Anonymous comments

Anonymous comments are gone. I find them extremely rude, and I don't really like them. You know who I am, I have a right to know who you are.
So, you can still comment, and I encourage it, but you'll have to register with Blogger first.
Sorry.

Withdrawn

Well, it looks like Harriet Miers withdrew herself. No big surprise there. I gotta say I'm pretty pissed off at the way democrats are handling themselves during all this, but I don't have time to write about it now. Hopefully later.

Proposition 2

Turns out that the proposition that is framed to "defend" marriage in Texas could actually end the union completely. (I can't help but be amused) Here's how it's worded:

a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.
b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.

Part b is what gets me. It is not qualified to apply to only marriage between homosexuals. HAHAHA...

I'm not even going to go into the ridiculesness of this debate. There is NO reason why two people who love eachother shouldn't be alowed to commit themselves to eachother. And just because you think homosexuality is wrong, that's your religious belief, and it's not up to you to legeslate that belief onto me. Thank you.
Besides, what's really hurting marriage? Two people who love eachother wanting to commit themselves to eachother, or divorce? While we're at it why aren't we fighting to make divorce illegal? The Bible says that's wrong, too. Oh wait, but that's not "creepy". I forgot. I think that anyone who fights against gay marriage but not divorce is a hypocrite. Tell me why you're not.

Found it

Well, I've found Jeff Schultz education background.

You ready?

He has a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from Cornell. Yep, that's it a B.S.

The Secret Lives of Meteorologists

(According to the Texas Travesty)

Meteorologists...
- turn their nose up at fortune tellers
- have gesture-offs with game-show prize presenters
- select their favorite restaurants "for the atmosphere"
- burn upon entering the stratosphere
- make bad long-term boyfriends when compared to climatologists
- try to yell out "NOW!" right as the lightning flashed
- have to get coffee for the news interns
- don't do autographs, small fry
- like to use their hands
- don't know the color code system either
- advise against rocking anything "like a hurricane," preferring that you evacuate coastal areas or seek higher ground in case of flooding
- go into excessive explanations of approaching cold fronts when someone says it's nice outside
- BitTorrent the Weather Channel
- call out hurricane names when they bang their wives
- wish the anchor would wipe that fucking smile off his face
- don't front
- left college early because of all the pressure
- dot their i's with tiny clouds

Iraq

The death toll for American Soldiers in Iraq has reached 2000. As I've been saying that's 2000 too many. My God bless them.


How many funerals has Bush attended?
0

Jeff Schultz - "Climatologist"

Proof that this guy is a quack:

Bill O'Reilly is talking about global warming and hurricanes and he throws the tsunami in there more than once. Let's get this straight, the tsunami is caused by an earthquake which is caused by plate techtonics which has absolutely nothing to do with global warming. If this guy wasn't a quack he would have corrected Bill O'Reilly in this fact.

Either way some of what he says is true, but he's ignoring the fact that aside from these natural variations we are screwing with our planet. Global warming is helping to melt the polar ice caps which will in turn slow down the conveyor belt which will result in cooling in Europe. The question is how much and how fast.
Anwyay, that's a tangent, not on point. So I think this guy is a hack. I can't find any information on his education, though I'm still looking. I looked at the Journal of Climate back through 1995 and he doesn't have a single paper in there. (If he's doing anything of merit, he should have a paper in there). He works for a weather consulting firm that does 90% of it's press on Fox News. So anyway, so far this guy has nothing going for him and I think he's an idiot.

Volunteer

So I'm looking for some volunteer oppertunities in Austin. My ideal one would be tutoring kids in math and science.

I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but I'm a chicken, so I've never done anything about it. But I've decided that I"m going to get over it, and help some kids learn.

Anyway, if you know of any programs, please let me know.

John Edwards

I just got the opportunity to hear Senator John Edwards speak and all I can say is wow. I knew I liked that guy, but wow.
You just don't hear politicians talk like that anymore. He came in with ideas on how to fight poverty, and is touring college campuses across the nation hoping to start a grass roots movement. I like what he says he's started at Eastern North Carolina University (?) Basically what he says to the low-income high school kids is that if they are qualified to go to college, and they stay out of trouble, and commit to working at least 10 hours a week on campus or off, they can go to school the first year tuition free and books paid.

The republicans of late have been working hard to destroy our higher education system and it's availability to the middle and lower classes. Thanks to Bush's tax cuts they have recently decreased the amount of financial aid available, and like it or not, that isn't going to affect the lower class, that's going to directly affect the middle class.
Also in Texas we have tuition deregulation now which is causing tuition to sky-rocket. That is thanks to Texas Republicans as well.

I like that John Edwards acknowledges where he comes from. So many people think that if you work hard you will succeed and if you don't you won't. While partly true, that's not really the case. Let's take a look at myself shall we?
I went to public school growing up, my mom surely couldn't afford private school. Then I went to a public university, paid for by student loans, compliments of the government. Without those loans I would definately have not been able to go to college. Same for graduate school. So I lucked out in that I had good, supportive teachers growing up, and that the government was there to help me along the way.

So anyway, lots of kids in this country don't have even these most basic opportunities available to them. While they probably go to school, it's probably not a very good school. Their parents are working more than one job just to survive and can't afford to send them to a better school. They grow up with a sub-par education and don't even consider college to be an option. So this is what John Edwards is hoping to work against.

This has me thinking alot about what I'm doing here. I know I'm not completely happy doing what I'm doing, and this has me considering why. I have always been concerned about other people (hello, that's why I'm a democrat), but right now I'm not doing anything to help anybody. If I end up with my PhD I'll just be doing research on climate change, la di dah. I want to make a difference in someone's life.

So yeah, I've been rambling, so I should get back to work.

Welcome to the table

It looks like Colin Powell's "right-hand man" is coming out against the Administration.

What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld," he said. By cutting out the bureaucracy that had to carry out those decisions, "we have courted disaster in Iraq, in North Korea, in Iran, and generally with regard to domestic crises like Katrina." If there is a nuclear terrorist attack or a major pandemic, Wilkerson continued, "you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that'll take you back to the Declaration of Independence."

The colonel said his old boss is not pleased with his decision to go public with his criticism. Powell, he said, "is the world's most loyal soldier." Wilkerson said he admired that, but he took a different view of loyalty: not to the administration, but to the country.

Way to go Colonel Wilkerson, It's about time people start telling the truth about what the Bush administration has done to our country.

Speeches

Finally! We know who's the genius behind Bush's speeches.

http://gprime.net/video.php/presidentialspeechalist

Climate Mash

Check it out!

http://www.climatemash.org/

Scatology?

"No more public scatology."

A note from Govorner George W. Bush to Harriet Miers, Supreme Court Justice nominee.

Main Entry: sca·tol·o·gy
Pronunciation: ska-'tä-l&-jE, sk&-
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek skat-, skOr excrement; akin to Old English scearn dung, Latin muscerdae mouse droppings
1 : interest in or treatment of obscene matters especially in literature
2 : the biologically oriented study of excrement (as for taxonomic purposes or for the determination of diet)


Interesting...you think he knew what that big word meant before he wrote it?

Capitalists make bad Christians

Okay, so I don't write very well, so I really like it when I come across an article that says what I've been trying to say. So here's my deal. I think that Americans have a really screwed up idea of what makes a good Christian. Americans think that you are a good Christian if you hate gay people, hate people on welfare, hate abortions. It's all about hating things. Jesus' teachings were about loving, and caring for those in need. How many Christians do you know live those ideals?

This article was printed in the Daily Texan. I'm going to post the parts of it I especially liked, but I recommend reading it all.

Near the end of his life, Karl Marx famously lamented, "I am not a Marxist." His words reflected a frustration with individuals and societies he thought had distorted the true message of his writings.
If Jesus returned to Earth today and found himself in America, would he say, "I am not a Christian?"

I have to say, I think that he most definately would

Would he look upon mega-churches, television stations and millionaire preachers and see his essence reflected? Would he rather visit an anti-gay rally or a homeless shelter?

Americans seem to be neglecting the lessons of their savior. In the United States, 18 percent of children live in poverty. Only 8 percent of children in Sweden, whose population is largely nonreligious, are poverty stricken. Ideas such as privatizing Social Security, eliminating welfare and a disdain for public health care are hard to justify from a Christian perspective. If church leaders spent more time inspiring volunteer service and charity in their congregations, and less time blaming others for the ills of society, the United States would be a far better nation. How can individuals call themselves Christian but not make great strides to help those in need?

I especially like how he talks about church leaders spending more time inspiring volunteer service. So much religion, especially here in the Bible belt, is focused on hate. Is that what it's really supposed to be about?

As written in Leviticus, his message is clear: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." To be a Christian, compassion must remain a central tenet of one's belief. Even the most cursory examination of scripture will reveal this, while more thorough readings reaffirm the same underlying principal.

Thank you Ian Greenleigh.