Cynical on Obama

This morning I was greeted with the yet another Obama/Wright story.
I'm sorry, but this really smells like an attempt by the Obama people to try to evade the fact that Obama sat under the teachings of a racist hatemonger masquerading as a minister of the Gospel. I can just see Obama's people talking with Wright saying "Barrack is really taking some heat. Go out and something that he can really denounce so he can say 'See, I disagree with my former pastor'." Is this too cynical? Watching Wright's interview I don't see so much more than what I saw in the released sermon videos. NOW Obama's "outraged"? NOW, just after the interview, he condemns the remarks? Let's get real... even the article says that Wright reiterated his charges against the United States. Of course, Obama uses his standard method of deflection of anything that could damage him... he called them divisive and said his supporters should just move on. Hopefully this story doesn't move on because it is just such things that provide insight into who Senator Obama really is. I mean, it's not like he really has legislative leadership or a voting record we can examine.

Elite

If I hear one more defense of Obama not being an elitist I think I will wretch. The arguments of the Democrats are so lacking in any logic that the mere fact people repeat it makes me want to suggest psychological counseling for them (or at least philosophical counseling). I saw three TV talk shows with three different Democrat pundits spouting the same two pieces of "evidence" to prove that Obama is not an elitist:

1. He was brought up by a single mother.
2. He is just now paying off his student loans.

Please, can anyone tell me what this has to do with being an elitist? Being an elitist has nothing to do with how many people reared you or how long it took you to pay off your college loans (perhaps had he not attended such elite schools he would have been out of hock sooner... or perhaps he should have taken a job that would have allowed him to meet his obligations in a more timely manner). Being an elite has everything to do with a sense of who you are compared with others, being "better" or superior to others. Take a look at what Merriam-Webster has to say about the definition of elite and then tell me how either of the aforementioned two points come into play on whether or not Obama is an elite. The man degraded a large number of folks in Pennsylvania on their beliefs, and please don't forget his backhanded statement on wearing a flag lapel pin (apparently only his definition of patriotism is true patriotism). When he isn't elitist he's patronizing.

I swear, the more I pay attention to this man I don't understand the magic.

The One Thing

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
-- Victor Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning

I may not be able to chose many things in this life that affect me, but I can choose how I react to their effect. I can let things get me down if I so choose, or I can select another attitude toward the situation. That choice is mine and mine alone. I accept responsibility for my choice and take responsibility for whatever comes of that choice for it is mine and mine alone to make... or in other (better) words:

"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

The Real Reason For My Elevated Blood Pressure

I think it was this article in U. S. News & World Report that set it off. That's what I get for reading it while working the elliptical machine at the gym. Sadly, almost every "problem" that the article discusses as needing big government to fix was caused by government in the first place. In IT we call this "job security".

Officially Entering Old Age

Well, it happened... yesterday I have officially entered "old age". Why? Yesterday my doctor put me on blood pressure medication. It's mild, hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic. We had a good discussion (I really like my doctor, he listens to me and lets me tell him what to... up to a point, but that is because he has done a good job of educating me over the years). But the elevation is most likely caused by bodily changes including the roughly 20lbs I have accumulated over the last couple of years. Everything else is excellent, no worries about anything else. So until I drop the weight and we test again I will at least have a valid medical excuse for leaving long, boring meetings early.

What I Was Taught

I don't know if either of my parents read Kipling in high school but these sentiments create memories of what they tried to instill in my sister and me:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

My Usual Movie Experience

It is usually the case that the more often I see a movie I originally didn't care for the more it grows on me. That was the case as I watched Star Trek The Motion Picture. As I watched it while working from home I found I actually enjoyed it. One thing that stood out for me this time is that I have come to think that the first 20 minutes had some of the best mood-setting music I have heard for a movie. Guess that is what happens when you pay attention.

Life In Southern California

Well, it's been about 8 years since I moved to San Diego and I still find myself trying to adjust. Granted, the weather is wonderful and I love my little place in Ocean Beach. I've finally found a work environment that can provide a stable source of income (and hopefully a real career). In the relatively short time I have lived here I have seen changes in the city, an increase in options for recreation, growth in the number of culinary and cultural offerings, and a revival (somewhat) of the downtown area. But things are not as they should be. With very, very few exceptions I have found it difficult to meet and create good, solid friendships. Part of my time in therapy last year delved into this issue but I have not found any resolution. I keep wanting to say "It's not like it was in Kansas City and St. Louis, people are more friendly there." To be completely honest though that was what, 10 years or more ago and I do not know what it would be like to move back there. I have never had a lot of friend, but the friendships that were forged were strong and deep, they cut across educational, social, and economic boundaries... they were people who worked at Subway, people who were programmers, doctors, auto mechanics, dancers, and people who worked in pipe shops. The friendships tended not to be based on one thing but were grounded by common interests (time was taken to find out what those interests were) and went beyond the singular event that brought us together. Events were both formal (planned) and informal. Discussion was always lively, sometimes deep, sometimes just good friends spending a sunny afternoon together maybe having a beer and or going out to watching a movie or bowling or taking a hike. We kept in touch which often created spontaneous "meet-ups". We were always introducing each other to new people and we could expand our groups as we wanted. I think the common bond was that we just enjoyed being around each other, period. Maybe it is different back there now. It has definitely been different here. Seems like people pigeon-hole you quickly and place you into a certain category out of which it is difficult (if not impossible) for you to extract yourself. Am I wrong? It really seems like here that people are always looking for something better and they treat others that way. It's not been uncommon for people to set things up with me and then break them, not just once but repeatedly. It's like pulling teeth to get people to commit to doing something, again as if they want to keep their schedule open just in case something "more fun" might come along. I dunno... am I wrong? If so, please let me know and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

Oh Hillary!

For My Geek Friends

Top 10 April Fools Day Jokes To Play On The Enterprise:

10) Everybody act like Riker is the captain

9) Pretend you've been taken over by an alien being

8) Program the replicator in Troi's room so that it won't make chocolate

7) Replay file tape of Borg ship on main viewer

6) Tell Data that Starfleet has decided to dismantle him

5) Put a small speaker in Dr. Crusher's bedroom to play garbled voices

4) Lock Picard in the children's schoolroom with several children and no adults

3) Substitute some of Dr. Crusher's moss with moss showing 24 hours more growth

2) Put a sign on Worf's back that says "Kick Me!"

1) Yell into your communicator "Captain, the antimatter containment fields are collapsing"

I have to admit, these aren't original with me. You can read them (and more) here.

Same-Sex Marriage Again

Well, no posted comments but several emails, surprisingly none of them supportive. I will try to post a general "one size fits all" response since they were all similar in nature.

First, every email that came to me was religious in nature. As I stated in the previous email, I did not address this as a religious issue. If a particular religion wants to ban same-sex marriage more power to them, but if you look at the history of what marriage actually is (at least the last 2500 years), it has had a much less religious meaning and more financial-political meaning. If you try to go down the road of religion the immediate questions become:

1. Why should we take this road in discussing marriage in modern terms?
   
2. Whose religion should take precedence?
   

Marriage today has more to do with rights as a citizen than it does a religious connotation. You do not need the blessings of the Church or of its elders, neither do you have to believe in any particular creed or even have your ceremony performed by a minister in a chapel. The true power in our society to declare something a marriage rests with "the state" and not any particular minister, otherwise why is it that marriage performed by ministers for same-sex couples are not recognized by the state even though it is recognized by the celebrants, the minister, the congregation, in fact the entire sect to which they belong? And what about the Catholic church which recognizes marriages only if performed according to their edicts? Are marriages performed by a Justice of the Peace of non-effect with respect to the state? I think not (two very close friends of mine have seen that even though their marriage was technically not recognized by the Catholic church their divorce required jumping through all the hoops required by secular law). And now that about 20% of the world is Muslim, how does a state handle the sanctioned divorce ritual of simply saying "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you"? Religiously separated but according to the laws of the state they are... what?

Some people tried to create an argument based on the idea that homosexuality is a sin and therefore homosexual marriages should not be allowed. Such an argument doesn't really work in the situation of marriage. Theft is a sin yet thieves can get married (as long as they are of appropriate gender). Rapists can get married, pedophiles can get married, murderers can get married... the list goes on and on. And when it comes to sin remember all of the things that are sins and yet liars can get married, those disrespectful to their parents can get married, those who worship false idols can get married (we can go on and on with this). Please do not misunderstand me, I count myself in the fold of those who believe and am a pretty rock-ribbed conservative evangelical, but I don't think that this idea of sin can be brought into the debate since All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We can discuss and debate whether or not homosexuality is a sin, but that debate is not the same as whether or not same-sex marriages should be allowed.