recaps, a few songs stood out as the ones the fans mentioned affected them the most. 'Theme from Love Story', 'Mack the Knife', 'In My Life', 'Both Sides Now' and 'Solitaire', Unchained Melody, Crying, some mentioned that they think your hands sing, too, that they are so expressive during your songs, almost a part of the song. You got great hands, Clay.
You ended most of the shows with a bit of banter that turned serious as you thanked us for being there from the beginning, then you sang 'In My Life' written by the late, great John Lennon. The lyrics of that song especially got us in the gut...'some are dead and some are living' made us think of our Clay friends that have passed. The song was poignant, you sang it to perfection and left us feeling sad that the show was over.
The general consensus is that although Clack is wonderful, it doesn't convey your voice in all its glory. Seeing and hearing you sing live is an experience like no other. Your voice fills the venue back to the rafters and that's why, no matter how much Clack there is, we'll still try our best to get to a concert or two. Or seven. Or all of them *g*
March
As the tour wound down, VIP tickets went on sale for the 2011 Champions Gala being held in October.
April
General admission tickets went on sale for the 2011 Champions Gala.
May
You sang the National Anthem at the Durham Bulls game on May 9th.
June
Geez, Clay, give us something to work with here! April, May, and June were pretty boring on the Clay news front. We actually had time to clean our houses! Stop that!
July
Finally! Some Clay-doings! We got the news that you would appear on the Outfest 2011: The 29th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival panel. Outfest is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media.
On the 17th, you guest-starred on an episode of Drop Dead Diva as a scam artist in a mail order bride scheme. A lot of your fans think that you could play a 'bad' guy very believably. This wasn't so much a 'bad' guy but you were VERY good in your scenes.
On the 18th, you made an appearance on The Talk and discussed........retiring from performing? It seems like the message board discussions went from eeeeee! to WTF? in a matter of minutes. We think heads exploded all over the Clay cyber world. Speculation about why you said that you wanted to eventually stop performing to teach was from self-preservation (yours) to boredom (yours, again). Of course, you've said those words before so after a small melt-down, the fandom returned to normal.
August
Your very first video chat! We loved it! The chat portion flew fast and furious but you managed to do a good job threading through all the OMGS! and Hi Clays! to get to the questions. And thank God you did that because that one chat was all we had of you that month.
September
Nuttin' honey!
October and into November
Thank the heavens that you did another chat in October because we lived in a vast Clay desert in September. September was rough Clay!
You were also spotted in NYC on quite a few occasions in October. Why? We had about as much of a clue as a red stallion would. While in NYC, some people went to a cafe to eat sandwiches, others attended a beach party, but wonder of wonders....no one got lost because they bought these guide books that were for sale on a street corner from a bunch of good-looking guys.
Also in November, The National Inclusion Project was named as a finalist for $50K to increase awareness of the benefits of inclusion for ALL. Pepsi will confirm later in December. You had some awesome partners - SWOOP, St. Anthony's, & North Central Troy - and many other friends whose voting efforts kept you at #2 for the entire month!
December
Cyndi Lauper said: "When I first learned that up to 40 percent of all homeless youth in this country identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender I was shocked and saddened. For far too long homeless youth have not received the attention, resources and funding necessary to bring an end to this epidemic. My hope is that through this inspiring evening of music and comedy we can raise awareness and much needed funds to help these young people."
You made an appearance for Cyndi's True Colors Fund at a benefit in NYC on December 4th and sang 'My Grown-Up Christmas List', one of your best Christmas songs. The fans also really enjoyed Alan Cumming's performance mash-up of Lady Gaga and Adele. The entire show was so very entertaining from beginning to end. We hope you had fun, too.
December 8th: An independent Hot AC radio station based in LaSalle, Illinois, pits a NEW Clay song, "Bring Back My Love" against another song as part of their "Two Song Battle." It wins easily and does so for the next five days. December 9th saw the first listing for the song on Amazon.
December 9th was also the Adam Corolla video/podcast. We loved it, even though we knew most of what you talked about, there were some gems let loose that we didn't know. It's kind of hard to do that Clay. Good job! We loved Brett's response when you told him you were gay, "I'm straight enough for the both of us". Bwah! Good for Brett! Please pass him our thanks for a little glimpse into your relationship with your brother.
Friday the 9th saw the start of the National Inclusion Project's 2011 Champions Gala. From their website (some transposed):
Over 500 attendees enjoyed the many festivities planned by the staff, board, and numerous volunteers of the National Inclusion Project. From silent auctions, to a carnival, a luncheon, and a wonderful evening of recognition and entertainment, this year’s Gala event was a rousing success.
Friday evening's event was a dessert reception for sponsors hosted by Executive Director Jerry Aiken. Attendees previewed silent auction items, photos were taken with co-founders Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel. Clay and Diane hosted a question and answer session about the work and direction of the Project. The evening was capped off by an engaging performance by The Chris Burke Band who performed some favorites including the theme song from Chris’ television series, "Life Goes On." They had the whole audience upon their feet singing, signing, dancing, and clapping.
Saturday morning brought the "Through A Child’s Eyes" Carnival. Volunteers set up booths in the Marbles Children’s Museum and welcomed over 50 children and their parents to join in the fun. Face painting, games, crafts, fun with music, trains and a clown university kept the kids busy. Without a doubt the volunteers had as much fun as the families in attendance.
The Champions Awards ceremony took place Saturday night at Fletcher Auditorium. The evening was a success from beginning to end. Guests were led into the auditorium venue for an evening of recognition, music, and raising some money! Clay Aiken opened the evening with a triumphant rendition of "All Is Well." Linda Lovelace was the evening's emcee, Jerry Aiken re-capped all the accomplishments of the Project.
The Champion Award Winners:
Walgreens who received the honor for their commitment to providing the opportunity for people of ALL abilities to work together, side by side. Angela Mackey accepted the award on behalf of Walgreens.
The recipient of the first Lifetime Achievement Award was Chris Burke. Chris was born with Downs Syndrome. His parents...treated him just the same as his siblings and he went on to star in films and television, most notably as Corky in "Life Goes On." Chris now works for the National Down Syndrome Society as the Editor of their quarterly newsletter "Upbeat". Chris reminded everyone, "We all have disabilities, it’s what we do with our abilities that counts."
The third Champions honoree of the night was Kevin Connolly. Kevin told stories about growing up in rural Montana and how his family challenged him. He taught the crowd a little about living life to the fullest. Kevin was born without legs and his terrific humor, his outlook on life, and his adventurous spirit is something to aspire to. His recent memoir, "Double Take, A Memoir," challenges people to explore how they view themselves and what it is to truly see another person.
The Bubel/Aiken Founder’s Award for outstanding volunteer commitment was awarded to the late Margi Deluca. Her passion and enthusiasm for the work of the National Inclusion Project and the mission of inclusion was remembered by Clay and Diane. Her friend, Irene Williams, accepted the award on behalf of Margi’s family.
After intermission, Jonathan Bunzey, a former attendee at the AE Finley YMCA Let’s All Play camp program and 2009 Champions Honoree, took the stage not as a camper, but as a counselor at that very same camp. He told the audience of the impact the camp had on him and how his dream came true when he became a counselor.
The Awards and Recognition program was followed by a very lively Live Auction as competition got fierce and bids kept going up and up! Congratulations to all the winners! The Live Auction was followed by the exciting "Send A Kid to Camp" auction which has become a favorite of the evening’s activities. Once again supporters came through and a LOT of kids will be going to camp in 2012!
Way to go, National Inclusion Project, way to go!
Clay took the stage to thunderous applause for a much anticipated concert of Christmas favorites and some of his own fan favorite songs. Thanks to Clay, Quiana Parler, Ben Cohn, Sean McDaniel, and the entire band for a wonderful night of music and fun.
'Bring Back My Love' was debuted to wonderful reviews. Made us all want to be there but alas, not all of us could travel due to work or health issues, previous plans, families, whatever, we missed a good mini-concert and your new song. We can't wait to hear it on the radio *prays to the Baby Jesus*
Through the generous support of all of the attendees, the National Inclusion Project was able to raise over $500,000 to support the advancement of inclusion across the country. The 8th Champions Gala was an outstanding weekend filled with many special moments where everyone was reminded that Inclusion means ALL participate and ALL belong!
Read the entire account of the Gala at www.InclusionProject.org.
'Hallelujah'. Really Clay? Really? Really??? The one song that a vast majority of your fans wanted to hear you sing and there was no Clack. NO CLACK! ACK!
The 20th saw the release of 'Bring Back My Love'. Geezus, Clay, you done killed us once again. Most everyone loves the song and agrees that you sound spectacular singing it. The production is first-rate and arrangement is first-class.
Well, bet you're glad this long diatribe is almost over. For the New Year, we wish you the same thing we wish for you every year....joy, peace, and love. Take pride in your family and friends, Clay, for you have assembled a 'family' outside the norm that includes your bandmates, your friends, and yes, your fans. Love you!
Your Internet Fans
*All factual errors are solely the fault of the author
**Many thanks to the Clack House Calendar thread, to Finding Clay Aiken for the yearly timeline, and to all in Clay Nation for your unwavering enthusiasm, support, and for posting your thoughts and feelings so prolifically...and often *g*
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Clay Aiken: Gives good interview
Tonight is Clay Aiken's first stop on his Tried & True Tour. Recently he's been in the press a lot and the interviews are surprisingly good. Respectful, yet interesting. Here are a few snippets:
From Knoxville.com
And from thedailytimes.com
From Knoxville.com
Clay Aiken is the sort of artist who gets a gut reaction. Some fans love him. Others, especially those who hate "American Idol," seem to despise him. Talking with Aiken, though, it would be hard not to like the guy. He laughs easily and seems comfortable. He answers questions without hesitation. When Aiken competed in "American Idol," he was a 25-year-old finishing up his degree in special education. He says he wasn't prepared for the negative aspects of becoming an instant celebrity.
"At the very beginning I, literally, was scared to death of it - hated it," says Aiken. "Then it became a major annoyance. Then it became a chronic annoyance!" Aiken laughs. "Slowly it's just kind of become, 'That's just how things are.' People say, 'Oh, you knew what you were getting when you got into this.' No, I really didn't. I went on a reality show. I wanted to be in a competition and by the time this started happening it was kind of too late to drop out of 'Idol.' I didn't ask for it."
He says it took a little while to find his groove in the business.
"I imagine it's like any job," says Aiken. "The first few months of doing a job are a learning curve. ... You get past that anxiety of not knowing what you're doing, of not knowing how you're doing, of not knowing if you're going to get fired by their bosses if they screw something up. At some point you just get comfortable with it. It's been eight years since 'Idol' now, which makes me cry to think about how old I am! But I know the audience a little bit more, myself a little bit more, the business a little bit more."
And from thedailytimes.com
And therein lies Aiken’s genius — he’s a song aficionado. He plays to his strengths, and he has a keen ear for what songs will serve his sound the best. It’s a skill that made him runner-up on Season 2 of “American Idol” and gave him a career that’s eclipsed that of the man that beat him, his close friend Ruben Studdard.
He’s accepted the public fascination with his personal life. He doesn’t like it, but he’s stopped fighting it, he said.
“It frustrates me, but I’ve figured out that’s how it happens,” he said. “It’s something that, eight years ago I hated and wanted it to stop, and four years ago I hated it and wished it would stop, and now I hate it and realize I’m not going to be able to. Do I wish the focus was on the music? Yes. Do I understand this morbid fascination with what I do outside of music allows me to continue doing things in music? Yes.
“Now, looking back in this rearview mirror, while I don’t like this attention being on it, I do understand that the morbid fascination with what I do outside of work has allowed me to work, more so than I know of some people who have boring lives, or even the great musicians who don’t have the fascination of them as people. But it’s a Catch 22, because I’d love for it to go away.
“That’s one of the reasons I moved to North Carolina, because I couldn’t leave my house in LA without being followed or getting my picture taken,” he added. “I hate that when I go there to visit my son, it’s like that — but I also have to wonder: If it did go away, would my ability to continue to tour and sing and perform also go away?”
Is he an artist? Some say yes; Aiken himself shies away from making such a claim. He doesn’t, however, downplay his ability to take a song and turn it into something that sounds amazing. After all, he’s earned the right to be proud of what he can do, and some would say he’s entitled to that pride. But don’t mistake pride for arrogance — hearing Aiken talk, you get the idea that it has nothing to do with arrogance and everything to do with confidence.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
2010: Clay Aiken, the Year in Review
2010: Clay Aiken, the Year in Review
Hey Clay,
How ya been? It's us, your internet fans, looking back on 2010 and seeing what you were up to this past year. Now, some fans don't like being lumped into a 'we' situation but in trolling the internetz, we took the general pulse of the fandom, The Clay Nation, as is were, and amalgamated the thoughts, feeling, and prose of your very prolific fans. What were you up to this year? Turns out, all sorts of things......
January: You attended the National Inclusion Project's Golfing for Inclusion pre-party and sang a few songs for the patrons of Mirasol Country Club. *cries for Lost Clack* On January 28th we celebrated the 7th anniversary of 'Take', as we affectionately call it. We first saw you seven years ago, striding into the American Idol audition room and being asked, 'Why are you here'? You answered, rather cockily, 'I'm the next American Idol'. I guess on top of being one of the premiere vocalists of this generation, you're also clairvoyant! Because yes, you were the next America Idol, at least in our eyes. But I digress.
February: The Third Annual Golfing for Inclusion at Mirasol Country Club, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida happened on the 1st. You and the National Inclusion Project raised over $150,000 to provide children with disabilities the opportunity to play, learn and grow side-by-side with their typical peers. Allianz Life was this years sponsor and the American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. was a platinum sponsor. Good job, NIP, good job!
You also gave a very powerful, to-the-point speech at the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas Gala Dinner on the 27th. This year we watched as you became more active in the LGBT Community by fighting for rights that all Americans should be afforded but sadly aren't....and it's about damn time those rights were granted to each individual. Repealing DADT is a start, but only a start. There's still so much more to do.
March: You taped the PBS "Tried and True" Special in Raleigh NC on the 13th. A ton of your fans flew, drove, trained, bused, hitched, crawled, and rolled to get to the theater for that performance. From all reports, once again, you hit it out of the ballpark. Most of the discussion after the concert was about the 'jet plane' note in 'Unchained Melody'. Try as they might, the concert attendees couldn't do it justice; they said that you just had to be there. You were, most of us weren't, so we missed out and had to wait until the Special was shown on TV because there was no Clack of that taping. Yes, we behaved ourselves, as you requested, but man, it was hard, Clay, not seeing what the attendees were talking about. We got over it....eventually *g*
April: You released the cover art for the Tried and True CD. Amazon got flooded with pre-orders.
May: Taps foot, drums fingers
June: Whoa! You were a busy guy in June which makes US a busy fandom. "Tried and True" was released! Finally, a new recording from you. Appearances on various TV shows followed the release such as:
Good Morning America
The View
The Joy Behar Show
The Early Show
Chelsea handler
Canada AM
AOL Popeater
and various Satellite news media appearances and radio station interviews which were spread far and wide. We seriously loved "Feel the Spin with Larry Flick" on Sirius Radio. A lot of us feel that he really brought out things in a different way than previous interviewers and that you were more candid than ever before. We also love the fact that you are slowly opening up, just a bit, on subjects that you'd never talk about before coming out.
Also in June, the "Clay Aiken, Tried & True" PBS Concert Special first premiered on Chicago's WTTW. You appeared live in the WTTW studio with a cadre of volunteers taking the pledge calls. Recognize any of them? We did! Heh.
Geez, did you get any sleep in June? On the 21st, you appeared at the North Carolina Theater in 'Bringing Broadway Home'. That was a wonderful appearance, Clay. You know, the fandom usually finds one song in either your tours or appearances that is loved above all others. Most of the fans loved, loved, loved 'Those Magic Changes'. It was something different and something we could sort of rock out to. We also loved getting a clear, uncut version of 'This is the Moment'. We kind of got tired of listening to the spliced together one from back in the 90's, with the bad video and the two different versions in a different key. Thanks for the update.
July and August:
You gave a UNICEF speech in Memphis for their Keyclub and accepted generous Keyclub donation for $700,000 for UNICEF. You were a guest host on The View and managed to not cover anyone's mouth! Who knew?!? Seriously Clay, you did a good job on the show. We think Joy has a teeny soft spot for you.
We got very excited when the PBS Special started popping up on various PBS stations all across the country and some stations offered meet & greet tickets along with our pledges. How are you going to handle the over-sold M&Gs, like the one in the Philly market. Something tells us that a 72 person M&G ain't gonna happen. Heh.
What else happened in July, what else? Oh! We know! The start of the 'Timeless Tour' starring Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard! We waited in anticipation for this tour. Most of us hadn't seen you on a stage since Spamalot and we were jonesing for a glimpse of Concert!Clay! on stage doing what you do best...entertaining an audience. We always knew that you were funny, really funny, but who knew that Ruben was so funny as well? Of course, not all fans enjoyed the same thing about the tour, some loved the medleys, others wanted at least a few more complete songs. As we said above, there is usually a song or two that most fans clop (yes, clop's a word. Is too!) onto and this tour was not different. 'More Than a Feeling' and 'Footloose' were the two songs most talked about. We also remember some of the 'characters' in the audience. One of our favorites was 'Alan' from Hammond who "broke it the hell down" during 'Footloose' and of course, who could forget Arlene, the older lady who got to molest you right on stage (lucky lady)? Where was Jerome? Standing on the side, laughing his ass off, that's where he was. How was that staff meeting afterwards? Oh, wait, that was at the special Chicago concert in October. Forget we said anything.
We also got to hear you sing in the Phineas and Ferb episode with Chaka Khan.
The tour ran through mid-August and we didn't see you again until......
September: ...when you made some appearances for the PBS Special in various TV studios.
October:
Two big things happened in October. The intimate concert at the West Park Theater on the 14th and the National Inclusion Project's Annual Gala on the 15th. At the West Park concert, who could forget Arlene, the older lady who got to molest you right on stage (lucky lady)? Where was Jerome? Standing on the side, laughing his ass off, that's where he was. How was that staff meeting afterwards? Yes, we copied and cheated, so what, who cares (tm Joy Behar via SNL)
The Champions Gala raised quite a bit of money for the NIP with the most successful auction of sending 5 kids to camp, the 4, then 3 until it got down to one. The total raised was over $370,000. In these tough economic times, that's a goodly number, Clay. You and the supporters should be proud. This year, the honorees were:
PepsiCo EnAble
EnAble seeks to promote physical, technological, and cultural opportunities to “EnAble” their people to realize their fullest potential.
I Am Norm: Twenty young people, with and without disabilities, from various locations across the United States designed a campaign in hopes of bringing about change. Through this campaign, they hope to raise awareness about inclusion, provide opportunities for youth to share their ideas about inclusion, and promote inclusive practices in schools and communities. They want to encourage the acceptance, respect, and full inclusion of all youth, in schools and communities through an initiative designed by young people.
The documentary, 'Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life'
A group of friends took 15 year old Darius Weems across America to raise awareness of Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD), the disease Darius has, to test wheelchair accessibility across the country, and to convince MTV's popular show "Pimp My Ride" to customize Darius' wheelchair.
What a wonderful group of honorees, Clay. Again, good job, NIP, good job!
You also spoke out against bullying on the Joy Behar Show quite effectively.
November:
November was a bit sparse but you did get to address Members of Congress, along with Senators Bob Casey and Al Franken and Representatives Jared Polis and Linda Sanchez about the Safe Schools Improvement Act, sponsored by GLSEN, advocating for anti-bullying legislation in the wake of the recent teen suicides as a result of bullying. "I never had someone who told me that it was ok to be different...that it was okay to be me. What I did hear was that it would get better once I was out of high school...that things would get better. But from where I sat, I could not possibly believe that to be true. We need federal leadership from Congress to encourage all states and districts and each and every school to create safe learning environments where all students can learn and succeed." Excellent speech Clay and so close to home for many children and adults. Good job.
You also turned 32 on November 30th. Just think, we 'met' you at age 24 when you were still a youngin' and now you're an old man. Heh.
December, you were quiet, except for a few blogs that we loved. Keep it up, Clay. Your fans love it when you blog. Oh, and you could play with the devil once in a while and tweet something *g*
To wrap up this long-ass...ah, winded discourse, we hope you, your family and loved ones had a wonderful Christmas holiday and for the New Year, we wish you joy, peace, and love.
Love,
Your Internet Fans
*All factual errors are soley the fault of the author
**Many thanks to the Clack House message board Calendar thread, to 'Finding Clay Aiken' messageboard for the yearly timeline, and to all in Clay Nation for your unwavering enthusiasm, support, and for posting your thoughts and feelings.
Hey Clay,
How ya been? It's us, your internet fans, looking back on 2010 and seeing what you were up to this past year. Now, some fans don't like being lumped into a 'we' situation but in trolling the internetz, we took the general pulse of the fandom, The Clay Nation, as is were, and amalgamated the thoughts, feeling, and prose of your very prolific fans. What were you up to this year? Turns out, all sorts of things......
January: You attended the National Inclusion Project's Golfing for Inclusion pre-party and sang a few songs for the patrons of Mirasol Country Club. *cries for Lost Clack* On January 28th we celebrated the 7th anniversary of 'Take', as we affectionately call it. We first saw you seven years ago, striding into the American Idol audition room and being asked, 'Why are you here'? You answered, rather cockily, 'I'm the next American Idol'. I guess on top of being one of the premiere vocalists of this generation, you're also clairvoyant! Because yes, you were the next America Idol, at least in our eyes. But I digress.
February: The Third Annual Golfing for Inclusion at Mirasol Country Club, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida happened on the 1st. You and the National Inclusion Project raised over $150,000 to provide children with disabilities the opportunity to play, learn and grow side-by-side with their typical peers. Allianz Life was this years sponsor and the American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. was a platinum sponsor. Good job, NIP, good job!
You also gave a very powerful, to-the-point speech at the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas Gala Dinner on the 27th. This year we watched as you became more active in the LGBT Community by fighting for rights that all Americans should be afforded but sadly aren't....and it's about damn time those rights were granted to each individual. Repealing DADT is a start, but only a start. There's still so much more to do.
March: You taped the PBS "Tried and True" Special in Raleigh NC on the 13th. A ton of your fans flew, drove, trained, bused, hitched, crawled, and rolled to get to the theater for that performance. From all reports, once again, you hit it out of the ballpark. Most of the discussion after the concert was about the 'jet plane' note in 'Unchained Melody'. Try as they might, the concert attendees couldn't do it justice; they said that you just had to be there. You were, most of us weren't, so we missed out and had to wait until the Special was shown on TV because there was no Clack of that taping. Yes, we behaved ourselves, as you requested, but man, it was hard, Clay, not seeing what the attendees were talking about. We got over it....eventually *g*
April: You released the cover art for the Tried and True CD. Amazon got flooded with pre-orders.
May: Taps foot, drums fingers
June: Whoa! You were a busy guy in June which makes US a busy fandom. "Tried and True" was released! Finally, a new recording from you. Appearances on various TV shows followed the release such as:
Good Morning America
The View
The Joy Behar Show
The Early Show
Chelsea handler
Canada AM
AOL Popeater
and various Satellite news media appearances and radio station interviews which were spread far and wide. We seriously loved "Feel the Spin with Larry Flick" on Sirius Radio. A lot of us feel that he really brought out things in a different way than previous interviewers and that you were more candid than ever before. We also love the fact that you are slowly opening up, just a bit, on subjects that you'd never talk about before coming out.
Also in June, the "Clay Aiken, Tried & True" PBS Concert Special first premiered on Chicago's WTTW. You appeared live in the WTTW studio with a cadre of volunteers taking the pledge calls. Recognize any of them? We did! Heh.
Geez, did you get any sleep in June? On the 21st, you appeared at the North Carolina Theater in 'Bringing Broadway Home'. That was a wonderful appearance, Clay. You know, the fandom usually finds one song in either your tours or appearances that is loved above all others. Most of the fans loved, loved, loved 'Those Magic Changes'. It was something different and something we could sort of rock out to. We also loved getting a clear, uncut version of 'This is the Moment'. We kind of got tired of listening to the spliced together one from back in the 90's, with the bad video and the two different versions in a different key. Thanks for the update.
July and August:
You gave a UNICEF speech in Memphis for their Keyclub and accepted generous Keyclub donation for $700,000 for UNICEF. You were a guest host on The View and managed to not cover anyone's mouth! Who knew?!? Seriously Clay, you did a good job on the show. We think Joy has a teeny soft spot for you.
We got very excited when the PBS Special started popping up on various PBS stations all across the country and some stations offered meet & greet tickets along with our pledges. How are you going to handle the over-sold M&Gs, like the one in the Philly market. Something tells us that a 72 person M&G ain't gonna happen. Heh.
What else happened in July, what else? Oh! We know! The start of the 'Timeless Tour' starring Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard! We waited in anticipation for this tour. Most of us hadn't seen you on a stage since Spamalot and we were jonesing for a glimpse of Concert!Clay! on stage doing what you do best...entertaining an audience. We always knew that you were funny, really funny, but who knew that Ruben was so funny as well? Of course, not all fans enjoyed the same thing about the tour, some loved the medleys, others wanted at least a few more complete songs. As we said above, there is usually a song or two that most fans clop (yes, clop's a word. Is too!) onto and this tour was not different. 'More Than a Feeling' and 'Footloose' were the two songs most talked about. We also remember some of the 'characters' in the audience. One of our favorites was 'Alan' from Hammond who "broke it the hell down" during 'Footloose' and of course, who could forget Arlene, the older lady who got to molest you right on stage (lucky lady)? Where was Jerome? Standing on the side, laughing his ass off, that's where he was. How was that staff meeting afterwards? Oh, wait, that was at the special Chicago concert in October. Forget we said anything.
We also got to hear you sing in the Phineas and Ferb episode with Chaka Khan.
The tour ran through mid-August and we didn't see you again until......
September: ...when you made some appearances for the PBS Special in various TV studios.
October:
Two big things happened in October. The intimate concert at the West Park Theater on the 14th and the National Inclusion Project's Annual Gala on the 15th. At the West Park concert, who could forget Arlene, the older lady who got to molest you right on stage (lucky lady)? Where was Jerome? Standing on the side, laughing his ass off, that's where he was. How was that staff meeting afterwards? Yes, we copied and cheated, so what, who cares (tm Joy Behar via SNL)
The Champions Gala raised quite a bit of money for the NIP with the most successful auction of sending 5 kids to camp, the 4, then 3 until it got down to one. The total raised was over $370,000. In these tough economic times, that's a goodly number, Clay. You and the supporters should be proud. This year, the honorees were:
PepsiCo EnAble
EnAble seeks to promote physical, technological, and cultural opportunities to “EnAble” their people to realize their fullest potential.
I Am Norm: Twenty young people, with and without disabilities, from various locations across the United States designed a campaign in hopes of bringing about change. Through this campaign, they hope to raise awareness about inclusion, provide opportunities for youth to share their ideas about inclusion, and promote inclusive practices in schools and communities. They want to encourage the acceptance, respect, and full inclusion of all youth, in schools and communities through an initiative designed by young people.
The documentary, 'Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life'
A group of friends took 15 year old Darius Weems across America to raise awareness of Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD), the disease Darius has, to test wheelchair accessibility across the country, and to convince MTV's popular show "Pimp My Ride" to customize Darius' wheelchair.
What a wonderful group of honorees, Clay. Again, good job, NIP, good job!
You also spoke out against bullying on the Joy Behar Show quite effectively.
November:
November was a bit sparse but you did get to address Members of Congress, along with Senators Bob Casey and Al Franken and Representatives Jared Polis and Linda Sanchez about the Safe Schools Improvement Act, sponsored by GLSEN, advocating for anti-bullying legislation in the wake of the recent teen suicides as a result of bullying. "I never had someone who told me that it was ok to be different...that it was okay to be me. What I did hear was that it would get better once I was out of high school...that things would get better. But from where I sat, I could not possibly believe that to be true. We need federal leadership from Congress to encourage all states and districts and each and every school to create safe learning environments where all students can learn and succeed." Excellent speech Clay and so close to home for many children and adults. Good job.
You also turned 32 on November 30th. Just think, we 'met' you at age 24 when you were still a youngin' and now you're an old man. Heh.
December, you were quiet, except for a few blogs that we loved. Keep it up, Clay. Your fans love it when you blog. Oh, and you could play with the devil once in a while and tweet something *g*
To wrap up this long-ass...ah, winded discourse, we hope you, your family and loved ones had a wonderful Christmas holiday and for the New Year, we wish you joy, peace, and love.
Love,
Your Internet Fans
*All factual errors are soley the fault of the author
**Many thanks to the Clack House message board Calendar thread, to 'Finding Clay Aiken' messageboard for the yearly timeline, and to all in Clay Nation for your unwavering enthusiasm, support, and for posting your thoughts and feelings.
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