Aside from that, I've been highly interested in seeing what Sarah Palin had to say in her first interview. I was pretty surprised that she didn't have any concept of what the "Bush Doctrine" meant, but honestly... I wasn't terribly surprised. It's tough when the polar bears start speaking out against you... They've gained a great number of fans, especially ever since those Coca-Cola commercials where they were really just made to look very adorable and where they loved Coca-Cola just like all real Americans do.
Right now, times are really at the point where people are watching their pennies in their pocketbooks. People are also thinking an awful lot more about living a little "greener". I've got to say, one of the simplest things that I did to save a little money and cut down a little bit of the landfill growth was to switch to cloth napkins. I can't lie, though... I've been guilty on more than one occasion of grabbing enough napkins from a napkin dispenser while eating to wipe up the whole restaurant. Sometimes, I feel like I'm grabbing napkins for everybody I know. It became ingrained in me for so long. I even used to grab a handful to load up my (already stuffed full) glovebox in my car. I've tried to reduce that nowadays and not use a napkin once and then go back to the large stack next to my plate.
I think I made the switch a little over two years ago. I hadn't even really thought about the usage until one day, I was talking to my sister (criticizing is probably more accurate) about the amount of paper towels that she was pulling off the roll to clean up a spill of water or something along those lines. She remarked about it being the same as using napkins after I'd scolded her and talked about the waste of paper and that's when it hit me. I wasted so many napkins all the time without even batting an eye. That night, I went to Target and looked for cloth napkins. I found a cool color that would go with my place and grabbed a couple of packs and left, very content with myself.
I guess it's also just an easy project if you're handy with a sewing machine to make up a few, as all you need is some scrap material of your choice to stitch the ends up on. That way, you could make some that you wouldn't feel hesitant about using on a mess because you can choose the material. Heck, you can make some just for the messy meals, make or buy some nice ones for guests, etc.
Since I began using cloth napkins, I feel like it's the only way to go. I used to love cloth napkins when you'd go to a nice restaurant and it just felt classy. Now, I could enjoy that feeling all the time! I even keep a couple at work for my lunches there. It feels good and it's just an even better feeling knowing that I'm saving all the wasted paper of paper napkins. It's cheaper as well even considering you have to wash them, as you can just throw them into an already full laundry and it doesn't really even make any difference to the load!
Another unfortunate thing about paper napkins is that they're almost always not recyclable. On one part, usually recyclables with food/food particles aren't considered recyclable by a lot of recycling programs and I also read that paper napkins contain something in them that can clog recycling machinery (I don't have a source handy). This means that they're pretty much going straight into the landfills that we've already got pretty well loaded and expanding.
For me, this change was just one more thing that made me feel like I was doing my part and walking the walk of all the talk I do about environmental issues and reducing waste. This isn't to say that I don't ever use paper napkins when I'm out and about or when washing my hands at a public restroom, but I'm just more conscious of my usage these days.
Costa Rican artist, Guillermo Vargas aka Habacuc, took his "art" to inconceivably cruel levels last year in the form of animal suffering. Vargas paid a few local boys in Nicaragua to help him to capture a dog and he then tied this dog in an art gallery where it was on display for days without food or wate
r, until it died. This was his concept of "art", entitled "You are what you read", which was "written" on the wall in dog food. This cruelty to the poor animal didn't earn him any punishment for his misdeeds, however. Quite the contrary. Instead of being punished for these actions, he has been selected to represent Costa Rica in the "Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008", a visual art gathering of selected artists. 
Why is the war on Iraq reason to invest in gold? Here's what they have to say-->
"Now its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $400 billion dollars, or more than $200 million a day. With the U.S. economy already burdened with a national debt of more than $9 trillion, many people are deciding that the safest place for their money is in Gold. "
Who are these people that are deciding that the safest place is gold?
How about "Nuclear Weapons" being a reason? Well, on the infomercial, the host claims that if a nuclear weapon is detonated anywhere on the planet that gold prices will skyrocket. And don't forget that North Korea already has nuclear weapons! Why will gold skyrocket as a result of a nuclear weapon? I guess more people will decide that while money can burn, gold will be the safest place to invest, what with nuclear weapons being detonated somewhere.
Gas could go up to $10/gallon? Wow. I heard this one repeated a couple of times on the segment, but couldn't make the connection between this and buying gold. I guess if gas gets so expensive, it'll just be easier to pay in gold. I guess this also really puts that $4/gallon gas prediction in its place...
Experts predict $2000/ounce gold prices in the future? The site says, "While no one can predict with absolute accuracy whether a Gold Coin’s future value will go up or down, troubling economic and world conditions have many experts pointing to Gold’s tremendous upside potential and the possibility of it reaching as high as $2,000/oz. in the future." Who are these "experts"? Unknown. Is this in the far-off-distant-spaceship-flying future? Maybe. It's a little bit hazy...
The host has two "guards" bring out a platform with $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in gold coins. He holds up the $50k in cash, which is in 3 small bundles, in his hands and talks about how you can put this in the bank and earn 3% and in a year, you'll have an additional $1500. He then starts feeling through the gold and explains that if you invest $50,000 in gold and it goes up to $2000/ounce, you'll have $160,000! He then has another guard bring out $160,000, which is in a large case and looks like millions of dollars in comparison to the $50,000.
The biggest thing is that he constantly says that you need to buy gold in case gold prices take off. Is that really a safe investment? To invest just in case you might make a profit? I try to follow investment trends and strategy, rather than investing just in case it might help.
The worst thing of all is that there is a constant ringing of phones in the background throughout the whole "show". I guess it's to show that tons of people are calling in to order, but doesn't really make sense when he's walking all over the place with this ringing phone sound. Especially when he's showing you their high security safe where they're shipping all of your orders from. Who is taking orders in there?!?!
Long story short, well, maybe not so short, you should probably def buy some gold just in case it shoots up in value. The market is set and experts are saying that it's going to increase in value in the future!
To the right, now, you'll find a box that contains links to new stories about Barack Obama in the news. I am definitely an Obama supporter myself and think he is really is that the country should be looking toward for the '08 elections to move in a better direction. You can click here to find out a little more about him and find out more about his views. I won't sit and go into all the details, what with so much information out there about him, his views, and his leanings.
