Why am I surprised by this?

So, I've been studying in Julian's computer lab this morning, and that is where I'm posting from right now. It was all quiet and normal until these two girls came in to check their email and look at other random things on the internet.

The reason this stands out is that one of them starts reading her email, and, since her computer was in plain view, I could see what the subject was. Someone, later revealed to be the girl she came in with, sent her a forward about getting gift certificates from Applebee's. She asks her, "Did you get your gift certificate?" The girl responds, "No, that's not real, I didn't know until after I sent it." "It's not?"

Oy. They didn't know this was a hoax? Where has everyone been the last 10 years? We've had junk like this spreading across the net for the longest time, and yet nobody ever seems to figure it out. The girl actually had to go to Applebee's website to confirm that this was truly a hoax.

How many offers for gift certificates, money, or products have we seen? These things list Microsoft, AOL, Applebee's, Outback, Gap, Disney, Abercrombie . . . and yet none of them are legitimate. Ever. Why do people continue to be snookered like that?

In fact, why do people start that junk in the first place? It's ridiculous! Are they just trolling for email addresses to use in spam? Or are they just trying to cause trouble? Do they know the strain it puts on the net infrastructure? (Well, maybe not as much as real spam does, but that's beside the point)

People like this annoy me. Their ignorance just astounds me. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've known far too many people whose sole activity on the internet was to fill my and all of their friends' inboxes with innumerable forwards of jokes, "free" money offers, cheesy poems and text pictures declaring how evil you are if you don't forward it, "email snowballs," endless surveys, and so on. I think most people are beginning to outgrow that phase of internet life, but it seems that some people still haven't caught on.

Oy.

Apparently.

So, yesterday I had this great dialogue written up; a satire of video games (such as Prince of Persia) where something happens and somehow the hero is left escaping the inexplicably unreasonable and illogical "defenses" of the palace or fortress of someone. Imagine if your home was built like that. Or, well, that was the premise of the piece.

But no. Stupid Blogger has to fail on me when I tried to post it. I spent the time typing it up and the piece was chewed up and spit into the endless void of the internet. I wouldn't be so frustrated by it if it were the first time something like this has happened, but it's not.

Apparently the people at Blogger don't like satire.

C'mon, tell us how you REALLY feel . . .

If you follow my link above, you'll see Jay Nordlinger's excellent column for this week. The part I'm particularly interested in is his section regarding the left's opinions about those of us who voted for Bush. Oh, sure, they were playing nice (well, sort of) before the election, but now that they've lost, they're not pulling any punches. It's quite amazing what they really think of us. Or what they'll say about us, Christians especially, when they don't care about being politically correct. This just reminds me one more time that hate speech applies to everyone but Christians (or, in some cases, conservatives in general; the left isn't picky). Go figure.

Oh, and if you want to read some of those columns but can't or don't want to register for, say, the New York Times, you can use this wonderful little website known as Bug Me Not. It's great!

Look, a crack!

Random stuff for right now. It's so . . . freeing, to be done with the election. But now I don't even know what to do with myself. I've spent so much time reading about election stuff, Democratic antics, and John Kerry's multitude of positions on one topic that now that it's done, I can't figure out what I should do!

Well, in part, I started playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time again. It's a fun game with some pretty difficult puzzles (although, let's face it: jumping puzzles get old after a while). The sequel is coming, and it looks like it will be cool. But playing this game just makes me wonder.

Why? Well, you, as the prince, accidentally unlock the Sands of Time on the palace of Azad and turn everyone in it except for you and two other people into mindless zombies bent on killing you. When you're not killing zombies, you're running amongst the ruins of the palace (the Sands of Time apparently invite structural failure . . . go figure). But it's not only the crumbling platforms and broken columns that you have to watch out for; no, you also have to avoid the palace "defenses." You know, radial saws that run back and forth on the walls, pressure activated spikes that rise out of the floor, spinning columns covered with blades, those sorts of things. And they're everywhere. This is apparently the kind of place that you don't want to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night without a light. "Where's my servant?" "Well, he was bringing you your breakfast, but he wasn't looking and accidentally walked down the hall with the pit of spikes in it. Terribly sorry."

Just one question: Are we to actually believe that someone would build that death trap of a home?

Okay, on to other issues.

Politics, thy name is Specter

So, during the campaign, Bush went out to Pennsylvania to help out Arlen Specter, a man most are loathe to call a Republican. Despite his title as a Republican, he is rabidly pro-choice and incredibly resilient to all pro-life agendas. All of Bush's advisors told him not to go out and stump for Specter. After all, it does tend to tick off your conservative base when you support politicians who go against one of their most deeply held values. Nevertheless, Bush campaigned for Specter. And the thanks the man gets after being re-elected? He's already declared that, should Bush nominate any judicial nominees that are even slightly pro-life, he'd do everything in his power to block them.

What a schmuck.

And this seriously is a problem. The consensus seems to be that, with another term under his belt and a bigger majority in the Congress, the first thing Bush should do is get his judicial nominess to work. This hold-up spells bad news, especially for those of us who want to see changes to abortion law in America. Let's face it: Rehnquist's recent hospitilization makes it ever more important to remember that the highest court in the land is old. I've seen people estimate that Bush could appoint up to three or four justices in this term. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but not beyond the realm of possibility. I find it more likely that some of them would hold off on retirement until they were certain a Democrat was in office and would appoint like-minded justices, but perhaps I'm just being jaded. The issue still remains: Bush could likely appoint one or two in his time in office. We can't be held back by these shenanigans anymore.

It's about time

So, Arafat is in a hospital in France. None of the doctors are saying that he's dying, but everyone else is whispering that his time is short. I hate to say it, but it's about time.

Look, I'm not a monster. I'm sure his family will miss him, and I know that no one is beyond redemption. God could still reach this person and I pray that it will happen. But let's not tip-toe around the facts because we want to play nice: This man was a monster. He was the leader of the longest standing terrorist organization(s) that I can think of. His life quest has been to wipe the nation of Israel off the map, to see the death of every Jew in Israel. This is not a man to miss. The people who will mourn his death cry out for the death of the Jews as well. I'll say it: It's about time he went.

And, perhaps there is something else good to find in this. The story is that, with rumors flying that he won't make it, the leadership within his ranks are asking who will take control. We want to see a power struggle there. If these people fight amongst themselves, all the fewer to strap bombs to their chests and run into an Israeli cafe or bus. This could severely weaken the organizations Arafat controlled, and that is good for everyone.

Yes, I'm a bad, bad man. Eh.

Post Election Thoughts

Well, the election has come and gone. My thoughts on things:

1) Illinois went to Kerry and Obama. Big surprise, eh? I figured as much. But, well, what can you do? Actually, I think next time around I will run for governor or senator. I certainly couldn't do any worse than what the Illinois GOP is bringing up lately.

Or maybe I should just move to Texas. We'll see. Are there any celebrities who need plane tickets to Canada?

2) John Kerry has conceded the election. This is good, although I've still got an inkling in the back of my mind that we're not out of the "quagmire election" danger zone yet. Al Gore conceded the election too, at first. Give it time, we'll see.

Funny story. I was walking through Atkin-Colby just before the concession speech, and CNN was on the TV. I love this. John Edwards was speaking. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but the caption/headline at the bottom of the screen said, "BREAKING NEWS. Edwards: John Kerry is a great American." Let that sink in for a second. John Edwards thinks John Kerry is a great American. CNN is calling that "breaking news." Heh, must be a slow day in the newsroom, eh? Maybe they need to get someone else to write the captions.

I've already heard the democrats and liberals grumbling about how America is going to go to Hell, and how we're doomed as a nation, and blah blah blah. Sore losers. Okay, maybe that's not fair. I'd have been a bit upset if Kerry had won. But, well, let's face it: if America had decided to elect one or the other, then they get what they deserve. Let's not forget that we're all adults here (at least those of us who can vote), and we are responsible for the decisions we make.

Although, I must say that I'm quite scared. Why? Well, I've seen some theorizing that a loss for Kerry was what the Democrats really wanted the entire time. That way, there would be smooth sailing for a Hillary Clinton ticket in 2008. It wouldn't surprise me if that plan starts fomenting soon. THAT scares me. I don't know who the GOP will get to run in '08, but for some reason, people like to elect Clintons to office. I hope never to see a Clinton in the Whitehouse again. Let's just hope the next four years don't bring that.

And, something humorous just to wrap things up. For those who don't know, I'm taking an applied ethics class this semester, and we're discussing racism and affirmative action. The section about it in our book has this little blurb: "Racial discrimination can take many forms, from racially motivated hate speech to the use of Asian mail-order bride services by middle-aged American men who blame their problems with women on feminism." Wait, what? That last part . . . what does that have to do with anything? Am I the only one who finds that weird?

Okay, enjoy the time, folks. Four more years!

Scripture interprets itself!

Okay, this reeeeeeeally bugs me.

I know lots and lots of people like to take Psalm 46:10, where God is quoted as saying "Be still, and know that I am God." in the NIV, as saying, "God just wants you to have some quiet time with him, shutting out the outside world and being with him and doing quiet God-things."

Is this something Christians should do? Yes, spending time that is explicitly set aside for God, one on one, is a good thing. Does the Bible teach this? Absolutely. Does Psalm 46:10 teach this? No no no no no!!!

For crying out loud people, when we say what a verse means, we use CONTEXT! We don't just take a solitary verse (in this case, just a portion of a verse) and take its meaning verbatim, otherwise we would assume that Jesus is a door, a vine, a gate, and a shepherd. Literally.

Let's look at the FULL verse of Psalm 46:10, and for kicks and grins, let's use the New English Translation (www.bible.org):

"He says, 'Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!'"

Interesting. The translator's notes indicate that yes, the literal hebrew translation of the first part of the verse is as it is in the NIV. But why does he translate it that way? Because this message is being delivered to the nations that are warring around them, and God's message is for them to trust in his protection and to cease their senseless warring. The translator gets this because it is a similar meaning given to other verses elsewhere in the Old Covenant. The best part is that you get this very meaning by examining the context of the entire psalm. I'll let you read the entire thing, but here's what you get: Nations war, drowning out the voice of God with the clash of their spears. But God speaks up for their silence. In the end, he will shatter their swords and rend their shields, for He is the supreme, and they will learn to obey and trust in him.

Now does that have anything to do with being quiet and reading your bible? No. I hope this has been informative for those of you who don't let the bible speak for itself.

Hal

They never cease to amaze me

Well, yesterday I saw the College Democrats on the quad selling t-shirts and handing out stickers. "Buck Fush in '04" they read. Clever, if thinly veiled hatred towards the President. Actually, it's not really clever. It's old and ridiculous. If you hate the President that much that you're willing to wear a t-shirt so as to let the whole world know, why not just skip the niceties and say it minus the spoonerism? Yeah, remember when people were saying that the Democratic party was not a party of hate? That hate is not a family value? Right. I continue to find that line hard to believe when it comes from Democrats.

And it just keeps getting worse. I saw them out there today again. I would have shrugged it off if I hadn't overheard one of the sellers lambasting someone who was surely planning to vote Republican in a few days. This is what I heard: "Because Bush is a maniac . . . and how about, you're an idiot?" Ah, intelligent political discourse. I'm convinced! I'll vote for Kerry! Really, I wish I had said something to the girl right then, but I was too concerned with getting food in my stomach to think about it much at the time. Maybe I'll leave early for my next class and give 'em hell out on the quad.

This is sad, really. Last week, the College Democrats and Republicans had a debate on the election, and it was talked up in the paper as being this intelligent, polite exchange. It's all a lie. The Democrats (at least here) aren't in their natural state with that approach. That's just what they pull out to make nice to the public. Really, they're much more comfortable with a "We hate Bush and everyone who disagrees with us" type approach. Sad.

Side note: Where on earth have the College Republicans been at ISU for the last year or so? I mean, I know the College Democrats have been doing big voter registration drives and what not, campaigning big time for Kerry and Obama. Where's the Republicans? Did they give up? Are they scared of the Democrats' gestapo tactics? Is it just too much to expect Illinois to vote Republican? What gives, people?

Well, that's it for now. I'll have some more soon (hopefully).

Hal

Vox Blogoli IV

Well, I’ve been meaning to post for a while, but classes have gotten way out of hand lately. There’s been a lot going on, and I really wish I had covered some of it. I must be the only conservative blogger on the planet who didn’t talk about Dan Rather and the CBS memos (otherwise known as “Rathergate” to the “Pajahmadeen” . . . if you don’t get that term, you need to go here and here).

Well, rather than comment on the mountains of things that have been happening in the world as of late, here is something special of my own. With apologies to David Letterman . . .

Top Ten Reasons I am Voting for Bush

10. Economy. I’ll admit that my eyes tend to glaze over when politicians and economists start blabbering on about growth percentages and productivity increases and . . . and . . . zzzz . . . er, um. In any case, there is something I think I can add meaningfully to this. The economy, as far as I have read, is growing again. Growing in a very good way. I’m willing to bet that his economic policies have had something to do with this.

9. Taxes. George Bush cut our taxes. Everyone complains about how they don’t like paying taxes. George Bush cut our taxes. Let me repeat: George Bush cut our taxes. Repetitive: yes. Important: yes. John Kerry, on the other hand, has no plans to do so. I can’t possibly believe his “promise” during the second debate to not raise the taxes of the middle class (apparently everyone else is about to get the shaft . . . sorry Teresa). The numbers for his new, proposed spending is somewhere between $2.2-3.2 trillion. I’ve heard/read both numbers. Either way, I’ve also heard/read that his proposed increase in taxes for the rich (>$200,000/year) will accrue about $900 million. Wait, that’s a much smaller number than a couple of trillion dollars. Where is the difference going to come from? Me thinks a problem is at hand . . .

8. Homosexual Marriage. Yes, I don’t think homosexuals should be given government sactioned marriage. And say what you will about him or his stance on the matter, at least he has the guts to stand behind his conviction on this issue. Not like most other politicians, who have almost overwhelmingly declared that they don’t support such a thing, but won’t support any national legislation regarding the issue. “Let the states handle it.” Have you noticed that it’s only when the politicians are scared of something that they actually give authority of an issue back to the states? But I digress.

7. Affirmative Action. Okay, so Bush hasn’t exactly come out against this outmoded system. But, as in the case at the University of Michigan, he at least is standing against quota systems. Good. If we want a truly colorless, we must consider people apart from their race, not because of it. I’m glad we have a President who realizes this.

6. Faith. I’m a sucker for a Christian man. Granted, there are people who will disagree about whether or not his actions (i.e. Iraq) would be considered Christ-like. However, the way he talks about his faith tells me that it has at least some spark of genuineness about it. Could it be a well-coached hoax intended to lure Christians into voting? I doubt it. Until I’m given reason to doubt his faith (something besides “War is wrong/Bush is evil”), I feel I can take him at his word.

Contrast this with Kerry, a man who has said that he has strong faith, but can’t let it dictate his actions as a politician. Huh? What good is a faith that doesn’t change your actions?! Does this man know anything about the faith he claims to have?

5. September 11, 2001. Let Michael Moore and company say what they will. I think the President reacted marvelously to such a catastrophic, defining moment. Yeah, he has had to make some tough decisions since then. At least he has considered them carefully and made them. I’d prefer that over a man who would let our country sit idly by and ignore outside threats.

4. The U.N. I’m glad Bush stood up to these guys. They are not the moral authority for the world. The Oil-For-Food scandal, as well as continued inaction in Sudan, shows it. Why should the U.S. need the approval of such a self-interested group as this in order to act in the best interests of not only the U.S., but the entire world?

3. Afghanistan/Iraq. They harbored terrorists. They posed a threat to the safety of Americans. They broke all the rules. President Bush did what had to be done. And now what do we have? Democracy for people who have not known it . . . ever. Power-mad regimes and dictatorships either dead or imprisoned. Terrorist organizations scattered and struggling for life. Countries likely to find themselves in the crosshairs next disarming and reforming. I’ll gladly vote for a man who made these things happen.

2. Defense. It’s not just about Iraq. Bush has shown that he will not take threats to the U.S. lightly. He has shown that he wants our military to be as strong and well-equipped as possible. He has shown that he won’t just sit and wait around until we get attacked to go after the bad guys.

Again, contrast this with Kerry. He says he will make terrorism a “nuisance?” Like prostitution? First, you ask those people whose lives have been ruined by prostitution, who have been trapped by that lifestyle and can’t get out, whether they consider it a “nuisance.” Next, when was terrorism ever a “nuisance?” These people aren’t smashing mailboxes, painting graffiti, and keying your car. They are plotting to kill as many Americans (and American allies) as possible as often as possible, both at home and abroad. Repeat: They want all of us dead. That is not a nuisance.

1. Life Issues. President Bush stands up against abortion. President Bush encourages adult stem cell research, and has prevented government funding of embryonic stem cell research that would kill more of the innocent unborn. For Christians, I can’t stress enough how important this should be.

Say what you will about Iraq, or anything else. Chide me for being a “single issue” voter. More than forty million abortions in the last thirty years far outweighs any other issue in my mind. The senseless death of that many innocents should be more than enough incentive for anyone who values human life to vote for those who will work to end such slaughter, rather than increase its lifespan.

Well, that’s it. Hope you enjoyed. Until next time!

Hal

The system doesn't work

Yeah, yeah, I know. Eighteen days.

Before I get on to the main update, I wanted to add something. Today in my Instrumental Analysis class, the professor says, "The average on the last test was a little high. We'll have to make the next one a bit harder."

Wait, the average was too high? Isn't that what you want to see? Why should you think you did something wrong if people did good on the test?

The educational system seems to suffer from some fundamental flaws.

Hal

Vagina!

Where does the time go? Perhaps I have been a little lax in my posting habits as of late, but I am arguably busy. In fact, this is just a quick tid-bit before I head off to bed anyhow, so . . .

Here they come!

Okay, so last week I saw someone tromping across the quad with a shirt that read, "The Vagina's are coming! Vote Vagina!" Ah, the Vagina Monologues must be coming up sometime soon, methinks. I thought that usually happened in the spring, but perhaps someone is misinformed. "Vote Vagina." Cute. Someone has a clever play on the upcoming election.

But then I thought to myself . . . what if that isn't just a joke? What if they're serious? This lead to an interesting question . . . which Presidential candidate best represents the "Vagina ticket", if you will? I would imagine the end-goal of this is to have a President concerned about "women's issues" (whatever that would mean to the Chief Executive).

Granted, this is usually a liberal topic, with a liberal answer: The liberal candidate. Abortion tends to be one of the centerpieces of the discussion, of course. But . . . does supporting abortion really make John Kerry more "pro-Vagina"?

At this point, I don't have many answers to give. Given how very little I know about feminist issues, I can't really say who actually fulfills the "Vagina" requirements. Granted, given the typically liberal agenda of the feminist movement, Kerry is their man, but I'm curious on what basis such a conclusion is reached.

That's all folks. Stay tuned . . .

Todaybor Day is Labor Day

Post from Home

It's labor day weekend, so I'm home and posting on the molasses, er, dial-up connection. I don't really have any links to point you to (it'd be too hard to find them right now), but I do have a few talking points.

The Convention

So, I have a rather shoddy TV situation at the house, so I didn't get to watch any of the convention. I read a lot about it, though. Even read some transcripts of proceedings. I have a few thoughts on things.

First, the moderates: Yes, it's all great to show off the "Big Tent" aspect of the party, how everyone is in support of the President. However, I hear all this talk about "Giuliani/Pataki/Schwarzenegger" on a 2008 Presidential ticket, and that frightens me. Yes, I'm glad some of the more centrist Republicans understand the importance of backing out President on inter/national security issues, but be reasonable: These guys will not promote good policies, and their candidacy will ensure a loss in an election, given that their social liberality will tick off the conservative base to no end. Conservatives are not going to elect a pro-choice president just because he's a republican.

And speaking of liberal policies, what's up with this "Temporary Worker" thing? I know they're trying to woo latino voters, but I doubt this is going to be the thing that does it. They need to work harder to do it than that. And jeez, why don't we just declare asylum for every illegal already here? Let's not forget their official status: "Illegal alien." That means they are c-r-i-m-i-n-a-l-s. Should we just pardon rapists and murderers when they have a popular voting contingency? Yeesh.

Finally, the speeches. I read Zell Miller's speech. I'm sure it would've been much more impressive heard and seen rather than read, but it still looked dynamite to me. It said a lot that everyone wanted to say for a while. Especially devestating was his look at some of Kerry's votes in the Senate. He doesn't talk much about his votes in the Senate, but it's hard for him to look like he's strong on National Defense when he has voted down every new defense bill in all the time he has been in Congress. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Vietnam may tell us something about Kerry's character, but we're better off looking at the things he has done since then. His unwillingness to talk about those things should tell us even more.

And Bush's speech, well, I have only read about. Bits and pieces float up in various articles, but I can't find a transcript. From what I can tell, it was pretty good. He said a lot of the things he needed to say. I'm not sure if it will reach those who needed to hear it, but I think my vote is still safely secured. By the way, those protesters inside the convention . . . shameless. Absolutely shameless. The Democrats were allowed to have their convention, their chance to speak, why can't the Republicans have theirs?

Terrorists in Russia

This is absolutely insane. Islamic terrorists capture a school celebrating its first day. They hold parents, teachers, and children hostage. They withold food and water from them, forcing them to stay in unsufferable conditions, even using the children as shields . . . words are insufficient to express the outrage we should feel. If I recall correctly, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the terrorists even set off her explosives without provocation, killing many of the hostages. This led to the military finally going in, and now some 200 of the hostages are dead, and many more injured.

I don't know if these people had demands. I didn't recall reading any or hearing about them in the news. So I can't say much for motive. But reality is a harsh mistress: Are these the kind of people who we can negotiate with? Are these the kind of people we want to leave alone in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia? Gracious, what will the reaction be if we ever face this kind of thing AGAIN at home (lest we forget what happened 3 years ago)? These people want to kill others simply for a loose connection to America/The West/non-Islamic religions. Many of them froth at the mouth at the prospect of killing an American. We're hated simply for where we were born, and we want to excuse it as being the end result of poor education and a harsh socioeconomic climate? Are these the people we really want to fight a "more sensitive war" with? What does that even mean?

It's events like this that make me all the more glad we are led by a President who is not afraid to stand up to bullies like these, who is not afraid to make the difficult decision to go after them even when placating weenies throw a tantrum (which it seems now may have been more motivated by self-interest than anything else). All in all, I'm glad we are led by this President, and I hope that he shall continue to lead us through this critical time for another four years.

All right people, that about wraps up this evening's edition. When the news produces something comment worthy, you shall hear from me again. Until then, goodnight.

School? Yikes.

Campus Life


Okay, not really any political ramblings here (yet). I'm more interested in school things at the moment. It's really early on day 7 of classes so far. Yet, I have to wonder . . . why do I feel so overwhelmed already? I mean, I know I'm taking the hardest classes required by my major, yet why should I feel this way already? Am I simply freaking out over nothing? Is this all a bad omen for the semester to come? Will I be sane by the end of the year?

So, apparently, as I mull over my post-graduation plans, doing grad. school at ISU is a possibility. At least, a highly recommended possibility, though more opinions would be worth getting. I just wonder, though . . . do I want to stay at ISU? Are the relationships I've made here worth taking advantage of for grad. school? And what about outside of that? Do I want to maintain the community I have found myself in? Do I want to hold onto the friends I have made?

Speaking of friends, the people here never cease to amaze me. Yesterday was day 2 of having my . . . facial anomaly (if you know, you know, and if you don't, just take a look at me). The surprise for me was that nobody said a single word about it! Is this just because they were feeling polite and didn't want to bring it up, or is it because self-interest blinded their eyes? Several people asked me how my weekend was, and when I replied, "Long," I received responses of, "Oh, I'm sorry, anyways . . ." or "Me too! First I had to . . . " Yeesh. Not that I'm looking for a pity party here or anything, but I think I'm more bothered by people not asking than by their asking.

Okay, on to the news.

GOP Convention

Oh, how I wish I had a television. Alas. All I can do is surf the internet in search of people's thoughts on this thing. Oh well. It looks like the convention has been interesting so far. I'm glad to hear that the "moderate" republicans are remembering that they are, indeed, republicans.

Relics of Barbarism

An interesting parallel the authors draw here. While I see a valid connection, I wonder if anyone else disagrees with his assessment? If you do, care to explain why? (I'm taking an ethics class right now, I need the practice!)

Pressure Cooker Theory

Heh, okay, so normally I wouldn't post this, as I don't think it adds much to the current debate, but the last line was so funny I just couldn't resist. "What if Bush is reelected? If they lose to him again, Democrats will need more than just consolation. They'll need therapy."

Hypocrisy and the 527's

This has me more than a little miffed. What happened to free speech? John Kerry has relied so heavily on these PAC groups for months, and now one comes along that is actually going against him, and suddenly these groups are unconstitutional, evil, and must disappear? Actually, just the one: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

To make matters worse, President Bush has called for all 527 groups to keep out of the race. While I understand this as a purely political move, I still find it inappropriate. John Kerry's behavior much worse; he would have everyone condemn SBVT as liars and criminals without offering anything to disprove them. And where is the slander lawsuit if they are such liars?

Something I read elsewhere (sorry, no link), though I haven't been able to verify it anywhere else, is that President Bush has entered a lawsuit with John McCain against SBVT to get them to pull their ads off the air. If this is true, I can only express my shame at the President. I thought this was America, land of free speech? Urgh. Not that I won't be voting for him, as I don't see this as a huge deal breaker and it is unconfirmed yet, but he still should not do so. The Vietnam quagmire Kerry has found himself in, thanks in large part to SBVT, has helped the President tremendously in the polls. And while the group has said that it is, contrary to what the Democrats say, notBush's cronies and therefore won't take their ads off the air just because he says so, Bush should be thanking them with everything he has!

Well, that's it for now. Watch the convention everybody!

Hal

The summer hiatus is over

Back for more!

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last. I guess the post-Japan period of my summer left me disinclined to share my thoughts on the world. Never mind the crummy dial-up connection at home. No matter. There's too much to talk about that happened over the summer, but I suppose I can just get right in to talking about some current issues. Nothing exciting is happening in my own life, and the news just doesn't have much non-political things that are exciting, but we'll see what we can come up with, okay?

Tax cuts favor who?

Many people don't know much about this, but I consider this big. One of the big complaints against Bush's tax cut is that it only favors the wealthy, the middle class is being hurt, and so on. These numbers, given by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, paint a much different picture.

Apparently, after the tax cut (which offered refunds on overpayments, e.g. you get back according to what you paid in), the people who earn $100k+ pay a larger percentage of the taxes than before. Interesting. Continuing along, it seems that some of the lowest income earners, who receive money from the government at tax time, now receive even more money. Why does this not seem as sinister as what people made it out to be before?

John Kerry and Vietnam

Here's the next bit of political fun. Personally, it doesn't matter to me what Kerry did in Vietnam, though it is telling of him if he earned awards which he didn't deserve because he lied about it. I guess by making his service in Vietnam such a centerpiece of his candidacy, he deserves whatever scrutiny he's receiving, and if we're finding out he's not as heroic as he made himself out to be, then it's his own stupid fault.

However, I agree with the author here: Kerry's post-war behavior is far more important, especially his senate voting record. Kerry claimed Vietnam was filled with American war criminals, and now comes around saying how proud he is of his fellow veterans? Kerry says he will be strong on national security, yet has consistently voted down every effort to improve the military? That just doesn't sound trustworthy to me. It just seems wrong, somehow. But whatever. Kerry's records, Vietname and Senate aside, Bush has called for the debate on the candidates to be about what they will do, not what they have done. I'll get more into that in the future.

Communion Denied

This I find absolutely ridiculous. The communion is not valid if it is not wheat based? How legalistic! Where does that even come from? Wheat as we know it was unheard of in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. The bread he used was most likely barley.

The issues go beyond that, though. If the content of the host is so important, what about all of those churches in Africa? Many don't have access to wheat bread and grape wine, and make do with whatever substitute they can. Are their communions invalid too? What if the manufacturer made a mistake the diocese isn't aware of? What if the bread is stale or the wine has soured? How many priests world-wide, every day, "consecrate the host" and inadvertantly deprive the faithful of "the body and blood of Christ"?

I think it gets worse than that, though. This little girl cannot take communion, period. How is this different from excommunicating her? I mean, Catholics who are in sin or disagreement with the church are told not to partake. Non-Catholics are not allowed to partake. How is this any different? And didn't Jesus say that unless one partook of his body and blood, they had no life in them? In the Catholic sense, Jesus is denied her, but if this is followed to its logical conclusion, does this little girl have any hope of salvation in the eyes of the Catholic Church?

Y'know, the real ironic thing is that the Catholic Church can't come to a consensus whether or not John Kerry can receive communion.


All right, that's enough out of me for today. Hopefully, I shall have frequent updates again (now that my internet connection is back in the modern age), so if you're actually still reading my blog, stay tuned!

Japanese Adventure VII

Ha ha, okay, so maybe I'm a little behind on my updates. Returning from Japan left me with a lot to do and not much time to do it in, so I've been putting off updating the blog. However, I now will finish the job. Yikes, can you believe I originally intended to go back and put in more detail on the last entry? Not anymore. It will be enough just to finish this sucker off. Ah well.

Sunday 6/6
Okay, this was the first day on the trip that I found myself feeling miserable. I woke up and felt quite ill. I couldn't figure out why. Had I not slept enough? Perhaps I was hungry? Either way, I just felt exhausted, sore, and generally unhealthy. There was no helping it, though; I was going to church! Hooray for my first trip to church since arriving in Japan! Maeda-sensei agreed to take me to this large (for Japan, apparently) Presbyterian church in town. It's a shame he himself is not a Christian, but I figured this was a good opportunity for him to at least have some exposure. He picked me up and off we went. One of the members, an older man, knew some english and translated as much of the service as he could for me. Actually, it turns out most of the 100 or so members were older. I saw very few people under 30, and I could count on one hand the number of people under 20. Oh well. Seeing a Japanese church was a cool experience, even if I couldn't understand a word of it. It was pretty much like any other traditional church service.

Returning from the service was a blessing. I had been feeling light headed the entire time, but by the time I returned, I thought I was going to just fall over. Yasushi ate a light lunch with me, but reminded me we were going to the park to meet Fujiko for a picnic at 2. The lunch helped some, so I thought I would be all right.

We left and arrived at the park to find Fujiko and another family there, with the children off playing. I talked with them a little, and ate a little bit of food, but I spent the afternoon napping in a chair off and on. They kept offering me food, but between my tiredness, my sore back, and my queasy stomach, I wanted nothing to do with it. I ended up leaving about 4, with Yasushi guiding me back. I returned, and slept then from 5 until 7. I awoke and prepared for bed and finished watching "The Fujitive" (Yay for movie channels in english!) and then went back to sleep. I was definitely sick.

Monday 6/7
By this time, I knew I was sick with something. I woke up and felt miserable again. Thankfully, I had no class until 1, and Fujiko wanted me to stick around so she could run errands. This was a fine opportunity to take a nap. Sadly, I slept on my hands, and when I woke up, Fujiko walked into my room to see me attempting to wake my hands up, waving them around and grasping at nothing. Ooops. Getting to class was then quite miserable. During class, I was so out of it that Fujikane-sensei surely noticed the funk I was in. I was barely coherent, much less teachable. Yikes. I went back right after class (another miserable ride) and rested the entire evening.

Tuesday 6/8
Tuesday did not fare much better. I felt much better and much livelier (is that a word?) . . . at first. After class in the afternoon, my stomach began to ache horribly. I thought the ghost of my appendix had returned to torment me, until the truth came out . . . pun intended. Let me just take a moment now to say that I apologize for nothing; having gas is part of being human and it really affected me at this point in my trip.

I spent my time after class that day sitting at home and trying to get rid of gas the natural, God-designed way :-)

Wednesday 6/9
This was a full day. It started with lunch on the quad with some of the Japanese students. "Jingis kan." Ha ha. It was fun, though socialization is hard when you don't speak much japanese, and the other don't speak much english. Someday, I will return with more and get so much more out of the trip. In any case, Dan and another guy were taking shots out of some bottle that was 110 proof or something. He was pretty buzzed by the time we made it to class later. What a loser.

It was after class that I found out that Aggie, one of the Chinese girls, broke her nose the night before. It made for an awkward moment when Dan and Young were comforting their respective girlfriends and I sat at the computer, wishing I wasn't in the room. I wanted to visit her in the hospital (she had to have surgery to fix this), but nobody ever took me to go or told me where it was she was staying. Grrr.

We had to write speeches in class for the farewell party given by the university that night. We arrived with our speeches, Fujikane-sensei translated, and we left. Wee . . . waiting for the others was boring. She did buy us gifts, though. How very thoughtful!

That night, at the party, I was a celebrity again. I took more pictures with people I hadn't seen since the welcome party (or even at all!). We gave our speeches, and apparently my pronunciation and rhythm is butt-kickin'! We saw a recorder group play, our host families gave speeches, we received gifts . . . it was a grand, if somewhat dull, occasion. Saying good-bye was hard, but all things must end.

On a side note, my gas was even worse this day. I had to do some very creative work at the party, let me tell you . . .

Thursday, 6/10
This day was really bad. First sickness, then gas, and finally full-blown diarrhea. I just knew the food was going to get to me at some point or another. I stayed home the entire day. I didn't want to leave at all. This was sad, though, because I was to go see a museum with the man who had translated at church for me on Sunday. I felt bad for cancelling on him, but there was no way I was going anywhere. By the evening, I felt a bit better, and went with Fujiko to the Hippo meeting. This was actually fun for the first time. I was sad to say good-bye, but it must be so.

Before the meeting, Fujiko bought me a pair of "jin-bei." It's a pajama/kimono thing, and I now look like a weirdo when I sit around the house :-)

Friday 6/11
Oh, I was glad to be feeling better this day! I went to Biei with Mike, Dan, Ayaka, and her cousin. This was pretty fun; being around Dan isn't bad all the time. We saw some mountains and flowers . . . very dull to explain, though the pictures are pretty. We made some stops along the way. The first was at a 7-11, where I tasted my first and last "Golden Grape Fanta". If I ever find this again, I shall be a happy man. The second stop was to try lavender flavored ice cream. Not bad, really. The third stop was so Ayaka could smoke. Oh well. We had a lot of fun all the same.

I returned, but Fujiko was not there, so I walked downtown to the grocery store and bought a bunch of Pocky. Yes! I hope to find it in America somewhere, because I am definitely now hooked on this stuff. The rest of the evening was TV and cards with the family, but we did have sushi for dinner. I must say, I'm not a fan, but it's the wasabi, not the sashimi. I had fun being with the family, though I couldn't sleep, so ended up watching some late night TV with Yasushi and Fujiko. Worked up, I guess.

Saturday 6/12
This was a ridiculous adventure. I have never packed so much into so little. My suitcase and other bags were literally bulging at the seams. I was afraid they would explode. Yasushi had to leave for work, so he said good-bye before I left. The rest of us went to Michael's at 9, with our plane departing at 10:30, and Mike wasn't ready to leave until almost an hour later. Yikes . . . I was so afraid we were going to be late because he couldn't pack his bags on time. We arrived at the airport to see the other guys, half of Hippo, many of the university students, and our professors. Wow. It was nice, as we were taking pictures and saying good-byes and people were continually shoving gifts into our hands and bags. (We guys agreed: We were already on the verge of collapse due to the weight of our bags, and there's a fine line between breaking your back and enjoying a warm muffin.) Lots of tears in saying good-bye to Fujiko and family, but it must happen.

Unfortunately, this is where my luggage adventure began. I had my 4 wine bottles in 2 boxes packed in my suitcase, but apparently this was not allowed. They made me take them out, but allowed them to come on the airplane in bags they provided(never mind the corkscrew in the box!). Now I had 3 carry-ons, but no one cared.

On the plane to Haneda, I read a newspaper in english. It was heavenly to see an english publication again. Arrival, though, alerted me to the fact that my combined luggage was WAY too heavy to lug around a lot. Quite miserable. When we made it to Narita, it was still perfectly fine for me to take 3 carry-ons . . . on. We had dinner at the Big Boy in the food court. Let's have some math . . . Airport + Japanese "American" food = Weird. At least it was food. It was also nice at this point to see westerners frequently. I missed english and people who didn't look at me like I was an alien. It was a good day . . . Dan and Mike got along, we made it to our destination . . . it was good.

The flight out was long, boring, and uncomfortable. I couldn't sleep, so I watched movies. What do I say about this? Long flights are boring, and my thoughts were continually centered around the same things they had been the entire time I was in Japan. Arriving, though, was a pain. First, we had to wait in LONG lines. Stupid customs. Customs stole my food that Fujiko had given to me. Apparently beef curry mix is too dangerous for America. Go figure. Then the airport shuttle was so crowded, and yet people insisted on shoving me and my abundance of luggage into a tiny space. Grr . . . To top things off, the luggage nazis of O'Hare suddenly refused to allow 3 carry-ons. Why was it okay in Tokyo but not Chicago? I managed to get it done, but not after a lot of hassle and a lot of dirty looks from people who were held up by me (If you want more details on this, just ask, but be warned: The story gets me riled up). Incidentally, the corkscrew still made it onboard. These people are not doing their jobs.

By this time, waiting for my flight back to St. Louis, I was so exhausted I just wanted to sleep, but I was alone now, having split with Mike and Dan, and thus was too fearful of luggage being pilfered to take a terminal nap. I was dead-tired, hungry, sweaty and gross (the bathrooms did not help the gross feeling, sadly), and could do nothing about any of those. Well, I did eat some dinner, but the place was so crowded that I didn't really get to enjoy it. Ach.

At least the flight back wasn't so bad. I got to chat with some very nice people. One was a guy who just finished finding an apartment in Boston near the university he was transferring to. Apparently he's a really good jazz pianist, as well. Cool. The other was a girl starting university in the fall who just returned from Europe. We all had a good chat before landing in St. Louis.

Well, after landing in St. Louis, my trip was finally over. I was very glad to see my family again. We talked a lot, but I mostly slept. I was glad to be home, and I continue to be glad to be home. I hope you all enjoyed reading the epic tale that was my trip to Japan, and do feel free to ask for any additional details or stories. I will gladly provide :-)

Hal