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History of the Middle East: Final Grade...

...is an A!! I ACED my final, and got an overall 96% as my final grade! Woo-hoo!!

What started as a win-win ended as a lose-lose.

Went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Fiance to watch the Buffalo Sabres play the Philadelphia Flyers in game 7 of the playoffs. Directly across on a smaller screen, however, I discovered to my delight the New York Yankees in the Bronx against the Chicago White Sox. I positioned myself so that I could turn my head to the left for the ball game, and to the right for the hockey game.

The Yankees started out well with a homerun, but the Flyers led from the start. And then in the 8th inning, the Sox got a homerun and an RBI, and while they made a valiant attempt to come back at the bottom of the 9th, my Bronx Bombers lost 3-2. The Sabres also lost, but I don't have the final score off hand.

And what's that I hear in the distance? Another thunderstorm?

Sigh.

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If you perpetuate idiocy, you're an idiot.

Say whatever else you want about the President, just don't tell me you believe he wasn't born in the US, because if I don't say it out loud, I will be thinking to myself, You're a fucking idiot.

I absolutely cannot take Trump srsly right now. Props to the RNC chairman, Gov Jan Brewer of Arizona, and Tea Partier Marco Rubio of Florida for dismissing the "birther controversy" as nonsense.

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I'm going to overdose on Disney Junior.

I had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Nevetland Pirates theme songs stuck in my head all weekend.

A moment of silence for the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Sister's Russian boyfriend was in his mother's womb when the disaster occurred. No, he does not have a third nipple or extra toes...that Sister has mentioned.

Fifty years ago, Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit the first of his 61 homeruns in 1961! Hoorah!

And last, but in no way the least due to sheer awesomeness, Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex civil unions in Vermont eleven years ago! The first step in the right direction!!

Have a fun Tuesday. Blessed be!

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No title.

Can't think of one.

I take into accouny all I have learned in my current class, History of the Middle East. I ponder current events, such as our decade-long "war on terror" and our actions in Libya.

I'm overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings...and I'm afraid to share them. Because I don't think a single one of you would understand. And that seriously bothers the shit out of me.

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Holy tornado.

Sooo glad Friday's storms didn't produce any tornadoes at my school or at home. Everyone spent the second half of class glued to their phones for the latest weather updates.

Here are some videos of the damage. I was glad to hear there weren't any casualties. In light of this, I'm trying not to complain about the never-ending rain around here, since it could obviously be worse.

Feeling pretty stupid and humiliated.

I was planning a vendor fair for this weekend. It was a big deal for me; I haven't done anything like this on my own before, and I was excited for it. But the winery I wanted to hold it at told me, when I was ready to sign the paperwork and give them my deposit, that it would be a conflict of interest for them. Because they hold similar events themselves from time to time.

(I still don't get that.)

Thing is, I clearly explained via e-mail and phone conversations, what I wanted to do. Then I sit down with the manager, and suddenly they just can't accommodate us.

Today was the first chance I had to sit down and send an e-mail to all the vendors who had signed up. I had tried to find another place, but that was always a long shot on such short notice. The one promising location is located in an icky part of town, and even if I was willing to overlook that, the manager blew off my appointment.

Now I'm left looking like an unreliable fool to all these ladies. I want to try to hold one in June now, but I wouldn't be surprise if these gals want nothing to do with it.

I'm changing my middle name to Failure.

omg nervous/excited

Enjoy my grammatically incorrect post title. Tomorrow I'll be meeting Monica, a rare follower of my blog, whom I've been following for - - gosh, I don't even know how long it's been, or how I even found her blog! I'm pretty excited, though. She'll be hosting a Pampered Chef cooking show for me, and I can't wait! (I just hope I don't blow it by cutting off a finger or serving a blackened wreck to her guests.) I've got my "Davi" apron in the washer (Oh, have I never mentioned it? It's the TITS.), and I'm running around getting everything ready for tomorrow.

Super excited!

I just can't help myself...

I recently saw a post on Facebook that seriously made me scratch my head. Someone was commenting on Donald Trump's possible 2012 presidential bid...something about how we'd be better off if our government was run like a business, so yes, they'd be voting for Trump.

Ha.

If Trump were our president and ran our government like he runs his personal and business affairs, we'd be fucked. At one time, his personal debt peaked at $900 million, while his business debts were in the billions. He came to the brink of filing personal bankruptcy on at least one occasion, and on separate occasions the Trump Plaza Hotel and Trump Hotels have filed for bankruptcy.

Yeah...that's the guy who's gonna get us out of this mess.

Shutdown article roundup before bedtime.

Just wanna share these before I hit the sack. Regardless of what has happened tonight, I won't be putting on a uniform this weekend, so I plan on sleeping in.

A deal at last! But only for the next week? That's...whatever. President Obama, Representative Boehner, Senator Reid...stop fucking posturing like you just saved the country. This should have been taken care of last October!! (I know Boehner didn't become the Speaker until January, but that was four months ago. To be fair, though, Pelosi can suck it, too.)

A "who's to blame" opinion smorgasbord. A good read.

Fareed on America's broken politics and bloated budget. Well said, Mr Zakaria.

Congress, Congress, Congress...I am begging you, don't make us go through this again in another fucking week. Stop attaching policy riders to the budget, stop pointing fingers, stop comparing cocks, and stop holding up the system over your idealogical polarized bullshit.

Sincerely, The Dread Pirate Davi.

This trainwreck didn't come out outta nowhere!

I would like to quote a paragraph from this article:

The polarization of the two major parties has consequences for a great deal more than just the contents of legislation. It fosters a broader political environment in which compromise invites ridicule, in which pragmatists are presumed to lack conviction, and in which each political faction is convinced not merely that it is right, but that those who disagree with it are stupid, evil or both.

Some of you are reading that and thinking to yourselves, "Yep, sounds like the Republicans."

Some of you are reading that and thinking to yourselves, "Yep, sounds like the Democrats."

How many of you are reading that and thinking to yourselves, "Yep, sounds like every asshole in office."?

Hm.

Do take the time to read the entire article.

Waaaaaa.

Democrats: The Republicans want to take away Planned Parenthood!

Republicans: The Democrats don't want the military getting paid!

Would you all just stfu and pass a goddamn budget bill already? Srsly, you're embarrassing yourselves.

And here's a thrifty tip for ya': if the gov't shuts down, the gov't shouldn't get paid. I'm looking at you, Congress and Mr President.

Chili-Rubbed, Maple-Glazed Pork Chops.

Delicious.

Fiance was not a fan of the glaze, and chose to forgo that part. He's not a fan of maple-meat mixtures...though he devoured the maple-flavored bacon I was cooking for breakfast last month...

Got this recipe from Thunder Roads Magazine. Fiance's friend, whom I shall call Biker, was perusing the magazine at our local bar the other night when he stumbled upon this piece of culinary gold. He showed it to me, and the page included a few other recipes I'd like to try at some point (cinnamon fried apples and pink lemonade cupcakes, yum!). He tore the page out, handed it to me, and then put the magazine back on the rack on the bar.

The only things I did differently: instead of ancho chili powder, I used - - wait for it - - chili powder. And because I didn't have any maple syrup, I used...Mrs Buttersworth Lite. Don't judge, it was still delicious!



Ingredients:
4 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 extra-large, center-cut, bone-in pork chops, thick
6 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup chicken stock
4 Tbsp butter

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. This will be your rub. Rub the mixture into meat generously. Get it in there deep and well-coated, on both sides. Let rest at room temp for about 15 minutes.

Get a cast-iron skillet really hot over medium-high heat. Drizzle in some olive oil, along with a couple of pats of butter. Make sure the chops cook golden brown on both sides. You can reduce heat to medium-low and let go to make sure of doneness.

Reduce down your balsamic vinegar in a small pot over medium-high heat, until it thickens up. Add maple syrup, chicken stock, and 4 Tbsp butter. Bring down to medium heat and just let go about 7 minutes until thick.

Turn heat to pork chops off. Pour glaze generously all over chops, but save enough as dipping sauce. Cover chops and let saturate for about 5 minutes.

I wish I had the guts to do something like this.

This woman is setting such a great example and helping so many kids! Read here.

Gotta love little misunderstandings.

I saw someone on FB yesterday say that the president had canceled his "vacation" to deal with the budget crisis. But, um, according to CNN [disclaimer: they can't agree on what they disagree on!]...it was a trip to promote clean energy. Sounds like work to me.

Others have commented on how the House, mostly controlled by the GOP, is trying to pass a bill that would cover funding for the Pentagon for the rest of the year, and that the Democrats are opposed to it. This makes the Democrats look like the bad guys. Don't they want at least a temporary resolution to all this? Again, according to CNN [same article], it's not the funding of the Pentagon they're opposed to...it's the goddamn policy riders attached to said bill! Including one that would slash funding for Planned Parenthood!!

Um, yeah, I'd vote against that, too!! I was just at Planned Parenthood a few days ago, where for $123, I received the following: testing for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis (not that I believe I have any of that, but better to be safe than sorry); the first of my Gardasil shots for four different types of HPV; and four months worth of birth control. So that my unemployed ass doesn't end up with a disease or a kid to support that would put me on welfare, costing the government even more money. Donate to Planned Parenthood today!!

How many times have politicians been the bad guy for voting against bills that everyone else is all for? Too many times to count, and why? Because it's not the main topic of the bills that they're necessarily opposed to; it's all the attached, non-related crap that they're voting against!

Gawd...DAMMIT.

I guess some people learned NOTHING in their government class in high school.

I was watching Fox News today...for the hell of it...and for once no one was yelling, so I was not subjected to a headache. They were discussing the threat of a government shutdown, and to my surprise, instead of blaming the Dems...they didn't know who to blame!! I was hooked for the next hour-and-a-half. Haha...

I read an article earlier that I can't find now, but it mentioned that 21 Senate Democrats wanted to pass a bill that would prevent Congress or the president from being paid in the event of a shutdown, their reasoning being that they wouldn't be working during a shutdown, and therefore shouldn't be paid for not working. So for those of you who are making villains out of the Dems right now...just stop it. Both sides are to blame, but both sides are trying to do that they think is best for the country. And it's hard for nearly 600 people to come to a consensus on ANYTHING.

I would now like to address every single person who is blaming the president for what is going on. I still vaguely remember my US Government lessons from high school. I took three semesters of it...long story, but a good example of why education should be standardized across the nation. (Srsly, someone explain to me how a year of Army JROTC doesn't fill the physical education requirement, but fills the technology requirement?! W. T. F.) Anywho, the one thing I walked away from was this: the president really can't do a whole lot of shit.

Anyone know why? It's all due to a system of checks and balances, to prevent any of the three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial) from becoming more powerful than the other.

Let's define the role of an American president. He (or she, one of these days) is both the head of government and head of state. He is also our foreign minister and commander-in-chief. Oooh, sounds important and powerful, right?

As head of government, he is responsible for running the functions of state, managing the bureaucracy, and deciding how to enforce the law. Of course, if the Supreme Court isn't down with how he's enforcing laws, or with anything he does, they can always pull the "unconstitutional" card. Or Congress could just pass a law to put him in is place. Bam! Checks and balances baby. (Though we all know the idea of Congress simply passing a law like that is ludicrous.)

As foreign minister, the president is responsible for overseeing the state's ambassadors and determining foreign policy. Big whoop, the president only gets his choice of ambassador if the Senate approves, and if the Senate isn't on his side, he's shit out of luck. As for foreign policy...you know what, let's not go there. Moving on...

As commander-in-chief, the president is responsible for commanding the state's armed forces and determining military policy. But he can't officially declare war without the approval of Congress, and we've seen what happens when he tries to change military policy. We're two years into Obama's presidency, and we're only just on the threshold of the repeal of DADT, a major campaign promise, because he couldn't pull it off without a referendum that took fucking forever. Let's get it over with.

I'm gonna quote Wikipedia here for a second.

"Since the founding of the United States, the power of the president and the federal government have grown substantially, and each modern president, despite possessing no formal legislative powers beyond signing or vetoing Congressionally passed bills, is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of his party and the foreign and domestic policy of the United States. The president is frequently described as the most powerful person in the world."

 Yeah, the President can veto the shit out of anything he doesn't like...but that veto can always be overturned by a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress. Oh snap! As for dictating the legislative agenda...kinda hard to do if one or both chambers of Congress are all politically opposed to you. The next two years should be interesting.

Anyways, my point in all this is that President Obama is not single-handedly responsible for every obstacle or nation has faced since coming into office. No president ever has been. The fault lies with a much larger group. We could all blame Bush for the shenanigans that occurred during his tenure, but I sincerely doubt Hurricane Katrina was his fault, and if I ever meet any of those crazies who think 9/11 was planned by our government, I will personally lobotomize them.


You want someone to blame for the possibility of me and my fellow reservists and guardsmen working for free this weekend; of soldiers and airmen in the AOR being separated form their families and working 12-hr shifts, six days a week, with no immediate compensation; of military members who live paycheck to paycheck not being able to pay rent or mortgage or put food on the table? Blame the assholes who are either too far to the left or too far to the right to take their heads out of their asses long enough to actually SEE what all their squabbling is doing to us as a nation. Their words are full of sympathy and concern for their constituents; their actions are full of pettiness and partisanship.


(And could you all do me a huuuuuge favor, and stop watching Fox News and MSNBC, and stop listening to Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck, and do the research yourself.)


(And dear Glenn Beck: FUCK YOU.)

The Great Egyptian Debate.

My current class is "History of the Middle East". We have one written assignment, which will also be an oral assignment. My chosen topic is Amenhotep IV, aka Akhenaten, aka the Heretic King, and so one. Sister thinks I should have gone with Hapshetsut.

"Nah, not nearly as intersting. Amenhotep was batshit crazy!!"

"Yea but Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh who decided to rule as a man!"

"This is true, but she didn't piss off the Egyptians nearly as much as Akenaten. He was called the Heretic King! His was family was labeled "enemies of Egypt"! HE TRIED TO BUILD A CITY OUT OF SAND." [This is when I feel I won the debate.]

"I know...Still a poor choice I say haha."

Pffft. Whatevs. Akhenaten RULES.

One hell of a vicious cycle.

When will history stop repeating itself?

When will we learn from the mistakes of our predecessors?

Fuck these guys, too.

Oh, yes, allowing gays to serve in the military would be a CATASTROPHE, but allowing these guys to run amok is okay. And why have no charges been brought against the leadership? Where's the fucking accountability?!

Fuck you, Terry Jones.

I'm not fond of bees. Not many people are. I express my dislike by keeping a safe distance from them, their tempers, and their stingers. That's what smart people do.

Terry Jones does not like Islam. Good for you, Terry. But instead of staying away from Islam, he decided to STOMP THE SHIT OUT OF THE BEEHIVE.

Thanks to that asshole, 12 people are dead. Way to go, Terry. Way to be a compassionate Christian who loves his fellow man.

I'm not saying it's okay for terrorists to react in this way. It's not. But Terry KNEW that the radicals would be enraged by his actions. And he should have known that instead of responding by burning a Bible, or specifically targeting him, these terrorists would respond by targeting individuals that had nothing to do with Terry's abhorrent actions. Because that's what terrorists do. They behave irrationally and harm the innocent.

Fuck you, Terry Jones.