Best Of......?

Ok Rant of the day. Here it is....I think it was Rolling Stone article that I was reading that brought up this point. Why do mediocre artists put out a "Best of" collection? I was just looking in iTunes and there is a 20th Century Masters "Nelson" album. I can't hold iTunes responsible for it but I can question the music company that put it out there. I mean there is only one song I can remember by Nelson and it wasn't a good one (although back in the day I did rock out to it). Since when are Nelson 20th Century Masters? Just sort of makes you wonder who out there buys this stuff. I was just looking on the 20th Century Masters website and I have to say that most of them I've never heard of. I understand that there is a lot of music out there that I don't listen to but some of this stuff is just bad (like Nelson). I didn't realize there was a market for the Best of the Carpenters. Maybe it's a marketing tool to trick people into buying crap....granted there are some on there that are good like Sublime and a handful of other ones. I'm not trying to crack on anyone that buys this stuff....but come on! The Best of Chris DeBurgh? Didn't he only have one song? "Lady in Red"? Bad song! Really who is buying this stuff. Yeah it could be my age...I don't know but I'm going to seriously question someone who buys the Best of the Captain and Tenille....thats something I definitely wouldn't want to own up to.

Don Knotts

As most people have already heard, Don Knotts, passed away over the weekend. Most people my age only know of him either from "Three's Company" (thats pushing it I suppose but a lot of us have seen the re-runs on Nick-at-Nite) and Scooby-Doo. I remember him most for Scooby. I always liked seeing him on there. I didn't even know what the Andy Griffith Show was let alone who Barney Fife was. I liked how crazy he was....he always seemed to be everywhere at once. He had a sort of energy about him that no one else had...at least in my opinion and like I said I remember him most from Scooby. He did play a good part in "Pleasantville". (A grossly underrated movie.) Anyway I haven't heard much about him these past couple of years but I was just thinking to myself that I hadn't heard anything about Don Knotts and then I found myself wondering if he was still alive. Strange how the mind works isn't it? I couldn't even begin to tell you what made me think of him but he was there in my brain even if it was in cartoon form. I can still see him running around with the rest of the gang, zany as ever. The good thing about that is that I can always go back and watch some of the old episodes of Scooby or "Three's Company" and get my Don Knotts in. He will be missed....I'll never forget his voice even if I forget what he looks like.

Happy Birthday, George!

Today is the birthday of my favorite Beatle, George Harrison. Everyone has a favorite Beatle...my mom's is Ringo (I always thought that was a little strange but to each their own) When it comes to the Beatles most people like either Paul McCartney or John Lennon but there was something about George that was different. The songs he wrote, among them "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun", were my favorite. I think his songs had a kind of sadness about them but they always seemed to lift my spirits in a way. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. (Thats my opinion of course) Another one of his songs that is truly great is "Something". What a great song! It never gets old to me. Even though he's gone his music will always be important to people. Maybe it's because I'm biased. The Beatles will always be a standard in music. They've been that for over 40 years and I don't see that ending anytime soon. They're still cited as a major inspiration to musicians and many of their songs are timeless. While I'm not a musician by any means, I have to credit the Beatles with introducing me to the sitar. So Happy Birthday, George! May you rest in Peace :)

Port Happenings

Before I start let me say this: This is about the public opinion of the business deal not the business deal itself. Truth be told I don't know much about it other than that a company bought shipping operations in major U.S. ports; I can't seems to find much on it but anyway..Ok, here goes. Over the past week or so there has been a lot of talk about American ports...Baltimore being one of them and the sale of shipping operations at those ports. Now I'm not one to play the race card....I hate when people do that but with all the controversy I can't help it. The company buying the ports is from the United Arab Emirates. Originally it was sold to a British company but that company sold the contract or whatever to the business in the United Arab Emirates. I don't recall anyone being up in arms when the British bought it. Actually until this past week I hadn't heard a word about it. I like to think that I'm pretty up to date on news stories especially one concerning the place where I live. Now the company isn't putting it's own people to work there; they plan on hiring Americans to operate the security of the ports. People are really really upset by this and I don't know why. Well I think I have an idea. I think it's a race thing. I think that if another company say from Canada, made this deal, people wouldn't be so upset about it. I could be making something out of nothing but I get the feeling that I'm not. If it was any other country this wouldn't be an issue unless it was a company from the Middle East or a communist country like China.

I keep hearing on the radio that we have to protect ourselves from another 9/11 and this isn't the way to do it. Sounds to me like people are saying that because the company is run by an Arab country, they're afraid that there is going to be another terrorist attack. I think thats probably one of the most idiotic things I've heard. Wouldn't you think that they've thought about this already? I like to think that a prosperous country with NO terrorist ties that we know of would want to make sure that a terrorist attack DOESN'T happen? It would prove in their best interest that it doesn't because the first thing that's going to happen is another war on that country and lots of accusations etc. etc. I think they would work doubly hard to prevent an attack and make sure that they have the right people working for them.I just don't understand people.

I don't want another 9/11 to happen anywhere to anyone. That for many people is one of the most horrific days ever to happen in history. I know I felt scared and was upset by what happened. It's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and I didn't even know anyone that died in the attacks. I wish there was no such thing as terrorism but lets get real folks, terrorism has been around for a long time and as long as there are people out there willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want, terrorism is going to continue. Unfortunately we can't stamp it out. War itself to me is terrorism and as long as people continue to fight each other, terrorism will keep going. You would think over the past oh I don't know thousands of years, we would get the message that war isn't the answer. All it does it ruin people's lives.

Thats not the point of this post though...the point is that I feel people are discriminating against this company and the proposed deal because the company is from the United Arab Emirates. That pains me to say that because I was hoping that America would get past discriminating against others. What sort of message does this send to the rest of the world? Not a good one if they're thinking like me. I don't know if they are but it's possible. Like I said I hate playing the race card but I think in this situation it's true. Americans are petrified that another terrorist attack is going to happen and unfortunatly they perceive terrorists as Arabs. What a horrible digression this country has taken in the past 5 years. It's just crazy.

Stuff On My Mind

I went to see the tutor again yesterday and found that I was on the right track I just have to be more sure of myself when it comes to math. He said something funny though and I never really thought about it til he said something. I said I was having an issue with literal equation and he asked me why I said I had an issue and not a problem? Before I could even attempt to answer he said it was overnight that people stopped saying they had a problem and starting saying they had an issue. He said he thought it was psychiatrists that did this to us. I thought that was pretty funny. I never thought about it before and thinking back on it I can't remember the last time I said that I had a problem with something. Weird isn't it?

I just realized something today and yeah I know its something stupid to worry about but I can't help it. I'm going to be 27 this year. I know it's stupid to freak out about age but I never thought this is where I was going to be at this age. I always thought I would be done with school and settled down by now. It's weird how life takes you in a completely different direction. I honestly don't know where the time went. It doesn't feel like it's been almost 10 years since I graduated high school but it has been. It's crazy. I was just sitting here thinking about nothing in particular when I realized that I'm going to be 27. Where did my twenties go? Yeah the first couple of years were spent drinking and "having fun" then the next thing I know I'm in my mid twenties and now heading into my late twenties. Thirty isn't so far away. I'm not freaked out about turning 30 though. I don't know why I;m freaking out so much about this. I'm not prepared to be in my late twenties. I would rather be in my early thirties. (Yeah doesn't make ANY sense whatsoever but thats just how my brain is functioning today) I'm a little all over the place.

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

A friend showed me this. I thought it was pretty neat and I love the song so it works well for me.

Your 2005 Song Is

Mr. Brightside by The Killers "It started out with a kiss How did it end up like this It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss" Let's just say you're happy to be done with 2005!

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

Offensive Cartoons

I'm sure most people are sick of hearing about the cartoon issue that's been taking place the past couple of weeks. It's crazy. Well in the news I just read a Cleric has places a million dollar bounty on the head of the cartoonist responsible for the inflamatory cartoons. I have an issue with this. I have an issue with any order to kill someone. It's putting a hit out on someones life. It's so wrong. It doesn't make sense to me at all. Killing is wrong. Isn't killing a sin in Islam? As far as I know it is so why is this person doing this? It doesn't make any sense at all to me. The cartoons in my opinion were wrong and I feel that the publishers should have thought about the potential repercussions of publishing the cartoons. Was it worth it? I don't think so. I mean free speech is a wonderful thing but there are ALWAYS consequences in speaking your mind. I know its part of their religion not to have sort of depiction of Muhammad and I can understand why they are so angry because it perpetuates stereotypes but is it worth killing for? Some people are ignorant. That is a fact. People are always going to do something that will get one group of people upset. We live in a very diverse world and no two people are alike (well there are some similarities but you dig what I'm screaming).

All I'm trying to say is that people need to learn to be a little more diplomatic in how they deal with things. Yeah I know it's naive but what can you do?

"Roses are Red, Chocolates are Brown....

Dick Cheney's out hunting, so you better get down." I heard that this morning on the way in. I thought it was pretty funny. The guy that called in made it up. They were talking of course about the hunting mishap that happened over the weekend involving Dick Cheney. Here is what a lot of people, myself included, have an issue with: He hasn't said a word to the public about the accident. I don't care that he was hunting...a lot of people like to hunt, I'm not one of them, but it's something people in this country are permitted to do if they have a license and part of that right is to take responsibility if anything bad happens like what happened over the weekend. This man, who is a 78 year old attorney, was hit in the face, neck and chest with birdshot. After he was shot he suffered a heart attack. This man had a rough weekend. I know that accidents happen especially when it comes to hunting and guns but you have to wonder about Cheney's hunting skills. He was aiming at a quail but didn't see his friend, who is a lot bigger than a quail, and fired hitting the man. That happened at about 5 p.m. and no one was notified til about 8p.m. That sounds a little suspicious to me but then again I'm always suspicious of Cheney. He kinda freaks me out. I get the impression that he is a very cold person, but thats not the point. The point is that he shot someone and could possibly face some criminal charges. I don't think that's going to happen because well, I just don't think it will.

There are some that think this shouldn't be an issue; it shouldn't be on the news. To them I say this "The VICE PRESIDENT SHOT someone!" This IS an issue. This is news. If it was anyone else in the government it would be an issue...why is he any different than anyone else? He's not although I'm sure he likes to think so. Other politicians are subject to media attention when they do something wrong (Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Tom Delay, etc) I'm not trying to be partisan. I don't think that has anything to do with it. The fact is that he shot someone and that person as a result was seriously injured because some of the birdshot caused him to have a heart attack. Is Cheney responsible for the man's current condition? Absolutely. Should something be done about it? Absolutely. What should be done about it? I don't know. I do think its worth investigating though.

Joey Cheek

Yeah I know its the second post in one day but I thought this was worth mentioning. Joey Cheek, gold medalist speed skater, has decided to donate the $25,000 he will receive for winning to charity. These are the kind of people that make you all warm and fuzzy on the inside. He's probably sacrificed a lot to get where he is, I don't know that much about him, and the fact that he has others on his mind makes me really appreciate people like him. I wish more people would donate to charity. The charity that he's donating to is helping those people who are suffering in Darfur. I wrote a while back about the situation happening in the region and unfortunately nothing appears to be being done to help. Little by little I've been hearing more people talk about the crisis in Darfur and I'm hoping that since this is such a happy event that people will take it upon themselves to find out what's going on over there. Why they need so much help and why no one is doing anything about it. Maybe by his donation he is doing 2 things: contributing some much needed cash and bringing Darfur back into the news. Things haven't gotten any better and I don't think they will anytime soon unless something is done. I don't know what could be done because I do not advocate war but something needs to happen so that these people don't suffer anymore than they already have.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. This day also has a pretty violent history starting with of course St. Valentine. He was beaten and then beheaded; he was martyred. Then there is the St. Valentine's day massacre where 7 people were shot in Chicago; gang related (Al Capone). I also read (this has nothing to do with violence though...well maybe depending on the person) that single people call today Singles Awareness Day.I thought that was pretty funny. I know of a couple people who think of it like that. Of course its just another day for me. I was never really into the whole Valentine thing. I used to like giving them out when I was in elementary school but other than that I just wasn't interested in participating. When we were kids, my mom used to get us each a card and some chocolate. Not too much though because what parent really wants to hop their kids up on sugar? None that I know of. That is my job....I'm supposed to give them as much sugar as possible and then send them on home :) So I just wanted to say to everyone Happy Valentine's Day.

SNOW!

Over the weekend, we got hit pretty hard with snow.....they said that we were going to get between 5 and 12 inches. I thought yeah right...they say that and we get less than a half inch. This time they weren't lying. We got 18 inches of snow. A far cry from the 60 degree weather we had a couple weeks ago. I couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning. It was snowing last night before I went to bed but I didn't think we would get that much overnight. It was so pretty though. I love looking at snow especially when it attaches to the trees. It makes everything look so clean and crisp....its just beautiful. What I don't like about it is that I have to shovel it. Not fun. I got most of it shoveled today but I could get the driveway done a little better. The roads weren't too bad. I thought for sure they would be near impassable. In a way I was hoping that they would be because that would mean a three day weekend. That would have rocked but it's just not going to happen. I did get most of my school work done although I have to admit that I should have worked a little harder on it, especially the algebral. I still have another day to look at it before the quiz. The discussion for my film assignment isn't due til 10am tomorrow so I think that it would be better for me to post it tomorrow when I get to work. My computer there is faster. I have it all written up. I just have to type it and post it which will take almost no time at all. That was a great film but I'll leave that for another post.

I did finish "The Historian". What a good book. The ending was a little abrupt but still it was good. It's a new take on the Dracula legend. Very neat. I liked it a lot...maybe because a lot of history was involved in the telling of the story and since I'm majoring in history, it appealed to me. I would definitely recommend it though. One thing about the book bothered me though...you never find out the name of the narrator. You know who she is and all that but you never really find out her name. (Unless I missed it and in that case I apologize)

Well it's time for me to get to bed. I have to be brighteyed and bushy tailed in the morning :( I'm hoping that the roads won't be too bad on the way in. The roads were pretty wet earlier and its well below freezing right now.

Good Music!

I found some really good music. I don't usually like Jazz all that much but this is pretty good. I got it off of iTunes as a free download. The song is called "How Many Times" by Zack Hexum. I listened to the snippet to see if it would be something that I liked and I did so I downloaded it. I think its a great song. I thought the last name sounded familiar...he's the little brother of 311 frontman Nick Hexum. (Hexum isn't exactly a common last name...at least not to my knowledge)

I went to see if he had a website and he did. Not only that but you can play whole songs from his album along with an interview. I liked the end...it was pretty funny. Anyway it's good music all around. He might sound too poppy for some but I liked it. What makes it great is that he writes all his own music and he plays various instruments. I like that. It's ok to sing songs that you didn't write for the most part I suppose but I like it when singers write their own music. I think it adds to the experience. You get to know what they were feeling and know that its coming from them and not someone else. I've always been a fan of singer/songwriters like James Taylor, Carole King, Alicia Keys, John Legend, and the list goes on.

Check it out if you have the chance. I think its great. Definitely worth the listen.

Freedom of Speech

Several states are considering legislation concerning where and when people can protest; this is in response to a particular group of people from Kansas. A while back I wrote about them and how they protest the funerals of fallen soldiers and their disrespectful conduct toward the West Virginia miners. That entry can be found here . Like I said before, these people give Christians a bad name. But I'm not going to rehash my arguement at this time...there isn't any point. Most people know where I stand on that issue as it is. Back to the point; several state are considering restricting where and when protests can be held because of the public outrage at this particular group of people. Now I do NOT condone their actions what so ever. They are probably the most closeminded people in the world. They're insensitive and aren't Christians in my opinion. These people make me sick. But does the government have a right to say where and when people can protest? Doesn't that violate free speech? Doesn't that also violate a right to peaceful assembly? Yes it does.

Unfortunately, free speech means you have to tolerate speech you don't like or don't agree with. But there are limitations as well. People can say and print whatever they want but they can also face libel and slander charges or worse. Just look at the current situation in the Middle East in reference to those cartoons that were published in a Danish newspaper. I thought that the cartoons were extremely insensitive. But once again it falls under free speech which is something I think most countries in the Middle East aren't used to. Muslims are outraged about the cartoons. Should they be? Yes I think so. Does it give them a right to riot? No. Does it give them the right to attack innocent people and in some cases kill them? No.

On the radio news this morning the newscaster was saying that most of the people there don't understand free speech. They've never had that right so they don't know what to think of it. That many of those people don't realize that newspapers and other publications aren't published by the government. I think that is a valid point. Most news sources in the Middle East with the exception of a few countries are run by their respective governments. He also said something else that rang true to me: you can't have a democracy where the concept of democracy isn't known. You can't have democracy where it's not wanted either. I think democracy is a great thing and that it is probably one of the better forms of government. Thats not to say that it doesn't have its flaws because contrary to popular belief, it does.

Is free speech worth it? For me it is even when people like that church in Kansas ruin it for people by being completely insensitive.

Friend Stuff

So on Friday I wound up just staying in. Jenn cancelled on me because she was having issues with Mike. I feel really bad for the both of them. Jenn works 14+ hour days and Mike is suffering with fibromyalgia. Last week he had a couple really bad days. When its acting up, he sometimes loses feeling in his left side and he just falls. Well he was getting out of the car in front of his house when this happened and he wound up busting his head open. He said he was fine and his dad and Jenn picked him up and took him in the house. They left him for a second and when they came back he was on the floor unconscious. He had a concussion from smacking his head on the sidewalk. So they had to call an ambulance to get him to the emergency room. After being there nearly all night, they finally let him go home.

On Thursday, he was self-medicating meaning that he was drinking himself into oblivion because he was depressed. Then he started with threatening suicide. This scared the pants off Jenn and his dad so they called the police because he was serious. (I know he was drunk but I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing) The police came and he voluntarily went in for a psych evaluation. They kept him for a little while and then released him saying that he was ok. So she decided to stay home Friday evening with him so that he wouldn't feel so bad. I fell horrible for them both. Mike is not my favorite person in the world but he doesn't deserve what he's going through. It's a terrible illness and there isn't anything anyone can do to help him. He was supposed to start working last week but now he's going to have to file for disability because no job is going to hire someone with his medical history. I know thats wrong but thats how the world works. It's not fair.

Since we didn't get to hang out and stuff on Friday, we went to lunch on Saturday and talked and caught up. Maggie spent the night Saturday night because her and Longo aren't getting along at all and then I watched the Superbowl at Maggie's dads yesterday. I wound up going with the Seahawks in the end because no one was pulling for them and I felt bad. It was a fun evening though. All in all it was a pretty nice weekend even though it rained most of the day on Saturday and was pretty chilly yesterday.

Frankie is leaving today for Iraq. He should be in Maine soon and then he's heading over. He really doesn't want to go. I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to go either. He will be there til March of next year. He'll have 2 weeks of leave but he's thinking about going to Australia instead of coming home. I just hope he stays safe and doesn't get hurt or hurt anyone else. I don't know what he's going to be doing. He can't really say because they are afraid that too much is going to be made known to people and that information could get in the wrong hands. I won't hear from him for at least a month. He asked me to call some people and let them know. His mom I think is really working herself up...she has heart problems and when he called her yesterday she wound up taking some nitroglycerin for her chest pains. I hope she's ok and that she went to the dr like she was supposed to do. She's stubborn. I have to call to get his address so he can write and all that. I don't see him writing too often. He did a long time ago before he had a cell phone but now that he's over there, he won't be able to use a cell phone for obvious reasons.

My Superbowl Pick

This weekend of course is the Super Bowl...you know it should be a national holiday. I think 90% of Americans watch it whether they like the teams playing or not. I'm going to a Super Bowl party instead of throwing one myself. Maggie decided to throw one so I just bring something for everyone to snack on and what not. I hope its at her dads house because I don't want to go to her house...not that there is anything wrong with it but its a lot further away and I just feel weird in her neighborhood. It's not a very safe one if you know what I mean.

Big plans for the weekend. Tonight I'm going out with my friend Jenn, who I haven't seen in what seems like years but has only been a month. I think we'll get some dinner and catch up. Then I'll get my homework done. I've been trying to read here at work its just not working for me. There are too many distractions so I'll save it til I get home this evening.Tomorrow will be spent clearing the middle room out. I've been talking about doing this for weeks and no matter what happens tomorrow, it will get done. Then it will be Super Bowl Sunday.

My pick as to who will win the Super Bowl....I'm going to have to go with the Steelers. I know its a betrayal to my hometown but I can't root for Seattle. I just can't...they're slogan bothers me. I know that Seattle will probably win because most of the time, the one I pick loses with the exception of last year. I knew the Patriots were going to win...that was a given. So I think it'll be the Steelers.

Now it's just a countdown to baseball season. I like going to baseball games but I can't watch them on tv. When I was a kid I could because my grandmother was a huge O's fan and it was sort of like a bonding thing for me I guess. I'm hoping that we actually have a good team this year and that I can actually get to a game. It's been forever since I've been to one. It's just a lot of fun....especially in the nosebleed seats. Thats where all the fun people are.

Musical Nostalgia

My best friend just bought an iPod and was curious as to what I had on my mind because she didn't know where to begin with hers. So I sent her what I had on mine and she sent me what she had put on hers. She put "Got You where I want you" by the Flys and it sort of awakened this kind of musical nostalgia. I was thinking back to when I first heard that song. It was a good 7 years ago or so. I was really getting into music for the first time back then. (I was a bit of a late bloomer) Most kids my age at that time were really into music especially rock but not me. I listened to old 80's music and good old classic rock along with old school rap and hip/hop. I didn't get into rock much further than Alice in Chains. So I started downloading all the songs that I could remember that I loved like the Cranberries, 311, Collective Soul, the Foo Fighters, the Gin Blossoms, etc. I forgot how much I liked this music...there was a lot of Weezer going on in there too especially Undone. I love that song...my mom can't stand it...she thought it was a really stupid song. I like it though. I guess its the generation gap..who know.

Anyway I was just listening to the Cranberries and I realized how truly unique Dolores O'Riordan's voice is. There isn't another voice like that out there. Some people find it annoying but I find it soothing and it gives extra emotion to the song she's singing...like you can feel what she's singing about.

The Foo Fighters are also another great one. Has anyone noticed that people know him more for being a member of the Foo Fighters than Nirvana. That has to be a good thing. He's a great drummer though...gotta give him that.

All around good music though. It was sort of like a rediscovery of sorts this week for me in music.

State of the Union

I watched part of the State of the Union address last night but promptly turned it off after everyone was applauding the president every time he finished a thought. I couldn't help but think that they were applauding the fact that he could complete a sentence with out messing something up. Anyway that was the first thing that came to my mind and that was 10 minutes into the speech. I opted to read it for myself online. I wasn't surprised at some of the things that I read. I expected him to try and validate the war in Iraq, which he did, and I knew he was going to try and sell his tax plan, which he also did. I thought with all the talk about healthcare reform that he would have spent a little more time talking about his "plans" for it but he didn't. It was the same old same old. I should have known better but I had a glimmer of hope that he might actually be thinking about Americans lives...I was wrong...I can admit that. Medicare is in serious trouble...those on Medicare are having a devil of a time with their prescription plans and you need a manual to figure out the policy changes. It's ridiculous. I know I shouldn't have expected anything less.

What I was mildly surprised about was that he talked a bit about the environment..something he isn't known for. He supports funding and researching hydrogen powered cars. Now this is a good thing but I think he could have done a little bit more in that area too. More money could have gone to funding research. Oh, and also, don't some of the car companies already have protypes for cars that run on alternative fuel? I thought they did. We are too oil dependant...we've known that for years and now with situations boiling over in the Middle East, the government is taking the initiative...sorta.

The war in Iraq is still an issue with me. I'll say it again...We shouldn't be there. This war is wrong and I don't know what can be done to correct the horror and destruction being caused there. I don't care if people find that offensive or it goes against popular opinion. It's my opinion and if you don't like then ignore it...you won't be hurting my feelings. Kudos to Cindy Sheehan by the way. I know she got kicked out of the capitol for wearing a t-shirt with an anti-war slogan on it. The wife of a republican representative in Florida was also removed from the capitol for wearing a shirt supporting the troops. At least they weren't just picking on Mrs. Sheehan. Still though I thought that was pretty stupid. I mean isn't that a violation of the first ammendment? Just a thought.

On the tax plan....I'm one of those people who don't like taxes but I pay them because I realize that they are necessary. Yeah I wouldn't mind keeping some of the money they take from me but then I think about where my tax dollars go. They go to help fund certain programs like medicare, medicaid, and various other programs. I don't mind paying if I'm helping someone out. Bush's tax plan is preposterous. It is taking away from programs like student loans and the such. It's just insane.

Did anyone see Dick Cheney though? I don't know if he normally looks that way but last night as I was watching the little bit I could sit through, I notices Cheney in the background. He looked like he was going to hurt someone. He had just the meanest look on his face. He's one scary man.

So the State of the Union address didn't impress me. I didn't expect it to. I knew it was going to be a bunch of hooey. But I watched so that I could gauge how the next year is going to go. We'll see how well he handles the situation happening in the Middle East and in Asia.