2008 Elections

The chatter about elections has been going on for a few months now. Each potential candidate has declared their candidacy and they are expected to battle it out for the next year until the primaries, and then continue the war between Democrats and Republicans until the elections.

So, the big question....who's it going to be?

Personally, I would like to see Al Gore win. He has always been a favorite of mine. He certainly has enough experience, and I believe won the election in 2000. He loves this country and is just the person we need right now. With the War in Iraq, the rising debt, and all the other problems that have risen during the Bush administration, our country is not in a good place. We need a strong president who is willing to rise to the occaision and bring our country back together. I feel the best man for the job is Al Gore.

He hasn't announced his candidacy yet, and hopefully he will run. I ask you to sign this petition Draft Al Gore for President. Whether you support him or not, you should still sign because he has a real chance at doing a lot of good for this country, and should at least be in the running.

More of my thoughts on the election to come...

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and safe holiday!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone got the chance to stuff their face and have a lot of fun with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

HOORAY!!!

We did it!!!

This is a little late, but I can still celebrate. Democrats got the House, the Senate, and Rumsfeld resigned. YES! The American people have shown the Republicans that they are disgusted with them and disgusted with the war. So many politicians said that we will see what happens when the American people speak their minds on election day. well, we saw what happened. it's clear now that America isn't happy with Bush and isn't happy with the direction he;s taking the country in.

So, what do we do? We start a number of hearings and bring the Republicans to justice. They need to understand that they can't do whatever they want to. there are consequences for their actions and we must make sure that they are forced to face these consequences. The Democrats say that they will act and will bring about hearings. Let's hold them to their promises, we can't back down now. We've made our first step forward with this election and lets hope we keep going forward from here.

This post from politiques usa has great statistics on this election which really show how much of a victory the Democrats won.

I'm back!!! I've been very busy lately and things have been very hectic and stressful. I probably don't have enough time to start blogging agian, but I will anyways. I've missed it too much. Thank you for your support, it's been pretty rough.

This disgusts me! More than five years after 9/11 and they still haven't gotten all of the bodies out? and they want to build on a site where bodies may still remain?

I heard from another source that they have special squads in the navy that deal with recovering bodies. Why don't they utilize one of those squads? I'm sure they would be happy to help. one person was saying that if New York had five years to do it and couldn't get it done then the feds should take over and get something done. so why wasn't anything done?!

these families have suffered great loss, the least we could do for them is allow them to bury their loved ones. I haven't had the time to fully research this story and I don't know Bloomberg's response to it. I think we should make sure all the bodies are recovered before we start building. we shouldn't leave anyone in there. and we should get the building process started as soon as possible.

September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001 I woke up just like everyday before and after, not knowing how drastically everyone's life was going to change that day. I was out on Long Island that day. There was something different in the air. People were upset, going home, calling people. I knew something was different, but I wasn't sure what. Until there was an announcement saying that our city had been hit. They thought there were eight highjacked planes, and were fuzzy on the details. I wasn't sure if my dad had gone into the city for a doctor's appointment. This was before I had a cell phone so I had to find an available landline. Thankfully I reached my father and he had stayed at home in Queens that day. I was probably one of the few people coming from Long Island into the city that day, and it took about an hour and a half to go a half hour root. The highways were closed for emergency vehicles, and everyone was frantically trying to make sure their loved ones were okay. When I got home I watched the news for hours, I couldn't believe what had happened to my country, my city. I still somewhat can't believe it. One of my really close friends lost her uncle, and I knew many people who lost fathers, husbands, wives, nephews, nieces, loved ones. But yet this terrible tragedy brought us together. Across the US and around the world we were united as one.

I would like to take a moment to commerate not only the people who lost their lives in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on all the airplanes, but also the firefighters who went into the burning towers to save people. The victims were all heroes in their own right, but especially the rescue workers who knew they were safe and could have ran the other way, but instead decided to risk their lives in the hopes of saving as many people as they could. We must remember September 11th not only as the deadliest terrorist attack in American history but as a day when America lost 3,000 people. May they rest in peace, and never be forgotten.

Ray Nagin

To be honest, I've always supported Ray Nagin. I think he's one of the few people who actually came out and said what everyone was thinking: that what happened after Katrina wouldn't have happened if it had been a rich white neighborhood. I think we needed someone to say that, and I think he did and did it well.

However, when he said this: "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair". I think that crossed a line. It's not "a hole in the ground". it's where three thousand people lost their lives. He apologized, and I accept that, he worded it badly. Very badly.

I think he brought attention to something very important though, why the hell is there still a mess at ground zero? We've had five years, why isn't there a monument up? We've spend billions of dollars on a war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11 and yet we can't even build a memorial to the people who lost their lives on 9/11. it's disgusting. blame it on bloomberg, blame it on whoever, it still should get done.

as should Katrina. why is there still a mess down there? True, it's only been a year, but there still hasn't been that much progress. our government is just lazy and this is further proof that they really don't care about the American people.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been very busy. i'm soo tired and stressed right now, I need a year vacation. never happen in a million years...but I can still dream. Robert, I'm working on that post I promised you, I really am. it just hasn't really gotten off the ground yet NOT because I can't find examples, rather I can't find time. soon soon though.

My last post wouldn't allow comments, not sure why. I tried republishing and checked the settings and it seems to be fine. Hopefully this post will allow comments. Sorry about the inconvenience. :)

Racial Profiling

This weekend I was reading an article against racial profiling (don’t ask). And I thought it was very interesting. Then I found this article about the Egyptian exchange students who didn’t show up in a Montana university.

Now, I agree with racial profiling to some extent. Let me give you two examples.

1. If someone is walking down the street and they’re shot by a black person and the witnesses identify the person as black, I think the cops have the right to use that in their search for the guilty party. After all, it would be a waste of time and resources to look for a white person when a black person was guilty.

2. If someone is on line to go into the courthouse and they are taken off to the side and searched more than anyone else just because they’re black then this is wrong.

Now, if someone is wondering why I chose a black person and not a Mexican or a Puerto Rican then that’s taking things way too far.

So, what’s up with these Egyptian exchange students? Would it have been so much of a big deal if they had been white or some other race? So what, they didn’t show up. The article says that they weren’t suspected of being terrorists. So why do we care? And why did this even make the news?

If a white person took off and decided not to go to school on time would anyone care? NO. I’d like to take a week off right now and not show up anywhere. I’d probably lose my job, get yelled at incessantly by my parents, my friends would bother me, it’d be a whole big annoyance but I wouldn’t be arrested for being a terrorist.

So, in this world we live in now are we discriminating against Muslims without even thinking about it as much as we should? I say we are. It is practical to search Muslims because they might be suicide bombers more than a white person would, but we must respect their rights at the same time. We must remember that only a handful of Muslims hit us on 9/11 and not that many are extremists. Some are just good people. We should honor their rights just the way we honor everyone’s rights here in America, because they too are human beings.

You Are Most Like John F. Kennedy

You live a fairy tale life that most people envy. And while you may have a few dark secrets, few people know them.

What Modern US President Are You Most Like?

This man lost his wife, five children, and a nephew in Qana.

And yet Israel continues to bomb the hell out of Lebanon. The people in the town of Qana were supporters of Hezbollah only because they saw what destruction Israel caused to their country. They see Hezbollah as their way of fighting back. The only thing they have to fight against Israel with. And they are called terrorists.

There should be a cease-fire now. Human lives are being lost, innocent lives. Israel needs 10 to 14 more days to finish their operation? And do what? Haven't they killed enough people already?

I'm back!!! have they blown up the world yet?!

well, they seem to have blown up quite a bit. while I was away I got a chance to watch anderson cooper 360 on CNN and I saw an interview with a Lebanese man who has a website showing footage from inside lebanon of bombings that have occurred. It provides an inside account of what's going on in lebanon.

there is an old irish song that seems to depict what's going on very well. the english can be compared to israel and america. (full lyrics here.)

"And you dare to call me a terrorist
while you looked down your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you had done
You had plundered many nations divided many lands
You had terrorised their peoples you ruled with an iron hand.
And you brought this reign of terror to my land"




Who are the real terrorists?

I'm finally going on vacation!!! I'm taking a well needed break for the next four days. Doesn't this picture look lovely?? Actually I'm going on a very hectic trip to Pennsylvania, Virginia, and back to New York in the span of four days. Should be interesting. I'm predicting I'm going to come back even more exhausted than i am now. Ah well, for now I'll enjoy looking at that picture and pretend I'm going there.

Something to think about while I'm away:

- an average funeral costs $7,000
- John Paul II's funeral cost $9 million

YET,
- 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day
- 2.8 billion people live on less than $2 a day

How is this right?