Donald Trump is Taking it Back

Source article- Donald Trump talks to ABCNews radio

Iraq you're fired!

Oh my, Donald Trump is putting it on so thiick. First, he starts searching around for Obama's birth certificate. Now he's spouting out about some radical solution to the oil crisis. His idea: balls out force. Y'know, screw OPEC, screw every other nation that is also competing in the world market for oil, we're just gonna take oil fields overseas. What a load of crazy!

Do you know how bad that would be for our foreign policy? I'm hoping he won't announce his candidacy for president, because I definitely think people will vote for him as a joke. I'm sure people deeply involved in business will vote for him too, because he's like the hero of big business.

It just raises this question in my mind. If you have trillions of dollars, is it ethical to just arbitrarily run for President with no other experience? A lot of people are going to interject with the success story of Ronald Regan, blah blah blah. Trump is no Regan. So far he's acting like a PR person. He's using radicalism to make waves to grab attention. It's a smart strategy for keeping a luke-warm career in the spot light, but is it a smart strategy to get elected president? I think it depends on how much of a consumerist, empty headed culture we've become. Will bells and whistles really dupe America in one swift move like a good AD campaign? I mean, this is the President of the United States we're choosing not a new pair of shoes. He's clever I guess, I'll give him that.

What do you think?

Donald Trump is Taking it Back

"Delayed gratification is simply no longer the norm in the United States, and people no longer seem to think there is a moral or ethical
duty to exercise the restraint to actually wait until one can afford to pay for
non-essential goods and services with cash before purchasing those items.
Consumers today want the immediate gratification associated with having
goods and services, and with having those things now. Indeed, many now
argue that the United States no longer has a culture of thrift and, instead,
has a culture of debt fueled in large part by these changed. "

-A. Mechele Dickerson: Fordham Urban Law Journal

After examining detailed articles about the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the overall credit crisis that's been facing our nation since the mid 2000s, I've decided that American's are impulsive idiots. While some people were generally naive and fell into the traps of greedy creditors, many were just striving to get a house that was far beyond their means for the same greedy means. This is indicative of an attitude that many modern Americans fall victim too, wanting a lot for a little. Generally speaking, it is never a good idea to trust anyone who is willing to give you a lot for a little.

It's interesting to examine consumer attitudes and ethics in correspondence to examining the current situations surrounding us. A lot of the books I've been reading on consumer ethics explain that our norms have changed and that people are wired to want instant gratification. It's this shift in mindset that is leading to the current credit crisis. I think everyone that is reading this right now can agree that they've fallen victim to instant gratification. You know that you shouldn't spend that much on the thing popping off of the Target shelves you never knew you needed before, but you do anyway. It's such a deal! You'll probably never use it, but damn it you saved money. It's a trick. Advertising works because we spend time day dreaming and fantasizing about products we want but feel we 'need'. Things that are not necessities become things we feel will better us in some way, a luxury that will improve our standard of living. Most of the time it has nothing to do with your standard of living, which ideally should be real interactions with friends and family and the world around us. Physical, tangible, emotions and people and places. Our focus has strayed from what we do to what we have.

In the end of the day natural disaster and mother nature, as evident in the current situation in Japan, can take away all material gratification. However, memories of real life experiences can never be erased. This focus on material goods could very well be the downfall of American society as we focus on how much money we can make to amass all the things we "dream of" instead of focusing on life.

Republicans in Control Annoy Me

reference article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/08/congress.budget/index.html?hpt=T1



Y'know why the government may shut down? Republican senators don't give a crap about woman's health care. They've spent all this time bickering about Planned Parenthood. That's where the huge problem with the Federal budget is coming in. Excuse me... let's go through some facts. A.) Plan Parenthood provides vital services for the health of women, including free or discounted pap smears, STD testing, birth control services, and other family planning counseling and help. They aid pregnant women and help inform about prenatal care. Yes, some, not all clinics provide abortions and abortion counseling. No, abortion is not going to become the new form of "birth control." Abortion pills cost around five hundred dollars, and the process is painful and miserable. No one PLANS or completely WANTS to have an abortion. Either way, Planned Parenthood doesn't fly a flag that says "KILL ALL YOUR FETUSES." They help many women plan their families, and provide knowledge to women and teens about their own health. Without Planned Parenthood I, and many people I know, could've been pregnant at sixteen. So when you cast a shameful eye on all the teen mom's around the world, remember that you're the one creating them by taking away their right to Planned Parenthood. When you see welfare agencies and orphanages fill up with children that will become dysfunctional or live much harder lives, thank the government if they go through with pulling funding.

Because who cares about women's reproductive right to having a healthy body when we could pour money into more white male dominated big business?

Republicans in Control Annoy Me

Tales of a Fledgling Journalist: a (most likely) reoccuring post of my naivity

Today was an interesting addition to my repertoire as a learning journalist. Instead of having regular class, my journalism class was sent on an assignment. We were sent across the bridge to PNC Park where the city was abuzz with Pirate's fans. Our goal was to interview at least 3 people and gather details for a narrative article. Pittsburgh always has an interesting array of people, but imagine all of them coming together piss drunk. It made for a very fun time. Most of them didn't seem to be remotely interested in the game, as they walked in and out of the stadium freely.

Interviewing people is nerve racking, yet exciting. My adrenaline was pumping, and I started feeling good. I spotted a woman holding a colorful handmade sign. It read, "Dedicated Pirates fan needs a ticket." I was enticed by her spunk and approached her immediately. She was overly willing to talk to me. This woman is popular at sporting events, as is her sign. She attends Steeler games, Penguin games, and Pirate games with her sign and nine times out of ten gets a free or dirt cheap ticket. While I was engaging her a man handed her a ticket and sprinted away. She replied with a, "WOO! I got into the Lexus!" The Lexus has the best view of all the seats. According to her she was right at home plate. Before she skipped off I asked her to give me a few last details about herself. She told me her profession was a domestic engineer. When I inquired as to what that was, she laughed and replied, "a house wife!" She was the spunkiest little 66 year-old woman I've ever met. She had no problem revealing her age to me, she was damn proud of it. Her interview gave me confidence to seek out other fans.

The tailgaters looked relaxed and approachable. Their bellies were full of food and beer and they had smile on their faces. A harmless group of old men sitting in the back of their SUV eating peanuts seemed approachable. It was definitely an interesting experience to say the least. I thought I was clever by approaching and asking which one was the biggest fan. It went over terribly, at first. After a moment the one man opened up, a little too much. He offered me "water" from his red cup, flicked his cigar on my shoe, and proceeded to hit on my vehemently. He asked for further compensation for his interview, and insinuated more. Luckily, I'm used to my guy friends hitting on me, and sensed no danger from them. This helped me proceed in talking to them and getting good quotes. One including how his wife filled his sons diaper bag with beer for baseball games. When I was ending the interview, I asked him what he did for a living. His reply was that he was a surrogate father that impregnated women for money. He said he didn't have any takers yet, and asked me to hang posters at my college. As revolting as he was, it was all entertaining. I just kept kicking myself for not having anything to record it with!

What an outlandish experience!

Tales of a Fledgling Journalist: a (most likely) reoccuring post of my naivity

Prop h8

I hate to be cliche but with the internet visibly vibrating with the buzz, I can't resist shaking it up a bit myself as well. I found it abhorrent when Prop 8 was passed a few years ago. It was absolutely astonishing the level of ignorance it takes to deny someone else a personal right due to one's own moral and ethical code. Often I found myself asking friends, peers, and family this question: "who is this hurting?" The general answer of the opposing side is that gay marriage ruins the "sanctity of marriage". Please dear readers, take a moment to ponder what this phrase even means? When asked to further explain this phrase, one comes up short.

Is the sanctity of marriage defined by a penis going into a vagina? Absolutely not. Couples don't even have to take part in sex to be married, although it is generally assumed they do. Marriage legally is defined as a contract between two parties to commit to, to live with, to be responsible for, and to be linked financially with one another. So therefore where does the actual sexual aspect of this union come into play legally? Religiously, whatever. We get it after so many years guys, you named it sodomy for a reason. However, the religious fear of homosexual normality should not be a basis for legal doctrine concerning an entire nation.

If you want to continue to believe homosexual individuals don't carry on committed, long term, and normal relationships with one another, go ahead. Consider them not married in Christ. Make up your own religious version of marriage. If you still have some sort of delusion that modern day "marriage" is a religious union and not a legal one, get out of here. Create a new religious marriage, in which two hetero sexual people get legally married, and then also married in terms of the church. However, you have no right to deny someone's right to be legally bound together. If you're going to discriminate do it within your own doctrine, not within the law. Update your dogma.

Prop h8

Too Busty and Lusty for TV?

As it usually occurs my receiving of Bust magazine has once again sparked my interests and caused my opinions to start whirling around in my head. If you haven't heard of the debate let me intro it to you. Lane Bryant has come up with an ad for their full figured underwear. You can watch it here.



Basically, ABC and Fox refused to air the commercial defending their position by saying there was 'too much cleavage" in the ad for their airtime. Too much cleavage, or too much woman? both companies give air time to Victoria's Secret ads which show just as much if not more cleavage. The only exception seemingly is that these models are stick thin woman that are "acceptabley" sexy. I don't know about you, but I don't want major television corporations to define what is and is not sexy. Don't fuller figured woman have just as much right to buy lingerie that makes them feel like divine goddesses?

After all the headway Dove made with their real beauty ads, this just takes us a step back. So fight the good fight and make this ad viral. The more who see it, and here the story, the better.

What do you think laydees?

Too Busty and Lusty for TV?

Breathing is For Losers

It has come to my attention that there is a new obscure/freakish fad that day time television is teaching your parents to be afraid of right now. Apparently, some idiot preteen somewhere decided to start a "choking game" where one chokes themselves on purpose to retain a small dizzy high, while subsequently killing their brain cells. From the articles I have seen (on the front page of google, because lets be honest I'm too lazy for proper research today) the victims are in the preteen range around 13ish. Basically, they noose themselves in various ways and plan to release the choking pressure before passing out. The little problem in this plan is that you can't predict when you'll pass out when being choked, leading the choker to pass out hanging themselves for real in their noose or falling and breaking limbs/skulls. Did I mention you kill brain cells because y'know suffocation is cutting off oxygen to your brain? I don't really believe this is a true fad with kids these days, but for the small minority, wow you really help make teenagers look even stupider. We can kind of sort of forgive you for being naive enough to try drugs and alcohol, but if you can't see the potential dangerous of forcefully cutting off your air supply is there really hope for our future?

I don't mean to offend any parents or family members who have lost someone to this obscure new addictive game but it just sounds so ridiculous to believe that anyone even a preteen is naive enough to believe that this won't harm them. This is almost Darwin survival of the fittest stuff.

This is a serious thing though, and if you know anybody that's doing this slap them, tell them they're a certifiable idiot, and tell their mother. If you're really interested in the cause check out the GASP website


Now, what do you think?

Breathing is For Losers