Why I have Stomach Aches So Often...

by Nicole Parker.


In order to get financial aid money for summer, you need to fill out an application online of course. In order to submit, you need to put a value in the drop down box for credit hours taken over the summer. The drop down box is grayed out. I've tried this in Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. WHY is it not working? And of course, the person in the fin. aid office is gone for the day, and this has to be done by tomorrow morning. Breathe in. Breathe out. I am aware of my feet. My negative thoughts are just flooooooaaaating like bubbles..... bla blobbidy bla. :)

Okay, the box is probably grayed out because the value is automatically filled in with how many hours I'm enrolled for, so the true problem is that the value inputted automatically is "0". Probably because I owe money, which is WHY I'M TRYING TO DO THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE...TO PAY THAT MONEY!!! On 4 hours of sleep, I am having a VERY hard time dealing with this crap. And my shoulder and my stomach are both hurting a lot. :( And I have to write ten learning points (easy) plus an explanation as to why I could not hand this in today.

Bleeding Heart Liberal Emails

It's kind of funny how many of these "Please Help!" emails I get. It's my fault; when I have a job, I do try to give when I can...so, please help if you can.

"Dear Nicole,

I wanted to be sure you saw my email. With the support of people like you, we're swiftly moving into Mogadishu, now home to nearly half a million refugees from Somalia's famine. They're crowded into little huts made from twigs, rags and plastic bags. More arrive each day, and they desperately need help just to survive.

Please make a donation now to save lives in the drought-ravaged Horn.

Thank you.

NKG"

––––––––– Forwarded message –––––––––
From: Neal Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corps
__________________________________________________

And shortly thereafter, this one:

"

Mao Hengfeng was delivered home from detention unconscious and in a wheelchair.


Dear Nic,

The last time Mao Hengfeng was home from jail, the celebration was short-lived. She had roughly two days of freedom before being re-detained on vague charges.

Two weeks ago, when Chinese police returned Mao Hengfeng home from her most recent term of "Re-Education through Labor" - it didn't feel right to celebrate at all.

She was home, but she was delivered unconscious in a wheelchair...severely beaten...clearly tortured...barely alive1.

It gets worse. Shanghai authorities have been known to return detainees to their homes shortly before they die so that they can later wash their hands of all culpability. Because her release was completely unexpected, Mao's husband and family could only expect the worst.

I can honestly tell you that some of my happiest moments here at Amnesty International have been the days when a prisoner of conscience is released. Just knowing that they are being reunited with their loved ones makes our work all the more satisfying.

But bittersweet doesn't even begin to cover the disgraceful "homecoming" of Mao Hengfeng.

Not only should she have never been detained in the first place for voicing her beliefs, but no one - and I mean no one - should ever experience the appalling treatment she did while in detention.

Help us demand accountability for the torture and abuse of Mao Hengfeng.

For simply demanding political and social change, Chinese authorities have repeatedly arrested this wife and mother of three.

Her most recent detention stems from her 2009 protest of the detention of Liu Xiaobo, a prominent human rights defender in China and the recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. She has also been a strong advocate for women's reproductive rights and the victims of forced evictions in Shanghai.

We've been told that since being home, Mao's condition has improved slightly. She regained consciousness and has started to walk and talk again slowly. We couldn't be more relieved to hear this news and hope that her progress continues.

But even though Mao's condition may continue to improve, Amnesty International will not let her wounds be forgotten.

Take action for Mao Hengfeng. Please take action to support this courageous woman's struggle for human rights!

Thank You,

Michael O'Reilly
Senior Campaign Director, Individuals at Risk
Amnesty International USA "

from The Onion...I'm done with trying to embed it perfectly, so you get the text, some pictures, and no main picture, and you'll like it.

New GOP Strategy Involves Reelecting Obama, Making His Life Even More Miserable

August 10, 2011 |

ISSUE 47•32

WASHINGTON—Calling a GOP victory in the 2012 presidential election antithetical to the party platform, top Republicans revealed a new long-term political strategy Tuesday: reelecting Barack Obama and making his life even more of a living hell than it already is.

"For three years, the Republican Party has coalesced around the single goal of making President Obama's every waking moment sheer and utter torture," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. "But we can't continue to do that if he's not in office."

"If we are going to make the president a haggard shell of a human being by the time he leaves the White House, we need four more years of never compromising, four more years of miring every piece of legislation in unnecessary procedural muck, four more years of pretending we want to work with the president and then walking away from the table at the last second," McConnell added. "Four more years! Four more years! Obama 2012!"

According to GOP sources, the decision to cede the 2012 election to Obama came after rank-and-file Republicans agreed that grinding the president down to nothing and pushing him to the brink of insanity was far more in line with the Republican Party's core principles than actually controlling the White House, making laws, or governing the country.

Republican officials said that because they won't be burdened with a time consuming presidential campaign, they can start looking beyond the 2012 general election and begin developing a four-pronged attack designed to ruin the president emotionally, physically, personally, and professionally.

Moreover, giving the president a second term in office would reportedly allow GOP lawmakers to build on the mental distress they've already caused him.

"If you look at what we've accomplished as a party in the last four years—making President Obama lose his temper on multiple occasions and even causing him to storm out of a meeting in frustration—it doesn't make sense for us to throw all that away, not when we could do so much more," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said. "If by being impossible to work with we are able to make the president physically shake with frustration during every single meeting, give him the nervous tick of mumbling angrily under his breath, tarnish his entire legacy, and in the process completely destroy his faith in humanity, then we've succeeded as lawmakers."

"If you thought this debt ceiling thing was bad, wait till you see how unbearable we are when it comes time for the Bush tax cuts to expire," Cantor added. "We are going to pummel this man over and over and over until he regrets ever getting into politics."

In order to make the president's next four years the worst of his life, GOP legislators are reportedly working on a new "Destroy Every Fiber of Barack Obama's Being" initiative, a plan that includes benchmarks such as making Obama look 10 years older than he is just six months into his second term; ruining his marriage before the 2014 midterm elections; and, by the time he leaves office, making him break down in front of the entire nation and say the words "I give up. Just please stop."

"If Barack Obama doesn't go to bed fuming with deep primal rage every single night, then we haven't done our job," said House Speaker John Boehner, who later called the residual effect of getting to watch Obama's supporters become more and more disillusioned with their country as their president's posture deteriorates, his face becomes exceedingly gaunt, and his once booming voice turn shaky and unconfident "definitely a plus." "Mark my words: The Republican Party is committed to giving the American people a president who has a chronically bleeding gastric ulcer that makes it almost impossible for him to stand up."

"To be honest, I'm glad we're pulling out of this election, because I really don't know what we would focus on if we won," Boehner added. "Health care?"

While a major party forgoing a presidential campaign is considered unorthodox, Beltway insiders were not surprised by the Republican announcement, saying the GOP was simply playing to its strength.

"Making Barack Obama's life a waking nightmare is what we do best," Republican strategist Todd Harris said. "It's also just smart politics. After all, getting the man reelected and watching him whither away to nothing before our very eyes will fire up the base more than any of the current Republican presidential candidates will."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

How am I supposed to stay calm when I deal with idiocy like this? A certain non-professor (instructor) who shall remain nameless requires that for each of our writing assignments, we hand in two copies. First of all, I have no idea why that is necessary. Second of all, in a huge rush to finish the assignment on time, I forgot to print out a second copy. As a GESTURE...(I assumed that is all it was because it surely wouldn't be important)....I saw him after class and mentioned that I had forgotten to print a second copy, and could I bring it to his office later or email it to him? He says no. I say, is there a penalty if there is not a second copy? He says, yes, there is a deduction in points. I ask how many...he says 5-7 points. I verify that that is enough to go down from an A to a B..he says that is correct. Oh my gosh, seriously?!!!!! I feel like pulling my hair out: THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. GRRRRRRRRR. What is the point?! I hate sounding like this, but my GPA better not go down because of a PSYCH class of all things! I understood when I had to give up a 4.0 GPA due to a Statistics class: that was kind of expected, but if it goes down again because of this class, I will be livid.

I love my nerd friends

"I need you to find several pictures of Dr. Who's tardis and email them to me as links."

"The Worst Cleaning Jobs Made Easy"

Okay AFTER this, I'll get to work. But the OCD side of me loves RealSimple.com and their awesome tips. The pictures in this article are awesome and so realistic, but I can relate ... these jobs are not fun ... but I think I've come up with pretty good strategies on my own. Nevertheless...
Now I want to clean instead of read, but NO! oh, here's the link: (wait...if anyone reads this, or if I read this later, is there a way to embed a video when there is no code for embed to copy and paste in?) That's something else I can distract myself with! Oh boy! http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/worst-cleaning-jobs-made-easy-00000000032847/index.html

Who Needs Sleep?

The whole sleeping thing just didn't work out last night. So now...I wait until a decent hour to call my friend and see if she wants to go out for breakfast.