DeLaWho? DeLaWhat? DeLaWhere?

Alex responded to my response recently and he makes a couple valid points. However, I must disagree with him on one vital point. Bush's lack of regard for the "feelings" of the international community will undoubtabley come back and bite us in the ass. By disregarding the feelings of our international allies, we risk losing important support in our effort against terrorism. It is true that we have not had an attack on American soil. Is is because of the privacy violating Patriot Act....I doubt it. When I think of Bush and international policy, I think of him competing in a 7th grade spelling bee with a goofy smile planted on his confused face after correctly spelling "bagdad" or is that "baghdad"? One of Bush's worst traits is his central view of the United States in the world. This is a great country and I am proud to live here, however, we are not the only country living on this great earth. Just break down the word "relations". For me it is the root of the word "relationships", which would entail developing positive interactions with another. If you develop a positive relationship, dare we say "friendship" with a country they would more likely to support us. Instead, we are creating a world dictatorship called forced democracy. We are slowly becoming the world's police force. And unfortunately, not many people like,(but respect), the police. We are making more enemies. If Edwards or Kerry are elected then one of the most important jobs that will face them is repairing the damage that has been done by Bush. Bush is not participating in International Relations, he is employing more of a national relations.

I must say that I have enjoyed this friendly banter with Alex over the past few days. I hope to see more conservatives and liberals joining in on this conversation.

Now back to Bush. The scariest thing about Bush getting reelected is the state of the Supreme Court. With a few justices coming to the end of their lifetime terms, if Bush is reelected then those justices will undoubtabely be replaced and abortion and same-sex marriages will most likely be banned with the conservative judges coming into power. 4 more years of Bush is a scary thing. But, a dominant Conservative Supreme Court is downright petrifying.

Next couple posts I am going to try to shift gears a little bit...slow it down.

I have expressed my frustration with Bush in class and on this blog. However, I would like to say that I hold many of these same feelings for politicians in general as well. Even though I am drawn to politics and the issues that are related to it, I am driven away by the nature of the "business". The quote that Dr. Gilbert keeps on quoting about the brilliance of a good politician is exactly what frustrates me about politics. It is the fact that they say nothing at all and waste valuable air time and resources so that they can travel the country saying alot without saying anything at the same time is the one thing that irritates me. (Sorry for the runon sentence). I find it hard to have faith in somebody who says nothing of importance...this is the case with Bush especially. I rag on Bush because he is the current president, if he is not re-elected in the upcoming election, I guarantee that I will be frustrated with the next president (just not to the same degree). I might be one of the only people who would rather see the president working than up on a stage saying nothing. I like action and decisiveness...not this tip toeing around issues that politicians do. The ironic thing is is that I am trying to pick the speck out of Bush's eye, while I have a log in mine (or something like that). I suffer the same affliction with some issues.

After a night filled with homework, I caught the end of the Leno Show which featured the young soul phenom Joss Stone: An amazing voice that many people compare to Aretha Franklin. Following the Leno show was young Coney O'Brien. His musical guest was Al Green. A man who I have praised before. On that note, I want to introduce the top four albums in my opinion of recent months:
Albums #2-4 are in no specific order:
Joss Stone - The Soul Sessions
Dizzee Rascal - Boy in Da Corner
Al Green - I Can't Stop

The Best Album I have heard in a long time and it is beginning to take over my life because I have been listening to it for the past 2 and a half weeks non-stop. NOTE: This is also the album that I can't seem to review it because its too damn brilliant.

That album is:
KanYe West - The College Dropout

I know what our school is missing...to quote K. West "School Spirit Muthaf***a". With a lack of a tangible mascot, I feel that we dont have an identity. Here are some of my ideas.
The Denison Big Red:

DOGs, take a look at Clifford the BIG RED dogg strutting his stuffor how about...

GUMS...yeah we will chew you up and spit you out

BIG RED MACHINE

BIG RED-Tails. Little Known fact about the Red-Tail Hawk: in the commercials for USPS, the call of the Eagle is actually the loud and proud call of the Red-Tail. The Bald Eagles call is not that bold.

Lemme know what you think

It all started with my attempt at changing the color scheme of my blog and making it look purty. But, now I have a growing obsession with the University of Delaware mascot, YouDee. Check him out with Brutus on the Capital One All-America Mascot Team.

I think Alex misinterpreted my last post about Bush's catch phrases. Believe me, Alex, I understand that "the war on terror" is a battle that needs to be fought for many years to come. And I know that it will not disappear when Kerry or Edwards are elected into office. I dont deny that fact at all. I was simply expressing my frustration with the repetitive "marketing" scheme that is used for this "war on terror". I dont want to be force fed these catchy titles that belong on FOX news or MSNBC. Our government is not a television. Instead of wasting time on phrases like "No child left behind", use the time wisely. All I am asking is that they use a thesaurus. Find another word for terror.

Now, in response to the meat of your post. I found it slightly offensive that you put the blame on Clinton for what happened on September 11th. I am sure that there were opportunities or hints of these attacks during his administration. However, do not overlook the fact that there were many missteps by the Bush Administration. The one positive thing that people say about Bush is that he lead our country through such trying times. Okay...sure. I can give you that. But that situation was forced upon him. The single good thing that Bush has done was unfortunately forced upon him. And for that, he is viewed as a good leader. I have not had confidence in him as a leader post 9/11, under somewhat normal conditions. Guiliani benefited from the tragedy as well. Up to that point, he was not a beloved mayor of NYC. I will say this...I had more faith in Guiliani when I heard him speak then I did when Bush spoke. Bush has never seemed completely with it...maybe it was all that cocaine he snorted in college.

Ralph made one yesterday. Nader decided to run for the office of the president in this year's upcoming election. His decision is going to force me to make a tough decision. Before Nader visited our campus, I had been considering becoming a member of the Green Party before his visit. I was becoming very frustrated with lack of a third voice in the United States political world. I had considered voting for Nader in the 2000 election, however, the thought of having the BIG Dubya in office was too frightening of a thought. So I voted for Gore. Now, 4 years later, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. When Nader came to our campus, he spoke about voting for the lesser of two evils when voting Democrat. He also mentioned that unless a substantial number of people began voting for a Green Party candidate, that the social movement would never quite get high enough off the ground. After his speech, I was excited to vote Green Party in this upcoming election. But, that was last fall. I am scared to think what damage Bush could do in the next four years. With the balance of power in the courts on the line and many important issues developing and changing (for example, abortion, gay marriage, that pesky PATRIOT ACT), the thought of 4 more years of Bush is a scary one. I support Nader and his ideas, but an exception must be made. Bush is an embarrassment to the Oval Office and to our country. The so-called straight shooter has done nothing to persuade me that he is an effective president. I don't have faith in him as a leader and his decisions have only made me question him and his party more so. If Bush gets reelected this year, I am moving to Canada. All faith in the citizens of the United States will be lost, Eh. If I have to hear Bush use the words/phrases "terror", "weapons of mass destruction", and "axis of evil" for four more years...I don't know what I will do. I want to vote R. Nader...but my conscious says no. Edwards or Kerry in the year 04.

Since the template of my blog appears to be acting screwy, I am going to make another attempt at getting the desired appearence tomorrow....and now for something completely different: Nader is running. I now find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. I will discuss the election in a later post. And for all those interested in my dad's blog, he has set up an atom feed, so it can be added to your newsbrowsers.

Check out the differences with my blog when viewed with Netscape and Internet Explorer. I just changed my template's color schemes yesterday. The Netscape view is the view which I would like to have. I have become frustrated with changing the colors through the HTML code. If somebody could help me out.
IE Views:

NETSCAPE Views:

Check out this nice picture that kyle posted on his blog. Its a pretty cool perspective of DA......EARTH.

As a break from studying today, i have been watching the Cosby Show on one of the 11 channels that I get in my room (thats a different story). I have come to this conclusion: Cosby is one of the top three comedic minds (standup and sitcom) that I have ever heard. His standup is brilliantly funny with jokes about Noah (of Ark fame), weekend fun, interaction with children. Now, the Cosby show was quality television. I dont know if anyone saw the recent documentary-like film that jerry seinfeld did entitled Comedian. The movie shows how jerry seinfeld and a little-known and frankly, not that funny, comedian Orny Adams mold and shape their sets. It sort of gives the viewer an idea of the journey that a comedian goes through. Well, in every tale of a journey there is a wise man who the hero consults. In Comedian, that wise man was Bill Cosby. To me, that solidifies his place in history as one of the greatest comedians of all-time. Speaking of reruns of old sitcoms check out Scott's take on the Olsen twins. If you ask me, they are not that attractive...neither is that Hillary Duff (what is she like 16?...come on, there is something wrong there.)

I am impressed with the footwear displayed by D. Gilbert. I myself rocked the varsity red Chuck Taylors when I was a wee-lad. They are classics...plus they are red...and tell me, is there a better color than red? I think not.

I was looking over some of the most recent posts of my classmates and I have to disagree with this opinion that Denison is not a good school. I find that people take the education they recieve here for granted. Seth commented that "Denison has a good reputation, I think, but one of my classmates might be right: Denison is not a specifically good school. To be honest, I learn more off campus than I do at Denison. My experiences at The Columbus Dispatch and other media organizations give me a much better, more practical education than Denison ever could. What does Denison have that others don't? I know it's not a journalism program." Okay...I agree, but whats the point? If you want to get an education in a specific subject area then go to a trade school or a large state school which does not have general education requirements. Denison is a top-tier liberal arts school...and a liberal arts school provides a well-rounded education which is supposed to give you a more broad view of the world around you. A liberal arts education does not train you specifically for any position in the work force. I am tired of people making gross generalizations about this school, other schools, their homestate, even Ohio. Sure, there is room for improvement here at Denison...but a couple weaknesses do not make it a bad school. I feel that I have recieved an extremely good education in my year and a half here at Denison. My views have been expanded and/or reaffirmed. If you are unhappy here then make a change like Dr. Gilbert. Make the move instead of being "stranded in ohio". If you are only happy when you are unhappyor complaining...thats a bummer.

This is the first part of my review of Kanye West's "The College Dropout"...I will be completing this review over a period of time, sometimes when I start thinking about this work of genius I get all caught up and I cant talk or write....

Who needs College to be successful? Judging from his debut album, "The College Dropout", it is obvious that Kanye West did not need College to make something of himself. In fact, the young Chicago native has made a name for himself as a producer. Kanye has produced a ton of tracks which have topped or appeared towards the top of the charts. His production credits include: multiple tracks for Jay-Z including "H 2 the Izzo", "03 Bonnie and Clyde", "Lucifer", "Encore", "Girls Girls Girls" and "the Takeover", as well as Twista's "Slow Jamz", Trina's "B R Right", Scarface "Guess Who's Back", Talib Kweli's "Get By", Ludacris' "Stand Up", Monica's "Knock Knock", and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name". Needless to say, Kanye West has proven himself to be one of the best if not the best producer in the rap game at this point in time. He has the amazing ability to weave samples of 70's soul songs into and throughout his beats.

Check in tomorrow, hopefully I will have a full post of rants and raves. I might review the new Kanye West CD if i have the blogging stamina to review such a brilliant infusion of soul elements into hip hop. Well, if you are looking for entertainment, check out fast eddie's blog.

Adam's roommate brings up a very good point. Probably the best one yet...but it doesnt explain why they are so relaxed about sex.

Liz pointed out what I had tried to express in my previous post on her blog Stranded in Ohio. Well put, Liz, well put.

And now for something completely different....
check out this website Mislead.org:Daily Mislead. This website, brought to my attention by my father, is "a daily chronicle of bush administration distortion". The sad thing is, you could do the same with most members of the political realm.

Has it occurred to anyone, that it might be more offensive to continually repeat and zoom in on Janet Jackson's "exposed" breast than it was to have a partial view during the superbowl. I don't think anyone actually saw Janet Jackson's breast until it was broken down frame by frame. CBS cut away quickly and the whole thing could have ended like that. Instead, the video has been repeated frame after frame and more and more of the kids that we are trying to "protect" from the "evils" of nudity and the beauty of a woman's body. Sure, the stunt could be considered tasteless. However, what I found more insulting were the outfits which she and her dancers donned during the show. I didnt hear anyone complaining about man corsets her bare chested male dancers were wearing. People only talk about the things that interest them, so it is obvious that nudity grabs the attention of the large majority of people in this country including those who have shunned Janet Jackson for her exposure. Janet and her people probably decided that the stunt would boost the sales of her next single and it would bring attention back to her. In a way, it takes the media attention off of her brother. Question: Has there been more public outcry about the Jacko case or jiggling of Janet?

By the way, I found the quality of the show to be more offensive. It sucked. If Justin and Janet didnt take matters into HIS own hand, everyone would have noticed how terrible the halftime show really was and how terrible it has always been. The success of the halftime show has always depended on singular moments, not on the completeness of the show.

My group and I have set up our group blog, Click here.

I will be analyzing the personal ad which I chose in the format of the king of blog, all hail Scott Towler.

Lets us begin. First and for most, let us (by us, I truly mean me...i am just trying to make myself feel more important than I actually am) introduce flowerface8, a 22 year old with the height of an Amazon woman. This 6', 180 pound woman hails from what many consider a "cookie cutter" suburb called Bear. Bear is located around Newark,DE (the home of the Fightin' Blue Hens of the University of Delaware).

Last Book She Read: MY date with Satan, a collection of short stories about our own wayward youth culture....fucking hilarious.. and let's see. How to lose friends and alienate people. Currently reading a book called Playing the bones about a 20-something female caucasion who falls in love with a black blues singer named Black Jesus....pretty good so far.

I don't know where to start, but at least she isnt reading those dime a dozen, cheesy romance books you can find at Krogers or other convenience stores. The first thing you notice is that she does not conform and try to sweep a wide range of people. She is letting everybody know right off the bat what interests she has. I respect that.

MOST HUMBLING MOMENT: When I peed my pants on the bus, on the way home from summer camp in 2nd grade, and to make matters worse I was sitting next to the hot counselor I had crushed on during the entire week. Yup, he was soaked. Just for my own defense, I was being tickled, I don't usually just pee on people.

It's like taking your 86 year old grandpa to a strip club. A similar story. By the way, Girls dont pee, they use the bathroom.

FAVORITE ON-SCREEN SEX SCENE: I liked that movie Secretary. the whole movie was so intense....

Here's a link to the movie Secretary. Seems to be right down Scott's alley. Again, she doesnt hold back and narrows her target audience to those people who enjoy S&M or maybe just watching S&M. Maybe she wants to give Janet Jackson a (nipple) ring as JJ's SuperBowl performance was highlighted by the magically disappearing S&M costume.

CELEBRITY I RESEMBLE MOST: People ALWAYS tell me I look like Drew Barrymore, and I hear Kate Hudson sometimes, but I think if I really looked like either one of them I probably wouldn't be sitting here filling out a profile at 2 in the morning.....

TRUE, TRUE...a realist and a bit of self-depricating humor. She is not your garden variety girl. I do find the last part of the sentance to be interesting because of her choice of words. NOTE: I had written a good deal more here, however, upon re-reading her comment, I noticed that i was wrong.

BEST OR WORST LIE I'VE EVER TOLD: I am not trying to be a dick, but...

Straight shooter, I guess. I dont like the fact that the reader has to determine if the lie was the worst or the best lie this person has ever told. Too much thinking involved.

IF I COULD BE ANYWHERE AT THE MOMENT: I suppose I'd be watching the sun go down, dipping my feet in to the water somewhere with a cold beer in hand, sitting next to somebody who I need to share no words with. Erykah Bado softly cooing in the back ground...hmmmm...

Key words of this entry are: cold beer AKA cheap date and Erykah Bado, which is misspelled (or is that mispelled). Points for Erykah badU. Her response reads and flows in it's own choppy and unique way. Stick to those bullet points.

SONG OR ALBUM THAT PUTS ME IN THE MOOD: Depends on What mood we're looking for....
Sexin'-D'angelo or AL Green, Sade
Chiilin'-Mazzy Star, RadioHead, Floetry
Rockin'-Zepplin, The Doors, Hendrix, White Stipes
Dancin'- Missy, TuPac, The Neptunes....
Crusin'-Billy Joel, The Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Hall & Oates

AL GREEN. The ultimate soulman. A life lesson that I learned from my father was the proper use of Green's masterpiece entitled "Let's Stay Together". Truly, an amazing song. She really demonstrates a love and interest in music and the arts. She's got music for every situation.

FILL IN THE BLANKS: a man who reads is sexy;
a man who writes is sexier.

"I'm hard to read like grafitti" Common. Her response is unique and insightful as opposed to another persons ad which stated Orlando Bloom is sexy and Johnny Depp is sexier. She is looking for a creative and intelligent man who will share her love of knowledge. Again, she is narrowing her target to a specific audience.

IN MY BEDROOM, YOU WILL FIND: A Pile of Clothes, my notebook and pencil complete with pencile shavings everywhere, a pile of textbooks, Pixle Kitty probably curled up on some important piece of my writing, my bed, my Miss Congenialty Sash (oh yes, I am a complete nerd), a picture of my Mom, and a picture of my God Daughter, incense, my glass piece, a tyedye beanbag chair, and Justin Timberlake bobblehead (sorry it makes me laugh) Oh and probably my roommate, he is the nosiest person I know and feels the need to be in my room constantly!

Glass Piece? Hmmmm, whats a glass piece? That could be a number of things. She is not holding back and is letting "YOU" know what she is like.

WHY YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW ME:I am entertaining in small doses...
I can be hilarious if you catch me in the right mood...
I am up for anything...
I don't get mad, it's not worth my time...
I usually give good advice...
I am passionate in every endeavor...
I Love my mom....
My smile reaches from ear to ear...

Even though, you know she is probably kidding about being entertaining in small doses, and being hilarious if you catch her in the right mood. Those types of statements always leave me questioning the statement and having my doubts about that person's personality. Maybe its just me.

MORE ABOUT WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR: I want someone who likes to laugh...a lot.
Someone who understands my quirks..
Someone who has their own quirks...
Someone who likes to take long drives going nowhere, for no reason...
Someone who isn't scared to be themselves...
I've always wanted something exotic.. I suppose everyone does.... Someone who makes my palms sweaty, and makes me stutter, someone, who knows how to make the first move and isn't scared to do it....
Someone who is over that bitter Jaded 20-something thing...
Someone who can look into my eyes and just know...
That's not too much to ask is it?

Another person who likes taking long drives going nowhere, for no reason. I would much rather somebody tell me that they are spontaneous. Although it is direct, it is not confusing. Her last statement is really endearing and amusing. It lightens the end of her profile and does not impose all of her wishes onto those people who are interested in contacting her. Of course, she does not use lines which involve the second person. There is no pickup line or attempt at "personal" contact.

PICTURE: Now, I can deal with piercings that are located on the ears, maybe even the nose, belly button, but I am not a fan of the stud that sticks out of her upper lip if you wanna call it that.

Overall, she doesnt seem to be to serious about the whole personal ad thing. She points out those things which make her unique and those things which she is looking for in her partner. It is an interesting and attention grabbing personal ad.

It seems as though I have missed out on a couple blog topics in this past week because of the faulty updates of one Macromedia Central. Such topics as Janet Jackson's nipple, porn of many flavors and other riveting conversations. I also ran into a small problem with my xml feed. For some reason or another, all of my posts from January the 30th on were not posted on my site feed. But, thanks to the man with a brand new Yao Ming sized and Mini Me owned Ibook, I was able to correct this mistake. Now, without the means of any sort of transition, I must mention the ass-whupping that AI and Sixers put on the Shaq "BUM TOE" O'Neal and the Lakers. Iverson lit up the Lakers for like 39. I am glad to see them playing well again...at least for one game.

I know that recently, there has been a discussion about Central and how effective its newsfeed is. Although this discussion seemed to end a while with Liz's post on Monday. For some reason or another none of my new posts have shown up in Central and when I go to my site feed, the new posts are not included on the atom.xml page. Another potential problem that I have had is the random appearances of people's older posts, many times their first or second post. Lemme know if anyone else is having this problem. Check out the difference between my site feed and my actual blog. I don't understand what is going on with that.

Its been a pretty dull day filled with math and other stuff. However, tonight at dinner, Jordan talked about this class and the outlook for posting a new post everyday. To be honest, this post is just fufilling the requirement of a post a day.

It is past the twelve o'clock and I have yet to post my daily post. I was browsing through everybody's blogs and I was pleased to discover a fellow Olin inhabitant. I relate with Nate Schmidt and his observations about being a CS or math major. I myself am a math major and I have noticed similar events occuring around me. Being a math or CS major is like having a constant cloud over your head. There is always something else you need to be doing.

I knew something was up when the Gumbell said that there was a disturbance on the field after the halftime show...check this out. Linebacker levels Super Bowl streaker

SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOWS ARE THE DOWNFALL OF SOCIETY
The obvious lipsyncing and needless S&M costumes are out of control. Other than brief (and I mean brief) ending, the show was a worthless piece of shit. I cant believe anybody wants to see that garbage. There are starving kids in Nigeria...but instead lets blow a wad of cash on that crap. And how does Phil Simms steal his paycheck with his numerous "Madden"-isms?

I am currently using Central, I found it relatively easy to set up. However, Central is the second news browser that I have used. Originally, I downloaded and successfully set-up News Monster, which is associated with Netscape. I found News Monster to be useful, but the fact that it was integrated to the web browser was a little annoying. The sidebar in which News Monster could be found was difficult to open and close and it stole the available screen space from the webpages themselves. So, I set up Central and it has worked out well for me.

OK, so WHIZ TV was an all too easy target as Alex pointed out on his blog, (Clever Title). I agree, WHIZ TV shouldn't really count as a news broadcast. Point taken. At the same time, if you even look at Newscenter and some of the hooks that they show in order to gain viewers. For example, earlier this week, in between one of FOX's shows, the NIGHT TEAM's news anchor came on and something to the effect of "Could you be sued for not shoveling your sidewalk? Tune in at 10 for the answer and other reasons Newscenter is on your side." Now, it would seem to me that this is not breaking news and in fact, I thought that it was common knowledge. In fairness, all news stations are guilty of this over dramatic and sensationalized presentation style. However, that seems like a bit of a stretch for breaking news. It seems to me that news occurs at a slower rate than the news back in the Philly area. By the way, this is no way means that i watch the news regularly at school or at home. I would much rather receive my news somewhat devoid of elements of fear and over production.