Tag Archive: Politics

Look to the Stars


History must repeat itself if we are to move forward in this age of technology. We are currently faced with many problems that our politicians ascribe to policies enacted by their colleges of opposing partisan lines. It does not matter who is right and who is wrong, what matters is that we are not unified in purpose. We are divided as a country, but we can overcome this by repeating our past.

Rewind back to the early 60’s when the space race was taking off. As a nation, we were a new superpower trying to show off our strength to the rest of the world while at the same time trying our hardest not to enrage the Russians. JFK came along and said, “Hey! Lets do something that will blow people’s minds!” and the entire country backed his idea of NASA putting a man on the moon. We instantly became fixated on getting to the moon at that point. No one cared about ridiculous things like what Sarah Palin may say next or how much more awesome the Rally to Restore Sanity will be than Restoring Honor was.

We had a goal and put aside all of our petty differences to achieve that goal. The trickle down effect from that entire movement is still felt today. Getting to the moon was not an easy task. We had to bring science and math to the forefront of our schools. We had to focus all of our attention on inventing completely new ways of doing things. As a result, we built our knowledge base high enough that we actually did make it to the moon with a side effect of building a better nation.

Our modern way of life arose almost entirely as a result of the progress we made while at the height of the space race. We were making scientific breakthroughs left and right. We were inventing new technologies that greatly enhanced our way of life. If we could simply latch back on to that goal of scientific progress, we could solve so many of our current problems.

Our generation does not have such a clearly defined goal, however. The generation before us bickers in Washington over who gets what piece of the American pie while they allow our scientific literacy rates to steadily drop. We need to stand up and let them know that we have had enough. We must unify and set our eyes on the stars.

Is Mars really that far away? I’ll bet if we put our collective imaginations together we can engineer a way to get there in our lifetimes. It is time to bring back science and math for our future’s sake. Were there is no vision, the people perish.


Just Legalize It Already

Weed Chart

Well, it seems out of all the problems facing Cali these days, they are still on track to vote on legalizing marijuana. A recent poll shows that citizens are on the fence with the issue. So, there is a slim chance that they could actually legalize it and move on to more important things.

I wish that they would just hurry up, legalize it, and be done with it. There are several advantages besides the typical “we can tax the frak out of it and save the state from bankruptcy” argument. Here is my humble opinion on why marijuana should be legalized everywhere and not just in the wonderfully progressive state of California.

1. Reduced workplace competition

With everyone stoned out of their minds, no one will want to come in to work anymore resulting in massive firings. What does that mean for the rest of us hard working Americans? Higher wages! Frak Yes! You will finally be able to get that promotion because there simply will be no alternatives.

Looking for a job? Who is the company going to hire? A stoner-hippie, or you who still remembers how to dress properly before coming to a job interview. Not to mention the fact that you will probably get it because the stoner-hippie likely confused the words ‘job interview’ and ‘marijuana dispenser’. The former being anathema to them and the latter nirvana.

2. You can sell anything to someone while stoned

How easy is it to sell useless and cheap merchandise to someone while they chase the dragon (or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days)? Exactly. Your business plan of selling off cheap goods imported from China will work out beautifully and make you filthy rich, which will almost certainly take on a concrete meaning since you will only be paid in extremely dirty cash.

3. An increase in art appreciation

No one has a greater appreciation of the arts than a stoner-hippie (or at least a good approximation of it). With legalized marijuana flowing in abundance, art galleries will be packed with stoner-hippies finding themselves while assuming they are all having collective extensional experiences. Anyone trying to sell new paintings of stupid things (like this guy) will have no trouble finding buyers partially due to my second reason.

This will probably destroy Hollywood, but who would really miss them anyways? Actually, come to think about it, it wouldn’t because movies like Speed Racer would demand a re-watch while high.

So, there. That is why weed needs to be legalized plain and simple. Come on, California, get to the voting booths and show your support for dear old Mary Jane!

The Israeli Game

Floating among the massive interwebs is a story of how Israel has mercilessly attacked an aid flotilla sent to Gaza. At first glance I was immediately repulsed by their actions, but I quickly checked the source and remembered that I was linked to it from Digg.com, which tends to favor more extreme stories. Nothing gets us Digg users stirred up like extreme claims.

Performing a search for this will pull results that paint Israel in a negative light due to the impartiality of the media. Being rather impartial myself, I decided to find out more about it. Heading off to Reuters, I found a story about how Israel’s attacks are only going to incite more violence from the terrorists in the area. Then I searched around on the Jerusalem Post and they were saying that a good portion of the travelers on the ship had ties to the terrorist network.

So, we arrive at an impasse. On one had, Israel is going to stir up more terrorist actions against them and on the other they are allowing the terrorists into their borders. What would you do in this situation?

Everyone always sides against Israel no matter the topic at hand regardless of the fact that they are surrounded by countries that hate them have even declared it would be better if Israel was wiped off the face of the earth.

Everyone always talks about how foolish it is of the UN to allow Israel to have nuclear weapons even when Israel has been responsible with their use. I don’t know about you, but I have not seen any mushroom clouds rising from the desert lately. Laying all that aside, nukes are only good for mutually assured destruction, which they need to even survive as a country.

Despite popular opinion, Israel does have a right to defend itself and when you are surrounded by people that hate and constantly undermine you, you tend to evolve an ability to discern those trying to bring you down. Israel does not have a history of terrorism and when involved in military conflicts, they follow proper conventions. I fail to see the comparisons being made between them and terrorist groups like Hamas.

Everyone needs to just calm down a bit and quit demonizing Israel on principle. I understand that the loss of life involved adds credence to Turkey, but there are always two sides to every story.

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