A lot of people dismiss New Year’s celebrations. “It’s just another day,” they say, and that’s true. However life is just like good project management, it requires firm starts and deadlines. Otherwise you’ll never know when you’re finished or need to move on to the next phase in life. Reviewing is what keeps us from endlessly living in a rut. With that in mind, here are some notable things from this year that I experienced. (more…)
This is sandblade’s first endorsement. I heartily endorse John Murphy for the 16th Congressional District. As an independent he has absolutely no chance. Plus being anti-corporation won’t help him either. Sure he’s crazy, but he’s my brand of crazy. Murphy’s stand on immigration, healthcare, our wars, and terrorism is spot on. Pitts is pretty much guaranteed re-election. I think his very secure seat has made him feel immune to any kind of dissent. The three times I’ve written his office I essentially got blown off, with no consideration at all. If Murphy got 5% of the vote, it would send a pretty loud message. If you’re in the 16th, you’re vote is already wasted, join sandblade.net and waste it in style.
So if you’re like me you’re probably not sure if you should buy that macbook or if you should liquidate all your assets and buy some farmland and live off the grid. A friend of mine asked if I thought we were going to go into a depression or not. And I think I changed my answer a dozen times. I’ve always had an interest in macroeconomics ever since college, but I barely understood it then, and it’s even more complex now. As a complete amateur hack in econ, here are my thoughts about what’s going down (and it’s mostly down). Take it with a proverbial bag of rock salt. (more…)
I’m all for government protecting us in matters that make sense - like the FDA disallowing big pharma putting rat poison in our medicine. However I am concerned with the growing absurdity of the nanny state. The truth is if people don’t get a chance to exercise their own common sense, they’ll simply lose it. The litigious nature of Americans is only reinforced with the government acting like the helicopter mom for all of us. Which brings me to two proposals: (more…)
I have to say this isn’t entirely original. This is what I was thinking about after listening to Slate’s excellent political gabfest podcast. (more…)
So Rick Santorum wants to let you know that if you vote for Casey. North-Korean-Islamo-Fascists will kill you, your children, your dog, and your grandparents in a firey nuclear holocaust. Oh and the Chinese will get all of our oil, hopefully for their sake before the nuclear holocaust, because it won’t be worth much after. And in case you don’t know we need bunker busting nuclear weapons to destroy the Iranians. Because as everyone knows the best way to prevent a nuclear war is to start one. For the love of all good things, don’t vote for Casey, touching that touch screen will be like pressing the red button in Pyongyang for your own annihilation.
Hazleton, PA is trying something different in an attempt to purge the illegal immigrants in their city. They’ve enacted ordinances that will impose fines on those who rent to illegal immigrants and will deny business permits to businesses that hire them. These are the first measures of their kind in the nation. Hazleton has seen rising gang and drug related crime. The politicians of the city blame the illegal immigrant population for this problem, and have drafted these ordinances as a result. (more…)
I posted on this blog a while back that I didn’t think W. could do anymore damage to this nation in a second term. Man was I wrong. I think the attack on public broadcasting was the last straw for me. I honestly think the next thing they’ll try to do is steal candy from babies, seriously.
I’m remarkably bummed out about this whole election. I’m very surprised. I usually have the cavalier Green Party attitude of, “eh, both parties are just as bad so who cares.” Well this time around I really seem to be affected. I’m usually very good at seeing the other side’s arguments, but I just can’t come up with one good logical argument for Bush, and that is personally very disturbing… So here are the things that are sort of comforting me: (more…)
It’s no secret that I think Kerry’s a prat. He has failed to provide leadership in the Senate, has done nothing remarkable in his political career, and seems to pander to every special interest he can find. I really don’t think he can make things any better. I know with a Republican majority in Congress, he won’t get any of his tax, health, or education plans passed ( and he knows it too). I don’t like Kerry’s rhetoric on how he’s going to track down and kill terrorists ( I have this vision of him going out with his over/under and shooting terrorists ). All in all I find him absurd.
But I was watching the Daily Show yesterday, yes I am one of those “stoned slackers” Bill O’Reilly warned you about, and Madeline Albright was on the show. I have a lot of respect for her and her opinions. She travels a lot and has connections all over the world, so she’s on my short list of people to listen to when she talks about what’s going on in the world. She made a very good case for Kerry that I hadn’t thought of. Albright said that in her travels almost everyone she runs into is puzzled and troubled by what the U.S. administration is doing, but they know what the American people and the American government are different. Just because W. and his administration are against the world, doesn’t mean Americans feel the same way. However if we re-elect Bush it’s like saying to the world, “Hey we approve what Bush has done, we hope he does more of it, we don’t care about you, and screw you we’re #1″ That’ll will all sorts of hearts and minds.
I couldn’t care less if W. becomes president and runs our country into the ground. Frankly I think we deserve it for being such knuckleheads for following him without question. But I do care what the rest of the world thinks. Americans deserve to live under the consequences of our own electoral process, but the rest of the world shouldn’t be punished for it.