I feel ill

I have decided that extreme conservative blogs rank in the bottom, gunky crust of the internet, right above porn sites. Actually, they're more insidious than porn sites, because at least from the few times I've stumbled into the bad part of the Internet by mistake, these sites tend to have warning pages that have an "escape" button to Google or something. No such thing with extreme conservative blogs. You can waltz right in and think you're fine, until you're mentally mugged by support of the KKK and segregation, and raped by calls to pray for the death of Ted Kennedy (btw, whatever happened to love your neighbor?) I think I may now be scarred for life.
Okay, I was exaggerating, but still, stay away from blogs like "Shelly the Republican" if you value your health and sanity.

The new G. I. bill

In short, we need a new one. It doesn't matter whether you support the war fanatically, or think the absolute best thing to do would be to get the hell out now, you cannot deny that we as a nation have an obligation to do all we can to honor those who put their lives on the line to defend those of us who were too afraid, too physically weak, or too against the war to go and fight.
I laugh when I hear McCain talk about how we can't afford the bill's $5 billion budget. what is the cost of the war now... $175 billion per month? or year? I can't remember exactly, but either way a new GI bill is a drop in the bucket compared to the war. And this coming from a war veteran... very disappointed in you, McCain. Very disappointed.

Things I'll Never Understand Part 1: One Night Stands

All right. This will the first in a series of things that, for reasons of logic, personal distaste, or sheer lack of ability, I don't think I will ever be able to understand. This does not necessarily imply that I think the items covered here are bad (Though I do for some, such as this one. These will usually be the logic-based ones).
Anyway, part one: The concept of the one-night stand. I don't know about you, but I think "private parts" are called that for a reason. I'm not some puritanical prude who faints and/or vomits at the sheer idea of anyone having sex outside of a monogamous marriage, but let's use a bit of common sense here. This is not 1908. There are a lot more venereal diseases out there than there were 100 years ago. Personally, I am not all that attracted to the idea of sticking my genitals into the genitals of anyone I don't already have a deep emotional relationship with, and I trust to not be carrying something that at best could make my life a lot more miserable than it has to be, and at worst could kill me.
Plus, why is sex such a damn big deal anyway? Granted it's supposed to feel nice, but there's plenty of things to do in a relationship without jumping straight to sex. Maybe if the media could find money in showing the less physical sides of relationships, we could control our hormones a little more. On the other hand, maybe we should just try harder.

No Child Left Behind.

You know, for all the Republicans going on about the Democrats having a defeatist attitude about Iraq, they seem to have a really strong defeatist attitude about public schools.
Take the No Child Left Behind act. While boosting our public education is without a doubt a good thing, the way they go about it is all wrong. Why take away money from schools that are doing poorly? Sanctions I can understand. Penalties I can understand. But money–when money may be one of the things the schools need to pull themselves out of the hole–is one of the worst penalties to inflict.
Of course, Republicans have this nice little attachment to private schools, so maybe they don't care so much. Then there are also the libertarians like Ron Paul and Bob Barr that honestly don't care too much and that the Feds shouldn't get involved.
More on this after I get the chance to do some research on the topic.

Dr. Seuss slideshow

Another video I created for Youtube.

I bet most people don't even know that Dr. Seuss made political cartoons. They do seem to fit his style, though, don't they?

On the Right to Privacy

Conservatives claim that Americans do not have a right to privacy when putting down Roe vs. Wade.
What a bunch of crap.
Honestly, it seems that the only parts of the Bill of Rights that people actually care about are the 1st, 2nd, and 5th amendments. While the right of free speech, religion, the press and assembly, the ability to bear arms, and the right to not testify against yourself are all important, they are not by any means the only parts of the Bill of Rights.
Read this article. You don't even have to read the whole thing, just the beginning. Then ask yourself if there is a constitutional right to privacy.
Obviously, the answer is yes, indirectly.

My video

Tis is a Kingdom Hearts video that I made a few weeks back. Enjoy!

McCain has an edge...duh.

I just got back from a trip to Chicago to look at Northwestern University as well as for my sister's dance competition (actually the main reason). This morning, in the Chicago Tribune, I saw an article headlined "Obama's 2-front battle has given McCain an edge." Wow. I had no idea that by having to focus on winning the battle against Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama had been forced to give important ground to John McCain's attacks. It's not like anyone with just a little understanding of politics could figure out. Granted, the article itself had some decent content, but please, editors, try to come up with something a little less obvious?
Actually, now that I think about it... this matters just about not at all. Oh well.