Lawrence Auls Chairman of MDi has Global Change in mind. I agree wholeheartedly and am determined to it about. - hershel daniels junior

MDi Co Founder
I am determined to bring about lasting change and with the current Chairman of McGraw Daniels, LLC [MDi] we are well positioned to accomplish this.

MDi's Chairman Lawrence Auls was the State of Ohio's first African American statewide computer systems integrator to carry Sun Microsystems and Oracle products and sell their services. This was during the period when FUD ran rampant and an African American owned business was not supposed to do what he was doing. This included a multipaged article in 1975 in Black Enterprise on one of his business ventures.

MDi is poised with this organization, OneCommunity and under his leadership and vision to develop the competitive advantage of the inner city.

Mr. Auls has over 45 years of community, business development, advocacy and negotiations at the ihborhood, municipal, state and national levels. He has said, "At this time in my life I am transferring the gained expertise of myself and others of my generation to the next generation(s) through our initiative of a "Virtual Faculty", and embedding it as means for future generations to do the same."

I've recently become aware that our [MDi's] Chairman and James Houghton the Chairman Emeritus of Corning, Inc. were Aspen fellows together at the then Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies (now the Aspen Institute, in the early 70's.

Much of his work are expansions of solutions [including those at MDi] based around the phrase Anticipatory Democracy. The phrase was coined by Alvin Toffler in his book Future Shock, and was expanded on in the 1978 book "Anticipatory Democracy: People in the Politics of the Future", edited by Clement Bezold, Phd. Mr. Auls was a contributing author of a chapter in the book and I hope is writing a historical text of his first hand experience of those days.

Other contributors included former President Jimmy Carter and former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gringrich. In that book, he [Auls] expanded on the thoughts garnered from his personal experience at the first in the United States of America neighborhood planning session that was principally African Americans who where looking 25 years into its future.

While at Aspen and with work at Alvin Toffler's house, he refined his thoughts on early Anticipatory Democracy, which is a theory of civics relying on democratic decision making that takes into account predictions of future events that have credibility with the electorate.

The then Aspen Institute's curriculum has been instrumental in the course of his activity in community change and Anticipatory Democracy. This work is vital to his current research on community change and continues to be a factor in his current work on Anticipatory Democracy.

We are now nearly 40 years from that time and have a new President dedicated to change as is MDi. One of the unfortunate consequences is that over the years Mr. Auls has lost touch with his contemporaries of that day.

I have taken it upon myself to get him in touch with them, with a focus on Mr. Houghton. Although they traveled different paths, each has a legacy and is still building the future with ideals, products and services that serve a global marketplace. In Mr. Auls case, this includes creating a fiber to the home [hence Mr. Houghton of Corning, the fiber cable company] implementation plan of action for the state of Ohio on top of already installed networks as private public partnership to "Erase the Digital Divide in Ohio".

I am looking forward to bringing them all together in a discussion of our mission statement "Erase The Digital Divide" before the next President comes to office and the stimulus package is decided. We feel the times require a conversation on this plan for 2009 implementation.

We expect great things to occur as a result of the type contributions to society by historically enlightened and visionaries like Mr. Auls, Houghton with MDi's President and Chief Engineer Fred Hargrove, Sr. PE, MBA, OneCommuntiy's President Scot M. Rourke and Mark T. Ansboury Senior VP & Chief Technology Officer along with the group that will be in any conversation about "Erasing the Digital Divide" in the United States.

A commitment to the idea of American unity in these times

I have a commitment to the principle idea of togetherness or American unity in these times. This principle is a life foundation; for without unity, neither the family nor the community can survive. As an American of African decent my unity begins with the family. I am starting an open discussion of family problems and what I see as their probable solutions.

Overall I am dedicated to service the African American family. I cannot forget the transgressions of the past but perhaps I understand them better in the light of where we are at now, all together. So in my minds eye this family is made up of over 80 million Americans by their genetic code. I believe that I, through MDi and its partners such as OneCommunity and The NET Video, can set up a health service organization in unity with members for this family and supporters of a system that is setup to service those left behind with no health care.

I will set up the first of a series of bio safe labs that can provide support genetic and bio diagnostic testing of people. They will have an emphasis on the people of Africa in America. These are to be part of a full service life cycle health care complexes. These labs in these complexes will be attached to centers of learning and health care that will partner with provider enterprises and professionals to create health information management organizations based on established operations in Ohio.

From our headquarters in Cincinnati, by 2012 we look to have a database of at least 500 million people in our regional health information organizational partners secure data services. Here we have a plan of action for 100 million dollar direct investment in the Cincinnati Empowerment Zone and or designated Empowerment Zone development area in addition to a 30 million dollar investment in over 180 million dollars in commercial construction with a goal of using Empowerment Zone residents in 75% of the work.

In addition we will create a broadband wireless network that will cover 95% of the north American market by 2020 through licensed and unlicensed frequencies with a fiber backhaul to regional multi media production and distribution centers, the first of which are in Ohio. We expect to have 20 million accounts by 2012. These are from those households aligned with my family through a digital social network infrastructure that connects to a secure new build public private joint venture built around meeting FCC requirements and the marketplace. It will be built on the ideals contained in my 2008 demonstration cities [Cincinnati, Akron and Cleveland] .

In Cincinnati we, MDi, will partner with Cincinnati Change through direct agreements and or Global Change Communications and Computing Company, Inc. [GC4] in the proposed joint operating vehicle. Cincinnati Change will hold 9% equity granted by the founders for the residents and employers in the 9 communities of the Cincinnati Empowerment Zone. We will bring together a digital round table with over 300 stakeholders by January 17th 2008 through the Cincinnati Change website that is to be relaunched on January 6th 2009.

In Akron I, through MDi, will propose to partner with the Knight Center in the creation of Akron Change. Akron Change will erase the digital divide in Akron with the Coalition of Black Trades unionists and a team. Akron Change is created to issue a Community Reinvestment Act compliant investment grade financial instrument as part of statewide plan to pump over 60 million dollars into the Akron economy in 2009.

This initiative lead by Akron Change will redevelop 6,000 homes with broadband wireless network access points that create a broadband wireless grid in Summit County. Akron Change will also remodel the assets [6,000 homes] for the next 30 years using HUD and other federal, state and local housing programs. We will bring together a 1,000 people by January 19th 2009 through the creation of a web site called Akron Change on 1 January 2009.

In Cleveland we will partner with Wilson Military Academy to develop a solution that meets the needs of stakeholders including the regions African American community, the state of Ohio, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

Another legend is dead, Eartha Kitt RIP

Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died, a family spokesman said. She was 81.

Kitt, a self-proclaimed "sex kitten" famous for her catlike purr, was one of America's most versatile performers, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third nomination. She also was nominated for several Tonys and two Grammys.

Her career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television. She persevered through an unhappy childhood as a mixed-race daughter of the South and made headlines in the 1960s for denouncing the Vietnam War during a visit to the White House.

Through the years, Kitt remained a picture of vitality and attracted fans less than half her age even as she neared 80.

When her book "Rejuvenate," a guide to staying physically fit, was published in 2001, Kitt was featured on the cover in a long, curve-hugging black dress with a figure that some 20-year-old women would envy. Kitt also wrote three autobiographies.

Once dubbed the "most exciting woman in the world" by Orson Welles, she spent much of her life single, though brief romances with the rich and famous peppered her younger years.

After becoming a hit singing "Monotonous" in the Broadway revue "New Faces of 1952," Kitt appeared in "Mrs. Patterson" in 1954-55. (Some references say she earned a Tony nomination for "Mrs. Patterson," but only winners were publicly announced at that time.) She also made appearances in "Shinbone Alley" and "The Owl and the Pussycat."

Her first album, "RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt," came out in 1954, featuring such songs as "I Want to Be Evil," "C'est Si Bon" and the saucy gold digger's theme song "Santa Baby," which is revived on radio each Christmas.
The next year, the record company released the follow-up album "That Bad Eartha," which featured "Let's Do It," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy."

In 1996, she was nominated for a Grammy in the category of traditional pop vocal performance for her album "Back in Business." She also had been nominated in the children's recording category for the 1969 record "Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa."

Kitt also acted in movies, playing the lead female role opposite Nat King Cole in "St. Louis Blues" in 1958 and more recently appearing in "Boomerang" and "Harriet the Spy" in the 1990s.

On television, she was the sexy Catwoman on the popular "Batman" series in 1967-68, replacing Julie Newmar who originated the role. A guest appearance on an episode of "I Spy" brought Kitt an Emmy nomination in 1966.
Kitt was plainspoken about causes she believed in. Her anti-war comments at the White House came as she attended a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson.

"You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed," she told the group of about 50 women. "They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."

For four years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas. She was investigated by the FBI and CIA, which allegedly found her to be foul-mouthed and promiscuous.

In 1978, Kitt returned to Broadway in the musical "Timbuktu!" — which brought her a Tony nomination — and was invited back to the White House by President Jimmy Carter.

As recently as October 2003, she was on Broadway after replacing Chita Rivera in a revival of "Nine."

But she also said: "I don't carry myself as a black person but as a woman that belongs to everybody. After all, it's the general public that made (me) — not any one particular group. So I don't think of myself as belonging to any particular group and never have."

Kitt was born in North, S.C., and her road to fame was the stuff of storybooks. In her autobiography, she wrote that her mother was black and Cherokee while her father was white, and she was left to live with relatives after her mother's new husband objected to taking in a mixed-race girl.

An aunt eventually brought her to live in New York, where she attended the High School of Performing Arts, later dropping out to take various odd jobs.

By chance, she dropped by an audition for the dance group run by Dunham, a pioneering African-American dancer. In 1946, Kitt was one of the Sans-Souci Singers in Dunham's Broadway production "Bal Negre."

Kitt's travels with the Dunham troupe landed her a gig in a Paris nightclub in the early 1950s. Kitt was spotted by Welles, who cast her in his Paris stage production of "Faust."

That led to a role in "New Faces of 1952," which featured such other stars-to-be as Carol Lawrence, Paul Lynde and, as a writer, Mel Brooks.

While traveling the world as a dancer and singer in the 1950s, Kitt learned to perform in nearly a dozen languages and, over time, added songs in French, Spanish and even Turkish to her repertoire.

"Usku Dara," a song Kitt said was taught to her by the wife of a Turkish admiral, was one of her first hits, though Kitt says her record company feared it too remote for American audiences to appreciate.

Song titles such as "I Want to be Evil" and "Just an Old Fashioned Girl" seem to reflect the paradoxes in Kitt's private life.

Over the years, Kitt had liaisons with wealthy men, including Revlon founder Charles Revson, who showered her with lavish gifts.

In 1960, she married Bill McDonald but divorced him after the birth of their daughter, Kitt.

While on stage, she was daringly sexy and always flirtatious. Offstage, however, Kitt described herself as shy and almost reclusive, remnants of feeling unwanted and unloved as a child. She referred to herself as "that little urchin cotton-picker from the South, Eartha Mae."

For years, Kitt was unsure of her birthplace or birth date. In 1997, a group of students at historically black Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., located her birth certificate, which verified her birth date as Jan. 17, 1927. Kitt had previously celebrated on Jan. 26.

The research into her background also showed Kitt was the daughter of a white man, a poor cotton farmer.

Adoption of the principles behind the charter for MDi Global Change

It is a simple mistake for one to make who isn't aware of the true teachings of Kwanzaa, to assume that it's about African culture. Kwanzaa is clearly an American-made holiday with man-made principles and rituals. In no African culture will anyone ever have found the Nguzo Saba practiced by any African people before the creation of Kwanzaa. We interpret the Nguzo Saba which is a set of ideals created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 to the purposes needed to met the new day in America when on January 20th 2009 President Elect Barrack Obama becomes the 44th president of the United States of America.

We, at MDi which I help startup, subscribe to this as a spiritual guide, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" [Galatians 3:28] and that we work to implement the American though "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."

That Union is based on the Constitution of the United States of America that has at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promises its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time in support for the pursuit of happiness.

We believe our time is now to outline fundamental changes for the next 40 years and we will over the next seven days adopt the principles behind the Nguzo Saba into a charter for Global Change.

While the Nguzo Saba are commonly linked to the yearly Kawanzaa celebration, they have year-round applicability that when embedded with the social principles contained in the Cincinnati Change charter create a force for collaborative change. We are sharing these principles in the hopes that we can refer to them often over the coming week leading to our annual Washington meeting on March 11th through the 14th..

UMOJA (00-MOE-JAH) UNITY - The first principle is a commitment to the idea of togetherness. This principle is a foundation; for without unity, neither the family nor the community can survive. National African American unity begins with the family. Open discussions of family problems and their probable solutions are very important.

The African American family is made up of over 80 million Americans by genetics. We will create a broadband wireless network that will cover 95% of this market by 2010 through licensed and unlicensed frequencies with a fiber backhaul.

KUJICHAGULIA (CO-GEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-AH) SELF-DETERMINATION - The second principle is a commitment to building our lives in our own images and interests. If we, as a people, are to achieve our goals we must take the responsibility for that achievement upon ourselves, for self-determination is the essence of freedom. This day calls for a reaffirmation of our commitment to struggle for all people of African descent, particularly those of us here in America, to build a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

Globally we have a market of over a billion people of African descent throughout the worlds 6.6 billion people. This will grow to over 2 billion people by 2020. The Americans of African descent in the United States will through MDi subsidiary in formation Global Change will take the responsibility for building our lives and that of our fellow humans to build a more meaningful and fulfilling life that meets the needs of our times.

We will create a digital world in which Afrocentricity is implemented as a visual representation of the thought and practice as we wish the world is, but which is rooted in the cultural image and human interests of African people.

UJIMA (00-GEE-MA) COLLECTIVE WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY - The third principle encourages self-criticism and personal evaluation, as it relates to the common good of the family/community. Without collective work and struggle, progress is impossible. The family and the community must accept the reality that we are collectively responsible for our failures, as well as our victories and achievements. Discussions concerning each family member's responsibility prove helpful in defining and achieving family goals.

We will create a open process that adheres to the rules of law. First and foremost that law as expressed in the Constitution of the United States of America, the rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States, the laws as signed by the President of the United States and the Federal Regulations along with any treaties, agreements and international rulings that implement those treaties and agreements.

Our process will be open and inclusive yet secure from the ground up with the responsibility of protection of the people’s collective work. We will invoke 360 degree digital review augmented through the reality that we are collectively responsible for our failures, as well as our victories and achievements.

We are asking our government for 3.48 billion dollars for 30 years so as to change the lives of over 300,000 Ohioans, with a focus on 60,000 African Americans who have lost and or are losing their home in Ohio.

UJAMAA (00-JAH-MAH) COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS - Out of the fundamental concepts of "African Communal Living" comes the fourth principle of Kwanzaa. In a community or family, wealth and resources should be shared. On the national level, cooperative economics can help African Americans take physical control of their own destinies. On this day, ideas should be shared and discussed for cooperative economic efforts to provide for needs as related to housing, education, food, day care, health, transportation and other goods and services.

We will bring to bear the expertise of over 100 institutions of change that includes the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the Institute for Open Economic Networks.

Our compliance with the 4th principle is rooted is based on creating a local change organization that is based on a voluntary community of people contributing to common projects that implements its operations based on a public private sector partnership that Erases the Development Divide on a means tested basis over the next 40 years.

NIA (NEE-AH) PURPOSE - The fifth day of Kwanzaa is a day for reviewing our purpose for living. Each family member should examine his/her ability to put his/her skill or talent to use In the service of the family and community at large. Take time to reflect on your expectations from life: discuss your desires and hopes with family and friends. On this day you should try to determine if this purpose will eventually result in positive achievements for family and community.

Through the creation of a new portal called my life we will create a digital world for all 80 million people related to peoples of African decent by 2010 and for a billion people by 2012. We will in line with the 4th principle create a skills and talent bank that would through the local change organization put his/her skill or talent to use in the service of the family, to common projects and to the community at large.

KUUMBA (KOO-M-BAH) CREATIVITY - The sixth principle of the Nguzo Saba relates to building and developing our creative potential. It involves both aesthetic and material creations. It is essential that creativity be encouraged in all aspects of African American culture. It is through new ideas that we achieve higher levels of living and a greater appreciation for life. Each family member should find creative things to do throughout the year that will enhance the family as a whole. On this day, poetry reading, songfests, dance exhibitions and the like, can aid in promoting the importance of Kuumba.

The sixth principle of the Nguzo Saba will be implemented as we rebuild the lives of Ohioans who have had bankruptcies, foreclosures and or bad housing and or business loans through developing their creative potential by investing in them. We will involve both aesthetic [as a licensed Independent Social Worker and partner with a faith based coalition Churches Can Change NOW] and material [we will work through a Community Reinvestment Agreement that includes small business loans and individual investment accounts that support small offices home offices micro business] creations.

We will create a creative [aesthetic] class who will create poetry, songs, musics, dance and the like. Under the sixth principle we will implement a program of promoting the importance of Kuumba in rebuilding our communities. We will support family members in finding creative things to do throughout the year that will enhance the family as a whole.

IMANI (E-MAH-NE) FAITH - The seventh principle is belief in ourselves as individuals and as a people. Further, it is a commitment to the development of the family and the national African American community. African America's goal of freedom rests significantly on our belief in our own ability and right to control our own destiny. Without Imani (faith), there is no possibility of victory.

We have a President who has assembled a team for change that proposed a commitment to the development of the family and the national American community. We will concentrate on those African American Ohioans in need and who through our efforts shall not be left behind.

We believe this is only fair.

MDi who is a global partner through Global Change Communications and Computing Company

Merry Christmas

I got my wish!!!

30 Days till we present to then President Obama's administration the MDi Plan

We will start with the Small Business Administration

Karen G. Mills, the Obama nominated Director of the Small Business Administration, has been a principal in the private equity and venture capital industry since 1983 and has taken a leadership role in the growth of more than 20 companies in the consumer products, food, distribution, textile and industrial component sectors.

Mills was a co-founder and managing director of Solera Capital and Chief Operating Officer of E.S. Jacobs and Company. Mills chairs Governor Baldacci’s Council on Competitiveness and the Economy and is deeply engaged in economic policy for the state of Maine.

In 2006, she led the initiative for a $50 million competitive research and development bond which passed the legislature with strong bipartisan support, and was approved by public referendum. She also sits on the Governor’s Council for the Redevelopment of the Brunswick Naval Air Station, which recently went on the BRAC closure list, and serves on the boards of the Maine Technology Institute and the Maine chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Mills authored a Brookings paper on economic development clusters, and those recommendations were introduced as legislation by Senators Collins and Clinton in June 2008.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has been Vice Chairman of the Harvard Overseers. Mills has an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University (1975), and an MBA from Harvard Business School where she was a Baker Scholar.

Her background includes consulting in the U.S. and Europe for McKinsey and Co. and product management for General Foods. Ms. Mills is the lead director of Scotts Miracle-Gro and a director of Arrow Electronics, a $15 billion semiconductor distributor.

IN DC JAN. 20TH 2009

Weiji, is probably best translated as "dangerous moment", a pretty good definition of "crisis". OUR COUNTRY IS A CRISIS AND WE THINK WE HAVE SOLUTIONS.

Cincinnati Change shall under the leadership of our consultant team take the essence of crisis management from the Chinese word Crisis. It is born of their age old wisdom came to recognize that even at the level that the idea that a crisis is nothing more than a difficult, precarious opening, a chance to take a risk.

So we are going to take a risk an be on the national mall and stay about a hour away from DC. Its by bus and includes transportation to on Jan 19th and from on January 20th that night for $500. If you want a hotel room that costs 250 a night. We will be in DC for three nights the 19th, the 20th and the 21st. On the 21st we will be meeting with DC Change at NCRC HQ.

CINCINNATI CHANGE believes that America must lead the world through progressive internationalism -- the bold exercise of U.S. leadership to foster peace, prosperity, and democracy. Working with allies from Cincinnati and international institutions makes us stronger, not weaker.

Cincinnati Change plans to create with I-Open financial instrument[s] capable of financing a revolutionary statewide broadband network and telMED health care prototype infrastructure for Ohio, based on established technology. It will be capable of supporting people nationwide with best practice health care and open source economic development tied to a comprehensive housing program that Erases the Digital Divide by embedding technology into homes that reduces their long term operating cost and improve the lives of residents.

We are a government of citizens in the midst of historic change. Over the next 4 years, the 44th president will be able to set policy for the next 100 years, like another President did, 100 years ago.

In Cincinnati, we will raise funds to create the vehicle to buy 20,000 troubled and/or foreclosed mortgages in Southern Ohio as part of our solution to erase the Development Divide. This will be done in conjunction with property owned by investors who are willing to work with Cincinnati Change and its partners, negotiating the restructuring existing debt will have the option of exercising subscription rights to new debt.

We plan to issue new debt instruments that will be used to put people to work. We will use our open Web 2.0 study of the current tax code to maximize a program that puts people to work in Southern Ohio. We will concentrate principally in infrastructure with a focus on MSD [through 2029], health care, education, technology, energy and reconstruction in Southern Ohio through tax increment financing and other revisions to the tax code through Open Source Solutions to Erasing the Development Divide and American financial crisis.

Cincinnati Change will appeal to all levels of government and use in its application US government programs that can be executed by the public/private alliance Cincinnati Change is assembling.

To implement this, our attorneys will be required to develop, under OMB A-76 Authority, an order that will support export growth based on a 4 year plan to service people around the world starting with the Cincinnati Empowerment Zone with its 50,000 residents and 68,000 employees working for over 3,000 employers.

Our offerings will be centered around digital services in support of economic development, career support, social [L.I.S.W.] services, human [The NET Video] and health care [OneCommunity] that supports a super set of International Standards Organization [ISO] 26000.

This Cincinnati Change Chairwoman, Wanda J Lloyd Daniels, will work with Unions while the AEC/GM team will be led by Fred Hargrove Sr. PE, MBA [who is also a licensed master plumber] and the contracted HUD and Tax Code programs will be directed Dr. Robert Day.

The workshop was presented at the William Howard Taft National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Site) Dec.11th and 12th, 2008.

Breakfast at McDonald's

Another post from a friend PV who sent me this and it captures what I think we as Humans should be about -

Breakfast at McDonald's

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.

The last class I had to take was Sociology.

The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.

Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake,

Literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.

It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.

I did not move an inch...an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.

As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.

I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope..'

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

We are not church goers, but we are believers.

That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.

I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.

Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'

I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to

LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS -

NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

There is an Angel sent to watch over you.

In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over.

An Angel wrote:

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart

To handle yourself, use your head..

To handle others, use your heart.

As long as we have these men we will survive

From a email from a friend PV: PO2 (EOD2)(Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of twos, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.

The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it. This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.

Stafford Foundation Announces 'People's Inaugural Project' at Washington's Historic JW Marriott

Stafford Foundation Chairman Earl W. Stafford, Sr. Announces 'People's Inaugural Project' at Washington's Historic JW Marriott

WASHINGTON, Dec 04, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Foundation extends invitations for hundreds of disadvantaged Americans to join festivities

The Stafford Foundation, a private foundation committed to helping underserved, marginalized and distressed individuals, has announced its unprecedented inauguration celebration plans at The JW Marriott Washington, D.C. hotel, located between the Capitol and the White House.

"Our foundation is thrilled about the unprecedented opportunity to bring Americans of every walk of life together for a momentous celebration," said Earl W. Stafford, Sr., who founded the Stafford Foundation in 2002.

"We are committed to giving the underserved a chance to prosper and thrive, and these events will offer them a front-row seat to our nation's historic celebration in downtown Washington."

Thanks to the foundation's $1 million investment, participants will attend the events and stay at the JW Marriott free of charge. A third of the tickets for all the Stafford Foundation events will be distributed to hundreds of marginalized Americans who have demonstrated a positive example by embodying hope and facilitating change in their communities. The Marriott will serve as the central point to welcome the group of diverse people who come to celebrate America's new president.

Mr. Stafford added, "The People's Inaugural Project offers the underprivileged in our society a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to our nation's capital and join in the watershed inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. It's a historic investment for our foundation."

The day's events will include:

--- Prayer Breakfast on the morning of January 19, which will provide hope and prayer for our country, its financial stability, our troops in battle and especially President-elect Barack Obama.

--- Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon on the afternoon of January 19, which will celebrate the realization of Dr. Martin Luther King's inspirational vision.

--- The People's Inaugural Ball on the evening of January 20, which will bring together citizens from all walks of life.

--- The Inaugural Youth Ball on the evening of January 20, which will allow the next generation of Americans to celebrate this historic event.

The Stafford Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 to help improve and lift up the lives of underprivileged citizens in America. They are focused on helping those who are marginalized and underserved in society, to help themselves and, in turn, help others. The Foundation is committed to all individuals regardless of race, religion, culture, nationality or ethnicity.

Earl W. Stafford is Chairman and CEO of Universal Systems and Technology (UNITECH), a company he founded in 1988. UNITECH provides telecommunications systems integration for engineering, business support systems, and simulation and training services, serving federal, state, local, and commercial customers. After graduating from UMass Amherst, Mr. Stafford served 20 years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force.

He serves on the board of directors of the Air Traffic Controllers Association; the INOVA Health Systems Foundation; and is a Director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation.

Aids and Orphans

We declare war on the poverty induced on the children born of AIDS.