Obama

I know this post will likely not reflect the opinions of many of my conservative friends but I just finally feel like I HAVE GOT to say some things. This election is completely unprecedented in so many ways and there are such heated opinions that people have resorted to all sorts of "name calling". Obama is probably the most discussed person in this election so let's discuss him for a minute.

There have been all KINDS of emails floating around out there with many interesting and somewhat ridiculous sounding claims about Obama. Some have to do with his acquaintances and some have to do with the man himself. People, before you blindly forward an email around can you do one quick thing for me? Go to Snopes and do a quick search to verify the email's validity. Many times all it takes is thirty seconds to discover a silly forward is completely untrue and saves everyone a lot of headaches. This applies for all forwards, not JUST forwards to do with the election. This has always been an extreme pet peeve of mine that people believe everything that passes through their inbox simply because it starts with something official sounding like "so-and-so at such-and-such company" or "I heard from my sister's husband this was true".

Okay so there are even more emails running around out there about Obama than I have personally seen so just know if you go here then you will find a list of them. Some of the most popular I've seen and heard of are that Obama is not eligible for the presidency because he is not a natural born citizen or that he wouldn't be able to be his own bodyguard because of his relationship with William Ayers. The first one is ridiculous because I don't know how people think he possibly got this far in politics if he truly wasn't a citizen. I know all you conspiracy theorists out there will give me all these reasons why but I'm not buying it.

There has also been discussion of whether or not Obama is muslim but I think that doesn't really jive with the fact that he's been sitting under that crazy pastor for however many years and then that Obama could be the antichrist. This is also more malarkey because as many of you know there are a lot of prophecies about the antichrist and Obama doesn't fulfill them. The email is rather hilarious because first it claims Obama is muslim (okay whatever) and then says that the antichrist will be a muslim (false)--so now we have lied to say he is one thing so that we can claim he is another thing when really that other thing doesn't need the first? That makes no sense whatsoever but it's late and I'm tired.

People also like to talk about how the world as we know it will come to an end if Obama is elected. I simply don't buy it. Do I agree with his policies? No. Do I want to vote for him? NO. Have I heard some of the crazy things he's said? Yes. But I also happen to know that this country has a lot of checks and balances in place to prevent one branch of the government from taking over and doing ridiculous things. I believe this system can and will work even if Obama should be elected. I also don't think he will do some of the absolutely insane things people keep claiming he will. A lot of those people are Christians and may I just say to you how big is your God? Sure maybe God has decided to withdraw His hand of protection because of the sins of our nation but even when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their own stupidity and sin God was there with them the whole way. So just don't get your panties in such a wad. There is no need to borrow trouble.

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

I'm not sure why Obama has drawn so much more freaking out than any other presidential candidate in recent memory. Maybe it's because he's a likeable person whereas Gore & Kerry--well need I say more? Part of the frenzy may be that the Republicans just can't seem to get excited about McCain (I'm totally with you there!) and so they compensate by making Obama out to seem like the devil (or antichrist) to give everyone a good reason to vote for McCain. I personally don't think that it's necessary to get into all these side issue/personal attacks when policy can speak clearly enough for itself. If you need a reason to decide who to vote for just sit down with the Republican and Democratic platforms and decide which one you align with most. Then take the policies on McCain and Obama's sites and compare those. Which sound closer to you? Let's leave off all the negative criticism. As we've seen with Sarah Palin it is just a do-unto-others boomerang that will come back to haunt us. So yes, I say vote McCain/Palin but not because Obama is the antichrist. :-)

My birthday!

So my birthday was Saturday and it was good. Katherine (dearest of Dianas) was in town and took me out for lunch joined by Emily. That was a lot of fun!! Olive Garden is always fun of course but combine that with Katherine and you're sure to have a party. I also found Emily is a perfect addition to our goofiness and it was definitely a blast!

After I left there we went to my grandparents' for the afternoon/evening and some brisket. Oh baby!! I don't know how I managed to do it since I was still pretty full from lunch but I ate some brisket, sausage, "potatoes delish", beans and salad. Then of course there was birthday cake (TWO kinds!) and ice cream. All in all I'd say it was a great day. I mean what else are birthdays for but for eating right??

I'm also pretty happy because I realized my winter wardrobe was pretty pathetic (okay it wasn't a sudden revelation, I remembered that from last year but it was reminded me when I went through my winter clothes box on Friday) and ordered some stuff on clearance from Old Navy. I had found a whole bunch of stuff I wanted and added it to my Amazon universal wishlist for easy looking up later when I had birthday money. However when I discovered some extra moolah I didn't know I had on hand I decided to go ahead, set a budget and buy some of those things. I decided long sleeved shirts were most needed so I got three of those and a pair of lounge pants in my cart before checking on coupon codes on Google. If you sign up for newsletters from Old Navy you get $10 off $50 so I did and said "w00t with the $10 extra I can buy another shirt!" so I did. Then on my birthday Mom gave me an Old Navy card! She had seen the clothes in my wishlist and was at first disappointed I had already made a purchase but I assured her there were still more items I wanted but hadn't bought so now I will get those as well. That combined with money from my grandparents I am going to see if I can find some other needed clothing items. I shall have a whole new wardrobe when I'm done. :) w00t what girl doesn't love new clothes??

Gmail problem

Okay I'm looking for some help. I recently downloaded Microsoft Outlook 2007 (my work provides a free copy whoopee!!) and set up my Gmail as IMAP. I noticed that now when I send emails it appears to send twice. Nobody has complained yet about receiving double emails from me so the best I can figure is that when I send an email Outlook is saving it to the sent folder and also synching with Gmail and receiving the copy it has in the sent folder thereby giving me two copies. My question is, is there a setting I can change to fix that so I don't end up with two copies of sent mail all the time? It's pretty annoying!!

What YOU can do for the election

Yes it's getting close to that time of year and it's my annual beg for the county. ;) Unless there is a good reason why you can't why don't you seriously consider contacting your local election officials about working the polls on election day? It's an extremely gratifying experience and you do get reimbursed somewhere near minimum wage for your time. Speaking as someone who has worked nearly every election since I turned 18 I can tell you no matter what election is going on someone needs help somewhere. And this is not just any election this is the election of a lifetime in my humble opinion. Remembering the last presidential election and how insanely crazy it was this one should be even bigger since there will not be an incumbent in the running. I'll be honest with you, it's hard work and you will be exhausted no matter how many hours you put in that day, but imagine how much worse it is when you don't have the maximum number of people working the polls you are allowed to have? It's a sad fact but there is also the point that many people with ill intentions work elections so they can try to throw results and have quite successfully done this many times. Just look at the nightmares there were in some of the Democratic caucuses in TX this year and imagine that kind of chaos at your voting locations. For the sake of integrity in the election process I also strongly urge you to consider helping.

24: Redemption

A one man team to save a country? All I can say is BRING IT ON!!!