And check Cute Overload out while you're at it (you can make hours go by!)
Best Wishes,
Allen
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Wow...Is Election Day Over Yet?
If you read/watch/listen to different media source, you'd think today was the be-all/end-all of days...but I just can't bring myself to be moved.
I did actually want to vote, even though absolutely no candidates in any election have intrigued me. But I recently had a schedule change at work, so I won't be available to vote today anyway.
That's not to say that there probably aren't any interesting political races this year anywhere. I just haven't taken interest in politics in a while. And what I have seen has reminded me why I lost interest.
Don't worry, though...since I didn't vote, I won't complain, either. I just want it all to be over with.
One thing was cool, though: it was free to ride the bus today! Woohoo!
Best Wishes,
Allen
If you read/watch/listen to different media source, you'd think today was the be-all/end-all of days...but I just can't bring myself to be moved.
I did actually want to vote, even though absolutely no candidates in any election have intrigued me. But I recently had a schedule change at work, so I won't be available to vote today anyway.
That's not to say that there probably aren't any interesting political races this year anywhere. I just haven't taken interest in politics in a while. And what I have seen has reminded me why I lost interest.
Don't worry, though...since I didn't vote, I won't complain, either. I just want it all to be over with.
One thing was cool, though: it was free to ride the bus today! Woohoo!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Let The Politics Begone!
Updates to IR Haven: I've removed the link category of "Political Blogs." I also removed several of the political links. I kept several links that are just good blogs that happen to have a political element. I renamed the former "Political Blogs" section "Blogs of Interest." The election's over, the political fervor is dying down, it's time to focus on other things now.
Gosh, that feels good to write!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Updates to IR Haven: I've removed the link category of "Political Blogs." I also removed several of the political links. I kept several links that are just good blogs that happen to have a political element. I renamed the former "Political Blogs" section "Blogs of Interest." The election's over, the political fervor is dying down, it's time to focus on other things now.
Gosh, that feels good to write!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
A Sigh Of Relief And A Return To Linux
Wow, over in one day -- what a relief!
Yesterday, I added a 10 GB partition to my home PC's hard drive so I could try the new Mandrake Linux Community Edition 10.1! Install was quick and relatively painless (about 10 minutes), easily configured, nice and easy firewall feature. I downloaded and installed Firefox for Linux (I love Firefox!) and downloaded the Realplayer 10 Gold plugin for Mozilla (which works better in Mozilla than Firefox -- but hey, so long as it works). Mandrake recognized all of my hardware except my old scanner (no biggie) and had no problem connecting to the internet through my broadband cable modem.
Are there any other Mandrake users out there? I'd love to hear from you, in comments or in e-mail!
Anyway, I don't want this to be a long post. I'm happy the election is already resolved and I gained more respect for Senator Kerry from his classy and gracious concession speech than throughout the whole, arduous campaign. I'll admit it, I was impressed. Now, on with life...
Best Wishes,
Allen
Wow, over in one day -- what a relief!
Yesterday, I added a 10 GB partition to my home PC's hard drive so I could try the new Mandrake Linux Community Edition 10.1! Install was quick and relatively painless (about 10 minutes), easily configured, nice and easy firewall feature. I downloaded and installed Firefox for Linux (I love Firefox!) and downloaded the Realplayer 10 Gold plugin for Mozilla (which works better in Mozilla than Firefox -- but hey, so long as it works). Mandrake recognized all of my hardware except my old scanner (no biggie) and had no problem connecting to the internet through my broadband cable modem.
Are there any other Mandrake users out there? I'd love to hear from you, in comments or in e-mail!
Anyway, I don't want this to be a long post. I'm happy the election is already resolved and I gained more respect for Senator Kerry from his classy and gracious concession speech than throughout the whole, arduous campaign. I'll admit it, I was impressed. Now, on with life...
Best Wishes,
Allen
Monday, November 01, 2004
Election 2004: It's Almost Over!
I don't know about you but I have reached full saturation with the political discussions, ramifications, polls and such. I am truly ready for the election, counting (hopefully not recounting) and everything to be over and done with.
We'll see what happens tomorrow then. Have a great day today!
Best Wishes,
Allen
I don't know about you but I have reached full saturation with the political discussions, ramifications, polls and such. I am truly ready for the election, counting (hopefully not recounting) and everything to be over and done with.
We'll see what happens tomorrow then. Have a great day today!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
An IR Thought, While Being As Un-Political As Possible...
This morning, I was listening to talk radio, as I often do on my morning commute while taking my youngest son to school. A conservative talk show host (not Rush) was confused and beside himself about why President Bush and now his brother, Governor Jeb Bush, do not take hard stances against the issue of illegal immigration. In fact, both President Bush and his brother tend to lean towards policies that seem to "reward" coming to the U.S. illegally while citing compassion as the reason.
I think I do understand why they differ from party-line on this issue, and if my hunch is correct, it has nothing to do with politics. President and Gov. Bush have immediate family members who are interracially married into the Hispanic nation and those family members have biracial children. It would not be unreasonable to think that their opinions and feelings about those family members might spill over into their politics.
Is that right? Is that conservative? Is that good decision-making? Probably not, but it is very human. And in regard to interracial issues, it's a bold stance to take which I can respect (if that is the reason)...even if I don't agree with it, politically.
That's just my thoughts on the issue, from an IR perspective. What do you think? Feel free to comment below.
Best Wishes,
Allen
This morning, I was listening to talk radio, as I often do on my morning commute while taking my youngest son to school. A conservative talk show host (not Rush) was confused and beside himself about why President Bush and now his brother, Governor Jeb Bush, do not take hard stances against the issue of illegal immigration. In fact, both President Bush and his brother tend to lean towards policies that seem to "reward" coming to the U.S. illegally while citing compassion as the reason.
I think I do understand why they differ from party-line on this issue, and if my hunch is correct, it has nothing to do with politics. President and Gov. Bush have immediate family members who are interracially married into the Hispanic nation and those family members have biracial children. It would not be unreasonable to think that their opinions and feelings about those family members might spill over into their politics.
Is that right? Is that conservative? Is that good decision-making? Probably not, but it is very human. And in regard to interracial issues, it's a bold stance to take which I can respect (if that is the reason)...even if I don't agree with it, politically.
That's just my thoughts on the issue, from an IR perspective. What do you think? Feel free to comment below.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Blogging About Why I Don't Blog About Politics 
I think there's no easier way to stereotype yourself than to broadcast your political affiliations and opinions to the world. Let me explain:
Let's say there's "Joe Q. Blog's Really Liberal Blog" in which he spends months of blogspace attacking the President or what the Republicans and conservatives are doing to "bring down the country."
Next door (internet-wise) is "Mary J. Conservative's RepubliBlog" in which she spends months of blogspace attacking the Democrat of the Moment and liberals in general.
Fill in the blank with the remaining political parties and the blogs of their proud supporters of the moment. Then take a moment to yawn and stretch (it'll help you feel better).
I mean, there's really too much of it out there. It fills the internet kind of like an unsightly landfill. I mean, how many times do we need to read "(political) party lines" before it becomes what it really is: BORING?
I thought blogs were supposed to be the new definition of personal pages, your thoughts - not your party's thoughts, your experiences and a broad variety of matters which interest you. That's what I try to make IR Haven, partially interracial topics, partially a cross-section of my experiences, thoughts and beliefs.
Something else I don't prefer about politi-blogs is that they tend to be complaint-centered. I dislike that I've had to write a lot of this in a complaining fashion but I think it also helps summarize my point.
I dunno, I think it's more interesting to read someone's blog and try to figure out who they are based on what they do and are interested in. That alone might tell you their political beliefs, without them having to shout it to the internet.
While I have definite political beliefs and affiliations, I don't think they really have a place in the blog.
What do you think? Please leave a comment on this topic.
Best Wishes,
Allen
I think there's no easier way to stereotype yourself than to broadcast your political affiliations and opinions to the world. Let me explain:
Let's say there's "Joe Q. Blog's Really Liberal Blog" in which he spends months of blogspace attacking the President or what the Republicans and conservatives are doing to "bring down the country."
Next door (internet-wise) is "Mary J. Conservative's RepubliBlog" in which she spends months of blogspace attacking the Democrat of the Moment and liberals in general.
Fill in the blank with the remaining political parties and the blogs of their proud supporters of the moment. Then take a moment to yawn and stretch (it'll help you feel better).
I mean, there's really too much of it out there. It fills the internet kind of like an unsightly landfill. I mean, how many times do we need to read "(political) party lines" before it becomes what it really is: BORING?
I thought blogs were supposed to be the new definition of personal pages, your thoughts - not your party's thoughts, your experiences and a broad variety of matters which interest you. That's what I try to make IR Haven, partially interracial topics, partially a cross-section of my experiences, thoughts and beliefs.
Something else I don't prefer about politi-blogs is that they tend to be complaint-centered. I dislike that I've had to write a lot of this in a complaining fashion but I think it also helps summarize my point.
I dunno, I think it's more interesting to read someone's blog and try to figure out who they are based on what they do and are interested in. That alone might tell you their political beliefs, without them having to shout it to the internet.
While I have definite political beliefs and affiliations, I don't think they really have a place in the blog.
What do you think? Please leave a comment on this topic.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, January 16, 2003
Concerning War
Everybody seems to have an opinion on the impending war with Iraq and possibly North Korea. Opinions abound everywhere you go, especially on the internet. There’s a very loud contingent of the population that is anti-war, which is all well and good. At the heart of the concept and reality of War is life and death and most people don’t want to die or lose anyone close to them. That’s understandable. Unfortunately, in reality, although war can be postponed, it cannot always be avoided altogether. It boils down to communication – and when communication breaks down due to one or both parties either lying or manipulating or generally being uncooperative, whatever issue is at hand has to be resolved, one way or the other. When you have countries and governments with different political and economic issues and agendas, usually diplomacy works…
…then September 11, 2001 happened and the world changed. The United States definitely changed. Suddenly there was a clear and present threat to the lives of every man, woman and child. People handle such threats in different ways but suddenly, it was on the shoulders of the U.S. Government and the U.S. President to uphold their first and foremost sworn duty: to safeguard the lives of this country's citizens.
Do I agree with every step that’s been taken, the laws enacted, the freedoms affected? No, I don’t. I am sure there will be political and social fallout for decades concerning the issues raised by the Patriot Act and other government measures and policies.
Decisions had to be made, though, and they were made, for better or worse. Time will tell and history will either exonerate or condemn the policymakers.
But at the heart of this whole controversy is the most important issue of all, something that I feel had been taken for granted by many in this country for far too long:
Life and Death.
How we live is important; it’s more important than how we die because it’s inevitable that we’re all going to die someday.
Many of you know I’m a Christian and I’m not going to apologize for that. I’d like to end this particular blog entry with some scripture from the King James Bible that I think is relevant to this topic.
Matthew 24: 3 - 14
Everybody seems to have an opinion on the impending war with Iraq and possibly North Korea. Opinions abound everywhere you go, especially on the internet. There’s a very loud contingent of the population that is anti-war, which is all well and good. At the heart of the concept and reality of War is life and death and most people don’t want to die or lose anyone close to them. That’s understandable. Unfortunately, in reality, although war can be postponed, it cannot always be avoided altogether. It boils down to communication – and when communication breaks down due to one or both parties either lying or manipulating or generally being uncooperative, whatever issue is at hand has to be resolved, one way or the other. When you have countries and governments with different political and economic issues and agendas, usually diplomacy works…
…then September 11, 2001 happened and the world changed. The United States definitely changed. Suddenly there was a clear and present threat to the lives of every man, woman and child. People handle such threats in different ways but suddenly, it was on the shoulders of the U.S. Government and the U.S. President to uphold their first and foremost sworn duty: to safeguard the lives of this country's citizens.
Do I agree with every step that’s been taken, the laws enacted, the freedoms affected? No, I don’t. I am sure there will be political and social fallout for decades concerning the issues raised by the Patriot Act and other government measures and policies.
Decisions had to be made, though, and they were made, for better or worse. Time will tell and history will either exonerate or condemn the policymakers.
But at the heart of this whole controversy is the most important issue of all, something that I feel had been taken for granted by many in this country for far too long:
Life and Death.
How we live is important; it’s more important than how we die because it’s inevitable that we’re all going to die someday.
Many of you know I’m a Christian and I’m not going to apologize for that. I’d like to end this particular blog entry with some scripture from the King James Bible that I think is relevant to this topic.
Matthew 24: 3 - 14
And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Best Wishes,
Allen
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