UnLocK

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There’s quite a bit of talk out there that Barak Obama is a Socialist.  These attacks are coming from John McCain himself.  I’m starting to wonder though why he’s attacking Obama for what Palin is.

Think about it for a moment.  Sarah Palin taxed big oil companies in Alaska and gave it to the people, I believe it was $1,200 per person or family.  But in any case this is socialism.  Sarah Palin also has support from the social conservatives.

Obama I believe just wants to give the middle class it’s tax breaks back that they used to have.  In the past 8 years $600 Billion has been added to the middle class taxes and cut for big corporations.  For example, a CEO on average gets and extra $700 Million each year because of these tax cuts.  Now how is that going to help the GDP?  How is that going to help the middle class and how is that going to trickle down?  Is each CEO going to give there own money to the poor?  I don’t think so.

On top of all that she’s for big government.  What I mean is that she believes that the government should control whether or not a woman can have an abortion even in the case of rape and incest. She asked a librarian if she could remove some books from the library that she “Palin” didn’t approve of.

I think someone should let John McCain know that picked a Socialist as his Vice President.

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According to the Bible, God created Adam before Eve.  Eve was created to be Adams helper and companion because Adam felt alone.

Let me make it clear that I believe that according to this story, God created Adam and Eve equal.  Helper doesn’t mean unequal.

Now back to my main point.  The more I think about this story of God creating Adam first and then Eve during the time before sin and before free will.  God is often described as being the Alpha and Omega.  This means that God exists in all places at all times.  Then my question is this:

If God knows what we’ll do before we do it then why didn’t he create Adam and Eve at the same time?  You can’t say because of free will because it was before God allowed the choice for sin there for there was no free will.

If God is perfect then he would have created Adam and Eve at the same time; if he would have known that Adam needed a “helper”.

I believe that there are three forms of martial arts.

• Demonstration – This form of martial arts is meant for beginners who need to practice technique.  The moves are staged and there’s no resistance when applying the techniques.  Also these are more for show like for a judge to get to the next rank.
• Dynamic – This form is more meant for practice and competition to where the moves have resistance but in a controlled environment.
• Practical – This form is meant for self defense where it’s a real life situation with no rules, anything goes.

I think if you want to learn martial arts then the first step would be to choose what exactly do you want to learn.  How to kill someone 7 different ways? (Practical)  Just want to get some exercise? (Dynamic) or Do you want to learn about the art and perfect techniques? (Demonstration)

There are many fantastic martial arts classes out there, just keep in mind as well that having an instructor that you click with is probably more key than the art you would like to learn.  When it comes to the basics they are all essentially the same.  Like stance, break falling and movement are going to be close.

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First off, no matter who you are or where you come from or even what your past grades are more than likely there’s a scholarship for you.

Before signing up for financial aid DO Lots of research and apply for as many scholarships as you can.

Choosing Financial Aid is the Easy Way:

When you go to inquire about classes the Financial Aid Office is right there ready to make a deal and put you into debt so they can make a profit.  Please don’t do this.  It would be nice if there was an office on campus to help you find scholarships.  Actually an advisor may be willing to help so this may also be a resource.  It never hurts to ask around in the different offices even financial aid.  The staff may know of some good scholarship opportunities.

RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS:

Just go to Google and type scholarships and the name of your school, your age, gender, race, GPA etc.  You won’t believe how many scholarships are out there waiting to help you pay for college.

Be Patient:

Spend some time or maybe even take a semester off.  If you can get into a good scholarship then you could be set through Grad School.  Another option would be to get financial aid for one semester, maybe just take one class to keep the costs low.

Get Your Degree:

Once you find a scholarship then it’s time to do the real work and get that degree.  With the lack of educated workers in our employment field right now, we need you.

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Think for a minute about what the Wall Street Bail Out really means.  Our government giving $700 Billion to AIG and others.  Think of what this money will be paying for.  Here’s a short list I thought of off the top of my head.

• Corporate Salaries: CEO, VP and don’t forget the Board of Directors.
• Staff Salaries.
• Corporate Expenses such as rent, electric, travel and lots more.
• Bonuses:  AIG gave $3 Billion in bonuses last year.
• Investments:  For example new projects or ventures.  Research and Development.
• Bank Accounts.

The problem with this Wall Street Bail Out is that the money gets filtered through all this listed above before it gets to the guys on “Main Street”.

What Congress needs to do is:

1. Find out who this effects on Main Street.
2. See if there’s any state laws that protect them.
3. If not then Bail Them Out.

This approach will be much cheaper and remember that many of these people that are effected by the Wall Street Crash are covered by there state laws and will be okay.

As far as AIG goes, they will probably be divided up and sold to other American Banks.  I think Congress should also make sure that ONLY American banks by out AIG.

This is a better plan I think.

For months my uncle Edie was sick with diabetes.  Since I was living in an apartment I decided to move in with my aunt and uncle to help because he had half his leg amputated.

Sadly he died after battling an aneurism for several hours and we decided to pull the plug at his request.  My aunt decided to take his ashes to spread on the East Coast where they lived most there lives together and I stayed to watch the house and the dogs.  My aunt then left and I was all alone in the house.

Day 1.

I woke up the next morning at 4:00am and found it strange that all the lights downstairs were on.  Was my mind fooling me because of the tragic experience?  I turned all the lights out and left for work.  I came home in the evening, cooked and ate dinner then went to bed.

Day 2.

I woke up in the middle of the night hearing some commotion downstairs.  I heard a door open and shut so I jumped up and ran downstairs.  As I got to the bottom of the steps I could of sworn I heard a lady’s voice speaking Spanish.  The words were perro perro which means dog dog.  But when I looked around there was no one there.  I was sure that my mind was playing tricks on me.  I brushed it off and went back to bed.  Besides I didn’t find the sound of the women’s voice very threatening.

Day 3.

I woke up to get ready for work to find all the lights on downstairs again.  As I turned them off I noticed a big mess in the kitchen from when I fixed myself dinner the night before.  I made a note to clean it up that evening.

I came home from work and went to the kitchen to clean the dishes to find that they are already cleaned and the smell of pine soul was a little overwhelming.  My mother must have dropped by since my aunt also gave her a key.

My mom called me later that evening to check on me.  She then asked me if I needed her to stop buy to do some cleaning.  I was confused and asked if she was here earlier and she said no.  The phone clicked so I let her go and my aunt was on the other line.  I asked her if she gave a copy of the key to any of her friends to help with the dogs and she said no.

I ate dinner, cleaned my mess and went to bed.

Day 4.

I woke up again hearing commotion downstairs.  A lady’s voice shouting, “Perro perro!”.  It sounded like she was walking hard because her footsteps were loud.  This time I started to get scared and just ignored it.  Then I heard the footsteps coming up the stairs fast and into my room and felt a hand shove me.  I jumped up and yelled to find no one there.  I got myself together and went back to sleep.  Must be my imagination.  I often hear of people going through tragedies seeing and hearing things that aren’t there.

I woke up and got ready for work and was pleased to see that none of the lights were on downstairs so I went to work.

When I came home I ate dinner and decided to take a shower.  I know it wasn’t stated earlier but I did take a shower the other days.  As I left to take the shower I decided to take the trash out.  I pulled the trash bag out of the can and while doing so accidentally knocked it over.  Since I had my towel in the other hand I decided that I would pick it up later.  I took the trash out, took my shower and when I came back to my room the trash can was standing upright.

Nothing happed the rest of the time my aunt was gone but the experience still gives me the chills.  It’s completely uncontrollable and that’s what I hate about it.

I also found it interesting that the lady a heard spoke Spanish because my uncle was peortorican and spoke Spanish.

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It blows my mind that there is no equal pay for equal work for women.  What blows my mind even more is that Sarah Palin doesn’t support the women’s right for equal pay for equal work.

We as a country still have a long ways to go here in the USA.  Why isn’t more women standing up for equal work for equal pay?  I often see “small” groups of women rally every once and a while but it seems that this doesn’t even seem to be an issue.

Do the majority or just a small group of women care about equal pay for equal work?

I think it is strange having women as a VP nominee and First Lady nominee that don’t care about this issue.

Will this country ever get to where it needs to go?  Women in history were persecuted, arrested and some of them died for women’s rights.

It was a cold January morning in 2002.  I woke up at 4:00 am as I did every day to get ready for work.  I left out heading to the bus terminal that’s about a mile away.  I dressed for the cold and brought my little FM radio with me to make the walk more pleasant.

I arrived at the bus terminal at close to 5:00 am and a lady (looking homeless) was sitting there inside where the benches were underneath the radiator.  She then asked me if I knew when the bus would arrive and I told her, “In about 10 minutes.”  The bus came, we both got on.  Her stop was a couple before mine and I rode on to the Metro link.

The next morning I saw her there at the bus terminal again and this time there was another homeless man with her.  We got into a discussion about their situation and they gave me a different perspective.  The lady’s name was Kate and she mentioned that she was in college studying Marine Biology but didn’t have a place to live.

This confused me.  The fact that she could get a scholarship but no help finding a place to live.  We then saw each other on a regular basis and I got a chance to know her a little better until I didn’t see her one day.

It was a couple of years later I was coming home from work and I saw her at the Central West End Metro link.  It was busy with lots of people rushing to catch there busses and others trying to make the train.  She was laying on the ground covered with a blanked looking like she was asleep.  This area is common for homeless people to come and sleep.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to her and I haven’t saw her since but I often wonder if she got that degree.  Maybe I’ll find out one day and get a chance to ask her.

I’m wondering why there isn’t much talk in the media that’s focusing on one important issue in this next election.  This issue is the lack of confidence in these computerized voting systems.  In the 2000 and 2004 election there were enormous amounts of people turned away simply because these things either weren’t working or was taken away causing massive lines with citizens waiting 12+ hours to vote.

How important is voting?:

Should the American People declare election day a national holiday?  Many of us out there would love to have a day to vote to where voting is our only obligation for that day.  It sounds like a good idea and if we passed legislation then it could come to pass.

Is the electronic voting systems still an issue and will effect the 2008 election?:

The strait answer is YES, if you ask the folks who created these machines and were whistleblowers.  The main issue is that these machines don’t leave a paper trail.  So therefore we have to take the computers word for the final count.  With no physical proof that the vote was cast then it’s all just speculation and a big guess.

For some of us out there reading the text book can be mind numbing.  Just sitting there reading page after page after page.  Need I say more?

Whether you in high school or college it’s important to figure out a strategy to make your text book studying more interesting and less numbing.

The key for me and this might not work for everyone is to first learn the focus of the book.  We may know the subject like American History, Biology, Marketing etc.  What is the core of what the book wants you to get out of it?  To do this just read the introduction and try to understand the thoughts and ideas of the author(s).

Tackling the Chapters:

My suggestion is not to read 5 chapters in a row but read them one at a time.  But before even doing that check out the chapter reviews first.  Knowing the key points of the chapter before sitting and reading will take the memory out of reading.  What I mean is that if you memorize the key points first then you can focuses on thinking and comprehension while reading.

Trying to tackle memorization and comprehension at the same time can:

1. Take the focus away from each other.
2. Takes focus away from the material.
3. Gives you that numbing feeling.

Communicate with the Teacher/Professor:

Talking with your teacher/professor about the specifics of the exams, quizzes and tests can dramatically cut your study time.  Sometimes they will have practice exams, lecture notes or a syllabus with key need to know test information.

Sometimes professors won’t cover every chapter in the text book so make sure you know which chapters to read other wise you may end up doing unnecessary work.

Don’t get caught up in too much detail of the text book:

Don’t try to memorize every word of the text book.  Meaning don’t spend all your time memorizing.  Place more focus on understanding and comprehension.  For example you may sit and think for a few minutes after each section of the book and quickly go over the key terms and what they mean but try to get the big picture and apply that to every key term.  All the key terms will have relevance to the big picture or big topic of the chapter and section.