Mess o’ Politics

Posted on by scott

I’ll let in on a little secret: YA authors are political.

After all, our books are all about what the future holds, who’s got power and who hasn’t, and how bullies can and should be taken down. They’re about figuring out your place in the world, and making a stand when things are just plain wrong.

What could be more political than all that?

As novelists, of course, our politics are conveyed by Story, which creates a cushion between our world and the real one. Our characters are figments of our imagination, however human they seem. And that softens our politics around the edges.

Like in movies when the president shows up, and it’s Morgan Freeman instead of George Bush. Because who doesn’t trust Morgan Freeman?

But when it comes to politics, “fictional” doesn’t mean the same as “not real.” Our politics are very real.

And here’s secret number two: teenagers are political too.

Teens understand that power matters. Their lives are controlled in some pretty astonishing ways, both by adults and by each other. (I’ve always said that the success of Uglies is partly thanks to high school being a dystopia: a bell rings and you march to your next station; what you say and wear is monitored; the newspapers are censored—for your own good!)

And teenagers also have a huge stake in the politics outside their schoolhouse. I’ve had lots of fan letters from kids whose father and mothers are in Iraq and Afghanistan. And guess what? There are soldiers there today who were 13 years old when Midnighters came out, so some of them may be my readers. Young people fight wars.

Not planning on signing up? Well, guess what: Young people also foot the bill.

As I said in my last post, when the Secretary of the Treasury asks to borrow $700 billion dollars, you guys are the ones who get to pay it back. Every paycheck in your entire lives will reflect those missing billions.

Read that last sentence again, and tell me you’re not interested in politics.

So I think it’s time to skip the fictions for a moment, and say that I support Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States.

The people in charge right now are sucking at being in charge. And all of you are going to feel it for a long time, longer than me. So it’s time to transform the powers that be—not with a small change, but with a big one.

Now, if you’d rather pretend that Morgan Freeman is the president in Westerblog-land, that’s fine. I won’t be posting here about icky real-world politicians. But if you want to read me and about a zillion other YA authors (including Meg Cabot, John Green, Libba Bray, Cecily von Ziegesar, Robin Wasserman, Megan McCafferty, and Judy Blume) weighing in on the election in bone-rattling detail, check out this new site, YA for Obama. The awesome Maureen Johnson set it up as a place where you can network, learn about issues, and make a difference.

Click here to read my first post for YA4O, in which I do the math, Dess-style. And am joined by Gossip Girl herself!

Because as I said yesterday: “You’re going to spend your entire adult lives in the future, after all. So it’s your job to think about it, worry about it, and read about it.”

Go and rock the world.

Update to everyone around Larchmont, NY: Justine will be promoting her new book, How to Ditch Your Fairy, at The Voracious Reader tomorrow at 1PM.

Saturday, 27 September 2008, 1:00PM
Voracious Reader
1997 Palmer Ave
Larchmont, NY


Visit YA for Obama

503 thoughts on “Mess o’ Politics”

  1. I would love to dump a paragraph of political rant (particularly about certain “suspensions” of certain campaigns) down right now, but I might as well just sup it up with:

    I support Obama too – get out there and VOTE! 😀

  5. hhhmmmm… polotics… hhhmmm…

    *imagines self being 18*.

    Obama… McCain… Obama… McCain…

    *weighs hands, but is unsure*.

    *runs to get the bathroom scale*.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😐

  6. Amen, Scott! You’re on the dot about most of that. It’s the adults that vote, while us under 18’s are the ones who ultimately live with the decision much longer…..(so I’m glad we have young adult authors like you on our side.) 😀

    And it amazes me how much that statement about Morgan Freeman is true….you have to trust him! He’ GOD! 😛 (Yes, that was another tv refrence, incase you people didn’t notice. I don’t worship Mr. Freeman or anything.)

    I joined that site he’s talking about, For Obama, and it seems really awesome. I hope a lot more people get invovled.

    And let me just say, that blows my mind, that some of your fans who read Midnighters when if first came out could be in the war……wow.

    -Rose

    (Take down the bullies! 😛 lol)

  8. DON’T BE A LLAMA, VOTE FOR OBAMA!!!
    (yes, i’m canadian so i’m not really following the american election much, but my friend was all excited when she found a name that rhyms with “llama”…)

  9. Oh! Other random thought…if the government can take money out of our paychecks when we are 16, shouldn’t we be allowed to vote for the people who are taking that money when we are 16?

    Isn’t the current circumstances “No taxation without representation” all over again?

  10. Let’s hear it for people doing the math!
    But no, even if I don’t particularly love Obama, he’s definitely who I would have to support (like, if I could vote). Because of many things, such as all the stuff you say in your awesome post.

    …and now I will never talk about politics on the internet again.

  11. Whoa times TEN!! Way to go Scott-la! Reading from Dess’s point of view, some part of me felt like she was a real person, so now when I read Scott-la writing all Dess-like as HIMSELF, it surprised me for a moment. Totally awesome points though. And scary, in a way. I better get a mini-fridge for my parents basement–I mean, my “future appartment”–stat. The Gossip Girl thing, while entertaining, was definatley not as impressive.

    Andrea-la:
    You’re a Canadian? Sweet! Random, I don’t exactly know many, lol.

    liv-wa:
    What you said is beyond true, but in S.S. last year we heard/ had to write/ read about the phrase “no taxation without representation” so much that now it just about makes my head want to blow, lol.

  12. Bah!
    All this politics and everything is making my head hurt!
    It’s not like I’m old enough to vote anyways…
    But if I were, I would vote for McCain. I have reasons…just can’t remember right now. It’s my job not to think so much after school especially if I’m sick.

    I have nothing against you who vote for Obama, we just have different beliefs and understand things in different ways.

  15. Wow, I couldn’t agree more!!!

    And you are so right, we are the future, we live the future, we should be able to change it too. So why do the people in my eighth grade class seem more excited about this election than the teachers? Why are more young voters democrats as opposed to the traditional republicans? Why are we so pessimistic when it comes to Washington?

    Well, because we know how to lie, therefore we expect them. We know how to recognize when someone is utterly sarcastic, and we are even more sarcastic back. Sorry to congress, but something has got to change. That can begin with the party of which our president belongs.

    I mean, silly liberals, global warming doesn’t exist!

    * rolls eyes *

  16. Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

    You have no idea how frustrating politics is. Like, today’s politics, because no one really cares about what really needs to be done. They just…don’t. Why care about *real* issues when you can get rich and gain power in today’s world?

    For serious. Like, I understand that all politicians lie to some degree, but I can’t believe the number of people who believe the stuff McCain says…’cause it’s, like, completely full of ridiculous.

    I also hate the lies and slander people use against Obama. There’s a lot of malicious rumors and stuff going around that take advantage of people’s religion. Like, trying to scare them into voting for “God’s candidate” McCain. And that’s the kind of stuff that gives religion a bad name.

    Enough on that. I’m just…extraordinarily opinionated.

  17. Uh oh… bad move scott-la… I’m for McCain/Palin 0_o

    I’ve got my reasons, and they’re mostly because I’m Pro-life, anti-gay or whatever you wanna call it, and support the war in Iraq (support doesn’t mean I think we should go have a war with the canadians so we can claim their land and kill a bunch of people… besides, Andrea is in Canada so that would be bad… but there are also reasons for being pro-WoT) and many other stuff. I’m NOT going to argue with you people over it… I hope we’re past that arguing stage. because I had often left the computer frustrated. And I’m Catholic, and even though I heard that Obama is Christian, his parents are like jewish or Muslim or something like that…

    So that’s that.

    Haha, andrea-la that’s hilarious though… So how about this- Don’t vote Obama, he is a llama! 0_o”

  18. Oh, and besides…

    there are enough democrats in the House of Representatives (or was it the Senate… or Both?). It evens out if our president is Republican…

    Oh, and elephants are awesome… Haha, I just thought of something witty I could say, but it isn’t very nice…

  19. Go Scott-la!

    PrettyxMindedxRusty-
    I totally agree.

    Allie-wa-
    I also totally agree.

    But when you think about it, we don’t pay attention to the issues. I remember that a BIG issue for a while was how many houses McCain has. Really, what about his policy for Global Warming? Healthcare?

  20. Okay, this is a very pointed statement, but you Republican-ites will just get. over. it.

    One, Obama is pro-life, but not anti-gay. And unless you have money at your feet every winking moment of the day, you can’t afford to be republican. Have you seen the bailout numbers????!!!!

    And also, if you have to rely on a rumor, or if one lie (lets say, that Obama’s family is Muslim?), then your vote is pointless. You should vote on the issues. Not what the Global Enquirer is saying.

    And lastly, I believe that if you have to rely on something you did in the 60’s to drive your campaign, then you need to do something to make your campaign drive faster. Just because you were inspiring years ago doesn’t mean you still are. Just because you were heroic then, doesn’t mean you still fit the criteria. Obama fits the criteria, easy.

    Peace. Out.

  21. Haha, I heard something a week or so ago… it said, “Vote for the vice president you like the most- because either McCain will die in office of old age, or Obama will be assasinated.” I find it hilarious… And I like Palin. At first I didn’t think she was a good choice, but then I realized that she actually has EXPERIENCE running a state, unlike the others. And there are other reasons…

    Scott-la, why must you have voiced your opinion about this?!

  22. hmmm… interesting but all these politic topics are not good for my mental health coz i get really into it and then i start debates and then people get mad. i dunno who i support coz well i can’t vote and i can’t say i don’t care but really it’s up to the adults to pick the right canidate for us kids so our future is better. (i doubt that will happen)
    it sucks that the 700 billion$ will have to come out of OUR PAYCHECKS. how unfair is that i mean seriously wat is the government thinking?!?!? wat i believe is that the gov. doesn’t care coz they know that they won’t have to be around to fix everything the effed up! it’s a conspiracy!
    wat i really think is that whoever is the next president won’t be able to fix anything coz everything is too messed up! (i hope im proved wrong) whoever is the next prez. i feel bad for but it was their choice to run sooo i don’t know how to feel for them.
    I’ll just say GOOD LUCK for every canidate!

  23. Alice makes a really, really, really good point.

    No one really knows what they’re talking about when they talk politics. It’s a subject of gossip, lies, and slander. When people talk about “politics” most of the time they’re talking about what they heard in the media that day.

    And, if there’s anything we learned from Harry Potter, it’s that the media never tells the truth. They write about what will get them the most readers, and what will be talked about.

    So for serious, if you’re going to support one candidate or the other, look at the facts. Not at the media. “Do the math” is a very apt phrase here. It’s not fair to condemn Obama just because of something you heard on the news.

  25. ugh…i really don’t have much of an opinion on this other than i know that “llama” rhyms with “obama”…yeah…i’m canadian and really haven’t been following this…

  26. HA!
    At least McCain and Palin has experience.
    No offense but I just think Obama is a little too young and doesn’t have enough experience to handle our country.

    I heard that there was already someone planning to assassinate Obama and they got arrested. I think that’s stupid to assassinate people.

  28. OH EM GEE people since when did I say the media told me this??

    Good grief, andrea-la and I are anti-RTS (well… I am.. andrea has had some doubts…..) and I hate tabloids…

    Grrrr… I’m currently unhappy with scott-la mostly for the fact that he put an entire blog post on supporting obama… didn’t he know that’s an accident waiting to happen?!

  29. palin also has experience banning books and lying. yay, her.
    she’s poisonous and not qualified and it’s not funny to me that obama will be assasinated, it’s appalling.
    i don’t just agree with scott because i agree with scott–i agree because he’s telling you to think about the facts and make a decision. don’t just parrot your parents and fox news…

  30. Well DUH it’s stupid to assasinate people…
    And you’re right, Manda, McCain may be old but he has much more experience. And, like I said, Palin knows how to run people (the second largest state in the country…) unlike SENATOR Obama…

    Although I wish Bush was running again.

    Crap, now I’m going to have started a whole other debate… Crap.

  31. Emily-wa:
    I love elephant, and have nothing against you, and am SO not trying to start a fight in any way, these are just my opinions. (I’m very opinionated, and big-mouthed, lol.) With the pro-life thing, it doesn’t really make a difference whether it’s legal or not. Women who could afford to last time they made it illegal flew to Mexico to had it done, and those who couldn’t often tried it themselves or killed the baby as soon as it was born. And what if the mother is in no situation to support a child? As for the “gay-thing”, I believe that people should have the right to love who they want to, and NO ONE should tell them how to live their lives. But that’s just me. What do the rest of you think? I feel geeky typing this, but I actually think it’d be COOL to have a political debate. No fighting, just opinons, people.

  34. Emily-wa:
    I know I’m being a pest, but two more things:
    1) Actually, I think I’ve heard that somewhere, the assasination or dieing thing, and it’s extremely sad, but there is some truth in it. McCaine is old. And as many open minded people there are otu there, it only takes on sicko to pull the trigger.
    2) You wish BUSH would run again?! Damn right, you just started another debate! Lol.

  35. yeah Whatever. Those are all just probably lies.And I never said it was funny. It’s one of the most stupidest things to do.
    That’s another thing that bugs me. You can’t believe really anyone or anything. Everyone is just pointing fingers at one another telling lies to make them look better. I hate those commercial you always see telling the public what he or she has done and why they wouldn’t be a good whatever and say the better things about themselves. They are all acting like kids. Aren’t they too old for that kind of stuff?
    Ugh, that’s just what I think. I’m not old enough to FULLY understand everything, so don’t take everything I say too seriously.

  37. I like political debates, but I’m not looking to start an argument.

    Vote on the person who YOU think will do the right thing. Not on who the guy on T.V says to, or even your parents (if you disagee)- you have your own mind, and you should have the right to choose. Don’t vote on someone because she’s a woman (I think some people wouldn’t vote for Mrs. Clinton because she was a woman), or because someone is African American. It’s the issues that count.

  38. I forget who said this, but Palin? EXPERIANCED? Ha. ha. She ran ALASKA! Less people live in Alaska than do my entire county. And she wants to lift the bands PROTECTING it! Can you say, hypocritical?

  39. Annette – I agree. I think it’s really weird that some people joke about the assassination of Obama. It’s not funny, it’s shocking. It’s very serious.

    Emily-wa – McCain may have more experience but that does not mean he is more qualified to run for office. Age isn’t all that relevant here. Don’t judge a person’s ability to run the country based on their age, base it on what they say and do.

    And I just have to say: Alaska is the largest state in the country…but it has a very low population.

  41. “And what if the mother is in no situation to support a child?”

    Um, it’s called ADOPTION. Ever heard of it? there are MILLIONS of couples out there, wanting to have a child but unable to. You may say that it would be better for the child to be killed than for it to live in a foster home, but I completely disagree. A fetus is a living human. Just in it’s earliest stage. Think about this- five minutes before a child is born, it’s legal to kill it. Once it’s born, it’s not. Abortion is Murder. It’s just legal, and I hope it’s changed.

    As for the “gay-thing” as you called it, I’m catholic- unless you want me to rant for hours on this subject, let’s leave it at God created a man and a woman. The two’s bodies fit together, unlike a guy/guy or girl/girl. I believe it’s wrong. Simple as that.

  42. Wait, I meant “don’t not vote for someone because she’s a woman or African American”. Whoops, I worded that wrong.

  43. Manda:
    Tell me about it. Instead of putting the other candidate down, shouldn’t they be SUPPORTING THEMSELVES?! You never know what the truth is any more.

    Winter-la:
    Totally agree, though I don’t think any of us on here are of legal voting age, lol.

  44. Ugh… At least Palin would have SOME experience in running SOMETHING! I don’t give a crap how many people are in Alaska… It’s that much more people that Palin has governed than Obama.

  48. Emily-wa:
    Like I said, didn’t want to start a big arguement. Am SO SORRY if I got you mad. But some people don’t even know HOW to put a child up for adoption. And some have no way of finding out. And what about all those stories on the new, with mothers killing their newborn babies in the most gruesom ways? Those would become more common if it became illegal, not less. And I’m pretty sure it’s more five or six MONTHS before, not minutes.

    And for the homosexuality issue, so what? Isn’t there more to a relationship besides two people screwing eachother?! Who cares if there bodies don’t “fit together” as you so quaintly put it? Like I said, nothing at all against you, I just don’t think you should say something’s just plain wrong because it’s not how you’ve been raised.

  49. Manda-la, at least SOMEONE is helping me here… I hate campaign commercials for that reason. They say why the other person is bad for the office, and what they’d done WRONG, but yet they don’t ever say what they themselves will do.

  50. Like I said before: don’t judge Obama based on his experience. There have been many great presidents before who were not governors before they were elected. There have been really bad presidents who were governors before they were elected. Base it on the issues, not the slander…

  51. PrettyxMindedxRusty:
    They should support themselves just not always putting their opponents down.

    Yeah I’m way away from voting. Well, only a couple years away I guess….

  53. i hate listening to wat the media says. it’s soooo dumbed done and makes everyone’s opinions the same as their own (ahhhhhhh it’s sooooooo annoying)
    the whole abortion thing: i’m totally against it. killing is wrong even if the baby isn’t born.
    the gay thing: i think everyone is entitled to love whoever they want!
    the whole dieing or being assassinated thing: i don’t think McCain will die in office (he was a prisoner of war and didn’t die soo i don’t think running the coutry will kill him) Obama on the other hand i think he may be assassinated although that is totally wrong it may happen.
    ya soo that’s all i have to say. im promising myself not to blog about this anymore it just annoys me.

  54. Emily-wa:
    Again, with the Alaska thing, not trying to start a fight here! (*Groans inwardly* can NO ONE speak their minds without starting a big arguement?!) It’s just my opinion. I can tell you the reasoning for my opinion, and you have the freedom to decide to change your reasoning based on my reasons. You also have the freedom to keep them exactly the same. That’s the great thing about freedom, don’t you think?

  55. K. I’m out…

    I get way to stressed arguing with people over things. Especially big issues like these.

    I’ll be back when scott puts another post on.

  56. yeah…well, i think abortion is wrong, but the way that we’re thinking about it is a bit too judgmental…there are probably situations where it is the right choice. people should have that option availible. also, to the whole gay thing, i’m obviously against it. duh.

  57. I am pro-life, but I have to ask this: if laws are passed against abortion, do you think that would stop people from getting abortions anyway? It’s the same type of concept as the prohibition. People will just go around the law to get it.

    And there’s no reason to get stressed…it’s an opinion. It doesn’t have to be the same as yours.

  58. opinions are MEANT to be different. that’s what makes life interesting…so i think that it’s mega-cool how we all have different opinions on the topic.

  59. It’s probably best to keep the baby if you can, but in some cases, there aren’t really many better options.
    Honestly, people would find TONS of ways to get around it, most of them much more gruesome than an abortion would’ve been. I think my aunt told me about it or something, but last time it was banned people tried to do it themselves and died from an infection, went to another country, or just killed the baby as soon as it was born.
    I wasn’t trying to stress you out, or chase you off the blog, honest. I just felt like typing what I thought, because I’m strongly opinionated, and apparently you are too. But honestly, it’s better for people our age to get into fights over this stuff than over guys, makeup, or celebrities, right? I’m sure we can aggree on that much.

  60. yeah…as long as we’re arguing, it may as well be over something interesting…i mean, we’re being so totally counter-cultural right now cuz we’re debating this rather than which of the jonas brothers are the hotest. so i think that it’s cool that we’re all expressing opinions.

  61. PrettyxMindedxRusty – exactly. For some people, abortion is the only option they see available, and a law isn’t going to keep them from getting it.

    I would much rather talk politics than makeup or boys or whatever. I don’t know what people see in that.

  63. Wow people.

    I would like to make a bipartisan statement here: Ronald Reagan was a really great president. Probably our greatest.

    Now I ask you this:

    What kind of experience did he have? Was it any more than Obama? Was it any less?

    Think people, think!

    And Emily-la. Don’t stress, at least not over arguing or anything.

    If you are going to stress, stress over the fact that out grandchildren will still be paying the 700 billion dollar bailout!

    That I must say, the Democrats have a better way of giving than Republicans do.

    But you know, who really cares? You all just think McCain is going to die and Obama get assassinated.

    Well, we’re not violent in the least. 😛

  65. Yay! I was afraid I scared everyone off this blog! Phew *wipes forhead exasperatively, lol*. Totally agree with everyone who doesn’t get what people see in debating about boys and makeup and whatever.

  67. Andrea-la-
    Yeah, it’s not like we’re screaming at each other, like “OMG MCCAIN IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!” or “OMG OBAMA IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!” We’re being peaceful and mature about it.

  68. Exactly, and like I said earlier (which, if you people read back on, it probably doesn’t sound like I was being peaceful or mature at all. Nine kinds of sorry if I offended anyone at all.), when someone gives reasons for their opinions, you have the freedom to change yours based on those reasons, as well as the freedom to keep your freedoms exactly the same and ignore the person. Besides, it’s kind of fun, politically debating with people around my age. (Did I just say politically debating was fun?!) Few people I know take things seriously, and it sucks with adults, because they always say that we’re too young to know what we’re talking about if they disagree.

  70. My dad likes to say “I’ve been around a lot longer than you, I think I know what I’m talking about.”

    Makes me frustrated.

  71. scott-sensei & all other blog readers:

    please read a manga series called. . . . . . . . . . NARUTO!!!!!!!!!!!!
    it’s my fave other than uglies, pritties, specials, and extras. pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease read it if you haven’t because vol. 31 is on it’s way! you people should also read FRUITS BASKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! manga-heads 4eva!!

  72. That sounds pretty damn familiar, as most people under the age of whomever their talking to would agree, lol.

  73. david:
    One of my friends is a total Otaku, she told me all about those. Idk where to get them though…. (She said there was a manga section in Borders, which I THOUGHT I knew like the back of my hand, but idk where it is in the store.)

  74. Age does not necessarily mean you’re smarter…

    Though I must say, I don’t know a lot of kids my age who know anything about politics. Makes it frustrating for those of us who do.

  76. Allie-wa: Even if they don’t know anything about it, they should have formed SOME opinion, right? We’re totally living through history here! It’s like a chapter in a textbook future kids will hate to have to read & lug around in the making, lol.

    Winter-la: Why am I not surprised? Lol.

  77. PrettyxMindedxRusty-
    Yeah, we are making history. It’s like we’re writing our children’s textbooks. But, some kids don’t really care about politics.

  78. That’s true. It’s just that most would rather fuss over what to wear to the school dance than debate politics…

  81. Winter-la: Well, not exactly us, but we will be, soon enough. Like Scott-la said, we’ll spend our entire adult lives in the future. Than again, it’s more out ENTIRE lives, ’cause we’re in it right now, lol. SOME kids don’t care? Understatement much? Lol.

    Allie-wa: Sadly, that’s true. Gosh, when did people stop caring? It makes me feel so left out at school, like I’m one of the only people who don’t want to go around bugging innocent bystanders or putting on a fifth coat of mascara. I’d rather talk about books, or politics, or SOMETHING with my brain. I don’t want it to melt into a big puddle of eye-shadow smeared goop.

  82. T&Z, don’t feel lame, right now we’re pretty much just talking about how lame it is that everyone in our generation seams to think that all THIS stuff, politics and anything else mentally stimulating, is lame. I’m sure you’ve got pleanty of imput on that.

  83. PrettyxMindedxRusty-
    Well, there are some who care. But most don’t, usually because they’re too young to vote.

  84. PrettyxMindedxRusty, I know EXACTLY how you feel. I’m sorry, but I just can’t talk about the type of things most people talk about. I don’t care, honestly. I would much rather use my brain in a conversation that actually matters than mindless chatter. I just don’t get it…

  85. Well, of course SOME care. There were a bunch of people on here debating before I scared them off, lol.

  87. Allie-wa: Exactly times ten! Lol. I can talk about that kind of stuff SOMETIMES, but when I do it usually feels so…fake and superficial. In camp this year with girls who brought makeup when we went hiking, straightened there hair the morning before a trip to THE BEACH, and wore designer clothing to sleep, I kind of realised a bit of who I really was (now I just sound cheesy, lol). And it definatley was NOT like them.

  88. Hey Scott,
    couldnt agree more.
    though i hadnt read your last post before i read that one.
    but anyway, i think its cool, and ill go check out the site.

    Im Alley,
    and . . i read So Yesterday and all the books in the Uglies Trilogy except Extras, which ill be reading when it arrives in the mail ((yippyyy!)) and i just wanna say, your like, really awesome(:

  89. Fawesome post Scott-la! Deep. So Deep. Lol.
    And I could also talk about that type of stuff alot. I can get very deep.

    I’m sooooo happy. I got How to Ditch Your Fairy! Well fom the library anyways. I got it on Tuesday or something like that.

    IT’s so weird like I’m seeing more and more new people pop up on this blog more and more. HEy Scott-la! YOu’r getting famouser (I know it’s not a word)!

    And SCOTT-LA, yay!, my favorite author is voting for Obama!! Rock on!

  90. Pretty good post, loved it really. (I love the truth)
    But I’m very very very very very sick of politics (debate doest that)
    And I don’t know who I would vote for, because I don’t know who really has the best plan and if it would work.
    >>So, what we REALLY should focus on is making a TIME MACHINE so incase we all vote for the wrong person (*ahem, Mr. “Freeman”*) we can just go back in time.
    >I’m going to go to that site and check it out, ’cause I don’t really know either of their plans…I only see the ads on tv which are hateful; Obama Abstains(Do you want an indecisve leader? I DONT KNOW!!) McCain has 8 foreign cars(Do you want a president that doesn’t support their own country? AHHHH)
    They should have ALL positive ads.

    The only problem I REALLY see with Obama is either, some people will vote for him just because he is a different race, or some people WON’T vote for him because of his race. Which is dumb, of course.

    And WHOA nelly, look at all the comments Politics stirred up…

  91. Just read Scott-la’s post
    and whoa nelly, thats pretty much mind blowing.
    I read the assasination thing, and I think Obama knew the chances and knows them, and probably picked a good running mate.
    >>Oh, and you know how Palin ‘stopped’ the bridge to Nowhere?
    She didn’t. After the federal government decided that people could just TAKE A BOAT to NO WHERE THEY killed the bill, and Palin just seconded it.
    I also liked the “Twenty-six and living in your parents basement…” part.
    Pretty much, I only like Palin’s hair style.
    [[Though, its not her fault she can’t control her family, who can? Her daughter made her own choices, which really shouldn’t affect people’s opinons on her, In my opinon]]

    But, now I am severly confused.
    Yay!

  93. i just think that it’s mega-cool how we’re all sitting here at our computers proving the world wrong and showing that even if we can’t vote, we can still give a crap about it.

  96. Eh, I’m actually supportive of McCain.

    I haven’t seen what Obama has actually DONE for our country, honestly. McCain at least knows how the whole government runs. And he was a POW in Vietnam for five years – that must account for something.

    But, seeing that I’m 15, my views dont matter in the slightest.

  99. Does anyone’s opinions actually matter on here except for Scott-la? I know for sure mine doesn’t! I’m only 13 so I still have about 4 more years or so.

  102. way to voice your opinion, scott-sama! i don’t think Obama is best president for our nation, but he is definately better than mccain or bush…

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  103. okay, after reading all the previous comments, i have one thing to say about my political beliefs:

    i hate republicans (wait for it…)

    i hate democrats too.

    vote LIBERTARIAN (if you haven’t heard of this political party, look it up, i guarantee you will like it. we’re anti-political parties and anti-government interference in general).

    on the issues:

    on abortion: totally against it (why would you do that?) but i’m also against the government dictating whether or not you are allowed to.

    on gay marriage: i’m anti gay marriage (wait for it…)

    i’m also anti-straght marriage. whatever happened to separating church and state? (think about it: if civil unions were through the government, and marriage was seperate through the church, you could have all the benefits without being governmentally tied to your religious commitment).

    on the election: we need a leader who can make good choices. not a politician everyone likes.

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  104. Ok, I came on here for one reason and one reason only- to say something about Amy-la.
    But I saw Audrey-Sensei’s post, which is right here, and saw the first couple lines.

    Audrey, do you know how stereotypical you sound? One, you shouldn’t hate at all, and two, you shouldn’t say you hate republicans and democrats. I’ve got friends who are both parties, and was close to both. Hating someone for their party is wrong.

    Ok, now i’m going to stay off the stupid political subject, like I promised I would.

    Like I said, I got word from Amy-la. I’m going to pause and ask if anyone here has no clue what I’m talking about. And see how many people here are also paying attention, so if you do say so =D Then I’ll spread the news…

  109. I I remember Amy-la (I”m pretty sure I do at least) I just don’t really understand you’r question, yes I’m pretty sure I remember her, not I don’t really know wat you were talking about.

  112. I think I remember Amy-la (I’ma face rememberer person…)
    But everyone’s opionon’s matter, and its important to have them.
    And, I think people should be able to do whatever they want (except randomly kill/rob people)
    I’m anti-everything
    ANARCHY!!!
    lol

  113. Ok, well since some people are here I’ll go ahead and say it.

    If you don’t remember Amy-la and her situation, she was (and may still be) a westerbloggian. She used to be on much more often, and we found out that she was being abused. Not in the way you would think- she wasn’t beaten or neglected, but often overworked. She knew she was being abused, and even knew the name of her abuse, but when she went to someone for help they didn’t believe her. She started writing down how she was feeling abused in a little notebook that hung around her neck.

    I found out today that it worked. I talked with her this evening, and she said that she showed the notebook to her parents and they agreed to go to family counciling. She said she’s doing fine now, counciling will start in November, and her parents agreed to let her quit church when she showed them the first amendment of the constitution, because she had fallen out of her Christianity. Her aprents backed off a little, but mostly because she’s gone at school from 6 AM to 6 PM, and the home football games.

  116. Anarchy?

    *headdesk*

    Sorry. I’ve known anarchists before…I don’t really get it, to be honest. Anarchy is chaos. And not the good type of chaos…it’s bad chaos. Very, very bad chaos.

    But I will not go into that.

    Audrey-sensei, I used to be libertarian, too. But then I learned about communism.

    Communism is not a bad thing. In theory. But when people abuse it to gain personal power…then it goes wrong. I think libertarianism is a good idea…in theory. But in practice, there are so many things that could go wrong.

    I don’t agree with a lot of democratic policies, but I definitely am more democrat than conservative.

    No political candidate is going to be perfect, no matter what party they’re from.

  119. Yeah I reckon communism isn’t bad in theory but the power the government gets from that is so strong and tempting that it corrupts … badly.
    Anarchy just isn’t right, it doesn’t work.
    No idea what libertarianism is …
    Democracy is OK.
    But no government or party or whatever like has been said before is, has been or will be perfect.

    I reckon we young un’s pretty much control the future. Look at all of us who’ve made a difference. Look at all of us, getting pretty much the best education and resources there ever has been, maybe at one point will ever be. Look at us, young enough to be ruling the world when these current people get too old. Look at us fullstop! WE ARE SPARKEH!

    (Sparky is my new word for awesome, cool, etc and it is sparky!)

  121. Poor Amy-la … i know what overworking can be like …
    Tho I dunno how much the psychs can help her, I’m pretty cynical of those people.
    That’s funny cos my mother is studying psychology and wants to go into practise (argh! which practise / practice is it?!?!)

  122. Umm politics DO matter in the real world cos they decide what happens in the real world …
    I think something’s not clicking up there, Andrea-la 🙂 Get some rest 🙂

  123. Yeah, anarchy and communism will just never work.

    And Allie-wa? what did you mean by good type of choas?

    Oh yeah, I’m new here….(obviously)….. so um….hi

    ~Aryll-wa

  126. woah, woah, woah… i don’t hate democrat or republican people! then i would have no friends, considering i’m friends with a republican, a liberal, and a democratic socialist who believes socialism will never work.

    i meant it in the same way i hate cheerleaders, yet my friend is a cheerleader.

    as long as you don’t let your political party define who you are, it’s all cool.

    i guess all i’m trying to say is that the who idea of politicians basing their arguments on whether or not someone is true to their party is stupid.

    both have their points, and even Libertarianism isn’t perfect.

    in fact, the only perfect form of government is a Utopia. and that word litereally translates into “nowhere”.

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  127. in my biology class, i said i wanted obama to win, and people nearly beat me up. im not sorry, obama is the right choice. if people want to beat me up for saying that, i will plead the first amendment! (FREEDOM OF SPEECH BITCHES!!!!!)

  128. I would also like to compliment everyone who’s posted on this blog for debating without swearing, using caps, or trying to insult anyone. this is more than i can say for basically every other debate forum on the internet.

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  129. Unfortunately, martial law is being instated and we’re all going to be put into the detention camps FEMA has placed across the country. George Bush will become dictator of the New World Order, and millions will be killed.

    But there’s always God to turn to. That’s the only reason I’m not totally flipping out. Jesus Christ will come again and save us all. AGAIN. Sheesh.

  131. I am not into politics but if I would choose it would be Obama fo sho.

    Oh well…. no need to fight about it.

  132. hmmm i am also not a fan of politics in the real world but i think that might be why i love YA so much because i can pretend to get into to it a lot and actually know what i’m talking about without having other people say stuff

  136. (Just read through all the latest posts…)

    Aryll-wa: “good” type of chaos…I mean, the world shouldn’t be completely orderly…that would suck. Good chaos = unpredictability. Difference. Opinions. Basically, everything it means to not be a robot.

    Because being human is a good type of chaos.

  138. good type of chaos? you mean like when mudfrogs wake up at the end of winter and they all start hopping around randomly? cuz yeah…productave chaos is good.

  139. So many things have been blown out of proportion in this election. Palin hasn’t banned books, she simply asked how someone could go about doing so. And when people bring up the rumor that Obama’s family is Muslim, I know that isn’t true. And if it was true, I honestly don’t care because we have freedom of religion in this country. People hold the belief that all Muslims are the violent extremists on TV. AND THAT’S NOT TRUE!! Also, I don’t agree with everything McCain or Obama says. I agree more with Obama than with McCain. Everyone has faults, some more than others. You can’t expect the presidential candidates be perfect. The worst thing about this election is that I’m under 18. (Oh, and when people believe that teenagers don’t know what’s going on in this crazy world)

    I wish I could make a difference like the characters in Wide Awake by David Levithan. I’ve been thinking about one of the decisions the protagonist had to make. So, yes, I would go to Kansas.

  140. That sounds so fawesome. When mudfrogs start hopping around randomly.
    I like chaos…as long as I don’t get hurt (nor my friends) and I get to do some really fun stuff.

  142. Allie-wa: I see what you mean, if there was absoultly no chaos in the world, everything would be broing and repetative.

    Anyway I, like Bethany-la, like chaos, as long as no one gets hurt and we get to do some really fun stuff.

    ~Aryll-wa

  148. Wow. I read the YA4O and that was an amazing article. Thank you for writing it! It’s just very straightforward. Love it and thank you!

  150. K. I’ve decided I’m just going to respond once to this. I support Obama. I may not be old enough to vote, I’m only 15 but it does matter for exactly the reasons Scott said. People talk about gay rights and abortion (I’m pro for both) but I don’t think those are the biggest problems. We have to make sure that we can even function as a country first. I think it’s important for teens to know whats going on because soon it will all rest on us so I’m just glad that Scott and the other authors set this whole thing up. Because by the time most of us are legal adults one of the two men runninng will be in charge and we will have to work under their (and the legislature’s) laws.

  151. ugh…can i just say that i think that you americans are screwing with the furniture industry? cuz, ya know what, you are. because of the government lending out money to people who can’t pay it back, there are lots of homes that have to be sold so nobody’s buying furniture. your government is making people in canada and world-wide lose their jobs because you aren’t buying furtiture because everyone owes money to the government. so ya. your government and who they give money to and how they spend whatever money they have effects people in other countries too!

  152. okayyyyyyyyyyy… im totally fed up with this post already. i can’t stand the arguments over this election. let me just point out that whoever is the next prez…WILL NOT CHANGE ANYTHING!!!! they can’t possible fix all the problems they’ve “promised” to fix. okay maybe they’ll change some laws but let’s not forget that the real powers that be are Congress and the Senate. they are the ones who vote on which laws get passed to the prez. he’s just the one who gets to veto them or not. soooo in my opinion (and it is just an opinion) i think we should be more concerned on who is in the Congress, Senate, etc.
    btw Obama is a Senator and wat is he doing to help right now?… NOTHING. he’s off spending millions of dollars on his campaign that even if he does win he might get assassinated soooo is it really going to make a difference??
    sorry that’s just my opinion.

  153. ok soo im not posting about politics anymore coz it freakin pisses me off. no im posting about more GREEN DAY songs (ok so they have to do with politics which is why i like them…wow that’s weird. btw Billie Joe Armstrong supports Obama!) ok now more on topic i think i have a good song for the whole gov.,controlling, leader, etc. topic i think it best describes our country today. the song is “WARNING” by GREEN DAY here are the lyrics tell me wat ya think:

    Warning lyrics:

    This is a public service anouncement, this is only a test
    Emergency evacuation process
    May Impair your ability to operate machinery
    Can’t quite tell just what it means to me
    Keep out of reach of children, don’t you talk to strangers
    Get your philoshophy from a bumper sticker

    CHORUS:
    Warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    Without. Alright.

    VERSE 2:
    Mental homes and safety self communities.
    Did you remember to the pay the utility?
    Gosh Darn Police Line You Better Not Cross!
    Is it the cop, or am I the one thats really dangerous?
    Sanitation, expiration date, question everything.
    Oh shut up and be a victim of authority

    CHORUS:
    Warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    Without. Alright.

    VERSE 3:
    Mental homes and saftey shelf communities.
    Did you remember to pay the pay the utility?
    Gosh Darn Police Line You Better Not Cross!
    Is it the cop, or am I the one that’s really dangerous
    Sanitation, expiration date, question everything.
    Oh shut up and be a victim of authority

    CHORUS:
    Warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    Say warning. Live without warning
    This is a public service anouncement, this is only a test

  154. I disagree slightly, TYC Leader. Why? Because for the last eight years we’ve had a President who does not believe in the Rule of Law, and the Constitution, and a Vice President who has actually been pretending he’s not part of the Executive Branch of government, and running secret operations out of the Vice Presidential office. Both have been concentrating more and more power in the Executive Branch, and corropting the Judiciary branch by populating it with “loyal Bushies” who will serve the President rather than Justice.

    I don’t expect miracles from Obama, but he IS a Constitutional Scholar, and I think it’s not too much to expect even an average president to respect the Rule of Law.

    So he may not be as progressive as I’d like, he may not be likely to work miracles and fix all the nation’s problems. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect him to restore the Rule of Law, and hopefully restore to Congress some of the powers that Bush has seized. Putting an end to “Presidential Signing Statements,” which are pretty much just Bush saying “Yeah, I’m signing this law, but I’m not going to obey it,” would be a good start.

    And on the flip side, from what I’ve seen of McCain, he has no intention of restoring anything to anyone. In order to secure the candidacy he has pretty much sold out on all his principles, which can be seen in his reversal of supporting laws that carry his own name. That plus the fact that simple statistics make it a one-in-three chance that Sarah Palin will become President between now and 2016 have me concerned that if McCain wins or steals the elections (which were stolen in 2000 and 2004), America as a democratic republic may have already had its last day. America will continue as a nation, but bearing no resemblance to what the Founding Fathers had in mind.

    And in terms of foreign policy, well, nobody could be worse than Bush has been. He has permanently damaged the U.S. reputation, alienated our allies, emboldened our enemies, and bankrupted our military (and that’s not easy).

    Obama’s not perfect. He supported the FISA amendment, which basically stripped the Fourth Amendment away. He’s much more conservative than I’d prefer. But I hope that by restoring the Rule of Law and the Constitution, he may at least offer America a chance to recover from what the Bush Administration has done to it.

  155. TYC Leader, the president in office DOES matter. Albatross pretty much said everything I wanted to say about that.

  156. I adore you Scott. Thank you for being honest.
    I’ll be a soldier soon too (for the Israeli army) and Iv’e read Midnighters, Uslies (the whole series), So yesterday, The last days, Peeps and I can’t wait till Leviathan

  157. I have a question about Leviathan. Oh wikipedia it says that the main character is in love with a cross dresser. Is this true?

  158. WOOO GREEN DAY!!
    WOOO CANADIANS!!!((I don’t know why, but I LOVE canadians)
    And I was reading through the comments (SCOTT WESTERFELD FOR PRESIDENT)) and I came up with a new political party Prettieism. Yay!!
    and everyone on here is like wayy amazzing in a philosophical way, are all these people teenagers? ’cause if we all are then WE should run the country.
    (some one should write a story where teenagers run the government and then become less and less important as they age..*cough*)

    >>Albatross
    Rock on!
    And I was kidding about anarchy…

  159. Jay-wa,u should write that book! do not pressure our busy scott-la(btw,welcome back!)into writing ur ideas.lol,prettiesim

  160. Just incase his brilliant mind ever ran out of ideas, I thought I would create a springboard for him…pffft, I guess he won’t run out of Ideas…Yay! Story time!!

  163. lol…prettieism…nice. and yeah, teenagers are WAY more smartical than adults, but i’m not sure that all teenagers are able to run a country…and my friends said that they would never let me run a country cuz they think that I would change the national anthem to Hedwig’s Theme and that the flag would have oboes on it…as if! I mean, the national anthem should totally be Veggies Tales theme song and the flag should have oboe REEDS on it, not JUST oboes…gosh… hmmm…I should rule the world!!! *evil laughter*. Yeah…hmmm…that would make the world a far more interesting place to life…not necessarily better, but definetly more interesting…what else would i do if i ruled the world…….hmmmmmm….make band class worth a language credit…make it so that Canadians can run for prez in America (even though that totally makes no sense) cuz I’m Canadian!!! WHOO! Yeah….now i’m gonna have to make a list of how things would be if i ruled the world….*more evil laughter*….if the Canadian flag changes and becomes a bunch of criss-crossing oboe reeds, you’ll know that I’m behind it…

  164. Lol!! And if you ruled the world, you wouldn’t need to have lang. credits because you already owned every country…sorry if that crushed any dreams…
    Could I own a state? Just one….Muhahahahahahaha….
    }:)

  165. GAH! Prettiesim is awesome but I want to know about Leviathan

  170. OPTIONAL band class
    for those of us who are musically impared….
    and I want Kentucky
    those people talk AWESOMELY!!!!
    (PS you *probably* shouldn’t say band sucks)
    and seth-la
    are you a boy?
    I’m not trying to be mean or anything like at all
    sorry if I offended you, but Sometimes the names on here confuse me…

  173. Ya I am a guy. Weird that I read Scott’s books, right?

  176. And I do NOT like band teachers. The only one I ever had was a fat jerk and i quit during the third semster. 7 HOURS!??

  179. ha ha. Band is just… bleh. What do you mean I haven’t met you? (I know I haven’t I mean why are you saying this?)

  183. Jay-wa: nice to (web) meet you too

    Oboe reeds, book club, and (optional band class) yay!!!!

    Could I own Rhode Island??? I dont know why, so don’t ask.

    ~Aryll-wa

  185. SURE! Rhode Island is awesome! and small he he. ANYONE KNOW ANYHTING ABOUT Leviathan?

  188. You don’t know me as in, I’m musically impared.
    and Rhode Island is cool..
    One day, Andrea-la you’re going to be uber famous
    I’ll buy your records
    or maybe by then we’ll have skintennas
    or you’ll rule the world and we’ll all be forced to listen to your productions, (which probably wouldn’t be bad)
    yay!

  190. Nope i don’t know anything about leviathan.

    I really don’t care for band, but I totally love to sing and listen to music.

    ~Aryll-wa

  192. Is Jay realy your name and Jay or did you get it from Extras? And skintennas rock!

  193. Seth-la: Whatever you read is probably wrong about Leviathan because it still has to be cover printed and all those other whatnots.

  196. I’m only five months away from being able to vote. That kind of sucks. I don’t really know what’s going on but from what I hear, Obama seems like a good choice. Who cares about experience or religion? They said the same thing about JFK (who looks a lot like my 8th grade Social Studies teacher O.O), but he wasn’t so bad.

    But as my friends and I saw on a bumper stincker on the car in front of us: “either way we’re screwed ~08~” That was rich.

  197. *cringes as I imagine what HONORS band would be like*

  199. That is sooo ture! I dont like both candadites!

  201. Don’t be modest Andrea-la! Different people love different things so you never know!! and my name is really Jordan, its just it didn’t fit well with the -la and -wa thing so I just shortened it.

  208. its almost like me with reading, Adreada-la

  209. *sighs* I wish my internet connection was faster, I’m so behind..
    And I like the ‘either way we’re screwed’ thing
    In debate, everything leads to our demise, so choose your death:
    Drowing because of global warming or Freezing to death because of the delayed ice age.
    Yay!
    (I’m with Seth-la on the honours band…)

  210. and for honor band, we get to have a bunch of five hour rehersals on weekends!!! YAY!!! but that’s only if i get in and i’m only in grade nine, and it’s for people grades 9-12, so the chances of me getting in aren’t that great…especially since i’m recording it now and i have strep throat and can’t play my clarinet very well when i’m sick…

  211. again, join goodrads.com

    Have any of you read Maximum Ride?

  212. lol…that reminds me…my band director thinks that i’m this obsessive harry potter freak cuz every single day during warm up in band i play “hedwig’s theme”…lol…now i just do it to bug everyone…

  218. My friends have read maximum ride, and one of them is trying to get me to read them (currently she has me in the middle of another series, and she has like EVERYTHING packed away so yeah) but they said it was amazing.
    And lol, with the HP thing…

  221. YOU SHOULD ALL READ IT! THEY ARE AMAZING! accept for books 4 and 5 they suck

  227. why wont you jion andrea?

    Jay-wa- go to groups then go to one called Maximum Ride… ROCKS!!!! then click members at the bottom. You will see ‘Seth’ then add me to your friends list

  228. how do you get free books from SimonsaysTEEN.com?

  231. well you add books that you read/want to read/currently reading. And join groups. And add and read other people’s reading.

  240. I’ve been thinking, and this might be because I’m in the middle of reading HTDYF, and I don’t really like rules. That’s all I have to say. Oh, and we have the power people! Yaay!

  244. JAY-WA WHETHER YOU THINK WE DO OR NOT AUSTRALIANS DO PLAY OBOES! I’D KNOW, I’M AUSTRALIAN, AND MY FRIEND DOES, AND HE’S AUSTRALIAN AND THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE HERE IN AUSTRALIA WHO DO!

    Ok. Australian oboeist rant over. BTW Aulstranian actually looks pretty cool.

    Warning, live without warning …
    Love that song. And i can play it on guitar 🙂

    Maximum Ride is a good series … but the last book is kinda strange …

    I’ll take a look a goodreads now

  245. I just rememberd–I don’t really like Robert Patterson as a writer. He is wayy mellow dramatic, hopefully hes better at this than realistic fiction…

  246. Thats awesome that you can play Warning on guitar
    and I wasn’t dissen on oboes or australians
    I just can’t spell.
    😀

  252. Is bogus to Bubbly out in Australia? Or somewhere else other than America?

    And Andrea-la, are you cereal! 7 hours strait! I can’t even do an hour with out my mouth hurting.

    I wish I could get an oboe, but sadly my parents won’t let my get one because it’s too expensive. Blah blah blah.

  254. Esp. double reeded ones. I really want an oboe though, but I really don’t want to use my money because….I buy CD’s and other stuff and what not with it, and I don’t want to go in broke/ debt.
    I’m listening to music right now…yeh…the song that it just chenged to now is MCR I Don’t Love YOu.

  256. Lol, the only thing I spend money on is on CD’s and Nail Polish (at least that’s all I can think of right now). Right now I’m wearing black nail polish with a blue dot in the middle. I love just randomly wearing ALL black. Black jewlery and polish, black underwear and tanktop, black longsleaved shirt and sweater, black pants, black shoes, and black socks. It’s really fun th do that at school.

  257. I really don’t buy cds much, or nail polish. When it comes to songs i buy off itunes, and i don’t much care for nail polish.

    lol the all black thing

    ~Aryll-wa

  259. That was some epic math right there.
    If I was less tired I’d say more.
    I love how in America you can go to war before you can vote.
    And correct me if I’m wrong, I only heard the end of the news the other day, but did Sarah Palin say something like “If that means we would need to go to war with Russia, OK” about something or another? Great idea. Great. Is she just going to stand at the edge of Alaska and throw rocks or something?

  261. okay, to the oboe comments, I’m Canadian and I play oboe. I have three friends who play oboe (two of which i met and band camp….) but anyways, ANYONE can play oboe, doesn’t matter what country…and my friend from Austrailia plays violin. Not oboe. So let’s just say that people from lots of different countries play oboe and be done with it.

  262. lol…i just confirmed…i asked my friend from australia, and she says that she really doesn’t know. which i think means that it doesn’t matter where you come from, anyone can play oboe…and then she asked me ‘why are you asking me this?’ and i’m all…ummm…i want to prove a point…yeah….

  263. Scott, thank you for showing your support for Obama and demonstrating (with some awesome math) that Democrats know how to run the economy! I’m going to pass this around to my friends, no matter the party they stand for. Maybe it will confirm the thoughts of those who were going to vote for Obama, and maybe the ones that thought they wanted McCain will start to second guess it. You can hope, right?

    To all of you teens that can’t vote: make sure your parents are educated. There are a lot of adults who are way less educated on politics than their teens. To everyone that can vote: Please make sure you use your right to vote. It may not feel like it counts, but one vote can make a difference.

    I’m 19, and I am so glad that I can vote.

  264. I have no idea what is up with everyone and the oboe haha. After I read The Last Days, I got a babysitting job, bought a guitar, learnewd how to play, it and when I go to NewYork for the first time ever this year with my art club. (The one I hate see one of my other comments on one of scotts other blogs) I am going to sneak off to the subway and play my guitar for cash. Actually I’ll probably be too scared, but it’s definately on my life long dreams list. LOL.

    Where would anyone get that Austrailians play oboe. I thought it was more of a Norway thing, didn’t they like invent it or something? Oh, and one last thing, if any of you get a chance, go on a crusie it’s EXACTLY like living in pretty town. Sorry about my bad spelling, its early….

  265. I’m pretty young but I got, say, “exposed” to the politics early because of my religion. I’ll definitely have to check out YA for Obama…. (Obama rocks!)…
    ~i

  266. wow theres a lot of musical people here.
    i play the flute, and used to play the piano. =]
    i love marching band and band camp!

  267. my school doesn’t have marching band…boo hoo….but i’m in regulare band, jazz band, recorder ensemble (actually…duet at this point), and I’m auditioning for honor band!!!

  268. IDK how everyone started talking about band (and oboes), but I have no musical talent. I can sing and love to listen to music but I can’t actually read music, and can play no instruments. Except “Chopsticks” on the piano, does that count? The only instrument I’ve been really exposed to is the recorder back in Elementary when I was forced to learn it (What kind of sick curriculum forces students to learn the RECORDER?!) but I’d just kind of move my fingers randomly and it’d come out sounding right. All the notes on the recorder sound the same: relatively high and SQUEAKY! Well technically I own a guitar and piano, but take no lessons (though I’d love to be able to play), and don’t have time to start with lessons.

  269. I have a key-board, but I had to number the keys
    So I just write down the numbers that sound pretty…and the Recorder thing…evvvviiilllll I think oboes sound cool.
    My friend that plays the basson HATES marching band.
    But its cold in the morning now…so thats mostly why…

  270. i like coldness….and i’ve always wanted to learn bassoon…you know, cuz of the double reed thing and i play oboe. and i play MORE THAN ONE type of recorder…oh yeah. i’m just learning guitar, and i have a keyboard mostly for song-writing purposes…And I like recorder!!! I’m one of the two remaining members of the recorder ensemble at my school!!!! Also, oboes ROCK!!! I play oboe in regular band, clarinet in jazz band, basically any recorder in recorder ensemble (and sometimes do some singing parts in that too), and sing soprano in choir, alto in vocal jazz, and i’m learning guitar on the side…oh and auditioning for honor band on clarinet…

  272. lol…it’s really funny though…people always ask me which i like more, clarinet or oboe, cuz everyone thinks that they’re so similer…they aren’t. the reed makes a difference. also, the only thing that confuses me, is in choir how sometimes i sing alto, sometimes soprano, sometimes second soprano, and sometimes first soprano, cuz then i have to look on different lines of music…that confuses me a lot…lol…

  274. in an choir, you can divide soprano into soprano one and soprano two. you can do the same with all the other parts, but it’s most commonly done to sopranos…

  276. I totally agree with you Scott. Also, I agree with whoever said that 16-year-olds should be able to vote. And to all of you who think that Obama is too young, he’s 47. That’s not that young. Also, how did everyone get on the topic of band?

  278. Prettism–>Andrea-la ruling the world(with band class)–>random stuff about band.
    Pretty much.
    Thats when you know Scott-la needs a new post….*cough*

  283. WOW…im about to blow my head off. u guys get too off topic and the whole band thing…well…after a while i started thinking about band camp and then THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER and after that mental images that i didnt need came to mind. *BIG SIGH*
    Andrea-la: it’s cool that ur into like all of the music stuff. i play the drums (soooo much fun) i wanna learn how to play the guitar and then start a band. my sister was taking guitar lessons but she quit so now everythings screwed up.
    PRETTISM should definitely happen! except i dunno if i want Andrea-la ruling the world i mean i like music but the world might be under a dictatorship with music being the only thing allowed (just saying).
    Sonja: AWESOME!!! i wanna learn how to play GREEN DAY songs on the guitar.
    MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES: they were AMAZING! and aren’t there only 4 at least last time i checked there were. btw the movie is coming out in 2010 (that is if we don’t like die or some horrible disaster doesn’t happen before then. ugh…sorry…a little depression going on there.)
    the bumper sticker that say “watever happens we’re screwed” that’s hilarious and basically how i feel. i swear when im old enough im moving to another country. most likely australia… i love australian accents and i never really hear about anything bad in australia (let me know if im wrong)

  290. ya i think u definitely are not JUST a “clarient-aholic” but a “everyting-to-do-with-music aholic” of course i can’t talk I LOVE MUSIC i just don’t play a ton of instruments but i listen to my iPod for hours. it kinda pisses my dad off but i have to have my music (especially GREEN DAY. they’re AMAZING)

  291. yeah…i love music too….i listen to my mp3 on full blast…my friends get SO mad at me if they can hear the music from more than two metres away…lol…

  292. wow i don’t listen to my music THAT loud even though my dad thinks i do. i have to listen to it quietly so the uh swearing doesn’t come out full blast. if i didn’t mention before my dad doesn’t like GREEN DAY (probably coz of the swearing) but that didn’t stop me from buying like all of their CDs. THEY ROCK! i also listen to Evanescence, Linkin Park, My CHemical Romance, and pretty much all Punk-Rock bands.

  294. ya me too except COUNTRY (i can’t stand it!) unless of course it’s like GREEN DAY doing some kind of country song (which they have done) then i like it.

  296. jazz is cool. nothing against jazz but country…well that’s a different story. i really should be doing homework but its stuff that’s not due for a while. decisions decisions.

  300. hmmmmm…interesting but i totally understand u don’t feel well enough to go to skool but u feel well enough to do something u like. i get.

  301. yeah…lol…when i told my friend that i’d been practicing clarinet all day she was like “ANDREA!!! DON’T YOU DARE MAKE YOURSELF MORE SICK!!” It was mega-funny. She thought I would make myself more sick…lol. Yeah…but the thing is, I NEVER miss school cuz i’m sick unless i’m really sick. And I’m still really sick. I’ve actually got strep. Which is kinda bad. But I mostly missed school cuz i’m contagious. Not cuz I didn’t wanna go. I mean, I missed a french quiz! So yeah. It isn’t the best idea for me to be practicing clarinet all day, but whatever…

  305. Awesome! I’m a punk/alternative/metal/hard-core/gothic/ any other type of rock lover!

    I practiced like 1 1/2 hours of my clarinet today, mainly because we have dumb practive logs and I’m not a fan of practicing on the week-days.

    I can play the piano, the recorder, the harmonica, the clarinet, and the violin. I mostly play the piano and the clarinet though because I can’t find the recorder and harmonica. And my violin it wont rosin up. I could get our orchestra teacher to fix that but…..I don’t really like her anyways.

  306. Wow, Andrea-la if you ruled the world, the world would be a lot more funny, and full of oboeness. lol. I haven’t listened to music in exactly six weeks. My friend, who read How To Ditch Your Fairy, asked me if I had a Jukebox fairy and was wondering if I was trying to get rid of it. That’s not it though, I just don’t have time to listen to music.

    Nevermind, my mom just turned the radio on, six weeks of no music ruined…even though I do love music! Six weeks is a long time to live in silence. I’ve been busy….Okay, rant over later Peeps.

  307. I finished How to Ditch YOur Fairy yesterday! It was soooo freakin’ fawesome! The beginning was very funny though.
    I stayed up till 1:30 this morning to finish it.

  308. I wish I had a Fairy. If I do have one, it’s definately a Field Hockey Fairy. Two goals a game no more no less. How freaky is that?

  309. That is pretty freaky. In soccer all I ever do is make assists. Probably because I’m always left or right midfielder.

    Does anyone know if Bogus to Bubbly is out anywhere? Like in australia?

  312. I lovelovelove music any kind at all
    like music that no ones listened knows who they are
    I find obscure bands like fight like lions, the defog, yeah but I like well known bands too
    like Panic At The Disco, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy (I like that whole label basicly) and lots of rock bands mostly, Flogging Molly, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, so on and so on. 🙂
    I love music so much

  313. Andrea-la, you know so many instruments …
    So do you Bethany-la
    I do guitar, keyboard and recorder. Also an alto in vocal (my voice is pretty low for a girl … ). I’d like to learn saxophone but getting one is proving a problem.
    Bands I like turn out to be pretty much any genre, but mostly alternative or punk. I like some classical (not much tho, mostly just Tchaikovsky and Grieg) and religious stuff too.
    I usually don’t even have to be listening to music, I’ve always got a song or composing a song in my head. I like composing 🙂

    I read Peeps and The Last Days today. I’ve been meaning to read them for ages, but i haven’t gotten around to it or forgotten to get So Yesterday. So today (lol, I hadn’t actually meant for the pun) I went “stuff it” and read them. Still need to get So Yesterday. Oh well at least I can say I read them in reverse order (cos The Last Days I read first). 🙂

    I got no idea if Bogus to Bubbly is out in Aus or not. Googling it isn’t doing much good 🙂

    I’m a mid in soccer too, but centre. Cos apparently I’m sparky at passing. I can play anywhere on a hockey field, cos I can score 🙂 and I can defend too 🙂
    I’d play footy too, any type of footy … Especially AFL. But getting an all-girl team together is proving difficult.

    So there, my ego-centric rave of the day … Bye all

  314. Ok well apparently I am very late because now you guys are on some thing about band, which I can’t sand, I tried it one time and my band instructor actually made me quit. Twice.

    Anyway, as for the politics…
    I just want to start with this:
    ======
    “Like I said, nothing at all against you, I just don’t think you should say something’s just plain wrong because it’s not how you’ve been raised.”
    =====
    Ok, I had to quote this because it made me so angry. My mother was raised atheist(i honestly have no clue what she is now. I think still atheist) and my dad is nondenominational, but I am Catholic. I’m 16, and my religion is nothing new. Please do not assume that people only become religious because they were raised that way, it annoys me to no end. I have my beliefs because they are what I see as right, not because anyone told me. Also, I think it is absurd that you are singling out religion as the only think passed down from parents. My mother was raised in an extremely atheist household, and you better believe those opinions were passed down. I know many other people who are atheist because their parents are.

    Anyway, what is interesting is everyone saying we shouldn’t listen to the media slandering Obama, when all the media does is repeatedly state their liberal views(Is there anyone in Hollywood that is not Democrat?)

    I agree that we shouldn’t have to pay so much for the war, but i would rather pay for that than for people who are too lazy to get jobs(and no, I’m not talking about disabled people. And please spare me the “unemployment checks really helped my family out” because my own father was on unemployment, even though he was extremely skilled, because he refused to stop drinking and couldn’t hold down a job). How can no one have mentioned how much Obama will tax us if he becomes president. And that is what will really affect us, right now and in the future.

    As for abortion, you guys are all saying that women would use more dangerous ways of getting rid of the baby. That is true in some cases, but do you really think the woman who “doesn’t love him” would risk going to jail, not to mention her life, to have an abortion? Most of the people who get abortions would end up keeping the baby as opposed to using drastic measures, and the people who have situations bad enough to use extreme measures should be taken care of instead of given an easy way out. It’s like giving condoms to a prostitute. How about helping the person in need out instead of being like “here’s an easy and temporary fix to your horrible problem so you wont annoy the rest of us, now continue on.” Plus, there is nothing wrong with adoption people. I’m shocked by how people ignore it.

    That all said, I totally respect everyone’s opinions on here. I love it that you guys know so much about politics. I have a friend that just turned 18 gets to vote, but she barely knows anything about politics, yet swears that she knows it all. My skin crawls every time I think of her voting. I mean, she can vote for whoever she wants, but she could at least try knowing a little about politics. It’s amazing how many people barely know anything at all about politics and what’s going on.

  316. Oh, I also can sort of play the alto sax. I mean we have one (it was my sisters but now she plays tenor) anyways I can make nots and little songs I just can’t really read the music because I don’t know what note goes to what button thing.
    Oh, and my brother has a trumpet so I can also sort of play that too…
    I don’t know what I am for singing (alto, soprano, those other words… I do know I’m not tenor though…)

    I <3 music. I just don’t like being forced to play an instrument.

    Yeh, the reason I asked if anone knew about Bogus to Bubbly was because there have been a few people on the blog saying that they bought it or read it….

  317. Tatiana, I think you made some interesting points. You said religion is not the only thing that is passed down from our parents, and cited atheism as an example. In my opinion, atheism is a form of religion (though I know many would disagree). According to the Encarta Dictionary, religion is “a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by” and defines atheism as “disbelief in the existence of God or deities”. I would argue that the *disbelief* in God makes it a form of religion. Having said that, I think there are many things that our parents pass on to us. They often pass down the same way of thinking and acting and how we view the world, or do something to make us think in the exact opposite way.

    As for Hollywood being all Democrats: yes, much of Hollywood is liberal, but not everyone. There are a fair amount of Republicans from Hollywood that have been elected into office. Both Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger were/are from the Republican Party and both were a part of Hollywood.

    I am sure that some (maybe even many) unemployed people are lazy, but I don’t think that is the case for everyone. Some people can’t afford the right type of clothes to go on an interview, or they are uneducated. Then this cycle continues on to their children and grandchildren until someone can get some help. You cannot necessarily equate hard work with money. There are millionaires out there who have hardly had to work for their money and are probably more lazy than the unemployed (not that everyone who is wealthy does not work for their money; I know plenty of people work hard for what they have). As a Christian, I feel that it is right to give back to others who are not as well off as I am.

    I’m not going to comment on abortion because it is something that I have conflicting views about, and I can’t decide what I think.

    If this seems at all like I am bashing you, I am so sorry. It is not my intention at all. I just think you brought up some interesting topics, and it was something that I could use to show my opinions. I totally respect everyone’s right to their own opinion, even if I don’t agree with it.

  318. Thanks for this! And I love the YA for Obama site. Great idea.

    I like to see that teens are staying informed about the candidates and politics in general.

    I do hope everyone is listening to what the candidates are saying in their speeches, debates, interviews.

    This,

    COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

    PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the–it’s got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

    worries me.

  319. I totally recognize that many people aren’t able to get jobs, and that they need help, but many people don’t even put an effort to get jobs, which is why i don’t think unemployment should be on this big of a scale. Of course I’m not trying to say everyone without a job is lazy.

    And yes, i know of the few Hollywood Republicans(Schwarzenegger is my governor), but for the most part Hollywood is very liberal. My point really was that everyone was saying don’t pay attention to the media and the bad things it says about Obama, but the media really targets McCain.

    I have to agree about Atheism really being a religion, since it is a system of beliefs.

    Anyway, thanks for replying! I was afraid it was too late and no one would, lol.
    And no! It doesn’t seem like you’re bashing me.

  321. I vote Scott writes a blog about pie. Just sayin, that would be hilarious and awesome , at least better than 300 comments about politics and the oboe. Imagine what sort of discusion pie would bring. Haha.

  322. Wow, I like how everyone is stating their opinion without getting into serious arguments. That’s pretty mature.

    About the Band thing:
    Andrea-la, you’re not an “oboe-savy-clarinet-aholic”. You’re a mus-aholic and a band geek. Which is cool. Band is fawesome! I play flute which is pretty easy. Easy as in it’s easy to take care of. No reeds, all you need is a cleaning rod. Go band!!

    Yeah, Scott-la, you need a new post.

  324. not pie…CAKE!!!!! (sorry a little EXTRAS had to be thrown in there)
    i agree this post is starting to get old (even though politics will always be around)
    atheists ARE believers! they BELIEVE there is no GOD. (i now an atheist btw, but we won’t go into that) i don’t think that someone could believe in nothing. its impossible!(believe me i’ve tried. ugh…ok sorry no pun intended)
    HOLLYWOOD is full of Democrats (and republicans but mostly democrats). if u need an example just think of MATT DAMON (amazing actor!). i always thought he was a nice guy but then he kinda SLAMMED Sarah Palin. i mean wat he said was harsh. he said it would be like a bad disney movie (which we all know that disney movies,EXCEPT HERCULES, are not that great) sooo ya that didn’t make him too popular with many people (including my mom)
    i dunno where i stand on being either republican or democratic. i mean i’m against abortion, but the whole republicans wouldn’t know wat it means to be middle class or poor even if it bit them in the a** (at least that’s wat i hear) soo i think i might be independent and whenever i get to vote my choice won’t be because i’m either democratic or republican it will be because i think that canidate is the best choice.
    Andrea-la: U GAVE ME UR COLD!!!!!!! seriously i feel like CRAP and today i had to run the mile in gym class!!! that SUCKED!!! but hey don’t feel to bad, i’ll just sit here and suffer thru my homework coz i actually WENT TO SKOOL (unlike some people) haha jk lol!!! on a more serious note: i think u should keep track of how many hours a week of ur life involves music. that would be some serious numbers but that’s okay coz u like math too (once again i ask… WHY?!?!?)
    Ok new topic is definitely needed!

    GREEN DAY ROCKSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

  325. OMG, is EVERYONE getting a cold?! First I thought it was just my friends, than found out it was my school, than my brother’s school, too, and now a bunch of people on the blog who are basically scattered all over the world. It’s like a friggen’ epidemic. I can see the headlines now: “Dymatap Prices Skyrocket Due to High Demand”, lol.

    Andrea-la: Recorder ENSEMBLE?! I didn’t even know there were different types! The only relatable thing for me there with all your musicy-ness is the singing, though I’m an alto.

    T&Z: Yeah, it may just be because I’m a bit older and a lot more aware now, but it seems like this election is the biggest one in half a century (not that I’m anywhere NEAR that old, lol). When celebrities, who are infamous for their bubble-headed-ness (even though it’s just a sterotype), start slandering the candidates, you know there’s trouble. Like someone on this blog said earlier, they saw a bumper sticker that said “Either way we’re screwed ~08~”, starting to wonder if it’s true….

  327. love math, love music, but counting hours of music per week? nope. don’t do that. thta would be like keeping a practice record…but i’ll consider. and about the cold, i had to run more than one mile when i had it, so just suck it up. okay, and yeah, i’ll do something with counting how much music-related things i do….do i count classtime? and what about just listening to music….or randomly singing? okay, i’ll start counting tomorrow…actually, this might be a job for……*drum roll* my STOP WATCH!!!!

  328. oh and the amount of music i did today is….ZERO!!! cuz i didn’t have band, didn’t bring home my oboe, haven’t practiced my clarinet, and didn’t have choir. and yes, recorder ENSEMBLE. As in we used to have a bass, alto, soprano, sopranino, and a tenor, but everyone quit except me and my friend and i can play tenor and soprano and sopranino. she can play soprano, sopraninio, and that one even higher than that. so yeah, now there’s two of us, so if you wanna get specific, it’s a recorder DUET!

  329. I’m for McCain 100% because:
    Sarah Palin is among the most amazing politicians EVER
    Obama doesnt seem very decisive about things, voting present so many times . . .
    Also, the Born alive infant stuff–this is really the biggy–Obama not only supports abortion, but *voted against bills that would protect babies who survived an abortion.* I think that’s unconciounable! I mean, babies are alive from conception; i know that; but after birth, it’s beyond any misconceptions. plus, he then *denied* having voted against it, when there’s proof he did
    for more info, see nrlc.org i no its niche but its still very accurate my mom worked there

  330. Wow, that’s actually pretty impressive. I’d probably hate it, but NOT because of the sound, just because of the bad childhood memories, lol. My musical time this whole YEAR will probably be 0% (not counting the singing & listening to music I do on my own, and than I guess chorus does count….), because I’m pretty damn sure I will get nothing in Drama this year. Oh, well. More free time!

    Smiley: Boy, is it a good thing everyone on here’s run out of political steam, or you would’ve started up a huge debate just with those first two lines. GAH, I’m confused! Some people on here say Obama & McCain are AGAINST some things, others say they’re FOR them–is there no reliable resources, anymore?!

  332. oh and about how i previously said that i hadn’t done any music today…yeah, i kinda forgot about the whole randomly-started-singing-on-bus-on-way-home-from-school thing….yeah, it was fun…everyone thought i was weird….i know that i’m weird.

  333. I love how people brought back politics….I say BAHHH!!!
    and punk rock rocks. so does everything (minus country, because all they sing about is dumb stuff[mostly]) though I don’t really care for the mass produced pop stuff either…
    And now, I cannot decide what candidate I want.
    >>Hey, is the date messed up on anyone elses? ‘Cause its sooo not the 30th….
    AND whoa, no music? crazzy stuff for Andrea-l!
    I talk to my mom and my friends about the conversations that go on here, and I always get this look from them like “creeeeper….”
    its pretty hilarious..

  334. lol…i’m happily playing my clarinet now…fun stuff…and it’s the 30th in Australia…and Indoniesia, and Thailand, and Vietnam, and Singapore, and Malaysia, and I really could go on about where it’s already tomorrow. But yeah, the point is, that’s australian time.

  335. Lucky, so wish I could play guitar! You’re not weird, I do that–and worse–all the time. I even started singing “Before He Cheats” VERY LOUDLY in the local mall’s foodcourt last summer.

    And hey, I like country!! Well, a lot of it, anyway, like Carrie Underwood. Don’t like most rap, though. I find it annoying.

  336. i dont care for rap, and i actually like country…or some of it anyways. and right now i’m just learning how to play guitar…i mean, yeah…i’m not even taking lessons, just teaching myself…so yeah…

  337. OHhhh
    duh.
    Thank you for telling me that, ’cause I was kinda freaking out.
    >>Man, our stock market fell 777 points today. (I know Andrea-la is canadian, and I don’t know if you have stock markets or not…)
    Now people think its the end of the world, but really its all the stupid bank owners’ fault.
    Hey, Andrea-la, how is Canada’s economy doing?

  339. Its the bank’s fault, everyone was hoping they’d get ANOTHER bail out.
    Everyone is an (American) Idiot, history repeats itself.
    *rolls eyes at american people*

  340. Well I for one could NEVER teach myself, especially considering how I can just barely read music. I ought to stick with lyrics.

    DUDE?! 777…*slack jaw* wow. Now that is bad. Now I’m scared. Some people say it’s like the natural order or history repeating itself, and that’s why some think Obama will win, because there was a Democratic president last time all hell broke loose, during World War II and the Great Depression…anyone else SCARED?! Wait, aren’t YOU an American person?

  341. I totally agree how some mentioned that its the adults voting, AND WERE THE ONES WHO ARE ULTIMATELY MAKING THE FUTURE! Some adults think that teens are just stupid hormonal freaks (which we are at moments) but when they die, we are going to be living. I dont want to be paying high taxes and riding my bike because gas is so expensive. I want a president that in four years i can still depend on to help me live better. I see familys suffering because of the cost of things, and when i look at that, all i can think is “i need a REALLY good job”. And its sad you would have to say that to yourself.

    They say money cant buy happiness, but in this day and age, you sure cant be happy with an empty pocket.

  342. Tell me about it. Chances are a lot of people will have to go into careers that makes a decent pay instead of ones that they want. Maybe even ones that they hate, if it’s all they can get. And I don’t want to not be able to afford to drive by the time I learn to!

  343. Jay-wa: I don’t care about economy. I don’t give a crap about the world outside the one that i seem to live in….lol…

    Also, yes, history does repeat itself…I mean, look at numbers (yes, this is a math metaphore) i mean, there are only so many combinations, so usually decimal numbers end at some point or start repeating…seeing as the world hasn’t ended yet, it’s gonna repeat itself.

  344. Oh and i am for Obama cause i think
    -abortion should be legal (i wouldn’t do it but im not making the choice for others)
    -Gay marriage is totally acceptable and should be legal (if they shunned people by making it illegal i would protest)
    -He is a great speaker
    -I dislike Palin and her pregnant daughter strongly.

    And yes, I’m Catholic. But, w/e.

    Glad you feel the same, Scott!

  346. Bran-la Sad point

    Yeah, I’m american. But the things the rest of the country is dealing with just now (ie: high food prices, high clothing prices absolutely NO jobs) I’ve been living with for like three years.
    Not ALL americans are dumb, just the ones in the government 🙂 Not all of them totally suck, their voice just isn’t heard. And most smart americans are Neurosurgeons or psychiatristss.
    I forgot who wrote the History quote, but just like the romans and the egyptions before them–we’re all going to die because everyone is losing their moral values.
    (which is why I don’t cut in the lunch line..)

  347. Wooo! Lol, I was at McDonalds on Saterday with my family for some reason, and I was talking about the conversations here. And then I started to say Andrea-la’s rhyme thing, even though my dad’s most likely going to vote for McCain (my mom doesn’t know who she’s going to vote for). I’m for Obama.

    I think I’m breaking my parents down (or at least my mom) I keep asking her if I can get a oboe and she seems to be considering it.
    Like the main reason why she doesn’t want us to have one is because the reeds are so expensive.

  348. i’m canadian. us canadians are watching you americans screw up. it’s kinda weird cuz i’ve overheard so many convos about how americans are stupid….in truth, i’m pretty sure that i just find your accents stupid.

  350. I think that abortion should be legal only if you got like raped or something horrible like that.
    ‘Cause otherwise you shouldn’t be doing the dirty deed.

  352. abortion should be a choice. i’m against it, obviously, but the fact is, people like choices, therefore it should be an option. idk…i’m just the kind of person who lets people make their own decisions, even if they are the wrong ones.

  353. do i say eh? ummmmm….not that i’m aware of…..i’ve heard people say it before…idk…i don’t say eh that much, but i sometimes do….idk….i don’t exactly talk like a normal person…i use words like “swimtastical” or “gobbly-wobbly-cobbly-lobbly”…I just don’t like talking in ways people can understand me…

  354. I suppose letting people make their own decisons is good. Provents riots and what not. Cept the murder thing. Not reall into that.
    And like, america’s housing market is total crap, but if you think about it, its all about consumer confidence so if the media lied and said the market was awesome, everyone would buy and sell houses like madd.
    (kind of random talking about oboes and abortion but..)

  355. wait a tick…did you just say that canadians have ACCENTS???? LOL!!!!! I have an ACCENT!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t think that there is such thing as a Canadian accent!

  358. Of course there’s a Canadian accent! The whole “eh” thing, and the way you say “sore-y”, things like that. I always notice the difference between American and Canadian tv shows. I have no clue WHAT I have. Not New York, Boston, DEFINATLEY NOT anything like Texan, nothing foreign like Spanish or French…I’d say I don’t have one, but EVERYONE has an accent, whether they’re aware of what it is or not.

    Lol to whoever said that morals are going down the drain and that’s why they don’t cut in the lunch line. I don’t actually go on the lunchline too often (my school’s food is crap, in my opinion), but I do try to be morally ethical.

    Wow, people seem to tie elections to abortions a lot. Wonder if it’s the “tion” ending…. JK, i know it’s ’cause it’s a big issue between Democrats and Rebublicans. I’m not sure if it’s always the right thing to do, but I definatley think people should have the choice. If a woman can’t afford to pay for the medical care to take care of herself during her pregnancy, than the baby will suffer just as much. And there are some people who are just TOO YOUNG. I guess even 16 can be considered as the tinies bit possible reasonable if one’s in a good situation for it (it was all the rage back in the 1400s, lol), but hearing stories about girls who are 13 or even younger is just scary.

  359. If everyone talked unique in the same way, than NO ONE would talk unique. You’re right about the purpose-defeating dictionary.

  361. lol…i say REALLY random junk sometimes…plus, sometimes i will randomly start talking in poetry…it’s funny when i try to say everything in limmericks….lol….

  362. also, its just fun when i say something to my band teacher and he totally doesn’t get it….lol…..like that one time when i said “wow…that’s so swimtastically obolicious that it’s up to metaphorical alien standard”….he kinda looked at me like i was retarded…lol…

  364. yeah….my band teacher basically stared at me for about a minute, then looked at my friend and said “translation?” so my friend said “no clue”….so funny…so i burst out laughing…

  368. and sometimes i’ll say something like “well, that was goatloads of fun”…then someone will be all “you do mean, BOATloads, right?” then i’ll be all “what the heck? it’s totally GOATloads”…

  369. THE STOCK MARKET WENT DOWN 777 POINTS!!!!! THAT’S IT!!! WHO WANTS TO JOIN MY REBELLION AND CREATE THE WORLD ENDING NANO THAT GETS RID OF ALL PROBLEMS!?!?!?!?! *out of breath* ok sorry i just had to get that out of the way. our economy does suck! not sure about canada’s economy (btw andrea-la u should care coz wat happens if america becomes like power crazy and becomes a dictatorship that wants to take over the world? wat happens then? will u care??). canada seems ok except for the health insurance/plan that’s crazy.
    Andrea-la: no need to write a dictionary. that would just make my brain hurt.

    this topic calls for some GREEN DAY!!!!!
    Don’t wanna be an AMERICAN IDIOT!
    Don’t want a nation under the new media!
    And can u hear the sounds of HYSTERIA?!
    THE subliminal mind F*** AMERICA!
    Welcome to a new kind of tension.
    All across the alien nation where everything isn’t meant to be okay!!!!
    Television dreams of tomorrow.
    We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow!
    FOR THAT’S ENOUGH TO ARGUE!!!!

    wooo-hooo!!! I LOVE GREEN DAY!! they’re soooo accurate in describing MY country!

  370. Im American and i’m not stupid!!!!! But i have to say when we were learning about Canada everyone kept saying ‘Eh’. I mean, ‘eh’ its just funny how they say that!

    Americans have accents? I thought we were just normal. What do we sound like?

    And, hey! Whats wrong with Texas accents!?

  372. i’m american too, but i say that SOME AMERICANS ARE STUPID! at least the ones who rule our country. oy vay!
    yes americans have accents we sound different to people in different countries like they do to us.

  373. TYC Leader- Don’t care about economy/anything outside my world, cuz me and my friends are gonna run away from civilization, build a sod house, and farm for a living. i’m the one who will be sent back into the city bimonthly to get books. we have a play.

  376. Lol, my band teacher is horrible. He doesn’t let us play our instruments at all unless he tells you to. Like at the beginning of class, we aren’t allowed to separately warm up.
    I always say the slang terms from Scott-la’s books though. Fawesome. Fool. Skate. Kylie-wa/Danielle-wa (2 of my bestest friends). and many others.

    *sigh* I’m bored. I’m thisa one Russian BAnd you can’t get their CD’s in the US, so I’m sad.

  378. TYC: I would be in love with that nano. GO GREENDAY! Love that song! Quite a few are stupid, even I’ll admit that. Not just the rulers of our country–a lot of people in my school, too.

    Bran-la: There’s nothing wrong with Texan accents, I just know for a fact that’s definatley not what I have. I talk…I have no clue.

    Andrea-la: Good luck with that plan, lol.

  380. I say a lot of Scott-la’s terms, they’re part of my daily speak. Mostly fawesome though. Fawesome’s…well, fawesome. ‘Nuff said, lol.

  382. Okay, i dont think i have a heavy accent but supposedly to people from out-of-state, i have a fairly recognizable one. But idk. I cant really hear myself! I sound normal. Except when i say ‘ya’ll’ instead of you all and when i say ‘hey’. They come out stronger than other words and i can recognize it. But i dont know what words the Texan Accent is known for so…

  383. i really don’t think i have an accent, and if i do, it really isn’t strong. i could converse with americans without thinking that i was semi-retarded…

  384. But where will you find an actual natural place to build said house…?

    And I don’t know, I guess it’s not too recognisable, but like hearing Miley Cyrus talk (I think she’s from Tenessee though, not Texas), I can tell it’s a southern accent.

  385. Plans For Living In a Sod House:
    1) Graduate from high school.
    2) Pretend to go to university in greenland
    3) Find a foresty place
    4) Go there
    5) Live there
    6) Occasionally go back into the city for books.

    It’s gonna work! Seriously….
    Okay, so me and my friends might not go to a forest…maybe my cabin that’s NEAR a forest…or maybe we’ll just go on a long road trip to alaska…fun….

  387. my friend also knows a mean recipie for meatloaf….don’t ask….i’m gonna tell you!
    -Find cow
    -Bring cow home
    -Buy gun
    -Bring gun home
    -Shoot cow
    -Make meat loaf…

    This is how me and my friends plan things…we state the obvious, then go from there…

  393. Andrea-la, I laughed when you said Americans have accents. I love British accents, I’ve decided that because of that, every british guy in the world is hott, at least the ones on tv are and the ones I’ve met. So that is my conclusion.

    I am so sad right now cuz my cat died, of old age, so unexpected. I love my cat. Poor kitty. *tear*

    One last thing. I have never eaten pie, ever! My friends don’t believe me, since you know, America is known for apple pie. Which brings me to another thing, the movie American Pie, and the girl who always says “One time at band camp….” ha that is so like Andrea-la, that’s funny. Andrea-la is lucky to know so much about music.

    One other last thing, I started reading Skinned yesterday, and wow! I was pulled right into it. AMAZING.

    I promise this is the last thing. I absolutely love Pushing Daisies, favorite show ever! Has anyone seen it? That’s another thing about pie sorry. If you have seen it you know what I’m talking about. I love the pie maker! Okay, now I’m done. Miranda-la out.

  397. well, speeking of band camp….this one time at band camp, we were talking during break about metaphorical greenland melting due to metaphorical lime warriors attacking it with their sponges (yes, we discuss this with the coordinator of band camp…) and anyways, it was so funny cuz my band teacher was all “andrea…why do you know about this?” and i’m all “cuz it’s my own little world” and so he said “and you insist on draging people into it?” and i’m all “yeah…we don’t get that many visitors at this time of year”….yeah…good times, good times…

  399. oh and at band camp, me and my oboe buddies all wrote on the blank side of our stand tags “oboes have the right of A” cuz the conductor was giving the clarinets the right of B-flat.

  400. I love pi and pie, and Andrea-la, you are so hilarious, you should write a book, and quick story. I went on a crusie and met a british guy who was in love with my cute American accent (lol0 and then I was having mysterious run ins with an even cute british guy. (life was like a movie), it turned out they were brothers and had been telling eachother about I cute American girl, who is extreamely strange and hyper, and still to this very second, niether of them know it was me they were both talking about haha. I like the second guy better of course

  402. Andrea-la: Buenos Suerte (or however u say GOOD LUCK! in spanish. i really should know that considering the fact that i’m taking spanish…oh well). seriously though, ur like fourteen right? if ur not gonna follow thru with this plan until u graduate from high skool then u might not have any land left to farm or build a house on. there is soooooooo much expansion going on it’s CRAZY- MAKING!!!!! nine kinds of annoying. me on the other hand: if our world gets worse with in the next 2 years (which it will) i’m dropping out of skool (for ur 411 i’m smart. really smart. all level 1 honors classes. so i won’t drop out coz i’m dumb) and starting the SMOKE or at least a version of it. WHO’S WITH ME?

    speaking of skool and honors classes. my LEVEL 1 English class is starting a book tomorrow that i read in 7TH GRADE!!! when i heard that we were gonna read this i was like “WTF?!?! I read this in 7TH GRADE and now i have to read it again in an honors ENGLISH?!?!” ya sooo much for honors. this book is sooo easy to read it’s not even funny. btw the book is THE OUTSIDERS. great book.

    GREEN DAY DOES ROCK!!!!!!
    Are we? WE ARE? ARE WE? WE ARE? THE WAITING, UNKNOWN!
    THIS DIRTY TOWN’s BURNING DOWN IN MY DREAMS!

  403. okay, so this other time at band camp (when i went with my clarinet) it was so funny cuz we had to play this song and at one point it said “play highest, screechiest, note on instrument” cuz it was just this crazy song with lots of chromatic scales. Yeah…it was so…umm…loud…lol….yeah, it was so musicalish in a screechy matter…

  404. lol…i’m like, super-smart too….my friends always say that i’m gonna be a doctor someday or something…wouldn’t mind that….lol…anyways, me and my friends have made charts about how if the world keeps going how its going we’re eventually gonna hit a time when it’s just like the Uglies books….and so we’re gonna be smart and get out of the city BEFORE that happens…uh huh…yeps.

  405. I read The Outsiders in eigth grade, and it’s wierd since I go to such a small school and our teachers think we can connect with that book, but we don’t have gangs at all. I love the movie, my friend and I memorized it, and sometimes at school we start reciting the whole thing lol. My english teacher is fawesome! She let’s me choose our books!

  407. ugh…we have to read these seriously demented short stories in english class….and when i say demented, i mean that they involve death. always. not even kidding. it always ends with someone killing someone else…yeah…english class rocks…me and my friend are gonna write our short story about Mel the Gnu who saw that the stars were actually lemons and so she foresaw the alien invasion and saved the world….oh yeah.

  411. lol……okay, so i’ve got a LOT of stories from band camp….and i’m gonna tell another one….Okay, so this one time at band camp (oboe this time) we were having sectionals and so my band teacher randomly came in to check on us (which is pointless cuz we had our own oboe teacher in there) and I decided to be random and I yelled “THE ALIENS ARE GONNA ATTACK GREENLAND!!!” Which caused my band teacher to get scared and leave..then i decided to be creepy and said “well, there are 197 tiles on the wall…you know what THAT means, right?” yeah….i like being weird….and then i talked to my band teacher during break and he was kinda freaked…you know, cuz of my weirdicalness…yeah…it was awesome…we talked ’bout purple hair…

  412. I love Egdar Allen Poe stories and poem!

    Maybe I can get an oboe for Christmas…or Halloween! We don’t get presents on halloween though….maybe it’ll be an exeption!

  415. Andrea-la: a BIT of an over-active imagination? ya more like oh gee i dunno A WHOLE CITY FULL of an over-active imagination (that’s a compliment btw. imagination is good for the soul. we could all use some.) and i get wat u mean about the stories that are demented. we just finished our short story unit and the last story we read was the SCARLET IBIS and it about a kid whose brother was born like really sickly and he was ashamed of his brother. in the end the kid ended up sort of killing his brother (which he always wanted to do) ya he ran away from him and the kid couldn’t run that well (he could barely walk) ummm…ya soo his heart exploded!! *shivers*

    magical pi??? ya…i don’t wanna know.

    GREEN DAY!!!!!!
    SAINT JIMMY’s COMING DOWN ACROSS THE ALLEY WAY!
    UP ON THE BOULEVARD LIKE A ZIP GUN ON PARADE!!!
    LIGHTS ON THE SILLOUHTE!
    HE’S INSUBORDINATE!
    COMING AT U AT THE COUNT OF 1,2!
    1,2,3,4!!!

  417. oh and in english class we’re doing short stories and we read “The Most Dangerous Game” and that was really…umm…wrong. We also read “Way Up To Heaven” that was just bad. and we read “Lamb to the Slaughter” that was good…if you’re into murders….

  418. oh and just to let you all know, I corrected my math teacher today!!! YIPEE!!! And this is a SMART math teacher. I mean, I know for a fact that when he was in high school he won the rubix cube contest.

  421. what about the people who support mccain? where can they go? now im going to stop myself before i get into how the media slants the sh*t out of the news where politics is concerned. just sayin

  422. baaaaaaah! mary! go die mccain sucks!

    jk jk jk.

    i know, the media is terribly one sided and i feel like we’re never being told the full story. i prefer obama, but only by a slight margin…

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100 😉

  423. I can’t do anything noisy past 8:00 cos that’s when one of my sisters goes to bed.
    Uh … TYC Leader that story kinda creeps me out.

    When r we gonna have a new entry to comment on, Scott?

    I’m gonna quote The Living End lyrics. Go TLE!
    Prisoner of Society
    “Cos I’m a brat
    And I know everything
    And I talk back
    Cos I’m not listening
    To anything you say
    And if you count to three
    (1, 2, 3!)
    You’ll see it’s no emergency
    You’ll see I’m not the enemy
    Just a PRISONER OF SOCIETY”

  424. SCOTT! You’re my hero, I am passionately for Obama! He is honest, down-to-earth, and rational. I could go on and on about how he’s perfect for president, or at least close, but I’ll sound coarse and uneducated.

  425. BTW: Countries with the lowest abortion rates have it legal, and countries with the MOST abortion rates (ahem, Brazil = Catholic) have it illegal. I’m sort of Catholic, too, but even I can see that illegalizing abortion will make people want it more. It’s like the Prohibition.

    Love is love is love. People need to look past genitals.

  426. One more thing, sorry: My great uncle was a prisoner of war in WWII. And guess who he’s supporting? Yep. Barack Obama. That, to me, is a good lesson. He’s not voting for a fellow PoW.

  427. Sorry I have to disagree majorly.

    The United States is NOT ready for this big of a change.

    We need someone who will not be overly obsessed with Affirmative Action and someone who will not be biased with his race, as Obama undoubtedly will.

    McCain may be old but at least he is more experienced and honest.

    I can’t believe how many people are falling for Obama’s fake crap.

  428. Oh my God. Am I the ONLY one here who believes in McCain?

    This is just getting pathetic.

    I don’t think I even want to live in the United States anymore.

    We are betraying CENTURIES of tradition.

  429. Okay, so I just have to respond to the last response (post 428, Ashley). What exactly are you referring to with your comment “We are betraying CENTURIES of tradition”. Are referring to the centuries of tradition that dictate that “all men are created equal” or are you referring to the centuries old tradition of slavery and the unequal representation of minority communities in the political networks that are supposed to be representative of the population. I am in no regard attacking your personal stance on the matter, that’s your perogative.

    However, I am amazed how in this day and age, people are still in the mindset that anyone of color is somehow subpar. I think that that the United States is ready for change, and in particular, the election of a non-white minority president. Because lets face it, the United States is embroiled in change. What’s amazing to me is that you seem to have not acknowledged that Barack Obama was not raised by his Kenyan father, but instead by his white-American mother. He is biracial, so I ask you what race would he biased by?

  430. Yeh, I don’t think of people as colors, but I normally have to explain then with what shade their skin is, and that always makes me feel bad and racist and all that junk. But I suppose it’s like saying “that pale guy” or “that sunburnt looking guy”, but yeh…
    Just though I had to put that out their.

  431. For debate I want to change the american measurment to Metric. It’d be helpful if you guys could point out any problems or advantages to this…please and thank you…
    Next week is national Metric Week (5-11) lol!
    (christmas carols! yay!)

  432. when the Secretary of the Treasury asks to borrow $700 billion dollars, you guys are the ones who get to pay it back. Every paycheck in your entire lives will reflect those missing billions.

    Wow…just wow. That very profound.

  433. Hmmmm….centuries of tradition.

    Isn’t the main debate this year is who is an agent of change?

    Umm…oxymoron much?

  434. Another question to ponder when thinking about politics….

    Who does Sarah Palin better?

    Tina Fey or Sarah Palin?

    Questions, questions…

  435. Okay, this is making me mad.

    McCain is “traditional” ?????

    Well, what exactly is traditional?

    Okay, well let me ask you this all you McCain-ites, a question of upmost importance…

    Where do you buy your clothes?

    And now you are thinking that Alice Cullen is an Elle Woods.

    Guess what, I have a point!

    Because if you buy your clothes in any modern store, youi are betraying centuries of tradition. Do you wear a corset? I don’t think so. If you like to shop, you are not traditional. If you like to shop, you know that a change of style can be good.

    Obama is a change of style, and in a good way.

    Well, you deny you like to shop.

    Well here is another analogy that you can’t deny.

    Do any of you like to read?

    I think so, otherwise you wouldn’t be commenting under the names “Tally-wa or Zane-wa” because you read Mr. Westerfeld’s books. Right? Well, if Mr. Westerfeld had kept with centuries of tradition, he’d be writing with “thees” and “thy’s” and Uglies or Midnighters would never have been created. Because he did something new, he was an agent of change, we have even more great literature.

    Well, guess what?

    Obama is an agent of change too! Good change.

    So what if we are “betraying centuries of tradition” ???? We are betraying centuries of broken tradition and fixing it. Washington is getting a fashion make-over. Starting with its style.

  437. this post is kind of getting old but it keeps getting interesting. i still haven’t decided who i like better. Obama seems like he wants to do good, but then there’s the whole abortion thing and his VP looks FAKE. i mean when i saw him i was like “WOW he looks like a total politician!” but in a bad way (u know like those fake politicians. he looks plastic) then there’s McCain: i think it’s really cool that he chose his VP to be a girl (talk about change) but seriously if i like him does that mean i’m following centuries of tradition (i’d rather not). also does “centuries of tradition” include the last 8 years coz if it does i’d rather not repeat.
    Jay-wa: i don’t like the metric system.
    u know wat surprises me most about this post? we haven’t really discussed the war in Iraq (even though that’s probably good coz that subject gives me an anuerism)
    Andrea-la: i read the MOST DANGEROUS GAME too. that was kinda sick and twisted, psychotic even. ya all our short stories were like that.

    GREEN DAY!!!!! <3
    I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment to come,
    I’m destined for anything at all.
    Downtown, lights’ll be shining.
    On me like a new diamond ring out
    Under the MIDNIGHT hour
    Well no one can touch me now well,
    ANd i can’t turn my back it’s too late,
    Ready or not at all.
    Well i’m so much closer than i have ever known…
    WAKE UP!
    Dawning of a new era,
    Calling, don’t let it catch ya falling.
    Ready or not at all.
    Well, so close enough to taste it.
    Almost i can embrace this feeling on the tip of my tongue.
    Better thank ur lucky stars!!!!
    *skips some parts*
    DUmbstruck!
    Good luck ur gonna need it!
    Where i’m going if i get there at all!
    WAKE UP!!!!!!!

  438. i can’t vote, i’m 13 (yay anti-darklings) but i don’t like McCain or Obama that much. def not McCain but i don’t always agree with Obama either if i had to pick i’d say Obama

  439. “Obama seems like he wants to do good, but then there’s the whole abortion thing and his VP looks FAKE. i mean when i saw him i was like “WOW he looks like a total politician!” but in a bad way (u know like those fake politicians. he looks plastic)”

    Well, well.

    So are we all now going to base who we think is a better candidate on how a person appears to be?

    You know, if you ever have heard Obama talk you go “wow.”

    If you ever hear his VP candidate talk you go “gosh!”

    If you ever hear McCain talk you go “Bush?”

    If you ever hear Sarah Palin talk you go “Um, excuse me? Job creation? Lipstick? Russia from her house?”

  440. To add to Alice’s comment…

    Why do you think McCain chose a woman to be his VP? Heard of “tactics”?

    He chose Palin as VP because of the voters. He puts a woman on his ballot, then obviously more women are going to vote for him.

    He’s stealing democratic voters. Obviously.

  441. Obviously.

    Analogy time!

    McCain:

    John McCain is in Wal-Mart buying….

    Hold up, let me rephrase.

    John McCain is asking his personal chef to go to Wal-Mart to buy…

    Wait, one more try!

    John McCain asked his personal chef to go to the very expensive exclusive grocery store to buy cake mix. John McCain wants cake for his wife, why he didn’t just go with those 328,000 dollar earings, who knows? But the whole point is, he needs this cake!!!

    So the chef goes to rich grocery store and gets the cake mix, but then realizes he doesn’t have enough cash on him to buy the icing too.

    Rephrase: he can’t buy the icing to some odd reason.

    (Anybody know where I’m going with this????)

    Well, since he can’t buy the icing that would probably kill McCain, he sneaks out of the store with it. Now he has McCain’s cake and icing.

    Well, women, and Democratic voters are McCain’s icing on the cake. He wants them at all cost. Even if it means risking (sneaking the icing out the store) a chance like Sarah Palin.

    Well John McCain, I don’t believe your VP candidate can handle…even the lipstick.

  443. gosh i luv accents! i luv irish, then australian, then british. and i sooo agree. any guy w/a cool accent is SOOO hot!!!
    and of course i luv mccain and palin!!!! anyone in their right minds does!

  444. I like that ‘cake’ thing
    and this year’s resolution for debate has to do with alternative energy but in legislative you can choose what you want to do.
    And I thought the metic system would be great, because I actually have a REASON to get on here at school, other than ITS REALLY FUN…

  448. WOW…sorry! i think i should just keep my mouth shut from now on. anything i say on here makes people all pissy. so from now on (until there is a new topic) i won’t say anything.
    Andrea-la: i’m sorry! plzzzzz don’t hurt me! the metric system (actually any form of math) makes my brain hurt (though currently i’m aceing Algebra)

    GREEN DAY!!!! <3
    A small cloud has fallen
    The white mist hits the ground.
    My lungs comfort me with joy.
    Vegging on one detail
    THe rest just crowds around
    my eyes itch of burining red.
    Picture sounds
    Of moving insects so surreal
    Lay around
    Looks like i found something new.

  449. i think right now i actually have 100% in math….so far. But we haven’t done anything involving showing work…I always lose marks cuz i hate showing work…

  450. Just because people are stating their opinions doesn’t mean they’re angry…sorry if it came across that way…

  451. also….HOW THE HECK CAN METRIC MAKE YOUR BRAIN HURT??? IF ANY FORM OF MATH CAN MAKE SOMEONE’S BRAIN HURT, THAT WOULD BE THE STUPID AMERICAN MEASURING SYSTEM!

  455. Referring to comment 428=

    Okay, this i bad, because it made my quite upset. “We are betraying CENTURIES of tradition.” WhAt? I mean this in the nicest possible but…WhAt? What tradition? And i think it would be oh-so WONDERFUL if we had a colored president, i mean, what other way can you SpIcE iT uP?

    I am going to remove my hands from the key board to refrain from typing anything mean. Because mean just hurts…And Obama is not mean! Vote Obama!

    (Btw, i think that the people who dont vote for him because of his color are totally not thinking about what the word PRESIDENT means.)

  456. And I’m not angry. That was the nicest way to put it. It just upset me what she said. Not angered me. Upset me. As in…made me frown. 🙁

  457. Um, just a question….

    “UMR-wa” why do you think anyone in their right minds loves McCain and Palin?

    It’s kind of a blanket statement.

    And you need reasons to make a blanket statement.

    Just ask Sarah Palin.

    She’s got beaten over saying blanket statements. Thats a Republican VP, for ya, eh?

    Oh, and another question. Doesn’t McCain’s view and Palin’s view on national defense kind of, how to put this sweetly…contradict each other?

  461. at this point, i think my parents are seriously considering sound-proofing my room…just cuz i practice my instruments a lot. and it might have something to do with christmas music in september…i mean, yeah, christmas music is cool only two times a year…christmas time, and august. and it’s only cool in august if you’re at band camp, where it is forever cool. so yeah. maybe i should try playing the songs in a different key….

  462. my parents say the same thing when I practice my choir music.
    So thought I’d say that I’m excited cause my english class was watching The Village and analyzing it and now we get to send letters to the director/writer M. Night Shyamalan.

  465. some weird song….idk….but ya know what sucks???? MY BROTHER JUST WALKED IN HERE WITH MY MOM’S PERMISSION TO MOVE ALL MY MUSIC STUFF FROM IN THE COMPUTER ROOM TO MY BEDROOM. BUT GUESS WHAT? I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH ROOM IN MY BEDROOM FOR A GUITAR, A KEYBOARD, A CLARINET (with it’s own music stand), AND OBOE, AND A BUNCH OF FOLDERS! MY ROOM HAS A BUNCH OF BOOKS AND A GUINEA PIG IN IT. BUT APPARENTLY NOW I NEED TO PRACTICE IN MY ROOM. WHICH HAS ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE SOUND. OH, AND I DON’T HAVE A COMPUTER IN MY ROOM SO I CAN’T DO ANY RECORDING IN THERE. So yeah. I’m not happy right now. I just don’t have room for more than one music stand in my bedroom. Not to mention the instruments.

  466. Just throwing in my two cents here…

    I’m afraid that the liberal media has blasted people blind to the things Obama has been involved in. I can’t, and won’t, even begin to name them here, but I’ll just say it’d be nice if people researched more of this on their own (something I encourage everyone to look into). Some do, of course, but the majority doesn’t.

    Besides his past, I don’t understand how how he has had enough years of experience to run a country. Hillary Clinton even had more than he does.

    Though I’m a strong republican, I can say that I don’t agree with everything McCain proclaims. However, I feel that if Obama is elected, the country will fall farther in faster into a pit we’ll be unable to climb back out of.

    Your right: it’s our future. We’ll have to pick up the slack years from now. I just wish more people would realize this before it’s too late.

    McCain/Palin 2008

  467. Wow that would suck. I don’t have room for anthing thing else in my room! Too many books! i wouldn’t be able to walk if I had that many instruments in my room! I get to keep my keyboard in the living room.

  468. I know! I have hundreds of books, possibly thousands of books in my room. So now I have to keep all my music equiptment in there. I can’t get to the bookshelf anymore cuz the keyboard is in the way. I now need to move a bunch of books into boxes so that i can have a shelf to put all my music stuff….I mean, I have two folders of music for band, plus all my other stuff that i’ve gotten over the years….

  470. OMG, Andrea-la you are so lucky! I wish I had an over active imagination. I used to, but things change, and I can still think of good book ideas to write about, but still. Oh, and I read “The Most Dangerous Game” too! It was scary, and we had to write more of it. Like a sequel kinda, and I wrote that the guy fond a helicopter and escaped and turned the island into an amusement park for aligators, and my teacher only gave me a 80% on it. 🙁

    I was watching this movie, about Miss Pettigrew or something. And then all of a sudden, something amazing happened. Lee Pace was in the movie! WITH A BRITISH ACCENT! And I nearly fainted right then and there, and yeah I screamed, and my brother was like “Why are you screaming?” and I said “Only the best thing ever just happened! Lee Pace and a BRITISH ACCENT!” so then he shook his head and walked away.

  471. Same! and that’s just my room! My basement is finished and it’s lined with my dads books! That really sucks. I hate boxing up books. My bedroom isn’t neccisarily messy just disorganized.

  475. can’t….roof isn’t flat. gonna have to figure something else out…my bedroom is in the basement, so i could use the rest of the basement to practice/store stuff except that that’s where my brother practices soccer…which explains why a couple of keys are broken off my keyboard…..

  476. Jess-la:

    Okay, I’m not attacking you or what you said or anything, but I have some different opinions.

    Firstly, you don’t agree with most of McCain’s issues mostly because he is a very liberal republican. Lets just face it…McCain is basically a democrat hiding out with a few conservative ideas. I mean, he and Obama have quite a few similarities. But their approach to the way they want to resolve these issues are quite different.

    Obama wants to be an agent of change, and McCain wants to do it Bush style. Just two years ago McCain said he was in favor and would back Bush up completely. Ya, thats what our country wants, sure!

    And before you say, “well that was two years ago!” I’m am going to say that Republican pull the same tag-line about Obama two years ago. Fortunately, Obama knew what he was doing two years ago. I’m sorry y’all think McCain did.

    And my favorite topic to discuss…Obama’s energy, and excitement, and change, and hope, and knowledge versus McCain’s experience.

    Well. Then.

    If any of you knew what your VP candidate Sarah Palin said on teh CBS interview, I promise you would not be bringing this up. But since you didn’t know what she said, and you did bring it up…well, lets just say you are going to regret bringing it up.

    Because while being interviewed on CBS, Katie Curic asked Sarah Palin if saying she remembered Joe Biden making speeches in the second grade was a dangerous thing to say, considering her running mate is 72. Well, Sarah Palin said no. She said that voters were going to have to face her energy and excitement against Joe Biden’s experience.

    Wait! Rewind! Are you experiencing deja vu? Because I sure am.

    So Sarah Palin thinks her “energy” and “excitement” is better than Joe Biden’s experience???

    Whoa. Didn’t see that one coming.

    Because earlier in the blog, most commentors said that it didn’t matter who was running for president, that they expected whomever got into the White House would either die or get assassinated. Well, if you take on these happy commentor’s optimism about our future leaders, shouldn’t you be voting for the best vice presidential candidate?

    And since John McCain is torwards the end of his lifetime, shouldn’t we be watching McCain’s VP very closely? And marking each time she says something ridiculous? Like when she says that we would go to war with Russia (let that sink in people…Russia!) over Georgia… or maybe when she obviously has no idea what the 700 billion dollar bailout plan does? Who here saw the SNL video Saturday? Did you know that when Tina Fey says “its all about job creation!” that she is speaking verbatim, word for word, what Sarah Palin said?

    No, you probably didn’t.

    So vote Obama Biden. This way you get knowledgeble energy and excitement, and experience!

    Oh, and one more thing. Republicans don’t believe in global warming. Big mistake. Because as Al Gore said, if you hit global warming on the head, you can get two bird with one stone. Or possible even three.

    You see, if we work to solve global warming, we obviously have to create jobs to solve it. Well, that helps the economy. Once solved, it ends our dependency on foreign oil. Well, that helps national defense AND the economy. And we will be ahead of the rest of the world. Which also helps our economy.

    I think the Republican party missed the “believe in global warming” memo.

    Oh well. Vote McCain and we will all pay for it.

    Not to mention the penguins, too.

  477. Sorry people, I know that was long.

    But oh so worth it.

    Like andrea-la said:

    Don’t be a llama, vote for Obama!

    He rocks, Obama! (say it. It sounds like Ba-rack Obama 🙂

    If you want to be green, you have to vote blue.

    (This last slogan is priceless!!!! ☺)

    Yard sign: $4
    Obama t-shirt: $10
    Donation to the National Democratic Party: $50
    Bringing change to Washington: Priceless!

  478. I think it’s so funny how different the politicians in America and Australia. You Americans got it right – all serious biz. We Aussies, on the other hand …
    There was a thing on TV about it at one point, showing Obama in real speech mode stirring up the people, and John Howard (ex-Prime Minister now …) up on a small stage in public with some clowns.
    Different much?

    BTW what do u guys know about carbon trading? I think we’re getting it here in Aus and apparently it’ll make energy prices skyrocket …

  479. I would be sooo annoyed if I had to keep my music stuff in my room, but honestly, our Piano’s in the Living Room, the Guitar is in my sisters bedroom (who is in college so it’s empty), the harmonica is in my mom’s room, and I practice my clarinet in my sisters room. That room’s pretty big. I will go to the computer and practice my clarinet too though.

  480. Alice Cullen, I would really like to know what source said that Obama was pro-life, because they were flat out lying.
    I would also like to point out something to the people who are personally pro-life, but believe that people should have a choice of whether or not to have an abortion.

    If you are pro-life, then you fundamentally believe that a fetus inside a mother is a living human being. This is the whole reason you are pro-life in the first place.

    Murder is defined as the killing of a living human being.
    Therefore, if you are pro-life, you believe that abortion is murder. Please take note, I did not say that abortion was murder; I’m only saying that it would be if you considered the first postulate a given.

    So, following this path to its conclusion, if you are personally pro-life, but still believe people should have the choice to choose to have an abortion, then you think that people should the choice to choose to murder children.

    I know I’m going to get flamed by people who can’t understand logic, but I thought I would post this anyway. Once again, this does not apply if you do not believe the beginning postulate. If you are pro-choice, and therefore don’t believe the baby to be a living child, then I’m not saying you condone murder.

    As for the post, Scott, I can’t say that I agree with it, but this is your site, and people can take it or leave it as they wish. Free speech is always a good thing.

  482. Reading back, there’s one thing I noticed no one brought up in the many democrat-republican ethical debates here: stem-cell research.

    I definatley believe in it. I have an older cousin, about in his early fifties, who has Parkinsons. It’s not too serious, but because he has it so young, his family is afraid it’ll get much worse when he’s older. He has two little kids, around our age, and it’s really sad to see them have to worry about their father. Stem-cell research is the only way that scientist will one day find a cure for this diseas, and in doing so, help inprove many people’s lives, such like that of my friendly, funny cousin.

  484. I totally believe in stem-cell research – it could be the only way that type 1 diabetes is cured. Being type 1 diabetic and knowing the consequences of it – all type oners get some amount of UGLY long-term complications – I want type 1 cured.
    Those with type 1 or who know someone with it will agree with me.
    And it’s not just long-term complications I worry about (even tho they worry me the most, cos they are SERIOUSLY bad). I gotta do needles 5 times a day, it’s that or die. I gotta eat at certain times whether I want to or not. If my blood glucose goes too low I feel awful (tho I do get to eat something sugary 🙂 ). If it goes too high it increases the long-term complications stuff. If I get keytones and don’t treat them I could die. Etc.
    Type 1 diabetes is serious, even more so than type 2.
    So do you see why I want it cured so much?

    OK, I think I made my point … 🙂

  485. The 700 billion dollars would actually, if things go anywhere near the way they’re planned, be all paid back on their own when things work out. It should be budget-neutral in the end run. By the time we’re getting real salaries, there should be no 700-billion-dollar hole anymore.

  486. I’m type 1 diabetic, and I have to say that it is not true that all diabetics have long-term complications. If you control your blood sugar properly, then you’re fine. It’s that easy.

    Sonja, have you thought about your position beyond your immediate wants? I understand you want a cure; I do too! Really, really badly! No one is going to argue with you about that, but do you really know what they do in embryonic stem cell research? I mean, scientists have found a plethora of other ways to harvest stem cell material without destroying embryos. When you think about it, destroying HUMAN embryos in order to harvest parts of their bodies is nothing short of disgusting, even if you don’t consider the embryo to be a living being.
    Let me say that I am for stem cell research. I’m just not for embryonic stem cell research. Both umbilical cord and adult stem cells have been shown to serve the same purpose as embryonic stem cells without the need to destroy embryos.

  487. Evan, I read that all type 1 diabetics experience some amount of long-term consequences … And not all diabetics find control easy, even when they’re doing everything they’re told.
    And I never said anything about embryonic stem cell research. In fact it sounds pretty disgusting.
    But yes for the other stem cells. They are one of the most promising branches in “the search for the cure” (how many times have I heard that phrase … ).
    And it’s not just me I’m concerned about (nor is it an IMMEDIATE want!). There are HEAPS of other diabetics out there and I don’t want them to go thru anything bad either.
    I hope my position is a bit clearer …

  488. Yeah, sorry if I was a bit direct, Sonja. But when most people hear stem cell research, they think of embryonic stem cell research the same way as when people hear evolution, they think of macro-evolution. I’m glad to hear that I misunderstood your original statement.

    Yeah, control isn’t always easy, but it’s possible with the right sacrifices. It seems a lot harder now because, as you probably know, your blood sugars go haywire through your teen years. It’s supposed to get easier when you reach adulthood.

    I was just trying to point out that, although I too want a cure, some things are just not worth it.

  489. Yeah, I agree on all counts, Evan. And I especially don’t want a cure that’s attached to all sort of inhumane processes.
    I guess that’s one reason to want to “grow up” – better control … 🙂

  490. Hey!!! Is any movie company considering the Uglies Trilogy for a future movie?? Cuz that would be AWESOME!!!

  491. Okay, i would like to say one thing to you scott westerfeld. You support child murder. That is exactly what it is! It is just as bad as going out to a random place, such as the park, and killing some random person that you do not know and then not get in trouble for it. Its MURDER! CHILD MURDER! You sick, sick person who writes good books. You disgust me. But I still like your books. Disgust me.

    Go MCAIN! GO PALIN!!!!! YAY!

    I do not support child murder, do you?

  492. I didn’t mean for it to sound to rood, because i do think you are a good person, it’s just that your choice in politics disgust me. Sorry.

  493. I’m only writing anything here to support one of the most incredible authors is existence. Scott, I’m glad that you support Obama and are urging your readers, at least those who are 18+, to go out and vote. The state our economy is in right now is a disaster, and it’s our job to elect someone who will help get the United States back on its feet. I’m highly against Palin, in every interview I’ve read or watched by her she has managed to contradict herself on every issue but people still support her because, sadly, she is a strong speaker and a woman. I pass people in school who talk about how they would vote for her just because of that last fact. She is a woman who is NOT for woman’s rights. And this is what gets me again: I’m not religious, but I’m not an atheist either. My problem is that religion and politics are always intertwined when they shouldn’t be. If you are Christian and believe that gay people shouldn’t be married, that’s your belief. No one can force you to believe otherwise, you’re free to think what you want. But so why should someone who is gay be banned from marriage? Why does one person’s belief matter more than another person’s? You don’t have to support gay marriage, but that doesn’t mean you should be able to ban it from someone who does. And that’s just one of the zillions of topics that get all fuzzy when it comes to religion-meets-politics…

    I think I’ve ranted enough. I support Obama and Biden because they are honest politicians who aren’t resorting to the same sort of “low blows” that McCain and Palin seem to be dishing out. I think if Obama loses the election I’m begging my family to move to China.

  494. did anybody here that obama might not be able to run because he is not born in the usa?!?! oh well, i don’t really care because im for mcCain but people who are for obama might want to know

  496. I understand that Obama is all charismatic and I thought what he said made sense for a while. But then I realized that raising taxes on the rich just doesn’t help the economy; they’re the ones making investments and starting companies! And anyway, there shouldn’t be a penalty for being successful; it’s not fair to take their money. Everyone should have the same (low) rate of taxation. And do you really trust the government to be in charge of maintaining your health? The quality of health care would go down if it became yet another thing for the government to worry about. I don’t want to sound like some loony conservative; I really disagree with them on abortion and gay marriage and some things about the war. The Republicans have problems, but at least with them we can worry about those after the economy is fixed. With Obama it will be down for a longer time!
    P.S. It doesn’t matter anyway cause the election’s over.

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