Saturday, December 31, 2005

The Continued Occupation of Oregon and Southwest Washington: Year End Review

Dateline: December 31, 2005
Location: Beaverton, Oregon


On the eve of what we all hope to be a wonderful new year, I stand here pondering what life as an Oregonian will mean in 2006. Although we still find ourselves occupied by the oppressive warlords from the ether, a resistance movement has been growing steadily and is becoming stronger each passing month. It won't be long before we will have the strength and numbers to mount a major offensive perhaps as early as March. I understand that many of you in the Portland area have been without news from friends and family who reside in the Medford and Klamath Falls areas. Fear not, I am certain that the resistance in the southern part of our state is just as strong as it is here.

Residents from The Dalles have been suffering the effects of a new mind control device that was put in place by the alien tribe from the unknown galaxy. We fear all is lost for them, there will be no hope of recovery for those already exposed to this device.

Good news from La Grande, Oregon. They had a bumper crop of grapes and carrots this year and much of it made its way westward to us here in Portland. We thank you as it helped stave off a potential famine for us. Lord knows this has been a trying time for all Oregonian's and our neighbors in Southern Washington state but I believe that in 2006 the fight for our freedom and liberty will be hard fought but ultimately a victory. We are very close to being able to rejoin the rest of Free America.

Friday, December 30, 2005

Don't Go Into The Woods With Amtrak

Normally I am a big fan of Amtrak but after reading about Amtrak Train 98, the "Meteor" which has been stalled in the middle of the Georgia woods near Savannah for over 24 hours with a load of passengers I am beginning to have less than positive feelings towards the company.

What outraged me was a comment made by Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black who made the heartless comment that people who couldn't afford to pay for food would be dealt with on a "case-by-case basis." It seems to me that if you have just stranded your passengers out in the middle of nowhere for over 24 hours it shouldn't be too much to ask or expect that you open the coffers a little and just offer up free food for the inconvenience. The comment made by Mr. Black just paints a picture of an uncaring, money-grubbing corporation looking out for it's own best interests in the face of the discomfort and inconvenience of these passengers.

I realize that the situation is a result of a CSX freight train which derailed and Amtrak had no hand in that but the bottom line is, you could at least make a gesture of goodwill and customer service. Open up the snack car, it's been over 24 hours and these people are in the middle of the woods with no towns or services nearby. They are literally trapped on the train and even though it is not life threatening it is definitely not an enjoyable time.

A company should be more pro-active in seeing to the needs of their paying customers, and in this situation Amtrak has lost my support for now.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Spoiled Little Rich Boy In Iraq

If any of you have heard the recent story about the Florida teen who ran off to Iraq during his Christmas break from prep school please do not be impressed. This all ocurred precisely because he is an overindulged and highly protected little snob who got it in his mind that he was some sort of ambassador to the world who could undertake a foolish task like this without any problems. The kid is an idiot, plain and simple. He had a pocket full of cash from mommy and daddy and too much free time. You have to be rich to think the way this little snob did.

Oh yeah, I'll just fly into one of the most dangerous places for any American to be at the moment, without any support system or understanding of the language and then I'll just tool around because I am rich and my parents will bail me out of any trouble I might land in.

I truly hope they don't do a follow up to this fiasco praising this kid. He should be grounded for good and sent to public school.

Several Very Good Reason To Never Pack Condoms In Your Checked Baggage

As a joke, a college freshman packed three condoms filled with flour into her checked baggage and as a result she was arrested on December 21, 2003 and was held for three weeks and had faced up to 20 years in prison if she had been convicted of drug charges.

Now, two years later and near the end of the statute of limitations, she has filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages for pain and suffering, financial loss and emotional distress. Interesting.

Ok, tests initially showed that the flour filled condoms contained traces of opium and cocaine and that prompted authorities to arrest the young lady. Later tests did confirm that the substance was indeed, just plain old flour and she was released and charges dropped. Being a reasonable and compassionate person, I can understand how traumatic it must have been for the young lady, after all she was just going home for the holidays and ends up in jail for three weeks being held on serious drug charges. But she needs to take some personal responsibility here. Am I the only one who can see that packing flour filled condoms into airline baggage is just plain stupid? It doesn't matter that it was only flour, you are asking for trouble.

Now she wants to sue over a situation that she created. And I am under the impression that this crafty Asian devil knew what she was doing all along. Her story reeks of something fishy but I am to angry to go on. I am just fed up with people who are either truly ignorant or devious and looking to work an angle. All I can say is that she got what she deserved, it was a stupid thing to do and I for one believe she knew what was going to happen.

The original story was in today's Oregonian and can be read here---> Mistaken Drug Bust

One Word

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and optimistic even though I can hear the rain pouring down outside. Oregon is a crazy place but it's home. Now that the holidays are almost behind us, I can finally get up to Seattle for a visit and to get in some photography. I was supposed to have looked at some studio space this week but that damn flu kept me home. I'll get to it next week. By March I am hoping to have my photo studio up and running and I am definitely feeling a little anxious about that. And I just noticed something, there is an empty spot on my desktop now, I am not sure what I deleted and I hope it was not important.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Suicide: Number One With A Bullet

Earlier today I commented on a tragic story of suicide and in no way did I make light on the subject. What shocked me later was the fact that people were doing Google searches with the keyword "suicide" and although it did bring some traffic to my blog I truly hope these individuals are not in a place in their lives where such an act is even being considered. I speak from experience.

Yes, Mr. Viddy once took a trip down that path some time ago. And I am here to tell you, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and luckily I came away from the experience with just a large scar to remind me that as bad as things can seem at the time, there is always hope for the future.


So to anyone considering it, don't. You are the master of your own destiny. It may take some very hard work at times but your fate is always in your control even when it doesn't seem that way. So this concludes Mr. Viddy's public service announcement.

Christmas Day Suicide In The Pacific Northwest

It happened on Camano Island in Washington state. Richard Payne, a 52 year old disabled man who was living alone on family owned property was trapped when high winds from a Christmas Day storm knocked a tree down onto his trailer. Although the injuries resulting from the tree falling on him were not life threatening, it appears that Mr. Payne chose to take his own life. Perhaps he felt as though there was no means of escape or hope for rescue, as he lived on a remote part of the island with no nearby neighbors nor was there a phone in his trailer. This is tragic, that someone died alone on Christmas Day, and although we will never know what was going through Richard Payne's mind at the time, he did not leave a suicide note, it must have been thoughts of despair due to his predicament. You can read the source article here---> Man, trapped by fallen tree, kills himself


Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas With a 105 Degree Fever

Thank goodness we decided to open all the presents last night. Me and the kids woke up with some wicked, flu-like symptoms including the aforementioned fever. I haven't felt this poorly in years. Luckily I am also on vacation from work, I can take some time to recover.

Here's hoping that the rest of you Oregonians are having a great time with family. I may not be blogging for a while as I can barely think straight.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Through The Republican Party Looking Glass, Was Ronald Reagan Really An Undercover Democrat?

Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, both two term Republican presidents but just read the following three quotes from Reagan and then think about all of the current Bushisms. For all the jokes made about him, Ronald Reagan was far less terrifying and not quite as challenged as the current leader of the free world.

"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."

"We establish no religion in this country...nor will we ever."

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

Like they say, this isn't your daddy's Republican Party. George Bush, bringing autocracy to our stale old democracy!

Mr. Viddy Presents: The Christmas Eve Commentary Review 2005

Greetings bloggers, and a special hello to my visitors from Eastern Europe, I love you guys. Now that the new year is almost upon us and many of you will be celebrating Christmas or other significant religious events I am here to recap my Top 5 commentaries from 2005. Unlike some major news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, The Daily Show or the CBS Nightly News, not everything I comment on is socially relevant but I try to avoid needless spin and I make an effort to present well thought out opinions. So in no particular order I give you my Top 5 of 2005.

1. Here you will find my take on the clever strategy taken by Mr. Bush:
The War On Terror

2. This is my opinion on why we have such a brain drain here in America and why the rest of the world is surpassing us educationally:
Unions and the Dumbing Down of America

3. Find out why it doesn't always pay to proclaim your innocence:
Tookie Williams

4. For my neighbors in the PDX metro area, here is our shame:
The Portland Trailblazers

5. Animal lovers, this is a call to arms. PETA, save us:
PETA Save Us

And an honorable mention for my commentary on the embarrassing position the U.S. government takes towards Cuba:
Cuba, The Evil Empire

There it is, not exactly award winning but at least it's free and no registration is required.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Howie Day: Stretching That 15 Minutes of Fame Out Any Way He Can

Associated Press ran a story this morning regarding the arrest of pop singer Howie Day. Exactly. Who is Howie Day? He had 15 minutes of fame in 2003 with an acclaimed album titled, "Stop All The World Now" but since then he has enjoyed a luke warm career and status as a C-List celebrity. This is the kind of guy who can't even get his music illegally downloaded, I mean he'd have trouble giving away free CD's.

But there he was, acting the fool on a Boston bound flight. It seems he "accidently" mixed alcohol with sleeping pills so the ruckus he caused on the flight which led to his arrest was not his fault at all. Not unlike his March 2004 arrest in Wisconsin where he was accused of locking a young woman in the bathroom of the tour bus for not welcoming his crude sexual advances.

Howie Day, your behavior is pathetic. Instead of imagining yourself to be some sort of real pop superstar (which still wouldn't excuse your behavior), why not try to do the hard work it takes to achieve true recognition.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Short and Sweet Difference Between $30 and $70

That $30 or maybe less with a coupon is going to net you an assembly line portrait with a gawdy background, harsh lighting and a bright flash directly in your face. These places turn a quick buck through volume, not quality of work. To call these mall or retail photo studio employees photographers is a bit of a stretch. Perhaps camera operating technician is a better title.

Good photography involves a thorough understanding of light and how to capture and manipulate it for the best results.

That $70 you hand over to me will get you an hour of studio time with someone (me) less interested in bringing in the bodies and more concerned with taking the time to produce a quality portrait that you will be pleased with. I have the knowledge which allows me to suggest the best pose, the proper lighting for a desired effect and how best to compose a shot.

If you doubt me, stop by a mall portrait shop one day. Just how much time is that camera operating technician taking to arrange the lighting or even make adjustments with the camera? Hardly any I tell you. They are basically given a template to follow. They set up the stage and dial in the camera settings based on the little booklet they were given in training. And those settings remain the same, regardless of what they are shooting.


So the next time you might wonder why the difference in price between a real photographer with a studio and a retail photo outlet, now you know.

The Portland Trailblazers: A Study In The Fine Art of Being Consistent Losers

Zach Randolph of the Portland Trailblazers was quoted as saying, "I'm tired of losing." This was a quote taken from an article in today's Oregonian.

Interesting, it was stated that Zach's comment was indicative of the entire team's feeling, yet season after season, these overpaid, underperforming b-ballers never seem to get their acts together. Whether on the court or off. And what joy we Portlander's have in being able to claim as our own the embarrassment of the NBA.

Hey Zach, if you and the other Blazers are tired of losing then why not try this novel approach. Do what the rest of us do for a lot less pay and prestige, put out a little effort and make an attempt to earn your pay. It must be great having one of the richest men in the world as your boss because it doesn't effect him much that you are such losers. Heck, he isn't even from Portland. Owning the team is just a hobby for him.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Garry Winogrand: Master Street Photographer

Forget about athletes and movie stars, Garry Winogrand was an individual I hold as a role model and would love to be able to emulate. From the early 1960's until his death in 1984, Garry Winogrand was an acclaimed photographer who chronicled contemporary American life through his camera lens. And what has always been so amazing and inspiring to me, as a photographer, was the fact that in addition to all of the highly regarded photos he took during his lifespan at the time of his death he left behind more than 2500 rolls of film exposed but undeveloped, 6500 rolls developed but not proofed, and 3000 rolls proofed but not examined. That's a total of a third of a million unedited exposures.

This is the kind of extreme dedication to the art that I am still aspiring to achieve in my own photographic pursuits. I do not expect to ever be the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship like Winogrand was on two seperate occasions or to have a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art like he did, but I feel that at the very least I can strive towards the dedication he possessed.

There are several other photographers I admire, such as Lee Friedlander and Walker Evans, but the pathological pursuit of photographer that Garry Winogrand possessed is what attracts me most to him. And of course the fact that I too am drawn to street photography and urban landscapes as a subject matter for my own photography.

Urban Landscape Photography


Urban landscape photography in some way describes a town or a city, represents an attempt to understand our experience of the city, shows a dedication to the subject that is expressed through a body of work rather than isolated images. It also concentrates on structures or processes rather than people and may deal in either details of the city or a broader view. Urban landscape may be in black and white or color, digital camera or film camera, using any process, although this site will restrict itself to still photography. Urban landscape is distinct from 'street photography', which looks at urban experience largely through a study of the people who live it, although the two genres may overlap. Urban landscape photographs often include people, but they are clearly situated and existing in the structures of the town or city.

Unions and the Dumbing Down of America

The recent news of the transit worker strike in New York reignited my anti-union passions. In just about every recent story regarding striking workers I found little to feel supportive about in regards to the workers themselves. Union workers already enjoy extravagant wages, benefits and pension plans that a lot of us will never see. And if you do the research you will see that unions mostly benefit those in blue collar occupations.


Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Earnings

This should illustrate why so many industries find themselves in financial trouble. Unions cause the cost of labor to skyrocket. Millions of workers, with barely a high school education reaping huge benefits. And as we all know, union membership is generational. Entire families of workers who have basically been pre-destined to follow in the footsteps of their parents into union jobs. With such a lucrative form of welfare, these families rarely have the incentive to pursue higher education inevitably the same unions which benefited the workers for so long, end up bankrupting companies, force closures and layoffs and in the end, destroy entire communities.

Once the union jobs go away, the press sweeps in. We see interviews with the former workers. Broke, struggling and not many prospects in sight. These poor, dumb bastards. Just like their counterparts on welfare. No education and no ability to raise themselves up by the bootstraps. Yes folks, aren't the unions wonderful? So caring and thoughtful.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

PETA, Where are you when we need you most?

I find it very hard to believe that PETA is not up in arms over the graphic that Slate.com decided to use for one of its articles this week. How can you not be upset over this blatant act of bestiality being used in conjunction with Christmas?
Here is the link to the original article on Slate.com in case you doubt my word on this:

"The Christmas Puppy" by Jon Katz

Monday, December 19, 2005

The War On Terror: Eternal Combat

George W. Bush made the following statement in response to the recent story regarding the National Security Agency spying on Americans, "It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important program in a time of war."

Mr. President, if nothing else can ever be said about you nobody can ever deny that you are clever. Read clever, not intelligent because the two are not the same. You were brilliant in declaring a war on terrorism as opposed to declaring war on specific groups or nations that are involved in terrorism. Terrorism is not a tangible object but an action resulting from a belief system and as such, the beliefs that cause individuals to resort to terrorism can change over time so that in effect, terrorism will always exist. So the war will always exist. It is not unlike the neverending war in Orwell's novel, 1984.

Bush continues to use the ongoing war to justify whatever whim he might be having, as shown in the above statement he made regarding the NSA spying scandal. All of his actions can be justified because this is a time of war, or we are in a state of war or whatever ignorant statement he uses while referencing the war on terror. The eternal struggle of righteousness or evil.

Another job well done Mr. Bush.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Cause of Death: Repetitive Blogging

I will fucking kill myself if I see another blogger from the PDX metro area post that it is snowing out. No shit, all I have to do is look out my window. Thanks for the breaking news.

What next, long commentaries regarding how white snow is?

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Mr. Viddy Explains: Plain Jane Marketing

I was clicking around the blogosphere earlier today and came across this posting from a young gentleman who had a question regarding the motivation behind using seemingly unattractive people to market a product. You can read the original posting here---> "What Was Motorola Thinking" at Michael Sean Blogs, which has some good postings I must say. Now, on to the explanation as Mr. Viddy sees it. Everybody in the marketing world understands that sex sells. They also realize that most people are drawn towards a piece of marketing that includes an attractive guy or girl in it. We ourselves know that we'd much rather look upon an attractive face or body as opposed to an average or ugly one. The reality is this, most of us our just average in our appearance. That is why using models to sell is so successful, it appeals to the secret desire in most of us to want to be beautiful. We associate the beauty of the model with the product being sold. When we purchase that product we are transferring that image of the model to ourselves and in essence we associate our image with that of the model. In the Plain Jane method of marketing, it is really just a shallow ploy at being clever. The marketing people say to themselves that because it is expected that we use the beautiful people to sell our wares all of the time, wouldn't we be so terribly clever if we ran an ad using someone plain. That way we could say, look at us, we are not as shallow and pretentious as our competitors. They want us to believe that they are being humble and sincere but really it is just another way of drawing attention to the product. That is why you will never see a long running series of ads using regular looking people. We see average every day in the mirror, we need the escapism of beautiful people in the media. It's just human nature.

First Amendment Rights: Doing It Proper

This morning I walked down to the main post office in Beaverton because I had some last minute gifts to mail and on the corner, just across from the Planned Parenthood offices was a small group of anti-abortion protesters. Before I continue, let me state that I am pro-choice. Anyhow, what impressed me was the fact that they made no attempts to block the sidewalk or to stop people to get them to listen to their agenda. They just had a simple anti-abortion sign and they all held rosaries and were quietly saying Hail Mary's. Their little assembly sent a clear message relaying their views and at the same time, any of us who did not agree were not being subjected to the typical assault that a lot of these protest groups like to use.

Whomever you people are, I just want to say that even though I do not agree with you, I was very impressed with the way you conducted yourselves today and maybe other groups out there should learn by your example and understand that sometimes the best way to get your point across is not to use radical tactics and chaos.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Burnout

I am feeling so burned out, and it is not the weather or holidays. I think I should back off the caffeine and think happy thoughts for a while.

Bicycle Blues In Bike Friendly Portland

On the homefront, most of us know how PDX is rated pretty high on the lists of bike friendly towns but let me tell you, bike shops and people selling bikes in general are freaking insane. Don't even get me started on the nuts who post 3rd rate bikes and equipment on craigslist and ask near full retail price. Try to talk them down and you'll get shot down faster than a blogger running after a donut. And here in Beaverton, I've caught an occasional sale at the local bike shops but it's the same deal. They won't budge on giving even a loyal customer a break every now and then. Please, I don't expect a hand out every single time, I really do understand that they are entitled to turn a profit but come on. Toss the consumer a bone every once in while.

I only rant like this because I see other towns where the cycling scene isn't so mercenary on the retail end or even when it come to second hand goods. When I lived in Florida years ago, good deals good be found all the time at pawn shops, second hand stores and the classifieds. It was a real joy to shop on the cheap back there. Another piece of bitterness is aimed at the ripoff pawn brokers here in Oregon, there is another group gouging every penny they can out of the all to often, not so quality goods they sell.

Enough, sorry for blasting the negative vibes, I am tired and still two days away from the start of my vacation. I'll try to be a little ray of sunshine soon.

NSA: Freedom Through Eavesdropping

Another fine article posted on MSNBC which should have everyone who supports Bush and the freshly renewed Patriot Act feeling all warm and tingly inside. (read here ---> "Bush authorized NSA to spy on Americans")

Of course, if you really want to believe what the article says about the NSA only eavesdropping on about 500 people at a time then talk to me about some prime acreage I have for sale on the Moon. Seriously folks, this is the agency with the secret, multi-billion dollar budget who has refused to reveal it's workings to even congressional committees. Their mission is to gather intelligence and they monitor all forms of communication within the country. So you better believe that more than just a few hundred Americans have caught their attention. It's easy to dismiss this as paranoia but the reality is, if its your job to collect intelligence, then you collect it and when everything you do is classified then you have little worry about what methods you use, who you spy upon and whether or not it is legal.

And there are enough ignorant Americans out there who would read that story above and lie to themselves about a liberal press just stirring up trouble for good old boy W. Just like all the short lived outrage about the Patriot Act and look what happened, elected officials renewed it. They knew that they have enough ignorant constituents that they'd have nobody to answer to and their re-elections are still guaranteed. The typical man or woman on the street just shrugs and says, it doesn't concern me. As long as Starbuck's keeps pouring latte's and the malls stay open who cares what the government is doing.

I've said it before and I'm saying it again. Your rights and freedoms won't disappear overnight. No, they will be willingly voted away without a fuss and it might be the next generation that really begins to suffer some serious oppression. But it begins now and a lot of people just don't give a damn. God bless you good, conservative, fundamentalist patriots!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Amtrak'ing To Seattle


It's been a while since I've crossed the border and headed up north to the Emerald City and I'm getting the urge to jump on Amtrak and spend a few days walking the streets and shooting some fresh images in Seattle. I'm definitely a PDX sort of guy, Seattle still has a bit of the pretentious stink left on it from the 90's so it still remains just a day trip sort of destination for me.

Still, I always enjoy my photo trips up there and it never feels like a wasted journey. It is most definitely a walking destination, meaning that I have yet to actually drive around in Seattle. I have literally walked the entire city limits before, of course this was spread out over a few days. You cannot get a feel for an area inside a car. And you would definitely miss way too many photo ops if you were driving from one point to another in Seattle.

After I post this, I am logging on to amtrak.com and getting some tickets for this weekend.

Regarding Any Policy On Torture

This is short and sweet. Apply enough pain to anybody and eventually they will confess to anything. In my opinion, the only purpose that torture serves is giving a sense of satisfaction to the one doing the torturing. It should be a no-brainer for the U.S. to adopt a no torture policy.

Besides, the military and intelligence agencies are going to do what they want regardless. History has shown this.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

In Pursuit of the Inspirational Studio Space

Nobody ever told me that the hardest part of becoming a professional photographer was going to be finding the ideal studio space. I realize that here in the Portland metro area there are dozens of commercial and retail spaces available, all of which I can afford but I am a romantic. As such, my studio is going to have to call out to me in some aesthetic way. I won't settle for some mall looking, mass-production photo studio space. No, I need something that is both practical and a little artsy. I would prefer to find a space in an older building with some character, not in some strip mall. Also, it needs to be in an area that clients would feel comfortable coming to. I have had to cross several nice locations off my list because they were located in either out of the way or too industrialized areas that people might not want to venture into.

There is a location near the downtown area, in the Modish Building which has caught my eye. The location is fairly ideal and the space itself is large and affordable. The building mainly houses musicians but I don't see this as a negative. I'm hoping to find some time next week to go and check it out in person and if all goes well I'll be laying down the deposit. So I'm pretty jazzed as well as a little frightened about turning to photography as my sole means of income but I remain confident that I will succeed.


If not, I can always pawn my camera gear and computers to pay for rent and food!

Here are a couple of images of the Modish Building space I am interested in.

Pure Evil: The Island of Cuba and the Threat Against America

There are many things that the U.S. Government has done over the years which I have not agreed with but the one thing that has, for many years, caused me to feel ashamed and embarassed as an American has been our policy towards Cuba.

Now I'll concede that at the beginning of the Cold War when the Soviet Union was still a power, Cuba under Fidel Castro was a definite threat to our national security. After all, it was a communist nation a mere 90 miles from our borders and it's leader was a fanatical rebel. When we began our embargo and restrictions it made sense. But then, a funny thing happened. The Soviet Union fell apart, communism became a fading threat and even China began to get cozier with the West just a bit. And through all these changes we have continued to see Cuba as a major threat. When the rest of the world can travel there freely, Amercians cannot. They are so evil and such a threat to us that their baseball team has even been forbidden to play in the World Baseball Classic. (see MSNBC article regarding this---> U.S. won't allow Cuba to play in Baseball Classic)

Let me tell you something, the real shame in this is the fact that these anti-Cuba policies stay in place not because they are necessary for national security but because there are a lot of anti-Castro groups and individuals down in Florida who have made a career (read made a lot of money and gained power) out of bashing Castro. If we were to extend a genuine hand out to Cuba and try to assist them with improving their way of life, all those anti-Castro folks would be out of work. They need to keep lobbying against Castro and Cuba, not because it makes any sense but because they derive a good living from it. People, the Soviet Union is dead, they were the ones who financed Castro and provided weapons in the past. Now, poor Cuba is suffering. Castro will be dead soon, and if the idiots in the State Department had any foresight, they'd want to start establishing healthy relations within Cuba now. So that when the day comes and Castro is gone, it would be easier to introduce democracy and stabilize that region. That would benefit everyone, Cubans and Americans alike.

Will it happen? Doubtful. The anti-Castro folks will continue to bribe policy makers with their threats to support another candidate and Washington will continue to offer up lame reasons why we cannot have normal diplomatic relations with Cuba and this will continue to go round for generations to come. What a shame, and what an embarassment to us all that we are so fearful of such a tiny, broke nation.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The Decline and Fall of Freedom In America

Here was an interesting read from MSNBC.com regarding the U.S. military and it's efforts to gather domestic intelligence on U.S. citizens, who in most cases are doing nothing more than practicing their civil rights. The original story can be found here: Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?

To begin with, I am a veteran of the U.S. Army and served with the 1st Ranger Battalion and 25th Infantry Division as a grunt, so you'd be hard pressed to call me a bleeding heart liberal and don't you dare. I consider myself to be a moderate who is willing to hear both sides and then I make an informed decision before committing myself to an issue.

We are a supposed to be a free society, I mean, when we go into foreign countries to liberate them it is always under the guise of bringing freedom and democracy. Am I wrong? I will concede that in any society, you cannot always allow the population to have absolute freedom, it must be tempered so that the society as a whole is not endangered by any radical minority. But when you read this article you can see that the governments efforts to spy on U.S. citizens has not merit. They are not tracking radicals or subversives. No, they are making blanket investigations under the guise of national security. My friends, I have no desire to burn the flag or march on Washington, but one of the reasons I volunteered to serve my country was to protect those rights so that my fellow citizens could, if they chose, exercise their rights to assemble and if need be, speak out against certain government policies and activities. Just because I don't agree with something doesn't make it bad or anti-American.

There are those in the government and military, who have become so full of themselves that they start to believe that they know what is best for everyone. In their deviant thought processes they begin to develop all manners of excuses and reasons for why it is right and necessary to impede upon our civil rights. And then there are those who know full well that what they are doing is wrong, but for them, the goal is power. Acquiring and holding on to power and control and for these individuals they don't need justification or excuses. And at any given time, there is generally a mix of both these types of individuals who hold positions of power and authority, it is human nature I suppose. We are an aggressive species.

What I fear is that the general population is becoming more and more complacent, and in doing so it encourages those who would gladly strip away our rights and freedom in order to retain a firm grasp on their positions of control and power. On any given day if I were to ask someone in passing if they feel that there is any danger in the U.S. becoming a fascist state, most folks would look at me like I was a crazy person. Too many people choose to go through life ignorant of the real possibility that one day, none of us will be free to voice an opinion or show opposition to our leaders. I know that realistically, at this moment in time we are still a free society and I do not believe that I am going to wake up tomorrow in a full on police state but until more people wake up, show some outrage and actually stand up and tell the leadership that some of their policies and practices are way out of line, then we are definitely moving towards a future where none of us will be living in a free America.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Guilt or Innocence and the Deception of Tookie Williams

I'm not looking to get into a discussion about the death penalty itself. At the moment it is legal in California and many other states. Whether or not Tookie Williams is guilty or innocent of killing those four people is also irrelevant at this point in time. What is relevant is the argument that after becoming incarcerated, Tookie Williams became a changed man. I for one, am not going to dispute that the work he has done has no doubt helped many children avoid joining a street gang and that work is admirable. What I question is the motive behind doing this work. Did Tookie Williams undertake this mission solely to make amends for past mistakes and to help prevent others from making similar mistakes? Or was he in fact a cold, calculating gangster who knew that with a death sentence hanging over his head he needed to find some way to work the system and avoid being put to death?

I've watched and read many an interview that Tookie has given, and it does seem that he has a very hard time accepting any genuine responsibility for any of his past criminal actions. There is never really any sense of remorse eminating from him when he does offer up a token apology or explanation when it comes to his past. He claims that he is innocent of the four murders he was convicted of, and gives a lot of jailhouse lawyer/philosopher doublespeak when he tries to tell us that he can't very well show remorse or apologize for crimes he did not commit. And even if he is innocent you can tell that he has no sympathy for those victims. All he can do is go on and on about how he is innocent, but he seldom has said anything to lead us to believe that he has any sorrow in his heart over that loss of life.

His gangster code of honor has prevented him from assisting law enforcement when it comes to dealing with the gang menace that he helped to create. Again, a changed man would not have any problems in this area as he would know that there is no honor in what these people do and assisting in destroying them would be beneficial to the masses, not a dishonorable act. But he sees the betrayal of fellow gangsters as a bad thing. Tookie, oh Tookie, your misguided loyalty and contaminated morals have killed you. Had you really been sincere and had genuinely wanted to renounce your past life, I have no doubt that the Governor would have granted you clemency, but as he saw for himself, your actions have been a ruse all along. Merely a hustle to try and keep you from your date with the gas chamber. You had all these years to genuinely change yourself and you opted to put up a facade instead of having integrity and doing the really hard thing, which would have been to come clean about having been a murdering thug. And perhaps it would have helped to have had the courage to do all this regardless of the outcome. How much more nobler would you have been had you done charitable work and not asked for a reprieve? How much honorable would you have been if you had helped children and helped to bring down gangs in this country and never ask anything in return other than just the opportunity to right your past wrongs.

But time has now run out.

A Simple Observation of Racial Violence and Societal Decay

How often as Americans, have we been portrayed as violent and destructive in the world media? It is true that many of our cities suffer a violent crime rate and our past is checkered with unfortunate events. But recently I am seeing the unrest in France and now in Australia and although it does catch our attention, if you read these stories closely you will find that they are being downplayed as random events.

Had this occurred in the United States, we would be vilified and everyone would be jumping on the bandwagon to condemn our morally corrupt society. Yet when these things occur in other nations, all that is required is a vapid statement that these are not widespread signs of underlying social issues. I don't know what I am trying to convey here but at least part of it is a real bias towards America and the willingness of the world to make excuses for other countries yet hold us to different standards.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Positive Impressions of Open Source Software

I must say that I am becoming more and more impressed with the options coming out of the open source software communities. There are some top notch pieces of software available for free or extremely low priced that are quite competitive with their better known commercial rivals. More and more I am seeing applications and suites such as GIMP and OpenOffice that give me viable options when deciding what to install on my Mac and PC's. I am not going to bash the big software companies here but I truly believe that if they are faced with some serious competition that everyone in the industry will begin to focus on more stable and more improved pieces of software instead of the stale offerings we see most of the time.

All too often I will see manufacturers putting out new upgrades, with higher prices but in reality you are not getting much for your money. I see software being released with a new point upgrade but nothing innovative about it and the manufacturers get away with it because they have little to fear. We have just a few serious, major software companies out there at the moment and they have no incentive to really improve upon anything as we, the consumer don't have many avenues to pursue. So I am very excited about the future and hope that we are not too far away from some real options.

The Future Was Then

"The Machine Stops" was a short story written in 1909 by E.M. Forster, which in my opinion bears a close resemblence to a little movie from 1999 called "The Matrix". Although 90 years seperate these stories, both stories revolve around the human race being forced underground by vague circumstances and then becoming dependent on a machine and finally the humans rebelling against the machine and reclaiming the world.

It never fails to impress me when I find instances in which events seperated by many decades and in this case, almost a century, bear such striking similarities. I have always been a firm believer that history repeats itself.

The Alpha


It begins.
We, all of us, merely exist.
I will accept the burden of guiding you into the light.
In return, you, all of you, shall follow me without question.

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