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Jessbob's Journal

jessbob
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08/18/2004 12:57 #24067

7-11s
[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.

08/14/2004 10:36 #24066

Opening Ceremony
[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.

08/12/2004 22:48 #24065

Barney et al
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:
image



08/10/2004 20:51 #24064

Kerry is a Wuss
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.


typetypetype

08/09/2004 19:23 #24063

An Update
This summer has gone by really fast. I have only two weeks of work left. Then I come back to the B-lo for a week and then classes start up again. Craziness. I can't wait to come home. I really need to. After a while of not being home, I just start to miss it. It is almost as if I need to charge up my battery. It'll be nice to see everyone and hang out, but it sucks that I will miss the Mike/Terry extravaganza. I'll be one day too late. I don't know. I don't really have much to say. I really should go be productive and write a cover letter and update my resume for a new internship, but we'll see if that happens. Stay out of trouble.