last post

this will be my last post here. I know it has been over a year, but I think some of you are set up to recieve updates from this blog. I will be collaborating with some friends on a website with a blog in it. I will be posting there along with two other pretty funny guys. check it out!

Deceiving Raju

"I made some mistakes in appointing people" -G.W. Bush

He told us this would happen! He told us. For all the people out there who were on the fence about Bush-Kerry, here is something to think about. Michael Brown was a bad appointee. He fudged his resume so that he would seem like a good choice for FEMA director, but he wasn't. He had absolutely no experience in emergency management. NONE. So for all of the people who thought that gay marriage was a 'hot' issue in the last election, look where we are now: over 500 dead because Bush gave a friend of his a job. Now I know some of them would have died anyway, but if you look at the way things were handled, you have to know that the number could have been a two didget one if buses were used to evacuate and food and water was air-dropped in. Brown actually started air-dropping food, but only after he got the idea while being berated by an interviewer. He got his best informaton from the news media, and admited to not knowing that the superdome had been used as a refugee center for over two days! I KNEW IT WAS BEING USED AS A REFUGEE CENTER! I DID! To close, here are some qoutes gathered by Roeper, of Ebert and Roeper. I have edited his comments to be a little less partisan and a little more factual. I also left out some quotes by celebrities that I felt were not very important. I am sad that this is how I start up again with my blog, but I had to say something. On a closing note; how many people would die if a lifeguard lied about his qualifications to get his job, and then kept his job for 4 years? 20 people? Maybe? He would be charged and put in jail if he was found out. Brown should be tried for about 500 counts of manslaughter.

*"I wasn't going to let a little thing like a hurricane keep me from wearing my bathing suit." -- Eva Longoria on the Video Music Awards, Aug. 28.

*"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked." -- New Orleans councilwoman Jackie Carlson, Aug. 30. Meanwhile, President Bush was playing guitar with country singer Mark Willis in San Diego. Bush would return to Crawford, Texas, that night, for one more night before cutting his vacation short.

*"I must say, this storm is much bigger than anyone expected." -- FEMA Director Michael Brown, on CNN, Aug. 31.

*"Excuse me, senator, I'm sorry for interrupting . . . for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people out here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated . . . And when they hear politicians . . . you know, thanking one another, it just . . . cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body in the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the streets for 48 hours . . ." -- CNN's Anderson Cooper, Sept. 1, directed at Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who had been complimenting fellow politicians before Cooper cut her off.

*"George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual for this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed." -- New York Times lead editorial, Sept. 1.

*"It was chaos. There was nobody there, nobody in charge. And there was nobody giving even water. The children . . . they're all just in tears. There are sick people. We saw . . . people who are dying in front of you." -- CNN producer Kim Segal, describing conditions in the New Orleans Convention Center, Sept. 1.

*"Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." -- FEMA chief Brown, Sept. 1.

*"From here and from talking to police officers, they're losing control of the city . . ." -- CNN's Chris Lawrence, Sept. 1.

*"We just learned of the convention center, we being the federal government, today." -- Brown
"Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today." -- Ted Koppel , Sept. 2.

*"Many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black . . . " -- CNN's Wolf Blitzer's unfortunate description of the evacuees, Sept. 1.

*"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job." -- President Bush, Sept. 2.

*"I'm satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with the results." -- President Bush, later that day.

*"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." -- President Bush in Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2.

*"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in a St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' [starting to cry] And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night." -- Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard, Sept. 4, on NBC's "Meet the Press"

*"We lost everything. Katrina didn't care if you were poor or rich; all the houses look the same now." -- Mississippi resident Penny Dean, quoted in People magazine.

*"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them." -- Former First Lady Barbara Bush, in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5.

*"Go f-- yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go f-- yourself." -- Off-camera citizen heckling the vice president during a live interview that aired on CNN and MSNBC, Sept. 8.
"First time I've heard it. Must be a friend of John, er, uh, never mind." -- Cheney's response when a reporter asked if he'd been hearing a lot of that sort of thing.

*"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." -- Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), Sept. 8, quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Baker is denying the quote; the reporter stands by his story.

Berlin, Berlin

I am leaving Berlin on Tuesday morning, so this is going to be my last entry while I am in Germany. I probably won't be writting here at all for a while. I first have to get settled into my place out in Pennsylvania, and that won't be until the end of the Summer. I am excited to come home so I can start getting ready to go out to school and start something new, and I am excited to see my friends and family again. I will be home until the 7th, and then I am going with my mom to visit my sister on the way the State College. Then my aunt will meet up with us after she flys to Philadelphia. While I am home I am also going to visit some family up north, and maybe even drop in on the people at Waldsee. I have to finish up with my packing and cleaning, but I don't have too much left to do. I guess I will see some of you very soon. oh I also read the new Harry Potter book already: it was pretty good. I kind of just want it all to be over.

$%&!?

Right now the Israeli government is clearing out the settlers in the Gaza strip. There have been... problems. Stuff like this gets me so mad. For years the Israelis have said, "Look at them (the Palestinians). They will resort to anything to get what they want, all we want is to live in peace." Then the government told them that they were going to be the ones who don't get to live in Gaza. The response: "$%?* you, you #$%ing *#%&er! Where are the rocks! I am gonna dig in my heels and fight the police to the last man!"
Are ya' kiddin' me?
I stood up for religion a few days ago, but this time (the) G/god(s) is/are on his/her/it's/their own. What kind of people is so.. AHH! It boggles the mind. No, boggle isn't infantile enough. It 'hi ho cherry o's the mind. Give up! The only reason the world tolerates these peoples behavior is a mixture of guilt and bad Palestinian political tactics. And as far as the religious aspects, you are also (to stick to a theme) on thin ice. Holy ground? Come on. Your god is all knowing and all powerful and has chosen you as his favorite people on this earth, and he can't turn his head two inches to the left to give you a listen. He's not Batman. I will say that the Israelis haven't gotten as violent as the Palestinians, but it has been like a week. Give 'em time. I know that these people aren't the majority of their faith, but it still is very frustrating to watch. Hopefuly their own countrymen can show them the error of their ways.

Administration Schmadministration

I don't like the administration. It isn't because they do stuff that I don't like (they do), it is because they do it in a horrible way. There are two journalists who had sources telling them that the administration leaked the identity of a spy (endangering her life) because her husband wrote an opinion article that said the WMD stuff was bunk. You might remember the story. Anyway, the reporters are going to go to jail for not releasing their sources. In an amazingly alphabetical wave of legislation, Wyoming is the only state without laws protecting reporters in this situation. Can you say "State's Rights"? Way to go Republicans! Does it seem to everybody else that everything seems to have something to do with Iraq? Oil prices hit an all time high; Iraq has world's most pure oil. It seems really obvious to me that these people knew what they were doing. They knew there were no WMDs, they just wanted money. Almost 1,000 Soldiers have died since the end of the war in Iraq. It just seems like money is the bottom line. No one (who gets on the news and is taken seriously) is doing the math: Haliburton contracts+ Oil prices+Bush approval ratings (pre- vs. post 911)+Patriot Act+Military Spending= selfish government. There seems to be such an obvious conflict of interests, which leads to the "Idea of the Day"Political Appraisal/Liquidation of Assets: All politicians should have to relinquish a full list of assets by the time they are sworn into office. Including those of affiliated companies or of those of their spouse. Then the President and VP. are forced to liquidate their assets. What should not be limited to just them would be a cap on earnings while in office.

Cap= ((Assets before taking office)(interest rate)+(salary(2)))(rate of inflation)

I doubled the salary, because their spouse would most likely not earn anything in that time, and would be seen as one earning entity for the purposes. It the spouse does have a job, then replace that for the second salary amount. People should not get rich(er) while in office. It is not every person's duty to run for public office, just to vote. Those who do run should be seen as public servants. They are making a sacrifice. If you are not willing to do that, then you shouldn't be allowed to run. The one thing I would give them is their children's education: no one should be kept from public service because they wouldn't be able to put their kids through college. I solve that with public school scholarships for their children. If that is the price for a higher level of sacrifice in our government, I think it's worth it.

God's Advocate

I am going to talk about two issues that have recently been in the international media: head scarves in French schools and withdrawal of American troops in Iraq. I am not usually the defender of Religion or the republican administration, but on these two issues I don't understand what the liberal politicians are trying to gain. In France the ban on religious head scarves has resulted in 50 expulsions, kidnappings and other violent forms of protest, as well as unrest in schools and a large budget drain in enforcement. Why can't people say that one religious symbol is not equal to another? The law started when religious symbols like the cross were banned from public institutions. I understand people wanting to make rules as objective as possible, but this is not a fair comparison: a teacher wearing a cross is not the same as a student wearing a head scarf for 4 reasons. #1 The bible does not require a cross to be worn and no Christian groups require it either, while many Muslims believe that women NEED to comply to this rule to be part of their religious community #2 They are not teachers. They are students. The teachers are dispensers of knowledge and also government employees, who are representatives of government policy. A teacher endorsing a religion while in class is dangerous, but a student can believe and endorse whatever they want #3 The cross is a religious ICON. Jesus is actually on it, dying. This is a lot different than a cloth on ones head. It is one part of their belief system, not a symbol for it's entirety. #4 The scarves are also largely seen as a part of the culture of the countries most Muslim come from. We don't really need pants or shirts at school either, but the social constraints of our culture requires them. Those restraints were originally religious traditions, but are now embedded in our culture so firmly that I as an atheist ascribe to them without even thinking. Anyway, to make a long story short: Cross ≠ Scarf

The other issue, Withdrawal, is also subject to heated debate. and I say 'I don't understand why', but I do: it is political ammo. The Left sees that Bush is losing on this front, so they are willing to suggest the illogical just to make him look bad. I want George Bush to have to answer for the things he has done wrong, but not like this. A withdrawal timetable would be impossible to hold to, making us look bad every time we couldn't hold to out word, and would show people just how long to wait before starting a second wave of attack. We can't do it. The Democrats know we can't do it, and they don't care. They see blood, and they are going to take advantage. I am constantly disappointed by politicians in my own party. There is nothing else to say about it it. That's just the way it is. A timetable would coat American and Iraqi lives. This is unacceptable.

Magritte

I went to a Magritte art exhibit last weekend. Here a a few of the paintings I saw.

I had a really great time, and I bought some posters. It meant a great deal to me, and I am so glad that I got to go. I rode all night in a bus two nights in a row, and just stayed in Vienna for the day on Sunday, but it was worth it. By the way Vienna is a great city, and I hope to go back as soon as possible. It might even be a place for me to do a Fulbright year in.

Suzi Floozy B-day... roozy

here... a'ya go! I have a lot to do today, and I was gone all weekend, so I didn't do this before the actual day, but here you go.



does this mean I don't have to get any of my friends real presents any more? Hmmm...

WOnderbilt

Ryann got in to
I am so proud of her. I don't really have a lot to say about it, but she can stay in the house she has now, and there are a bunch of other advantages. As far as I know she will be studying copyright law. The school is really hard to get into, and they wanted to take ryann after a 3 minute interview. I am really excited. Yeah!!!

Missing Macs, Missing Rikerfest

I have had a hard time writing my blog lately because the updates on the computers here have a pop-up blocker that won't let me spell-check. Of course there are ways of getting around this, but I am lazy. More importantly, I am going to miss Rikerfest!!! I am going to be at Penn State, and I am going to miss it by like a week. For those of you who don't know, Pat and Jake throw a party on Jonathan Frakes Birthday (William T. Riker), and have a lot to eat and drink, and then watch a bunch of Riker centered episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have only been there once, but I didn't get to stay for very long. It just shows me how much I am going to miss by not going to school around those guys. I miss them a lot, and I (secretly) hope that someday I will still get to be roommates with Pat. Anyway, on to new idea time. I think that there should be a death-meter for the United States. It would be a list of how americans die each year that we could use during elections as a yardstick for the importance of issues. Terrorism=so many deaths, Cancer= more than that: Cancer>Terrorism. Of course this isn't a perfect idea, because all issues have to be addressed, but I think that it would be good to look at how much time and money politicians spend on different issues versus how important the 'really' are. This could be done with money too. More money is stolen by college graduates each year than by high school drop outs, and more goods are stolen by people with jobs than by people without jobs, but politicians and the media would have you believe that crime is something that has to do with poverty. That is not true. Maybe violent crime or other kinds of more visible crime, but not all crime. In 2001 16,000 people died as a result of violent crime. 5,000 People died at work, 70,000 because of product related accidents, and 11,000 from industrial waste. That totals 86,000 deaths. Many, if not most of these deaths are not the direct result of crime, but if even less than 1-in-4 is, than it is more deadly than all other crime on american soil (including 9-11). I know that a lot of this is questionable, but it shouldn't be just tossed aside. People should look at their priorities differently, and then stop being content when their politicians debate for over 15 minutes on gay marriage.

I also think that the guys from vh1's pop-up video should get a job at c-span, and go over speeches and debates with a fine toothed comb. It would be interesting to see what they could find about the stuff most politicians gloss over. Oh! They could even do Scott Mcclellen!