American Idol Top 12

This week, I was looking forward to American Idol because of the theme. Each week, they have a specific theme or artist for the contestants to focus on. This week, the focus was music from the year you were born. Most of the contestants are pretty young so most of the music came from the late 80s and early 90s. Two people even attempted Whitney Houston songs. Here are my rankings: Super, Good, Shoulda Been Better, Yuck, and Meh. I have each person in a category as well as why I put them there.

Super: Stefano Langone (what can I say? I loved the song, his voice, the arrangement, everything! I love him);
Pia Toscano (she really has grown on me. She sounds great, way better than Haley's ass, and she looked great and moved great. So great);
Scotty McCreery (so wonderful, as usual. Always a favorite);
Karen Rodriguez (I thought she might be boring, but she wasn't. I love that song from my early childhood and she sang it beautifully);
Casey Abrams (I'm loving, as usual, the risks he takes. He makes me wish I was a teenager with kelly bundy and zach morris);
Lauren Alaina (totally made up for last week. Great. Just great);
Jacob Lusk (what?! Rock? I loved it!)



Good: Paul McDonald (eh, I'm still not a fan, but he sounded food. Whatever);
James Durbin (again, not a huge fan, but I can't deny the man has skills, and he get mad points for personality)


Shoulda Been Better: Naima Adedapo (they were right about her being uncomfortable with moving while singing. I say give her a chance to build up the resistance and jump And sing);
Haley Reinhart (I love whitney, and Haley's version didn't suck. But it sounded karaoke)


Yuck: nobody, so many were great. And no one was yucky.


Meh: Thia Megia (again boring. Whatever)


This week, I'm voting for Pia, Jacob, Lauren, Karen, Stefano, Casey, Scotty. Naima gets another chance to get her freaking song selection right. I've given up on Thia. Too boring.

A Blog Introduction

I already write two blogs. The first one is A Researcher of Life, which is basically a personal blog that talks about my life that I'm trying to build for myself in my 20s. The second one is My Life's Love Medley, which is a lovely amalgamation of the love lives of 8 of my closest friends.

So why do I need a third blog? I'm not sure I do. This may end up being absorbed into my main blog, the narcissistic one, in a few posts because I find I have not enough to say to fill an entirely separate blog. But for now, I feel that I have enough to say about the world around me to fill a separate blog.


I feel pretty often like writing a blog post about Egypt/Tunisia/Bahrain/Libya or Chicago's mayoral race or Obama's stance on gay marriage. I also want to write about books I read, like Spousonomics and all the Charles Dickens classics. And yes, I even want to write about the upcoming announcement of the next cast of Dancing With The Stars.


But I feel like writing about that on my other blogs would take time away from something else I love discussing: me and my friends. Talk of Easy and my nonexistent career are consuming that blog. So I need somewhere else to talk about politics and economics and the media and the weather.


That is what I hope this new blog will be. Will anyone bother reading it? I don't know. I do know I don't have the desire to go searching on the web for people who are interested in reading the types of things I like to say. That's why my first two blogs only get a couple hundred reads per month. But that doesn't matter. Because I have things to be said. And I'm far too wordy for Twitter.


So begins Rants About The Real World. I may split up the days based on the different topics I may want to discuss, but for now, I'll just let it be and see what comes pouring out of my mind on a variety of subjects. Check it out if you'd like. At least for the week I'm promising to give it before deleting it and absorbing it into the other blog.

The First Thing Obama Has Done That Has Seriously Disappointed Me

I don't talk about politics too much on this blog. But I just felt like talking about this right now. So I'm going to.

The whole situation with Egypt has been an eye opener. I realize that when the people who run our country make decisions regarding our allies and enemies, a lot of it comes from self-interest.

But I can't imagine what would make them choose between that self-interest and ideas we hold up as the most important.

When it comes to supporting President Mubarak or not, they choose to support him? Are they fucking kidding?

Him and that other asshole, Vice President Suleiman, have made it perfectly clear they don't feel Egypt is ready for true democracy.

The organized protests would say different.

Those assholes say that an orderly, cautious path to democracy is best. They'd rather keep the poor even poorer. They'd rather let all those college graduates remain unemployed (a problem near and dear to my own heart). They'd rather keep all the money they get in their own pockets. They'd rather keep a police state in spite of proven abilities to maintain peace from the protesters.

And how does the Obama administration respond? By talking about Israel. I know their right to exist is important and all that. Whatever.

I just didn't realize their right to exist was more important than others' rights to democracy, freedom, and representation.

Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel. Great. If they become a democracy, will that peace treaty really end? Even if it does, it that a good enough reason to support keeping and autocracy in Egypt?

Obama is on the wrong side of history. By not supporting the people of Egypt, he is sowing seeds of mistrust and discontent. Right now their saying "up with Egypt." I wonder how long it will be before that starts to include, "down with America."

This is one of those times I'm ashamed of what my country stands for. Democracy is the reason we've ruined so many lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. But apparently we don't actually mean that shit all the time. At least not when it could possibly maybe just a little bit affect the Israelis.

I don't want to turn back the clock on the progress they've made. But why does progress for one country have to mean oppression for another?

I think it doesn't. There are plenty of smart and reasonable diplomats floating around the Middle East and North Africa. They can't keep peace treaties for Israel even with a democratic Egypt?

Bullshit. I call bullshit.

Please Don't Make It Easier For People To Screw You Over

To what is my title referring? Why to the election of course.

It's been pretty well documented that there are lots of intimidation efforts to keep minority groups from voting. This year, there are especially heinous commercials out there targeting Latinos and homosexuals asking them outright to not vote.

I"m not sure in what world not voting gets your voice heard...

But in America, we are a melting pot and a progressive culture. That means there are always new minority groups to insult with the exact old techniques under the guise of doing something new. America may have a short memory. But I have a long one and history lessons from my elders. They can kiss my ass if they think I won't exercise my right to vote.

Who is the "they" I'm talking about? People who are against my ideas for the direction I think the country should go. People who use libertarianism as an excuse to lose common decency and concern for mankind. People who think low taxes are the solution to everything (those are the shortest memory idiots). People who prefer to legislate to the benefit of corporations. People who are so close-minded that they actually believe other cultures are out to get them and education, science, and history are evil. They suck!

Moving on. This morning, I went with my parents so we could vote before they headed to work. For some reason, our polling place was stocked with poorly trained volunteers. No one committed any violations of polling place procedure, but they certainly exhibited a poor understanding of those procedures.

They didn't explain voting well. They fumbled when someone messed up their ballot and had to get rid of that one and get a new one. They didn't have good answers for someone who had recently switched their voter registration address. Luckily, there was an older gentleman there who knew the rules.

But situations like this make it far too easy for someone to come in and find problems. Then suddenly our polling place loses the validity of the votes simply because the people there aren't trained well. I live in a predominantly African-American community which is almost 100% Democratic. Knowing that our opponents are looking for reasons to scream voter fraud, you would think we would avoid any and all behavior that could help that process along.

Okay, I'm through complaining, I just hate to see people help themselves get screwed over. Go vote! Especially if you live in Illinois because we could use the extra votes if any other polling places in the hood are even worse than mine.

Thoughts on the Past Week

I've been missing all week. I've been half busy and half just not feeling like putting up a post. But here are the things that crossed my mind this week:

*I'm so happy for those Chilean miners who were trapped. I wonder if the first thing they did before they checked them off at the hospital was hose them down. Seriously, it had been over 60 days! And that one guy's wife kissed him on the mouth as soon as he came out of the hole. Now that's love.

*I can't wait for it to be mid-November. At that point, election day will be over and so will preliminary analysis. Some of these candidates are quite horrible. But at least here in Illinois, there are a specific set of horrible candidates who aren't nearly as crazy as some other options around the country.

*October is my favorite time of year sports-wise. I get MLB playoffs, NBA pre-season, and NFL full swing. Basketball is really my least favorite so I don't remember if it's playoffs overlap with pre-season baseball in the early summer.

*I really looked amazing at my birthday party. It took me many hours of shopping but I think it paid off. The dress! The shoes! Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Yes, I'm standing on a hotel bed. We got a hotel room so we wouldn't drink and drive. The party was downtown, none of my friends live downtown. And I wanted a full body shot, so I got on the bed.

*Not having a job sucks! But the time spent looking has given me another layer of clarity on what it is I want to spend my time doing, if I could just find someone to hire me!

A Tip For Black Men In The Public Eye, I'm Looking At You Jesse Jr. and Bishop Eddie Long

Stop doing bad stuff! I know that it's impossible to please everyone, but damn, you don't have to make it so easy for your enemies to drag you down into the mud. Growing up as a black person in this country, you are taught or learn or hear somewhere that it's hard being black. No need to pick up a violin to play along, I'm just saying.

What I know for sure is that Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Bishop Eddie Long both know this story. They live in Chicago and Atlanta, respectively. They are leaders in the black community. They are aware!

Now that that's settled, let me get back to the point at hand. I'll start with Jesse Jr. He sucks! He's such a hypocrite. When his father got into trouble for his taking part in the girlfriend/illegitimate child debacle back when I was younger, he got up on his high horse, and shouted to the far corners that his dad was crap and not a good example of what a strong black man should be.

And now, he's the one with the girlfriend. You know what I think? I think he was a fat ass before and no one was going to sleep with him. Add in a gastric bypass and some national known-ness, and suddenly you have to have a girlfriend. I've never been a fan of his wife, but damnit man! If you're unsatisfied with your life, why did you set up this life for you? I have odd views of cheating that I'll choose to keep to myself, but I am not okay with leading this secret private life that is going to come out and ruin your chances for things, such as, oh I don't know, running for mayor of Chicago! He's an hypocritical asshole, that's all I have to say.

Now Bishop Eddie Long, it's your turn. I pray that the stories about you having sex with these men who were members of your homophobic (in Atlanta no less) church. A blog I love to read entitled Angry Black Bitch had a great post about it. First a disclaimer: I've always disagreed with the public nature of his church. They are famous for their anti-gay stance. And they preach prosperity, which I abhor. I'm not going there, this is about current scandals.

Because he's a pillar of his community, I can't say enough how much I hope the stories aren't true. He's being sued for this, which is an odd avenue to get retribution for behavior. The story is that he game these men gifts for sex. If that's the case, they seem kind of greedy to sue for even more money. I can get how easy it is to become a victim to a figure of authority, but I'm just a bit skeptical of the story I'm hearing. That still doesn't change the fact that he's a target for this type of charge because he's so against gay people.

Based on what we've seen with all the sex scandals that come out, it's usually soooooo hypocritical! When will people learn! Jesse is angry with his dad and repeats the same behavior. Eddie is homophobic and now he's possibly a closeted gay person. This is not something unique to black people. Most American scandals period tend to be so hypocritical (especially when it involves a politician. I'm looking at you Ensign and Spitzer).

But damnit black men, you know if anyone is going to get caught, it's going to be you! The scandal will come out eventually but the punishment is so much worse for you and your people! And when you get scandalized and lose your pristine position as a leader of the black community, there isn't an easy replacement. We can't just move forward. Our faith gets shaken and the political world and media world don't just embrace the next black person standing there. That's not the way our community gets leaders. You're being selfish and mean by being so self-indulgent. You put yourself in the spotlight. You decided to paint this picture of yourself as almost-perfect. You are the one who are letting down your community. You are the one who's made it that much harder for the next black man to stand up and try and lead. Thanks asshole.

News Story Sunday: Her Death Gave A Face To A Revolution

***I usually stay on top of current events and news stories, especially when it comes to American politics. This blog post is to discuss the story I found the most interesting the last week. Enjoy!***

So, I've been MIA for quite a while, I know. Between travelling to South Carolina for my cousin's graduation, travelling to St. Louis to visit my friends from college, and applying for jobs and doing family stuff in between, it's been a very busy June. But hopefully now that I'll be staying in Chicago for a while, I'll be able to get back to it.

Today's post is a new feature I've been thinking about doing for weeks. The only thing that has stopped me is not actually getting around to posting on a Sunday. But finally, I'm doing it. There are a lot of interesting things going on right now to talk about. The question is what to talk about. I could go super obvious and talk about the BP oil spill. I could go sports and talk about soccer, hockey, or golf. I could go emotional and talk about the puff pieces in the news in honor of Father's Day. What shall I do? I just don't know.

I'm going to hop over to CNN.com and see what strikes my fancy. I've found it! Americans have such short memories. I'd like to talk about a story that happened a year ago but whose effects are still felt. And no, I don't mean the death of Michael Jackson. I mean the death of Neda Agha-Soltan.

In Iran, there was civil unrest after Iran's bogus election. They tried to make sure the protesters stopped protesting. According to CNN, the protest has just gone underground, which today means online. They are getting help from around the world. Tech-activists are getting them online when the Iranian government tries to stop access. This allows Iranian protesters to convene on websites and chatrooms set up expressly for the purpose of subverting the government and planning a way out of their current situation.

The last line of the article reads, "One year after Agha-Soltan's death, Iranian officials have yet to announce a single arrest in connection with her killing."

It's said when the government cares more about their stranglehold on power than the people they are put in place to serve. But we have not forgotten Neda and we are still supporting those who want a better Iran. I don't want my ideal of democracy forced upon them. I just want them to live in a country where they won't get shot in the chest for standing up against an unfair election.

If you haven't seen the video yet, watch it. Google her and learn about the fight the Iranians still face as they march toward a government that works for them, as opposed to oppresses them.

Science & Medicine Monday: TV Dinners (And Breakfasts & Lunches) Are Very Bad For You

***This blog post is dedicated to Science & Medicine. That may include important medical and/or scientific knowledge and developments. It may just be about my life on the path to becoming a research scientist. Whatever it entails, I hope it's not too dull, lol. If you have any medical questions or suggestions of what to write about, let me know and I'll do it in an upcoming Science & Medicine Monday posting!***

First let me say that I'm sorry I haven't posted in a number of days, but I was gone to South Carolina for my younger cousin's graduation from high school. It was an exciting time. I covered it (very briefly) on my travel journal. You can see that webpage here.

Today's post is about an article I read on the New York Times website. I like to check out their science and health pages occasionally, and this article really got me. I am such a sucker for effective marketing. I have always known this about myself. But I never thought about the effect lovely commercials were having on my diet.

I've recently changed my eating habits pretty drastically. I decided that if I were to have a flat stomach, I would be such a hot commodity because hardly anyone has a flat stomach anymore. It's a two part plan. Step 1: do at least 100 sit ups/crunches each day. Step 2: Stop eating so many damn carbs! I have a love affair with all things carb-y and gluten-y and generally flour-y. Yeah, I'm looking at you Krispy Kreme. So, I've recently cut way down. Even though I dream about Cinnabuns dancing around me tauntingly, it's not so bad in the waking hours. And because I'm in my 20s and still have a roaring metabolism, it's already made a big difference. As long as my boobs, butt, and hips don't get smaller, I'll keep this up. For some reason, I feel like I have more energy now, how weird is that? I suppose my body has concentrated on breaking down all those stored carbs and starches, etc. so now there is just extra energy floating about.

If Americans ate only foods advertised on TV, a new report says, they would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat they need, but less than half the dairy, fiber and fruits and vegetables.

That's a direct quote from the article. How scary is that? Do your eating habits reflect your TV watching habits? If so, you should try and focus just on the E-Trade baby. That is, unless you're both a compulsive gambler and a DIY-er.

Medical Mondays

This blog post is dedicated to Medicine. That may include important medical knowledge and developments. It may just be about my life on the path to medicine. Whatever it entails, I hope it's not too dull, lol. If you have any medical questions or suggestions of what to write about, let me know and I'll do it in an upcoming Medical Mondays posting!

Abortion is something that elicits a reaction from a lot of people. I know that people have some strong opinions about it. I'm going to share mine at risk of backlash from those who feel opposite from me, but here goes.

I think abortion is a good advance in medicine, except when it's used as a form of birth control. That's why God made condoms and birth control pills and the like. One doesn't need to destroy her uterus because she couldn't get the man to put on a condom.

Despite the characterization of the women who get abortions, they are not callous bitches who think it's hip or cool to destroy life. They are people who are carrying life in their wombs and make a decision that it's not their time to have this baby. I personally think it's their choice and their right. For people who make their decisions on abortions to try and force those decisions onto other people isn't right. I think that applies to someone who tries to encourage abortion over adoption and it applies to someone who holds up a sign saying "God hates you for what you're doing" outside and abortion clinic.

Also, the decision to be anti-abortion is often based on a person's moral, ethical, or religious beliefs. In a country as diverse as this one, why is it fair that your moral beliefs outweight mine? I don't think they do. But that's why I wouldn't live in a state with crappy abortion laws. Crappy tax laws is about as much as I can take. But men can decide they don't want to be fathers with ease. They find out a woman is pregnant and they can just walk away; women didn't have that option until abortion came along. I'm not saying walking away is a good thing, I'm just saying it's a person's right. No one should be forced to be a parent. No one should be forced to be pregnant.

My personal beliefs about my body and abortion: I am not ready for a baby now. If I were pregnant, I would consider abortion. I doubt I'd actually go through with it, but it's not in my very specific family plan. I don't have any children, and unless I was in a stable relationship, I wouldn't want any.

My one regret about withdrawing from medical school is that I won't be able to perform abortions. I was going to be an OB/GYN and I was going to perform abortions. I wasn't going to have a full blown abortion clinic, but thankfully there are several states where you don't have to have one of those to be an abortion doctor. I just feel that in terms of women's health, it would've been a good thing to provide as many services as possible. I wouldn't have gone around encouraging women to get abortions, but I would've been there if that's the difficult conclusion they came to.

If I made an abortion law, most women would not be allowed to get an abortion past 8 weeks of pregnancy (that counts from conception, not last mentrual period). Week 8 is when the baby has nerves and organs and things that would make getting ripped apart pretty awful. And Week 8 is when the mother has missed two periods. She has had time to figure out something is amiss with her body and decide what to do. The exceptions would be rape and incest if she was prevented from coming to the doctor. Another bid excpetion would be in cases where carrying the baby poses a life-threatening risk to the mother or when a birth defect will significantly decrease a child's life quality/length. The same way a very religious mother can go against all doctor's advice and carry a baby that she knows will kill her to deliver, a not-so-religious mother should have the right to not carry a baby she knows will kill her to deliver.

The moral of the story is: I would pack my bags and move to a different state if I were a resident of Oklahoma or Nebraska. I don't plan on getting pregnant. But very few people who get abortions planned on it, and I wouldn't want to risk my entire future because some religious assholes in my state's Congress decided for me what I can do with my body.

In My 20s Tuesday!!

In My 20s Tuesday is all about things that should matter (maybe) to someone in their 20s. It's about life as we head into real adulthood. It's about laying the groudwork for a life: starting a career, setting up a home, starting a life with someone, etc. It's about things that will affect our lives down the road: politics, current events, pop culture, etc. Well, it's not about all those things at once (that'd be near impossible, lol). But hopefully it will reach someone in their 20s who's looking for someone to feel them and what they're going through. Here goes!

 
This post is about the moment I decided I wasn't going to be a typical black woman and get offended and upset at the sight/idea of an inter-racial couple, specifically a black man with a white woman.
 
I think this is important because the generations are supposed to get better. The social differences that made the races so divided when my parents were my age (the mid 70s) should improve with time, I think. And this was inspired because I just spent a few hours reading the entire archive of snafu's blog, and that girl certainly has a love for my brothas.
 
Possibly-too-much-honesty-warning!! I had a conversation once with the Ex about how inter-racial dating made me sick to my stomach. His last girlfriend before me was white. And the thought of them together literally made me sick to my stomach. I actually told him this, a sign that we were far too comfortable being completely honest with each other. I guess that was a good thing, whatever. I also had a reaction like that while out with Light (another ex who I've mentioned before on my other blog) to a black man and white woman kissing. I really didn't see any problem with my reaction, I was just one of tons of American black women who felt that way. I wasn't particularly upset about it personally because I didn't specifically know any brothas dating a white woman who I wanted for myself, so I never even though to say they were "taking our men from us".
 
But, the year I started medical school this all changed. I started down in Urbana-Champaign (U of I has a weird process for campuses for med school), the apparent Illinois capital of inter-racial relationships. They were everywhere! I saw all types of combinations of inter-racial couples with blacks, whites, Latinos, and Asians. And they were all ages, teenagers all the way to old as hell. I was confronted with the reason for my bias. It was because I had subconsciously picked up on an explanation for black men's desires to date white women.
 
This book I love that I can't remember the name of but dealth with race relations in post-riot L.A. One of the black men in the book desired to date black women because of rejection he felt by black women all his life because they found him too dark skinned and ugly throughout his youth. That plus he felt like he was making up for lost time of equality as an African-American male. I think that notion disgusted me more than seeing any inter-racial couple ever could. But I realized that was a fictional character in a book, and hopefully (and likely) not even a small portion of black men who consistently dated white women.
 
And when confronted with the notion that I wasn't against all inter-racial couples, I felt like a hypocritical asshole. And then I saw this family in Wal-Mart. They were adorable. They seemed like such a loving, happy family. I had such an emotional reaction to them, wishing for my future and the family I wanted to have. Then I noticed something. It was a white woman with her black husband, and three tiny mixed race children. That was an afterthought. "An afterthought!" I felt triumphant that I had inadvertently conquered this ridiculous bigoted notion I was feeling. I had stopped having a physical reaction to couples. I was just able to see them as regular people who had no effect on my life or my stomach.
 
I have to agree with snafu that there is something so visually appealing about the contrast of skin close together. I'm sort of a mid tone-skinned black woman. My skin looks dark next to a white person or light-skinned black person. But I look lighter when next to a dark-skinned black person. This would explain why I like my white men to look very white, not tan at all (and hopefully with blonde hair and blue/green eyes. And I like my black men to be dark skinned (and hopefully with full lips and soulful eyes).
 
But the point is that I took a step away from the ignorant inclinations of many black women before me. If this starts spreading, perhaps we can take a step forward in race relations in this country that my parents never dreamed of (because they weren't counting their contribution to it, but I digress). And in times like these, where Arizona is losing it's damn mind, it's good to take steps forward, instead of backwards.

UPDATE: I've seen two other really good posts about what's going on in AZ here and here. And not just the posts, the comments.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday

This the first Stream of Consciousness I'm actually writing on a Saturday. If you've looked at my other blogs with Stream of Consciousness tags, you know there's no rhyme or reason, I just write as things come to mind. There's no particular order to the blog posting.

Something I left out of my blog yesterday because I wanted to talk about it today has been weighing heavily on my heart. In the middle of my talk with Top, trying to explain to her the big decision I've recently made, she abruptly got off the phone with me to deal with an emergency her roommate was having. When she called me back to tell me what happened with him, I was ashamed to be an American.

Her roommate, whom we'll call Lee, had just returned from a trip to Canada. He is Lebanese. Apparently to some people, that is synonymous with Muslim extremist terrorist type (even though no Lebanese person has ever been responsible for any attacks on America). He often gets stopped at airports because of his name, and so he's used to that. But this time, they checked his ticket, saw he was headed to NYC, and freaked out. They searched him, his bags, and began interrogating him, for hours. He was travelling with a friend, as classmate of his from grad school. She missed her plane waiting for him. They sent her a fake letter that was supposed to be from him saying it was fine to get on the plane and head back to America.

While they were interrogating him, they went to his parents' house and his father's store. They interrogated both his parents about their money, their phone calls, and their possibly terrorist son. I know his family and they are such sweet nice people. They are not terrorists. They speak to their family back home because they're close. In case you're wondering, yes the Canadian officials at the airport called the FBI, who was more than happy to start interrogating those family members who are stateside.

They managed to pull up information about phone records, bank records, travel records and say it all points to support for terrorism. They played back recorded phone conversations to the father. What was on these recordings? Things like family members discussing the health of the elders, making plans to visit each other, and updates of performance in school by their children. All of this phone tapping is illegal currently without a warrant, by the way.

They harrassed this entire family for hours because one family member took a trip to Canada to be a part of a perfomance art piece. Being African-American, I'm very familiar with the way this country profiles and discriminates against people who look like me. The classic example is the young black man pulled over on the side of the road because he "fits the description" of a perp for a crime recently committed in the area.

But I have no frame of reference to let me understand why, for any reason, the FBI thinks it's okay to rip someone's phone out of the wall when they try to call their lawyer because they feel that their home has been entered unlawfully and they do not wish to answer any questions because they are being intimidated and threatened.

When Lee walked into his house, he broke down into tears. He was distressed and stressed and sad about what happened. All because he has a name that sounds Muslim. Of all the ignorant things that can happen, this is truly a new low. If they did it to him, they're doing it to other people. This country (and Canada) is fucked up. It just doesn't even make sense. If someone really were a terrorist, would they break down and confess everything because someone stopped them in an airport? Seriously? It just doesn't even make sense that the people in charge truly think these methods have any effect except reducing immigration of entrepreneurs who are contributing quite a bit of money to America (Lee's family is very well off). It makes no sense, and it makes me want to cry to think there's ever a justification for treating people like this.

In My 20s Tuesday!!

So, today is the first one of my In My 20s Tuesday posts! I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out as I test my new idea of having themed days.

In My 20s Tuesday is all about things that should matter (maybe) to someone in their 20s. It's about life as we head into real adulthood. It's about laying the groudwork for a life: starting a career, setting up a home, starting a life with someone, etc. It's about things that will affect our lives down the road: politics, current events, pop culture, etc. Well, it's not about all those things at once (that'd be near impossible, lol). But hopefully it will reach someone in their 20s who's looking for someone to feel them and what they're going through. Here goes!

I didn't want today to be like yesterday when I thought of a lovely topic to write about and then forgot and had to basically type my way into remembering it, lol. There's actually two things I want to talk about. The first is what's going on with China and their treatment of people who fight for human rights. The other is my friend Bad and his issues at work.

First, China is not a democracy, and their leaders have made it clear that they are not interested in becoming a democracy. Whatever one's feelings about America's need to spread democracy everywhere, most Americans will say they are glad we are in a democracy. Well, that probably excludes some Republicans and Tea Partiers who don't like the direction the people they didn't vote for are taking this country in, but I digress. So China has a lawyer named Gao Zhisheng. He has become well-known internationally (please Google him) for his bringing cases to court that fight for Human Rights. China decided he was subverting state power and took action. His wife and children are now residing in America. They just released him after 3 years. People hadn't heard anything from him and thought he might be dead, but couldn't do anything about it. He is trying to fight now for his right to go join his family. He has given up being a lawyer, and has apologized to the people he feels like he is letting down, citing he isn't strong enough to still carry on this fight and wants to be with his family. I hope no one feels like he has let anyone down. I wonder how some of us would react if the Chinese government basically kidnapped us and tortured us for three years (I'm talking electric shocks to the genitals).

But this is important to people in their 20s because the world we live in is changing. America isn't alone is being this super power that runs the globe. China is making headway. It won't be long before their standing right next to us in influence over global policy. I know America has comparable behavior with the whole Guantanamo Bay thing, but we don't have these types of reactions to our own citizens who are fighting for rights (at least not in recent American history). And as much as China has a government that suppresses some human rights, they also have a rich culture and lovely ethnic variability. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks in China in undergrad. It is still one of my favorite experiences in life that I wouldn't trade for almost anything. I did a lot of sightseeing, food tasting, partying, and visiting medical clinics and hospitals. But I'd hate to think what would've happened had I upset some government official with my love for democracy.

It's important to be aware of the world around us and how it changes. These changes will be happening within our lifetime, and that can affect us and our children educationally, economically, and politically.

The second thing I want to talk about is my friend Bad's job. He works for a non-profit and his job has him in charge of a couple of other people and a couple of programs. He is currently looking to hire someone to head up a new nutritional program they're implementing (which incidentally was developed by the medical students at Harvard medical school, where I have two good friends there!). He is interviewing people for the job and hasn't yet found someone he likes. He either has people with the right personality for the job or the right skills for the job, or some combination of the two that isn't about 80% for either one. He's upset because he feels like there should be a better applicant pool seeing as how so many people are unemployed. He's also reminded how glad he is that he has a job that can become a career. It's nice to have job security when people are beefing up their standards based on a presumed availability of qualified applicants. This particular job is at a center that's on the South Side of Chicago, which means the kids the hiree will be looking for a certain swagger to deal with these school age south-siders. They're pretty hard core (and I'm not talking about violence for anyone jumping to conclusions). By the way, if anyone knows someone with nutrition knowledge who's looking for work in the afternoon who can get to the south side of the Chicago, look for the job offering on http://www.careerbuilder.com/.

But this type of life experience should matter to 20-something people, especially those looking to start their careers fresh out of school. People who actually have the means to hire new employees seem to be raising their standards. Their doing this out of an assumption that the applicant base has improved because of increased unemployment. Make sure your resumes are completely on point. Make sure your interview skills are above par. And make sure that when your interview begins, you don't start with "wasssssuuuuuup." Seriously, Bad told me someone did that today. Sigh. My people, my people.

Strip Clubs and Being Judgemental

I don't know what percentage of American men and American women have been to strip clubs, but I am currently interested in that statistic. I'm also interested in finding out what current public opinion is about strip clubs. The recent news story about improper spending by the RNC has brought this to mind. I'm less concerned with what's goin to happen to Michael Steele and more concerned about the open-mindedness of this country.

I've been paying attention to MSNBC, Comedy Central, and ABC when looking at coverage of this story. Mostly because these people don't often say things that piss me off. But what I notice is not so much judgement of the strip club (art interpretation) as judgement of the Republicans. They are supposedly the party of family values, yet they have as many varied and unique scandals as the Democrats. If they were to gain perspective and be more honest about the heterogeneity of their consituents, perhaps they would have more people in their party. Not that I want that, though.

But I don't get why strip clubs are such a bad deal. What do I know? I'm just a liberal Democrat who thinks sexual freedom is important. I think people should have the right to do, and not do, whatever they want. I believe this within reason, no one should be dying from sexual acts or forced to engage in them. If all parties involved are in agreement and enjoyment, who is anybody else to judge what happens?

If I were discovered to have spent a good deal of money at a strip club, I would be furious and indignant towards anyone who tried to judge me. For the record, I am a heterosexual 20-something female and I like strip clubs. I think they're fun. I wouldn't ever go to one for women without at least 10 friends. And I wouldn't ever go to one for men without a heterosexual male or homosexual female by my side. That's how I like it. However someone else likes it is their business.

Perhaps people wouldn't be so over the top about this news story with the RNC if they were a little more honest about their intentions. They want to recruit more donors since Mr. Steele is draining the coffers. One of the people they hired to do that took the potential donors to an interesting location in order to gain their attention and perhaps money. You can't blame them for that, at least I don't. I do however blame them for their constant and mind-boggling hypocrisy.

All this frustration gets me down. I know what would make me feel better, a trip to a strip club with Bad. We always have such fun. We always get adopted by a friendly stripper who's not obsessed with getting a whole bunch of money from us. Conversation skills are important in every industry.

A Conflict of Logic aka No Logic at All

Well, I've been watching the growth of the Tea Party movement. Even though there are a few nuts in the bunch, I've been in favor of its growth for a few reasons. 1) At least they're doing something constructive with their free time (obviously they have lots of free time to show up at the Capitol and peoples' home towns all the time). 2) They're members of the Tea Party and hopefully not one of the other "patriot" groups that have popped up since Obama won the presidency that are actually racist nativist groups. 3) They're making their voices heard in a way that draws attention to an opinion that's opposite from the government majority. Having opposition front and center helps keep those in charge aware that they do not represent everyone, just some people (like me!).

I know that I am a very liberal person, for the most part. I mean, I love the idea of equality being slightly more important than freedom. I am referring to freedom the way the Republicans mean it. As an African-American woman, my idea of freedom concerns a little more than how much I pay in taxes. The fact that I can walk around without someone forcing me to shuck cotton or give up sex without asking permission first is my bigger freedom concern. But, alas, in the eyes of partisan politics, I find equality more important. Through rules and laws about education, health care, taxes, insurance, etc., the government can ensure that those who cannot do for themselves are not left to flail. And the free market never helped anyone but business people. Every single new area of the economy eventually becomes a monopoly in some part of America.
But, on the other hand, I think I'd like to have lots of guns, and I'm quite sure I don't want anyone to take them away. Now, what makes me liberal is the knowledge that as long as I'm not a convict or a person with some diagnosis from the Psych section of the DSM-IV, I can have those guns with a permit from my state. I don't think the government wants to take my guns. They don't. Gun control laws are sometimes a bit over-reaching. But they're not trying to take away my guns. That's just silly.
Also, I'm pro-abortion. Yup, I am strongly pro-abortion. I think that men can decide to not be a father with relative ease. Claim the baby isn't theirs, simply walk away, dodge a paternity test. There are all sorts of creative ways to avoid the burden. Women can't just walk away from being pregnant. Oh wait, they can! The idea of not being a parent should be equal opportunity. I would bet the entire cost of my medical education that if men were still the majority of our leaders and also the ones who had to be pregnant, abortion would be so legal, it would become recommended. The birth rate would decline, and white people would've been the American minority years ago. But I digress. The moral of that digression: I'm mostly liberal, but that doesn't mean I cannot understand the motivation behind people I completely disagree with standing up for what they believe in.
The Tea Party-ers want less government. They want the government to stop forcing taxes on them that pay for services and things. They feel that if left alone, they could face these problems themselves and come up with a viable solution. They are Libertarians and they want to be left alone. But the cognitive dissonance they engage in is too much for me to bear. This article I've linked to on the New York Times website finally confirms some things I've suspected about the Tea Party-ers.
1) There would be far less of them if unemployment weren't so bad. Most of the people quoted in this article cite joining the cause because they had time on their hands since being forced into retirement/being laid off.
2) They are relying on government help while also decrying it. Most of the Tea Party members are receiving unemployment, Medicare, and Social Security benefits. They denounce public benefits as "false philanthropy." This is an extra-special kind of cognitive dissonance. The fact that they receive these benefits is what allows them to continue to feed themselves and keep a roof over their heads while they protest the exact things keeping them afloat. I'll also bet large amounts of money that you'll never see a sign that says "Take Away My Unemployment Benefits and Stop Footing the Bill Now That I've Lost My Health Insurance."
3) They don't pay attention to the facts when they form their opinions. There is a quote from a man who is upset about lack of regulation by the government. At the same time he is protesting involvement. Let me say that again. “The government has allowed free trade and never set up any rules.” This while also lamenting government involvement. Yup, some serious cognitive dissonance.
"He and others do not see any contradictions in their arguments for smaller government even as they argue that it should do more to prevent job loss or cuts to Medicare. After a year of angry debate, emotion outweighs fact."
They acknowledge they aren't looking at the facts. But they don't care. They want what they want and they want it now. Give them more protection from unemployment. Secure their Medicare and Social Security. And do all of it while lowering their taxes and being less involved in their lives. Stop paying welfare rolls and divvying up money for education.
This amounts to a very selfish mindset. They want less government for everything except what would help them. That's how I sum up the situation. They want the government to help them, only in certain situations, and they want the government to not help anyone else.

Healthcare Reform

Why is it that every person I see on Fox News who lambastes healthcare reform all have healthcare already? It's either old people benefiting from the wonders of Social Security and Medicare, or the anchors etc. who all have insurance from FOX. These people are ridiculous. I wonder how they would feel if they were in the position that most people my age are in.

Affording health insurance in your 20s is damn near impossible unless you're still on your parents insurance, a student, married to someone with a real job, or lucky enough to have a job that covers your or be able to afford it yourself.

The likelihood of falling into that category of being able to afford it is so rare. And even if you can afford health insurance, you probably can't afford great health insurance. And if you want to add dental and eye coverage too? Forget about it, hardly ever gonna happen.

But some people in this country would like us to believe that it is better to keep things the way they are. This is the first generation that isn't expected to out-live, out-earn, or otherwise out-prosper our parents. Social Security won't be there when I retire (unless some big changes are made). Health Insurance has become somewhat ubiquitous globally, at least for countries that are similar to the USA. Why is it really that Republicans don't want to make this country more healthy? Why do they think it's better to leave so many people without even the chance to have insurance?

From what I've been learning in my training towards becoming a doctor, if I'm a primary care doctor, I am pretty much guaranteed a lower salary if this legislation passes. Even with more people going to the doctor, I couldn't personally see more than a certain amount of patients and I'd be getting reimbursed less money from the government? I say so what? I think I'll live if my 6-figure salary ends up a little smaller but less people in this country go bankrupt because of health bills they couldn't possibly hope to afford.

I honestly believe that if most of the people who are against health reform actually knew what was in the bill, they'd be all for it. Keeping companies from preying on the insured, making sure pre-existing conditions get coverage too, lowering premiums to a more affordable level. Who wouldn't want that? Seriously, who?