...and I expect it will be more of the same, because we didn't elect a new party.

I suppose when all is said and done I would have rather had McCain elected, because then there would still have been some kind of balance between left and right and between Executive and Legislative. I am worried that this means that the next four years will have brutal increases in polar partisanship, and even worse polarization in the public, because if what I read and hear is true, too many idiots think Obama is either 'too white' or 'too black' to represent the 'real America.'

My advice to the extremists of any sort: Shut the f--- up. Grow up, act like adults instead of petulant, whiny children, and accept your responsibilities as a citizen.

My advice to all Americans: Barack Obama is our duly elected President, whether you like it or not, and it is our duty to accept this and to do what we can within the law to support him as our President. We also need to do our best to ensure that the government reflects and respects the mandate of its citizens. Pay attention. Be curious and concerned. Learn the facts for yourselves instead of going by what so-called pundits tell you is true. And if it bothers you, then act upon it in an appropriate manner. This is the duty of an American citizen.

And God help us if anything ever happens to him and Biden advances to the Oval Office.

Political Viewpoint 101:

I won't vote for a Democrat. Never say never, but this feels like a never kind of thing. I used to be a Democrat, until I realized that for all the lip service the party paid to things that I cared about, they had no interest at all in following through, and even when they had the majority everywhere, they still seemed to blame their failings on the Republican Party.

I'm not voting for a Republican either. Although the Republicans are the more tolerable choice as they have always stood for what they said. I just don't much like what they say at times.

In the end, it doesn't matter one bit who we elect President, because it will be from one of the two major parties, and when I look at both parties all I see is corruption, lies, and moral bankruptcy. I like both Obama and McCain as individuals. I respect McCain greatly for what he has been through and survived. I don't really like Biden, and I don't know enough about Palin to form an honest opinion.

Side note: I probably would have voted for a McCain/Lieberman ticket. I know, it never would have happened, but I would have been intrigued enough to give it a shot.

Socialism is a pretty theory, but in reality it is the destroyer of progress. If I'm going to get the same rewards no matter how hard I work, what's the point of making an effort? Unless I'm making an effort to emigrate elsewhere that is. :-p I don't get the appeal of the 'redistribution of wealth.' Why take away the income that, for instance, Sally the doctor has paid a lot of money for the training and education to become, just because she makes more than Bob the slacker who does some (sub par) roofing work for two months out of the year? Yeah, that may be an extreme example, but in our incredibly polarized political environment the extreme is all too often the norm.

My vote for the humorous bumper sticker of the election: "VOTE DEMOCRAT: It's easier than getting a job." Yeah, it may be mildly offensive to some, but it at least does have some humor in it and it lacks the acid vitriol of most political statements. I'm halfway sorry that I couldn't find a copy of it to stick on a friend of mine's bumper. I was irritated enough after he told me I was "wasting my vote" to do it.

I vote for a third party candidate. One whose stated goals more closely match mine and who seems to speak for themselves instead of being a puppet. Sure, if you want to look at it this way, I may be "wasting my vote", but if I keep voting for my party, then maybe others will to. And if enough people do, then maybe someday soon the two major parties will see that our vote is big enough to give them the victory in a close race, and they will change their ways and take steps to accommodate the issues that I think are important, and maybe we can bring about a change that needs to be made.

Yeah, I may just be dreaming, but I will do what I can to try to help what I dream come true. So what if the odds are stacked against it? Anything worth having is worth fighting for. Maybe the few ripples of my work will someday lead to major changes that can reshape my world for the better. Yeah, dream on, but then again... Everything we have around us that humans have created and that we enjoy started as a crazy dream...

So just maybe.....

Well, as my coworkers and I had been expecting for months, the axe has finally fallen and the company I work for is going out of business. I'm not sure what I really think about this. :-p On one hand, I do have 30 days guaranteed employment from this point, so I'm happy about that, but at the same time I really am kinda concerned that I don't care enough about losing one of the better-paying jobs I've had. Oh well, life is a transition, and this is just another step in that direction. ;-)

Today is Chris' 22nd birthday. Chris is a friend of mine's adopted son. I was thinking today about what I was like when I turned 22... I was burned out on school, not going much of anywhere really. Trying to find jobs I could work around a school schedule so I could try to get a couple of classes a semester. But mainly doing nothing much, to no really useful end.


As Chris approached his 22nd birthday, he was a damn sight better off. He was working hard and doing something that exhausted him, but something he believed in. He was making a difference, which is important, especially to him. And then he died.


Chris was a soldier serving in Iraq. This worried his liberal extremely anti-war mother to no end. Eight days before his 22nd birthday, Chris' unit was caught in an ambush, and Chris died. As horrible as the fact of his death is, his mother took some solace in that he was doing something that he felt was important. It mattered to Chris that he was trying to help make life safer for those who had not known safety. To protect those who had been left unprotected because their race or religion did not coincide with the ruling party's beliefs, even if they didn't directly oppose the ruling minority of Iraq. He wanted to give a taste of freedom to those who hadn't ever felt free. Chris was idealistic, as many youth are, and he was doing something to promote his ideals. He knew he could die, in the abstract way that we all do. And yet he stood for what he felt was right. As much as I hate war and the destruction of war, I honor Chris, who died doing something that he felt was important enough to risk dying for.


Thanks to Chris, and all the other soldiers out there who have lived and died doing something that they felt was important, all those who have served their country knowing the price such service could claim, and the families who were left behind. I cannot thank you enough.

Happy birthday Chris. We love and miss you.

With regrets to Linus, I hope this is the last Halloween that we ever have to see the Great Pumpkin.

I'm not talking about the beyond excellent Peanuts Halloween special (which is the best ever, though Garfield's was awesome too), but instead the fall of coach Phil Fulmer. I think it is entirely likely that a 4-8 season (which is the best I can figure UT will have now) should finally put the last nail and the last crucifix in the coffin of the dreaded beast. Don't think that I'm being hateful; I don't have anything personally against the man, it's simply that he shouldn't be coaching here anymore. The program has been undisciplined for too many years, and there seems to be little team cohesiveness. It seems that too many of the players are focused only on their personal wants and desires (whether legal or not), instead of education and team.

Yes, I do feel that college football players should spend their college years getting an education first, and playing sports second. Even for the lucky few who make the big pro payday, a career in professional sports is far too short to keep one happy, healthy, and well off into their old age. An education gives a better chance of making a decent living and being able to retire without as much financial worry.

And while I'm on the subject of discipline, college football players should be subject to the same discipline as any other student when caught cheating in class or breaking the law out of it. In truth, because of their place in the public eye, they probably should be held to higher standards of behavior. But UT has seemed to be sliding downhill as an institution of higher learning as well, so maybe the football program is just a symptom of a greater cancer. I don't know.

But I digress. 13-9 over NIU isn't what fans of the college pay for. Eventual losses to Vandy and Kentucky (which I can all but guarantee should happen) should make the choice an easy one. Phil, you've made a stellar living putting a make-do team on the field. Hope you've invested your money well so you can retire and look back at the 1998 National Championship glory days of this program and smile.

Four years after the end should have come, this should be it. Happy retirement, Great Pumpkin.

I drive a nice 2001 Honda Civic. Runs great, never a day's problem with it, ever and I bought it new so I'm its only owner. A woman hit my car three weeks ago. She was backing up slowly (less than 10mph) and I was at a full stop, and she backed right into the right rear quarter panel of my car. Denting, and nothing internal, just cosmetic damage. I can deal with dents. I've got a small one on my trunk lid that was placed there by an errant foul ball from a baseball game. I've got about 10 tiny (point of fingertip sized) ones that hail or falling walnuts or whatever have left on my car. This new one is a good sized dent, around 24" long by about 12" high, but it's just a dent.

So from what I understand, State Farm wants to total out my car. Excuse me, but what the hell??? You're telling me that a cosmetic dent totals out an otherwise perfectly good car? This is unbelievable. No fricking way...

State Farm: Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

There's no truth in advertising in that. How about this?

State Farm: Like a good neighbor, State Farm will steal your tools out of your shed and garage and impregnate your cat while you are at work.