The Brighton Blog

A.W.O.L.

2005-05-21T18:10:00.000-04:00

Yes, May is almost over and I havn't posted since about this time in April. So sue me. LOL. Life has been getting trying what with the ever advancing path of my music career which has grown to include traveling. That does tend to absorb a lot of your free time. At any rate, I hadn't been blogging but instead was able to devote my computer time to finishing yet another chapter in my political novel, When Monkeys Run The Zoo. (Duh, Of course it's about Liberals.)

I also have just joined up as a co-writer on another blog which I link to on my list, The Life and Death of a Cubs Fan, on a trial basis. It may become permanent pending how things go. I hope it gets readership on both blogs to go up. If you hadn't already checked it out from my list, do so at this point as you may miss a few good rants of mine if you do.

On a final note, I'm going to be reviewing Atlas Shrugged and a few of the Summer blockbusters within a week so check back. Glad to be back aboard guys.

A Robust Rebuttal

2005-04-18T22:36:00.000-04:00

As promised in a previous post I am now obliged to answer some of the foul hate-mail that has begun to pour into my inbox since my launch on Blogcrowd.com. It seems for every two supporters there is going to be at least one idiot who decides to come here for no greater purpose than simply to get themselves tizzied to the point of a near aneurysm. I will share with you my favorite letter to date and offer my reply to the writer, who was too steeped in cowardess to even put their name on it.

"Your blog is a nightmare. You are radical, extreme and stupid. You only see things your way. People like you who believe in guns and overthrowing the government are whats wrong with the world today and you are keeping us from having peace anywhere. You are the same warmongers that are keeping us in Iraq. You should all be arrested for treason just from how you talk about your government. You need to learn to shut your mouth."

Where to start, where to start. First of all I would like to comment that if you are going to impune the honor of a writer, have the talent to write a letter that is at least at par with the writing skills of the person you insult. In that aspect, you're sunk already. Now, If you will notice, I do not see things only my way. There are many people with many valid opinions and arguments out there, it's only when we look in the radical Liberal population, the numbers of the intelligent dwindle away leaving only people that may actually one day prove Darwinism as they are surely lacking in enough graymatter to be mistaken for a monkey in mid-transformation.

Now, also, I'm sure you'd love to pin every problem in the world on us freedom activists, however please dont drag gun control issues into the subject of the world being a better place. Take away my gun, I can kill you with a knife. Take away the knife, I'll do it with a rock. Say no to rocks, I'll feed you antifreeze? Outlaw antifreeze.. I'll just do it with my bare hands. Are you following yet? No amount of gun control will ever fix the world so by saying something as stupid as guns being the problem with people, you are only further justifying me when I call radical Liberals idiots such as they are. Stop making this so easy.

By the way, the only people who want us out of Iraq are the criminal insurgents. Everyone else who lives under their iron fist dances in the streets and invites our soldiers into their houses for breakfast because they could prostrate themselves 24 hours a day 7 days a week and never feel like they have thanked us properly for freeing them. And no, it's not about oil either so dont even start that argument. If it were about oil then your gasoline would be 2.76 a gallon. Try tuning into something other than the Communist News Network i.e. CNN sometime.

Lastly, you cannot arrest someone for treason because they state how ungodly inefficient they think their leaders are. Thats called freedom of speech. It was an amazing invention, you should open up a textbook sometime and learn about it. And not one of those modern liberalized textbooks either. Get yourself a good one from back in the 70's. Seriously, is asking for our imprisonment the best you can hope for to keep from having to educate yourself enough to fight us on a serious political level? And you seriously wonder why we are taking our country back?

Well that about covers it. If you are the author of that trash, feel free to grow a spine and step forward here to continue this little debate. Everyone else just keep checking back for updates on this thread and more posts where I will answer one hate-mail a week.

A Learning Experience

2005-04-16T18:35:00.000-04:00

Traumatizing, harrowing, life-altering… all words that refer to some kind of act, circumstance or instance that forever changes someone’s life. I thought I knew the meaning of all these words through things that had happened in my life, but I guess as the saying suggests, “And God said HA!”. There is NEVER nothing left to experience.

I had a rather serious problem for which there was only a surgical remedy. I had a growth that was causing some great discomfort and was, unbeknownst to me, also causing irreparable damage to my body. It’s slightly private so I will not add details but let us suffice to say I’m neither sick nor dying and am 100% intact, thank God.

This incident has taught me something very powerful. I first learned a lot about myself. I am not so strong as I like to think I am. I have suffered the loss of nine loved ones, friends and family, in the past and I have not cried. I am the kind of person who feels they must be the unmoving rock, never faltering in their mission to be cold and devoid of emotion. Not to be in any way cruel or unfeeling but to show others that it can be done and to be the rock of Gibraltar that others in dire emotional states must cling to so terribly. For years I’ve been the one who was strong for them. But do you know something? No one was ever strong for me.

That was the ingredient that had been missing. When it hits you, you begin to cry. You cry for the event that sets it in motion and for all the events you had sat idly through that led up to that point. It is an unending, miserable stream of tears when you finally release your grief like it had been the contents of a soda bottle, shaken and shaken until it simply burst, spilling forth its contents in an unholy mess. I was rather a mess really, with the little pieces of myself spilled before me on the floor. What saved me? The second thing I learned about is what saved me. I have loved ones who can be strong for me when I need it and I had them all along.

I always had my family, I just couldn’t see it. Sometimes that is the hardest to see because you feel under such scrutiny by your family that you sometimes feel it best to suffer than to let your guard down in the sights. That is why you turn to friends. I have those too. Close friends. Good friends. The kind that even through bickering, quarreling and shunning each other would rush to your aid because after the smoke clears a friend is always a friend. To one particular friend, who knows who he is, whom was the first I spoke to, thank you most of all. We had vowed to go our separate ways for a week, but in my crisis you found a minute for me. Sometimes crying on a shoulder heals a soul thousand times better than crying by yourself and your shoulder was worth it’s weight in diamonds today.

I suppose it just goes to show you that you can never stop learning, especially about ourselves because we are never the same. Each day we are evolving, changing beings in our thought processes, bodies and souls. We grow a little more every day and sometimes we need to learn to step back and let ourselves have that growth. I know it was a lesson I personally had trouble with. Just mark my words so if you ever find yourself with my problem, you know the solution. You can always learn from yourself and that there will always be a hand to hold within close distance if you just reach out and take it.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must say to yourself 'I have lived through this horror and I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Settling In

2005-04-14T11:09:00.000-04:00

I'm finally moved into my new place and have an internet connection set up so hooray for new blog posts. Today's is just an update however, sort of a short newsletter to the readers. (Later this week I will be taking on some of the hatemail I'm recieving over my blog and trust me that should be fascinating for all the readers.)

I'll soon be posting new pictures including my vacation photos and shots of my new house and neighborhood which I am all too anxious to share with everyone. I'm also planning a new habit, following my upcoming rant, of formally answering on or two hate mails on my blog each week. Every other political analyst does it, why shouldn't I?

In May I'll be giving the blog a little facelift in honor of my Birthday so make sure you are here to see that one, plus you'll be able to see the start of my summer movie reviews. I'm also in the process of reading a scintillating novel called Atlas Shrugged which I will also be reviewing, though that will be sometime this month, not in May.

On an ending note, I urge all my readers to check out a web campaign launched to support Arnold Schwarzenegger in his fight to amend the laws and allow him the right to run for President in 2008.
Check it out and show your support by clicking here

Keep checking back for updates, folks. Were back in business.

A Sad Day For Americans

2005-04-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

Where to start, where to start. Where do you start in circumstances such as these? There is so much to say that you must plot it out so strategically you feel as if you were planning open heart surgery. Terry Schiavo. I’m sure the name is familiar. If it is not, I fear to see the rock you’ve been under for many many years.

Terry and her case have been extraordinary by far in contrast to other cases like it if not only for the public outpouring associated with it. Many people think that Michael Schiavo had the right to let her go peacefully. I however am a believer in the theory that he simply wished to finish what he started in 1990. SEE ARTICLE HERE. I have many reasons to make this assessment which I may discuss in a later blog post.

Terry Schiavo and the fight for her right to life have been the source of great controversy for some time. A time that ended with her recent death, but the applications of this case will live on. It is in these applications that I find the true meaning of this rant. I’m not here to say whether or not I think she should have lived or died nor make a case for or against it. That would be repetitive as I already stated parts of my thoughts and anyone who knows me really already knows what I think.

So what is this rant about? This rant concerns the government. The men who just proved a point that should strike bone quaking terror into the hearts of people everywhere. The point that our governing body has been allotted so much power that they, in a deity-like manner, are able to decide who lives and who dies. They have slowly been gaining their power and now they have reached a point where they are so in control of us that they practically program the masses who subsequently bend like willow branches in the wind to the will of a governing body who has taught them that they cannot think without federal permission.

Sad? Yes. Frightening? Most definitely. We must consider that the last time any governing body had such a powerful, tyrannic grip on our nation we were forced to declare independence and war to fight for our rights which to the people of that day were precious. They remembered what it is that we as Americans stand for and should fight for and they knew that protecting our freedom, keeping the government where it should be in our lives and preserving this nation for the good of the generations yet to come, preserving it for posterity, was a cause worth dying for. Sadly today’s people have become so morally inept, so socially vapid and patriotically deterred that the only thing they think is worth dying for is a pair of shoes on sale or a good hamburger.

We forget so easily that each day we slip further and further from grace and deeper into turmoil at the hands of a government who obviously and so completely couldn’t care less if you were dead, alive or indifferent. You are singular. There is one of you. Thus you mean nothing to them. A single grain of sand can tip the scale by the laws of man.. but perhaps they are beyond humanity? So consumed with the fight for absolute power and political control that they set themselves on a shelf above god for if I am so highly esteemed by man who can touch me?

Yes, it is radical and you can feel free to call me crazy but one day as you watch the country crumble before you remember my words and know you had advanced warning. So many people warn the public that they must stop giving away their rights and tell them to protect them so that they won’t risk waking up one day to find they have no rights left to defend. I just pray I am not alive to see that day because I love this country so much that I would die of a broken heart just watching. It breaks my heart now and it ever will.

Terry Schiavo’s case is only the beginning. There will be more like her and each time we give the government another piece of our freedom, our rights our power to choose, we also unwittingly give them a tiny piece of our soul. Remember this. Pray for Terry’s family, pray for our country and say a little prayer for yourself tonight. The day may come you’ll need it.

"Dont be afraid to see what you see" -Ronald Reagan

"Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." -Psalms 28:1

"The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way."
-Henry David Thoreau

I'M BAAAA-AACK!!!

2005-03-31T20:04:00.001-05:00

Ok, Here I am, back from my cruise and ready to tell you all about it. It was FABULOUS. I have discovered that Tortola is my favorite island if not simply for its yet unspoiled tropical island beauty. It stole my breath away. Tortola's Norman Island is the setting for the classic Treasure Island and it seems to awaken something in the senses to stroll over the grounds spoken of in the book. That sense of adventure that almost wishes being there would just pop you into the middle of the story itself. Alas, reality sucks. LOL

In Nassau my mom bought my birthday present which I got to pick out. Its the Australian opal bracelet I always wanted. It was 75% off at Columbian Emeralds so it was a steal. I can't wait until May so I can start wearing it. Australian opals are great because they feel like you are bringing a little bit of that Caribbean ocean home with you because of that deep blue and green fire in the stones.

The beach at Half Moon Cay was just like I remembered it. The sand was white as snow and felt like baby powder and the water was azure blue, even where it was only inches deep. There isn't a more lovely beach on Earth. Though, I confess that sitting on the beach being served fishbowl sized margaritas by a waiter in a tux may add to my love of the place. LOL

Anyway, the food was great, the entertainment even better. The comedian, Danny Stortz wasn't all that funny and his jokes were very old and done but the magician has me convinced he isn't from this planet. James Cielen was his name and his up close magic techniques were mind blowing. I'd give myself and aneurysm just trying to imagine ways he could have done it. LOL
The highlight of the cruise, however, was the guest singer, world class Elton John impersonator Joel Mason. (See his site here)

Bad news is thay once again Liberals found a way to piss me off. Nothing is sacred to these nutjobs. On my way to the port I encountered picketing enviromentalists screaming that the cruising industry is killing our oceans. They are the enviro-nazi's akin to the ones who would throw paint on a woman in mink. One girl said as I entered the pavillion to start the boarding process, "Don't you care about the ocean?" My response before I turned tail to go on about my business, "Of course. Thats why I'm going on on my cruise now with the other capitalist pigs. Have a nice day." She looked dumbfounded as I walked away but being that she was a Liberal I'm certain dumbfounded wasn't an alien feeling for her.

Nobody ever stops minding anybody elses business for them. Everybody is more than happy to butt into other peoples lives, Liberals being the posterchild case-in-point. They are so busy trying to force feed us their touchy feely bullhockey that they become so lost in unreality that there is no hope for them. Diseased if you will, (see a previous article on Liberalism as a Disease)

This subject brings me to my next rant due for tomorrow. Terri Schiavo. Tune in in twenty-four hours for the next exciting episode of 'As the Liberals piss me off".

I Still Don't Get This...

2005-03-12T13:27:00.000-05:00

As I was driving home yesterday, the streets signs in downtown Atlanta were all flashing the same message about a car the police were looking for. We had no idea why until we got home. (Yes, it was on the radio but obviously some DJ's like to talk about blather instead of news.. maybe If we'd been listening to news radio instead of the three hours of 50's music my grandmother subjected us to.. and trust me by the third playing of Cherry Baby I was ready to slit my own throat.. then the station faded out, thank God for small favors.) Anyway, They were looking for Brian Nichols, a rapist who shot four people and killed three making his escape as he was being led into the courthouse. (See Story Here)

How can this happen you ask? Well, there are tidbits released locally that you wont hear anyplace else I'll wager.. well.. perhaps on Fox news as they don't 'blow the sunshine' either. This man, an ex football player, large and brutish by definition, was being lead into this courthouse unshackled by an aging female police officer. It pains me to think that the police force in Duluth, Georgia found that to be a satisfactory arrangement. For God's sake, why didn't they just deputize a few sorority girls and let them march him in. If you ask me they invited trouble. If someone is in prison, no matter what they did, you must take extreme precautions. The mentality of someone in a situation like that can become desperate, as proven today.

To make matters worse, the improperly restrained suspect had been caught only days earlier with a makeshift knife made from a sharpened doorknob. Some people requested heightened security but it was apparently to no avail. How do you not heed warnings like this, especially about a man going to court the second time this time to stand trial for rape, sodomy, burglary, false imprisonment, illegal gun and drug possession? Well, obviously they did, as I said, invite a hazard.. and a hazard they got because after he overpowered and shot the deputy whose custody he was in, he shot the judge, a court reporter and a second cop.

My question here is as follows: If a man just shot three people in front of all those cops WHY DIDN'T ONE OPEN FIRE ON HIM THEN AND THERE. What were these people people doing.. thinking.. as this man proceeded to pistol-whip a reporter, steal his car and drive away merrily into the sunset? It seems to me that this entire ordeal, these lives lost, were all a result of carelessness and human error. This happens all the time, however. Police get shot nearly every day. Why? Why can't people learn from their mistakes. We must stop being so damned liberal. You can't shoot a suspect because he's entitled to a fair trial? Yeah.. until he shoots at you! That means he doesn't want a fair trial, he wants to get away so nab him before he gets away.

There is no room for touchy feely Liberal bullshit where crime of this magnitude is involved. Killers should be treated like killers, rapists like rapists, child molesters like child molesters and the so forth. Spare me the sob story about how we are all people too. Once you do something so despicable to another human it is as if you defied some great unwritten code therefore the laws of do unto others no longer applies. They do it unto us daily, what are we going to do back?

Ronald Reagan once said "I know in my heart that man is good, That what is right will always triumph and there's purpose and worth to each and every life." Ron was right, but not in the way that you think. Man is good as a whole, but not each individual is as good as that whole. What is right can never triumph so long as we continue to forget that not every heart is white as snow and not everyone pities human life. It is the same principle as the water in the Caribbean. The water is blue, a beautiful blue, but if you extract one part, one glass, that part is now separate and no longer blue. It is clear. Different. Proving that though many parts can make up a whole, a whole is only a rounded calculation, a surmisal that the whole is a testimony to each part within it. However each part making up the whole is a piece unto itself. The whole may appear blue, but the water is still clear. Its the way you see the water. Almost an illusion.. an assumption. The water always was clear but you would have to take apart every piece to see that. Do you follow?

People are good as a whole. We appear good as a whole.. blue as a whole. But when you take us apart piece by piece, person by person, you find that each person is not blue. Blue is only the way it appears when you lump it all together and you can't do that. Some people are good.. no.. I believe most people are good.. but some defy the rules. Some just slip by and appear to blend into the overall 'blue' because we choose not to see or accept it. They just get lumped in like students riding the grading curve. We must learn to look deeper than the blue exterior of society to see the individuality, carefully as sometimes it's not all that clear. David Berkowitz, AKA the Son of Sam was a man accepted by his neighbors as a generally great guy. No one bothered to look beyond the 'blue'.

Now, I leave you with this thought. Take time to learn about people individually. Each person is a different soul, exempt from the whole. Never assume you know. As proven in the past, bad things happen when people assume too much.

A Summary of the Week.. to date

2005-03-11T13:09:00.000-05:00

I have been in Florida for the past few days trying desperately to get the last of my affairs in order and it seems like its nothing but stress and more stress, that the mortgage company seems more than obliged to draw out. The entire office is sick and thus the final documents are sitting on the desk of someone with a head cold while the seller grows restless. Ugh, just keeping my fingers crossed that this closing happens Wednesday as planned.

On a brighter note, the walk-through went well and we found there is very little we must bring to the builders attention aside from a window that's hard to shut, a wall that's missing a stud and a creaky stair. We had a building inspector present and she seemed to think everything was in order. Mind you I hate the color of the house but that will be changing very soon. (Its drab brown and I'd prefer something cheerier. It IS the sub-trobics after all. LOL)

I stopped by the studio and picked up a new song to work on which I absolutely adore and includes a Spanish interlude. Its very exotic. My producer is also feeding off inspiration I give him and is writing a song according to a concept I came up with. I write a lot of my own music and lyrics but as anyone can tell, I've been quite pressed for time lately.

Anyway, just keeping everybody up to date as this move drags on. Hopefully once the excitement has died down and I'm settled in, I can begin posting very regularly. Until then you can all look forward to my one a day updates on the escapades I'll be into come March 19th as I embark upon the M.S. Zuiderdam on the three year anniversary of her maiden voyage to celebrate when I was on that historic sailing. I intend to snorkel in the caves around the island that Treasure Island was written about, the infamous pirate hideout, Tortola. Keep checking back, folks!

Bored Again; Keeping You Guys Up To Date

2005-03-07T23:36:00.000-05:00

I was too tired to blog today after all the packing and loading I did so I just took a quiz instead which is posted below. It's great to change, but it feels so out of my control. I'm scared. I described it to a friend as feeling like jumping out of a plane and not knowing if your parachute was going to open or not but then he assured me it was normal, comforted me and the balance was rightfully restored. LOL. I can't wait to share pictures of my new home with everyone. I'm so jazzed that if you bottled my emotion it would solve the energy crisis the Liberals keep imagining. LOL. Anyway, keep checking back for more updates.
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What Disneyland attraction are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Pirates of the Caribbean:
A swashbuckling adventure! Yo ho, a pirates life is indeed for you, seeing as you are the classic Disney dark ride that presents a time when New Orleans was under attack from a band of treasure loving bandits. You have a bit of an edge, and an element of danger, and you can scare the youngins, but for the most part you mean no serious harm. You are youthful at heart, strong and energetic, with a taste for the good life, if not hard work. You have romantic notions about the adventurous life on the sea with no rules and no responsibilities except to your ship, but you also weary and worrisome of the fate that eventually gets all those who those who live life on the lamb, stealing gold for greed and burning down cities for your own delight. You are what you are, and you're out to enjoy the glamour of your wild days while they last! Despite your rough surface, the people know you have heart and they will always come back.

Liberalism Is a Disease

2005-03-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

Do you know who Friedrich Wilhelm IV is? If you are at all a good conservative or consider yourself one, then you most certainly should. Why you might ask? Because long before talk radio guru Mike Savage stated the fact, Wilhelm penned in 1848 that 'Liberalism is a disease'. Friedrich Wilhelm was a Prussian born king and staunch Romanticist who foresaw a European rise in nihilism and struggled to head off the catastrophe. When revolution broke out in Prussia in March 1848, Wilhelm re-established a government to replace the fallen system of early Communism.

Friedrich Wilhelm promulgated a new constitution that created a parliament with two chambers, an aristocratic upper house and an elected lower house. The lower house was elected by all taxpayers, but in a three-tiered system based on the amount of taxes paid so that true universal suffrage was denied. The constitution also reserved for the king the power of appointing all ministers, reestablished the conservative district assemblies and provincial diets, and guaranteed that the bureaucracy and the military remained firmly in the hands of the king. This was a more liberal system than had existed in Prussia before 1848, but was still a conservative system of government in which the monarch, the aristocracy, and the military retained most of the power.

This constitution remained in effect until the dissolution of the Prussian kingdom in 1918. While this was not perfect, it was a step in the right direction. Everything must start with a step in the right direction. Though a single step is small, no steps can follow after it until that blessed first one is made. This brings me to the subject of the blog. Liberalism as a mental disease. Can this disease be headed off at the pass and, dare I say it, wiped out with enough people who are willing to set foot in the right direction?

Liberalism can, on many levels be considered akin to terrorism. These people have ideals, mind you, good ones, however the thought process is so clouded, so 'diseased' by the Liberal affliction that they would go about trying to re-align the world with their beliefs in a manner that one can only ascertain as neo-Nazi. In a mind in which the Liberal process is in such advanced stages as the aforementioned there may be no rationality left, thus any member of the Liberal affliction might need more than gentle persuasion to see the error of their ways. However it is not hopeless for I believe you can make a man more intelligent but you cannot take his knowledge away and it is in this belief that I am certain there is definite hope for anyone who wishes to overcome the disease, the problem is that they must acknowledge the disease and seek to overcome it by their own will.

First one must realize that to overcome the disease you must be in complete rational admission that you are affected by the ailment. You must realize that you are neither 'liberated' nor 'progressive', 'enlightened' or the such. You are sick and you must be cured. Say this to yourself and find a way to accept it. This may be difficult but I assure the most difficult of your trials for healing are yet to come. You must then realize that people will listen to what you have to say if you learn to say it properly. They may not agree full circle but they will respect you if you argue your side of the story with factual information and not unbridled passion. Your feelings must take a back seat to your head. Don't fight for something simply because you think you believe in it. Research it and then decide why you believe in it. This step is a very effectual step because in actually researching the things you preach, you suddenly find they weren't such a grand idea to begin with.

You must then try to gain a firm understanding of the country in which you live. You must gather as much knowledge as possible to try and understand the people and the government. You must love your country, despite any flaws you will find it has because foremost it is yours and also that it will love you back. Our armies risk life and limb for you, the ultimate show of human love, so honor them to the best of your ability because you must look at yourself in the mirror and see that they are twice the person you'll ever be. You should also realize the government is inefficient. This is the flaw I spoke of. Many of the Liberally afflicted seem to feel that the object of government is to take care of society and they should raise taxes to do this. This is wrong. Very wrong.

This is a terrible side effect of the Liberal disease and it is known as Socialism. It is a terrible side effect indeed as it means the sickness has set in so deep that you must turn from it now or face dire consequences, even some as tragic as living your entire life never knowing how ill you really are. You must realize that the bureaucracy will only waste your tax dollars at any rate so we must then turn our eyes to the private sector. This part of the discussion brings us to a vital part of the treatment. Capitalism is effective and the Capitalists must not be punished for daring to become wealthy, is this clear? Corporations are not evil. It is important that you understand that making a profit does not equate to greed or exploitation. Capitalism has helped mold our society into the greatest society in our world's history, so say thank you, and follow along with me further.

Finally you must start rallying for true issues. You must start voicing yourself for matters in which a voice is truly needed. The trees do not need your voice, neither does the ozone layer, the whales, the migrant workers, etc. etc. etc. The real help is needed to stop the exploitation of government, to reform the poorly run schools, to take some power back from the governments, to save our history from revision and generally preserve our dying constitution. As a new member of reality, healed and well, this should be both your duty and your personal creed. Spread the word of your joyous release from Liberalism and tell the remaining afflicted that there is a cure. Go forth into the world and spread the Gospel, to borrow a phrase. Wilhelm was right, though Liberalism can be overcome. As I stated at the beginning of this article, all you must do is take the first step and the rest shall follow after. Are you ready to take the first step?

Liberalism is a disease, just like tuberculosis of the spine. Liberalism works like that on the soul. Appearances become deceptive and the consequences of clearly present causes are dismissed as superstition. There are people even now who don't believe that Napoleon was in Moscow. ... The most shameful products of godlessness destroy human feelings of nobility ... Black becomes white, darkness is called light .... I have, as in the case of physical disease, mentioned the mental symptoms of the final stages. God forbid that you, my friend, should be seriously ill. But you seem to me to be sick, because disbelief in conspiracy is the first unmistakable symptom of the liberalism that dessicates the soul.

-Letter of Friedrich Wilhelm IV to Christian Bunsen, Prussian Ambassador to England, March 1848.

Remembering...

2005-03-03T19:10:00.000-05:00

Today I was going through my old diaries to find a certain entry for a friend and I felt so compelled to stop and read. It feels so strange to go back over things you penned when you were ten or eleven because it's so odd to feel that you are growing older. Though it's even more strange when you think of how simple things were then and how much you believed in dreams. Kids seem to know exactly what it is they want so why is it you grow up and suddenly have no idea what you want? Granted if everyone became what they wanted to be as children our world would be nothing but firefighters, policemen, actors, doctors and ballerinas but still, children are so sure in a way most adults can never be.

If all adults remembered what it was like to be a kid, the world would be perfect. Bear with me as I explain. Everyone should remember that just because you don't agree doesn't mean you cant play together and if you recall you could be hitting each other one minute, scream, cry.. then five minutes later you're playing like it never happened. Kids know having free time is important and its vital to stop and smell the roses and pet the cat as you go by. They know the little things really do matter. They respect people who know more than them and they want to learn instead of disregarding them jealously and fighting them. They also believe they are capable of accomplishing literally anything they put their mind to. They are the ultimate show of human faith.

Now, my definition of true human faith is odd. I equate it all back to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Faith is that scene when Indy needs to take a leap of faith by stepping off the cliff into what appears to be a really big hole. Nobody would really do that. But if a kid had faith in you they would jump twice if they had to. Why? Who the hell knows why the child's brain works the way it does but as soon as you become an adult all these novel thoughts come to a grinding halt leaving nothing but an over analytical shell of the person you once were.

Your inner child probably never dies. I think we kill it. We purposely tuck it away and smother it into submission so we can become the aggressive people we need to be. I wonder what would happen if we remembered to forgive, to love, to trust and to believe in something and stick with it... to learn more, to try harder... what would we be like. Its an odd thing to try to imagine. Granted in this world there would be no liberals because everyone would want to learn which would be the biggest plus I see. (LOL) Ah well, I'm done sitting here daydreaming. I have better things to do like finish packing. Two days left till moving day. Check back on the blog for more moving updates as I get settled in.

Bored; My Oscar Fashion Review

2005-03-02T12:45:00.000-05:00

I was bored and viewing over some fashion photos from the Oscars and out of this boredom, decided to review the fashions I saw. Mind you, I’m no Melissa Rivers, but I know what I do like and what I don’t. So what follows is my review of Oscar fashion that I’ve lovingly entitled ‘The Good, The Bad and The Just Plain Ugly.’
(Click the hyperlinks in each paragraph to view the outfit in question)

Hillary Swank came in a dress that I personally thought was stunning, though not right for her body type. It looks to have been made for someone with what isn't such a 'bountiful' chest and on Swank it comes off as making her look 'saggish'. Other than that, her hair is simple and tasteful as is her makeup. I give it a 6 out of 10.

Natalie Portman missed the proverbial mark. The color is drab, resembling dirty mop water and the cut makes her look too short. Good news is that the neckline, while plunging, was tasteful by comparison to some of the evenings other fashions. Overall 3 out of 10.

Could Beyonce Knowles look better? The dress is so simple and tasteful, nearly timeless. Very classy. The jewelry is understated and the makeup and hair doesn't take anything away from her overall look. 10 out of 10 and a hearty kudos.

Renee Zellweger looked rather stunning in red. I like bright colors and she pulls them off well. My only true questioning about the dress is the odd white ruffling at the bottom but otherwise its very chic. My chief complaint is her hair. It always looked so flat and slicked. It just looks odd on her. Overall rating is 8 out of 10 here.

Scarlett Johansson, what are you thinking? Black is the wrong color for someone so painfully pale, especially with her bleached out frizzy hair which looks tonight as if she stole it from Courtney Cox. The dress is unflattering and looks like it needs a good ironing and the makeup is too much of a contrast on her Morticia-like complexion. Overall 1 out of 10.

Usually Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek are such cookie cutter copies of eachother you cant tell them apart but thats not a problem on Oscar night. Penelope is so pretty in a muted yellow strapless ballown that is perfect. The dress, the hair.. all she needed were pearls and she'd look like Jackie O. 10 out of 10. Salma on the other hand tried to squeeze into a dress 2 sizes too small. The dress is pretty but not on her. On her it just looks cheap, despite the fact it likely cost her thousands. 2 out of 10.

Kate Winslet is so perfect. The dress is the right cut, right color, right.. oh its just right period. Her hair is soft and very evening, her accessories are to die for and she just really looks put together tonight. 10 out of 10.

Melanie Grififth. Fire your stylist tomorrow. That dress is the most ugly, showgirl-esque castastrophe I've ever seen. It makes her figure look terrible and its just ugly. Lose the Farrah hair and before you chose to show off your legs (excusing the cast) tan them so you dont look like an extra from Dawn of the Dead. 1 out of 10.

Cate Blanchett looks fabulous. She seems to be consistent in the way she chooses her looks. My only complaint is the clashy burgundy belt which, if left off the dress, would make it perfect. Overall though, I'm jealous of her hair and she looks just glowing. 9 out of 10.

Kirsten Dunst. Well.. this ones on the fence. The dress is pretty and tasteful but the bust cut seems wrong, as if theres part of the dress that's wishing she had a chest to put in it. The hair looks a little dominatrix but that works on her. Her makeup should have been done a little differently because being so fair skinned, blonde and wearing black, she looks washed out. 7 out of 10.

Somebody help Charlize Theron, shes drowning in ruffles! Right idea, wrong fabric. The cut and shape of the dress is lovely though covering it in poofy Barbie looking ruffles is just wrong and makes you think of evening wear for a ballerina. The makeup is too sheer and colorless, especially the nude lipstick and the wet look hair makes her look like Greg Brady. 4 out of 10.

Anyway, that concludes my Oscar opinions. At least I'm not bored anymore. Post your opinions here. I look forward to hearing other peoples thoughts.

Countdown to Moving Day

2005-03-02T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well, as the days go by I inch closer and closer to moving day. Sunday, March 7th is the big day. I am looking forward to moving really. I love the house, the area, the people and the opportunities but still I harbor that deep, dark feeling of insecurity. One never knows what the right choice truly is so all you can ever really do is just make it and hope for the best. I have never moved before nor known anything but this town as my home so this is a huge step, but it's one I knew I always had to take and I've committed my life to doing everything 100% so here goes nothing.

I'm going to post pictures of the new house once we are moved in, plus some pictures of the lake and surrounding area. Its really beautiful, plus its in a golden eagle preserve so the area can never be zoned anything but residential. I hope I like my new neighbors. It seems like a nice, quaint enough community, in fact, the lady who sold us the house lives just down the street so of course it can't be all bad.

Transferring colleges is the hardest. I tend to know what I want and reach for it, mind you the university I'll be finishing my pre-law at is not exactly my prime choice, I believe my transcripts will speak for themselves to the comittee at Yale. I'm not worried. I'm going into this with complete blythe, ready to embrace the future and my new life... and the many great adventures yet to come.

American Idol: Why they invented the mute button

2005-02-28T11:46:00.000-05:00

I'm a great fan of music, but people, there is only so much a person can take. I watch the show out of a morbid curiosity and each time I tune in I am startled by what I see. I know there must be people out there with talent. There has to be at least one. Why is it then that the best thing a show with 3 million auditioned hopefuls can produce is a handful of mediocre performers?

In my mind it's perhaps not truly about the talent. It's really about entertainment value. It's about taking a cute girl and a sexy guy with the talent of a cruise ship singer and putting them in front of a panel of judges so they can crack and go flat on national t.v. so an up-tight British lackey can lambaste the fact that they couldn't carry a tune if it came with handles. Is this really what the television industry has come to?

Reality television has become the norm simply for the entertainment value, (if we can call it that) of watching humans crack under the pressure of completely unrealistic situations, not unlike Jerry Springer but that's another story. People seem to derive some great pleasure out of watching other humans suffer. If it's not that, it's a poorly made sitcom or drama that they force feed the public by putting it on at primetime.

Don't even get me started on Soaps. THAT'S the poorest example of t.v. there exists. What's even more sad is some people have made watching them such a way of life that it becomes a reality to them. If life were a soap opera, no one would ever be short, fat, ugly, poor or celibate. Everyone would be a beautiful heiress who never works and sleeps with a different gorgeous man every night and although you'd go into a coma five times a year and die occasionally, they'll find you're alive and walking around with amnesia in a few months so fret not.

It seems nothing is ever wholesome or thought out anymore. Everything is either so done before or so lacking in plot that they fill the gaps with sexual innuendo and dumbed down jokes to distract the idle minded public from the fact that they are watching something that kills precious brain cells with each viewing or it's a propaganda fest built to program the hollow masses. Can't someone just air a show for what it is? What happened to the days of I Dream of Jeannie? I Love Lucy? Family Matters? Murphy Brown? Or even the innuendo of Threes Company that was overly tasteful in that it was over the head of those 'little ears' and so forth. Mind you if that show was remade in a modern setting, each episode would end with a dimly lit room and two figures rumbling under white sheets.

There are so many problems with modern t.v. it would take me all day to point it out. Though I can't only see the negative side of things. There is still some great t.v. Shows like C.S.I., West Wing, Early Edition and Without a Trace. There are even some sitcoms which remain funny on a level people with actual wit might enjoy. (Everybody Loves Raymond remaining a long time favorite of mine.) Also, props go out to the t.v. game show industry which never goes out of style. It's nice to tune into Jeopardy or Millionaire and give yourself a nice quizzing.

So, back on the initial subject of Idol, why is it we watch? I personally keep tuning in just hoping it will get better. Some nights the singers surprise you, though most nights you physically cringe at the notes they hit. I will concede it takes a great amount of courage to do live on that stage what they do, and in front of judges no less. I'm a singer so no one knows it better than I, but people need to understand that if it truly was American Idol, they wouldn't need rude judges because they would be airing people that stay on key. It shouldn't be about the entertainment value of watching Simon humiliate someone, while that is entertaining, that's why the invented Superstar on WB.

So start analyzing what you watch a little more. Sit back and view it from a new perspective. What do you gain from watching it? Nothing? Then if you're not gaining, what is it you lose? Once you figure that out, do yourself a favor. Go out to the library and get a book. You'll thank yourself for it later. I know I do.

Got Bored.. Took a Quiz...

2005-02-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

Describe yourself using one band and song titles from that band
Created by naw5689 and taken 19125 times on bzoink!
Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band:	Celine Dion
Are you male or female:	I'm Your Lady
Describe yourself:	Right in Front of You
How do some people feel about you:	Why Oh Why
How do you feel about yourself:	I'm Alive
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend:	Coulda Woulda Shoulda
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:	At Last
Describe where you want to be:	Halfway to Heaven
Describe what you want to be:	Immortal
Describe how you live:	All The Way
Describe how you love:	Real Emotion
Share a few words of wisdom	Love Can Move Mountains
Create a Survey \| Search Surveys \| Go to bzoink!

Public Schools; Theres a Bad Moon on the Rise

2005-02-23T13:20:00.000-05:00

An incident this morning at Starbucks inspired today’s rant. While standing in line for my latte, I overheard two teenage girls behind me having a rather scintillating discussion. They were putting their heads together to try and figure out what flavor a strawberries & cream Frapuccino was. Mind you, it took every ounce of restraint I possessed to refrain from turning around and responding (in my best valley girl accent), “Like oh my gosh! Umm.. Like blueberry! Oh this is like hard! Like how many guesses do we get?”

Needless to say I was rather perturbed by the lack of any sense at all on their part. It only worsened when the two couldn’t, for the life of them, count out change… or so it appeared, count at all. This all lead up to me spending the day pondering the public school system. Why is it that you can spend so long in the care of supposedly qualified individuals and come out with an IQ rivaled only by that of a hard boiled egg.

So what is it that is wrong with public schools? There are innumerable problems with public schools. An easier question to answer these days would be ‘What is right with public schools?’ because it’s very safe to say that list would be substantially shorter than the aforementioned. Education in schools is sadly lacking. So if they aren’t teaching kids anything in all the time they are given, the question remains, what are they doing? A neighbor once mentioned in passing that he thought the purpose of school attendance was socialization. He was right, but his idea of "becoming socialized" was not the same as the government’s.

Public school socialization can mean either of two things. The common, benevolent usage is quite innocent and never put as plainly as was put by Webster as just getting along with others, happily playing together, and learning to be a responsible citizen. But in modern schools, socialization is taking on a darker significance. Public schools are controlled by the government. Their main goal is not really to educate people—they want to create a future society of passive, dependent, obedient citizens. They take a malleable young mind and shape it to be intellectually reliant, not on itself, but on an authority. The teacher, the majority, or the government proclaims the truth; individuals merely "accept" it. This is the type of socialization that children are subjected to in public schools. The independent spirit is gradually and systematically crushed so that when those would-be leaders grow up, they will be easy to rule, programmed by it‘s leaders.

I know this sounds quite propagandist and not unlike the Manchurian Candidate. Though that sci-fi thriller is farfetched it’s not completely off base. They are using mind control but not in the form of technology. Its found in the form of the dumbing down of the masses to be easily swayed if not completely puppeted. So, while the Manchurian Candidate was complete propaganda, it all goes back to what must be said of all Liberals. Don’t give them any ideas and foremost, don’t bother idiot proofing anything, they’ll just invent a better idiot.

Don’t be shocked. It’s happening right here, right now all around you. Ironically, while the rest of the world is discovering that socialism doesn’t work, America is embracing it. All socialist countries have to prepare fertile ground for their ideology. It’s a long-term investment that begins in the schools. Here’s how they do it. First, they create a law to force parents to send their kids to school. Since our tax dollars support government schools, many parents feel inclined to send their children to the "free" schools rather than pay extra for a private school education. The law, by the way, is only an attendance law. It carries no accountability for the teachers to actually impart knowledge to their students. Schools have a captive audience, but no accountability to provide a good education to them.

Then, while the students are still young (the younger, the better) government schools start to breed out independent thought - "the group is everything; the individual, nothing." Examples of the methods used to obliterate student independence include classroom-wide punishments for a single student's poor behavior. Book reports or projects that are assigned to a team, with a single grade issued and divvied up among the team members, regardless of individual achievements. Peer pressure for all to conform to "group think". There is tremendous pressure to fit into the mold. Anyone who has trouble being part of the group is evaluated by the school psychologist to see what’s ‘wrong’ with him. Psychologists frequently label the kids that resist the mold as suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or being depressive and/or narcissistic. Parents are then advised to subdue those children with drugs to make them more complacent and submissive.. to shave off the resistant corners so they can pound a square peg into a round hole.

Now that the schools have a captive, submissive audience, they seal the fate of the defenseless minds in their charge. Government schools undercut their students' ability to think by the very method of teaching. Not only does the curriculum reek of political correctness, the teachers make it unintelligible by breaking it up into a zillion bits and pieces. Teachers cram their students' heads full of random data with no attempt to illustrate the point of what they’re learning. Students are not taught how the knowledge interrelates; they don’t know what it all means. All the students "learn" are stray facts that don’t add up to anything. They can’t integrate what they don’t understand, so they ‘cram’ to pass the test and afterwards, they forget it all.

The end result? Kids who can’t think beyond a concrete level by the time they are finally released from their high school prison. They’ve become intellectual cripples, dependent upon others to fill their heads. They enter society as moral relativists who mutter, "Who are we to know?" and passively obey whatever the government or society dictates. I refuse to even START into the religious aspect of this public school indoctrination and thus end on the following note, They will get my support, both financially and politically, after they swing my political persuasion and if you know me you know that makes their odds of getting my support about as high as their odds of reversing the rotation of Earth…

- Stephanie

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States of America where men were free.”
- Ronald Reagan

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’
- Ronald Reagan

Saying Goodbye

2005-02-20T13:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry about not posting as promised. As always, things come up, though the things that came up this time are damn near unthinkable. Two dear friends of mine were killed in a tragic car accident last night involving a drunk driver. The drunk sustained only minor injuries but one of my friends was killed opon impact, the other was lost en route to the hopital. It's never fair but it seems to always be the way. I'm doing my best to not turn this into a week long rant but, as I wipe the tears from my eyes I will say only this. God have mercy on the souls of the court that will let this man out on the streets again after a few months. No amount of punishment will ever bring my friends back... but must justice die with them?

Happy Valentines Day

2005-02-14T16:06:00.000-05:00

Heres wishing all you guys a Happy Valentines Day. If you had a special someone to share it with, congratulations.. if not.. welcome to the club. You'll get your official membership card in the mail next week...

Anyway, I havn't posted in so long that I feel it merits a bit of an explanation. In January I started house shopping down in the Orlando area. I didn't think I would find anything quickly as the hunt was going so poorly but then a 6 bedroom 4 1/2 bath unit right on Lake Alfred opened up and I knew I had to jump on it. I'm now in that insane state of buying/moving where the mortagages are being taken care of and youre trying to sell or rent your current place, close on the new place and get moved. I never knew so much stress could stem from one singe event.

At least I still had time to make my yearly pilgrimage to D.C. That was majorly fun as always. I went to the Smithsonian yet again, this time to check out the new exhibit at the Museum of American History. I saw Laura Bushs inauguration gown on display. You know the red beaded number? Yeah, well it IS that fabulous, especially up close. I shed a tear at the sight of the flag that draped the Pentagon which now hangs in the Museums entry hall. I also made the traditional stop at the tribute to George Washington which proudly displays his uniform and other items. I made a new habit this year. I now enjoy stopping in to thee the museums tribute to Ronald Reagan. (Yeah, I cried through that too.)

I made the short jaunt over to Mount Vernon as well in my yearly trip to bring George a rose. I mist have looked creepy that day for I didn't intend this but I ended up wearing all black as I went up to his graveside. (I was dressed to go out to dinner that night.) Creepier still, it was like he was watching from the big upstairs and just "knew" because the weather was lovely on that morning but started to cloud on my walk up to the house then on my walk from the house to the crypt itself, it began to rain. Coincidence? Maybe.. but I'm telling you that I DO believe in signs, fate, juju, karma and kismet. LOL

So now you know why I've been so tardy as of late. Also know that I am getting into a steady groove and I intend to start posting regularly again very soon, in fact, possibly tomorrow. Expect a rant. If you spent a few days in D.C. you'd have plenty to bitch about too. Later folks.

Funny.. though slightly disturbing because it's true

2005-01-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

I was sent an email by a good friend today that contained the following story which I feel compelled to share. It's hillarious and had me cracked up for half an hour after I read it...

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, "CLASSIC VERSION"

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no
food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, "MODERN VERSION"

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing "It's Not Easy Being Green." Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing "We shall overcome". Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Al Gore exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share". Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act", retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug-related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican.

New Stuff

2005-01-18T22:24:00.000-05:00

I decided to give my blog an updated look each month from now on, just to keep things fun. As you'll see I did the update early just because I like the new look so much and because the old look has been the same since I opened my blog. Enjoy and keep checking back to keep up with things.

Same %*#$@&, Different Day

2005-01-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Today's rant involves yet more of my biggest pet peeve. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the tail wagging the dog. Today, Fox News broke the story that the same maladjusted, narcissistic curmudgeon that tried to get ‘under God’ removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, Michael Newdow, has now motioned the Supreme Court to keep prayer from being held at the Bush inauguration.
(See article here)

America has reached a point where the basic rights of the majority are being curtailed because, God forbid, someone, somewhere is offended by something. Some of our new rules and regulations have reached such absurd extremes that you feel that if you even smile at the wrong person, you may end up in court, or worse, in jail. Where is the line to be drawn? Where is the insanity to stop?

Nowadays it seems that anyone with a personal ax to grind has no problem in taking it to the politically correct limit and occasionally, above and beyond the call of basic liberal stupidity. Take, for example, one private grade school on Manhattan's Upper West Side that banned Mother's Day celebrations, and, out of 'fairness', Father's Day observances as well. The reason, you might ask? A few of the school's students were being raised by same-sex couples, or by one parent or someone other than their birth parents, and school officials feared they might be offended by such observances. Once again, God forbid, someone, somewhere may be insulted by something. Where were the rights of birth mothers and fathers in that decision? You know.. those people who actually have a right to have a say?

Now don't get me wrong, I believe that many of the laws prohibiting discrimination in the United States are extremely important, and have contributed greatly to creating a more equal society today. In the past 50 years alone, we have seen laws that have eliminated the Jim Crow regulations in the South, opened the doors to schools and other public places to people of all creeds and races, and created fairer working conditions for women and minorities. But These are the good examples. For each upside there will be a downside. Equal and oppposite reactions, if you will.

Sadly, so long as there are politically correct tyrants willing to stretch the laws to their breaking points to get their way, there will always be the misuse of laws that were implemented with only the purest of intent. I've witnessed the disturbing evolution toward increasingly restrictive policies, often taking antidiscrimination laws far beyond their original intent. Though religious persecution is the prime example today, antismoking laws represent one other good example.

When they were first implemented, the laws were designed to separate smokers from nonsmokers. Where separation wasn't adequate, such as in airplanes and elevators, where there was no true way to keep smokers separate, those venues appropriately became nonsmoking areas. This was fair, and thus perfectly acceptable, however that was not enough for the antitobacco forces. They began to chip away at what in most circumstances were workable and equitable solutions. Bad science, especially regarding secondhand smoke, was used to toughen already restrictive regulations.

Now, with so many zero-tolerance laws passed, we've seen an economic apocolypse involving restaraunts, bars, diners etc. Step outside in most cities today, you'll see pockets of smokers standing like the social outcasts they've been made outside their buildings because they can't smoke anywhere indoors. (Some cities are even trying to ban outdoor smoking!) Slowly but surely, the powers that be are trying to take away the few remaining rights that smokers have. Not that I support smoking, actually I find cigarettes to be unusually offensive, but if people want to smoke that is their God given right so back away, mind your own, and let them blacken their lungs on their own terms.

What most people fail to realize is that it isn't just smokers' rights that are being threatened. The targets include everything from what you can say, to what you can do, to what you can eat. (Think of animal-rights extremists if you want a glimpse of the future.) If any behavior or subject can be deemed offensive by even a small minority, they raise a clamor and often get their wish to have it abolished or prohibited. Take a moment to step back and really take a look sometime. You'll be blown away.

Our forefathers spilled their blood by the thousands fighting for what they believed in. They believed in a free, equal land where people could find peace with a governing body and subsequently find peace amongst themselves. We live in that Land of the Free, but zealots are destroying those freedoms day by day, one by one. Don't let people like Michael Newdow tell you what you think. What I've said before bears repeating: defend your rights now, or one day you'll wake up to discover that you don't have any left to defend.

"The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."
- George Washington, as taken from his inaugural address, April 30, 1789.

Just Keeping Telling Yourself it Can't Get Worse...

2005-01-10T20:41:00.000-05:00

Well, Today I got back from my weekend in Orlando to once again spend countless draining hours in a recording studio to lay vocals. I actually accomplished two more songs while there so the hard work is paying off, but it seems the saying is truer than ever. One step forward and two steps back.

It seems that Zomba records is interested in pumping money into my project but only if I can produce and present to them six more finished songs by February 15th. Now this, as anyone in the industry will tell you, is virtually impossible. This is one of those test type deals where they try to see how comitted you are to your career and they want to see how far you can push yourself when given an ultimatum. I'm thoroughly convinced that my creative team will get this done. We are going to blow their minds.

I have so much faith in the guys that are on my project because they love what they are doing. They love my music and I know they want to give 100% just as badly as I do. I know they are feeling the project like I am. I love the way Tim grins ear to ear while he E.Q.'s the tracks. The look on their face shows how proud they are of me and it becomes my driving force. I love to see that I make others proud of me because God knows there are days I look at myself in the mirror, shake my head and say "Oh, ye of little faith!" As corny as this sounds, my creative team have become my strength.

I love what I'm doing. Nothing brings me greater pleasure than hyping a crowd. It's why I love politics and public speaking, it's why I love singing and performing. I'm not some ham that is obsessed with limelight. It's not the status. Really. I'm just doing what I love. Very few people in this world still do their lifes work because they genuinely enjoy doing it and frankly, always having been the one that stood out from the crowd, I continue to pursue my goals in the same manner.

Time to vent.. or explode...

2005-01-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, today's rant doesn't involve anything in particular, simply a few things I saw on various news networks that rubbed me the wrong way. It gets me when you see liberals on the news networks, not only still bitching about going to war in Iraq but also about things they know nothing about. It kills me to see people who can sit in front of millions of viewers and spout uneducated wide sweeping assumptions with absolutely no material facts to back it up. That’s like two men on TV. arguing, one claiming a woman shot her husband because he has film footage of her doing it, and the other claiming she couldn’t have done it because despite the material evidence, he feels in his heart that she is innocent. (Ten points to the first guy who guesses which one is the liberal.)

It boggles my mind to hear them singing the woes of war and quoting what they say are exact numbers of lives lost to date during the war in Iraq and frankly it seems to me that if they would stop this ever-loving peace, hugs and peppermints campaign they have launched against the protection of the free world that they would realize we have greater problems at hand. As I see it, the liberals are too busy pointing their fingers at the 'the pot' to realize they are 'the kettle'. Our military has had considerably more success in Iraq than could have possibly been anticipated. So far, fewer troops have been killed by hostile fire since the end of major combat in Iraq than civilians were murdered in Washington, DC, last year. There is really no hope for people who are so busy minding everyone else’s business that they forget what their purpose as humans in the U.S.A. really is. Let the government do it's job, (it seems to have been working ok for the past 200+ years) and worry about what we actually need loud mouth civilians to yelp about like love they neighbor, help your brother, so on and so forth AKA when we need your under-informed pompous opinion, we'll ask. (And don't hold your breath)

I think we should just enact a few good laws and give the liberals a real reason to bitch, like a constitutional amendment that says "Should anyone openly state anything that people with a common knowledge of the truth or having any IQ higher than their shoe size find to be stupid, that person shall be slapped by anyone within earshot." This should cover about 99.9 percent of the liberals in our country. Mind you, people like Al Franken may never recover from such a blunt force trauma, but damn it, that’s a risk I'll have to take. (I'm so selfless sometimes ;) ) There. Now, once passed, the liberals will FINALLY have something concrete and existent to direct some of that bottled 'passion' at. (I use the term passion very lightly for I'm more likely to attribute it to parts of the liberal mind that never fully recovered from those acid trips they took in the 60's)

Ok, I feel fully vented now. You were right, Robert. Blogs do make everything better. LOL. Feel free to comment and Viva BUSH! :)

"..... The most difficult step for the liberals, garden variety, hippies, ignorantly uninformed etc, is admitting that the country they hate actually stands as a beacon of freedom and hope throughout the world. This fact can actually make some of them physically ill. These people have obviously never visited a military cemetery to better understand the men and women that laid down their most precious possession to protect their rights so they can freely stand there before you and spew that hatred and filth. These soldiers die for you, no questions asked, and they don't even know you. Even if they did know you, odds are they wouldn't like you but they would assume the same position in guardianship nonetheless. Liberals redefine the word ingrate, but I'm just getting ahead of myself. That is in chapter twelve. Anyway, to the liberals of the world, get off your soapbox, wash off that godforsaken patchouli oil and try some fact checking. Isn't this why they invented Google, and consequently made it so stupidly simple? Perhaps people wouldn't be so inclined to think you were so imbecilic if you were only occasionally wrong instead of ardently incorrect and belligerent because of it....."
- Excerpt from my book "The Conservative Field Guide to Survival in
the Political Jungle", Chapter 9, "Speak Slowly and Carry a Big
Stick: How to Talk to Liberals".

Happy New Years!!!

2005-01-02T01:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, we decided to bring in 2005 with a more different type of celebration. Instead of sitting home with friends eating chinese takeout and watching the New Years Eve special on ABC, we decided to break the habit and go out to see a movie. Mind you we had our champagne and watched the ball drop later on but seeing a good flick was a welcome change. I was in the mood for a movie anyway.

We started out by having sushi at our favorite little hole in the wall joint where only the locals go. Sure, most of the rich idiots eat at swanky sushi places where you pay $5 for a piece of nigiri, but at Tak-San you can dine until stuffed on $10 while in the company of one hell of a friendly staff and while watching ESPN. Life is good.

After dinner we caught National Treasure. Let me just say that I think this is not only my favorite Nicholas Cage movie of all time but the best movie I saw in 2004. I swear to God, if you havn't seen it, do so before it's out of theatres because every great movie loses something when viewed at home. Seriously, see this movie, you'll be glad you did. Well, that is unless youre a liberal. If so, then the movie will only serve to tick you off. Its wonderfully patriotic and reverent of the founding fathers and most liberals seen to find these things nauseating so just save yourself the trouble and go see something more your speed.. like Spongebob Squarepants.

Anyway, all in all it was a great New Years. We popped open a bottle of Mondoro (my favorite champagne) and made our toasts, hung out with friends and family, made our resolutions and played a few games of Cranium. It was a great night of fun and fellowship and hopefully just a taste of things to come. Heres to 2005!

I Can't Believe Some People!!!

2004-12-31T13:40:00.000-05:00

OK, Hold onto your hats, its time for my first rant. (And I expect comments from you, Robert.) While sitting in the hospital overnight (long story) I had nothing better to do than tune into the news and just listen. Now, if you are someone holding liberal beliefs you can just shut up now because, no, I don't just watch Fox News. Out of a very perverse curiousity I also tune into the Communist News Network and the Nitwit Broadcasting Company (otherwise known as CNN and NBC) and they were airing the same stories. So with the disclaimers out of the way, on to my rant...

What the Hell is wrong with the world today??? Some people are screwed up and I don't mean spend a few years in therapy kind of screwed up. I'm talking about hang up your hat and throw in the towel, your mind is FUBAR. There are tourists coming into Thailand and other of the Asian places hit by the earthquake. Now, as disturbing as it is that people are actually trying to come in and vacation in a place where decomposing piles of bodies lie in the street beside the rubble of fallen cities, there is something much more disturbing afoot in the wake of this disaster.

These tourists are actually lying and sunning on the beaches next to piles of dead bodies. Yes, dead bodies are still washing up in these beaches and it doesn't phase these people in the least. In addition some people are noted as actually lodging complaints with the front desks of these hotels regarding the service. Allow me to quote some of these complaints lodged. "Why was there no champagne reception for our arrival?" "There is no aromatherapy perfume in my room." "Why isn't the pool open yet?" If this doesn't disturb you, please go check yourself into a mental ward because I don't think this has been brought to your attention yet but you are sick, twisted and insane that you find nothing wrong with this.

It amazes me that there are people so numb to compassion and other human emotions that they could just go about their merry lives and ignore it as if will simply go away or worse, does not exist. One must question not only the metal state but the moral state of someone like this. What could compel someone to be so warped? God forbid this dementia is catching because I'd sooner slit my own throat than be devoid of my humanity. Frankly, I just see no hope for us today. Please, God, tell me it isn't too lost because if it is then I must start to reconsider why I exist. I existed for politics in my unending quest to better America and preserve humanity at it's best. If there is no hope for the wretched souls of this world, then why am I even here?

Merry Christmas

2004-12-29T02:27:00.000-05:00

Christmas was great. As tradition goes, my dad and I spent Christmas Eve on a mad dash in Atlanta going from mall to mall to find last minute gifts. I found the perfect sweater for my mother at Nordstroms and I got to eat lunch at my favorite sushi place so it was, as normal, a fruitful venture.

I didn't ask for anything for Christmas really, so it's odd how much cool stuff I got. Most people just opted for gift certificates to my favorite stores, which is great, but the thought out gifts rock. I got a handheld portable dvd player and a selection of DVD's to accompany it including Spiderman 2, IRobot and The 10th Kingdom. (An older tv movie I just happen to be in love with) I also got a monogramed leather purse with matching keychain, tons of clothes, some candy items, shoes and perfume. Just your average girly stuff.

Our traditional Christmas dinner is prime rib which I adored as always being the meat person that I am. It was really rather calm which I felt was odd for my family leaving me wondering if I was eating with pod people. I didn't even set any baked goods on fire! LOL It was great and I am dying to see the after Christmas sales at the outlet mall. :)

Vacation Time!!!

2004-12-16T21:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, So I'm back from my 10 night cruise. It was FABULOUS. I was aboard the luxurious Brilliance of the Seas where the entertainment was top notch, the food even better, and vistas ten times better than that. I can't tell you how much I needed this vacation and now that it's over I think I'll start planning the next one. LOL

Ok. So first we went to Aruba. That was great. We rented a Jeep and went offroading to see the countrysides of the island along the coast. It was so much fun just zipping around in the Jeep. It just felt free. Anyway, they have cactus forests there where there are no trees, just twenty foot tall cactus plants. THATS something to see I'm telling you. (Vacation photos are coming soon) I got a chance to view some fort ruins, check out some ancient cave drawings from the Arawak indians and chill out on Baby Beach where I brought home some coral and shells that I found in a tidal pool as my souvenir.

Next stop on this little excursion was Panama. Now, our ship went through the canal itself which was awesome, though the sides got scraped up a bit going through. The ship is pretty big compared to the ships it was built for. (BTW, I must throw this in... Damn you Jimmy Carter! You gave away the Panama Canal) Once we were allowed to tender from the ship in Gatun Lock, we took a tour of the surrouning area. I went up to stand on top of the Locks and watch a freight ship go through. I'm telling you, it really is a modern marvel. We saw the old churches and forts in the city of Colon as well. We also went up into the national park area to see some wildlife before returning to the ship. (Mind you we made one minor pit stop at a roadside stand where I had a few local beers for, count it, 25 cents a bottle.)

The next port was my personal favorite. Costa Rica. Here we chartered a boat to take us out on the Tortuguero river to see the jungle. It was so beautiful to see this untouched wilderness. The place was straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. LOL. I saw lots of animals which surprised me. There were sloths, turtles, many exotic birds, manatee and a troup of howler monkeys. Even a crocodile sunning bank which was creepy but still pretty awesome. We saw a few of the plantations as well including Pineapple, Costa Rica's major agricultural export. (Which I also had the pleasure of eating and I'm telling you its so much sweeter right off the tree) They dropped us off outside a little market that lead to the pier where the ship was waiting. There I purchased my favorite souvenir. A painted eagle feather done by a local artist depicting a scarlet macaw. (my favorite bird)

Our final port was Grand Cayman which isnt too exotic at all. Its like an island version of any U.S. city you'll find. Mind you, they have the most beautiful beaches and water of anyplace I've been. It seems the only real thing there is to do there besides scuba divinf is shopping and since I rarely do either, I opted to disembark to try a turtle burger which our assitant cruise director, Cole, assured me was delicious. (He was right. Delicious and a taste all it's own. You must try it someday) All in all it was a nice calm port.

The entertainment on this cruise was top. The staff was the best I'd ever had in fact Christian, one of the staff, and I hung out constantly. I also buddied up with the DJ and she sampled some of my tunes up at the ships night club. I really truly can say I had the time of my life.

I Hate Thanksgiving

2004-12-02T01:50:00.000-05:00

Its really the same every year. My family is a bunch of mashuga's so holidays around our house is never the average family celebration. It usually turns out to be the kind of gathering they make movies about. Allow me to elaborate. We normally start off our Thanksgiving get together by breaking out the board games like we do every year. It's usually Scrabble seeing as how my grandmother was in an actual Scrabble league (don't ask) and sine Thanksgiving is also her birthday, she usually gets to pick what we play.

Now since she is a member of a serious Scrabble organization, she likes to think she knows everything when we play. (Trust me this bleeds over into 24/7 life as well) It gets ugly when she starts challenging peoples words and saying they don't exist then breaking out the dictionary to prove it. Mind you she is right about Scrabble most of the time. I myself being an outstandingly articulate person was surprised to find there were so many two and three letter words in the english language that I wasnt aware of.

After board games it's meal time. My mother hates turkey, says she will make ham, never does, then complains the whole time. I won't even go into some of the insane dinner conversations we had this year but suffice to say that the highlight of my evening was getting to leave to table to get the crescent rolls out of the oven because they were on fire. Fun right? Anyway, it was pretty bang on for an average holiday at our house.

Getting Off The Ground

2004-11-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

Ok. Here goes my first blog post, so cut me some slack, folks.

Today a friend on mine said I should probably start a blog, God only knows why seeing as how most people get their fill just talking to me and might have no real desire to read anything I write, but in the odd event that they should enjoy reading about me, have at it.

I suppose I'll open my blog by talking a bit about myself. I'm Stephanie and I'm from Georgia in a suburb of Atlanta. I like it there. Its just close enough to the city to be convenient but just far enough away to still be peaceful. I am in college studying for my degree in political science, psychology and law (field yet to be determined). I eat, sleep, breathe, LIVE for politics in fact I'm planning on running in the Presidential primaries in 2020. We'll see how that goes. As it is I already know of one person who may prove to be fierce competition and I'm sure you'll be hearing plenty about him.

I enjoy reading and writing in fact I have written my own political analysis book, World War II novel and the first in what I hope will be a series of fantasy books. I love to travel, especially to the islands because nothing sets the soul aflame like those sparkling blue waters. It just makes you want to burst out into song! But.. uh.. Ive never done that.. uhhh.. nope. LOL

I am also a big sports fan. I love basketball, hockey and football. My faveorite basketball team is the Atlanta Hawks, my favorite hockey team is the Atlanta Thrashers and my faborite football team is the Green Bay Packers. (Hey, at least I'm realistic about good teams.)

Anyway, thats all I can think of right now and probably as much of me as you can stand, so thats it for today. :)