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| So on our way to my doctor's appointment today, this guy I guess didn't secure all these wood planks correctly in the back of his truck. Most of it fell out in the middle of an intersection. So he pulled off to the side a little ways ahead and walks back to the wood and starts picking it up and pulling it to the side of the road so he can load it back into his truck. This man wa probably in his late 60's, didn't look all that strong, and there was a lot of wood. He could only pick up about 3 planks at a time and he was having trouble doing that. I wanted to get out and help him, but before I could even mention it to Chris, two girls pulled their car over and started helping him. Then 2 men and a woman walked across the street from the doctor's office parking lot and started helping him. Then another car paused next to the truck and 2 girls about 13 jumped out of the car and started helping him. Within about 2 minutes there were almost 10 people pulling the wood off to the side of the road, reloading it in the guys truck, and resecuring it. It was just so cool that so many people stopped in the middle of their day, some probably on lunch breaks from work, to help this older man. Just goes to show there are still some good people in this world. 39 weeks pregnant! Looks like Peyton is going to ride it out until at least the due date. | | |
| I actually got my rainy day today! There's nothing better than a rainy day at home when you aren't feeling well. It almost feels like a fall day today. The temperature can't be higher than 60, kind of windy, no sun... how strange. I'm kind of excited about winter. That's probably only because if everything goes according to plan, I may actually get some warm/cute clothes to wear this winter. If nothing else, this winter will definitely not be like last winter. That may have been the worst thing ever: nauseous all the time because of the pregnancy, no heat in the house at all except a space heater in 1 room, lived out in the middle of nowhere... bleh. it was bad. this year i won't be nauseous all of the time, we will definitely have heat, and we most certainly do not live in the middle of nowhere. AND we'll have Peyton! which just makes everything that much more exciting. Another Doctor appointment today. I'm officially 38 weeks! She's almost here!! | | |
| I've been avoiding this 25 things about me post because I wasn't sure I wanted to post 25 current things about me on the internet, but I've decided I'm ready to do that. Oooooookie dokie. Here we go. 1. My long term career goal is to making a sufficient living as a musician. I feel like I'm extremely far from reaching that goal, but looking back over the past couple years it's obvious I have made progress. Which is very exciting. I would be happy just making a sufficient living as a musician. Of course, I would love to do something like play on the Grammies. Always thought that would be super cool. 2. I live in a small town of about 1600 people (hopefully we're moving soon... I don't much care for it) with my new little family. Right now, my family consists of my boyfriend Chris and our dog Shai. I don't think I would know what to do without the two of them. They give me even more of a reason to get up every morning and do the best that I can at everything I do. I love them both with all my heart (even though they both steal the covers at night). 3. Chris and I are having a baby. We won't know if it's a boy or a girl for another 5 or 6 weeks, but the baby is due on August 12. I am very excited about it and Chris is even more excited than I am. While I am a little scared, I think Chris and I are going to be great parents. Or at least realistic parents. Everyone makes mistakes, I know we'll make ours. Hopefully we'll manage to avoid the big mistakes. ..... I'll give everyone just a moment to let that sink in.... .... moving on... 4. I can't stand Hannah Montana. And really that's only partially true. It has nothing to do with the fact that Chris plans his evening television schedule around watching her show, by the way. It has more to do with the fact that she is 16 years old and Forbes Magazine claims she made $25 million between July 2007 and July 2008. SHE IS 16 YEARS OLD. It's just such crap. She'll never have to bus a table or juggle her bills, she just gets everything she wants. Not saying that I want all of my desires handed to me on a silver platter, and I'm not saying she just put in some hard work at what she does. It just kills me that I'm 21 years old and can barely get gigs playing at restaurants (when I'm NOT serving tables mind you) and this 16 year old gets a chance at these great auditions and gets to play at the Grammies. I guess it really isn't just Hannah Montana, it's all of these Disney child stars that don't know how great they have it. They'll never appreciate the opportunities they've been given. Although who am I to judge. Maybe they do appreciate their lives and I'm just supremely jealous of their success. Definitely a possibility. 5. I love sushi. And I miss it so much (it's on my list of things I can't eat during pregnancy). The first place the baby is going after it's born is to a sushi bar. Alright maybe not the baby, but that's where I'm going. I'll just meet Chris at the house after the delivery. Sure, that sounds realistic. 6. Chris, Christina, and I have all agreed that I will probably be the parent that embarrasses our kid the most. I guess I saw that coming though. 7. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. I don't mean to. I tried very hard for a couple of years to be a big badass that didn't get emotional, but I think I failed at that. Not that I'm super emotional. I personally think I'm pretty chill when it comes to that stuff. I guess what I mean is I'm not fake. As Chris put it, everyone one I know could probably write a pretty decent paragraph about my life including a few of my concerns and opinions. I'm just honest I guess. I get it from my mom. 8. I am very excited about Obama being elected. I think he has the chance to be one of the greatest presidents we've ever had and so far I think he's doing a great job. (By the way, I heard someone put a scavenger hunt together for his two daughters. At the very end, the Jonas Brothers were jamming out in one of the rooms of the White House. They said secret service didn't look to pleased about all the noise and the girls screaming and jumping up and down. Good stuff though.) 9. I was none too pleased with Bush being elected. Twice. I can understand voters making the mistake in 2001. He seemed like a nice guy. Dumb as rocks, but who wouldn't want to go get a beer with W.? But really? He got elected AGAIN in 2004? Either that election was rigged or people really are as dumb as I thought they were. I did however think it was pretty great of him to say in his speech right before leaving the White House that he apologized for the mistakes he made. He said that he wasn't trying to make excuses, but when you have the corporations that put you in office coming at you as well as your own party, it's hard to make the right decision sometimes. He went on to say that if he had followed his heart from the very beginning, we wouldn't be in any of the messes we are right now. Again, I wish people had been smart enough not to elect him in 2004, but at least he had the courage to come forward and admit he made some mistakes. Oh! And my favorite part of his speech was when he looked at the media and told them to leave Obama alone. They made everything seem a lot worse in the last 8 years and Obama deserves a fair chance at being a good president. He said, "All I ask is that everyone give him the chance to make his own decisions, to make the right decisions." Something to that effect anyway. 10. Wow. I'm only on number 10. I don't know that I'm interesting enough for 25 things..... Hmm. #10. My all time favorite band is The Beatles. My current favorite bands are The Foo Fighters and The Fray. My all time favorite singer is Christina Aguilera. I don't listen to her as much anymore because I think her latest album is crap, but I love all of her other albums. By the way, did anyone see Christina Aguilera on SNL? She played Samantha Jones in a Sex in the City parody and told everyone that she is really a man. Absolutely hilarious. 11. I work as a server at a sports bar in Buford. That place is my second home and everyone there is family to me. I really don't like serving tables, but I do like making fun of people who do stupid things. So for me, serving tables involves making fun of the big muscl-y guy that orders water until he orders a beer. The tab goes up, my tip goes up, and I have fun making fun of someone. Good stuff. Sarcasm really does increase your tips. 12. My favorite television show is Burn Notice. Michael Westin (main character) is just so cool and calm all the time. Not to mention he's sarcastic. Good stuff. I wish I could be like him. I also like watching Family Guy, The Simpsons, and The Office. Occasionally I flip on the news. Yes, I'm the dork that watches the news when I can and reads the newspaper when I have one. We all already knew I was a dork. 13. I've been making a book for my future children since I was 15 years old. I always had trouble taking advice from my parents as a teenager because when were THEY ever my age. Of course (and don't tell them.... or at least mom, don't tell dad) there are a few bits of advice I wish I had listened to... Therefore, I began putting together a book when I was 15 telling my future children of the problems I was going through and what I did to fix the problem or what I should've done to fix the problem. I figure it will be a lot easier for them to listen to the 15 year old version of me when they are 15 than the 35 year old version of me. I'll let you know if that works out. I've heard the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; if that's true, with the amount of trouble Chris and I have both gotten into (Chris has a much longer record than me, so for those of you who have been around to see the trouble I'VE gotten into....), it looks like we're in for quite the trouble making child. Hopefully not though. Hopefully our kids will take after... my mom. :) I did, just not before I took after my dad for a little while. 14. Although number 10 doesn't necessarily reflect this one, jazz and blues are my absolute favorite types of music. I feel engulfed in love and excitement and freedom when I listen to jazz or blues. That's the only way I know how to describe my feelings about it. Blues is the reason I became I musician in the first place. 15. From last May until I found out about the pregnancy, I drank almost nothing but coffee. Granted, I had the various glasses of water throughout the day, but you could almost always find me with some sort of coffee drink. Now I haven't had coffee in.... well, 2 weeks, but before that I hadn't had coffee since November. Ish. Ok December. Whatever, it's been a long time for me! 16. Getting pregnant gave me even more of a reason to become a successful musician. My parents always told me that I could do whatever I want in life and I plan on telling my children the same thing. However, I'm going to feel like a huge hypocrite if I'm telling them this while working as a server instead of a musician. I can't believe how much my unborn child is inspiring me to follow my dreams. I haven't even had the kid yet and it's already changing my life. It doesn't even have a gender yet and it's changing my life. Amazing. Who knew? 17. I consider my mom to be my best friend (after you of course Chris). She's always there for me and I know I can tell her anything. Yes, once again, I am showing my dorky side. My mom and I probably email each other about 5 times a day on average. When I have access to a computer that is. If you can't have faith in your mom to be a good friend, who can you have faith in? 18. My dad inspires me to be a better musician. I don't practice nearly enough and when he tells me how much he's been practicing or about his piano lessons, I have to go sit down at the piano and play. He works so hard on his music, even after a long day at work, and you can hear the difference the practice makes. He gets better and better everyday and he was already really good to begin with. I hope someday I can be as good as he is. 19. I have always wanted to live near Orlando. It used to just be that I wanted to move to the beach in Florida, but I think it would be cool to work at Disney World as Cinderella or someone in those musicals they put on. Who knows? Maybe if I moved down there I could be the next Hannah Montana! Hmm.... either way I could go for being on the beach. Don't know that I want to be Hannah Montana... although lets not forget Christina Aguilera started out with Disney! Moving on... Moral of the story, I want to live at the beach. 20. I love driving manual cars. I think automatic cars are boring. I miss my 5 speed '95 Honda Civic. I loved that car so much. Too bad I was a dumb teen driver from time to time. Lets not talk about that. It makes me sad. 21. I hate cold weather. Like Whoa. If I could hibernate through winter (or move somewhere where there is no winter) I would SO do it. 22. These are getting less and less interesting. I bet I've lost readers by now. I was a vegetarian for about 2 years. Once I moved to the middle of nowhere I kind of had to give it up. Chris eats nothing but meat, plus vegetarian options are very slim in a town of 1600. Lets just say I'm willing to bet that 1599 people in my town prefer not to be a vegetarian. Slim pickings for me. 23. I went to Italy last year. It was incredible. Rome smelled funny, but Venice was so beautiful. I think I lost my roll of film from Venice though. Very upsetting. I thought it was so strange that people actually live down the street from the colosseum. You know? We reference the Big Chicken when giving directions. They tell people to take a right at the colosseum. The culture difference is just... neat. 24. I would love to publish a book someday. Some kind of fiction book. I think it would be fun, even if it only sold 2 copies. 25. Mmm.... one more thing...... Chris and I want to get married on the beach (how original). We want a small cheap ceremony and then we want to party into the night with a bonfire and music and dancing and drinking and lots of good food and good company and all that good stuff. That sounds like fun. We'll see about that though. That was a lot harder than I expected it to be. You guys should all try it. It's hard to come up with 25 things about yourself that you think other people will find interesting. I got lucky because I'm pregnant. That fluffed up my post a little bit. :) | | |
| Of course, if SOMEONE hadn't sent me home from work this morning, no one's day would be fucked up. But that's cool. Here's another article. 1991 CNN Report: Secret Succession Plans Would Grant Cheney Special Authorities During Disaster
by Devlin Buckley
July 21, 2008
Theamericanmonitor.blogspot.com "In the United States of America there is a hidden government about which you know nothing." So begins a revealing television exposeé aired by CNN in 1991. The hour-long Special Assignment presented the findings of a yearlong CNN investigation into the ultra-secretive Continuity of Government (COG) program, commonly referred to as the "doomsday government" or the "shadow government". The COG program was originally designed in the 1950s to ensure the survival of the federal government in the event of a nuclear attack. The highly secretive emergency plans were substantially upgraded during the 1980s and have become a focus point of the current administration, particularly since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The COG program, which until recent years was believed to be reserved for nuclear disasters, was officially activated for the first time during the 9/11 attacks. The program, according to the most recent reports, was never completely shut down. Portions of the "shadow government" are presumably still operating to this day. Recent efforts to reform and expand the emergency protocols, according to the best available reports, have been led by Vice President Dick Cheney, who played a major role in the COG program during the Reagan Administration. The underground program is historically run out of the office of the Vice President through a clandestine agency, identified by CNN as the National Program Office (NPO). In 1991, CNN found the Continuity of Government program and National Program Office to be rife with waste, fraud, and abuse. The CNN report also disclosed the existence of a secret succession plan that would allow individuals outside of government to take positions of power in the event of a national emergency. According to the traditional legal line of succession, should the President of the United States be killed or incapacitated the Vice President will take his place, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Secretary of State, all the way down to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the most recently added Secretary of Homeland Security. According to CNN, however, the COG program maintains its own "top secret" succession plan, known only to a few select individuals. Once activated, the alternative succession plan, known officially as the Presidential Successor Support System, or PS3, would suspend the traditional line of succession and allow a small group of officials to appoint a new government. CNN revealed the names of several individuals that could assume power should the plan be put into effect. These included current Vice President Dick Cheney, former White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker, former CIA Director Richard Helms, former ambassador and National Security Council member Jeane Kirkpatrick, former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director James Schlesinger, former Attorney General and National Security Council member Edwin Meese, former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, and the late former congressman Tip O'Neill. "In the event of disaster," CNN reported, "one of them could become president." Critics with knowledge of the program said the secret plans violated the Constitution. "When you compare this program with the Constitution," one high-level government official said, "the two don't match up." The COG plans, according to this source, "could put the American system of checks and balances in the deep freeze." William Van Alstyne, a constitutional scholar from Duke University, said the program's secrecy undermined its credibility. "If no one knows in advance what the line of succession is meant to be," he noted, "then almost by hypothesis no one will have any reason to believe that those who claim to be exercising that authority in fact possess it." | | |
| A little bit of Incubus never hurt anybody. In fact, it always makes me feel better. I'm a little irked today. Just a bit. Tonight will be an interesting shift at work. (those left standing will make millions writing books on the way it should have been...) ha. I used to do that all the time. Insert little piece of lyrics of the song I'm listening to while making an entry. I think I'm bringing that back. I applied for a ground level job at the AJC. I would love to break into a newspaper. The lady I spoke with told me the AJC definitely gives you the opportunity to work your way up. I can do that. I hope I get that job. I put on the application that I'm majoring in journalism and all the fun stuff that goes along with that. I suppose we'll see. Send some good energy my way! I need a bass. I had to pawn mine to survive, but I miss playing. I'd say that piano, singing, and bass are my three favorite instruments. They're just badass to play. I don't care who you are, that's just good stuff right there. (so don't let the world bring you down....... not everyone here is that fucked up and cold. remember why you came and while you're alive, experience the warmth before you grow old...) cnn articles of the day: House weighs overturning 'don't ask, don't tell'  var clickExpire = "-1"; WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A House panel weighed overturning the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy Wednesday, the first time Congress has considered the rule since it was implemented 15 years ago.  Eric Alva, a former Marine sargeant who lost his leg in the Iraq war, is openly gay. var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2008/POLITICS/07/23/dontask.donttell/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html',1,1);//CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html'); The policy, adopted in 1993, allows gay and lesbian individuals to serve in the armed forces as long as they do not publicly engage in homosexual behavior. The law also prevents military leaders from asking a service member about his or her sexual orientation. Congress implemented the "don't ask, don't tell" law after President Clinton backed away from a plan to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military. The armed forces' most senior officers resisted the plan, saying they feared that homosexuals would disrupt unit cohesion and morale. The House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee was considering a bill by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-California, that would repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 75 percent of respondents supported allowing gays to serve openly in the military, up from 62 percent in 2001 and 44 percent in 1993. Rep. Susan Davis, the California Democrat who chairs the subcommittee, said, "many Americans who happen to be gay or lesbian want to answer our nation's call to service, and allowing them to serve in an open and honest manner would uphold the ideals of military service." During the hearing, two gay former service members -- former Navy Capt. Joan Dorrah and former Marine Sgt. Eric Alva -- testified against the current law, arguing that unit cohesion would not be hurt if homosexuals served openly. Alva, a 13-year Marine veteran, was one of the first service members wounded in the Iraq war and lost a leg. He said his unit's ability to function was not hurt when other service members learned of his orientation. "My being gay, and even many of my colleagues knowing about it, didn't damage unit cohesion," Alva said. "They still put their lives in my hands, and when I was injured, they risked those lives to save mine." Retired Army Maj. Gen. Vance Coleman, a black man who joined the Army when it was segregated, testified that the current treatment of gays and lesbians is similar to how African-Americans were treated before President Truman integrated the military in 1948. "I know what it is like to be thought of as a second-class citizen, and I know what it is like to have your hard work dismissed because of what you are or what you look like," Coleman said. Coleman said the nation's security was hurt because gay and lesbians were either dismissed from the service or were reluctant to join the military, noting that five dozen Arabic language experts have been dismissed. " 'Don't ask, don't tell' hurts our military readiness," Coleman said. "It undermines our commitment to being a nation where we are all equal in the eyes of the law. And it ties the hands of commanders who want to welcome and retain America's best and brightest into the military fold." But Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness said that allowing gays to serve openly in the military would be disruptive. She said service members often have to live in close quarters while on tour, which would open them to "inappropriate passive/aggressive actions common in the homosexual community, short of physical touching and assault." "Such a policy would impose new, unneeded burdens of sexual tension on men and women serving in high pressure working conditions, far from home, that are unlike any occupation in the civilian world," Donnelly said. Brian Jones, a retired sergeant major in the Army, also argued that allowing gays to serve publicly could hurt recruiting. "Allowing homosexuality in the military would cause unnecessary sexual tension and disruptions to good order, morale, discipline and unit cohesion," Jones said. "This would erode the very qualities of military service that presently appeal to potential recruits." Davis argued that the portions of the military code that cover sexual conduct of service members would also cover homosexual activity and that any inappropriate conduct by an openly gay individual would be punished by commanders. Tauscher said she did not expect her bill repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy to pass this year because of opposition from the current administration, The Associated Press reported. "We need a new president in order to get this passed," Tauscher said, referring to presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, the AP reported. The presumed Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, supports keeping the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Obama looks to turn Georgia blue var clickExpire = "-1"; ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday campaigned in Georgia, a Republican-leaning state that his campaign hopes to turn blue.  Sen. Barack Obama hopes to become the first Democrat to carry Georgia since 1992. "It's good to be in Georgia," Obama told a crowd in Powder Springs. "I've often said that I'm running for president to put the American dream within reach for every American. And that means making sure that if you work hard, you'll be able to build a better life not just for yourself, but for your children and grandchildren." Obama's campaign is hoping his message will resonate with Georgians in a state that has voted Republican in five of the last six presidential elections.  Check out the electoral map » The last Democrat to carry the state in a presidential election was Bill Clinton in 1992. Georgia was also the only Southern state to support President Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia, in his 1980 re-election bid against Ronald Reagan.  Watch CNN's Tom Foreman report on Obama's red state push » Georgia political observers said Tuesday that Obama has a chance of winning the state in November, but only if the political winds are at his back. Watch how Obama's trying to win Georgia » Obama has made some major ad buys in the state. He spent more than $213,000 on campaign ads between April and June, while John McCain's campaign spent nothing, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, CNN's consultant on television political advertising. "I think what Obama knows is that a bad economy under a Republican president creates opportunities for Democrats everywhere," said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst. A win for Obama could be in the works if he is able to mobilize his supporters and if Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr, a former Georgia GOP congressman, can chip away at McCain's base, experts say. "If [Bob Barr] gets votes anywhere, he's likely to get them from Georgia, and most of his votes are likely to come at McCain's expense," Schneider said. "If you've got Barr taking votes from the Republicans, and you've got a heavy African-American vote for the Democrats, Georgia could be in play." Georgia has more African-Americans than any other state except Texas and New York, and could soon surpass them. Obama won the state's Democratic primary on February 5 with more than 700,000 votes -- including almost nine out of every 10 African-American Democrats. In the Republican primary, McCain received just under 305,000 votes, and lost the state to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. During the primary season, McCain had trouble winning over some evangelical voters -- an important part of his party's base in Georgia. Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University, said he thinks Obama could carry the state, but to do so the Illinois Democrat would need national momentum on his side. Then Georgia "falls into the column," he said. Swint said he thinks that Obama has a much better chance of picking up Virginia -- another Southern state that voted for President Bush in 2000 and 2004, but has been trending Democratic in the past few years. "I actually think he has a chance in Virginia, and that is saying a lot," Swint said. "North Carolina and Georgia are going to be tougher and that is because he needs to get a certain percentage of white, middle class voters to actually win the state, and that is going to be tough for any liberal Democratic candidate." Virginia's 13 electoral votes are up for grabs, according to a CNN analysis of the electoral map. Georgia has 15 electoral votes. The Republicans are well aware of Obama's attempts to claim victory in Georgia. Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss held a conference call with reporters Monday ahead of Obama's visit and pointed to a recent poll that shows McCain with a 10-point lead in their state. The Atlanta Journal Constitution published an editorial Tuesday headlined, "Obama tries to make Georgia seem in play; it isn't." "If Obama wins Georgia, he'll occupy the White House," conservative AJC columnist Jim Wooten wrote. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe unveiled the campaign's 50-state strategy last month. They plan to campaign in every state -- even the ones that have been Republican strongholds for decades. Plouffe said that the goal going forward was to play off the enthusiasm to recruit volunteers, solicit donations and -- perhaps most importantly -- register voters and make sure they turn out in November. Plouffe acknowledged that several core Republican states, like Texas, won't be in play but said they will staff them nonetheless to help with the large grassroots efforts that have arisen. McCain's strategy to defend the red states is two-fold, according to Schneider. "He says two things -- One: I'm a conservative. Two: I'm not Bush," Schneider said. | | |
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