Living with the other Pundit Brother

Hotel and Marina Jacuzzi

I've been living with my brother Brendan, the other Pundit Brother, for four weeks and one day. Okay, he was in New York for 4 days, to connect with friends there and see some theatre. But lets say I've had him mostly

to myself for 25 days. Some days he has been very laid back, some days tense. Some days I was great, some days not. On Christmas day, I was feeling punk, and he was feeling energetic. But most of the time, we got along great. We'd watch DVD's together, go in the jacuzzi, watch TV shows,

and go to our grandmother's place and laze around. We were spoiled together, too.

Like other times, we went out to dinner. I'd have calimari, he'd have pasta. I'd have a burger, he'd have chicken. I'd have ham, he'd have vegetables.

I'd have shrimp, Brendan would have a steak.

I am missing him now. We had way too much fun together, especially when our dad went to Indianapolis to a small Princeton reunion. Sean and Brendan were together all weekend.

I start back to Journalism classes tomorrow. He starts back tomorrow, too.

He's at University of Miami Conservatory of Theatre. I'm taking journalism classes to keep up with what I want to do: be an online journalist.

That's my story of living with Brendan. For four weeks.

Plans are made already to go stalk him next month.

Christmas in Florida

There are plenty of places to spend Christmas.

Though there was a lot of snow elsewhere.............

But Not in Florida!!

Florida Sunset

Grandma Aline Above;I love seeing her in Florida.She lives in Coconut Creek, which is just northwest of Ft. Lauderdale.

First we stayed in our condo in Coconut Grove, FL, south of Miami, where my pundit brother Brendan lives during the semester when he attends the University of Miami.The Condo was great. It has a wonderful living room and the view is out onto Biscayne Bay. I loved watching TV and sleeping on that leather couch.

We then went to Fort Lauderdale, to be nearer to Grandma. Her photo is above. It was sunny and in the 80's in Ft. Lauderdale.

The Pool in Ft. Lauderdale has been Great!

Both places had pools and hot tubs. So in general we have had a wonderful time, and I've had a chance to be in warm weather,

see my grandmother, and be with my family, especially with my Pundit Brother, Brendan. Here we are out on the balcony of our room at Pier 66 hotel. This is how we spend New Years' Eve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IN 2009 !! SEAN

Thank you to the Army and Police SWAT Teams of Mumbai, India

Rockin' Ohio

Ashland University Undergraduates!

Lecture Hall similar to the One Where I Gave my Presentation

Snow Snow Snow in Ohio

Ashland University!!

Dwight Schar School of Education

SNOW IN OHIO

On November 17th, this past Monday, I rocked Ohio. At least I rocked Ashland University, in Ashland, OH. I was invited by Dr. Pat Edwards, who teaches at the Dwight Schar School of Education, to give 2 presentations on Monday, November,17th. We e-mailed Pat my powerpoint called: "Heaven is Called George Mason University" because right before my visit to Ohio, I was going to be at my grandmother's 85th Brithday party, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. That was fun.

I always love Florida, but, Ohio -- despite 3 days of constant snow -- was really warm to me. We arrived on Sunday evening at Columbus, Ohio's airport, and our chauffer, Dr. Edwards herself, drove us through the mere "dusting" of tiny white flakes. It could barely be called snow.

We stayed at a Holiday Inn, and it was great. Dr. Edwards came by for us at about 1:30 p.m. and took us to the university, via Wendy's.

Yum!

My presentations went really well, and between the 3:00 one and the 7:00 one, I got to go out to dinner with Dr. Edwards and some wonderful female undergraduate students in Education.

All of it went very well. The audiences were attentive, nothing happened with the electronics, and one young fellow in the evening session started typing with support, using Facilitated Communication.

You GO! man, you GO!

Sean Sokler, G.M.U. Class of 2005

Thank you to all who help in Ohio

Have all the people who voted for Obama stopped partying? You bet they have, unless they've just been tapped to be in his cabinet. There is a tough
row to hoe, a huge and defiantly difficult weight on Obama's shoulders now to repair the U.S. Economy. I hope we all help him help us.

I want to give a big shoutout to three people especially, whom I have known for a long time. They went to Ohio, one to Cleveland, one to the counties west of Cincinnati, and one who lives in Ohio went to at least two counties to there to canvass and provide information for Barack Obama.
Of course, there were hundreds more who canvassed for Obama, but these three people surely went beyond the call of duty.

The first is a lifelong friend of my mother, and is 57 years old. Her name is Nancy Bick Clark, from Newport, KY. She put doorknob hangers and also
mailbox fliers in mailboxes and phoned for Obama at the behest of
Sheetal, an Indian-American woman who hails from Chicago, but had come to live in Cincy to help the Obama campaign. Nancy is a Celtic harp player and singer. Her songs entertained me so much in my early years.

Under the brilliant maple tree leaves, Nancy drove, placed fliers in Batavia, Ohio. Later she worked in other rural counties. Once, a roadside mailbox fell from its moorings into a ditch. Nancy bravely saved it, fetched it back, and got it righted, and put in a flier, a small handbill or brochure. Here is an excerpt from her memoir about her experience.

On Sunday, I made phone calls for the Clermont County Dems, who seemed to have a slightly different operation on the other side of the wall. I observed two men in their late sixties returning from canvassing. What was unusual was that these volunteers drove up for the day from Lexington, KY, about 120 miles from Batavia. They could have been professors at UK. The coordinator of Obama's office was a woman in her 20's who had come from Seattle to help out. We learned that Obama aimed to get out every possible vote in Ohio, whether in rural, suburban, or urban areas.

Here is her website: http://harpist1.tripod.com/id34.html Go Nancy!!

We have another friend, Fernando Laguarda, who worked with my father
for 9 years. He is a lawyer, the nice kind of lawyer, the one you want to adopt. He went to Cuyahoga County where Cleveland lies. Fernando whose family came to the US many years ago from Uruguay, and he went to Harvard, and went to work at the same law firm. He is an outstanding lawyer. He is a compassionate person. He went to Ohio at his own cost
to help people at the polls, especially those who might not understand
their rights and if they needed help, as they might have been Spanish speaking people. Fernando helped out at polls on a chilly day, from
before they opened to the close. He is insanely good. Go Fernando!!
You did a wonderful job. By the way, he started the NNEDV, the
National Network to End Domestic Violence. Please go to this
website to find out about that group.http://www.nnedv.org/
Or you can just click on this website:http://www.clicktoempower.org/
to empower those who've been hurt. It is to fund services provided by
the NNEDV. Gracias, Fernando!


The last person who canvassed in Ohio is Dr. Patricia Edwards, of
Ashland University. Even with a bad knee, she climbed stairs and talked
to people and wore her Obama shirt, and generally helped the campaign every single moment of weekends in September and October that she could manage. Though Dr. Edwards teaches full time at Ashland, in their Dwight Schar School of Education, specializing in Curriculum and Instruction,
she is one serious Democrat.
Even though I have autism, she speaks directly to me,not to others when I am around. I have recent proof of her goodness and humor, as she treated me and my mother to a fine seafood dinner this past Friday. Yes, it sure was celebratory. What a woman!! If I weren't too young and autistic, I'd be
pursuing her to marry me. Okay, I might pursue her anyway. She's one fine and brilliant professor and conversationalist. I will speak to her
students a week from today, at Ashland University. Lucky me!

Ta Ta Ted!

Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) aren't you a lucky dog? You thought

your power and the rich state of Alaska would save you from

being convicted of falsifying Senate, therefore, Federal forms

of gift disclosure.

NO!! See the following article to figure out why

your Senatorial rear-end is destined for the clinker,

but not yet.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/27/AR2008102700289.html

The AP:

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was convicted on all seven charges of making false statements on Senate financial documents about gifts he received from contractor Bill Allen, oil services company VECO Corp., and others.
Below are the charges. The verdict form is broken down by year and jurors did not have to indicate which gifts, if any, they believe Stevens concealed.
COUNT ONE: False Statements, Scheme

ACCUSATION: Stevens engaged in a scheme to conceal from his Senate financial disclosure documents home renovations and other gifts he received from Allen and VECO from 2000-2006. Stevens contends he never asked for any freebies and believed he paid for everything he received.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/27/AR2008102701847.html

COUNT TWO: False Statements
ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2001 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, VECO employees dramatic renovated Stevens' mountain cabin, building a new first floor and installing a new electrical system. Allen also filled Stevens' house with furniture, left a tool box in his garage and installed a grill on the porch. Stevens also received from another friend an expensive massage chair, which Stevens said was a loan, and a custom work of stained glass, which Stevens said his wife arranged and he knew nothing about.
VERDICT: Guilty

Why oh why? You're not exactly an unintelligent

person. Just a little forgetful.

Here is the reason that you gave that I detest: You said it was

your wife's doing, and you had no idea about home improvements or custom - made stained glass art, so That's why YOU did not know about your received services and items and didn't declare

on his Senate Gift Disclosure forms in 2001 and 2002.

You threw your own Wife "under the bus."

Shame on you, Ted Stevens. Shame on you.

Do the right thing. Resign.

Sean Sokler

Thank You, Moose Mama

Gov. Sarah Palin has alienated most Democrats plus some independents

and a few Republicans. Palin's beliefs in the "End of Days" of the most Evangelical Christians, her rigid stance against abortion, her "drill, baby, drill" her hunting wild animals from a helicopter, her pro-gun policy, and her "continue the war in Eye-raq until we have Democracy" policy have endeared her to like-minded Republicans.

However, there are people who are very tired of hearing Republican policy statements. First, most Democrats are tired of her. Let her skulk back to AK on November 5th. People who believe in a woman's right to choose don't like her opposite stance.

Religious people who do not believe the world is going to end soon but that most of us should continue doing good works do not like Palin much.

Those Americans who wish to let wild animals roam free but for those persons who actually need to hunt to eat or native populations don't like her either. She shoots wolves from helicopters.

Women who value women's rights don't like her. A woman's right to choose abortion is the major issue. Further, a woman's right to equal pay for equal work is necessary.

Men who value women with high intelligence do not value Gov. Palin.

Her support of the Republicans' ideal of staying in "I-Raq" until there is a Democracy there is not one that is admired by strong Democrats.

Finally, "Drill, Baby, Drill" for oil, especially drilling in the

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

is the final straw added to her effigy, that we'd like to theoretically "Burn, Baby, Burn" -- the straw woman, not Palin herself.

Palin:

You have galvanized Democrats, Independents, a few smart Republicans and across the board, people from ages 18-28, to

vote Democratic this coming Tuesday, November 4th, 2008.

Thank you, Sarah Palin, for helping to elect Sen. Barack Obama.

Sean Sokler