The Blog Spot

Snow so soon?

2005-12-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Where did the snow come from? It was 70 degrees, then it was cold for a week, then we get 4 inches of snow. How do we get such a large amount of snow just over a week after 70 degree weather? I swear I’ll never get used to Missouri weather. For once I just wish we could have at least somewhat stable conditions. Maybe monthly weather if we can’t get seasonal like the rest of the world. I have nothing against the snow of course. If you read a blog I had awhile ago I was actually complaining about it being so hot. So while you would think I would be happy about the sudden change I was hoping it would have been a little more subtle. The worst part about the snow coming so quickly is that it will probably be gone by the time I get home. Right now I’m stuck inside studying for finals and taking those finals. When I get home and will actually be able to enjoy the snow it will be gone.

How can you do that?

2005-12-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

After all that the victims of Hurricane Katrina have been through a group of teenagers in Houston started a fight with them. How could anyone do that to another human being? Those people have gone through the hell of Katrina followed by the hell of getting no government help. I don’t care what the reason for the fight was it never should have taken place. They may be displaced on their land but it’s not like their just a bunch of vagrants living their. They have no choice. Those in Houston escaped their hurricane scare so they can’t comprehend all the evacuees of Katrina have had to deal with. If they don’t like them being there why don’t they start a fight on the Bush administration? It’s more their fault they are there than anyone else’s. This just gives me another reason to consider the world today disgusting. It’s just horrible that any one could do that to people who have already gone through so much. Hopefully this won’t happen again now that they have started re-opening everything in towns like New Orleans.

2005-12-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

So the president of Iran doesn’t think the Holocaust ever took place. Maybe over there in that underdeveloped tyrannical country it could be understandable that you’re a total moron. But what about all the idiots in the western world who don’t think it happened? And if you didn’t know there are people who deny it happened I’m glad you learned something today. Just like with the moon landing, despite the overwhelming evidence of the holocaust, there are people who deny it took place. If I could pick one American freedom to get rid of it would be the freedom of ignorance. Where do these people go to school? The holocaust isn’t taught like the theory of evolution is. When you teach evolution it’s taught as a theory despite how obvious it is. Now if something as blatantly right has evolution is taught with a grain of salt then when you here the holocaust taught as fact you should accept it as such. There is no contesting it, it happened. Having said that, in a way, it is understandable that the leader of a country like Iran would doubt the truth of the holocaust. He made the statement at an anti-Jewish rally. Yes, they hate Jews so much they have government organized rallies for it. That’s just pitifully sad. Can’t we all just get along?

2005-12-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

Can we say Tenamen’s square? Well we can’t spell it. But China killed about 10 protestors and sealed off a village while they were searching for the protest organizers. This should be a bigger deal than it will be. In Tiananmen (that’s the right spelling) Square one protestor was killed and nearly everyone knows all about it to this day. This time around an entire village was sealed off and ten people were killed. The difference? Ten people were shot while the guy in Tiananmen Square was run over by a tank. This ordeal will fade away and no one will remember it because people die by shooting all the time and it’s not a big deal. Personally I think the world we live in is disgusting. A guy gets run over by a tank and becomes a martyr known around the world. But if you get shot no one cares about whatever you were fighting for. Do the Chinese not use tear gas or rubber bullets? Why would you want to fire live rounds on your own people. I know they’re communist but even they have become more civilized in recent years, or so I thought. I remember hearing in the news awhile back about the Olympics going to China. Are we really taking the games that are supposed to represent international peace to a place like that?

Talky Talky Talky

2005-12-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Anyone have a problem with Clinton calling Bush “flat wrong” on climate? I think its fine. I started this blog to explain freedom of speech but I’ll start arguing against people who think former presidents shouldn’t talk. Some people will tell you former presidents shouldn’t speak out for things because they are ‘former’ presidents. That doesn’t make sense to me. If anyone has the right to talk about government issues it’s a former president. Whether it’s Clinton, Bush, Carter or whoever. Presidents and current politicians aren’t forward and sometimes lie for the sake of the reputation of their party. A former president has been president so they know a lot about the country but they don’t have to worry about a reputation anymore. How about entertainers? If they want to express their opinion who are you to say they shouldn’t? But I also think we have the freedom to not care. I believe they deserve the freedom to speak their opinions on anything they want. If you don’t care don’t listen, its not rocket science. The biggest kicker out of that whole thing is how we know what they said. The only reason we know he said this or she said that is because some reporter is complaining about it. Reporters always freak out about actors talking about political issues because, “What do they know?” What if an electrician walks around talking about his political views? Is he allowed to? Does anyone care? Anyone can say anything and you don’t have to care. I guess that’s as close as I’m going to come to a point in this blog.

Another plane

2005-12-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

What’s with airplanes and the news these days? It’s nowhere near what happened on 9/11 but airplanes have found their way into the news for the second time this week. Earlier this week a guy was shot for claiming to have a bomb in his bag. Now a plane ran off the runway into a car and killed a little kid. I think its worth noting that these two events two place right after the 9/11 commission said we are not prepared for another terrorist attack. I know the first one was just a misunderstanding and I’m not quite sure about this one. But I still don’t know if it’s a good thing that we know we aren’t ready so we can step up or a bad thing because any terrorist now knows this would be the perfect time to strike. Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if something small happened in the coming weeks. Just because we have a book out for anyone to buy telling the public where we are the weakest. I doubt an organization could organize a large event because they would want to get something done quickly before we fix our problems. It’s safe for me to speculate on this because no terrorist is going to read my class blog. But the 9/11 commissions report is in every book store in the country, and probably in a few others.

"Original" Christmas

2005-12-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

When you think Christmas what do you think of? Santa Clause? Jesus? Parades? Presents? How about Paris Hilton? I know the Christmas season just has me thinking of Paris. Well, not really but if you do you aren’t alone. Some guy in Rhode Island decided to use Paris as the theme for his Christmas decorations. This just doesn’t make sense. I don’t even care about it being indecent, which is a complaint his neighbors are giving him. I think it’s inappropriate in another way, it has nothing to do with Christmas, or any holiday. What’s next, Tyra Banks posters hanging from trees on Halloween? The guy says he wanted to be original. I have zero imagination and I could have thought of that. It’s easy to be original when what you decide to do is way off. A truly creative person could take the same old decorations and make it interesting. If I want to be original next 4th of July I could have a dinner party and serve Chinese cuisine instead of Bar-B-Q. Things like that don’t show off how original you are, they tell the world one thing: I have no creative talent!!

I don't wanna go!

2005-12-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

Are they serious? Saddam Hussein is skipping out on court and this isn’t a problem. I can’t believe a court as important as this is such a mockery. I had to go to court a couple of weeks ago for a traffic ticket and if I had missed my court date I would have been arrested. Now I know Saddam is already in jail but shouldn’t that just make it easier to get him there? I mean it’s not like it illegal to force someone to go to court. In the morning they can send some guards to bring him in to the trial. I wouldn’t exactly call that my greatest revelation. I’m pretty sure the people at Nuremburg wouldn’t have ever allowed a Nazi to skip court to sleep in or just because he didn’t feel like going that day. This whole trial has gone from justice being done to a horrible person in a fair way to a total joke. Not only does Saddam skip court dates but attorneys and witnesses have turned up dead. Then there was the incident when there were reports alleging the judge in the trial had been killed. The judge’s identity had been kept anonymous to protect him from such a fate. But as soon has a report came in that he was assassinated the major news networks released his identity including video of the trial. It turned out the judge wasn’t dead and now anyone who may have wanted to do away with him just got some help. This trial has been a joke almost since it started and it just keeps getting worse.

2005-12-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Anyone tired of my negative blogs? I know I complain a lot but it’s just so much easier to complain than it is to praise. But I’ll try to stay positive this time. The Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund handed out grants from the money that was donated. The fund raised and astonishing $110 million to be distributed to re-building. A lot of the money is going toward rebuilding with the rest helping out communities. This whole thing is a triumph of how America can come together when it really matters. 90% of the time we are all fighting each other over issues but when tragedy strikes everyone works together or at least disagrees without arguing. I’m not sure if Bush Sr. and Clinton actually like each other but if they don’t they can at least see past their own biases for the greater good. A lot of people in America and other countries don’t like the fact that we only pull out the flags and ribbons in times of tragedy. But isn’t that when you are supposed to fell the most pride? How many times in history have the Jewish people been persecuted against (the biggest being Egypt and the holocaust)? After all the stuff they have had to go through they are proud, not ashamed to be Jewish. When things are good the average Christian doesn’t pray nearly as much as when times are rough. Adversity brings out the best in people and although it may not last, it is there when it counts.

We got a terrorist? Nope false alarm

2005-12-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

So a crazy guy was shot. That’s how bored federal air marshals are. Recently I wrote a blog about the grades the U.S. received from the 9/11 commission on preparedness for another terrorist attack. I desperately hope this isn’t there reply to the report. Just days after being told they aren’t doing any good, an anti-terror organization founded since 9/11 kills a guy. An American citizen with bi-polar disorder was shot and killed after claiming to have a bomb on a plane. What really makes this bad is when he was shot. It wasn’t when he was running down the aisle claiming to have a bomb in his bag. It was after the situation had been under control and he was off the plane. After the situation was under control he reached into his bag, was shot, and later died from the injuries. The guy’s wife said he was bi-polar and hadn’t taken his medication. In case you don’t know, a bi-polar is someone who suffers from severe mood swings. A bi-polar can’t be stuck in a depressive state and without warning fly off the handle jumping to the manic side of the mood spectrum. I wouldn’t criticize this situation if it was in the heat of the situation and they had no info on the subject. After it was all said and done they found out the guy had no bomb. I wasn’t there so I don’t pretend to know exactly what happened, but my reaction to this is subtle compared to how others will take it. This could disappear by the end of the week, but if it’s a slow news week this thing could get really out of hand.

Great idea!

2005-12-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

Somebody gets it! America is looking at the moon, China is looking at the moon, Europe has the right idea. The European Space Agency (ESA) has money for a ‘Space Plane’ and missions to Mars on its budget. The space plane is supposed to be able to exit and re-enter the atmosphere repeatedly, I’m not quite sure why that is important but the Mars money is well spent. While we are busy wasting time and money going back to the floating rock, Europe is looking past it at the next frontier. Mars is the future of space exploration. Sending probes, telescopes, and unmanned vehicles to Mars is infinitely more important than returning to the moon. Mars may hay life or may be able to sustain life which interests people. It may only be a sci-fi plot for now but it could possibly become a reality that we have to leave Earth, Mars is close, it looks good. You may say just my talking about this is stupid, well I agree with you. But as ridiculous as the idea sounds at the least it will bring in more money. Which would get higher ratings, a rerun of the moon landing, or the series premier of Mars exploration? We sent a rover to Mars and since then seem to have lost interest. If NASA wants to get more funding they have to attract some good publicity, which Mars can do better than the moon. The last thing that got NASA into news headlines was a shuttle crashing on re-entry, the moon won’t counter that.

Can you decide?

2005-12-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

So the guy who founded the one of the biggest most notorious gangs in America, the ‘Crips,’ is set for execution for the murder of four people. Pretty cut and dry case right? Think again. Since his conviction in 1979 Stanley Williams claims to be a changed man and has written children’s books from jail discouraging running with gangs. Still think its no big deal? Well how about the fact that for those books and the many times he has spoken out for peace he has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope by now at least you don’t think its cut and dry. Maybe he’s faking it (making him a better actor than anyone in Hollywood), maybe he isn’t. The point is that he may really be a changed man. This is why I don’t support the death penalty. With a life sentence you pay for your crimes for the rest of your life while completely out of society. Life in prison offers you the opportunity to change. No one is incapable of changing. As for the argument of the families of the victims, isn’t life with guilt worse than a quick painless death in your sleep? If I got to choose the way I died I would pick lethal injection by a long shot. Before the injection that kills you, you receive an injection that puts you into a peaceful sleep. Then, while sleeping, you get an injection that stops your heart giving you the most peaceful humane death humanly possible. Also it actually costs less to keep someone in prison for life than death by lethal injection. And since when have we been a tit for tat society? If you steal is your hand cut off? We know better than that. Look at how much good this guy has done since his conviction, imagine how many more lives he could save from the gutter if his sentence is changed to life in prison. Not everyone will change, not everyone will right the wrong they have done, but some will, and that should be enough.

Are you kidding?

2005-12-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

After everything that has happened, after how hard we got hit, after how easy it was we still aren’t ready for a terrorist attack. Wasn’t that the reason Bush was re-elected? Because everyone thought he would do a better job in defense over Kerry. Most people agreed more with Kerry’s policies but felt our defense was more important than policies. That isn’t really something you can argue against…unless it isn’t true. And apparently it isn’t. I don’t really want to be a Bush basher, I don’t like him but I don’t like wasting my time on politics. This is just amazing for me to see though. The bipartisan 9/11 committee says we still aren’t prepared for a terrorist attack. The report had no A’s and a few F’s, mostly C’s and D’s. After 9/11 and all the stupid precautions we took we still aren’t any better off? We go so far as to ban paperclips on airplanes and we are still vulnerable. That tells me that civilians are taking it too far and the government forgot people don’t like us. Who remembers right after 9/11 and people went so far as to quit work so they could sit in the root cellar all day and night watching the news? While the government went after a nation that is too weak to win a war against Kuwait let alone attack us. Since then both sides are doing less about terrorism. Maybe it’s because we’re safe or maybe we are putting ourselves into a false sense of security. Whether someone is about to attack us or no one could if they wanted to I would rather be safe than sorry.

P.S. Just a reminder, don’t mind my blogs these last two weeks, I’m trying to make up for my lack of blogs in November.

You call this challenging?

2005-12-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one totally disappointed by how easy college is? Throughout my 4 years of high school teachers tirelessly preached about how easy we have things now and how hard college will be. What a let down. Early in the year I expected it to be tough because of all the talk from teachers so I spent nearly all my time studying and reading. Just a short while later after taking a few extremely easy tests I decided to try something: minimal studying. Not only were the results favorable, they were exact. For my Bio 1010 course I had a 94/100 on both tests. In my Psyche 1000 course I had 38/40 on both tests. So far my college experience leaves me wondering one thing: why is a college degree so important to employers? This is just ridiculous. My 7th grade biology class was harder and more in depth than the one I am about to get a near effortless A in. And if I’m exaggerating there, it isn’t much. I realize I’m in freshman classes and it will get tougher, but then again I’ve heard that before. This English class is the only one I am having trouble with but I have always had trouble with grammar classes. I just need to get a C in this class to keep it from ruining an otherwise good semester. With the majority of my classes all locked up in either A or B I will be focusing on pretty much nothing but this class. Step one for that is to bring my blogs up. I’m shooting for no less than 50 hopefully closer to 70 to assure an A in that category. Then I have to make a good final report and beyond that it’s out of my hands. But with my other classes I could leave school for home now and come out with nothing but A’s and B’s which just shows how ridiculously easy these classes are. Maybe that sounds like a good thing but I’m the kind of person who likes to be challenged, this sucks.

Going up?

2005-12-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

Say it isn’t so. After several weeks of enjoying watching gas prices fall steadily the trend may be over. For some reason oil prices are expected to raise again making gas more expensive. A little fluctuation one way or another is ok but personally I am tired of seeing year in and year out as gas prices raise 99 cents then drop 50 cents. You see what I’m getting at here? Gas prices are now dropping at all. They are merely making it appear as if they have leveled back out only to rise again. But in reality each year gas prices drop only half of what they rose. Just 5 years ago gas was under a buck a gallon. I know oil is not a renewable resource but for the price to double in just 5 years is ridiculous. AND the 2 dollars it is at right now is the low point. At the high point it was pushing 4 dollars per gallon. For the price of anything to quadruple in 5 years is something people wouldn’t usually stand for. But the oil company’s have put on the façade of fluctuating but ultimately steady prices and the consumers have bought it. Say gas in January is $2, then the price raises all the way up to $4, and then drops back down to $3. We as a people are so happy about falling gas prices we fail to notice we are still paying a considerably larger sum for the product. So I just can’t wait until a mass produced Hydrogen car comes out driving oil companies out of business. If you want to raise the price of your product do it. But don’t act like you’re not.

Just 3 boring years....please?

2005-12-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

What do you think of the comments by Senator Murtha? I guess apparently he said troops will be out of Iraq within a year. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but apparently people are rallying behind him against Bush. He claimed that Bush was only going to make it appear as though we were “staying the course” in Iraq and pull out later because we don’t have the money to stay anymore. Troops are worn down and most are years over their set enlisted times. Which just goes to show that not only does Bush think troops should leave when the job is done (which was quite a long while ago) by his standards and not when a politician says so, but he thinks they shouldn’t be allowed to go home when a political law says so, but when he does. All I have to say on the matter of Bush’s presidency is I hope he will get our troops out soon and then finish the rest of his term as uneventfully as possible. As much has he has damaged the united states in his terms I just hope its not so much that one good president can handle, though I personally doubt it. I’m not saying the U.S. is unfixable, I just think it will take a few good presidents to repair the damage. Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Independent or other, I don’t care and it doesn’t matter, just a few good presidents.

#1000 Come on Down!!!

2005-12-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Not that I will be outraged about it in particularly but the 1000th execution may pose a problem for some people. The man set to be the 1000th person executed since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 is a Vietnam veteran. Personally I think this is a meaningless point and shouldn’t be an issue. But some activist or veterans group may make a fuss about it. Personally I don’t agree with capital punishment at all but that isn’t really what my blog is about. This is just an example of how Americans pay to much attention to statistics and meaningless info. How did I know the 1000th execution was a war vet? Because it is being covered by reporters. It shouldn’t be, but it is. What ever happened to the bigger picture? Everyone always gives more attention to meaningless details than the issue as a whole. Now I’m not saying that details don’t matter, I’m saying that SOME are just meaningless. If the 1000th execution is going to raise an argument it should be: should we keep capital punishment? Not: should a veteran be the 1000th? We are the only developed and free country in the world that uses capital punishment. Only China, a communist nation, executes more people per year than us. This includes all those “savage” Middle Eastern countries. No European country uses capital punishment and they see us as barbaric for doing so. Maybe for once we should go with the flow and not try to stand out so much (coughIragcough).

P.S. If any of my posts seen irrelavent or if your'e thinking, "Why did he talk about that?" I am a little behind on my blogging (to say the least) and this is my 5th blog this hour so I'm not trying to make a big deal out of nothing, just need something to talk about.

Hurrican Season

2005-12-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Hurray! It’s finally over! After one of the worst hurricane seasons in history we can finally relax. The hurricane season is officially over. The one remaining problem is Tropical Strom Epsilon but it is drifting out to seas and shouldn’t bother anyone. Katrina and Rita alone made this a bad season. But as you can tell with the name of the remaining tropical storm (Greek letters are used when we run out of names beginning with English letters) it was just quality but quantity that made this hurricane season one for the ages. So as if Katrina wasn’t enough for us to have to handle for one season Mother Nature has to add insult to injury and keep hurling them at us. It is going to take years to rebuild from the damage this year, and some places (New Orleans) may never be the same again. Add to that the fact that the rebuilding effort may be made meaningless if we have another bad season next year and this is just a catastrophe the puts salt in the wounds. All we can do for next year is hope. Hope for a lighter season and hope for better people handling the situation.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

2005-12-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Why did it take so long? Now in December we are getting cold days and had a few flurries. What happened to the days when kids wore coats over their Halloween costumes because October was a cold month? November was a warm month this year, until the last couple of days. I grew up in Missouri so I’m used to driving to school in the morning with the heater all the way up and then the A/C full blast on the way home. But having consistently warm weather in October and November is just too much. I haven’t really done much research on global warming but if I was asked to pick today which side was right I would side with those who believe it. Before this year there have been days in the top 1/3 of the thermostat in October and November in Missouri, but the next day it was always back down to 30 degrees. Winter took a month and a half longer to arrive this year and that seems like a not so good sign to me. Maybe it’s not the end of the world but I personally prefer cold months to be cold and warm months to be warm. What we have right now is cold months that are warm and warm months that are hot. And as I am a warm natured person to begin with I prefer cool to warm and cold to hot. So I haven’t been enjoying the weather for the last two months.

The Red Moon

2005-12-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

China is now going to the moon. When will people learn that the moon is a bad investment? I have already posted a blog condemning the U.S. on our return to the moon. We had a big race with the Soviets spending more money than I will ever cumulatively see in my life to find that it is a big rock. No water, no ozone, no resources and not able to support human (or any other for that matter) life. It was a waste of money then it will be a waste of money now. So why China? Why? You know there is nothing there. Satellites and space stations are a better investment for your nation; the moon is a big floating rock. What China should do is try to beat us to Mars. That would be more exciting than a re-enactment of the moon race. I mean really, who has gone to watch a civil war re-enactment and been excited? With all the money China has I’m sure they could at least make a Mars race interesting, though their space program is probably too young to win the race. I wish everyone would just forget about the moon. Mars is a new and interesting prospect. The only people who will be watching if we go back to the moon are the people who think the moon landing was a hoax and will try to find ways to prove this one a fake as well. Ok I take that back, if we land on the moon I would probably watch, but I would still think it was an astronomical waste of money (no pun intended).

George W. Bush and the Downfall of American Conservatism

2005-12-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

I’m not really a politically minded person, as in I don’t really care about politics, but I don’t understand why we are still in Iraq. The only person who thinks we need to be there is President Bush. The Iraqi government wants us out, the Iraqi people want us out, our own government wants us out, our own people want us out, our allies want us out, our military leaders want us out, and the list goes on. This has nothing to do with the weapons of mass destruction that never existed. I’m talking about right now regardless of the past. There is no point in arguing whether or not we should’ve gone in or not anymore, it’s over and done with. The issue of us getting out of Iraq is just about the fact that there is no need for us to be there anymore. We set up a government, got Saddam and other leaders, set up a police force and military. I think Bush just needs to realize that the Iraqi people are adults and can handle themselves. They don’t need us there to tell them what to do with their lives. Because of his utter disregard for what the overwhelming majority of Americans want Bush is single handedly bringing down all the influence has Republican Party has gained over the past 5 years. I grew up in a Democratic family so I don’t so much mind him doing so as I wonder what the hell is he thinking? Maybe HE is in HIS 2nd term but he’s ruining the chances for any Republican congressman, senator, or presidential candidate of winning an election. The Democrats are already expected to regain the majority in both the House and the Senate. And if Republicans don’t make this guy get the troops out of Iraq and back home, we might as well run a Libertarian against the Democrat in ’08.

P.S. The blog title is a rendering of a book im reading in my history class "Ronald Reagan and the Triumph of American Convservatism"

Parking

2005-10-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

I know it's unoriginal considering we just talked about it in class but parking at MU is horrible. When I got my parking permit they told me I was out by the Hearnes Center. I asked if I could get anything in the Virginia Avenue Parking Garage becuase I'm right next to it. I was told it was full. Then I was told on home football games I would have to move my car out of the spot I paid for by the Hearnes Center and into the "full" Virginia Avenue parking garage. Does the reasoning behind that make sense to anyone out there? Please explain if it does. And for the record the top two levels of the parking garage are consistently EMPTY. If no one else is parking there why can't I? So on fridays I'm stuck walking out to Hearnes to move my car to the garage I couldn't get a parking permit for. If it wasn't for the overzealous MU police I would leave my car in the garage. But considering all the stories I've heard about how easy it is to get a ticket I'll have to grin and bare it.

The Moon

2005-10-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

When we got to the moon back in the 60's beating the Russians we discovered one thing. We wasted a lot of money. There is nothing of use up there. Rocks and dust. So after wasting all that money going to the moon what have we learned? Nothing. We're doing it again. NASA plans to make another trip to the moon in 2018 which will cost us a grand total of $104 billion. Why is this necassary? The only thing that will come out of this is the sceptics of the moon landing will have nohting to go on anymore. But I don't consider that to be worth $104 billion. If we have that much extra cash just laying around why don't we use it for something constructive? I'm sure the gulf coast wouldn't mind getting some extra rebuilding money. I haven't done my research but I don't believe it cost anywhere near that the first time around. I thought we were trying to get to Mars. Whatever happened to that idea. But if it will take us 13 years to get where we've already been multiple times. Maybe NASA jsut doesn't have the patience to hold out for Mars and this is just their way of passing the time. The article says they want to see how to "live off the land." The Moon has no atmosphere. So unless we plan on living in Moon bubbles being able to live off the land doesn't mean anything to our culture.

Hurricane Wilma

2005-10-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

These hurricanes are getting ot of hand. Hurricane Wilma has used up our supply of hurricane names. If we have any more hurricanes this year they will be named with greek letters (Hurricane Alpha). All the damage seems to be done in the same area as well, the Gulf Coast. The entire east coast seems to have escaped scott free from one of our worst hurricane seasons. Wilma is taking aim at Florida. The only good news from this hurricane is that it was recently downgraded from a catagory 5 to catagory 4. But I'm sure the citizens of Florida would much rather it miraculously dissipate. One thing this hurricane could affect is the Dolphins game sunday. The game is scheduled for 1pm sunday afternoon. But with the hurricane the NFL is looking at multiple options. The first is that they may reschedule the game from anywhere between friday-tuesday. They are also looking at the option of moving the venue to a neutral site of the Arrowhead in KC. Obviously becuase of the Saints fiasco the Dolphins want to avoid the game being moved to KC. I agree that it shouldnt be played there but wouldnt offer a peep of an objection if it was. The original problem with just changing the kickoff time is that with a catagory 5 storm the area would be evacuated. Now that Wilma has been downgraded to catagory 4 I'm not sure what the protoco would be. Personally I think the game should be moved ahead to Friday, then again I say that becuase it gives Jason Taylor and Junior Seau less time to heal. Although the NFL's main focus on this hurricane is the game, I think the main focus overall is to get people to safety. And obviously if you're packed into a stadium it makes it harder to evacuate as quickly and as easily as possible.

Cell phones everywhere

2005-10-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

In class we talked about how cell phone use is problematic and spreading to new areas. For the most part we talked about the Amish community integrating cell phones into their business lives. But cell phones stretch far beyond the old country in America. They reach the old continent. At first thought it may not seem like a big deal that small businesses in the most underdeveloped continent in the world use cell phones. But what is it that cell phones commercials always talk about? Bars. Those bars come from the signal you get from towers. Africa is considered the next exploding market and they're all rushing to get a head start on the competition. I think all that will be left after this excursion in Africa is the Amazon. Maybe next we can start sending iPods to Eastern Europe. Although I just got finished writing a paper about how technology is problematic I strongly believe the pros outwiegh the mostly frivolous cons. We can't expect our culture to remain still and become stagnant pond wonder. We live in an ever changing world for a reason. The world is shifting from the family community to the global community. At one point in American history the average person never traveled more than 40 miles away from home. Anyone want to argue that we should go back to the popular thinking of that day?

Compressed Technology

2005-10-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Back when computers were first invented everyone was thinking big, while today it's the complete opposite. The smaller the better. We still want it to do more than the old stuff but we want it to do it with more limited space. Who likes the iPod? If you do you aren't alone. Apple is projecting that by 2009 they will have sold nearly 1 billion of these mp3 players. And why not? Who doesn't love to be able to choose from 5,000 songs at any given moment. There's just one problem, no video. Well Apple is changing that as we speak. Starting next, week video iPods will be for sale. The iTunes you love so much will now have videos along side of them. I know a lot of people in this English class, including me, like the show "Lost." Lost is one of the first tv shows Apple will be offering for sale at $1.99 per episode the day after it airs. The new iPods will be available in 30Gig and 60Gig models. The 60G being able to hold up to 15,000 songs, 50,000 photos, or 150 hours of video. I know my last blog was about how annoying ads are and this blog was pretty much a free ad for Apple, but I just found this to be amazing. I was never part of the iPod bandwagon, but I think I will be trading in my mp3 player for one of these new video capable iPods in the very near future.

Advertising

2005-10-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Anyone else out there think that ads are getting out of hand. Nothing is sacred anymore becuase of advertising. Billboards line our highways (especially in Missouri), a 30 minute tv show is barely 20 minutes long, a 2 hour movie is an all day affair when shown on tv. We have tv everywhere but our dreams, and a lot of futuristic movies/books have them there too. Granting advertising makes the world go around but it's getting out of hand. Politcal campaigns waste millions upon millions of dollars on a losing campaign. Those are the worst, politcal ads. I hate even numbered years becuase it's not just the couple of months preceding the elections anymore, now they go year round. And wether the ads are belittling an opponent or putting a candidate on a pedestal, it's all just lies and fabrication. John Robert's ads pretty much told the public not to care about his law trouble and just vote for him. ADN what's the deal with a single ad being aired during every commercial break on every channel. Anytime I see an ad for something that often I make sure I don't buy or support whatever it was advertising. I mean, how many new viewers do they expect during the course of a program. Not many people sit around waiting for the last ten mintues of a show before they turn on their tv. And anyone who has been to Missouri probably never wants to come back. I live in Missouri and have driven from here to CT to VA and no state I have seen even compares to the trash that lines our highways. Isn't there a law out there limiting where advretising can go and how often, and if not, why not? TiVo has got to be one of the greatest things ever constructed. Not becuase you can watch a show whenever you want, but because yo ucan watch whatever you want commercial free. Now if only we could get something similar for the road.

Too many shows

2005-10-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Over the next two months I will be going to 6 shows. Usually I'm lucky to make one a month. I have a friend who is really into the hardcore scene so I come out of most of the shows I go to injured. I am, right now, still getting over a sprained ankle from a show I went to in St. Louis two weeks ago. Here is my list of shows (headliner, venue and style)for the next two months: Madball-St.louis(creepy crawl)/hardcore, Hot Hot Heat-Columbia(the bluenote)/I'm going to this one with my girlfriend so I don't know the band, Gravity Kills-St.louis(the pageant)/Industrial Rock, Bright Eyes-Columbia(jesse auditorium)/emo, Dropkick Murphys-Chicago(the riviera theatre)/punk, Murphys Law-St.louis/punk, 25 ta life-Kansas City/hardcore. All of these shows are between the dates of October 17-November19. Seven shows in 35 days, which I guess is more like one month than two. When averaged out I will be going to one show for every 5 days. Though in reality that isn't the way it will be, it's worse than that. At one point I have a show on consecutive days, and later I have three shows scheduled for one week. What makes matters worse is how injury prone I am at shows. For some reason I have twisted, strained, or sprained and ankle at every show I've been too. Always the same ankle if Im not mistaken. I twisted my ankle at a Saves the Day show. I didn't think it was possible to be injured at an emo show. It has gotte to the point where one of my friends as suggested I wear an ankle brace when I got to any show. Before I thought it was because I always wore my converse to shows. Since converse give zero ankle support I stopped and wore my vans to the last show I went to. I am currently healing from that sprain. So wish me lck and good health for the coming month, I'll need it.

Walls and Bridges

2005-10-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

All people want today is for their country to be the biggest and the best. Why does it matter if your country has 4,000 nukes and someone elses has only 3,000? Anyone who has taken a history class knows that nationalism was one of the biggest casues for WWI. More people died in that war than all that had come before it combined. And for what? So you could claim you country was better. Issac Newton once said, "We build too many walls and not enough bridges." If he was alive during WWI I'm pretty sure he would be disgusted by the human race. And it's only gotten worse today. Flag waving Americans worship Toby Keith becuase he craves war just so we can "Put a boot up yer ass." I'm not an anti-war or anti-american activist. And by no means am I only talking about america. Countries all over the world want war to prove their might, people are secretley trying to build nukes even tough it would do no good. Say North Korea gets a nuke and hits the US. North Korea will become a parking lot for the worlds biggest mall. The power to demolish a contry and even the world is no power at all. Who do you repesct more Hitler or those who brought peace from his confrontation. Napoleon or those who stopped him. Conquerers are better known, but they aren't better liked. So maybe people should take the advice of Issac Newton and many others and tear down the walls and build more bridges.

Responsibilty isn't all it's cracked up to be

2005-10-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

People today all want to be the boss. No one wants to be just another person sitting in a cubicle working for someone else's sake. Maybe they just want to feel important and want to feel that their life was not pointless. But if you need a big important job to feel like your life is important, doesn't that mean we are living to work? People need to realize that we work to live, not vice versa. Having a career under the radar wouldn't be such a bad thing. As Albert Einstein put it, "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater." To the common person a mistake in math means nothing to them, but for someone as high profile as Einstein the responsibility can be overwhelming. The more power a person has the more responsibility rests on their shoulders. As an employee in a cubicle you have less stress in your life and it is easier to enjoy your life. As the boss with the corner office, the lives of those under you and the fate of your company is under your control. So if the boss makes an error it can send a company into bankrupty causing all employees to lose their jobs. As the little guy in the cubicle there isn't much you can do that would destroy lives or your company. If miscalculate on a math test you get a B instead of an A. If Einstein and the others in the Manhattan Project had miscalculated the first atomic bomb test could have had catasrophic results. Personally, while I can, I will enjoy being a person of little importance to the way the world is shaped.

Gravity Kills

2005-10-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

Any old Gravity Kills fans out there? I guess technically they were a one hit wonder band with 'Guilty' back in 1994. But they had a cult following after that and managed to stick around until just a couple of years ago. I was part of that following mostly because my cousin is married to the old drummer, Kurt Kerns. Considering I was only 8 when 'Guilty' was released I think it's fair to attribute that as the reason I got ever heard them. I have been to quite a few shows over the years and I can say that Gravity Kills had the best live set I ever attended. Their sound is defined as 'Industrial Rock' which was really big there for awhile. The band is originally from Jefferson City, MO (although st. louis likes to pretend and claim them) and they will be getting back together for one night at the Pageant in St. Louis on October 28th. If you ever liked them or just want to see a really good show I would highly suggest going. I've seen them play three times (all three at the blue note) and they were simply awesome. Most bands don't sound as good live as they do on their cd's. Gravity Kills is the complete opposite, they are much better live than recorded. I have taken a different person who didn't like them to each of the three concerts I've been too and all three were impressed with how good they were live. If you go and you don't know them, I would suggest giving 90% of your attention to Doug on the keyboard, that thing is mythodical. And although they were a one hit wonder, that "one hit" was teh most requested song of 1995. If you have seend Mortal Kombat, Se7en, 12 Monkeys, Escape From L.A., or Serenity you heard them and just didn't know it.

WinAmp taking over my life

2005-09-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

So recently all my time has been devoted to watching tv on winamp. They have channels that show the simpsons, harvey birdman, home movies, family guy, futurama and so on. Each show has at least one channel that does nothing but show the shows in a non stop continuous stream 24/7. No commercials no breaks what so ever, just continuous streaming all the time. Luckily I haven't had anything due that I didn't do. But I have a few papers I haven't started yet. Plus some books I have to read for History. So I will be doing noting but work tonight to make up for my weeks worth of not reading and researching. ALthough I will be staying away from it for at least the next week, i cant say winamp has given me a renewed excitment overthe greatest tv show in history, the simpsons. I can't remeber the last time i watched a new simpsons episode. I have all hte seasons that are available to buy, but that won't keep the show on tv. I have been thnking recently of the possibilty of the simpsons being cancelled. With Family Guy being such a huge hit I've been wondering whether or not the Griffins will replace the Simpsons as tv's favortie family. So I did a little research on it and the Simpsons still consstently beats family guy in the ratings, even with all the adult swim publicity and the excitement over the show beng brought back after being cancelled, the simpsons has had at least 2 million more viewers in it's 17th season then family guy in it's 4th season. My conclusion on this is that the simpsons will last forever and never be replaced. Don't get me wrong, I love family guy, but they owe all their success to the show that started this wave of primetime cartoons. When you surpass 350 eisodes (which the simpsons did last season) you have more claim to the primetime cartoon thrown than anyone else. Well this blog turned into more of a simpsons post than winamp.

Graffitihttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

2005-09-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

The picture is very puzzling to me. I don't quite understand what the point is supposed to be. The caption says to focus on te octopus, then their is another picture to can click to that has the focus on the fower in the way of the shot. The only thing I could think of for the poitn of the picture was that it was showing a different point of view. That's so simple though. I think their is something more in depth the picture is supposed to represent. So if anyone has an idea as to what they think it is supposed to represent please leave me a comment. All I can say about it is that it's pretty well done.

Good Books

2005-09-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Who's in for a boring blog? Good, cause this will be one. Following will be a list of some good books I've read in no particular order.

1. Inherit the Wind - This book covers the Scopes Monkey trial. And for all of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, that was the trial for the school teacher who first taught evolution in his science class. This is actually more of a play format than a novel but I liked it and since it's my list it's here. The authors changed the names of the people involved but other than that it is an accurate historical text on the trial. So if you ever get interested in the Scopes trial I recommend this book as a must, just keep in mind the names are changed, everything else is historically accurate.

2. The Chosen - This book takes place during WWII. Until the end the war isn't discussed so it's not a war book. It takes place in a Jewish neighborhood in New York City. Two Hebrew school baseball teams of two very different Jewish sects playing a game starts the novel out. Two of the players from opposing teams end up being friends and learn about how different their lives are. One is from an ultra-conservative Jewish sect the other from a more liberal sect. If you aren't interested in other religions you may still like this book. I personally have zero interest in learning about other religions and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are interested in Psychology you would probably like it, Freud is talked about a lot.

3. The Crucible - Ok, this one isn't just 'more like a play than a novel' it is a play. But I liked it and that's good enough for me. This one takes place in colonial American during the Salem witch trials. As I read it in school I am lead to believe it has historical accuracy, but quite frankly I don't know. Whether it does or doesn't it was a really good read. What I got out of it was that these girls were accused of being witches mainly because one of them was a mistress of the preacher and she was threatening to go public because he wanted to break it off. The dancing naked in the forest with a crazy old lady also raised some eyebrows in town.

4. The Jungle - This one is set in early America about a family that immigrated for a better life. Since everyone has probably already heard about it I don't feel bad about telling you what happens. To make a long story short their life starts out good then it slowly turns to utter and complete crap. Wife dies during child birth, kid drowns in the street, basically everyone dies. So the main character heads off on his own and joins the socialist party. The whole book was meant to be socialist propaganda and recruit socialists, but it failed because if you read it, that chapter is so amazingly boring that you'll skip it. As did everyone else who read it. So while it's credited with bringing a lot of problems in the country into the light, it was a failure for the author.

5. The Good Earth - This one is set in ancient China. I really liked how this one was written. I think it really carries over into other cultures because the overall message of the book is relevant all over the world. And I just found the different culture intriguing, maybe because they didn't force it, it just really flowed along well.

6. All Quiet on the Western Front - This one is a war novel told by the German side of WWI. Really interesting to get the other side of the story. The book doesn't say anything about how either side was right, quite the contrary. It was actually an anti-war novel written to discuss the tragedy of war, not the glory.

Well, there are more good books out there than that but I really liked all of those.

P.S. - The WORST book I have ever had the DISpleasure of reading was The Grapes of Wrath. That book was non-stop boredom from beginning to end. I would highly advise against it if you ever think about reading it, despite popular opinion. If you did like it please leave me a comment explaining why. It just completely BOGGLES my mind how this book is so popular.

Adult Cartoons

2005-09-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me like the best stuff one tv anymore is all cartoons. My favorite timeslot on tv is adult swim on cartoon network. You've probably all head of it but if not I'll enlighten you. Adult Swim starts at 10:00 p.m, after most little kids are in bed. The shows aren't as bad as the title of this blog indicates. Adult cartoons aren't like adult movies, totally different meaning of the word. The lineup for adult swim includes but is not limited to: Family Guy, Futurama, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, Homemovies, Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law, etc... Adult swim played a crucialrole in getting Family Guy back on the air with new episodes. Now if only they can get Futurama back I'll be happy with Fox. Excluding Family Guy and Futurama, none of these shows really have a plot line. Usually they have some stupid main story line for each show, but you can barely consider that a "point" to the show. Sealab takes this even further. I can think of a few episodes in which nothing happened, including "Bizzarro" and the robots of the futur episode. Personally I think the less of a point the show has, the more enjoyable it is. I'm not quite sure why this is, possibly becuase every idea has been used and re-used to the point of boredom so the only way to make a show interesting is to "wing it." To make the show interesting they have been made so spontaneous that it would be a chore to try to follow it. And if your'e not tryng to follow to story and get something out of it, what are you going to do? Just sit back an enjoy it. Tv writers adn prodcers are trying so hard these days to keep the desensitized American public that the shows make you think harder than you do at work. When you come home from work after a long hard day why do you turn on the tv? To sit back, veg out, and be entertained. Not to think some more. People are a lot easier to entertain than writers think. Take Stephen King for example, his are the worst horror stroes ever. He has one where a lamp is evil. So why do people like him? Why is he so popular? Becasue his stories are so simple. So these cartoons relate to people because you can just sit back and enjoy them. And remember on Thursday 10:30 news episodes of Family Guy on Adult Swim.

Week #2

2005-09-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

Another week in the NFL, another win for the Kansas City CHIEFS. As last weekend turned into an upset week, it was only fitting that this week was a blowout week. The Niners proved they only won because the rams decided not to show up, losing BIG to the Eagles. I watched that rams game by the way, that was the most boring game I’ve ever seen. Both teams looked like they would rather be doing their laundry. No passion at all from either side, until the final moments when the Cardinals decided it was time to play. They would have won that game easily if it hadn't been for the ten second run off as a result of a penalty. The way they drove down the field on that drive unopposed showed the rams had nothing to give, as they had given nothing the entire game. I take back what I said last week about the team having the players. As they showed in week 1 it doesn't matter who you’re playing you have to play like it's the best team in the league. The Niners surprised them and the Cardinals would have too if it weren't for a penalty. The Donkeys beat the Chargers with a last second filed goal, not the outcome I had hoped for but I guess it's for the best as the Broncettes will lose next Sunday to the CHIEFS, while the Chargers may win next week. So many good things about that Sunday night game on ESPN. 1 CHIEFS won. 2 chokeland lost. 3 CHIEFS beat the raiders. 4 CHIEFS beat the raiders at home. 5 CHIEFS go 2-0. 6 chokeland goes 0-2. I could go one but you get the point. Big surprise from the Seahawks beating the falcons, could their actually be a pro team in the nfc west? No, if their was it wouldn't be and 'upset.' New England lost to Carolina. Now I've always liked New England as a team to root for unless they're playing the CHIEFS but I think it's good for them to lose one here and there. All and all the CHIEFS won which makes this a good week in the NFL. By the way if you’re a fan of any of the above mentioned teams don't bother blasting my remarks, I’m not an NFL columnist and am entitled to my opinion, Pete Prisco on CBS will give you plenty to complain about.

TV? Whats that?

2005-09-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

It's finally happened. My TV hasn’t been on in 3 days straight. I am a serious gamer but I'm not even sure if the green light works anymore. So much for having more free time in college than in high school. I have always figured, despite what everyone has told me, that I would have so much free time during college I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Going from 35 hours a week in class to 15 hasn't had quite the effect I thought it would. I should have an extra 20 hours of me-time. I haven't had time to do anything but read, study and write since the end of August. I’m just glad I decided to quit my job at the last second. I was still working for the first two weeks of school, then decided I wouldn't have time for it. Looks like I'm finally learning. But the first two weeks were simply leading me into the semester like a cow lining up to hitch a ride on the truck to the slaughter house. So let’s do some math here. Subtract 20 hours from classes and another 20 from not working. That gives me an extra 40 hours of me-time a week, right? Wrong. I am so swamped with all my classes right now that I'm thinking about taking a few classes during the summer semester to ease my schedule into the single digits. Or just go full time year round to get me a semester ahead of the game. Well I guess that idea wouldn't exactly solve the problem. Don't get me wrong, I still love the way classes are organized over the '35 hours a week sleeping on an uncomfortable desk' style. I guess I should just grin and bare it before fate makes it even harder. The funniest thing about it is none of my classes even assign homework, other than these blogs, yet I'm still doing schoolwork nonstop. I never had homework in any of my classes throughout my senior year and I went home and did nothing until I went to sleep. Oh well, most TV sucks anyway.

Too little too late?

2005-09-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

From what CNN is reporting it looks like the hurricane squad has apparently decided it is best to act before a hurricane hits. Hurricane Ophelia is getting the kind of attention Hurricane Katrina should have gotten. Although it is quite to the magnitude of Katrina, Ophelia has caused an evacutaion of the coast and shelters are being set up, primarily for the elderly. I am not complaining that this is being done, just that it took a national tragedy to get our leaders to act before something happens to repeat what we've just gone through. The governor of North Carolina doesn't want his state to be in the national spotlight the way Louisiana is right now, he knows that they "can fix property later" but people have to get out to avoid a near Katrina disaster. Once again I know some people might not think this is even comparable to Katrina but the way the media is all hyped up about Katrina right now they would jump on the slightest chance to blow a hurricane situation out of proportion for ratings. Luckily the governor of North Carolina isn't going to give them anything to work with, which is good news for the people of the east coast. Hopefully this will keep some opinions on the down low, I doubt Kanye West will have anything to say about it. But it still shouldn't take a natural disaster to get people, esecially the people in charge of such situations, thinking about the possible outcomes of such situations. The disasters we have suffered would be nothing more than "situations" to plan for if we take a pre-emptive stance on dealing with them.

Week #1

2005-09-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

Well the Monday night game just ended so week 1 of the 2005 NFL season is in the books. And as a die-hard, relentless CHIEFS fan I’d say it was a pretty good week indeed. I watched from my seat Arrowhead as the CHIEFS defense gave us what we've been waiting for, for years. A chance. The offense with the best running back duo the NFL has ever seen, a solid QB, and the league's premier tight end was back in full swing. But that wasn’t the story from Arrowhead this week. The real story was the defense holding a 2004 playoff team scoreless until the last 29 seconds of the game. Holding Curtis Martin and the Jets running game to 57 yards. 27 points on offense is nothing new for CHIEFS fans, it's the not losing the lead and game in the fourth quarter that was so beautiful it could almost bring you to tears. I think what the CHIEFS 'D' did to the Jets was much more impressive than the way the Indianapolis 'D' held off Baltimore simply because the Jets supposedly have a great offense, while that has always been the problem for the Ravens. Not only did the CHIEFS win with offense and defense but the rest of our division lost, including the Broncettes and 'Jake the Fake' getting torn to pieces by the Miami Dolphins. How did that happen!?! I'm not complaining but even though no matter who they play I always think they will lose, I never "really" think they would ever lose to a team like Miami. The Rams completely collapsed, despite whatever their numbers were, they lost to the NINERS! They have now won half as many games as they won all of last year. It's only weak one! I know anyone from st.louis would defend him to the first draft pick, but it's been obvious to every sports analyst and fan for years, mike martz is holding that team back. No one can deny they have the tools; it's their play caller that's killing them. With a better coach they would have been an annual playoff contender with the likes of the Eagles. But if they want to dig their own grave I'm not going to stop them. Faiders lost. Donkeys lost. Marty's Chargers lost (sorry Marty). CHIEFS defense showed it's a force to be reckoned with. Not a bad week in my book. I know one game doesn't make a season, but ask any of the teams that were dealt "upsets" if they would like it back.

Irish-v-Wolverines

2005-09-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

As I grew up in a family that has rooted for Notre Dame for generations, today’s game between the Irish and Michigan was the most thrilling college football game I've seen in years(outside my own team Mizzou). Usually I am more of a pro football fan and watch only the Tigers football games on Saturdays. My entire Sunday is spent watching whatever game happens to be on, while Saturday is exclusively Tigers. This afternoon while swimming at the rec. center though I found myself unable to look away as #17 Notre Dame was pulling off the upset over #3 Michigan. Over the past few years the greatness that has been associated with the Irish in the past has been more than lacking. Fast forward to now after a few coaching changes and an entirely new squad and they appear to be making a claim that they deserve to be placed back on their prior pedestal. Now I'm no traitor so my own school, if the Irish ever came to the Zou I would no doubt root for my team. Maybe not root against the Irish, but defiantly not for them. Now I know how it must have felt for the students of Michigan but throwing things on the field is just way out of line. Twice in the last five minutes fumbles were reviewed and came out against the Wolverines. The first review was called right but possibly could have gone either way, but the second one, the call was obvious and no one could have ever called the play a fumble after seeing the review. Despite the call being obviously right the fans still decided it must be wrong because it was against them and threw whatever they had in their hands onto the field. Personally I found the outcome of this game favorable, but more than likely the majority of the viewers, including an uncle of mine from Michigan, wish they could’ve been there to throw their own item onto the field.

Forgot my key

2005-09-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

I hope I'm not the only one to do this. Im writing this blog from the Pershing computer lab as I have locked myself out of my room. Here's the story: I got back to my room after my last class of the day (Psyche 1000) and my door was unlocked with my room mate inside sleeping. He woke up when I came in and went back to sleep. I decided to let him have the room so he could get some peace while he slept, just trying to be a nice guy. So I left for the rec. center to work out a little and take a refreshing swim afterward. Over all I was gone for a little more than two hours. As soon as I walked out the front doors I realized I had forgotten my keys, I guess I just assumed my room mate would still be there sleeping when I got back. Turns out whatever I was thinking when I forgot my keys was wrong. Doors locked, no one inside. "No big deal, I still have to eat." So I headed off to Plaza 900, ate, and headed back to my room. Still no one there, door still locked. I spent the next 30 mintues entertaining myself by making a few phone calls. Then, as I sat at the table in the Graham courtyard, I decided to go hang out in the computer lab for awhile. Which leads me to where I am right now. Blogging, for the whole world to see, the testament of a true freshman. A lot of people might be wondering why I would tell everyone about such an embarassing event. Well if you needed to post at least 5 blogs a week to get an A in english you would too. I guess if it comes to it I'll eventually ask for help, but that will be quite awhile. Quite a long, very long while. Very.

Bass Ackwords California

2005-09-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

This blog has nothing to do with my political views, just another random thought I had today. Why did California elect Arnold governor? California is one of the most liberal states in the nation yet they elected a conservative governor. It is one of a the few states that wants to allow same-sex marriage but because of who they elected governor, this wont happen. Liberal California wants to allow it and voted to allow it but the conservative governor they elected will veto the bill. I don’t personally have an opinion on the gay marriage matter, I couldn’t really care less either way it goes, but I believe elected officials should be the person the people think will represent them best. Arnold does not represent the California people as well as a liberal would. The predominantly conservative state should have a conservative governor and a predominantly liberal state should elect a liberal governor. The people of California do not understand that your elected officials are supposed to be politicians, not famous people to be a symbol of Hollywood. Personally I believe electing Arnold was a publicity stunt by California and now they are paying for their joke. This should have become apparent to them right away when he shortened the lifespan of animals in shelters. An animal in California can be put to sleep the day it arrives at the shelter because of one of ‘the terminator’s’ first acts as governor. Now this may not be a big deal to a lot of people, but to a lot of people in California it is a very big deal, as most liberal stress animal rights. I just don’t understand how people can turn the position of the most important spokesman of your state, with more power than any other person in the state to do whatever he wants to shape the state, into a publicity stunt.

A lighter topic

2005-09-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

Everyone today is talking about the tragedy of hurricane Katrina, which isn't bad as it is a topic that needs to be addressed. But I would like to discuss a lighter topic, much lighter. Soap operas. I was just channel surfing and I came across a soap opera. And every time I see or hear of a soap opera I think the same thing, "how can anyone watch this?" No offense to anyone who watches soap operas but I just can't grasp where the entertainment is. I can even understand how people can watch, knowing it's fake, pro wrestling. I can't stand to watch it myself but I can understand that it may be entertaining to some people. But soap operas are the greatest enigma I have ever known. The acting puts William Shatner's overacting to shame, the story line makes "Starship Troopers" Oscar worthy, and the number of conflicts occurring at once would confuse a congressman. People watch these shows religiously and as there's nothing to them I can't grasp how it can be possible to stay interested past the point of laughing and flipping the channel. I think these are probably the only type of show I would rank under "reality" shows. I'm not against people watching what they want or, for whatever reason that I am unable to fathom, enjoy. But these shows are just so outrageously bad that it's no wonder they're only aired while most of the population is either at school or work. Even then people find ways to watch it because they couldn’t go on living if they missed a single episode.

Sports money

2005-09-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

A lot of athletes these days complain about not making enough money. This complaint may be justified considering how much money owners make off each season while the athletes do all the work. But that’s the way it is everywhere. A grocery store clerk makes the owner of the store all his money but he makes just a minuscule fraction of what the owner gets per year. But when most students graduate from college they would be ecstatic to be offered a job at $30,ooo a year. When athletes (I’ll focus on football as reference) graduate they holdout and refuse multi million dollar contracts because they believe they deserve more. When a veteran wants a new contract they claim to be doing, “What’s best for my family.” Last time I checked the majority of American families do just fine without 9 million a year plus bonuses and incentives. The league minimum for players is something like $265,000 a year. Both my parents salaries combined don’t reach half that and we have never had any money troubles. I’m the third child my parents have put through college. They have been able to buy each of us a car, pay our insurance at times, put all four of us through a private high school, and still have money left over. The idea that athletes need $10 million a year to get buy is ludicrous. If, at nearly on third of the league minimum, a family of 6 can handle life and all its little expenses, then why can’t these people?

Reflection Paper

2005-08-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

OK so this is a report, a "reflection paper I wrote for my HP1000 course due later today so if you see it and have any suggestions for making it better time is a factor, otherwise just leave me a message telling me what you think or whatever you wanna do.

Reflection Paper #1

Throughout my four years of high school I went through a multitude of changes in my career choice, luckily you don’t choose your major in high school. I first became interested in Health Sciences two years ago when I broke my finger in a car door. When I got to the hospital my X-ray revealed this way no ordinary fracture in need of nothing more than a splint for a few weeks. My charts showed my finger had been bent so far back the ligament had snapped the bone backwards inside my finger “luckily” saving itself from snapping. The only way to fix my problem was surgery in which the bone would be put back in place and screwed into position with a few weeks of physical therapy to top it all off. The whole situation, though not life threatening itself, made me realize how important the Health Sciences are. The next, solidifying, event which got me outright excited about Health Science was when a friend of mine developed a herniated disc which was cause to require multiple MRI’s, X-rays, CT scans, etc… I accompanied my friend, as support, to every doctor visit I could. Being exposed to all of these new and interesting forms of science piqued my curiosity and for the next few weeks I dove into research on the many unique Health Sciences. After gathering information on each field I settled on Ultrasound Sonography. I have always been interested in science and science technology which, considering the rate of progression in Health Science and technology, there will always be a new device, idea or discovery to learn. Although for me this was reason enough, my economically minded uncle provided me with extra. As he put it, “The ‘baby boomers’ are getting old making healthcare a sound field for the future.”

“Healthy” to me can not be defined by just one school of thought. Health includes spiritual, physical and mental aspects of life. Though I do not believe all of theses are prerequisites to health and without one or more one could not be defined as healthy. Possibly by the most conservative view of health all would be required pieces to the puzzle of a healthy life. But health as a whole can not be defined by a dictionary with a set “law” of what is healthy, exceptions can always occur. A mentally challenged person can be healthy while a mentally depressed person is in no way fit to be categorized as healthy. An individual who is happy with their decision to cease all spirituality from their own person is healthier than a fanatically spiritual person to the point of causing potential physical harm to themselves. I believe myself to be healthy mostly because of my physical condition but also because of my goals toward education and my life in the future.

First Blog

2005-08-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is the first of what will likely be many many blogs to come, hope my readers enjoy my blogs and provide me with insightful constructively crititcal comments.