My company is one of many customer service providers worldwide that are supporting the telethon and I have signed on to help manage call flow through our global services this evening. One of our agents just took a 1 MILLION DOLLAR DONATION! There is hope, for the people of Haiti, and all of man kind. To whomever that was....thank you! update: our agents have fielded over 20K calls in a little over 3 hours. We have had kids call in donating their piggy bank money and a lady who is out of wor...

I'm sure that there is a story of health care oppression for every word in the 2000+ page bill that has now come out of the Senate. Mine is not one of tragic disease or denied benefits, but the impact of the situation I am in threatens to first destroy my faith in humanity then destroy my family with financial ruin, and none of us are even sick. I am a work-from-home call center worker (support staff, not phones) with a job that is not only extremely rare, but also exactly what I worked for yea...

I wrote this story about school intrusion. All comments welcome: Intrusion Seventeen-year-old Dillan Chase leaned against the wall outside a classroom door in the English department of Middleton High. His sixteen-year old junior girlfriend, Chelsea Bri was across the opening from him, kneeling down slightly, and holding a very real semi-automatic assault rifle in her hands. Her blue eyes sparkled over her freckled, upturned nose as she looked over into Dillan’s intense and focused expression. ...

We have to get our information somewhere. That being said, the only two methods we truly have to consume that information is to read that which has been written, or hear about it from the mouths of others. This makes the punditry of America an essential avenue of communication for all things as not everyone has the tenacity or the time to mine the endless data-streams of the global net researching all there is to know about that which is in the news. We rely upon those who portray themselves as ...

I haven't posted here in some time due to some bad experiences a few years back but have been feeling motivated to write so I'm going to use the DU Journal for personal coverage of what has become an ever more tumultuous world. My journal, "The Liberal Insurgent", will be a venue for on the ground coverage of how the national political landscape affects an area that at times seems somewhat removed from the chaos that permeates the rest of the world. I will try my hand at publishing a weekly colu...

Port Orchard, WA I’m not 100% sure what motivated me to drive 45 miles to attend a protest that I not only didn’t believe in, but had mocked pretty openly as the date approached. I think a part of me didn’t honestly want to believe that the people of my own home town, quiet and proud folk all, could be moved to follow what I considered to be a ludicrously wrong minded protest based on a false metaphor. I had to see the thing for myself and until I pulled up to that intersection I fully ...

Port Orchard, WA I’m not 100% sure what motivated me to drive 45 miles to attend a protest that I not only didn’t believe in, but had mocked pretty openly as the date approached. I think a part of me didn’t honestly want to believe that the people of my own home town, quiet and proud folk all, could be moved to follow what I considered to be a ludicrously wrong minded protest based on a false metaphor. I had to see the thing for myself and until I pulled up to that intersection I fully expected...

I think the intent was that these things are allowed as deterrent to crime, so we should consider carefully what is to be deemed a crime. Also, while I am sure that your brother is as you say, I think most cops will portray themselves that way until they are in the heat of pursuit, then it all changes. Telling people you "don't want to do it" is their rationalization of a desire to do it when necessary and without that desire I don't think you can be a cop. Its not a bad thing, its just the way...

9pm in a restaurant is a little late, but calling that child abuse is a way out of line. As far as judging another's parenting based on taking their kids to a restaurant: get over yourself. People do what they will and, since it is a public place, if you don't like it or are disturbed then get over it or leave. Kids are kids, they are loud, messy, unruly, unpredictable and not everyone has the same tolerances or abilities as you. I take my kids wherever I please, however I please, and I try to...

I wrote a series of songs just as lyrics (before I could play the guitar and before I had a computer to compose on). Most of these don't really have a tune, but I do have at least rhythm parts in mind. I wrote these under the pseudonym Gabriel Paige, a name I found appropriately gothic for 1994. The band was labeled "My Favorite Little Mind Game". This stuff is dark, dark, dark, so be warned. Enjoy. And as always please share song lyrics you have written. Anywhere But Here The wind is blowing...

We share our Sprint contract with them, but I did not realize they were Canadian. While I understand the economic facts involved in outsourcing, there is an underlying deceit to the whole gig. It is two fold. First is fixed labor value. Contracting your customer service for a single billable rate insures that you will never have a workplace with any degree of career longevity for the workers. If the rate Convergys can charge Sprint for their call center labor is never going to change, what ben...

Transcribing ones old written work can be a very self-deprecating task. I can't believe so much of the stuff I thought was so good is soooooooooo bad. On the other hand, I have found some gems in there. A little polishing (16 years later) and I think some of it is passable, if still juvenile poetry. Enjoy - feel free to share Night's Shadow Who knows what vile creatures come When darkness steals the day. What monsters hunt and stalk their prey, When dusk dissolves to night? Horrors dance, com...

I got some great positive response last weekend from a poetry thread I posted. Since a few people asked for more here it is. The theme this evening is Juvenile Poetry. These are two pieces I wrote in High School (an unthinkable amount of years ago) with a little, more recent, editing. Enjoy. (oh, and if you have some old, dusty, drippy, HS poetry that you are almost ashamed to say you wrote - feel free to share) Raindrop Roses A garden, In spring. Drenched from April rain. A single rose bloss...

Some days the threads one reads and participates in seem to follow a course and theme beyond our own choosing. Today has been the day for locked threads about drugs and sex, and several involving poetry. That being said, I shared a song I wrote in poem form on a thread that was subsequently locked and deleted so it only got read a couple times. It runs along the drugs and poetry lines without being inappropriate. Please enjoy. For my journal, here it is again. Any comments or feedback are welc...

I know saying that just makes one want to reply, but I don't want this locked for fear of loosing it from my journal. I wrote this Haiku about Britney for a locked thread and want to preserve it for posterity: Naked private place, With photographic witness, Helps the waning fame.

This story is so outrageous that I had to share with all of my friends here at the DU. It is absolutely true (and apparently was done elsewhere in the country). Enjoy. I have two friends form work who, in their surfings of the net, came across a loophole in a national retailer's holiday sale that paid off big time. It turns out that this retailer was offering a large selection of Transformers for $5 and, simultaneously, offering an online coupon that gave the bearer a $10 credit toward the purc...

Last weekend I was listening to the radio and the DJ started a discussion regarding a report that some schools are starting to teach their students to "act up" against armed school invaders. This discussion (which I participated in, my POV was aired on the side of pro) inspired me to write a story that takes the whole idea to the next level. I felt that, if they were going to teach students to fend off invaders, why not have a group of students whose purpose it is to defend their school against...

(from my column 1024) Activists, I can’t stand them. In fact nothing makes me nauseated quicker than trying to have a meaningful discussion with someone who thinks they are changing the world by using birth control and eating vegetables. While most activists are at least good for body count at protests, many are detached followers with no real ideas of their own operating under the false notion that “every little bit helps.” That is a fallacy. If everyone in the world coupled up and had only on...

Quick! Answer before the thread gets locked! (with all the posts about the band I thought we should all be clear on this issue :))

That you heard of by word of mouth in the past year. It has to be a band that's not getting any national radio play. That means local, unsigned, underground, or just obscure. Here is my contribution: The Birthday Massacre Dark gothic band from Toronto. Think female lead NIN. best song: Play Dead (though Nevermind is awesome) You can order their stuff on the web, google em. One more time DU, sound of for the music you love that no one has ever heard of! :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :...

In an effort to fuel the national, underground music scene in all genre's I want to hear from people who have local music in the mix they listen to every day. Tell us the city the band hails from and,if you have website info, tack it on. Gratuitous self promotion is the key to success. It can be your band, a friend's band, a club/bar band you go out to see, whatever. Here's what I have on mine, all these artists are from Bremerton, WA (and suburbs): Bodega: Silver, Good Times (rock, now calle...

The past couple days have played out the stark reality that is the terrorist laden world we live in. When I first heard (via word of mouth) of the newest break in "the war on terror" and the stiffer security measures that have been enforced, I was leary of the need and angry at the further inconvenience those that would do us harm have forced those that would keep us safe to impose. However, after some reading and research it seems painfully obvious how truly vulnerable air transportation is to...

Gratuitous self promotion is the key to success! (Link) I am an unknown author writing what will be the next great Martian invasion story. In the hopes of generating interest, I have published the first act of "Stringline" (my opus) straight to the web to attract interest (and maybe a publisher or good agent :)) If you like Cyberpunk and revolutionary political thinking, I gaurantee a good read. When I'm famous (and I will be famous) - you can all say that you were fans before it was cool ...

But until you are 18 your body belongs to your parents. They aren't aloud to abuse it, but they are legally responsible for its actions. Did this fact suck when I was a teenager, yes it did. Does that make it untrue or un-necessary, no. When you have children of your own you willunderstand. Kids don't have rights, they are the domain of their parents. As a parent, I feel that is the way it should be.

then don't have kids. It should be a joy and an honor to do the right thing for your child, not slavery. My wife joyfully breast fed our daughter for 2 years and is currently doing so for our son. She chooses to do this. This is not slavery, and not something she is forced to do, it is something she feels is right and the best thing for our children. I do not understand why so many WOMEN out there think this is a bad thing. Breasts were designed by god to do one thing, feed children. It is ME...

OK, I hate child pornographers. There is nothing more vile than someone who defiles the innocence and destroys the psyche of a child for their own perverted pleasure. That being said, check out this article from New Hampshire: (Link) MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A 59-year-old Massachusetts man who worked as a photographer at a New Hampshire summer camp has been convicted on nine counts of child pornography. Authorities say Marshal Zidel, of Somerville, Mass., used benign photos of children he took at ...

I am putting a column on my new website that I am entitling "1024". The title is simple enough in meaning, as each column will consist of 1024 characters making each of them a kilobyte in length. A simple schtick to be sure, but one I am finding lends itself well to my purposes. I am going to test post the first column here and it will appear along with a new one when my site launches on 4/20/06. Anyone interested in reading more (I will be posting my fiction, non fiction, poetry, et-al there) ...

re-posted by suggestion from Lounge I saw "V for Vendetta" last night and I have to say, besides being an excellent movie with very current themes and ideas, this movie gave me more than a little pause for thought about the tone of the entertainment media that has been coming out in the past couple of years. It seems to have started some time before the American Idiot album hit the streets and has grown more and more prevalent until, now, the media-scape is finally rife with material on the su...