Yeah, thought I’d do it too since I need a break from work. Here’s 25 things you might not know about me.
- I don’t like talking on the phone (unless it’s to people I know) so I get Brian to do it usually.
- I will always wear a T shirt and shorts swimming, no matter what.
- I never ever want to have kids although I have their names picked out already.
- I don’t speak up enough when I should and I’m a chicken, most of the time.
- I’m still undecided on where I stand when it comes to gun control and legalizing marijuana.
- A cold Keystone Light is the only beer I can drink without cringing the first few sips.
- I memorized the lyrics to REM – The End Of The World, Eminem – Without Me, Linkin Park – Bleed It Out, Austin Powers Dr Evil – Just The Two Of Us, Nelly – Ride With Me, and Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start The Fire. I can sing all of them successfully. Barenaked Ladies – One Week I can’t quite sing because it’s too fast; same with Blues Travelers – Hook.
- It makes me feel special when people copy me. I started a few trends in High School. My friends copied my TV, my TV stand, my couch, and my phone.
- My two favorite things are politics and football.
- I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and however much I wanted, but now I have to cut back a little to maintain my current weight.
- If my work did bother to block Facebook, I probably wouldn’t get on ever. Very seldom do I get on Facebook at home. Although I always make sure whatever I post from FriendFeed services gets posted to Facebook.
- I will pretend to know what people are talking about just to fit in sometimes.
- I’ll probably never get up the nerve to leave MORI.
- I love getting crushes on unobtainable guys. Daydreaming is so much fun!
- I sometimes hang out and have a lot of fun with peeps even though I don’t collect any quotes.
- I do like the song MMBop by Hanson. It’s very meaningful if you listen to the lyrics.
- I miss a lot of things about college like sleeping later, snow days, and hanging out with Burg people; however I’d rather have the life I have now because it sucked being poor.
- I don’t like to go places with a lot of people. The cruise Bri and I took I was sometimes miserable because there were so many people that were taking up everything to do.
- I don’t use a bed frame. I probably never will again.
- I have to have a TV in my bedroom even though I’ll never watch it. Rooms without TV’s or computers depress me.
- I hate shut doors. It’s probably a childhood issue after my parents divorced. When people stay over, I’ll never have the bedroom door shut. If I had my way, there would be no doors to bedrooms.
- I have OCD about a lot of things.
- Things I would like to collect: glasses, Cuban cigars, trophies, watches, match books, and signs (like my Dad).
- My stripper name is Foxie Roxie.
- I want people to know that they should NOT mess with me. I know people who can kill them/seriously hurt them at my command. I’m 100% serious.
Now that the Bush Presidency is FINALLY over, I thought I’d recap what’s probably the worst mistakes of the past eight years. Reflecting on these mistakes, I sincerely hope we can move past them with an Obama Administration and correct all the blunders that haave occured. It will take a long time but I am confident that our country will transend the past and become the nation we ought to be.
Undoing what Bush has done, some experts say, could take decades. Some of these errors alone may never be corrected. So much damage has been done.
Here are the twenty five things I feel were the worst things that went on during the Bush 43 Administration.
- No Child Left Behind
- Inaction On Illegal Immigration
- Mission Accomplished
- Inaction In Darfur
- Budget Deficits – the souring national debt (now more than $10.6 trillion), taking a surplus and giving the top 10% tax cuts, billions needlessly spent in Iraq for contractors (Halliburton, Blackwater, etc)
- End Of Tariffs – Free Trade which caused a lot of US companies to outsource and send jobs overseas
- Handling Of North Korea – again a little foreign policy could have gone a long way
- Handling Of Iran – the inability to exercise foreign policy, turning our backs, not willing to sit down and talk to other nations
- Katrina
- Valerie Plame Scandal
- Alberto Gonzales Scandal
- Treatment Of Our Veterans
- The Patriot Act – warrantless wiretapping and civil liberties being taken away in the name of terror, spying on American citizens, the shredding of the Constitution (you know, that GD piece of paper)
- Over 150 Signing Statements – more than any other president in history, did a lot of damage and pushed us back in such areas as the enviornment
- Torture – Abu Ghraib, water boarding, violations of the Geneva Convention
- Initiation And Mismanagement Of The Iraq War
- Souring Energy Prices – really has hurt the middle class, a lot of people have not recovered, families suffered
- Bush’s Supreme Court Justice Appointments – probably one of the worst things he has ever done, this country has regressed dramatically
- America’s Image And The Exploitation Of September 11th – after 9/11 the world was behind us but this Administration resorted to scare tactics in order to push its own agenda, we have fallen as a leader in the world, the Bush Administration has used terror and the threat of another 9/11 to scare the American people
- Inaction On The Healthcare Crisis – SCHIP vetoed (one of the most successful programs)
- Lack Of Foresight On The Housing Crisis – a little Government regulation could have gone a long way towards stopping aggressive lending practices
- Nievity On Economic Crisis – statements like “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”, the lack of government regulation and oversight
- Millions Of Jobs Lost
- Lack Of Government Accountability – from war crimes to warrentless wiretapping to the budget this administration has NOT been held accountable
- Inaction Against Global Warming – Kyoto Accord not being signed, editing of scientific documents that prove Global Warming is happening, lying in speeches of how we need to move to alternative energy yet blocking legislation that calls for it
Brian and I are in the process of buying our first house. My father once told me there are a lot of incentives for first time home buyers. After doing hours of research, I find there really aren’t any. There is actually only one we could find that we actually qualify for ($7,500 “loan” that we pay back through taxes). All the rest are for incomes less than what we’re making. Of course, we’re trying to find ones in Maryland and from Montgomery County. We make too much money! We make a little over the MEAN income in MoCo.
It blows my mind. One of the programs can give us a mortgage rate of some 5.5% (fixed). We just got approval from our bank at 4.75% (fixed). Yeah, who would go with that?
My question is, what the hell do these politicians do? They obviously just sit on their asses and not pass things that need to be passed. Or update laws and programs that need to catch up with the times. 5.5% would have been great a few years ago, but now it’s pretty high. All these programs we can’t qualify for because we make too much money, how come they haven’t been updated? Bri and I are a little below middle class. We don’t qualify for anything! Who does? We couldn’t afford a house if we made less. These programs need to be updated. I don’t know anyone who it applies to, they all make too much money! But we don’t make that much, honestly!
The lady who lives below me had her childrens school food benefit (where the state assists in school lunches) taken away from her because she got a little pay raise and now she doesn’t qualify anymore. She can’t afford not to have it.
I just want to know why these programs haven’t been updated for inflation. It took 10 years to increase minimum wage, it took 28 years to increase the FDIC insurance to $250,000. What the hell do these people do who should be passing laws to update these very important programs?
Thought I’d be trendy and blog about what I want to accomplish next year:
- Be more soft spoken, tone it down a bit and watch what I say
- Have more parties/go to more parties
- Don’t feel the need to say how I feel all the time
- Get PHP certified
- Get at least 1,000 quotes next year
- See Aunt Ruth and Aunt Janet more
- Get over some things that bother me
- Keep off the 10 pounds I just lost (currently weigh 150), be healthier and eat healthier
- Treat Brian and Candi better (always a resolution)
- Do something good for the environment or humanity
Immediate future:
- Buy a house
- Buy a new Prius
- Get Candi off the cone (poor puppy)
- Settle my Dad’s estate (not in my control)
- See a doctor and dentist
Just wanted to take a second to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Hope everyone enjoys time spent with family and friends. Take care, be safe, and have fun!
I’ve been meaning to blog more about my car. People don’t seem to understand that Codey was more than just a car to me. Since I was out of college I wasn’t reliant on my Dad anymore, I was financially independent.
When it came time to buy a car to replace Blue, hands down I wanted the Toyota Prius. I’ve been dreaming about this car since I first learned about hybrids. At this point I had been working for about 5 months and managed to save enough money to pay off the insurance violations my mother and I acquired when I was in high school and college. I also had enough for a down payment on the car. Brian and I called up his bank one night and got a loan.
I, of course, was doing all my homework on the Toyota Prius. I knew exactly what I wanted. The time came one Sunday (January 28, 2007, one of the happiest days of my life), Brian and I went to Toyota of Bowie. When our sales guy pulled up in that PRETTY BLUE PRIUS, I instantly fell in love, the first time I saw him. He was so perfect. He was everything I wanted.
The week prior to his death, I had cleaned his window whipers and inflated his tires. I also had bought a new CD of the Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden for the concert we went to that Thursday.
Then that horrible morning came about, November 22, 2008. Woken up, slightly by a car alarm but quickly went back to sleep. Car alarms are nothing new in my neighborhood. The fire marshal woke us up and, well, the car was no more.
He was officially claimed totaled and lost on December 1, 2008.
People are just questioning me why I loved that car so much saying “it was just a car” and “it can be replaced”. It will never just be replaced for me. It was my crowning achievement up to this point. It was my dream come true. It was my symbol of hardwork. My symbol of finally achieving financial independence since it was the first big purchase I made 100% on my own. It was a symbol of my beliefs and morals. A statement of self. It was my independence.
Anyway, to state some news, my insurance company will be contacting me to negotiate on a price for the car. Once that happens, they’ll give me a check which I will pay off the rest of the loan. Then, I guess I’ll buy a new Prius. However, I’ve made the decision to never park the Prius where I am living now. Brian and I are aggressively looking to get the hell out of Germantown forever. We’ll be buying a house hopefully soon. I don’t trust my neighborhood anymore. It used to be a nice, safe place to live.
Codey the Blue Toyota Prius, 2 (+/- 18,500 miles), a resident of Germantown for two years, died suddenly from a fire outside the home of his owner, Janis.
Codey was bought, brand new, January 28, 2007 at the Toyota of Bowie. He achieved around 48 miles per gallon in his life.
He routinely drove Brian and Janis to work everyday and was loved by all. He had a 6 CD changer MP3 enabled, smart key technology, backup camera, rear view dimming mirror, AUX (MP3 player), controls on the steering wheel, digital reads, high intensity headlights, and ABS.
A devoted car, he enjoyed driving above the speed limits, and blasting music throughout the parking lot of Safeway.
Survivors include his owners, Janis and Brian; one dog, Candi; one cat, size_t; and one brother, Brian’s car.
No memorial service will be held at this time.
————————————————
I can’t describe how much I loved this car. He was something I wanted since I first heard about hybrids in 1998. I had finally achieved the dream in January 2007. He was taken away from me so violently. I still can’t believe he’s gone.
The fire marshal said someone had put a candle under his left rear tire which started the fire. A neighbor saw the flames and tried to put it out. When it became too much for him to handle, he called 911. The fire marshal knocked on our door around 6:30 AM early Saturday morning.
The last time he was driven was Friday, November 21, 2008 from 4:35pm – 5:10pm from my work to pick up Brian to home.
I enjoyed driving that car everyday I had it. It was the best car I ever owned. He was very reliable.
I had had an accident last winter when Codey failed to stop on slippery ice and hit a car in front of him. Geico fixed him right away and everything was like the way it was before.
I loved him so much, he was my baby. He had a good life ahead of him but it was cut short by some vicious person with nothing better to do than to set an innocent Prius on fire.
Also lost in the flames was a stuffed animal that I had since I was a kid (Solvester), my late Dad’s hand made jumper cables, an air compresser my late Uncle gave me, my boogie board I had since childhood, my tackle box I had since childhood, some CD’s such as Alanis Moressette and the new Eagles album, a pair of sunglasses, my highschool and college tassles, and car mats.
I’m not good at writing things that are inspirational and meaningful but I would like to take a minute to try to write how important it is to vote.
Like I was telling some of my friends who are not registered to vote and aren’t political: Voting gives us a say in our country. Voting gives us the power to choose our future. Thinking that the entire system is corrupt is no excuse. Many have fought (and still fight) and died for this right we have. Many in the world do not have the opportunity to decide anything in their country. We should take advantage of the rights we have.
The 2000 election was decided by some 537 votes. That’s it. Saying your opinion, your vote doesn’t matter simply isn’t true.
Please, get out and vote TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 4, 2008. If you’re not sure where you vote visit vote411.org for your location.
A quick note on voter fraud: No, the election for Democrats is not November 5, it’s November 4, like EVERYONE ELSE, on the SAME DAY, regardless. And no, you won’t get arrested for not paying child support or if you have a speeding ticket or whatever else you may have heard if you try to vote. They are Republican scare tactics and they are UNTRUE to try to get you not to vote. Don’t let that happen.
Another quick note, don’t let poll numbers discourage you to vote either. Get out to the polls no matter what. Even if you’re 100% confident your candidate will/will not win, still get out there. Your vote DOES matter.
Furthermore, don’t let long lines to vote discourage you. Please wait it out and get your say. Maybe try to coinvince your boss to let you go early so you can get there, or try to go in the morning or during lunch. But get out there regardless.
Too close to election time. I forgot to post this. Here’s a list of all the McCain gaffes and misspeaks he’s said this past election.
2007: McCain: “I was in a conference in Germany over the weekend and President Putin of Germany gave one of the old Cold War style speeches as he addressed the conference there.”
2008: McCain: “And I’m going to tell them, I don’t agree with Senator Obama that they cling to their religion and the constitution because they’re bitter.”
2008: McCain: “I believe that, when he said that we had to leave Iraq, and we had to be out by last March, and we had to have a date certain, that was in contravention to, and still is, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David Petraeus.”
2008: McCain: “And I’m afraid it’s a very hard struggle. Particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.”
2008: McCain: “Because of the surge, we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others and it began the Anbar Awakening. I mean, that’s just a matter of history.” (The Anbar Awakening began in September 2006, months before the surge was even discussed.)
2008: McCain: “The fact is we had four years of failed policy; we were losing. We were losing the war in Iraq. The consequences of failure and the defeat of the United States of America in the first major conflict since 9/11 would have had devastating impacts throughout the region and the world.” (Afghanistan anyone?)
2008: McCain: “We continue to be concerned about Iranian taking Al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.” and “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” (Joe Lieberman had to correct him.)
2008: McCain: “It was al-Sadr that declared the ceasefire, not Maliki.” (It was actually members of Prime Minister Maliki’s government who brokered the ceasefire in Basra, Sadr agreed.)
2008: McCain: “How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?” (Mark Salter corrected him by saying “Sudan”.)
2008: McCain: “We have drawn down to presurge levels.” (The US currently had 150,000 troops in Iraq at the time. Pre surge levels were at 130,000.)
2008: McCain: “Basra, Mosul, and now Sadr City are quiet.” (Mosul on the same day suffered three suicide bombings.)
2008: McCain: “I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.” (Czechoslovakia doesn’t exist anymore. It’s the Czech Republic and Slovakia.)
2008: McCain: “I think it’s a pretty good timetable, as we should have our horizons for withdraw.” (Which then he denied a day later) “I didn’t use the word timetable.”
2008: McCain: “I believe that it’s not an accident that our hostages came home from Iran when President Reagan was president of the United States. He didn’t sit down in a negotiation with the religious extremists in Iran, he made it very clear that those hostages were coming home.” (McCain seems to forget that the hostages were freed because of the Algiers Accords which Warren Christopher and the Carter Administration had negotiated. Nothing to do with Reagan.)
2008: McCain: “Ahmadinejad is, was the leader.” (Political authority rests with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, not the president of Iran. As for foreign policy, Ahmadinejad has very little influence.)
2008: McCain: “There is a very clear standard in the Constitution requiring not only just compensation in the use of eminent domain, but also that private property may not be taken for public use.” (The constitution says “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”.)
2008: McCain: “In the twenty first century, nations don’t invade other nations.” (Did he forget Iraq again?)
2008: McCain: “So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties. I think that there’s a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource.” (Talking about the Colorado River Compact. Mitt Romney later corrected him.)
2008: McCain: “We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies…”
2008: McCain: “I’ve bought American literally all my life, and I’m proud.” (Yet he owns a Honda, Volkswagen, and a Lexus.)
2008: McCain: “Across this country, this is the agenda I’ve set before my fellow prisoners…”
2008: McCain: “If we had done what Senator Obama wanted done in Iraq, and that was set a date for withdrawal, which General Petraeus, our chief, chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff…” (Again, Petraeus isn’t the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff.)
2008: McCain: “I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama’s supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about western Pennsylvania lately… And you know, I couldn’t agree with him more…”
In an effort to not be 100% bias, here are a few gaffes of Obama’s.
2008: Obama: “On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes, and I see many of them in the audience here today…”
2008: Obama: “If they just gave him some treatment early and they got some treatment and a breathalyzer or inhalator. Not a breathalyzer. I haven’t had much sleep in the past forty eight hours, so.”
You know, I’m really getting tired of getting emails and reading news articles and postings by people who are so ignorant. I just got another email today about how Obama said how the flag to some is “a symbol of oppression” and how “the anthem itself conveys a war-like message”. Of course snopes.com has this as false.
I read more and more how Obama is a Muslim or Arab, can’t be trusted, has terrorist ties, etc. Why don’t people fact check? Why are some people so ignorant? They say he’s a Muslim but then what’s all this controversy about a Christian Pastor? This is all stupid. And anyway, what’s wrong with believing in another religion? To steal a line from South Park, I thought this was America! Maybe people here are shocked and suprised that people have tolerance and acceptance towards other ideas. It’s like they woke up and said “Wow, I can’t believe it! America is actually how we imagined it!”
And I blame John McCain for not setting these people straight. If he says “I have repudiated every time someone’s been out of line, whether they’ve been part of my campaign or not, and I will continue to do that.” Then, tell me, how come he doesn’t come out about the people at Palin’s rally’s, shouting “terrorist” and “kill him”? How come Palin hasn’t come out and said anything about it? How come McCain’s own spokesperson, Nancy Pfotenhauer has said that parts of Virginia who are responsive to McCain are “real Virginia”, McCain hasn’t repudiated that? What about all the shouts of “kill him” and “terrorist” at Palin rally’s, McCain hasn’t repudiated that? How come McCain hasn’t repudiated his own VP pick for saying the “real America” and “pro-America” places of the United States? What about Rush Limbaugh’s reason of how Powell endorsed Obama because of race, yet McCain won’t repudiate it?
McCain seems to not repudiate anything. He’d rather sacrifice his integrity and support hatred than loose a campaign. Doesn’t he not want to be a part of this? If he doesn’t, I don’t see how.
As many of you know, Brian was running for House Of Representatives until my father passed away. Things got crazy (and it’s still crazy) so he decided to drop out. Before he did, he gathered a bunch of views and ideas he had and put them up on his website.
Since the idiots in Congress can’t get their act together and pass a bill that would try to save us all from hell, I persuaded Brian to start calling around and tell them his idea. This idea would fix the housing market which would lead to a more stable economy, thus saving us all from a recession or depression. Here’s his plan (from his website):
In the past couple of months many people have noticed mortgage companies and banks have been losing a lot of money and people are being forced out of their homes. It is terrible when people lose their life savings, their homes, and have their credit ruined all in one fell swoop. I think there are a couple of very simple steps to correct this situation so no more people will fall prey to this kind of lending again.
The first thing to do is save people who are in foreclosure or who are about to go into foreclosure. In order to do this, I propose that we use the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) to refinance all the loans that are resetting to higher rates into fixed rate mortgages. I would also increase the amount of time that a family has to pay back the loan from a traditional 15 or 30 years so that they can spread out the payments to something that they can still afford today (say a 60 year mortgage) with no penalties for early payment. People can say in their homes with a mortgage that is manageable. Also, they should be able to pay towards the mortgage what they can afford to spare in order to pay the loan off faster without penalty.
The second step to saving the mortgage industry is to enact legislation that will stop predatory lending. This legislation should force mortgage companies and brokers to make potential buyers more aware of the consequences of the loans they sign.
Just wanted to put Brian’s idea out there. He already called a few of our Maryland congressmen and explained it. They probably won’t get back to him cause they don’t care.
Brian doesn’t care if he gets credit for this idea or not. He just wants a solution, as do I, as should all of us.
If you think this is a good idea, share it or whatever.
Well since McCain “suspended” his campaign last Wednesday, I wonder if he bothered announcing that he unsuspended it. It seems his time in Washington is a complete waste as he said nothing and proposed nothing during the big White House meeting Thursday.
“I came back because I wasn’t going to phone it in.”
McCain said this week. However, he did just that with his time in Washington. He spent the weekend on the phone, something he could have done anywhere. I’m wondering, did he actually do ANYTHING helpful to solve this problem? I didn’t hear any proposals or anything from him. I thought his whole point of “suspending his campaign” was to get this thing fixed. Is it? No.
In other news, a lot of rally’s were held to protest the bailouts, which makes me happy. It’s good to see people taking time to gather and state what they believe in. We need more of this, we need more riots.
Barack Obama has gotten more of my vote (if that’s possible) for him wanting the FDIC to raise the limit. For years I’ve said the limit should be raised because $100,000 isn’t worth nearly as much as it was when the limit was set. It seems McCain is also for it, which also makes me happy.
Last comment, I find it really disgusting that the house Republicans would play politics and blame Pelosi for making a partisan speech (aren’t they all partisan?) that supposedly “poisoned” their position on the bill or whatever. The real reason, I’m sure, is that Republican’s don’t believe in bailouts, why they don’t state that’s the reason we’ll never know. However, to blame a speech… and not only that, saying a speech pissed you off so much so you don’t do what’s right for our country… that really says something.
Here’s who I think will go to the playoffs in 2008:
AFC:
New England Patriots
Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts
San Diego Chargers
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC:
Dallas Cowboys
Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seattle Seahawks
Philadelphia Eagles
New Orleans Saints
I’ve been compiling for quite some time a list of ways McCain has voted and things McCain has said that are against women and their rights. Seeing McCain picked a younger woman to be his Vice President, which is obviously a move of desperation to get the PUMA vote and to make himself look younger, I’ve decided to unleash this masterpiece now.
And all the time I thought McCain was against affirmative action…
1986: McCain made a very offensive joke about a woman getting raped by an ape then asking “Where is that marvelous ape” after she came to.
1990: McCain voted against Title X planning programs (such as Planned Parenthood) which provide low income and uninsured women and families with health care services. Also, such programs provide breast and cervical cancer screenings for women in need.
2003: McCain voted against an amendment that would have required insurance coverage of prescription birth control.
2005: McCain voted against spending $100 million to expand access to preventive health care services that would reduce teen pregnancies and the number of abortions.
2005: McCain voted against legislation that would overturn the “global gag rule”. This rule which bars foreign organizations from receiving US assistance if the organization provides abortion or advocates pro-choice laws in their country.
2007: McCain: “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.” (On grants for sexual education with funding for contraceptives. Bush’s policy is abstinence.)
2008: McCain: “I certainly don’t want to discuss that issue.” (On why insurance companies cover Viagra and not birth control. So what is it, Mr McCain?)
2008: McCain believes Roe vs Wade is flawed and should be overturned, having once said in 1999 “Certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.â€
2008: McCain skipped a vote for the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which sought equal pay for women. He claims he would have voted against it because it would lead to more lawsuits.
———-
FEW QUESTIONS FOR MCCAIN
- If abortion is made illegal, how much time should a woman do, if any, for having an abortion?
- What punishment should the doctor receive?
- Why do you vote against funding for family planning services that would reduce the number of abortions?
- Are you against birth control?
- Would you please answer that Viagra vs Birth Control question? We need to know your stance. Yes, it might be embarrassing, but this is a real issue.
I’m having O C D troubles with the way I organize things online.
As most of you know, I use Facebook all the time at work. However, I don’t want my entire internet life to be centered around Facebook.
I want everything to import into Facebook so I won’t have to ever log into it, basically. Here’s the stuff I currently have/want out on the internet:
- Twitter (status updates) – My tweets updated. Facebook works with Twitter so this is fine. It updates my status. My tweets can be accessed outside by anyone.
- Twitxr (photo updates) – I send photos to Twitxr, just random photos. I want more than this, though. I was looking into Flickr but there’s no good apps on Facebook to import all the pictures actually INTO Facebook so I can tag people. Twitxr does everything I want it to do but it’s single picture. Need to investigate more on this Flickr thing, but the app for Facebook doesn’t allow people to be tagged in photos. And what about my blog photos?
- Digg (news articles) – Updates on Facebook. People can access what I’ve dugg online. This is great.
- Youtube (my videos) – Facebook hasn’t come out with a good app for this that I’ve seen yet. It’s all “your favorite videos”. I want an app that will automatically import my videos into Facebook or something like that. Youtube itself is okay since anyone can access it. I just need to link to it.
- Blog (my two blogs) – Currently I have this blog importing into Facebook. I want to change this because people comment on Facebook when I don’t want them to. I’d rather keep it outside with it automatically importing comments or vice versa. Also, this sucks because when I make changes to my blog it doesn’t update the post in Facebook. It’s just an import. I need to find an app that lets me do what I want to do with LIVE UPDATING. This is going to get dicey when it comes time to do my weekly Football Predictions.
- About Me stuff – On Youtube, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, etc always has these little “about me” sections. I want a feature on something where it updates all these “about me” sections, etc automatically on everything. Right now I just have it linking to a page on my website. I should talk to someone I know about this idea…
I’m trying to get people to join my pool of bets for the V P picks for the Presidential Nominees.
If you want in, it’s $20 for two picks (Democrat and Republican). Choose who you think McCain’s V P will be and who Obama’s V P will be. Get in soon by contacting me somehow.
As you know, I am very Earth concious and I try to be as “Green” as possible. I’ve decided to list out what I try to do in my daily life in order to stop wasting the Earth and stop Global Warming. Some of them are really small but I do what I can.
- I drive a Hybrid, my Toyota Prius. Yes, it still pollutes but it’s the most fuel efficient thing out there.
- I car pool with Brian everyday to and from work.
- I reuse my old water bottles and refill them.
- I use hand towels instead of paper towels to clean spills and things. It’s easier to throw them in the wash.
- I always try to use energy saver everything like light bulbs.
- I turn my room temperature to 68 in the winter and 75 in the summer. I open the windows as much as possible on nice cool days.
- I recycle everything I humanly can; beer bottles, cans, junk mail. In MoCo, it’s hard to recycle but I put aside cans and jars and paper to recycle over Brian’s parents house. I also have a special recycling drawer that I put useless non-identifiable paper and things in to recycle later.
- I reuse paper if there’s not much written on it, I just scratch it out.
- I reuse my lunch bags and other bags. When I go to the mall, I take a plastic bag with me, that way I’m not using one of theirs. I also reuse my sandwich bags by wrapping my sandwich up with a napkin. I need a napkin anyway.
- I turn my computer and speakers off whenever I’m not using them. Except for my work computer which needs to update itself. I turn that off for the weekend.
- I turn off lights whenever I exit a room. Except at work. I was instructed to leave my light on forever since I have the front office and the bosses want it to look like our office is busy even though no one is in the office.
- I use rechargeable batteries for remotes, cameras, controllers, etc.
- I buy Green things. Like our shake flashlight.
- I manually open doors instead of going through automatic doors whenever possible. I also use the stairs instead of elevators (unless it’s really high like 4+ stories).
- I reuse tinfoil and plastic wrap as much as possible, if I can.
- I roll down my windows like all the time in the car instead of air conditioning. This sometimes helps fuel efficiency.
- Over Dad’s, I do the same sorts of things. I recycle whatever I can. When I find metal I put it in one of the junk cars that goes to the scrap yard to get recycled. I’ll pick aluminum cans out of the trash to put them into the recycling.
It made me outraged that McCain released a load of garbage ad against Obama that’s full of nothing but falsehoods.
It is true that Obama cancelled his visit with the troops but not because the center “wouldn’t allow cameras”. Obama was afraid that visiting the troop hospital would make it look like a campaign prop. In fact the footage used in the ad was of Obama playing basketball WITH THE TROOPS. Chuck Hagel even thinks the ad is inappropriate!
The ad also states that Obama doesn’t support the troops and McCain does. Well I found an article that compiled all the work for me on that one.
The ads McCain releases and what McCain says totally contradicts truth in some matters. It seems the media is giving McCain free passes. They don’t bother to fact check him. He claims he supports the troops when it’s clear he doesn’t. Look at his record, it speaks for itself.
McCain is banking on the media not paying attention or waving off his little misspeaks and gaffes; and it’s worked out so far for him. I’m compiling a list of gaffes McCain has made since the start of his campaign. I will be posting it in the upcoming weeks, or I just might wait until the election since I’m sure there will be many many more up until then.
Bottom line, the media really needs to make more of this and not let McCain get away with whatever he says that is false. We need fact checking here. And people need to stop believing every word that comes out of these politicians mouths. Do your fact checks, the media obviously isn’t going to do it for you since they apparently have their own agenda.
Now, last week I gained respect for John McCain and what he came out and said about the New Yorker.
“I think it’s totally inappropriate and frankly I understand if Senator Obama and his supporters would find it offensive.”
Welp, this week, he lost what respect he gained with me by saying:
“I had the courage and political judgement to say that I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.â€
I’m sorry but, how could anyone say that? I find that probably one of the rudest things I’ve heard in politics. It’s just down right dirty and wrong.
And about the surge, here’s my take: THE SURGE DIDN’T WORK. What was the surge supposed to do? Provide a secure environment so the Iraqi’s could set up their government and achieve POLITICAL RECONCILIATION. Did that happen? No.
Yes, yes, yes it is more secure in Iraq, but the goal of the surge was NOT MET. So how can you say that it worked?
Furthermore, if said surge “worked”, why aren’t we starting to withdraw then? All this “success” in Iraq, why haven’t we discussed a timeline for withdraw? The Iraqi Prime Minister and the Iraqi National Security Advisor both said this month that we need a timetable for withdraw.
No matter how you cut it, those troops need to come home now. Please, talk about a timeline or “time horizon”… however you want to call it. Just get them home, and soon!
My coworker, Howard, forwarded me this email yesterday…
Some interesting thoughts!
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
by Lee Iacocca  (Hardcover – April 17, 2007)
He’s not talking just about George Bush. It’s time to vote them all out. That includes Hillary and Barack and John and Nancy and Harry.
Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from it’s death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts. Lee Iacocca Says:
Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.
But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘Stay the course’.
Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America , not the *darn* ‘Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the bums out!’
You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.
The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving ‘pom -poms’ instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of the ‘ America ‘ my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.
I’ve had enough. How about you?
I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have. The Biggest ‘C’ is Crisis!
Leaders are made, not born… Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you’ve never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess. So here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves The middle class is being squeezed every which way These are times that cry out for leadership.
When you look around, you’ve got to ask: ‘Where have all the leaders gone?’ Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm.
Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn’t happen again. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when ‘The Big Three’ referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.
What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?
Had enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope I believe in America… In my lifetime I’ve had the privilege of living through some of America’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: the ‘Great Depression’, ‘World War II’, the ‘Korean War’, the ‘Kennedy Assassination’, the ‘Vietnam War’, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this: ‘You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.
Whether it’s building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That’s the challenge I’m raising in this book. It’s a call to ‘Action’ for people who, like me, believe in America. It’s not too late, but it’s getting pretty close. So let’s shake off the crap and go to work. Let’s tell ’em all we’ve had ‘enough.’
