My roommate emailed me today. Our new roommate is moving in today. Hopefully he wil be ok. From what we can gather from him so far. He seems kind of like a nerd, but that is ok by me. Probably one of the least offensive possibilites that he could be. We'll see.

Currently I'm watching the Brasil-US women's soccer gold medal game. It is tied and in extra time. I'm not that horribly interested but it is decent background noise.

Hmmm. Feeling kind of lazy. Stuff to say but none of it is that current. Just stuff I didn't put in in the past week. Don't have the motivation to do it now. Sorry.

It was nice seeing/meeting all the people I did last night. Good to have a face to go with a journal. I guess that is all for now. Still enjoying the -lo. Bye.

Need to post, but have other stuff to do. :( Hopefully I can do it soon. It is nice to be back in the -lo

As I am unable to make the big party tonight (I'm coming home one day late :( ). I just want to wish mike a happy birthday. I wish I could be there to celebrate with y'all. I hope it is a great time, and hopefully I will see you Saturday Night if you are not still recovering.

In response to Paul,

[inlink]paul,1823[/inlink]

You do bring up a good point in regards to the fact that if they do not publish regularly, then their journal will fade into obscurity. I guess just letting them disappear is better than censoring/deleting their stuff.

Regarding using the the journal as a promotional tool in the sense of having them relay their experiences, such as your example of the person who was starting a bike customizing business, I have no problem with that. The reason that I enjoy the site so much is that it lets me in on the experiences of people's lives. The diversity of people and their experiences is what makes this site so entertaining. Adding more experiences, such as the starting of a business or what it is like being in a band etc, would only make the site more interesting.

Regarding Elmwood Radio. I agree that using the site to play and promote local artists would be a great asset to the site. But I think that there should be some other better way for them to get their music on if they are not willing to maintain a journal. Maybe have a little blurb above the elmwood radio box that says something like "Are you a local musician and would like your music featured on elmwood radio, email Radio@elmwoodstrip. com" And rather than have radio as a journal have it more as a webpage that includes a section linking to local artists that are featured on elmwood radio. I'm not sure. In all fairness, I have never used elmwood radio so I don't know how much I can talk.

In regards to advertisements, I completely understand and support your decision not to compromise and add Ads to the site. Especially in light of the fact that you see the site as having a news element that could come into conflict with advertisers.

Regarding the PR person, I think it is a good idea and I really wish I could get more involved in the PR aspect. Unfortunately I am in DC for at least another year so I couldn't do any of the hands on stuff. If you would like I would be willing to do anything I could from here, like write press releases, articles, etc. Let me know if I can help at all.

I hope that rant was somewhat coherent. If it wasn't, let me know and I will clarify.

First off, I would like to say to Paul that I am going to respond to your entry that responds to my entry, but I want to devote a full post to it so I will probably do it tomorrow.

On to other things, I got a email from my old internship today www.cagw.org . I had wrote to them telling that something they had done got picked up on Fox News . Anyway, they emailed me back and told me that a report I had written for them was almost through being edited. I had given up on it ever being published cause I submitted it to them on memorial day and heard little since. The fact that they are still planning on publishing it makes me excited. The email also said that my old boss in the office wanted me to give him a call on something not related to the report. I wonder what it could be. Though I shouldn't, part of me wonders if it is about me working for them in the future. They had flat out said when I had to give up my internship there at the beginning of the summer that if I had graduated then, they would have offered me a job. But alas, I still have one year to go. It is stupid and far fetched but that is what happens why I don't know what in the world it could be about and my mind is allowed to wander.

On another note, my mom won a pair of bills season tickets from Tops. That is pretty awesome, but alas my mom won't use them and I am not around so I am looking to sell them, either as individual game or the entire season. I don't know where they are in the stadium, but I will when I go home on Saturday. If you or anyone you know is interested please let me know.

That is enough for now. I have to sleep. Night all

[inlink]paul,1818[/inlink]

Paul, You should tell buffalo.com that you are a commercial site based on the fact that two bands have shamelessly selfpromoted themselves on the site as of late

[inlink]hesperus,2[/inlink]
[inlink]hanabi,2[/inlink]

Maybe it is just me, but shame on those two bands for trying to take advantage of the site. I would have no problem if someone in the band wanted to talk about how their concerts went etc., but to create a journal purely as nothing more than a cheap plug for their band, that is sleezy. If I am wrong about the bands and judging too quickly, then I welcome them to prove me wrong by posting again with something more than a link, a bio, and when their next show is.

I know it is not really my place to talk as it is not my site, therefore who am I to decide what is or isn't appropriate to be posted. And I apologize if I have overstepped my bounds, but does anyone else feel this way?

On another quick note, I would like to thank Paul for encoding the site however he did because it lets me read it and post at work even though most other sites that you can post at, such as webjournals, are blocked for security reasons. I'm such a slacker.

[inlink]metalpeter,77[/inlink]

There is a 7-11 on Sheridan in Tonawanda. It is just past where Grand Island Boulevard splits from Sheridan, in Tonawanda. It is also near where the 190 and 290 split by the South Grand Island Bridge. Here is a link to a map of the area: . When you reach the GI/Sheridan split, you want to bear left on Sheridan and the 7-11 will be a few blocks up on your left.

[inlink]soyeon,75[/inlink]

I believe american stations did show the opening ceremonies. It should have been on NBC- Channel 2. I'm not positive cause I did not watch them in Buffalo, but they were on the NBC affiliate in DC. They did broadcast them at night though so that is why you may not have seen them.

Hello all. Thought I would give a bit of an update.

I finally applied to the internship I wanted for the fall. I think I am qualified, it is just a matter of if they filled it already yet. It was posted for a long time and it is with a good organization and they claim it is really competitive so they won't call back unless they want you. We'll see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed.

Chris and I had some great steaks from the grill today - though it was raining while we were grilling with charcoal. They marinated all day in A1 marinade, and thanks to the potato flakes we got from jess, it was a good all american meal.

I was this close to meeting the president's dog the other day. It allstarted with the fact that people in my office are obsessed with his website www.barney.gov and his photo of the day. As such, one of the people in my office sent an email via the online form to the White House webmaster saying that there are some OMB workers that are big fans of barney and wondered if there was a way we could meet him. The webmaster wrote back (if you look at whitehouse interactive www.whitehouse.gov/interactive he is the guy with the open mouthed picture that answers the questions) and said they sould have a Barney visits the OMB day. Then the other day he said lets do it today, but because the director's schedule and barney's didn't match up, they had to postphone it. Hopefully it will happen next week so I can meet him. It would be cool in a nerdy polisci way. They actually sell Barney stuffed animals in the Whitehouse gift shop, but what I really want is the president push jack-in-the-box that plays hail to the chief. I am such a nerd.

In the effort to promote a bipartisan love of political porn, here is a little GOP action:

This I why I have absolutely NO fucking respect for Kerry:

"In Hindsight, Kerry Says He'd Still Vote for War "
(The text of the article is also below)

Kerry is such a fucking spineless jellyfish who talks out of both sides of his mouth. If you are against the war, fine. If you are for the war, that's fine too. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but fucking have one and stick with it. Don't say you have one and then the next minute criticize the position you just took. I understand, people are allowed to change their opinion on things. That does NOT make you a flip-flopper. I even can accept voting against the appropriations bill for the war cause you disagreed with that particular version. That doesn't mean you flip-flopped. It is shit like this that does. When you say you are for the war, but against everything about the war.

You are so full of shit Kerry you disgust me. You are trying to walk a tightrope so you can claim both to be pro-war and anti-war to appease his party. Get some fucking guts and take a stand no matter what it may be. Let the votes fall as they may. Politicians - like you - who change their opinions for votes disgust me. Fuck you you panderer.

For those of you who are voting for Kerry because he is the "peace" candidate, consider someone who actually took a stand against the war and stuck with it, not this sorry excuse of a candidate.

P.S.- It's okay to vote third party- they don't bite.

P.S.S- I apologize for how angry this is but it is unprincipled crap like this that really gets my goat.


In Hindsight, Kerry Says He'd Still Vote for War
Challenged by President, Democrat Spells Out Stance

By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 10, 2004; Page A01


GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz., Aug. 9 -- Responding to President Bush's challenge to clarify his position, Sen. John F. Kerry said Monday that he still would have voted to authorize the war in Iraq even if he had known then that U.S. and allied forces would not find weapons of mass destruction.

At the same time, the Democratic presidential nominee said that his goal as president would be to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq during his first six months in office through diplomacy and foreign assistance.

"I believe if you do the statesmanship properly, I believe if you do the kind of alliance-building that is available to us, that it is appropriate to have a goal of reducing our troops" by August 2005, Kerry told reporters during a news briefing from the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Since last month's Democratic National Convention, the senator from Massachusetts has been under mounting pressure to provide a clearer explanation of his views on the war, including why he voted for the congressional resolution authorizing the invasion yet opposed funding for it. On Friday, Bush challenged Kerry to answer whether he would support the war "knowing what we know now" about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction that U.S. and British officials were certain were there.

In response, Kerry said: "Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it was the right authority for a president to have."

But Kerry has charged that the president and his advisers badly mishandled the war, and in the news conference he posed sharp questions for Bush.

"Why did we rush to war without a plan to win the peace?" he asked. "Why did you rush to war on faulty intelligence and not do the hard work necessary to give America the truth?"

"Why did he mislead America about how he would go to war?" he added. "Why has he not brought other countries to the table in order to support American troops in the way they deserve it and relieve the pressure on the American people?"




In the past, Kerry has said he would want to talk to commanders in the field before determining troop size and never ruled out increasing U.S. forces if needed. Later, he set a goal of reducing troops by the end of his first term. In an interview last week with National Public Radio, Kerry said he could "significantly" reduce troops a year from now -- a position his aides quickly tried to soften. Stephanie Cutter, Kerry's spokeswoman, said his position has not changed.

As evidence his goal is attainable, Kerry said fellow senators who have traveled abroad told him that other countries will be willing to provide more assistance if Bush is defeated this fall. He also said Arab countries have a stake in Iraq's future and could lessen the United States' burden.

"Obviously we have to see how events unfold," Kerry said. "The measurement has to be . . . the stability of Iraq, the ability to have the elections, and the training and transformation of the Iraqi security force itself."

After the news conference, James P. Rubin, Kerry's national security adviser, said he wanted to "clarify" the candidate's comments as a best-case target for troop reduction contingent upon conditions on the ground changing and other nations offering up more peacekeeping troops in Iraq.

The candidate has made his pledge to internationalize the peacekeeping effort the central tenet of his Iraq policy.

Kerry made his comments during a campaign trek by train through several key western states -- Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.

On domestic issues, he said he would not raise the retirement age or decrease benefits for Social Security recipients, arguing that an improved economy alone can extend the life of the entitlement program. "If anything in America, we should be trying to set a goal of helping people to retire earlier, not later," he said.

Kerry's comments on Iraq overshadowed an event here designed to pay homage to the national park system and accuse Bush of not adequately funding places such as the Grand Canyon. After a brief morning stop in Flagstaff, Ariz., Kerry boarded a six-passenger twin-engine Augusta 109 helicopter to fly to the canyon's edge, 7,200 feet above sea level, for a quick hike and short address to visitors at Powell Point on the south rim. Wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, daughter Vanessa and stepson Andre joined him for the hike and the national park event.

Kerry promised to spend $600 million more on national parks, in part by repealing the Bush tax cuts for those making $200,000 a year or more, changing the 1872 mining law and, possibly, raising fees for park services as a last resort.

"Teddy Roosevelt stood right here at the Grand Canyon, and he looked out at it and said, 'Leave it as it is, you can't improve on it, what you must do is make this available to our children, and to our children's children,' " Kerry said. "And what he was really talking about is not just the Grand Canyon, but he's talking about the parks that we have today. . . . Regrettably, today the national park system is under stress," he said.


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