leftovers

Did you hear the news about Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Senator who today left the Republican Party to become a Democratic? That alone is pretty awesome, but the best part is that Specter was raised in Russell, Kansas, where I was born. Russell was the nearest big town to our farm, and I even ended up living and working there for a few years while I went to college at nearby Fort Hays State University. Before today, I didn't know too much about Specter other than that he was from Russell and was a republican senator in Pennsylvania. But today I have hope that this is a sign of something bigger, of more people realizing that the "old way" of thinking and doing things does not work anymore in this country. That the religious right does not have the best ideas for nor the best interests of this country. Now, as soon as Coleman finally concedes to Franken in Minnesota (please just do it already!) then the democrats will have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senat...

I just do NOT understand some people. These tea parties, which seem to only exist in the vacuum of Faux News and it's blind followers, are supposedly taking place all over the country today as a protest by people who are "outraged" over Obama's tax policies. Now, unless you're some conservative right wing nutjob, it's so easy to see the rediculousness of all this and it's frankly in that realm of "so funny it's almost scary." But the thing about all this that really gets to me are the people who really do think they are being taxed too much and are under the false assumption that they deserve to pay less taxes. Ironically, most of those who are complaining are the same people who believe that the USA is the "greatest nation in the world" and suffer from a severe case of patriotism/confusion over "separation of church and state." They do honestly believe that this is the best nation in the world, mostly because they have...

It's no secret, I love to travel! Since my first solitary, international trip back during my freshman year in college, I have always loved an adventure or a journey, whether near or far. So far this year has already gotten off to a good start with two trips right back-to-back. First, as I've already written about, Dylan and I took a vacation to Boston, MA which also included a side-trip to New Haven, CT. We landed in Boston on a Friday night and my friend Courtney and her husband Tyler were there to pick us up, something Dylan and I aren't accustomed too. Usually when we land somewhere, it's up to us to make our way to the hotel or wherever we're staying (unless we're going to my parent's place in Kansas City, of course). Courtney and Tyler turned out to be great hosts, and the first order of business was taking us out to eat with my friend Bethany, who they had never met, but went ahead and made all the arrangements with regardless! It was so fun to go...