Thank God President Bush is Going

I did not vote for Obama in November. Reluctantly, I voted for McCain; however, I am so glad that President Bush will be leaving office.

He is in my opinion one of the worst President's we have ever had. I mean he

1. Took us to an unjust war

2. In many ways destroyed our economy.

3. Spent like a drunken Sailor.

I'm seriously curious, can anyone name a President who is worse than George W Bush?

Israel and Palestinians

I wanted to make some comments about the Israelis and the Palestinians because well, it's a subject that has touched my heart for some time...

For some background information, I grew up as an Evangelical Christian. I was taught that God gave that land to the Jews, and that's that. Also, my stepmother is Jewish, so that's another connection I have...

However, in the back of my mind, when I would hear these facts, I would ask myself... But is that fair? Would God really expel a group of people from a land that they've been living in for years and years, because they are the wrong religion????

Now, yes there are some versus in the Old Testament that mention the Caananites being driven out, by the Caananites were comitting specific crimes like child sacrifice etc, the Palestinians weren't doing this.

I guess my answer is NO. I don't think the creation of Isreal was right. Please don't get me wrong, I get the situation at the time, many Jewish refugees had no where to go, but for that I blame Europe and America, but why exactly did the Palestinians have to pay for the Holocaust.

I'm just tired of people justifying the way the Palestinians have been treated, and they have been treated horribly... Terrorist and non Terrorist Palestinian alike, they are denied freedom of access, basic water rights, rights to decent education... When it comes to the killing far more Palestinians have died...In a lot of cases Palestinian homes can be torn down, if the Israeli army so decides.. It's horrifying to think about it. Did you know there are Jewish only roads in the occupied territories?...This is wrong, it's frankly immoral.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not excusing terrorism, or the Palestinians electing Hamas. But what I am trying to say that if you were in the Palestinian situation, can you honestly say that you wouldn't become a terrorist too? Can you honestly say that You wouldn't want Israel gone? And would your desire to see Israel gone really be because of anti-semetism and instead be a direct reaction to the way you've been treated for the past 60 years?

And I know people say well the Palestinians should have accepted the 1948 borders. Well, why the heck should they have? They were living in the land, the Jewish immigrants were mostly new (even if the Palestinian immigrants were new, so where the Jewish ones too) They owned the majority of the land (see the UN) And were the majority of the people for a long, long time.

So why shouldn't the Palestinians say "heck no" to a Jewish State being built in the land where they live... After all they weren't Jewish, and wouldn't that make them effectively second class citizens. Once again if you were in that situation wouldn't you say "heck no!" Surely as the majority at that time, shouldnt' they have had first dibs on making a government, since they had been living there all that time.

Now, Isreal exists and the majority of Isrealis were born there, the Palestinians have to accept this. But Israelis have to take a long hard look and recognize that the Palestinians were grieviously injured as does frankly the international community.

Until Israel and the rest of the World Community is willing to recognize their major role in the Palestinian situation, and until apologies and reperations are made...I can't see how this is solved.

But I'm tired of the Palestinians being treated like sub humans, or people who have this irrational hatred. No they don't, they have every reason to be angry. You'd be angry too if you were in that situation...

I want to make it clear that I'm not okaying terrorism. It's not right to kill innocent civilians like groups like Hamas does. But what I'm trying to point out is that the State of Israel is not some innocent victim in this mess. When you treat a group of people like animals, corner them, and abuse them, eventually they will strike.

Chinese Olympic Team Announced (In order)

Cheng Fei
Yang Yilin
Jiang Yuyuan
He Kexin
Li Shanshan
Deng Linlin

I think this is a great team.. It's composed of three good All Arounders Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Deng Linlin and three specialists, which I think is really ideal.

My Team Final Rosters as of now

Vault- Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Cheng Fei

Bars-Jiang Yuyuan, Yang Yilin, and He Kexin

Beam (most likely Cheng Fei, but Yang Yilin is an option) Cheng/Yang, Deng, Li Shanshan

Floor- Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, Cheng Fei

What I like about this team is everyone has a place. It also contains a favorite for every Event Final.

Plus, they have 2 All Arounders, Yang Yilin and Jiang Yuyuan who could factor into the All Around. You can see my post below, which shows how much I think the Yang Yilin especially is a threat..


This being said this Chinese team is replacable. There was a lot of debate about the last two spots (Li Shanshan/Deng)

Yang Yilin: Future Olympic All Around Champion: Serious Possibility

First of all prayers for those all Iowans, including Shawn Johnson's and her coach as they deal with this horrific crisis going on It's a horrific thing.

But on a lighter note...

There's a new all around threat... She might not be getting talked about, she might not have the hype. But this girl has the routines, and is posting the numbers which could make her the top Girl in Beijing. And the best thing about her position, is she'll have little to no expectations.

Her Name:

Yang Yilin of China. (Who'd you think I was talking about Jiang Yuyuan!) Of course Jiang has a shot to but not the shot Yang has.

Now last year Yang did the All Around, and she went 4/4 but she didn't medal because she didn't have the difficulty. However, times change and gymnasts can upgrade. And boy has Yang upgraded.

She's now got a 7.7 bar routine, a DTY vault, and much harder floor and beam routines. Now, the thing is though that except for Chinese Nationals (which she didn't win because of a big mistake on bars although she won Prelims) we haven't been able to see Yang do beam or vault. And while she got nice numbers there, it was clear that Chinese Nationals was well inflated.

Well, we can guess no more because Yang has competed at French Nationals today (and was 2 freaking points better than her next competition Jiang Yuyuan)

As for Yang's scores


15.125 Vault
16.650 Bars
15.750 Beam
15.175
62.700

With numbers like these she could win the Olympics. And the scary thing is she has room for improvement. She stepped out of bounds on floor, and she's gotten higher scores on bars internationally..

Nobody will probably be mentioning Yang Yilin's name as an All Around threat. But if she hits like this at the Olympics, she's on the Medal stand.. And it could even possibly be Gold.

Typical White person

Rachael Lucas has a great comment here on Obama's statement. http://rachellucas.com/index.php/2008/03/21/cant-we-all-just-get-along/

Here's my thing, I'm not too angry with Obama, for his statement. (I'm still far more angry about painting Grandma as a racist)


I just find the whole race discussion annoying because it's a one way conversation that includes some blacks telling us what we think and feel. I know racism still exists. I'm not dumb, I know there are still disparities. (Not an idiot)

But Obama, I'm not afraid of black men, whom I pass on the street. Now, I do get nervous if it's really dark and some strange guy I don't know starts bothering me. But I'm sorry, I'm a woman, and I have no way of defending myself. I wonder if Obama even knows what it means to be a woman. But guess what white men scare me in this regard. It's dark outside, and it's late. No one is around. Guess what? That's really not a way to approach a girl guys.

I also get nervous if I'm in a really bad neighborhood. Oh, then I'm jumpy. But passing a black man in broad day light in a normal neighborhood. Scary? Nope. Passing a black man at night at a gas station or at the store. Nope. Sorry, not scared. I live in a suburb two blocks away from a major city. If the sight of a mere black man scared me, I'd be sitting in my house, locked in a room all day. And I've never gotten the idea that my 81 year old Grandma was scared of black men either.

But here' s what I'm sick of. I'm tired of being called racist. Really, sick and tired of it. I hear it all the time from blacks. And they are all from people who don't know me. But somehow they think that they can somewhat read my mind.

I work as a substitute teacher right now for Inner city schools. And I can't tell you how many times, I've had the pleasure of hearing black children tell me that I'm racist. You see, the white teacher, telling you to sit down and do your work. Saying, that she doesn't want you to run around the classroom. Well that's just because she's racist. She's not angry at our behavior. Oh, no she's just racist.

Please don't get me wrong, there are wonderful black children out there. Lovely kids. And most of the kids have not said things like that to me. But I've gotten enough times, and it's never punished. I can't imagine the hooploah that would happen if a White Child told the black teacher that "Black people shouldn't watch white kids." (Yes, I got the reverse)

There's another time I was helping a customer. And I was misunderstanding what he said, not because his English was bad, but just because he wasn't being clear with what he wanted. I thought he was talking about hot foods, and whether there would be hot foods on a specific holiday. I was trying to say no, but if you want to preorder, you can preorder. He was talking about the deli food....Please understand though the words he used made it sound like he was talking about the stuff we cook. Whenever the store was open, the deli food was alwasy available.

Honestly, I wasn't angry or frustrated that there was miscommunication. I was thinking we'd fix it and figure it out. No big deal. Then the guy called me a racist? Literally and went to the black person next t him, and called me a racist. And the guy gave me this look. I don't think I've ever been so angry.

I'm tired of it. I was raised that racism was wrong. And I do my best to judge people by their characters. And I think I deserve the same benefit of the doubt. And the more times this happens to me, the more times I get angry. And honestly, That's why I'm angry with Wright because he was literally from the pulpit teaching children that whites are racist.
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Ameri KKKa. It's sick and it's got to stop. And honestly that angers me far more than any of the grievances Obama talked about in his little speech. Far more. I understand the need for affirmative action. I get that there are inequalities that need to be fixed. But I think if we are going to heal this country. Rev Wright's words can't be condoned either.

I didn't start slavery, I didn't cause segregation. I get why you are angry about these things. But I'm not responsible. I know they are wrong, and I'm really sad that it happened. But I'm not okay with you prejudging me because I'm white. I didn't choose to be white. God just made me that way.

Obama's Poor White Grandmother

I have had a lot of time to think about this whole Obama controversy. And I guess I have a few words to say. Honestly, I think that I would probably have loved Obama's speech if it weren't for one little fact:

The White Grandmother example.

I just don't get it, why did Obama feel the need to bring an over eighty year old woman into the discussion. Apparently, the Obama campaign has refused to make her available to the public, and she's well very sickly.

So what possible reason does Obama have to tar his sickly grandmother, the one who raised him, under the bus. Especially since this woman sacrificed and sacrificed for him. His Grandmother is probably the major reason, for Obama running for President because without her supporting his way through the finest schools. He might not be a future President. And this is how he thanks the people who've helped him.

I feel this incident shows a lot about Obama's character. This is a man who is willing to throw away anyone, even his Grandmother to the wolves.

Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright: God Damn America: Prophet or racist?

Abc News broke a report on some of Pastor Jeremiah Wright's sermons, and quite clearly this guy said some extremely troubling things. Obama in this clip coompared Wright to an Uncle you keep in the closet. And I'm going to call Obama on it

Bull Crap.

Who goes to a church where the pastor continously says things that you find upsetting and offensive? Before I becamse a Catholic, I attended a Protestant Church where the Pastor decided to start insulting Catholics. Since I had Catholic family members, it got to the point where I could no longer attend. I realize Obama is close with this guy, but I'm sorry if he founds those comments troubling, he wouldn't be attending.

Here's the thing, I don't think everything Pastor Wright says in crap. And I also don't think a good Christian pastor/priest should be all "God Bless America" no matter what. We are precious in God's eyes, we are number one.

Nope, in the Hebrew Scriptures there were tons of Prophets, who spoke out against the government, the Kings, and the Israelis/Judeans for their corrupt society. Many of theses prophets were persecuted because instead of peace, they preached judgement. However, God wanted them to preach judgement.

Here's my feeling. I don't think God really cares about America. I don't think he cares about any temporal country because you see those things are a temporary thing. God cares about eternal things and He cares about people.

I think Pastor Wright is correct, America has done some terrible thing and continues to do terrible things. We need to ask ourselves some questions. About abortion, about our wars, about our foreign policy that supports cruel dictatorships like Saudia Arabia in the Middle East. About our poor, and yes about our relationship...

But here's the thing, I still have a problem with Pastor Wright. I could be wrong, but it seems like he's just going on and on about the sins of White America. In fact, I wonder if his church even reaches out to other races.

So here's the thing, if he's just preaching about "White America"...White America is evil. Than guess what, there is nothing brave about what he's saying at all. It's fun, really fun to critcize others and pick apart the terrible things others are doing. But why not call out yourselves. And here's another thing, why not say something like Pray for America. Because no, I don't think God wants to damn Americans.

The truth is America isn't any better or worse than any other country in this world. And I resent the idea that whites are somehow more evil than other races. Please don't get me wrong Whites have done some terrible things, and we have recently done more terrible things because we have had the most power. However, Africans in Africa have managed to do quite a bit of bad things to each other, without the help of the white man.

Sad thing is give any group power, and you will find them abusing other groups. That's what history has shown.
Well that's just me.