I will go ahead and do a post on this, I think, before I go to bed.

( Here be politics. )

I have opinions. You should read them and argue with me.

This man is donating 300 dollars for every 100k views this video gets. Spread it around, guys.

Friendslist, I have a question.

How much weight do you think Fox News, and other far right news sources, are legitimately given?

Not how credible they are, but how much weight they hold in the eyes of the American public.

After having been subjected to Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Glenn Beck thanks to my family, and the general sentiment due to the fact that I live in a poor, rural area, it seems as though the sweeping claims these men make about conservativism and America 'realizing it's mistake' seems to bear more weight because, well, I see people who agree whole-heartedly with them.

But, if I look at other places, like ontd_political or news sources that aren't Fox News, the country seems a lot more moderate and liberal-- and not quite as unhappy as the Tea Party would have you believe.

Is there a chance that Republicans will retake Congress? (Personally, I don't think that'll happen any time soon, regardless of what my Dad thinks, but I do think the Senate WILL lose its majority needed to be filibuster proof.)

Are republicans and the evangelical right making themselves look like idiots, or are they gaining ground that could be, as I saw in the site puella_nerdii linked me the other day, tearing the nation apart?

I just want to get some discussion going about this, and about where this country is headed.

Friends cut. If you feel I've cut you in error, comment.

Teku: Round 2-- Judge: Canada
Teku: Green Apple: Inferior - (lesser, second-rate, mediocre)
Teku: You have 64 seconds to choose a Red Apple

--

Teku: Round 7-- Judge: Canada
Teku: Green Apple: American - (U.S. Citizen, Yankee, Apple Pie)
Teku: You have 64 seconds to choose a Red Apple

-----

Teku: As chosen by the judge Canada, the winning apple is "Bankruptcy" which belonged to Japan! They take the Green Apple card.

--

Teku: Round 11-- Judge: Canada
Teku: Green Apple: Uncool - (lame, bogus, unpopular)
Teku: You have 64 seconds to choose a Red Apple

--

Canada: HOW COME I GET 'INFERIOR' AND 'AMERICAN' AND 'UNCOOL'

--

Teku: As chosen by the judge Japan, the winning apple is "Big Macs" which belonged to America! They take the Green Apple card.

--

Teku: Round 11-- Judge: America
Teku: Green Apple: Misunderstood - (not grasped, not learned, not absorbed)
Teku: You have 64 seconds to choose a Red Apple
America: ...
America: yeah guys
Decade: ...
America: America is ~misunderstood~

--

Teku: Round 20-- Judge: France
Teku: Green Apple: Ridiculous - (preposterous, absurd, ludicrous)
Teku: You have 64 seconds to choose a Red Apple

--

Teku: Round 8-- Judge: Prussia
Teku: Green Apple: Perishable - (unpreserved, fresh, fragile)
Teku: You have 64 seconds to choose a Red Apple
Prussia: ......

Finally, finished this, after working on it for I don't know how long.

Title: Country of Traitors
Fandom: Hetalia
Summary: Civil War fic. It's an attempt at intelligent writing on my part, and a practice run at actually writing again.
Characters: America, Canada, mentions of England
Legnth: 3700~ words.

( It's cold-- or at least, he feels like it's cold. )

Man, there are times I wish the American grading scale didn't suck so much. I would give anything to have the rest of the world's grading scale. Above 50% is passing? Hell yes! I have been struggling for years with the most insane grading scales-- hell, my primary education years had a more insane grading scale than pretty much the rest of the United States, even.

And extra credit? ... Well, maybe it's common in some universities, but it's next to unheard of in mine. Especially since I'm taking only upper division classes now. So, great. Great.

I wish the United States would focus less on grading scales and focus more on teaching-- especially for primary education. There's no reason we should be as low as we are in math and science.

The more I think about it, the more in favor I become of a nationalized education system. I mean, I talked with my mom about it, and she did put in a good point against it, despite her otherwise paranoid ramblings, but our current education system relies too much on how rich the area you live in is. I understand that a national education system is by far easier to manipulate than our current system, especially in regards to things I feel are important: history, propaganda, politics, etc...

But there has to be some sort of balance. If we could manage a mass reorganizing of American priorities considering education (way too many people are hoping for NBA slots or otherwise ~awesome~ jobs) without changing our system, I'd be in favor of that. Hell, maybe if we could find other means of testing students capabilities without the use of standardized, multiple choice tests. Not everyone can do those sorts of tests, and they're impractical besides because when does the answer to a math problem ever come with an a, b, c, or d next to it in an lab situation?

I do honestly feel that a lot of Americans are otherwise fairly intelligent, but that we aren't using that potential. Either we have ingrained expectations for them that limit them, they're limited by god forbid their parents being poor... or a multitude of other unfair factors.

I think we're limiting ourselves by focusing exclusively on how we're doing in comparison to that public school the next county over. We should be focusing on that Japanese high school, or maybe that Indian elementary school if we're going to compare anything.

Dear F-List,

House Minority Leader, John Boehner, has recently been quoted in an interview saying, "I'm still trying to find the first American to talk to who's in favor of the public option, other than a member of Congress or the administration."

( So I wrote him an email. )

Ahh, I feel politically active now!

Another aspect to the healthcare debate, since it doesn't seem many people know about this:

The United States Government provides health insurance to members of the military. It is government funded, and all members of the military get it when they join. This coverage is also applied to their dependents, or immediate family. And, once again to the military retirees and their dependents, or immediate family. This all used to be under TriCare, but TriCare has been split and focuses on the retirees.

This is a big deal. This is why Dad won't let me get an active duty ID, even though I am eligible for one: because if I do not have my dependent ID, I am effectively without health insurance of any kind.

TriCare is unique in the fact that it is very affordable, won't bankrupt you if you do have an emergency healthcare issue, and does not look at pre-existing conditions.

But the keywords are it is government funded and provided. If you didn't think we had socialized health care before, which I don't get at all considering Medicare and Medicaid, TriCare is definitely another socialized aspect of our medical system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRICARE I am not making any of this up.

This may not affect any opinions on my f-list as is, but it's also a good point to keep in mind if you feel like debating healthcare randomly.

THIS JUST IN: THE COLD WAR IS NOT OVER.

AS LONG AS THERE ARE NUCLEAR BOMBS IN THE WORLD, THE COLD WAR WILL NEVER BE OVER. NEVERMIND THAT THE ONLY COUNTRY TO EVER ACTUALLY USE THEM IN A WAR IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

RUSSIA IS NOT OUR ALLY. APPEASING RUSSIA IS LIKE APPEASING ADOLF HITLER OF THE 1930S. NEVERMIND THAT THE SITUATIONS WERE HISTORICALLY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, AND RUSSIA IS NOT ANYWHERE NEAR A FASCIST, TOTALITARIAN REGIME.

OBAMA, HOW DARE YOU ACT SO WEAK. HOW DARE YOU. NOW WE'RE GOING TO HAVE WW3 BECAUSE YOU TOOK AWAY EASTERN EUROPE'S MISSILE SHIELD.

In other news, my Dad said I made him sick today. 8Db

I got into an argument with my mother today. It started during the sermon I was barely listening to, when I heard the pastor say that the sign of corruption in our government, among a few other things, was a sign that this nation was moving away from God.

I turn to mom and comment, "Corruption in the government isn't new."

To which, she eventually comments back, "No, but when this nation was founded, it was pure, and now it's not anymore."

I... I could say so many things about how not true that is. I did, actually. I told her that was completely untrue.

This nation was initially founded on a lot of talk, but our first action as a free government was to make sure absolutely everyone except the white, property holding male was screwed over and left without a voice. Corruption was always present in our government, and in its policies. Besides, if you are talking about a rule by the people and for the people, Greece did that first. We blatantly pulled from them and Rome when we were designing our government.

We are copycats.

Besides, in the ancient days, kings and queens used to claim they ruled by divine right, and were treated almost as gods themselves. Because they claimed it, as she is claiming our country was founded under the Christian god, does that mean that monarchies were purer governments?

I was just caught off guard by how unnecessary this sentiment really is. There's nothing in the Bible that says a nation must be pure to start off with to be worthy of saving. There is nothing that says "unless you have a mission of saving your wayward country from hell, you're not a good Christian."

I don't believe there's anything in there about holding the founding fathers of your country (which, btw, George Washington practiced adultery, unless you want to say that slavery is totally right and that sleeping with his female slaves doesn't count) on a pedestal that no person in this country can possibly attain.

I don't know. Mom finished the conversation by saying she prays that God opens up my eyes.

Mom, my eyes are open. I know history. America was never "pure," by any standards of the word.

Hellfire is, hands down, best in French.
Friend Like Me is really, really good in Japanese and Spanish. So is Prince Ali.
A Whole New World, on the other hand, is good in French plus those two.
Colors of the Wind does not sound bad in any language. I didn't hear a bad rendition of it.
Make a Man Out of You is hands down best in English, but Jackie Chan's Chinese version comes very close. Hilariously, the German version lacks any sort of power behind the words. Which was a general problem for all the versions except Jackie Chan's and the English.
Everybody Wants to Be a Cat is SO cute in French! I love it!
Why Should I Worry is best in English, but I actually think the Hebrew version is a tie.
Be Prepared sounds really, really good in Italian.
I Won't Say It is good in Spanish and German.
Hakuna Matata sounds SO weird in Japanese... And also in other languages. I think that song is another best suited to English. The Japanese version just stuck out to me more.
Zero to Hero is best in English, but the French version seriously almost nails it. And hearing the Japanglish in the Japanese version is 'awww' inducing. ブレッス　マイ　ソー！
Belle is amaaaazing in French, and the Japanese version is REALLY easy to understand.

... And I can't even REMEMBER every song we listened to.

RANDOM PET PEEVE I JUST DISCOVERED I HAD TODAY

The next time I see a truck/jeep/other ~MANLY~ vehicle with a pair of balls hanging off the end, I am going to castrate said vehicle.

For god's sake, I do not need to look at your desperate attempts to reaffirm your masculinity. And it's tacky as sin.

Why do I have to live in the South where those things are popular, seriously.

I'm in a pensive mood right now. I need to get around to studying MicroEcon, but I have this SINKING FEELING that it's going to get me no where.

Guys, I'm making this post public because I want to do an Honesty Meme. I feel somewhat like I haven't gotten an honest opinion in awhile, even though I know it's not true. But, just humor me.

Tell me anything. About me or not, logged in or not. I'll listen.

FRIENDS CUT.

Sorry if you disagree with my choices... But I made them because I feel we never talk, have next to nothing in common anymore, among other reasons. The biggest being... my friendslist is getting waaaay too big.

No hard feelings, okay?

Take five minutes from your life to stop thinking about whatever it is you're planning on doing-- or about how you may be feeling bad-- and spread the word.

I'm infuriated by how little attention this has gotten and by how little anyone has said about it. For five minutes, read these links, watch these videos:





ONTD_P
Change for Iran
Nations Asked not to Recognize Election Results

Take five damn minutes from your life and spread the word-- Iran's "president" has compared what is happening in Tehran right now to getting a parking ticket. He has compared the protesters with angry soccer fans.

Mobile service has been shut down in the country. The internet has been cut off. The government has called in Hezbollah to help quell the protests.

University students are being held hostage at their own university. The police are denying hospital care to protesters-- they "Deserve to Die."

Meanwhile, the international community doesn't care. The EU has recognized the government-- Obama's administration has refused to acknowledge the election results, at least.

Take time out of your day to wear green, something, anything, to show support for the people in Iran right now. Because they're living through something I very highly doubt any of us will ever have to live through.

I have been banned from several things by Liet. This includes AIM. :|a So, if you need me, get a hold of me at intheaf@gmail.com.

Stealing from Emily, since it looks kind of stress relieving.

Ask me any question you've always wanted to know about me or my life or my opinions on something and I will answer it. You can ask as yourself or even anonymously!

Stolen from aishiteru o/

ANYWAY, tomorrow is a trip to Osaka. And I asked some Japanese girls to take me shoe shopping here, because beanclam and I agree-- we're totally gay for their boots.

EDIT: FUCK YES, THE YEN WENT DOWN IN VALUE AGAIN. COME ONNNNN US DOLLAR. LET'S GET 1 DOLLAR = 100 YEN. YOU ARE LESS THAN A CENT AWAY. I BELIEVE IN YOU.