Why geography is essential and the media is full of lies: (or "The Mosque is not at Ground Zero")

Before anyone else rants about this, please do a bit of research. Start here.

the gratitude campaign

juror juror on the wall

so after being on-call for jury duty for nearly two weeks, i finally had to report for duty. at precisely 6:30 am, i headed out nearly 40 miles to the us district courthouse- eastern district in downtown detroit.

aside from leaving my kids, i was the most concerned with what to wear. did i wear the artsy floral skirt with ballet flats, hoping to look young and i don't know, liberal? pinstripes with a fushia top, which would be very professional, but is it good to stand out? blue silk flowey blouse and black crops to look articulate and fashionable? i decided on the smart blue blouse, crops and peep-toe kitten heels. i figured i'd out-dress the lawyers, and perhaps fly under the radar. little did i know that others would not adhere to the "strictly enforced" dress code, and would show up in blue jeans. the lawyers were both in outdated colored suits (green... really???) oh well, at least i looked good.

i arrived early after my first solo trip on the lodge. i made it, paid for parking and went it. and waited and waited and waited. finally we were going into the court room to select the jury. they called up eight people, questioned them, and replaced two. then they replaced another. aside from a jewely saleswoman, they were replacing all of the teachers. i had this one in the bag, and was totally set to have my chance in the box. however, after 12 jurors, the rest of the panel was dismissed, myself included. free from reporting for the duration of the week.

so, i was back home by 11, and will receive my fat $90 check in a few weeks. and aside from being grateful that i do not have to find childcare for my babies while i sat on a trial, i'm also grateful that i do not have to make decisions about other peoples lives. in this case, it was simply insurance and contract law, but it still isn't right. i don't care if this is our historical system of judgement, i do not believe that other people have the right to judge others, take away their rights as humans, nor be truly free from our own personal agendas and biases.

even without your "experience" mrs k. i still have been jaded by the system. and i'll jump on a civil rights soapbox whenever i feel like it, just for the hell of it, just because i can. because, i suppose, that is american justice.

post election thoughts

what else can i say than that i'm disappointed.

it's not obama, really, we just knew that he would win (did you see his following on facebook alone?) and if you recall, i was considering voting for him myself, a while back. it's nothing personal, but the bottom line is that we're a military family (my brother-in-law usmc sergent (now, right?) evan vanover did two tours of iraq post 9/11) and that really changes your view on politics. okay, yes, i've always been a liberal republican, but i do agree with the war, and i do not think we should bring troops home. they need to be there. they are defending our freedom, we will not accept defete. perhaps i should also mention that i am still one of the very few bush supporters left. yes, obama, i will support you, too. i may complain, but i do not bash presidents. (now, governors, on the other hand...)

the bigger upset, was in my local politics. at my precinct, i heard the most discouraging comments from those waiting in line- a few, first time voters at 25, 40, 50 years old. there were saying things such as "this one really counts," and "we need to Change, you know." a few were turned away for falsifying documents, some for failing to change an address, and others for not registering. "you know, you have to register every year to vote" someone else chimed in. REALLY? REALLY? so when there is a calling to vote in a historical election, people suddenly jump in our little democratic community- needing to Change. and that just pisses me off, since this record-breaking turnout in over a century was still only at 64%. where the hell is everyone else? frustrating. but at least it was above forty percent. but i digress. as i stepped up to the table to receive my ballot, i realized that they gave me no instructions. the ballot was long and complicated. there was no bold black line dividing the straight-ticket voting area from the rest of the ballot. because i usually vote mixed-ballot, i didn't think much of it, but i then wondered how many irregular voters marked the democrat straight-ticket area, and yet still proceeded to color in all of the other ovals. again, frustrating. i fault the volunteers, though i am certain that the outcome would have been the same.

the worst of all, came in my local politics. namely, the position of village president. we were afraid that our candidate would lose to village family, because a third candidate (with poor spelling and a lack of world history, mind you) would split his votes. indeed, that's what happened. and the village will be forced to be run by the same damn family members that have been running it for nearly a century. the good news, is that we have a killer board, and of course, an embarrassing level of experience with village president recalls, should there be any issues.

my man john accivitti also lost his run for state representive, a significant loss that i feel was created by all of the dirty, negative media that the michigan republican party was flooding my mailbox with. it sure seemed downright nasty. it probably even crossed the line, and yet, the ads were coming from the mrp, and not john himself. i did get a nice letter opener out of the deal, though, but i am incredibly dissappointed.

and finally, stem-cell research passed by an unnerving margin. will someone please put in some serious guidelines to this? though we surely need cures to disease, we don't need clones, and fetal testing. we need ethics.

perhaps that is really the bottom line. we just all need ethics.

god bless america.

GET OUT AND VOTE!

The polls are open from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm. There are absolutely no excuses- every vote counts in this historical election. If you need a ride, Jeremy has offered to help out. If you need a sitter, I am available until 6:00 pm.

Need an added incentive? Show your "I VOTED" sticker for freebies:

• tall coffee at Starbucks
• patriotic star doughnut at Krispy Kreme
• scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's

and heck, stop by the Vanover's and if you voted for McCain/Palin, we'll toast to shared political views. If you simply cannot bring yourself to vote for them, vote for John Accavitti and we'll still throw in something special.

gettin' politic wit' it

i'm not looking to spew a debate (honestly!!!), but i thought this was a good read and thought i'd pass it along to all of you. i'm not a fan of mudslinging, and i'm pretty disgusted with both parties, but this doesn't get dirty until the end. my recommendation? read the first two-thirds and then form your own opinions.

vcs official political endorsement!

ladies and gentlemen of the blog world, i am pleased to announce my official endorsement for the presidential candidacy. i am sorry for the delay. i absolutely needed to know the vice presidential candidates before i could solidify my decision.

i have to confess, that this decision was proceeded by an unexpected phone call from one of my favorite new york liberal non-hippie/hippie-types, my wedding photographer, zim.

zim: dude, meagan. where are you right now?
me: i'm pulling out of my driveway. where are you?
zim: in ohio. i'm on my way to chicago. i'm calling to tell you that i'm voting for a republican!
me: who? wha? why aren't you voting for obama?

(blah, blah, blah. ten minute political debate ensues. spewing intellect from her brain, but only jell-o from mine)

finally, i find out that running mates have been selected.

and zim is happy. zim, my hil-dog t-shirt wearing demo from the east coast is happy.

but you know what? so am i. we may have different reasons, but we are both happy.

vanover central station proudly supports john mccain and sarah palin now go kick some donkey ass.

i love my country, but i fear my government

(and not my current government, either. i support that. i elected that, and i will stand by that until president bush leaves office. i'm talking about our future government.)

so it's practically may and i still find myself unable to choose a candidate. why did all of the "good guys" have to drop out of the race? do i support my party with a trusted and true candidate, or one of the most interesting, well-spoken and intelligent people that i have ever seen? i'm so frustrated with the entire situation. i can't believe that i still haven't made a decision by this point, but i can tell you one thing... i'm sure as hell not voting for hil-dog.

sorry, hillary, i don't choose candidates based on gender, and if i were to help elect a woman, i certainly wouldn't support one who cried and whined about being a woman. put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

there i said it.

an article worth (re)reading

Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats