Archive for September, 2009

24th September
2009
written by bob

Ok…I saw this on another blog that I frequent and HAD to post something about it. This is UNBELIEVABLE! It took me a couple of seconds at first to figure out what I was looking at but, WOW, these kids are amazing!! Seriously…who needs a 1.2 million pound video-tron (and probably $100 million) like the Dallas Cowboys just installed in their new stadium? You won’t believe your eyes!


Human Video-tron

16th September
2009
written by bob

So I stumbled upon this site that creates Wordles.  In a nutshell, it can look at pretty much anything however I choose to point to our blog site. It will randomly choose words then randomly aggregate them together.  Click on the picture…pretty cool! Hmmm…wonder what my Twitter feed would look like?

Wordle: bobandkatherine.wordpress.com

16th September
2009
written by bob

For the first 27 years of my life, I grew up in Canada.  In present day terms and news events, the land of ‘Universal Healthcare’.  I think I know a little bit about HC in Canada and can speak to it from experience.  As a child and teenager, I remember when I had doctor appointments I showed up, had somewhat long waiting times in a doc’s office, got checked out, and left with my diagnosis.  At that time, I never really thought about our system in Canada. To me it seemed like the greatest system in the world.  I mean heck, your go to the doctor’s and do not have to pay for a thing?  SWEET!

Once I finished college/university I realized that the HC system in Canada wasn’t really as “free” as I had thought.  You see in Canada taxes are pretty high; approximately 52%. So you can expect about 48% of you paycheck at the end of the day.  However, it doesn’t stop there.  In Ontario where I grew up, taxes were 7% Federal GST (Goods & Services Tax) and 8% PST (Provincial Sales Tax).  In 1991, the GST was levied to the population as  tax that was going to reduced the country’s deficit.

3rd September
2009
written by bob

Ok…I can’t hold my tongue any further.  This is seriously concerning and extremely alarming.

While growing up I watched the news on local tv to see the events that were going on around me and in my home country, Canada.  Mostly, I was watching news for the sports highlights.  Honestly, I was never really interested in much more than local news & sports.  However, as I grew older I became more interested in the what, where, when, why, and how of the news.  A big hot point for me lately have been media & politics in the country I now call home, the United States of America. The fact that I now call the US my home, I have made a commitment to myself to learn the aspects of the political system and everything about it.

Now, I understand when I get hired for a job, apply for a carry concealed weapons permit, or anything as such that I have to go through a criminal background check and I accept that without issue. However, why is it that the Czar’s being appointed by the current Administration are getting a complete free pass to their appointments?  Nobody is asking questions as to who these people are & what are their backgrounds?  Other than a very few (probably one) media outlet(s), no one is questioning these appointments; not the FBI, ABC, MSNBC, or CNN. I really cannot understand why.  It obviously changed in the not so distant past. I recently recall a Vice Presidential candidate by the name of Sarah Palin and the mud-slinging that was thrown her way.  And WOW, did some media stations “tee-off” on her digging up dirt and attempting to expose everything and every angle about her.  However this alleged dirt was not only about her but sadly, also her family!  MSNBC made no apologies for dragging the Palin kids into the political forums. This is the point at which I lost all credibility for the media; well, at least MSNBC, ABC, & CNN.  To be honest, I somewhat respect CNN the most of these three stations but still, their credibility is gone in my books. I guess the political views of the parent ownership person/group supersedes unbiased journalism across ALL media outlets.

I thought ‘real’ journalism and reporting was supposed to question things, good and/or bad, and to present both sides of the story and then explain it to the American public.  The media is supposed to question the government and watch the government for the people NOT the other way around. When did ‘unbiased’ journalism stop because I honestly cannot remember?  Why so?  Is it that there is much to hide?  Kind of seems that way.  It’s obvious from the reporting from MSNBC, ABC, & CNN that these outlets are in the POTUS’ back pocket. I have yet to hear any of these three so-called news stations question any of the POTUS’ appointments. The US public are the ones that are being questioned especially when dissent is being expressed toward the Administration. Unfortunately for the so-called media, the power of blogging, social media, and twitter, the American people are getting information that these outlets refuse to report on. The American public are intelligent and more well informed than ever and they will unite.

I mean, really, in this day and age is investigative journalism that difficult?  Uhh, hello, ever heard of Google?  Now by no means am I saying Google is the end all of news BUT it’s a darn good start.  And, before you ask, no I do not believe everything written on the internet but I do make an attempt to read credible sources.  Personally I feel that MSNBC is a joke of a news station and Keith Olbermann, well…whatever!  As for ABC, they seem ready to jump whenever the POTUS “needs” air-time. Personally, I have never known a modern day President that required so much air-time.

So…to complete my point on all of this, let’s take the recent appointment of Van Jones.  A quick Google search brings up dozens of links & videos.  A lot of the videos I would find hard to dispute especially since they are of him speaking directly to an audience or being interviewed.  What about the ‘Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement’ (STORM) radical group he founded and led?  A section of STORM’s manual that describes Jones’ organization as having a “commitment to the fundamental ideas of Marxism-Leninism.”

Here are a couple of quotes from Van Jones in speaking with East Bay Express where Jones said he first became radicalized in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots, during which time he was arrested.1

“I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th,” he said. “By August, I was a communist.

“I met all these young radical people of color – I mean really radical: communists and anarchists. And it was, like, ‘This is what I need to be a part of.’ I spent the next 10 years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary,” he said.

Not only these quotes but here is a more recent (February 2009) video of Van Jones and what he thinks of Republicans. See for yourself – ‘What I think of Republicans’ by Van Jones.2

Now, I’m not a journalist and would never claim to be BUT simple searching of the Internet will probably get you started in the right direction.  From here, those professionals in Media & Journalism should use the techniques they learned in their formal training and start reporting unbiased and objectively for both sides of the issue.  Good luck with that though.  Finally MSNBC, ABC, & CNN = news media failures.

References:

1. Klein, Aaron.  “Czar: ‘Spread the wealth! Change the whole system’ Using the White House position to push communist policies“. World Net Daily August 30, 2009.

2. Real Clear Politics. September 2, 2009. <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/09/02/obamas_green_jobs_czar_van_jones_republicans_are_aholes.html>

1st September
2009
written by bob

We found out that we were expecting on July 31, 2009…exactly 11 months after we were married. It was a very long journey with month after month of disappointment. We had gone through all of the “normal” testing and were told that everything looked ok. We both had a feeling that it was the stress of the situation that was weighing on us and possibly preventing the pregnancy to happen. I had been out of work since mid-November of the previous year and to say that our finances were “tight” and getting worse would be an understatement. Here are some of my thoughts and feelings (literally!) that I plan to share throughout my pregnancy.

So far the symptoms are not bad. The first week after I found out I felt the small cramplike pains that I had read about, but they went away after about a week and a half. I started Pilates on August 11th, it definitely felt good to stretch and get some muscles working. I felt a little nausea for the rest of that day and through the week. Crystalized Ginger helped, along with Orange Fanta! Through this entire time, I don’t recall a single time that I ever felt hungry…VERY strange! It is only because I know I have to that I eat anything, such an odd feeling, or non-feeling.

I read Jenny McCartney’s Belly Laughs the week of August 7th. It was really funny and gave me some good (or bad!) perspecitve on what I could potentially expect. I am glad that I don’t have any food aversions so far, and no real cravings either.

We went to our first Pre-natal ObGyn visit on August 10th. Bob is so awesome and came with me. we got a giant bag full of magazines, vitamins, pamphlets, etc., etc. and I still haven’t gotten through it yet!

[Bob] – Today, September 8, was our second pre-natal visit. All went well and our doctor even tried to perform a ‘quick’ ultra-sound to see if he could hear a whisper of a heartbeat from our tiny, unborn miracle. Kat is about 10 weeks along but just not quite far enough for the sound of a little heartbeat for us but in a couple weeks we should be able to hear then. After Kat’s exam, the doc gave her the A-OK!

We also had a few questions for him pertaining to immunizations. In particular, we are concerned about the Swine flu and lack of data for a rush-to-market, unproven vaccine. We wanted his professional opinion of this soon-to-be pandemic and whether we should consider immunizing Kat for protection from this deadly virus. He told us of a couple cases here in AZ and they weren’t good. One pregnant woman has died and another come down with H1N1 last week and is fighting for her life on her deathbed. That’s scary! This flu will ravage those with weakened immune systems. We will definitely take our doctor’s advice and consider getting Kat immunized come October. I want my wife and child around with me for the rest of my life.

[Update] – After doing some basic research on this new flu vaccine, we have come to the conclusion that we do not want to have Kat vaccinated. The reason being is that there are high levels mercury in this shot! The fact that mercury is toxic to humans, it definitely cannot be good for a tiny embryo especially in the developmental stages. The contained dosage is upwards of 250x the recommended expose limit to a person that is 550 lbs! We don’t even know anyone that large. Therefore we have considered our doctor’s advice and have left it at just that; a consideration. Also, in speaking with other pregnant friends of ours, they too are not opting for this flu vaccine. Besides what we have described here, really…who can trust such a vaccine that has been ‘rushed’ to market & not thoroughly tested?