Brain-Jockey

Brain Food

Written by Audrie Zettick on June 1, 2009

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may already have read these articles.  Consider them brain food on current issues.

• In Pravda, the state news of Russia, an article called “American Capitalism Gone With A Whimper.”  While some things are overstated, it gives an interesting perspective of current events in the U.S. from outside eyes. A bit of a wake-up call.

• In Smart Girl Nation, an article by Dr. Richard G. Fessler debunking the World Health Organization’s ranking of the U.S.’s health care system, showing how their calculations are biased against the U.S.  Numbers aren’t always what they seem at first glance.

Feed your brain.  Think for yourself.  Pass it on.

Survive Obama Inauguration Day and Beyond: Let Your Heart Be A Twitter

Written by Audrie Zettick on January 20, 2009

Many heads are in the clouds and hearts all a twitter with this historic inauguration.  To heck with the size of our carbon footprints, let’s make a carbon caldera as we party like it’s 1999.  

Actually, I’m staying home but I don’t behoove Obama supporters (except perhaps those in the media) their fun and adoration of “the One.”  I avoid fawning over pop culture icons, but admit to being speechless the first time I met Reagan.  I wore “Reagan red” in the 1980s—but only because I looked “hot” in the color. 

And you’d have to have a heart of granite not to be moved by the inauguration of our first black President, in a town where the Capitol was build by slaves.  

Yes, I’m for Hope and Change.  Hope that Obama’s inauguration leads to an historic presidency where the first family becomes less a pop culture figure but more an example of a healthy, intact family to emulate.  Hope that President Obama’s speech on accountability and responsibility isn’t about government’s responsibility as a nanny state, but our’s as citizens. And I hope that I still have change in my pocket after Nancy Pelosi’s majority gets through with my purse.

But as I watch the inauguration today, I’m still filled with dread.  Our local paper drove home why I feel that way with an opening line that reads “Today, America changes course.”  With high level officials like Hillary Clinton and Eric Holder at the helm of major policy-making departments, I’m anxious. Lesser known figures such as Cass Sunstein and several at the Justice Department frighten me even more. As regulatory “czar,” Sunstein is in a position to advance his principles, which include designing regulations around how people behave.  He definitely doesn’t behave the way the folks in my family do, where we eat meat, have relatives that hunt, and haven’t included our pet fish in our wills.

Last week, I came across many lists about how to survive the inauguration, such as this one that gives the advice not to wear sequins lest you become stuck to another sequin-attired attendee at an inaugural ball. Not what I had in mind.  Alas, how do conservatives make it through today, tomorrow and next week without our heads exploding?

Fear not, my friends.  I have found the solution.  Attend the Twitter Ball (see Washington Times) hosted by Smart Girl Politics at 9 p.m. tonight (Jan. 20).  Why?

• It beats wrapping your head in duct tape.
• You can wear sequins without worrying about getting stuck to folks like Nancy Pelosi.
• You can wear pajamas…or less.
• Some of us from #TCOT (Top Conservatives on Twitter) will be there.
• You can rub “virtual elbows” with people like Saul Anuzis, Chip Saltzman, Amanda Carpenter, and others.
• It’s less calories than chocolate (my personal choice for relieving anxiety)
• You can engage in several tracks of discussion, such as 2012, Taking Back the Congress and more.
• You can turn these discussions into action.
• It’s a hangover-free event and even cheaper than Wild Turkey.
• No worry about how many porta-potties are present. 

See you online.