Who would have thought that a tiny check could do so little? The country is in dire need of leadership, and during this critical time we need action. We need leaders. We need change. With any luck we’ll pull through quickly and move on to prosper. The key is not action by the few, but action by the many. We all are responsible and accountable for our present situation and all need to work together to bring this financial disaster to an end. No more pointing fingers. Let’s fix this.

Her boyfriend would take care of her while she stayed there due to a phobia. When she finally was moved the toilet was surgically removed. There are better ways in life to get on the front page of CNN.

It baffles me that after even a few hours the boyfriend would not have sought help but in his own words he is quoted as saying “She is an adult; she made her own decision,” said her boyfriend, Kory McFarren. “I should have gotten help for her sooner; I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it.”

When things are bad in life there’s always worse…

He has a plan to save the economy that is. “Bush planned to lay out his position Friday, but he wasn’t expected to go into specifics….Taxpayers could receive rebates of up to $800 for individuals and $1,600 for married couples under a White House plan.”

“What he believes is that we’ve got to do something that is robust. It’s going to be temporary and get money into the economy quickly,” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday on CBS’s “The Early Show.” “It’s going to be focused on consumers, individuals, families — putting money in their pocket. And it’s going to be focused on giving businesses the incentive to hire people, to create jobs.”

The rebates would likely be limited to individuals with incomes of $85,000 or less and couples with incomes of $110,000 or less, the aides said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no final decisions had been made.

So this is the great plan. Give people a several hundred dollars and that will solve everything right? It’s sad that in a such a great country, with many smart and able minded people that leadership and creativity are at an all time low. Bush’s approval ratings are at an all-time low and his solution for “fixing” the economy is just another reflection of his failed leadership. Why didn’t he show concern when we wasted countless dollars fighting a war based on personal vengeance? Where has he been as the job and housing markets have taken a dramatic plunge?

To be fair, it’s not entirely his fault. We are a country that follows heard mentality. We often rely on others’ “great” ideas instead of coming up with our own. We would rather try a proven solution even if the problem is not the same as before and more importantly we work toward short-term fixes instead of long-term solutions.

Where is the plan to teach fiscal responsibility to Americans of all ages? Why isn’t there a plan to start teaching financial literacy to children starting at a young age? What about the plan to educate Americans that immigrate into this country with regards to financial literacy and the support programs to help them? Where is the plan to educate the millions of college kids that get lured into obtaining credit cards and running up balances that they will never be able to pay off because they simply don’t understand the long-term consequences or the simple fundamentals of compound interest?

Too little too late is what is being offered. Sure I’ll gladly take my $800. That should help pay for my upcoming summer vacation.

I was surprised and yet inspired when I cam across a CNN Article about Jim Carey and his efforts to help Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. She is an imprisoned human rights activist being held under house arrest. Jim Carey can be seen in the video below giving a brief, yet urgent message about her and how you can learn more about helping her cause.

It’s sad that only a small minority can take a break from their glamorous life to help others. All it takes is one selfless act. More information about Aung San Suu Kyi can be found at: http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/

Did you ever notice that there a million most amazing video and police chase shows on TV? They seem to fill the void between good and bad programming hours and interestingly or perhaps incestuously enough they all seem to contain the same “Amazing” videos from 10 years ago. This leads me to three conclusions:

1. Anything amazing in that could ever happen in the world, has already happened and has been caught on camera
2. No matter how bad the video, TV viewers will watch the same footage over and over again
3. There are still people in the world who haven’t seen these amazing things

This sort of product and it’s marketing must be the holy grail of wealth. Loud noises and chaos, human suffering and tradegy, and an unoriginal story line. Wait, isn’t this just like the news?

But what got me even further, was that this was on MSN, and some of the victims were listed as though nothing was known about them except where they were born. Quick searches found that this information was in fact pretty readily available elsewhere. Those who had compiled this page had obviously used pictures from MySpace, Virginia Tech’s website, and goodness knows where else, but seemingly hadn’t found the same blogs/sites that I had.

Yesterday while more of the information about the shooting was being gleaned, I found a video taken on some kind of camera phone of a police officer shooting, on a blog. The plays written by the gunman are now readily available via a blog on AOL, posted by a former classmate of the gunman. So now that we know who the gunman was and major news media are posting about his homicide/suicide note, I naturally assumed I would be able to find the text of that note somewhere in the blogosphere. I have not found it.

This has got me thinking a great deal about ‘citizen journalism’ and what information gets posted where, and when, and by whom, about huge tragedies like this one. It seems to me that only official sources would be able to read/see the suicide note. Is the decision not to release its details a form of information control by the authorities? Will they release it, ever? Am I just getting too used to instant news and citizen blogs? And more importantly, why is it so important that I personally feel I need to read that suicide note?

Maybe, and hopefully, an event like this causes me, and should cause us, to self-evaluate. While there is no justification whatsoever for this sort of act, if we do not look at ourselves closely and hate what is in ourselves, we cannot hate and combat it in others.

God hold each of the victims’ friends and families.

The study covered 62 patients aged under 65 who were admitted to hospital with blood clots.

Beasley said a surprise finding of the study was that “people are working for so long. We had people not uncommonly working up to 12-14 hours a day and being seated for that time.”

I have to agree with Professor Richard Beasley here; it’s quite shocking how much people work. If it’s not overtime at one job, it’s working two or even three jobs just so you’re not living paycheck to paycheck.

This particular type of blood clot (deep-vein thrombosis) had been more associated with those who spent most of their time travelling long distances (usually in planes), but now the percentage of office workers admitted to the hospital with blood clots is much higher.

When the hell did we allow work to completely consume our lives? I think it’s time for a revolution; this system bores me.

Read the full article here.

BAGHDAD – The U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said Wednesday that all indications showed that radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr remained in Iran.

The anti-American religious leader, who heads the Mahdi Army militia, was first reported by the Americans to be absent from Iraq on Feb. 13, when the latest U.S.-Iraq security drive opened in Baghdad.

Now I’m not going to pretend I know who this Muqtada al-Sadr character is, but I get the feeling he’s our latest “major terrorist threat,” which leads me to believe we will soon have more of a whack excuse to invade Iran. Gotta squeeze in one more invasion before this presidential term is up!

I’m also a little disappointed about the fact that what you see quoted above was the entire pathetic article. See for yourself

Mayans in Guatemala have vowed to cleanse sacred sites of evil spirits that Bush may bring with him on his visit. It’s amazing that even in the far reaches of the world bush causes so much hatred. While he may be a failure in providing leadership for our country, he does wonders provoking hatred and unifying people in other countries.

CNN Article on Bush Mayan Controversy

Maybe he should just leave it alone instead of proving that he is right just like he always does. If no one wants him there, what’s the point? As a general rule, if you are a guest in someone’s “house” and they don’t want you there, shouldn’t you leave? Diplomacy should be left up to someone or people that truly represent(s) this country and not only their own agenda.

Intrigued, I followed the link thinking maybe some man who dressed as Captain America to thrill children and instill morals in them during the 1950’s had died at the hearty age of 94 (which still would have been interesting in terms of foreshadowing). However, I was wrong.

“NEW YORK – Captain America has undertaken his last mission — at least for now. The venerable superhero is killed in the issue of his namesake comic that hit stands Wednesday, the Daily News reported.”

Why I continued reading, I really have no idea. I’m glad I did because I learned that Captain America was first created to boost patriotism during the second World War, as a “foe” for Adolf Hitler.

And now he’s been killed off of his own series. Perhaps the creators realized people don’t think America is cool anymore, resulting in a decrease in sales.

I’m actually a little scared, because when Captain America dies you know shit is really hitting the fan.

Read the full article here.