Tuesday, November 02, 2004
All Killer, No Filler
Dude! Has it been a while since I posted or what?! Okay, time to do some catching up.
- Do we ever get comfortable with ourselves? I had a dream last night that my hair looked awful and I couldn't do a thing about it. I gelled it the best I could, only to be ridiculed at school. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it looked. Once I woke up, and remembered what I was dreaming, I was embarrassed. These negative self-esteem feelings run pretty deep, don't they? Here I am a week away from 30 years old, and I am still having these panic dreams about public acceptance. I envy anyone who is free from this self-negativity.
- Today is election day in the USA. We get to vote on laws, politicians, and our President. Who ever we vote in as our president will be our leader for 4 years. There are three things I find interesting about the election: 1) both candidates are poor. Bush comes off as an arrogant fundamentalist, and that is dangerous in today's world climate. The last 2 candidates from the Democratic Party have been awful. Are these the best "leaders" our country is churning out? 2) the votes are going to be close. I doubt we will have a "winner" by the nights end. The last election ruined that forever. Expect recounts, hand counts, and law suits. 3) Again, it is going to be close; is America that divided? I think that this says a lot about the USA. I am not that excited to vote, as I feel so disappointed this year by both candidates, but I am still going to vote. My vote is for Kerry, FYI, and it isn't because I think he'd be a better President, it is more of a vote against Bush. Kerry has so many flaws, but I am hoping they are different flaws... and that a change of guard my start to ease the hostility towards the USA. Bush embodies everything the world hates about Americans, and good-or-bad, those qualities are too inflammatory. Long story short; vote.
- I got a 70% on my biochemistry test. And I am happy! I have never been so happy to get a 70%. Funny how on the first test I got a 68% and I was devastated. It just goes to show how things are relative. When the semester started, I was alive with potential. Now that the stone is rolling downhill, I am just trying to stay out from under it. What I am trying to say is, don't be expecting a 4.0 from Carl this semester...
- Even as a so-called Christian nation, America is alive with superstition. They have a statistical anomaly that says if the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, that the incumbent wins (and vice versa). This goes back for decades. People really buy into this, and were either upset or excited that they lost this weekend. I am not completely sold that the universe rides on Christianity... there is that chance that we could be wrong... but I doubt that there is some sort of cosmic force that decided to place the fate of one nation's government on the results of a football game. We love these sorts of mathematical oddities, but we need to grow up and put less stock in statistics. As they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
- I have further criticism for the so-called Terror Alert system. Prior to the campaigning, the Bush Administration was having a good old time raising the alert on the slightest "chatter." Now, we have a video tape from Bin Laden himself, claiming responsibility for 9/11, and threatening another attack... and the alert has not changed, yet they have rerouted ferry boats, semi trucks, and heightened security around certain facilities. Why? Well, I have three opinions on this. The first is 1) the government does not want to discourage voter turnout. Rumors have been consistently surfacing about an election-day attack as it is, and the government does not want the public staying home on such an important day. 2) Bush does not want to be accused of trying to scare voters any more than he already has. A knee-jerk reaction to the tape only looks like weakness and scare tactic. 3) The government is realizing that the alert system is a joke. No one cares about it, we're desensitized to it, and we don't trust "them" to actually be able to warn us of anything before it happens. It's like a tornado siren in Iowa... when you hear it, you just go on with your life... unless you see the tornado tearing through your town.
Okay, boring day, but I have to get back into the habit. Be sure to vote. I don't feel like I am "rocking" the vote, or voting so I don't "die," but I do feel like I am doing my part as an American citizen.
See ya!
- Do we ever get comfortable with ourselves? I had a dream last night that my hair looked awful and I couldn't do a thing about it. I gelled it the best I could, only to be ridiculed at school. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it looked. Once I woke up, and remembered what I was dreaming, I was embarrassed. These negative self-esteem feelings run pretty deep, don't they? Here I am a week away from 30 years old, and I am still having these panic dreams about public acceptance. I envy anyone who is free from this self-negativity.
- Today is election day in the USA. We get to vote on laws, politicians, and our President. Who ever we vote in as our president will be our leader for 4 years. There are three things I find interesting about the election: 1) both candidates are poor. Bush comes off as an arrogant fundamentalist, and that is dangerous in today's world climate. The last 2 candidates from the Democratic Party have been awful. Are these the best "leaders" our country is churning out? 2) the votes are going to be close. I doubt we will have a "winner" by the nights end. The last election ruined that forever. Expect recounts, hand counts, and law suits. 3) Again, it is going to be close; is America that divided? I think that this says a lot about the USA. I am not that excited to vote, as I feel so disappointed this year by both candidates, but I am still going to vote. My vote is for Kerry, FYI, and it isn't because I think he'd be a better President, it is more of a vote against Bush. Kerry has so many flaws, but I am hoping they are different flaws... and that a change of guard my start to ease the hostility towards the USA. Bush embodies everything the world hates about Americans, and good-or-bad, those qualities are too inflammatory. Long story short; vote.
- I got a 70% on my biochemistry test. And I am happy! I have never been so happy to get a 70%. Funny how on the first test I got a 68% and I was devastated. It just goes to show how things are relative. When the semester started, I was alive with potential. Now that the stone is rolling downhill, I am just trying to stay out from under it. What I am trying to say is, don't be expecting a 4.0 from Carl this semester...
- Even as a so-called Christian nation, America is alive with superstition. They have a statistical anomaly that says if the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, that the incumbent wins (and vice versa). This goes back for decades. People really buy into this, and were either upset or excited that they lost this weekend. I am not completely sold that the universe rides on Christianity... there is that chance that we could be wrong... but I doubt that there is some sort of cosmic force that decided to place the fate of one nation's government on the results of a football game. We love these sorts of mathematical oddities, but we need to grow up and put less stock in statistics. As they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
- I have further criticism for the so-called Terror Alert system. Prior to the campaigning, the Bush Administration was having a good old time raising the alert on the slightest "chatter." Now, we have a video tape from Bin Laden himself, claiming responsibility for 9/11, and threatening another attack... and the alert has not changed, yet they have rerouted ferry boats, semi trucks, and heightened security around certain facilities. Why? Well, I have three opinions on this. The first is 1) the government does not want to discourage voter turnout. Rumors have been consistently surfacing about an election-day attack as it is, and the government does not want the public staying home on such an important day. 2) Bush does not want to be accused of trying to scare voters any more than he already has. A knee-jerk reaction to the tape only looks like weakness and scare tactic. 3) The government is realizing that the alert system is a joke. No one cares about it, we're desensitized to it, and we don't trust "them" to actually be able to warn us of anything before it happens. It's like a tornado siren in Iowa... when you hear it, you just go on with your life... unless you see the tornado tearing through your town.
Okay, boring day, but I have to get back into the habit. Be sure to vote. I don't feel like I am "rocking" the vote, or voting so I don't "die," but I do feel like I am doing my part as an American citizen.
See ya!
Comments:
Hi Carl! I am glad you finally posted again! :) I always enjoy reading your take on what's going on in the world, past memories, or just your thoughts for the day...Good job in biochem and good luck this Thurs! As for me, I am off to the polls!
~T
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~T