just wondering... it seems that people are so interested in defending their party or candidate that they don't actually look at the facts of the world around them.
okay. republican, democrat, or independent? green, donkey, or elephant? tragically flawed or perfect?
yeah - seems a bit extreme on the last question, but it's the same idea anymore. if you really look at party politics in the US, it's hard to say that they can really represent anyone who is just a citizen and isn't looking for a kickback or a loophole. i believe in business as it pushes our economy, and think that it has to be that way unless we change our entire economic structure - but i also see that a lot of businesses are awful, and a lot of republicans love to help them get awful. the funny thing is - so do the democrats. one of the reasons i've found myself voting more for republican candidates lately than democrat ones is that it seems like the republicans are generally pretty honest about how they are going to 'screw' you - not that they don't hide things and bend facts, but the democrat party really has to take the cake on that one.
let's look at a quick history overview of the democrat party. it's been around a heck of a lot longer than the republican party (republicans really didn't start making any sort of mark until shortly before the Lincoln presidency), and is just as heavily tied into 'old' money as the republican party, yet they continue to pretend they are for the working man.
what party led the south to secede from the union spawning the civil war? what party was bent on having the right to have slaves? what party? oh yeah, the democrat party - the one that while i grew up told me they were for the little guy, and the downtrodden. hmm. i don't mind being lied to by a liar, it's their nature, but there is a limit to how much crap i can eat while someone is running for office. "but wait!" you say... "what about kennedy? what about all the great things he did for civil rights?" ... kennedy didn't do crap on his own - check your history books - more appropriately, check history. all the credit should go to Martin Luther King Jr, and those that worked with him. he made several trips to the kennedy white house, and kennedy didn't or wouldn't do anything for civil rights, as he was too much the politician and didn't want to do anything controversial... well, King was a brilliant man, and eventually forced kennedy's hand by having white kids from the north who believed in the cause of equality come down and march with their black brothers and sisters hand in hand in the south.
when wealthier (read: political donations) white northern US citizens saw *their* children being beaten alongside of the black american marchers.... then and only then did things start to change and did the hand of the kennedy white house get forced by the money from above.
that's what it comes down to kids. all the bull that both parties spews at you is bull. just be careful not to take either at their word. check my facts out - i tried to keep things as straight as possible and still keep this a small post, but i think i kept everything in line.
look at the people you vote for. look at their character, and less at how glossy they can be or what kind of orator they are. look for a man or woman who will do the job with character. and i'm not just talking about the national level - this should be done at home too. don't vote for the guy who scratches your back. vote for the guy that is going to do the right thing. otherwise we may not eventually have a choice anymore as our government gradually collapses under the bloated weight of itself.
i'll try not to put my choices in here. i think that when you look at people, the choices grow a little clearer - and if they are both (or all X of them) miserable, then find a new option - or heck... "be" the new option. just remember to do the right thing, not the back scratching thing, because the kids are starting to open their eyes and grow up, and they see the waste, and the loss, and the misdirection, and the house will eventually be cleaned up. i just hope that those of us with a peaceful agenda do it first, so the violent ones can go back and rest and relax... or farm, or whatever. but for us to continue to be a strong nation in the future, we have to make sure we are making the right decisions - not ones just to get us re-election funds and eventually re-elected.
believe in what we can do as a nation. our forefathers did, and did great things for a while. the fat kids with the cream laden spoons in their mouths are now in control though, and they need to get in shape and get responsible, or we need to escort them out with our votes.
use yours. it makes a difference. just use it wisely.
.jason
(originally posted this one at http://deadpoet.blog.com ... hoping i don't get lynched by my friends for posting it here)
5.25.2004
5.14.2004
interesting day...
it's 212 miles to Chicago O'Hare, we've got a full tank of gas, three hours till you have to be at the airport, it's 7.30a and raining, and we're wearing sunglasses.
apologies to the Blues Brothers for abusing the quote, but it's the only way I could think to start this out.
i'll start at the beginning and try not to run too long. my very good friend had recently (in the last year) decided to follow a path that has been on his heart for over ten years. this path was to follow in the footsteps of Brother Andrew (http://www.opendoorsusa.org/Display.asp?Page=BAprofile) and bring bibles to those that are not legally allowed to have them in their part of the world. the part of the world he is headed to is China. call me over paranoid, but i'll going to leave out a few facts (his name, and destination for now) as i'd hate for the random fact snippet on the web to endanger his journey. which he is currently on his way to - on the other side of the world.
fast forward to 6.20a this morning. i'm a slacker and still in slumber when my phone drags me out of a bizarre dream about coming back to my car and finding it stripped down in the parking lot (*who* steals the dashboard out of a 1990 audi v8 quattro??), to hear my friend tell me that his flight from Indy to Chicago has been cancelled. as i'm trying to find the words to ask if i can help (typically i get woken up about servers and software in the middle of the night, so i have to think a lot before i say anything that i think is some bit profound or committal in any way) ... anyway, he asks, and of course i say yes - as that's what i was trying to figure out how to ask. i wanted to help, and love an adventure anyway, and the thought of trying to get him to Chicago in that short of a time period without officially having a license (that's another story for another day) has to classify as an adventure.
12 minutes later after him letting me know they were going to let him catch his Chicago to Asia flight and after waking up, i'm in my car en route to his house - a 20 minute drive under good conditions, and this one took at least that. we decided to bring his five year old son Ethan with us as an introduction to the adventures of the world (never too early to start), get everything packed and together (a lot of scrambling as this was soooo not the plan) and we are on the road about 15 minutes later listening to 'fibber island'and other kid safe songs, and fun to listen to when you're on a road trip.
in an attempt to fold space and time, we make the trip from his home in about three hours and fifteen minutes (including a stop for gas and to pick up food), when it should have at least taken four, and more with traffic. as an illustration for those who don't know about Chicago traffic (especially with all the construction right now) it took Ethan and i three hours to get back to the Indiana state line - still over 150 miles from home.
but our trip there had just about perfect timing. enough time to get him to his gate, to park the car and bring Ethan (carrying him while hustling through the airport) to catch up with him in the check-in line. it was great that he got the time to say goodbye to his son there at the airport, and that we got to kick his much bigger adventure off with a bang (and some demonstrations on the proper use of tonnage and horsepower in Chicago traffic that i know my mother would not approve of - hi mom... at least you read this ;)
anyway, just wanted to tell you all about a very cool use of a vacation day. one i doubt i'll ever forget. i wanted to get this down before i head off to bed. for some strange reason, i'm pretty tired... and i can't imagine tommow will be anywhere near as eventful. but who knows, i would have said last night that today was just going to be an uneventful Friday at work. i love to live, and i definitely lived today.
take care, and i hope you all are well.
.jason
(yes, the trip home took about six and a half hours... a time that was very possible on the way there too, and i was a good boy and drove quite close to the speed limit all the way home)
apologies to the Blues Brothers for abusing the quote, but it's the only way I could think to start this out.
i'll start at the beginning and try not to run too long. my very good friend had recently (in the last year) decided to follow a path that has been on his heart for over ten years. this path was to follow in the footsteps of Brother Andrew (http://www.opendoorsusa.org/Display.asp?Page=BAprofile) and bring bibles to those that are not legally allowed to have them in their part of the world. the part of the world he is headed to is China. call me over paranoid, but i'll going to leave out a few facts (his name, and destination for now) as i'd hate for the random fact snippet on the web to endanger his journey. which he is currently on his way to - on the other side of the world.
fast forward to 6.20a this morning. i'm a slacker and still in slumber when my phone drags me out of a bizarre dream about coming back to my car and finding it stripped down in the parking lot (*who* steals the dashboard out of a 1990 audi v8 quattro??), to hear my friend tell me that his flight from Indy to Chicago has been cancelled. as i'm trying to find the words to ask if i can help (typically i get woken up about servers and software in the middle of the night, so i have to think a lot before i say anything that i think is some bit profound or committal in any way) ... anyway, he asks, and of course i say yes - as that's what i was trying to figure out how to ask. i wanted to help, and love an adventure anyway, and the thought of trying to get him to Chicago in that short of a time period without officially having a license (that's another story for another day) has to classify as an adventure.
12 minutes later after him letting me know they were going to let him catch his Chicago to Asia flight and after waking up, i'm in my car en route to his house - a 20 minute drive under good conditions, and this one took at least that. we decided to bring his five year old son Ethan with us as an introduction to the adventures of the world (never too early to start), get everything packed and together (a lot of scrambling as this was soooo not the plan) and we are on the road about 15 minutes later listening to 'fibber island'and other kid safe songs, and fun to listen to when you're on a road trip.
in an attempt to fold space and time, we make the trip from his home in about three hours and fifteen minutes (including a stop for gas and to pick up food), when it should have at least taken four, and more with traffic. as an illustration for those who don't know about Chicago traffic (especially with all the construction right now) it took Ethan and i three hours to get back to the Indiana state line - still over 150 miles from home.
but our trip there had just about perfect timing. enough time to get him to his gate, to park the car and bring Ethan (carrying him while hustling through the airport) to catch up with him in the check-in line. it was great that he got the time to say goodbye to his son there at the airport, and that we got to kick his much bigger adventure off with a bang (and some demonstrations on the proper use of tonnage and horsepower in Chicago traffic that i know my mother would not approve of - hi mom... at least you read this ;)
anyway, just wanted to tell you all about a very cool use of a vacation day. one i doubt i'll ever forget. i wanted to get this down before i head off to bed. for some strange reason, i'm pretty tired... and i can't imagine tommow will be anywhere near as eventful. but who knows, i would have said last night that today was just going to be an uneventful Friday at work. i love to live, and i definitely lived today.
take care, and i hope you all are well.
.jason
(yes, the trip home took about six and a half hours... a time that was very possible on the way there too, and i was a good boy and drove quite close to the speed limit all the way home)
5.13.2004
kewl
good - now it's really fixed... off to bed.
btw - i'm writing this from my new laptop. i hate to sound giddy about a computer - as it just makes me sound like the dork that i am, but i'm quite happy with it. i'm now the proud owner of a g4 mac powerbook 15.2" widescreen.
yeah, i'm a mac dork.
but i'm still not going to put that apple sticker on my car.
(at least not yet)
:)
.jason
btw - i'm writing this from my new laptop. i hate to sound giddy about a computer - as it just makes me sound like the dork that i am, but i'm quite happy with it. i'm now the proud owner of a g4 mac powerbook 15.2" widescreen.
yeah, i'm a mac dork.
but i'm still not going to put that apple sticker on my car.
(at least not yet)
:)
.jason
posting test
i've moved my blog over to my server, still via blogger... trying to set it up like my test blog to see if that fixes the email issue. I'm about to find out...
.jason
.jason
perspective and perception
hey there everyone...
as most of you know, i haven't had the best time in the world in the last ten months or so. funny thing is, i tend to take things in stride - sure, i get bumped around like every other guy - but i try to keep moving nonetheless.
lately i've had a few rather unfortunate pulls back to things that i've tried to leave well behind me, and while those details aren't really the point of my message - some of what i have learned from them has. so i pass on this tidbit of wisdom that seems to me to be the way we all know we should think, but at the same time a way of thinking we tend to skip over in the frenzy of daily life and crises big and small.
when you have a situation with other people and other things, always realize that your perception of an event is always focused through your perspective. as i have tried to do a lot of things for the right reasons in my life, i've often seen them taken in a quite different, and sometimes horribly different light. i have no ill will towards any of those people, but in a conversation with one of my best friends today i realized that i really am mostly sorry for the people on the other side of a situation... often thinking too much "if he/she/they only knew what i really meant."
well, sometimes that can't happen and you can't make it happen. all i can do is ask you all to do is to try and open your mind to other views if you have people in your life you've shut out without making things right.
"How can you think of saying, 'Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friends eye."
good advice from [Luke 6:42] if you want to read more on the source of that.
anyway, enough rambling from me. i hope you're all well (as always) and you'll be glad to see that you're only getting one email from this post now :)
.jason
as most of you know, i haven't had the best time in the world in the last ten months or so. funny thing is, i tend to take things in stride - sure, i get bumped around like every other guy - but i try to keep moving nonetheless.
lately i've had a few rather unfortunate pulls back to things that i've tried to leave well behind me, and while those details aren't really the point of my message - some of what i have learned from them has. so i pass on this tidbit of wisdom that seems to me to be the way we all know we should think, but at the same time a way of thinking we tend to skip over in the frenzy of daily life and crises big and small.
when you have a situation with other people and other things, always realize that your perception of an event is always focused through your perspective. as i have tried to do a lot of things for the right reasons in my life, i've often seen them taken in a quite different, and sometimes horribly different light. i have no ill will towards any of those people, but in a conversation with one of my best friends today i realized that i really am mostly sorry for the people on the other side of a situation... often thinking too much "if he/she/they only knew what i really meant."
well, sometimes that can't happen and you can't make it happen. all i can do is ask you all to do is to try and open your mind to other views if you have people in your life you've shut out without making things right.
"How can you think of saying, 'Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friends eye."
good advice from [Luke 6:42] if you want to read more on the source of that.
anyway, enough rambling from me. i hope you're all well (as always) and you'll be glad to see that you're only getting one email from this post now :)
.jason
5.04.2004
four o'clock and all's well?
(pay no attention to that 'snacks' email... i'm sure stupid blogger is still broken, and i've yet to get my own thing going :)
odd that i find myself sitting wide awake at four am, after not going to bed particularly early.
do you ever have moments like that? where you wake up like your alarm went off, and it's a completely unreasonable hour to be getting out of bed... especially when it's nice and cool in your apartment (or house) and the perfect weather for sleeping - so much so that you'd find it hard to get out of bed with a full nights rest?
i hope not, but if you do and you get bored at that point, feel free to give me a call. apparently i wake quickly under short notice.
i got to hear my friend edie carey play last night (http://www.ediecarey.com), as well as teddy goldstein (http://www.teddygoldstein.com) and jim boggia (http://www.jimboggia.com ... are you surprised?) who i got to hear for the first time, and they (edie and teddy) were great, as i have come to expect them to be, and jim was excellent as well - apparently he is out of philly and pretty big there. excellent writing, playing, and singing. it's hard for me to understand sometimes how a group of traveling players can show up at a coffee house and play for only 20 people and have it be worth their while - but i am glad that they do, as it has to be some of the best live music i've heard. anyway, i guess this early am rambling is brought to you by them - do try to get out and catch them sometime if they are going to be in your area - i really can't imagine anyone regretting it.
have a great day.
.jason
(as i sit here and contemplate going back to bed vs. just getting up, taking a shower, and heading into work)
odd that i find myself sitting wide awake at four am, after not going to bed particularly early.
do you ever have moments like that? where you wake up like your alarm went off, and it's a completely unreasonable hour to be getting out of bed... especially when it's nice and cool in your apartment (or house) and the perfect weather for sleeping - so much so that you'd find it hard to get out of bed with a full nights rest?
i hope not, but if you do and you get bored at that point, feel free to give me a call. apparently i wake quickly under short notice.
i got to hear my friend edie carey play last night (http://www.ediecarey.com), as well as teddy goldstein (http://www.teddygoldstein.com) and jim boggia (http://www.jimboggia.com ... are you surprised?) who i got to hear for the first time, and they (edie and teddy) were great, as i have come to expect them to be, and jim was excellent as well - apparently he is out of philly and pretty big there. excellent writing, playing, and singing. it's hard for me to understand sometimes how a group of traveling players can show up at a coffee house and play for only 20 people and have it be worth their while - but i am glad that they do, as it has to be some of the best live music i've heard. anyway, i guess this early am rambling is brought to you by them - do try to get out and catch them sometime if they are going to be in your area - i really can't imagine anyone regretting it.
have a great day.
.jason
(as i sit here and contemplate going back to bed vs. just getting up, taking a shower, and heading into work)
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