31 December 2008

So, after a long month's holiday hiatus, and an even longer week back in Mass and travelling about, C and I are celebrating New Years by staying home and probably going to bed early. So I figure to get myself back into the whole blogging idea, I'll try to recap the past year. Just for shits and giggles. So, without further ado,

2008 In Review: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, The Etcetera.

The Good:
- The Presidential Election: Not just the fact that Obama got elected, but how damn entertaining was this past election cycle? The rise of a more progressive Democratic Party (fingers crossed), the utter collapse of the Republican Party as a national party, the complete selling of John McCain's soul, and how can we forget, Sarah Palin and the ensuing high comedy. It was awesome. Full of many great moments. Can't wait till Inauguration Day.

- Ted Kennedy: Yes, I see the jokes coming for miles, and even if you don't like him, he came back from a brain tumor to deliver an amazing speech at the DNC in Denver, and pass the torch to a new generation of democrats. It made me proud to be from Massachusetts, and to have him as my senator.

- The Bruins, Celtics, Pats and Red Sox: Though only one team won a championship, two played above and beyond, and the Bruins look poised for a great extended run to end the season and the playoffs. I can't even fathom that I'll be watching them play into the spring. Hockey in shorts? Not so far in m life time. Amazing. Not to mention that the Phillies won the World Series. Sick.

- Oil prices: Just filled up for $1.45 a gallon in Mass. Lowest price in 5 years.

- Rode the MS 150 City to Shore, from Cherry Hill to Ocean City, New Jersey. Though Team Waterworks only completed the first day, we raised over $2500 to find a cure for MS. It was awesome, and though C and I won't be able to ride next year (we'll be in Massachusetts for the wedding), it was a great experience and I hope to do it again.

- The Olympics were pretty cool, though I grew quite tired of only seeing swimming and beach volleyball, especially considering the last fifty meters of the men's cycling road race was the most exciting ending to a bike race I've ever seen. Also, huzzah Michael Phelps. You're a god amongst men.

The Bad:
- Has anyone actually seen our President do anything remotely presidential since September, besides ride around on Air Force One? Didn't think so. He seemingly missed that his Global War on Terror is raging on two active fronts, there was a rather nasty border war between Russia and Georgia, and the epic collapse of the US economy. Where is he? Attempting to reshape his legacy so that history won't view him as such a douche bag. Here's a tip for you W: Too late. Maybe you should have thought about this when you were acting like an idiot over the past eight years. Oh, and look out for all the new abuses of endangered species, previously protected wilderness and the limits on abortions he's trying to push on through. God Bless America.

- Oil prices: Paid over $4.25 a gallon for gas at some points earlier this summer. Ridiculous.

- Speaking of the economy, I have a real big problem with these bailouts. Not that they occurred, mind you, I think they were necessary. My issue lies in the fact that white collar bankers and Wall Street investors come to Washington and leave with $700 billion essentially unregulated dollars, but when they Big Three car companies come looking for $35 billion, they are slapped around by politicians. Now, they most definitely should have been, they caused their own problems, but at the same time, where was the public castigation of the bankers and their ilk? And why, pray tell, do the union workers need to make concessions for the Big Three to secure financial help? I'm glad that the Republicans can get their faces rubbed in the mud in an election and decide to rebrand themselves as union busters. Awesome.

- Our Angry Planet: Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, a cyclone in Myanmar and an earthquake in China... Looks like we woke up Mother Earth from her nap, and boy is she pissed (And this doesn't even address the massive clusterfuck of a relief effort in each case, by multiple governments).

- Stupid American Politicians: New York governor Elliot Spitzer gets busted visiting a high-end prostitute and resigns, Alaska senator Ted Stevens is convicted on seven counts of various corruption and graft, loses his reelection bid to a Democrat, and still doesn't think he did anything wrong, and Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will undoubtedly be receiving some time in "federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison" for trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated senate seat, among other instances of corruption. Oh, and of course, he won't resign, because, of course, he's done nothing wrong in his own eyes. You gotta love that absolutely none of these men think they did a single thing wrong and continue to embarrass their constituents and our country in the process.

Personal Accomplishments:
- Got engaged to C. Awesome, obviously.

- Finished grad school, now full time into job hunting.

- Didn't go broke. Yet.

- Healthy fiancee, healthy dog, healthy guinea pig. The state of the family is strong.

EDIT

- Saw the Who in concert. Best concert I've ever been to, or will likely ever go to.

EDIT

Personal Disasters:
- No new job yet, even though I've been looking for a year and planned on having a new one six months ago, at worst.

- About to go broke.

- No idea how to pay for the wedding, but working on it, one way or the other.

Best Event of the Year: Hands down, Election Night. No elaboration needed.

Worst Event of the Year: Ignoring the now 6 plus year tail chase in Iraq, the current Israeli-Hamas conflict over Gaza, followed very closely by the Mumbai terrorist attacks. If you are under informed about these events, especially the conflict in Gaza, please find some time to educate yourself. As mush as I support our backing of Israel, at what point does a massive bombing campaign against what are essentially refugee camps become more than a proportional response? I know that I can never fully understand the situation, but I can see this current conflict spiraling out of control very, very quickly.

Quote(s) of the Year: "America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for this country that we love... Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs for the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment -- this was the time -- when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals."- Barack Obama, Democratic Primary Victory Speech in Minneapolis, June 3, 2008
and
"This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."- Barack Obama, Victory Speech in Chicago, November 4, 2008

Book of the Year: Rick Atkinson's Day of Battle was an amazingly well researched and written work, and my favorite of the year. Even though they aren't new books, I also read and thoroughly enjoyed Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope and Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, among other things.

Music of the Year: Limiting choices to those in my collection, which excludes almost all country, pop, rap and hip-hop, we come to Metallica's Death Magnetic for album of the year and the Kings of Leon with Sex on Fire as song of the year. The Metallica album was their best in years, maybe decades. It was heavy and raw, and I loved every track. Even though it is a simple song about sex, I though Sex on Fire was really great. I'm sure the musically inclined among you, especially Handy, will heartily disagree.

Movie of the Year: Dead tie between Tropic Thunder and the Dark Knight. I can't really decide, both were equally great. Obviously everyone drools over Heath Ledger's performance, but I found Aaron Eckhardt's Harvey Dent was equally good as well. Just one man's opinion. I also think both Robert Downey Jr and Tom Cruise's performances in Tropic Thunder were great. I guess I'll leave this one up to you.

So, that's it I guess. Hope you all had a great 2008, here's to a smashing 2009.

03 December 2008

He must be stopped. He cannot be allowed to get away with this.

Let me repeat that one more time, just so we all understand: He. Must. Be. Stopped.

Instead of attempting to help this country out of a horrific economic meltdown (no events at all on his public schedule today), George W. Bush is spending the last 50 or so days of his administration, attempting to rewrite history. He and his top-level advisers such as Karl Rove and Karen Hughes are working on the "Bush Legacy Project," which seeks to undermine the facts as we know them regarding some of the worst actions undertaken by Bush and his cronies.

It is now widely known how inept the Bush Adm
inistration was in such large-scale disasters as Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, the War in Iraq, torture and the current economic meltdown (I try not to call it a depression, but we're probably there already). What the BLP is essentially doing, is coming out in force to revise history to fit the administration's opinion of itself, facts be damned.

Perhaps the most disturbing statement to come out of this effort thus far is Karl Rove stating, "Absent that [WMDs], I suspect that the administration's course of action would have been to work to find more creative ways to constrain him like in the 90s." So, let me get this straight: If you knew there were no WMDs in Iraq, Bush would have favored sanctions, not war. But wait a minute, he DID KNOW that there were no WMDs in Iraq, but went on ahead and continued his father's war anyway. The BLP would also have you blame "faulty intelligence" for the war, concluding that even though it was ultimately Bush's decision, as if there is even a scintilla of questionable evidence, YOU DON'T GO TO WAR. Bush has echoed Rove's statement in recent TV interviews, and even attempted to divest himself of any responsibility in the latest crisis, the economy. To wit, when asked by Charlie Gibson if he bore any responsibility for the current crisis, he manages to stumble over his answer and this gem comes out:


"You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived..."

So wait, this mess is his dad's fault? I'm confused. When in doubt, duck and cover and blame everyone else, including your own family? These tactics must be made to fail. We, as Americans, can not allow this man to get away with abusing the truth and our own history the way he has abused this country for the past eight years. Please, for the love of God, keep your ears and eyes open, and preserve our nation's history, unsavory as it may be, and preserve the real Bush legacy, so that future Americans can understand how poorly this country was run, and who is responsible for the messes we find ourselves mired in.