Author: duane

politics

darfur update: Condi to the rescue!

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Well, now we are the world’s father and mother, telling them to act, what to do, and how to do it. Apparently, pray-fest 2005 was a bust (See last weekend’s “weekend of prayer” for Darfur), so Condi flew down to Sudan to tell them that they needed to act now against the torture and genocide in Darfur. And! On top of that, (quote taken from BBC news)

Ms Rice stressed that the US would hold him to account if he failed to act, particularly in stopping violence to women.
Ms Rice told reporters: “I said to the Sudanese government that they had a credibility problem with the international community… I have said, ‘actions not words’.”

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civil rights

why can you be an asshole on the radio?

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My alarm is set to play the radio to wake me up. I have the station set to 99x. Not a big deal right? Well, maybe I should stop being such a lazy bones, and change the station. Almost every morning I awake to catch several snippets (several, because I definitely make use of my snooze button) of the Jimmy, Toucher, and Leslie morning show. I can guarantee you that each morning, I am subjected to some comment that is either misogynistic, bigoted, or border-line racist. Now, I know that they are probably just some middle-aged idiots poking fun at the world, and I should not get offended; but honestly why shouldn’t I?

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politics

live 8, weekend of prayer; why not DO something?

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It seems that as Americans, we would rather talk about things than actually DO things. Case and point: The live 8 concerts that recently took place all over the world, were crafted as a means to raise awareness and promote programs for ending hunger and starvation all over Africa. Well, what about the action that would actually end the hunger and starvation all over Africa? I can imagine that if the money that was used to promote, initiate, and carry out live 8 were used to actually FEED CHILDREN in Africa, then that would have been a much better allocation of the available resources. Instead, as my friend Jason Coleman pointed out, all of the performers at the Philadelphia show were given $20k gift bags (kind of like the Oscars). Why not give that money, to oh, let’s say… the starving people of Africa???

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get over it!

Leaked cauldron… so??!!!

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It is all over the fake news about how the Harry Potter book was leaked (at several different places, at different times), but my question is this: Why does it matter? It comes out on Saturday, which in case we haven’t noticed, is only 2 days away; since this day is almost over. Also, it is a book. It isn’t like they leaked a movie, a DVD, or a CD… you don’t really expect to see “criminals” in Kinko’s making illegal copies of the book do you? It would cost more to actually COPY the book, than it would to BUY it!!! (At least it would if you went to Kinko’s, or the library at my previous schools) And for those people that are all freaked out that the “secrets” of the book will be revealed, well, then don’t go looking for them on the internet, if you don’t want to find them!

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show the love

green tea frappuccino… yum!

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I just had a green tea frappuccino (thanks D), and it was simply wonderful. I hate to advertise for Starbucks, but this thing was so freaking good. See, I held out on frappuccinos, until recently, because I really didn’t see the big deal. Now, I do. But this green tea one takes the cake, and raises the bar a little higher. Apparently, it is so new that Starbucks doesn’t have it on their website, but it is wonderful. It tastes a lot like green tea ice cream. I can’t wait to have another!

politics

What’s wrong with the EBT system? I’ll show you!

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There is a gas station near my house that has this sign outside that says “use your EBT for beer, cigarettes, cash, etc”. Now, I may be wrong, but I thought that EBT was kind of like a food stamp debit card; it is only given to those that qualify, and those that express need for governmental support with regards to buying food. So that means that this probably isn’t supposed to be used for beer and cigarettes, right? I honestly don’t think that it is right to allow gas stations to accept this as a form of payment. You don’t do your grocery shopping at the gas station, do you? Chances are… probably not.

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funnies

something fun for your monday…

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A friend of mine (heather) sent this to me, and I wanted to share it, seeing that it is Monday, and we all need something fun to make Monday go by faster. I seriously laughed.

When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don’t take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don’t know.

I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I’d forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying “Hello.”

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mixed media

It really was Fantastic… so shut up!

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I normally don’t do this, but I feel the need to comment on the Fantastic Four movie, as I am kind of pissed off; but not for what you may think. I, like many contentious movie-goers, read the reviews last week for this incredibly hyped movie. I really, really wanted to go see it, and, while the reviews weren’t going to stop me, they would definitely give me an idea of what to expect. Well, I was shocked to find that the reviews were actually quite nasty, and in many instances, the reviews attacked the actors themselves. Now, I was thinking: This movie must just be a silly-fest of cliché’ nonsense and bad acting, right?

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"pointless"

Dealing with Dennis…

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Right now, hurricane Dennis is unleashing about 4 inches of rain all over Atlanta. As we all know, that made this morning’s commute HORRIBLE; considering that when a drop of rain hits the windshield of someone’s car in ATL, all they can think to do is slow down or crash. Even though I had to stand outside for 30 minutes while princess Sydney, “the dainty dog whose feet shall not get wet”, absolutely refused to use the bathroom, I managed not to get too wet. That was until I got out to walk into the building, here at work. That’s when it opened up, and half of the Indian Ocean fell, sideways, from the sky.

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civil rights

Mom, mommy, dad, daddy???

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A really good friend of mine brought up something recently, that I just cannot seem to shake: She told me how everyone that asks about her kids asks her what the kids call her (since she is a lesbian and her partner is the birth mother). Now, this really bothers me, because I would think that if it were a straight person, the question would be something related to, “how are your kids?”, “are they growing?”, “are they talking?”, etc. But no, people keep asking her, “So what do your kids call you?” Now keep in mind, this is either the first thing or within the first couple of things they ask her. That is why I think it bothers me so much! Now, this is my only question: is it so confusing for people that are not in same sex relationships to understand that if you have two mommies, you call them both mommy? Or, if you have two daddies, you call them both daddy? Or you can call one mom and one mother, or call one dad, and one father?

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