russian sexual harassment case

whenever you think we have a lot to complain about in america remember this story. i can't imagine in a year of a woman almost winning the nomination for president, a year when two lesbians can finally get married legally in this country, women in russia are faced with rampant sexual harrassment and rape that is then approved by the legal authorities. today, it is great to be an american!

dnc

so, i am a big obama supporter and for the first time i am trying to watch the democratic convention. but i have to admit i can't do it. it is so boring and dry and scripted that i can't take it.  i watched monday night as obama's half sister and brother-in-law gave their speeches and i felt deep admiration, could you do that? there is no way i could give a speech in front of that many people, not happening. however, if i am going to run for president i had better learn right? well, anyway, so the speeches came off very dry and slow, and i thought so was michelle obama's. then last night as i waited to hear hillary, not because i like her in anyway shape or form but just to make sure she didn't stir the pot while i wasn't looking, and i heard the governor from Montana, Brian Schweitzer give this speech. i think even if you don't agree with him he is a great rallier and an interesting speaker, so i have decided as i prep myself for my presidential run that i should incorporate his style into my repertoire...

really, you think so?

the title of this hit me as one of those totally obvious things, don't you remember the lesson when you were young, by trying to make others look bad the only person you hurt is yourself, evidently a lot of people forget this when they enter into politics. 

This would be a major part of my campaign for president, 

"One of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can't disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism." 

there is that pesky thing we keep seeing from obama, what is it called again? oh yeah, dignity...

quote

"The men who lead are the ones who do the work when there is work to be done."

-from the movie Lions for Lambs

perhaps this is what is wrong? no one is really willing to dig their heels in, or to take responsibility...

nice guy

this guy is incredible. if only more people tried just a little bit of this in their lives.

i love the quote he has, "If I can't do great things I will do small things in  a great way." 

read his story here .

i found it on this blog

food waste

i can see the difference of grocery prices rising every time i go to the grocery store. i hear the complaints of non profits that their clients are having a hard time feeding their families because of the rising prices. besides seeming ridiculous to me since we seem to always have an abundance of food everywhere, i find it so pathetic that in our country this is a real problem. we consume so much more food than most other countries, our restaurants serve huge portions and our grocery stores have mounds of fresh fruit and produce available. here is one of the problems evidently. our grocery store waste costs 48 billion dollars every year. that cost has to be absorbed by someone and now it is starting to catch up with us. we are now wasting between one quarter and half of the food we produce in this country. isn't there something wrong with this? in britain they are now retraining people to use their leftovers, to grow their own food and to buy only what they are actually going to eat because not only are their food prices going up but food supplies in the world are running out, quickly. the government is going to start putting restrictions akin to the world war two restrictions on food purchases and consumption. are we heading in that direction here? maybe we can cut back on our waste, and talk to our grocery stores about theirs???? 

are we seeing a pattern here regarding our approach to our resources?

britney and paris?

so this is what our politics are reduced to? honestly, comparing each other to spoiled celebrities and ferragamo wearing negative campaigners is really where our country needs to go with political debate? what happened to the economy, energy, education, health care, and jobs? could it be that if you have no substance in your message you resort to britney ads? i really could care less if anyone is a celebrity or wears expensive shoes, i want to know how people are going to get jobs back, how people are going to afford to eat now, or pay their electric bills. i don't know about you but i find it very embarrassing that this is where this campaign is going. 

iraq failure

as president of the country, do you not have an obligation to answer for the money you request and spend? i realize you can not oversee every detail, however, in something as negligible as this, do you not have an obligation to name a committee to go after them, it is the taxpayers money, and our reputation on the line. of course if reputation was a concern i suppose many things would be done differently. i can't help but think the same standards should be held for the people who get government contracts as the people who work day to day. for instance, would you be allowed to keep your job if this was the way you performed? would a city in america lay down and accept this kind of work from a contractor or would there be consequences? should parsons be allowed to keep all of the money or should there be accountability?

Thomas Palley

this is a blog my mom sent me. he does an excellent job at explaining all things economic.

open mouth, insert foot

i want to be president because there is no way i would every embarass our country like president bush did in europe, read it here, make sure you read to the end about the press packets too. i mean honestly, this is the best our tax dollars can get?!

energy tax credit

admittedly i am not the most politcally saavy person. i don't know all of the ins and outs of the political machine. however, one thing does seem to make perfect sense to me, we are in energy trouble. more and more of our news and politics is talking about it, and we all see it in our energy bills every month. so, why in the world would the government end the federal and state tax credits available through 2007? granted it was a measily amount of credit back, 20% of your sales tax paid, but it was something. now, in my inexperienced mind it would seem that a government should not only continue the energy tax credit on energy star EVERYTHING but they should make it a little more appealing, they should brag about it, they should encourage people to participate in it. how about incentives for companies who make more energy efficient items and bring them to market, for example have you tried looking for an energy star ceiling fan? don't, there are only about ten on the market. 

in my world of politics this all seems like a no brainer to help our energy crisis, but what do i know...

i MiEv car

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i am in love with this car. it is hitting the market sooner than first anticipated. the release date in japan is summer of '09 and it will be fleet tested in america this fall. let's hope they release it the public soon

maxed out

last night i watched the movie maxed out. i knew the credit situation in our country was bad however i did not realize that some of the reason is because of the pocket lining going on in washington. now sadly this didn't surprise me, which is a definite statement about our government. i am not sure how you can look at the fees we are getting charged now for late payments, even 24 hours late can garner you a 50.00 plus penalty, which can happen easily by the credit card company not processing your check in time! then there are the crippling interest rates oh yes, and let's not forget the habit of giving credit to people who have absolutely no way of paying it back. people are killing themselves over credit problems, this is insane. i do believe people are responsible for their own actions, but i also know that we are creating a society in which it is more difficult to afford everything and so sometimes people need credit to get through tough times, should they be so harshly penalized? i don't think so. i think when a sector of business is preying on people who can't afford it's services, and they know this, then there is something wrong. 

shouldn't credit card companies be forced to follow some kinds of regulations, some moderate late fee or a late fee after 3o days, not 24 hours? and shouldn't a requirement for credit be a pulse, the ability to sign your own name, no history of bankruptcy and some means to payback the debt?

attitude

isn't it amazing how much the attitude of our president can affect our country? i am not trying to imply that bush's lackluster attitude and complete denial of our economic problems and the cause of them is solely to blame BUT, he has taken a backseat, hands off, blow everybody off, and oh yeah, i am right, now and always attitude which has caused a lot of the world to cut and run. and can you blame them? as much as i didn't like clinton i have to give him credit for being upbeat and positive. and reagan, he was determined, personable and funny.  i definitely think in this category i am a fantastic candidate. i am very outgoing, very personable and sometimes even funny. plus, i am good at holding babies and working a room. 

we need some positive energy in this country! 

by the way, crude oil prices were down 4.44 yesterday amid fears that the high prices were hurting the world economy. no kidding!?!

ross perot

okay, i know ross perot had his faults but he definitely knows economics and how to balance budgets and make money. his new website, perotcharts.com, is so powerful in making us understand the dire straits we are in. 

i want to be president so there will be someone in the white house who will have advisors about our deficit, our budget etc. who actually have the experience to make our country profitable again! i am tired of pork spending, of the ridiculous balance of finances, of senators and congressman getting these amazing retirement packages tax free while the average american can hardly afford to live! enough! enough of owing everyone in the world, we need to be out of debt, we need a financial surplus, we need to be responsible for the future.

why high gas prices are good

i want to be president because i believe these high gas prices are good for our country. i believe they are forcing a very necessary change, not only for our environment but for our health and for our society's feeling of isolation. 

as i see more and more people riding their bikes around i know the high gas prices can change our american society. what is wrong with riding our bikes, or walking and getting a little exercise, being able to actually say hi to people as we get to work, or the store? 

here is a blog that is really inspiring about bike riding. there is much to be learned from society's that are set up to not be dependent on oil, and that promote health and environmental awareness. plus, look how sexy everyone looks on their bikes! i saw this a lot when we were in europe and i can tell you, from riding our bikes everywhere i was never in better shape, and i talked to people more, i found much more peace in riding than driving my car and, i learned it is possible to get your dry cleaning or go to the post office, or get groceries for several days on your bike! 

no excuses america! 

isn't this bike gorgeous?! you can find it here

oil prices

i want to be  president because i understand the relationship of our huge national debt, our increasingly weak dollar and the oil prices. this article touches on what is going on. i think as president there is an obligation to keep our country out of this kind of debt unless absolutely necessary. we are completely vulnerable now and as we can all feel, that is doing no one any good but the people we owe huge amounts of money to, and the companies who are coming in from overseas and gobbling up our companies. by accruing this debt we have given up so much power and now by having weak currency we are further jeopardizing our economy. we need a solution to the debt, and we need a solution to the oil dependency and we need them now, not in 2020! 

by the way, an aside, how can a person honestly run for president and talk about budgeting and about paying off the debt etc. when they can't even manage the money for their own campaign and knowingly get themselves into debt and then demand to be bailed out. that is not setting a very presidential example is it? that is doing exactly what people have done with credit card debt and with some of the mortgages that are now in crisis. 

here are the news clips i was referring to yesterday so you can check the information out yourselves. let me know what your thoughts are.

 

this is the story on the plumpy nut

i want to be president because even i know that spending 100 million dollars on an arab news station and then screwing it up is an idiotic idea! after watching 60 minutes last night i was furious! logically doesnt it make sense to most people that if we want to make a better impression on the rest of the world we should be helping people not killing them? what if we instead of blowing the money on alhurra news took the 100 million or more and bought the plumpy nut food from doctors without borders and fed malnourished children around the world. that would be 100 million children for one day or 25 million children for four days. think of the great publicity for that! plus, it fights terrorism. i am a very firm believer that any of us who has to feed our family will in the end, do almost anything in order to do that. so, if america is helping your family survive instead of the taliban guess who you are going to support. so, the taliban loses favor and power because they are no longer necessary. is it just me or doesnt this make much more sense? think of all of the other things we could spend our money on the help people instead of wasting it as we do.
i am going to write my congressman and senator today. i am extremely angry about this! of course if i were president i could do something to fix it immediately...

i want to be president because i am tired of voting for the best of the worst. (although i have to admit i want to be president after Barack Obama has finished his terms because I think he has great potential. so consider this my career building for the 2016 election ,or 2012 if pigs fly and mccain gets elected).
i want the united states to have the dignity back that we worked so hard for, instead of riding on the back of our past.
i want to be a president who inspires people to greatness and who earns the respect people around the world so desperately want to give us.
i want to be president so that we may once again leave our own borders, hold our heads up high, our dollar out proudly and tell people, "Yes, I am an American", with a beaver cleaver grin.
isn't that in fact what we deserve?!