There was an Anti-War protest on Wednesday (Mar 19 ‘07) in Washington DC. The protest coincided with the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. Here are some pictures from outside our office.
Special Thanks to Eileen Tokunaga and Kevan Marvasti for being the field reporters out there!
UPDATE (From Eileen): "That building in the shots is where American Petroleum Institute is, that’s why it was such a hot spot for the protesters"
UPDATE 2: Here are some more pictures taken by Drew Patriss.
This is something to think about-
The people who scream ‘free press’ could actually be hurting the public under the pretense of ‘the public needs to know’. This is quite interesting and here is how this happens-
Everybody knows that for a democratic govt. to be successful and righteous, it must constantly be scrutinized by the masses because if there is something wrong, the masses possess the power to change the leadership.
However, for a good govt. to be effective and for it to safeguard national security, we must also agree that there must be some activities that MUST be kept classified and as a secret. The reason for doing so is because if such information is made public, the information is inevitably going to fall into the wrong hands. In other words, we as a nation can never keep a secret from other nations; at least not in todays IT world.
Now if these ‘free press’ journalists are allowed to publish this information under the pretense of ‘the public deserves to know’, then information that is deliberately hidden from the public, by their own representatives will be made public and thus would lead to the failure of the govt.
However, who decides what is to be kep classified and what not? If there were alien UFO crashes and the govt. knew about them, does the public deserve to know? Or if there were Anthrax traces unaccounted for roaming the country, does the public deserve to know? The feds might try to keep these things classified because they might not want to risk mass panic.
Isn’t the whole point of a democracy – “of the people, By the people, for the people”? If it is by the people then shouldn’t the people get to decide what they get to know and don’t get to know? That sounds like a paradox to me.
In any case, I think journalists are struggling to expose it all while the Feds are trying to cover it all. The people, they just sit and watch.
This is really hilarious. I clicked on a True.com ad and got taken straight to the signup page with the following disclaimer:
Are you tired of Telemarketers calling your house? The government finally decided to step in and came up with the idea of the National Do Not Call Registry. Telemarketers are required to honor the list unless they want to pay fines of upto $11,000 per caller. The registry does not cover all telemarketing calls however, you may still receive calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship.
Just take a look at the following graphic:
This is totally ridiculous. If there are two people who are consenting and want to get married, then what business is it of the government to call it illegal.
I looked up the Defense of Marriage act and according to section 7 of the act titled “Definition of ‘marriage’ and ’spouse’”,
“In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ’spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”
Now was the congress so bored that instead of focussing on unemployment and economic growth they pass a bill to define the words ‘marriage’ and ’spouse’? It’d be better if they left that to the Oxford dictionary for all practical purposes.
Anybody who voted for this act must’ve been a homophobic wierdo. I just don’t know what to say. Isn’t this discrimination? I was totally shocked that this act even existed!
One of the first documents that an employee gets to see includes the company policy. Well read the document (4 mb pdf) handed to me. I just don’t know what to say.
The first point the policy makes clear is this: “We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.”
Some of my friends that are ‘GOOD’ drivers would know what I am talking about when I say that during rush hour, some people illegaly drive on the ’shoulder’ or the ‘turn-only’ lanes and then cut in front of you as if they own the road and don’t have to wait in the long traffic lines because they are special. Isn’t that really annoying? I mean you are sitting there behind about 50 cars and then suddenly the guy behind you pulls out, drives into the ‘turn-only’ lane which is empty, and then cuts back into the line after about cutting 50 cars. It just pisses me off.
Well, fortunately, I’m one of the drivers who cuts people off by driving in the ‘turn-only’ lanes and I don’t wait in line like some ‘nice’ people. So the other day, I was going in the turn only lane and was about to cut into the mainstream of traffic, when I saw a cop standing at the end of the turn-only lane. Fortunately, and oh so fortunately, there was a car in front of me that was doing the same thing. So guess who the cop pull over? The other guy! phew. I just cut right back into the normal lane and went to school and for the first time, had a good time in my class. My heart just stopped when the cop pulled that guy over.
That whole day, whenever I would see a car that even closely resembled a cop-car, I would be on the verge of having a heart-attack. Of course this incident won’t stop me from cutting people again. I mean there is no other way that I would make it to school on time. It’s just that I’ll be smarter when I break the law. Catch me if you can.