Well, Obama was elected because apparently  9.5 million more of us (69.5 to 60 million) decided we wanted “change” and voted for Obama.  Although, during our TSS sessions, in casual conversations many of us seemed to philosophically buy into the idea of “change”, as I think about it, we never tried to define categorically what each other meant by “change,”  So many us had been so dejected for so long by an inept, incompetent government that had involved us in an occupation of Iraq on trumped up charges, making every inter-cultural mistake possible in a manner that actually encouraged  insurgencies, while ignoring the brush fires of Talibiban resurgence in Afghanistan, meddling in the politics of Pakistan, which keep us distracted until they could bring about the sub-prime loan scandal, then have the whole country terrorized by Paulson and company, who blackmailed our Congress (Not exactly a gargantuan feat if you think about it.) into agreeing to “bailout banks” to the tune of $700 billion dollars so they would loan it into our economy, the real one, where goods and services are produced and people are paid and can therefore consume the goods and services.  Of course none of that has happened; but magically: The Fed, The FDIC and the Treasury have now obligated (according Bloomberg) $8.5 Trillion.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention how the antics and profligacy of our current leaders as well as the in-your-face corruption and hubris of so many of our friendly heads of state, has encouraged Russia to revisit some of its buffer/client states and have joint Naval exercises with the likes of Hugo Chavez (televison host in Venezuela).  To really confuse the issue, the price of Oil contrary to the high priests of punditry has plummeted! What to do? Change!

Yes, most of us are ready for Change!  But remember some of the things we talked about last time, from Obama’s Blueprint for Change (http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf) or http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/  it reads like Newt Gingrich’s Contract on America on steroids.  A disturbing number of media outlets now have a feature section they call “TRANSITION TO POWER (!!!!)emphasis added.  What’s this love affair with Power?  Power is what now goes to the heads of everybody who gets elected to anything, (Whatever, happened to the concept of service to country?) Power in the hands of the few is anathema to a free people.  You may not appreciate the Change! you get.
Well, this Saturday, we are fortunate to have Carolyn Grafton Davis,  Professor of Political Science for 37 years, 31 of them at our sister campus, LoneStar College North Harris, who will talk to us about Change.  Political, Economic, Educational, Social, Religious, Environmental, you name it, Change.  She is a dynamic speaker and comes highly recommended from one of our members.  Some of you heard her presentation to Helen Bostock’s Series on Politics.  She is an an experience I expect you will remember.

For those who like to read ahead: (If it’s in blue you can click it.) (These are holdovers from last time, but still good.)

1.  Bill Moyers Interviews Andrew J. Bacevich , August 15th, 2008
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/profile.html

As campaign ads urge voters to consider who will be a better “Commander in Chief,” Andrew J. Bacevich — Professor of International Relations at Boston University, retired Army colonel, and West Point graduate — joins Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to encourage viewers to take a step back and connect the dots between U.S. foreign policy, consumerism, politics, and militarism.Bacevich begins his new book, THE LIMITS OF POWER: THE END OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM, with an epigraph taken from the Bible: “Put thine house in order.” Bacevich
2.  TIMELINES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION:
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_n2/great_depression.html
79 years ago.
(Oct 24th, 1929)1920s (Decade)
    Individual worker productivity rises an astonishing 43 percent from 1919 to 1929. But the rewards are being funneled to the top: the number of people reporting half-million dollar incomes grows from 156 to 1,489 between 1920 and 1929, a phenomenal rise compared to other decades. But that is still less than 1 percent of all income-earners.

Current Events: (It’s late.)