So far, the answer seems to be overwhelmingly WAR. The final decision will be released next Wednesday on the Imperial website.

In other news, I’m getting tired of people saying how hawt Megan Fox is. Really guys? I saw the first Transformers move and she had a nice face, especially the eyes, but not really all that hot. I gave her a 7.

Last night, I saw the second movie. You could tell they were flaunting her perceived “hotness” to the max. They came close to trying too hard, putting her in tight pants (or none at all). Her lips are almost sickeningly large.

Okay not quite that bad. But they did not make me want to jump all over her, pin her to a wall and rail her. Not at all. So although she improved to an 8 after Transformers 2, she’s still not all that hawt, and not as hot as my girlfriend.

You are one of the few Americans who realize that the American Dream has nothing to do with being successful and raising your kids into a world that will accept them for who they are; it’s about going on a crusade against equal rights for same-sex couples. Upon hearing that Conaway v. Deane & Polyak, which would have granted marriage licenses to nine Maryland couples, was being heard by the Baltimore Circuit Court, you flipped your lid. You introduced countless proposals into the state legislature which would have blocked the attempt altogether. After Judge Murdock ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, you sponsored HB48, which would have added an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriages. When the state Court of Appeals finally ruled against Conaway, you didn’t even stop to party — you introduced a resolution to impeach Judge Murdock for daring to find in favor of the plaintiffs. You have also averaged two amendment proposals per year, and it shows your perseverance, especially since they are consistently defeated with greater and greater margins (13-6 for your latest 2009 attempt, which had the added perk of banning the mere discussion of same-sex marriage in public schools).

Sir, you know what it takes to be a true American. You have overcome looking like a drunk frat kid with Down’s syndrome and are a role model for homophobes throughout the world. Maryland is proud of you.

This makes me want to tell Delegate Dwyer how much we appreciate his work.

Not anymore.

So. The Democratic caucus now has 59 seats… once Norm Coleman gives up his losing battle with Al Franken in Minnesota, the Democrats will have a 3/5 majority and will be able to override filibusters. Kick ass.

Italics indicate a backup QB.

1. Peyton Manning – Indianapolis Colts

2. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Tom Brady – New England Patriots

4. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints

5. Kurt Warner – Arizona Cardinals

6. Carson Palmer – Cincinnati Bengals
7. Eli Manning – New York Giants

8. Kerry Collins – Tennessee Titans
9. Jay Cutler – Denver Broncos
10. Jake Delhomme – Carolina Panthers
11. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons
12. Matt Cassel – Kansas City Chiefs
13. Matt Hasselbeck – Seattle Seahawks
14. Sage Rosenfels – Minnesota Vikings

15. Chad Pennington – Miami Dolphins
16. Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers
17. Byron Leftwich – Pittsburgh Steelers

18. Matt Schaub – Houston Texans
19. Vince Young – Tennessee Titans
20. Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens
21. Tony Romo – Dallas Cowboys
22. Donovan McNabb – Philadelphia Eagles

23. Trent Edwards – Buffalo Bills
24. David Garrard – Jacksonville Jaguars

25. Matt Leinart – Arizona Cardinals
26. Daunte Culpepper – Detroit Lions

27. Shaun Hill – San Francisco 49ers

28. Marc Bulger – St. Louis Rams
29. Brady Quinn – Cleveland Browns
30. Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers
31. Charlie Batch – Pittsburgh Steelers

32. Jason Campbell – Washington Redskins
33. Kyle Orton – Chicago Bears
34. Seneca Wallace – Seattle Seahawks

35. Kellen Clements – New York Jets
36. Mark Brunell – New Orleans Saints
37. Aaron Brooks – Oakland Raiders
38. Tyler Thigpen – Kansas City Chiefs
39. Joey Harrington – New Orleans Saints
40. Derek Anderson – Cleveland Browns
41. Colt Brennan – Washington Redskins
42. Brodie Croyle – Kansas City Chiefs
43. Luke McCown – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
44. Brian Griese – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
45. Jon Kitna – Dallas Cowboys

Runner up – Dan Orlovsky – Houston Texans

Observers are not mistaken when they see progress in Northern Ireland. Deaths from sectarian violence fell from 44 in 1999 to only six in 2006. The economy grew 2.4% in FY 2005. Unemployment fell from 30% in 1980 to 4.2% today. Belfast’s city center is beginning to show signs of European modernization, such as malls, luxury apartments, retail complexes, and other multimillion-dollar projects. However, all of this has a dark face to it. Deaths due to sectarian violence in 1991 numbered only ten, but they rose again. Although there were only six deaths in 2006, they could just as easily have risen in 2007. The economy may have grown by 2.4% in FY 2005, but it was predicted to rise 2.2% in FY 2006, a goal it failed to meet, growing at only 1.7% in that fiscal year. Unemployment did indeed fall since the 1980’s, but so has the area’s population growth rate. And as for Belfast’s modernized city, it’s just more that can be damaged should another wave of heavy fighting break out. Plans are currently stalled to build a light rail system and a sports stadium, because the contractors don’t trust the state of peace that exists in Northern Ireland.

A major step toward peace was taken in 1998 in the form of the Good Friday Agreement. Local officials were given authority by the British government to set their own taxes, manage their own schools, and administer their own welfare programs. The Catholic terrorist group known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) also agreed to lay down many of their arms. This sounds like a great plan, but in reality, things didn’t quite go as planned. Firstly, the British government has still yet to give the Northern Irish officials full control over tax programs. Second, the weapons given up by the IRA were mostly old and outdated weapons that they wouldn’t have used anymore anyway. There was even a small group that split off the IRA, calling themselves the Real IRA, and refusing to renounce violence as the IRA had. The Real IRA see the Good Friday Agreement as a step towards the elimination of their goal of Irish unity, while the loyalists see the agreement as the precursor of the United Kingdom washing its hands clean of Northern Ireland, something they certainly don’t want due to the fact that they want to remain a part of Britain.

Third, all attempts at giving Northern Ireland home rule within the United Kingdom have failed. The last assembly was elected five years ago, in 2003. They have never even met for a full day. The last assembly was dismissed. This lack of government is keeping many development projects from moving forward. The problem of forming a government in Northern Ireland is that due to the close distribution of Protestants and Catholics, the major Catholic party, Sinn Fein, led by Gerry Adams, and the major Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Ian Paisley, have to work together in a cooperative government. This, however, is highly unlikely because neither side trusts each other. Worse yet, neither side really wants to share power at all. Ian Paisley gained most of his popularity because of his hard-line anti-Catholic stances over the past thirty years. Both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have promised economic aid to the north but both also insist that Northern Ireland must first have a stable, cooperative government, something they will probably not have anytime in the near future.

Although much progress has been made in Northern Ireland, there can only be so much positive development achieved while there is no working compromise government. The Good Friday Agreement is only a temporary fix to these problems. As Northern Ireland observer Alan Bock stated: “Hatred and violence are diminishing among the majority that is sick of both – but still strenuously kept alive by minorities that need to keep updating them to survive.” The conflict has existed for hundreds of years and some people will not simply give up their family’s long-time dream of either a united Ireland or an Ireland under the British Crown. In conclusion, peace is not “at hand” until a working compromise government is in place and stable in Northern Ireland.

Bibliography

Bock, Alan (2001, January 10). Mixed peace prospects in Northern Ireland. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from Eye on the Empire Web site

Stinson, Jeffrey (2007, March 19). Peace (finally) at hand in Northern Ireland?. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from USA Today Web site

Smyth, Ted (2007). Can peace finally be at hand in Northern Ireland?. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from Los Angeles Times Web site

The victory of the Democrats in Congress can be attributed to the extremely low popularity of the previous, 109th Congress, which had been controlled by Republicans. It was often called the “Do-Nothing Congress” because it hardly got anything accomplished in the two years it had been in office. In fact, the 109th Congress met for only 101 days in session during its second session in 2006. This was the fewest days any Congress had spent in session since World War II. On Election Day 2006, only 29% of voters approved of the job Congress was doing. There were also many scandals that rocked the 109th Congress, such as its unpopular involvement with the Terry Schaivo case in 2005, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the Mark Foley scandal, and the Duke Cunningham scandal, just to name a few. The huge unpopularity of the War in Iraq, which was engineered by Republican leaders such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, also contributed to the Democratic wins.

The Democrats ushered in a new age of liberal ideas, and many milestones were reached with the election of 2006. Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House. This is the highest on the line of presidential succession that a woman has ever gotten and it is historic. In addition, Harry Reid from Nevada became the first Mormon Senate Majority Leader. Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Mazie Hirono and Hank Johnson from Hawaii and Georgia, respectively, became the first Buddhists elected to Congress. This shows that the age of domination of American politics by white, Protestant men is truly over.

There are many ramifications of this Democratic Revolution. One immediate effect was the resignation of the unpopular Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. It also represented a shift in the traditional Republican Party voting base. Former Republican states such as Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and Indiana had voted in Democrats to replace the ruling Republican officials. It had often been thought that the Midwest was a Republican stronghold, but this idea was challenged by the Democratic victory in 2006. Not only did the Democrats win new ground in the Midwest, but they solidified their own power base, especially in New England. In Connecticut, the Democrats now have a supermajority, which means that they control over two-thirds of its legislature and the Republicans cannot block any bills. Also, both of New Hampshire’s legislative houses went blue for the first time since 1874, over one hundred and thirty years ago.

In conclusion, the Democratic takeover in 2006 is extremely important in American history, although we have yet to see if it is clearly a reversal of trends or if it was just a one-time occurrence. It did, however, reverse the effects of the Republican Revolution of 1994 and shattered the Republican Party’s hopes of a permanent majority in Washington. The Republican government’s disastrous policies in the Iraq War and corruption running rampant in the Republican-controlled Congress helped to seal their fate.

KEY:
Green = Arab state of Palestine
Purple = To Syria

Although I have no problem whatsoever with Jews, I think Israel is simply asking for trouble by existing on Arab land, and is getting the trouble they’re asking for. The UN has condemned the Israeli attacks, but of course, Israel doesn’t give a shit. That’s because they know as long as they have America behind them, they can do whatever they want. And I think this is wrong.

I’ve been watching a 22-page debate unfold on the Politics Forum, and the few Zionists who support Israel are coming up with the lamest arguments to defend their precious Israel. One claimed that Israeli civilians were in terrible danger from Hamas’ “deadly and sophisticated weapons,” which prompted this EPIC answer:

EL OH EL. So yeah, plug time. Wanna discuss politics with a bunch of people from all sides of the political spectrum? Come on over to PoliticsForum.org.

- Lip Balm
- A foam penguin
- Reversible Steelers Hat
- Guitar Hero World Tour
- Picture of us <3
- Pittsburgh Penguins socks
- Aeropostale shirt
- Penguin tea timer:

- Bible verse cards
- $15 Starbucks gift card
- Domain cologne
- 2009 Steelers calendar
- 2 movie tickets
- iPod Classic 120GB
- USB power adapter for iPod

Basically I had a great Christmas. I finally got that iPod!
In other news, my horoscope for today was:

You totally forgot to get something, but you’ll think of the perfect thing just in time!

I totally DID NOT forget to get something, I just didn’t get anything. For my sister, that is. But at the last minute, it came to me: I’ll get her the first book of Twilight! And make her obsessed with Edward like every other girl on the planet.

But at least she’ll have a present from me, as well as a little bear I picked up in New York for her. Speaking of which… pictures of the New York trip coming soon!

Finally, I asked myself if democracy was always the best government, and came up with this answer.

EDIT: One thing more… the BBC ran a test… apparently:

The free online resource Wikipedia is about as accurate on science as the Encyclopedia Britannica, a study shows.

Rest of article.

Happy holidays!!

But we won’t have any present-opening until Saturday. This is stupid, my dad’s basically forcing us all to wait until Saturday to open presents just so his girlfriend can open with us. I’d personally rather open gifts tomorrow with my actual mom. But whatever…

Me and my dad had an argument/debate today about the direction of America. Of all the retarded things to argue about right before Christmas. Basically he’s obsessed with Chuck Norris’ new book Black Belt Patriotism, which says America needs to go back to the way “the founders intended” (as if Chuck Norris were the expert on our Founding Fathers), which apparently includes reinstituting prayer in schools and other “Christian” values. Basically chucking separation of church and state out the window.

This coming from my dad, who voted for Obama last month. Now he’s a huge reactionary out of nowhere. The man’s confused.

In other news, I took the 43things personality quiz today:

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I’m a Self-Improving Extroverted Builder