Politicians are like liars in front of bars. They probably commit worse crimes than some of those 2-5 year sentencers.
But it's not like the government isn't corrupt.
So unlike all good and decent bloggers, I'm not going to ramble about Letterman's screw-up over Palin's daughter or the Housewives of Orange County making their appearance on Oprah.
People literally worship the ground the first black--although he's genetically more white than black!--president. They applaud his promise to make things change, but here's my question: Yes, we can what? Change, right? Change what--change our taxes from going down? Spill all middle class homeowners' money into the 8% of people who can't pay the bills? Borrow all the taxpayers' money for pork projects? Or more recently, and as of now, my personal favorite--literally screw over Chrysler.
Now normally, I'm not the smartest person, and I wouldn't be wisest on the subject. However . . . being the daugher of a man who's been in the car business practically his whole life . . . hmm, think that gives me a little leeway.
The most important cases go to the Supreme Court, correct? Well, this one did. And it stayed there for the grand total of one day! They dropped the case. The government owns the majority percentile of the company now, while Fiat is literally handed 20% of it! Now why would an Italian company now be in charge of American land-based car company? It's amazing how many people met up with or even passed bankruptcy to get our now newly-elected official in office. And now that he's there, taxes have gone up, and Chrysler is just the beginning of government/foreign-owned companies. Eight hundred people are out of jobs. The co-president's "probably going to retire," according to an article in automotor.org.
I'm not your usual soap-box speaker, but honestly, the way this was handled was illegal, and the man in the White House was largely responsible. I guess Chrysler's motto wasn't so far from the truth after all.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sex Selection and My Sister's Keeper
So I've been pumped recently to go see My Sister's Keeper, coming out in theaters within a week or two. The previews look awesome, and I can't wait to go see it.
I was talking to one of my friends and telling her how excited I was to see this, but she didn't have the typical reaction I expected. She had no desire to see the movie--she had read the book and wasn't a fan.
Well, that's weird, speaking of New York Times bestselling author of the book, Jodi Picoult. So I decided to do my own digging to make my own opinion of it. According to Wikipedia (great source, I know), the second daughter, Anna, is genetically engineered through invitro fertilization. Normally, I would read over that and go, "oh, okay . . . ," but after doing a few reports on sex selection and invitro fertilization in high school and college, I was amazed at the originality of the subject. Obviously Picoult was writing a story for modern times, seeing how popular invitro fertilization has grown among parents within the past five years.
If you read the summary further (don't read it if you don't want the movie spoiled for you), you'll realize the parents had good intentions. It wasn't like they were trying to just "get" what they wanted because they were discontent. But it does press the thought of what people consider ethical today. Many agree the most dangerous aspect of sex selection is its ability to harm people on an individual level as well as a national level. The individuals who are most deeply affected by sex selection are the embryos being produced, not the parents spending thousands of dollars on a non-guarantee process. President-elect of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Dr. James Grifo, disapproves of sex selection and claims it to be unethical. He believes through large exposure to the general public, society will pick embryos only with desirable traits and then later discard the remaining.
And it's not like anyone doesn't know the meaning of discard.
OK, I could go on and on and on. But I won't. And I won't NOT see My Sister's Keeper. It still looks great, even if a child on the movie is conceived via genetic engineering.
All I'm waiting for now are the new purple storks dropping the pre-made children with the "It's a Robot!" signs attached.
I was talking to one of my friends and telling her how excited I was to see this, but she didn't have the typical reaction I expected. She had no desire to see the movie--she had read the book and wasn't a fan.
Well, that's weird, speaking of New York Times bestselling author of the book, Jodi Picoult. So I decided to do my own digging to make my own opinion of it. According to Wikipedia (great source, I know), the second daughter, Anna, is genetically engineered through invitro fertilization. Normally, I would read over that and go, "oh, okay . . . ," but after doing a few reports on sex selection and invitro fertilization in high school and college, I was amazed at the originality of the subject. Obviously Picoult was writing a story for modern times, seeing how popular invitro fertilization has grown among parents within the past five years.
If you read the summary further (don't read it if you don't want the movie spoiled for you), you'll realize the parents had good intentions. It wasn't like they were trying to just "get" what they wanted because they were discontent. But it does press the thought of what people consider ethical today. Many agree the most dangerous aspect of sex selection is its ability to harm people on an individual level as well as a national level. The individuals who are most deeply affected by sex selection are the embryos being produced, not the parents spending thousands of dollars on a non-guarantee process. President-elect of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Dr. James Grifo, disapproves of sex selection and claims it to be unethical. He believes through large exposure to the general public, society will pick embryos only with desirable traits and then later discard the remaining.
And it's not like anyone doesn't know the meaning of discard.
OK, I could go on and on and on. But I won't. And I won't NOT see My Sister's Keeper. It still looks great, even if a child on the movie is conceived via genetic engineering.
All I'm waiting for now are the new purple storks dropping the pre-made children with the "It's a Robot!" signs attached.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Final Word
I’ll let you have the last word—I promise.
I’ve always been a firm believer in last words. I always wanted to have the last word—as if I’d finally feel fulfilled for leaving one more dreaded thought with someone. Some phrase, some word that would latch onto his soul and keep him thinking until he came to the conclusion that I was right and he was, well . . . wrong.
Like the movies. You know, that those conversations that make you feel like you’re sitting right there, listening in. Among the handfuls of popcorn, you’re holding your breath in anticipation of hearing that one word or phrase that makes the entire plot fit together—that movie has made its point.
"You had me from hello."
"I think I would have missed you even if I had never met you at all."
"You can’t handle the truth."
Maybe after having a few last words with people, I realized that having the last word didn’t really get me the same effects that John Connor received after his famous three ("I'll be back")when his pregnant wife gave him that look of I’m-never-going-to-see-you-again-but-please-don’t-leave-even-though-you’re-the-only-hope-of-the-human-race look. Yeah - that look.
So maybe last words are magical only in Hollywood. Or maybe I’m learning that in my experience, saying “you can’t handle the truth” isn’t going to change the mind of a man in love with the wrong girl.
Regardless of whether my last words hold any parch of accuracy or not, trying to change people’s emotions, people’s feelings with words isn’t easy.
After all the word rubbish, maybe you can decipher my point: last words. Yeah, they’re meaningful, especially in the movies. But they go far deeper than a TV screen etched in Hollywood ink. They’re memorable—far more memorable than anything Tom Cruise left with the video cameras on set of A Few Good Men, which happen to be a pretty good movie. Words-- they drive us into action--they influence us, they make us hurt, they help us heal, they teach us about life. They belong to all of us.
And all of us will at one time or another, be given the opportunity of having the last word. Don’t say something you’ll regret, and don’t stoop to say something hardcore when forgiveness is always three words away. Make your words reflect who you are, so that when they’re final, they’ll be remembered not for what they meant, but for whom they were spoken by:
You.
I’ve always been a firm believer in last words. I always wanted to have the last word—as if I’d finally feel fulfilled for leaving one more dreaded thought with someone. Some phrase, some word that would latch onto his soul and keep him thinking until he came to the conclusion that I was right and he was, well . . . wrong.
Like the movies. You know, that those conversations that make you feel like you’re sitting right there, listening in. Among the handfuls of popcorn, you’re holding your breath in anticipation of hearing that one word or phrase that makes the entire plot fit together—that movie has made its point.
"You had me from hello."
"I think I would have missed you even if I had never met you at all."
"You can’t handle the truth."
Maybe after having a few last words with people, I realized that having the last word didn’t really get me the same effects that John Connor received after his famous three ("I'll be back")when his pregnant wife gave him that look of I’m-never-going-to-see-you-again-but-please-don’t-leave-even-though-you’re-the-only-hope-of-the-human-race look. Yeah - that look.
So maybe last words are magical only in Hollywood. Or maybe I’m learning that in my experience, saying “you can’t handle the truth” isn’t going to change the mind of a man in love with the wrong girl.
Regardless of whether my last words hold any parch of accuracy or not, trying to change people’s emotions, people’s feelings with words isn’t easy.
After all the word rubbish, maybe you can decipher my point: last words. Yeah, they’re meaningful, especially in the movies. But they go far deeper than a TV screen etched in Hollywood ink. They’re memorable—far more memorable than anything Tom Cruise left with the video cameras on set of A Few Good Men, which happen to be a pretty good movie. Words-- they drive us into action--they influence us, they make us hurt, they help us heal, they teach us about life. They belong to all of us.
And all of us will at one time or another, be given the opportunity of having the last word. Don’t say something you’ll regret, and don’t stoop to say something hardcore when forgiveness is always three words away. Make your words reflect who you are, so that when they’re final, they’ll be remembered not for what they meant, but for whom they were spoken by:
You.
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