Sunday, August 31, 2008

Waiting in anxiety for Gustav

I write the title knowing that while I'm safe and sound in St. Louis for the time being, the true feelings of anxiety lie with those who will actually experience the Category 3 storm or fled from it. I can't imagine what it must REALLY be like just waiting and hoping for the best, which you know won't be that good anyhow. 

I remember the night before Katrina made landfall. I had stayed up all night watching weather reports and following the media "hype"...I remember the genuinely eerie feeling of knowing that as I watched that swirling storm inch closer and closer on the map to the coast that something immensely bad was going to happen and many people were going to suffer and nothing could be done about it. 

I remember wringing my hands watching the CNN live coverage of checking people into the Superdome. The sky was getting dark and I wondered how on earth all those people would fit inside. I remember hearing about the people who didn't want to leave, or didn't think the storm was going to be that bad....and I remember thinking to myself that if I was there and had no way out, I'd rather start walking to get out than sit still. The feeling I felt was like knowing I was going to witness pure chaos...and it was surreal because I also knew I would never actually experience it. 

Thinking back on that night, I realize that my fascination and fear watching the coverage was because I had never seen anything like it before. At 18 years of age, I had never before felt such distress over something so destructive. I didn't "witness" when it made landfall; I had a doctors appointment early that day and ran some errands afterwards. I remember sitting in the parking lot of Target, switching radio stations trying to find some news. Of course, it is still fresh in the minds of many Americans that it was actually much worse than the worst outcome had predicted. 

Now back to the present day. I'm glad to hear, and actually so relieved to hear, that many people did heed the warnings to evacuate. I'm glad to see that maybe, just maybe, mistakes on action won't be repeated. 

Once again, as a nation, all we can do is watch, wait, and pray. 

Saturday, August 23, 2008

And the Winner Is...

Joe Biden is the Democratic candidate to be the 47th Vice-President of the United States.

Biden is an interesting choice, as he brings experience to the Democratic ticket. His track record of speaking off-the-cuff is both an asset and a liability, but I'm sure he'll be on his best behavior for the campaign. 

The VP debate should certainly be interesting, especially if Mitt Romney is McCain's choice.

Let's bring on the Conventions and shift the campaign into overdrive!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Gold Medal to Chinese Publicity Disasters

With the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Beijing, China pounced immediately on this opportunity to heighten their image as a country of peace, prosperity, and sportsmanship. All was going well for awhile and then...hilarity ensued.

Now I realize some people may not agree with me that these PR backfires are as funny as I find them but then again I appreciate the subtle (or not-so-subtle) irony of the situation. I'm not saying that every China-related media frenzy is worth a chuckle (lets not forget the tragic earthquakes and mudslides that occured) but for a country whose government is so hell bent on giving just the perfect image that they'll do ANYTHING to portray it just so....they've had almost everything come around full circle and covered internationally.

It all begin with the running of the torch; the beloved precursor to the actual Olympic events. This year, the torch was met with controversy as protests against the Chinese recognition of Tibet were held. As media swarmed over the on going struggle for Tibetan freedom (which, might I add, isn't necessarily a bad thing) the Chinese government and the Olympic Committee did their best to, well, ignore any relevance to the issue at all, giving themselves a sort of double standard as the Olympic games drew near. This mindset seemed to say "sure, we oppress people in their own native land...but enough about that! Let's put focus back on the Olympics, a true show of humanity and peace, which China is a blossoming example of!"

Thats not really what I find funny though. It starts the way, but in truth its simply world politics at work...and really, theres not that much that even I find hilarious about that.

A few days ago, however, as the Olympics were finally underway the world was met with breaking news; the little darling who sang her heart out in the Opening Ceremony was not, in fact, the actual singer at all. No, the real 7 year old girl who sang was deemed "not cute enough" by a panel of "officials". Basically, this little girl was told she wasn't good enough to represent the image of China and thus a much more agreeable looking child was found to lip-sync. Interviewed later, the snubbed singer Yang Peiyi told China Central Television that "just having her voice used was an honor"...perhaps another attempt at covering this up? In case anyone is wondering, Peiyi doesn't look like the child of Frankenstein; the picture of her in an AP article about the situation showed a cute, bubbly, chubby faced little girl...the kind of little kid that any audience would eat up just as much as they did with the pig tailed Lin Miaoke. Of course, theres going to be those people who say "Westerners don't understand. It's more important that the most beautiful child represent the country that China is trying to portray" simply because they're butthurt over such shallow narcissism...Westerners wouldn't understand? The whole Western hemisphere is obsessed with body image and unreasonable standards of beauty, and even the media still made a big deal out of this child getting the double standard. Way to go China PR, if epic fail was an olympic sport, perhaps you'd have even more gold medals to show off.

Last, but not least, anyone who has watched the womens gymnastics knows what I'm about to touch on....China has two competitors, both said to be 16, whom all were skeptical about. Seriously, you can't tell us that those girls are 16. Even the Chinese media reported on earlier news documentation within the past year claiming both girls to be 13 and 14, respectively. However, the Olympic Committee has given a simple answer; the government-provided passports claim them to be 16, therefore, they must be 16. This is funny to me an absurd sort of way, since fake legal documents MUST be out of the question, despite those things floating around known as FACTS.

So what have we learned from the perfect nation that is China? Douchebaggery is acceptable as long as you have one document saying it is and you are pretty enough to present it. The spirit of humble sportsmanship lives on!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Is John McCain the Anti-Christ?

Almost assuredly not, and neither is Barack Obama.

To bring foolishness like that into the election picture is something you might expect from half-brained morons and crazy fundies. However, a supposedly objective and legitimate news channel doing that just goes to show how far CNN has fallen.

You used to be cool, CNN. Nowadays, you make MSNBC look like Edward Freaking R. Murrow, and they spend half their time on shows about pederasts and prisons (No, I'm not talking about you, Mr. Matthews). You've become nothing more than a sad empty shell of your former self, a pathetic copy-cat of Faux News.

Please do yourselves a favor and replace 2/3 of your news coverage with Sham-Wow infomercials. It will be more relevant to the news, and the American people will be spill-free, and thus happier.
Also, great job with that stupid headline for your ticker. It would help if you would mention that the person calling it an economic disaster was Senator John "I don't know shit about the economy" McCain.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Senator Clinton to be placed into nomination at the convention

Looks like Senator Clinton will be placed into nomination alongside Presumptive nominee Obama.

As anyone who has followed this blog can attest, I am not a big fan of Senator Clinton. Her campaign was at times embarrassing, and at other times mean-spirited. She seemed far too interested in making the campaign about her, and her followers have often been unbearable.

However, I have no problem with her name being put into nomination at the convention. The Obama campaign appears to be on board with this move, which is reason enough for me to believe it is a wise course of action. It will give her supporters one last chance to show her their support, and will give an excellent opportunity for her to pivot her support fully over to Senator Obama.

If this happens, it will be completely in the hands of Obama's campaign. There isn't any conspiracy to derail his nomination, at least not in the minds of any rational person. Only the craziest of her (and Obama's) supporters believe some coup will take place if she is entered for nomination. Trust me, it is nothing but formality and ceremony. It will be a nice appetizer to set up for the big feast on Thursday.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

War & Peace 2: War Harder

Because Fighting Russia always turns out Well
The Evil Empire is Back! Yay!

I certainly can't wait until 2065, when the grandson of an early 21st century Russian plutocrat writes a sweeping epic about Emperor Vladimir the Soulful and his imperial struggles against Grumpoleon McCain. That is, assuming there is still a Russia, plutocrats, and humans in 2065.

The 2012 Overture will be pretty cool as well, only with baby nukes instead of cannons.

This is brought to you by WITF out of Harrisburg, PA. WITF indeed.

In all seriousness, the rollback of democratic reforms in Russia in the Putin years are disheartening, and Russia does seem interested in throwing its weight in the region. However, unless Putin plans on taking back Alaska from the U.S., restoring the house of Bourbon to the throne of France, or marrying off a daughter to Prince William, I really think the Soviet analogy works better. Calling upon Imperial Russia as a comparison makes you look old and confused, an impression that really does not help you out.

Up Next: McCain discusses the appalling auto-gyro service to Siam, and offers his personal memories of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Obama's V.P. is...

Not yet announced!

Sorry for that, but I just wanted to give you fair readers (all 1.3 of you) the same feeling I got when I received an email from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe yesterday. The campaign is announcing the Vice Presidential selection via text messages and email, and they wanted all of us supporters to sign up to be the first ones to know.

This is an interesting strategy, and probably means a V.P. announcement is imminent. When I get that "super-secret" email, I'll be sure to let you know who the choice is.