Jenny and Tyler

Published in November 18th, 2008

Posted by Jason in Home

Kudos to Facebook advertising. It finally got one right!

I enjoy checking out the advertising on Facebook because it ‘knows’ a little bit about you. This time around, FB knew that one of my favorite bands (which is my all-time favorite) is Nickel Creek, so an advertisement for a duet called (by their real names) Jenny and Tyler. Checking out their homepage, they have a little flash player playing through some of their songs on their album.

It is lots of fun to listen to. Their voices blend nicely and its just fun to listen to.

Find them on iTunes!

Let me know what you think, and if you have any other artists to suggest, send the names my way.

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What is wrong with people?

Published in November 16th, 2008

Posted by Jason in Home

2 Comments

I have been thinking about writing a post like this for some time, but with recent events, I decided now is the time.

Let me ask you a question… what is wrong with people? Why do people think that they can be more important than you and take things that don’t belong to them. What am I talking about? I am talking about the quality and safety of living in Clifton, OH near the University of Cincinnati campus.

As I have stated in a previous post, we as students at the University of Cincinnati receive periodic (about one per week) emails telling about the crime around the campus area. They mention what the crime was, any description of suspects involved, and other such information. Let me give you a quick summary of the last few “Safety Notice” emails…

November 15, 2008 @ 3:00am :: In one of the campus dorms, a girl was raped
November 11, 2008 @ 11:30pm :: A girl was sitting in her car when two guys with a gun got in her car and demanded her property
November 8, 2008 @ 7:00pm :: A girl was sitting on the back porch of her house when two guys came up and told her they had a gun and demanded her property
November 3, 2008 @ 7:50pm :: A guy was approached on the street by 2 men with a gun. The guy tried to run away but was shot in the leg

And that’s just a taste of some of the recent emails we have received. You wanna know something real awful though, the descriptions of the suspects about half the time are said to be around 16 years of age… just the right age where they are stupid enough to think that shooting someone over a wallet that isn’t theirs to begin with is fine. Now let’s run down a few things that have happened to either myself or family/friends while attending the University of Cincinnati

Brother’s apartment was broken into and they stole items such as computer/game system/movies
Roommate’s car was broken into, bashing the back window where his server’s apron with some cash was stolen
Yesterday my driver side mirror was either stolen or used as a baseball
This morning our down stairs neighbor’s car was broken into, bashing in the back window. I don’t know if anything was stolen or not

Thankfully the worst that has happened to me personally has been a car mirror gone missing. But it is the culmination of everything that happens down here. Email after email after email about these robberies. What is wrong with people?!? Why do they think they are all powerful when they have a gun in their hands, taking whatever they want.

So what can be done about all this crime on and near the University of Cincinnati? First and foremost, the University needs to purchase the surrounding houses and properties. Much of the surrounding apartments and houses are occupied by who we like to refer to as ‘locals’. Many of the locals in this area tend to be low income and apparently not helping the ‘quality of life’ here at UC. The University shoud purchase these houses and rent them as they are rented now to students. I believe there needs to be more security around campus as well. There is rarely an incident on the campus itself, but in the surrounding streets that is a different story. Whether this means cameras on street corners, or that more police officers have a more dense route to patrol, something needs to change.

I honestly have never been a fan of the Cincinnati Police. Too many times have I been waiting at a red light when a CPD car is almost behind me, slowing down… and they flip on their sirens and lights going through the red light only to turn them off again on the other side of the intersection. But lately, I have been welcoming the sight of the CPD near campus.

With all this nonsense, I really have to wonder, if there is this much crime being reported… how much crime is being caught?

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A little post-election political talk

Published in November 14th, 2008

Posted by Jason in Home

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Let’s talk a little bit about politics, shall we? First off, let’s get a few things about me, personally, out on the table.

I cast my vote for Barack Obama on November 4, 2008
I am a Christian that is pro-life, so yes, I believe abortion is wrong

Now that we have those two tidbits out of the way our talk can commence. During my normal daily/hourly run down of the Google News headlines, I came across this article titled, “Under God: Priest Calls Vote for Obama a Mortal Sin”. This article is located in the “On Faith” section of the Washington Post / Newsweek. The article is a quick read and really kind of mind boggling. Rev. Jay Scott Newman proclaims that:

Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law.

Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.

So here is what I think. I think that abortion is awful. I think that you are killing a person. I think it should be illegal to get an abortion. Now some will argue, what if it comes down to the mortality of the mother woman having the baby that thing inside of her? (yes, how are you going to word that sentence so that you are not calling the woman a mother or the thing inside of her a baby?) But, believe it or not, this post is not meant to be a pro-life/pro-choice rant, this post is about politics.

When I cast my vote for Barack Obama, I was not casting a vote because I believe abortion is ok. In the same light, I don’t agree with President-elect Obama on a number of issues. If he and I agreed on every issue… I think I might as well be running for President if those are the issues that get you elected. When voting I (in my eyes) had two choices, John McCain or Barack Obama. Being an independent, I started my political research with the mindset that either candidate could win my vote. I watched news, I read articles, I really did my research. And I decided overall, that Barack Obama is the President that this country needs, not John McCain.

Four years ago I proudly cast my vote for President George W Bush. Want to know why? President George W Bush is pro-life. That’s right, that was the only reason that I cast that vote. It was my first presidential election and I was overwhelmed by all the political hype. I went with what I knew. And the great thing about it is, that’s ok. It is just fine for people to cast their vote for a candidate for one specific topic if that’s how they choose. This election, however, after seeing no progress, nor really any mention about our pro-life president trying to change things with regards to abortion, there are other issues at hand. I would not be able to just look at the one issue of abortion and feel confident that just because I agree on that one issue, that person should lead the country.

In my best attempt to not be too redundant here, I will finish off this post with one thought…

It is great that so many people are so passionate on the idea of pro-life. I applaud their efforts. A few days before the election, when Barack Obama was on campus speaking in our stadium, the sidewalks were covered with chalk drawings of hearts. Little signs were around stating that all the hearts were to represent the thousands of abortions that occur each and every day. I believe some of the silent protests like that chalk drawing are some of the most powerful. But when it comes down to the country that we live in right now. I (and I speak only for myself here) felt that there was no better choice than Barack Obama to take office. In the grand scheme of the current state of America: economy, foreign relations, energy consumption, education, … I had to set aside the difference in abortion.

And shame on Rev. Jay Scott Newman. President-elect Obama is pro-choice. Every vote cast does not cause a baby to be killed. (taking a big breath and telling myself that this post needs to come to be done… so long)

pwlk blog

Jenny and Tyler

What is wrong with people?

A little post-election political talk