Blagojevich Gets The Boot!

Nice to know that there's still some semblance of justice in politics. Less than an hour ago, the Illinois State Senate unanimously voted to kick disgraced Governor Rod Blagojavich, who as you probably know is under Federal indictment for trying to sell Illinois' seat in the US Senate, out of office.

About bloody time, too.

Honestly, I'm not surprised at all. He didn't really make any effort to defend himself. Actually, that's wrong. He did make an effort, but he made the wrong kind of effort. Instead of testifying at his impeachment hearing, he held a media circus, arrogantly denying the hearings and insisting the charges against him were false.

Would have been a tad more convincing if he'd actually backed up his claims with solid evidence.

Honestly, this is the first bit of really good news I've seen regarding politics in a very long time. Nice to know the system still has some knowledge of justice left.

Snow Day!!!!

Yep, we got a good three inches or so of the white stuff last night along with a goodly amount of what the weather people call "wintry mix," AKA ice rain. Looking out the window, the walkways around campus appear to be frozen over. Which means, you guessed it, classes are canceled!

First found out when I woke up to take a shower. There was a sign on the bathroom door saying that there were no classes and to go back to sleep. However, while pranks and comic mischief aren't common around here, they aren't unheard of either (as evidenced by the two guys with the NERF gun). A quick check of the school's website quickly confirmed things: no day classes due to inclement weather.

w00t!!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't find this out until after I was wide awake. And today's normally my early morning day too (Bio lab first thing, just what I want to do; wake up early, eat a full hearty breakfast, then go cut open an eyeball. [vomit]). So now I'm wide awake with nothing to do. Guess I'll catch up on journal entries for my theology class and read ahead in The Awakening (Most. Boring. Book. Ever.)

Keep you posted. Stay inside, stay warm.

Update, 11:15 PM:
I suspect that we may have another snow day tomorrow, or at the very least, my 8:30 class might be cancelled. As I was walking back from dinner (6:30-ish), the footpaths were starting to freeze over again. There were some spots that I actually slid for a good couple of feet. Didn't look or feel like it had been salted, and there's one spot in particular where they physically cannot salt (between two narrow wooden footbridges), so if things are bad tomorrow, I might have another day off.

Liberal Hypocicy at its Finest

Get a load of this. The Democrats have started a petition against Rush Limbaugh after he stated that he hoped that President Obama fails. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says the petition is meant "to show Rush Limbaugh and all of the Republicans what they're up against if they start attacking President Obama."

This is a striking about-face, isn't it? Seems like for the last eight years, everyone in the Main Stream Media was actively rooting for President Bush to fail spectacularly. In fact, every single thing that happened was immediately labeled as Bush's fault. (Hey, I couldn't fall back to sleep when I found out it was a snow day this morning! That's Bush's fault too!) But now, when somebody says something bad about Obama, it's suddenly so taboo that the offender needs to be immediately banned from broadcasting? WTF?

Conservatives are saying that this is the opening salvo in an effort to crush Conservative Talk Radio and re-institute the so-called Fairness Doctrine. I'm inclined to agree with them.

I think the guys at the DCCC need to brush up on their Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

--The First Amendment of The Constitution of the United States of America.

So Much For Government Transparency

You all remember how our new President promised to operate totally in the open, complete transparency? Well, said promise didn't last long. President Obama signed an executive order granting Federal funding to abortion clinics both domestically and in foreign countries.

Late on Friday afternoon, when nobody would notice.

Oh, and did I mention that he also banned anyone from taking pictures of the signing?

Unsurprisingly, the only word from the MSM on this has been to decry the justifiable outrage from conservatives. I especially love ABC's Dan Harris' take: "Despite his desire to reach out to people who disagree with him, the new President may find that on some issues, it may be impossible to find common ground."

"Common ground." On abortion? You're freakin' kidding me, right? There is no common ground on abortion: you can either be for it or against it.

Oh, and by the way, if Obama wanted to "reach out to people who disagree with him," he should have at least signed the order when people were watching and permitted photographers. A better idea would be to try and compromise on the issues, instead of working from under the table with Executive Orders.

Congess = Morons

Guess what the newest thing on Congress' agenda is. The Cell Phone Predator Alert Act.

Okay, basically, this law requires that any and all cell phones that contain digital cameras make a sound every time the camera takes a picture.

Good idea, yes, but still, our country is up to the eyeballs in problems, and Congress is wasting time with this? Besides, any real predator (and not some bonehead in the wrong place at the right time) would probably use a hidden video/still camera, or else physically disable or cover the speaker. And how does it deal with older "Pre-Ban" phones?

Yeesh, all the problems we've got on our plate, and this merits the government's rapt attention? I can't decide what irks me more, the fact that they're taking this so seriously or the fact that we keep voting these same dolts back into office.

Watchmen

I recently finished reading the graphic novel Watchmen, which nerdjedi graciously loaned me after he checked it out of the library.

Wow.

Despite my minor fascination with Superman, I'm not really into comics all that much. But Watchmen absolutely blew my mind. It took everything I'd expected from comic book superheroes and threw it out the window.

One reason I hate comic books is because everything is so clear-cut black-and-white: the heroes are always morally upright and doing the right thing, the villains are always evil. Not so Watchmen. There is no real villain per-se (only the ever-increasing threat of global nuclear war), and some of the "heroes" can be considered borderline villains in their own right. Even the ending is ambiguous: you're not sure if the good guys won, or if what they did to get where they are is even right or not.

Most comic books are overwhelmingly simple: you don't have to read any of the text to figure out what is going on, not even one speech bubble. In Watchmen, if you overlook even one such bubble, I can pretty much guarantee that you've missed something incredibly important. This is a graphic novel in the most literal sense of the word, and a phenomenal one at that: it even won a Hugo Award in 1998.

Normally, I'm highly critical of film adaptations of comic books (Superman, Spiderman, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight being notable exceptions) but after reading Watchmen, I cannot wait for the film to come out. If it's even half as good as the comic was, it will be phenominal. Can't wait for March 6th.

Even if you hate comic books with the burning passion of a thousand suns, you absolutely have to read Watchmen at some point. It is just that good. Heck, I've just finished it, and I'm already thinking about buying my own copy so I can read it again and again and again.

Wanna See Something Really Scary?

3:54: "I pledge to be a servant to our President."

Wait, what?

Okay, I'm looking over my copy of the Constitution right now, and it says that the President is supposed to serve the people of the United States, not the other way around.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Yeah, I know I've said some not so nice things about Obama before he got elected, but now, less than a week after being inaugurated, the man is really starting to frighten me.

First, he's closing Guantanamo Bay, which will result in hundreds of suspected terrorists being allowed to walk away, no questions asked. Next, he's outlawed the torture of known terrorists, which - given his administration's sweeping definition of terrorists (anything that makes the subject "uncomfortable) - has effectively castrated the United States' intelligence-gathering capabilities. Next, he signs an order forbidding lobyists from working in his administration, only to turn around and appoint a former lobbyist for Raytheon as Deputy Secratary of Defense. He wants to ban photographers from press briefings and distribute his own photos to the news media. He wants to authorize yet another bailout, one that will effectively double the national debt. He will more than likely severely curtail, if not overturn, the Second Ammendment. He wants to give the FBI and CIA permission to look over library records and Internet logs.

Now his personality cult wants me to pledge to be Obama's servant? No way, not me. I have only taken one pledge in my entire life, and I stand by it to this day.

I pledge alliegence to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

My loyalty stands with the Nation, not with the President.

Bohemian Acapella

The coolest song every written, Acapella-style.



Also, I apologize for the lack of posting over the last few days. I've recently been consumed by another new idea, one that's actually trumped the Western (which itself stalled out prior to my latest brainstorm). This one's actually a Fan Fiction, of Superman no less. It's an Alternate Universe Fic that examines the question: what if Clark Kent wasn't a Kryptonian, but his childhood friend Lana Lang was?

I popped the idea to nerdjedi, and he liked it. Said it sounded a lot like one of DC Comics' own Elseworlds publications. Who knows, maybe I'll wind up selling the story to DC. But that's a ways off, if it ever happens at all. In the meantime, I'm thinking about starting an account on FanFiction.net and publishing it there. I'll keep you posted on that.

War in the Dorm

Two of the guys in my dorm have a Nerf gun. A big one, the kind that you pump up and it shoots ten darts on full auto. They lit up one of the RAs as she was making rounds. Did it right in front of my room as I watched. Twice.

This means war.

Too bad everyone else on the floor is unarmed. And I lost all of the darts/arrows/whatever for my old Nerf guns. Oh well. Good thing the Raptor has a birthday in a few weeks...



Then it's on!

The Good, The Bad, and The... Ukulele?

As a follow-up to this post, check out another unusual rendition of the classic theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.



Found it as I was trolling around the Interwebs. Ignore the goofy part at the beginning.

This is Getting Old, Fast

The fire alarm in my dorm went off again last night at about 12:20 AM, right as I was finally drifting off to sleep. Had to stand outside in the freezing cold for ten minutes until they could reset it, then when I finally got back into my room, it took forever to fall asleep.

Sound familiar?

This is actually the 6th or 7th time that this has happened this week. Fortunately for me, I missed all but 2. Unfortunately, those were the two that happened at absurdly late hours. None of 'em are drills either. We don't know if someone's pulling the alarm on us or people are just burning stuff in their microwaves. Actually, someone did pull the alarm once; a foreign exchange student thought that the alarm lever unlocked the door to her hall (having seen the lever in question, I can't blame her; it's literally right smack-dab next to the door). Still, the guys in my hall are in a foul mood about it. Trust me, if you've never done it before, standing out in the cold in nothing but your PJs and a pair of sneakers is not fun. And we're the lucky ones - there have been a decent number of people in the showers when the alarms have gone off. Ouch.

On the upside, I have had a chance to work on my Western some more. I've got something of a plot that I'm starting to flesh out, but it is a bit more cliched than I'd like. Hopefully I'll be able to de-cliche it when I go back and smooth it over. Still no ideas for a title, though. That probably won't happen until I'm finished writing the plot.

Actually, nevermind. I just came up with an idea: 'Til Death.

I'll keep you posted. Hopefully, that will mean more Western progress, less fire alarms.

College: One Week In

Well, I've officially been on campus for one week, and I'm not dead yet. Or sick. Or in the hospital. Or anything. Except busy, that is. So I guess I'm making out okay. I just hope that the menu changes in the dining hall this week. It's been barbecue stuff all week, which I really can't eat. I'm getting sick of hamburgers, which was the only safe food to be had, besides the deli bar.

It's been snowing on and off all day. I'd say we got about 2 inches. They salted the paths, but it's been sticking anyway. The paths were pretty slick when I got back from dinner about 2 hours ago; they could be frozen now for all I know. Maybe my early class will get canceled. I'm not banking on it, though I would like to be able to sleep in again.

So, yeah, on a different note...

I'm working on another story. This one's got nothing to do with my David Pierce series. In fact, it's a Western. Yes, you read that right. A Western. I'm trying to steer away from most of the classic B-Grade Movie cliches, but a few are going to be unavoidable if the plot goes the way I'm planning on taking it.

It's not very well-developed yet, not even a title. Just the concept, one main character, and the beginning of a very rough plot. I'll keep you updated as the story evolves. If I even have time to work on it (been very busy for the last week), I'll probably put Justice Delayed on hold, at least until I can get a decent plot ironed out.

Well, that's all for now. Later.

What is Wrong With America

This afternoon over lunch, I was having a conversation with a certain friend of mine (who shall remain nameless). Now, normally, this guy and I get along okay. Sure, we rag on each other occasionally, and he sometimes demonstrates a unique talent for driving me up the wall, but aside from that we're pretty good. Except for one thing.

Politics.

Now, you who read my blog regularly know that I have strong political convictions, and I tend to be vocal about said convictions. Usually, I can keep a conversation going with someone, no matter what their political leaning, for at least a minute. Not this guy. As soon as I mention anything remotely political, he completely shuts me out. "No, you know what? No. I don't wanna hear it. I don't care. Just, no." Every time, he does that. Said quote is ususally followed by him attempting to engage someone else in conversation by saying (in a rather loud and obnoxious voice designed to completely drown me out. "So, soandso, how's the weather today? Did anything exciting happen at school/work?" etc. Every time. Today was no exception.

Today, it finally hit me. He doesn't care about what the government does. Moreover, he doesn't want to care. He doesn't want to be bothered with what happens in Washington, so long as it doesn't affect him too much.

This is what's wrong with America. There are too many people like my friend, on both sides of the fence, who don't care about what the government does and don't want to care either. They are just content to sit on the sidelines and watch Washington. Then there are the ones who whine and moan and just b!^(& when the candidate they didn't like won the election, then turn around and say they didn't vote. They didn't care, didn't want to be bothered with it.

Well, guess what. They need to be bothered with it. They need to care. Our system of government only works, only really works, if everyone stands up and gets involved. Think about it: Congress' approval rating gets worse and worse, yet we keep voting the same scumbags back into office. Why? Because the people who b!^(& and moan about how horrible things are don't go out and vote the scumbags out of office.

I don't care what side of the fence you're on, if you want things to change, if you want your voice to be heard, I mean really heard by the politicians in your local, state, and Federal government, you need to get out and vote, even if it is inconvenient (by the way, it's not supposed to be fun or convenient). You need to start caring, you need to start wanting to care. Or else we're all going to wake up and be like the British, wondering "what the Hell has happened to our country?"

News on the Dorm Front

Good news. I'd been running on my laptop's (horrible) wireless card all week, and it was running like a slug stuck in thick peanut butter. Well, I stopped at home last night, picked up a spare network cable, and now it's running a lot better. Not as fast as the FiOS at home, but enough that I can actually go on graphics-intense pages and not wait ten minutes for the page to load (not even kidding, it took that long a few times)

Bad news. The dorm kinda smells. Not really my room, but more so the hall. Smells faintly off cigarettes and poo. Now, cigarettes I don't really get, seeing as how the campus is smoke free. However, the campus across the street from us is not (yes, there's another college across the street from me), and everyone there smokes under the lamppost down the street. But the poo? Well, the smell does tend to be close to the vent, which shares a wall with the bathroom. But, it's bearable, sometimes hardly noticeable, so I'll deal with it until the semester ends and I get out of this dorm.

Thank God it's Friday. Everyone's pretty beat, we really need this three day weekend.

US Airways Plane Crashes in Hudson River - All Aboard Survive

From FOXNews.com

NEW YORK — A US Airways jet crashed Thursday in the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey after a flock of birds apparently struck its engines — but all 155 people on board are thought to have survived, and the pilot is being hailed as a hero.

Passengers were sent fleeing into the icy, 35-degree waters when the Airbus 320 went down near 48th Street in Manhattan shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport.

"We've had a 'Miracle on 34th Street' and now we have a miracle on the Hudson," said New York Gov. David Paterson.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the pilot told him he walked the plane twice to make sure everyone was off the plane, before exiting the aircraft. The pilot's identity hasn't been released, Bloomberg said, and the man is waiting to speak with the National Transportation Safety Board before talking to anyone else about what happened.

The pilot of the plane was Chesley B. Sullenburger III, his daughter confirmed to FOXNews.com. She declined to give additional details or confirm a TMZ report that he was a former Air Force flight leader and training officer who flew F-4s from 1973 to 1980.

"There were eyewitness reports the plane may have flown into a flock of birds," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. "Right now we don't have any indication this was anything other than an accident."

National Air Traffic Controllers Union spokesman Doug Church said the pilot reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after takeoff. The pilot then said he spotted an airport below, in New Jersey. He first intended to make an emergency landing there but instead took the plane down in the river.

Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of US Airways Group, would not speculate on what caused the incident but said at a news conference after the crash that the company will cooperate fully with investigators.

Most of the passengers were held at the New York City ferry terminal at 42nd Street after the crash, though at least two were taken away on stretchers. The New York City Fire Department said 78 people were injured, but the extent of the injuries wasn't immediately known. They were taken to hospitals in New York and New Jersey.

Flight 1549 had just taken off at 3:26 p.m. when it went down. The flight was carrying 150 passengers and five crew — two pilots and three flight attendants — and was heading to Charlotte, N.C.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows but remained completely intact. Rescue crews opened the door and pulled passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats — including commuter ferries — surrounded the plane.

Many of the passengers were able to step off the plane and directly onto a rescue boat or wait for rescue on the wings of the plane, Bloomberg said.

Passenger Fred Beretta said everyone on the plane was helping each other to get out alive.

"I think everyone was just stunned," Beretta told FOX News on The O'Reilly Factor.

Beretta, who was sitting on the left side of the plane, said he heard the engine sputter and then go quiet. That was when passengers on his side, started to ask those on the right side about that engine and they too said it was quiet.

"There was no panic on the plane," Beretta said. "The pilot made a gradual left turn and (we) were waiting and knew the would same something. It seemed like a long time [till he spoke] but it probably wasn't. the plane was quiet except for a couple of emotional outbursts, but nothing major. The only words I recall [the pilot saying] was, 'prepare for impact.'"

"I looked out the window and though, 'there is a good chance we are going to die. I thought about my family and started praying."

Beretta described a calm scene as passengers told those near emergency exits to open them and walking close together those on the plane safety exited to the wings.

A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive Thursday night in New York City, Bloomberg said, adding the plane was still floating and tied up at a lower Manhattan dock.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said terrorism wasn't suspected.

"There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident," Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. "We continue to closely monitor the situation which at present is focused on search and rescue."

Witnesses said the plane's pilot appeared to guide the plane down.

"I see a commercial airliner coming down, looking like it's landing right in the water," said Bob Read, who saw it from his office at the TV news magazine "Inside Edition." "This looked like a controlled descent."

"I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water," Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson, said shortly after the crash. "All the boats have sort of circled the area."

Those who believe they may have family members on board flight 1549 can call US Airways at 1-800-679-8215 within the United States.

Wow. A jetliner crashes, without power, on water, stays completely intact, and everyone survives. That's not supposed to happen. I mean that literally: jetliners aren't really designed to handle water landings. And the fact that everyone made it out is even more unbelievable. Even rescue crews are saying they'd expected there to be at least one or two deaths. But One Hundred Fifty-Five Survivors out of One Hundred Fifty-Five Passengers? No one expected that. And from what I've seen with the interviews of survivors, everyone remained calm, nobody went nuts or did anything stupid, either.

People say miracles don't happen anymore. A jetliner crashes on water, remains intact, and everyone gets out alive? If that's not a miracle, nothing is. God's hand was definitely on that plane when it came down, and with those passengers as they got out.

New Post on my Review Blog

I just posted a new entry on my Review Blog. Not actually a review, but more of a minor rant. Click here to check it out.

Also, while we're on the subject of movies, I just saw that The Dark Knight is going to be returning to theaters and IMAX later this month. January 23, to be exact. I've already seen it twice on the big screen, can't wait to see it a third time! This time, I think I'll go for an IMAX showing.

Dorm Room Woes

Well, we've been here less than a week, and my roommate and I have both decided that we're going to do everything we can to make sure we are not in this particular dorm next year.

It's small, it's noisy (utilities, not neighbors), it's hot, it's kinda dirty, the internet connection sucks, and it's a ghost town. At least, this particular hall is a ghost town. No one's ever really around, and when they are in, they keep their doors closed. It's like GCC all over again. Now, I know the rest of the school isn't like this, having visited several other dorms in the past. Funny how I wind up in places like this...

Fortunately, we're already underclassmen, and next year we'll be pretty high up the totem pole (my old AP credits might put me there already), so we should get pretty good dibs once housing signups for next year start rolling. I think that's only in a month or too. I'm gonna try and get in the newest dorm, but right now I'm in the oldest, so pretty much anything would be an improvement!

Settling In

4 days on campus, haven't gotten sick yet. Things are lookin' good!

The last three days have been kinda crazy, what with getting settled in and all. No more fire alarms, thank God, just a lot of classes (nearly all back-to-back) and a lot of homework.

I'm still pretty tired, not really used to sleeping in a dorm room. It's like sleeping in a Holiday Inn where you can't turn off the AC, very noisy. But I'm getting used to it.

Once things settle down (maybe over the holiday weekend) I'll start posting "normal" things again (political commentary, fiction, etc).

First Night

Yeah, I ran into some of my old friends last night, so we wandered around campus until about 11:00, then I went back to my dorm. Finally crawled into bed at about quarter to midnight.

The fire alarm went off an hour later.

Got to stand outside in the freezing cold wearing nothing but PJs, coat, and hiking boots for fifteen minutes. That was fun.

Didn't sleep much last night. Something in the room makes a lot of noise, like one of those motel air conditioners. I think I know what it is, hopefully it'll get turned off tonight.

Yeah, I'm running on maybe 4 hours sleep, and I've got newspaper and three classes today, back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I'm gonna be dead on my feet come 2:00.

Class is gonna start soon, gotta go.

Move In Complete

Well, I'm finally moved into the dorm. Actually, I got here about 8 hours ago, but it took me 'til now to get everything squared away and get dinner and stuff.

Family came down to visit after Papa Raptor got me moved in. I get the feeling I'll be seeing a lot of them. (That's what happens when college is 10 minutes down the road from your house!)

Classes start tomorrow. Yay. [/sarcasm] Fortunately, I don't have class until 10:00 tomorrow. Tues, Wed, and Thurs are gonna be rough, though. 8:30, 8:00, 8:30. And I go pretty much straight through, all day, every day. Whoopie.

Still, it's pretty good. My roommate's nice, as are my neighbors. Haven't seen many of my friends yet, but they're mostly the type that shows up at 2:00 AM on Monday. That, and most of them aren't in my dorm (I'm in a tiny one).

The Brits Are Finally Taking a Stand

Apparently, the British Government is now trying to ban fox hunting, which is one of the nation's oldest and most cherished traditions. The People don't like that very much. They're realizing just how many rights they've surrendered to their government by being apathetic.



But I can't help but wonder, is this too little, too late for them? For the last 20 years, they've basically been sheep; they've been so apathetic that they've gone along with whatever the government claimed was "in their best interest" without question. They've already lost the right to own guns, now they have to work to reclaim that right. They have, for all intents and purposes, lost the right to defend themselves (pocket knives have also been banned). I love the bit in the video when they mentioned how the chief constable said that Tony Morrison should have shouted for help when his closest neighbor was at least a half-mile away.

The scary part is, this can and is happening in the US right now. Obama's nominees for Secratary of State and Attorney General are notoriously anti-gun, and he's already proposing the same "common sense" anti-gun laws that Parliament used on their subjects. Many jurisdictions in the US actively prohibit carrying guns, tazers, pepper spray, etc., instead recommending that people defend themselves with items like combs, brushes, pens, car keys, or even (from the Illinois State Police) by vomiting on one's attacker. The question is, how much longer are we going to remain apathetic before we realize that the government has, via litegation that is "in our best interest," stripped us of our rights and turned us into a proverbial flock of sheep?

Who Can Fix The Economy? Are You Sure?

Okay, according to Obama, only the Federal Government can fix our economy. Call me cynical, but I sincerely doubt that.

Let us take a look at the government's track record with running things for a moment, shall we?

• Medicare: poorly managed and paying out more than it recieves from the .gov.
• Social Security: running out of money.
• Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac: have you been living under a rock for the last four months?

True story: in 1990, the Federal Government seized the Mustang Ranch, a brothel near Reno, Nevada, after the owners were convicted of tax evasion. As required by federal law, the Government then proceeded to run the Ranch. It went bust in 1999. I'm not making this up.

If the .gov can't even run a brothel, how can it be expected to run our economy?

Not to mention the fact that the .gov having controlling stakes and shares in hitherto privately-owned companies is socialist and communist. No, I'm not trying to call Obama a socialist (though many of his plans indicate such leanings). That's what socialism and communism are: a system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole and a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party, respectively.

Honestly, I'm pretty scared right now. Pelosi has just rendered the Republicans powerless in the Senate, and now Obama wants the Federal Government to take control of the economy. I don't like where this train seems to be going. I just hope I'm not the only one.

Cracked 10,000

Finally broke the 10,000 word mark in Justice Delayed. Still haven't gotten very far into the plot, though, so I'm going to estimate that the finished product is going to be somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 words long. (For comparison, the first draft of Codename: White Knight was about 37,000 words long)

Also, I've decided to alter the plot a little bit. Unfortunately, this is going to have a major impact on the rest of the David Pierce universe, so I'm going to have to rewrite White Knight. Fortunately, I was planning to do that anyway, but now it's definitive.

I move on campus Sunday, and classes start on Monday, so I'm gonna be busy for the next few months. I hope to have Justice Delayed finished by the end of the semester (early- to mid- May), and definitely by the end of August on the outside.

Democrats Putting Shackles on the GOP

Check out this article. The Democrats, under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have pushed through legislation that amends the rules regarding motions to "recommit" bills to committee before they are voted on by the Senate as a whole. Specifically, the changes will make it much more difficult for Republicans to recommit the bills and make changes to them.

In the past, the recommit option was used - by both sides - to make amendments to legislation, if not kill it all together. For more than 100 years, this option was used by the minority party to maintain influence over the workings of the Senate. Now, that option is gone.

Basically, what this means is that the Republican Party now has virtually no way to contest legislation proposed by the Democrats. Anything, from tax hikes to gun control to you-name-it can be pushed through for an immediate vote by the Dems with absolutely no input from the GOP. In other words, the Democratic Party will, for all intents and purposes, now literally be in absolute control of the Senate.

In addition, Pelosi's rule changes have abolished term limits for Senate Committee Chairpersons, allowing Senators to maintain control over their committees for as long as they remain in office, which means, assuming current voting trends continue, means that they'll most likely be in control until they either die or decide to retire. This further centers power in the Senate in the hands of a few select individuals, instead of spreading it equally between all of the Senators, as should be done.

Between these two bits of legislation, the Democrats have effectively muzzled the Republican Party. This angers me, not as a Republican (I'd probably be just as pissed if the GOP was behind it), but as an American. Our government is supposed to be about democracy, about debate, about both sides coming together and compromising for the common good, not push one set agenda into law.

Our government was founded on the principle of being "of the people, by the people, for the people," not "of the Party, by the Party, for the Party." Nancy Pelosi needs a forceful reminder of this.

President Obama To Get New Limo

It seems that when Barack Obama drives through Washington on his way to his inauguration, he'll do so in a brand-spankin' new Cadillac limousine.

Embedded video from CNN Video

Come on, a new limo? Give me a break! They just had a new one built for Bush 3 years ago! The economy's in the crapper, and the best thing the government can find to spend money on is a new limo for the president?

This isn't a knock at Obama, but rather the government's stupidity and wastefulness in general. I can think of a hundred things they could spend money on that are far more important than a new limo for the President. What a waste. But then, given our government's stellar record at flushing our tax money down the toilet, I really shouldn't be surprised.

Raptor's Moving!

I'm moving!!!!!!!!! Well, on-campus anyway.

I think (99% sure) that I have a room on campus this coming semester. Sweetness! Now I won't have to worry about crap rush-hour traffic anymore!

UPDATE: I just got an email from Housing. I've got a room!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

Honestly, I've been looking forward to this ever since the debacle that was Grove City, albeit with varying levels of enthusiasm, but now I feel like I'm really ready for this. It's time for me to spread my wings and strike out on my own. And hey, if things don't work out roommate-wise, I'll only be five minutes from home...

This won't change my blogging much (I hope). If anything, it'll give me even more things to gripe about.

On a different note, I could use some technical help with the blog. I'm trying to add labels to my posts, but they're not showing up. Anyone know how to make them work? (Yes, I've tried Blogger help.) Also, how can I put emoticons (smileys and whatnot) in my posts?

Funny How These Things Work Out

Yeah, Justice Delayed is in a bit of a slump right now. I finally cracked 9,000 words today, so it's just under half the length of the original More Than a Job, but I'm just now getting into the meat of the story (deliberate on my part.)

Honestly, I don't really know why this is taking me so long. I guess that part of it is that I'm at a rather dull point in the story (yeah, I'm lazy and only like to write exciting stuff), part of it's because I've already sort-of told this story once before, and part of it's because I'm trying to decide between three different ways to take the story. but that's not the whole thing.

I just... I dunno... Haven't really been motivated to write. I know, I've had a stinkin' month of no responsibilities or anything like that, yet I've hardly taken advantage of that time at all. In fact, the only times when I've actually thought out what I want to write next are the few times I've actually had something urgent I needed to do.

This isn't new either; this is always how I write; it's why it took me four months to finish the first draft of More Than a Job and five months for Codename: White Knight.

Yeah.

Funny how these things work out.

Welcome, 2009!

Happy New Year, Everyone!