Strbellysneetch’s Weblog

Thirteen wonderful quotes

1. If you and I are having a single thought of violence or hatred against anyone in the world at this moment, we are contributing to the wounding of the world. Deepak Chopra
2. It’s very different because the Indians live as if they are their souls and Americans live as if they are their egos. Ram Dass
3. Were it not a fact of experience that supreme values reside in the soul, psychology would not interest me in the least, for the soul would then be nothing but a miserable vapor. Carl Jung
4. Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit. Khalil Gibran
5. There is often a big disparity between the way in which we perceive things and the way things really are. 14th Dalai Lama
6. One of the most difficult things is not to change society - but to change yourself. Nelson Mandela
7. The strong man is not the good wrestler; the strong man is only the one who controls himself when he is angry. Muhammad
8. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
   Maya Angelou
9. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. Erica Jong
10. Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes.” Clare Boothe Luce
11. I think it’s about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we’ve been voting for boobs long enough. Clarie Sargent
12. I wish someone would have told me that, just because I’m a girl, I don’t have to get married. Marlo Thomas
13. I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman. Anais Nin

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Kelly, Penelope Anne

But I will do so here. Prior to today I had never attended a caucus. I label it as embarrasing because I feel that anyone that actually cares should be at them. I like to think of myself as someone who cares…and have for a while, so it’s silly that I had yet to attend one. I had planned to be at this one for sure.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Obama was overwhelmingly favored in my immediate district (well, and apparently he’s generally favored in the entire state). And no, I’m not just voting for her because she’s a woman. Obama is a powerful speaker…he gets to people, and people respond to that. But between the two of them, she has more experience, she already knows from inside out how D.C. works.

What I actually enjoyed the most about it, is that I sat there with my neighbors that were all within a few blocks of me, talking about all this. I’m part of a community, and today I got to interact with the community members that actually care. Not to mention, I met the neighbors that live in the house right in front of me. One of them was chosen by us for a delegate to go on. And I’m pretty sure that I’m going to go along for the ride with them just to see what happens. (I offered to be a delegate but we could only choose one-we were the minority in our district-and she was way more experienced so I deferred to her).

I had a really good time today.   

That the artist singing the song doesn’t probably know either about some of these things (and not that I know personally about all of them either); but despite my distaste of popular culture, I really like this song:

"Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let’s pretend we’re just two people and
You’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
They’re all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know nothing ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You’d never take a walk with me.
Would you?"

Artist: Pink

Composer: Billy Mann

You should listen to it here…(because it also has the Indigo Girls…and I heart them a whole lot)

I probably had it correct with just not watching popular news and obtaining it through my own means (qualiy news, that is). Oh well. I had a good run. I just have to start it over is all.

It sort of started with a boo-hoo story about how "girls" are more likely to get into college because…they do better:

By the time college admissions come into the picture, many watchers of the "boy gap" agree, it’s too late for the lads to catch up on their own. Indeed, beginning in those formative K-12 years, girls watch less television, spend less time playing sports, and are far less likely to find themselves in detention. They are more likely to participate in drama, art, and music classes—extracurriculars that are catnip for admissions officers.

U.S. News reports that some colleges are now failing to admit appropriate women in lieu of admitting men in order to avoid a gender gap. Now…wait just a minute here. If memory serves there are European American men out there that at some point have felt that equal opportunity did them wrong. Interesting, how the tables turn, isn’t it?

It didn’t take long though, to take a dramatic turn into dog info. Not that I don’t love dogs (I mean, really…I have a zoo of them in my home). But are general statistics on dogs what should really be important in the evening news? Can people not find this stuff out on their own? As a matter of fact, can people not figure it out on their own for that matter? They felt it was important to tell whoever was watching this evening that labradors are the most popular dog according to the American Kennel Club. No shit. Again, not that I don’t seriously heart dogs…but aren’t there more relevant things people should know when they blithely tune into and space out on the news? News flash…they’re also one of the breeds with the highest incidents of biting humans; only because they’re so popular. That’s statistics. That’s not really newsworthy.

NBC News deemed it really important to add a piece on how to correctly pronounce "Nevada" so as not to offend the locals. Really? They’re responsible for the armpit that is Reno…but we should be primarily concerned on a Wednesday evening with how to pronounce the state name?

In conclusion, there was also a story done on abuse of power by an on duty officer. This was disappointing, not because it was reported on the news, but because it is just indicative of the question…as humans are we really capable in general of dealing with any type of power without abusing it? I realize of course that not all of those indowed with power abuse it…but for case and point, check out the Stanford Mock Prison study.

The news as displayed on popular channels is seriously disappointing in so many ways. It is precisely why that is not my main source of what is going on in the world.   

Watch this movie.

You too, will probably realize that we seriously suck.

If I am ever in a situation where I am dealing with a child,  I will refuse to live here. That’s all I have to say about that.