Awesome.

San Diego

Ah. The big city. Natalie and I are here for her ten year high school reunion.

Games

I came across the oddest, yet addicting collection of little games ever!  
Thanks to Kim!  It’s amazing what you come across when you’re blog-bouncing.

Awakening

I came across these lyrics and it struck me as the awakening of a Liberal turning Conservative.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

I am not like I was before
I thought that nothing would change me
I was not listening anymore
Still you continued to affect me

I was not thinking anymore
Although I said I still was
I'd said "I don't want anymore"
Because of bad experience

But now I feel so different
I feel so different
I feel so different

I have not seen freedom before
And I did not expect to
Don't let me forget now I'm here
Help me to help you to behold you

I started off with many friends
And we spent a long time talking
I thought they meant every word they said
But like everyone else they were stalling

And now they seem so different
They seem so different
They seem so different

I should have hatred for you
But I do not have any
And I have always loved you
Oh you have taught me plenty

The whole time I'd never seen
All you had spread before me
The whole time I'd never seen
All I'd need was inside me

Now I feel so different
I feel so different
I feel so different

I feel so different
I feel so different

Feel So Different, Sinead O'Connor


Wake up Dem-Followers.  Your leaders are just buying their time, claiming they are your friends and looking out for you.  But the truth is all they want is your vote.  They don’t really care what the their efforts do to our country.

Grantipatico

Everyone say hi to Grant!

(Sorry... just playing with my camera phone --> blog posting)

Did you know you could post a picture and/or message straight to your blog from you cell phone?

The Blame Game

While politicians and the media alike play the blame game, the inconvenient facts always seem to get lost, and/or ignored, in the shuffle.  Case-and-point: Hurricane Katrina relief.  While corpses are floating down the street and starving, homeless people are awaiting their help, high-profile attention-mongers are quick to point the finger at who is responsible for this devastation.  Was it President Bush’s fault the levees broke, the poor populous didn’t escape the wrath of nature, and relief efforts were slow to arrive?  Or did the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans wait to long to ask for help?  Maybe FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) didn’t have a clue what to do, or the Department of Homeland Security—FEMA’s parent organization—was unprepared even after the wake of 9/11, leading us to believe they have accomplished nothing in the last few years.  

Let’s review the facts.

August 28:
President Bush declares a State of Emergency for Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina is classified a Cat-5.  This allows state and local government of Louisiana to coordinate with FEMA and organize pre-emptive disaster relief efforts.  FEMA prepares food, water, and medical supplies and personnel for the disaster.  The governor can also mobilize the National Guard at anytime, even without this declaration.  

The public is given an optional-mandatory evacuation order.  They are told to leave, but can stay if they want or can’t get out.  Emergency shelters are established for those who don’t have the means to leave.

Question: If the public was unable to get out on their own, why weren’t they provided the means?  How many public transportation vehicles were left idle during this time?

August 29:
Hurricane Katrina hits while stubborn citizens lay-in-wait at home for their chance to brave the storm.  (Who’s going to win?)

August 30:
The neglected levees break from the pressure of storm-water run-off.  New Orleans is consumed by the flood created by this break.

FEMA and the Red Cross are a mere mile away with food, water, and medical relief; but the state’s Department of Homeland Security (that’s right, the state agency—not the federal) denies FEMA and Red Cross access to the area for fear that the aided public would not leave the area, but rather attract more people looking for aid.

August 31:
The Governor of Louisiana meets with President Bush on Air Force One where the President offers more Federal assistance.  The Governor asks for twenty-four hours to decide.  (WHAT?!?)

Need I continue?  There was, is, and will be a continuous breakdown of good judgment and common sense at the state and local levels of Louisiana.  And now the incompetence of these officials to maintain their jurisdiction and protect the public has cost the lives of thousands.  

What I want to know is why the President of the United States is to blame for the ineptness of one state of fifty, one city of thousands, and a few officials of millions.