gun control...

I was reading an article in The Week Magazine online regarding the Virginia Tech killings and subsequent thoughts on gun control when I came upon this paragraph:


Really? That seems like the best solution? Hmm. Not the conclusion I would have drawn.

the process by which groups make decisions

I was listening to NPR this morning and on Morning Edition they were interviewing Tom Delay about his new book 'No Retreat, No Surrender.' Now I don't claim to be a connoisseur of politics, though I'm continuing to better educate myself with each passing election.

Anyway, one thing that kind of surprised me was when Tom Delay was talking in the interview about how he hadn't wanted to meet with Democrats regarding some issue, and said something to the effect of "Why would I want to converse with the enemy?"

My question is this - Is this a commonly held belief that members of your opposing political party are "the enemy?" I understand opposing view points, and I have several friends who are quite liberal and several friends who are quite conservative, so I'm expecting some responses. I just think that "enemy" is taking conflicting views to the extreme.


Thoughts?

newsworthy

I don't write about Paris Hilton. Not because I intentionally want to leave her out of my blogging as some sort of vindictive way of saying, "Ha! I'll show you Paris! Not one of my 3 readers will ever think about your rich face whilst browsing MY entries!!" but because she never crosses my mind unless she's on a news website where I update my knowledge on the world or if someone else is talking about her. I think that almost everything she's involved in is not in any way newsworthy. Entertainment gossip magazines is one thing. But CNN? MSNBC? Really?

Anyway, on CNN.com this morning I read this article about how starting on Feb. 19th, the Associated Press was going on a weeklong Paris Hilton ban wherein they would write nothing of her countless escapades. They were talking about anticipating the reaction to such a bold move, which was funny to me, because I'm not sure I would even notice.

This paragraph explains:

And this was the part of that section that made me laugh out loud at my desk:

Oh, how I love hilarious people.

get ready to DANCE west virginia!

IM from co-worker at 1:32pm today:
Due to childhood obesity problems in West Virginia, every public school in the state is getting a Dance Dance Revolution machine. Every school.

Proof.

If the BBC says it's true, it's gotta be true.

living fossil...

Check out this article on a rare shark they found in Japan. CRAZY!! Watch the video, too. It's hard to believe something like this exists and we've never seen it. Oh, this world...

news and notes

Two things I find interesting and both of which I heard whilst listening to NPR in the past two days:

1. Pizza Patrón (alias: Best Pizza in all the Land), a local pizza chain is accepting pesos until the end of February on a trial basis. When I was living in Rodeo Town (think popular barbecue sauce), we used to go there all the time, and my mom was friends with one of the owners. She drove a Miata.
Pizza Patrón!

2. For the first time in a decade, a bill is being proposed to raise minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. Geez-o-Peets! But is it enough? There's been talk of indexing minimum wage to move with inflation. Will they do it?
Minimal Wage.....oops?

That reminds me of when I worked at blockbuster a mere 7.5 years ago, and I thought that starting out at $5.85 was a step in the right direction. What speaks of my "power" in the company more than costing $0.70 more an hour than the average Video Joe? Not much........not much.

come-uppance

come·up·pance
n.
A punishment or retribution that one deserves; one's just deserts. (I think we should all use the phrase "just deserts" more often, don't you agree?)

I had to drive to Central Market to take some pictures of their parking lot for a photoshop project at work today, and on the way back to the office, I turned on NPR. They were talking about how media reporters have really gotten their come-uppance with the rise in popularity of the internet. There are just too many news voices out there, and newspaper journalists and media reporters are getting lost in the shuffle of popular bloggers and other news discussing sites.

I see that in my own life. I come to work and I look on cnn.com. Other than the "ARCTIC BLAST" heard 'round the metroplex, I don't remember the last time I actually watched the news on tv. And the last time I read a newspaper regularly was when I worked at MBNA and would pass the mind numbing hours enriching my vocabulary as well as my ability to think "outside" of the box(es) via the crossword puzzle. Of the New York Times persuasion, might I add.

Anybuns, one of the points they made that I found rather interesting - and true - is that the internet has broken down many of the cultural barriers once present between rural and urban areas. Clothing, jargon, knowledge of current pop-culture as well as newsworthy stories now span this once great divide. Kids in towns with no movie theaters are becoming indestinguishable from kids in urban areas.

Interesting. We've come so far. Thanks, Lisa.



Who remembers looking at this?

haggard times

On my favorite new website, they had an insightful post about all the recent exposure to come out of Colorado.

Thought it was worth posting.

Today is a great day, incidentally. Rainy days seem to be my favorite these days. Great for opening up the shades, walking outside and just smelling the freshness. It's pretty awesome.