duanemoody.com

So apparently, I have decided to have my very own Blog, as well as my own website. A link to the blog will officially be active as of today, July 27th, which is pretty exciting, considering that I just figured out how to use weblogs today. Hopefully, this will act as a place for me to vent, and receive lots of fun chat and ideas from those who stumble onto my website. Here’s hoping. Register and comment people!!

This past weekend, the weekend before my birthday, which is August 26th for all those keeping score, something that has never happened to me happened…a surprise party was thrown in my honor! How exciting! IT really was, because I have never had a surprise party, and it is really awesome to open your eyes and see all those people that care about you standing around waiting for you to come in and have fun. There were tons of people there, and I totally appreciate all of it. I want to personally thank James and Josh for their wonderful party planning and bringing it all together. I honestly cannot believe that James could keep a secret this long, but people can surprise you. Love you guys!!!

In some of my previous posts (i.e. those that focus on a draft) are totally my opinion folks, and just that. You also must understand that when I make comments and form opinions about things, I do so in context. The draft comments are no different. I am referring to the context of this war, right now. So if you don’t like my comments and opinions, that is fine, but make sure that you understand where I am coming from, and I am not just making broad generalizations. Sometimes I focus on things that effect me (and why not? We all need to focus on ourselves from time to time) and potentially jeopardize my safety in some way. That is what this draft thing would do. Please understand that. IT isn’t going anywhere, and I know that, people, I am just venting how I feel about it. And just for the record, stating that something is bad for you, and not something that would want to be a part of, isn’t necessarily an opinion, especially if it could take your life. I believe we would be in consensus to say that if you knew that there was a strong chance you could die doing something that you probably wouldn’t want to do it (unless you are braver than I), whatever it is, right? And if not, and I am totally off, then oh well. Maybe it is all just my opinion, but just know that I am forming my opinions contextually, and make sure that is understood.

This past Thursday and Friday, Atlanta was ravaged by the hurricane known as Ivan. I do believe that it was down-graded to a tropical storm before it hit good old ATL, but still had bad effects none the less. Now, we were no where near as badly effected as Louisiana or Alabama, or anywhere south of there, but there were lots of power lines downed, and lots of damage from trees downed, as well. Thank goodness it was milder than expected, and we weathered the storm. Fortunately, we don’t have any damage, that I can notice, which is a relief. (for all those out their concerned about my safety)

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A post that I wrote from 7/28/04 about the draft had a couple of comments that I felt the need to not only comment on, but post an entry to clarify what I actually meant in what I wrote. Here is my comment on the post. (Be sure to check out the actual post and comments if you so wish).

Well, I feel the need to clarify what I meant. Point blank: The draft is a bad idea for me. The draft is a bad idea for anyone who doesn’t believe in war, violence, and destruction as a means to secure or conquer anything. Surely there are other ways to save the world than to kill thousands of innocent people. And the people that are doing the killing are our military right now. People that, like Stephanie says, tend to be the poorer people, people that, in many cases, have no other choices to make it ahead in life, so they must join the military. Well, that stinks, and I agree with that. It sucks that the way our country is set up, is that many of the poor have no other way. But, I don’t believe in reinstating a draft that will most likely draft a majority of lower middle, middle, and upper middle class citizens into wars that they may or may not believe in, after all, that is the bulk of the country, right? Many, like myself, see this war as totally unnecessary (i.e. the “reason” we went was to find and destroy WMD… right? yet none are there.), and see it as more of an agenda to further the financial gains of certain chosen companies, as well as to procure supplies of oil (as many people who drive have begun to notice that our supply is getting a little low).
So in summation, I just want to clarify… the draft WOULD eliminate the problem that the poor are the majority fighting in the war, but it would force many peaceful pacifists onto the front line (many of which work hard as hell and pay taxes out the wazoo to make certain things like essential systems, like public health (myself) work in this country and throughout the world). So there is no right or wrong answer about the draft…for the masses, but there is a right or wrong answer for the draft FOR ME. That answer is that the idea of a draft sucks, ESPECIALLY considering it would be to fight a war that I believe is not necessary in the first place.

Last night, while the debate was tivoing at my house… love you tivo… I was at Dad’s Garage in Atlanta watching Debbie Does Dallas: the musical!! It was funny, with fun acting and lots of singing! If you are in Atlanta, and have the chance to see it, you definitely should! Thanks to my friend Steve who got us the tickets!!! I loved Donna too Steve… well maybe a little more Tami… YEAH!

I have been trying desperately trying to get this damn website of mine to Google when you type in my name at google.com. You know, that would make logical sense that my site… duanemoody.com… would be the first thing to Google for duane moody… but alas, no. Until recently. Now when you Google my name, at least as of this moment, you get my website as the first choice!! So that, my friends, has provided me with a little piece of well-deserved bliss, at least in my mind. And if you don’t like it, I would be glad to stop by your house and step on your throat. No seriously. NOW GOOGLE ME!!!

I am sure that there are many people out there that are noticing all of the crazy natural disasters that are happening in our country, i.e. the four back to back hurricanes in the southeast and now earthquakes and volcanoes in the northwest. Well, there are plenty of people, I am sure, that believe that this is all crazy, and cannot believe that all of this is happening, but hang on to you hats… Cause here’s my theory:

God is pissed off, and wants us to pay attention to this election. He is trying to get the signal to Florida that they need to shape up or, in this case, get washed out. Even God must recognize that there is a need for regime change… and that is my two cents on the subject.

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Last night I believe that Americans finally got to see some of what Kerry is made of. He showed intelligence, confidence, and the ability to “get the job done”. I completely feel confident in my vote for Kerry as president, because he would A: make an awesome president, B: try to fix many of the things that have gone wrong with the current administration, C: not knowingly and willingly lie openly to the American public over and over again, and D: do everything better than Bush has, because he has a different stake in things. And by this, I believe that as a senator for 20 years, Kerry does have the people in mind when he makes decisions. He does not have money, oil, and leverage making his decisions for him. That is something that we cannot truly, without a shadow of a doubt, say about the current administration. There are too many things that people write off as coincidence that just aren’t, my friends. Come on… the biggest PUUUULEASE is the Halliburton involvement in Iraq and the middle east. That is a big Ding Ding Ding on my radar… should be for most everyone else too.

But now I am starting to ramble. And we don’t want to do that. But seriously, Kerry would rock as president.

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Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing John Edwards come to Atlanta, GA (THANKS JOSH!!!) and talk about the plans for the future of our country, given that he and Kerry take office. All I need to say is: I certainly hope they do. It really gives me a lot of hope to hear it “from the horse’s mouth” when it comes to many of the issues that are on the table with this election.
The issue of healthcare is especially exciting to me. Just the idea that they even want to TRY and get a nationalized health care program in place is wonderful. There couldn’t be a better idea. Working in public health really teaches you one major lesson: the poor are the ones that suffer the most. And this is so true. The poor are afflicted with every disease, and more often than not, die of diseases that could be treated or prevented, due to the lack of assistance and access to health care. In a country that is so wealthy, is that really fair? I would GLADLY pay more taxes so that people that cannot afford health care could have access to it, as it would mean I would have access to healthcare as well (even though I am one of those that happen to be insured). This is just something to think about, when you want to choose who should be president/VP. It makes at least FEEL like they have the PEOPLE’S best interests at heart (at least their health, anyways).

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