Vote Howard Dean in 2004

NayNay's Huluhae Page

Crazed Ramblings from My Mind:

After some serious thought, I've decided to switch my political support from Dennis Kucinich to Dr. Howard Dean. The man is not only a physician, which I respect, but he has the experience of being the governor of Vermont for twelve years. The citizens of Vermont admired him so much that he won five re-election bids as governor. That in itself should prove that Dr. Dean has the intelligence and initiative to lead our country. I can think of no better qualification for President of the United States than to have successfully governed a state for over a decade. While Dr. Dean was governor of Vermont he not only paid off his predecessor's debt, he created a "rainy day" fund for future economic downturn. As Governor he balanced the budget 11 years in a row, created jobs, cut taxes, and twice raised the state's minimum wage. He brought health insurance to 99% of the children and 96% of adults in Vermont. He expanded prescription drug benefits for seniors. Child abuse decreased, and graduations increased. He protected more than 470,000 acres of wild land. He is the type of man we want to lead our nation. His track record speaks for itself. Join me in promoting Howard Dean for President.

I have another thought about Howard Dean that I want to share with all of you. I'm sure most people have heard about his so-called angry outburst in Iowa after his third place finish in the caucus. If you haven't yet seen the video, here is your chance to do so. I know many late-night talk show hosts are giving him a rough time about it, but I think it's only fair that everyone sees what the fuss is about before writing Dr. Dean out of the race completely. He and his wife, Dr. Judy S. Dean were interviewed by Diane Sawyer who showed a few seconds of video footage, and talked to them about life in their household. After watching the video, it became evident to me that anyone who bothered to look at it could see that Howard Dean was not angry in any way. Hell, he was smiling and pumping his fist, shouting "Yes!", and as Matt mentioned, he looked like a football coach trying to rally his men. And to top it all off, the camera person only shows a few of the people Dean was addressing, but you can clearly see the one's behind him were clapping their hands and laughing, and the people in front of him were cheering loudly and proudly waving American flags. After watching the video more than once, I am fully convinced that all Dean was trying to do was invigorate his supporters, and in my honest opinion, he did a very good job. If you'd like to see the clip in its entirety, click here. It's a little longer, but well worth watching. One thing that angers me, is how people in the media can allow themselves to blow this all out of proportion. Have they no decency at all? Did they make a big deal of this for ratings, or a more sinister purpose, such as eliminating one of Bush's contenders?

Okay, everybody has to try this. Grab five dollars, run to the store and buy a pack of strawberries and some milk chocolate chips. I prefer Driscoll's berries and Ghirardelli milk chocolate. Hurry home, and wash and dry each strawberry. Make sure they are completely dry because even a drop of water can ruin this recipe. Fill a bowl half-full with the chocolate chips and microwave them on half power for one minute, then stir. If the chocolate isn't melted add thirty seconds at half power until the chocolate is smooth and creamy after being stirred. Dip the strawberries in the chocolate one at a time and let harden on waxed paper. Delizioso!

I'm going through my list of favorites I've saved on the computer, trying to figure out which links I want on here. In Italy, the government is offering a thousand euro incentive for any family that already has one child, and is due to deliver another before the end of this year. The Welfare Minister thinks it's a perfectly fine idea, but some critics are complaining because the money is only being offered to Italians and Europeans. I don't think they have the right to complain, if the Italian government doesn't want to encourage its illegal immigrants to breed then that's all the more respect I have for them. Besides, every American can tell you that most non-European and non-Asian immigrants have no trouble being prolific, and therefore need no monetary incentive.

I am not a smoker, but I know plenty of people who are, and I respect a persons right to chose. If you are a smoker however, please read this article about how tossing your cigarette to the ground negatively effects the environment. Remember the tar-colored rule, if you want to ruin your health, that's fine, but let's all do our part to keep the country clean.

Dumb Lawsuits

Everyone loves reading about ridiculous lawsuits. These are usually called Stella Awards after the woman who was burned by McDonald's coffee in 1992. I do not like this term because Stella Liebeck was seriously burnt by the spill, needed skin grafts, and spent a week in the hospital. Also, anyone who has ever bought coffee at most fast food restuarants, like I have, and my parents have on numerous occaisons can tell you that the employees fill the cups to the brim with steaming hot coffee. I have many memories of my family being on vacation, and my parents going through a drive-thru to get their morning coffee, then pulling into a parking spot and very carefully sticking their arm out the windows and pouring a third of it out so it wouldn't spill everywhere. So yeah, I can easily see how McDonald's would have been at least partially at fault. Anyhow, here are my choices for some of the dumbest lawsuits that have entered the American justice system.

Kathleen McCormick sued physicians at the VA hospital, stating that they didn't try hard enough to convince her to stop smoking, lose weight, and lower her cholesterol level. Last time I checked, everybody knew the health hazards of smoking and being over-weight.
Caesar Barber, the obese man who filed a lawsuit against McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Wendy's because he thought they should be responsible for his multiple heart attacks. Unbelievable.
Youth Baseball coach Rodney Carroll was sued by his catcher's father because the team lost all fifteen games and therefore didn't earn a trip to Florida for a tournament. Whatever happened to the kids just having fun, and learning sportsmanship? Oh yeah, and now we can all make fun of Soccer Moms and Baseball Dads. Ha ha!
An ambulance driver, Larry Wesley, sued for racial discrimination after being fired because he stopped for juice and a doughnut as he was transporting an injured boy to Ben Taub Hospital. Fortunately, the "They're only doing this because I'm a Black person" Racial Trump Card didn't work in this particular situation. Hey, Wesley had twenty years of experience with the department, so obviously if they wanted to fire him simply because of his race I'm sure they would have thought of something several years earlier.

Reneé's Letter to the Editor

Matt sent me the following letter (link broken) to the editor from the Peoria Journal Star in Peoria Illinois. I emailed the newspaper a rebuttal to the letter, which I hope they will see fit to print in the next few days. Be sure to read the original letter before you read my response below.

I would like to offer a rebuttal to Mr. Wylie's letter to the editor, Gifted Kids Don't Need Help. I am not going to argue whether Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have fought against the gifted school program. Instead, I will share my own opinion. Mr. Wylie quotes Thomas Jefferson's famous words, all men are created equal, and tries to convince the readers of this newspaper that no person's strengths should be encouraged because others may be offended. This is not what Jefferson intended. His quote, which can be found in the Declaration of Independence, is better understood when read in its entirety. “... all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The right to life is simple, and needs no further explanation. Remember that the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 during the American Revolution, and you'll understand that Liberty can be translated as freedom from a tyrannical British government. The pursuit of happiness is harder to define, but most people agree that each of us is allowed to find whatever it is that makes us happy, as long as it doesn't disrupt the rights of others.

Encouraging students who show talent of any type does not debase the principles our founding fathers held for us. We each have our individual strengths and weaknesses. The refusal to foster any child's potential because another person may be offended is ludicrous. We should take advantage of every opportunity we have to strengthen the minds of students who show promise, the same as we encourage students musically, artistically, or athletically. Our future depends on the young people in these classrooms. I am not a genius, but I hold no grudge against those born with a mightier mind than I possess. Let these students be allowed to realize their full potential, and let us all support the gifted school programs that help make this possible.

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Links!

This is my best friend, Rachel's, permanent site. Be sure to sign her guestbook!
My other site, NayNay's MST3K Page
Daily Dirt, one of my favorite websites.
Overthrow, an interesting alternate news site. Don't get all your news from Fox.
Satellite News, a great Mystery Science Theater Site.
Check out Smiziley's Blog.

Email Reneé with questions, comments or suggestions to

Updated 1-26-2004 @ midnite central time.
Next Scheduled Update Monday February 2nd: Groundhog's Day!
I love you, Matt