Around and Around, We Go!

Although, I wish I could say I am talking about the small spin I took Garrett on today as I was sitting upstairs FIXING our Internet connection, I am not. I am talking about the rhetoric that Palin and yes, Biden at times conversed in last night. Unfortunately, I am only a little over half way finished watching the debate via You Tube. I didn’t get to watch the debate as planned because for a little over 20 hours we were without cable or internet! How unheard of is that! Anyway, I can promise that what I have heard thus far, is Biden afraid of jabbing Palin the wrong way least he get butchered for it by the media and an Alaskan governor dancing merrily around any type of answer to the questions.

From the get go, Palin managed to dodge the question. I mean think about it, who can give a grade if an answer is never given? I guess this can be considered a strategy, I consider it a ploy to cover your butt from saying the wrong thing. Although, from what I have watched she was more graceful, more akin to the smarty pants she was when she accepted her nomination. So, I guess she gets a C for that. Now, I’m not saying Biden is the greatest- but, I would take him any day of the week over her- because let’s face it at least he can counter comments about his beliefs and answer the questions being asked without resorting to name calling first or without having to resort to colloquialism in his speech just to appeal to the masses.

Bottom-line is, appealing to the masses shouldn’t be necessary because this shouldn’t be a popularity contest. It should be about the issues and what each one of them believe in, what their records are on whether they actually do hold these beliefs and vote accordingly and good Lord willing, what is in the BEST INTEREST of the children who will inherit this great land. Isn’t that what we should base our beliefs on?

Warning: Proceed at your own risk, skim over or skip…the following are my opinions on issues our country face.

WAR to me is not a necessity or a means to an end. Diplomacy should come first. We should stop the need to police the world and start policing here at home. Helping create JOBS here in the U.S. should come first, not tax breaks for big corporations overseas. New energy needs to be tapped, but we need a substainable future and we need to RATIFY the KYOTO PROTOCOL. (As much as we can be sustainable because unfortunately everything leaves a footprint.) We should be able to bare arms. Our children should have the opportunity to go to college for a REASONABLE amount of money and teachers should get better incentives/paid what they DESERVE based on a level of accountability (but, not as it is with the NCLB Act). Overall, we need extensive reform/restructuring of our education system- it is failing BIG TIME. Everyone should be afforded health care (even if it means raising taxes to do so and yes I have insurance, but I would more than willingly pay for health insurance that affords me to take off and be with my son under a medical leave act). Morally, I believe judgement by the color of your skin, gender, religion or sexual preference shouldn’t be passed. The right to life should be a woman’s decision, plain and simply- you have to live with yourself everyday. Our prison system is not reabilitation, but rather a money gussler and needs reforming and rethinking. I believe the word God should remain in our government documents, prayers, etc….but, religion should be separate from the state in matters of decision making.

(End of rant.)

With that said, I am also offering up a GREAT WEBSITE I recently was made aware of by a local radio station here at the beach (92.1) that gives you a breakdown of how HONEST the candidates are being. It checks their facts. So, when in doubt, check it out and maybe you might find something out you didn’t know about your choice or the other guy or gal. http://www.FactCheck.org

Another great site, to the right under the TITLE ‘Let’s Get Political’ is Political Compass. It’s a fun way to measure you true belief system with what the politicians believe. Give it a try, I guarantee you will be surprised.

And, as for me- simply tune out to my beliefs, skip over or skim over them until you get to the other stuff and try real hard not to hold it against me for being so political. It’s just in my nature and it has to do with my college major- International Studies. So, technically I cannot help myself. So purty peas….hang in there and continue reading my blog, like I said- my banter will significantly decrease in another month or so…at least on the topic of the presidential election. 🙂

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Yikes is right, it’s Ike.

Beth sure is right, yikes is all I can say for the residents facing the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Many of you may be sick to death of all my hurricane talk around here, but mother nature truly is an awesome force to be reckoned with and I simply cannot resist documenting her destruction, along with some history.

Storms have always fascinated me. Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightening, earthquakes, volcanoes…you name it…and I am glued for hours to the television. You can imagine my joy when I was offered a course in college called “Natural and Man-made Disasters”. It covered all of the above and more. I learned so much in this one little class, that it spurred my desire to change my minor from history to geography and to wish my actual major was in geography. At the time, it was way too late in the game to do that. And so, my minor became all things topographical, cultural, and historical. That’s the thing about geography it covers everything. It’s a wonderful subject and major that is often overlooked.

One of the topics we had covered, obviously had been hurricanes. Hurricanes were a huge deal since ODU was located in Norfolk, which is barely above sea level and is a major U.S. port. Therefore, our professor (Freebird as we called him) assigned us to read the book, Issac’s Storm by Eric Larson. This is the 1900 storm that devastated Galveston, Texas killing over 6,000 people because the United States choose not to heed Cuba’s warnings of the approaching Category 5 storm. (-Which in retrospect, the storm’s category is actually unknown since wind and surge instruments and other meterologist tools were just beginning to be invented. It may have been more of a Category 3.) However, this very storm is what prompted the city to build a seawall. Up until Ike, this seawall had been good at protecting its citizens. For more on Isaac’s storm and to view a few pictures, visit this link.

Both this story and Ike, remind me of my days living in Houston and how on the weekends, I would visit Galveston pier. It prompted a search for an old picture of me fishing off the pier at Galveston Islands. (where I accidentally hooked a stingray and couldn’t catch anything more than baby shark.) My interest in this picture is that this pier I am pictured on has a large hotel sitting out on it about 1000 feet from the main road- (Seawall Blvd.)

I remember thinking to myself, one day that thing isn’t going to be there. I also remember being amazed as I realized how vast the sea really was. (Even though, I frequented the beaches of the east coast since a child, I never fully realized how big fish could get or how powerful hurricanes really were. I was a naive soul back then.) Anyway, here is a picture of the Flagship Hotel minus me. This is a video of the Seawall Blvd. and the Pier yesterday before even making landfall. Look how high the surge is and the Ike was still some 9 hours away! I wonder if it has survived. As I search the Internet today, I will keep you posted.

Although, I doubt that many folks have lost their lives because of modern inventions, I do fear there will be a death toll since only 60% of the Galveston residences actually evacuated- leaving nearly 20,000 or so brave souls to weather Ike’s impact alone.

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Who’s ready for some pigskin?

Today was the opening of the college football season (in case you weren’t aware). I’m a guy’s girl all the way. I love the fall and I love college football. Although, I’m not so much a lover of the NFL or other major league sports. I am strictly a lover of college sports.

I’m not really for sure where the love comes from, maybe it was the camaraderie my father and I found watching VA Tech throughout the years together. Or maybe it was because of the sheer fact that I chose to go to one of the only universities (sporting some 25,000 students in total) that doesn’t boast a football team. I had to make up for it somehow, right? (As luck would have it 6 years after my graduation they are due a team of their own. Woo-hoo!) Which brings to mind that I will have 3 official college football teams to cheer, rave and rant about relentlessly next season. What more could a pigskin loving gal ask for?

Perhaps, a spunky football fascinated little man? And that’s exactly what we got…here’s a few pics of Garrett chanting ‘GO HOKIES!’ and then laying back on the couch imitating his Daddy. He did a great impersonation by the way.

Unfortunately, Bryan had to work during all the season opening action, but Garrett and I were ready to cheer our teams on even if they were inexperienced and off their game. We still love ya and promise never to be fair weather fans.

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