I think everyone should go take THIS QUIZ...it's interesting and well rounded!

(and that's the only time I'll ever say anything like that about something put out by the Center for American Progress)

PS - If anyone is wondering, I scored 102/400. That makes me 60 points more conservative that "Conservative Republicans," haha.

Futile Action

Shortly after class, an economics student approached his economics professor and said, "I don't understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?"

The professor replied, "I don't have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I'll be glad to explain it to you." The student agreed. 

At the agreed upon time the student showed up at the professor's house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool. They both went out back, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, "First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can. The student did as he was instructed.

The professor then explained that they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool. The confused student asked, "Excuse me, but why are we doing this?" The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper. 

The student didn't think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough. However, after the sixth trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to fear that his economics professor had gone crazy. The student finally exclaimed, "All we're going is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over everything will be exactly as it was before, so all you've really accomplished is the destruction of what could have been a truly productive action!"

The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile. "Congratulations! You now understand the stimulus bill!"

A little late...

Thank God that they left my little solo out!! Just some of the lovely YAF staffers wishing our supporters a Merry Christmas!!

Shhh, I'm going to tell you a secret...

I sent a card to postsecret the other day. I'm not sure how many people are aware of it, but postsecret is a blog where Frank, the guy who runs it, receives thousands of anonymous secrets on postcards in the mail, and every Sunday scans twenty into his blog for people to read and relate to. I'm pretty much obsessed with it, and log on every Sunday to see the new secrets. 

Since I doubt my secret will appear on the next posting (or really, any posting, it's not that good of a secret), I've decided that I want to share it with you all. It said, "even though I disagree with affirmative action, checking the box that says 'Hispanic' always seems like a good idea." 

It's true. On standardized tests and college applications (and now law school applications) I have always checked the little box that says "Hispanic," even though my skin is more olive than tan, I speak (mostly) English at home, and consider myself an American -- not that you can't be Hispanic and American at the same time. It's just that my dad is pretty much one of the whitest people you'll ever meet, and after so many years in this country my Guatemalan side of the family has assimilated fairly well. Yes, we still eat tamales at Christmas and grapes on New Year's Eve, but still...If someone had a gun to my head and told me I could only pick one, I would definitely say that I fit more into the "White (non-Hispanic)" category. 

(On a tangent, I never got why "white" had to be accompanied by "not hispanic" and not "non-Asian" or "non-African", but I digress.)

After I put this particular post card in the mail, I realized something. It's not that I don't believe in affirmative action. It's that I don't believe in race-based affirmative action. There's a HUGE difference, and I probably should have specified, but I didn't want to get all political on a 4"x6" postcard on its way to Germantown, PA. 

BUT, I have no problem getting all political here.

The thing is, I think it's completely RACIST for the government or educational institutions to assume that because you're black or hispanic you need a hand up over lesser-privileged white children. I mean, there ARE white kids who grow up on the wrong side of the tracks (or in Compton, whatever) who attend the same schools and get the same education as the minority students that are targeted, and yes, helped, by affirmative action. These are kids from broken homes, subjected to gang violence, growing up in the projects, who can barely read coming out of 10th grade, who are then looked at by colleges and dismissed in favor of a minority student who could quite possibly have a more privileged background just because of the color of their skin.

Um, I'm sorry, but isn't that, like, the definition of racism? Judging people by the color of their skin or where their family is from?

It's my personal belief that IF affirmative action is left in place, it needs to be radically and fundamentally overhauled to correct this oversight. Rather than giving these "boosts" to applicants because of their race, educational institutions and even employers should take into account socio-economic factors. Where you grow up and go to school can have as much affect on you as your skin color, in terms of education. Think about it. A black kid from Shaker Heights or Newport Beach, with parents that both have great jobs and can afford to live in good school districts, is way more likely to score well on standardized tests or do well in school, than a white kid from Compton or inner-city Cincinnati whose dad was never in the picture and whose mom has to work three shifts waiting tables to be able to afford basic necessities.

My roommate disagrees with me (no surprise there, she's an Asian American studies doctoral candidate who was a rabid Obama fan). She thinks that because whites were so oppressive for so long no white student could possibly deserve preference over any minority student. I think it's this kind of backward (racist) thinking that really is a stumbling block to race-relations in the first place. There are more factors in your life than the color of your skin or the country that your parents (or grandparents) called home. But people who fail to take that into account exclude a section of the population who are white but are truly underprivileged.

The thing is, even though I know that I've been blessed to go to great schools and have great teachers and a good home life, I still check that Hispanic box. I kind of feel guilty about it, too, so I don't do it all of the time. I just think it would be so great if we didn't have to put ourselves into a box based on what we looked like or our race/ethnicity. Don't you?

President Obama

This is really difficult to stomach.

God bless John McCain.

And Obama -- don't mess with my country.

At least we'll have a definite Republican revolution in four years. Pray that we can get through to then.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Just Do It.

I'm sure you've all been told this a million times, and if you're reading this blog then I'm probably preaching to the choir, but it is IMPERATIVE that you vote tomorrow, if you haven't done so already!



Whether you're Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent, etc. etc., you NEED to exercise your right and responsibility to vote! This something that our forefathers considered necessary for the political process. It's a duty every citizen has.



A lot has been said in this election cycle about change. "Change we need," is Obama's slogan, for goodness' sake! And if "shaking up Washington" doesn't imply change, I don't know what does. The thing is, each and every individual has the power to effect change. You might think that your vote is a throwaway vote, that you live in such a liberal/conservative state that you vote can't possibly count. That is complete bullshit. Yes, my vote might not give John McCain the California election, but the thing is that it does matter. My vote in state and local elections MATTERS. And yours does to. You can be the change you wish to see in the world simply by voting your heart and voting for who you feel will carry the best interest of America in the foreground of their presidency.



Every four years, Mickey Mouse gets thousands of votes in the presidential elections. This, people, is not what I'm talking about when I say "go vote." You need to read, to be aware, to actually CARE about the future of the country. Pick up a newspaper, study the issues, and determine what is most important to you. In this technologically advanced era, you don't even have to pick up a newspaper. Look at non-partisan websites like votesmart.org or fact-check.org to learn what a candidate stands for and votes for.



It is my belief that you need to do more than just convert oxygen to carbon dioxiede somewhere on a US territory to deserve the title of "citizen" after the age of 18. You need to vote, to make your voice heard! If you don't vote, then, in my opinion, you have NO RIGHT to complain about the nature of politics/the country/taxes/health care or any other of the multitude of issues that the country is dealing with. What the hell have you done about it if you haven't voted?



Not voting just shouldn't be an option. If you don't vote, you're a waste of a Constitution and a democratic republic. So do yourselves a favor: go out and vote. Vote for president, vote for propositions, vote for local representatives. And if you don't care to, then move somewhere where you're not expected to take part in the political process. Zimbabwe is kind of nice, I hear.

Figure out where you stand on the political spectrum and just do it.

Please.

Break out the tar and feathers!

There is a lot of national attention on an issue that only California residents will address in the voting booths this November. Funding, support, opposition, and opinions have been coming in from all over the nation...even all over the world. The issue, of course, is Prop 8 (no, not Prop H8te, as many people are referring to it), which deals with the issue of gay marriage in the state of California.

In 2000, voters across the state passed (by a majority of over 61%) Prop 22, which said that marriage was between a man and a woman. That just wasn't good enough for some judges, though, was it? No. These activist judges came together to castigate the California public for being so closed-minded and to go over the heads of the voters because, after all, these 7 people clearly know what is best for the state. This ABSURD decision by the court has resulted in gay marriage becoming legalized (if only temporarily) rather publicly, with celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres marrying her partner in a ceremony she shared with magazines and her viewers.

Allowing Prop 8 to be defeated doesn't just give same sex couples the right to wed, however. It gives the state government the authority to sue churches and arrest ministers who decry gay marriage or refuse to allow the ceremonies to take place in their churches. It allows the state to tell children all about marriage and same-sex marriage, regardless of the parent's wishes in the matter. It allows the state to arrest wedding photographers, caterers, deejays, and other professionals who refuse to serve at same-sex ceremonies because of their own personal religious beliefs for committing "hate crimes."

And although only voters in California get to decide the issue, this is not an isolated law. If gay marriage is recognized in California, couples from out of state who marry in California have to be recognized as married everywhere in the United States, so that, theoretically, these same problems can arise nationwide.

Before you all label me as a bigot or a homophobe, let me say right now that I know many, many gay people, have a lot of gay friends, and am of the general feeling that, hey, if you fall in love with someone who happens to be of the same gender, who am I to diminish that love? I wish that more companies would give gay workers insurance benefits for their same-sex partners, and feel that hospitals and other institutions should recognize the role that one half of a same-sex couple plays in the life of their partner. I am all for not only allowing but actively promoting civil unions as a method of obtaining these civil rights for gay couples.

But gay MARRIAGE...?

Marriage is sanctified in the Bible as being between a man and a woman. As one of my friends so often says, "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." It is the opinion of many that the main purpose of a marriage is to produce children (Gen 9:7) and provide stable homes for them. Same-sex partnerships do not naturally produce children, and while (relatively) new science and modern technology has made it possible to become pregnant in a non-traditional method (without having heterosexual intercourse), it is proven that children reared in non-traditional homes with same-sex partners for parents often have more problems with emotional stability and adjusting to "normal" relationships and family structures.

Prop 8 is NOT a measure that is designed to attack gay couples, or take away the rights that they are already given under California state law. In fact, California already grants same-sex couples all of the rights that it can grant to a married couple, it simply hasn't given it the name "marriage."

While I think that it is for each person to decide his or her own life and lifestyle, and for each person to love someone else without interference from the government, I don't believe that it is the place of the court or the place of the state government to tell me how to practice my religious beliefs or how to raise my children. And that is exactly what Prop 8 would be doing -- giving those rights to the state and not to the people.