10/26/2003
A few days ago, Democracy Now did a 45-minute interview with Michael Moore. You can stream or download the 25 MB .mp3 from this link. (Note: the Michael Moore segment doesn't begin until about the 10-minute mark, so I'd recommend downloading the mp3, so you can skip ahead.)

10/19/2003
Michael Moore (Stupid White Men, Bowling for Columbine, and etc...) came to town today. It was the first time he's visited Santa Cruz, and he was quite well-received.

His latest film, Bowling for Columbine, was an absolute masterpiece. I enjoyed reading Stupid White Men, too; however, the book was peppered with "immature" interjections, and so although I enjoyed hearing his message, he lost some credibility with me. However, as of today, all of that has been restored.

After hearing him speak and interact with a live audience for 3 hours, I am placing him in the category of "true social genius". (The only other person I had in this category - a condition of which is having an intelligence far, far surpassing anyone you've ever met personally - was Bill Clinton. But I didn't like Bill.) Mr. Moore's intake, processing, and redistribution of information is so incredibly deep and coherent that you can only truly appreciate it if you see him speak in person and roll with an idea. His mind is like a supercomputer, but his heart is also in the right place. He pulls it all together in a way I've never been able to do, try as I might - and it's rock-solid.

I greatly encourage you to see him speak. He's coming to San Francisco, Albuquerque, Stockton (CA), Portland, Pullman (WA), Seattle, Santa Barbara, Davis, Escondido, Wooster and Cincinnati (Ohio!), and Ypsilanti (MI) all in the next two weeks. For his schedule, click here, then under 'Show me all Mike's upcoming...', select 'live appearances' and click Go.)

But in case you can't make it, I want to share a few of the best pieces of takeaway. The first (for me) was some strategic thinking about the upcoming primaries. Mr. Moore quoted a bunch of polls and statistics (from major, mainstream U.S. media only) that showed that Americans, when it comes to the issues, are quite liberal; unfortunately, far more liberal than the White House or Congress. (His latest book, Dude, Where's My Country?, cites all of these polls.) Something is wrong, and we can't seem to elect politicians who have these same values. Why is that?

One huge reason is because now - right now - many of us are already settling (compromising) for the candidate we think can win. Michael, however, sees the next 6-9 months as the time to fully endorse the candidate you really want to win (who, for Michael & I, is absolutely Dennis Kucinich), and also, the time to call the candidate you *think* can win, and try to sway their stances. "Howard, I'd love to vote for you, but I really need you to take a stronger stance on gun control: how about committing to a 5-day waiting period and mandatory registration, which even a majority of NRA members support?" Few people are doing this now, and so the left is moving right, trying to hit the middle so they'll win. The problem is, the left has been doing this for far too long, and it's not the left anymore! We need to make it clear to the more moderate candidates that they will only get our vote if they stand up for what we want, instead of compromising. If they don't hear us shouting now, they'll think they've hit the right spot in the spectrum, and that's what we'll be stuck with.

Another good point he made is that people change, and that we have to give them a chance to turn around. For example, just because Wesley Clark voted for Reagan doesn't mean he hasn't had years since then to change his mind (and he's clearly come a long way). Liberals often hold onto grudges and easily label people "impure" if they did something in the past that they don't like. But people change, and we have to be open to that.

He also mentioned that he agreed with Kucinich, amazingly, on 100% of the issues (as do I). However, he was annoyed that Kucinich says, when questioned about abortion: "I'm personally against abortion, but I could never interfere with a woman's right to choose." Michael vehemently attacked Kucinich for this defense, making the analogy that if someone said, "I'm against interracial marriage, but I wouldn't block it", it's just as bad. I disagree - and it seemed like a decent chunk of the audience did, too. Abortion is about a woman's body, but it's also about a budding life; who knows the right answer? That's why it's so controversial. So, I think Dennis's stance (and preface) on abortion is good. Anyway, getting back on track, the main point is that Mr. Moore is a huge fan of Kucinich. He's also ready to give Clark a chance, if the rest of his stances (they're not all yet decided yet) turn out good, too. He had some heavier doubts about Dean, though. One thing I didn't realize was that Dean promised not to cut the military budget. Sorry Howard - once I verify this, you lose my vote.

Michael also took his message from Bowling for Columbine a step further. In the documentary, he strongly suggested that Americans are being pumped full of fear, and that's why our kids are shooting each other (among many other gnarly symptoms). That message resonated strongly with me - it put into words what I've long sensed - but it seemed incomplete somehow. The answer was missing; how do we stop it?

He answered that tonight. First, he noted that one of Clinton's welfare reform acts kicked 300,000 kids in wheelchairs off of welfare. That half of our jail population is in for drug-related crimes, but instead of giving them therapy, we give them prison, and they come out as hardened future criminals. That instead of helping the guy who's having a hard time, we tend to beat him up. That in general, Americans have a cultural belief that people should "pull themselves up by their bootstraps", and that if you can't do that, you're lazy, or maybe you don't deserve help. So, over the decades, we've wittled our "safety net" - the one that catches people and gets them back on their feet - down to the point where we're afraid to walk down an alley at night because there are so many desperate people who've fallen through the cracks - who didn't get caught in the safety net. In Canada, Cuba, France, Germany, and dozens of other countries, you don't worry walking down an alley at night, because people are okay there; they take care of each other; they get caught in the net and get back on their feet. Not so here; in the land of the Brave, it's each man for himself. Can't afford college? Too bad. One of 46 million without health insurance? Sorry. Deal with it.

In Bowling for Columbine, mountains of fear were identified as the culprit for why we're doing all of these crazy things. But now, Mr. Moore is saying that the reason we have this fear is because we're letting each other slip through the cracks - by the millions. And how are we doing that? By voting down the middle. By compromising. By giving up on Kucinich and accepting another candidate we think can win (that's ok in 6 months, but NOT YET). By not calling Dean, Edwards, etc. and telling them we don't want them in the middle.

Those were only the points that excited me the most; the entire experience was wonderful, funny, and extremely entertaining. Michael Moore has an incredible wit and is a great public speaker, but he also has an amazing message that offers the whole enchilada: problem, history, nuances; and real-world solution.

And fans might be glad to hear that his next movie, Fahrenheit 911, is on schedule and will be released before November 2004 - just in time to expose Bush's deep connections to the bin Laden family, and what he knew before 9/11. Michael, you are the man.

For further info:
   Michael Moore's homepage
   Dennis Kucinich's homepage
   Wesley Clark's homepage
   Howard Dean's homepage

One last note: he did say one thing that really pissed me off: while reading a list of the things that he thought liberals had wrong (from his latest book), he made the assertion: "Let's just face it - vegetarianism is unhealthy." If you've ever read my rants here, you'll know that this made my blood boil (and I gave him some harsh booing for that one). I can see where he's coming from: in most parts of the U.S., trying to be vegetarian is extremely difficult, and it's hard to make it a healthy choice (although it's getting much better). But for every person that does it, they alter the market (demand for vegetarian foods), and it gets that much easier for the next person to do it, and to do it *in a healthy way*. Anyway, Mr. Moore, your assertion that it's "unhealthy" just tells me that you've never spent the time to learn about nutrition, and how to eat a healthy diet without meat. Read the $12 Becoming Vegetarian and pick up the $10 Student's Vegetarian Cookbook (dozens and dozens of fast, easy, cheap, healthy meals) and you'll be set. But don't go making that blind claim. Saying it's unhealthy if you don't do it right is fine; saying it's just plain "unhealthy" is ridiculous.

Update: I remembered one more good thing I took away from the event. It was this: that in this war, it only took about 6 months until the public (and the media) began to scrutinize the reasons and results of the war, and for criticism to become mainstream. This is a major improvement from Vietnam, where such a shift in public opinion and discourse took several years. Mr. Moore felt the the internet was largely responsible; I would definitely have to agree. Who knows - maybe we can actually stop our next unjust/unwise/unnecessary war before it even starts?

10/19/2003
FYI: The next democratic presidential debate will be held a week from today, on Sunday night, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. Eastern time, on Fox News. And in the future, for the latest news on when the next debate will be, bookmark this page.

10/19/2003
I'm on a kick today, and I've been meaning to mention this for a while, so here goes: if you consider yourself a progressive, you should definitely check out David Cross's 2-CD comedy album, Shut Up, You F**king Baby. It's fantastic. He's absolutely hilarious - the best comedy I've heard in years - and to boot, he tears Bush to shreds. The bad news drips from the I.V. so slowly and surely these days, that most of us forget about how many horrible things have come out of the White House since 2000; this album (especially disc 2) will jog your memory, and have you rolling on the floor laughing.

10/4/2003
George W. Bush wrote a great poem to Laura Bush today, welcoming her back from her trip to France. Here it is:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Oh my, lump in the bed
How I've missed you.
Roses are redder
Bluer am I
Seeing you kissed by that charming French guy.
The dogs and the cat, they missed you too
Barney's still mad you dropped him, he ate your shoe
The distance, my dear, has been such a barrier
Next time you want an adventure, just land on a carrier.

9/30/2003
My little blue Civic Hybrid came in today. She's a beauty...

    

9/20/2003
I ordered a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid today. It won't come in for about 2-4 weeks (it's probably still on the assembly line), but I bought it, and that baby is mine, bwahahaha... hello, 48 miles per gallon in a comfy, sporty car with kick. =) It's really a beautiful car, too, both engineering-wise and aesthetically. I am excited.

9/19/2003
NPR's radio program, Talk of the Nation, has "science fridays" every friday from 11-1. Today's program (click here to hear it) was fantastic; it covered the current state of wind energy. I think they really hit on just about everything; so if you want the complete lowdown on wind energy, in an incredibly compact (but easily digestible) form, take a listen. It's one hour long (just the first half of the program).

9/17/2003
Laura went to back-to-school night this evening, and we found out that Forrest's average class size is over 40 students this year. I can't help but be really, really pissed about the current resource allocation of this country. We're spending $200+ billion to liberate a country that was no threat to us, and whose human rights record was not the worst (it was something like 3rd from the bottom, on our own list) - when we could have instead used that money to drop class sizes to 10-20 kids per class, across the entire country. We pay $1 million for a cruise missile, and $30,000 a year (if you're lucky) for a teacher. I just can't believe it. Our nicely rich congresspeople don't mind, though - they can send their kids to private school. Meanwhile, the rest of us get used, our productivity going to war (17.5% of our annual expenditure - i.e., efforts) instead of education and health care. Where's the democrat who's going to step up to the plate and say, "enough is enough - in light of the fact that we're militarily superior to most other countries by a factor of 10, we're getting over our fear complex and halving our military expenses. We'll be diverting the money to pay for tiny class sizes and improving health care." Oh wait, that's Dennis Kucinich - but he doesn't stand a chance. Why not? Michael Moore said it well, in Bowling for Columbine: because we're too afraid. Because crime is down 20%, but crime reporting is up 600%, in the last decade. We live in irrational fear of our neighbors, both at the street level and on a global level. We're so afraid that we're missing the big picture - you're supposed to enjoy life, be nice, make friends (read: allies), cooperate, stand against war. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Nationality does not determine the value of a human life. We're all in this together.

Ah, so, I guess what I'm getting at is that you have to look at the big picture if you want a good future for your children and all future generations, and to execute that plan, you have to vote, and vote progressively. Unfortunately, though, Kucinich will not win, so I am endorsing Dean, who is about as left as I think we can get (and not substantially risk getting stuck with another 4 years of Bush). But I would give anything to see Kucinich in the white house. He is a great and rare man.

9/17/2003
What a trip. Many times have I heard people claim that this (the U.S.) is the greatest country on earth. Of course it is, in some ways. But there are a lot of ways in which it isn't - a lot of ways in which it places dead-last, in fact - and so it really bothers me when people blindly say that. It's fine to love your country, but use your words responsibly! For example: comparing the United States to North Korea via the online CIA World Factbook, I was surprised to learn that their electricity comes from 71% hydroelectric power; ours comes from only 5.6% hydro (and virtually no other renewables). I was also surprised to see that their literacy rate is 99%, whereas ours is only 97%. Finally, I was shocked to learn that we gave only $6.9 billion in aid to foreign countries in 1997; less than 0.5% of our budget. (*can that be right??!) (By the way, if you want a fantastic list of how "We're #1", see Michael Moore's sometimes-sensational-but- still-mostly-honest bestseller book, "Stupid White Men.")

8/28/2003
Hooray! "Defense" spending has helped boost the economy! No matter that we diverted our productivity toward creating things that kill, when we could have been building hospitals and schools in Iraq and other places. Also today, we found out that Halliburton (the oil services company that Dick Cheney was CEO of for 5 years and is still receiving huge "back pay" from) got 1.7 billion in no-bid government contracts in Iraq. Three cheers for cronyism. Also, take a look at the Bush administration's ultra-forward-thinking energy plan - notice the incredibly detailed plans for increased domestic drilling, and the complete lack of any numbers or commitments regarding renewable energy. And yesterday, Bush officially gutted the Clean Air Act, so that power plants are now free to construct new capacity, without installing modern pollution controls - a provision that has been in place since 1970.

8/17/2003
I have a prediction. But first, a tiny review of history...

Back around 1800, people in this country thought it was okay to have slaves. Slaves, mind you - people that belonged to other people. Sure, some people were against it, but it was legal and commonplace. That was abolished in 1865. Today, we denounce slavery as a crime against humanity, but back then, it was widespread.

The next big wave was based on women: they received the right to vote in 1920 - only 83 years ago. That's not very long ago. But today, most people can't imagine denying women the right to vote. We believe in women's suffrage because, in hindsight, we again see that we were doing something very wrong, and are very glad that some people spoke out and fixed it.

Then came wave #3 - real civil rights; the end of segregation and Jim Crow laws - in the 1960's. Think about it - just 40 years ago, black kids had to go to different schools, black people had to eat in physically separate rooms in restaurants, and so on. Today, most of us (hopefully) find that disgusting. But that's only 40 years behind us.

These three waves of 'awakening' occurred 138, 83, and 40 years ago. We're likely to have more of them. I think it's fairly obvious that gay rights is the next 'awakening'. 40 years from now, people will grimace when they think that back in '95, they believed it was okay to tell people who they could love. When you think about it, no matter what you believe, it's none of your business and if you think it's wrong, you're pretty much embodying the same resistance that the emancipation, women's suffrage, and civil rights movements had to overcome. Before you do that, do some serious critical thinking about why you think it's okay to have a LAW that two people of the same sex can't get married. And don't let your religious views into the equation - we have separation of church and state here, and we're talking about laws, not personal beliefs.

The fifth wave, I predict, will come 40 years from now. It's the real reason I wrote this piece. I am one of the unlucky few who have already caught on to it; that makes the next 40 years hard for me. Anyway, I'm doing what I can to help push this wave along. I'm hoping that one of my obnoxious bumper stickers will advance it by even just a few days, or even hours. It's a big, bold, home-printed bumper sticker that says:

8/13/2003
I start a contract at nVidia today. =)

8/9/2003
Oh, and I did get laid off, btw, so if you know anyone out there hiring graphics programmers, please let me know: . =)

8/9/2003
I recently bought a new computer. It blows my mind: P4 2.4 HGz, 512 mb RAM, case, and souped-up Asus motherboard with Firewire, gigabit ethernet, etc. - all for $670 assembled and shipped. Only problem was, I haven't been able to hear myself think because the case fan was SO LOUD.

So I did a little research and decided to try a new power supply: the Zalman ZM300A-APF. I found one online for $50, ordered it, slapped it in, and now my computer is serenely quiet. It is astounding. The loudest thing in there now is the fan from the graphics card! Anyway, for anyone who is looking for a quieter power supply, I highly recommend this one. Bonus: it's also pretty efficient.

8/1/2003
Heh... it's a little late to be posting this, but: X-men 2 was a really good movie. Quite exceptional. I just had to say that. But spy kids 3[D] was terrible, terrible, terrible (surprising after how good the first two were), although it did provide nice 3D colored glasses, which will work great with MilkDrop and Monkey, hehe. =) Oh, and Terminator 3 was a total and complete letdown (except for Claire Danes' character, who was really cool).

7/30/2003
Looking back on how we got ourselves into this war with Iraq, I think Senator Robert Byrd says it best in this article in The Nation. (He says it really, really well, actually.) This is actually a speech he gave on the senate floor.

7/28/2003
AOL has told me that thursday is my deadline to find a new position within the company, or get laid off. I'm still exploring what's available, but in either case, it means that my work with Winamp plug-ins will be either severly impacted, or will cease. It is a sad day for visualizations. But it's been a great two years working on them. =) I will post here when I figure out what the heck I'm doing.

7/26/2003
Woot! Vince and Ellen are getting married! Congratulations, you lovebirds! =)

7/14/2003
Looks like Lawrence Lessig has taken to supporting Howard Dean for president, and in this Slashdot announcement of it, I was shocked to see how favorable the slashdot crowd's appraisal of Dean was. As people start learning about Dean, he's been rising very quickly in the polls. Perhaps there is hope for this country (and the world) after all.

Also, browsing that discussion at slashdot, I found a link to www.selectsmart.com, which will let you describe your stance on most major issues in politics today (the form takes about 5 minutes to fill out), and then it will tell you which candidates are the best match for you. Quite a useful tool! (As for me... got a 100% match with Dennis Kucinich, and an 88% match with Dean, both of which are right on. But I'm sticking with Dean because of his experience, and because I think he's in a better position to win.)

6/28/2003
It is frightening, the degree to which "money talks" in politics. In a single day in California this week, Bush raised $5 million for his campaign. Five Million. In one day. Meanwhile, Howard Dean's goal is to just gather $7 million in the entire second quarter of this year; and Dennis Kucinich's goal is to gather $1 million (in the second quarter, I believe). Bush's goal? To raise a whopping $200 million before the elections. (And guess who the people with big money really, really like.) How are Dean and Kucinich supposed to compete with that? Looking at those numbers, guess who's message (and name) are going to be heard hundreds of times more than the others'?

Now, think about this from a business perspective. Why would big business give $5 million in one day to Bush for his re-election campaign? The answer: they don't see it as a gift - they see it as an investment. They know, from his record, that it will come back to them tenfold, through environmental deregulation, tax cuts, and so on. Now think about this: how is that different that a bribe? (It is different, but not very!) George W. knew exactly what to do, from the moment he stepped into office, to guarantee major campaign cash for 2004, and he did it; and with that much money, it's hard to lose.

Also this week, moveon.org (a progressive online group with a rather large following) had their members vote on the 9 democrats vying for president; the idea was that if any one candidate got 50% of the votes, everyone would stand together and vote for that person. Over 300,000 votes were cast, and Howard Dean got 44%; Dennis Kucinich came in second with 24%. I prefer Kucinich, but he's too progressive; he won't win mainstream America. But I think Dean can. This made it clear for me; I'm switching my vote to Dean. And giving him a little help, so maybe he can raise 5% as much as the thief-in-chief.

6/24/2003
The full-page headline for this week's Santa Cruz Comic News reads:

6/2/2003
Check out a few "electronic music" tracks by my good friend Luke Dahl:

• Frobenius Norm
• PerpetualSlowBusHill
• Returnal Delight

6/2/2003
Today is a sad, sad day; today the FCC loosened media ownership regulations - again. Now Clear Channel and Rupert Murdoch are free to gobble up every local radio station, newspaper, and magazine in your hometown. I'm afraid this will be a huge blow to the diversity of thought in our nation, and, hence, to the strength of our democracy. It will be very damaging. Apparently, though, the public did come through; we sent over 750,000 comments to the FCC about it, and the overwhelming majority (virtually 99.9%, according to one of the 5 board members) of the comments were opposed to the lifting of regulations. Yet, they did it anyway. I wonder how much they're getting bribed for this one.

Congress could block the decision. They'll be talking about it this week.

5/29/2003
So this tax bill got passed, at technically a $320 billion price tag, but realistically $800 billion, when we already have record deficits. Personally, I fail to see why trickle-down economics works. Think about it. Interest rates are really low right now because there aren't many good investments out there (investor confidence is low). So if we give all these rich people a huge tax cut, what do you think they're going to do with it? The claim is that they will reinvest it (in the market, equipment, licenses, contracts, employees, etc.), but I doubt that many will. How many companies out there do you know that are looking at upsizing right now? Hiring new people? Very few.

I think the whole thing is a cover-up for making the rich richer - pocketing some extra cash while they can. It has a second bonus, too: it will lead us into total fiscal crisis. How is that a bonus? Well, these huge tax cuts are coming at a time when we have higher deficits than ever before, and soon enough, we will be forced to cut all kinds of social programs. The white house will regrettingly inform us, about 6 months from now, that the deficit is too high and these programs will have to be cut. Education, fire & police departments, environmental regulations, women's crisis support - you name it. They're all aimed at the shitter. Rich republicans everywhere will act sad about it, but they don't care - they don't depend nearly as much on social services. And we will keep re-electing them, but why this is, I don't know. Maybe it's because half of the people I know don't vote.

Want more evidence of the foulness of this tax cut? Here it is: the people who need tax cuts more than anyone else in the U.S. - low-income (minimum-wage) parents - were omitted from the child credit.

5/27/2003
I went to see Dennis Kucinich speak over the weekend; he's one of the 9 candidates for the democratic nomination for president in 2004. Kucinich was the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio (my home state) for many years and is now a House Rep for that area. He's very progressive, and by far, my favorite of the 9. Check out some of his stances on his website.

I agreed with his goals and views before I saw him speak, but I was worried, because you never know how sincere a politician is, and you usually expect the worst. But after seeing him speak, I can say that I don't think I've ever met (I shook his hand later) a more sincere politician. Not only is he sincere, he's also incredibly smart, incredibly likeable, and dead honest. He's also quite strong in his spiritual beliefs, and he's vegan - in my mind, a strong testament to his spiritual committedness, his ethical purity, and (forgive my elitism) his enlightenment.

One of his main goals, I learned, is to use our country to ensure world peace for the future, but not via the power of our weaponry, but through the power of our humanity. He's also quite sore about why we were lied to by our government; why they tried to connect Iraq and Al Qaeda, when there was never any connection of any kind; why they claimed Iraq had WMD's when they didn't; and why they told us that Iraq was an imminent threat to our national security, when in fact, it was nothing of the sort. He feels very betrayed (as do I and many of the people I know), and he thinks it's an ominous sign of where this country is being steered. He wants to change it, and he has some really great ideas about how to do it.

Even if you believe in trickle-down economics, I think it's hard to argue against a lot of his points. He lays our resources out on the table and points out the gross discrepencies in how they are allocated. I really, really like this guy.

Anyway, I asked two people with camcorders if they'd send me the tape, and if they do, I'll post it online here. This is material that people really have to have access to. He's a small guy; he doesn't have a lot of money, so he won't be taken seriously and few people will hear him; but I think that hearing him will really touch people, more than they would have ever guessed. Now I just have my fingers crossed that those tapes show up here.

BTW, for anyone out there who's registered to the green party, you should be aware that you must register as a democrat if you want to vote for Dennis in the primaries.

5/13/2003
Can you imagine what it would be like if one company controlled all of the media (TV, radio, and newspapers) in your local area? It looks like this might actually happen soon, unless people speak out. I recently received this from MoveOn.org:

On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission is planning on authorizing sweeping changes to the American news media. The rules change could allow your local TV stations, newspaper, radio stations, and cable provider to all be owned by one company. NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox could have the same corporate parent. The resulting concentration of ownership could be deeply destructive to our democracy. Please join me in asking Congress and the FCC to support a diverse, competitive media landscape by going to http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/. You can also automatically have your comments publicly filed at the FCC. When the folks at MoveOn.org talk to Congresspeople about this issue, the response is usually the same: "We only hear from media lobbyists on this. It seems like my constituents aren't very concerned with this issue." A few thousand emails could permanently change that perception. Please join this critical campaign, and let Congress know you care. Thanks.

If you ask me, this is scary. It's been floating around for quite some time, and looks like it finally might happen. The FCC has been going around having "town hall" meetings to try to find out what real people want, and no one shows up. So they're listening to the corporate lobbyists, and are getting ready to allow major consolidation. The only thing that will wake the FCC up (and they are listening!) is if people call them and tell them how they feel.

Is it just me, or would this be a grave threat to the social and mental health of our democratic organism?

For more background, please go here. If you have a few minutes, you can write the FCC by clicking here - just make sure you read the directions, it's a little funky.

Also, some background from fortune magazine; an article from the Washington Post; and some more advocacy.

4/28/2003
I haven't posted here in a while; I am still waiting to see if Weapons of Mass Destruction turn up in Iraq. Waiting, waiting, for that 'final justification' to be proven... do you remember how we were rallied to the cause, to make the world safe from this evil man, armed to the teeth with WMDs? I am also waiting to see how far the piddly $2 billion in reconstruction and aid goes... and to see how a democratic Iraq votes... and to see who really controls Iraq's oil in a few years. I am waiting and trying not to judge until we see what happens.

I've actually found myself wanting to believe that what we did (in Iraq) was the right thing, and for the right reasons. But I have so many doubts that it's hard to believe this. But I want to. So I am waiting; the future will make it clear.

Last week, I planted a garden. Tomatos, cucumbers, broccoli, kale, collards, potatos, and mixed greens. I'd forgotten how rewarding it was to plant plants and watch them grow, and then, at the end, to have fresh, organic, macrobiotic veggies right there in your own back yard all summer. It's good for the soul.

4/11/2003
Ok, time to clarify again. My dad called me today and said that he is beginning to feel that I'm "anti-American" after some of our recent conversations. I am absolutely not; the problem is that he doesn't understand where I'm coming from. My viewpoint is so alien to him that when I speak, he can't fully understand me, and he confuses my messages with simpler ones. To him, the only context some of them make sense in is anti-Americanism. The proof [that he's confusing my message], and the most frustrating part of this, is the half-dozen times that he's put words in my mouth over the last few weeks. He has confused what I'm saying, over and over and over.

I want to make this very clear: I love this country. Although the U.S. has its problems, it is an incredible place. We do have unprecedented freedoms, an unprecedented standard of living, and we do an unbelievable amount of good in the world through our aid programs. We rock, and I am extremely proud to be an American. I have always felt this way and I hope that I always will. This is not some kind of disclaimer; this is how I feel.

That does not mean we're perfect, though. It doesn't mean that we haven't made terrible mistakes in the past, nor that we're not making any right this moment. You might hear me ranting on this page a lot. The purpose of this is not to trash our country; it is merely to participate in the process of improving it. I think we can do better. If we do 99% good and 1% wrong [which I believe is the case], please forgive me if I focus on the wrong; but that's the only way we're going to improve your country: by focusing on what is wrong and fixing it.

Just because I believe our environmental policy is shortsighted doesn't mean I don't love this country. Just because I mistrust the current administration doesn't mean I don't love this country. Just because I believe we spend too much on 'defense' and not enough on education, doesn't mean I don't love this country. Why would it? We should be careful with what we assume when we hear someone speaking. And I will try to be careful about balancing what I say with the bigger picture of how I feel.

4/11/2003
Yes, the military campaign has gone about as well as it could have, and the newspapers are claiming "victory", but is that really where we are? Is that all there is to it? I think we're getting a little over-excited. It has gone well so far (as well as a war can go), but let's not forget our original goals (alleged and unalleged). The quote below is from MoveOn.org.

"...what is victory? If this war was about ensuring that Iraqis are fed, clothed, healthy, and secure, hundreds of thousands are still in serious jeopardy. If this war was about bringing democracy to the Iraqi people, we haven't even begun that project. If it was about removing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, we haven't found any. If it was about reducing the threat of terrorism, we've done nothing -- except perhaps to fan the flames of Muslim fundamentalism. If it was about stabilizing the region, right now there is increased instability. And if it was about bringing the world together to address threats to our security, we've clearly done the opposite. Only if the war was about taking Saddam out of power -- and literally nothing else -- did this week's events signal victory."

4/4/2003
Putting things in perspective: if you've been thinking that our present aggression against Iraq was justified because [among other weak arguments] Saddam used chemical weapons on 5,000 people, you might want to read this article about a well-known instance of the U.S.'s use of chemical weapons. And, hey, Saddam was just using U.S. chemical weapons anyway. Not that what he did was okay, but - we certainly do love to call the kettle black around here.

3/31/2003
Dennis Kucinich, if you make the democractic nomination for president in 2004, you have my vote.