None of the Above option on Election Ballots

So with the presidential elections coming up, we have a rather big decision to make: Romney or Obama. Personally, I think they both suck ass: Romney is a tool and Obama is a puppet! I rather not vote for any of them, but still cast a vote to show I do care about this. I was planning on doing a write-in vote, but I found out some states have (or... had as I now found) an option for "None of the Above."

The way None of the Above works, as www.noneoftheabove-tn.org explains it, is:

Every election in the state of Tennessee should include the ballot option of, "None Of The Above". If NOTA receives the most votes a special election would then be arranged to have another go at it. If NOTA doesn't win -- it still serves as a valuable gauge of voter opinion.

A candidate who wins an election including a NOTA option has the right to genuinely claim victory. This should appeal to honest public servants. It would give them a credibility that many of them don't currently enjoy.

All legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent, and the legitimate consent of voters requires that voters be able to withhold consent to elections to office.

 Personally, I think Tennessee has the right idea! We need something like this on the Presidential elections to show our dissatisfaction with candidates. Unfortunately, in places like Nevada who had the same option, Judges struck it off the ballot. According to The National Journal, the judge ruled the following:

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones determined the law was unconstitutional because “none” votes don’t count in final tallies. He refused to grant a stay while the ruling, applies to both state and federal elections, is being appealed.

Honestly, this just makes me want to use the write in feature and put in "None of the Above." Now, I'm not here to convince anyone to NOT vote for Obama or Romney if you want one or the other, I am just saying I dislike them both. But if you don't like either of them either, I think we should all just write in a vote of None of the Above or if that doesn't work, some other name, like Roseanne Barr (Who I think would make an amusing president, even if it's a bad idea) or Mickey Mouse or some other name. I know it SEEMS useless, but I see it as a way of showing the world that I don't like either candidates. If enough people actually did do this, results could show. I just wish I could get the word out there a little better so more confused or unhappy voters would choose such an option.

Working Out: Week 9 (CANCELED)

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I've stopped working out since I started my job. Thus, this is the last post for my updates. I decided to include what I've already written just for record keeping, and I have a bit of a wrap up at the end. I hope my journey to losing weight has been at least interesting to you.

Week 9, 6lbs seem to be staying off for the most part. With a little luck, I'll manage to got down another 6 lbs.

With my Nintendo Wii, I'm still going strong on Wii Fit Plus every day for the weigh in and Yoga stretches. However, EA Active More Workouts I been getting a little bored with. I want to play it, but feels annoying to. I still manage to do it once a week at least. Just Dance 3 is played randomly, after aerobic days or on my wild card days, though I sometimes do them after strength as a form of cool down-cardio. Also once a week, I tend to play Dance Dance Revolution, In The Groove, and Pump It Up at my local arcade if my friend is going.

Here are some of my common exercise-sets I do. Anything that deviates from it, or isn't a set work out will be listed on days I do them. Also, except for the EA Active videos, none of the videos are mine, but found around on YouTube. THIS WEEK, I added "Deep Breathing" and "Dance" poses to my usual warm ups.

My Usual Warm Ups
The first 4 warm ups are done on my own in my room and not on Wii Fit Plus. The reason is because the Wii is in the cellar which has a low ceiling, and the first 4 Yoga poses require me to fully stretch upwards. Exercises in italics are yoga poses, and those in bold are strength exercises.

• Sun Salutation
• Tree
• Half Moon
• Palm Tree
• Deep Breathing 
• Standing Knee
• Chair
• Warrior
• Triangle
• Dance
• 10 reps of JackKnives
• Downward-Facing Dog
• Grounded V
• Cobra
• Bridge
• Spinal Twist

EA Active More Workouts' "Crunch & Core Easy" strength work out
Exercises in Italics are "warm up" exercises. Those in bold are "cool down" exercises. Rest are normal strength exercises unless otherwise noted.

1. Knee Tucks
2. Split Squats with Reaches
3. Windmills
4. Good Mornings - I omit it because it requires me to reach straight up, which I cannot due to cellar's low ceiling.
5. Bent Arm Side Planks
6. Reverse Crunches
7. Stride Jumps
8. Push Ups
9. Mountain Climbers
10. Fitness Trail - Sprint (Medium)
11. Boxing - Combo Station 1 - Light jabs and hook shots
12. Straight Arm Plank
13. Crunches with Punches
14. Skipping
15. Bent Over Rows - Omitted because I don't like exercises that require a stretch band.
16. Mountain Climbers
17. Fitness Trail - Sprint (Medium)
18. Boxing - Combo Station 2 - Light jabs and uppercuts
19. Reverse Crunches
20. Leg Raises
21. Stride Jumps
22. Push Ups
23. Mountain Climbers
24. Fitness Trail - Sprint (Medium)
25. Boxing - Combo Station 1
26. Straight Arm Plank
27. Bent Arm Side Plank
28. Pretzels
29. Heel Drops
30. Figure 4's
31. Sideway Ankle Pulls

September 5 - Tuesday (Strength)
Today, I just couldn't get it together for exercising. Stress had me going because I'm waiting for a job to call back to me, and Faith isn't doing too well... I just did my usual warm ups (which now include the Dance pose, and Deep Breathing), and called it a day. However, I did find a way to tense your abs properly while sitting and doing other activities, so I did that all day. Website I found it on located here. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.

September 6 - Wednesday (Strength)
Today was not much better. Although I did get a call back saying I have the job and will start work next week, my dog was diagnosed with Meningitis. I'm still rather taken aback by that still.

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October 2, 2012 (The end)

I started working at Fed Ex as a package handler on September 12. Every weekday, I load boxes into trailers as my own type of exercise. Since I started work, I've lost more weight. I now weigh around 165lbs. My arms are a bit a more muscled, but generally I've been really sore. I still do Yoga every day to get myself limber, cause after work, I've got serious soreness.  I haven't done any EA Active works outs or strength exercises from Wii Fit Plus. I haven't even done much DDR/ITG or Just Dance because how sore I feel. On weekends, I vegg out cause I'm so tired. Ideally, I'd still like to play DDR/ITG on Mondays, and Just Dance on weekends.

Also, Faith is doing fine, we found medication that is working for her since her diagnosis.

Overall, the workout I had going for me helped me keep limber and lose a little bit of weight, but it really gave me some decent muscles more and started helping my metabolism. For this method to truly work out, one needs to also eat healthier and just be active during the day and night. Walking around, eat smaller portions for dinner, and eat 3 hours before you go to sleep helps. I think the best is the Yoga exercises though; I am much more limber than before! I'm considering, when the soreness calms down, about going to Yoga classes to further my limberness, as Wii Fit Plus can only help so much. I may go back to EA Active if after losing more weight, I feel the need for more muscles. That core work out helps get you a little definition. I might also do more 20 minute runs from wii fit plus to get some steady cardio in me.

It's been a fun journey to so much weight lost. With this plan, I only lost 6 lbs, as the other 6lbs or so has been due to work. I'm sure if I put my mind to it, I could have lost more with this plan too, but I was doing bare minimums really. Aiming for 1 hour a day still kept me in some shape and I'm happy with that.