Movin' Out (Of the Country)

Although there have been many issues and happenings going on the the world that have my noggin all a flutter, I have been a bit too busy to blog these days. My apologies.

I have decided to move to Costa Rica to teach English as a foreign language. I actually decided this a few months back, but it's only recently that I've got the ball rolling. I am leaving my job (!!!) at the end of April and leaving for Latin America in Mid-May.

I have twenty-eight work days left. I decided today that I'd start a countdown to my last day. I'm not sure if that'll make the last month here more or less bearable, but I can't tell you how glorious it is to have an end in site. It's even more glorious/exciting to have a new beginning on the horizon. (Did I really just say "new beginning on the horizon"? Yeah. I'm just that excited.)

This big move has yet to really sink in, so right now I'm focusing on the present reality- tying up loose ends and spending as much quality time with all the people I'm lucky enough to love in the Chicago area.

More posts to follow...like about HEALTHCARE! Y'all know I have somethin' to say about that!

Priceless

Check this out, courtesy of The Seminal...

The MasterCard Commercial

I'd Like to See

Amount spent each year in Europe and the United States on pet food: $17 billion

Cost per year to achieve basic health and nutrition for the entire world: $13 billion

Amount spent on perfumes each year: $12 billion

Clean water for all the world: $9 billion

Amount spent on cosmetics in the US: $8 billion

Basic education for the world’s children: $6 billion

Total amount the US spends on Christmas each year: $450 billion (or 16 years worth of food, water, and education for the world)

Initial cost of the US Government bailout of failing financial institutions: $700 billion (or 25 years worth of food, water, and education for the world)

Coming to grips with the alarming disconnects of our consumerist society: Priceless

FRIDAY THE 12TH!

Aww, shucks! No killin' today...

My friend Wayne posted this on Facebook today. Thanks, Wayne!

Happy Friday the 12th, y'all!

(AND happy birthday to my cousin Courtney!)

Verse to the Wise

Courtesy of Wisdom Bits.

Are you READY?!

Every time I see ads for "ready.gov", I feel weird; not in that "Government, stop! You're EMBARRASSING me!" kind of way, but in the "I think this is an example of fear mongering" kind of way.

I'm glad someone has decided to make fun of it...

Check out Homeland.gov.safenow.org, an amusing commentary on some of the "WARNING" notices on ready.gov.

War Made Easy

Hi, it's me again. I'm just here to tell you that I just watched the documentary,

War Made Easy:

How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning us to Death.

I liked it and think that you should watch it too!

(It's only 72 minutes!)

A snippet from its website synopsis:

"War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq."

I knew about the general idea behind the film beforehand, but it's compiled in such a way that it helps to bring it all together. By "it" I mean the United States' LTR with war. If the USA were on Facebook, its relationship status would probably say "In a relationship with War". As Americans, we're supposed to accept this relationship as a MUST. They must NEVER break up because if they do, no one will do what America tells them to anymore. Of course, the main-stream media is along for the ride on the big ole war bandwagon. When the US and War host keggers, the press supply the red cups.

You get the point.

The film consistently references Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s fervent opposition to militarism and it closes with an audio excerpt from his 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, so I decided to read it myself. It is (not surprisingly) stirring and eloquent.

Here's an excerpt:

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

It seems as though our nation has continued down this destructive path that he so purposefully warned us against. What would Dr. King make of all this now?

Sick Day

I am currently enduring a pesky case of the common cold. I think I'll live, but considering that my head feels like it may implode at any moment, I'm a bit lethargic today.

Anyway, here are some fascinating finds from my stuffy-headed time on the world wide web today:

** This reminds me of something I would have thought was the most wonderful thing in the entire world when I was six years old- Falling Down the Guggenheim Museum Wall.

** Not surprised by the list, but I like the captions- The 11 Most Ironically Banned Books of All Time.

** Hey, want to waste time making noise/music on the internet?- inudge.net

** The Super Bowl is kinda gross- Half-naked Hot Chicks and Beer: The Sexist Guyland of the Super Bowl Beer Commercial.

** Anyone think that's kind of odd?- More Blackwater Contractors Than Cops in Pakistan's Capitol.