Personal rant...

Time for a personal rant:

I'm in a class at the University of Denver. It's a distance learning style class where, through the partnership of a certain television company that broadcasts the most riveting entertainment the House of Representatives and Senate have to offer, my class gets to chat with many high profile, important, and experienced guests about the political landscape. This proves especially fun with the B.H.O. v. H.R.C. war currently on.

We have an exam coming up. Our professor teaches class from Washington, DC -- so we never see him, and expect that when papers are due we will print them or have them written on the exam itself or whatever, so that we may fed-ex them to him for quick and easy grading (apparently he doesn't like to print things off himself, even if it is 15 people in class.)

I digress.

We get an email two days before the exam from the TA (this is not her fault in any way, she was just the messenger) letting us know that we had to buy a blue book for our test and that they were available in the bookstore.

In my head the conversation proceeds something like this:

Wait. What? Say that again?
I said you have to buy your own blue book.
We do?
Yes.
Our own blue books...what we'll be writing our test in, we have to buy it ourselves?
Yes.
From the bookstore?
Yes.
I'm sorry, I'm still a little behind here -- Let me get this straight. We're taking a test, we have to write our tests down for the professor, and he mandates that we purchase our own blue book for the test?
Yes.
Stop saying yes.
No.
Thank you.


I don't understand how this makes sense. Why is my notebook not good enough? Perhaps you could go the short route of letting us use our computers for superior typing speed and therefore exam quality (theoretically) but no. We have to write it on a bluebook. That's fine. Until I find we're to purchase them ourselves. I'm not worried about the cost, I have a full-time job so I make enough to afford the $10 or whatever ridiculous cost the University of Denver bookstore dares to charge for these things, it's just the principle.

If you're going to force us to hand write a test, you should not have the audacity to then expect us to buy something additional on which to write our test!!! You want me to write it? Perfect. I'll use my notebook. That's not what you want? Tough shit. Do I get to mandate which format can be used for class communications? I don't except email communications, I have to be overnighted all class related communication from the professor. What's that? Email is most convenient for you and everyone else in the class? SO IS YOU BUYING THE BLUE BOOKS FOR US LIKE MOST REGULAR COLLEGES!

It's a ridiculous pain in my ass to leave my full-time job 20 minutes earlier in the day to make sure I can stop by the bookstore and pay some a king's ransom for a bluebook.

I've recently been informed that this happens a lot in undergrad. All I can say is you idiots went to the wrong schools, this shit should never happen. It's asinine, ridiculous, insane, and pointless. I can't think of a single good reason why this would be beneficial to the class.

In fact nobody can. And if they think they can find a good reason for forcing us to purchase our own blue books, they're wrong and their idea is dumb. That's it. End of story.

J-Wall out.

Fiscally Overreactive

In more irony news, King Bush and his White Castle (mmmm burgers) have accused the Democratically led Congress of being fiscally irresponsible in their efforts to pass a bill (which he vetoed) that would increase spending on federal education expenses federal healthcare expenses through medicaid and medicare. His beef was a $22 billion increase in the bill over what his budget had laid out over the next 5 years. While Bush is technically correct that paying for those programs would come from the increase of taxes, it's incredibly poignant when we couple his accusation with the knowledge that his 100% unnecessary war has so far cost the nation $1.9 trillion dollars, and with no end in sight, that number is only going to grow. Now, that's $1.9 trillion dollars. Here it is with zeroes: $1,900,000,000.

Additionally, a new report issued says that from 2002-2008 the Iraq and Afghanistan war contain hundreds of hidden costs (two of the most notable: increased healthcare costs for returning veterans [which is another story altogether, given the fact that more are coming back mentally injured, and more are becoming homeless FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE] as well as increased oil prices -- that's right folks, sick of high oil prices? The military uses a lot of it..end the war...watch prices fall,) which end up costing a family of four almost $21,000 over the period of 2002-2008. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I can't think of a single REGULAR family of four (you know, middle class) that can really afford $21,000 over 6 years (yeah I know it's less than $4k a year.) Honestly, who can afford that? And it's not as if we're spending it for any benefit.

The biggest outcome of this war will be the blowback that my generation and my kids and grandkids generations will have to face, when we help to breed a specific brand of people who hate America at a rate far greater than we've ever seen before. We're asking for destruction with this war, not protection.

Fucking ridiculous. Talk about being fiscally irresponsible. Let's spend money to demolish our country, who's with me?

Anyone?

Anyone...?

Didn't think so. Demand Impeachment Now.