Random Ramblings

I needed a break from politics and the blog world. Please forgive me. I promise to update more. In the mean time, enjoy this picture of the lovely Dita Von Teese.

We all have probably heard by now that beloved movie director John Hughes has passed away. He was 59 and believed to have had a sudden heart attack.

A week or so ago, my friend Tabi and I were talking about healthy ways to loose weight. She had stumbled across some websites that were titled "Thinspiration". We couldn't believe that people actually lived like this.
Let me give you rundown of what these sites are about. They are promoting anorexia and bulimia by posting pictures and stories of ridiculously unhealthy skinny girls and actresses/models. These girls strive to be less than 100lbs, the sites give diet plans and tips for exercising. It's an incredibly unhealthy and deadly way to loose weight. Anorexia and bulimia are serious diseases. These websites are out there and very easily could young girls find them.
These websites use the term Pro-Ana which is defined as: "refers to the promotion of anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice rather than an eating disorder. It is often referred to simply as "ana" and is sometimes affectionately personified by anorexics as a girl named Ana.[1] The lesser-used term pro-mia refers likewise to bulimia nervosa[2] and is sometimes used interchangeably with pro-ana." These websites are horrible role models to millions of girls in the world.
Anyone who has had a weight issue knows that it's not easy loosing weight. But eating 5 small meals a day of lean meat, fruit and veggies and drinking lots of water will make you loose weight and be HEALTHY.
Something needs to be done about these "Thinspiration" sites. They can and probably already have had deadly results.

Pro-Choice arguments:

1.Nearly all abortions take place in the first trimester, when a fetus cannot exist independent of the mother. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it cannot exist outside her womb.

2.The concept of personhood is different from the concept of human life. Human life occurs at conception, but fertilized eggs used for in vitro fertilization are also human lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. Is this murder, and if not, then how is abortion murder?

3.Adoption is not an alternative to abortion, because it remains the woman's choice whether or not to give her child up for adoption. Statistics show that very few women who give birth choose to give up their babies - less than 3% of white unmarried women and less than 2% of black unmarried women.

4.Abortion is a safe medical procedure. The vast majority of women - 88% - who have an abortion do so in their first trimester. Medical abortions have less than 0.5% risk of serious complications and do not affect a woman's health or future ability to become pregnant or give birth.

5.In the case of r*ape or incest, forcing a woman made pregnant by this violent act would cause further psychological harm to the victim. Often a woman is too afraid to speak up or is unaware she is pregnant, thus the morning after pill is ineffective in these situations.

6.Abortion is not used as a form of contraception. Pregnancy can occur even with responsible contraceptive use. Only 8% of women who have abortions do not use any form of birth control, and that is due more to individual carelessness than to the availability of abortion.

7.The ability of a woman to have control of her body is critical to civil rights. Take away her reproductive choice and you step onto a slippery slope. If the government can force a woman to continue a pregnancy, what about forcing a woman to use contraception or undergo sterilization?

8.Taxpayer dollars are used to enable poor women to access the same medical services as rich women, and abortion is one of these services. Funding abortion is no different from funding a war in the Mideast. For those who are opposed, the place to express outrage is in the voting booth.

9.Teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive inadequate prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or end up divorced.

10.Like any other difficult situation, abortion creates stress. Yet the American Psychological Association found that stress was greatest prior to an abortion, and that there was no evidence of post-abortion syndrome.

As an homage to Valentine's Day, today's cupcakes are vanilla with pink vanilla frosting and red sprinkles. The frosting didn't come out as I expected, but they are still yummy. I know my boyfriend will enjoy them regardless of what I think.

I've seen pictures of theses people before but never a video! At the end of the video that little girl can't be more than 4 years old, talk about brainwashing!

I have been on the loosing side of the health care game too many times to count. It wasn't until my most recent job that I received benefits. Needless to say I'm very happy I am covered in case of an emergency; but unfortunately those benefits are hard to afford. I pay around $100 a month for my health care, granted it's a PPO so those plans tend to be a little more on the pricey side.
With the health care reform that President Obama is trying to pass, millions of uncovered Americans will have a choice to go to government funded health care. In turn that would save the previously uninsured Americans a large amount of money that would have been wasted on expensive medical bills. With our current insurance system many Americans find it difficult to get health care due to preexisting conditions. They will also be able to turn to government funded health care. With the President's plan we will not eliminate private health care we will simply add government funded health care so Americans have a choice.
The RNC spokesperson Michael Steele has compared the Presidents plan to socialism, giving the American people a choice between private and government funded health care is far from socialism! It seems as if the Republican party doesn't care about the American people, they only seem to care about the money they will loose from the lobbyists of private insurers. The Republican party has been quoted saying "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him". Now does that sound like a group of people that have the best interest of Americans in mind? No, it seems like the hatred for Obama is clouding the RNC's judgment. The President responded with this "Think about that. This isn't about me. This is about a health-care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses and breaking America's economy." Now that sounds like someone who's looking out for Americans!
If you would like to declare your support of the President's health care plan go to this website---> http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/organizingforhealthcare2?source=issue_page

Hopefully her plans to run for President in 2012 fall through. I've had enough of her religious nonsense in 2008/2009.

Michael was the young age of 50 when he succumb to cardiac arrest in his home June 25, 2009. He will be missed.

Chicago radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller and I disagree on many political aspects. There is one topic though that we see eye to eye on; the fact that waterboarding is torture. Mancow voluntarily underwent waterboarding to prove his point that it's not torture. Instead, he proved a counterpoint, lasting only about 5 seconds before concluding that the act was "absolutely torture." I don't understand how anyone could possible argue that it is not a torturous act.

Dick Cheney has been quoted saying "You've heard endlessly about waterboarding. It happened to three terrorists." He is correct in saying that only three terrorists were waterboarded; what he failed to mention is that it happened hundreds of times. I'm a strong believer in protecting our country. But what many fail to realize is that when we break the rules to suit our own needs what's stopping others from doing the same thing against us? I understand terrorists are most likely the ones who would do the same to us without second thought. Breaking the Geneva Convention and going down to the same level as terrorists doesn't make us any better.

We have the Geneva Convention in place for a reason. The Geneva Convention sets the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. Generally it applies to prisoners of war. I hope in our future as a great nation we can move past these horrible acts and be an example for other countries.

and I can't sleep. I believe I'm still on Italy time which means it's 12 noon right now. I fell asleep at 5 "just to take a nap" and that didn't work out so well.
I'm going to post some Europe pics, not a lot but some.

Sweden 5th European country to allow gay marriage
April 01, 2009 12:16 EDT

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Sweden has become the fifth European country to allow gay marriage.

Parliament on Wednesday adopted a new law that gives same-sex couples the same marriage rights as heterosexuals.

The Parliament's Web site says the new law will take effect on May 1.

The Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Spain also allow gay marriages.

Sweden has recognized civil unions between homosexual couples since 1994. However, the old law stopped short of calling them marriages, which gay rights activists said was discriminatory.

It will still be up to individual churches to decide if they want to wed gay couples.

Swedish news agency TT says the 349-seat legislature passed the measure in 261-22 vote, with 66 lawmakers abstaining or absent.

I stumbled (literally) across this fantastic blog called Love and Olive Oil www.loveandoliveoil.com the recipes are amazing. I had a hard time just picking one to try tonight. But this cupcake looked so delicious that there's no way I can't bake them as soon as possible. Here's the link for the recipe: www.loveandoliveoil.com/2007/09/banana-split-cupcakes.html
Here are the directions if you don't feel like taking a trip to Love and Olive Oil:
Ingredients
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 ½ cups plain soymilk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
½ cup canola oil
1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
½ cup shortening (crisco)
½ cup margarine
3 ½ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup soy milk
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon corn syrup
3 tablespoons soy milk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350º. Line muffin cups with paper cupcake liners. Lightly spray liners and top of pan with cooking spray. This will prevent the tops of the cupcakes from sticking to the pan when they rise. Set aside.

Combined apple cider vinegar and soymilk in small bowl. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle).
In a bowl, mash banana with canola oil until incorporated. Add extracts and mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the curdled soymilk and banana mixtures to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth (try not to overmix it). Mix in chocolate chips.

Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
For frosting: With electric mixer, beat margarine and shortening until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and continue to beat until all the sugar is incorporated. Add soymilk and vanilla and continue to beat for another 5 minutes. Spread generously on cupcakes.

Melt chocolate in the microwave by heating for 20 seconds, stirring, heating for another 20 seconds, until melted. Add soy milk and corn syrup and stir. Drizzle chocolate over frosted cupcakes, top with a cherry and/or chopped nuts and sprinkles, and enjoy.

If you're on Polyvore, I highly recommend checking this group out --->http://www.polyvore.com/guilty_pleasures/group.show?id=25770
especially if you like yummy sweets =).

Why am I half crazy?

by Michael D Nalley

In the sanity statistic
Is mental illness realistic?
If one out of every four
Peoples mental heath's poor

My three best friends are sane
So I guess that makes it plain
That I have came up short
With an illness of some sort

May God bless all the fools
Who follow all the rules
Written religiously and spoken
Only to have their hearts broken

If I had a half a mind
I would look and find
All of the reasons why
Or at least give it a try

If the truth was like our sun
In a system with just one
Everything wouldn't be hazy
And I wouldn't be half crazy

From the Seattle Times:

President Obama wisely kills abortion "global gag rule"

President Obama signed an executive order ending the ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions. It is an important move by the new president that sets a different tone.

A new president and new era mean it is time for a refreshing new approach on the shortsighted gag rule, the provision banning federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortion.

President Obama changed the rule, a swift move early in his administration that makes enormous sense. The new president has an undisputable mandate for change and that includes reasonable policy on women's reproductive rights.

The ban on federal funding to any group that even mentions abortion or abortion counseling has always represented a ridiculous limit on the kind of information that needs to be distributed.

Few people favor abortion. But sometimes women need that kind of information and medical attention. Obama is right to make this important change.

In the early days of his administration, Obama wisely tried not to wade too deeply into sharp divisions on ideological issues. He has, however, done a few targeted things that set a different tone, such as suspending trials at Guantánamo. Keeping a campaign promise to women's groups, he quells the gag rule.

The federal rule is one of the most narrow-minded federal policies, one that flips and flops from one administration to the next, from Ronald Reagan, who established it in 1984, to President Bill Clinton, who ended it in 1993, to President George W. Bush, who changed it back in 2001.

The gag rule is so contrary to wise planning that it precludes international family-planning groups from providing abortions, counseling or even referring someone to another organization that performs abortions. The rule is so stringent that federal money could not go to a group even if the money was targeted for a different health-care need. This is exactly the kind the head-in-the-sand policy the public is tired of.

Obama also is preparing to loosen federal restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research. Good for him and for many individuals who may benefit from this important research.

The voters said they wanted change. These policy adjustments are overdue.

WASHINGTON - The National Mall swelled into a vast, pulsing scene of expectation Tuesday as excited crowds clogged mass transit lines and security checkpoints to witness the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama.

Energized by the historic moment, hundreds of thousands of people turned this city’s orderly grid of streets into a party scene. Ready to endure below-freezing temperatures, they streamed up from subway stations and thronged past parked buses, emergency vehicles and street vendors, bound for Pennsylvania Avenue NW and the National Mall for the inauguration.

A chaotic situation, and at least one injury — a child taken out on a stretcher — was reported at one gate where ticket holders were backed up.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Washington's subway system was jammed and two downtown stations were disrupted when a woman fell onto the tracks. Her condition was said to be not life threatening.

Some 410,000 people had entered Washington’s Metro transit system by 9 a.m., transit officials said.

Hundreds of thousands of people packed the Mall, which stretches 2 miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial on the Potomac River and along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

The cold registered at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit at 9 a.m.

On the Mall, the sea of people, many waving American flags, crowded onto the grassy plain.

“This is chaos now,” Judy Bailey, 42, of Cincinnati, Ohio, said as police shunted her farther and farther from the swearing-in ceremony. “But it is amazing to be here. This is history in the making.”

As dawn broke, they streamed up from subway stations and past parked buses, emergency vehicles and street vendors.

“This is the culmination of two years of work,” said Akin Salawu, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who helped Obama as a community organizer and Web producer. “We got on board when Obama was the little engine who could. He’s like a child you’ve held onto. Now he’s going out into the world.”

Parking lots full
By 4 a.m., lines of riders formed in suburban parking lots for the Metro transit system, which opened early and put on extra trains for the expected rush. Many parking lots filled up and had to be closed.

Streets around the Capitol quickly filled with people, and security checkpoints were mobbed.

A flea-market atmosphere prevailed on downtown streets, with white tents set up to sell Obama T-shirts and mugs as well as food, bottled water, snacks, scarves and footwarmers. The scent of grilled coiled sausages and steaming Chinese food greeted those who walked toward the parade route, more than six hours before Obama would pass by.


Ticket holders approaching the inaugural site on Capitol Hill awaited security sweeps in a line estimated at thousands. People were in a festive mood, despite the cold and the economic gloom that that has left millions unemployed and tens of thousands homeless.

Connie Grant of Birmingham, Ala., said she got up at 3:30 a.m. after coming to Washington with a group. Three hours later, she was still on 7th Street waiting for police to clear the way into the Mall.

She said the wait didn’t matter. “I sacrificed and came here,” she said. “To me, this is very historic. I just wanted to be here.”

“I brought my patience,” said Matt Rohrbaugh, 37, who had traveled from Santa Cruz, Calif., with his sons, ages 12 and 15. “Everyone else seems to have brought their patience, as well,” he said.

Christian Alderson of Berryville, Va., said he was in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968 when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. “That day was sorrowful,” Alderson, 73, said as he stood near the Mall. “This is a dream come true for me.”

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 11:00 a.m. PT, Fri., Jan. 16, 2009

CHICAGO - A bone-numbing Arctic blast drove temperatures down Friday to 30, 40 and 50 below in parts of the Midwest and Northeast, closing schools to spare children from freezing at bus stops and prompting police to keep a watchful eye out for the homeless.

Forecasters said temperatures in the upper Midwest could turn into the coldest in years as frigid air keeps spilling south from Canada. The cold snap has claimed at least five lives and contributed to dozens of traffic accidents as vehicles slipped and slid on icy roads.

Scores of schools in Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois and upstate New York canceled classes for Friday as officials feared it would be dangerous for students to walk to school or wait for buses.

"They're waiting 30 minutes at a bus stop; there's the fear of frostbite and hypothermia," said Champaign Assistant Superintendent Beth Shepperd. "We also have more children walking to school without adequate outerwear."

By Friday morning, cities and towns in 13 states reported temperatures well below zero, among them:

* -50 in Big Black River, Maine, in what could be a new state record
* -46 in Embarrass, Minn.
* -42 in Island Pont, Vt.
* -42 in Necedah, Wis.
* -39 in Berlin, N.H.
* -38 in Monticello, Iowa
* -36 in Sterling, Ill., possibly tying a state record
* -35 in Paradox, N.Y.
* -26 in Stambaugh, Mich.
* -20 in Valparaiso, Ind.
* -19 in Lawton, Pa.
* -16 in Snowshoe Mountain, W.Va.
* -14 in Dayton, Ohio

In upstate New York, meteorologist Dave Sage said areas near Lake Erie were walloped by snow, with 2 inches falling per hour in some areas on Friday morning.

The cold kept many from venturing outdoors. Those who did kept their trips short.

Quentin Masters, who was at the post office mailing a gift in downtown Syracuse, N.Y., said he had on two coats and long underwear.

"It was almost too cold to come down here today but it's a birthday present for my sister in Buffalo," said Masters, 28. "It's on Monday and I don't want it to be late."

Although the temperature in Syracuse was 5 above just after dawn, wind gusts of up to 25 mph chilled the air to subzero temperatures.



This story just reminds my how different it is to live in southern California. Right now it's 78 degrees out here in Huntington Beach. My friend Tabi lives in Kansas and she told me this morning it was -2. I don't think I'd be able to handle that day in and day out =). Well I hope everyone keeps warm and has a safe fun weekend.

This is a "set" I created on Polyvore.com. You can see the items that are used are credited to the owner --->http://www.polyvore.com/untitled/set?id=5882961. I find myself on this website everyday, it's very addicting (in a good way of course) =).

So Buddy and Buster are our wonderful kitties. Buddy(Grey and White)just had a recent scare with fatty liver disease. We were very close to loosing him. If you own a cat please inform yourself of this disease, apparently it's common in cats around the age of 7 or 8. Here's a link with more info --->http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/fatty_liver.htm

These are my puppies; Max and Rusty. They are Chihuahua/Wiener Dog mixes. We adopted Rusty (tan & white) in November and Max back in May. I just wanted to share my "kids" =).