Dancing for Peace?

Is the dance show, 'So You Think You Can Dance?'
turning into anti-war propaganda programming?
I must say it was beautifully done.

Dinner with Sen. Obama!!

On the Barack Obama campaign site there is this ad
promoting 'Dinner with Barack.' Wow!!! I can pay
(I mean donate) to have dinner with Senator Obama!
Really is there anyone who would make better
dinner conversation than a United States Senator!?!
And I thought the Democrats wanted to be more
accessible to not just the rich but also the poor.

Is Paris Hilton editing CNN.com?

On the CNN Web site today they have this comical headline.
I wonder if CNN made a deal with Paris Hilton after her very
enthusiastic interview with Larry King?

CNN producer: We really want to reach a younger audience
on our Web site, we were wondering if you could be a headline
editor? If you agree we promise not to give full day coverage to
any further indiscretions you might have.

Paris Hilton: That's hot. Can I send you the headlines via text
message?

The 11th Commandment

Thou shall not blog on the Sabbath.

Dream Kitchen

HGTV.com has a 3D Kitchen Designer program.
It is so fun to play with! My design has black Corian
countertops, cherry wood cabinets, and stainless
steel appliances. So I have my dream kitchen
designed now all I need is money, a job, and my
own home. Darn you HGTV for making me want
things I can't have!!!

P.S. If you are keeping up with my darn it list, so far
it includes:
1. cats
2. The 90s teen drama, 'My So-Called Life'
3. and HGTV

The Greenhouse

A snapshot from my greenhouse in my
backyard.

Budding rain

It is raining like crazy here in S. Texas.
I took this picture a few minutes ago.

Headlines 07-27-07

Wow! Is it just me or have the past couple of weeks been slow
news weeks. Well here are some headlines:

Young people 'Just Say No' to Republican Party- This is really
not a surprise. Young folk tend to be more progressive and want to
change things and that is the rhetoric the Democratic Party is
dishing out right now. I wonder if they will still vote the same
when they get a big mortgage and have a couple of kids? Just
a thought.
A minimum wage increase to $9.50?- Please let's finally raise
it! Enough already.
Michael Vick sacked by Nike, Reebok-"Nike suspended its lucrative
contract with Michael Vick on Friday, while Reebok took the
unprecedented step of stopping sales of his No. 7 jersey."
Republicans may not attend CNN/Youtube debate- This might
have something to do with my first link. There is no good and
logical reason not to participate in the debate.

People under 30 shouldn't have opinions

In this article by Larry Atkins, he makes a simple but
telling point about the relationship between young
people and newspapers. He writes:

If newspapers want to reach out to younger readers,
they need to include their voices.

As most of us have heard by now traditional news
outlets, for example newspapers and evening network
news programs, are slowly losing their audience. Seems
like teens and young adults are happily trading in The
New York Times and the 'CBS Evening News' for 'The
Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report.' Cheney is the
one that shot his friend in the face, right? Yeah, Jon
Stewart did a joke on that.

Atkins mainly focuses on the op-ed side of newspapers
and suggests that the opinion section should include young
writers. Sounds fair. He also points out that most syndicated
columnists are over 30 (as if there are no opinionated
writers in their 20s). To all newspapers: I'm available
to work and will opine for food and health insurance.

Cable and most recently the internet have revolutionized
the way we receive information. Many teenagers and young
adults really don't know a world without cable and the web so
traditional media outlets have to adjust the way they
disseminate their product. If a media outlet wants to give
an accurate and fair reflection of the the world around us
then you must include all voices, including like the youth.

Teenage pregnancy highest in Texas

I've talked about this issue before so I will make
the post short. Today I found this AP article stating
that Texas had the nation's highest birth rate among
teenagers ages 15 to 19 in 2004. Many will be quick to
blame the abstinence focused sex education in public
schools in Texas. This is such a multi-faceted problem
and I don't think one can believe that sex education is
the all purpose solution.

According to the study, Hispanic teens are more than
3 1/2 times as likely as Anglos to have a baby. I hate to
speculate why this is but it does open up the question
of perhaps some cultural and regional (yes, you Texas!)
underpinnings to the problem.

Recently, I completed my higher education (went to college
and graduate school) and I'm trying to find myself a good job.
I'm 25 years and must admit I'm having trouble adjusting to
the 'real world.' I can not imagine including the responsibility
of another human being on top of the normal life learning
experiences you undergo in the teenage years and early
twenties. It is stressful just thinking about it.