Shootin the breeezze

I know, I KNOW. I've been slacking. Approaching finals week has kept me wrapped up in homework. For anyone who reads this and happens to be in school as well, you guys can probably vouch for me.

At any rate, some very exciting things in my life are taking place. It's a good time to be me.

#1 - I've just received a new time spot at the radio station every Friday at 630-7pm. This is an additional time spot to the one I hold every Wednesday at 7pm. Wednesdays is reserved for talking mostly political issues with Frog, you know, the joke book guy. I plan to use Fridays as a means of exposing as much local music as I can. If you feel yourself worthy, let me know, I'd love to share with you.

#2 - Music and business have come together to help my get a good grasp on what it is I want to end up doing with my life. If you know me, then you know that this is something that I've been struggling with for a while. So, it's good news.

#3 - Recently, I've been inspired to continue writing my book and try to get it published, some how. Cross your fingers!

#4 - It's almost x-mas time. I love Christmas.

#5 - I'm surrounded by people who love me and care for me. Ironic.




Smile!



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VICTORY! part 2

First of all, go ducks


Now that that is out of the way, how about them Blazers?
Last night the Blazers started off a five game road trip with a win in Detroit. This keeps them tied for first in the Northwest and gives them a 66% win rate(12wins-6loses). I am not a big fan of rankings, but check out what Marc Stein ranks us.
From www.ESPN.com with the ranking in bold:

"2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 5
RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT
1 (1) Celtics 16-2 This second straight 16-2 start by the Celts, so readily deemed inferior to the Lakers' start by so many readers, has been topped only twice in the past 10 seasons: Dallas in '02-03 (17-1) and the Lakers in '01-02 (16-1).
2 (2) Lakers 14-1 If it's any consolation -- and we realize that it's probably not -- allow us to confirm that the only other two Phil Jackson teams to start so well (Bulls at 17-1 in 1996-97, Lakers at 16-1 in 2001-02) went on to win it all.
3 (3) Cavaliers 14-3 2010 talk ain't going away no matter what Charles Barkley says, but don't forget to spare a good word for what the Cavs are doing now. Example: Cleveland just swept four games in five nights ... by a combined 80 points.
4 (9) Trail Blazers 12-6 When they lost Oden and looked so shaky on the opening-night stage against the Lakers, how many of you had these kids closing November with a road win in Detroit and one of the last two unbeaten home records?"

And what about week five last year?

"Week 5 5-12 27 Roy's response to getting routed by a team that lost Duncan before halftime: 'This is definitely the lowest point.' Our response: That's probably wishful for a team that has endured 18 straight losing months. "

From rank 27 to rank 4 a year later. I can taste the playoffs already.



-J

ps. Thank you Steve Blake for scoring a 3 pointer in the last minute of the Hornets game on Friday, making the score 101-86. The only thing tastier than a Chalupa is a free Chalupa.

The gift that keeps on giving

If you thought working at Wal-Mart is a shitty job before, just wait till you watch this.



First of all, who the hell goes to Wal-Mart on black friday. Arn't the prices child-labor cheap already? Is this what Christmas is all about? One family got a dead relative for Christmas. Another family recieved a dead baby from santa this year. At least you got a 9-piece spatula set for a buck fifty!

Now, I could go on a huge rant about how we are too materialistic in this country, but it has all been said before. I just hope that Wal-Mart hooks these employees (or the closest relative...) up for what happened.

-J

Payback

My mom showed me this video over Thanksgiving break and it is one of the funniest videos I have seen this year.



I think it busted his glasses.

-J

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all! Forgive me for having not blogged in a few days, I've been wrapped up in a good amount of family-time and really didn't care to miss out on too much.

I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am:

la pinche familia - They'll have the hardest time getting rid of me. I wouldn't be who I am without them. And I'm pretty sure I straight up couldn't do shit if I didn't have each and every one of them.

mis amigos - I like to keep a close circle. I'm happy to say I don't know 713 people at U of O on facebook. I know about 12 or so people who I can be myself around and know that they'll still at least pretend to know me in public. If you think you might be one, you probably are.

music - creating and listening to it. It's basically the essence of humanity. Think about it and listen to ALL of it...except maybe country.

comida - i need it to stay alive, so...well...it's kind of like a bonus when it tastes good.



BUT WHAT THE SHIT IS THANKSGIVING REALLY ABOUT?

I don't know, so I looked it up.

Apparently the Pilgrims weren't the nicest people around.




At any rate--eat, drink, and be merry!




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What happened to motorcycles?

Bucket List - Why not now?

In the town I live in, it's hard to miss the hundreds of kids pouring through the streets, all of them undoubtedly on the way to their next engagement whether it be school, work, or some other pressing obligation. So many of the people I know are drowning themselves in books and jobs and basically just an unbelievable amount of stress. Where did all the people who actually LIVE their life go? How come it seems as if no one is reaching for the stars anymore? Are we doomed to go to school for 20 years and snag a degree, only then to work for another 40 and die? What happened to everyone?

If you know me, then you might be aware that I like to consider myself to be a sort of outlandish person, some might say weird. Regardless, I have come to find, just like many others, the appreciation for doing something everyone says you're supposed to do before you die, or at least planning to (I have an exciting bicycle trip coming up soon and I've also got the pleasure of planning my brother's bachelor party). And I was happy to see many of the people I knew in high school traveling abroad this last year to places like Spain, Ireland, and other places I probably didn't hear of. It's just the sort of thing everyone, in my opinion, should be doing.

What's sad is that so many of these busy people see the ones who are doing what they WANT to do and stop and ask "Why does HE get to just stop and travel the world?" or "She's so lucky to not have real priorities" or "I wish I could do something like that, I just have too much stuff to take care of" or some other bullshit excuse. B-u-l-l-s-h-i-t.

I'm not sure who said it, but I remember hearing a life concept that I felt was absolutely, positively true: If you want it, you will get it. I think it was Dr. Phil or someone.

The point is--is that if any person wants something, they WILL get it, that is if in fact they really do want it. If someone says they want good grades, and they truly do, they WILL get good grades. If someone wants to do well at a job, and they genuinely WANT to succeed, they WILL. If anyone really wants to do anything, they WILL do it.


So really, you have no excuses. Do it all, do everything; do it while you're young and before you have any life-ruiners (children). There's no reason not to. Ohhh booo hooo I might get a term behind on getting the degree I want...booo hooo I can't just drop everything and leave. The only thing standing in your way are your excuses. Stop being the person you think everyone wants you to be and start being the person you know you want to be.

Dress differently. Give your phone number to everyone. Learn to play the ukulele. Walk in the rain. Lay under the stars. Write a book. Climb a mountain. Be outrageously polite. Learn how to tango. Visit a real blues club. Learn Muay Thai.


It doesn't matter really what you do as long as it makes you happy, right?

What do YOU want?





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Attorney General down!

The Attorney General appointed by Bush, Michael Mukasey, fainted on stage this week. Apparently all tests have confirmed it was not a heart attack or stroke and he will be returning to work shortly.



Let's take this moment to remember a little bit about what the AG is for. From http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/ :

"The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Office of the Attorney General which evolved over the years into the head of the Department of Justice and chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government. The Attorney General represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. In matters of exceptional gravity or importance the Attorney General appears in person before the Supreme Court. Since the 1870 Act that established the Department of Justice as an executive department of the government of the United States, the Attorney General has guided the world's largest law office and the central agency for enforcement of federal laws. ... Judge Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush on September 17, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8. He entered duty on November 9."

Let us take another moment to follow Mukasey's inability to answer a question. I was really bothered by him being unable to answer the question of if waterboarding is torture. Even him saying "no it's not torture" is better in my opinion then him not answering at all. Here are a couple clips I found to be very interesting.



He says he doesn't know what is involved in the technique so he can't answer the question. He is then told what the technique involves, and STILL doesn't answer the question. Let's see if Biden can make sense out of this man.



-J

Obama Cabinet

As you all might know, the transition is underway. Obama has begun the process of choosing the members of his cabinet. It's fairly interesting to say the least.

So far:

Secretary of State - Senator Hillary Clinton

Hillary is the frontrunner for the Secretary of State yet apparently there may be a good amount of obstacles in front of her due to Billy's charitable foundation and internatiol business affairs. Apparently, because he currently has or still receives donations from places like Qatar or Kazakhstan, some might not be clear on who exactly is speaking for the nation, or atleast that's what they say. According to CNN, Bill will most likely give in just a little bit to make things easier. We shall see.


Secretary of Health and Human Services - Former Senator Tom Daschle

The Former Senator will be also mostly likely be acting as the "health czar". By holding those two positions, Daschle will have a much more effective ability at influencing changes in policy. He will be writing the health plan that will be submitted to Congress next year.

Attorney General - Eric Holder

Obama has offered the prestigious position of Attorney General to his current senior legal adviser, Eric Holder. Holder served in the Clinton adminstration as the Deputy Attorney General as well has having been a Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. If approved, he will be the first African-American Attorney General of the United States.

White House Chief of Staff - Rahm Emanuel

Former top aide to former President Clinton, Rahm Emanuel has been a Democratic member of the US House of Reps since '03. He is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip Jim Clyburn. He seems cool enough.







Head of Office of Management and Budget - Peter Orszag

I don't really know much about this dude except he's Director of the Congressional Budget Office and that on the 18th of November, he indeed agreed to take on the position to be bestowed upon him January 20th. Oh yeah, he also served as special assistant to the President at the National Economic Council and served on the Council of Economic Affairs...during the CLINTON administration. The way he looks though I kinda feel like giving him a punch to the dome. Don't you?

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This is a result of only a little bit of research, I'm sure some picks may have changed and what not. But the core issue is really what kind of people he's choosing. Some are worried that because Obama has chosen a lot of people that also served during the Clinton administration that his picks may not represent the change that he promised during his campaign. But is "change" really even about people, or is it going to be about the policy Obama enforces? Others say that Obamas picks represent a collection of people that are intelligent and challenging enough to keep Obama on his toes, rather than just a bunch of Yes-men. Who knows? I'll leave that up to you guys.







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Remember Crawford, Texas?

Everyone remember Crawford? It's that little town in Texas that George Dubya moved into during his candidacy for president to seem like an average Joe(like Joe the plumber!). You know, the kind of guy you can get drunk and shoot some shit with. Crawford is where all of those stupid photo-ops of Bush taking a chainsaw to a tree are filmed. As I perused the selection on Hulu the other night(I'm a broke ass), I stumbled upon "Crawford".

"Crawford" is a documentary which follows the citizens of George Bush's small town before and after his arrival. I give this filming crew credit because the project seems to span over a 6 year period. There are many people which are followed during the documentary including a few old men who have been in Crawford their whole lives as well as a woman trying to cash in by opening up a George Bush gift shop (a.k.a. Hell on Earth).

Soon, protesters against as well as for Bush swarm to Crawford in huge numbers. This documentary slightly covers Cindy Sheehan, the woman who lost her son in Iraq and is now speaking out against the war. Some of the locals are extremely happy George moved to town while other's views change as the years pass. All in all it's a great film with a lot of heart and a few laughs.



-J

Brooks and O'Neal

Aaron Brooks has been getting more minutes this year and is using his Oregon education well. Shaq is like a man-bear. Check out what happened 4 days later:



-J

ps. The NBA keeps taking these vids off youtube so we will see how long they stay up.

For the poor folks - Hulu.com

Considering I don't have as much to blog about today as I usually do, I would like to give everyone the heads up on a badass website I heard about only a few weeks ago. As you might already know, sometimes we like to embed videos into our blog postings. If you didn't notice, the last one Jason posted was a Hulu.com video rather than a Youtube.com video.

What's the relevance?

Well, as Jason and I do not have the capabilities of paying for both the internet and the television bills, we decided to boot the latter. Weeks later we found out that a website exists that is almost as good as regular television. Hulu.com is dedicated to providing high quality videos from popular television shows as wells as hundreds of popular movies from the past and present. It's free, high quality, and hey did I mention it's free? The only setback is that the newest television episodes are a few days old usually, but me, I could give a shit.


Check it out! The blog title's linked to the website.



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Bill O'Reilly and Jonny Stew

Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly have butted heads a few times. When Jonny Stew was on Bill's show, O'Reilly said the only people who watch "The Daily Show" are stoner slackers. Ouch!

Last week Bill traveled to yuppy, elitist, Starbucks drinking New York to come on Jon's show. Though I constantly wanted Jon to destroy Bill with basic reasoning, I liked his technique of letting Bill destroy himself. In part one of the interview Jon plays a series of clips calling out Bill for his fear-mongering but he doesn't really go on the attack (maybe he shows his guests a little more respect then Bill?).



They also have a great conversation about if we are a center-right country or not. This leads to a talk about the war in which Bill says Hussein isn't around to kill a half-million people anymore. Jon should have come back with the number of Iraqi civilians killed from the war (Last I check it was over a half-million). At one point Bill attributes the fact that right now a majority of Americans want out of Iraq to "they want to win". Uh, ok.

-J

VICTORY!

Oregon takes the victory at home against U of Arizona Wildcats 55-45!













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By the balls

When a person that is considered a bad guy thinks that doing something Bush would do is going a little too far, is that funny or scary?

From Time magazine:
Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged "by the balls" — a threat made last summer by Vladimir Putin, according to an account that emerged yesterday from the Élysée Palace. . . .

The Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. "I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. "Hang him?" — he asked.

"Why not?" Mr Putin replied. "The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein."

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: "Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?"

Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: "Ah -- you have scored a point there."

-J

ps. Yes, it is a little funny.

Apathy - Latest Read

I found a book at Borders the other day. I picked it at random, basing my decision solely on how good the few pages I thumbed through brought me to believe the book might be. My strategy worked! I brought home a fantastic novel: Apathy by Paul Neilan, a quick read I finished in just a couple days.

Shane is a quiet man, he keeps a lot to himself. He moves from city to city, leaving behind him whatever he chooses and building on the next life he finds in the next city. If you can imagine the lead character in Office Space but with a drinking problem, you've basically got Shane. From day to day Shane does next to nothing, he barely lifts a finger in any aspect of his life. Somehow he manages to form a relationship with a girl who beats him up whilst having sex, finds a dentist who can't stop crying, begins an affair with the landlord's wife, and gets framed for the murder of a deaf woman. Only at that moment in time when he becomes a suspect does Shane do a little bit more than nothing to clear his name.

The book is outrageously funny. First time in a long time I laughed out loud so many times. Thankfully I wasn't in public for most of the read. Paul Neilan lives in Portland, Oregon too! I'm not so good at reviews, but what I can say is that this book is absolutely worth it!



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Buzzell's Iraq War Blog

(CNN) -- Bullets were pinging off our armor, all over our vehicle, and you could hear multiple RPGs being fired, soaring through the air every which way and impacting all around us. All sorts of crazy insane Hollywood explosions were going off. I've never felt fear like this. I was like, this is it, I'm going to die.

--

When U.S. Army machine gunner Colby Buzzell began blogging about his combat experiences from a military base in Mosul, Iraq, he wasn't looking for attention or trouble. Buzzell just wanted a way to chronicle what he saw and did and felt during the Iraq war.

Full Story Here



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This Day In History

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Candid Candidate Camera

Ok , so maybe they arn't all candid, but I couldn't pass up the title. The pictures on this link are pretty neat and are spectacular quality. They are taken by a photography who followed Obama for the entire 2 years of his candidacy. You have to keep clicking "Show More Images" at the bottem to see all of them. My favorites are the one where he cleans up his own ice cream and when he is doing pull-ups.

Click my awesome title to go to the link, or copy and paste this into your browser : http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html


-J

The Road

Since Kyle’s first book review was based on a book which has recently been released as a movie, I figured I would start with a book soon to be a movie. Pulitzer Prize winning “The Road”, by Cormac McCarthy, may be his darkest book yet, as well as one of his best. This book gives you everything you need to appreciate the story and nothing more. You will not hear the names of the characters in this book, because that doesn’t matter. You will want details about how and why, but you will not receive them. Cormac cuts through the bullshit and gives us a story of survival, trust, friendship, and growing up. “The Road” is based in, from what I can tell, the not so far off future. In this future everything has gone awry. Civilization as we know it has been replaced by ash and corpses. Canned food only lasted so long for the survivors and now cannibals lurk around every corner. The story follows a man and his son trying to get by in this world, or what’s left of it. They must trust each other and no one else to survive.
This is the 4th Cormac McCarthy novel I have read and I can definitely say he is consistent. The man’s skill at describing outdoor surroundings is to be envied. He could describe a thousand thunderstorms and never once sound repetitive. Normally his books have surroundings which reflect the real world but this novel gives him a chance to show us something we could have never imagined. Though a world covered in ash seems far-out he makes you feel like you're there. I would definitely recommend this book, especially prior to the movie being released. The movie is to be released sometime in 2009 and will be staring Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Viggo Mortenson (should have been Christian Bale), and Guy Pearce (was awesome in “Memento”).

-J

THE ROAD is an amazingly dark, depressing, and gloomy novel. But a story so endearing and utterly descriptive you can't put it down. There's no way I could accurately describe to someone the images of the world McCarty painted in my mind. But, if anything, I think we could all learn a little bit about trust and loyalty from The Road.


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Separation of church and state...

I was extremely happy to hear the news that Obama had become president. As I was hearing the news I heard fireworks outside. We went out to see and a neighbor yelled “OBAMA!” All of a sudden I was hearing people yell Obama all over town, in all directions. Living on a college campus and hearing this made me realize how much youth took part in this election, democrats and republicans. Though that night was great, I was very sad to hear Proposition-8 had passed in California.

A “yes” vote to proposition-8 made it so gay people could not get married. This is overturning a California Supreme Court decision which recognized that same-sex marriage as a fundamental right. My Aunt is a lesbian and this will personally affect her life, and therefore, my life.

So here is my rant: I could give a flying fuck if gay people get married. If it makes them happy and doesn’t affect anyone else then who cares?! It’s not like you have to marry them. Having gay marriage be legal does not mean all of a sudden your church must host gay marriages. If your argument is “I think the bible tells us that marriage is between a man and a woman”, I call bullshit. The bible has been interpreted in so many ways and is constantly used for whatever purpose people seem fit. People used the bible as an excuse for slavery and many other atrocities. If the bible is such a big part of marriage, then why don’t you fight so atheists can’t get married? Two atheists can go get married but two gay Christians (and yes, they exists) couldn’t do the same. Right.

Now, let’s say your argument is “We must preserve the sanctity of marriage.” HAHAHAHA! Do you realize how ironic it is to hear an American, a citizen of a country with a 50% divorce rate, speak about the “sanctity” of marriage? As the son of a father and mother with a combined total of 5 marriages, I again, must call bullshit.

Separate but equal will not stand. I am a Christian, but also an American, which means I believe in SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. So keep your church out of the states! Olbermann puts it in better words then me.

Check it out here:











-J

Can't forget

I originally posted this on www.thedailykos.com:

Two weeks ago I got a call from my Mom, a 57 year old nurse in Oregon. She said she had been watching the news and saw something alarming. "Some soldiers have come back from Iraq and went straight to training for 'disaster relief'. In the videos of the training soldiers had machine guns set up in windows. What the hell does that have to do with 'disaster relief’? I think the republicans are getting ready to steal the election just like they did to gore and they are preparing people to fend off the eventual riots. If Obama loses I want you to stay the hell off of campus (I go to the University of Oregon). You could get maced or beaten to a pulp by a night stick. Promise me you'll stay away"

"But Mom," I replied "I would have to do something. I already told my roommate we would take a road trip to D.C. if the election was stolen. You would be out there protesting if you were my age. This aggression would not stand!" "I already was out there. I was out there decades ago in the hope you would never have to be." She said

This is something we can't forget. Though this is a great victory for us and Barack Obama, we must remember those who fought before us. In Obama's speech he brought up a 106 year old woman who has seen people fight for the right to vote, for interracial couples to get married, and for people of color to sit where they please on the bus.

We did what we had to in order to move America along the right path, and we have the right to celebrate, but we must never forget all of the people who fought just to give a African-American a chance in hell.

-J

Ps. When spell-checking this post in Word, I noticed that every time I write Obama, the spell-check wants to make it Osama! I think our president-elect deserves a little respect, Bill Gates.

Veterans Day!

Today is November 11th, Veterans Day! To those unaware, Vet's Day was established to celebrate and memorialize the services of the men and women of the Armed Forces. Around the world, November 11th is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the day the Germans signed the agreement to end the violence in the First World War. According to Wikipedia, "Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice." So there's much good to celebrate! Take the time to do something special for your local vets.

You can find several events taking place in Eugene, OR today here: http://www.kval.com/news/34235204.html


At any rate, Veterans Day is a wonderful holiday. It elicits thought of the veterans of the current war in Iraq. And of course, that will almost certainly bring me into a monologue of how unfair this war is to the people of the nation and especially those who've served in the sandbox. Isn't the military supposed to be used as a force of defense of our national security? I like to tell people that should our nation be in great danger from any military force, foreign or domestic, I'd be the first the join up. But when was the last time our nation's security was really in danger? Not recently. Davis Fleetwood spelt it out this morning and then some.









If it's anything that we take away from today's celebration of the veterans of the Armed Forces, it's that we should truly appreciate and understand the sacrifices these men and women have made. It's our responsibility to understand this. Take the time to listen and learn about the past and present so that we may be better equipped to understand events that have yet to happen. It's our time.


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Palin Under The Bus

Of all things that could've happened to Mrs. Palin after her party losing the presidential election this last Tuesday, I'm not the least bit surprised to find all the people that stood behind her are stabbing her in the back.

What's that you say? You haven't heard? Let me enlighten you.

According to anonymous sources, following McCain's loss on the 4th, the RNC's first order of business was to effectively repo all of Sarah Palin's clothing that had been purchased for her. Apparently the amount of clothing purchased for Palin exceeded over $150,000. According to Palin's father, Chuck Heath, she spent most of the weekend frantically sorting through her wardrobe. Moreover, there's speculation that some of the McCain campaign aides spent over $30,000 on their personal credit cards to buy Palin's clothing from high end stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
Also, several McCain-Palin campaign aides have been reported to have said that Palin was unaware of the members of North American Free Trade Agreement (Canada, the US, and Mexico) and didn't realize that Africa wasn't a country but a continent.

This is just a sliver of a gigantic list of slander, criticism, put-downs etc. But all of it is just speculation, all hearsay. I for one don't really care whether these reports are true or not. I find a person's willingness to believe all of these harsh words about her disturbing. I find it disturbing because I consider myself a person who utilizes critical thinking whenever being subjected to new information, which is every single day and every waking moment. But recently I've found that with it being so easy to talk smack about "America's Hottest Governor", I too was swept away in the blackhole of trashtalk.

Although I never liked the woman very much to begin with, I can now barely manage to say anything nearly as savage as some of her formers allies have. In the last 4 months, everyone and their mom has been poking fun at her intelligence, at her looks, at her personality. Everyday we grow to become a nation more about how someone looks in the spotlight than how they really are as a person. I for one am ashamed to have said some of the things that I did. I am ashamed to be a part of a group of people who saw the worst in the opposing party. I'm ashamed to have laughed and smiled at her misfortune in the eyes of the media.

Yes she may have been inexperienced, and yes some of her policies we might not have agreed with. But why does that make it OK to dehumanize her? Or put her down?

One thing I do know, is how idiotic the GOP must feel. They made a mockery of the political system. The GOP didn't feel that a vetting process for Mrs. Palin was a good idea, effectively tainting the privilege and historical position of the first female to be in a presidential race. I can't for a moment think that any woman, conservative or not, was thrilled with having Palin represent females across the nation. Instead, the GOP looked to Palin as a political strategy in a campaign that seemingly neither John McCain or Sarah Palin had very much control over. They used her to excite the base for the GOP, to rally the people, to snag the hearts of Hillary's disenfranchised voters. Unfortunately, Palin jumped on the idea of running as Vice President when she was offered the position. I for one would've had a profound respect for her had she been humble enough to reject the GOP's offer.


Yet all in all, I feel this moment in time was more of a proving-grounds than anything. For both us and for them. Sadly, the populus let on that they're mostly gullible, cold, and ruthless in spite of claiming non-partisan or non-biased alliances. So, for those of you seeking advice, just STAND UP TO THE BULLSHIT. Be your own person. Make up your own goddamned mind. FUCK the group. FUCK the Dems and the Reps. FUCK a 2 party system. FUCK the media. FUCK my blog. FUCK it all.

There's nothing more I hate in the world than a lemming.


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ps. - if you care to take a look at what some of her stances are on many, many issues, as well as those of many other major political figures, check this website out.

http://www.ontheissues.org/sarah_Palin.htm

CHOKE

Recently added to the "big list of books that which we've read" (name still being worked on), is Chuck Palaniuk's novel, Choke. It's a quick read to say the least. The first aspect of the book most will notice is it's outright vulgar content, not to say that one wouldn't be fascinated and entertained by the gruesome exactness of detail that which Palanhiuk employs.

The story's told through the eyes of Victor Mancini, a college med school drop-out. He struggles with a bullshit job and uses desperate measures to keep his mother in the hospital and himself barely eating. Soon he finds himself distraught and caught in an existence which he can't escape and knows very little about to begin with.

Palanhiuk's words are amazingly strung together, he utilizes a style of writing all unto it's own, looking similar to combination of medical text-book diction and psychosis. All in all, one can appreciate the frighteningly real description of the world, the one that few have the courage to reveal to others, the world that many know but few talk about.

Soone we'll see the movie. I heard it was ok.

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Elect Obama!

First, we are going to start off the blog fresh and new as I haven't posted anything since opening the new blog. Forgive me, juggling responsibilites is a learning process. But luckily, I've found the time. Welcome, to the Daily Raconteur.

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In a landslide victory Obama has claimed the honor of becoming the 44th presidente and the first African-American at that.

Here's a video Frog and I played at the station for about 4 weeks every week before the election.





A public holiday delcared by Kenyan President in name of Obama!

Upon hearing the news of Senator Barack Obama's election from CNN, the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki announced Thursday a public holiday in celebration of the victory. Senator Obama's found his roots in Kenya, his father and family being native. The election has undoubtedly prompted excitement across the nation of Kenya and even the continent. Leaders all across Africa have been sending their congratulations to the Senator. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, demonstrated his recognition of the election as a sign of great things to come: "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela said in a letter of congratulations.

Isn't that some crazy shit?

It's amazing to see the giant step for mankind America has just taken. The first black president...Ever.

I've spent 20 years waiting to be a part of a presidential election, 12 of which have obviously been spent under a Bush administration. Scary thought to think that George Dubya has claimed a substantial part of my life and that of my peers. Im just as excited and worried as everyone else. I'm glad to call myself a part of the history we made November 4th. Nothing could be more exciting to see how we as nation can come together to address some of the toughest times we've ever seen. And I don't know about you, as awful as it may sound, but I don't know if I'm happier to see Palin lose or Obama win. Thanks be to Jebus it happened the way it did.

But you just gotta ask yourself one question.

Are you ready to do help make change happen?

We've got to realized that change isn't going to just happen because we have a new President. It's on our shoulders just as much as it is the elected officials, from Obama down to grass roots.

Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do to get the fuck off your ass and contribute to making your country great again.

Right? Right.


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The First and Foremost

As I have yet to attain any readers at all from the small world we live in (as far as I know anyway). And before I attain any new readers--I would like to formally announce (for those readers who stumble upon this blog) the christening of my new blog. Picture me breaking the champagne on the ass of the Daily Raconteur. I haven't the slightest idea of what I am going to write about, nor do I really care. One thing is certain: Minds will be spoken and spirits will be broken. I don't aim to please, except of course when that person is me. And as this is my first true blog, my last was being broadcast via Facebook, I am going to assume that this blog will evolve...eventually. We shall see.

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