Disheveled lately?

Talk about being disheveled without knowing it. I was out late last night and decided to go into work just a little later then usual today. I knew that I wouldn't want to get out of bed so early...especially in this type of cold weather. So this morning I woke up and thought "Wowzas. I feel great. An extra hour of sleep really does help!" Then I go do my routine, breakfast, TV, etc. I waited for my train and when I got on I was quite surprised to see the people I usually commute with. Hrm. I guess everyone was thinking the same thing! Its a day before the holidays really start so I guess everyone was taking it easy, too. Then I get to work and ...where is everybody?? Are they late,too? What is this, "Let's Be Late Day"?? I should have slept in some more then! I then go to the pantry, get my coffee, watch the TV and saw the time...and realize that I got to work 5 minutes earlier then I usually do. So I proceeded my morning thinking the world was an hour ahead of what it really was. And I have no idea where that burst of energy came from...but thank goodness I had it! So apparently I couldn't even be late if I tried. But I think this was a one time deal. Well...everyone has these moments =D Anyways...Happy Thanksgiving!!

Oakland Needs

Oakland, California has been named the forth highest crime ridden city in the U.S. This was a city where Green Day, MC Hammer, and Tupac Shakur has once called home. But today the main reason why most residents have been interviewed by the media is usually because they know someone or have a close relative that has been a victim of crime. A brother was killed, a mother was mugged, a friend's house was robbed, etc. The streets of Oakland are eerily quiet once the sun goes down. One thing that jumps out of this scene is the lack of police. Where are they? Even though Oakland is located right next to San Francisco, it is almost a world of difference. On November 21, 2008, the Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, announced a postponement of the 166th Oakland Police Academy until next year. Although this move surprised the city and other elected officials, most saw it as the only option for the Mayor in the first place. The city currently has a $42 million dollar deficit. There are just a little over 800 police officers on the city's payroll. To increase the police force, Mayor Dellums had to let go 69 city officals in order to hire 69 new officers earlier this month(November). Oakland officials has also decided to close government offices once a month to save money. Only police and emergency personnel will be on duty. This is the type of compromise the city of Oakland has had to make lately. These are some of the real rough decisions that some politicians have to make. What stays, what goes, and at what cost. And with the economy meltdown going on across the country, things will not get any easier for Oakland anytime soon.

Taken Out of Context

Recently, Lupe Fiasco (a rapper who hails from Chicago) was interviewed on a D.C. radio show and was asked about his thoughts on the presidential election of Barack Obama. Lupe talked about how important and significant this moment was for his community, the American history and for himself as an African-American man. He even mentioned that he went to see Obama play basketball on the day of the election! During the interview, Lupe said how Obama's acceptance speech "did not move" him at all. What moved him was the scenes of Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist, crying. After this interview, people accused Lupe of bashing Obama. Lupe didn't say Obama, the man, didn't move him, he said that about his speech. Obama's speech was aimed towards the American people and about the issues that are important to us. Lupe was more emotionally touched to see a civil rights activist cry. It showed how after all the work(whether you agree with it or not) Jesse Jackson has put into fighting for civil rights felt about the day when Obama was elected President. Jesse Jackson's tears were just some of many at Grant Park on Election night. Each person has their moment and whatever this particular moment meant to them, they showed it. This visual had more meaning to Lupe then Obama's first speech as President-elect. This was Lupe's personal opinion and I think he already acknowledged how powerful this moment of having Obama elected, and not his speech, was to him as well as to a civil rights activist.

Slow down...and realize sometimes

This past summer on a beautiful day when I was on the train, I happened to sit across from 4 teenagers. There was one girl and 3 boys. They were just chatting and enjoying each others’ company. Then after a few minutes of silence the girl put her head on one of the boy’s shoulder. And the boy put his head on hers. Then the other two boys looked at each other in confusion and smiled/giggled. I couldn’t help but crack a smile, either. Its moments like these I like to remember. It reminds me to not get blind sighted and remember what‘s really special and meaningful to me in my life. Unfortunately for me this moment came too late for some things, but hopefully in time for others. =)

Billy Joel-Vienna lyrics

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile But then if you're so smart tell me why You are still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You better cool it off before you burn it out You got so much to do and only So many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told That you can get what you want Or you can just get old You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through
When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine You can't be everything you want to be Before your time
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Too bad but it's the life you lead You're so ahead of yourself That you forgot what you need Though you can see when you're wrong

You know you can't always see when you're right You got your passion you got your pride But don't you know only fools are satisfied? Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize... Vienna waits for you. But you know that when the truth is told That you can get what you want Or you can just get old You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through Why don't you realize...Vienna waits for you When will you realize...Vienna waits for you

Remember Our Soldiers on Veterans Day

Choose or Lose

To all those who've served and are serving our country, thanks!

Today is a day when we all celebrate the sacrifice our armed forces' men and women have given to this country. Not many people can do or have the kind of bravery to perform what they have done. I'm sure a good most of us civilians cannot ever comprehend or compare anytime in our own life to theirs. We need today to celebrate and remember these soldiers.
But it is even more unfortunate for many soldiers who have come back home from the war in Iraq/Afghanistan that their fighting is not done. Those who are injured physically and affected mentally have to fight our health system to get medical help. They have to go through hurdle after hurdle after massive hurdle to just maybe get some sort of medical attention to be paid for. What else do they need to prove that they need if not deserve this from the country they love, sacrificed for and fought for? Did you really get your leg blown off? Or is that a magic trick? Did you really get that anxious from seeing all the horrors of war over there? Just get a teddy bear. Seriously. And lets not forget the military families and what they must be going through. A soldier tends not to be the only victim in their family. Spouses, parents, sisters, brothers, children see their loved ones disabled and or changed after coming home. There is trauma, pain and even more sacrifices these families must go through especially when they do not understand what these soldiers have seen. Sometimes when soldiers come back, they do not have the ability to hold a steady job to get a steady income anymore. The families pitch in what they can such as time, money and emotions. But what if that isn't enough? It's an agonizing sight but many veterans become homeless. How can we let our soldiers fight a war, come back disabled and because they are disabled cannot find a job to cover their health care, become homeless?! Does this make sense? Unfortunately in our world it happens. These men and women deserve our respect, time and money to help them recover and live a decent life (no matter who they supported in the election). It's time for us to take care of them as they sacrificed for us.
Our President-elect, Barack Obama, has had a record of passing and backing legislation that support our soldiers abroad and veterans at home. Obama has voted for military funding to get supplies needed to protect our soldiers in an unpopular war. He has also voted for more efficient health care and an increase of services for our homeless veterans. I think this issue will be in good care, as it should be.

You can get more information and ways to help from these websites/video above:

http://www.chooseorloose.com/
http://www.va.gov/

When does a limit actually mean a limit?

As the fall weather approached, everyone across the nation were getting ready for the presidential election and letting their voice be heard while some New Yorkers had to also hold on to theirs back home. On one hand is a history making presidential campaign/election. And on the other hand was a swipe taken at voters in a blink and you'll miss abracadabra of New York City law. Bloomberg was a billionaire businessman no nonsense politician, until October 2008 when the end of his 2 terms was coming near. Then he lost it. Mayor Bloomberg introduced an extension to term limits for his and others' positions which are limited to two 4-year terms. Was this out of fear of losing a job, hunger of power or just a need truly for New Yorkers' benefit during one of the worst economic crisis ever seen? It could be all of the above. Before this extension idea was brought up, most New Yorkers had a good feel about Bloomberg and liked him very much. Some even expressed their sadness to see Bloomberg go at the end of his second term. When Mayor Bloomberg announced that he will introduce to City Council an amendment to term limits, sides were not quickly chosen. People were more confused as to what is going on. Ooo, we can make Bloomberg stay on? Can we just turn around a law just like that? Wait, I can't vote on it? Couldn't he just be a consultant for the City or something? Most were actually excited at the thought of keeping Bloomberg at the Mayor's desk. But then the realization came that it would only be members of the City Council to vote for this amendment. Hey, play fair. It seemed like the Mayor didn't trust the public enough to give him a chance. Well now he's popped his own bubble. I think he thought wrong that they wouldn't think in his favor(did you get that?). As a result, many have lost at least a little respect for the Mayor and will be even more inclined to the idea of voting against him during the mayoral run. Even an economic meltdown that is so visible in New York City could not make forgotten a cold shoulder or disrespect from such a popular politician. Not to mention the fact that this is New York City where we can switch one billionaire for another easily. These are New York City people you are dealing with. No bull taken. At least they still get to vote for mayor.

Presidential Election 2008

Tuesday, November 4th was Election Day. Now no matter how you voted, and if you did or did not vote, Republican, Democrat or others, there was no denying how exciting the 2008 election was. The candidates got a lot of people energized and more involved in at least informing themselves (Does SNL count?Actually Hillary has used it as a reference at one point in time.) of the candidates' profiles and how they might affect the American public. This was a long time coming.
Ever since I turned 18, I have voted in every national and local election(except American Idol) I can. I would just stroll in, sign on the dotted line, pluck in my vote and scoot. Usually this civic duty takes no longer then 5 minutes. But voting on November 4th was a whole different story. I actually had to WAIT for half an hour to vote. And people were HAPPY to wait on line! I had to ask to make sure I was on the line to vote because of all the enthusiasm I saw kind of threw me off. Anyway, I was considered lucky on my wait time. Most people I knew waited an average of 2 hours. Since when did this happen? Not even Fiasco Florida 2000 convinced people that their vote actually would make a difference for the 2004 or any other election for that matter. I would hear "Oh, I'm just one in a few million votes. How much can it matter." Well, this time a lot less people were taken in by this mentality towards the political process. People came out to vote for many different reasons. But what is important is that they actually found a reason significant enough for them to go vote. And people might even learn who their Assembly member or Congressperson is since some had the same election date as the presidential one. Alright, that might be a little bit too much of an enthusiastic thought. But someday, it could happen. The last two elections (2004 and 2008) were not exciting just for Americans, but curiously enough it also became a nail-biting experience for people around the globe. In November 2004, Americans elected the same person to continue to lead the free world for another 4 years, and then called it a night, while everyone else were busy printing newspapers with headlines that screamed "What?!" as well as other different variations of this outburst. This past election kept the international community even more on the edge of their seats. I also had an inkling that if we didn't vote for the BLUE team, we would be disowned from the planet. They'll find a way to "un-friend" us somehow. My point in saying this is not to boost up the Democrats. My point is to say how involved, informed, and effected other countries are in who we choose as our Commander-in-Chief. Our vote has more power then we give it credit for.

Hello!

Why, hello there. This is my first post! The excitement. For me at least, haha. I will mostly write about my personal experiences and political ops. So I've always carried around a pen and pad (still do) in case I needed to write something down. But writing with a pen became too slow. My thoughts and ideas are too much to contain without having it spill over and getting lost somewhere. Maybe it rolled under the couch, or out the door and into a drain =/ I know my blog is just a blip within many around the world. And that's the beauty of it. It's amazing and wonderful how huge the human race is, yet each individual is so extraordinary in their own way. How many stories, points of view, feelings, emotions, and passion in living there is. Every day, every morning, there are at least 6.7 billion new stories. They are imprinted in memories, written on paper, magazines, the web, sticky notes, table napkins and many other unsuspecting places. And some of it will be here. =)