Update:
My rankings remain the same. I think, however, that it is becoming very likely that Obama is going to win the Dem nomination. I like this man very much, and this would make me very happy. Of course, I prefer Edwards for his more progressive policy positions, but an Obama presidency would, I think, be transformative.
So as of Dec 8, 2008, I think the nominees will be Obama and Huckabee.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Welcome back.
Life is changing, ever changing. School has begun, and I've had my first classes as a bona fide doctoral candidate. It's fun to sign one's name with an MA at the end.
I've also moved. Ya'll can now find me in the first state. It's friendly here! And it's lovely not to pay taxes :)
Some of you may know that I have officially endorsed John Edwards. I'm sure it is extremely meaningful to him to recive this endorsement, because I am nearly as influential as all those unions that keep endorsing him. I will explian why I have endorsed Mr. Edwards:
I have taken a keen interest in watching his speeches, and I have found him to be deeply honest and thoughtful. I think he has the most well-thought positions, and he has the most liberal positions of the major candidates. I love his wife, and I think her struggle with cancer has lit a fire under John that has shown him what are the important things in life. He's no longer the son of a mill worker, but rather he is now the fire breathing liberal who cares intensely about the common man.
If you don't believe me, watch his speeches. He really is breathing fire. He yells, he empathizes, and he suffers. He suffers because he sees hard working people getting shafted. He sees people without health insurance dying because they cant afford the care his wife gets. He sees people working too many jobs and getting paid too little. He sees an economy that would not support a man like his father if his father were still working today.
I really do plead with you to learn some more about this guy. Watch his speeches, read his positions, and pay him some attention.
If you're a long time reader of mine, you may remember that I used to hate this guy. I wrote some pretty nasty things about him back in 2004. If my archives were available, you'd be able to read them and see the way I spoke about him back then. I have been completely convinced otherwise today. He is passionate, and he is honest.
I have already given him some money, and I probably will again before the primaries arrive. I hope you will think about doing the same. Check out JohnEdwards.com and come aboard!
Life is changing, ever changing. School has begun, and I've had my first classes as a bona fide doctoral candidate. It's fun to sign one's name with an MA at the end.
I've also moved. Ya'll can now find me in the first state. It's friendly here! And it's lovely not to pay taxes :)
Some of you may know that I have officially endorsed John Edwards. I'm sure it is extremely meaningful to him to recive this endorsement, because I am nearly as influential as all those unions that keep endorsing him. I will explian why I have endorsed Mr. Edwards:
I have taken a keen interest in watching his speeches, and I have found him to be deeply honest and thoughtful. I think he has the most well-thought positions, and he has the most liberal positions of the major candidates. I love his wife, and I think her struggle with cancer has lit a fire under John that has shown him what are the important things in life. He's no longer the son of a mill worker, but rather he is now the fire breathing liberal who cares intensely about the common man.
If you don't believe me, watch his speeches. He really is breathing fire. He yells, he empathizes, and he suffers. He suffers because he sees hard working people getting shafted. He sees people without health insurance dying because they cant afford the care his wife gets. He sees people working too many jobs and getting paid too little. He sees an economy that would not support a man like his father if his father were still working today.
I really do plead with you to learn some more about this guy. Watch his speeches, read his positions, and pay him some attention.
If you're a long time reader of mine, you may remember that I used to hate this guy. I wrote some pretty nasty things about him back in 2004. If my archives were available, you'd be able to read them and see the way I spoke about him back then. I have been completely convinced otherwise today. He is passionate, and he is honest.
I have already given him some money, and I probably will again before the primaries arrive. I hope you will think about doing the same. Check out JohnEdwards.com and come aboard!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
"you mean, they all have AIDS?"
yes, all the patients do, AIDS or HIV.
"aren't you afraid? I'd be afraid to work there"
not really. it's not like I'm going to have sex with them or drink their blood!
_______________________________________________________
How's your new neighborhood, G?
"It's good, I like it. There's alot of black people, though. I don't have a problem with them, and they've been really nice to me, the kids all say hi to me. But the only problem is that they all look so much alike. I can't tell any of them apart!"
yes, all the patients do, AIDS or HIV.
"aren't you afraid? I'd be afraid to work there"
not really. it's not like I'm going to have sex with them or drink their blood!
_______________________________________________________
How's your new neighborhood, G?
"It's good, I like it. There's alot of black people, though. I don't have a problem with them, and they've been really nice to me, the kids all say hi to me. But the only problem is that they all look so much alike. I can't tell any of them apart!"
Monday, July 16, 2007
Public laundry facilities are one thing that I will never understand and that I will not miss when I have the capability to do laundry in my own space. I think I have written on this topic before, but I also think that it merits re-examination. There's always a story when it comes to laundry-in-public. The people you meet, the messes you find, the functioning of the machines--these are all things that lead to potential stories. I can picture movie scenes from both Fight Club and Hedwig that involve public laundry facilities.
I was moved to write on this topic because of my experience tonight doing laundry. Let me state first that I absolutely hate doing laundry in my building. The stairs are unforgiving when you're carrying many pounds of soiled clothing, the machines never work as they should, and the underground laundry room is dank and somewhat creepy. So I go into any laundry-doing with a pre-disposition toward having a bad experience.
Tonight's experience wasn't necessarily bad, but it falls under the category of interesting laundry stories involving the people you meet while doing laundry. Luckily, the machines were all empty, and I got to put all of my clothes into the three washers at once. 30 minutes after pushing in those cleverly designed coin receptacles that you only find on washing machines and pool tables, I returned to the basement to transfer my clothing from the washers into the dryers. When I wash shirts, I shake them out before putting them into the dryer, and I only dry them for a couple minutes before hanging the dress shirts on wooden hangers and hanging the other shirts on a clothes rack to dry. I started this transferring of clothes with the shirt washer because it takes the most time to do. After transferring about half of my shirts, this woman enters the laundry room with a small pile of wet clothes, and she begins to put them into a dryer.
OK, so I have already said there are three washers, but it must also be said that there are three dryers. While it may be ugly and creepy, this is a functional laundry system because there are an equal number of washers and dryers. If you use three washers, you can expect also to use three dryers, because that is what you're going to need to house all of your clean, wet clothes.
So I operate under the assumption that since I am the only person doing laundry, I will have ample dryer space for my three washers full of clothes. But now I am panicking because this woman doesn't seem to use the same sort of reasoning that I use. So she looks at me as I stare at her stealing my heat, and she realizes that maybe she is doing something that is not quite right. She asks, "are you going to use all of these?" Yes, I reply. I have three washers full of clothes, I reply. "Can you use only two?" No, I say. I have alot of clothes, see? "Well, can't you put those two together into one?" No, I again say. See, I have alot of clothes, and I need all of the dryers. "Oh, ok, I guess I will wait, how long you going take?" I don't know, as long as it takes the dryers to dry? I don't know how long they take. "Hmm, ok, I wait." But don't you need a washer too? "No, I already wash them. I just need dryer now."
What?!? This is the real motivator for my story here tonight. It was bad enough that she attempted to steal my dryer, but it was for clothes that she didnt even wash in the washer. She washed the clothes in her apartment, in the sink, or something. It was a small pile, and she had already washed them. I was perplexed. Why would you wash them by hand and then use the electric dryer to dry them? This was an Asian woman, and I have learned from recent discussions that some Asian cultures seem not to use washing machines (is that true?) But if it's a cultural thing, how does the dryer fit in? And if it is not a cultural thing, again, how does the dryer fit in? And what makes anyone, who can clearly see a person whose 3 loads of wash have just finished and who is currently in the midst of transferring all of his three loads into the three dryers he has opened, think she can use one of the dryers before the guy who is in the midst of using them does?
Again, though, I go back to my first paragraph--I don't get public laundry. I wonder if I was the one who was wrong in this situation? Should I not use all of the dryers at once, even if I need them? Should I have let her have the dryer she needed? What is the proper etiquette in this situation? Is there a protocol to follow? Is my thinking I was right somehow a manifestation of self-righteousness or a sense of entitlement? Or was she really a pushy, socially inept woman who wanted to steal what was rightfully mine?
As the owl once said, "I guess we'll never know." Or maybe we will, if you, reader, provide some thoughts by clicking on that little link right down there ---> that asks you to leave a comment.
I was moved to write on this topic because of my experience tonight doing laundry. Let me state first that I absolutely hate doing laundry in my building. The stairs are unforgiving when you're carrying many pounds of soiled clothing, the machines never work as they should, and the underground laundry room is dank and somewhat creepy. So I go into any laundry-doing with a pre-disposition toward having a bad experience.
Tonight's experience wasn't necessarily bad, but it falls under the category of interesting laundry stories involving the people you meet while doing laundry. Luckily, the machines were all empty, and I got to put all of my clothes into the three washers at once. 30 minutes after pushing in those cleverly designed coin receptacles that you only find on washing machines and pool tables, I returned to the basement to transfer my clothing from the washers into the dryers. When I wash shirts, I shake them out before putting them into the dryer, and I only dry them for a couple minutes before hanging the dress shirts on wooden hangers and hanging the other shirts on a clothes rack to dry. I started this transferring of clothes with the shirt washer because it takes the most time to do. After transferring about half of my shirts, this woman enters the laundry room with a small pile of wet clothes, and she begins to put them into a dryer.
OK, so I have already said there are three washers, but it must also be said that there are three dryers. While it may be ugly and creepy, this is a functional laundry system because there are an equal number of washers and dryers. If you use three washers, you can expect also to use three dryers, because that is what you're going to need to house all of your clean, wet clothes.
So I operate under the assumption that since I am the only person doing laundry, I will have ample dryer space for my three washers full of clothes. But now I am panicking because this woman doesn't seem to use the same sort of reasoning that I use. So she looks at me as I stare at her stealing my heat, and she realizes that maybe she is doing something that is not quite right. She asks, "are you going to use all of these?" Yes, I reply. I have three washers full of clothes, I reply. "Can you use only two?" No, I say. I have alot of clothes, see? "Well, can't you put those two together into one?" No, I again say. See, I have alot of clothes, and I need all of the dryers. "Oh, ok, I guess I will wait, how long you going take?" I don't know, as long as it takes the dryers to dry? I don't know how long they take. "Hmm, ok, I wait." But don't you need a washer too? "No, I already wash them. I just need dryer now."
What?!? This is the real motivator for my story here tonight. It was bad enough that she attempted to steal my dryer, but it was for clothes that she didnt even wash in the washer. She washed the clothes in her apartment, in the sink, or something. It was a small pile, and she had already washed them. I was perplexed. Why would you wash them by hand and then use the electric dryer to dry them? This was an Asian woman, and I have learned from recent discussions that some Asian cultures seem not to use washing machines (is that true?) But if it's a cultural thing, how does the dryer fit in? And if it is not a cultural thing, again, how does the dryer fit in? And what makes anyone, who can clearly see a person whose 3 loads of wash have just finished and who is currently in the midst of transferring all of his three loads into the three dryers he has opened, think she can use one of the dryers before the guy who is in the midst of using them does?
Again, though, I go back to my first paragraph--I don't get public laundry. I wonder if I was the one who was wrong in this situation? Should I not use all of the dryers at once, even if I need them? Should I have let her have the dryer she needed? What is the proper etiquette in this situation? Is there a protocol to follow? Is my thinking I was right somehow a manifestation of self-righteousness or a sense of entitlement? Or was she really a pushy, socially inept woman who wanted to steal what was rightfully mine?
As the owl once said, "I guess we'll never know." Or maybe we will, if you, reader, provide some thoughts by clicking on that little link right down there ---> that asks you to leave a comment.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
OK, so I'm back. I'm just going to write about impersonal things now. Only commentary on life, politics, culture, and the pathos of the human condition.
So here we go:
Why is it that liberals sitting in audiences have to clap and cheer anytime one of their beloved makes a statement that agrees with their view of the world? Case in point--Al Gore is making a point. He is in mid sentence, and he includes the phrase, "this war is the worst strategic mistake in the history of the country." This is not the point of his statement. Rather, it is merely a statement that is being used to lead to his point. The liberals in the audience, however, do not get this, and when they hear this phrase they begin to clap and cheer loudly, effectively drowning out the actual point that Mr. Gore was trying to make. What is this that causes these people to clap thusly? I mean, they've all heard that phrase a bajillion times before. Are they automatons? Are they really that incapable of developing a cohesive thought? Do they have some constant need for affirmation of their worldview? Or are they really so ignorant that they have attached themselves to specific thoughts and are unable to deviate from or expand upon those thoughts?
This happens with great frequency on Bill Maher's show. He gets some guest on who espouses a liberal worldview and makes statements similar to this one or about something like George Bush's lack of intelligence or other talking points, and the crowd goes wild. And the guests on said show never elaborate on anything/ Each week it is the same argument that has been rehashed for almost 5 years now. War is bad. Bush is liar. Cheney is evil. Gore won the election. Jesus, people, get over it. Engage in an actual argument and stop clapping like a bunch of lemmings anytime anyone makes a tired statement that has been repeated ad nauseum for years. Perhaps there truly is an Assault on Reason as Al Gore contends. In making this statement I am operating under the assumption that the contemporary conservatives have enacted an overt and aggressive assault on reason. Perhaps you'll disagree with that, but it is the assumption I am making. Here, instead, I focus on the liberal side who assaults reason much less overtly. These people claim superiority, but still act like brainwashed communists. I am picturing a scene from a movie in which mindless people clap like circus animals for their leader--perhaps it is a scene from the original Manchurian Candidate?
So anyway, it all makes me ill. You cannot win unless you engage the other side in an argument and prove the superiority of your view. Insisting on soundbites at which you can clap will not do it. Insisting on maintaining a sense of superiority and making statements like Gore won, War Bad, Bush lied, etcetera, will not allow you to win. It will merely make you look like unthinking arrogant monkeys.
I'm done with that thought, but now I return to the initial point--the clapping. Why do you need to interrupt speakers, even if you do agree with their soundbites? Why not attend to the argument? Why not absorb the nuances? Let's break it down: If you are sitting in the audience just waiting for the moment to clap when you hear a statement you like, HOW can you possibly be listening to the complexities of what the speaker is saying? A human being cannot both listen to and critically engage with an argument if he is on the edge of his seat just waiting for the moment to clap and cheer. I think that the act of waiting to clap and cheer effectively disallows critical engagement. For example, Al Gore is speaking--do you, audience member, agree with everything he is saying? I doubt it. How can a person truly agree with everyhting another person says? But how can you think about the points of divergence and discern the merits of his view versus your own if you are eagerly awaiting the moment to cheer a statement like "war bad?" You just cannot do it, and this is a major problem.
We don't listen. We don't think. We don't care about nuance, and we don't care about truth. This is sad, and this does not bode well for the future of our populace.
OK, so I am glad to be writing again, and I hope to do it frequently. I have very much missed having an outlet.
So here we go:
Why is it that liberals sitting in audiences have to clap and cheer anytime one of their beloved makes a statement that agrees with their view of the world? Case in point--Al Gore is making a point. He is in mid sentence, and he includes the phrase, "this war is the worst strategic mistake in the history of the country." This is not the point of his statement. Rather, it is merely a statement that is being used to lead to his point. The liberals in the audience, however, do not get this, and when they hear this phrase they begin to clap and cheer loudly, effectively drowning out the actual point that Mr. Gore was trying to make. What is this that causes these people to clap thusly? I mean, they've all heard that phrase a bajillion times before. Are they automatons? Are they really that incapable of developing a cohesive thought? Do they have some constant need for affirmation of their worldview? Or are they really so ignorant that they have attached themselves to specific thoughts and are unable to deviate from or expand upon those thoughts?
This happens with great frequency on Bill Maher's show. He gets some guest on who espouses a liberal worldview and makes statements similar to this one or about something like George Bush's lack of intelligence or other talking points, and the crowd goes wild. And the guests on said show never elaborate on anything/ Each week it is the same argument that has been rehashed for almost 5 years now. War is bad. Bush is liar. Cheney is evil. Gore won the election. Jesus, people, get over it. Engage in an actual argument and stop clapping like a bunch of lemmings anytime anyone makes a tired statement that has been repeated ad nauseum for years. Perhaps there truly is an Assault on Reason as Al Gore contends. In making this statement I am operating under the assumption that the contemporary conservatives have enacted an overt and aggressive assault on reason. Perhaps you'll disagree with that, but it is the assumption I am making. Here, instead, I focus on the liberal side who assaults reason much less overtly. These people claim superiority, but still act like brainwashed communists. I am picturing a scene from a movie in which mindless people clap like circus animals for their leader--perhaps it is a scene from the original Manchurian Candidate?
So anyway, it all makes me ill. You cannot win unless you engage the other side in an argument and prove the superiority of your view. Insisting on soundbites at which you can clap will not do it. Insisting on maintaining a sense of superiority and making statements like Gore won, War Bad, Bush lied, etcetera, will not allow you to win. It will merely make you look like unthinking arrogant monkeys.
I'm done with that thought, but now I return to the initial point--the clapping. Why do you need to interrupt speakers, even if you do agree with their soundbites? Why not attend to the argument? Why not absorb the nuances? Let's break it down: If you are sitting in the audience just waiting for the moment to clap when you hear a statement you like, HOW can you possibly be listening to the complexities of what the speaker is saying? A human being cannot both listen to and critically engage with an argument if he is on the edge of his seat just waiting for the moment to clap and cheer. I think that the act of waiting to clap and cheer effectively disallows critical engagement. For example, Al Gore is speaking--do you, audience member, agree with everything he is saying? I doubt it. How can a person truly agree with everyhting another person says? But how can you think about the points of divergence and discern the merits of his view versus your own if you are eagerly awaiting the moment to cheer a statement like "war bad?" You just cannot do it, and this is a major problem.
We don't listen. We don't think. We don't care about nuance, and we don't care about truth. This is sad, and this does not bode well for the future of our populace.
OK, so I am glad to be writing again, and I hope to do it frequently. I have very much missed having an outlet.
Monday, April 23, 2007
After 764 posts, 669 pages, and 3 and a half years of writing this blog, it is now done. Yet another reason for deleting it has come to my attention, and I cannot tolerate the attention, embarrassment, and unprofessionality of it all. So, goodbye. Moments of being, I shall miss thee. And I shall miss you, the readers, as well. Adieu and fare thee well. May your life be filled with an abundance of moments of being.
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