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Friday, October 31, 2008

Dying Happy




There is one Baylor Mascot that I love more than the others. His name is Judge (named after Judge Baylor, one of the founders of the university) and he is inflatable. During the football games I LOVE Watching him dance around, and wiggle his tail, wink his eye and bounce on his head.

Tonight, at the Homecoming Bonfire, I got to meet him. That's the photo above. I felt like a 5 year old little girl! I was so excited! I just kept giggling. I can sleep happy tonight, even though my hall did not win the homecoming decoration contest (LAME!).

More photos from Homecoming later! Tomorrow morning is the largest and oldest collegiate homecoming parade! So exciting.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Why I'm Voting for John McCain

With the election next week, and early voting happening this week, It's about time that I explain why I'm voting for McCain. For me it's all about the issues:

Abortion

I strongly oppose abortion in all cases. Some research tells us that 93% of all abortions in the United States happen out of social convenience i.e. child is unwanted or inconvenient. This leaves 7% of woman who have abortions because of rape, incest, or threat to their own health. Also, a black woman is 3 times more likely to have an abortion than a white woman and a hispanic woman is 2 times more likely. Can you imagine what our country would be like if more of this children had a chance at life? Also, most woman who have abortions are under the age of 15 (did you know that judgment areas of the brain to do not fully mature until around age 25?).

I believe that parents and schools need to be doing a much more through job of educating students on the realities of being sexually active. Students need to know that contraceptives are not 100% sure, STDs are a reality (that men don't often know they have), and that abortion is not an easy answer. They also need to be taught about the gift of adoption. I also think parents need to know if their minor daughters have an abortion.

John McCain opposes abortion where as Barack Obama strongly favors abortion rights. Additionally, Obama does not favor allowing parents to be contacted when their daughters have an abortion. I wonder if he'll change his mind when his daughters hit high school. I also think it's ironic that Obama thinks women are capable of making decisions about the appropriateness of partial-birth abortion, however he does not think that people can make their own decisions about Social Security. So, just to clarify, women are capable of deciding if it's appropriate to brutially end the life of an otherwise vital human being, but humans in general cannot be trusted with their own social security. Fascinating (www.ontheissues.org).


Privatized Social Security

I think it's pretty clear that the government is not able to manage things in a responsible manner. Case in point- our country has a 455 billion dollar budget deficit (by the way, this did decrease during Bush's term, but increased after the Democratic Congress/Senate was elected). The last thing I want is to trust these people with my money, when they can't manage their own. Therefore, I want to make the decisions about where my money goes and how I save for retirement.

John McCain supports privatized Social Security where as Obama doesn't. See the last paragraphs of the abortion section to see his confidence in people.

Taxes

I think that taxes should be one percentage of an individual's income and that percentage should be the same for everyone. This method makes it a fair- the more you make the more you pay, and vice versa. I also am opposed to the death tax. How unfair that when a family loses someone, they have to pay taxes on what that person leaves behind. Especially, when those things have already been taxed at least once.

Obama's philosophy has been to take from those who have wealth, redistribute it to those who have needs. This sort of Robin Hood handout does nothing for the poverty in our country. We need to be supporting churches and other social organizations that provide opportunities for the "least of these" to be successful and self supporting. (See my post, "The Least of These")


I strongly believe that there are great social justice needs in our country and in our world. I believe that we as individuals are compelled to help with those needs and provide the same opportunities for everyone that we who are more privileged have. I don't think that means electing government officials to take money and redistribute it in whatever way they like. I think our country is best served by a government that trusts the people it serves and remembers that it serves them. A government that believes the people who elected it are intelligent enough to make some decisions for themselves and do good for others.

In closing, a friend of mine posted this on his facebook. I thought I'd share it here:



Reject the message, not the man
Ralph Bristol
October 23, 2008

People have asked me repeatedly why I don’t do more to help spread the word that raises doubts about Barack Obama’s citizenship, religion, and other basic elements of his life and relationships.

Here’s why.

If the American people want what Barack Obama is selling, then I don’t care whether we elect a Christian, God-fearing, conservative, free-market Republican or a transvestite Muslim illegal alien socialist.

An American population that wants what Barack Obama is selling deserves the worst that God, nature and ACORN can deliver.

Obama is selling a view of America that I find offensive to the greatness of my father’s generation and his father’s generation. Those generations had some pretty big warts, but that does not detract from their positive attributes that took America from an also ran on the international stage to the undisputed superpower of the world.

We inherited America from strong, self-reliant people.

We inherited America from a generation who believed that the hierarchy of welfare should be that you turn to your family first, then friends, then charity, and only as a last resort to the government, which must (and for which it has developed a voracious appetite) confiscate your neighbor’s property in order to help you.

Obama is selling a view of America that would bypass family, friends, neighbors, and charity and make government the first and only support group in most American’s lives.

He has even demonstrated, in his own life, that he will leave a family member to try to survive abject poverty, even as he promises to “spread the wealth around,” among Americans, through the federal income tax system.

Other countries have done that. In fact, MOST other countries have done that. None of those countries are the undisputed superpower of the world.

Unless the people of America, voting in a democratic election, electing a constitutional republic government, reject the future that Obama is selling, it won’t matter whether we buy it from Obama or whether we buy it from a salesman with all of the necessary, even pristine, credentials. The problem is not the salesman. The problem is the product.

If the only, or even the main, reason you oppose Barack Obama is his citizenship, his religion, his race, or even his many troublesome associations, then you and I are on the same side, but for reasons that are so distant that we simply can’t help each other. I’d rather not win this on technicalities.

I want the court of public opinion to tell me now, when I still have a chance to react, whether they want the America my father and his father gave me – the only America I’m interested in defending – to die now or live to fight another day.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What I've Been Doing. . .

Life has been good and busy! We are preparing for Baylor's Homecoming, which takes place the last weekend of October. Homecoming here is a big deal and thousands of Alumni descend on Waco to enjoy a weekend of festivities. For student life staff, the weekend starts weeks in advance. Each of the residence halls are charged with decorating the outside of their community for the weekend. A winner is determined from judging that happens on Wednesday. North Village won last year, and we are hoping to do so again. I have the Engineering and Computer Science Living Learning Center, so needless to say, they are creative and resourceful. This weekend they started building a paper mache bear that is 10 feet tall. I kid you not. There are some pictures from various work nights below. I'll be sure to post more as time goes on. You can also click on the link above to learn more about Baylor Homecoming.

I've also recently acquired a dog. Our Vice President and his family needed to give their dog away since they are rarely at home to care for him. He is a 6 year old Shiz Tzu/Poodle mix who's full name is Kentucky, but they called him Tuck for short. How fitting! Pictures of him are below as well.

Tonight is a meteor shower and some friends and I are going to drive to the country to watch it. We plan to bring blankets, dogs, and hot chocolate!

Til next time I hope you enjoy the show!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

My Etsy Shop

I've recently started an Etsy Shop. Etsy is a site where crafters and artists can post their products to sell. You can visit my shop here.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Every two weeks I wake up hating life.

Every other Tuesday morning I wake up hating my life because it's student worker time sheet day. This really should be a simple process, but it seems that most of the 33 students whose time sheets I approve seem to mess something up. I have to do it all by 12:30. And I dread it.

My saving grace is knowing that it is Double-Stamp Tuesday at Common Grounds. That means when I go get a cup of my most recent coffee addition, a No Bull, I get to stamps on my punch card. I'm currently three stamps away from my $3 off reward.

To make this particular Tuesday even better is the fact that it just started pouring down rain and I definitely didn't bring an umbrella to the office. Although it's grey and gross looking outside, i also know I won't be stepping into a lovely fall rain storm, but a humid mess.

Don't worry, life is still good. I have a great new dog, Baylor won their first conference game in 13 games, and is currently higher than A&M in conference standings. I love Baylor. I just hate Tuesdays- they are my new Mondays!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Free Purses

Friends-

I recently discoverd the launch of a new website called Handbag Planet. They are launching their site on October 15th, but in order to get some publicity they are giving away Free purses.

I kid you not- free ones! Go to their website and sign up and you get a free purse. They have some really cute ones too. I chose this one (click on it to go to the site):

Soundtrack of My Life


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