Shqipo's Virtual Mumblings

I've mentioned before that this winter has been rather mild so far - except when we had some sudden deep drops in temperature. Aside from the higher heating bill, we didn't see much change from that sudden change. However, it does seem that, somewhere else, those temperature changes had a negative effect on people's brains.

And these good people live in South Dakota. Granted, the Dakotas are one of the coldest places in continental US, populated mainly by white farming rednecks (rednecks do not exist just in the South). No need to shrug, this post is not "politically correct" on South Dakotans so hang tight.

So, these good ol' farmers, decided "they don't need no abortion" and brought out legislation that bans it - and it's the most far reaching one - opening the way for overturning Wade vs. Roe now that 2 ultra-conservatives are part of the Supreme Court. The scary part is learning how State Legislators (House Speaker nonetheless!) still rely on Miss Cleo or the The Old Farmers' Almanac to run that state:

“I think the stars are aligned,” said House Speaker Matthew Michels, a
Republican. “Simply put, now is the time.”

I don't really blame those people there since that state has a rather low population and is one of the least densely populated states, and has half of the population growth of what US as a whole has. Seriously, I feel their pain, they can't afford abortions: they need people to work on the farm or fill the empty spots all those poor soldiers who got killed have left.

What makes me scratch my head is what will S. Dakota's population look like 10-20 years from now. This bill bans abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Doing some research, I was able to find out that incest and child abuse cases are on the rise there. I'm not sure about this, but the myth is that children of incest have some health issues. And then I read that about 1/7 of the population (age 5+) has a disability - hm... I wonder why? Does that mean that the myth about rednecks inbreeding is true?

The bright side of this is that it brings out the value of education, taking into consideration that only 21.5% of people in S. Dakota are college-educated.

News from Iraq are not getting any better. As if the "insurgency" wasn't enough, now Shiites are fighting Sunnis. I am hoping this doesn't escalate into a civil war.

The "administration" (ours) is so high on the propaganda BS that we're going to "establish democracy" in Iraq - and the whole Middle East that they're failing to realize one small little detail: what if these people don't want a western-style democracy? I don't want to sound racist or whatever other "ist"-ending word, but hey, where is it written that all people handle certain things the same way? Where does it say that everyone values certain things the same way? How about if the "liberators" take the time to read through that region's history? I know, it's hard to do when your daddy's influence puts you through Ivy League schools, but maybe someone from staff would be able to analyze these countries' history and have a Eureka moment and realize that, maybe, dictatorship is all these people know and what they're used to - and they like it! Western-style democracy just doesn't cut it there.

Oh well, who cares, as long as oil keeps flowing freely.

EVANESCENCE LYRICS

"Bring Me To Life"
(feat. Paul McCoy)

How can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I’ve become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

now that I know what I’m without
you can't just leave me
breathe into me and make me real
bring me to life

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Bring me to life
(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)
Bring me to life

frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead

all this time I can't believe I couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more
bring me to life

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

(Bring me to life)
I’ve been living a lie, there’s nothing inside
(Bring me to life)

You, lady in that black Jeep Laredo, wearing that Burberry scarf and with all that big hair that was probably blocking your view and decided to cut me off a couple of times yesterday: I hope my dust tasted good!

You, the mofo on the big white truck who decided to cut across from the middle lane without bothering to look at what/who was coming in opposite direction and were taking your sweet time to do the turn: @#$% you!! I hope someone else in a bigger truck will teach you a good lesson someday...

...if you buy my "program" for only $99.99. I keep listening these annoying and cheesy commercials on radio while I drive, besides the usual late hours infomercials. Some of them scream with the usual bait "be your own boss" and then continue to tell how you can make a gazillion dollars in a week - but you have to buy their program to learn how to do it. So far, it sounds like a regular business offer: I'll teach you, you pay me.

One of these bozos is so confident (for lack of a better word) that he promises "You don't have to pay me, I'll send you the program for free!" OK, if I thought this was a scam, now I think it's a stupid scam and I don't feel sorry a bit for those who will fall for it.

Someone, please, explain these to me:

1. How come I don't see the names of any of these "successful" millionaires on any "Forbes" lists? If their "program" is so successful and easy, they should've been gaziollionaires by now, right?
2. Rule of thumb to be successful in business is to have as little as possible (or none at all) competition. Why, then, would anyone in the right mind try to create as much competition as possible? Why wouldn't these "geniuses" want to make as much money as they can for themselves but, instead, want to tell everyone about it? I don't remember when was the last time that Bill Gates tried to "spin off" as many Microsofts as possible... .

I'm sure these scammers are making money, and their "secret" is nothing else but sell bullshit to naive buyers.

Ah yes, winter is truly here. We were getting a little too comfortable with the warmer-than-usual temperatures but, apparently, it didn't forget us. These temps are without taking into consideration wind chill, which is about -20F right now (-29 Celcius). Isn't Michigan great?


A perfect example that there is no global warming - at least here in Michigan.

I need a vacation in a nice, warm and sunny place!

Since I have a "thing" for photography, I often browse through Flickr. There are some very good photographers who share their work - and I'm glad they do.

One of them is this lady who, I assume lives somewhere in Europe. I'm not sure why but I have a strong feeling she's somewhere in Eastern Europe (no, Albania is NOT geographically Eastern Europe but Southern Europe). She does some good photography, although almost all of it is Photoshoped - but she's got skills :)

This one is from her. The reason I decided to talk about it is what she has as #2. Being in the position I am (financially) I would jump up and say "yeah! that's what should be done." But I think it's quite, uhm... unfair (pun intended).

First of all, what do people mean by "distribution?" Who is distributing this wealth? I haven't seen anyone standing at the street corner handing out money. Nor do I know of anyone or any entity sending out checks to people's homes based on their label as "rich" or "poor" - oh wait, I do know. It's called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (a.k.a welfare).

Second, what is considered "fair" and who judges what is or is not fair? For instance, I don't think it's fair that people who choose to sit on their ass all day watching Jerry Springer should get any of my hard-earned money (OK, most of it is hard-earned). How "fair" is it that they should get the same "distribution" as the ones who actually get up at wee hours in the morning and work 60-80 or more hours a week?

It's also interesting (to me) to see how much I've changed. Growing up in a low-income family (even by Albanian standards), it naturally made me angry to see all my best friends who had much more than I did, because their fathers were doctors, engineers, etc. Seriously, I was the poorest in our "group." I am not ashamed to say that most of my clothes were hand-me-downs. My parents worked very hard and sacrificed a lot for my brother and me.

Anyway, enough about me, this is just MY blog anyway :)

It is quite interesting though that many Europeans have the same mentality about this equal wealth distribution, while Americans are a tad different.

My point that I'm trying to make is that I don't think there's a way for equal distribution, unless all other factors are the same. For instance, if people worked equally hard, then they should gain the same wealth. But we know that is far from the truth, hence, no "fair" distribution. BUT... there are many of those who are on the "unfair" end of distribution (read: the rich ones) who do give away quite a bit of that money to others. Look at the thousand charities, etc. It's because of these generous people that I was able to go to school and be where I'm at right now.

And that's my $2000 on this issue.

During my over-1-hour-long wait at the dentist last week, I tried to kill some time reading an issue of GQ (ITS' favorite). Among countless ads, I see this one for a perfume from... Paris Hilton! OK, is it just me that has had enough of her? First of all, I don't find her "hot" at all and I have a hard time understanding what all the big deal is all about. To me, she's just a super-spoiled rich super-skinny dumb blonde. I guess the new trend now to become famous is to have a home-made sex video tape "stolen." And, thanks to the internet, one can become famous overnight. For instance, Tommy Lee was just an another showy 80s hair band drummer - until his home-made video with Pamela Anderson was "stolen" and his fame rose among the horny female population.

Back to the fragrance ad. As if tabloid fame and inherited money wasn't enough for Paris Hilton, now she's following on the footsteps of other "just-for-show" celebrities like J "Huge Ass" Lo and Britney "No Voice" Spears and launching her own line of fragrance. Why not? As if they haven't done enough damage to pre-teen and teenage girls who now want to wear the skimpiest outfits, now these "celebrities" want to milk out even more money from them (well, their parents) and creating their own line of hyped-up, not so good beauty crap.

I love capitalism!

Continuing with my pissy mood thread, same day I posted my previous post, I went to my dentist to have a root canal done. It's actually a bit odd, because several months ago I had agonizing pain on that tooth for several days; nothing would stop it but cold water - for a few seconds. I even tried, for the first time, Tylenol 3 that my dentist prescribed and didn't do anything, except for making me feel nauseous. Several sleepless nights, x-rays, 2 dentists (one a specialist) and quite a bit of $ later, they couldn't figure out why I was having that pain. But I guess anti-biotech did help and it went away. It did come back again, however, so I went to my dentist again - only this time was a bit different, I was check by her brother who indicated that I needed a root canal.

OK, so I went on Thursday to finish it. My appointment was at 3 o'clock. Ended up waiting till 4:15 until I finally gave up (had to go to work). I want to scream and protest, but I can't since they're already giving me some discount.

Maybe I should've become a dentist... .

OK, now I'm pissed! Why the hell didn't they publish this before I spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours of studying and stress to get one bachelor's degree and two masters' ones? How fair is it that these people are making quite a bit more than I do while they didn't have to worry about studying or paying back student loans? Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming these uneducated people - noone in the right mind will turn down a good salary. It's just that I don't understand this system - and I feel so stupid for what I've gone through!

On the other hand, I feel sooo safe knowing that someone with a GED diploma is making sure the plane I fly in is landing safe, or is protecting me from crime, or is deciding which much more educated person stays, or not, (ITS, I feel your pain!) in this country. The latter case is one of irony's culminationg points, in my opinion. Patheticism laughs in my face... .

College graduated people, unite!

With Super Bowl XL just a day away, I guess it's appropriate to, at least, read something about it. I'm not a big fan of American football, but this year Detroit is hosting it so I'm going to be a little more attentive. Frankly, the only reason I've watched Super Bowl games has been to watch commercials.

It looks like ABC learned from its rival's (CBS) "mistakes" two years ago so it will broadcast the big game with a 5 second delay - the first time ever in the 40-year history of the Super Bowl. Granted, I doubt those 5 seconds delay will have any impact whatsoever on the millions of viewers, especially for a game which is interrupted just about every 5 seconds anyway.

What bothers me is that the reason why they're going to impose this delay is to avoid any infamous "wardrobe malfunction" which, in 2004, revealed Janet Jackson's <gasp>breast</gasp> (and it wasn't really that nice anyway). Because, showing a bare breast on network TV for a few seconds is very inapppropriate, it damages kids' beahavior and morality as it interrupts them from watching 300 lbs. hormone-injected men crush each-other's bones.

I don't really blame ABC. Afterall, who wants to pay all those stupid FCC fines and all the bad publicity for their business cause by some un-official moral police made up of "upright citizens" whose Marine boys just dropped a 1000 lbs bomb at some innocent Iraqis. It's true, a piece of fatty tissue shown on TV is much more dangerous and problematic than thousands of lives lost for no national reason or the fact that everyone of us is being watched by the government. That fatty tissue is so much more important, it prompted for Congress hearings! The evil in me thinks those members of Congress simply wanted to "examine" the "evidence" much more closer... .

And, of course, there are financial reasons. Besides FCC fines, there's the risk of ever-present lawsuits by fucktards like the good ol' Southern women from TN, Terri Carlin, who, with the help of some eager ambulance chasing lawyer, decided to sue anyone they could think of (that was involved in the "incident") for billions of dollars because that fatty tissue caused viewers to "suffer outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury." Ms. Carlin (I wonder why she's still a Ms. ...) is right! I was very outraged and angered...because Janet didn't show more! :)

Some so-called moralists truly amaze me.

With all this diversion, I don't really care who wins the game tomorrow - as long as they have some clever and funny commercials. Good luck to both teams!

It's amazing how creative some people get with their rides. As I was driving today, I saw this white Ford Ranger truck stopped at the light which had some kind of signs on the front (side). I didn't pay much attention so I didn't see what those signs were. For some reasons, when I looked closer, I almost let my clutch off: among those signs were initials LV - yes, she had painted Louis Vuitton's logo and insignia on her lame truck!

I know several car manufacturers get together with clothes manufacturers to produce "limited edition" versions of their vehicles. For instance, there are Eddie Bauer Fords. But I never thought I'd see a Vuitton Ranger - ever!

Well, she (the driver) may be a WT, but at least she's got style!