Current Events

I am not big into politics anymore. If you know me I am more than willing to debate issues, but I am not a huge fan of picking sides like Democrats or Republicans. That being said I am just glad this election is over and we now will have a president that actually has a brain he will use.

It was funny I knew that Obama had one when I heard cheering outside my apartment. At that point I checked the web and saw the projections! I guess others felt the same way as I did. And that’s all that I need to say!

The events going on this week have me noticeably disturbed, but more importantly it has gotten me thinking. I wonder what I would do in similar situations? Would you set out to help people in your boat? Would you do it only if they paid you? It is reported to be happening. Would you loot for bottled water and food? In certain circumstances I can see that being necessary. Would you loot for a better pair of shoes if you were having trouble walking? If you said yes to that last one, then why wouldn’t you loot for shoes for 20 of your friends and family? While you are at it, would you loot for jewelry? How about a new TV or computer? I mean you can just take it and plug it in at home and watch cable? Oh wait, you don’t have power. And there is the problem that you have no house left, but you stole a TV. Good for you.

Would you goto a children’s hospital and shoot at the doctors there for no apparent reason? I guess you can answer yes to that one, if the hospital was conducting hideous medical experiments on the children. If they aren’t can anyone explain why in the world someone would shoot at a hospital?

How about shooting at the rescue helicopters. Would you shoot at them if they were going around saving people and weren’t armed? I mean doesn’t it sound like a good idea to take out your rifle and take pot shots at them? Or maybe it is a better idea to flip over an ambulance that was trying to evacuate patients from a hospital?

Or would you be the guy to lend out your generator to a friend if your house had power and they didn’t? Sounds like a good idea. How about letting friends and family use your house (that has power and water) to come over and shower, eat and sit in AC since they have nothing? That sounds humane too.

The really messed up thing is all the things I have mentioned here (good and bad) actually are happening right now. The good deeds are things friends of mine have done or are having done to them by other friends down in Louisiana right now. The other stuff is things that people (no, people wouldn’t do that, animals would do that crazy stuff) have done or are doing right now. This is a tragedy on a monumental scale. Why would something passing for a person take this opportunity to steel TV’s, or shoot at friggen rescue helicopters? I have been thinking about this for 2 days, and I cannot come up with an answer. I am just at a loss. At first I wasn’t going to write about it, but instead of thinking of this tragedy I am thinking how these people think stealing jewelry will make it all better? I am glad I don’t live down there anymore. Not because of the natural disaster (where I lived is actually relatively intact) but I don’t want to be associated in any way with the people on the news now doing these crazy deeds.

Why can’t everyone be helping everyone else get out of the city? Instead of shooting at police and steeling? Am I wishing for a utopia?

I really do not like politics. For that matter I cannot stand the news. I haven’t watched a news show for years. That is funny to me since my mom always said I used to watch the news when I was little. Now it is so easy to see whatever angle the news is trying to take. I cannot stand it. I read news from Reuters or AP, and that is about it. Even that is sometimes one-sided.

Everyone seems so passionate about this election. I have friends who are volunteers for the Kerry campaign. Other friends and coworkers have their own opinions. From observing people I know I have got 2 questions. One, why then is there such a large percentage of people who are still undecided? Come on, how many months do you need to decide who to vote for? Second what is going on with our political system? I am neither a democrat nor a republican. At times I have agreed with both sides, and disagreed with both. Why then is both sides moving more to the right or left (in my opinion)?

I wont vote for Bush, but not for any of the reasons most people sight. But I am not really compelled to vote for Kerry either. He will get my vote because he has one thing going for him, he is not Bush. Normally I don’t write about politics, and I think that is a good idea. Politics, religion and operating systems are way to polarizing topics to discuss. As a tech guy I will talk about OS’s, but that is the russian roulette I will play! What scares me more than anything is not that Bush is president, or will be re-elected, but that if he does win 50+% of the public actually voted for him. That will get me wondering.

If you want to understand my opinion of world politics today, you should watch the Daily Show with John Stewart. Yes a comedy show actually portrays the situation in our country better than any news show. I get more realistic news from John than from anyone else. His time on crossfire last week was priceless. All I can say is thanks to the internet, I was able to download and watch it. To watch real political pundits or whatever they are called attaching him for being soft in interviews was crazy. Stewart is correct in saying shows like that suck. I may be paraphrasing there, but you get my drift.

Ok, like I said I don’t like to talk about politics’ but this post was written out of frustration with the universe today. I will now resume my normal ranting about some cool gadget, or the Simpsons. Hey the Simpsons new season starts in 2 weeks!!! Was that a good segway?

I am never one to be very political. It is a very polarizing topic. But I had to say something about the latest headlines between Kerry & Bush. Kerry claims that foreign leaders told him privately that they hope he wins over bush in November. Bush says if Kerry doesn’t say who, he made the whole thing up. OK, come on people. The odds that one or more leader of the many governments that disagree with Bush probably did say something to Kerry, but if it was in confidence do you really think Kerry will say anything? Of course not. Story over. Kerry probably should have kept his mouth shut. Can both sides get back to the issues?