Phoenix for the Summer?

There is suddenly a strong possibility that I will be staying in Phoenix for the summer to intern here instead of Seattle. We'll see what happens. There is also currently another HUGE glut of puppies available at the Humane Society, all lab-retriever and german shepard mixes. I'm telling you, if this apartment allowed dogs, we'd have a new resident.

Which brings me to this summer. If I DO stay in Phoenix, I am moving to an apartment that allows dogs and I am buyin' me a dog, and that's the truth.

Ooooooooo...

I have discovered the international wine section of the grocery store. Guess what I found?

Riesling. From Germany. Mmmm. Although I am not sure I like the fruitiness of it. I tend to favor dry wines. In any case, it's good to drink it and remember Germany...

Ach Tübingen...

Frick.

Well, I got an e-mail this morning informing me that I didn't get one of the internships I applied for in Germany. Although, it was electronically generated and not personally written so for all I know it means I didn't get BOTH of the positions I applied for at a certain company which shall remain nameless. I am holding out hope that I might still get the other one.

The tough thing is not knowing whether it's because my application just wasn't good enough or whether summer was just too far down the road for me to be considered. I'll put in my applications again in a couple months and see what happens.

Seattle Storm

So the snow is coming down measurably in inches in Seattle now. There are 2.5 inches so far. The storm began as I was on the plane waiting to pull out of the gate. I looked out the window and the fog and snowfall were so thick that it just looked as though the whole outside world had evaporated into a gray and white mist. I wanted to get out of the plane and just walk around in it. It was one of those moments when you wish that you could "freeze frame" the world and take some time to wander around.

The pilot and flight attendants kept saying that they were trying to get us off the ground and out of this "nasty weather" to Phoenix where it was "better." I sincerely believe I was the only person on that entire flight that had absolutely no desire to leave the state of Washington at that moment.

I am only excited to be back in Phoenix because I know that the sooner I come back here the sooner finals will be over. Just two and a half weeks, and then I'm free. This is our last full week of classes, and then it's time to enter into the downslope that is finals. December 13th can't come fast enough.

Is It Winter Break Yet?

So Thanksgiving here in Seattle was nice. Our whole family was over here, and it was a large and loud affair as usual, although somewhat unconventional in that the usual Halo tournament upstairs between my stepbrothers and I was abnormally short and I was abnormally sucky. Seriously, what happened to my mad skills?

The second abnormal event was that it snowed last night. Snow actually sticking to the ground in Seattle is rare; snow before January and February is even rarer. I woke up to a foggy, cold, and still-snowing morning, which I loved. I have really enjoyed the cold and rainy weather here over the past few days. I am sick to death of Phoenix's love affair with CONSTANT and UNENDING 80-degree cloudless days. Maybe some people can take monotonous weather like that 12 months out of the year, but I am not one of them. Having my first ever real 4-seasons year in Germany last year changed a few things, and I for one am no longer an Arizonaphile. I'm sorry, but it's NOT supposed to be sunny and warm at the end of November. If you don't need a jacket and/or scarf in November, you are not living in a normal part of the world. I need some rain now and then, hence the serious enjoyment in being home the past few days.

Unfortunately it's time to go back to Phoenix tomorrow already. I can't believe that 4 days went by so fast. I'm anxious to get back only so that we can get on with the ridiculous insanity that is final exams and promptly get the heck out of that horribly sunny state again for winter break, during which time I will be forming and refining my thesis topic, reading lots and lots of books, and spending lots and lots of time in coffee shops watching the rain outside and/or enjoying Seattle at Christmas. I love Seattle at Christmas.

Tomorrow I get to experience air travel on what is supposed to be one of the worst days of the year to fly. I hope it's not too bad. I plan on studying and iPodding all the way back to Phoenix.

::yawn::

5:30am. Time to get up and catch my flight to Seattle.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Things You CAN'T Do....

...when you're not in a pool.

Finally! (squared)

I caved in today and ditched my morning class to go to the Student Health Center. I woke up this morning coughing so hard that I triggered my gag reflex. That is a sign that this 2-week old cough needs to go. Tyler suggested that it was probably a bacterial infection, and that I'd need antibiotics. That is exactly what the health center prescribed me. Matthew is on round 1 of 3 of a ziwlkesjkfhsa, or whatever the medicine is called. Man, I love antibiotics.

I have never once used the health center until today. I was actually pretty impressed with the level of operations they've got there. It's a fully-staffed clinic/doctor's office, and they even had a pharmacy. I walked in with a cough and walked out after being checked out, prescriptions already filled and in hand. Best part is, they just bill your insurance. Love it. Why haven't I used this before?

Finally!

I sent off my applications today for two different internships with a certain telecommunications firm in Germany. We'll see what happens.

Glenn Beck,

...you're my hero.

Matt = Master Chef

I am so proud of the dinner I made tonight. I decided that since cooking should be fun, relatively quick & easy, and healthy, that I am going to make a concerted effort to learn to cook Italian style. So tonight I made a complete 3-course meal. I started off with bread dipped in olive oil & balsamic, followed by fresh tomatoes & mozzarella, and finally finished with baked chicken marinated in Italian dressing. Also a few glasses of a very nice chardonnay that I picked out myself.

Now it's time to do homework.

Surveys are Fun!

Finish The Sentence...

1. I've come to realize that...
Seattle really is my home and that I want to be there.
2. I am listening to...
nothing, actually. Better remedy that. I recommend Josh Radin.
3. I talk...
as little as possible so that my sore throat and cough will go away.
4. I love...
having the free time to sit in a coffee shop and read.
5. My best friend(s)...
are doin' a little dance.
8. I hate it when people...
make assumptions about or otherwise categorize me.
9. Love is...
not far down the road! I can feel it!
10. Marriage is....
very far down the road.
11. Somewhere, someone is...
waking up and doing this exact same survey.
12. I'll always...
act about 20 years older than I actually am.
13. I have a secret crush on...
no one at the moment.
14. The last time I cried was...
maybe a month ago.
15. My cell phone...
irritates me with its stupid little "Verizon Wireless" handicaps.
16. When I wake up in the morning....
I arch my back and stretch, then relax and go back to sleep for a while.
17. Before I go to sleep at night...
I always have to tell myself "Okay, stop thinking. Just breathe slowly."
18. Right now I am thinking about...
the meeting for the Global Section of the Chronicle in a few hours.
19. Babies are...
great, until they turn into teenagers.
20. I get on myspace...
never in your life.
21. Today I...
ate Chex cereal with lots of honey on top.
22. Tonight I will...
do homework.
23. Tomorrow I will...
do even more homework (gotta get ahead for T-Day!)
24. I really want...
a car.
25. The person who most likely to repost this is...
I think Erica and Shannon should do it.

Leiden als Wegweiser

Gepriesen sei Gott, der Vater unseres Herrn Jesus Christus! In seinem großen Erbarmen hat er uns zum zweiten Mal geboren und mit einer lebendigen Hoffnung erfüllt. Diese Hoffnung hat ihren festen Grund darin, daß Jesus Christus vom Tod auferstanden ist. Sie richtet sich auf das neue Leben, das er schon jetzt im Himmel für euch bereithält als einen Besitz, der niemals vergeht oder verdirbt oder aufgezehrt wird. Wenn ihr ihm fest vertraut, wird er seine starke Hand über euch halten und euch bewahren, so daß ihr gerettet werdet und am Ende der Zeit das unvergängliche Leben bekommt, das er euch zugedacht hat.

Deshalb seid ihr voll Freude, auch wenn ihr jetzt für kurze Zeit leiden müßt und auf die verschiedensten Proben gestellt werdet. Das geschieht nur, damit euer Vertrauen auf Gott sich bewähren kann. Wie das vergängliche Gold im Feuer auf seine Echtheit geprüft wird, so wird euer Vertrauen, das viel kostbarer ist als Gold, im Feuer des Leidens geprüft. Wenn es sich als echt erweist, wird Gott euch mit Ehre und Herrlichkeit belohnen an dem Tag, an dem Jesus Christus sich in seiner Herrlichkeit zeigt. Ihn liebt ihr, obwohl ihr ihn nie gesehen habt. Ihm vertraut ihr, obwohl ihr ihn nicht sehen könnt. Darum seid ihr schon jetzt von unaussprechlicher Freude und seligem Jubel erfüllt. Denn ihr seid gewiß, daß euer Vertrauen euch die endgültige Rettung, das unvergängliche Leben, bringen wird.

1 Petrus 1:3-9
(English: 1 Peter 1:3-9)

I have taken to reading my German translation of the New Testament and praying in German. I have found that praying in German is such an amazingly beneficial thing for me to do; it restricts my vocabulary and prevents me from getting carried away in praying for praying's sake. When praying in German, I can only express the simplest desires of my heart, speaking, quite literally, much like a child. Tonight I came across this passage while reading 1 Peter in my German NT. Something about reading the Bible in German makes it come alive for me. After reading this, I finally understand what it means to be joyful in affliction.

We all have one specific demon, one specific pain, that gnaws on our souls incessantly. This demon, this pain, causes us to ask ourselves our life's most important question. This question is different for everyone. But no matter what the question is, no matter what form this personal demon takes, it is always the one that causes us our greatest pain and suffering. We rarely share this pain with anyone else, because this question is always tied to our deepest and darkest secrets.

In the German translation of this passage, Peter describes this question as "the fire of suffering." I love that. The fire of suffering. The English translation says "refined by fire." Personally, I think that expression is ridiculous. It means nothing. It doesn't capture the pain of what it means to be in that place, holding that question in our hands, screaming for an answer. The FIRE of suffering. That's what it feels like, doesn't it? Slowly burning to death. And no one else even knows there's a fire.

But Peter encourages us here to see our suffering in a different light. Don't worry about getting an answer to the question, he says. Instead, take that question to the feet of the One who has planted it in your heart. Don't expect to get an answer - rather, find the discreet joy that comes from knowing that God has planted that question, that suffering. Know that He has allowed it for a reason; that He never wastes any hurt that you endure. That pain has a purpose. It is a test, and it is a marathon.

God wants us to find the hidden joy in our suffering. When I realize that the pain of my deepest question exists solely for my good and for the glory of God, I am comforted beyond any yes/no answer God could give me. It wouldn't help much for God to assure me that one day, I will no longer have this question. How far ahead in the future is the end? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year?.........or in heaven?

No, knowing that it will all be over one day when I die isn't a comfort for today. The comfort and the incredible joy that comes today is knowing that my suffering is the very thing that will lead me to Him. THAT is how we rejoice in affliction. We can even come to a place of THANKING God for our suffering, because He is merciful enough to bestow it upon us and therefore lead us to His open embrace.

"So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy that words cannot express, because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is the purpose of your faith in Him."

Bloody Peasants!!

Run Away!! Run Away!!

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are led by the wise wizard to the lair of a terrible monster ravaging the countryside . . .



Demonstrating - yet again - why Monty Python and the Holy Grail is perhaps the most hilarious movie ever made by the hand of man.

Petition to Revoke the Independence of the United States of America

Okay, this group was created on Facebook, and I have to say, I almost died laughing reading it. Hope you get a laugh too. My personal favourite is number 11.

To the citizens of the United States of America:
In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories.

Except Utah, which she does not fancy.

Your new Prime Minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections.

The House of Representatives and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium." Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour'; skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters.

You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise."

You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to re-spell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.

Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up “vocabulary." Using the same thirty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "uhh", "like", and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

Look up "interspersed."

There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary, then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English." We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).

You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents --- Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles.

While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon." If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.

British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness. Popular British films such as the Italian Job and the Wicker Man should never be remade.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football." There are other types of football such as Rugby, Aussie Rules & Gaelic football. However proper football - which will no longer be known as soccer, is the best known, most loved and most popular. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game.

The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football.

Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies).

We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by 2007.

You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of North America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders," which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. The 4th of July is no longer a public holiday. The 2nd of November will be a new national holiday, but only in Britain. It will be called "Indecisive Day."

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap, and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call 'French fries' are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.

Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling "beer" is not actually beer at all, it is lager . From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager." The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine." This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in the Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From the 10th of November the UK will harmonise petrol (or "gasoline," as you will be permitted to keep calling it until the 1st of April) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon -- get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

16. Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation.

Matt Needs a Car.

This weekend has been spent - so far - exclusively on studying for my Business Law exam coming up on Monday. Yesterday I was thinking to myself that I really need to get my crap together and get my work done by Saturday so that I don't have to use Sunday to do it.

And - just in time for the semester to really beginning to pick up - I have now contracted a sore throat and a headache that will not go away. Worse, the bottle of Ibuprofen I bought a few weeks back is now contradband because they've recalled the drug that is the active ingredient in that stuff. So all I have at my disposal are NyQuil and a recalled drug that will destroy my liver. Great.

My grades are slowly but surely improving. With a last-ditch effort, I may be able to hurl myself across the finish line this semester with more As than I expected, although there are bound to be some A-minuses scattered in there all over the place. I blame the adjustment back to American univeristy life. And the fact that my classes this semester HAVE BEEN A JOKE.

The apartment has no food save some Rice-a-Roni, which means I'm basically on a forced fasting schedule. This is ridiculous. I. Need. A. Frickin. Car. I HATE living in a place with no grocery stores within walking distance. HATE IT. Don't get me wrong; I love my apartment and its location. For HEAVENS SAKE, why hasn't a grocery store had the brains to open up a branch right next to campus?? I've half a mind to just buy a car over winter break for the sake of my own sanity. Debt be damned. Not being able to get around is one thing. Slowly starving to death is another. I'm going to need SOMETHING come May anyway, when it's time to move out of the apartment and head north for the summer.

I take solace in the knowledge that ASU sent the Cougs packing yesterday. Not in our house, kitties.

Need a New Desktop Wallpaper?

Those of you who know me well know that I can't stand to have the same desktop wallpaper for more than about a week. I change it constantly. Problem is, eventually you run out of pictures either in your default wallpapers or in your own photo albums.

I've found a great site that has wallpapers, themes, and even icons to download for free. Check it out:

InterfaceLift.com

Veterans Day

For all veterans, past and present . . .

thank you.

On This Day In History

-Washington becomes the 42nd State of the Union in 1889.
-Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist and author of Crime and Punishment, born in 1821.
-Armistice which ends World War I signed in 1918.
-Poland proclaimed an independent republic, 1918.
-Veterans Day first celebrated in the United States, 1954

November 9, 1989

Weekly Dose of Ann

"History was made this week! For the first time in four election cycles, Democrats are not attacking the Diebold Corp. the day after the election, accusing it of rigging its voting machines. I guess Diebold has finally been vindicated."

If My Apartment Allowed Dogs

I would be down to the Humane Society for this dog so fast it'd make your head spin. This is exactly the kind of dog I'm looking for, a German Shepard/Lab Retriever mix.

And Then, Predictably, It All Hit the Fan

Our marketing project has run into some pretty crazy difficulties. A combination of slightly flawed strategy and bad implementation is threatening to kill the entire endeavor. I had been hoping for a kind of slow end to the week, but it looks like that's not going to be the case. We've got some last-minute insanity to take care of because everything has to be done by Tuesday, and our final presentation for the client is on the 21st. There goes my weekend. Again.

On a different note, all I can think about lately is how bad I want to adopt a dog from the humane society or something. I keep searching the classifieds on cragislist for those "free to a good home" types of ads. There are lots of them, actually. Do you ever do that? Search for stuff online that you can't have but imagine that you could anyway? I do that with cars all the time, and now I'm doing it with puppies. How sad. I guess what's really sad is that if my apartment allowed dogs I would probably have already adopted one by now. Why do I want a dog so bad?

Honors Devils Retreat

Retreat was an awesome time, with many hours spent around the roaring campfire and lots of laughing and storytelling. I am way too tired to write about it now but maybe I'll make a little iMovie about it later and post that.

Back into the grind tomorrow. Thank God in 18 days I'll be in Seattle.

jump into my nightmare - the water's warm!

It's that time of the semester where, instead of ebbing and flowing normally throughout the week, everything starts to hit the fan all at once, so it becomes difficult to even catch up, let alone actually get ahead. Like I said, I'm oddly unstressed this semester, but I am bored. And tired of school.

This weekend is the Honors Devils retreat, which I think will be a good time. But its timing isn't fantastic, since I have a test next week and I haven't even finished all the chapters yet. Not to mention that I'm behind in Finance and Legal Studies. And Supply Chain. And Management.

To add to my misery, I went in to pay my citation today (yes, I got a ticket. To make a long story short, don't ever take glass bottles into a public park). To my utter shock, the ticket cost an outrageous $250. I don't think speeding tickets even cost that much. I would have fought it but - to make another long story short - I would definitely have lost. So while the punch hurts, it's probably the best solution.

I tried to do some studying today but I just don't have the jam anymore. I'm tired, I'm bored, and I'm just plain frustrated with life's monotony right now. There are very few things going well (actually I can't think of one that is). My grades aren't stellar and I'm having a tough time just staying on top of everything. I'm starting to severely question the wisdom in taking 25 credit hours next semester.

Often when I talk to people about stuff like this they tell me, "Well, that's just the way life is. It's crazy sometimes." And you know what? I think that's bull. I think life is only as crazy as you choose to make it, and it just so happens that our society loves running at the speed of light and not taking time out to actually enjoy life anymore. And I for one have decided this is not my bandwagon. I want off. We all look down on those "crazies" who live out on communes in the wilderness or those tribes in Africa that are living in what we think is the stone age - but have you ever thought that maybe we're the crazy ones? E-mail, cell phones, computers, deadlines, meetings - they're great things, but who really needs them? I swear, sometimes I think the Amish are on to something.

The only thing keeping me alive right now is the knowledge that in just under 3 weeks I get to go home to Seattle for the short respite that will be Thanksgiving. All I can say is that it's going to be one heckuva relief to get on the plane, stick my iPod in my ear, and just sit back and leave godforsaken Phoenix behind for four days. Good riddance.

My Super Spoiled Sixteen

After coming back from my run today, as is my custom, I flipped on the TV and sat down on the floor to watch some tube while my body returned to equilibrium. Today I happened upon a show on MTV called "My Super Sweet Sixteen" which is essentially this reality TV series where they film the birthday parties that these really, really, really, really rich girls have thrown for themselves. I witnessed:

1. The booking of a $25,000 rapper to perform for the party.
2. The delivering of invitations to guests by a hired performer dressed as a French maid (party theme was French) using the girl's personal driver (by the way, it's a Bentley).
3. The booking of a troupe of circus performers to perform at the party at a cost of $3,000 each.
4. The surverying of the venue (ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel) and the girl's hissy fit when management informed her that the circus performers would not be able to dangle on hooks from the ceiling because it wasn't designed for that purpose.
5. The girl buying - and DECIDING on - dresses for her two best friends to wear for the party (they had to look "better than all the other guests.") Total cost for this shopping trip: $3,890.
6. The hiring of "hott" models who would escort the birthday girl into the ballroom at the venue for her "entrance." Applicants were required to "show me your abs" and were rated on a sexy scale.
7. The guests of honor being brought to the party at the hotel in a huge, silver tour/party bus.
8. The girl picking out her mother's jewelry to wear to the party, including a 9 carat diamond ring. Actual quote, I kid you not: "When I finish putting on all this jewelry I'll be worth well over $1 million . . . *giggle* but I'm worth it!"
9. The presentation of the birthday present from her parents during the party: a brand-new 2007 BMW 330xi. The car cost $49,000. The girl went ballistic and exclaimed breathlessly to the camera, "I love my parents! . . . and I love showing off for everyone!"

Total cost for JUST the party: $200,000
Including the car, the cost of this girl's birthday party was well over a quarter million dollars.

Meanwhile, that same night, statistics tell us that a 16-year-old girl somewhere in the world died of starvation or disease on her birthday.

In the name of all that is holy, how can anyone justify that kind of reckless, excessive self-indulgence?

Bigot of the Day

"Radical Chrisitianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in this country."
-Rosie O' Donnell today on The View