Las Politicas

I have an education…and I have the pictures to prove it! I’m going to bring these pictures on my job interviews ( just kidding).

Caroline Calvillo

Hello, Marky-Mark,  (yes, I recognize the incorrect spelling, but I dutifully make a reference to the Funky Bunch when I am discussing ANY Marc)

While I totally understand that we have never met, nor actually spoken to eachother, I already want to give you a big hug and call you my “BFF Marc”.  (Claws in, ladies.  I can have a few BFFs)  I wanted to send out some sincere thanks for Campos Commentary.  Lovely Rachel keeps me up to the minute with your non-stop humor and antics, as well as forcing me to go to the gym with her, so I am keeping her under the “Blessing and a Curse” column…but I digress.

With titles like, “  “Shelley’s $4 Million Special,  One Too Many, ‘Roid Warriors” & “Dangling Hanging, Cold Blooded, Globes, We Accept Pesos” etc., you pique interest and make me giggle.  I just wanted to send out some thanks for the entertainment and information, and let you know that Caro and I are super interested in getting our hot liberal tails to the convention this year, so feel free to keep us posted.  Or put us in your bag.   We could totally go for “journalistic purposes”, though.  Think of it- dual-real-time blog postings at the convention.   Its just an idea.   I mean, unless you think its cool.  Then, I get full credit.  ;)  Anywho- have a fab day and keep it real, mi compadre. 

XO, an Go Stros!!

Teri

Campos Commentary can be found here: http://www.camposcommunications.com/dailycommentary.html

Lola is shocked and feeling kind of violent from the revelations of this post. 

From all outward appearances it would seem that Michelle Obama is involving herself directly in a political strategy pertaining to her husband’s running for president. The funny thing is..she is complaining about his personal habits concerning his laundry and leaving the butter out.

From AP

 ”Today, he still didn’t put the butter up after he made his breakfast. I was like, ‘You’re just asking for it, you know I’m giving a speech. Why don’t you just put the butter up?’” she told a roaring crowd at a recent Chicago fundraiser for women backing her husband’s campaign.

It’s the sort of intimate ribbing that makes a famous person seem more regular, and observers say it helps humanize the first-term senator from Illinois who has shot to political stardom.

DePaul University marketing professor Bruce Newman, who has written several books on political marketing, sees the teasing as a strategy for Obama, through his wife, to appeal to professional women who might otherwise vote for one of his chief rivals for the nomination, Hillary Clinton”

Discussing your spouse during an election is a rather risky endeavor. Teresa Heinz Kerry made some strange remarks during 04 election and of course Hillary made her “baking cookies” reference during her husband’s first campaign.  Some strategist’s say that Obama’s comments could make her husband seem macho-like when it comes to doing housework.  In terms of politics…you can never say the right thing.

Caroline

I’m sure this news is causing most at the World Bank to roll their eyes. Let’s hope Zoellick is better at helping world poverty rather than arranging hefty compensation packages to girlfriends. Robert Zoellick, a Goldman Sach’s executive has essentially worked as President Bush’s trade chief and as the US’s No. 2 diplomat. He is a unilateralist and believes in “free trade”.  It is believed that Zoellick’s political tendencies are rather Neocon like.  Great.

Above is how I react when a Neocon says they believe in “free trade”

Caroline

I have a feeling this will not be my only post about the mentioned subject matter.

 It’s about effin time something was done.

From The AP….

“ Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission blamed both authorities and protesters Thursday for “excesses” during a months of unrest last year in Oaxaca, and urged the government to investigate its finding that federal police tortured detainees

In its final report on the unrest in the southern colonial city, the independent governmental commission found that 12 people were killed in the conflict, mostly protesters shot by gunmen. The report also slammed the federal government for not intervening sooner after state authorities were overwhelmed.

What began as a teachers’ strike in May 2006 quickly turned into a broader protest in which a coalition of leftist groups occupied the city center for nearly five months to demand the ouster of the Oaxaca state governor.

Shortly after the shooting death of Bradley Roland Will, a 36-year-old journalist-activist from New York who was killed while filming a clash between demonstrators and gunmen, then-President Vicente Fox sent federal troops to evict protesters from the city center.

On Thursday, commission President Jose Luis Soberanes said Fox’s administration had “unjustifiably delayed, for more than a month and a half, in complying with its constitutional duty to help restore order and peace in Oaxaca.”

The report also criticized the investigation into Will’s killing, saying Oaxaca prosecutors had failed to probe the facts or bring a good case against his possible killers.

While the commission has the power only to make recommendations, Soberanes said he hopes current President Felipe Calderon will investigate rights violations including complaints that officers tortured at least 13 people being transported to prison.

In all, the commission received 1,352 complaints of rights violations and found hundreds of them justified, mainly for excessive use of force by police.

But the report also stated that “it is important to note that, without exception, both sides in the confrontation committed excesses. Both the demonstrators and public servants committed aggression.”

Soberanes said the protesters, who blockaded the city, had mistreated the people of Oaxaca.

The report found that only one death was directly attributed to the police raid that ended the blockades, but 11 more were closely related — many of them protest supporters killed by unidentified gunmen, as well as one protest opponent slashed to death.

Others died who may not have taken sides in the conflict, such as a motorcyclist who broke his neck when he ran into an unseen cable at a barricade and a person who died in an ambulance blocked by protesters.”

Everybody needs some Smart Water….

Caroline

Maybe I am behind the times, but I just heard of this, and I have yet to fully explore the site, but it seems quite informative…  www.maplight.org  You can follow the money in political contributions and bills that were conveniently passed following… 

I leave you with a pic of Caroline trying to get with my boyfriend at my birthday party.  (kidding, guys!)

xoxo-TH

Yet another topic discussed in my E-government class….

From Mother Jones.

“The current population of virtual worlds, also known as “massively multiplayer online role-playing games” (mmorpgs) such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and Second Life, is estimated at more than 20 million. The population of Mexico City is 19 million.

20% of mmorpg gamers say that the virtual world is their primary place of residence. The real world, a.k.a. meatspace, is just a place to get food and sleep.

Virtual-world gamers play an average of 22 hours a week. The average American spends around 8 1/2 hours a week eating.

In 2005, the fantasy role-playing game EverQuest added a feature that allowed players to place a Pizza Hut order without leaving the keyboard.

1/3 of EverQuest players spend more time inside the game than at their real jobs. 2 in 5 say that if they could make enough money inside the game they would quit their jobs.

mmorpg players say they spend an average of 135 real dollars buying virtual money.

EverQuest players spend an average of 23% more buying other players’ male characters than female characters, even though both sexes have the same abilities in the game.

The virtual-currency trading company ige Ltd. estimates that in 2007 players will spend $1.5 billion on virtual goods and services, from swords to sex.

Entropia Universe offers its players a debit card that can be used at real-world atms to withdraw up to $3,000 a month from their supply of virtual cash.

Second Life’s economy was worth $86 million in 2006. At its current monthly growth rate of 15%, it could top $650 million this year. The gdp of Grenada is $578 million.

In January, Sweden announced it would be the first country to open an embassy inside Second Life. It is also considering taxing its citizens’ virtual earnings.

An estimated 500,000 Chinese gamers are “gold farmers” who perform menial tasks inside online worlds to create virtual goods to sell to players in the West.

A typical gold farmer earns $65 to $100 a month.

In 2005, a man in China received a life sentence for murdering another gamer who had sold off his virtual sword inside the game Legend of Mir 3.

When a World of Warcraft player died last February, fellow gamers held an online memorial by a virtual lake “because she loved to fish in the game.” The mourners, who came unarmed, were killed when the event was raided by rival players, who posted footage of the attack on YouTube.

84% of World of Warcraft players are male, and half of the game’s female characters are created by men. Only 1% of male characters belong to women.

About 29% of female online gamers and 8% of male gamers say they’ve dated someone they first met in a game.

1/3 of female gamers make their characters get married; 10% of male players do. A Second Life minister who performs avatar weddings says most virtual marriages last about a month.

A survey of college-aged Sims players found that 50% with divorced parents made their game characters get divorced. No players whose parents were still married did.

When a Chinese couple filed for divorce in 2005, the husband reportedly tried to keep $5,000 worth of virtual property in exchange for their real-world apartment. The wife wanted to split both. They had met the year before inside an online game.

The editor of Slustler, a magazine with explicit images of Second Life avatars, says, “The ‘girl next door’ effect is way higher than in real porn…. You could actually meet the people you see in the magazine.”

An hour with a virtual escort in Second Life costs between 4 and 12 real dollars.

“O Mee Pooba“ means “I’m pregnant” in “Simlish,” the language spoken in The Sims.

The Bare Naked Ladies, the Black Eyed Peas, and Depeche Mode have recorded songs in Simlish.

Celebrities who have appeared as avatars in Second Life include Jay-Z, Arianna Huffington, former Virginia governor Mark Warner, Suzanne Vega, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Formed to fight for political rights for avatars, the Second Life Liberation Army has bombed a virtual Reebok store and shot avatars shopping at American Apparel.

For $1,500, live-shot.com offered armchair hunters the chance to shoot a real animal via the Internet. After lining up crosshairs on their computer screen, visitors could fire live rounds with a click of the mouse.

In 2003, Hezbollah released a video game in which players were awarded medals for throwing grenades at images of Ariel Sharon.

America’s Army, the Army’s recruitment video game, has been downloaded 17 million times. “It shows we are not robots,” explained an Iraq vet who appears as a character in the game. “We’re just people.”

The Navy has spent $4 million to study the use of virtual reality to treat ptsd. Says an official, “We also hope that this type of therapy, with its video-game-like qualities, will resonate well with the current generation of warfighters.’”

Nearly half of online gamers say they are addicted to their games.

“Gamesterdam,” a rehab program for video-game addicts, opened in Holland last July to “give these people a taste of life. Real life!”

Above is a picture of me and “Los Primos”…I think they should have a song in Simlish.

“It isn’t right, it isn’t fair” that some countries “that arm themselves then want to prohibit others from arming themselves in self-defense,” Those were the words that Nicaragua’s Leftist leader, Daniel Ortega said in regards to formally re-establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea. Politically aligning yourself with a totalitarian government isn’t exactly a step in the right Socialist direction. This could prove to be a major foreign policy blunder. Nicaragua isn’t a major player in the international arena and bringing about this kind of notoriety is only going to work to the detriment of the already impoverished country.

I say Ortega needs to see a “Los Primos” performance…that should clear his head…and maybe he should drink some smart water.

Caroline

Apparently, Florida has a problem.  They can’t seem to stick to the rules and pay attention.  They have decided to preempt thier state primary to January 29th, 2008, an entire week early.  Accoring to party rules, this could mean some serious consequences in the area of delegates- at the least, they will half of thier delegates (from the state) to the national convention.  The Dems are setting the bar higher, and proposing that any candidate who campaigns in Florida will lose the rights to ANY delegates from Florida. (these penalties have not been voted on, as of today)  Hillary is still campaigning in Miami as of Monday…

Personally, I think its a Freudian thing, but whatever. 

Sticking with “Size Matters”,

Teri

ps- On a side note, I seriously think that Caroline and I need to go to the DNC.  Seriously.

My graduation weekend was everything I expected, fun and exhausting. The weekend started off with bang when the police shut down the Political Science graduation party on Friday night. The following day at Reliant arena the Poli Sci professor’s had a rockin’ tailgate party. Refer on my Blog roll to Professors- R squared for a picture of the tailgate and to learn of a new development in my life!
The host with the most, Dr. Taylor attempted to reason with the police on Friday night..but it didn’t work. See picture below.

The next day I graduated!

I was going for a sexy here I am world picture. It didn’t work so well.

Then I had a party at my parents house that rocked the neighborhood.

Me with family from Mexico.

The Mariachi’s!

All my favorite people were there and I had a wonderful time. The weekend got to me and then this happened….

I fell asleep as the night came to a close.

Another incredible development of the weekend was my brother and my cousin decided ( now in there 30’s) that they were going to form a boy band called “Los Primos- The ying yang of sexy” and decided that the picture below would be the cover of their debut album.

A wonderful weekend I will never forget…and I really hope this boy band thing really comes off..I’ll be their manager!

Caroline