<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/xsl/rss2html.xsl" type="text/xsl" media="screen"?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/scripts/wpcss/wiki/newsforreal/skin/clubclass/rss" type="text/css" media="screen"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title>News For Real Wiki - Recently Updated Pages</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/pageSearch/updated</link><description>Recently Updated Pages on http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com</description><language>en-us</language><webMaster>info@wetpaint.com</webMaster><pubDate>Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:03:09 CST</pubDate><lastBuildDate>Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:03:09 CST</lastBuildDate><generator>wetpaint.com</generator><ttl>60</ttl><image><title>News For Real Wiki</title><url>http://www.wetpaint.com/img/logo.gif</url><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com</link><description>Politics and Life</description></image><item><title>Me &amp; My Friends</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Me+%26+My+Friends</link><author>Anonymous</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Me+%26+My+Friends</guid><pubDate>Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:03:09 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ 			<font color="#631623"><b> 			Welcome!</b>   </font><h2 align="left">  </h2>  <div align="left">  <font color="#631623">I created this Wiki as place where News For Real-ers can play. I get so many terrific emails from readers it struck me that many have more to say, and say it better than I can. So here&#39;s where that can happen. Feel free to post text and images, but steer clear videos. I am using the free version of this service which allows me just 25 megs of disk storage. One more thing... for you fellow Mac users... this Wiki doesn&#39;t function well in the<b> Safari</b> browser. Use another browser.. IE, FireFox or SeaMonkey instead.</font></div>  <div align="center"><font color="#631623">  Okay, over to you.</font> </div>  <div align="center">  </div>  <div align="center">  <font size="2"><i>(<b>Post below</b> this message)<br><br><br><br></i></font><div align="left"><font size="2"><i>Hey,</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>Thanks for sending me this post about the Clinton farm. And Stephen, great thoughts, which I mostly agree with. Being from the white working class south, I would slightly re-frame the thoughts, and remember that only WEALTHY white people, a small minority in the &quot;old south&quot; had plantations. The rest of us (like my mother who grew up in an abandoned train station) were &quot;dirt poor.&quot;</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>That said, race is still at the center of American life, though we don&#39;t have a corner on the market (witness Oprah&#39;s adventures in Europe). White people don&#39;t like to talk about race very much. It&#39;s a minefield, destined to explode if entered, so too many white people just leave it be. I grew up in segregation, and was at ground zero when it went away, at least on paper. If anyone thinks this country values and respects honesty, watch &quot;American Blackout&quot; and see what happened to Cynthia McKinney. Being a Gay man, and working for GLBT rights most of my adult life, I still live at ground zero of being an outsider. My skin may offer me &quot;privilege&quot;, but as soon as I open my mouth, I get put off the train, fast. And like Ms. McKinney, I have this bad habit, I just can&#39;t keep my mouth shut when it comes to the truth.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>From my &quot;Cracker&quot; perspective, I&#39;d say that Hillary and Bill are acting like most of the &quot;New Rich&quot; in this country, working class kids who&#39;ve forgotten what it feels like to put in an honest days work.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>I liked Bill. He was a real &quot;shuck &amp; jive&quot; artist from the get go. But Bill loved people, albeit too much if they were attractive and female, but he genuinely cared about people. Hillary just has that cold and calculating side that is inescapable. She&#39;s been riding on Bill&#39;s coat tails most of her life. As much as he drives her nuts, she got where she is because people responded to him, not her. Once he got them both &quot;inside&quot;, she quickly took up the mantle of being an &quot;insider.&quot; It&#39;s sort of sad when you think about it, she&#39;s still Bill&#39;s wife, and that is her primary stock and trade.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>Barack cares about people. So does John Edwards. Both of them hold their pain and their upbringings in front of them every day. They remember what it felt like to be &quot;outsiders&quot; and that the real plantation called America is not owned by any of us who work for a living. I know that is why I&#39;ve responded warmly to both of them.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>Lastly, the large corporations in this country always want we Democrats to fight among ourselves. They have orchestrated the &quot;slug fest&quot; between Barack and Hillary so that no one will notice John Edwards, who is the only one of the three who has consistently attacked the corporate machine since he graduated law school. He&#39;s the one they are really afraid of, and they are banking on Americans ignoring him, particularly since he talks like a &quot;hick&quot; in the ears of too many Americans.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>So if we&#39;re going to talk racism here, and we should, we also need to talk regionalism. No one takes anyone seriously in this country who has a &quot;southern accent&quot;, including black folks whose families migrated north like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. The irony of that error is that if ANYONE knows about how plantations are run, and how people are manipulated and exploited, it is working class people from the south, no matter what color they are.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>So, I&#39;m supporting John, mostly because for me, he&#39;s the &quot;homeboy&quot;, and (in case anyone forgot) he really tore up Dick Cheney in their debate four years ago. I will enthusiastically support any Democrat, even Hillary, because any Democrat is better than any Republican, something my 95 year old mother told me 28 years ago when I made the mistake of voting for Ronald Reagan.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>It&#39;s like &quot;Miss Edna&quot; said, &quot;They tell you what you want to hear to get elected. Then they pay off their rich friends, and leave us working people to pay the bill when they leave office.&quot; Not bad for a girl who was born out of wedlock, grew up sharecropping an abandoned train station, and worked her way through high school on a scholarship.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>My best to you both, keep up the good work. Please feel free to post, send and share.</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>Regards, Ed Garren</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>Ed Garren </i></font><br><font size="2"><i>For Portland City Council</i></font><br><font size="2"><i>813 SW Alder #004</i></font><br><font size="2"><i>Portland, OR 97205</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><br><font size="2"><i>http://www.EdForPortland.com</i></font><br><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font></div><div align="left"><div align="left"><font size="2"></font></div><font size="2"></font></div><font size="2"><i><br> <br></i></font></div><div align="center"><i><font size="2"></font></i><font size="2"></font><i><font face="Arial" size="3">(I moved the Gripes page. Click on the &quot;Gripes Page&quot; link in the menu box to your left.)<br>Post new gripes there at the top of that list. New stuff only below.<br></font></i><b><font face="Arial" size="3"></font></b></div><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>Stuff We Like</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Stuff+We+Like</link><author>iyinthesky</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Stuff+We+Like</guid><pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:07:07 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ 			<h3> Who you voting for?</h3>1. Edwards<br> 2. <br> 3. <br> <br><br><h3> TV shows we never miss: </h3>1. South Park<br> 2. Keith Olbermann/Jon Stewart<br> <br> <br><br><h3> Our favorite movies:</h3>1. Blade Runner<br>2. Dark City<br>3. Memento<br><br><br><h3> Web sites we love: </h3>1. News for Real<br> 2. Survivalacres<br> 3. Information Clearing House<br> <br><br><h3> What we&#39;re reading: </h3>1. speculative fiction<br> 2. science fiction<br> 3. current catastrophic events<br> <br><br><br><div align="right"><i>See also</i>: <a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Photos" target="_self">Our Photos</a> |</div><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>Gripes Page</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Gripes+Page</link><author>Anonymous</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Gripes+Page</guid><comments>Tired of Israel</comments><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:08:39 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[<font size="2"><b>The BIG annoyance from Pooche:</b></font><br><b><font size="2">I am tired of all the condemning of the neocons without the truth being mentioned. They are agents of Israel. They care only what is good for Israel. Congress and the Whitehouse are under the thumb of Israel. That is why the war in Iraq does not end and they are itching for a war in Iran.</font></b><br><b><font size="2">It does not matter what the American People want. ALL of their voting is for what Israel wants!!</font></b><br><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>List of Annoyances From Little Pizzo</b> </font><br><ol>  <li>  <font size="2">Terrible local news...could it be any more awkward and annoying? </font>  </li><li>  <font size="2">Cars covered in religious bumper stickers....scratch that....all bumper sticker....news flash....we don&#39;t care </font>  </li><li>  <font size="2">People famous for being stupid </font>  </li><li>  <font size="2">The fact that our government finds the steroid &quot;problem&quot; in baseball so important that they need to have &quot;hearings&quot; on the matter....isn&#39;t there other things more important for them to be meeting about?</font>   </li><li>  <font size="2">George Bush....need I say more... </font>  </li><li>  <font size="2">People who actually still think that Global Warming is a lie.... </font>  </li><li>  <u>Uninvited Conversationalists</u><b>:</b> These are the people who just LOVE to her themselves talk. They usually will start the conversation upon seeing you, regardless of the fact that they are still ten feet away....this little maneuver is to ensure that you can&#39;t escape. I truly believe that this is some of the most rude and selfish behavior...and I am tired on hearing about peoples kids and how great they are....if I don&#39;t ask....probably means that I am not interested.   </li><li>  Office Cubes....could they be any more demeaning and depressing   </li><li>  Organized Religion   </li><li>  People who are still making a big fuss about same sex marriage....if you are worried about losing the &quot;sanctity&quot; of marriage...I hate to be the one to tell you this....but I am pretty sure that we already lost it....so let it go....shouldn&#39;t you guys be applying your focus to more important issues....like those crazied liberals who are trying to get your kids to have sex?   </li><li>  Deal or No Deal....there is absolutely no skill to this game and the people on it act like retards....does anyone else see this....and could Howey be any more creepy....I&#39;m waiting to hear him say &quot;It puts the lotion on the skin....&quot; but I digress   </li><li>  Blue Collar Comedy....this has to be the worst comedy I have ever seen....I feel like I need to lay my head against the microwave for a hour or so before I would be able to really understand it   </li><li>  &quot;That Guy / Girl&quot;. Everyone knows a person or two in there lives that are &quot;That Guy / Girl.&quot; &quot;That Guy / Girl&quot; usually drinks too much at the Christmas party, or usually is trying so hard for peoples attention and respect that they usually make a complete fool of themselves....but they are such fragile people that if you told them how everyone really feels about them, they probably would go head first off the deep end...or the 3rd floor of your office building.......so you just end up being incredibly uncomfortable around them and jut put up with their sh_t....I have had enough (PS: &quot;That Guy / Girl has usually mastered the art of Uninvited Conversations) </li></ol><br>Thanks for allowing me to rank one last time in 2007....I found it extremely t<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">herapeutic....but now I must return to my cube before I run into &quot;that guy.&quot;</font></font> <br><br>Sincerely<br>Little Pizzo<br><br><font color="#0000ff">(Big Pizzo: Oh, now this IS bad news. My son, Chris, is following in his wayward father&#39;s footsteps. Yikes. Where did I go wrong? ;-)<br></font><br><br><h3>  Here is one more gripe... Those SOB&#39;s will get a retirement from our tax dollars for the rest of their miserable lives, and so much more. There is nothing we can do to change this, because the Congress is part of the problem. Hurray, I am an American.</h3>  <h3 align="center">  </h3>  <h3 align="center">  Bashful</h3>  <h3 align="center">  </h3>  <div align="center">  <b><font color="#ff0000" size="4">NFR Readers Responding to my list of year-end gripes.</font></b> </div>  <div align="center">  </div>  <div align="center">  </div>  <div align="left">  <b><font color="#ff0000"></font></b></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">What Am I sick of from Beccy</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">1. Democrates asking me for money when they aren&#39;t impeaching george.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">2. Hearing george&#39;s voice it makes my hair stand up on edge.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">3. Hearing about the elections that aren&#39;t until November</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">4. The people who are running for president, I wouldn&#39;t elect them to be catcher</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">5. Paying for cable news, but not hearing about anything that is going on in the world.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">6. People pushing their religious beliefs at me.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">7. The price of gas, $3.19 per gallon when you have to drive for work is really depressing</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">8. george and his friends the media not telling the truth about the economy</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">9. My local taxes going up when the top 1% are racking in the dough</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">10. Seeing social programs cut so that the richest 1% can keep their tax cuts</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">11. All the money, guns and equipment that has been lost in Iraq</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">12. Watching george w who I beleive was never elected fly around on my tax dollar, spreading his propaganda</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">13. The people who voted for george w going about their happy little lifes as if nothing has happened in the last 7 years</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">14. My union brothers and sisters loosing their jobs to slave labor in China and Mexico</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">15. People who say that illegal immagrates should be allowed to take our jobs.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">16. The cost of health insurance</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">17. The republicans saying we need to win the war that they lied us into. My question is what needs to happen for us to win.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">18. People not caring about the thousands of inocent people who died because of the wars we were lied into.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">19. Christians who say it&#39;s god&#39;s will that george w stole the election.</font></div>  <div align="left">  <font color="#ff0000">20. The fact that we are paying the wages of george w., Darth Cheney and friends when they were never elected.</font></div>  <div align="center">  </div>  <div align="center">  </div>  <div align="left">  <font face="Arial">I think the two best candidates will cancel each other out and Hillary will get the nomination. Then we will be screwed for sure. I wish either Kucinich or Edwards would drop out and let the other have all their votes. That way we would have our person. It is quite interesting that the one person that represents corporate america is going to lead us right into hell. Barrack is trying to fit in to much and don&#39;t give me that &quot;I am just like you all&quot; crap. He is better than Hillary by a mile, but he is no John Edwards or Denis Kucinich. Obveously the learders of the Demo Party do not represent us little people. Didn&#39;t they hear us when we said &quot;we want the war to end, NOW&quot;? Being from California, I am ashamed of our big 3. Forgive us for sending you all these kind of leaderless individuals.</font><br><br>Neither Hilary or Barrack can win. I just do not see Barrack being able to take any votes from the south. Maybe Dodd or Richardson could win if the media would give them a chance. Beccy<br><br><font face="Arial">Bashful</font><br><br>I&#39;m sick of all of the above but most of all the seeming impossibility of getting all the sick and tired people to come to enough of an agreement to dig ourselves out before the inevitable crash. For Christ&#39;s sake if you agree with Kucinich vote for him and don&#39;t go for the &quot;electable&quot; pony show because the only folks considered &quot;electable&quot; already have the corporate stamp upon their soul.<br><br>Val C.</div>  <div align="left">  <b><br>From Patrick &amp; Anita F.</b></div>  <div align="left">  1)I&#39;m tired of hearing people who narrowly escape death or serious injury proclaim that God was watching out for them while people around them may have died or got injured. Sure, innocent children dying all around you and God is watching out for YOU?!! Arrogant! Or claiming this, that and the other thing as &#39;God&#39;s Will&#39;</div>  <div align="left">  2) The endless supply of &#39;reality shows&#39; and sitcoms. How many more scenarios for goofy, inane TV shows can they think of?</div>  <div align="left">  3)Oh my GOD!! - sick of it. </div>  <div align="left">  4)Sick of being the victim of propaganda/brainwashing put out by govt/corporations that want to instill fear/envy/pride/consumerism/greed/ stupidity and the list goes on. Who knows how deeply we&#39;ve all been infested with the prevailing paradigm. And it&#39;s sickening that you have to go along with it to a large degree just to appear relatively normal.</div>  <div align="left">  5) Sick of the things people view as a necessities: A nice car, cable TV, big house, air conditioning everywhere they go - home, office, grocery store, car - set so cool when you step outside for more than 60 seconds you can hardly breathe. <br><br><b><br>What I Am Sick Of:</b></div>  <div align="left">  1) Ghastly commercials for Big Pharma drugs with side effects like driving somewhere while asleep, swallowing your tongue, compulsively gambling, don&#39;t touch if you ever want to have children, erections lasting for days, projectile diarrhea, and suicide - usually aired during dinner.</div>  <div align="left">  2) Nightly &quot;news&quot; reports of reports that support studies concluding that one should rush out and use these drugs or other medical procedures that treat the symptoms, but ignore the cause.</div>  <div align="left">  3) The seemingly mummified Carville&#39;s on Meet the Press. So sick and twisted with her an abject apologist for any bogus neocon scheme and him still stuck on the Clinton campaign bus. Both look like pasty-faced zombies - the walking dead. Good grief. Pity their kid.</div>  <div align="left">  4) No accountability expected from political pundits. If they&#39;ve been consistently wrong, they are never replaced - they just continue to spew this bullshit, and continue to be consulted as if their dumbassed opinions matter. This horseshit then passes for &quot;news analysis.&quot; Aaarrgh. Same for financial news. They should be frog-walked out of the newsrooms.</div>  <div align="left">  5) Everything on TV supports materialism and consumerism. Citizens re-defined as &quot;consumers.&quot; Daily reports on how many shopping days until Christmas, et al. Just nauseating. Nothing to give us a heads up on preparations for collapse of the dollar, the stock market, peak oil, lack of topsoil, peak food, inflation, etc. etc. They will just let the dikes collapse and so many will be swept away and it will all come as a &quot;surprise&quot; to those who are being grossly overpaid to keep us &quot;informed.&quot; No information about alternatives - localization, permaculture, new energy, movements to quit shopping for sweatshop items, stop flying, etc.</div>  <div align="left">  6) No coverage of alternative political parties like the Greens or candidates like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich who have an anti-corporate or anti-war agenda - or impeachment. </div>  <div align="left">  7) I&#39;m sick to death of smaltzy Christian e-mail messages that tell us how grateful we should feel that &quot;God&quot; has &quot;blessed&quot; us by giving us so much more than the poor countries have. Like it was God, not the IMF or the State Department or the military that imposes policies that impoverish and exploit them so we can be privileged. What a fucking crock of shit. </div>  <div align="left">  8) I&#39;ve had it with e-mails that threaten you if you don&#39;t forward them to several people. </div>  <div align="left">  9) I&#39;m sick of reading about children being abused or killed by a woman&#39;s live-in boyfriend. Hello? Don&#39;t ya think it may be way past time to question the practice of living with a man who has made no commitment to the child? Women with children who have a series of live-in boyfriends are skanks and should be criticized severely. </div>  <div align="left">  10) I&#39;m sick of grandparents who think they have some God-given right to access to grandchildren whether the parents want them to or not. Bullshit. Only their children know what it was like to grow up with those people and they have the right to decide if they will allow the grandparents to be involved or not. </div>  <div align="left">  11) I&#39;m sick of these hyper-sexualized, vulgar females in the music business and their black male counterparts that come off as thugs and cretins. What an insult. Oh, and limp-wristed no-nothing father and know-it-all mother stereotypes, too. </div>  <div align="left">  12) I&#39;m sick of the so-called &quot;War on Drugs&quot; and the complicit congress who has been going along with using the laundered drug money to prop up the stock market. So what if they have ruined thousands and thousands of lives?</div>  <div align="left">  13) I hate that Ronald Reagan is looked back on as some sort of saint. Gag me with a spoon. Ok, I gotta quit. I am sick of a lot of stuff. By the way, have you seen the movie, &quot;Idiocracy&quot; ? It&#39;s dumb, but worth seeing. </div>  <div align="left">  Best, Freeacre <br><br><b><br>Oh Yeah,</b></div>  <div align="left">  I am sick to death of listening to Ben Stein... The bastard son of Herbert Stein.[1] . A Nixon Stein. This self-promoting little weasel is nothing less than himself that he played in the movie Dave, supporting the criminal &quot;Bob Alexander&quot; (played by Frank Langella). Now this moron is supporting.. you guessed it, Creationism!!! (In recent years he has become an outspoken advocate for the Creationist/Intelligent Design movement.) And this enlightened soul (sic) is giving financial advice?! Enough of this fool and similar fools - Please bring back the Enlightenment...or at least free wine &amp; brandy so a tortured soul like me and cope. </div>  <div align="left">  <br>I am (also) sick to death of Pundits on CNBC telling me how they make $$$ in the market without a single shred of evidence they actually make $$$.. Prove it with a back statement or a tax return. They all sound like porters on the deck of the Titanic re-arranging chairs while the band played on! I wonder how any of them sleep at night - unless they are invested in Big Pharma and get free pills. That goes double for the political pundits on MSNBC, CNN, etc... Pure, Unadulterated Bull-Shit!!. I wonder how any of them sleep at night Jack Markuszka, Ph.D. <br><br>My Additions: 21. The border fence (WTF?) 22. Voter I.D. cards 23. Torture denial Kevin F. <br>My List: <br>1. Corporate news. News from divisions of weapons systems makers, or news that is sponsored by weapons system makers.</div>  <div align="left">  2. Police worship. Cops are always right, no matter what. The hysterical 19 yr old woman&#39;s behavior was threatening so several of our finest were justified in shooting her to death. That&#39;s right, a 19 yr old female in Huntington Beach. Ever see a HB cop?</div>  <div align="left">  3. Any news about Karl Rove other than his arrest. </div>  <div align="left">  4. My fellow architect&#39;s blissful ignorance of anything other than the NFL. I know, it hurts to realize that you mistakenly embarked on a career that is totally elitist in every way, when you thought you were being idealistic. Its much easier to escape. </div>  <div align="left">  5. Stupid reality and fear-mongering adventure TV shows.</div>  <div align="left">  6. junior and uncle fester. </div>  <div align="left">  <br>Kurt Mueller </div>  <div align="center">  </div><b>  <br></b>  <div>  <b>Jason&#39;s Gripes</b></div>  <div>  1. I am sick of presidential candidates with their wink and nod commercials affirming they are christian and somehow this helps their campaign. If people weren&#39;t so stupid this sort of thing would sink their campaign. Why would anyone in their right mind trust someone with the free world who openly admits that they beleive in nonsense.<br><br>2. I am super annoyed that christians exist in such a fact filled world.<br><br>3. I am sick and tired of citizens saying Kucinich is unelectable, especially when the person is progressive and when Kucinich stands for every single cause that said person stands for.<br><br>4. I am mildly annoyed that there isn&#39;t any atheist running for president, thats gained national attention.<br><br><br><b><font size="4">MICHELLE&#39;S &quot;I&#39;m Sick-of-it&quot; List 2007:</font></b><br>1. I&#39;m sick of people being <b><font color="#ff0000">so consumed with their own lives</font></b> that they don&#39;t stop to appreciate, or even acknowledge the other people in their lives.<br><br>2. I&#39;m sick of people <font color="#ff0000"><b>griping to me about their money problems</b></font>, when their priorities for spending their money seems all outta whack.<br><br>3. I&#39;m sick of <b>Christmas music</b>.<br><br>4. I&#39;m sick of people that <font color="#ff0000"><b>aren&#39;t grateful for the little things</b></font>.<br><br>5. I&#39;m sick of my office continuing to have vendor gifts of <b><font color="#ff0000">candies and chocolates</font></b> laid out in the breakroom... I mean...COME ON! i&#39;m gonna put on 5 lbs before New Years!<br><br>6. I&#39;m sick of people thinking that if your over the age of 20 and you don&#39;t have children of your own... then by default, <b><font color="#ff0000">you don&#39;t have &quot;a real family&quot;.</font></b><br><br>7. I&#39;m sick of people that think they <b><font color="#ff0000">&quot;know everything</font></b>&quot;... They&#39;re the same people that can never be surprised by anything.<br><br>8. I&#39;m sick of being at work at 3:00 PM the day before a holiday weekend, because it&#39;s a <b><font color="#ff0000">GHOST TOWN</font> </b>around here!<br><br><b><i><font color="#ff0000" size="4">Happy Holidays... and all that rot. :-)<br><br></font></i></b><font color="#ff0000" size="4"><font color="#000000"><b>Laura&#39;s big pains</b><br>Oh the rot indeed- when someone wishes me merry xmas i&#39;ve been telling them i&#39;m not celebrating anything until there&#39;s a little bit of peace. i don&#39;t go into it any more than that but i get some weird looks ;) or i claim judiac heritage :)) around this bible belt xtain super majority territory i live in, that also gets wonderfully awkward. <br><br>Of the many many occurrences that have made me positively sick this year, one of the most offensive was the &quot;weapons of mass reduction&quot; segments about loosing weight on cbs. i didn&#39;t watch it, i just couldn&#39;t believe the mentality that would consider using the phrase for a catchy title. <br>. </font><br></font></div><b><font face="Arial" size="3">Rather Sick of This One: </font></b><b><font face="Arial" size="3">  <br></font></b><b><font face="Arial" size="3">How quickly public figures, politicians, newscasters (even Gwen Ifill of PBS&#39; Washington Week) have jumped into lockstep with FOX &ldquo;News&rdquo; Bill O&#39;Reilly &amp; others of his ilk to prove that they are <u>not</u> participating in the alleged, &ldquo;War on Christmas&rdquo;. This season it&#39;s all the rage to say the forbidden words. &ldquo;Merry Christmas&rdquo; they bray, as though it were a risky punchline to a dirty joke. &ldquo;Golly, it feels kinda good to say, &#39;Merry Christmas&#39; again&rdquo;! &ldquo;Hey Ma, look at me saying, Merry Christmas&rdquo;! &ldquo;Geez, what was that &#39;Happy Holiday&#39; thing all about anyway&rdquo;?<br><br>I got news for you guys, that warm, almost courageous feeling you&#39;re getting is the result of rolling around in O&#39;Reilly&#39;s field of poppies. You&#39;re all high on the profane manna blown about by the Wicked Witch of Incivility. O&#39;Reilly&#39;s reactionary right rhetoric and its side effects can be lethal, so do be careful of how much you inhale.<br><br></font></b><b><font face="Arial" size="3"></font></b><b><font face="Arial" size="3">For a whole 5 minutes Americans understood the why of saying, &#39;Happy Holidays&#39; in December. It was because, in this melting pot of ours, there are actually people who don&#39;t celebrate Christmas. Ah, how peaceful those days were... Really, I&#39;m not a total baby, I can handle a number of folks wishing me &#39;a Merry Christmas&#39; and asking me if I&#39;m &#39;ready for Christmas yet&#39; (I usually say, &#39;thank you, to you too&#39; and &#39;yes&#39;). However, try as I might, I double think the answer each time. Should I say, &#39;thank you &amp; Happy Chanukah&#39;? No, that would draw attention to their mistake and make them uncomfortable; too tacky.<br><br>So, I say, &#39;thank you&#39; and etc. about 10 times a day, for a while... Unfortunately, something equivalent to &#39;critical mass&#39; happens along about Dec. 18 and I find that I&#39;m grinding my teeth and fighting with myself about whether or not there could possibly be any justification for ripping their heads off (the psychotic episodes do get closer and closer together. It&#39;s a, &#39;that time of the month&#39; thing). In the end, I generally make it through without embarrassment or drawing blood, but oh, the close calls! If some of those folks only knew.<br><br></font></b><b><font face="Arial" size="3"></font></b><b><font face="Arial" size="3">I&#39;m aware that the majority of citizens where I live celebrate Christmas and in the private sector I can even enjoy the preparations and festivities along with them (they let me). But at the old &ldquo;public&rdquo; school, paid for in part with my tax dollars and where my children were a captive audience; well, don&#39;t get me started...</font></b> <b><font face="Arial" size="3">With Respect, Greetings of the Season &amp; Happy Holidays. Locke&#39;nLoad<br></font></b><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>Who We Are</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Who+We+Are</link><author>newsforreal</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Who+We+Are</guid><pubDate>Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:05:12 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ 			<h3> </h3><br><br><font color="#ff0000"></font><br><table align="bottom" class="wp-border-none" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="wp-border-none" width="31%"><font size="2"><b>STEPHEN PIZZO</b><br>http://www.stephen.pizzo.com<br><br></font> <b><font color="#990000" size="2"><u>Books Published</u></font></b><font size="2"><br></font><font size="2"><b><u>Inside Job: The Looting of America&#39;s Savings and Loans</u></b></font>  <div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><b><font color="#cc0000">New York Times Best Seller</font></b></font></div><font size="2">   McGraw Hill, Hardcover 1989/ HarperBusiness PB 1991. <br> 1990 Winner, 1990 Investigative Reporters &amp; Editors Book of the Year Award. <br><b> Nominated for a Pulitzer</b> <br><br><b><u>The Ethic Gap: Crisis of Ethics in the Professions</u></b> <br> 1991, Parker &amp; Sons Publishers <br><b><u>Profiting from the Bank and S&amp;L Crisis</u></b> <br> HarperBusiness, January 1992<br><br>  </font> <div class="MsoNormal">    </div>  <font size="2"><font color="#990000"><b><u>Journalism Awards</u></b></font></font><font size="2"> <br>- 1989 Lincoln Steffans Award for Journalism <br> -1989 George Polk Award for Business Journalism <br> - 1990 Gerald Leob Award for Business Journalism <br> - 1990 Investigative Reporters &amp; Editors Book of the Year Award <br> - 1990 National Headliner Award - Associated Press <br> - 1990 Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award <br> - 1990 Arizona Press Club Don Bolles Investigative Reporting Award <br> - 1990 Arizona Associated Press Sweepstakes Winner <br> 1992 Project Censored Award - Sonoma State University <br> 1999 Southam Award for Sailing Journalism  </font><div class="MsoNormal">    </div> <div class="MsoCaption">  <font size="2"><u>The Internet<br> </u><br> Current Site<u><br> </u>News For Real<br> <a class="external" href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.comhttp://www.newsforreal.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newsforreal.com</a><br> <br><u><b> Past Sites</b></u><br> </font>  </div><font size="2">  Founding Sr. Editor, National Affairs, <br><b>Web Review Magazine</b> <br> (Technology/Politics) 1994-1996 <br><u><b>Broadvision</b></u><br> (Sr. Editor, Current affairs)<br> &quot;The Angle&quot;<br> 1996 <br>Senior Editor <br><u><b>Quokka Sports Inc.</b></u><br> Digital Sports Coverage<br> Open Ocean Races<br> 1996 - 2000<br><br>TomPaine.com<br> Political Commentary<br><br><u>O&#39;Reilly Associates</u> <br><b>The O&#39;Reilly Network</b> <br> Internet Audio Interviews/Technology <br><u><b>The Challenge Business</b></u><u><b> (UK)</b></u><br> Senior Editor, EDS Atlantic Challenge <br> Open-Ocean Sailing Coverage<br><a class="external" href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.comhttp://www.edsatlanticchallenge.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.edsatlanticchallenge.com</a> <br> 2001<br><br></font>        <font color="#990000" size="2"><b><u>Print Journalism Experience</u></b></font><font size="2"> <br><b>Forbes</b><br>(Business/Technology)<br><b>Washington Post</b> <br> (Banking/book reviews)<br><b>New York Times</b> <br> (Editorial Page) <br><br><br><b>Los Angeles Times<br> </b>(Stringer - General Reporting)<br><br><br><b> Arizona Republic</b> <br> (Banking)<br><b>San Francisco Chronicle</b><br> (White Collar Crime, Political Analysis) <br><b>Public Citizen Magazine</b> <br> (Banking)<br><b>Playboy Magazine</b> <br> (Banking/Politics)<br><b>Penthouse Magazine</b> <br> (Organized Crime)<br><b>National Mortgage News</b><br> (Banking)<br><b>Baseline</b>/Ziff Davis<br> (Computer Technology)<br><b>Mother Jones Magazine</b><br>(White House/Congress)<br><b>Mortgage Technology</b><b> Magazine<br> </b>(Internet Techonlogies)<br><b>New York Times Group Columnist</b><br> (Emerging Web Technology)  </font>            </td>  <td align="center" class="wp-border-none" width="68%"><div align="left"> </div></td>  </tr>  <tr>  <td align="center" class="wp-border-none" width="31%">  <font size="2"><br><br><br></font><div align="left"><font size="2"><br></font><font size="2"></font></div></td>  <td align="center" class="wp-border-none" width="68%"><br></td>  </tr>  <tr>  <td align="center" class="wp-border-none" width="31%">  <br><br><div align="left"><font size="2"><br></font><font size="2"></font></div></td>  <td align="center" class="wp-border-none" width="68%">  <br><br><br><div align="left"><font size="2"><br></font><font size="2"></font></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><br><br><br><div align="right"><a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Stuff+We+Like" target="_self"></a></div><br><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>Our Videos</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Videos</link><author>Anonymous</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Videos</guid><pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:10:43 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[<font color="#ff0000"> 			NO VIDEOS PLEASE!</font><div class="wikiWrapper"><div><font color="#ff0000"><br></font><div align="right"><i>See also:</i> <a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Photos" target="_self">Our Photos</a> | <a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Stuff+We+Like" target="_self">Stuff We Like</a> | <a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Who+We+Are" target="_self">Who We Are</a></div><h3></h3><font size="4"></font><b><font size="2"></font></b><br><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table><br><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td><td width="50%"><b>VIDEO TITLE</b></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"> </td><td width="50%"><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font><font size="2"></font> <br><font size="2"><b>       <br> </b></font></td></tr></tbody></table> </div> 	</div><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>Our Photos</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Photos</link><author>Anonymous</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Photos</guid><pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:09:26 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ 			<h3> Our photo scrapbook!</h3><br>Yes, you can upload a picture of you <i>(with cloths on pooooooleeeze!)</i> 	<div align="right"><i>See also:</i> <a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Videos" target="_self"></a>| <a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Stuff+We+Like" target="_self">Stuff We Like</a><a href="http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/What%27s+Happening" target="_self"></a></div><br><table align="bottom" class="wp-border-all" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><h3><br></h3><h3> </h3><br></td><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%">  <br><br> <br>Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><h3><br></h3> <br>Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><br> <br>Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><br><br>  <br> Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><br><br>    <br>Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><br> <br>  <br>Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td><td align="center" class="wp-border-all" width="50%"><br><br>  <br>Add photo caption or credit here.<br></td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>What's Happening</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/What%27s+Happening</link><author>Anonymous</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/What%27s+Happening</guid><pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:05:26 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ 			<font color="#ff0000"><b>Suggestions</b><br></font><ul><li><font color="#ff0000">Meetings, rallies etc: Is something happening in your area you want others to know about and/or support? Great. Put it here.</font></li></ul><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item><item><title>Our next get-together</title><link>http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+next+get-together</link><author>wetpaint</author><guid isPermaLink="false">http://newsforreal.wetpaint.com/page/Our+next+get-together</guid><comments>Apply Site Template</comments><pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:43:53 CST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ 	Use this page as a tool to get all of your friends on the same page to plan your next trip. Let them make recommendations for places to meet up, and <br><br><h3>Make a recommendation for a get-together destination!</h3><br><ol><li>Location: Why we should go there</li><br><li>Location: Why we should go there</li><br><li>Location: Why we should go there</li><br><li>Location: Why we should go there</li><br><li>Location: Why we should go there</li></ol><br><h3>What&#39;s your availability?</h3><br><table align="bottom" cellpadding="3" class="wp-border-all" width="400"><tbody><tr><td align="center" width="25%"><b>Friend&#39;s Name</b><br></td><td align="center" width="25%"><b>Option 1 10/12-10/16</b><br></td><td align="center" width="25%"><b>Option 2 11/03-11/06</b><br></td><td align="center" width="25%"><b>Option 3 11/17-11/21</b><br></td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Friend 1</td><td width="25%">XXXXXXX</td><td width="25%">Available</td><td width="25%">XXXXXXXX</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Friend 2</td><td width="25%">Available</td><td width="25%">Available</td><td width="25%">Available</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Friend 3</td><td width="25%">XXXXXXX</td><td width="25%">Available</td><td width="25%">XXXXXXXX</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Friend 4</td><td width="25%">Available</td><td width="25%">Available</td><td width="25%">XXXXXXXX</td></tr></tbody></table><br><br><hr size="1"><br/>]]></description></item></channel></rss>