T-shirt

This is my new t-shirt I got. I love it and i'm wearing it today. :)

Away Message

So here's Dan's favorite away message I've ever written. I decided to save it here so I could have it forever and ever.

"Gone to bed...hopefully to not wake up until; 12:30 tomoor w whne i have my hari apointment...pelaese re ind me of my hair pooingmtnt..."

*sigh*
I don't think I can ever run for public office.

Thesis, loans, lake, and lily

I haven't posted in a while. I have a lot going on, and a lot I want to post about, but I just haven't had the time or energy to do it. I've been doing wedding stuff pretty much non-stop since I finished my thesis stuff. Today I submitted my 4th draft to the thesis office. This should be my last one. Let's just say that the A&M thesis office has a HUGE stick up their butt about formatting and stuff. I guess that's kinda good, though. So yeah, I told Ping there was no way for me to finishe a paper before I leave, but that I would really like to work on one.
Oh! Today's the last day of June, and the last day to consolodate student loans before the interest rates get hiked. I don't know whether I should or not, so I'm just not. The majority of my loans are subsidized, and I think I lose that if I consolidate. So I just don't know if it's worth it. I hear rumors of the R word, too. So who knows. Oh well, I guess I'll just risk it.
This weekend I'm going to the lake. I'm excited, it should be fun. I guess I should go buy some alcohol for it.
Yesterday I started working out again. It's fantastic. I haven't worked out in about 2 months, and I had started gaining back all this weight I had lost. So it's back to working out to hopefully get toned up again.
Lily got spayed on tuesay. She has to wear a cone on her head for a week! It's so sad, she keeps running into things. Here's a picture of her with her cone on her head. So sad....

My Letter to my Senators

According to the New York Times, presidential advisor Karl Rove recently said that liberals in this country want our troops to die.

As a liberal, I find this deeply offensive. I don't feel this is the sort of rhetoric our country needs during wartime, and I resent the idea that I want any of our troops to come to harm. In making such statements Mr. Rove is not only impugning my politics, he is degrading my basic humanity.

Although I do not support this war in Iraq, I do support our troops and I hope for all of them to have a safe journey home when their time comes. I also support our efforts in Afghanistan that we made after September 11, and I support our efforts to capture the terrorists responsible for that tragedy.

As a constituent of yours, I would like to know, Senator Hutchison, if you agree with Mr. Rove's statements. Does he speak for you?

Sincerely,

I am a MASTER

Okay, well I haven't had a whole lot of time to post lately. Last week, I defended my thesis, and I passed. This means that I am now a Master of Science. You hear that? A MASTER. Right.
So now I'm working on trying to get something publishable into a paper and planning my wedding. I've been doing alot more of the later than the former. But oh well.
I've realized that I'm not going to be in College Station for a single weekend until a wedding I have on the 30th of July. INSANE. That's alot of traveling.
The wedding planning is coming along. I spent all morning looking up fun songs I want the DJ to play. I'm working on addressing a zillion invitations. I had a shower a couple of weekends ago, and I have a shower this weekend. Getting presents is fun. :) Writing thank-you notes...not fun.
Other than that I'm not doing anything exciting. It's off to Dallas this weekend for Christina's wedding. That'll be fun. Then next weekend it's off to the lake for the 4th of July. That'll be fun, too. :) Then the weekend after that I'll FINALLY get to see Danny for the first time since early May. *Sigh*

Okay, since I'm supposed to be working, I guess I'll get on that.

Oh! I am looking for songs for the wedding ceremony, and bible verses. If anybody has any suggestions, feel free to comment!

Living Wage

Well, A&M is showing some heart and showing that they do care about their lowest-paid workers. They are raising the minimum wage from $6.57/hour to $7.77/hour. Hopefully this will help many families be able to afford the necessaties to live. It's not alot, but it is something which is more than they wanted to do originally. Baby steps.
Congratulations, Dr. Gates, for making the right decision and choosing to do something.
Congratulations to the Aggie Democrats and the many students who worked to make sure that the administration didn't just blow off these workers.

It's a good day to be an Aggie.

Save Players

UT is trying to bully their way into the land that Player's currently sits on. Click here to sign a petition to be sent to the UT administration and alumni association. This already has 1200 signatures to save the deliciousness that is players.

Please please please sign the petition to save players.

Defense

My seminar and defense are tomorrow.
I'm still putting my presentation together.
I'm starting to get sick.
I must keep telling myself that if nothing else, tomorrow this will be over.
25 hours 20 minutes left... :-/

Top Ten

Top Ten Ways Bush Can Regain His Popularity

10. Dip into Social Security fund to give every American free HBO.

9. Use diplomacy to bring peace to Brad, Jen, and Angelina.

8. Try fixing Iraq, creating some jobs, reducing the deficit and maybe capturing Osama.

7. Figure out a way for the Yankees to win a game.

6. Replace his"Country Simpleton" persona with more lovable "Hillbilly Idiot" Image.

5. Use Weekly Radio Address to give Americans a Van Halen two-fer.

4. Get Saddam to switch to boxers.

3. Ditch the Librarian and make Eva Longoria First Lady.

2. Resign.

1. Jump on Oprah's couch while professing his love for Katie Holmes.

More Fillibuster

This is the BEST take I've ever read on the fillibuster. Compliments to the Rude Pundit.

5/22/2005
Filibustering and Fielding:
Let's try this perspective on the judicial filibuster: If you're playin' softball - amateur hour softball, but league play - you're gonna know that the opposing team has some strengths and weaknesses. Maybe your opponent has one helluva a right fielder - motherfucker can leap like a gazelle to catch fly balls that oughta be out of the park. And an arm that can get you tagged out at home in a single throw. If you're a decent team, when you're at bat, you know: don't hit to right field. If you hit to right field, chances are you're gettin' sent back to the bench. And you don't need to be told every time you're up to bat not to hit to right field. You just know it.

So, using this hangover Sunday analogy, the filibuster has been there in the Senate rules, so maybe the threat of the judicial filibuster has always existed, and because of that the President would nominate judges that at least had a chance of overcoming that implicit threat. The "civility" was not, in fact, because of Senatorial deference to the President's nominees, but it was, instead, presidential understanding that the executive and legislative branches are equally powerful in our system of government. In other words, the civility was a product of a President who wanted to maintain civility. The President broke the deal, not the minority party.

And now, ignoring previous Republican holds and filibusters of nominees to the federal bench, the executive branch is so devoted to disempowering the other branches of government that George W. Bush (no doubt in collaboration with right wing Senataors) decided on judicial nominees that would lead to the filibusters, and thus provide an opportunity to fuck up the balance of powers permanently.

In other words, if the Republicans were the at-bat softball team, they'd try to change the rules of the game to say that there couldn't even be right fielders.
// posted by Rude One @ 1:31 PM

MSM

Okay, so I'm pissed at the media. John Kerry released his records yesterday and all they have to say about it is that his GPA at Yale was similar to GW's. Now, I'm not pissed that they're talking about that, that's fine, it's news. But what else is news?!?! The fact that the FUCKING swift boat vets were LYING through their teeth, and these records prove it. But no, the media has to pander to the right, so they won't talk about that. No sir. Damnitt, I'm trying to figure out how to cancel my subscription to CNN without losing the rest of my cable. I don't want to pay for this garbage.

Unbelievable

Well, it turns out Kerry finally released his military records. I'm pretty outraged he didn't do this during the election. I understand his feelings that the swift boat people were lying and he shouldn't have to pander to them. But come on, his records not only prove that they were lying, but they show that some of the same people who appeared in the ad actually commended him on his performance in vietnam.

What I don't understand is how one party can claim such moral high ground, yet be so willing to outright lie to deface the character of an opponent. But what really gets me is how anyone who has any moral character can vote for this, because when you do, you are giving them a stamp of approval. And don't feed me the line that democrats do the same thing (trust me, Rove has the monopoly on defacing opponents), because if they did, they would win alot more elections. But trust me, it would definately be without my vote.

You know you're a Republican when....

...Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

...trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

...A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

...Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

...the best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

...providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

...global warming is junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

...being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

...you're pro-life but support the death penalty.

...you're for prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.

Weather

Okay, so I'm currently being a weather geek, but this storm just came through and woke me up. And let me tell you, holy cow.
Here's what the radar looks like:


And the lightning reports (these are all the lightning flashes in the last 132 minutes):


That's what we call a storm...