house hunting near downtown San Jose

What has our city come to when I have to decide between living in a neighborhood with more sexual assaults or one with more breaking and entering reports. Lord knows I cant escape the sex offenders, I might as well invite them over to my house warming party. Seriously, when did our city become such a shit-hole? I'm aware that as far as big cities go, San Jose is one of the safest... it can be safer. Sure we can blame the lack of forces, or the decline in the economy; I can even understand the increase in theft, but what I don't understand is the increase in sexual assaults. Sexual assault does not seem like the poor mans crime. To me it seems like we've got one too many parolees who aren't getting checked in on how their supposed to be. I think its time we clear our jails out of non-violent offenders and pile in the real creepos. I would much rather prefer having a convicted vandalist living next door than a man who force-ably raped a minor. Justsayin...

Words of the week

Insipid: adj, lacking zest or excitement
Pulchritudinous: adj, beautiful.

Ashura and bombings in Afghanistan

Today concluded the final day of Ashura, an islamic holiday which comemorates the marytrdom of Hasayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the prophet Mohammad. It is celebrated world wide by devout Shia muslims, and is observed through fast by Sunni Muslims. As part of tradition, Shia men flagellate themselves as a blood sacrifice to mourn the death of Hasayn. Unexpectedly, bomb blasts in Afghanistan led to more than intended bloodshed, the death of 55 worshipers, and left 134 wounded. Although the Taliban has yet to come forward to claim the attack, many believe they are responsible. It is the first time insurgents have attacked on such a religious holiday. In neighboring Pakistan, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik thanked the country's Taliban militants for not staging attacks during the holiday. What I fail to understand is why the Taliban, a strict religiously devote group of militant insurgents, would ever attack during a holiday that the Prophet said to keep holy. Or why the government of a nation should feel the need to thank the bastards. Because of their actions, Afghani civilians who might have been sympathetic to the Taliban have raised their voices to condemn their actions. Hopefully this will lead to a change in authority in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bellow are some links on the event and some history

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/12/06/afghanistan_bombing_ashura?page=0,15
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_of_Muharram
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/dead+Afghan+shrine+blasts/5816734/story.html
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/12/06/pakistani-minister-thanks-taliban-for-peace-on-ashura-day/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Ashura

Weekly Vocab
encomium-n. a formal eulogy or speech of praise
impecunious-adj. penniless; poor

I both want to applaud and slap Bexar

Post the release of a video of Gaddafi's capture, Jezebel user Bexar began an interesting debate on justice. I respect his opinion, but god damn is he annoying. Link bellow

http://gawker.com/5852485/heres-the-clearest-video-yet-of-gaddafis-capture

Words of the Week
Convivial – joyous, festal
Convoke – to assemble

Gaddafi is dead...

and I can't help but wonder what will happen to all the guns we shipped over to Libya. 10 bucks says they'll make their way south to the Congo. Will we ever learn our lesson? In the 90s we thought it was a good idea to send guns and stingers to help out a few dissatisfied students who wanted the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Who woulda known that this group of students aka the Taliban would decide to turn against us? Try asking a fundamentalist group for your weapons back and see what happens. No worries, I'll save you the hassle, the US was dee-nied. Now with the power vaccum that I'm sure will form after the last remnants of Gaddafi's regime are completely eliminated, it is only a mater of time until we see a whole new wave of illicit arms dealing. I really really really hope I'm wrong here.

Words of the Week

Chicanery – deception
Chimerical – imaginary

Health Insurance

I FINALLY HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE!!

Not having health insurance is one of the most sobering experiences of my life. It makes you reevaluate everything.

Examples:

Should I really risk eating this questionable sushi?
Is this toilet seat liner thick enough?
Maybe I should wear a face mask to school...and a helment. Definitely a helmet.

Without health insurance, the world seemed to be a far scarier place. I lived in fear of life threatening contagions smeared on door handles waiting to strangle me with my own snot. Somewhere in the world  a little Asian woman sat, barely peering over the steering wheel, hellbent on murdering me with her vehicle. Ok, insurance or not I'm pretty sure that little Asian lady is out to get me. You get the point.

Now that I have health insurance, I am free to live recklessly. Although not really, because generally I'm a boring person BUT I still like having my "in case shit happens" security blanket. Health Insurance = peace of mind. 45.7 million people in the US live like I did, uninsured. That is pathetic. I refuse to get into a discussion on how to fix the situation, but my assumption is it would take tax money...better not be my tax money. So instead I will sign off with a prayer.

Dear Jesus, Muhammad, Yahweh, Buddha, and various Hindu Gods, please grant that the world be insured. Its cool if you ignore petitions for world peace (just this once), and make this top priority. Amen.

Words of the Week!

abaft

(adv.) on or toward the rear of a ship

The passengers moved abaft of the ship so as to escape the fire in the front of the ship. 


amity

(n.) friendly relations

The amity between the two bordering nations put the populations at ease.

I got prolems

I have been starring at my curser blink for the past 15 minutes. Thats a lie. I stare at it for about 2 minutes then I look at Facebook. Then back to the curser...then facebook...the curser again, then Oddee...and back again. This is how all of my writing goes, always. Without the pressure of a fast approaching deadline, shit just doesn't  get done. This is a problem.

Hello, my name is Yvonne, and I am a chronic procrastinator.

My boyfriend constantly hints that I may be ADHD, I refuse to admit that he may be right.  I think it maybe time for me to be honest with myself :( bellow are the symptoms of adult ADHD. I'm going to strike out everything that does not apply to me.

• “zoning out” without realizing it, even in the middle of a conversation.
• extreme distractibility; wandering attention makes it hard to stay on track.
• difficulty paying attention or focusing, such as when reading or listening to others.
• struggling to complete tasks, even ones that seem simple.
• tendency to overlook details, leading to errors or incomplete work.
• poor listening skills; hard time remembering conversations and following directions. 
• poor organizational skills (home, office, desk, or car is extremely messy and cluttered)
• tendency to procrastinate
• trouble starting and finishing projects
• chronic lateness
• frequently forgetting appointments, commitments, and deadlines
• constantly losing or misplacing things (keys, wallet, phone, documents, bills)
• underestimating the time it will take you to complete tasks
• frequently interrupt others or talk over them
• have poor self-control
• blurt out thoughts that are rude or inappropriate without thinking
• have addictive tendencies
• act recklessly or spontaneously without regard for consequences
• have trouble behaving in socially appropriate ways (such as sitting still during a long meeting) I fidget, but its not suuuper noticeable...I'll let this one pass
• sense of underachievement
• doesn’t deal well with frustration
• easily flustered and stressed out
• irritability or mood swings
• trouble staying motivated
• hypersensitivity to criticism
• short, often explosive, temper
• low self-esteem and sense of insecurity
• feelings of inner restlessness, agitation
• tendency to take risks
• getting bored easily
• racing thoughts
• trouble sitting still; constant fidgeting
• craving for excitement
• talking excessively
• doing a million things at once 

I hardly passed the test :( 

What do I do now? I refuse to take a medicated substance to regulate my brain function. I've tried setting schedules for myself, but we already know how I handle deadlines. All I want to do is be successful. I just want to sit my ass down and get my work done. I need help.

Words of the Week

Circumlocution – evasion in speech

Ersatz – artificial, substitute

DateRate

No there isn't a typo in the title; this is not about Date Rape. This is about a website that desperately needs to be made...DateRate.

Ever dated a complete asshole that cheated or mooched? Ever wasted a few months (and paychecks) on a woman who decided she'd rather dump you to get back with her douche boyfriend? Then DateRate my friend will be your lifesaver.

Imagine a website that not only has a full dating profile which lists interest and compatibility, but also has anonymous customer satisfaction ratings. You wouldn't buy a car if you knew it was a lemon, right? Then why would you spend your time and money on a person who's a lemon? I'm not trying to compare people to goods; I merely feel that it’s about time for the web to be honest.

If you are a sweet, loving, honest, caring, and charismatic person, as you claim you are, then no worries, your reviews will reflect it! However, if your inflated sense of self has blinded you to your imperfections, then maybe this will be a good wake up call for you! Maybe its time to learn to be a good person.

On DateRate everyone has a say. If you receive negative feedback, you will have the opportunity to either defend yourself or apologize for your actions.

On DateRate honesty is key. As you set up your profile you will list each individual you have ever dated (their names will not appear on your profile), an email will be sent to each of your past partners requesting their review.

Nobody is perfect, but, by being honest with ourselves, maybe we can get one step closer to perfection.

DateRate.

Words of the Week!

Abeyance – inactivity
Abstruse – profound, hidden, hard to under-stand