So now that I have more time on my hands, I can dedicate a little more of it to my blog...

Hopefully.

Anyway, I found this picture online and thought it fitting for the current state of affairs in this fair state of Florida. The presidential primary is today, although it's too early to comment on the results. Not like it matters much for the Democratic side of things, as their delegates (as of now) will not be welcomed to the convention later this year.

People have been asking me who I am voting for, and my honest answer is I don't know. As a registered Independent (remant of the punk rock education of my teenage years), I cannot participate in the closed Florida primary. To speculate on who I will vote for is impossible, because who I would vote for might not be around in November when it is actually time to cast my ballot.

Now, as a third party voter in 2004, I faced some criticism from my peers that I wasted a vote. I believe that a vote is a physical extension of your intellectual self, thus voting for a candidate I could truly not support would be disingenuous. Voting for someone based on the concept of electability is faulty logic, and thus, a wasted vote. Ross Perot caught some attention, as did Nader, and now I see Ron Paul as the representative a growing class of people dissatisfied with the one-party-with-two-names system. As I believe and see that the world is changing, not excluding my own United States of America, I am willing to look over my status as an historian to bet that there will be a viable third party in the US within my lifetime. Although our current system has been plugging away more or less in the same way since the country's birth, change, as one of the current candidates believes, is on the horizon.

My challenge? Help lay the foundation for the future by voting your conscience this year, not what your TV, radio, newspaper, pastor or party-line says.

now what

I write this most likely for me. Sometimes I post about news, sometimes I post something to provoke thought... But right now, I post about me, for me, and, if the world doesn't end, for me to look back upon years from now.
The reason?

I just took my last college exam.

I keep saying the same thing, but that doesn't make the feeling go away. It hasn't yet sunk in that I will wake up tomorrow, the day after and the day after that without a class to go to, an exam to take, a book to read or a paper to write.
It's an interesting feeling having lived your whole life with a goal in mind, regardless of whether it was the right or wrong goal and regardless of who or what inspired you to yearn for it, one so big and so eminent that it engulfed all your energies whether you knew it or not, to one day realize that it's over.
The goal now has a checkmark next to it, written in permanent ink. I can't go back and do it again because it's over.
There's probably a big lesson on goals, achievements, purpose, direction, etc. in all of this, but, once again, it would be moot to try and theorize on this because, as of 7pm on 12 December 2007, I am the small fish in the big pond once again.
I will let the elders talk and I will do wise by listening.

make all things new

Because it’s so bankrupt, the notion of just living for your own desires and pursuing your every whim and trying to ensure financial security. To store up money so that one day you can retire and have 15 years of relaxing until you die – has that worked for anybody? Has that given anybody eternal peace? Has that given anybody that sense of “I know why I’m here. I know the purpose of my life”? I look around and I see the failed American dream. People that are trying to claw their way to the top of the corporate ladder or some social group, and you realize that there’s no real contentment at the top. Whatever little ways that I’ve tried with the band—like, “Oh, we need to get on this label” —you end up wanting something else. Then you get on this radio station, and you want something else. You get in this magazine, and then you want something else. You get on this television station, and then what else? What else? What else? It’s never enough. Jesus calls us to less and less. He calls us to a simpler and humbler and more broken and emptied out lifestyle of service. To me, the moment that I realized that, it all made sense. It was perfectly clear. Everyone is called to that, and there’s room down there for everybody. But there’s only room at the top for one person. That would be a sad world, if our only purpose was to be the most successful or the world champion or the richest man alive.

How much did you pay?

I'm probably the last to write about this, but British band Radiohead are offering their latest album for a price that you determine via download. The price box is empty and you fill it in yourself, anywhere from zero to infinity. So technically, you could legally acquire it for free (save the 45 pence credit card surcharge, roughly 90 cents). After a couple of difficult years for the "music industry" that has seen a an increase in illegally downloaded material and a decline in CD sales, Radiohead are making an attempt to send a message it seems.
Afraid of people stealing your art? Alleviate yourself by giving it away for free.
Tired of record companies taking your art and selling at a price that you have no control over? Easy... Cut out the middle man and do with your creation as you see fit.
Assuming everyone who reads this blog is a raging fan, let me get personal...

How much did you pay?

take a couple of minutes

Please take your time and read the transcript from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He's in New York for the United Nations general assembly and spoke today at Columbia University. His visit was shrouded in controversy and many called in an abomination that he was invited to "spew his drivel" in an American institution. I even heard that the State of New York was considering pulling funding for the university.

For me, the read was an interesting one. It took awhile to get into what Mahmoud was saying; he started off with a rambling sermon about science full of quotes from the Qu'ran that I'm sure were a yawner for those in attendance. (note to self...)

Even though it was revealed through his answers that his logic isn't sound, I found myself agreeing with the sentiments of some of his responses. He was taken aback at the rude introduction given him by the acting university president, as it is a great disrespect to insult a guest. Ahmadinejad made reference to Iranian culture, but I have a feeling it might be a more general trait of all Islamic culture. Having spent some time in Morocco, I know firsthand that hospitality there is unmatched throughout the world (that is, the parts that I know). The President of Columbia lost some of his clout with, what I deem, an insulting introduction. Additionally, I agree that science is a tool to be used for the good of mankind, but if used as a tool of manipulation, it is detrimental. Pharmaceutical companies that withhold treatment in the name of bigger profits is an example.
"If humanity achieves the highest level of physical and spiritual knowledge but its scholars and scientists are not pure, then this knowledge cannot serve the interests of humanity." I agree.
He also delved into the Palestinian question. While I do not agree with him that violence and terrorism is an adequate response to violence and terrorism (it seems like a childish "he did it first" sort of response), I do agree that the Palestinians should be able to decide their own future instead of having it dictated to them through forceful or manipulative means, either from internal or foreign sources. However, if they choose to wage war or commit violent acts against others as their chosen path, I cannot support that decision.
Either way, please check out the link. It's important to investigate the world around us and understand how we can be involved in it.

missing the point

I'm reading a book right now entitled "Adventures in Missing the Point" by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo... Having that title in mind,

The people in Jena, Louisiana are missing the point. I've been hearing about the protests and reading the signs they're carrying at the protests. Many are asking for the end of racial profiling in the justice system. While I wholeheartedly agree, that's not the point. The point is a kid was sent to the hospital for a beating he received that some allege was intended to kill him. The point is the attackers were incensed because nooses were hung from a tree in a region of the world where that was common not too long ago. Those nooses were hung as a warning to not sit in the "white" area.

The point is this... You aren't defined by what color your skin is. Those are social constructions that you accept if you so choose. You aren't better or worse than anybody because of your skin or where you come from. You are defined, if you so choose, by the things you do. You pigeonhole yourself for hanging nooses from a tree just to send a message and you stunt your own self-realization by solving your problems by beating others to a pulp. Both actions are reprehensible and both go to show how far we as a people need to go.