President # 43

No, I'm not talking about George W. Bush. He's # 42. Duh.


WHAT A HOTTIE.

That's Grovie Cleveland, btw. President #22.

And #24???? WTF!??!?!?!

That's like me saying I am the middle child but I'm the oldest. Or something. It doesn't make sense.

So, New York Times, that little graphic you have on your website of the White House that says "The 44th President" is totally wrong.

#43

Hahahahha that's a funny picture.

I'm making a shirt that says '43' on it.

A Picture of Election Day in Los Angeles...

As I walked down York Blvd to the Pyong Kang Korean Church to cast my ballot for Barack Obama and against CA Props 8 and 4 (among other things), it seemed like any other November day in Los Angeles. Clouds gave way to sun every few minutes, sirens and car alarms in the distance, dogs barked, cars zipped up and down the street...but squinting my eyes and gazing further down the block, I saw an American flag waving in the wind just above the heads of a group of people in a line. As I approached the group and took my place in line, I looked at the people surrounding me. I was one of about three white people in the whole group, and almost no one was speaking English. It was truly magical. For perhaps the first time in my adult life, I truly appreciated democracy.

As I punched in the bubbles on my ballot with my ink blotter mechanism, the click-clacking noises of the other ink blotter pens around me sounded like the pitter-pattering footsteps down the path toward history, the path toward change.

A friend told me this story:
At another polling place a few miles away, a woman had fallen and was bleeding. As the people around her helped her and called paramedics, in a timid but unwavering voice she said, "I'd like to vote first, please."

Driving to the grocery store with my roommate, political signs decorated lawns and sidewalks and billboards and anything to which they could be stapled, taped, hung. I honked and gave a thumbs up to people walking down the street wearing Obama tees or standing on the street corner with "No on Prop 8" signs. I smiled at everyone wearing an "I Voted" sticker because we shared a bond, a bond we'll probably never share again unless we both have dreadlocks or drive next to each other on the freeway in the same rare car.

Seriously, magical.

I'm saving my ballot stub. Someday I'll tell my great nieces and nephews about the historic 2008 election. Hopefully the rest of the story will be a happy one.

Voting Matters

I had a fight with my housemate the other day. He says he's not going to vote. I think he should. Here are the top 10 reasons I think Cameron should vote.

1. It's our civic duty, and blah blah blah.

2. The president. Yes, it is unlikely that the California electoral votes will go McCain, but if you want Obama to be president, you should vote for him! (Or McCain, I guess...)

3. Prop 4. (Parental notification 48 hours before a minor under age 18 can get an abortion.) This is a terrible prop that has appeared on the ballot numerous times in various forms. This matters. It needs to be shot down and it could be decided by one single vote...you never know.

4. Prop 8. (Amends the CA constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, outlawing gay marriage.) This is a terrible prop. It creates second-class citizens. It is absolutely absurd. It needs to be shot down and it could be decided by one single vote...you never know.

5. History. Your own personal history. You don't want to tell your grandchildren that you didn't vote in the historic 2008 election, do you? You want to be able to get one of those hip bumper stickers that says "don't blame me, I voted for Obama" if McCain wins, don't you?

6. Hot poll workers. You never know.

7. Apathy breeds apathy. Apathy is bad.

8. Cameron is relatively educated about the issues. If you're educated, you should vote! At least you're canceling out the uneducated votes.

9. Karma. Think about it.

10. You get a cool sticker.

Why Voting for Sarah Palin [McCain] Because She's a Woman is Sexist

I would say I'm a feminist. Not radical, but a feminist. I think there are lots of problems with many radical feminist groups, but that will have to wait until another time. Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, is running for vice president on the Republican ticket.

OK, so I'm not a Republican. I'm nowhere NEAR a Republican. If I ever vote for a Republican you will know that there is something seriously wrong in the world. (Not that it's all cakes and daisies at the moment...) So I acknowledge that my political bias plays a role in my belief that voting for Sarah Palin just because she's a woman would be sexist, but I do feel the same way about Hillary even though it's less ridiculous because HELLO it's Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin.

So, for like a gazillion years women and men were not treated equally. Then came suffrage which sounds horrible but is actually really good. Then came WWII which changed women's roles in the US forever. The 50's, Vietnam, blah blah blah...I could talk about changing women's roles in US history forever but I won't. The point is, women have been striving for EQUALITY for a reallllly long time.

Think about it...if Sarah Palin were a man, everyone would think he was an idiot, ill qualified to be holding the second highest office in the country, and the media hype would be about as crazy as it is surrounding Joe Biden (who?).

Why should these self-proclaimed "feminists" be going out and voting for this incredibly stupid woman just because she is female? It's bound to be embarrassing later if (knock on wood) she does become vice president, or worse, president (AH!!!). These "feminists" are giving Palin special treatment--their votes--because she is a woman.

SPECIAL TREATMENT! ONE SEX OVER THE OTHER! Isn't that what we've been fighting against for generations?

Reverse sexism exists, and if a "feminist" doesn't see that, she (or he) is probably really stupid to begin with and would think Sarah Palin would make a good VP even if she were a man.

How National Public Radio is Ruining My Life

I feel like I have three listening choices while driving on my way to work:

1. NPR

2. Ryan Seacrest

3. My iPod

I suppose I have a 4th one...

4. Nothing

Generally, I choose number 1 because I can't stand Ryan Seacrest and I'm too indecisive about my iPod and it distracts me.

So, I'm driving down the 110 through downtown at a snail's pace while listening to Anne Taylor or Robert Siegel or Michele Norris...and all they're talking about is gas, gas, and gas. All the while I'm watching my gas gauge slip further and further toward that terrible letter 'E'--the bane of my existence. "Oh crap," I think, "the truckers are striking in Europe again." "Oh crap, oil prices hit a record again." "Oh crap, I live so far away from work."

Then I get to the 105 and I'm sitting on the on-ramp for 20 minutes and they start talking about the economy. "Stocks hit bear market numbers today..." or "Record unemployment rates..." or "Tough getting jobs out of school..." or "Value of the dollar still dropping..."

These are just the obvious ones.

Then they have these guests on, like lawyers, doctors, historians, analysts, writers...the list goes on. EVERY SINGLE TIME anyone with anything REMOTELY interesting to say (that I think is smart and agree with) I always decide--DECIDE--that that's what I'm going to do for a living. So I get home and I say to my roommate, "Liz! I decided I'm going to be an international human rights lawyer!" The next day, it's "Liz! I'm going to be a politician!" The next day, it's "Liz! I'm going to go to law school and then become the youngest person ever to be appointed to the Supreme Court!"

I think she's starting to get sick of it. Sorry Liz!

Then there's the really really sad stuff that they report on, such as the earthquake in China, terrible conditions in the world's hospitals, the WAR(s), or just random sad stories from around the world. Sometimes they are VERY upsetting but often there's really can't do anything about it!

And of course, there's the election. Now that Hilary has endorsed Barack Obama, everyone's looking to November. All of this talk is just making me freak out worrying that John McCain will actually win.

This is not good for my blood pressure.

NPR is Ruining My Life.

But I cannot stop listening to it.

Does ignorance truly = bliss?

Pool Drains = Evil

Although I have the Star Tribune website bookmarked, I rarely look at the newspaper from my hometown. Today I decided to click on it, and I became very sad.

Abigail Taylor died.


Sad.

Last summer at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park, the suction from a wading pool drain literally ripped out six-year-old Abigail's insides. She had transplant surgery at a Nebraska hospital to get a new small bowel, liver, and pancreas. She had one setback after another, undergoing 16 more surgeries. SIXTEEN!

Then at the beginning of this month she began chemotherapy for a rare cancer associated with transplants called posttransplant lymphoprolipherative disease, or PTLD. It affects some blood cells.

Abigail's parents are in the midst of suing the golf club and the company that manufactured the pool drain.

After Scott and Katey Taylor campaigned for new legislation regulating safety of pool drains, a new law was passed in Congress banning all manufacture, distribution, and sale of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment standards. The bill is named after Virginia Graeme Baker, a seven-year-old who was pinned to the bottom of a pool and drowned in 2002.

I vaguely remember reading about a story similar to this in some medical oddities book a few years ago. It was weird and sort of gross and amusing then. It's not so much anymore.

Top Five Presidents of All Time

In honor of President's Day, here are the five most awesomest presidents since 1776.

5. James Madison was the 4th President. He was the shortest President- 5'4". Guess how tall yours truly is? 5'4". PARTY HEIGHT!

4. Grover Cleveland was the 24th President. He was also the only President to get married in the White House. I don't think she was as hot as that supermodel Nick Sarkozy just married, though.

Nah, I'd say they're comparable in hotness.

3. Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President. He is like G-Dub because he didn't win the popular vote in the 1876 election. Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote. All the other guys who won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote went on to eventually become President. Poor Al G. and Sammy T.

2. Gerald Ford was the 38th President. He was not elected to any office but followed Nixon's resignation. He threw his daughter's prom at the White House. Badass.

1. Warren G. Harding was the 29th President. He bet all the china in the White House during a single card game. He lost. Damn you, Harding! Those are my tax dollars!



For more fun facts, go here!

Or here!


Happy President's Day!!!!! Enjoy your long weekend. If you don't have a long weekend, I'm sorry for rubbing it in.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along??

Yesterday I voted in the California primary election. I "Baracked" the vote, if you will. Yes, I voted for Obama, but not because I'm anti-Hillary...I'm just more pro-Obama.

It makes me feel very sad when Barack and Hillary bash on each other. I know, I know, that's how the political process works at this point, but it's still crappy. When it comes down to it, Clinton and Obama are on the same side!! Why must they fight!?? Why must we all fight!? Obama doesn't think the lack of decisiveness in the party is a real issue at the moment. “I think it would be a problem if Senator Clinton’s voters disliked me or my voters disliked Senator Clinton,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think our voters are passionate about bringing about change.”

YES!! Man, I love you Barack.

So how about whoever ends up winning the nomination picks the other as his/her running mate, and then the Democrats are unbeatable!! While McCain is the least frightening of the Republican candidates, I still do not want to see him in the White House. In order in ensure a victory in November, our party HAS to come together at some point. It doesn't have to be right now, but it should be relatively soon. I think it will happen...eventually. But we need to think about it. And get along! And stop fighting! I like Hillary, I do! I like Obama more but it's not as if I won't be thrilled if Hillary is the next president.

We Democrats just have to make sure that whoever wins the nomination will also win the presidency.