Barack Obama is now President Elect of the United States.  We are literally on the brink of the entire world actually liking us again.  All the calling, the racial slurs endured from the Southern states (Texas was actually pretty cool on the phone), the battles with the “Young Conservatives” group on campus.  We prevailed.  

The week has been long with celebrating (or depression) depending on your political party.  For me, it’s bittersweet.  Being a former member of the GOP, it’s sad to see the Republican party I used to respect so much just collapse on itself.  What happened to being moderate socially, but fiscally conservative?  I pretty much had no choice to leave the party, mainly because of the extreme control the ultra-right wing gained.  I kinda liked McCain, but Sarah Palin?  Good God!  I won’t comment on her now… that comes later.

In case you’re wondering why I haven’t been updating this blog… well it’s mostly because of school.  Plus I’m in the middle of designing a new format for this site… that and being fucking lazy as hell.  Possibly stoned.

If you haven’t by now, you should check out my Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/antwanp  My Twitter updates probably every ten minutes or so.  Depending on if I have cell coverage in this dump of a college town. 

The New Podcast, “GUI: Under the Influence” is starting to roll.  It’s going to be great. 

Peace!

-Antwan L.

Her speech last night shows that she can be a shrewd politician.  She has a great ability to distort the facts.  Like many sites (including MoveOn.org) have said, she could easily replace Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter (another vicious cunt).  The speech she made last night, confirmed to be written by a Bush administration speech-writer, failed to show her extremist views.  Talking with people around the Stephen F. Austin campus, nobody really seems to know just how far right-wing Gov. Palin really is.  McCain didn’t pick her because of her experience (of which she lacks).  He picked her because he wanted to please the extreme right base of the GOP.

Here are some topics that she didn’t mention last night.  You might want to know Gov. Palin a little better, of course with Associated Press articles and other back up…

• Palin doesn’t believe that humans contribute to global warming.  When speaking about climate change, she said, “I’m not one who would attibute it to being manmade…” (http://is.gd/2ehj)
• She claimed that the Iraq War is, “A task from God.” (http://is.gd/2ehE)  She also hasn’t been focused on the war. (http://is.gd/2ei1)
• Palin actively sought the support of the Alaska Independence Party [A group of Alaskans that wish to secede from the United States.] (http://is.gd/2bPq)
• She opposes comprehensive sex-education in public schools.  She believes that ONLY abstinence should be taught (something her daughter obviously ignored…)   She is also very anti-choice. [http://is.gd/2bPq]
• Palin tried to ban books from the library as Mayor. (http://is.gd/28GX)
• She has extremely close ties with Big Oil.  BP even sponsored her inagural ball. (http://tinyurl.com/5sxcuj)
• She supported the “Bridge to Nowhere” saying, “Alaska should take advantage of earmarks, while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.” (http://tinyurl.com/5sxcuj)

I’ll admit, she did a great job participating in Karl Rove style political attacks.  But she’ll have to face the facts: “Americans don’t really want another far-right, anti-science ideologue in the White House” (Nita Chaudhary 2008)

I could go on all night, the reasons just stack up.

-Antwan L.
antwan@antwanpayne.com

(Post edited on 8 September 2008 to protect sensitivity)

Screenshot: Google Chrome

In the few short hours that I’ve been using Chrome, for Windows computers, it’s replaced IE 7, Firefox 3 and Safari completely.  Based on new techniques made by Google, websites like MySpace, Facebook, CNN, Drudge Report, etc… all seem to run and load faster (I’m on a University Internet2 connection). 

For those of you that like having a million tabs open at once, on Chrome, if one of the sites crashes, it won’t bring the entire browser down.  You can just close that one tab, and not have to start over!  (That was the feature that sealed the deal for me!)

YouTube performance is great (remember, I’m only running XP Virtualized), Google Apps Online looks brilliant.  For those of you that live at MySpace, you know all about crappy coding/people using JavaScript in unnecessary places.  At least for me, it would always crash Firefox 3, and Safari would be extremely sluggish through it.  IE would just display the page, although broken.

Download it at www.google.com/chrome

-Antwan L.
Posted with Google Chrome.

Wasilla, Alaska City Hall

Like the caption says… this is the City Hall for the Village of Wasilla, Alaska.  This is where McCain claims her experience started.  This is all it takes people, to become Vice President of the United States of America.  The mayor of a town smaller than 90% of the suburbs of major cities across the country.  (For the record, the City of Cedar Hill, Texas has a brilliant new Town Hall.  It looks like the Wasilla City Hall could be entirely contained on the 4th floor of the CH Town Hall…)  So when Sen. John McCain says that “She’s been in elected office longer than Sen. Obama” (http://is.gd/29cd) is this what’s he’s talking about?  Let’s not forget that Obama was in Chicago politics (pretty tough shit there)

But Antwan!  She was Gov. of Alaska!

According to the United States Census Bureau, the STATE of Alaska has only 670,053 people (as of 2006 http://is.gd/29an)  According to this: http://is.gd/29au , there are nearly 20 CITIES in the United States that have a larger population than Alaska.  Baltimore, Maryland is only a few thousand people (statistically speaking, almost nothing) shy of being larger than Alaska, but I don’t put any faith in their mayor to be Vice-President.

Oh yeah, just because she was “Commander in Chief” of the Army National Guard of Alaska, doesn’t mean she can lead the entire armed forces, as much as Barack Obama, George W. Bush, or John McCain can lead them.  (On McCain, just because you were in the armed forces, DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN RUN ALL OF THE BRANCHES!)  It takes someone who can listen to the advice of the Generals and Admirals in charge.  (Something Bush has been doing half-heartedly [Attacking Iraq against the advice of the joint-chiefs]).  

This is the biggest reason why Gov. Sarah Palin is a frightening prospect.  Other than being the tie-breaker in congress, this is the most important role of the Vice President of the United States.  Take over the role of the President in case of any emergency.

She is simply not prepared for this role.  At least Joe Biden has experience in congress.  In fact years of experience.  Should anything (God forbid) happen to Barack Obama, Biden would be able to step in and do the job confidently.  A former mayor of a town smaller than my University (Stephen F. Austin University) is simply not prepared for the task of VP, much less the task of President!

John McCain, I respect you.  Before you chose to run for President, I liked your politics.  I liked the fact that you weren’t afraid to tell partisan politics to go fuck themselves for what you felt was right.  You weren’t on the extreme right, you did what was right for your constituents.  However, in the past year, you have reversed many things that I thought was admirable about your character, just flowing with the official party line.  A quick example: offshore drilling.  Four years ago, you were dead-set against offshore drilling.  Now, when it’s the party line, you jumped to the front of the line in trying to send rigs to the California coast.

This is all coming from a guy whose considered “progressive”.  John McCain, dump your current VP.  If you want a woman VP so bad, get Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas (http://is.gd/29Ae).  Built in experience, from a Senator from Texas.  She makes Palin look like the mail room intern at the Hart Senate Office Building.  (Still no match for Obama/Biden, but we would all like an amazing election.  It makes everyone better in the end…)

-Antwan L.
antwan@antwanpayne.com

I’ve already witnessed one person being chased around my dorm and eventually arrested by UPD (University Police).  The ass deserved it though.  Apparently he was smoking a joint on his balcony on the 2nd floor…  Not exactly the smartest person around… From what I hear he was a freshman.  The bad news for him, Texas is a no-tolerance state, so he’ll most likely be kicked out.  The good news?  Since the whole campus is basically overbooked, there’s one more spot open for a male resident at Hall 20.  Who cares about that dummy.  You don’t fucking smoke pot on your damn 2nd floor balcony!  Just be a man, cover your smoke detector, and use tools to block the smell of your smoke (what, you think I’m dumb enough to explain in detail how to violate University rules?).

So far it’s been pretty uneventful here in Nacogdoches.  Just lots of time to think and wonder, where the fuck is my roommate?

-Antwan L.

-Antwan L.

STEPS

   1. Determine what the offender has done wrong this time. Plan your conversation out in your head. Try to consider what s/he will be saying in response to you.

   2. Plan to meet the offender one on one, but do not act upset. You don’t want to scare them away!

   3. Meet up, act normally, and pretend nothing’s wrong.

   4. Bring up the problem casually in conversation. “So, I wanted to ask you real quick about the other day…” or “Oh, hey, I almost forgot, about the other day…” or try “not that it’s a huge deal, because it’s not, but about the other day…”

   5. Tell your side of the story, calmly and coolly. Don’t make it seem all that bad at the beginning - you want to draw them in and make them really pay attention. (Starting off too harsh could make them stop listening and start thinking about what they’re going to say.) Slowly start to add the details. Make it seem as though their action will utterly change the way your life will continue, and you don’t know if it’ll ever be the same. Don’t raise your voice - that starts an argument - and this is a guilt trip - they’re two different things!

   6. Explain other things this person has done to you in the past to let you down in a similar fashion. Bring up the past, and don’t let them forget this is not the first time they’ve made you feel this way. (If it is their first time screwing you over, they don’t deserve a guilt trip - yet! Don’t forget this offense, because if the time comes for a guilt trip, you can bring this time up then! See how it works?)

   7. Keep eye contact to let the other person know you are serious. Every now and then, take in a little sigh, while you glance left or right for a few seconds…now look down for three seconds, look them in the eye again, very briefly, then eyes back to the floor. Casually make eye contact again within the next ten seconds.

   8. Master the art of “ping-pong-eyes”. Quickly shift your focus from their left to their right eye, do it slowly at first, then speed up just a bit. You are trying to make them feel as though you will get your questions answered if you search their eyes enough.

   9. Make the other person feel the way you felt. Ask them questions like “has anyone ever done this to you?” or “is this something you do to all of your friends?” or try “I didn’t expect this from you - was it something I did?”

  10. Ask questions you know they won’t be able to answer like “what were you thinking?” and “how did all of this come about?” or “what did I do to you to deserve that?”

  11. Remember how you planned out this conversation - now when you need it. Your offender probably has every reason in the book for having acted they way s/he did. Don’t let up. Be ready for these responses and let him/her know you’ve thought about them already by saying things like “I knew you’d say that…” or “I’ve put myself in your shoes and I figured this is what you’d tell me…” This will do two things. First, the other person will know you’ve been thinking about this problem a lot - so it must truly be bothering you. And two, s/he will feel as though you have the upper hand because they haven’t had time to prepare for this unexpected conversation.

  12. Wait for an apology. Once you’re a pro, you might even be able to make them cry.

  13. Be satisfied with what you get. You cannot turn back time, you cannot fix the past - just learn from this experience and let your relationship grow because of it.

TIPS

    * The point of a guilt trip is to get your point across without an argument. These steps should not result in the loss of a friend - just a friend who feels the way they made you feel at one point.

Warnings

If these steps are not performed correctly, you could potentially permanently damage your relationship. Practice role playing with a family pet first.

**Taken from: http://tinyurl.com/4egy6v **

-Antwan L.

P.S.  This isn’t directed at any TWO people in particular…  Remember, don’t assume anything!  :-p

“Mister bushie says
I’m your president
I have lots to say
Hey hey hey
And click goes the remote
There you have my vote
Catchin’ the next boat out of here…”

This is a snippet from “David” by Nellie McKay.  The version I’m listening to it on was from the Weeds: Season One Soundtrack.  Check the song out here on

Now to study more Economics…  Bleh.

-Antwan L.

P.S.  OMG!  I FRIGGIN UPDATED FINALLY!  lol.  Yeah, it’s been awhile…

First, a paid FOX commentator accidentally confused “Obama” with “Osama” and then joked on the air about killing Obama. Next, a FOX anchor said a playful fist pound by Barack and Michelle Obama could be a “terrorist fist jab.” (Seriously!) And then, FOX called Michelle Obama “Obama’s baby mama”–slang used to describe the unmarried mother of a man’s child.

Nearly 100,000 folks have signed a petition that will be delivered to FOX. Can you sign too? The more names, the bigger the impact. Here’s the link.

http://pol.moveon.org/stopthesmears/?r_by=13009-8590463-W1LLihx&rc=paste

Stay true, my fellow progressives!

-Antwan L.

Happy Download Day 2008!
Celebrate by downloading the new Firefox 3 today!
Click the picture above to download! 

-Antwan L.