Louis C K was visiting Conan O’Brian some weeks ago talking about that we might need some of the problems with our economy that we have now.
I think he’s on to something here. This is extremely apparent when it comes to Iceland, a country that has turned from being a poor icy rock in the middle of nowhere to being one of the richest countries in the world in about 50-40 years. How amazing isn’t that?? Last year, Iceland was around 50 % richer than the US counted BNP per capita. Breath guys, relax and think about the AMAZING things we’ve achieved!
Let’s go out and beat down some doomsday profets!
Take a look at this though … it’s hilarious! (btw, I just learned how to embed youtube clips to my site. I guess this is just another thing of our development that just happened to pass me by. I’m posting a clip from a TV-show that was aired in a country many hundreds of miles away from my home and I’m posting it on some sort of digital bulletin board, apparently known as a “blog”? And in a few seconds people from China, Norway, and Greenland will come to MY personal “blog” and read about my ideas and watch this clip?? Just put that into the perspective Lous CK is presenting and take a minute to think about it. You’ll be amazed as well …)
Pro libertate nostra 
Great perspective.
Thank you, I thought so myself :). How are you guys “downunder” experiencing this “crisis”? Does it affect Australia as well? I know very little of that part of the world, I’m afraid :S.
Even out here in the wilds, we are feeling the effects. There has been company downsizing leading to job losses, discussion on cutting migrant intakes, universities who have lost 2 – 5% of their budgets as a result of share market losses, and so on.
For the average person on the street, the most obvious result so far could be the $20 billion worth of frozen funds. Because the government has guaranteed certain banks, people have removed funds en masse from the non-guaranteed institutions to the guaranteed ones – resulting in the freezing of accounts.
It is frustrating that if we had to have an economic crisis, we had to have it under this present government. They have a rotten history of throwing money without aiming. Although dumping bucket loads of money into welfare may get you votes, I fail to see how it shores up the economy.
The government has announced a $10.4 billion “economic stimulus package”, $8.7 billion of which is to go directly to pensioners and low income earners in the form of a one off payment. While I am no economist, I can’t help thinking that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of. The pensioners (old age, single mothers, dole bludgers, carers, sick, pretending to be sick, etc) are the one group of people whose income is already guaranteed.
It’s hard to forecast how it will all play out, but the government, in the attempt to look like it is doing something useful, has just spent half of the budget surplus on the above mentioned package. Time will tell.
Beyondbluestockings- you’re in Australia?! Cooool. That’s so bizaar, everything you are uncomfortable with there are all the same things I am uncomfortable with here in America. We had our own stimulus package, but I believe our number was $150 Billion. The first day I heard of it my first response was “that’s stupid”. I am still enraged about it, even though the government sent me a check for $600. It made absolutely no sense to me to go blow money. And I didn’t need it. Why didn’t they call it a “Pay-back-your-debt Stimulus Package”? There is some logic to the idea of pumping money into businesses, keeping them strong and keeping the economy moving. I think that was the bigger issue here. Our debt has gotten so out of control no one wants to buy anything anymore, so our businesses are starting to hurt because of it. Many are starting to go out of business. And if you check out parts of our country where the industries that funded the community have been outsourced… it’s a sad sight. That in particular is due to the Clinton Administration, not W. Bush’. Clinton signed NAFTA.
Anyways, the stimulus package is foolish, and Obama was saying he wanted to have another one soon. Funny, we criticize politicians who are bought, but we let our politicians buy us! A little ironic, yes? Even if we just took that money and handed it straight over to China to begin to pay back our debt. But now I almost view debt as free money. We are NEVER going to be able to pay back what we owe, and it doesn’t seem like anyone is ever going to force us to. Wow, that’s an idea to swallow.
I’m sorry to be writing my entire own blog here, but I gotta address some of your issues, they are mirrors of my region of the world. In America, the richest people are our poorest. You got it, the people who already recieve gov’t funding are now going to recieve more just to blow? Doesn’t seem fair to me either. I believe in hard work and earning your way. I believe in personal responsibility, and I feel entitled to nothing I didn’t earn. As a matter of fact, when I recieve things I don’t feel I deserve I feel guilty. That’s a key difference between me and many Americans. Kind of sad. This video is perfect, explains Americans to a T. Great video for your new tech debut, Carl :). I love America, but we are a country full of fat pockets on fat people. Over consumptuous and impatient. It gets worse by the days. I still find amazement in buildings. They are unreal. Airconditioning amazes me. I know these are things I could never create myself, and I view them as priveleges, not entitlements. Plus, I’m a simplist.
I honestly know nothing about Australian politics. Not unlikely here in America. What are some of the heated issues in your part of the world? I’m very interested.
CARL: Conan is my absolute favorite! If I had television I would watch his show religiously. Funniest bastard in the curcuit.
Thanks for havin my back over there! I was going to come harrass you to help a sista out the other day, but I remember you said you had a paper due tomorrow? Didn’t want to bother you. Hope it went well!
Hi Elizabeth,
I’m sure Carl won’t mind if we just borrow his space for a minute..
I haven’t had enough coffee to guarantee the math, but your $600 is about equal to our $1000 payment to each person receiving govt assistance in Australia. Perhaps our very unoriginal Prime Minster simply “borrowed” the idea?
Your comment about the “rich poor” is so true. This has baffled me. We have recent retirees whose funds are frozen, and they are directed to go to Centerlink (our welfare dept) for assistance if they are in hardship as a result of frozen funds. So they suffer the degradation of seeking welfare, only to be told that they do not qualify because of their assets.
So we have people who have worked hard all their lives, and had the forethought to provide for the future, only to be denied access to the funds to live on, and are therefore forced to suffer hardships. On the other hand, we have paint sniffers, teenage girls who have babies so they can avoid school/work and be paid for it, and folk who just don’t like working, and they, just for existing, will be awarded a $1000 pay cheque from the government. Crazy. (sorry, I just may have been slipping into rant mode there..)
Hot issues here? The economic crisis is predominant, but another issue for the average person is our water crisis. Here again, a source of great frustration in the way the government has handled things. Grrr! For years, it was prohibited for those in the city to have a water tank. When the water issue was so desperate that we were being told that we would have to drink re-cycled sewerage (tempting eh?) the govt. offered a $1000 rebate to anyone who put in a water tank. The retarded part comes with the prohibition on drinking the rainwater from your tank. You are allowed to use it on your garden, or for washing only. Then, as an added bonus, when many had installed the tanks, they announce a new tax for anyone who has one. Surprise! Because if the city has to pay for water infrastructure, you are obliged to pay you part, even if you are now using less of it. Oh the inanity of it all!
Health and education are issues as well. As a homeschooler, it was very hard not to roll my eyes recently when the “big news” was announced that English grammar was making a come back to the school curriculum .
As we study Latin, a comprehensive English program is essential for understanding. I had to fight hard to have my English program approved a year ago, because it was considered too grammar heavy, and children don’t really need to learn grammar anymore. This recent move is touted as the saviour of literacy, but is really just one more example (however worthy) of fashion in education that will no doubt pass, and why education experts are not always the most qualified to choose for all.
On a larger level, the government, despite enormous opposition from it’s citizens, are earmarking small schools for destruction, in favour of building “super schools”. I cringe, I shudder. I will resist ranting.
On a minority interest level, legislation is changing fast regarding abortion; adoption for gays; IVF for lesbians; gay marriage, etc. I don’t think any of these issues are unique to Australia.
Carl, that may have taken more than a minute, but since you’re busy with your paper anyway…
BeyondBlues…
If I do say so myself I just wrote an entry that entailed humor, tragedy, compassion, greed and pure poetic genius. Then my laptop died. And it probably didn’t contain all those things anyways. Let me try again, while still attempting to capture my genuity… (I’m just trying to use big words).
For starters, I’ve never had enough coffee for anything. I’m trying to fix my addiction to tea. I’m weening myself from Diet Coke as we speak.
I cannot believe the battles you guys are having with water! H2O? That’s ridiculous. In the U.S. we have been making a hyperbolic analogy about what will take us to war next…”What’s the next resource we are going to go to war over… water?” But apparently you already have started a battle for it in your country.
Likely. Have the government lead you to believe you are getting a reduced price for helping, then charge you more somewhere else. Therefore, the government still breaks even. Deception comes in all nationalities.
I am with you 100% on government programs. I am a realist. Not an exceptionalist. Not an idealist. Yes, I want my young, my sick, and my old to be taken care of. But the key word there is MY. My choice, my dollar. I believe freedom to work is the freedom to spend. The less control I have over what I earn, the less free I am. I don’t know what makes me more angry… people who feel entitled to governement services, or people who know how to manipulate the system. In America, we have any opportunity available to anyone who seeks it out. The problem is, people wait for the opportunity to come to them. Laziness has plagued my great nation. Yes, some of life is all who ya know… but what do you do with that relationship? At the end of the day, you either picked up the phone to keep that contact and relation or you didn’t. I credit my gains and losses to myself. I believe in personal responsibility. I feel entitled to nothing, except justice when I am stolen from.
I’ll make this language bit as quick as I can… I was at an Obama Rally in Des Moines, IA a few months back, and I got to hang out with the press. I met an international correspondent from Milan, Italy. I told him I want to do what he does when I grow up, but due to my minimal french I don’t think I would get that far. He said to me, “You don’t need to learn anyone else’s language, they have learned yours.”
I think this was supposed to encourage me, but instead it made me feel arrogent and superficial. I don’t know that America realizes the hurdle we are going to have to over come with language. When the business language of the world switches to mandarin, we’re screwed. Those with foreign language will climb the corporate ladder, as they have already begun. I won’t go into the dominoe effect we could experience not being in touch with the language of the world when everyone decides they don’t need english anymore. But I feel it could be devistating. On a lighter note, I think the grammatic problems we face are from 1) less structure in school and 2) text messaging! Soon we will have a stenographic texting language. Good for you to challenge… so are you the homeschool teacher? Do you just teach your children or you teach others as well? How is the education system in Australia?
As far as gay rights and abortion goes in America, its never going to change, you can always seek out what you’d like in the states, and the candidates only mention these issues as hot topic issues. Simply to get votes for people that are totally unaware of our national security risks, the potential collapse or our economy, and the fact that we are in a war. But hey, I’m not one to criticize priorities.
Have a beautiful day downunder! It’s freezing in Iowa City, Iowa, USA!
Poor blossom. You did a great job of reconstructing your entry that entailed humour, tragedy, compassion, greed and pure poetic genius. 😉
Your hyperbolic analogy is funny 🙂
We have recently had fluoride added to our meagre supply of water. Not that anyone wanted that either, but it does give our aluminium industry somewhere to dump waste. 🙄
“You don’t need to learn anyone else’s language, they have learned yours.”
Ouch!
I have friends who are bi or multi-lingual (not born here), and I do feel like a vegetable in comparison. Is a second language compulsory in your school system? It is not here, though most schools offer it from primary school.
I was at a loss when first considering incorporating LOTE (language other than English) into our curriculum. You can drive for a week in a straight line here, and you’re still in the same country, speaking the same language. Which LOTE would be most beneficial to learn? With my children’s futures still a mystery, I chose Latin. As the basis of the Romance languages, it gives them a head start should they need or desire to learn them. But sure and that won’t help us if the world changes to Mandarin 😉
I teach only my own children. We have a variety of education choices; public, Catholic, Christian, with a smattering of Steiner/Waldorf, Montessori, etc. There is a constant wailing over literacy and numeracy standards, and with the plan to bring in super schools, I can’t seriously see that improving.
I don’t understand how the changes crept in, but somewhere along the line we went from giving children a percentage grade based on what they actually achieved, to a vague, meaningless reporting system that fails to reflect the knowledge deficit that schools are perpetuating. The English curriculum the education overseer recommended to me came with literature I would consider to be two grades below the level we had been working at. It’s not that I think my students are so remarkable, (though they’re pretty cute) but I think the education dept has encroached so far into parent’s territory on subjects to teach, and so far into social programming, that time for learning knowledge with meaning is diminished. Expectations on students learning are alarmingly low.
I thank God I have the option to homeschool, but I sympathize with those who need to use the public system.
Enjoy your freezing day!
Beyondbluestockings, from gloriously sunny Australia 😀
I would almost consider that last over-enthusiastic smile a bit gloatacious. I think I made up that word, I’m on a diction role today! I had to stop at Active Endeavors (outdoor apparel) to buy some new gloves, hat and insolation today on the way home from school- I’ve recently moved to go to school at the Unversity of Iowa, and I left half my life back home in Des Moines, including all my warm gear.
I went to school at a public school, but in Iowa our public schools have very good reputations. The more inner city or big city you get in America, particularly on the coasts, parents who can afford it will send their kids to private schools, because the public schools tend to be deemed unsafe and the amount of extra curricular (i.e. sports, groups, activities…) are next to zero, which gives kids no incentive to go to school or do well in school.
In Iowa, we began the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. I don’t know that the whole country still takes these tests, but even my mom took them when she was a little girl in Oregon. It was the standard of education that all students were supposed to be on. As a matter of fact, in the past few years America has put on new quarters (25 cent coins) and there are 50 different versions, all with a different state logo on them. Iowa’s is “Foundation in Education” and we have a little school on ours 🙂
Lately, America has taken notice to an alarming decrease in education ranking to the world. We’ve even had commercials about it, where the American flag is the last of like 20 to be hung up the flag pole. It’s very disturbing, but its something we need to face now.
Kids that are graduating high school now have been taking spanish since elementary school. I can’t say that for my generation. But we had mandatory two years of foreign language in high school, and two years foreign language in college. I’ve personally had five years of french, but I’ve only been to one french speaking country, France. I suppose one great benefit to America is that we have every language represented among us. Carl and I have thoroughly discussed multi national societies, right Carl ;)? We are not a melting pot, but a salad bowl, and many different cultures practice and infiltrate here. It’s a beautiful thing, but I’m sure very different than when you might live in a nation of one flavor. We’re like Baskin Robbins. We have 31 flavors. (Do you guys have baskin robbins ice cream? Probably a terrible analogy).
What does the genetic make-up of Australia look like? If my memory serves me correct, isn’t Australia made up of the outlaws of England? That’s pretty awesome. I think we all had our own battles against the monarch :D!
Gloatacious… It has a ring to it, yes. 😀
I love the weather here, and although snow looks like fun, and our MN buddies have sent us some spectacular photos, I don’t think I would cope with all that cold for more than just a visit. If it gets down to 10 or under (Celsius), it’s a major talking point.
I can imagine you would be proud of your state’s coin. Foundation in Education is a worthwhile contribution to your country.
I wonder, maybe it was the world wars that began the decline? It’s a wild guess, mere speculation, but I wonder if in the face of such world shaking events, education took a back seat, and we didn’t come back from that? Just a thought.
The outlaws of England, that’s priceless! It’s true, yes, we started as a penal colony. We also have a large blend of nationalities, depending on what part of the country you visit. With the gold rushes, we had large influxes of immigrants. Italians, Irish, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Dutch and South Africans are all well represented. In some country areas there are large pockets that were settled by German immigrants.
I like the benefits of a multi-cultural society, but I consider there are also drawbacks. With the increase in Islamic immigrants, we have the issue of demands for the right to acknowledge and practice Sharia Law in Australia. I find this an unacceptable idea! I have also seen an erosion of Australian culture in the name of political correctness, which can leave me gritting me teeth a little.
It’s funny, but the conclusion of our discussion with our MN friends about their patriotic mania, (well, it seems a little manic to us 😛 ) was that you had to wrestle your right to govern from England with some bloody battles. We on the other hand, have had it easier (as is often the case with younger siblings 😉 ) So we don’t have that huge need to distance ourselves from our Monarch, though the republic v’s monarchy issue for Australia is one of those things not everyone agrees on.
Oh, and we do have Baskin Robbins 🙂
I’m so glad you have Baskin Robbins. But now I’m disgusted a chain has made it’s way all the way around the world. I boycotted WalMart year ago, and as much as I honestly love all 31 flavors, and the ice cream cones they turned upside down to look like clowns, I now have to boycott BR as well. Bummer.
Other things I boycott: Styrofoam and plastic bags (as best I can).
Yes, we did have some bloody battles to have ownership of our country, but now with our deficit we don’t exactly own it anymore. We fought for it, then we sold it. I was in England this summer and went to Glastonbury Festival (madness). I saw a girl that had an English flag in pink monochromatics and was draggin it all over the place. I watched in horror, I was appauled! I asked all my English friends what she thought she was doing, and they thought I was crazy!! Lol! The said you can throw it on the ground and stomp on it if you like. We can’t let it touch the ground alone, but tainting it pink? That would not fly here. Something to keep in mind about our flag is it’s still new, and we continue to add to it. Each state becomes a star. So Hawaii and Alaska are new to our country, but this is the way we show to be united. The thirteen stripes stands for the thirteen original colonies. What is the story behind the Australian flag? And you too CARL, what is the story behind the Iceland flag? I don’t even know what the Iceland flag looks like, actually.
What is Sharia Law? I’ve never heard of it. Are Australians allowed to practice religion freely? Or is Sharia Law in regards to Islamic can follow their own laws? Please elaborate.
I went on CNN today, but they are not airing it until this weekend, I will send you guys the link once they do. I listened to your advice BLUES. But I’ve tried to talk about NAFTA before on CNN, and the issue gets brushed under the rug, kind of makes me agitated. Obama has no policy in place at all for NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). It’s actually one of my most heated topics. But that’s for another blog another day, only if you’re interested in it. I used a web cam, as did the other three guests, and this is the first time this form of round table has ever been attempted! I made history today! But they have some technical difficulties to work out… that’s why my audio is me on my cell phone for the whole thing! HA! Oh that’s kind of embarrassing.
Oh, we wouldn’t go that far with a flag. I have never seen one defaced like you describe: even I would flinch at that.
Ours is not a particularly deep and meaningful representation. We have the union jack as part of our heritage of course, and the stars you see grouped are the Southern Cross, a constellation you can see from this end of the world. The seven point star represents the states of federation, and one star being allocated as representative of the territories.
Never mind Baskin Robbins, do you know the worst US import we have? It has to be Macdonalds!! That is really evil stuff! I had to attend a meeting there once, and I was staggered to read a poster which said, “Our buns (breadrolls) now with less sugar”.
Less sugar? In a bun? I’m talking about the thing you put a burger in. Why would it ever have sugar in the first place? Baffling.
We do have freedom of religion here, except for some relatively new legislation that has been very vexatious. Two Christian ministers were jailed for holding a seminar during which they explained (their views) on Islam. This new legislation allowed them to be prosecuted for hateful speaking about religion, or some such ridiculous thing. It was a very nasty business.
Sharia Law is what I loosely term the “Women have no rights and we can treat them like chattels” law. It is part of the religious baggage that comes with Islam, where state and church are one. The Islamic community here is wanting the right to settle civil issues using their own court systems, so that women who are being divorced can received nothing (as opposed to our courts, where each case is viewed individually and women don’t do so badly) and for settling issue of inheritance, and other family financial matters, where a person would be disadvantaged for leaving the muslim faith.
It’s not just Australia, so I am surprised you have not heard about this issue. It was raised in Britain also, I would imagine it has cropped up in the US?
Archbishop Rowan Williams ( a complete clod, if this quote is anything to go by) said in a radio interview that allowing Islamic Sharia law to operate in some circumstances could help improve Britain’s flagging social cohesion.
What a completely ridiculous thing to say. This poor man is obviously clueless. How would having parallel law systems, discriminating on the basis of gender, race and religion, possibly give the country a more cohesive social system? Thankfully, Australia has not yet reached the point where PC has turned our brains to mush. The appeal was rejected here – for now.
I’ll be interested to watch your interview Elizabeth, keep us posted 🙂
Oh. Oh the irony. Oh. I just did it again. A novel I tell ya, a novel. Then I hit backspace, and it took me to the last page. Then I hit forward but no. Nothing. A lonely, vulnerable blank comment.
Whew. OK. Again. This time in reverse order.
McD’s needs to go period! It’s taken over the world. But it never will, the fatties keep eatin it! Another one for my boycott list is Starbuck’s. The last thing I want to see on the Royal Mile is a Starbuck’s. But low and behold, there it was in Edinbourgh, Scotland. Made me want to vomit. And it was right next to an adorable floral shop I could have seen myself working in for the rest of my life.
Due to America’s Freedom of Speech, we would never arrest someone simply for speaking their mind, unless it was a direct threat to a person, place or our government. For this reason as well, I do not ever see Sharia Law poppin up in the states. I just googled it to see if I was completely unaware of it in my country (like I have been about many other things) and to my relief all I found was articles titles “Sharia Law Creeping into America”. You have the mind of a journalist. 🙂
I did not think this is something we would adopt. Because of our multicultural society and freedom of speech and religion, we would face serious problems if we allowed on culture group to practice their own laws. I can’t imagine the insanity that would follow, because then every other group would expect the same, or they would all ban against it because it would be deemed “unconstitutional”. We hear this term probably once a day. It’s constitutional or unconstitutional. We try to play by the rules of this document, and every argument is formed over this three hundred year old writing (which my Uncle signed). It’s been ammended and ratified over the years, and we continue to argue its premise. But I consider myself constitutional.
Seperation for cohesion? Uhhh… stooop-id. I would like to make less Isreals in the world, thank you very much.
I know this sounds stupid, but who is the leader of Australia? We just learned this the other day in my Foreign Policy class, and you would be surprised (or maybe not 😉 of the dumbfound looks on my classmates faces (and mine) when we were asked. OK, off to write another paper! Have a beautiful day!
beyond: You’re right, homosexual rights is a thing that is undertaking a change in most countries currently, or at least in the modern civilized world.
Lizz: Ya, Conan is great :). I think he’s really funny. He became popular here in Scandinavia because of him saying that he was the look-alike to the Finnish President Tarja Halonen. 🙂 He even went there endorsing her re-election. 🙂
Of course I can help you out. I just had to get that paper done. It was urgent. I hope it went well. We’ll see about that. I’m a little worried I might not have been using the syllabus literature sufficiently. But we’ll see how it goes. It can’t be that bad. This one was in English. I finished another paper today in Swedish about Economic-History.
I think the video doesn’t necessarily only speak to Americans, but to everyone. I think it is a problem all over the world that we take our wealth for granted.
I agree. I do as much traveling as I can. My brother is a pilot, and I am blessed for him, he’s the reason I have the means to travel (my tickets are virtually no cost at all). But I have to fly standby. I’ve been flying this way for about two years now. I sit and sit and sit and wait, and I’m fine with it. Because I’m about to fly… for free. I’ve spent the night in many airports, and feel like Tom Hanks in Terminal by time I get where I’m going. But these experiences have humbled my traveling attitude. At times I haven’t even gotten to my destination, I had to turn back and go home because the flights were full for days. And I did, without complaining.
While I wait I sit and listen to people bitch all day. They had to wait an hour. They got bumped to the next flight. It’s the end of the world!! And when I have to listen to the crap the airline attendants take from people who missed their flight because they weren’t there on time (personal responsibility) it makes me want to put my two cents worth in. (American phrase… give them my opinion).
Traveling is my biggest passion and fascination. My eyes are huge when I’m anywhere but Iowa. CK talking about time and travel is halarious. This guys one of top fave comedians now.
Yea I love traveling as well. We are that kind of generation you know that really has the first possibility to actually experience the ball we live on to the fullest.
I’m so jealous your brother’s a pilot! 🙂 It gotta be a tough job though, right? I mean so many lives in your hands …
I often think like that when I’m flying..like..what if this guy that is steering this plane right now is really tired of life..what about if his gf broke up with him yesterday or something :).
I don’t have any problem with waiting as long as I have music or a book :). It gives you time to think about life.
Yea I also think he’s great, I haven’t heard of him before :).
Oh yea, language lessons for Carl:
1) what does “fly standby” mean?
2) Why do you say “it makes me want to put my two cents worth in”? I understand that you mean that you want to give them your opinion but why do you say it like that? Put in your cents where? :S *I’m confused* 🙂
3) When do you say “on the street” and “in the street”, what is the difference? 🙂
haha you’re on pbs..:)
is this true??:
“Elizabeth Gotsdiner got Joe Biden’s errant spittle in her mouth.”
that’s so disgusting, yet so funny =)
Definitely “In the street”. We would never say “on the street”. We would say “on the table”, but I’m assuming because there is an “under the table” option. Or “in the box” because it’s inside. So I guess if you count the curbs, it’s like a box. So it’s in? And there’s no under. ya.
But… if you were giving directions and somewhen said “what street do you live on?” The proper resonse would be “On Melrose Place”, not “In Melrose Place”. Well, I’ve successfully confused myself.
“My two cents worth”… This is a proper American idiomatic phrase. Two cents because like my two pennies, (one cent, or pennie, is our smallest currency. 1/100 of a dollar). So it’s not really of much value, but something to give, or add. It’s always in word, you would never give your two cents as a tangible object. “The Des Moines Register” is out of Des Moines, IA. My home town. Its a pretty big paper come election season, because we caucus (primary) first in Iowa. Anyways, they have an article in it called “Two Cents” and anyone can call in with a random saying, opinion, suggestion or observation about anything. It’s one thing I always read. It’s generally right by the horoscopes.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081028/LIFE/310280004/-1/GETPUBLISHED03flooding
Today’s isn’t very lively, but sometimes they can be very risky.
“Fly Standby”… in the airline industry there are revenue and non revenue passangers. Paying customers first priority, then passangers that missed their flight, then non revenue (non paying) and there is a hierarchy to that. First is top dogs, then Captains, then First Officers (my bro, or co pilot), employees, then companion pass, then buddy pass. Companion pass is issued to one person per employee, and its pretty much a golden ticket to fly the world. I had his companion past last year, this year I get his buddy passes, which he can give to anyone. So we take trips with random friends often, who ever is available on the weekend 🙂 I’ve been in school and haven’t been traveling with my brothers lately, but Purple States has taken me far and wide. ANYWAYS… when you fly standby as a non rev you have to wait to see if there is an available seat. You never know until the last minute. There is a list, and it can be stressful, and people show up at the last minute or this or that… It’s always exciting though!! With each boarding you say am I gonna get on this one? Never know until the cabin door closes. Sometimes the flight looked available in the morning, and you go there and it ends up being five oversold. Or vice versa. I’ve experienced every situation, you honestly never know. But it’s always worth it.
LOL!!! Oh no, not my PBS interview! Oh man. I sure did. Biden was in Iowa, I will see if I can find the link. It was actually on the Washington Posts first air of this season, but this happened during the primaries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/09/08/VI2008090801197.html
I mention it in this one. I did not think he had a shot in hell at getting this far! ha. Oh man, kind of made me blush when i saw him make it this far and then my video of me talkin bout him spit in my mouth was on the front of the Post’s political page!! ha. Oh man. But I believe the “errant spittle in her mouth” is a bad choice of words altogether. I straight said “he spit in my mouth.” Much more me. I don’t do “spittle”. He totally just got all up in my space and his dentures started clackin away and spit sprayed out of him mouth and my mouth was ajar, and I felt it on my tongue!! You see me close my mouth and turn red. That’s right about when it happened!
I actually just got invited the other day to do an hour long online coverage of election day with Mark Glaser of PBS. When I find out the link I will send it to you. I’m sure it will be live, seeing as no one will care on Nov. 5. It will be at 6:00 PM Nov. 4 my time. Mark is the one who wrote the article. You have just reminded me I need to reread it to be more familiar with my thank you’s.
If you google my name you’ll get pages of me. Unfortunately. It’s been an awesome time, but I will never get to erase this stuff!! Nobody needs to see that much of me and my thoughts. Ha. Oh man, what am I gonna do with myself.
So you were in Oslo? What’s it like there?
Elizabeth, what a great thing to have a pilot as a brother. The world truly is your oyster!
If you want to be formal about Australia’s leader, we still have a queen. But as for everyday, we have a Prime Minister.
What? I finished and submitted!! I am not having the best luck in the world submitting comments over here. I’ll start again… with my PBS story…
Pretty ridiculous, ey? Yes, Biden certainly did! Except I wouldn’t have used the words “errant spittle” in regards to anything. What I say is “he spit in my mouth.” Plain and simple. That happened during the primaries, but was aired for the intoduction segment on the WashingtonPost.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/09/08/VI2008090801197.html
hmmm… I don’t know if mine are posting either. I will wait a while and see if those two redundant ones went through… but in the meantime isn’t Australia then similar to Sweden? Sweden has a leader and a monarchy, right? But the monarchy is only novelty? Is that the wrong word to use? Tradition?
Am I allowed to mention other big news publications and put links in mind? Because the one I just wrote went straight through, but the others didnt. Maybe we have gatekeepers keeping an eye on us 🙂
Nah, I think Carl has his site on the default setting, which is to spam any comments with two links or more. Just post your links in separate comments maybe?
Yes that is correct Lizz. The King of Sweden only has representative power. However, the Queen of the British Empire has more power than that, but would not use it since it is understood it would just lead to public uprising against the monarchy.
I will check my spam settings out more and check my spam box. I don’t want to get spammed but it is ridiculous if my visitors can’t post their contributions to my web page … :S
“So you were in Oslo? What’s it like there?”
I actually live in Oslo right now. It’s a pretty ugly city, not like Stockholm (which is much better of course 😉 😉 ) (am allowed to say that 😉 ).
The harbor is nice and the night life “OK”, I love my campus area though. I have everything I need here so I don’t have to take the tram anywhere.
I love the nature around Oslo however, it’s much better. But it is far too many bums on the street here. I’m not used to that …
Oh, almost forgot! I’m hosting a live chat today on the Post. 1PM my time.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/10/28/DI2008102803103.html
If you feel like dropping by and writing me any questions!
Great, thanks heaps! I check it out!
What is WP anyways? I mean, are they a liberal or conservative newspaper?
My understanding is they are very liberal. But I don’t exactly know or trust everything any one mainstream media publication puts out. I like to remain skeptical.
“Great intellects are skeptical”
//Friedrich Nietzsche
😉
umm.. whats your msn again?
I really like it when people get together and share views.
Great blog, keep it up!