Alive and Well: The Aftermath

I'm not getting very good phone reception right now, but everything else is just fine. Power, internet, cable....it's like nothing happened.

But elsewhere people are struggling. I was fortunate to be in an area that didn't get hit too hard. But just down the street? Flooding, fallen trees....just bad news. Please keep everyone in your prayers. Below are the photos of right before the storm and the aftermath of the storm.

More Reasons Foxnews Sucks

Watching the news firsthand. Here's a few reasons why Foxnews sucks and is incompetent in its news reporting:

1. They show an area in Houston known as "Uptown" or "The Galleria" and refer to it as downtown. Anyone who knows anything knows that this is not downtown. In fact, according to google maps, it's approximately TEN miles from downtown.
2. They show the same picture of the "downtown area" and say "yes, that is water." there was no water, aside from rain. By clear inference they meant standing water, none of which was present.

Again, I like to reiterate that this has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It's all FoxNews's retarded hype train which just needs to go away. This isn't news, this is tabloid journalism with things that don't even make sense to sensationalize.

How the Country Became Broke: A Visual of Republican Mismanagement

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan think-tank, published this study on where the deficit came from. So in essence, the Republicans are saying "hey, we got us into this mess...let us get out of it." Yeah...okay.

thanks to Joey at Straight Bangin.

Pre-Hurricane Photos, Now with Crappy Video

No, we are not barbecuing indoors.
Not much to see
A view from the second-floor's balcony.
Yes, we taped the windows. No, the chair in front of the door does not serve a purpose.
Sport tape, masking tape....tape.
Jim's version of Hurricane supplies
The door to the second-floor's balcony.
The living room window tape-job. It doesn't really look too effective does it?


Pre-Hurricane video one.



Pre-Hurricane video two. Note the tree AND the power pole.
The neighbor's enjoying pre-Hurricane weather. See...it's not so bad. Yet

Bear + Hurricane = AWESOME

I like simple math equations.

Ike IS AWESOME

just for taking out Geraldo....coincidentally a jack-ass who leaks military plans, and works for FoxNews. And also the guy who didn't find Al Capone's treasure.

Summing Up What's Happened So Far

I did not write this. But I agree with a lot of it. Although the blind right-wingers will put some spin on this.

It's important to say that I am not a certified left winger. I consider myself a centrist. Which is the purpose of much of my writings is to show that there is bias. That there are a million ways that the media and the right or left spins things. For a long time though, I've been overwhelmed by the right wing. Let's take an example of what I've seen first-hand.

My friend Jayson likes to tell me to watch FoxNews since they're so fair and balanced. But in watching this morning with Jim, I see "Hurricane Ike will be a category 4 storm by the time it hits land." Umm, really? Cause EVERY other news station, nationally and locally is saying category 2 or category 3. So where did this information come from. Then there's the photo they showed of what Houston will look like-post storm....half of it gone. Again, they're the only one predicting eminent disaster...Strange isn't it. The FoxNews hype train doesn't just end with politics, but all facets of society. Go ahead and try and explain it my friend....but really, when you're sitting here, waiting for the storm to hit, and FoxNews is blasting falsities while EVERY OTHER MEDIA OUTLET IS NOT....it really discredits anything that they report.

Anyway, without further ado, (quasi) objective views vs. Right-Wing Spin.

If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an “arrogant celebrity”. If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are “energizing the base”.

If you’re a minority and you’re selected for a job over more qualified candidates you’re a “token hire.” If you’re a conservative and you’re selected for a job over more qualified candidates you’re a “game changer.”

Black teen pregnancies? A “crisis” in black America . White teen pregnancies? A “blessed event.”

If you grow up in Hawaii you’re “exotic.” Grow up in Alaska eating moose-burgers, you’re the quintessential “American story.”

Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you’re “unpatriotic.” Name your kid Track, you’re “colorful.”

If you’re a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you’re “reckless.” A Republican who doesn’t fully vet is a “maverick.”
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran’s Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.

If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you’ve got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.

If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are “presumptuous.” If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a “shoot from the hip” maverick.

If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are “an elitist-out of touch” with the real America. If you are a legacy (dad and grand dad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions, you are a hero.

If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an “empty suit”. If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an “experienced executive”.

If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are “extremist”. If you believe in creationism and don’t believe global warming is man-made, you are “strongly principled”.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a Christian. If you have been married to the same woman whom you’ve been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you’re “risky”.

If you’re a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you’re an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child. But if you’re a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you’re spunky.

If you’re a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you
“First Dog.” If you’re a 17-year-old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you “beautiful” and “courageous.”

Thoughts, Thoughts, Thoughts

Funny how willing we are to dismiss comments made by representatives of our own party, yet we are quick to attack the other side.

One standard for our own, another for the opposition.

Funny how we claim that Jamie Lynn Spears is someone who should be chastised for what she did because her face was all over Disney, and therefore she is a role model and deserves to be scolded for her decisions.

But when it's a VP nominee's daughter, well that's just great. A real American family, facing real American problems. Ummm, you know, the potential VP's family isn't a role model. They're not in the constant spotlight of the media...Hey little girl, it's okay if your the VP's daughter to have a child out of wedlock. But heaven forbid if you're a quasi-celebrity. Double standard? what's that?

Funny how we think it's so intrusive to follow around the VP nominee's family with a microscope. After all, that particular VP might become one of the most important people in the world. But it's okay to have 1.5 billion magazines, tabloids, newspapers, and television shows following around celebrities that mean nothing.

Funny how a slip of the tongue using the word "Muslim" can be skewed as something so horrible, something so despicable, something so telling about a man, whereas a guy who "served" this country for 8 years as the president got more speeches wrong than right. (see this). Maybe the former is marketed as a good speaker, but the latter can't make good decisions and can't even read a teleprompter, or master the English language (the only language he speaks mind you).

Funny how we think surviving in a prison camp translates to something that makes a good president. Funny how that was over 40 years ago. Funny how he's a borderline geriatric and could basically die while in office, leaving it to someone who is grossly unqualified to take over.

Funny how one potential candidate for the opposite isn't qualified enough when he was mayor of a fairly large city, then lieutenant governor, then governor, but being mayor of a town of 9,000, then governor for a year and some change is GREAT!

If we attack the other side, at least attack with consistency. But when you hold one side to one standard and then manipulate your stance to favor your side....well that has a name...I can't remember what it is....what's it called....oh yeah. HYPOCRISY. If you pledge consistency, stability, change....well give it to us. If you can't demonstrate it in your views, in your stance, in your campaign....well what are we to expect?

Yes, both parties are guilty of it. But I'm tired of the biased media both left and right casting stone; the pot calling the kettle black. I'm sick of being called a Kool-Aid drinker by someone who drinks it by the gallon. You call for fair and balanced, but you preach it about as well as Fox News or CNN.

And yeah, I'm glad Olbermann and Matthews and their extreme bias are gone. It's not journalism, it's subjective observations (and that's putting it mildly). Now only if the other networks could do something....