2 Cents

4 More Years

2004-11-08T21:49:00.000-06:00

Well, it looks like America has made her choice, although I confess I am deeply disappointed in her. She has chosen to allow an administration that invaded another nation without just cause to remain in office - the same administration, I might add, that wanted to restrict the freedoms granted to each citizen by implementing the Patriot Act. Rather than stand up as Americans and take responsibility for the actions of our nation, we have chosen to allow a McCarthyist President to make our decisions for us. We voted out of laziness. We voted from apathy. We voted from fear. And worst of all, most of us voted without thinking.

The election committees for both candidates were able to concentrate their efforts on a very few "swing" states. These states did not have an espesially large number of electoral votes, nor did they have any special ability to independently determine the next President of the United States. Rather, these states had a roughly equal amounts of Democrats and Republicans. In these few states, the 2 party system cancelled itself out and left the election to a very few "undecided" voters.

What makes a voter "undecided" mere days before an election? Most "good party members" knew who they would vote for in early May. Most conciencious independent voters had made a decistion by the end of the debates. Unfortunately an even larger number thought both candidates were equally poor. This last category was the chosen few who would decide the fate of our nation. These few thousand citizens were courted, conned, entertained, and catered to by the majority of each campaign's billion dollar budget. They were the malleable few on whom shiny beads and flag waving might make a difference. (Notice I omitted reason and independent thinking.) These are the few who watch the news up to the day they vote hoping for a handout that will be the equivalent of a winning lottery ticket from one of the candidates. Bush promised exactly what they wanted. Tax cuts, blind patriotism, and "security" from an invisible enemy who might just blow up that little picket fence in our front yards were infinitely more pleasing than fiscal responsibility, cooperation, and balance. Let's face it. Extremism is easy! Thinking is not required. Wave the flag. Love baseball, Mom, and apple pie and you'll thrive equally in the 1950s or the 2000s. The problems only arise if you question, think, fail to conform, or advocate change.

Not all change is bad. America needs many things, and maintaining the status quo doesn't resolve any of them. EVERY state should have been a swing state because no American's vote should be taken for ganted. Every vote should be aggresively courted and should be equally difficult to obtain. Leave the "party" to other, less desireable forms of government and embrace democracy in it's best form by making your vote count. Don't be swayed by ads, or election year news. Find out history, previous actions, and character of each candidate and vote wisely. Your vote should be the one that decides the fate of our nation in 4 more years.

A little "how to"....

2004-10-20T13:59:00.000-05:00

We've all seen MacGuyver extract himself from impossible situations, get the girl, and fix the local farmer's tractor in a single hour's episode. How many of us have wished that we possessed equal skill and knowledge. Well here you go. A list of websites, knowledge, and odds and ends that will give you a good start toward becoming a modern renaissance man. (although I can't promise you'll be able to use a paperclip and piece of gum to blow your way out of a steel vault).

First: Mac was never without his trusty pocketknife. He always seemed to have a book of matches, or a roll of tape handy when he needed it. The coast guard would say semper paratus, and any good boy scout would remind you to "be prepared." So what would a real world Mac carry with him? You'd have to be able to fit it into your coat pockets (large rucksacks full of junk won't impress the gals) and yet be versatile enough to get you through any sticky situation. Here's my list of multi-use items for fixing just about anything:

Multitool (Mac would have traded his swiss army knife for a leatherman any day)
100' 550 cord. (7 strand nylon shock cord, a.k.a "parachute" or "PJ" cord.)
1 book of water resistant matches.
1 ziploc bag (or a black plastic trash bag if you can spare the space)
1 large safety pin
1 small can of WD 40
and of course.....a roll of duct tape.

I can hear the complaints already..."you forgot this..." "but what about the...". The idea is to keep it simple. The more crap you carry, the less likely you will be to use what is around you.

Okay now comes the tricky part. How did Mac know how to use all his cool toys? He obviously was intimately familiar with simple machines, physics, and chemistry (and a half dozen other subjects). I would bet he's read nearly every entry on www.howstuffworks.com. A working knowledge of first aid is essential. Try the local Red Cross, or your nearest community college for a class. Knowing a little about knotsand ropework will make you a real hero when resources are slim. The most important thing MacGuyver had going for him was his innately curious nature and his willingness to work hard to gain knowledge. I doubt he spent much time watching TV or playing video games. For those of you who are willing to take the time to move beyond google in your quest for knowledge, here are a few more obscure sites that may be of service:
Librarian's index to the internet
NASOG
Refdesk
SearchEngineWatch

Darwinism

2004-10-13T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm a firm believer in Darwinism. Perhaps "Natural Selection" would be a more accurate description. Anyway, I don't see the point in making large allowances and laws to protect those who harm themselves through willful ignorance. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, notice that I said "willful" ignorance. If a person is uneducated or a slow learner, than room must be made. Each person must function at the level of their own ability. What I'm ranting against today, are those people who don't even pretend to have a brain cell. The drunk drivers, seat belt haters, and people with other equally bright concepts of "fun". Now every one of us has been told since we were in kindergarten to wear a seatbelt or risk becoming highway hamburger. Yet every day, we have people who kill themselves because they fail to use the millions of neurons they were born with. Many have the intelligence to pass a test and get a drivers license. Others are college graduates and "responsible" members of society. And yet, when they get in their car, their IQ drops to the level of a comatose sloth. We spend millions of dollars drafting and enforcing laws that regulate seatbelt use and helmet use. Most of us have had to attend workplace training courses on such enlightening topics as "stairway handrail use," "sign reading," or "risk management." We've all seen the instruction manuals saying "do not use electronic device underwater," "do not put plastic bag over head," or "caution: hot coffee." When I worked for the Air Force, I actually read a telephone users manual that began "do not use this phone in the event of a gas leak." Now I really want to know who blew up what in order to have that line inserted into the manual.

I said this blog would contain gripes and solutions so....here's my 2 cents. By the age of 18, adults should no longer require constant reminders to not be stupid. If you haven't learned to wear a seatbelt by then, you're gonna be a smear on the pavement someday and we shouldn't waste the resources on you. The world is overpopulated as it is. We should let people who are purposely stupid do us the favor of eliminating themselves from the gene pool. The rest of us would have a chuckle at their expense and learn a lesson - or be laughed at in our turn.

Way to go Tux!

2004-10-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't heard.....

http://www.iht.com/articles/543090.html

Paris is considering following Munich into the land of the penguin! I recently made the switch from Windose XP to Linux myself, and for those of you who care....here's my 2 cents.

I tried several distributions of linux after a great deal of research, and here's what I found. Mandrake is a stable, reliable, user friendly OS that was extremely easy to install. It comes with several free packages and a professional support base. My only gripes were 1. It was TOO user friendly for my liking. I like to tweak things and putz with them. 2. Mandrake wants you to join a club for a small fee to have access to a large portion of software. Well, I'm a big believer in free software (both beer and speech) so I moved on. SUSE was the next distro I tried, and I thought it was an excellent distro. Unfortunately, they use a lot of software that requires $$$ and I'm still looking for that free beer. Step 3 was to become a purist. I installed Slackware. After about 3 days, I was so ticked off at the unfriendliness of the forum users and the attitude of "linux is hard, if you can't hack it, go back to windows" that I thought seriously about returning to the fold. Not the best sales technique, I'll grant you. I decided to make one last ditch effort to embrace the penguin, and I found myself in love with a cow. Larry the cow, to be precise. Yes, I'd found gentoo. Now I'm sure you've all heard how tough gentoo is to install, and how only geeks use gentoo or slackware. Well, they're right on the first count. Although I didn't find it difficult so much as I found it tedious. The installation documentation on the gentoo site is outstanding. Just make sure you know every detail about your hardware before you start. Once installed, gentoo is the easiest system I've ever had to maintain. Software installation is a breeze with the portage system and every piece of software I've wanted has been listed there free of charge. I actually used linux to do photo editing for my reserve unit's annual exercise because they couldn't afford to buy software for the Windoze systems they were using. Anyway, long story short - if you have some time and love to tweak and play, go with gentoo for free software, great community support, and just plain fun. If you're a little more cautious about your abilities, SUSE or Mandrake should fit your needs just fine. Throw Windows out the window, and choose the penguin!

Who not to vote for.

2004-10-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

Ooooh!! Finally!!! My very own forum in which to entertain, suggest, roast, and inform the world at large. Ok, Ok, I know you've all seen blogs before, but this is new to me so allow me one small celebratory line.

Thanks.

Now, down to business. First, a little about myself. I'm an opinionated 22 year old premed student and medic. I've served in the armed forces (and still do from time to time) and traveled a fair bit. I'm interested in everything and am an expert in nothing, so anything I post should be verified independently by YOU! (isn't that what you always do when you read the news? ;) ) I was fortunate enough to find my soulmate early, and got married back in July. (yes honey, I love you too) Okay, enough about me. On to the juicy bits.....
On Politics: Who am I going to vote for? I personally don't feel either candidate is particularly qualified. What a shame Washington didn't get his way when he tried to ban political parties. People shouldn't have to be a party member to have a realistic chance of getting elected. (Sorry Nader fans). We live in the real world, however, and no matter how unfair it may be, we have to choose between the remaining two viable options. Bush (aka "Shrub") and Kerry (aka "Botox"). As I said, I don't find either of them terribly appealing, so the question becomes less "Who should I vote for?" and more "Who should I vote AGAINST?".
In this campaign, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on character assassination. I don't however detect any "Clintonesque" skeletons in either closet. Its an election year, which means I can't trust 90% of what either candidate says. So how do I decide?

The biggest complaint against the walking Botox ad is that he "Flipflops" on issues and is "too soft" on America's enemies. Taken one at a time..... I can't find much evidence to support an accusation of indecision or wavering. While his record contains a lot of contradictions, to me this shows he is able to bend and flex with a rapidly changing world. I do think he needs more of a spine, however. Yes, talks and cooperation would be very refreshing after the Shrub, but I still can't figure out what Kerry is FOR. What is his foundation? What does he feel to be RIGHT and does he have the moral courage to stand up for it, no matter what the lobbyists or allies may think? On the plus side, he is a thinker and will not act rashly. My biggest fear of Sen. John Kerry is that his foreign policy will mirror Clinton's. We still haven't recovered from the Somalia withdrawal. I can't vote FOR Kerry until he shows independence of thought and action apart from his own little "coalition" of unions and special interest groups.

Onto the Shrub man. Scraping aside the layers of blue-collar, everyman, aw-shucks acting lessons; Bush does have real qualities that are desireable in a President. He has tenacity (something Kerry needs to learn from), determination, and grit. He reminds me somewhat of Teddy Roosevelt or Andy Jackson. However, tenacity and determination can be taken too far and turned into stubbornness, impatience, arrogance, and intolerance. When Bush couldn't admit to making even a single mistake (he was asked during the 2nd debate), I lost all hope for him. I was already on the fence due to his willingness to imprison American citizens as "detainees" without due process. As cruel as it may sound - "detaining" foreign citizens under war charges is a little different, but Americans should ALWAYS have the rights guaranteed them by citizenship. NO EXCEPTIONS! Then there's the (now classified and renamed) TIPS program. Now I know that we were attacked. I know that we're supposed to be living in fear, locked in our homes, and letting the prez handle things; but I'm a hardheaded American who wants to know what's happening. Sorry Mr. Bush, but I just don't trust you to make ALL the decisions. The Shrub's blatant disregard for the rights of Americans (to say nothing of human rights) gives me the willies.

So who gets my vote? Bush is scary, and Kerry doesn't know what he is yet. But after a great deal of thought (besides, my fingers hurt from all this typing) I'm gonna vote for...............................NOT Bush. Still can't bring myself to vote FOR Kerry, but in my eyes a President's FIRST responsibility is the same oath I swore when I joined the service...."To support and defend the constitution of the United States". While Kerry may not be the best President I could ask for, at least he doesn't have a track record of disregarding that document. I'm not so afraid of terrorists that I've lost all fear of my government. A government by the people means the people should be involved for better or worse- not "detained" because they went against the grain. We have laws that handle those situations. So on Nov 6th, I'll vote "against Bush", and pray that we have a real leader ready in 4 more years in case I need to vote "against Kerry".