Sorry I didn’t get to this sooner – it’s quite amazing how homework and projects pile up until I just don’t have time for anything anymore.

So I voted last Tuesday. I could have sent in an advance ballot, but I wanted to do it the “real way” the first time. The Kansas State University Democrats had shuttles going back and forth from the student union to the polls all day so that was nice. I had to go to a nursing home to vote, so that was kinda weird, but it was okay. It was strange because nobody even asked me for my ID or proof of address. I just had to tell the election attendant (is that what they’re called?) my name, she asked me what my address was, I told her, she checked to make sure it matched and I was on my way. They had electronic voting machines with touchscreens. I was quite amazed that they had such technology after all I’ve heard about the crappy voting machines in, say, Florida. It only took me five minutes, if that, to cast my ballot and get my “I voted!” sticker. Watching the poll results roll in was quite fun, too. It was exhilarating and exciting and all kinds of awesome. I did not enjoy the obnoxious girls in my dorm’s hallway spouting about Obama being the anti-Christ and how the apocalypse was nigh but I didn’t really expect anything else out of them. I’m surprised they know how to read. Anyway, I digress. It was just really cool, if that’s the right word, to have voted and been a part of an election. I’m super glad that Palin went back to Alaska where she can do minimal damage to the US, too. Hooray for that.

Thanksgiving break starts on November 26th and I’m really pumped. Not to mention… I don’t think I’ve talked about this here and I can’t believe it now that I think about it… I bought Smashing Pumpkins tickets awhile back since they’re going to be in Kansas City on November 25th. Myself and some friends are going and we’ve got 14th row tickets which isn’t too bad. I’m still in shock about getting to see my favorite band play and I’m really excited. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high because I don’t want to go and be disappointed, but it’s very hard. So if anyone else happens to be going to the same show in Kansas City on the 25th, I’ll be there and you should say “hi” as long as you’re not a creepy stalkerish person.

As usual, I’ve got quite a bit of work to do before I’m allowed on “break”. I put this in quotes because I’ve got a rather interesting project for my logic class that I’m doing with a friend of mine that we’ll probably have to work on over this “break”. I just really want this semester to be over with. I’m only taking 13 hours next semester just because 16 was entirely too much this semester since I’m working so much. I don’t even remember what I enrolled in, but I do know that I have a 7:30 a.m. class next semester which is going to suck big time. I hate walking to class in the dark.

The time is upon us. I’ll be voting tomorrow. I’ve had to think long and hard about who I’m voting for but in the end I realized I only had one option. I’ll be voting for Obama tomorrow based upon the fact that I truly despise the McCain/Palin ticket. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Brooke Hogan,

I don’t usually read the celebrity gossip section of MSNBC.com, but I was appalled at what you said in an interview with Access Hollywood in regards to Hillary Clinton’s bid for president. In case you were too busy thinking about how best to pose your “ladies” for your possible upcoming shoot with Playboy to remember what I‘m referring to, here is what you were quoted as saying:

“You know what? I am actually not that much into voting. I think it’s kind of crazy that a woman is running because I think that women deal with a lot of emotions and menopause and PMS and stuff,” Brooke said. “Like, I’m so moody all the time, I know I couldn’t be able to run a country, because I would be crying one day and yelling at people the next day, you know?”

Read the rest of this entry »

I got up around 10 a.m. so that I could get some homework done (and that I did – around 50 pages of Archaeology and two chapters of Psychology), and then I made some macaroni and cheese for lunch. I sat down at my computer to see what was in the news, and lo and behold, I find this: Obama’s Religious Rhetoric Puts Faith in Spotlight.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lots of people, mostly relatives, have asked me who I’m going to be voting for in the next presidential election. It’s a great question: it’s something that you need to think long and hard about. I know I and many other Americans don’t want another Bush in office. I have yet to find a candidate that really strikes me as presidential material. I have a few candidates in mind that I WON’T vote for, however, which seems to be funny. I guess in the end it will be a process of elimination.

Mike Huckabee

I read a few things that alerted Huckabee to my attention. I thought that they might very well be the ever-present bashing that comes to the surface during elections. I figured that what I had read was probably being blown out of proportion, or was only half the truth. What I found was disturbing.

Aside from the fact that it irks me that a preacher is running for president (I will concede that he has every right to run as anybody else), but it seems to me that he believes that he deserves to be president because he was a preacher. He has also compared homosexuality to completely different ludicrous acts when he said, “It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations—from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia” (Source). Come on, I would like to know his reasoning behind comparing homosexuality – which is merely two people of the same sex being attracted to each other – with pedophilia (an adult taking advantage of a child), sadomasochism (interaction, esp. sexual activity, in which one person enjoys inflicting physical or mental suffering on another person, who derives pleasure from experiencing pain.), and necophilia (the sexual attraction to corpses). I’m tired of arguing the point that it’s ridiculous to ban something like homosexuality because your bible says so, but I will argue that the government has no place telling anybody that they can’t get married. They just simply do not have the right to do that, regardless of whether they agree with it because of their religion or not. Once upon a time the government took it upon themselves to ban interracial marriages. They did not have the right to ban people from getting a consenting marriage then and they don’t now. I’ve also heard the point that the government has no right to regulate marriages, period, as marriage in itself is a religious practice and as long as some church somewhere will marry the consenting couple then I see no problem with it. Period.

Now that I’ve got off the track by fuming about anti-homosexuality in the government, I’d like to draw attention to yet another idiot who cannot fathom that non-religious people are capable of having morals. I’ll let you Google for an article, because I know there are many, where Huckabee has condemned secularism as well as atheism. A man who would condemn a group of people simply because of some incredibly mal-informed and blatantly stupid stereotypes is someone I would never vote for.

In addition, I also decided a long time ago that I was never going to vote for Brownback, but he dropped out – which was absolutely fantastic. He needs to go back to his farm where he came from and never rear his head in politics again. (It’s unfortunate that I will probably hear about him even still because of the fact that he hails from Kansas.)

We’ll see who else gets added to this list.

I know that the message has already been shouted and screamed and demanded about, but it’s very important for all eligible voters to do their research and vote. What the president does has an effect on every US citizen through the economy, taxes, wars, and basic civil liberties that you might now take for granted. I know I’ll be voting in this election.