I'm going to do it! It can't be put off. As much as I hate it, it is time to talk about the economy.

Well well, another debate down, another night of unanswered questions and concerns. But, how realistic is it to expect that some of these questions are going to be answered in the first place? As much as I hate mudslinging and these idiotic commercials talking about absolutely nothing, I am actually going to defend our candidates.

What is every one's main concern right now? Let me guess, the economy. While we should be concerned, I am sick of pundits and the public bitching and moaning about how this person doesn't have a plan, or that person is just babbling out buzz words and catch phrases. GET REAL AMERICA! Does anyone honestly think either of our candidates are going to disclose the full details of their economic plans (assuming they have them which I am assuming they do). There is no way in hell any one is going to get a definitive answer about how we are going to fix the economy. It would be campaign suicide if either candidate said what they we really have in mind.

Our economy is in such a crappy state, that there is no quick fix that for some reason people are expecting the candidates to have. The truth of it is, that in order for the U.S. to bounce back we are all going to have to sacrifice for a little while for the greater good. But no one wants to hear that, and God forbid one of the candidates says that. If either one of them explains that the only way to get out of debt is for some people to lose out, they are going to lose so much support they will probably lose the election. Of course if one of them does say the truth, the other one will immediately lie and make a false promise about how no one loses in their plan and sadly people will be duped, and said lying candidate will win.

There was one question in the debate last night that I liked a lot and it demonstrates that the American people are not just a bunch of idiots. An elderly person, who grew up during the Great Depression, blatantly asked what sacrifice we would be making in order to bounce back like they did back then. Good job for asking that, unfortunately guess what...neither Obama or McCain directly answered it, but I think it's time to stop expecting them to.

I generally like debates, as they are usually entertaining and a lot of the time we are able to really hear what these candidates say when they have to think on their feet. I especially like how I can view the debates, even the VP debates, on like 6 High Definition channels. Unfortunately the debates this year are, while stupid at times, being overshadowed by this misguided theory that they should be talking in detail about economic plans. Get over it, it will not happen because no one really wants to hear the truth of the matter. If you want some insight on how these candidate's economic plans might carry out, do some research and look back at congressional committees they have served on in the senate, and bills that they have authored or been major supporters of. That is probably the best way to get a realistic view of how these politicians will carry out business once they are in the white house.

And to make matters a little more biased and interesting, take notice that McCain has voted on about 90% of Bush favored legislature, legislature that has gotten us to where we are today. For shame McCain, for shame...

(pssst...Obama '08)

Comment on!

'Whose Line' Noir

So I decided its about time I started posting some of my creative writings. This one is essentially a scripted Whose Line Is It Anyway Noir scene between Colin and Ryan. I haven't refined this at all. This is just first draft and took about twenty or thirty minutes to write. I plan to expand on it and polish it up later.

I was desperate. My whole operation was going down the drain and I knew there was only one man I could turn to. One man who could get the job that I needed done right. I swore I would never speak to him again, but fate has a funny way of choking you with your own words.

“Its been a long time… Shoe Face.”

-I knew Flat Top would be back. Me and him have a long history. We knew everything about each other. That’s the kind of thing that happens when you used to be physically attached to someone. That’s right, we were conjoined twins. But I decided to play dumb, feel out the situation.

“You’ll have to forgive me, I… don’t speak English.”

-At that point I started to wonder if I had walked into the wrong brothel. But then I saw the enormous disfiguring scar on his head. There was no doubt about it, that used to be me. I knew he was playing dumb, so I tried to call his bluff.

“Could you hold this for a minute?”

-I had no idea why he just handed me a half eaten sandwich. But I could tell he was desperate. I figured I might as well come clean. He looked like he needed my help, and I did owe him one.

“Alright, Top. What’s your game? Has some red robin picked your basket for the last time? Have all your pawns jumped ship and made a suicide run for the muffin man? Spill it, buster.”

-I always hated his elaborate metaphors.

None of What You See... Online

I firmly believe that the internet is one of, if not the, most important inventions by mankind. Right up there with the telephone, automobile, Gutenburg's printing press (thank you, Mr. Feeny), and porn. The internet is freedom. Suddenly people from all over the world can communicate and share ideas so easily. Information about everything and anything is just seconds away. And just about every episode from every television show or movie is available for viewing. The world is a much smaller place thanks to the internet.
However, the freedom of the internet is also it's biggest problem. Anyone can post anything they want online. Not only is it an incredibly good thing, its also something to be extremely wary of. There is a lot of good online, but there's also a lot of false information. Often times its hard to distinguish what is true or false. Ben Franklin famously said, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see". I would like to amend that statement but I don't think we can believe less than none.
I take everything I see or read online as simple a rumor. I like to see evidence and and proof of assertions. But its hard sometimes. I recently watched the documentary "Zeitgeist Addendum". It makes a lot of claims about how inflation works, that our monetary system is inherently flawed and unethical, and how our major corporations have locked us into a kind a slavery. A lot of it is very compelling and season pretty logical. But then there are a lot of people that say most of it is lies and made up. And then filmmakers have their own rebuttals saying otherwise. So who do you believe? The only way is to fact check for yourself. Thats the problem. There is simply too much to check. Its way too much to have to go and verify every single assertion or claim that the film or anyone makes. Even if someone makes a film countering every point the first film made, how can you be sure the second film is honest and factual? I don't know what to do anymore. There's a lot of stuff I want to believe but I can't just blindly take statements about important issues at face value.

Sarah "Sexy Pants" Palin

Does anyone find it offensive that McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate?

I remember thinking during her first speech at the RNC (about her and Hillary Clinton breaking the glass ceiling) that this has to be the most offensive political tactic in a long time. Not only is she running against Hillary Clinton's (whom she claimed as her partner in this) party, she is pretty much the polar opposite of HillDawg as far as their views are concerned.

To me this feels like the republican party is simply saying, "Here you go feminists. Here is your woman. Happy? Please vote for her and get back to what you were doing in the kitchen." Palin is simply a tool that is being used to steal woman voters, women who were originally going to vote for Hillary. The Republican party and McCain are basically saying vote for this woman regardless of her views because she is a woman, not because she has anything to bring to the White House. It seems as if though they are expecting women to vote only on the basis of description and not substance, as if they are trying to trick women into voting for them by throwing Palin at them.

This shows no respect towards what women were fighting for when they were supporting Hillary. This is a slap to the face of Hillary's cause. This is idiotic and offensive and it demonstrates clearly how low McCain is going to go to steal votes. There is no glass cieling being broken here, she is not even the first female VP candidate. Don't be fooled.

And yes, I know that the picture is of Tina Fey and not Sarah Palin. Hopefully you know that too if you are planning to vote for her ticket.

Yo

Hello All,

Welcome to my mind. At times you may become disoriented or motion sick, it is completely normal. If it becomes too much for you to handle, simply close your eyes and back away from the computer. My mind is not intended for pregnant women or patrons with back or neck problems.

Disclaimers aside,

Yo

Xstian has added me as a contributor to Daily Eccentricities and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with everyone bored enough to be reading this right now. As stated in Xtian's first post, this will by no means be a journal, but simply a means to post my thoughts, opinions, and revelations. For those of you that know me (I know I know, all of you probably know me. Just let me pretend there are thousands of readers out there so I can feel important and such), you can probably guess that most of what I post will be on political issues since there is nothing more I would rather rant about. But, from time to time I am sure I will write about something more fun so please keep reading, I beg you. I look forward to contributing, hopefully actively, and I also look forward to your thoughts and opinions.

See ya around...

Inspired

Go here, click "video", and watch the trailer first. www.intothewild.com/

Tonight I finally rented and sat down and watched Into the Wild. Into the Wild is the second movie I fell in love with after only seeing the trailer, the first being Garden State. I really wanted to go see it when it was still in theaters in the fall with someone (particularly Andy) so we could talk about it like usual. But in a way I guess its good I saw it alone because its been a long time since I’ve had to fight so hard to keep from crying. And no one wants to see that. Even now its still coming back and I finished the movie thirty minutes ago. It may not have the same affect on you if you see it, but I think it really got to me because I identify with the main character so much. The film is based on a book which is based on the real life and death of Chris McCandless. Its about change. Its about experience. Its about truth. Just after graduating from college Chris abandons his life and sets out to trek across on the country with no money, no car, and no one with him. He’s heading for Alaska, to get away from the material world and society, to get in touch with nature, to find out what it really means to be at peace and to be free. Its one of those stories that’s truly inspiring. It really makes me want to leave everything behind and go experience all that the real world has to offer. I’ve thought about it before. What would it be like to get away, to reject the material world and live a simple and content life. In the book version, which plays more like a documentary with interviews, the author mentions other young men who vanished into the wilderness, like Everett Ruess who ventured into the Utah desert at age twenty. Chris was twenty two when he left home and twenty four when he died in Alaska. These guys got to a point in there lives when they needed a radical change. Maybe I need a change… maybe I have changed. My biggest problem is that I’m conflicted about what I really want. I don’t mean whether I want to go school and get a job, its bigger than that. I’m not certain that anything I want is really what I want. Like, why do I like green and not pink? Why am I attracted to women and not fish? Its all genetic to me. I’m predetermined to be attracted to human women. No matter how much I will myself otherwise, I cannot force myself to like N’Sync the same way that I like Blink182. How can I really be certain that seeking out the experience that comes from losing oneself in the beauty of nature isn’t just my physical self fulfilling its need to feel good which it derives from that kind of stimulation? Sometimes I feel like that robot that’s faced with a logical paradox and then his head explodes. Is it really me that is wanting? Then what is me? Am I really me? What is me?

Most Important

Originally, I started this web log (I still refuse to use the term 'blog' for the time being) as a place to show some of the things I've done at school and show off some fun things like the two liter soda thing. But lately its turned into a sort of personal manifesto. A place where I catalog the things I believe, which I think is very important because once you actually start trying to put into words the things you believe, you may find out that you don't actually believe them. Or, on the other hand, you may realize that you know more on the subject that you realized. Either way, I would encourage anyone reading this to try the same thing some day. Its good to be able to put into words your stances on things like capital punishment, birth control, tipping the waitress, civil disobedience, internet piracy, etc. Anyway, on to the actual subject of this post.

As of right now, the two most important things in all of everything are life and choice. Life first, then choice. Why life first? Because we only have one, and even if you don't have choice, it still beats the alternative. So, the most important thing in life is the freedom to choose. It may be a little cliched to say that Americans take their freedoms and liberties from granted but it is true. Sure, the country doesn't have everything right and might not ever, but we've got a head start that a lot of other countries don't have, thanks to our constitution (which at the moment is in serious jeopardy, Mr. Bush).

For a few years now I've started applying this value of choice to a lot of different issues. Take drug legalization. I am all for legalizing every single drug out there. The government has no right to deny me the choice of what I do with my own body (not that I would, but the choice to be able to is important). Same with prostitution. Not that I likely would, but its not harming anyone. So whats the big deal? Anyone anywhere should be able to do whatever the hell they want so long as its not harming anyone else. You want to get stoned out of your mind all day? Its not a smart decision, but its yours to make. Gay marriage? Go for it.

I'm especially advocative about choice when it comes to children. For the most part, children don't have much choice in anything. What they eat, where they go to school, when they go to bed, what movies they get to watch, and so on. For the most part the lack of choice is actually important. Kids are inexperienced. They don't have the same awareness and maturity that someone older has. So its up to the parents to make some decisions for them and lead a good example. However, the line is crossed when it comes to curtain things. Circumcision for one. I used to think it was weird not to be. But its a choice that a lot of parents deny their sons. And, I'm sure you must have been expecting this, raising a child in a specific religion. I really wonder what the numbers would be if parents allowed their children to choose a religion for themselves. I know I brought this up before, but 99% of religious people are the same religion as their parents. Its not a coincidence.