Not Sure What To Think ...

This just in from the New York Times: Obama and Congress apparently DON’T have a problem with the Patriot Act and Bush policies that make it easier to catch suspected terrorists. Despite their continuous Bush bashing about how the laws set in place to protect our freedom and safety violate our rights to privacy, the Obama administration would like to extend those laws to include every form of communication known to man. No longer will your phones be the only place the US government can listen in. If Congress has any say they will soon be able to follow your every move on facebook, twitter, skype, mobile phone communication including texts, etc. Top Obama and FBI officials argue that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” because people are increasingly communicating online instead of by telephone. Back to the Bush bashing previously done by the Obama administration with regards to civilian privacy being violated for the government’s overprotective surveillance. In the United States, phone and broadband networks have been required to have interception capabilities since 1994 when the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act was passed WAY before the Bush era. Interesting how the Obama administration now backs something they were once so very critical of. I cant wait to see how this unfolds in the coming weeks. Thoughts?

GA Pastor Fighting Sex Allegations

I’m sure this will not be the first time you have heard the name Bishop Eddie Long. Bishop Long is pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia and is being accused of alleged sexual misconduct against 4 different men. Bishop Long made a speech last night to a congregation of more than 3,000. While Bishop Long never denied the allegations, he did state, “I have never in my life portrayed myself as a perfect man. But I am not the man that’s being portrayed on the television. That’s not me. That is not me.” He went on to state in one of his two twenty minute sermons that, “I feel like David against Goliath, but I’ve got five rocks and I haven’t thrown one of them yet.” Interestingly enough, unlike the lifestyles of most Pastors, between the years 1997 and 2000 Bishop Long is reported to have received over $3.07 million in salary and benefits, including his $1.4 million mansion and a $350,000 Bentley that he still drives. This will be a story that will be at the forefront of the news for quite some time, I am sure and it will be very interesting to see how it continues to develop as more information is uncovered and more facts are brought to light. My question to you is how do you feel about the financial aspect of the pastors life being related to this story? Is the media focusing on something that does not relate?

Is Barnes Walking Down Easy Street?

The above is the September 21st cartoon by Mike Luckovich on the Georgia governor’s race and it is pretty self explanatory! With Nathan Deal facing major financial problems, candidate Roy Barnes is picking up speed heading into the November elections. An article in today's Marietta Daily Journal claims that Deal's financial woes are recasting the race all together. How interesting that what began as a tight and heated race has now become more and more one sided. Despite the recent revelations in Deal's personal financial situation, Georgia voters are still eager to hear what the candidate has to say. Has Nathan Deals personal financial problems eliminated his chance at being our next Governor? Is Roy Barnes in the clear for a victory?

We're Broke, So Whats Another $814 Billion Right?

You're going to have to excuse my early morning rant, but ladies and gents I can't just let this one slide past us. We are currently in one of the worse financial era's in the history of our country, the governments is spending more and more money daily and the unemployment rate is still on the rise. But hold on to your seat because the government has a plan! Yes, that's right they know how to fix this! The solution you ask? Well that would be ANOTHER stimulus package, this one with a price tag of $814 billion dollars. That should do the trick, just like the last one, right? After all it will build a highway in Ohio and a factory in Michigan, all of our worries should now just fade away. Am I the only one who sees a HUGE issue with ANOTHER plan that will cost American tax payers another almost TRILLION dollars that we DONT have. The National debt is currently 13,504,723,630,204, so whats another trillion right?  The estimated population of the United States is 309,129,322 so each citizen's share of this debt is $43,686.32. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $4.15 billion per day since September of 2007. Check this out and let me know what you think. Oh, also in the news this morning, the poverty rate has hit a 15 year high. You can check that story out here if you would like, but honestly I don't have it in me at the moment to even begin to explain that one...

Slow Down, Its Not a Child

Lets talk about what a terrible idea this is. You can go here to see the original story on this optical illusion on a rural street in Canada, but the basic idea behind this is that people driving will see the little girl, think she is real and slow down before they realize she is just painted on the road. The very first thing that comes to mind for me is, wonderful it MIGHT work one time and then people wont pay any attention to it. Furthermore, when driving along some other road, after having passed something like this, someone might think they are coming up on another illusion, not slow down and actually hit a REAL child. The elderly, those who may not have sharp vision, those driving in the rain or at night all subject to falling into this category. I would love to know who came up with this idea, what city official(s) backed it and how other people feel about this?

Tax Wars In Georgia Governor's Race

Labor Day weekend only provided a short rest for Georgia voters as new ads return today from candidates on both sides of the Governor's race. After Democratic candidate Roy Barnes released his tax returns from 1984-2009, he challenged his opponent Nathan Deal to do the same. Soon after, Republican candidate Nathan Deal released his tax returns from 1981-2009.
Along with the release of his tax records, Deal challenged Barnes to release some information he feels the public needs to see. Deal called on Barnes to release 1. In the past eight years, how many cases has he or his firm tried in front of judges whom he appointed to the bench? 2. How much money did Barnes or his firm earn in those cases?
Barnes campaign has yet to acknowledge deals request, but does claims that the information released from the Deal campaign with regards to taxes is insufficient and not the complete picture. The add at the top of the post is the most recent of Barnes TV ad's attacking Deal's congressional investigation. Thoughts on how this race may heat up even further in the near future?

Let's Talk Interviews

So after watching the two different videos in last weeks lecture, I spent some time looking at interviews gone bad and I think this more than qualifies as one of those interviews. I'm not sure which of the two irks me more to be perfectly honest with you. He begins the interview with the wrong attitude, although I'm not overly fond of her attitude to start with either and it pretty much goes down hill from there. Between talking over each other and off subject, there isn't a single question that actually gets answered, all we really see is an argument. At the end of the video the reporter completely loses the little patience she has and cuts the feed to the guests microphone. Talk about cutting someone off, literally. Now I think its time to debate, professional or proactive?

A Single Conviction with Multiple Mistakes

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Tonight a clearly confused and tired federal jury convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on only one of 24 corruption counts brought against him. The one conviction, not surprisingly at this point, came on one of the least serious charges of lying to federal agents. Ironically, this is the same felony that put Martha Stewart behind bars a few years ago. The jury deadlocked on the other 23 counts including the most publicized and controversial matter of whether or not he tried to sell the Senate seat of President Obama. Blagojevich could have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted of some of the more serious charges, but alas he wasnt. Prosecutors say they will retry the case but if they plan to do so, they need to spend some serious time reevaluating their approach because the next round is on the American taxpayers dime. How do you feel about that?

Let The Games Begin

Hey Guys -

Just to make things a bit easier for those of you trying to find all of the blogs and twitters so that we can all follow each other, I thought I would post my twitter address here:

http://twitter.com/haleynicole88

Hope you're able to find everyone and have a great first week back at school!

Haley