I don’t know what really to do about this issue. It started yesterday afternoon, I got a call from a 443 number that I didn’t recognize. I decided not to answer it. They called twice but didn’t leave a message. I basically ignored it.
Then starting at 8:03 this morning, I get a call asking for a “Vanessa”. I said they have the wrong number and hung up. It wouldn’t stop after that. They called again at 10:17, 10:23, 10:31, 10:42, 11:24, 11:31, 11:35, 11:58, 12:06, and 1:50.
They call from various numbers and sometimes their number is blocked. Two of the numbers I looked up. It seems they’re some company asking if people want to go back to school or something. It’s a total scam and complete bull shit.
Around 11:30 I texted Bri about it. He said that I should call the police. He did for me and they said to call Verizon, my carrier. They weren’t really helpful as they suggesting downloading an app that blocks numbers and blocking them with Verizon. I did both and haven’t gotten a call yet.
Here are the numbers that they call from (besides unavailable):
- 561-463-5521
- 443-419-2016
- 443-816-1645
- 216-282-5522
I’ve tried several times to speak to these people. I asked them to please stop calling and remove me from their list… the other times, they just hang up on me.
I’m not a fan of Rush Limbaugh. (Surprise, surprise.)
I think that Rush should NOT be booted off the air. It’s free speech even though what he said was slander. He could and should be sued for it.
In order for justice to be served in this, his advertisers should pull out and so should his listeners. Giving Rush any more attention from this indecent will only straighten him.
People love to hate and they’ll start listening to Rush and start following Rush on Twitter because they hate him. That only gives him strength.
Americans should stop listening to Rush. The media should stop covering Rush. Sooner or later he will fade away.
That’s the problem with the media. They pay so much attention to these “Sarah Palin’s”, “Rush Limbaugh’s”, “Lindsay Loehan’s”, they get away from the real topics and issues and only give these fake phonies more popularity and power. If they were to stop covering Rush and Sarah, their popularity would plummet and they would go away.
On another note: Sad, sad news that Dennis Kucinich lost his primary. America has lost one of its true progressives and representatives of the poor. Dennis Kucinich is a man of integrity and, I believe, one of the few members of Congress that people could actually trust. I hope he considers running for senator or something else later. We need people like Kucinich who can walk the walk, stand up for his beliefs and do what is right for this country.
I really hope this year is not another 2010.
This post intentionally left mostly blank since I can’t really say what’s really on my mind since religion isn’t something kosher to talk about.
That health care law requiring insurance companies to pay for contraception would do a lot of good. I am one of the women who would benefit from it. I want to live in THAT country where the government does good things for people.
Slavery for example (and there are many more examples) is condoned and practiced in the Bible yet it’s illegal in America; how come no one’s complaining about that?
Let’s just leave it at the fact that it’s entire bull shit that religion gets in the way of state and federal regulations that can do good things for people.
I’ve been doing fantasy football for the past two years now. I did one league last year. This year, I had three leagues.
I have to say NFL.com has the best fantasy football I’ve seen. Its interface is very easy to understand and does a great job of doing head-to-head matchup analysis. However, their estimations aren’t as accurate. Their predictions update throughout the game, which is really nice.
Yahoo has a good one as well. Though, the estimations don’t update throughout the game. There’s also not a graph like NFL has. But they do a good job. The interface as a commissioner is kind of confusing.
ESPN is the worst. It does head-to-head matchup but it’s hard to find. Their point system counts in whole numbers (at least the league I was in), which doesn’t make any sense. The interface is hard to follow. It’s just generally hard to find what you’re looking for.
Anyway, I wanted to blog about some of the things I’ve learned from fantasy football over these past two years:
- It may be worth NOT downloading the apps for your phone. It might be worth for you to use the online interfaces for your league. I say this because the apps make it really easy to make last minute changes. I did that a lot last year. Since the app was right there and it was so easy, I switched them last minute and it turns out the player I benched did better than the player I put in.
- Don’t listen to blogs as much. Do your own research but don’t get too carried away with it. A lot of the time the blogs are wrong. Your best bet is always to guess. Fantasy is about gambling on which player you think will do well. I benched Cruz for Moss since a blog said the Vikings had a bad secondary thinking Moss is going to have an awesome game. Cruz got 25 points where Moss had 8.
- Running backs, running backs, running backs (most of the time). Though if you’re in a PPR (points per reception league), wide receivers.
- Be weary about last minute “reports” on players. They may have a “Q” or “P” right next to their names, but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to have an awesome game. Make sure you know the player isn’t going that Sunday before you bench them.
- Don’t put up players who have huge projections. Take the projections with a grain of salt. If a top running back is out and his backup is only projected to get 3 points, put in the backup. Where are they getting those numbers?
Fantasy is just a game of luck. And most of it’s dumb luck.
I’ve had a blast these last two years with fantasy and I can’t wait for next year. And by the way, go RAVENS!
Here’s my progress from 2011 Resolutions:
- Eat a lot less meat, including less seafood (I’ve been really good about this however it’s difficult sometimes when eating over other people’s houses)
- Ride the scooter when I can (Yep, I’ve been riding it, it’s put away for winter now)
- Host more parties and get togethers (Nope, you kinda have to have friends for that)
- See far away friends more (I see them when I can)
- Snowboarding, master the bunny slope and the lift, turn left (Not snowboarding now, but maybe this winter)
- Go on at least two fun trips and a vacation (check, went camping and to OC, more fun stuff to follow)
- Make more friends (I just suck at life)
- Work on my Wiki (making progress)
- Don’t shop at Walmart (haven’t shopped there all year and I intend to keep it that way)
- Get into better shape (I do yoga and I feel great)
I guess in conclusion, the big thing for me is to make friends. It’s killing me not hanging out with people. It gets very lonely.
Why the hell is the so called “liberal media” not talking about this? This bill gives the military the ability to detain and arrest US citizens indefinitely who are suspected of terrorism… on US SOIL and WITHOUT TRIAL.
Obama, veto this bill. This bill is sick. How many more liberties do we have to give away in the name of terrorism? Especially when we’ve killed bin Laden and seem to have the whole “terrorism” thing under control.
If we keep taking away the rights of our citizens, there will be no country to protect. And let us not forget the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”
I’m surprised this story hasn’t gotten more traction in the “liberal media”. A report from Galveston Bay, Texas shows that climate change is the reason why the sea level in the area is changing. However, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and good ol’ Rick Perry didn’t believe the report and said that couldn’t be right, so they edited it.
There is good news, though. More and more scientists who are skeptics are starting to “believe” in climate change. Even ones that were bought off by big oil. It seems they get the same numbers as other scientists that our Earth is warming.
So the left is right. Makes you wonder what else they’re right on? Maybe that tax cuts don’t stimulate the economy nor do they pay for themselves?
Interesting articles this morning. Three years ago, 16% of Chinese said there in the past year that they couldn’t provide food for themselves or their family, compared with Americans at 9%.
Now it’s the complete opposite. 6% of Chinese say they couldn’t feed their family in the past year, where as 19% of Americans said it.
Also the news has it that GAP is closing stores in the US in order to expand to China.
What the hell is going on? Is the United States not a first world country anymore?
Warning: Spoilers for those who haven’t seen Dexter season 4… none about season 6 episode 1 (aired last night).
I hated Dexter season 5 with a passion. The first episode of the season was alright it was just not the closure I was looking for. The end of season 4 left such a void and depression with Rita dying. Season 5 did little to nothing to bridge the gap of Dexter without Rita.
Therefore, I will convince myself that Dexter season 5 never happened. He never met that bitch, Lumen, or got tangled up in anything in that crazy, stupid season.
Here’s what I’m going to convince myself happened during the very end of season 4 to now:
- Rita didn’t die. Rita got tired of Dexter’s sneaking around and his not being a proper father to the kids.
- Rita decides to leave Dexter and take Astor and Cody (of whom we’ll probably never see again). She decides to let Dexter have Harrison in order for him to become a better father. Maybe she saw something evil in him?
- Dexter sells the house and moves back into his apartment.
Oh, and here’s a prediction that I’ve been saying all summer: Deb will find out about Dexter this season. There are subtle clues hidden among the previews that make me point to this happening.
Let’s hope it’s a great season. Yay! Dexter’s back!
I’ve been meaning to blog about this for quite some time. You ever just think about life or be in a situation where technology just lacks? And you think to yourself, why haven’t they done that or fixed that?
I have been in these situations quite a few times throughout the years and I have to say each time… It’s the year 2011!
Here’s a list of stuff that needs to just catch up…
- Vending machines – Take my stupid, folded up, ripped, and wrinkled dollar… in ANY direction. Why should I still need to have that crisp, perfect, straight from the mint dollar bill in order to get my soda???
- Toll Roads – Yes, they have EZ pass and that’s great. But what about the people who don’t have EZ pass and carry around credit cards? What about instances when it’s 3 in the morning and there’s no dudes there? I still need to have the exact change to put in the thing. (I’m looking at you, VA-267.)
- Digital Radio – Why aren’t all stereos in cars digital? And how come when they are, they’re always so delayed it displays the song name three songs later? And why does it take forever to scroll and see what the station name is?
- Crutches – Why haven’t we come up with something more advanced than crutches? They make your life hard. I don’t understand why they don’t come up with an iron boot or something so you can walk without those awful things under your arms.
- Food – How come it’s the future and we still have fattening food? How come we don’t have food that tastes good and that is good? And why the hell is fruit so expensive? Furthermore, shouldn’t all food be available 365 days a year? Why do I need to wait for my strawberries and zucchini to be in season?
- 24/7 – How rare is it that any place is open 24 hours? It’s the future. Almost all places should be 24/7 including BANKS. I hate time limits on food and clothing and shopping.
- Hoverboard – Because I had to put it in here!
- Baldness & Other Cures – Shouldn’t we have cures for obvious things? There should be no bald people. You shouldn’t have to take a few days to get better from a cold. There should be easy solutions to these problems.
- Simulation – How come you have to learn how to ride a bike the same way people learned 100 years ago? When learning to ride a motorcycle or a manual car, it’s real. How come there’s no simulated thing that you could easily learn how to shift? They had simulations for the space shuttle back before 1969! Why do I need to learn by really doing it?
- Automatic Transmissions – Why is it that everything isn’t automatic? It’s the future, you know. We should get away from this “manual” because we invented machines to do it for us. And they can do it better than us. Why do more when a machine can do it for you?
- Pennies – How come in the US we still have pennies? Inflation is so high right now, there isn’t a need. Our country can’t afford to make them anyway. Making a penny costs two cents, which makes no sense.
- Shoe Laces – Why do we still have these again? Isn’t the future supposed to be shoes that adjust to your feet? You shouldn’t have to manually adjust your shoes to fit.
- Pens – Is it so much to ask for a pen to actually work? Sure if you buy the really expensive pens, maybe. But this is the future. All pens should work without you having to draw 2,139,482 circles to get more ink or putting a lighter to the tip to melt the dried ink. Work!
- Lights On – Why isn’t it a requirement for cars to have their lights on when the windshield wipers are on. It’s a law in some states. Some cars do it but it should be a requirement.
- Lasting Batteries – Why do we have problems with charging things? It’s the year 2011. I’d expect our devices to run by themselves without a charge or have little requirement for charge. My phone needs to be placed on the charger like once every 15 hours (depending on usage). Seriously, create better batteries.
- Doors – Isn’t there a way to digitalize the doors already? Make it use a fingerprint or something or a card. Keys are so old and they’re so bulky!
- Adapters – Why is it that I need 3,428 different cords to power my different electronic devices? Why isn’t just one adapter fits all? (Thanks to @travey for this one.)
I just read an article saying how Republicans refuse to budge on the debt ceiling. Usually this always means a Democratic cave… like we’ve seen with health care, jobs, climate change, wall street reform, unemployment, etc.
However, Obama seems to be staying strong. He’s quoted as saying (not verbatim):
What we’re seeing here confirms what the American people think is the worst about Washington: that everyone is more interested in posturing and political positioning and protecting their base than solving real problems. Eric, I could get well above the numbers the GOP is talking about with revenue increases. I am not afraid to veto this and I will take that message and defend it to the American people. If we default, it will be a tax increase on every American. My responsibility is to the American people. I have reached the point where I say, ‘Enough.’ I have sat here long enough and no other President – Ronald Reagan wouldn’t sit here like this. I’ve reached my limit. We’ve reached the point where something’s got to give. You’ve either got to compromise on your dollar for dollar insistence or you compromise on the big deal, which means raising taxes. Eric, don’t call my bluff. I will go to the American people on this. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this.
I hate to say this but it is about time. We want Obama to be strong on tough issues like this. I’m glad he’s deciding to do it now.
We’re behind you, President Obama!
The past few weeks have not been good for the Progressive movement, or the Democratic Party for that matter. Besides losing Anthony Weiner (one of the few Progressives in Congress), other severe blows have been happening which further damages this country.
Defeat For Unions
Last Thursday in New Jersey, the Assembly passed legislation which increases the cost union workers have to pay for health insurance and pensions. Just like in Wisconsin, the unions were more than willing to compromise but drastic action was taken by Republicans to shut them down. Another blow for the unions who are responsible for building up the middle class in this country.
Supreme Court Ruling For Walmart
What crap is it when the Supreme Court comes to the aid of big corporations, again? Female workers who feel discriminated in the male dominated corporation known as Walmart have lost their ability to file a class action lawsuit. Employees who want power in numbers to battle abuses in the court system now cannot. Recognizing corporate-wide trends seem to be of no use. Imagine if auto companies didn’t have to recognize trends… there would be no recalls. Oh no, I think I gave the right wing some ideas…
Supreme Court Ruling For EPA
The mighty Supreme Court put a stop to any city or state which dares to be more stricter than the EPA. (A similar ruling happened during the Bush years with California wanting to increase their MPG regulation on vehicles.) The right is so hypocritical with all this “states rights” bull shit when they don’t have the power to supersede federal regulations? I don’t hear the Tea Baggers or the Republicans going after the Supreme Court on these issues (or any issues for that matter since the most important are 5-4 rulings).
No Tax Increases
With Boehner walking out on budget talks there doesn’t seem to be any common ground except where the Republican is standing (yet again). Obama is pretty much being forced to allow the richest of the rich to get away with billions of dollars in taxes that they should have to pay. Taxes haven’t been this low since 1950. Facing the approaching cap on the debt ceiling, Republicans prefer to take money from the middle class through drastic cuts in Social Security and Medicare rather than their real constituents, the rich.
Weak Withdraw
Alright Obama for wanting to almost withdraw the surge he put in place in Afghanistan. By 2013 we will still have more troops in Afghanistan than there were when Obama took office.
- Let’s see how much further to the right these rich white dudes can go. #HowLowCanYouGo #RepublicanDebate 8:00 PM EST
- “Obama Depression”? Hello? It started during Bush. 8:03 PM EST
- I’m just going to be pissed off all night. #RepublicanDebate 8:08 PM EST
- So extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy wasn’t one thing right with the economy? 8:14 PM EST
- What a great story! Loss of jobs, an economic crisis, the biggest wealth inequality in history… Wow! 8:24 PM EST
- We’re already the lowest corporate tax rate! And the EPA? From job killing to people killing! 8:29 PM EST
- Thousands of blue collar jobs would have been lost, not to mention the US NOT having an auto industry if we didn’t do the auto bailout. 8:40 PM EST
- So the poor states should deal with their own hurricanes and tornadoes. Brilliant! You just alienated most of your base. 8:51 PM EST
- If you “stand for life” how come you don’t want poor people to have health insurance? #CNNDebate 9:27 PM EST
- So whether or not you’re a US citizen should be turned on to the states? Really? #CNNDebate 9:32 PM EST
- I learned that whenever you can’t think of a good answer to a question, blame Obama or say “give power to the states”. #CNNDebate 10:02 PM EST
It goes without saying that I’m pretty upset about this whole situation with Anthony Weiner. He is one of my favorite congressmen. I believe he truly has the best intentions for America and I feel I can trust him (yes, even after all those photos and chats). I believe him to be one of the few good guys.
I think the media has blown this thing way out of proportion. Congressman Weiner didn’t have sex with anyone. Nor did he break any laws (of course pending the 17 year old girl investigation).
His district is smart. His district doesn’t want him to go. They know him to fight. He’s one of the only ones who actually fight for progressive values and what’s right.
I think it’s wise of him to take a leave of absence and get his shit together before continuing representing people. His personal life obviously needs to get in order before he can properly continue the fine job he’s doing.
I’m just really upset this had to happen and very upset at the media for making it a circus. The likes of David Vitter (who actually broke laws) is still in Congress. No high ranking Republican officials asked for his resignation.
Maybe if the media wasn’t so stupid and if American’s weren’t so obsessed with sex they’d actually report on things that matter, like the debt ceiling.
Yet another gem from one of my Republican friends:
If people really believe that these are our biggest problems, no wonder this country is in such bad shape.
It cost the United States $1.2 trillion dollars, ten years, and over 900,000 deaths to finally get Osama bin Laden. Granted not all of the money or treasure was used just to get him. We spent needlessly in places where he was not and for reasons that don’t make any sense.
Now that he’s dead, who won? We as Americans are still scared. We still have to go through full body scans and shoe checks at the airport. We still have the Patriot Act which takes away our rights as Americans if we were to be called a terrorist. We still torture. We still have Gitmo opened. We still have two wars going on that had nothing to do with bin Laden.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and basically everything we did post 9/11, we made al Qaeda stronger. Instead of one big branch, they separated. Store owners, ordinary citizens, and people who have nothing to do with bin Laden can be al Qaeda. They saw us steamroll into their country, killing their people; we breed that hate. We responded to their violence with more violence.
I do have to point out, I appreciate how they buried bin Laden at sea, like an Islamic funeral; instead of lord knows what some people in this country would have preferred.
However, I’m sure us cheering in every major city in the US that he was dead angered some too. (Remember how we saw some Muslims cheering that September 11th happened?) Why can’t we be better than that? If we’re so “exceptional” how come we torture, how come we celebrate our enemies deaths? I believe that just gives them more reasons to hate us.
I actually have a little bit of time today to catch up on some news. I read a Barack Obama Report Card and decided to blog about what I think his report card should be.
Political Identity: C.
I know who Obama is. I know his vision for this country. I just don’t see the path on which we’ll get there. So far in his path he hasn’t taken the courageous steps I had hoped he’d take. He needs to better stand up for the middle class and the poor. Instead he panders to the rich too much. He needs to go further to the left and stop appearing so right. In some regards, he’s further to the right than Reagan.
Campaign Team: D.
Where was his team during the 2010 elections? He should have had them assembled to help out his fellow Democrats. He did a brilliant job in 2008, but come 2010 they were no where to be found. I understand it’s not his election, but he still should have gotten more motivation out there to help out his party. We barely heard from him.
Leadership: D.
Like I said, he needs to stop giving into the Republicans. Where’s the leader I thought he’d be? This trait is where he needs to be more like Clinton and get it his way or no way. He starts with a compromise on everything. That’s no way to get what you want.
Attributes and Values: A.
I know what they are, I know what he wants to fight for, I just don’t see him putting up much of a fight. I would trust Obama if it was only him, but it’s not. He has to deal with people who want everything opposite of what he wants and stands in the way of everything; and that is killing his presidency.
Organization: B.
He needs to get ready to get in there again. Let’s hope he hasn’t lost so much of his base he can get them back. He needs to start to get the youth out there again and motivate them. They took him to his victory in 2008.
Position Relative To His Opposition: A.
If he took the time and explain to people what he’s for and what he wants, no doubt more people would agree with him. Like most things I debate with my colleges and friends about. Once I explain to them what should be, they agree (a lot of the time). I believe most people would see what Obama wants if he better explains it to them. Instead he lets the right twist things then we get “death panels” and “Obama raised taxes” lies.
Domestic Issues: D.
He still hasn’t done anything meaningful to get this economy back on track. He needs to concentrate more on infrastructure and America’s foundation. Health Care Reform was great. He also needs to fight back more on the budget cutting the Republicans want to do that will only hurt the poor and the middle class which will further sink the economy. Starting with cuts on the poor and the middle class are not the way to earn trust. Start at the bloat, at the top.
Foreign Issues: C.
He hasn’t closed Gitmo, he started us in another war, we’re still in Iraq and Afghanistan, our defense budget is still bloated. However he has drew back most the troops from Iraq, Libya was a success, and the world’s opinion of us has risen. If the Republicans want cuts in the budget, Obama should first suggest the Pentagon, of which if they were to audit would find billions worth of waste. Get completely out of Iraq and Afghanistan and we’d be amazed at how much more money we’d have for the real problems of this country.
Relations With Party Base: D.
I feel a little alienated by Obama. I think he has a lot of work to do in order to stimulate his base again. We’re definitely not going to go out and vote Republican, but I can see a lot of us sit it out.
I often wonder what the Republican idea is to save the middle class and to stop the humongous gap between the rich and the poor. Oh yeah, there is none.
From 2007 to 2009 (even with the economy being crap), Wall Street profits have gone up 720% while unemployment doubled and home equity fell 35%. The middle class is becoming extinct.
The top 1 percent of this country saw their income grow from 8% of the pie in the 1980’s to over 36% now. The top 400 income earners (400 people) make more than the bottom 50% of us. It’s because of welfare for the rich.
I am tired of the rich getting all the breaks. We are all suffering because of their greed and their hold on Washington. We’ve been sacrificing for them all these years; it’s time for them to make the sacrifice. They’ve gotten all the help with the economy sinking (bank bailouts, tax cuts). We’re the ones who need it, not them.
I’m glad people are finally raising up to it in Wisconsin and other parts of the nation. It’s time for people to stop voting against their best self interest and it’s time our politicians listen to the middle class.
Here’s the list of tweets from the NYC trip I took with Seth to see Stacy over the weekend.
Friday March 4, 2011
- I’m in the Empire State! Let’s hear it for #NY! 9:48 PM EST
- Having sushi… if it gets here. #NYC 11:15 PM EST
Saturday March 5, 2011
- Saw 30 Rock last night. Great to finally see where Olbermann used to do Countdown. Also saw the line for #SNL tickets, folks just camping. 9:34 AM EST
- Beautiful day in #NYC! Just grabbed brunch now walking the streets. 11:58 AM EST
- Seeing the Addams Family on Broadway. 1:47 PM EST
- Saw the Statue Of Liberty and Battery Park. Heading back to Stacy’s apartment then dinner then drinks. 6:06 PM EST
- Had dinner at Vapiano’s. I think we’re going to go back to my sis’ apartment and play cards and drink. #GoodTimes 9:10 PM EST
- Seth respects my political views! #win #awesome 11:29 PM EST
Sunday March 6, 2011
- Had a nice breakfast with Stacy. Now on the bus back to #DC. 11:36 AM EST
I’ve been running around stressing for the past two weeks trying to figure out a name for my freelance stuff since I’m getting back into that again. My first instinct was to go with whatever my friend, Dimitri, recommended. He’s good at funny, catchy names. He suggested a lot but none of them felt like it was the one.
Then we moved on to choosing names that described the company. We came up with a few good ones but there was always something or other I didn’t like with it. It was either too long or too forgettable.
Throughout this process I kept telling myself like one more day but then the next day came and I couldn’t choose. It was difficult.
The thing holding it back was like if it got popular (yeah right) then I’d have to register it minus the designs at the end and then create a Twitter for it, a YouTube for it, a Yahoo for it, a Facebook, etc. If the minus designs part was already taken, I didn’t want to tread on someone else’s name. Those were my real stress.
Today I had enough. I’d been rolling a name around in particular for like two days. I liked it but I was too worried about the above.
Finally, I’ve made my decision. It’s over. My web development/freelance website will be MusselmanDesigns.com . I already registered it via GoDaddy (saved $23 by looking up promo codes) and DreamHost has already pushed the hosting. So it’s all good and this little debacle is over.
Thanks to all who helped. I should have gone with my first instinct. I realize this name is pretty boring and generic and probably easily forgotten, but in all reality, I just expect to set up another website to kill time cause that’s what I love to do! (Web design, not killing time… Hey that rhymes!)
So here’s a list of all the domains I have registered to date:
This post already went on for too long! The end.
