something to think about

This was sent as a response to a mass email sent out by a school classmate of mine urging every contact he has to support McCain in the upcoming election.  A former professor of mine, Shahrokh Towfighi, who is a professor of economics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (where I attend school), sent this and I feel that it really helps to shed a light on the whole Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin issue.  I’m not posting it to try and sway a vote, or even to publicly announce my support for one candidate or another.  I just think it is an interesting read that should make people think.

Here it is:

A question of perspective :
Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?…..  think about it.

Would the country’s collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severely disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain had graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of  corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn’t read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama’s family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list.  If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia   University – B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware -  B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law – Juris  Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy – Class rank: 894 of  899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University -  1 semester
North Idaho College – 2 semesters -  general study
University of Idaho – 2 semesters -  journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College – 1  semester
University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in Journalism

Education isn’t everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land, as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

The only thing I want to say in response to this is make your voice heard. Vote on November 4th!!

procrastinate? me?

So, here I am again.  Doing what I do best.  That’s right, I’m procrastinating!

I’m in the library, supposedly working on a huge project for my Accounting Information Systems class, but it made my brain (and back) hurt.  So I decided to take a break.  I actually need to study for a test in my other accounting class anyway.  So, it’s a good thing I stopped working on that for now.

I thought you’d all want to know that they caught the bastards that robbed me.  They have apparently admitted to the robbery they committed against me and to four others, as well.  The police think that they were possibly involved in up to 15 other robberies with similar M.O.s.  I’m pretty sure that armed robbery carries a ten year prison sentence per count (at least in the state of Indiana).  If so, these guys are looking at a good, long prison term.  I’m not upset.  In fact, I’m jubilant!  I can walk from my car to my apartment at night without being afraid.  I no longer have an anxiety attack every time I open the gate at my apartment complex or approach the gate at my friend’s.  I can go to the store by myself at night without worrying that someone will take all my things.  I know that these guys aren’t the only ‘bad guys’ out there, but they are the only ones who have ever robbed me.  So, since they are safely locked up and behind bars, I can start to relax a little.

I’m even about to get a new camera.  Oh lovely day!  I recently had to attend a pretty important event for my Fraternity and didn’t have my camera to document.  This made me very depressed.  And for my father’s birthday recently, I took pictures on my lovely new phone.  I can’t wait to get a new camera!

the iPod will have to wait a little longer.  My dad got it for me for my birthday this year and I was afraid to tell him that it had been stolen because I thought he would be angry with me.  Never mind the fact that he would probably be more worried about me because of the whole robbed-at-gunpoint-thing.  I just didn’t want him to think I was being irresponsible with such an expensive gift.  Silly, right?  Oh well.  Christmas is coming (eek!) and I guess I’ll see how good I was this year.

Also, the finance test that I was studying for the last time I was procrastinating wrote went well.  I aced every single problem on it.  Had a little trouble with the multiple choice (isn’t that the way it always goes?), but it didn’t hurt me enough to bring my grade down to badly.

I’d better start studying for the test I have today.  This accounting class has two-part tests.  Multiple choice questions on the first day and problems on the second.  Makes me want to rip out my hair.  Today is multiple choice.  Hopefully I pass.  I wasn’t so lucky on the first one.

robbed, update

Well, there are certainly days that make you believe that there still is good in the world. I can hardly believe that today would be one of those days for me.

After what happened to me last night, I was sure I would never see the good in people again.  I’ve never been one to be too trusting and I have always been cautious, so last night when I was robbed I knew exactly what was happening to me even before it did.  I knew as soon as the car followed me into my friend’s parking lot that something bad was going to happen.  I’m just glad I wasn’t hurt, other than emotionally and mentally.

Then this morning I received a phone call from Officer Sparks of the IMPD.  He said that a woman who works at the hospital down the street from my house found my purse in the grass at the hospital and pulled up to his car and gave it to him.  The weird thing is that the woman lives in my apartment complex and Officer Sparks is our safety officer at the complex.  I know this thing didn’t happen too far away from where I live, but I never expected it to come so close to home.

Officer Sparks came to my apartment to return my purse (minus all my toys, but at least my ID, insurance cards and meds were still in it) and he told me that this has been happening all over the north side of Indy and up into Carmel.  Always with the same M.O. but the car appears to be changing.  Sparks just called me again to ask me one more time about the car that I saw and told me that he had a lot of people looking for it on the streets.  I appreciate his help and kindness more than I could ever say.  I do need to return his call because I found out more information that could help him in his search for the people who did this to me.

Speaking of that information, when I was on the phone with my bank this afternoon, I was informed that my card had been used at an Applebees and at a gas station.  I need to let Sparks know which Applebees as soon as I find out.  The store number usually pops up at the end of the transaction when it goes through my bank.  Maybe that will help him track down the bastards that stole my stuff.

I was able to get a new cell phone, but I haven’t called the pawn shops yet.  I actually have a pretty big finance assignment due tonight that I have to start working on.  I’m not sure my professor will accept being robbed as an excuse since I’ve known about the assignment since school started.

I guess I could try, though.

robbed

So, this non-traditional student got robbed last night.  It was one of the scariest moments of my entire life, but now I’m just pissed off that they took everything I had.  My purse, my iPod touch, my cell phone, my camera, a bottle of prescription drugs, my credit cards, my ID.  Everything.  I need to get ready for my day so I can get a new phone, but I’m too depressed and tired to get out of bed.

I should try, at least.  I’ll keep you all updated.