no w. either

  w, the good ole boy, will not be getting my vote this november either. going along with my whole pro-life theme, i'm vehemently against the death penalty. it just doesn't make any sense to me: it costs more, is not a deterrent for crime and if we're wrong in it's application there's no going back. but i digress. bush likes to apply capital punishment like it's goin out of style. apparently he misses it so much that he felt the need to send our troops into iraq for monetary reasons. (ok, so that was overly harsh, but i don't think as a christian it's ok for him to enter into an unjust war.) so in the end, it is bush's blood lust that prevents me from voting for him in good conscience.

kerry/edwards: no thanks

 

the main reason i cannot and will not vote for john kerry: abortion. most people know how strongly i feel about the issue. even though i am extremely pro-life, i still respect the opinions of others. but john kerry's position scares me.  most of the time pro-choice people think that life begins at birth. in that case, it seems much more logical and humane to allow abortion.

however kerry says that he believe life begins at conception. he also believes it's legal to end that life. isn't that putting a value on each individual life, saying that some are worth more than others? if we'll go that far, why not say that persons who are mentally retarded, have lower IQs, or are socially inept are less important than their counterparts?

i find it extremely dangerous to say it is ok to have state sanctioned killings for any specific group. funny thing is, i heard john kerry say the same thing in an old speech that was on CNN two nights ago in reference to the death penalty. i guess he just doesn't think that applies to babies.

houston is gross

i was there this weekend and decided that i really don't want to ever have to live there. as i was navigating through downtown traffic i found myself getting ridiculously frustrated. now i completely understand why people who live in big cities are stressed and angry a lot of the time. if i had to deal with that crap on a daily basis, i'd be mad at the world too. add to that the fact that a large number of them hate their jobs, and you've got one big hate-fest. that life just isn't for me. i'll take the mountains or some laid back, down to earth town any day.

on a more positive note, some random and/or fun things happened there. i got to talk to some under-privileged kids in a college prep program. it was neat seeing the kind of kids i really want to work with. they have a hard road ahead of them and i hope it works out well for them.
 that night i got to experience my first shabbat. they had so much good food and i got to listen to hebrew all night. jews are tight.
 i also ran into chad who lives in dallas now. it was so randomly wonderful and made my night. the next night was odd. this guy who looks like a hobbit (seriously, very short and hairy) was with my friend's friends at the bar. well, like any normal hobbit would, he lit up a joint. in the bar. i didn't really feel like getting arrested, so i moved tables.
 on top of all that craziness, i got to catch up with old high school friends and learn all about the weird world of ivy league schooling. so i guess, it was a great weekend even if i would rather eat my own poop than live in houston.

you get what you ask for.....

Schwarzenegger Calls Budget Opponents 'Girlie Men'
By JOHN M. BRODERPublished: July 19, 2004

LOS ANGELES, July 18 - With his frustration mounting this weekend over his inability to muscle a budget through the Legislature, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called his Democratic opponents "girlie men" and vowed to work to unseat them in November.
At an appearance on Saturday in Ontario, Calif., Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, criticized the leaders of the Democratic-dominated Legislature, saying they were part of a political system that was "out of shape, that is out of date, that is out of touch and that is definitely out of control in Sacramento."
He said Democrats blocking his $103 billion proposal for the fiscal year that began July 1 were too weak to stand up to special interests like unions and trial lawyers who wanted changes in the budget.
"I call them girlie men," Mr. Schwarzenegger said of the Democrats, as hundreds of shoppers who had gathered to hear him speak roared their approval at the Ontario Mills megamall, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. "They should get back to the table and they should finish the budget."

nightmares

a couple of nights ago i had a dream that has left me feeling strange. you know those dreams, the ones so vivid that you have difficulty determining what is real in the half-sleep of morning.
 
it truly was the emptiest, and for lack of a better word, creepiest nightmare of my life. i was dead. my life had become this ghost-like state, limited to the viewpoint of an observer. i could watch my loved ones, and even a few friends could hear me occasionally, but i was unable to communicate with the most important members of my life: my family. i listened as my friend told my parents i had passed and felt trapped, incapable of comforting them. the hardest part was knowing that i could no longer talk to my mother. then i had the startling realization that my soul wasn't supposed to still be on earth. the fear was overwhelming that i might be stuck in that state for eternity, or worse that i had been denied entry into heaven....maybe there wasn't a heaven.
 
when i awoke i was on the verge of tears. quickly i regained my sense of self, but the visions and feelings have stayed in the back of my mind. it's odd how an act of the subconscious can impact me so deeply. i know that if i go back through my thoughts and actions this week, i can easily pinpoint the sources for the dream. my family is in the mountains with bad cell reception so our conversations are limited, a friend almost had a really bad wreck, and on and on. but deep inside, i know i have this horrific fear of death. not so much of my own, but more of specific people whose impact on my life is immeasurable. the idea of life without them is heartbreaking.

special kids

my sister, amanda and me. amanda and i watched the parade on the 3rd together from inside because she didn't like the noise. the next day we watched the fireworks and it was all the more enjoyable watching her little face light up along with the explosions. being with kids like her makes me wonder if i should devote my life to working with kids with special needs. so many of them have a beauty that comes from a place so pure. a lot of the women in my family have chosen to serve those children everyday, and i find it to be an incredibly noble pursuit. at the same time, i just don't know if i have the innate talent that it requires.

condiments with a message

some people never mature beyond the fifth grade.

First there were "freedom fries" - for patriotic Americans who couldn't stomach the French version because of their opposition to the war in Iraq.
Now there's "W" ketchup to dip them in.

The W apparently stands for Washington after the nation's first president - but the manufacturers are throwing their weight behind George W Bush's bid for re-election.

In an appeal to Republicans, the sauce's website says "you don't support Democrats, why should your ketchup?"

That is a reference to Teresa Heinz Kerry - wife of the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

She inherited a fortune from her former husband Senator John Heinz, who died in a plane crash in 1991.

Even before this latest salvo, Heinz was forced to point out that it was a non-partisan organisation and that no member of the Kerry family was involved in its management.

The firm will be hoping the election doesn't become a food fight.

good genes

my family breeds linebackers. my cousins (left to right) are thomas, 15, julian, 16, and my brother james, 13. granted we are on a slope so my brother looks taller than he actually is, but i'd like to take these boys everywhere (1) for protection (2) to make me feel tiny.

who's worse

bush or moore? i'm leaning towards moore. i saw fahrenheit 9/11 last night and it was about what i expected. don't get me wrong, i'm not a fan of bush or the war in iraq. but seeing moore's blatant misrepresentation and deception, i can't really feel anything but disgust.

if you want a good break down of moore's deceits, go here. it includes sources, something that is not surprisingly missing from moore's propaganda.

an angel

callie's new baby kylie. she's my honorary niece and my favorite human being. 

relocated

so i decided to pick up this bad habit again. it's partially cause i need somewhere to air out my thoughts, partially cause i'm supposed to be studying, but mostly because i have pictures i'm dying to share. we'll see if i can get this thing up and running soon enough.