My Journal

kev_dawg @ 2009-10-26T04:02:00

2009-10-26T08:04:28Z

Some people would get upset if, say, Herzog operated the Missouri portion of the MWHSR system because they would hire nonunion employees. My plan is simple: allow union members to relocate to an area that is served by Amtrak or another company that is unionized if their route is selected by a nonunion organization.

Writer's Block: The one that got away

2009-10-09T23:14:46Z

Do you believe in the concept of a soulmate? Do you think you've met him or her? Do you ever worry that "the one" got away?

View 1843 Answers

I'm not sure that I do believe in the idea of a soulmate. However, I think that the closest thing that I've come to meeting a soulmate was in college at the front end of this decade. While we did interact frequently for a couple of years, once she graduated, all contact was lost, and as a result, I now think that she's the one that got away based on some numerology I did earlier this year.

Clark Howard's healthcare proposal

2009-09-21T04:41:18Z

http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2009/09/09/16614/

Writer's Block: My Dream Job

2009-09-15T05:25:52Z

What is your dream job? Do you think you'll ever have it?

Sponsored by Monster

View 998 Answers

My dream job was to own a beach resort in the Caribbean. Given where I'm at in my life, I have all but ruled it out.

Writer's Block: Scorching day

2009-09-08T22:31:03Z

On a scorching day, do you prefer the beach or an air-conditioned movie theater?

View 1244 Answers

Give me the beach any day

MSG dangers

2009-09-08T05:11:51Z

http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/msg.html

Writer's Block: Under Protest

2009-08-31T07:36:08Z

Have you ever participated in a boycott? What did you boycott and why?

View 527 Answers

For about eight years, I personally boycotted all Texaco stations after a tape of the company's higher-ups making racially offensive jokes was leaked to the public.

Pretty self-explanatory

2009-08-16T06:31:42Z

http://liujiaoourhealth.blogspot.com/2009/05/20-unhealthy-foods-that-you-think-are.html

2010: A new space odyssey beckons

2009-08-07T02:06:07Z

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/2010-a-space-odyssey-1752287.html

Writer's Block: Leave Room

2009-07-26T06:33:29Z

What's your favorite dessert?

View 503 Answers

Chocolate fudge brownie with ice cream

Writer's Block: Busting Blocks

2009-07-01T07:14:22Z

It's blockbuster season in movie theaters. What was the last movie you saw?

View 500 Answers

The Simpsons Movie about 23 months ago

Writer's Block: Call Me

2009-06-02T07:36:59Z

Do you still use a landline at home, or do you rely completely on your cell phone?

View 502 Answers

Landline here. As a matter of fact, I din't even get a cell until last year.

A New Era in Hip Hop?

2009-05-04T04:35:10Z

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/02/how_will_obamas.php#more

In some ways, it's like a slap in the face to people like Dead Prez, Public Enemy, and Immmortal Technique who have been politically engaged for years and the public at large was either scared to death or tuned them out in favor of the standard hip hop formula.

The REAL meaning of MK ULTRA

2009-04-27T06:32:30Z

http://www.chemtrailcentral.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000078.html

Instead of it being some German translation, it stands for Manufacturing Killers Utilizing Lethal Tradecraft Requiring Assassinations.

kev_dawg @ 2009-04-15T03:35:00

2009-04-15T07:47:25Z

http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2009/04/is-aid-good-for-africa/
Is aid good for Africa?

kev_dawg @ 2009-04-15T03:31:00

2009-04-15T07:34:23Z

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/jobs/_a/bbdp/will-this-recession-become-a-depression/365381
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/learn-how-to-invest/five-signs-of-the-recessions-end.aspx?GT1=33014

Rachael Ray photos from FHM magazine

2009-04-15T07:30:00Z

These are from 2003

http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=rachael%20ray%2C%20fhm&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Ultimate Self Confidence

2009-04-15T07:28:33Z

http://www.carlosxuma.com/ultimate-self-confidence/index-vid3.php?aid=075026

Writer's Block: Grab and Go

2009-04-07T05:01:20Z

Scenario: For exactly 1 minute, you get access to all the databases of all the intelligence agencies in the world (CIA, FBI, KGB, MI-5, etc). What do you want to find out before time is up and you're caught and jailed forever?

View 503 Answers

I'd want to see how many other famous people might have been wiped out by these agencies or got wiped out by unsavory organizations but were aided and abetted by intel agencies that looked the other way. I would also want to find exactly what the CIA knows about UFOs and ETs.

Maglev trains on the moon?

2009-03-18T07:54:53Z

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/03/maglev-trains-and-space-elevat.html

Writer's Block: Really, Truly

2009-03-14T05:48:24Z

Do you believe in true love? What about love at first sight?

View 500 Answers

True love? Are you kidding?

Love at first sight DOES NOT EXIST! So what if two people hit it off instantly? What that tells me is that there's a potential for a booty call or nothing more than an infatuation, plain and simple.

kev_dawg @ 2009-03-07T20:03:00

2009-03-08T01:04:56Z

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/jobs/_a/bbdp/will-this-recession-become-a-depression/365381

Writer's Block: Jackpot

2009-02-21T04:27:06Z

If you won the lottery, what would you do with your newfound riches?

Submitted By kimbereli09

View 500 Answers

1. Pay off all my debts
2. Pay off my parents' mortgage
3. Invest in stocks, bonds, etc.
4. Operate a business

What's In A Word?

2009-02-12T03:55:03Z

There are some people who have recently let it be known that they don't like it when others use the word "gay" in describing something as stupid. As a matter of fact, some gay rights groups even got on Katy Perry's case last summer for having a song called "UR So Gay" in which she blasts a boyfriend for being a loser. Quite frankly, I have no sympathy for these homosexual groups because they themselves hijacked the word "gay" in the '60s and '70s when they stated their movement. After all, a half century ago, being gay meant being happy. Using the word in its original meaning today usually gets a person ridiculed. As a matter of fact, in 1997, a town on Martha's Vineyard changed its name from Gay Head to Aquinnah (meaning land under the hill) because of political correctness surrounding that three-letter word. So, I don't want to hear about the word being hijacked in the names of sophomoric humor and lack of coolness when the homosexual agenda first hijacked the word for their own political purposes when the word gay was exclusively used to describe a person who was in a happy state of mind.

Five Years After

2009-01-05T07:45:04Z

On December 17, 2003, I graduated from NC State with a degree that I thought would lead to me working in a fun occupation, Tourism. Well, where I'm at today is definitely different than what I planned. I'm still in the same miserable small town that I couldn't wait to leave upon graduating from high school. I'm still working at a part-time job that was supposed to be a stopgap for a better-paying occupation (December 15 marked four years since I started working there).

I got to this point by not properly planning. Once my internship ended in Myrtle Beach, I should have gone to the Career Center much sooner to find out what kind of jobs were there. At the very least, I would have something to fall back on. Secondly, I should have kept in contact with my internship agency by promoting other NC State students to intern for them the following summer. Had I not burned that bridge, I might have been able to work at a resort or even plan all kinds of activities for tourists. Finally, if I had taken the time to plan things throughout winter 2004, I would have never had the worst year of my life! After all, it was poor planning that caused me to go to Nashville for almost two months. I should have waited until a more opportune time rather than jumping up to say yes to Trey under some kind of pressure. If I had waited, I could have been a supervisor in Orlando in the summer of 2004, my bank account wouldn't have been closed, I would have never been in a position to go to UNCG and leave after one semester due to burnout, and I would have some kind of job security.

Currently, I'm working at a job that offers no benefits, and I just got a pay raise last year. The underlying sense from society is that an undergraduate degree has become so devalued that it might as well be equivalent to a high school diploma. If that's so, where is the money for grad school? I have enough problems paying back student loans right now. Given that going to graduate school costs at least five figures, how can I even think about attending when loans are basically the only way to go and grants are virtually nonexistent? I went to UNCG to get a second undergraduate degree in Accounting. I am currently leaning towards Transportation or Transportation Planning because I'd like to plan America's future transportation projects rather than working for someone in that industry. Being a train station attendant is working for someone else in the travel industry. I'd have liked to be part of the leadership, but since this recession is preventing people from traveling, it may be time for me to give up on this dream and move on to something else.

I will forever be kicking myself for waht happened in May 2007. I had an interview lined up with a California tour operating company. The first day, a Tuesday, the interviewer had language problems with a group and had to reschedule. After waiting around on the second day, I decided to go to the Triangle to fight off boredom and to dig up an old newspaper article. Oops, it turned out that the interviewer had called while I was away. Since I had worked all day the following day, we had to rescheudle for that Friday. I checked my e-mail on Thursday. Nothing during the day. The following day was supposed to be the interview
at 5:00 my time. I was at work until 3:15 due to late trains and my new boss meeting with my then-station supervisor. I did not get a phone call after that Wednesday. So, imagine the feeling of horror that I received when I checked my e-mail that Friday night--an e-mail was sent to me Thursday evening. In all honesty, that was my last good chance at a job in the travel and tourism industry.

During my birthday last year, I did a chart of where I'd like to be and what I would to do withing the next five years. Honestly, other than throwing out old newspapers to be less of a packrat (as well as to put the past behind me), going back to school and investing in things like stocks, I'm not sure that any of my goals are going to be possible within the given time frame due to this economy possibly blowing up into another Great Depression.