Okay, so the big news of today is that Gadhafi has been killed. Whether this huge gamble that our government has decided to take will pay off or not has yet to be seen, and will take quite some time to see. What’s the gamble? What’s the guarantee that who we install as the new leader of any nation that we decide to stick our nose in and intervene with, doesn’t turn out to be worse than the leader that we kill and replace?
Anyways, back to the title. I’ve seen photos of Gadhafi dead. No one has seen photos of bin Laden dead. Why’s this? Could it be that in a very desperate attempt at pulling up his poll numbers, President Obama thought that “killing” bin Laden would help, and that proof would never really be needed by the people? Could it be, that you can’t take photos of someone that’s recently been claimed killed when they’ve either been dead for years, still alive, or maybe even still not located?
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the past few weeks, planning a return trip to DC. I need to get away again, and just let some of the things that’s going on at home go, even if for just a few days. Last time was a spur of the moment trip–a trip to see if it would be worth planning tours and such, which of course it would, but the reasoning fit perfectly at the time. I had no idea where to begin, but I got word from a friend that to plan a tour of the White House, you have to contact your Congressional Representative’s office, and they can set it up for you. I had already had tickets purchased to tour the Washington Monument, but while setting up other tours, they can easily move that time around to fit the scheduling. I was excited on Monday when I got a confirmation email with all of the tours and times that we are set up for: Washington Monument, White House, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, and the Capital.
President Obama’s first term (and hopefully last) as POTUS might as well be called President Bush’s third term, given the vast number of similarities (pretty much everything) between the two. Even their speeches are just rehashed versions of one another:
Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world…
President Obama, March 19, 2011
American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger…
President Bush, March 19, 2003
Not even close. I know this is put out by the GOP, so the potential argument is there that it’s one sided, but given all the news and headlines pertaining to unemployment continuing to rise despite the passage of that horrible stimulus bill, I just can’t see where it can be said that it was a success. I guess it did succeed in a few ways that you don’t hear of, like further enslaving the states to the Federal Government by accepting funds that came with promises of future obligations, unaffordable obligations, that the states will now be on the hook for. It that case it worked, because our state lawmakers took the bait, hook, line and sinker, just to fill there their then gaping budget holes.
And all the talk about how it saved our country from another Great Depression, give me a break. It’s impossible to make claims of what would have happened had they not passed it, and when the interest finally comes due on the explosive debt, we can say then whether it was truly worth it or not.
There, I said it. Truthfully I’m happy for anyone that finds that special someone and is able to exchange vows with them and have that dream wedding that they’ve always dreamed of. I just don’t like to see that be the headline topic of the news for at least a week or more. Which is why I’m extremely happy that her big day has now come and gone. I admit, it’s a little ironic that I’m ranting about her wedding being the attention of all, and then here I am talking about it.
My big grip is how much attention the media and news has put on this, and how much our public idolizes these type of celebrity figures. Sure she was the First Daughter for 8 years, but that does not justify, in my book at least, constantly reminding us that the Clinton’s have invested an estimated $3,000,000 – $6,000,000 on this special day. At a time when unemployment is again on the rise and at highs not seen for years, families across the nation are struggling to keep their homes and cars, and may even be trying their best to keep from slipping into poverty, celebrities and other figures spend (waste) lavish amounts of money, and our news agencies reports on it as if it is the most important news they could bring us each day. Report on it a few times maybe, but not at every single broadcast possible weeks on end. And definitely don’t name someone “Person of the Week” just because they are blowing money like it’s going out of style.
Once upon a time, there was job security in a government job.
That’s no longer the case. The layoff ax has hit public sector payrolls with force as states wrestle with massive budget shortfalls. Since August 2008, some 231,000 state and local government jobs have disappeared — 22,000 last month alone, according to federal data.
The majority of the cuts are on the local level, which at 14.4 million workers is nearly three times the size of the state workforce. Plus, unlike at the federal level, most of these cuts come from the ranks of teachers, cops, firefighters and social service workers. Source
This comes as no surprise for me. I actually predicted just by seeing how much in the red local cities, counties, and even the state’s budgets all seem to be lately, that this would be coming sooner rather than later. As an employee of a semi-state agency, there’s becoming a good chance that I may very well be affected by all of the scrambling that there is and will be later to fill these budget gaps. Of course there’s no telling how things end up playing out as the year progresses, but it will certainly be interesting to see what the end results of these cuts will be for the services that are provided to the public in towns and cities across the nation.
General Motors has banned the use of the Chevy name in all of its corporate communications. From now on, the bow-tie brand will go by its proper name, Chevrolet.
Personally, I think this is a great move. While nicknames are always great, they can be confusing and/or misleading to those that have no idea about them, and may actually cause someone to think that there are two different brands entirely. I also feel that the proper name of ‘Chevrolet’ has much more of a professional feel to it rather than ‘Chevy’, especially when preceding a model, such as Chevrolet Corvette.
Obviously the BP Oil Spill has had near constant coverage on the news for over the past month. We hear how large the spill is, but in comparison to the Gulf of Mexico, it’s hard to picture it. This cool site lets you see the size of the oil spill by overlaying it with maps that we are used to seeing. Just enter in a location and see for yourself how large it actually is with some nice visual representation.
This is how the spill looks when overlaying Dalton.
DALTON — When the stars walk down the red carpet to kick off tonight’s Academy Awards, the plush feeling enjoyed by their feet will be coming to them courtesy of Dalton.
More specifically, American Carpet Wholesalers.
Leslie Unger, director of communications for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, told The Daily Citizen that the carpet was obtained through American Carpet Wholesalers in Dalton.
The carpet, which is covered in plastic until the very last minute to protect it from the elements and muddy footprints, is about 500 feet long and 33 feet wide.
Unger said the carpet brand is Weston Hill which is manufactured by Mohawk Industries.
The carpet, over which all of the guests entering the Kodak Theater will travel to enter the awards ceremony, was put down earlier this week.
Last night we heard and felt some explosions, but had no idea what it was. We wasn’t sure if it was an accident or what, but from the way it felt, we imagined it being something less than a mile away. My dad guessed that it was dynamite somewhere, but we couldn’t think of anyplace where they would need to be using it. The newspaper reported on it last night after it had occurred, and I just now saw it.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation oversaw controlled explosions of dynamite Tuesday in the 2000 block of Leonard Bridge Road in Murray County because the dynamite was decomposing and could not be safely transported, officials said. The dynamite was legally possessed.
The explosions were from roughly 4 to 6:30 p.m.. officials said.
If you take the main roads, that’s about 10 miles from our house. I had no idea that dynamite would be able to be felt that far away.
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.
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