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Don't worry, I didn't drink myself into a "stupor" last night as my exceptionally depressing last post suggested. I had a couple of beers and a couple of peanut butter sandwiches.
Amy wasn't at the party too long last night. I'm pretty sure she wanted to scream the whole time she was there, the way she's talked about it. It ended up being in a gargantuan house out in Bum Fuck Egypt (Medina) where there were a bunch of soccer mom women talking about children, crafting and cooking. Very few of these ladies worked outside of the home. To me, it sounded like some sort of time warp. Conservatism tends to do that, I suppose. I am personally strongly against the idea of a permanent stay-at-home mom for several reasons.
I should clarify this because I know there's a chance that several stay-at-home moms might find their way here. For one, I'm against traditional roles of father-mother labor divisions because it cheapens the experience of each. I may say it differently when the time comes (though admittedly my change of heart would be for selfish reasons) but I would feel left out if I didn't have to clean diapers, cook food, clean house etc for our children. I'm against permanent stay-at-home momage too. I don't dispute the advantages of, early in a child's life, having a parent stay at home. I don't think that it should automatically be the mother (which is the disappointing default I see so often), but rather whatever situation is convenient and economic. If I'm making less than Amy when we have a kid, damn straight I'm going to take a sabbatical to get this kid going.
I'm also against permanent stay-at-home momage because these moms are too busy to keep their intellect going. I don't dispute that the work they do is as important and rewarding as anything they could do in the outside workplace. I just think that they have to be very careful to keep their mind going in other ways. It would be a personal hell to me to have the only conversation I could talk about (like the women Amy was stuck with last night) be involving things like crafting and cooking. If I did the stay-at-home thing, I'd be reading every time the kid slept or napped, and probably would end up writing a book or something too.
Anyway, back to the main story: Amy went to the party about 6:15. She was back home by 9:30, and Medina is about 45 minutes away. She wasn't there very long, and she said that she felt pretty out of place. I guess these women, for this "cooking club" got all dressed up and used fine china, etc... and then the conversation revolved around things that just didn't interest her. Amy was wearing a super-cute pair of jeans and a pink Blondie t-shirt, which didn't really measure up.
I worry for her because, as bored as I know she was (and that she said she was!), she said wants to keep participating to have a social outlet. ?!?!?!?!??!??!??!???!??! This move has been hard on her in terms of social networks, but I can't put my arms around the idea of spending time with people that bore you to death. It hasn't affected me as badly because I had burned most of my bridges in the last few months in Muncie, and most everyone I regularly talked to had moved anyway.
I've suggested that she talk to another couple (who seem more our style... young married quasi-punkrock types) in her church and see if we can hang out with them sometime. Maybe that will open doors. Also, Collette from the department has suggested that we hang with her and Rick, her husband. I think that either of these would be better social matches than a bunch of wealthy super-conservative crafting housewife hens.
A side note: the most fun Amy said she had during the party was people-watching (which is essentially treating people as entertainment instead of real people) and by dreaming things in her head to say that would totally shock them.
I think I'm going to cook lunch today. Our coffers are getting bleak for the month, so it's probably best that we eat-in for a while.
I know it's a Friday, so I should be relaxing from the fairly rough (loadwise) week I've had. We went out to eat and drink with the colloquium speaker and rest of the department (a ritual of sorts) and got home around 8:00. We left earlier than we could've because we were in the middle of a long table in a loud bar. We couldn't hear anything from the various clusters of conversation. Now, I'm bored out of my skull. There's nothing to do. I could work, but I don't want to. Everything else? Either costs too much money or isn't logistically possible. On top of that, Amy's gotta be in bed by midnight to get to work on time tomorrow. It sucks.
I am probably more snowed under by work than I've ever been.
Honestly. This was not the week I needed to have a couple of faculty candidates come in. I know the investment of my time was only about five hours each, but a total of ten hours out of my free work-time? That's killer, especially considering how quickly I typically work.
I agreed to give Jim some revisions and commentary for his book chapters (50 pages each) by Friday. No biggie, right? Except that I'm anal when it comes to editing and revising, especially for others. At least I've already got one of those chapters done. And, from what I hear, the fact that he asked me to do so means I'm sorta in his inner circle now or something.
Add to that:
Beyond these things, I've got a couple of other articles I've got to work on (NASCAR, Indiana Terror), a literature review for Hazards Mapping, a term paper for Terror and other random shit as it comes. And the Indiana text needs to be wrapped up by April. I need Spring Break... just to catch up. Oh, remember how I was going to e-mail Burrell? I did, and she replied that she'd be happy to vote for me as student director of the HSG and that she'd get some others on-board for my candidacy. "No self-confidence, jackass!" I can't do that to myself! Like I said, for the first time in my life, I really and truly feel snowed by all the shit I need to do. And, for the first time in my life, I'm really being challenged and I'm really getting a lot out of that. Other news... believe me I'm reaching. I've been so busy with school that there is little other news. I suppose I could update my New Years resolutions? Wow, remember those? I quit exercising two weeks ago when I got a horrible cold. I haven't restarted. Tomorrow morning is the current plan. I feel incredibly guilty about this one. I really let myself down. All it takes to end a new habit is one time succumbing to temptation! Eating right? Also not going so well. Eating in general is not going so well, as the past couple weeks (Amy with new responsibilities and me being snowed) we eaten out a few (too many) times. 100 bands in 365 days? That's going okay, I suppose. Here's the list thus far: 1. Modest Mouse 2. Yellowcard 3. The Parsley Flakes (local band) 4. James 5. The Byrds 6. Ween 7. Earth Wind and Fire 8. The Dandy Warhols (had heard some but not much) 9. Bloc Party 10. The White Stripes (no, I never had really listened to them) 11. Blur 12. Bob Dylan (same comment as The White Stripes) 13. Death Cab for Cutie (I guess they're trendy?) 14. The Cars (same comment as Dylan) My goal to have 25 by the end of the month is slipping away, but I'll still be on track for 100. I could say that I need suggestions, but I haven't dug back in my blog to retrieve the ones people have already left. To ask for more would be wasteful. Maybe I'll go back once I get back on my feet in terms of work? Saving money? Well, that's not going too badly. Beyond the few times we've eaten out, we've basically stayed within our budget. We're not going to realize much in terms of savings for a couple months by that budget, because it's going to be tight. However, we've mostly stuck to our guns on it. Read one recreational book per month? Yes, I'm still on track there and in fact I'm ahead. I'm working through Fargo Rock City as a re-read and I'm plowing through In Cold Blood as well. And besides, I've got enough school reading. Mental enrichment? I do the Sudoku and crossword puzzles in the Daily Kent Stater just about every day during my lunch break (and honestly, sometimes during class). I have played the viola a few times, but have not made it a regular habit. Personal hygiene? This area is one in which I've really maintained my improvement. I shower no fewer than four times per work week (I do allow myself to slack on the weekends) and I shave at least once a week. That's a VAST improvement over years past. I am starting to wonder what to do with my hair. It hasn't (really) been cut since... wow.... um, May? It was cleaned up (very little) in November. When it lays down, it's capable of covering my eyes like a sheepdog. The longest is approaching eight inches. My hair has never been this long. Ever. Dirt hawk? |
Mike (especially) will probably shake his head at this...
Tonight, for entertainment and general purpose mind expansion, we ventured to the main branch of the Akron/Summit County library which is downtown. This thing was built in 2004 and is fucking amazing. One thing that I had never experienced before at a library was a legitimate AV section.
Holy shit.
Remember a couple blogs ago when I was questioning my future career and the growing influence of politics upon my research agendas? And remember how I had grand plans to talk to the mighty Jim Tyner about this and get some feedback?
Well, this is a totally unsolicited note I just picked up out of my mailbox:
Andrew:
I think that I perhaps most enjoyed your presentation on Indiana's contribution to the war on terror. Why? Because one element that I encourage in students is to look at events from a different perspective. I used to refer to this as a cubist approach. Everyone and their brother is looking at the role of Germany, France, etc., in the war on terror. In part, that is why I looked at the role of the Philippines. And everyone is talking about oil. That, also, is why I focused on labor. Back to Indiana. I honestly think your talk can be converted into an artcile for publication in a political geography journal or, more broadly, a geography journal. Why? Because it shows the importance of place and the local dimensions that underlie the broader support for the war on terror. Your article, thus, would be more about these local-global connections and the confluence of domestic and foreign policy issues, using Indiana as a case study. Think about it.
-JT
I always wonder if I'm going to be able to get a good prof's job when I get done with the program here. I wonder not because it's a bad program or anything like that, but because it's a scary thought: ten years of school, and no job.
Then, there are the times when the department I'm working at brings in candidates for positions. I would have no problem settling into a Kent State-like department once I get done. It's a PhD granting smaller department with good people... all-in-all, not a bad gig. The jokers that we get applying for the faculty positions here, though? Shit.
It was the same way when we had candidates in at Ball State. Rarely do they speak a lick of English, so they're impossible to understand. They never have teaching experience, so they're awkward and oftentimes downright terrible in the classroom.
The department is interviewing for a GIS faculty this week, which I think is a mistake, but that's a topic for another day. They wanted students to attend the lectures and presentations. Instead of going to his colloquium tomorrow (and being late to the Barons game) I went to his classroom lecture today.
The guy's name was Dr. Pu. Ouch. Kids are not going to let that one sit there untouched.
He spoke English in a choppy manner with a very harsh accent. I had an incredible time trying to understand him. Double ouch.
He presented his research to a classroom of upper-level undergraduates (mostly GIS majors) and had many of them sleeping. His presentation was disorganized, used old data and made very little sense. It certainly didn't inspire any sort of thinking.
Hopefully, this means that poor Dr. Pu (who seemed to be a very nice man) will be shown the door. Brutal? Sure, but why hire someone to teach if he can't?
So, situations like this tend to build my confidence quite a bit. I may not be the strongest future faculty, I may not be the best teacher, but.... I can speak clearly, concisely and understandably, I can teach and organize lectures, and I can inspire at least an inkling of thought in my students.
If Dr. Pu was my competition in a future job application process, I would certainly hope that I could kick his ass.
We went to Borders tonight to shop for books. We shop there in a weird way: we patrol the store and find anything that looks remotely interesting and write down either title/author or ISBN. Then, we save these books on to our Amazon wishlists and buy them cheaply when we can afford them. It's a nice temptation-free way to shop.
It's honestly the best of both worlds, since we can get books (sometimes used) for cheaper, and we can look at them before we buy. You can look at my wishlist if you want, which includes a number of things I've already read but either sold or never bought.
I'm so bored tonight and my back hurts. I'm finally getting over my cold but I'm achy and everything. My back feels like it was hit with a baseball back. We got the birds out for a while, and only Sancha has behaved well enough to still be out... and she's been out nearly three hours, a good long while for bird interaction time.
I bought a new video card for my game emulation computer that has a TV-Out. I can now play old school Nintendo, Sega, et al. on TV, but I can't quite get the image to fit right. I guess I get what I pay for, and this card was a cheap one. If I had loads of coins, I'd go ahead and get a true-to-life scan converter. That would have adjustments built-in.
I can't wait until our first Amazon order arrives.
This week, they're interviewing candidates for a new position in the department. Ugh. That means I have to meet three random people, attend lectures and colloquia for each of them and evaluate them. I guess it is an important thing to do, but I don't want to. I guess I'll never get that kind of laziness shit out of my system.
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about my future career and research objectives. I've noticed myself getting a lot more political lately. I essentially gave up on most things in politics once the 2000 election happened and the "War on Terror" started. These showed that nothing anyone in the country said mattered. I was certainly further moved to the jaded category after the election of 2004. I've also become a lot more interested in examining the coming ends of the American empire. It will happen, and it will implode upon itself -- it's just a matter of when and how. I find myself reading and pouring over political geography works more and more and finding them incredibly interesting.
I guess that does flow into my main focus, which is hazards and human-environment interactions. A critically political/qualitative bent could be exactly the spark the seemingly stagnant hazards sub-discipline is looking for...? As I discover and uncover more (and perhaps bring up the thoughts to the intellectually intimidating Jim Tyner and get feedback) I will post more about this. It's honestly a very scary consideration as any career focus change would be. I will also talk to Tom Schmidlin, my current ad-hoc advisor and resident hazards guru about the situation as well.
My cold is going away, but I still ache. I wish we had a jacuzzi.
I bought Amy tickets (four rows back on the middle line) to Wednesday night's Barons game for Valentine's Day. Whenever I get presents for someone, it's impossible for me to resist giving them early. I gave her the tickets within about two hours of buying them. She was exceptionally happy, because I think she's going through hockey withdrawal as well. That'll be our night-after-Valentine's Wednesday night out to Cleveland. We had dinner out tonight too, spliting an appetizer, entree and dessert from Longhorn.
I'd already posted this, but somehow the people at myspace, who cause more errors than a Pee-Wee league shortshop, lost it.
Saturday is boring for me, since Amy's at work and I'm at home. There's nothing on TV (well, the channels we get) except infomercials and "This Old House." It's rough, man. I wish our book order would have arrived! We placed the first of our scheduled monthly Amazon orders. We've decided that money for cable can be better spent on books, so we've started ordering some.
I don't have any more reading to do for my classes in the coming week. I would go to the KSU library and do some literature review for my dissertation if I wasn't feeling like shit. I don't want to be out in public right now. I look like a hobo who's been assaulted with a crowbar.
Instead, I'm using today to make mixtapes. You may remember a week or so back, I put out a call for suggestions. Thanks to those who entered... you'll get credit for your suggestions later in the week when I post the finalized playlists. I vetoed a couple of songs, including Britney Spears and Madonna. I went in with an open mind, downloaded and.... tried to listen. Britney Spears's song lasted about 20 seconds before I hit delete. Madonna... about 40 seconds. Sowwy Chawwies... those of you who suggested these (and you KNOW who you are) should have SHAME.
Meh. I still appreciate the suggestions, I just couldn't do handle them.
My students BOMBED their exam yesterday. Bad. It was the lowest average of any exam I've given. Last semester, the first exam average was a 72, which is a little low but easy to bump. This semester, I took the old exam, took out the questions that people missed most and made them easier, expecting a natural, curve-free bump. Instead, the average was a 68.9. Nearly half of the class failed it.
It makes me feel a bit like a failure. Looking at it, though, I don't know what more I could have done. I taught with the same materials as last semester, but I thought I did better. I included all terms and concepts on a study guide. I gave them exact pages to read for the exam. They still bombed.
Looking at my website statistics, I found that only 9 of the 108 page views that the study guide received after I posted it came before Thursday. In other words, none of them took enough time to study. One student (who did well) came to see me, despite extended office hours. I got one, and only one question via email about the exam. I posted their scores (as you saw) and left them like they were. No mention of a curve or a possible curve. I've gotten a few panicked e-mails about the scores but I've purposely not responded. I think these kids need to panic for a little bit (over the weekend and maybe until Wednesday) before I tell them about the curve. They need to get their asses in gear, so maybe a little panic will do it.
Last night was also a colloquium. Burrell Montz, a widely respected hazards researcher presented on the recovery efforts of senior citizen mobile home communities in Florida after Hurricane Charley. It is an interesting idea, but she had a few holes that I brought to her attention. She was quite appreciative of my critiques. It was.... awkward, terrifying and rewarding to critique the research of someone so respected. I chalked up her holes to the fact that I had worked with mobile homes in hazards before and she had perhaps not.
Amy and I went to Ray's with Burrell and some other grads afterwards. It was fun but exhausting. I'm doing better with socializing, but it still wears my ass out to no end. The cheeseburgers at Ray's are to die for, and I appreciate the fact that they have Labatt Blue on tap.
I'm so bored. I think when I'm done here, I'm going to play NHL '99. Hockey for KSU is over, and I'm missing it. This is the best alternative I've got right now. If we got decent TV, we'd watch the olympics I suppose. We'd discussed going to see the Barons up in Cleveland, but $20 a ticket will be expensive really fast.
I got Sancha (chalk the link up to my never-ending sleepless nights) out this morning because I hadn't had time to play with her much lately. She was extremely hormonal today, and she kept trying to mount my thumb while I typed. Believe me, it was just as awkward and impossible as it sounds. I do feel for her, though... you can't spay a bird, it's breeding season, she is sexually mature and she has no way to relieve these tensions. Usually, she rubs my shoulder for a bit and is fine but today that wasn't enough. I tolerated it as long as I could, then I deposited her back into her cage.
I managed to get a picture of her while she was out.... well, her and the bottom of my chin.
I feel for the poor thing. I remember high school.
Jonathan requested a clarification of so-called liberal thought on my last blog entry.I personally don't follow the term 'liberal' because I think labels limit thought. Beyond that, some of my beliefs are remarkably conservative. But we'll get to that in a minute.
I'm in full rant mode. Forgive me if my points are disorganized.
Number one, I'm a Christian and therefore fatalistic. If a terrorist attack is going to kill me, my time is up.The end of life caused by terroristattack is just as much apart of God's plan as if I was hit by acar today walking towork or dropped dead of an anuerism. Any ot the three is out of my hands, and none of them are terribly likely. I can't worry too much about any of these, because if I did, I'd be too scared to leave the house.
Secondly, the easiest way to prevent terrorism is to not colonize the rest of the world for economic profit. An inherent trait to capitalism is its need to constantly grow in order to not implode... (e.g., those who make money need to keep making more). To accomplish this, the United States (and the rest of the west) has essentially colonized the rest of the world, opening markets for trade and for production. Why did we hate communism? Because they don't buy into this idea of capitalism and open their markets to us. Americans need those new markets to keep the system growing, and they need the system to keep growing so that profits (and therefore investments) can continue. That's what makes the capitalist system go 'round.
The U.S. has been doing this for years, under the banner of being a pillar of democracy. Why did the U.S. help Agosto Pinochet overthrow the democratically elected (albeit communist) government of Chile? Pinochet led a brutal fascist dictatorship by which thousands of his countrymen were killed. Why did the U.S., the "pillar of democracy" encourage his government? Because Pinochet was "friendly to U.S. interests," meaning that he was willing to allow free trade and open markets with the U.S.
Don't think this is the truth? Another way to expand markets is through the introduction of "fictitious capital," (a.k.a. credit) by which a demand will be artifically produced so that prices and profits stay up. The average family now carries $25,000 in credit card debt, because this demand has to be produced. How much more junk do you have than what your parents had at your age? Do you need it? Any of it?
Why does military spending increase constantly? Hrm... that seems a little like an artificial demand. I read a study once that said military spending and continued cycling of that wealth constitutes 45% of the American economy!
Why not use that money on schools? Well, once a school's built and supplied, it's not likely to be destroyed by bullets and tanks. It has no built-in obselence like military goods and does not cycle the wealth as quickly.
Beyond that, you've got the point I've raised before. A more-educated populace is more likely to question the government and its motives. A more-educated populace is more likely to seek alternatives to wars and military action. A more-educated populace is more likely to be "liberal," which is one reason that conservatives are the enemy of education. A educational system based on Darwinism (IRONY OF ALL IRONIES) is exactly what the conservatives want. Those students who already have wealth are more likely to be conservative and capitalist. If wealth is allowed to be a determinant in educational achievement (the strong succeed) then system best serves the interests of conservatism because those that make it through the educational system are the least likely to question the policies that have brought them wealth.
But back to the main economic points...
Fictitious capital is a fine way to keep the economy going, but what happens when demand dries up because of overextension and overconsumption? The U.S. has to open markets for more demand, and labor markets to cheapen supplies. Luckily, all of that military spending has provided us the precise tool needed to do this.
Need examples? How about the installation of the Shah of Iran in the 1950s? His brutal (and U.S.-supported) dictatorship was finally overthrown in the late 1970s. For some reason, Iran's still pissed at the U.S. about that one... I don't understand why, I mean, American involvement only caused them 20 years of oppression so that American capitalists could profit. (sarcasm)
Afghanistan in the 1980s? Well, they may have treated their citizens like shit, and American involvement directly led to the rise of the Taliban, but at least they were fighting the Soviets (who the U.S. hated because they weren't capitalists).
Iraq in the 1980s? A brutal dictator named Saddam Hussein was very-well supported by the U.S. because he agreed to trade oil with the U.S. and fight Iran, who had pissed the U.S. off by not allowing our puppet (the Shah) to reign.
Gulf War Two? Amazingly, the story you didn't hear is that as soon as Dubya came into power, Saddam decided to trade his oil for euros and not dollars, putting the EU in a competitive advantage over the U.S. for his oil. It was at this point that the U.S. began its tough talk. Saddam was a bad guy. He deserves permanent imprisonment, for sure. But don't start thinking that his brutality was why the U.S. went in, nor WMDs. These both existed from day one, when the U.S. supported him and looked the other way because his market was open for American goods.
How about Venezuela today? Remember in 2002 when a coup overthrew the democratically-elected Chavez? Chavez had been causing the U.S. trouble by criticizing trade policy and not agreeing to trade oil (wow!) at demanded prices. A day after Chavez was out, the U.S. recognized the coup as "the legitimate government of Venezuela." I don't know what everyone's background is on coups, but they're certainly not democratically elected. Guess what? The coup failed and Chavez returned to power. For some reason, Chavez still doesn't like the U.S. and still doesn't want to trade oil at U.S.-determined prices.
Is Osama bin Laden nuts? Sure, anyone that kills for an objective is as nuts as Ted Kacyzynksi or Timothy McVeigh.
But Bush does the same thing as encouraged by his capitalist supporters. The difference between the two is that Bush is the leader of a nation-state and Osama bin Laden is not. Both kill, both profit from killing, and both are seeking to serve an objective from killing. Why is Bush better in any case? It's that nation-state thing... a phenomenon that has existed in the world for approximately 400 years. Who declared the nation-state the supreme political ideology? Or democracy? It certainly isn't mentioned in the Bible, even though it's a common belief that democracy is God's chosen ideology. It has just happened that "democratic" (quotes intended) nation-states have won the most wars lately. It's certainly easier to organize a military machine and defense strategy when the government is hegemonious over a defined territory... the very definition of a nation-state. By allowing the citizens a "voice" (which the government can choose to completely ignore at any time, even in the American "democracy") it placates their concerns and subjects them to a continued fascism.
Luckily, the horrific attacks of September 11 gave the United States a defined enemy, an a way to create an "other" which could be demonized. Everyone and everything that's bad is given the "terrorist" label, hoping to evoke the imagery of the people jumping off the towers. It's a marvelous binary that also allows the "good" and "evil" labels to be placed. Isn't this somehow assuming that our country and ideology has an allegiance or has been chosen by God as the superior? There hasn't been a chosen people that I've heard of for several thousand years.
What I don't understand about conservative thought is this: the most conservative Christians, the ones who call homosexuality an abomination and abortion a sin, look the other way when killing and human suffering is intentionally proliferated for profit. Now, let me qualify profit: it can be in terms of economic profit, spread of an ideology, or simply acquisition of political power. Amazingly, someone who kills from our side for profit is a "patriot." From the other side, he's a "terrorist."
Discourse, friends. Discourse.
A conservative Christian will point to perhaps a dozen cases where homosexuality is mentioned as being a sin. Abortion is not mentioned per se in the bible, though it is considered murder which is mentioned as a sin. So, assuming that abortion is a sin by this definition, how is warfare not murder and therefore a sin? Pro-lifers say that abortion is a sin in any case because God's intentions, beyond that murder is a sin as commanded in the bible, cannot be determined. Okay, fine.... Using that (perhaps flawed) logic.... Who are we to determine when a war is just, and who are we to determine the proper political ideology for others to follow?
How is it that people have determined that murder in war is any more excused than any other sin? I remember a verse that said that all sins are equal. Is there an appendix that I haven't read?
You could certainly argue that the teachings of Jesus Christ would be better used to justify a socialist society than a capitalist society. Did Jesus (or anyone in the bible) ever advocate profit at the expense of others? Any time there is profit, it is done at the expense of someone, which I just can't bring myself as a Christian to really be comfortable with. To me, Christianity and capitalism simply do not mix.
I hate the political system in this country for several reasons. First, the United States is too large to be the democratic republic that it tries to be. A population of 300 million people means that each vote is worth nothing. Because of the sheer size of the electorate, in order to have a successful candidacy for even a local office, you have to have a campaign fund in the millions. This automatically excludes 99.99999% of the American public from ever truly participating.
Does this mean that only the best and brightest are those that are elected to the government? Well, certainly some bright people manage to make a great deal of money and jump into the political arena. I am not an egotistical person and I find myself to be of average intelligence, but I would argue that I could talk a number of those idiots in the current government (Dubya?) under a table on just about any topic. However, this monetary requirement for successful candidacy does ensure one thing: that those elected to office are good at making money and that their primary focus in life has been to do just that. Kinda brings a capitalist for-profit bias to the government from day one.... just like the Darwinian education system that conservatives promote. It ends up being a fascist state in which the elite rules over the masses.
Do I have a solution? No, I don't, but I don't think that a democratic republic is an appropriate government for a country with this large of an electorate. The founding fathers also didn't predict the mass media that we now have and which is responsible for brain-washing so many of the electorate into choosing choice A or B, without asking why there isn't a superior choice C.
That brings me to my next point. I hate the binary forced upon us by the political party system. Either you're this, or you're that. If you believe in social programs, you're automatically pro-choice and anti-gun, etc. Democrats and Republicans are essentially the same party, but they express different opinions about trivial issues in order to win emotional votes.
Why was so much of the 2004 election about gay marriage again? We had a failing war, a president who was VERY connected to Enron, a government who was spying on political enemies (didn't Nixon get in trouble for that?), a system that was exploiting the entire rest of the world, a Medicare system that was about to go bankrupt... yet our biggest beef was whether or not a wedding can be a sausage party?
Why should I be forced to choose between two unintelligent, fascist and generally unlikeable candidates, neither of which represent anything close to half of my beliefs. There are 300 million citizens, and this is the best we've got? The creme de la crop?
No, but those in power have all of the needed machinary to stay in power indefinitely. Will there ever be a foreseeable revolution in the United States that will not result in the bloodshed of millions? That military is a pretty handy device to keep a government in power.
They continue to come to power through "legitimate" because they've got money and emotional connections. Dubya is well-versed in pulling the most powerful of all heart-strings: fear. He preaches fear when he talks of terrorists. He brings fear when he denounces gay marriage. He used fear to go to Iraq. He used fear to get re-elected. (I won't comment on what he used to get elected, but its initials are SCALIA.) Beyond that, if for some reason the system failed, don't you think that the government would seize the military to "restore order" and "save the republic"? Happened during the Civil War, which wasn't entirely about slavery.
Do you think the terror alert system will ever be at the green level for low? Just the fact that the level is always yellow or orange stirs a little bit of fear. "It could happen." But, they've also got billions of dollars spent and a fascist PATRIOT act to show that they're going to be the ones to protect you.
Nearly five years after September 11. Are we safer? Hell no, but terrorism was never really that big of a threat. We've still got tons of terrorists pissed at us, and we've spent billions on marvelous things like the "terrorist alert levels." Most Americans haven't even thought of questioning why Osama was so pissed. We say that he hates freedom, which implies that there is no way to make this mad-man happy. Hrm... could it be that he wants the middle east to be free of U.S. economic imperialism? Why does that never make the evening news?
I'm not apologizing for bin Laden. I think he deserves to rot in prison like all murderers. But I question why Bush is not included in this conversation of murderers and terrorists. Any time American citizens react to bin Laden's violence with threats of more violence and warfare, they are guilty of the same actions that he is.
How can the War on Terror end and be the end of terrorism? Stop fighting. Gradually extract the tentacles of U.S. economic interests from the rest of the world. Quit exploiting the rest of the world for profit. Is this placating the "terrorists"? Maybe, but if the U.S. hadn't been such an asshole about things in the first place, the terrorists would have never been upset. And isn't the U.S. expecting the terrorist to "roll over" to please the wishes of the U.S.?
Why did the U.S. attack Afghanistan after 9/11? Americans were (justifiably) pissed off (though it doesn't excuse their later actions) at that murder, and wanted to exact "justice." Why do the terrorists attack us? Because they're pissed of at our murder and want to exact "justice." What I don't understand is how the conservative wing of the United States, who repeatedly claims to be the Christian party and the defenders of all Christian values can be so caught up in this idiotic bloodshed.
One word: Profit. America's religion is profit. These people are not doing Christian things, and it really bothers me that they claim to be Christians.
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
--1 Timothy 6:10.
I don't often write of my political beliefs and certainly not the interplay that occurs in my mind between religion and politics. I know that most readers to this blog are not Christians and I don't expect those people to take my beliefs seriously. That's certainly fine -- to each their own. I don't claim to have a mature political outlook and honestly I try to think about politics as little as possible. Please feel free to comment, complain or otherwise discuss.
Appendix:
I do not wish to allow some straw men that I constructed to represent my political views. Some clarification:
I am pro-choice. I don't think that a bunch of old men need to tell pregnant women what to do. Old men can never truly understand that situation because they'll never be pregnant. Because it is a "gray area" (baby vs. fetus) that can only be defined using moral bases. Therefore it should be the right of those involved to use their own reflection of morals to help make that decision. It is not the business of government to enforce the moral code of others. Would I ever want to have an abortion with my spouse? Probably not. I would prefer carrying the fetus to term and having it adopted.
I am also not homophobic. I am an odd Christian who doesn't interpret every word of the bible to be God's divine truth. It was written by imperfect men and has been translated and retranslated so many times that you can't take each word literally. This has been a great source of strife between Amy and I because she takes every word (and every omission) seriously. I certainly don't believe the whole creation in 7 days thing. A message that occurs through the bible far more often than writings on homosexuality is that God is a loving and caring God. I can't bring myself to believe that he would create people that were homosexuals if it was truly a sin, because he would be cursing people to suffering from birth.
However, I don't believe that there's ever a justifiable reason to kill someone. That is repeated again and again and again and again throughout the whole thing.
I also don't believe that religion has any place in government. If we as humans are forced to live under a government, at least we shouldn't be forced to live under a certain religion of someone else's choosing. I think that "Under God," "In God We Trust," and all prayer should be removed from all mentions in the government. If the government is going to live up to the bullshit that it tells us about "freedom," then it needs to be the provider of freedom in all ways, remaining neutral in issues that the "freedom" is supposed to protect.
I hope this clarifies some things.
Amy turned on Seventh Heaven as background noise while she talked on online forums and I worked on my presentation for terrorism class. After that show, this really retarded rip-off of Sex in the City came on, but the girls are all sisters. Retarded and weird. I can't imagine any more of an awkward conversation about sex than one held with my family. Never. Ever.
And this is still what's on the TV. We're both to lazy to seek alternatives, though neither of us have paid much attention. Why is it on? I'm not sure. Either way, there is NOTHING else on. I hope to train myself to read leisurely when my brain needs to wind down instead of watching television. Some of the horseshit we get via antenna will probably expedite the execution of this desire.
I did just finish my presentation, which is good. That means that tomorrow afternoon, all I'll have to finish on it is some finishing touches. It covers terrorism in Indiana, or more succintly, the lack thereof and reaction to other terrorist activities.
We bought me some pants at Value City last night, and they're awesome. They're like super baggy pants, a la 1996 gangster. They're very comfortable and Amy thinks they look good on me. And they were only like 15 bucks! I want to find some more of these.
I've slacked on exercising the past few days. Today I had a problem because my Fake-Ass NyQuil-induced coma lasted until about 10:30 this morning. And I had to be in-class at Kent by 11! That's a 15-20 minute drive. Needless to say, I was a little late after taking a quick shower. That is one part of my resolutions that I haven't slacked on. I'm taking better care of myself in terms of hygiene.
I also haven't slacked on the outside reading, 100 bands, or savings. I've worked through my papers a little more for publication as well. I hope to use some free time tomorrow to get my thesis in a workable shape so I can send it to Dr. Schwartz and let him read it over. He's going to be a co-author in order to get me street cred to the journals.
I also need to do some reading for my dissertation. I'll never catch up!
I have a special place in my heart for The Gilmore Girls. Not because I like the show nor have I ever watched it. I just saw an ad. It was this show, though, which was the first time that a mom was hotter than the teenage girl. I think I mentioned this before. Meh, who cares?
I'm bored. When you work most of 11 hours of a day and you're finally done, you need stimulation to unwind.
I've got nothing.