...Americans

It seems as if the world may not hate us so much. Americans were voted the coolest people in the world. Social networking site Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name the coolest nationality and also found that the Spanish were considered the coolest Europeans, Brazilians the coolest Latin Americans and Belgians the globe's least cool nationality. Lloyd Price, Badoo's Director of Marketing, said, "America boasts the world's coolest leader, Obama; the coolest rappers, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg; and the coolest man in technology, Steve Jobs of Apple, the man who even made geeks cool." This may be true and I must agree that America is cool, but should we be #1? Most of our cool is due to European influence and other culture's influences. Also "America" is more than just New York City and Los Angeles and the romanticized Mid West or "The West". Also this mainly focuses on famous Americans, but who is really paying attention anyway right? I, along with others, will take this win. We beat Brazil, and they are very cool and mellow people who live to party and have fun. Yay Americans, Digit Up for us.

...Men

A recent survery conducted by AskMen.com asked 70,000 men from the United States, Canada, England, and Australia. When asked which female public figure they were most tired of hearing about, the men were presented with the following choices, and the results were as follows:

29% Lady Gaga
25% Sarah Palin
17% Kim Kardashian
15% Lindsay Lohan
3% Kate Middleton
3% Pippa Middleton
8% None of the above

When asked the same question about males they were most sick of seeing in the spotlight, the results were as follows:

47% Justin Bieber
20% Charlie Sheen
12% Barack Obama
8% Donald Trump
4% Prince William
3% Mark Zuckerberg
0% Arnold Schwarzenegger
6% None of the above

I will have to agree withthese men, for the most part. Though personally I am more tired of hearign about Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber overall, they got the jist of everything correct. I am going to have to give Men a Digit Up.

...London

When you think of a fun, hip, beautiful, classy, trendy city outside of America, London is usually a top 3 answer. I love London, a lot of people do, it is like a smaller older New York City. However I have a bone to pick with London. London Mayor Boris Johnson is upset over unpaid Congestion Charges, also known as C-Charges, that he and the city claims America owes them. Johnson has fined the United States 120 pounds (nearly $200 U.S. dollars) in congestion levies 10 pounds per vehicle for the presidential motorcade used during Obama's state visit in May. Apparently they did not close any roads when the President was in town and that subjects him tot he charges. Obama's personal armored Cadillac, nicknamed "The Beast", first escaped a fine because congestion charge cameras were unable to record its license plate number. London officials say that the American Embassy owes 5.3 million pounds ($8.7 million dollars) in unpaid congestion fines, which were first established in 2003. The Embassy defended its refusal to pay, citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which prohibits "this sort of tax on diplomatic missions." I do not fully understand this at all. I know that the roads in London, most of Europe period, are narrow, but there are exceptions you should always make when heads of states are in town. Whenever someone of Obama's caliber comes to Washington D.C. or New York City, they are treated with the utmost respect. This seems very silly on London's part and I do hope that this is all taken care of. I do not think we should have to pay at all, and I hope that we do not shell out a dime for these ridiculous charges. I am giving London a Digit Down for these absurd fines.

...Presidnet Barack Obama

Today is was reported that The International Energy Agency announced it would release 60 million barrels of oil into the global market. Of the 60 million barrels 30 million will come from the U.S. If our Strategic Petroleum Reserve is full, which I doubt it is, it can hold a reported maximum of 727 million barrels. This is a joint effort between the oil producing nations to further drive down oil prices and somewhat make up for Libya's oil shortage which has taken place since the "disturbance" began. They will be releasing 2 million barrels a day over the next 30 days and some expect gas prices to fall in about a month and prices for Brent crude could go down by $10 to $12 a barrel. Though gas is 91 cents higher now than it was a year ago, oil has been slowly falling for the last 6 weeks, though with Summer in full swing it usually goes up. The 2 million a day is going to be ore than the 1.25 million a day Libya produces, but many questions are being raised about this. A few weeks ago the President said this about releasing oil, "I won't make any news on that today. I will say that my general view is that the SPR is to be used where you don't have just short-term fluctuations in the market, but a significant disruption event. Libya has taken 1.25 m barrels per day off the market. We're examining broadly what that means in terms of the oil market." It seems as if the administration knows that dealing with Libya is not going to be a simple thing. Well if that is the case, why did you start something with them in the 1st place? Also can we say politics? The economy is horrible, and no matter how you try to sugarcoat it or play with words, it is horrible. By releasing oil the President believes this will slightly help the economy? Wrong. This is a desperation attempt in my eyes. Just the night before the President announced an initial draw down of 10,000 troops in two phases, with 5,000 troops coming home this summer and 5,000 more by the end of the year. An additional 20,000-plus are to follow by September 2012. That is very close to November, re-election time... If you cannot get the economy back in track and lower the unemployment rate, why not lead with the fact that you brought back troops...yay? This is politics as usual, the thing Obama claimed he was against, obviously he is just as much apart of it as any other politician, which I already knew. I am giving President Obama 2 Digits Down for 2 days of less than stellar news.

...Limo One

love cars and I love private limos. The President of the United States has one of the most secure and advanced limos in the world. Unfortunately that did not stop it from breaking down in front of the U.S. Embassy in Ireland. A loud clang was heard and the limo stalled. They believe the low underbelly caught on to a piece of metal used to hold the gate cosed. Here are some reported facts about the limo:

"Limo One is believed to weigh between seven and eight tons, and spy shots suggest it rides on a GM medium-duty truck chassis propelled by a diesel engine. The body is sheathed in military-grade armor as much as 8 inches thick on the doors (each of which weighs as much as the cabin door on a Boeing 747, Motor Authority says). The armor reportedly is a mix of dual-hardness steel, aluminum, titanium, and ceramic. The windows are ballistic glass said to be 5 inches thick, and Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times says there's probably a woven Kevlar mat covering the floorboard to protect the car from blasts. The cabin is believed to feature a sealed air recirculation system to protect its occupants from chemical attacks."

I must say they really need to get this issue fixed. Though this was just an incident, imagine if it the situation were more serious and the President needed to be somewhere in a hurry, makes you wonder eh? I am giving Limo One a Digit Down.

...The Morning After

The morning after the morning after actually. Osama Bin Laden is dead or "dead" some would say. How do we know this is true? It is an awkward time to come out with this news. I just want o see a couple of pictures and then I will believe it is so. A lot of people think he died 8 years ago, if that is true then I guess the picture would be obviously dated. I was okay with the thought of him being dead until I heard he was dumped in the sea... Does that not raise a flag with anyone else? They said they did it because they did not want his grave to become a tribute or a shrine. That is okay, but you could have burned him or water. They said they did right by Islamic tradition, but several Muslim authorities said today that the sea burial in fact violated Muslim tradition and warned that it could help trigger calls for revenge from militant Muslims. Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, echoed that view. "If the family does not want him, it's really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that's it." So now I go back to my original thoughts moments after I heard the news he was killed, was this a ploy to distract us from the harsh economic realities? Think about it; our dollar is weak, inflation is going to happen at a grander rate than we thought, oil prices are sending gas prices close to $5 this Summer, and there is nothing we can d about it at this moment. This news made us happy and celebrate for a moment, but when happens when you go to the gas station this week or buy groceries? Osama's death came and went but this economy will last much longer. This is easily year 4 and there will be a year 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and beyond. So honestly I do not care if he were dead or alive, he has done what he wanted to do and he got what he wanted, though not through his actions. He killed a lot of Americans, and our economy is falling. Show me proof that he is dead and fix my economy, not necessarily in that order. If this is what the President had to do to get re-elected then that is sad. If this united us the way 9011 did and we get some actually bills passed and this budget figured out properly, then this would have been worth it. but as soon as we celebrated we were ready to debate so for now nothing has changed, nothing has gotten better and I do not feel safer. I am giving this all a Digit Down.

...News

Today was an eventful day in news. Not really. President Obama had a press conference to show us his full birth certificate. Thank you. People say that it is a little racist that he had to do this, I beg to differ. A man named Barack Obama wants to run for President, that sounds strange even to black people. I promise you if his name were Leroy Johnson from Ohio no one would think that he was not American. So all of you out there trying to make this a race thing, STFU. John McCain had the same problem but he solved it within 2 months. If Obama would have done the same, this issue would be dead, alive to only the most back wooded Americans in the mountains of West Virginia.

Next Ben Bernanke had a press conference to tell us things that we already knew. Blah blah blah no more bond. Blah blah blah QE3. Blah blah blah I have no control over commodities. Blah blah blah the economy is bag. Etc etc etc the end.

Basically today was a bunch of news that did nothing to change our minds about anything but it did take up TV time, though nothing else was on anyway so no one cared.

I am giving News a Digit Down. Though any news that is not bad is good.

...President Barack Obama

Did you see the speech? I did. I was crass. It did not answer the main question all Americans had on their mind, what are we doing there? Answer... No answer. There was a lot of beating around the bush and when the bush was beat, it was more of a gentle rub. I do not want to talk much about this but I would like to point out a couple of things I noticed. The main things would be how much this reminds me of George W. Bush. Obama went above and beyond to paint McCain as a Bush backer and man who would do things just like him and now he is the one following in his footsteps. He went over Congress to NATO to get this resolution approved and to start this things with Libya. He wanted to protect the people of Libya from Gadhafi and so on. We are helping aide them, but we are not getting too involved. What are we doing!?!?! We are doing the hard work while they walk in and take over a city a day it seems. Obama claims that he will not send in ground troops, which is odd because the Libyan rebels may not have the power to oust Gadhafi without our help sense no other country wants to take the wheel, which is why NATO is in command...per se. America has gone into their oil rich country to get rid of this "mad man" and give this country something that they want. If this is true then let them fight for it. I am over this American Exceptionalism and out imperialistic ways. This is as much a war as the recession was a depression. Words have power and both war and depression cause panic in America and the world. The stock market would go crazy and things would fall and oil would go up, too late there. I will end this by saying when Bush decided to go to war with Iraq he pretty much did whatever it took to get America on his side, and for the most part it worked. Obama did not agree with what he said or did and he rode that into the White House. I wonder if he were still in the Senate if he would agree with what he has just done? I believe he would not. Think about it, Bush went into a country with controlled by a "brutal dictator", got rid of him and gave democracy to the people of Iraq... Libya is next I guess. He said, in so many words, he thought that Libya was more important than other countries because Gadhafi would slaughter many of his own people and that was not something he was willing to let happen. When it happens in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran and Syria we shall see what he does to stop that. I have yet to get any answer, an actual definite answer, as to why we are over there, and I doubt I ever will. No amount of propaganda or rally cries will get me to agree with this war, yes I am calling it a war. You do not spend $600 million in the 1st week of something launching missiles and dropping bombs and not call it a war. I am giving President Barack Obama 2 Digits Down.

...Hollywood

Hollywood is upset with someone... Who? President Barack Obama. Why? A few weeks ago the Obama administration announced it would no longer legally defend the Defense of Marriage act, and now some of his Hollywood supporters are upset and even pissed with him. They wrote even wrote him a letter, that I am 115% sure he will read, and here it is:

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

In February, you made a powerful statement about the law.

Invoking guarantees enshrined in the Constitution, you and the Attorney General determined that federal discrimination against gay and lesbian couples in marriage is unconstitutional. Thank you for taking a principled stance and an important step toward equal protection under the law for all Americans.

Today we ask you to take the next step and join the majority of Americans who support allowing loving and committed gay and lesbian couples to legally marry.

Mr. President, marriage matters. In law, in love, in life, marriage says "we are family" in a way that nothing else does. Marriage is the coming together of two lives, marked by a public promise of love and responsibility in front of friends and family. And marriage brings not only public respect and personal significance, but also a safety net of legal protections, rights, and responsibilities for which there is no substitute.

Like so many Americans, you have spoken of your personal journey toward support for the freedom to marry. You have talked about the gay and lesbian people in your life, their commitment to each other and care for their kids, and their families that aren't so different from any other family.

We ask you now for your leadership on ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, an exclusion that harms millions of Americans each day. Whether to end discrimination in marriage is a question America has faced before, and faces again today. With so many Americans talking it through in heartfelt conversations, it is a question that calls for clarity from the President.

You can offer hope to millions of young gay and lesbian Americans who are facing discrimination. You can tell them that their future is bright, that they, too, will be able to grow up and marry the person that they love, that the pursuit of happiness truly belongs to all of us. You can put government on the side of those seeking to care for their loved ones, instead of those standing in their way. You can affirm that for all of us, gay or non-gay, love is love and commitment counts— and that we Americans should treat others as we all want to be treated.

Mr. President, the time to end exclusion from marriage is now. We ask you to complete your journey and join us and the majority of Americans who support the freedom to marry.

Sincerely,

Brendon Ayanbadejo
Julian Bond
Helen Fabela Chavez
Ellen & Portia DeGeneres
Jack Dorsey
Melissa Etheridge
Scott Fujita
David Geffen
Anne Hathaway
Chris Hughes & Sean Eldridge
Tony Kushner & Mark Harris
Jane Lynch & Lara Embry
Eric McCormack
Rev. Peter Morales
Mya
Sean Parker
Mark Pincus
Frank Selvaggi & Bill Shea
Martin Sheen
Rev. William Sinkford
Lily Tomlin & Jane Wagner
Zach Wahls
Rufus Wainwright
Evan Wolfson
Bob Wright & Suzanne Wright

Some of these names are pretty powerful people and HUGE donors. David Geffen is a billionaire. Sean Parker helped Obama reach the youth via Facebook, as former President of Facebook that was not so hard for him to do. Chris Hughs is openly gay and co-founded Facebook. He and his partner/husband are very upset with the president, especially since Chris not only campaigned for Obama, he worked for the administration as well. Last month Matt Damon and Jane Lynch expressed their disappointment with the president on the issue as well. While the president said he supports civil unions, that is not good enough for a lot of gay Americans. He also said his views on same-sex marriage were "evolving". Whatever the case may be he is about to launch his 2012 re-election campaign and tour and this is an issue that will hound him and could cost him some votes with the hardcore liberals, although I doubt it. Still the 2012 election is not too far away for Hollywood to start making films that bash Obama. I am giving Hollywood a Digit Up for speaking up and out against something they actually truly thought would change...they are so gullible.

...Congress

Wow Congress, House and Senate, actually passed something that did not fully directly benefit them for the first time in a long time. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed and it will be singed into law by President Obama soon, very soon. It is a win for the Democrats mainly, since this is something that Obama wanted removed and a lot of Republicans did not want to talk about it. I really do not care really, it is gone and that is all that really matters. After 17 years and thousands, 13,500 to be exact, of gay and lesbian service members discharged the ban has been lifted. I do wonder now if those discharged members will be pardoned or be allowed to receive benefits that their other service members receive, it is not totally fair that they were dismissed. Actually after reading that I thin they are just out of luck, like when an old law gets dismissed, it may have been unfair at the time, but it was the law and you just have to live with it. Maybe if they ask for a pardon... That is too much to think about now. Everyone willing to serve should be allowed, gay, straight, bi, other. Now America will join the other 25 countries that allow gays to openly serve in their armed services. I must say though that just because gays are now allowed to be open,that does not mean their has to be a parade to show your ride, just celebrate and carry on :-) The President now has to deal with gay marriage, the gays will be after him on that one pretty hard. He has 2 years to dodge it, 6 if he is lucky.

Congress is getting a Digit Up tonight for doing something right, finally.

...House Democrats

Somehow Nancy Pelosi is still in power, this time as Minority Leader for the Democrats in the House with a 150-46 vote. I know she has some sort of power and control over those around her, but this was just a bad move. I do believe that when the Republicans gained control of the House it was a good move, sort of, and that they would be able to sit down with the President and force him to compromise and they would be able to argue but eventually work out deals. Now with Nancy back no one is going to do anything. This is what Nancy wanted. It will get Obama re-elected because they will be able to blame the Republicans for blocking everything the President wanted to pass, but the real culprit will be Nancy. Just look at this remark she gave reporters after she was elected Let me put that in perspective. How would your ratings be if $75 million were spent against you?" she said, referring to the television ad campaigns of Republican candidates and allied groups. "Because I'm an effective leader, because we got the job done on healthcare and Wall Street reform and consumer protections, the list goes on. Because they know that I’m the person who can attract the resources, both intellectual and otherwise, to take us to victory because I have done it before." For some reason I have just never been a fan of hers. She seems to have some sort of alteior motive that no one but Nancy knows. I am not ready to see what sort of mayhem lies ahead for the new Congress next year. I must give this move 2 Digits Down.

...MTV Town Hall

I applaud the President for his willingness to include young Americans in the political process and for listening to their voices with real concern. However I do not understand the purpose of the MTV Town Hall that took place. It could have been pretty good, but it was only an hour long. It was full of your typical rhetoric and whatnot, but some of the questions were good and made you think. A lot of questions were Tweeted in, but few were read. Bullying, bipartisanship, the economy, education and gay rights were all talked about. This event took over 3 channels, MTV, BET and CMT. I think it hit every teen demographic possible, minus those who may be into C-Span or the Biography channel. Yet while there were good talking points, it did feel a tad like an election rally, although he did not mention anything of the sort, which brings me back to why. Why was this held now, on this date, at that time. Okay the time makes sense, but still why? I have yet to hear why or figure out why, it does not frustrate me but it makes me wonder...why hahaha. I am going to give this a Digit Up just this once because I think it probably made those young Americans there feel as if they were being listened too...important even, and that is always a plus.

...Health Care Waivers

Here we go again The controversial health care plan that had all of America abuzz is doing it again. With almost 1 million employees about to lose their health care coverage, 30 companies we given waivers. The waivers were given in order to make sure that they employees did not lose their coverage, because their employer threatened to drop them, and to make sure that they did not have to pay high premiums out of their own pocket. Some of the companies that received these waivers were: McDonald's, Jack in the Box, Aetna and Cigna. The law says that employers and their insurer have to offer an annual coverage limit of least $750,000 by 2011, $1.25 million by 2012 and to $2 million by 2013. McDonald's had this to say, "We remain in conversations with our current provider and are confident that we'll continue to provide health care coverage for our 30,000 hourly restaurant employees. We're pleased and encouraged by the progress that's been made by the Federal government on this issue." Since the law does not take effect until 2014 the companies can apply for these waivers until then, which Cigna said it plans to do. I think this is just perfect. Eventually these companies will have to pay out huge sums of money annually for health care and somehow it will be paid for by the customer. I assume these companies think that the law will be tweaked by the new Congress and Senate that is about to come into term, which is probably true. Many economist and business majors told the President and those in Congress that this could happen, but they did not care! They did exactly what they wanted to do and that crappy bill became a crappy law. I am giving these waivers a Digit Down.