Turn it off!

Why don't more people understand there is etquette with having a cellphone? I walk away from people if I am on the phone. I don't want to "invade their space" with my conversation. I hate it when people leave their phones in church, in the theater, wherever there should be silence. Check this video out of Hugh Jackman onstage while a cellphone is ringing.

What?

Not often do I see funny animal videos that I want to post here but my buddy, Mark Williamson has this on his Facebook page. I watched this a few times because I couldn't believe the goat is actually saying, "Wwwwwwhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt???"

And here's another goat video, with a goat yelling for its Mommy.

What is going on?

Republican Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina has gone from nobody to "hero" status in many people's minds because of his uncivil actions during the President's speech a couple nights ago. Wilson apologized after the speech saying his emotions got the best of him.

I can't imagine going to a nationwide conference for Wal-Mart or Apple and heckling the C-E-O as he talked. I would get booted out of the conference.

The sad part is that people are calling Wilson a hero. Why? Because he openly called the President a liar? If he would simply read the proposed legislation, he would see that illegal immigrants would not get coverage. Secondly, he makes his own party look foolish when the President calls the GOP out for saying instead of trying to kill it, why not try to improve it?

And maybe the worst part of making a "hero" out of Wilson, we are saying to children and others that this behavior is acceptable.

Speaking to school-kids

The President will be giving a speech aimed at school-kids this Tuesday at noon. The goal of the speech is to set goals, stay in school, and get good grades. However, many irrational people think that the President is using his post as a bully pulpit to indoctrinate children.

I want to address the "concerns" put up by the conservative movement:
1. He will indoctrinate children. Simply go to the White House website and see what the speech will be about as well as the supporting material offered to teachers.
2. This doesn't fit with the curriculum. Ok, neither do pep rallies and various other situations that students get pulled out of class for.
3. Students/people should be able to think for themselves. I agree. But saying that you want to view the video with your child at home doesn't exactly promote free thinking. And furthermore, what about the teachers being able to think for themselves instead of having superintendents just banning the speech altogether.
4. Our school doesn't have the bandwidth to watch the speech online. Well, had responsible administrators checked the White House website, they would have found out that the speech will be broadcast on C-SPAN.

Here's the simple solution. (sarcasm) If a parent is afraid little Johnny will be harmed by Obama's "do well" message, all mommy has to do is write a note to get Johnny out of class so he can put on his tin foil hat and help mommy make up more "palling around with terrorists" or "Obama wants to kill seniors" myths to float around.

I just wonder how far the "fear factor" from the fringe right will continue to push until someone with common sense will step in and say, "ENOUGH!"

With the anniversary of 9/11 approaching, I wonder if this outright hatred (for Obama) would have existed had Obama been President at the time of the attacks and he had to address the nation during school????

AMEN! The panel from today's Meet The Press got it right!

This is too much.

I cannot believe stories like this are on somewhat mainstream online news-sources like Yahoo News. Michelle Obama's hair doesn't matter. What's next? Commentary about her nail polish? Why does the media get so fixated on little things? I wonder where the feminists are when stories like this make the news. When stories like this "break," I feel like the women's lib movement has been set back a few decades.

Why Michelle Obama's Hair Matters
By JENEE DESMOND-HARRIS
Jenee Desmond-harris Wed Sep 2, 5:15 pm ET
When the First Lady attended a country-music event in July without a single strand of hair falling below her jawline, the blogosphere exploded with outbursts ranging from adoration to vitriol. Things settled down only when her deputy press secretary clarified that there had been no First Haircut. In the aftermath, a didactic post on MichelleObamaWatch.com proclaimed that anyone "familiar with the amazing versatility of black hair" would have known that the new summer look was simply "pinned up." Many Americans have dismissed this hair hubbub as simply more media-driven noise - like the chatter about Michelle Obama's sleeveless dresses, J. Crew cardigans, stocking-free legs or, for that matter, recent (shocking!) decision to wear shorts in the Arizona heat. But for African-American women like me, hair is something else altogether - singular in its capacity to command interest and carry cultural baggage. The obsession with Michelle's hair took hold long before Inaugural Ball gowns were imagined, private-school choices scrutinized or organic gardens harvested. It's not that she's done anything outrageous. The new updo wasn't really all that dramatic a departure from variations we've seen on her before (the "flip-out," the "flip-under," the long-ago abandoned "helmet"). Still, her hair is the catalyst for a conversation that begins with style but quickly transcends outward appearance and ultimately transcends Michelle herself - a symbol for African-American women's status in terms of beauty, acceptance and power.