Blogging My Life

Well, the holiday season is now, truly, upon us. The good things about the holidays are all the time off work that comes around, getting presents, and the holiday parties. The bad thing about the holidays is the fact that the Christians use this time of the year to tell us, over and over, that "Jesus is the reason for the season," which is patently false. This year, I really want to make a t-shirt that says something like, 'Jesus is not the reason for the season. For centuries prior to the birth of Jesus, cultures across the globe had solstice festivals dedicated to their own gods. (The winter solstice is December 21, for those who didn't know.) As Christianity spread, the early Christian church kept the festivals of the locals and inserted a Christian theme or person as the focus of the celebration. So it could be said that any number of gods are the "reason for the season."' But I don't think all that would fit on one shirt.

They blink too! They belong to a girl at work named Karli, who reminds me of Sprizee because she has a thing for pink.  

Granted, we have been friends for a long time now. I've always thought that my friend held the sme political views I do, but until now it's never mattered. And to tell truth, I don't know that he did vote for Bush, I'm very certain he did though. I just can't shake the feeling of betrayal at the thought of some one I know voting for Bush without me being able to change their mind.

I have a friend who, I’m very nearly certain, voted for Bush. He told me as recently as a week prior to the election that he was considering voting for Bush because of the terrorism issue. I’m thinking very seriously about cutting him off as a friend. You see, the problem isn’t necessarily that he voted for Bush, it’s that I no longer respect him for coming to that decision. Having succumbed to America’s jingoistic view of Muslims I now think that perhaps my friend doesn’t have the intellectual agility I originally credited to him. Is there any one else out there who feels betrayed by a friend who voted for Bush? I’m interested in reader’s opinions on the matter so please post a comment.

This essay is definitely worth a read. Invest the time and really read it and then post a comment telling me what you think. I think that this idea, or something close, may well become the political philosophy for the Democratic party for the foreseeable future.

My highest endorsement. 

Me testing a bike for ABC's new fleet. 

Jesus, protect me from your followers.

The mood around the city was very somber yesterday. People looked shocked and bewildered, as though trying to make sense out of how things could have gone so wrong. But there is no mystery as to what happened. The Christians put him back in office. Despite the fact that George Bush lied to the American people about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Despite the fact that he lied to us about Iraqi links to Al Qaeda, Despite the fact that he lied to us repeatedly about conditions in Iraq, including the Abu Grahib prison scandal, Despite the fact that he continues to tell us that he has made America and the world a safer place when terrorist attacks worldwide have increased, Despite the fact that his administration’s planning for the war in Iraq was, at best, incompetent, in that we didn't have enough soldiers on the ground to do the job, we didn't have the proper body armor/equipment armor, we never secured the borders thereby allowing thousands of foreign terrorist fig...

Well kids, tomorrow is the big day when we all get to exercise our right to vote. I registered to vote this year for the first time since 1990 (see, I am an old curmudgeon). I have maintained for several years now that we do not need a third party in this country, we need a second party in this country. We have been fed a steady diet of "Republicrats" for too long now. But this year, I had to register in order to vote against Bush. Do you know the difference between an optimist and a pessimist? The optimist says that this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist is afraid that the optimist is right. -- Dr. Hobson (one of my philosophy professors) I tell this little joke only to say that I am not necessarily optimistic for the future, irregardless of who wins.

The poll numbers are still showing Bush with a lead on the issue of national security. I don't understand how this can be. Every commission, every body assembled to look at 9/11 and the war in Iraq have produced statements saying Bush is a liar. The 9/11 Commission said Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and there was no link to Al Queada while Bush maintained there was. In Afghanistan we let Osama get away. North Korea and Iran have been allowed to pursue nookyooler weapons programs unchecked, and the U.S. is presently more isolated in the world than it has been since before W.W.II, this time, though, its not by "our" choosing, but at the behest of the rest of the world, primarily because our president is (rightly) percieved to be a moron. I don't know, man... I have been consumed since Thursday by an overwhelming sense of despair because I think Bush is gonna win. Last week I was watching Lou Dobbs on CNN, and his question of the night was: If your candi...

WARNING: THIS IS A RANT.... So, a week ago yesterday, Qwest cut off our DSL. They did this because we found ourselves a month behind on our bill. See, Jessica was unemployed for a couple months this year, and even though we thought we were all caught up on our bills, we weren't. So with no warning, Qwest cuts us off. Anyway, I call Qwest on Sunday and get everything all paid up and I'm asking the girl on the phone when our DSL will be back on. She says it will take 5 business days. I found it difficult to believe that it could take that long and asked her why. Her answer was, "I don't have an answer for you." As you can imagine, this was highly unsatisfactory, so I tried in different ways to discern why it could take so long to get my service back. I continued to ask, "What about the process takes 5 business days?" Her answer continued to be, "I don't have an answer for you." This girl was so unhelpful as to be counter-productive. She c...

Experiencing a little technical difficulty here folks. I got a month behind on my qwest bill and those bastards shut off my DSL! The kicker is it takes 5 business days to get it turned back on. Now how is that possible when its simply a matter of some data entry shmuck entering a code into a computer? 5 business my ass.... Anyway, I'm at the Seattle Library now, and hopefully, my DSL will be back on tomorrow.

Smokers 

Cow-Bike 

I have been riding the streets of Seattle for many years now and I always see this bike parked all over town. But I've never seen the rider! Never! What I want to know is, does the rider wear a cow costume?

Well, I know I promised that I had some stuff coming, and I do! Really! I swear! Last week, while I was sick and at death's door -- ok, so it was just a bad cold and I really wasn't at death's door -- I was working on an essay on personal relationships which I will post by the end of the week. Anyway, I'm glad to be feeling better, and will be posting again soon.

OK, so I decided that I wasn't going to write anything political, that I was just gonna write about personal stuff. And I haven't written a thing in two weeks. How boring is my life? But I've got some stuff coming.....

Not long ago, one of the networks was covering a Bush rally, and I remember seeing a female Bush supporter holding a sign that read, “Islam supports Kerry.” My first reaction to that sign was, “Yeah, so?” But, being familiar with the mindset of the Christian Right, it struck me that the line of reasoning that accompanies that sign is something to be addressed. This woman’s unspoken proposition is: “All Muslims are fundamentalists and terrorists.” This proposition is, of course, patently false. My goal here is not to discuss the finer points of what exactly fundamentalism is, only to posit that fundamentalism is not the sole property of Islamic terrorists. In fact, we Americans are more familiar with fundamentalism and terrorism than we might remember. And the terrorism of which I speak is a much more home-grown variety. For a technical definition of fundamentalism, and an excellent write-up on the subject, click here I propose to you, dear reader, that the scourge of “fund...

(This artical copied in its entirety from Slate Magazine) Wrong-Way Bush In the war on terror, the worst defense is a bad offense. By William Saletan Posted Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004, at 3:42 PM PT Seventy-five years ago in the Rose Bowl, a University of California football player named Roy Riegels picked up a fumble by the opposing team, spun around, and started running for the end zone. Unfortunately, he was heading the wrong way. He ran with such purpose that people in the stands, including the play-by-play announcer, doubted their own sanity. When a teammate tried to stop him, Riegels—who would go down in history as "Wrong-Way Riegels"—shook him off. He was a man on a mission. This is what's now happening in Iraq and the presidential campaign. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are framing the election as a choice between playing "defense" and going on "offense" in the war on terror. The attacks of 9/11 presented the United States wit...