Not much happening around here.  I went out yesterday and had a good time.  I didn't have time for much dinner, which sucked, but went and saw a movie and then went to a club.  I met a couple friends there, one who just came back from Basic Training... nice to see him back again.

One thing I probably shouldn't have done, though... a friend asked me to buy her a Nintendo DS, since her's broke.  I broke down and spent the $130 on that... and then bought a speaker docking station for my iPod for the school... another $100.  Bleh... too much money and not enough fun in exchange.  lol

Today was another dinner, for 150 people.  We were short-handed by several volunteers, but we ended up handling it just fine.  Now I'm watching episodes of Battlestar Galactica, season three.  A pretty damn good show.

One thing that interested me recently... I spoke with 16-year-old boy who was writing a paper for school on heroes.  The paper was to define what that means and then to argue whether he thought they exist or not.  He didn't think heroes exist anymore.... What do you think?

My flight was being served by an obviously gay flight attendant, who seemed to put everyone in a good mood as he served us food and drinks.

As the plane prepared to descend, he came swishing down the aisle and told us "Captain Marvey has asked me to announce that he'll be landing the big scary plane shortly, so lovely people, if you could  just put your trays up, that would be super."

On his trip back up the aisle, he noticed this well-dressed and rather Arabic looking woman hadn't moved a muscle.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me over those big brute engines but I asked you to raise your trazy-poo, so the main man can pitty-pat us on the ground."
 
She calmly turned her head and said, "In my country, I am called a Princess and I take orders from no one."

To which (I swear) the flight attendant replied, without missing a beat, "Well, sweet-cheeks, in my country I'm called a Queen, so I outrank you. Tray-up, Bitch."
 
 

The rest of my positive candidate statements...   sorry it's a long journal...

Joe Biden:

Has a long record of public service
  - was elected to a county council in 1970. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972

  - has served for the sixth-longest period among current senators.

Good anti-drug and anti-crime legislator

  - served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties, and led creation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and Violence Against Women Act.

  - Biden has been involved in crafting many federal crime laws over the last decade, including the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the Biden Crime Law, and the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA), which contains a broad array of measures to combat domestic violence

  - As chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus, Biden wrote the laws that created the U.S. "Drug Czar", who oversees and coordinates national drug control policy. In April 2003 he introduced the controversial Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act, also known as the RAVE Act. He continues to work to stop the spread of "date rape drugs" such as flunitrazepam, and drugs such as Ecstasy and Ketamine. In 2004 he worked to pass a bill outlawing steroids like androstenedione, the drug used by many baseball players

Biden began the practice of commuting an hour and a half each day on the train from his home in the Wilmington suburbs to Washington, D.C., which he continues to do.

Biden and his family are members of the Roman Catholic Church, and regularly attend services at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Greenville, Delaware

Biden states that he has never taken a drink in his life because alcoholism is so prevalent in his extended family.

Barak Obama:

Has a good record of public service

  - work as a community organizer for three years from June 1985 to May 1988 as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland (Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale) on Chicago's far South Side.  During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from one to thirteen and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens

was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996

Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 4, 2005

Obama sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries

John McCain:

Long record of public service, in and out of the government

   - graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958

   - He became a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers.  he was shot down, badly injured, and captured as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese. He was held from 1967 to 1973, experiencing episodes of torture and refusing an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer; his war wounds left him with lifelong physical limitations

   - Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982

   - elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986

Very anti-pork, and puts people above the political party

   - has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, has opposed pork barrel spending

   - developed a reputation for independence during the 1990s. He took pride in challenging party leadership and establishment forces, becoming difficult to categorize politically.

   - actively supported the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, which gave the president power to veto individual spending items

   - took on the tobacco industry in 1998, proposing legislation that would increase cigarette taxes in order to fund anti-smoking campaigns, discourage teenage smokers, increase money for health research studies, and help states pay for smoking-related health care costs

   - Working with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, McCain was a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, which would involve legalization, guest worker programs, and border enforcement components.

   - From the beginning, McCain strongly supported the Iraq troop surge of 2007.  McCain frequently responded, "I would much rather lose a campaign than a war"

   - says he would make the Bush tax cuts permanent instead of letting them expire, he would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax so as to assist the middle-class, he would double the personal exemption for dependents, reduce the corporate tax rate

   - he pledges to eliminate pork-barrel spending, freeze nondefense discretionary spending for a year or more

   - Another proposal of the Arizona senator is to build 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030

Honorable family traditions

   - His family's military tradition extends to the latest generation: son John Sidney IV ("Jack" is enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy, son James has served with the Marines in Iraq, and son Doug flew jets in the Navy