Check out this poem

This was written by a woman named Alassante, and this poem was on her myspace blog. I really liked it so I asked her if I could put it on my blog, and since she said it would be alright, here it is:



Sunday, March 19, 2006

Angsty Poem
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Writing and Poetry


Sometimes when I get down I write really angsty dark poetry. I don't know that it helps but the words seem to come from somewhere so I just let them flow. Its not good poetry but its just got to get out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When you look at me
Can you see into my soul?
Do you know who I am?
Or do you judge me before you know.

Icy fingers of loneliness wrap
Around my heart and I feel
Myself slipping yet again.
Will you just let me go?

I've been here before
And I know this place
Things are so cold and empty here
Yet so familiar to me.

There are times I have
No choice but to be
Sometimes I come here
And wander aimlessly

Alone.

I wonder if there is a way
To fix what is broken
In truth I know
I will always be who I am.

Does it matter if I smile
And play this game?
Will my efforts mean nothing,
Will I always be damned?

I am not a martyr
I don't deserve sainthood
For I am no fallen angel
Nor have I been crucified

This thing inside me
Takes away all of my will
And I feel like
My soul as been sacrificed

Broken.

The darkness knows no bounds
Fear I can taste
But in so many ways
I no longer care.

Do I reach for a hand,
And ask for help?
Will they turn away?
Do I even dare?

But there is no help for me
Except the passing of time
One day I'll feel better
Leave here once more.

Let sunshine in and
Turn my eyes to the light
I cannot quit,
Don't want to be depression's whore.

Sorrow.

It hurts and I cry
But nothing seems to help
I struggle to make sense
And yet I fail.

My life isn't so bad
Others have far worse
I look at their troubles
And mine simply pale.

I hate this weakness in me
Shame fills my heart
Knowing I passed it on
Makes the guilt so much worse.

If I could stop it, I would
But I cannot spare him
And I suffer in silence,
As my son lives with my curse.

Falling.

Her profile is here: http://www.myspace.com/alassante

Alternative Outfitters

I just found this great site on PetaMall. It's called Alternative Outfitters. All the products are 100% vegan, so there's no harm in buying anything. There's actually quite a few things I'm considering buying for myself. Here's the link: http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/ And even better than the cuteness of the stuff, it's also all under $100! Yay :-)

A Lesson I've Learned

A few days ago I wrote about my "Computer Woes". It taught me a lesson ~ always back up your computer files. All you have to do is get a few data cd's and put all your infomation on them. I don't know about other kinds of computers, but mine even has a wizard that does it for you. I also learned not to rely only on itunes and actually buy a few cds so i'll have them in case it crashes again (which I really hope it doesn't do).

Crazy Thursday Drivers

Yesterday Mom, Dennis, and I went shopping for stuff for the new house. And it's a good thing I went. I stopped two wrecks from happening. They wouldn't have been big car-totaling wrecks, but they would have been wrecks nontheless. The first one happened on the way to Lynhaven Mall. We were stopped at a redlight when the big dumptruck in front of us started backing up for some insane reason. Mom and Dennis were talking and I heard the beeping of the truck backing up. So I alerted mom who backed up (thankfully there was no one behind us) and beeped the horn. Save #1 for the day.

The next one wasn't quite as bad. We were in the rear parking lot of JC Penney's when we were driving through looking for a spot to park when a white van pulled out of it's spot way too fast without looking and stopped maybe 5 inches from our front bumber. Again, I noticed it first. I ought to be a good driver with that kind of reaction speed! :-)

Other than that it was an uneventful shopping day. Since my room is so bare I've been buying a lot of decor, but all I could find yesterday were a glass slipper, a jade dragon, and a green reflective coat hanger. But at least the mall weren't crowded. And we're going back to Target to get my desk and to Pier 1, a store I've never been in without drooling over something.

Getting Ready To Move

We're getting ready to move into the new house. Here's a few pictures; it's nothing grand, but it's actually pretty cute now that we've cleaned it up and made it livable.

Computer Woes

It's been a long few days for my computer. Dennis had taken it with him to use it while he was at the new house waiting for the Verizion people, and when he came back Karleen and I had turned it on so that we could go online. When we turned it on, there was an error message that wouldn't go off. Karleen's mom tried to fix it, but we couldn't figure anything out. The next morning Jeremy and Aunt Anita played around with it and finally called tech support. The entire computer had to be reset. Which meant I lost everything from pictures to at least $60 worth of iTunes. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy. But at least it works now.

Something else I found in Marie Claire

I thought this was interesting. Like my last post, it's from April's Marie Claire. It's about the richest and poorest nations in the world per capita:

Richest:
Luxembourg: $62,700
Norway: $42,400
United States: $41,800

Poorest:
East Timor: $400
Malawi: $600
Somalia: $600

Americans don't take much vacation time

Recently I read an article in April's Marie Claire where they compared employee's vacation time with that of other nations. I decided to research it online, and this is what I found:

Argentina: 14 Days
Australia: about 4 weeks
Belgium: 20 days
Bulgaria: 20 business days
Canada: at least 2 weeks
Chile: 15 working days
China: 0
Czech Republic: 4 weeks
France: 5 weeks
Germany: 4 weeks
Hong Kong: 7 days
Hungary: 20 work days
Ireland: 4 weeks
Israel: 14 days
Japan: 10 days
Mexico: 6 days
Northern Mariana Islands: 0
Poland: 18 working days
Puerto Rico: 15 days
Saudi Arabia: 15 days
Singapore: 7 days
South Africa: 21 consecutive days
South Korea: 10 working days
Spain: 30 calender days
Sweden: 5 weeks
Taiwan: 7 days
Netherlands: 4 weeks
Turkey: 12 work days
UK: at least 4 weeks
Ukraine: 24 calender days
US: about 2 weeks
Venezuela: 15 days


this info comes from: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/research/QuestionOfTheMonth/archive/vacationtime.html

"Censure the RNC" from alternet

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 12:42 PM on March 22, 2006.

Republicans' Feingold ad gives you a lie and 2 distortions for the price of 1!

The RNC missed the satire in Stephen Colbert's report on truthiness. In an attempt to scare the bejeezus out of an America that has precious little bejeezus left in it, the RNC is using lies distortions to attack Sen. Feingold for proposing to censure Bush.

Despite the fact that Feingold has repeatedly asserted that "No one questions -- no one questions -- whether the government should wiretap suspected terrorists," an RNC radio ad attacks Feingold for reprimanding the president "for pursuing suspected members of al Qaeda."

"Which," as Emi Kolawole writes, "isn't true."

Couple thoughts. A. The fact that that they're taking the trouble to lie in order to smear Feingold means that the bejeezus has been scared out of the Republicans as well and B. They have every right to be scared because although America's representatives aren't for censure -- yet -- America is. To the tune of 48% to 43%.

Kolawole's article also notes deceptive claims about the Patriot Act and Democratic calls for impeachment. Three deceptions, one ad. Very economically sound. Too bad the same can't be said for other Republican policies. (Factcheck)

Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.

"Americans favor Feingold's proposal to censure Bush"

"And a surprising number support impeachment. Blog Tools
Posted by Evan Derkacz at 11:45 AM on March 19, 2006.
taken from altern

What Americans want to see.
A poll by the American Research Group last week reveals that 48% of American voters support Senator Feingold's call for a senate censure of President Bush (note: the articles of impeachment must come from the House of Representatives... As a senator, Feingold has no Constitutional power to propose impeachment). 43% of voters oppose the measure.

Amazingly, nearly a third of Republican respondents favored censure while nearly a fifth even favored impeachment. Three-fifths of Democratic respondents and nearly half of Independents favored impeachment.

Censure, many have argued, doesn't actually DO anything, and impeachment is very unlikely given the current make up of Congress -- so what's the use?

Well, when this many people favor a firm response to an outrageous transgression of the law -- illegal domestic spying -- it capitalizes on public anger, focuses it, keeps the lawbreakers on the defensive, and begins to revitalize the public image of an opposition party struggling to be perceived as having integrity and the guts to assert it.

Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet."


I love the fact that Russ Feingold does what he feels is right. He doesn't sit in the background and play along; he gets up there and says what he thinks. He's the man for the 2008 Democratic nomination, as I've said before.

"Having walked around in a parade for a lot of my life, I find myself today relating much more to the kids on the sidelines. Somehow, I believe that they have the real answers. And I want so desperately to ask the questions: Why desperately to ask the questions: Why is there so much excess in some parts of the world, and such a lack of food and basic needs in others? How is there "all you can eat" and starvation? How can you, the individual, make a difference when governments can't tackle the horrors of our world?" ~Drew Barrymore

Why Women Still Makes Less Than Men

Why Women Still Make Less than Men
From Robert Longley,Your Guide to U.S. Gov Info / Resources.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!


"... death, taxes and the glass ceiling."Despite a sense of continued progress toward gender equality in the workplace, the federal government has confirmed that the workplace earnings gap between men and women still persists today.
According to General Accounting Office (GAO) Report GAO-04-35, the weekly earnings of full-time working women were about three-fourths of men's during 2001. The report was prepared from a study of the earnings history of over 9,300 Americans for the last 18 years.
Even accounting for factors such as occupation, industry, race, marital status and job tenure, reports the GAO, working women today earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. This pay gap has persisted for the past two decades, remaining relatively consistent from 1983-2000.
In attempting to explain the discrepancies in pay between men and women, the GAO concluded:
*Women in the workforce are also less likely to work a full-time schedule and are more likely to leave the labor force for longer periods of time than men, further suppressing women's wages. These differing work patterns lead to an even larger earnings gap between men and women - suggesting that working women are penalized for their dual roles as wage earners and those who disproportionately care for home and family.
*Men with children appear to get an earnings boost, whereas women lose earnings. Men with children earn about 2% more on average than men without children, according to the GAO findings, whereas women with children earn about 2.5% less than women without children.
*Women have fewer years of work experience.
"The world today is vastly different than it was in 1983, but sadly, one thing that has remained the same is the pay gap between men and women," said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York, 14th). "After accounting for so many external factors, it seems that still, at the root of it all, men get an inherent annual bonus just for being men. If this continues, the only guarantees in life will be death, taxes and the glass ceiling. We can't let that happen."
This GAO study updates a 2002 report it conducted at the request of Rep. Maloney, which examined the glass ceiling for female and male managers. This year's study used data from a more comprehensive, longitudinal study - the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The study also accounted for a slew of external factors for the first time, chief among which were the differences in men's and women's work patterns, including more leave from work to care for family.

taken from http://www.about.com

More Discrimination In the U.S.

Although the times have changed in most of America, it seems the military still discriminates against pagans and atheists. Around December 17th, 2005, it was reported that some army chaplains went as far as to say that atheists are unqualified as soldiers compared to their Christain counterparts. Atheists are also not allowed to put atheist on their id tags as their religion, but must put "no preference". According to Wayne Adkins, "There is a world of difference between having no religious preference and being an atheist. Often soldiers must choose between religious services and work details. Twice in my career I was told to either go to church or pick up trash. Soldiers are often captive audiences for chaplains as well. The first thing that happened when my plane landed after returning from Iraq was a chaplain boarded and held a ten minute devotional on the PA system before soldiers had an opportunity to get off the plane."
More recently, discrimination has showed up in the form of headstone battles. Here's part of the article from alternet.com: "The National Guard had no problem taking Wiccan Patrick Stewart when he decided to serve his country. They even listed Wicca on his dog tags.
Now that he's been killed in action in Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?), however, they refuse to put his religion's symbol on the headstone. Right now, the stone remains blank:
[His widow, Roberta] said she had no idea the pentacle could not be used on her husband's memorial plaque until she had to deal with the agency after the death of her husband. "It's discrimination," she said. "They are discriminating against our religion."
According to The Pagan Veterans Headstone Campaign: "thirty-eight different "emblems of spirit" allowed on veterans' headstones, and despite the fact that there are thousands of Pagan veterans and hundreds more currently serving today, none of those are the Pentacle..."" Here's a site to check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pagan-Headstone-Campaign/

Heraclitus

I just finished reading a book about Heraclitus (c. 500bc). Quite interesting. His theory was that, as he says, "Good and bad are the same". This means that without one thing, you cannot have another. You have to experience the bad to know you have the good. Another fragment of his work I like is "It makes more sense to throw out a corpse than manure." I feel this means that you shouldn't hold on to the past or the broken; but keep things that are functional and will help you, just like manure helped the ancient Greeks sow their fields. Also, "The sun is new each day". This isn't very hard to understand because there are many sayings that echoes its meaning today, but the fact that you should take every day as a new adventure is a great way to live life.

Radio Frequency Identification

Here's a scary thought: Everywhere you go, everything you do, is being tracked. It could happen. RFID technology, otherwise known as Radio Frequency Identification, can be used to transmit data to "Big Brother." Of course, it can also be used for postive things. In fact, it is already being used. For example, computer chips in your skin that enable doctors to quickly find your medical records.
Whenever I read something about computer chips being implanted in people, I always think of the Left Behind books I read five years ago. In one of the books, the "satanists" decide to put "the mark of the devil" on people in the form of RFID technology. Although I doubt very much that's the case here, it's not unbelievable to think that the government could potentially do harm with this, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. ~*Ashley*~

Check out this blog!

Take a look at Bipodial Dog's blog, http://bipodialdog.blogspot.com/ It's beautiful. ~Ashley

Talk About a Tyrant!

I was reading a book about the Celts (I can't remember the title) and came across this little tidbit:

In 143 BC, the Romans attacked the Celtic city of Numantia, which is near Madrid. The Celts held out until 134 BC when Rome sent over Scipio Africanus. His 60,000 men fought against the Celts, only 8000. When 400 young Celts decided to ride for help, Scipio cut of all their hands. But the hardy Celts still didn't surrender. Many committed suicide when faced with the prospect of being made into slaves.

Michelle Kwan

I'm very sorry that Michelle Kwan isn't going to have the chance to win the Olympics, since she very much deserves it after all her hard work. But I don't think it's necessary to smother the news with it. My brother and I are watching the Today Show, and all they're talking about is Michelle Kwan and the Olympics. Yes, it only happens once ever four years (or if you're like me, once every two, I really couldn't care less if it's summer or winter), but there are other things going on in the world that is more important.

I Love Sweden!

Published on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 by the Guardian / UK
Sweden Plans to Be World's First Oil-Free Economy· 15-year limit set for switch to renewable energy· Biofuels favoured over further nuclear power
by John Vidal

Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years - without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.
Sweden...gets almost all its electricity from nuclear and hydroelectric power, and relies on fossil fuels mainly for transport. Almost all its heating has been converted in the past decade to schemes which distribute steam or hot water generated by geothermal energy or waste heat.
The attempt by the country of 9 million people to become the world's first practically oil-free economy is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, farmers, car makers, civil servants and others, who will report to parliament in several months.
The intention, the Swedish government said yesterday, is to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change destroys economies and growing oil scarcity leads to huge new price rises.
"Our dependency on oil should be broken by 2020," said Mona Sahlin, minister of sustainable development. "There shall always be better alternatives to oil, which means no house should need oil for heating, and no driver should need to turn solely to gasoline."
According to the energy committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, there is growing concern that global oil supplies are peaking and will shortly dwindle, and that a global economic recession could result from high oil prices.
Ms Sahlin has described oil dependency as one of the greatest problems facing the world. "A Sweden free of fossil fuels would give us enormous advantages, not least by reducing the impact from fluctuations in oil prices," she said. "The price of oil has tripled since 1996."
A government official said: "We want to be both mentally and technically prepared for a world without oil. The plan is a response to global climate change, rising petroleum prices and warnings by some experts that the world may soon be running out of oil."
Sweden, which was badly hit by the oil price rises in the 1970s, now gets almost all its electricity from nuclear and hydroelectric power, and relies on fossil fuels mainly for transport. Almost all its heating has been converted in the past decade to schemes which distribute steam or hot water generated by geothermal energy or waste heat. A 1980 referendum decided that nuclear power should be phased out, but this has still not been finalised.
The decision to abandon oil puts Sweden at the top of the world green league table. Iceland hopes by 2050 to power all its cars and boats with hydrogen made from electricity drawn from renewable resources, and Brazil intends to power 80% of its transport fleet with ethanol derived mainly from sugar cane within five years.
Last week George Bush surprised analysts by saying that the US was addicted to oil and should greatly reduce imports from the Middle East. The US now plans a large increase in nuclear power.
The British government, which is committed to generating 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2012, last month launched an energy review which has a specific remit to consider a large increase in nuclear power. But a report by accountants Ernst & Young yesterday said that the UK was falling behind in its attempt to meet its renewables target.
"The UK has Europe's best wind, wave and tidal resources yet it continues to miss out on its economic potential," said Jonathan Johns, head of renewable energy at Ernst & Young.
Energy ministry officials in Sweden said they expected the oil committee to recommend further development of biofuels derived from its massive forests, and by expanding other renewable energies such as wind and wave power.
Sweden has a head start over most countries. In 2003, 26% of all the energy consumed came from renewable sources - the EU average is 6%. Only 32% of the energy came from oil - down from 77% in 1970.
The Swedish government is working with carmakers Saab and Volvo to develop cars and lorries that burn ethanol and other biofuels. Last year the Swedish energy agency said it planned to get the public sector to move out of oil. Its health and library services are being given grants to convert from oil use and homeowners are being encouraged with green taxes. The paper and pulp industries use bark to produce energy, and sawmills burn wood chips and sawdust to generate power.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Weapons

What's my favorite weapon of all time? I love greek fire.It wasn't invented until the 7th century. It could have been invented by Callinicus, an egyptian architect. It was especially effective against ships at sea because it ignited spontaneously, and couldn't be extinguished by water. Instead, water made the flames larger. In 673 greek fire was used by the Byzantine empire to repel an arab fleet attacking Constantinople. Unfortunately, we do not know what it was. It could have been mixture of flammable materials like sulfur and pitch in a petroleum base, but it's uncertain right now.
The most evil weapon of all time is, without question, the Atomic bomb. The degree of destruction is almost unknowable. Even though it's been 61 years since Hiroshima, Japan is still feeling the effects of the radiation. I actually believe that the end of the world is very likely going to be nuclear holocaust.

My Favorite Era

I've always been a fan of medieval times. It's hardly correct to call them the "Dark Ages"! So much happened. Personally, I'm obsessed with the plague and the great fire of london in 1666. I've never been a fan of more recent (in terms of all of history) stuff; I like 'pre-gun' history. Probably why I've never been that interested in American history. Or it could be that I grew up listening to American propoganda and am now so used to it that I hardly find it interesting now. Anything about Eurasia is fascinating!

The 7 Wonders of the World

7 Wonders of the World

Pyramids of Egypt: Only one still standing. In Cairo, Egypt.
40-ft tall Statue of Zeus from 435 bc. Stood in Olympia. Made of Gold and ivory.
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus: 353 BC. Huge marble tomb built for King Mausolus of Caria in Asia Minor.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II, the Chaldean king, probably built the gardens in about 600BC as a consolation to his Median wife who missed the natural surroundings of her homeland.
Pharos of Alexandria: Stood on island in harbor of Alexandria and was over 440ft tall.
Colossus of Rhodes: 280BC. 100ft high, built to guard entrance to the harbor at Rhodes.
Temple of Artemis: Built in Ephesus in Asia Minor in 356BC. destroyed by the Goths in AD. 262

Personally, I think the Pharos of Alexandria was the most interesting. I mean, a 440 ft. lighthouse with an actual fire at the top. And this was at the time when everyone had to do everything by hand!

The Origin of "Plantagenet" and "Big Ben"

This is really interesting (at least to me): Plantagenet (a royal line including Richard III) comes from planta (sprig) and genista (broom plant) in reference to the sprig that Geoffrey IV (1113-1151) of Anjou always wore in his cap.

Big Ben: named after Sir Benjamin Hall (commisioner of works). 13.5 ton bell first rang out in 1859.

Quote

"All life is transitory. Even your children are not immortal, my sister. The time will come when they will be defeated. The time will come when no one will want gods and goddesses to nurture them, when they will be driven into the darkness, like my children have been this day.
"The time approaches when the summers of Inisfail will be flowerless, when the cows shall be without milk, and the men will be weak and the women shall be shameless; the seas will be without fish, the trees without fruit and old men will give false judgements; the judges will make unjust laws and honour will count for little and warriors will betray each other and resort to thievery. There will come a time when there will be no more virtue left in this world."~Domnu, Celtic Myths and Legends, Peter Berresford Ellis

Conserving energy in winter requires simple living and wise use practices by David Reister

Since space heating uses 49 percent of the energy in our homes (see Figure), to save energy, turn down your thermostat to 65 degrees. For every degree you lower your heat in the 60-degree to 70-degree range, you’ll save up to five percent on heating costs.
Wear warm clothing, add a sweater. Set the thermostat back to 55 degrees at night or when leaving home for an extended time - heat pumps, however, should be set back only two degrees to prevent unneeded use of backup strip heating. Install a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your heating system.
Traditional fireplaces are an energy loser. It’s best not to use them because they pull heated air out of the house and up the chimney. When not in use, make absolutely sure the damper is closed. If you decide not to use a fireplace, block off the chimney with a piece of rigid insulation from the hardware store that fits snugly into the space.
Reduce hot water temperature. Set your water heater to the “normal” setting or 120 degrees, unless the owner’s manual for your dishwasher requires a higher setting. Savings are seven to eleven percent of water heating costs. Insulate the first five feet of pipe coming out of the top of your water heater.
Take shorter showers. Simply reducing that lingering time by a few minutes can save hundreds of gallons of hot water per month for a family of four. Showers account for two-thirds of your water heating costs.
Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.
Plug home electronics, into power strips and turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use.
Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes. Look for the Energy Star label on home appliances and products. Energy Star products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Driving Tips
Idling gets you zero miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Any more time simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and hard braking) wastes gas and will lower your highway gas mileage 33 percent and city mileage 5 percent. Avoid high speeds. Each five mph you drive over 60 mph equals to 10 cents more per gallon of gas. When you use overdrive gearing, your car’s engine speed goes down, which saves gas and reduces wear.
Use air conditioning only when necessary. Clean out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage. Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A loaded roof rack decreases your fuel economy by 5 percent.
Check into carpooling and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.
For further information visit:
Department of Energy http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/
California Energy Commission http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/flex/tips.html
______________________
David Reister is a Member Sierra Club Sustainable Consumption Committee
Taken from January/February 2006 Old Dominion Sierran

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first female president of Liberia. In 1985, she announced her intention to stand as senatorial candidate in the elections, opposite Samuel Doe. After giving a speech very critical of Doe, she was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. She served 2 short periods of detention before fleeing into exile. After returning to Liberia after the 7-yr civil war, she was a late entry to the presidential race as part of the Unity Party. She lost the election to Charles Taylor, who won 75% of the vote. She was then charged with treason and forced back into exile. Finally, she won the 2005 election, still part of the Unity Party. This is quite a brave woman; not only is she the first female president of Liberia, she's the first African woman to win a presidency. ~*Ashley*~ http://people.africadatabase.org/en/profile/2655.html#profile98700

Happy News

Seeing as most news today is all about negative aspects of our lives, you can bet I was more than excited when I found Happy News. Of course, not everything on Happy News is revelent to your life, alas, most news that is profound is also most likely bad. However, it's refreshing to see something nice once in awhile. ~*Ashley*~ http://www.happynews.com/

North Shore Animal League America

This is a charity that I posted about in another blog awhile back. I wanted more people to see it, so I'm posting it again. It's based in Port Washington, NY. It started in 1944 (before the major animal liberation movement began) in a garage. There was one major difference between this and others is that since their founding, they refuse to kill any animal, even the old and ailing. When the organization began to fail because of their deminishing money, Alex and Babette Lewyt helped them out, and now they are still up and running. They do so much now; you can adopt through them, they'll help find good homes for neglected pets, help senior citizens, and you can even donate your car to them. Here's the url: http://www.nsalamerica.org/ . Take a look at it. ~*Ashley*~

A Sweat-Shop Free Company

I found a company that is "produced by independent trade union members in the US, Canada, and the developing world", meaning no cruel sweatshops. Here's the url if you want check it out: http://nosweatapparel.com/ . ~*Ashley*~

Dana Schutz

I recently saw some paintings by Dana Schutz, and they were phenomenal. You should totally check out her work, and pick up the latest issue of Vanity Fair (the one with Lindsey Lohen on the cover) to read an article about her. Here's a site that has some of her paintings on it: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/dana_schutz.htm . Her art is so unique and unusual. Trust me, check it out. ~*Ashley*~

Who I Want To Win the Democratic Nomination

Russel Feingold
I've never wanted anyone to win their party's nomination this much. I recently read an article about him in Vogue, and I wanted to share with everyone what I learned about this man.

• He was the lone senator to vote against the Patriot Act, only 6 weeks after 9-11. Most senators felt that if they dissented, it would be political suicide.
• 1 of 23 to vote against the Iraq War Resolution.
• 1st member of congress to propose a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
• When he became Senator, he promised to keep his family home in Middleton, Wisconsin, accept no pay increases, and rely on in-state money for his campaigns. He vowed he would not "go Washington".
• He holds a public meeting in each of the state's counties (72 of them) every year.

Here are two good sites to do a little bit more research of Feingold:

http://www.draftruss.com/index.html

http://www.russfeingold.org/

Wouldn't it be a great election if Russ Feingold and John McCain ran for President in 2008? Either way you really can't go wrong.

A New Low for Our Judicial System

This is what I saw when I logged onto AOL this morning: "No Jail Time For Officer Convicted of Killing Iraqi General". So of course I read the article. Here's the Highlights:

"A military jury recommended a simple reprimand Monday for an Army officer who killed an Iraqi general by stuffing him headfirst into a sleeping bag and sitting on his chest during an interrogation.

"Welshofer, 43, was charged with murder, but was convicted over the weekend of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty that carried a penalty of up to three years and three months in prison, a dishonorable discharge, loss of pension and other penalties.

"The murder charge carried a potential sentence of life in prison. Instead, Welshofer faces no jail time, the forfeiture of $6,000 in salary and what amounts largely to a restriction to his barracks for 60 days."

What's even more surprising is the poll on the same page as the Article.

How do you feel about the sentence?
It's too harsh
43%
It's too lenient
35%
I'm not sure
22%
Total Votes: 30,005

I've never had much faith in our judicial system. If someone kills a child they seem to get less time than people who commit money-related crimes. This just reiterates why something needs to be done, and why other nations hate America. How can we expect anyone to have faith in our government if murderers get to go (basically) free because the murdered party happened to be Iraqi? Despite the fact that Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was in jail, and the fact that we are in war with Iraq, is irrevelent. America's standards should be much higher than that, otherwise this nation is will never become great. The government is a terrorist in it's own right.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060123171409990015
~*Ashley*~

My Introduction

This is my first post, but it's definetly not my first blog. After keeping up with a myspace blog for awhile, I decided I wanted to try a blog on an actual blog site. Be prepared to read; there isn't much I won't talk about. I might even bring some stuff from my other blog, but I haven't decided yet. I guess I should write a bit about myself, so I'm 18, a liberal, vegetarian (almost vegan) enviornmentalist, and you can bet my blog reflects that. I also love British history and current events, so that will also show up quite a bit. And I love feedback, so don't be shy. ~*Ashley*~