And The Winner Is

Senator John McCain

2005-05-27T12:46:00.000-04:00

Last two paragraphs in a Washingtonpost.com article "The Senate's Real Leader":

McCain himself served in Vietnam and endured 5 1/2 years of captivity and torture in a Hanoi prison camp. But unlike many others who fought in that war or protested against it, such as
John Kerry, McCain has always insisted that Vietnam was not the defining experience of his life. Long before he undertook this act of reconciliation within the Senate, he had made peace in his own life with the antiwar protesters of his generation.

Twenty years ago McCain accepted apologies from an activist named David Ifshin when they met at a Washington forum. They formed a friendship. Ifshin, who had gone to Hanoi in 1970 and made an antiwar radio broadcast that was piped into McCain's prison, later became a close friend of and campaign counsel to President
Bill Clinton.

When Ifshin died of cancer in 1996, McCain delivered a eulogy at the funeral, saying of Ifshin, "He always felt passionate about his country. He always tried to do justice to others. . . . I learned about courage from David, learned to look for virtue and I learned the futility of looking back in anger."

Socialist Medicine in Canada

2005-05-26T14:59:00.000-04:00

As told to me by a close friend whose Uncle fell off a tower used for ski lifts in the Canadian Rockies:

"When your life is on the line, or your ability to walk again in this instance, you don't want to have to rely on a first come first serve medical emergency room." His Uncle ended up getting helivaced to U.S. soil so he could get the best possible medical treatment he could afford.

However, comparing the capitalist vs. the socialist view of medicine in regard to the under classes, which is truly better? One in which you simply can't afford to get medical attention at all, or one where you receive medical attention but you may have to wait longer to receive it and it may not be as high in quality.

General Motors recently announced that they were going to be building several large manufacturing plants in Canada in order to produce more vehicles there, and it is speculated that a partial cause of this is the amount of money they will save on health care since it is provided by the state. I'm sure intensive studies were done prior to this decision that simply and matter of factly stated that the higher taxes were worth paying, as they were still far less than what they'd incur in the U.S. due to our Health Care situation here.

What will it take for the U.S. Government to actually do something about the current state of affairs in our Health Care system?

You Already Know This Stuff: Revisiting Simplicity and Complexity

2005-05-25T16:30:00.000-04:00

You Already Know This Stuff: Revisiting Simplicity and Complexity

New York Shitty!!!

2005-05-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

OK, so that is an oxymoron in itself, as the NYC rocks la casba.

Friday night, May 20th, Spirit Club, which was once called Twilo or something like that but got shut down for a large drug traffic scene, is something to experience now. The large beams in the middle of the dance floor weren't the best for viewing the band, but structurally necessary I'm sure. Other than that, the Thievery Corp. rocked my world. Possibly the best show I've been to in my short existence on this planet, but nonetheless, excellent. When you have like 8 vocalists that all sound completely different, and most of which are singing in languages other than English, I think it ads a little something to the mix that's not normally there. Then live instruments with two djs gives you this genre shape shifting effect, where anything seems possible.

Crowd was probably in the 25 to 35 age bracket, and the designer jeans, thrift store t-shirt, and suit jacket were in full effect.

Two drinks, $39.00, without tip. Ticket to the show, $42.00. Interesting...

Why are we allowing Ticketmaster to screw so many people??? There should be a revolution, an anti-ticketmaster revolution. I think the "master" in their name is actually quite telling - as we are their slaves, those savage capitalist bastards. That $7 "convenience fee" fuckin' ads up!

Where is our Che Guevara??? Perhaps it's time for a motorcycle trip across the country to the countless venues forced to feed the corporate Ticketmaster empire... That could be one hell of a trip! I wonder if MTV and VH1 would sponsor that shit...

By the way, everyone needs to experience the view from the Brooklyn Promenade of Manhattan. Sunset is also recommended, preferably when it's not raining, but what can you do.

That is all.

Stay Out of My Social Circles!

2005-05-13T14:17:00.000-04:00

So, I broke it off with the old lady about three weeks ago, but it was one of those things that you could see coming from a mile away, a train wreck in slow motion, or kittens drowning in a bag thrown into the river... You know the deal.

But the voice mail I got after the fateful "We're done, goodbye." was one I wish I could have recorded for posterity, yet Cellular One had to delete it after 10 days, those bastards!

"I don't want you to hang around my friends, or see you in my SOCIAL CIRCLES" ha ha ha - the irony being that I introduced the girl to most of the people she hangs out with now. Alas, life goes on.

The Reality of Religion in the United States

2004-11-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

Religious persecution was one of the main factors in driving the pilgrims to the "New World" from England in the early 1600's. They were unsatisfied with the Church of England at the time, and were willing to attempt a perilous two month crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in order to secure their right of freedom of religion. Amazingly enough, the Christianity they so believed in which preaches "treat they neighbor as theyself" and "judge not lest ye be judged" did not affect the way they treated the native inhabitants of the "Americas", the indians. Following the "Thanksgiving" celebration, that is...

As the 2004 election of George W. Bush confirms, religion and the followers of organized religion are still a force to be reckoned with in the United States of America. The triumph of "moral values" as a political tool was well fashioned by Karl Rove's crack squad of political strategists, and the positioning of a "gay marriage ban" on 11 state ballots drove evangelicals and centrist religious followers to the polls in mass numbers, who ultimately decided that Mr. Bush was the individual more in line with their own value structure than Mr. Kerry.

The US, like so many countries, is a collaboration of individuals, driven by the social and cultural ilks that make up "civilized" humanity... it is a dychotomy, or a paradox of conflicting beliefs and issues. The Yin and Yang of the political landscape of the US has changed since 9/11, moving farther to the conservative religious right, but surely a more central or integrated view of the world will present itself in the next four years if Mr. Bush does in fact wish to leave a legacy that is admonished by more than the 51% that voted for him on November 2nd, 2004.

As the temperature drops...

2004-11-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

And the leaves begin to fall, nature reminds us that death is merely a part of life and should be celebrated as an equal to rebirth and rejuvenation. This perpetual life cycle illustrates the ever evolving/revolving realities that history does in fact repeat itself, and as soon as we come to acknowledge this fact the sooner we're able to accept our own mortality and enjoy the time we have in this reality.

Live for today, but remember the past, and look to the future. For tomorrow's success and failures hinge upon what you do in the now, for ultimately that is all we have.