Right Around the Corner

I love this time of year.

More specifically, I love the fall.

I love when the weather turns crisp at night, and the sky is a sharp shade of blue unmatched during any other time of year. Kids are back in school, waiting for the bus in the morning, with backpacks and lunch boxes in tow. I always looked forward to the first day of school. It was an event I never dreaded. In fact, I saw it as an opportunity - new clothes to wear, new Keds to break in, a new backpack filled with mechanical pencils, erasers, folders, notebooks and other goodies. Fall was just the beginning.

Spring may hold claim to new beginnings and rebirth, but I've always seen fall as a beginning as well (old school routines die hard I suppose). Falls brings with it a return to routine, to school, to football games and tailgate parties, yard sales on the weekend and pulling out the sweaters from the back of the closet. Fall means the end of a long, hot summer, and is the predecessor to the holiday season (another favorite time of year). Weekends are filled with raking leaves and putting extra blankets on the bed. Pumpkin pies are baked. Fireplaces are lit. Football games are watched.

I absolutely love this time of year.

So we wait out the final 90 degree days in North Carolina during September. We longingly look at our sweaters and hope for a crisp morning. We drink our steaming cups of coffee in the morning and anxiously await for the days when we need it to warm up, and not just for it's caffeine content.

Fall is right around the corner, and I for one cannot wait to welcome it to North Carolina.

Inhalater

Lunch at Johnny J's Diner in Casper, Wyoming - $6.79
One tank of gas for campaign tour bus - $360
Hotel room for the night while campaigning in Dillonvale, OH - $159

The Great One without his teleprompter - priceless.

(While I can appreciate the man is probably sleep deprived (like every politician that has ever run for office), don't rail Bush for his "Bush-isms" when Obama pulls one out in this priceless clip.)

Classes I Missed During College

Just over six years ago, I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I earned my BA in journalism and mass communication. As one of the most popular majors for students at the university, the School of Journalism was home to some of the best professors at UNC, talented and promising students (I see one of my former classmates as a reporter on our local news all the time) and some of the most interesting classes offered at the university. One my classes - Censorship - was a coveted class that typically only seniors were able to enroll in (seniors got first dibs during semester registration). I took classes in advertising (my concentration), editorial writing, media law, women in advertising, first amendment issues, and copy writing. I loved my major, and wouldn't have opted to graduate with any other degree. Between the coursework and the professors, I couldn't have asked for a better educational experience than the one I received at Carolina.

However, on thinking back on my degree and college experience, I'm afraid that I might have missed some critical coursework on my way to becoming a journalist. After all, I don't currently work in the field of journalism. Did my class selections more than six years ago prevent me from becoming a reporter or a high-powered ad executive? Did I shut myself out of journalism so many years ago and did not even realize it? Perhaps if I had taken the following classes, I would be a news commentator right this very moment.

Spinning 101. The objectives of the course are to equip students with the artful tactics of spinning a news story to meet either 1) your personal agenda or 2) the agenda of the news outlet you work for. Students are expected to master spinning techniques such as editorializing, miss-characterization, and politicizing news stories. This course has Math For Journalists as a prerequisite.

Rewriting History 141. In this course, students will learn how to take an otherwise reliable source for a news story, throw it out the window, and write the story you really want to write, regardless of the factual information at hand.

Smear Writing 132. Students will learn the art of smearing a political candidate, regardless from what party, to fit the agenda of 1) you or 2) the news outlet you work for. In this course, you will learn the ever popular method of smear writing in the blogging world.

Math for Journalists 165. This course teaches students how to skew statistics, recalculate figures, adjust political poll numbers, alter dates and times, and in some instances, eliminate important numbers all together.

Reporting From the Pedestal 212. This graduate-level course will teach students how to elevate themselves to "elite journalist" status. During this course, students will learn how to look down on the common man, look up to admired politicians, avoid criticizing these admired politicians, and associate strictly with other elite journalists. Students will also learn the importance of incorporating The New Yorker, The Economist, the New York Times and MSNBC into everyday news media intake.

Maybe I did shoot myself in the foot all these years ago. After all, most of the "journalists" I see on television embody the above principles. Most articles that appear in mainstream newspapers and news websites are written with an agenda (usually a liberal agenda). Journalists are not journalists any more. Gone are the days of Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow and Katharine Graham. Gone are the days when what you heard on the nightly news was actually...gasp!...factual and not dripping with a political agenda. What's left today is a glut of information that consumers have to wade through in order to get to the real truth. That is, if consumers take the time to actually research what they hear on television or read about online.

Now, I admit, that a lot of my posts center on politics and conservative ideals. I'm a proud member of the GOP. I am pro-life, a Christian and a proud wife to a God-fearing, Christian man. I have strong views about the world and society, and opinions on everything from the Olympics to the economy to UNC football games.

But I don't claim to be a journalist. We all have our own opinions and ideas about the world, but journalists are suppose to leave their opinions at the door and deliver unbiased stories to the public. But all too often, journalism students are educated at increasingly liberal universities (and I don't exclude my own Alma mater here) and then join liberal media outlets upon graduation. Perhaps it would behoove everyone - journalists and consumers alike - to cancel classes such as Spinning 101 and Reporting From The Pedestal 212 so that, finally, consumers can decide for themselves, and not have to wade through biased stories from mainstream news "journalists."

UPDATE: Check out this gem from Michelle Malkin. The perfect punctuation for this post.

An Issue Too Important To Vote "Present" On

Last month I mentioned the story of Jill Stanek, a former registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL. Ms. Stanek is a pro-life advocate who helped bring up the Born Alive Infants Protection Act that was signed into law by President Bush in 2002.

And guess who opposed the bill not once, but two years in a row?



Interesting how opposing this important bill wasn't above his pay grade back then. Barack Obama clearly had an opinion back then on when life begins. In fact, he had such an opinion that he didn't even vote "present" on this bill. He voted "no."

Jill Stanek's experience holding the precious little boy with Downs Syndrome who lived for a mere 45 minutes because his parents did not want him profoundly changed Stanek's life mission. She is a crusader for pro-life. She is an advocate for the unborn. She is a maverick.

And in stark contrast to the couple Stanek mentions in the video, the parents who did not want to love and care for a little boy with Downs Syndrome, the parents who threw out the identity of "mom" and "dad" along with their baby, you have Todd and Sarah Palin, parents to a four-month old Downs Syndrome little boy. A precious life, a loved son, a member of the family. Trig Palin's life was never in jeopardy, but so many unborn babies' lives are in jeopardy because their parents are deciding whether or not they should live.

How I wish this was never a question that ran through the mind of an expectant mother. How I wish that every life was seen as precious and valuable, not expendable or optional.

But Barack Obama thinks otherwise. He does believe life is optional. He does believe that parents should have the right to choose whether or not their baby lives. And he believes that babies who survive an early labor abortion should not receive medical attention.

Barack Obama has a strong voting record - it includes a lot of votes cast as "present." But his voting record against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act is strong too - it includes a lot of votes casts as "no."

Well, I have one vote to cast against you, Barack Obama...

NO

Thanks To Palin

Just this past week I've become a blog contributor to a new conservative website, Thanks To Palin. My first post can be found here.

The website is dedicated to promoting political and socially conservative ideals, and praises John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate for Vice President. Stop by often to see what's going on. I'll be posting about once a week.

Deadly, Like A Poisonous Mushroom

LONDON - The author of the best-selling novel "The Horse Whisperer" is recovering in a hospital after eating poisonous mushrooms during a holiday in Scotland, his agent said Tuesday.

Nicholas Evans' agent said the writer, his wife, her sister and the sister's husband became sick after cooking and eating mushrooms they had picked in the woods Aug. 23.

The A.P. Watt literary agency said tests established that the mushrooms included the highly toxic variety Cortinarius speciosissimus, which attacks the kidneys.

The agency said in a statement that all four had received dialysis treatment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and responded well. It they were "walking about and were in a cheerful and positive frame of mind.

Maybe that's what you get for picking...and eating...mushrooms found in the woods...

Family First, No Matter What

Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin, is pregnant. And unmarried. And keeping the baby. And marrying the father. Life doesn't get more real than this, and the Palins know this. And they are prepared. And supportive of their daughter.

We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” the Palins said in the statement. “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support." The Palins asked the media to respect their family’s privacy.

The situation is messy. The circumstances far from ideal. But the Palins are a real family, facing real issues that affect millions of families. Except now they are doing it in the public spotlight. It will be hard for Bristol these next few months. It will be hard for Sarah, and her entire family. But they seem to have a strong family, one that doesn't get going when the going gets tough. They put their family first, no matter what, and hold strong to one another. They are a family that sticks together, that presses on during the hard times. Sarah and Todd are parents that set a great example of how important it is to love and support your children, even when they make a bad choice or fall into trouble. Barack Obama on the other hand, has a different idea of family support should one of their daughters "make a mistake".

I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. - Barack Obama

And I couldn't have said it better myself.