There won’t be a happy ending to my friend’s story.

Godspeed, Annie. I know few people who could leave such a void – you will be missed.

I think I am going to take a little time away from PGB; I don’t have the energy or mindset for it right now. I’ll be back.

Please keep her loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.

To whoever did this: You will be found, you will be brought to justice, and your ass better hope it’s at the hands of law enforcement.

Census Bureau Severs Ties With ACORN

The Census Director has sent a letter to the National Headquarters of ACORN notifying the group that it will no longer have a role in conducting the 2010 census. ACORN had previously been tapped to help with low level data gathering.

The Yale graduate student who has gone missing was the valedictorian of my high school class.

We were pretty good friends for the last couple years of high school, though we haven’t talked too much in recent years. We’ve been in occasional contact on Facebook, most recently in June after The Inconvenience, Girl Child and I were in Boston for a wedding.

When last we spoke, Annie seemed happy and, as always, extremely accomplished. Mutual friends all say the same. Unfortunately, such information is not very comforting right now, because it reduces the probability of a “runaway bride” situation – which seems to be the best-case scenario. I can only hope and pray it this is all due to something (relatively) innocuous.

Please send her and her family positive thoughts, prayers, or whatever your flavor of belief dictates.

So, the Obama folks screwed up with that “how I can support the President” bit. It might have worked with a POTUS not already being accused of propagandizing heavily, but Obama ain’t that POTUS.

That said? To quell fears about the message Obama will be delivering to schoolchildren tomorrow, they’ve released the speech for parental review. That’s how you do it, guys.

And the speech itself? Nothing sinister. No agenda-pushing. It’s about perseverance and personal responsibility. It’s actually quite good.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

Glocked off Barnett.

Apparently, anyone can join USAA as a basic banking customer – my mom just did. I don’t know how long this has been the case, but she was able to call and open an account. You can’t get all their other goodies (i.e. loans, insurance), though.

BUT: Within the next couple of months, they are going to open up full membership benefits to all veterans, regardless of dates of service. The teller my mom talked to said she anticipates it happening by the end of the year.

Score for my dad, who was in the Air Force ‘60-’64. And score for The Sister, who will be able to sign up as a full member once he does. :)

…about Obama’s call for schoolchildren to write letters to themselves about how they can help the president…

…but they already pulled it.

Do these clowns run these schemes past anything but an echo chamber before they throw them out to the public? I mean, flagging healthcare dissenters? Schoolchildren helping the president?

If you still need evidence the administration is completely disconnected from reality, look no further than the list of things they consider legitimate, valid ideas.

I’m outlining a chapter for my social psychology class, and just came across the following definition:

reactance an unpleasant emotional response that people often experience when someone is trying to restrict their freedom

Ha. I think I should rename my blog.