Path to Enlightened Insanity

I voted today. I even checked to make sure my ballot was hanging chad free, and properly punched out. I’m not contributing to an election fiasco.

Given that I’ve taken to declaring my fiscal intentions in public, I guess I’ll just continue. I’m pledging to make $230 in additional debt payments each pay period up until and including my first paydeposit in January 2004. That should get me down to only two credit cards left, although they’re the big ones.

I think its pathetic that now over fifty percent of Americans want our troops out of Iraq. I seem to recall that before this invasion that a majority of Americans wanted us to invade Iraq.

Idiots.

For the record, I was and I still am against the War in Iraq, but that is a moot point now. Its like arguing that we shouldn’t’ve allowed planes to fly on September 11th 2001. Its done, period its in the past, lets move on.

If anything we need more troops in Iraq than less. Why? When the US invaded Iraq and deposed the existing government we assumed responsibility for the security and welfare of Iraq. This is part of our responsibilities as an occupying power. Leaving Iraq now would be illegal, immoral, and quite stupid.

We’ve been persistent on fighting this war on a shoestring. The administration has wanted to always downplay the costs involved with this war. They stated before the beginning of the war that it would pay for itself with Iraq oil revenues. Rumsfeld has trumpeted this war as being light on troops and “streaming” the troops into Iraq, stretching supply lines and reducing necessary support. Bush staged a publicity stunt and declared the “end” of hostilities, but since that declaration more US troops have been killed in Iraq than before that declaration. I’m not a military strategist but you cannot fight this type of war on the quick; Its just not possible.

So in my 23 year old, uneducated about military and foreign affairs here is what I recommend:

1. Put enough troops in Iraq to secure the country so those international organizations that are trying to do some helpful work actually can do their work, instead of getting bombed out of Iraq.
2. If we cannot recruit enough troops, reinstitute the draft. Yes its politically unpopular, but this is why we still have registration for the draft around.
3. If we reinstitute the draft, also drop Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue. (Hell drop it anyways) Expect troops of all sexual attractions to treat each other with professionally, if they cannot, send them back to middle school. If this is unacceptable immediately honorably discharge all women in the armed forces; we cannot have anyone in the armed forces sexually attracted to each other. (There is a practical reason behind this as well, we’ve lost needed Arab translators needlessly to this bigoted rule.)
4. Raise taxes. As much as the tax cuts have been touted to get the economy moving, it is abdominal that the lower income tax brackets are being asked to pay a greater portion of all the taxes. (This isn’t rocket science, the bottom two tax brackets have remained unchanged, while all the other ones have been cut. Thus, given the whole of collected taxes, a higher percentage of the revenue is coming from lower tax bracket taxpayers. To top it off we’re putting money in the pockets of higher tax bracket tax payers by borrowing money which we will have to pay interest on.) Given that past wars have had taxes brackets as high as 75% it is not unreasonable to ask the upper bracket tax payers to pay perhaps 45% to 55%. Make these automatically sun setting on the number of troops in Iraq, say after the troop count falls bellow 7,000 they go back to the current rates. Nuff said about money.
5. Sell this war honestly, we’re in Iraq and we’re going to be there in a while, lets get some accurate honest estimates as to how long and how much this will cost. It ain’t pretty but we’re already stuck in Iraq, lets know what we’ve got to deal with.

Okay that is all for now, I think I’ve gone on for long enough. By the way, these suggestions go for both parties and whoever gets elected to the White House in 2004.

Okay, its a damnit for the right reasons. This whole focusing on writing stuff and I can be a writer bullshit isn’t really what I can do. Its not to say I cannot write, but it isn’t my strongest feature.

I know I’m articulate and all that good shit, and I can explain myself into a hole when need be and examine something from every angle possible. But between seeing The Spitfire Grill at the Human Race and watching Lost in La Mancha on DVD just now, I know I have to be involved in theatre and/or movies. Its just where I’m alive and happy.

Don’t get me wrong its a bitch and its hard fucking work. (oh yeah everyone thinks making a movie or putting on a theatrical production is something easy that you just do, but all of the productions I’ve ever done have been some of the hardest things that I’ve done.

So where do I go from here? I’m not going back to Wright State I’ve squeezed all I can out of that place, and not even the most tight fisted person could get anymore out of it.

So the plan, is a variation on the one I’ve already been following. Work, launch the web design business, pay off my debts and get my ass back in college for theatre production. Sigh. Its a long road ahead of me.

Oh and one more thing. This dating bullshit. It ain’t worth my time. I’ve given up on the men in Ohio. It just doesn’t seem to work very well.

to me! Emails, iTunes gift certificates, Amazon Gift Certificate, as well as cash are all appreciated!

Why be out and proud?

Being out to those around you and in any situation where appropriate (appropriate being where any average hetroattracted person would mention their husband, boyfriend, or sexual attractions.) is fundamentally just being honest with yourself and the world. In an ideal world being out would be the expected norm and being in the closet would be a dishonest despicable deception. But, we do not live in an ideal world, ergo there are situations where being in the closet are acceptable and understandable.

This brings us to pride. When one thinks of pride, scenes of same-sex mardi grases proliferation the world during the month of June abound. It is unfortunate that pride has been co-opted into an excuse for a drunk party. But, at its core pride events are just an extension of being out.

They are being out publicly, in a group reaffirming your identity in a shameless way.

It is as if like Howard Beale in Network we’re collectively screaming “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!“

but should pride be separate from being out? As a festival the June events should exist as a celebration of history and the ability to be out. But, everyone should be proud everyday, as a component of healthy living we all must be out and proud of who we are, regardless of our sexual attractions or any other trait.

We as well as our communities deserve that much respect.

I have a crush on a “straight” guy at work.

I do want to tell him, because well I think he might actually be open minded to dating.

But, this is my fucking problem. (to paraphrase Chasing Amy)

I’m not quite sure how fair it is for me to even tell him.

Annoying deliberations will follow in my head

I must have learned too much while I was reading up on Enron’s failures. I just got paid today. for a while I have been trying to pay down my debts, so what I do is put all my bills in, subtract an amount to allow for “incidental” expenses, then put the rest toward a credit card payment. But, what I’ve been doing is playing the float on my checking account/Line of Credit Overdraft so when I get to the end of a two week period I’m “overdrawn” from my cash balance, thus spending money that I didn’t intend to spend.

So here is the remedy, declared in public to prevent myself from “bending” my rules. The rules are:

1. My Line of Credit must not have any transfers into my checking account.
2. I must not spend past my “cash” balance.
3. All purchases must continue to be made and accounted for on a cash only basis. (i.e. No credit usage)

To achieve this I am going to:

1. Enter all transactions ASAP
2. Remove as many unnecessary transactions as possible.
3. Place a note of my cash balance within my wallet

If these goals and guidelines are not followed or met my punishment will be:

1. Suspension of all coffee shop purchases for two weeks.

Crazy? Probably. At least a good idea? Yes. Will it work? Stay tuned.

I got my copy of Panther, installed it.

I’m quite thrilled. Apple has out done themselves once again, and I’ve only been using it for a little while.

If you bother to think about it for more than five minutes its amazing that man came into being as a result of a series of chance events.

Star Trek explains this away by stating that an ancient intergalactic civilization seeded our planet with DNA to allow it to evolve. This of course just shifts the question to how did they come into being? You still need to apply the same question just to a different civilization.

Relying on the random evolutionary argument is akin to getting a computer without an operating system, setting up a device to randomly type on it and hope that within the next 1,000 years it will create Windows. (wait, isn’t this how its currently written?) I would be amazed and quite skeptical if this resulted in a functioning operating system. We have usable operating systems because there were intelligent designers who carefully created them.

Therefore I believe that there is an intelligent designer(s), ID, of the universe. The ID must be permanently existing, because if the ID at one point did not exist we would be at the same conundrum regarding the beginning of an intelligent designer. The ID could at one point cease to exist, but the ID must exist infinitely into the past.

I am not arguing for the existence of a standard Christian-Judea god. That perception of god is logically inconsistent. That god is a creation of human desires channeled into god’s mouth for the benefit of easier codification and enforcement. Given that there are religions that are contradictory and that both use “god given” sources as their basis. It is reasonable to theorize that a Christian-Judea god as currently understood is a result of human desires, not actual divine inspiration. Finally a Christian-Judea god would be frustrated with the human manipulation of documents to fit the interpreter’s desires.

The intelligent designer is fundamentally different than a Christian-Judea god because while a Christian-Judea god directs us how to live the ID has designed and does not interfere. God is akin to a computer programmer telling you exactly what you can and cannot do with an operating system, or an architect who directs people where to walk inside their finished building. Both the god like controlling architect and the god-like computer programmer would not be tolerated or reasonable.

In addition a god who wanted to speak to the populace would purchase infomercial time on every station to ensure that he wished to communicate was consumed. The god paradigm is the manipulation of man, if god wanted to speak he would speak directly and clearly.

The ID either cannot or chooses not to interfere.

The concept of an ID allows science to function and resolves questions regarding the beginning of the universe as well as the beginning of life.

Regardless of if the existence of an ID can be proven it provides a placeholder upon which to rest any logical construction of the universe.