To my friend...

I Swear to Blog (TM)*

*Nero Borja Inc.

"The next Dick Cheney"

Joe Biden sent me an e-mail this morning--Barack and co. always do--informing me about a new behind-the-scenes video on Youtube.

He also encouraged me to donate soon because...

This new phase of the campaign will move quickly. By the time you read this, we may even know who John McCain has chosen to be the next Dick Cheney.

The next Dick Cheney, huh?

Gov. Sarah Palin

Dick Cheney
Let's see. She's a milf, and he's...well, he's still alive and kicking!

Former First Lady continues to inspire!

No, I'm not talking about Hillary.

The online version of Allure quotes former first Lady Imelda Marcos:
Imelda Marcos once said, "Beauty is not extravagance; beauty is life." For once, we actually agree with the former First Lady. We now present some of the necessary extravagances named the winners of Allure's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards.

Kudos to Allure for recognizing the infamous shoe collector and a double kudos to Ms. Marcos for continuing to dress to impress (at 79).


This photo was taken last year. She's the sweet lass in blue.


The Marakina Shoe Museum has some of her shoes on display.

In case you didn't know: Pacquiao v De La Hoya

On December 6, go find someone with HBO to watch Oscar De La Hoya avenge Mexicans in a fight against Manny Pacquiao.

"Obama doesn't speak good"

The little girl is right. Again.

My least favorite things in the world...

include Michelle Malkin.

Obama blog from Oakland International Airport

(Disclaimer: The following is a little random rant about Obama. I should have edited it for more fluidity and comprehensiveness, but I'm too tired. Airports do that to you...)

Did Obama finally get people talking about politics?

The facts are obvious. He’s the first half-Kenyan person to run for president. Unlike the other presumptive Republican candidate, Obama is young, fresh-faced, new, relatively unknown, energetic, and let’s just throw in “in good shape.”

Sitting at Oakland airport waiting for my flight back to L.A., I overheard a mother talking to her young girl, who looks to be about 7 years old. (She still had the cute, high-pitched, inquisitive tone to her voice.)

I began eavesdropping when I heard the little girl saying: “I like Obama even though he doesn’t speak good.” It was altogether cute and profound. Despite her understandably faulty grammar, (I’m sure she meant well) I thought it was just a profound comment, especially from a little girl.

But it is true that children are frighteningly honest and extremely perceptive. They often see things that us adults can no longer see.

Her comment about Obama’s speaking skills is often talked about—but I’ve noticed, not so much by the media. I usually hear it from us laypeople, bloggers, and of course, McCainers. I think the one media exception would be Fox News.

But should quality speaking skills be a major prerequisite for the president?

So back to the story about the mom and the daughter. The mom replied, in such a motherly-love way I should add: “But that’s not what you look for in a president. You look to see what they can do when they’re president, and if they’ll do it.”

And I think the mom is right. What it really comes down to is whether Obama will live up to all his promises. Will the rest of the Democratic party be on board with his proposed plan for change in the White House? He did reform his state legislature—when he was able to get perks cut down, like nice lunches at work (see Saddleback Church interview). It is small, but it is still something. For example, a $50.00 lunch for a senator can also mean a week of groceries for a family of five.

Obama has been doing a lot of talk, but he’s running for president! That’s just what they do. But I think many Obama supporters are putting too much faith in Obama’s words. He says he wants to and that he can change politics as usual in Washington. And he seems serious about doing it. But is it really feasible? Before we all buy an Obama bust for the fireplace mantle, we supporters should understand that its just not that easy. Obama will not be perfect. There never really was and there will probably never be a “perfect president.”

I know the obvious retort to this would be, “got hope?”

I am hopeful he’ll do a good job. But that is the key word: hope.

Only 149 days left!

You just can't make this stuff up

Found a cute picture from the McCainBlogette today:The "SuperMac Button."

People come up with the darnest things.

Drumroll please......

john.he.is

Still funnnnnnnnnnnnny....

"McCain Mama"

I still can't stop laughing!!!

Finally! Fighting Words!

We've been waiting for some real fighting words from the Obama camp. Their new ad, "Seven" isn't on par with the McCain/Britney/Paris ad, but it does send a strong attack against McCain.

Right now, the economy is not just an issue. Its THE issue for many Americans.

Hard Times for the Hard-Working

When I was six years old, Bill Clinton became president. At the time, little did I know about George H. W. Bush or the Gulf War. Apparently, public opinion of Bush Sr. was high because of his actions in the Gulf. So if everybody loved his performance, then why didn't he win reelection?

Clinton: "It's the economy, stupid."

A lot of people became more concerned about the economy and so his status during the Gulf War didn't matter at the voting booths.

Clinton had a concrete strategy and he admitted to growing up poor in one of the poorest states in America.

What does this mean for us today? Well, McCain, after forgetting how many houses he owns, is coming under more fire for being out of touch with the economic struggles of many Americans.

The typical Republican response (as I see it) is that every person or family is responsible for their own financial well-being. The government shouldn't help, because individual freedoms reign supreme...meaning the government can't impose restrictions on people's freedoms like social welfare or other economic programs to help people who need it the most.

The video below looks at McCain's houses and his economic policies AND what a normal American is going through right now in the current housing/economic troubles that is hurting a bunch of people:

Modern-day slavery or Good-will toward women/men?

There's an interesting article on BBC.com about immigration fraud concerning African refugees.

Apparently, African citizens claiming family reunification with someone in the U.S. turned out to be true only 20% of the time.

The article did a fairly good (objective) job in framing the issue here because the story led to me to conclude two opposing explanations:

1] Altruistic people wanting to give African refugees to leave their homes for safety, food, or support in the U.S. Or close friends or distant relatives, while not blood-related, are eager to help friends they've left behind. Its not uncommon for friends or friends-of-friends to "marry" someone headed for deportation or a someone with a soon to be expired visa. So it is easy not to rule out the same strategies for African refugees.

2] Modern-day slave-traders/owners (yes, slavery still exists) taking advantage of desperate refugees. The media and non-profit orgs have made some effort in spreading awareness about human trafficking. The damning truth is that many American Joe Schmoes and others are oftentimes complicit in these human trafficking schemes.

I suppose only time will tell. (pardon the cliche)

NO GLITTERING

Ever heard of Gary Glitter?

No, he's not an adult film star or someone from South Park, but rather, a pop singer (from forever ago) convicted of pedophilia.

See the full article here.

Skid Road, Hospitals, Homeless people, and insurance fraud

Joan! This was the stuff I was telling you about earlier.

Apparently, there was this insane fraud involving major hospitals that "recruited" homeless people from Skid Row and brought them in to the hospital to receive treatment or just to "occupy beds." Its a crazy scam that hospitals used to milk money from government insurance programs.

The homeless people were compensated too: money, food, cigarettes.

One homeless person admitted to being constantly recruited and receiving unneeded treatment in return for cash to buy coke.

Check it for yourself in the New York Times article.

The LA Times has a page with news, editorials, and pictures on Skid Row.

Song on Repeat Assault

I'm so guilty for having this song on repeat for the past 48 hours on my iPod and on my iTunes.

Its Coldplay, "See You Soon."

Why?

Its a good song. Chris Martin's voice gets me every single time he opens his mouth. And yeah, I'm a tad smitten/sad at the moment.

McCain Family Photoshoot or Photoshop?

Doesn't this photo look TOTALLY photoshopped? I don't know if it means anything, but its from ABC News.

Check out more pictures of McCain and the rest of the bunch from the ABC News site here.

Saddleback Church

Saddleback Church is this ginormous church in Orange County. This popular mega-church invited Barack Obama and John McCain for a civil forum.

Both candidates were asked the same questions and both candidates had an hour. I haven't seen the McCain interview yet, but I just started watching the Obama one:




Is it just me, but does his stuttering remind you of a grandpa? Its generally pretty tolerable, but sometimes, you just want to shake the words out of him.

Who's your money on?

Mine? Joe Biden.

If you haven't already, you can be the 'first to know' who the chosen one will be by going to BarackObama.com

Sign up to get an e-mail or even a text (from Barack Obama himself!) to see who'll be the lucky(?) guy.

Barack Obama will announce VP this week!

For all you Obama girls and boys and for everyone else who hasn't gotten enough of Obama-mania, the presumptive Democratic nominee will announce his running mate as early as this Wednesday, according to the New York Times.

The possible candidates include:

• Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana
• Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia
  
• Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware

Start placing your bets on Intrade.com!

Meghan McCain

For all you campaign junkies out there, check out Meghan McCain's blog!
She's the daughter of Cindy and John McCain. She recently graduated from college and is currently blogging from the "Straight Talk Express" campaign trail.

Costas-Free Olympics: Philippine Boxing

The Yahoo! caption: Manyo Plange of Ghana, left, fights Harry Tanamor of Philippines during a men's light flyweight 48-kilogram preliminary boxing match at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008.

Wow. I never knew Pilipinos had it in them.

New Zion for Ugly (female) Ducklings?

Recently, the mayor of Mount Isa (a mining town in Australia) has come under fire for his remarks concerning 'beauty-disadvantaged' women.

He has invited 'beauty-disadvantaged' women to come to Mount Isa because currently, there only 5 blokes for every lass. Which makes any lovely lass a lucky girl.

According to the article,

In 2006, there were just 819 women aged 20-24 living there out of a total population of 21,421, according to the most recent census.

The mayor refuses to apologize because he feels that he is telling it like it is.

The feminist in me wants to kick him in the baby-maker for even seriously contemplating such a thing.

But in reality, what self-respecting woman or just people in general would take his comments seriously? I mean, would any female seriously consider going to a women-deficient town just to land a man?

Well, this one did:

Cover Song + YouTube Video (with a purpose) for the Week

"Baby I'm Yours" by Barbara Lewis is one of my favorite songs of all time. Its just a sweet, simple song that says 'I love ya..'

The Arctic Monkeys do a cover of it and its also the background song to a nifty youtube video!

Doesn't it remind you of your first crush? Or you first (innocent) love?

Invisibility Cloak

Super-cool scientists at UC Berkeley say that are getting closer to creating a real invisibility cloak.

I don't really see how this could benefit humanity. Despite the military rationale, invisibility cloaks for everyday use would only make CHEATERS a more intriguing/tacky show.

P-U

Am I the last one to realize that Barack Obama's initials are B.O.?

Am I 12 again?

I should have gone to a real Ivy or Cal

A recent study by PalScale Inc. found that Ivy Leaguers get paid more than non-Ivy Leaguers, irrespective of major.

Blah.

See the Wall Street Journal article here.

Even more depressing (just a tad), Cal alum have a higher starting median salary ($59,900) and a higher mid-career median salary ($112,000) than us UCLA alum with $52,600 and $101,000, respectively. boo...

Luckily for me, the History and Political Science majors will pay off...someday.

Yacketeeyakking

Yacketeeyakking. I think I picked up this word from my memory bank. I want to say that I first heard it on the WB Show Animaniacs. I think.