Must Have Been A Slow Year For Peace

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last week you know that Al Gore was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts around global warming.

According to Alfred Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". I'm sorry, but I don't think Al Gore, or global warming in general, fit this criteria in the least. I'd rather see someone win the prize multiple times than have a lame-duck award given.

Gore shared the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Since the prize can be awarded to a group or organization (and it has numerous times over the years) why not award it to the Peace Corps this year? While their mission is actually pretty lame and too broad to mean much, at least incarnate they are more in line with what Mr. Nobel intended his prize to be awarded for. Or why not Bono? He's never been awarded a Nobel peace prize and he's been working for peace-related causes for years.

I think the Nobel Foundation needs to re-evaluate their Peace Committee; it seems to me there might be some politics creeping into something that should be, well, noble.

Need A Laugh?

This site has some pretty funny stuff on it. I've pasted a few of my favorites below.

Being a Responsible Citizen is Hard

I keep seeing all these advertisements for "vote no on this referendum" or "vote yes for that one", and I see bumper stickers and yard signs for all these people up for election (who the HELL is Ron Paul anyway!?). - okay I just looked him up and he's trying to get the Republican nomination for president in 2008. How in the hell is a Republican getting so much support in Seattle?? I thought we were a liberal majority here. Ack!

Anyway, I have always held the opinion that I should only vote on referendums (and to a lesser degree people) that I am fully informed on. So, I look up the website for the upcoming King County/Seattle City/Washington State elections. It's here. So I click on "Measures on the ballot" and there's a page of other links: State, County, Transit, City, that are all relevant to me! I click on the first one "State of Washington" and there's another link to "information on this measure". I click this one and there are 6 measures or resolutions, each with a link to pro/con statements.

King County has 2 measures, each with very lengthy web pages, Transit is only one but also lengthy, City of Seattle has 5 council positions and 2 charter amendments to vote on.... this is A LOT of reading to do in order to inform yourself of all the issues and people I'm supposed to vote on/for!

You know what would be really cool? If they had an audio file you could download that read all this shit to you that you could download to iTunes and put it on your iPod. That way you could inform yourself of all these referendums and candidates while hiking, driving, riding the bus, etc. Genius, right? Although, I just bought a bunch of CDs to learn Spanish on my iPod while I hike, but the concept is still good.

I'm just saying, being a responsible citizen is a lot of work! But, it sure and shit beats the alternative!

I Need A Car

I finally attended my first chemistry class last night after missing a week due to being sick and --- chemistry is hard! I'm going to be spending A LOT of time studying. I've come to the realization that with class two nights a week for 4 hours each night, all the studying I need to do and still trying to loose a few pounds, I am going to have zero social life. But, I guess that's good because it will keep my mind off how miserable I am without a boyfriend. Before I know it I'll be 50 and single and spending every waking moment in the laboratory... except when I have to go home to feed my 12 cats. Wait, why did I want to go back to school again?

So, the instructor let us out almost an hour early last night, which was awesome, but I hadn't printed the bus schedules for that time. So, I waited until one came that I had printed out a later schedule for and hopped on. Once I picked up the printed bus schedule they have on-board, I couldn't believe the route this one was going to take to get me home. Basically, it was like driving from Seattle to Chicago even though Dallas is your destination. A trip that would have taken 10 mins in a car took 45 on the bus.

Yeah, I got some textbook reading done, but it's not like I really absorbed anything. I was trying to keep from breathing because of the ashtray people sitting next to me and then when I moved, I ended up next to a guy who had so much cologne on I got an instant headache. And trying to focus on tiny textbook print in the dim light of a night bus as you're jostled side to side and suddenly jerked forward as the rookie bus driver comes to a screeching halt --- well, all this makes concentrating a little challenging.

So, I've come to the conclusion that I need a car. I'm really irritated because I have so many other things I'd rather spend money on: a house down payment, new running shoes, a backpack for Machu Picchu, a trip to NYC... Not to mention that I'm the WORST at making a decision when I know that anything I spend less than $20,000 on is going to break down in a month but I really don't want to spend more than $1,000.

I know, I know, I'm just whining now. But really, if you know anyone West of the Mississippi that's selling an older model Subaru or Honda and they have taken really good care of it, please let me know! I don't even care what it looks like as long as it runs well!

This is Cute

Probably funnier than shit if you have kids, but I still found it pretty funny.

(It's the video in the link below) These are my friends Tim and Jen who have two kids - one just turned two and the other is 8 months. Sometimes reading her blog is the only thing that makes me smile. Thanks Jen! :)

www.theskyhawkandwarthog.blogspot.com

This is Horrifying!!

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=killeramoeba29&date=20070929

I'll give you just a little preview with this quote: "Usually, from initial exposure, it's fatal within two weeks"

So there! to all the people who have ever made fun of me for wearing a nose plug when I swim. ... well, okay I sometimes wear one when I'm in a pool too, but that's not the point here. ;-)