Many of my friends have decided to part ways with Facebook. While I respect their reasons for doing so, I would like to give a few reasons why Facebook is so important and why blogging won’t fill the void. I would also like to predict that these ex-Facebookers will return someday.

Now for the reasons why Facebook is important.

Reason #1 – It’s Not Just About You

I know that the decision to quit is entirely up to you, but the genius of Facebook is that it connects people. Now maybe it is not the type of connection you are wanting, but maybe it is the type of connection others are wanting with you. More than half of my friends do not live close enough to visit but I can keep them updated on what is going on in my life and in my family’s life. Sure I could call, but both parties have to be available at the same time and all you can do is talk…you can’t see video, pictures, or text. Facebook allows you to connect with people on a grander level (or a less grand level if that is what you want). If you read this and then think to yourself, “But I don’t want to connect or reconnect with half of these people.”, then your problem is not with Facebook, but with an inability to say no to someone, so let’s not blame Facebook for that. If you desire face to face relationships, you can have those too, are you honestly thinking that Facebook makes you have less face to face relationships? I don’t believe that.

Reason #2 – Easier Than Email

It is much easier to organize a group of people to do something with Facebook. I am not talking about the events or group features, but the beauty of writing a note to multiple people and seeing all the conversations in a threaded form, something you cannot due with Facebook.

Reason #3 – Facebook Rules and Blogging Drools

Blogging is dead. And yes, I know the irony here since I am writing this in my blog, I would put it on Facebook, but it’s intended audience would not see it. Let me rephrase this, personal blogging is dead, journalism blogging is very much alive. Facebook is far superior to personal blogging, because you know your friends will see stuff, while they might not even know that you updated your blog. People immediately know when you have put new pictures of your kids on Facebook. It is also more rich with features. You can tag photos, so if I only want to see photos with certain pictures I can, or if someone tags me, I can instantly see that photo to make sure I am wearing a shirt. You can also comment on individual things rather than a whole group of pictures. Putting your personal thoughts, photos, music, and videos on Facebook is a much better way to pass along your life than a blog. If you read this and think to yourself, “But I blog for me, not for others.”, then what you are looking for is a diary not a blog. Bottom line if you blog, you want others to see it and more importantly you want your friends to see it. And where are they? That’s right Facebook!

Reason #4 – I Love Technology

We live in the 21st century and every aspect of our lives have embraced technology. We can share music, videos, and photos to anyone in the world. That is amazing and Facebook allows us to utilize this more than any other service. You can hate status updates all you want, but I have seen some amazing videos and discovered some great music because others pass along the stuff that moves them.

Reason #5 – The New Facebook Layout

I know many people don’t like the new look of Facebook, but it allows users to only see what they want to see, because we all know there are a lot of silly things out there. I take all the dumb quizzes, but you don’t have to and you don’t have to see when I do. It is totally customizable, so you can’t really complain about about the silliness anymore. You are in control.

Final Thoughts – Do What You Want

Seriously do what you want, I see most of you in real life so it doesn’t effect me too much, I will even read your blog posts, but just know that I “Facebook miss you”.

So I might get to live through Great Depression II. Kind of scary. I seriously wake up every morning and check to see if it has happened yet. I guess this is what people experienced early on in the Cold War with the threat of nuclear attack. Not that a severe financial catastrophe would kill that many people, though I am sure it would kill some people. We don’t have any major investments that I am worried about, but I do worry about being evicted because our landlord can’t make the mortgage, the cost of food and gas, and the other consequences that could effect daily life. Bottom line times are kind of scary, throw in that it is a presidential election year and it makes it all the more interesting.

I have always thought of myself to be fairly conservative and “republican” when it comes to fiscal policy and liberal and “democrat” when it comes to social policy. I think that the two have recently merged for me in a strange way and swung me abruptly to the left. The reason is the $700 billion bailout proposed by President Bush, which is supported by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

I know that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are brilliant men who know what they are doing and do their jobs well.  This being said, I do believe that this bailout fits well with their (and President Bush’s) interests and shows what they think is important.  They think that preserving the “American Dream” way of life is so important that they should throw $700 billion dollars at it. I think this is wrong. I can only begin to imagine what the consequences would be if this bailout didn’t happen, but maybe people should suffer these consequences. We got ourselves into this mess. What changed the my whole viewpoint was a quote from an interview with Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democrat from Vermont. He says,

“For years now, they’ve (Republicans) told us what we can’t afford—that the government providing healthcare to all people is just unimaginable; it can’t be done. We don’t have the money to rebuild our infrastructure. We don’t have the money to wipe out poverty. We can’t do it. But all of a sudden, yeah, we do have $700 billion for a bailout of Wall Street.”

This statement makes it clear to me. The current administration cares more about people’s financial well being rather than their physical well being or the financial well being to the extremely poor demographic. It is becoming clearer to me how I think I will be voting in November. This stuff has got to change.

Check out this interview on CNN with Sen. Chris Dodd about the repercussions of the bailout.

So I am in the middle of watching “Thirteen Days” for the second time for a paper that I have to write for my history class. Yes, I said in the middle of, because I tend to watch movies like people read books, I don’t have the ability to stay awake through an entire movie. It is a great film, but it has really got me thinking about the upcoming election.

The movie is about the Kennedy Administration’s response to the Cuban Missile Crisis and if you haven’t seen it and are worried about spoilers in this post…shame on your US history teacher!  I have been trying to predict what either Obama or McCain would do in a situation like the Cuban Missile Crisis and it has confused my deciding who to vote for or even the desire to vote even more.  Here are my conclusions/predictions:

Disclaimer: I am speculating about Obama/McCain and realize I could be completely wrong.

Let’s start with McCain.  I know his a hero for being a Veteran and POW, great, however that doesn’t qualify you to be a president, so maybe find a different platform during your speeches. If he were in JFK’s shoes during the Cuban Missile Crisis I am afraid he would be a bit too trigger happy and would have bombed the heck out of Cuba, most likely ushering in WW3.  I can respect his decisions about staying in Iraq as much as I disagree with them, but I think that his POW experience might even hurt his ability to be President, rather than help it.

On to Obama.  My problem with this guy is that I can’t imagine him even being able to deal with this type of a situation, so I have no idea what he would really do.  This sums up my overall opinion of him.  I think he is very vague, which isn’t always bad, he could really surprise us for the positive, however, not to jump on the lack of experience bandwagon, but when it comes to foreign policy and protecting American citizens what would he really do?  I don’t know…can I vote for someone that I don’t know how would respond to these situations?

Conclusion, I still have no idea what to do. I wish Hillary was still an option, I am more convinced she would have been the best choice, but that ship has sailed. I am ready for someone with the guts to do what he or she thinks is right (like George W. Bush) and have it be what is actually right (unlike George W. Bush).  I want a candidate that is bold. One that stands for human right’s, whether that be for the unborn, women, the poor, the foreign, or sick.  I want someone who can acknowledge things like poverty, AIDs, torture, healthcare, and education. But mostly I want someone who isn’t afraid to depart from party lines to do the right thing.  So here it is:

Lieberman 2008

P.S. Just kidding, I do like Lieberman, though not for President.  I am hoping that either Obama or McCain can shine in someway by November so I can feel comfortable in voting.

Bottom line…Mr. Dobson you are not the Pope of the Evangelical church, please go back to being a psychologist and a professional in family issues.

Click here to read Barak Obama’s original speech. Click here to hear it.

Click here to read a really good article by the “liberal” Christian Jim Wallis (please note that my use of quotation marks is a poor replacement for my sarcastic voice inflextions, Jim Wallis is far from liberal).

Check out this article on Gizmodo, but especially check out the video.

Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History