Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Swedes Have New Freedom When Naming Kids

And they didn't before, you may ask.

Well actually, they didn't.

Swedish tax authorities banned parents from naming the fruit of the loins after fast food chains, rock bands or their favorite brand of beer.

Apparently these things had bad connotations are were not suitable for names.

Tax authority spokesman Lars Tegenfeldt explains “there is nothing negative about a name like Coca-Cola or McDonald's today. In the 1970s, maybe it was.”

Oh the flawless logic.

The bans have been lifted and I'm sure that the Swedes are reproducing at alarming rates just to get the chance to name their spawn things like "Natty Light," "Whopper," and "Phish."

I wonder if anyone got away with "Sam Adams"...

BUT for a disappointed few, God, Allah or Devil are still unavailable... maybe next year.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Corpse's Best Friend

A German Shepard was found next to his owner's body 6 weeks after the man took his own life in
This kind of thing makes me believe that love is real, even if it is about a dog.

I would like to think that my Ranger would stay with me!

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

China Is No Longer Invited to My Birthday Party

And it was a mermaid-themed pool party, they'll be missing out.

First strike, well, obvious reason being they're communists.

Second strike, Tibet.

Third strike, they lied about a gagillion things so that the Olympics could be held in Beijing ie. pollution, improvements of human rights, freedom for the foreign press.... blah, blah...

Fourth strike (apparently you get more than three strikes with me, it must be my forgiving nature...), they shattered my child-like wonder for the amazing and FAKE fireworks.

Fifth, THEY MADE A LITTLE GIRL LIP-SYNC "ODE TO THE MOTHERLAND" BECAUSE THE GIRL WHO ACTUALLY SINGS IT WASN'T CUTE ENOUGH!!!

For real? FOR REAL.

"The reason was for the national interest," said Chen Qigang, the ceremony's musical director. "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. ... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects."

"We had to do it," he said. "We'd been through several inspections. They're all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change."

This just makes me really sad.

Can you imagine living in a country that will do anything just to project an image of perfection?

In my opinion, the real singer was as darling as she could be!

Boo.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Being Talented, Apparently Punishable By Death

What is going on?! It seems that ridiculously talented older black men are the flavor of the week for the Grimm Keeper.

First, he tries to nap Morgan Freeman in a car accident in Memphis. Thank goodness he is now recovering.

Second, he takes Bernie Mac, which was quite a shock for me. The comedian was only 50 when he died of pneumonia. Mac kept audiences laughing for years through his shows and many movies.

Now Isaac Hayes?? Hayes, 65, was found Sunday next to his treadmill in Memphis and was pronounced dead an hour later. Hayes was a music icon and lent his talent to many a movie and even South Park. Too cool.

The world just got a little less talented.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

U.S. Troops May Be Pulling Out

A deal between the U.S. and Iraq is in its final stages to get troops the heck up outta there!

Combat troops will be leaving December 2010 and will be quickly followed by the rest.

The deal will also restrict troops to their bases as of June 30, 2009 in stead of patrolling streets.

I personally do not have anyone serving there, but I know those that do are thrilled.

Whether or not you agree with the war, you do have to agree that those men and women deserve the utmost respect and honor. Be sure to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

"If I Were Invisible..."

Well, Clay Aiken may get his wish, which is unfortunate for some girl.

Harry Potter will now no longer be the only one wandering the halls of Hogwarts without detection, scientists are getting close to making objects disappear.

Until recently, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, were only able to successfully cloak 2-D objects.

Metamaterials, which are mixtures of metal and circuit board materials, redirect light around objects. We can see objects because our eyes scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. So, redirect the light and bada-bing, bada-boom, no more object.

I can see how this can do good in the hands of the military.... but how is can do A LOT of BAD in the hands of, oh, I don't know, a RAPIST?!

We'll see how this goes.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Olympics!

So the Olympics are here and they are INCREDIBLE!

The opening ceremonies were absolutely phenomenal.

So far, we're kicking tail and Phelps is making a splash... it couldn't be helped.

The medal count so far is China 14:American 12: 3 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze.

But that's okay... maybe we should just let them win, barely, you know, to keep them happy and the rest of the world alive. I mean, did you see the opening ceremonies? They're not playing.

Go team USA!

P.S.- Is the Olympics reminding anyone of Star Wars? Opening ceremonies similar to the Senate...

This just in- The fireworks were faked. I can't comment further due to a broken heart. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26139005/

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Pirates, Eh?

CANADA ROCKS!!!!!

Now this is what I'm talking about!

Our northern neighbor will be sending a a warship to Somalia's coast to protect U.N. aid ships from PIRATES!

The HMCS Ville de Quebec is a 440-foot frigate armed with torpedoes, surface-to-air missiles and other weapons, and carries an anti-submarine helicopter!

The U.N. aid helps around 2 million people.

Piracy has become a problem since the French, Dutch, and Danish ended their escorts missions. I didn't know that they even had warships.... jk, we owe the French for that bit of help they gave us some years ago...

30 attacks have been reported this year alone.

This is the kind of thing that America should be doing! Fighting the Taliban or fighting pirates...

Hopefully with the help of the bad-A Canadians, the pirates won't be able to take any booty and the Somalians can keep on keeping on.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

A Lot of Politicians are Dogs, Why Not Elect a Real One?

A dog is running for mayor in Fairhope, Ala.

Willie Bean Roscoe P. Coltrane is a 7-year-old yellow Labrador whose headquarters is located in his owner's coffee shop.

It started when a candidate posted a campaign sign near the politically-neutral (pretty brilliant, actually) "Coffee Loft."

Willie Bean's owner, Tress Turner, could not remove the sign because the candidate had received permission from the property owner. So instead, she poked some fun and nominated Willie Bean.

Unfortunately, Willie Bean missed the July 15th deadline and cannot be seriously considered for office.

BUT other dogs have been..... and have WON!

Seriously.

The golden city of Rabbit Hash, Ky. has elected not one, but two canine mayors. TWO.

The first dog to be elected mayor was a mutt named Goofy Borneman, the second, a lab named Junior Cochran.

Yay, go South!

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Foreclosed Pets

As most of us know, the economy isn't in a happy place right now and many people are being hit hard. Lots of people are being faced with foreclosure.

BUT what a lot of people don't know is that the animals of these families are not faring so well.

What is happening is not only are people abandoning their homes, they're leaving their animals behind, too.

Real estate agents have come to prepare themselves to be shocked.

“You just pray that there’s nothing in there,” said Strobel, a real estate agent in Lakewood, Colo. Strobel has even begun to bring pet food and supplies to work with her.

Some pet owners have brought their pets to shelters, but unfortunately, that's not solving the problem.

No-kill shelters are having to turn pets away due to overcrowding and other shelters are having to euthanize.

Metro Animal Control shelter in Nashville, Tenn., is so overcrowded that it is euthanizing 30 to 50 animals every day, six days a week.

Some cities are filing criminal charges against owners who are abandoning their pets.

Please, please, PLEASE understand what it is to be a pet owner. Pets are not just cute, fun little pals, well, they are, but they cost money! You have to be responsible for an innocent, defenseless being. Please don't take that lightly. And always consider adoption. But Katherine, you have a pure bred golden retriever, true, but we adopted my Ranger man through a rescue group and he is the most fantastic pet EVER. Check out shelters, talk to rescue groups, petfinder.com has any pet you could imagine!

Okay, I'm done.

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

The Jet Pack, No Longer a Thing of Young Boys (and Girls) Dreams

Who: Glenn Martin
What: Jet pack, a legit jet pack
Where: Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Okay, so maybe it's not exactly what Hollywood has led us to think of as a typical "jet pack." First off, you sit in it, you don't strap it on. The thing weighs a good 250 pounds. But whatever, IT'S A JET PACK!

Martin has big plans for his baby. He thinks that the military and border control will one day benefit from this.

For now, it is only to be used for recreational purposes only. So, if you have $100,000 and have un-congested area in which to get your jet pack on, then happy levitating!

Beat that, Kent Couch!

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

China, the Land of the Blocked Internet?

So whoever thought that it would be a good idea to allow CHINA to host the Olympic games should rethink their life.

How much or how little of the Olympics that we will see will be strictly controlled by the Chinese government. 

Seven years ago, Chinese officials assured that the media would have "complete freedom to report." 

But this is proving to be false. Sites containing information regarding Tibet, politics, human rights stories, and other subjects have been blocked. 

You can imagine how this might create a dilemma for foreign media members. 

Chinese officials, who block information from their citizens, promised that the ban would be lifted. 

Kevan Gosper, senior IOC member overseeing the games, said only sites that related to Olympic competitions opened. 

"My preoccupation and responsibility is to ensure that the games competitions are reported openly to the world," Gosper said. 

Not only did they break that promise, they have failed to improve human rights. In fact, they have lessened them.

Thousands of arrests were made to "clean up" Beijing. Those arrested include protestors and reformists who were sentenced without trail to manual labor. 

The mumbo jumbo keeps on coming, I just can't continue. 

This absolutely sickens me. The Olympic games are suppose to celebrate the human spirit and to unite an otherwise divided the world through something as pure as sports. 

To read about even MORE things China isn't allowing:
www.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080729/ap_re_as/oly_china_internet_blocked

Love each other, love the world, and love yourselves! 

America's Answer to Everything

My last post inspired me to think more about green energy and gas prices and running out of natural resources and the economy . And it depressed me. 

What can be done? The answer can't be simple and it would probably be costly. 

And then, it hit me.

It IS simple. It WILL NOT be costly. 

Harnessing the power of the sun and warming our water, woo, taming the wind to light our homes, cool.

But the REAL untapped power source: US

Think about it, what are the main problems facing our country today? The economy, unemployment, vanishing resources, and obesity. 

Rigging a bicycle or a treadmill to produce energy cannot be that difficult, they figured out how to make sunshine produce electricity for Pete's sake (I would love to know the origin of that specific name being used in that specific phrase)! 

Human power, HP as I will refer to it, would provide a cheap, green, and always available energy source. HP would provide steady employment, people ALWAYS need energy. It would also help trim up America.

Imagine with me if you will: "Hey Bill, you look great!" "Thanks, it's my new job. I get paid to work out and to provide our community with green energy."  Can you imagine a more noble job? 

HP Results
Economy: Solved
Unemployment: Solved
Vanishing Resources: Solved
Obesity: Solved

I'm not serious about this. What I am serious about is the energy crisis and we all need to do our part to solve it. 

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

...maybe a little serious. 

Enslaving the Wind!

Texas will soon be producing more than cows and toast! Plans, very, very big plans are being made to harness the wind and produce green energy. 

How big are these plans? 5 billion dollars big. 

Texan transmission companies are teaming together to create a consortium to invest in the making of wind-energy happen. 

This will be the largest investment in green energy ever in the U.S.

But to get this in gear, Texan citizens will be billed an extra 3 to 4 dollars on their monthly energy bill; a small price to pay considering how much they will save once their homes will be powered by the wind.

Why haven't we thought of this before?!?

T. Boone Pickens is a man who made his BILLIONS with oil. Now, he is one the green-conscious can thank. 

Pickens plans to build the WORLD'S LARGEST wind farm! How big? 200,000 acres, 2,700 turbines, will supply 1.3 million homes with energy big. 

"...when you develop the wind, you can then remove natural gas power generation and put it into a transportation fuel market" said Pickens. "Wind power is clean, it's renewable. It's everything you want. And it's a stable supply of energy. It's unbelievable that we have not done more with wind."

Right on!

I can just imagine the wind activists now... 

Is Absentee Voting Right for Me?

No doubt about it, voting is very important. It is a freedom and and privilege that many Americans take lightly. If you don't vote, don't complain about our country.

Like me, I'm sure this upcoming presidential election will be your first to participate in for some of you. Also like me, I'm sure that some of you may be in school outside of your voting county. No worries! You can vote with an absentee ballot.

You MUST vote IN PERSON at least once in order to cast an absentee ballot by mail.

Heres how for you Tennesseans:
http://www.longdistancevoter.org/tennessee

For everyone else:
http://www.longdistancevoter.org/?gclid=CMD82O3V5ZQCFRdinAodE1rrQg


Happy electing!

Love each other, the world, and yourselves!

Hello and Welcome!

Hi friends!

Welcome to my blog! I have created this with several things in mind:

1: To connect those of you who would otherwise not be, to the world. The world is much bigger than our immediate selves and it offers and needs many things.

2: To improve upon myself as a future member of the media.

3: To share my passions and hopefully teach (and be taught by) my fellow humans to love and respect each other and this glorious world we live in.


I'm not sure in what direction this blog will go, but that's kind of the point. I have many interests and am still growing as a person, so this blog will reflect that. It will be K-NEWSWORTHY.