Check, Check...Is This Thing On?

I know, I know...it's been a while since I've written any articles for my blog. I've been putting in a lot of late hours at work, spending quality rock-and-roll-jamming time with my daughter, and practicing my harmonica. When I came home from work tonight, my IM program had a message from Alexandra Wilson (I wrote an article about her, which you can read by clicking here). She said that Piers Anthony had mentioned her in his newsletter (yes, that Piers Anthony), and that he had linked my blog. Therefore, she reasoned, I should actually write some more articles for the blog.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

She does have a point. So, here it is.

First, thanks, 'Lex, for mentioning me to Piers Anthony. Secondly, thank you, Piers Anthony, for linking my blog in your newsletter.

I have a few co-workers who hail from the former Soviet Union. One of them, a nice young man by the name of Oleg, had a lengthy conversation with me one night while we were closing the restaurant together. What started this long conversation was that he mentioned the difference between Europeans and Americans was that Americans are much more materialistic. I then told him that I was disgusted with materialism, and that I felt what the world (especially America) needed was more altruism.

My reasoning is simple. The reason people (in this case, Americans) seek more money and more possessions is because they think increasing their wealth, possessions, or social status will bring them happiness. People think, “If only I can get that new car, I will be happy,” or “If only I can earn more money, then I will be happy,” or “If I can win the love of that beautiful person, then I will truly be happy.” But the truth of the matter is, gaining things in this life can only make us temporarily happy. We quickly become bored with what we've gained, and then we are miserable again, seeking something new or better, hoping that it will make us happier for a longer period of time.

The only way to find true happiness in this life is to realize that all we are here for is to be born, live, and die. We must give up the driving hunger for increased wealth, power, and social status—we must realize that pursuing such things for the hope of obtaining happiness will serve only to add to our misery. Once we realize this and let go of that unhealthy urge within ourselves, then we can be truly happy.

As I mentioned in my previous article, The One Thing, the only thing we should concern ourselves with in this life is accumulating as many positive memories as possible while minimizing negative memories. We do this by striving to serve others, to put others first in all that we do, and to make others happy without severely compromising our own well-being. This—the act of selfish selflessness—is the core of altruism.

When I explained this to Oleg, in our late-night conversation at work, he was momentarily speechless. When he spoke again, he told me that I was the first person in America he had ever heard speak of altruism, and that because of what I'd said, he would do some deep reflecting on the role of altruism in his own life.

Coming from a communist-socialist background, Oleg was raised in a culture of altruism, so it was not a new concept for him. However, during his time in the United States, he had begun to feel himself changing...adapting...basically, becoming corrupted by our American culture of materialism and greed.

Oleg and I contemplated a lot with regard to politics that night, and we kept returning to one crucial point: as long as world leaders adhere to the concept that gaining money, property, power, or anything else is going to make them happy—as long as national leaders adhere to a materialistic mindset—there will continue to be needless wars and suffering.

As far as governments go, communism and socialism are both far from perfect. But so is capitalism. The United States needs to stop telling other nations how to run their countries, stop trying to cram capitalism down their throats, and focus on fixing our own nation's problems.

That's enough for this article. I'm tired from working late, I'm angry over my nation's politics, and those two things are not a good combination.

I'll probably practice my harmonica some before going to bed. I've memorized two songs so far: "Popeye the Sailor Man" and "Blowing In the Wind" (by Bob Dylan). I've never been a Dylan fan, but "Blowing In the Wind" was on the list of beginner's songs for my harmonica lessons, so I figured I'd learn it.

Peace.

The Year Of the Drum

Thanks to my three-year-old daughter, Meghan, when I look back on 2004 in the future, I will remember it (and fondly) as The Year Of the Drum. I know, I know, most kids are into banging on things and into drumming, but you've got to understand—Meghan is really into drums. She can name various types of drums and identify them on sight: bongo, snare, tom-tom, etc...and she shows great enthusiasm and aptitude for learning how to drum.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Earlier this year, I gave her a couple of those large, metal, popcorn cans (the kind which seem ubiquitous every Holiday Season) and some wooden sticks to beat on them with. For several months, those were her drums.

Four days ago, I took her to the market with me to buy groceries. There, they had a music kit for ten dollars, which included a drum, a maraca, two castanets, a kazoo, a flute, and two plastic drumsticks. It was only ten dollars, and she got so excited about it that I went ahead a bought it for her. Immediately afterward, I took her to a movie rental store and rented School of Rock, because I thought she'd get a thrill out of watching real kids play music in a movie.

Not only did she get a thrill out of watching the kids and playing along with them, but School of Rock has now beaten out all other movie competition for her, becoming Meghan's number one favorite movie (as she puts it) "in the whole wide world!" Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday of this past week, she and I watched it a total of six times, and we watched all of the extras on the DVD. She was absolutely captivated by the scenes with drums in them, and at the end of the first day, she told me that she wanted a drum kit, like the one Freddy Jones plays in the movie.

I told my brother this, and he suggested I go to Wal Mart and get her a drum set. First, I went to the thrift store, but they didn't have one. I then went to a pawn shop near our house, and they had one on display for $109. Meghan loved the fact that it had pedals, a bass hammer, the "high hat" cymbals, a snare drum, a tom-tom, a bass drum, a stool, and a regular cymbal. I asked the clerk at the pawn shop about the drum kit, and she told me that they order the kits brand new, in the box, from a wholesaler. She told me that the drum kit is extremely popular, that they were all sold out, and then she offered to sell me the display model. When she went over to the display model, she found a tag on it, saying that it had already been sold. She told me that they could order a kit for Meghan, and that it would take three days to arrive.

Wanting to compare prices, I took her to Wal Mart, where we looked at the drum kit there. Wal Mart had a kit that looked identical to the one at the pawn shop, but Wal Mart wanted $248. I then decided to order one from the pawn shop.

Meghan is very serious about the drums, and I can assure you that this isn't just a passing interest or a phase for her. The guitar--that was a phase. The harmonica--a phase. Both of those instruments, she played a little, then set them aside. She picks them up every once and a while, plays them, then ignores them for weeks on end. But the drums...it's a whole different story with the drums. Every time she comes to my house, she has to drum. For several months, it was just the metal popcorn cans. Now that she has her plastic drum from the grocer's market (which has a velcro neck strap for carrying and playing), she takes that thing everywhere she goes. She even plays it in the car when we're driving!

This is something so big for her that I won't deny her the gift. Despite the fact that I'm very poor right now and can't really afford to spend the money on it, I know how important this is to my daughter, and I'm going to buy it for her anyway. My sister, DJ suggested that I email our family and ask them to pitch in and contribute money toward the purchase of the drum kit, so that it would be a family gift to Meghan for Christmas. I took DJ's advice, emailed our family, and so far two family members have agreed to contribute.

Yesterday, Meghan went back to the pawn shop with me, to confirm with the store manager that her drum set had been ordered. He was a very nice man, and he read the order back to us—even taking the time to confirm with Meghan that she wanted a red drum kit (they had several colors to choose from). I told Meghan that this will be a Christmas present, but that she will receive it early. When the kit arrives, I will leave the box in my living room, unopened, so that the next time Meghan comes to spend a day or two with me, she can open the box and help me assemble the kit.

I'm sure she will be extremely excited. She already is, and it's difficult for her to be patient while the drum kit is ordered and shipped. But, this is a good lesson in patience for her, and overall she is doing well with it.

I started learning the harmonica a year ago, then slacked off in my practice sessions. Now that Meghan is expressing an increased passion for music, I've started practicing the harmonica again, so that I will be able to make music with her.

When I was telling my best friend about all of this yesterday, I mentioned to him that Meghan wants to ask her mother (my ex-wife) for another drum kit, so that she will have one at each of our houses. My friend (who has a two-year-old son) said, “Maybe she could just get one drum kit, for her mother's house, and then she could do all of her drumming at her mother's house and you wouldn't have to put up with all the noise.”

I looked at him with something of surprise, saying, “You know, the noise isn't all that bad if you get in there and make noise right along with them.”

He seemed to think that was a pretty good concept.

Bush Names Scapegoat

I heard about all the new governmental resignations from President Bush's cabinet today, and I heard that he's chosen Condoleezza Rice to replace Colin Powell as the Secretary of State. What I didn't hear, until my sister, DJ, sent me the URL to an online news article, was what Bush had told reporters about his decision.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

He told reporters that he's been using the nickname “the unsticker” for Condoleeza Rice for the past four years, because she has the ability to “unstick” problems in Iraq that get caught up in the gears of government.

To me, this sounds like a setup. Bush likes Condi because she makes a good scapegoat. With her in his cabinet, he has somebody to blame (one of several people he can blame) if he makes a colossal mistake and doesn't want to take the heat for it himself.

After reading this article, I told my sister that, If I were Condoleezza Rice, I would resign and become a Democrat. But, after thinking for a few seconds, I added, “Well, I guess if I were her I wouldn't even be there.” To which my sharp-witted sister quickly replied, “No. If you were her, you would love George Bush and think that he had been appointed by God.”

Which, I guess, brings us to one very important point. I'm glad I'm not Condoleezza Rice.

And I'm sure, if she ever reads this article, Condoleezza Rice will be equally (if not moreso) glad that she's not me.

But you know, now that I've had a few more minutes to reflect on this story, it's not so much that Bush has chosen a scapegoat as he's found a way to retain one. And besides, it's not like any Republicans are accepting accountability for their failures these days. They just get their media lackeys to spread lies, twisting the facts so that they can blame the Democrats.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party
Political Thinking
The War On Terrorism
Voting For the Presidency
Deniability
Twelve Years Of Dubya?

Christmas Wishes

When Meghan was with me the other day, we were sitting at the kitchen table and eating lunch when she said, “I want a Leap Pad for your house. I have one at Mommy's apartment, and I have one at Granny and Papa's house (my ex's parents' house), but I don't have one for your house.”

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Trying to figure out how I could afford to buy one for her, I smiled and replied, “If you want a Leap Pad for my house, I think you should ask Santa Claus for one.”

Meghan glanced at me, then yelled into the air, “Hey, Santa Claus! I want a Leap Pad for Daddy's house!”

Chuckling, I said, “Do you think he heard you?”

Rather matter-of-factly, she replied, “I yelled pretty loud, Dad.”

The next day, she brought up the leap pad again, and I told her that she should ask Santa for one. I was expecting her to remind me of how loudly she had yelled on the previous afternoon, but instead she said, “I don't know his phone number.”

I told her that we would wait until Santa came around, taking requests from children, and then I would take her to see him.

She liked that idea.

Twelve Years Of Dubya?

If the thought of eight years with George W. Bush as our nation's President is enough to make you want to scream and tear your hair out by the fistfuls, just wait until he tries to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, doing away with Presidential term limits.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

If you don't think he will, think again. With a self-declared “mandate” and “political capitol” to spend, George Bush will quite likely seek to extend his rule over the United States. What's worse, he might see the fact that he has a strong Republican majority in both the House and the Senate as a sign from God.

In his religiously-driven, fundamentalist brain, Bush could see this as yet more confirmation that God has chosen him to be the leader of the free world, and that no meddling nay-sayers or man-made laws or governmental institutions should stand in his way. George W. Bush might continue to direct the US military to invade and occupy foreign nations, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he'll never invade the nations which actually support terrorism (such as Saudi Arabia, which trained and funded fifteen of the nineteen hijackers who participated in the September Eleventh attacks).

It has been said by people who have worked close to Bush that he takes his directives from God, that he sees his agenda items as missions from God, and that he will fire anybody who doesn't share his views (in other words, he'll fire anyone who doesn't agree that Bush is God's Chosen One).

When I say this next part, I must proceed with caution. Bush is a dictator. His view of politics and his vision for governing the United States are clearly fascist in nature. If he continues down his current path, believing himself to be some chosen, prophetic leader under a Divine calling and accountable solely to the authority of God Almighty, then he will grow progressively worse, and he will exhibit increasingly serious and increasingly dangerous behaviors.

He is not yet at the level of such men as Stalin, Nero, Caligula, Hitler, or Sadam Hussein...but the path he is following is perilously similar to the paths of those men. Every one of those men believed they were chosen by God, and every one of those men believed that they weren't accountable to the ways or the laws of mankind. They believed (as Bush believes) that their calling from God transcended all mortal laws and institutions.

I repeat, for clarity, Bush has not yet reached the level of the dictators mentioned above, but he needs to wake up from the religious delusion he's under, for the only thing continuing down his current path can bring is increasing disaster.

Bush has convinced himself that God has handed him a mandate, via the 2004 election. Blinded by his religious fervor, he cannot see that forty-nine percent of American voters were against him. All he sees are those red states on the electoral map, all he feels is that “warm fuzzy” feeling, and when he thinks about the fact that he now has a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, he probably gets goose bumps. And with that warm fuzzy, goose-bumpy feeling, he thinks he hears to voice of God, telling him that he's the Chosen One; whispering in his ear, “You've earned some political capitol. Now go and spend it.”

Everyone is watching out for the obvious: appointing pro-life Supreme Court justices, trying to overturn Roe vs. Wade, calling for a military draft, ramping up even more war to line his own pockets and the pockets of his corporate friends at the expense of our nation's soldiers...but I haven't heard anybody yet who has expressed concern over the strong possibility that George Bush will want to do away with term limits.

Watch for it. And remember, you saw it here first.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party
Political Thinking
The War On Terrorism
Voting For the Presidency
Deniability

Money Lessons

It's twelve forty in the morning, and I'm not quite sure what to write about. I'm sitting here, though, with the urge to write something, and so write I will.

Yesterday was the second of two consecutive days off for me. Fortunately, I was able to have my daughter, Meghan, for both days and nights. Even as I type this, she is playing with her stuffed animals on her bed (it appears as though she will take after both me and my mother, who are both night owls).

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

We watched a couple of movies together (Stewart Little 2 and Shrek 2), played with blocks, played some board games, and just had an overall good time with each other.

Early yesterday afternoon, I gave her a dollar. After handing her the one-dollar bill, I explained to her that she could either spend it or save it for later, and that if she saved it for later she could add more money to it, and eventually she would have enough dollars to buy something more expensive (or she could just keep on saving it). She did the typical middle-to-lower-class-American thing...she decided to spend it right away.

I took her to the dollar store, where I told her she could buy anything she wanted. Somewhere between the car and the cash register, she lost her dollar. I went back through the store and the parking lot with her, searching for the lost money. When it couldn't be found, I explained to her that I wouldn't give her another dollar because she needs to learn the importance of not losing her money.

Of course, she is only three years old, but there are two important factors to consider: 1.) I'm poor, and 2.) I don't want my daughter to grow up with the impression that money is something to be tossed about and easily replaced. I think now is a good time to start teaching her the value of money.

Also in the course of our conversation (when I was explaining to her about saving money), she told me that she didn't have any other dollars to put with it and save. I told her that she had lots of money, at home in her piggy bank, and that the money in her bank added up to several more dollars. She was confused about this, because in her three-year-old brain, money is coins and dollars are paper. She just looked at me, perplexed, and said, “But that's not dollars in my pig. That's money.”

I started to explain to her that coins added up to dollars, and while she clearly expressed an interest in learning, she didn't seem to grasp what I was talking about. So, in a moment of paternal inspiration, I thought, I know! Visual aids will help! So, I asked her if she would like to learn about money after we returned home. She said, “Yeah, Dad! That would be great!”

So, after we got home and finished watching movies (she thought Stewart and Shrek were more important than money), we got her piggy bank and dumped a bunch of coins out onto the kitchen table. I began by laying out a one dollar bill (which I pulled from my wallet). I then explained to her that one dollar was the same as one hundred pennies. I went down the line, saying, “A nickel is five pennies, a dime is ten pennies, and a quarter is twenty-five pennies.”

She looked at me like I was growing antennae from my head. Thinking she needed some more visualization, I took five pennies and arranged them neatly, saying, “This is five pennies. It's the same as a nickel.” I arranged five more pennies, neatly, beside the first batch. “Now there are ten pennies, which is the same as a dime.”

She reached for a dime, three nickels, and then another dime, which she arranged neatly on the table, saying, “See what I can make?”

I said, “That's very nice, Meghan. Do you know how many pennies that is?”

“No, but do you want to see me make a circle?”

I chuckled and said, “Sure. Make a circle.”

As she was making her circle, I said, “You're not getting this money thing, are you?”

“No,” she shook her head. “See my circle?”

“Wow! That's great! Good job.”

Most of the things my daughter does are great, and I should know. I'm her dad.

Meghan and I put the coins back into her pig. I returned the dollar bill to my wallet. Then, we went into the living room to play with her blocks.

I guess she's still a little young for math lessons.

Marital Debt

When I came home from work tonight, an email from my ex was waiting for me. It said, “I need you to start paying your marital debt as agreed to in our divorce. I feel I have been more than understanding of your financial hardships, but now it is ridiculous. I don’t want to have to take you to court on a contempt citation but unless you start making full payments and trying to pay off what you are behind I will be forced to. ”

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Now, I must explain to you that the marital debt of which my ex-wife writes is twelve thousand dollars, which she borrowed from her father without my knowledge and against my will (the reason she borrowed it secretively was because she knew I disapproved).

Here is what I wrote to her, in reply.

“If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. I'm currently netting about $150 to $180 per paycheck. Out of that, I have to pay for gas, car insurance, utilities, groceries, and rent. I'm currently four months behind on rent and utilities. So, you can take me to court if you want to, but you won't get any money. ”

That pretty much sums it up. Right now, I feel like laughing at the situation, but at the same time I feel like crying.

I think I'll read some more Al Franken, to take my mind off of things.

The First American Dictator

My online blogger friend, Dr. Rob (from Britain), recently posted an article to his own blog, which he titled, "America the Brave." In his article, he wrote, "The United States is still an adolescent in the family of Western Nations. It is young, barely out of its teens whereas the rest of the Western Nations are well into middle age, mature, solid, sure of themselves. These Western European Nations have been at it for centuries, we have a history. We’ve had our squabbles, spats, fights and Wars over more than 1000 years. We’ve bloodied noses and bit off ears with the best of them, before even the US was a twinkle in someone’s eye. Now I think the US is jealous, they want to flex a bit of muscle, they want to do what their older brothers have done."

I wrote a responding comment on Rob's blog, which I'm repeating here (with a few minor editorial changes, to make it fit with my own blog).

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

I do respect Rob's opinions, and I especially appreciate the fact that he's exploring the world for the Truth. However, I have to disagree with the "America is jealous" theory. Americans (for the most part) are too proud and self-absorbed to be jealous of any other nation.

I'll tell you what I think the problem is. I think it's the American religious revival, which started in the mid-eighties, carried on through the nineties, and is still going strong today. This, coupled with a strong, deliberate plan by the conservative, racist, war-mongering right wing of America (which started with the Presidential election of 1964), has branched out to take increasing control over every aspect of American culture; especially politics and media.

A lot of the people who voted for Bush in 2004 were church-going Christians who said they didn't agree with Bush or his policies, but that they thought God wanted him in the White House because Bush was/is an evangelical Christian.

This is a frightening state of affairs. We are becoming (or have become) a nation where people think, "God is on our side, so we will thwart the evil-doers of the world (where have you heard that term used before?) and do whatever it takes (another Bushism) to stand firm (another) and bring these terrorists to justice (another)."

As anyone of intelligence and an open mind will know, this is exactly the way the Arabic nations think. This is the kind of radical, extremist, religiously-driven bull shit that causes nations to invade other countries, declaring Holy War, and murdering innocent men, women, and children by the thousands.

Shortly after the September Eleventh attacks, George W. Bush declared that he would launch "a Crusade" against the terrorists. His advisors quickly rushed in to make him change his choice of wording, but I believe his original terminology was most true to Bush's nature. Ever since that point (mere days after the attacks), I've been telling people that George W. Bush is America's first dictator.

He is making political and military decisions of war based on his own religious fervor and self-righteous pride. And, unfortunately, he has been convincing the American religious masses to follow his leadership and believe his lies.

So, while I do respect Dr. Rob's opinions, and while I do appreciate his efforts to expose the truth, the fact of the matter is that America isn't jealous of Europe or anybody else in the world. America (as long as Bush is in power) is a nation at seige, being oppressed by the iron-handed rule of a religious lunatic, fascist dictator.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party
Political Thinking
The War On Terrorism
Voting For the Presidency
Deniability

Deniability

Roy Blount, Jr. is a comedian who appears regularly on one of my favorite radio shows, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" and this weekend made a guest appearance on "A Prairie Home Companion." He said something which I found to be quite true of our currenty President. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that in the Reagan years, it was all about plausible deniability. If Reagan or his buddies screwed up, they could deny it as long as their deniability was plausible. George W. Bush is doing the same thing, but he's just dropped the "plausible" part of it and taken the thing to a whole new level.

Deniability.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Evidently, in the mind of George W. Bush and his administration, if you screw something up all you have to do is deny it. Lie your ass off, and the American people will let you off the hook.

Since the election results came back from this year's Presidential vote, a record number of Americans have been contacting the Canadian government, asking for information on moving to Canada and changing citizenship. I think a large percentage of these people are probably families with young men who are of drafting age. Wisely, they see through Bush's lies and know that a military draft is inevitable. And, wisely, they realize that the war in Iraq is a waste of time, energy, resources, and (most importantly) human lives.

Do you know the difference between the Vietnam War and the War In Iraq? George W. Bush had a plan for getting out of the Vietnam War.

My stepdad, who is dying of cancer (has about three to five years left, according to the cancer doctors), is an ex-marine. He is so pissed off at George W. Bush, the mistreatment of American veterans, and the lies of the Republican party, and the outcome of the 2004 election that he now refuses to let anyone discuss politics in his presence.

He says, "I don't have time for that bull shit."

And I can't blame him. With precious little time remaining in this life, he doesn't want to waste his time stewing over things he can't change or control.

I, on the other hand, am still relatively young (thirty-three), in decent health, and am going to continue to do what I can to increase public awareness with regard to the declining state of our nation.

I may or may not be able to make a noticeable difference, but at least I won't have to look back on my life later and regret not having tried.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party
Political Thinking
The War On Terrorism
Voting For the Presidency

Voting For the Presidency

I have to tell you, I've voted for every Presidential election since I turned eighteen (the legal voting age in the U.S.), and this is the first time I can remember ever losing sleep over one. On the eve before the election, my mind was racing with thoughts about the political situation of our country. I read for a while (I'm about a third of the way through Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken), played a video game for a while, then left my house at about ten till six, so that I could be in line when the voting started.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

My polling place was a nearby school, and when I arrived, I was surprised to find that the parking lot was nearly full. On my way toward the front doors, there were two people—one to either side of the sidewalk. One of them was handing out copies of The Missouri Voter's Bill of Rights. The other person was handing out a narrow sheet of orange-yellow paper, on which were instructions on how to vote party-line Democrat. I graciously accepted both fliers, walked the rest of the way to the front door of the schoolhouse, and on the door I saw a white sign, declaring that electioneering was illegal within twenty-five feet of the sign.

I glanced back at the two people who were handing out the fliers, thought to myself, That looks like twenty-five feet, and then I opened the door and stepped inside.

There were about seventy to eighty people in line. I followed the line back, around the corner, remarking to the young black woman who was walking ahead of me, “Wow. I'm glad I got here at six o'clock.”

She took her position at the end of the line, I took my position behind her, and within seconds there were several more people behind me. The lady behind me expressed concern over the possibility that she might be late for work. She had a cell phone in her hand, and I told her that she could always call her boss if she was running late. Voting is an important and respected civic duty, and it is illegal for an employer to deny an employee time off work to vote.

The line moved rather quickly, and within fifteen minutes of arrival, I was standing in front of a folding table, behind which were seated two elderly people—a man and a woman. The two of them were bickering back and forth as they worked, obviously feeling pressured by the large number of people who had turned out to vote.

A young black man showed his driver's license and voter registration card. The lady looked up at him and said, “You've already voted.”

A middle-aged black man, who was voting at a booth behind me, turned around and said, “He's my son. We both have the same first name, and he's the third.”

The old lady quickly found the son's name on the list, and he soon had his ballot and was directed to a booth. When I showed my driver's license and registration card, my name was quickly found (no confusion there). I initialed next to my name, signed next to that, was handed back my I.D., registration card, and a punch-card ballot that was inside of a secrecy envelope.

In the U.S., election procedures can vary from state to state. For example, in some states people vote in standing booths that are metal frames with a curtain all around, concealing the voter from head to foot. At my polling place, there were about thirty booths at counter-top height, and they were more like separate desks with metal blinders on either side, rising to about three feet above the desktops.

I was told that there were two booths open, so I walked over to one. There was a slot for the punch-card, which had two holes on the top. The card slot had two red pegs, which went through the top holes on the ballot card, holding it firmly in place. A short, metal stylus was chained to the desktop, and most of the stylus's length was encased in a blue, plastic handle.

In the center of the desktop, a booklet was securely attached. I read the front of the booklet, which gave concise, clear directions on how to vote. Ignoring the advice of the electioneer outside, I voted party-line Libertarian (which could be done by punching a hole next to the party of my choice on the first page of the booklet). I then flipped to the rearmost section of the booklet, voted against a tax increase to build sports arenas, voted to keep all the current Missouri Supreme Court Justices, voted for an amendment to the Missouri Constitution, making it unconstitutional for tax dollars earmarked for highways to be spent elswhere...and then I was done.

I closed the booklet, returned the stylus to its holder, and then retrieved my ballot card (which I slipped into the secrecy envelope). There was a friendly little old black woman who was sitting next to the ballot box. I let her tear the top section off of my ballot. She thanked me as I dropped my ballot into the steel box, and I thanked her back as I picked up an “I voted” sticker from on top of the box. I walked out the door, down the sidewalk, between the two electioneers, around the corner of the schoolhouse, and got into my car.

Five minutes later—about twenty-five minutes after leaving my house—I was back home.

Voting felt good. Voting for a candidate—for a party—I truly believe in felt very good. George W. Bush has been reelected, John F. Kerry has lost the election, and I'm not happy about that. Some people would probably want to ask me why I voted for Michael Badnarik, if I wanted Bush out of the White House. To them, I have to say, “If I had voted for John Kerry, I would have been voting for the lesser of two evils...which means that I still would have been voting for evil. At least this way, I know that I voted for somebody who I felt would—if elected—do the right thing.”

I voted with a clean conscience. I stayed true to myself. My candidate didn't win the Presidency, but I feel that I did the right thing by voting for him, and by voting for the party I believe in.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party
Political Thinking
The War On Terrorism

We Know What You Want

Being a divorced father, and living with an income which is below the poverty level, over the past couple of years I've found myself seeking no-cost sources of entertainment for myself and my daughter. Given that, for three of my five days a week with my daughter, I have to make a thirty-minute commute to spend three hours with her, I have found several such sources of free entertainment: parks, libraries, browsing through stores...

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

There is a mall near my ex-wife's apartment, and inside the mall there is a carousel, a train, and some sculpted “faux nature” playground objects (hollow fallen log, tent, canoe, big mushrooms, tree stumps). The carousel and the train each cost $1.50 per passenger, per ride, so it is rare that my three-year-old daughter and I are able to afford them. The “faux nature” playground equipment, on the other hand, is completely free of charge.

Today, I was sitting on a bench, watching my daughter run around excitedly and play with about thirty other children, when I happened to glance up. Overhead, the second floor of the mall had an opening in it, and on the side of the opening (the side of the floor, as it were) I saw five large, glowing words—glowing bright green, and difficult to read because their projector had been poorly aimed. The words read:

“WE KNOW WHAT YOU WANT”

Upon reading it, my initial reaction was to chuckle, and then I began to ponder. Who, exactly, is “We?” Is We supposed to be the stuffed-shirt mall executives? Is We the maintenance crew, who installed and aimed (however shoddily) the projector? Or is We some other, more mysterious entity—a behind-the-scenes, covert organization, consisting of nosy busybodies who have nothing better to do with their time than to sit around trying to figure out what I want?

Which leads to my second and third questions. 2.) Why does We care what I want, and 3.) Why do they feel the need to project their declaration of knowledge in four-foot-tall, green lettering on the side of the second floor of Oak Park Mall?

I mean, come on. This makes no sense to me. It would be like me calling up somebody at random, saying, “I know what you did last summer,” and then hanging up the phone.

Creepy, isn't it?

If I knew who We was, I might ask We what We intends to do with this knowledge. If somebody went to all the trouble of hanging a track light from the mall ceiling, equipping it with a green filter and making it spell out a message—

—WE KNOW WHAT YOU WANT—

—then wouldn't you think that this “We” entity would want to do something about it? And why, for crying out loud, did this “We” entity waste all that time, energy, and money projecting the message when the same resources could have been directed toward actually giving me what I want?

Actually, I'm not so sure that this “We” even knows what “We” claims to know. I certainly don't want cryptic messages about me, projected in large, glowing letters in public places. If “We” has so much money and time to spare, why can't “We” pay off some of my debts for me, or better yet—hire a great divorce lawyer for me, so that I can eliminate this unjust amount of child support and get more time with my daughter?

That's what I really want.

The War On Terrorism

It's one o'clock in the morning. This is the one night this week that my daughter gets to spend the night at my house, and she is sound asleep. I've been sitting in my recliner for about half an hour, with the laptop, just trying to think of a topic for this article.

One idea, which came to me in the middle of my fitful sleep, was to write about the War On Terrorism.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

My brother and I got into a debate over politics about a week and a half ago. He is a staunch Bush supporter, so we have a lot that we disagree on. One thing we did (after some argument) agree upon was the fact that a war against terrorists can never be won by invading other countries, bombing their cities, and killing their civilians. When we do that, all we are doing is creating more terrorists.

The only effective way to actually fight a war against terrorists is to get good intelligence, acquire the names and locations of the terrorists, then send Special Forces units in to kill the terrorists and their families—leaving all the other, presumably innocent, people unharmed.

Of course, even this isn't perfect, for even the best intelligence in the world is still based on information gathered by human beings, and there are bound to be mistakes. Inevitably, innocent people would still be mistaken for terrorists, and actual terrorists would occasionally be mistaken for innocent civilians.

Even so, it would be much better than charging into another nation with an army, bombing their cities, and then proceeding with a land war that is almost entirely urban in nature.

There is no doubt in my mind that our President had no business sending our soldiers into Iraq to attack their people. As I stated in previous articles, we need to end this war immediately. We need to apologize to the world—especially to the Iraqis—and then bring our troops home.

President Bush and his accomplices have tried to convince us that there is a link between Iraq and Al Quaeda, and that the reason Bush sent our armed forces into Iraq was to fight terrorism. The Iraqis weren't terrorists. Since the invasion of Iraq began, however, I wouldn't doubt (or blame them, for that matter) if thousands of Iraqi citizens have turned to terrorism as a means to strike back and defend their homeland.

If the roles were reversed, American citizens would do the same. If, after 9/11, legions of foreign soldiers came rushing into our country, bombing our cities from the air, destroying things (and people) with tanks, chasing down and shooting innocent civilians from Humvees or on foot, don't think for a single second that we wouldn't have fought back. And don't think for a half a heartbeat that, if a bomb or a bullet struck down my three-year-old daughter, I wouldn't do everything and anything—anything—in my power to strike back, hurt, and kill those responsible.

Any one of us would do the same. That's what the Iraqi citizens are doing—defending their homes, their friends, their families, avenging the deaths of their loved ones...and there are people in America who want to call that terrorism.

What the people of Iraq are doing isn't terrorism—it's self defense. We should be deeply ashamed and humiliated over what we have done to them. We should be outraged over what our President has done to them in our name. There is no justification for the pain and suffering the United States (and Britain) have inflicted on the people of Iraq.

I hear people in the U.S. (the so-called “Security Moms”) saying that they don't want a President elected who won't stand firm in Iraq. Give me a break! Until we invaded Iraq, there was no threat in Iraq. And most of the people who are fighting us in Iraq are doing so to get us out of Iraq.

By invading Iraq, President Bush has created a Terrorism Generator. For every month since we attacked Baghdad, the number of terrorist attacks in the world have been higher than the previous month. By fighting and killing innocent civilians in an unjustified, immoral, unethical, and illegal war, President Bush has been adding fuel to the proverbial fire, which he alleges to be trying to put out.

It's like fighting a fire with tanker trucks full of napalm.

If we were to leave Iraq today, apologize sincerely for what we've done, and take up a defense-only stance with our military forces while sending financial reparations to Iraq, our chances of being attacked by terrorists would begin to decline. We would never be absolutely invulnerable to terrorism—never have been, never will be—but, over time, the number of people who are pissed off at us would decrease.

Bush and his supporters would like us to believe (have actually told us, repeatedly) that the only reason terrorists attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 was because they hated our American values—our freedom and our prosperity. This is not the case, and until we, as a nation, can own up to the fact that we committed specific, horrendous atrocities to anger the people of other nations, we will never be able to make significant progress in our struggle to overcome terrorism.


We need to examine our own past deeds, find what things we did (or failed to do) that angered these other people to the point of war...and then we need to heal those old wounds. We need to swallow our American pride, apologize for what we did to hurt them so badly, and then try to make amends.

That's really hard to do when we're invading other countries and killing innocent civilians. Somehow, it's just a lot harder for others to trust our sincerity.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party
Political Thinking

Political Thinking

I'm not sure whether or not my political articles are doing much good (or if they're even being read by U.S. Citizens). If I use comments as a unit of measure, then my articles which deal with philosophy and day-to-day life get read quite a bit more (or at least make more of an impression on people, since the non-political articles seem to motivate people to comment more). The Alexandra Wilson Story got some comments, but that wasn't purely political...it was a human interest/political article, with a hint of philosophy.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

So, I guess my point to ponder is whether or not I should bother to write articles about American politics at all. I'm sure the die-hard Republicans and die-hard Democrats would all prefer I stopped writing them, since I write with a strong third-party bias.

Oh, who am I trying to kid here? I won't stop writing about politics. If I stopped writing about politics, mine would be one less voice heard, which would mean one less chance that a difference might be made. The third-party movement in America is a team effort, and we need all the help we can get.

And hey-—for the record—-I don't want to hear any more foreigners encouraging the assassination of my President. I may not have voted for him, I may not agree with most of what he's done or what he's currently doing, and I may think he's a fascist dictator who needs to be stoppped...but he is still my President, and I take offense at anybody threatening to kill him. (I'm making reference to an article that appeared in the UK's Guardian. To read about it, click here.)

As an American, I have the power to cast my vote on Election Day. If that fails to remove him from office, then there are other, non-violent options for getting him out of the White House (such as impeachment).

If anybody assassinates President Bush, I hope everybody involved in the assassination plot is tracked down and severely punished.

Violence is not the answer.


More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party

Tuning In

It's a very unusual experience, this energy flux. I want to thank Rabab for her insightful explanation. I think she is right, and that the light I've been seeing during meditation is the energy pool, of which we and everything around us are a part.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

I came home from work again tonight, and while the feeling of the energy wasn't as strong as it was when I returned home from work yesterday, it was still present, so I decided to meditate. I turned off all the lights, leaned back in my recliner, and relaxed both my body and my mind. For nearly an hour, I sat, becoming increasingly aware of the energy around me, inside of me...and I felt my way through a few areas in my life (work, writing, my relationship with my daughter), and as I felt the energy of each of these things, I found myself learning new things about them—and gaining new insights into my own life.

I stopped meditating after about an hour, and I went upstairs to get a snack. As I walked through the house, I continued to be aware of the energy in everything around me. There were things I felt compelled to touch-—and I did touch a few of them—-to feel the energy within them. My skin detected no energy, but my body and mind could still sense the energy. It was a very strange sensation, and it is still going on.

My fingers and wrists are touching my laptop computer while I type this article, but the skin on my fingers and wrists sense nothing of the energy. However, if I relax-—even slightly-—and focus my mind on the laptop, I get a very strong sense of the energy within...even down to areas of increased activity, such as the hard drive and the processor.

It would be cool if I could figure out a way to use this new insight (this new “energy vision”) to move physical objects without touching them. But, I doubt I'll ever gain the power of telekinesis, so I'll just have to settle for the really cool ability to sense the energy in the things around me.

What I would really like to find out is what useful, practical applications such an ability can have in my life. I'm sure there must be some. Perhaps this is another area where my friend, Rabab, could give me some answers.

I feel like, over the past year, my mind has been slowly tuning in...searching for just the right frequency, so that it could sense the vibrations of energy frequencies in the surrounding universe. Last Saturday, I was listening to one of my favorite radio programs on NPR, “Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me,” and they have this game where three of their staff members tell a story. Two of the stories are made up, and the other one is the truth. When I was listening to them, I could tell by their voices—-subtle qualities in their voices—-which of them were lying and which one was telling the truth.

I've never been able to do that before, and I think it was at that point (or very near to it) that my mind began to find the edge of the frequency—-the “tuning in” point, where it could focus and pick up energy waves from various sources.

Hopefully, I will be able to find a way to use this ability for the benefit of others. I'd be rather disappointed if it turned out to be little more than a personal novelty item.

Energy Flux

My daughter is sick today--cold and flu season, don't you know--and she's come down with her third cold of the season. My ex-wife called me at work last night to tell me that Meghan was running a fever of one hundred and three degrees, Fahrenheit. After a brief discussion, we agreed that Meghan shouldn't go out with me today, so that she could stay in and rest.

I came home from work last night / early this morning, and my energy was off. I sat down in my recliner, and I felt like I had no energy to do anything--like I was physically drained, despite the fact that I've been getting plenty of sleep over the past several days. But that's not the strangest part of it. What's really strange is that, while I was feeling physically exhausted, my energy level was “snapping” every two to five seconds, and each time it would “snap,” I felt like I was going to pop right out of my body.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

In an effort to control the energy flux, I leaned the recliner back, rested my hands across my lap, closed my eyes, and began to meditate. Within seconds--without even trying--I could see a brilliant, white light. This, I believe was the energy pool, of which everything (living and non-living) in our universe is a part (for more on my philosophy about such things, read my article, “The One Thing”).

After meditating for a little over an hour, the energy flux was still present, so I went to bed and fell asleep. That was at about two o'clock in the morning, and I didn't wake up until two in the afternoon.

While the energy flux has subsided somewhat, it is still present. I'm no longer physically exhausted, but I still feel this flow of energy, coarsing through my body and mind. I haven't eaten or drunk anything out of the ordinary recently, nor do I feel like I'm coming down with any form of illness. Of course, the sensation I'm feeling could very well be the primary symptom of an illness...but I have no idea what that illness might be.

Currently (no pun intended), my theory is that this has something to do with my understanding and awareness of the universal energy pool. If that is the case--if my growing awareness of this truth is causing me to feel the energy more strongly--I find it somewhat amusing, because there are people in this world who devote years out of their lives, going through bizarre rituals, subjecting themselves to extreme self-deprivation, meditating for days, months, years on end, trying to discover the truth...and do you know how much time I meditate? I think (counting last night) that I've probably meditated (sat down, closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and meditated) for a total of four hours in the past ten years.

On top of that, I've never been schooled in meditation. I just do what feels right (when and if I do it at all).

I've got an online friend, Rabab, who teaches meditation. Maybe she can help me understand my situation.

A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Green Party

This is the second of a two-part series of articles, in which I hope to help inform people regarding two of our third-party political organizations in the United States. In the first article, I wrote about the Libertarian Party. In this article, I will write about the Green Party. For the sake of comparison, I will address the same issues in this article as I did in the first one.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Quoting directly from the Green Party of the United States Platform 2004, “The Green Party of the United States is a federation of state Green Parties. Committed to environmentalism, non-violence, social justice and grassroots organizing, Greens are renewing democracy without the support of corporate donors. Greens provide real solutions for real problems.”

Where the Libertarian Party is for downsizing the federal government and increasing personal liberties, the Green Party is for maintaining the size of the federal government and making some adjustments to existing policies.

Every year, politicians on Capitol Hill pass out over eighty-seven billion taxpayer dollars to more than one hundred of the nation's largest and wealthiest companies. Although this practice, known as “corporate welfare,” is not addressed by the Green Party platform directly, they do write, “...we seek to dissolve the grip of the ideology, intoned by big-money interests for more than twenty years...that government should rightly 'starve the beast' by slashing all spending on social programs.”

In addition, the Green Party is for the decentralization of wealth, so that wealth is more fairly and evenly dispersed among all the population.

Regarding education, the Green Party believes that the federal government should remain involved, but that federal policy should be reformed so that it acts principally to ensure equal access to a quality education. The Greens also propose a plan to encourage parental involvement in the education process, as well as a plan for increasing school funding and using part of the additional money to increase teachers' salaries.

When writing about their approach to the crime issue, the Green Party seems to parallel the ideas of the Libertarian Party. Greens are for legalizing “no-victim” crimes, such as drug use, prostitution, and gambling. Greens, like the Libertarians, are also for ending the War On Drugs. Doing these things would free up law enforcement resources to go after the real criminals of our society.

On the environment, the Green Party Platform has a lot to say. Under their “Environmental Justice” section, they list seven bullet points, outlining their structure for approaching issues of crime against the environment: 1.) enforcing strict penalties against environmental criminals, 2.) funding environmental crime units in counties with a high occurrence of environmental crimes, 3.) imposing a moratorium on siting new toxic chemical or waste facilities in those counties with the highest percentage exposure to hazardous substances, 4.) not forcing workers to choose between a hazardous job or no job at all, 5.) preventing communities, especially low-income or minority communities, from being coerced by government agencies or corporations into siting hazardous materials, or accepting environmentally hazardous practices in order to create jobs, 6.) preceding the siting of hazardous materials or practices with public hearings, conducted in the language of those community members who will be directly effected, and 7.) requiring corporations to permit on-site visitations by community watch-dog committees, and the appointment of a neighborhood environmentalist to their board of directors.

There is much, much more on the environment (in detail) further into the seventy-six-page platform document. Under their section, “Ecological Sustainability,” the Greens cover the following items: Energy, Nuclear Issues, Transportation, Waste Management, Clean Air / Greenhouse Effect / Ozone Depletion, Land Use and Sustainable Cities, Water, Agriculture, Biological Diversity, Ethical Treatment of Animals, Forestry Practices, and Ocean Protection.

The Green Party addresses the issue of poverty (and how to help people overcome poverty) under their section, “Welfare: A Commitment to Ending Poverty.” Greens are in favor of supporting the “big government” approach to the welfare system, and for repealing time limits on welfare. In their 2004 platform, Greens write, “Such support should not be given grudgingly...We call for restoration of a federally funded entitlement (welfare) program to support children, families, the unemployed, elderly and disabled, with no time limit on benefits.”

Quoting, again, directly from the Green Party's 2004 platform, “The Green Party opposes the privatization of Social Security. It is critical that the public protections of Social Security are not privatized and subjected to increased risk. The bottom 20% of American senior citizens get roughly 80% of their income from Social Security, and without Social Security, nearly 70% of black elderly and 60% of Latino elderly households would be in poverty.”

For more information on the Green Party, go to www.gp.org. For more information on the Libertarian Party, go to www.lp.org.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party

A Little More Information (Part 1 of 2): The Libertarian Party

Most people are familiar with the two main political parties in The United States, so in this two-part series of articles, I want to expose my readers to more information regarding two of the lesser-known parties: the Libertarians and the Greens. And, in this first article, I am going to focus on the Libertarian Party.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

It is the belief of the Libertarian Party that our federal government has gone far beyond the few, limited roles that are assigned to it by our Constitution. If our nation's government were functioning only in the capacities intended and assigned to it by the founding fathers, it would be much smaller and very effective. Unfortunately, it has expanded beyond its Constitutional duties, and it has become a bloated, lumbering, and ineffective behemoth.

Libertarians believe that our federal government should protect our rights and keep us safe from assault, theft, civil injustice, and foreign attack.

Every year, politicians on Capitol Hill pass out over eighty-seven billion taxpayer dollars to more than one hundred of the nation's largest and wealthiest companies. Libertarians want to stop the federal government from handing out “corporate welfare.”

When it comes to education, the Libertarian Party wants to remove the federal government completely from our school system. There is no Constitutional basis for government involvement. Rather, Libertarians envision a school system where students are supported by private scholarships (which are matched, dollar-for-dollar, by a federal tax credit for anyone who donates to the scholarship fund). Such a program, already functioning in Arizona, has seen excellent results.

Regarding crime, the Libertarian Party believes in protecting the right to self-defense (including the Second Amendment right to bear arms) and getting tough on real crime. By this, they mean to roll back laws which make criminals out of people who are doing no harm to others (such as drug addicts, prostitutes, and gamblers), which will free up law enforcement resources to go after the real criminals: muderers, rapists, thieves, terrorists, etc.

Tackling issues of the environment, the Libertarian Party plans to hold government officials (the government is the number one polluter, by far, in our nation) personally accountable for the environmental damage they do. Libertarians also plan to repeal taxes and legislation which are discouraging free-market environmentalism, and they plan to make all polluters (private or otherwise) pay for their crimes.

To help people lift themselves out of poverty, the Libertarian Party plans to repeal legislation (such as laws requiring unnecessary licensing) preventing people from starting small businesses. In an example given by the Libertarian Party, a poor black woman in California wanted to start a hair-braiding business. When she tried to open shop, she discovered that California law required her to attend one thousand six hundred hours of schooling, for a total cost of five thousand dollars, so that she would have a state-issued cosmetology license. The worst part of it (next to the fact that she couldn't afford it) was that the school didn't even offer a course in hair braiding.

In an America envisioned by Libertarian reform, people wouldn't be held back by such crippling laws; people would be free to pursue their dreams, with fewer obstacles.

The Libertarian Party even has a viable, practical, and workable plan for retirement. Under a system where individuals could select a portfolio in which to invest their retirement funds, and under these long-term, low-risk investments, their money would grow at a much higher rate than the current Social Security system (Social Security only returns 1.2% annually, whereas experts have crunched the numbers on the Libertarian plan and found that it would return an average of 7% annually).

Under Social Security, an individual earning $36,000 per year would (by retirement age) accumulate enough to be paid $24,000 per year via Social Security checks (that's if the Social Security fund wasn't going to be depleted by the year 2032, which it is). In contrast, under the Libertarian plan, an individual earning $36,000 per year could (by retirement age) accumulate $1.2 million, which would pay an annual retirement income of $124,000.

For more information on the Libertarian Party, go to www.lp.org. For more information on the Green Party, go to www.gp.org.

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote
The Alexandra Wilson Story
A Little More Information (Part 2 of 2): The Libertarian Party

Stagger

As I mentioned in my previous article, Crossroads, I am making a transition in my creative life; moving from fiction into nonfiction (with the possible exception of writing fictional screenplays for my friend, the independent filmmaker, Ryan Paul). When it comes to fictional short stories and novels, I am through.

So, it may or may not interest you to know that I've posted my final book-length fiction manuscript on the internet, as a blog. The title of the piece is Stagger, and you can click here to read it.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Consider yourself forewarned; it is a horror novel, and it contains sexual content, strong language, and violence.

It is certainly not for the faint of heart (or queasy of stomach).

The manuscript has been reviewed. Here is a quote from the review:

"With a tone reminiscent of master horror writers like Dean Koontz or Stephen King, yet stylistically his own, Kraxton proves himself to be a rising star in the horror genre. Stagger comes highly recommended."
--Cynthia Penn
Senior Editor, WordWeaving.com
Senior Book Reviwer, Midwest Book Review
Amazon Top 20 Reviewer

Click here to read Stagger.

Time With My Daughter

My ex-wife really makes it difficult for me to not hate her. Every time I feel I'm beginning to find some stability--just when I think I'm starting to see how I could peacefully coexist with her--she turns around and does something that makes me angry again.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

As you probably know, from reading my previous articles (Vacation, Kicking Back, Visiting Mom, and Vacation Is Over), yesterday was my first day back to work after a nine-day vacation--most of which I spent with my beloved daughter, Meghan. My ex has a set work schedule, where she is off work on Saturday and Sunday, so if I'm off work any day other than those two days, by default I am supposed to get to spend time with Meghan.

This morning, I woke up at eight o'clock, got ready, drove forty-five minutes (I took the side streets) to my ex-mother-in-law's house (she baby sits Meghan), and knocked on the door, happily anticipating some quality time with my daughter.

When the door opened, my ex-mother-in-law said, “Oh! You weren't supposed to have her today.”

Now, admittedly, I haven't looked at the email my ex sent me (the one containing this week's exchange schedule) in two days, so I had forgotten that she hadn't scheduled me to spend time with Meghan today. Silly me, I made the mistake of thinking my ex had learned some compassion. Not only is it common sense that time with parents takes priority over time with grandparents (or anybody else), but this was explicitly spelled out by the judge when we were in divorce court.

Yet, because my lawyer is the way most lawyers are (not wanting to work for free), and because I've already been thumped by the system so much now that I understand going back to court without a ton of cash to pay a big-shot attorney will get me absolutely nowhere (except, as with the last time I pled my case before a judge, it could possibly get me into a worse situation than the one I'm in currently)...there was nothing I could do.

I was griping online to one of my friends a few minutes ago, and he said, “You could have grabbed her and ran!” He was being sarcastic. I've known this guy since we were five years old, and I know he was joking. Besides, the temptation to grab my daughter and run isn't very strong for me. I know that such an experience would be 1.) emotionally scarring for Meghan, and 2.) only a temporary solution to a long-term problem--a temporary solution which would, in the end, lead to even more (bigger) problems than the ones I'm currently facing.

So, I did the (you guessed it) altruistic thing. I apologized, said that I must have misread the exchange schedule, gave my daughter a hug and a kiss goodbye, got in my car, waved and honked, then drove back home.

Sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) being a divorced dad really sucks.

My First Day Back

Today (yesterday now, I guess) was my first day back to work after nine days of vacation. It wasn't nearly as stressful or depressing as some of us thought it could have been. Actually, it was somewhat fun.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

I don't want to go into too much detail with regard to my job, because I'm in management and there are politics involved with being part of a management team--and I never know when one or more of my co-workers will read this blog.

I handled a rather unusual customer complaint tonight. A gentleman called me, said that he'd just picked up a pizza as a carryout order from our restaurant, and that it tasted too salty. I've worked for this pizza company for over ten years, and I've never heard a complaint of one of our pizzas being too salty. We don't add salt to our pizzas--we don't even have salt in our restaurant. I politely informed him of this, and then I went ahead and offered to give him a full credit, so that his next order would be free. He told me that he just wanted a refund of his money, and that he would bring back the pizza, along with the receipt.

I told him that we would refund his money, and that he could come in at his own convenience. On the phone, he told me that he would wait until tomorrow to come in, but then he arrived at the restaurant about an hour later, pizza box and receipt in hand. I refunded his money, apologized, and he left.

It's so strange...several years ago, I had a customer complain that her thin-crust pizza was too thin, but I've never had any customer complain that a pizza was too salty.

I guess anything can happen.

Overall, it truly was a fun night. Our restaurant has been under the keen supervision of a great Unit Manager, who has brought our store consistently-increasing sales growth for every period since his arrival. For Thursday, October 21, our sales were eighty-four percent higher than last year's sales, and we did it while making and serving all of our pizzas to our customers quickly, efficiently, and accurately. It feels great to run a shift with a winning team!

Vacation Is Over

Yesterday was the last day of my vacation, and at 5:45pm today, I will return to work. All in all, this has been a good, relaxing, and productive vacation for me. I got my house cleaned, spent lots of time with my family and friends, and I even managed to write a whole bunch of articles for my blog.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

While it isn't my intention to slow down my writing pace after returning to work, I must be realistic with myself and concede that some decline in my rate of article production is to be expected. It's very difficult, when working a forty-hour-per-week job and commuting forty minutes round-trip three days a week to spend time with my daughter, to find as much time for writing...but I will do my best.

I sincerely hope that those of you who have been reading my articles have been enjoying them, and I hope that you have been (and will continue) spreading the word about my blog. I honestly hope to be able to make a difference with this project, and I'd like it to touch as many lives as possible.

This is, of course, one of the reasons why I'm trying to obtain interviews with such celebrity figures as David Cobb (Green Party Presidential Candidate), Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate), and Michael Moore (independent filmmaker).

One other thing to bear in mind is that, while I plan to write more articles like “The Alexandra Wilson Story,” such articles will only be able to help other people to the degree of their exposure (the degree to which they are actually read by other people). I added a hit counter to my site two days ago, and it's already up to about ninety hits, which means my site is getting about forty-five hits per day. I'm guessing that my readership, at the present time, is approximately fifty people. That's not too shabby, considering my blog is only sixteen days old.

I'm always in search of new leads for articles, so if anybody can give me a story (preferably about American citizens) which fits with my vision for this blog, please feel free to let me know. There are thousands of Alexandra Wilsons in The United States right now, and there are millions who are being unjustly abused by our government. Point me to the victims, and I will do my best to tell their stories.

Thank you for your continuing support. Please keep reading (and spreading the word about) my blog.

Peace.

The Alexandra Wilson Story

When I was staying at my mom's house the other day, I woke up in the middle of the night, logged onto the computer, and started up an instant messaging program. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of my friends, whom I hadn't seen or heard from in a few months. While IMing, he sent me a link to a news article, informing me that it was about some people who went to school with him. As I read the article, which boasted of raiding the home of a family in Kansas, finding drugs, and then jailing the entire family--children and all--I felt anger at the self-righteous injustice of it all.

My friend put me into contact with the female head of the household, and I chatted online with her for a while. The more she told me, the more I became determined that her story needed to be heard--both for the benefit of her own family and for the benefit of many other families, who have been and will continue to be victims of such an abusive and corrupt system.

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Here is the story of Alexandra and her family.

At the age of thirty-seven, Alexandra Wilson thought she finally had her life heading the right direction. She had found the man of her dreams, and they had conceived a child, which brought them even closer than they had already been. Alexandra's teenage children were growing up to be strong individuals. Her motorcycle customization shop and cafe/gift shop/arcade, despite the smallness of the town in which she had opened them, were becoming thriving sources of income.

Everything seemed perfect, until her mother-in-law had a heart attack.

No matter how strong a woman thinks she is, recovering from a heart attack while raising two eight-year-old twins and managing the care of her husband (who was suffering from Parkinson's disease) proved to be too much for Alexandra's mother-in-law.

Overcoming her own flawed upbringing, Alexandra did the altruistic thing--she and her family moved in with her in-laws, to help manage their care.

Just as the family was getting settled in and life was beginning return to some semblance of normality, one of Alexandra's dear friends was diagnosed with terminal cancer and, with treatment, given a life expectancy of no more than five years.

With his lack of medical care, and Alexandra's current caretaker position with her in-laws, she invited him to move in with her family, so that she could help get him the treatment that he needed. Deeply concerned about her friend's condition and her in-laws weakened and degenerating states, Alexandra followed up on things that she had heard in the past, and she did extensive research into the medicinal use of marijuana.

In the course of her research, she discovered the Medical Necessity Defense. With her entire family suffering, Alexandra weighed all of their problems and their ongoing pain and discomfort against the legality of what she was considering doing. In the end, she did what many others have done in the past and would do in the future, if faced with such circumstances.

Alexandra turned to a plant that was, until sixty-seven years ago, legally and acceptably used in The United States of America. She began administering marijuana to her loved ones, using it to lessen their pain and suffering.

As long as it was available and not abused, Alexandra saw no problem with her actions. After all, she wasn't selling it to anyone; it was used in the safety of her own home. No one was harmed by its use, and (to the contrary) it actually relieved pain, returned lost appetites, and had the medically underweight cancer patient gaining weight. At five-foot-nine, with a hyperactive metabolism, the cancer patient went from roughly one hundred and ten pounds to his personal record of one-twenty-five in the course of six months.

Alexandra says she saw nothing but benefits from her medicinal use of marijuana.

In an email to me, she further wrote, “Financial constraints made purchasing it difficult at times, but fortunately it grows wild here in the state of Kansas. Pulling a plant from the side of the road became an easy alternative when finances were tight.”

Since things seemed to be going so much better, Alexandra decided to enroll in college. The cancer patient, who not long ago had been debilitated with pain and weakness, was now functional enough to assist in caring for Alexandra's in-laws, to help with home-schooling her sixteen-year-old daughter, and to baby sit her two-year-old daughter, while Alexandra and her husband went to school all day. Given the circumstances, life seemed to be going fairly well for Alexandra and her family. Then, on October 12th of 2004, their lives were turned upside down.

Speaking on the Internet with a friend she met in a chat room called Budsmokers Only, Alexandra's sixteen-year-old daughter showed somebody online the instruments her family used, along with a small sack, which she had to identify for the other person as marijuana. This “friend” she had been speaking to was actually a deputy sheriff, located in the same town where Alexandra's family lived.

Alexandra is quite angry and indignant over what she sees as the coersive and manipulative tactics used on her daughter. Says Alexandra of her daughter, “She was depressed, trying to fit in and thought she was talking to someone she trusted. Despite his harassing attempts, she persisted to tell him that she would not sell him anything, give him anything or even meet him in person just to talk about it.”

That night, the Sheriff and a group of law enforcement officers arrived at Alexandra's home, armed only with an Affidavit Requesting a Search Warrant. They forced Alexandra's ten-year-old son to the ground to handcuff him and proceeded to gather everyone on the property, including a friend not in the home, who rented a garage apartment on the property. They handcuffed only the men, refused to let anyone handle the "search warrant," and subsequently arrested six people from the home on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, and (since a roadside plant was being dried for later use) cultivation and harvesting of marijuana.

During the search, arrest, and processing of charges, many of the victims' civil rights were violated. Items were "taken into evidence" and left behind (possibly with the intention of a follow-up raid). Alexandra's sixteen-year-old daughter was taken out of the home to be questioned by police before either of her parents were made aware of a police presence on the property.

Items taken into evidence were mishandled (the driver's license of her son’s fiancé, taken from Alexandra's son's wallet, but listed in evidence as being found in Alexandra's bedroom, is one example).

In the end, a plea bargain was reached. Everyone except Alexandra pled guilty to misdemeanor possession charges, and they were released under varied bond amounts. Again, caring for and protecting her family, Alexandra was charged with Felony Possession With Intent To Distribute.

Alexandra says, “With this being a year when both the Sheriff and County Prosecutor are up for reelection, I honestly believe this entrapping event was nothing more than an attempt to make them look good for the election. Their political ploy even goes so far as my first scheduled court appearance, scheduled for this Thursday, a total of ten days after the initial raid, and conveniently with two more weeks before election day, (the) faster they can get the felony charge prosecuted, the better they look to those still debating how to vote.

“With four of those ten days being spent in jail, two more being a weekend, they expect me to work on a reasonable defense in four days, while still attempting to stay in school as long as possible. I'm being railroaded with the possibility of three to seven years in prison for doing what I believed was best for my family and being given four working days to try and stop it. Is there anyone out there who cares enough about my rights to provide the best care I could under the circumstances? When no one was being harmed, no one was abusing the substance and everyone using it was benefiting from it, how is what I did wrong?”

This story, as tragic as it is, is one that is repeated every day in our nation. I'm willing to come to the defense of somebody like Alexandra, who is doing what she feels is best for her loved ones when they are suffering and dying. But I'm even willing to take it a step further and tell you that I'm for the legalization of all drugs. Since when did it become morally acceptable for us to make criminals out of people who are ill?

In our nation, we tell alcoholics, “You have a disease. Alcoholism is an illness, which needs to be treated.” We tell cigarette addicts, “Cigarette addiction is an illness, and you need treatment to recover.” The same experts who claim that addiction to such narcotics as alcohol and nicotine is an illness also say that addiction to any other drug is an illness, and it needs to be treated. Jailing and imprisoning people because they are suffering from an illness is a practice out of the Dark Ages, and it's something we should have stopped doing long ago.

Addicts don't need incarceration; they need treatment. And people who are doing nothing more than trying to care for loved ones--on that one, I have to agree with Alexandra.

How is what she did wrong?

More of My Articles Along This Vein:
The Two-headed Monster (U. S. Politics)
The So-called Debates
Close the Door Or You'll Let In a...
Waste No Vote

Contemplations At Dawn

The folks who are on staff at the Green Party's national headquarters are very friendly and down-to-earth. Blair Bobier has been quite kind and swift to reply to my emails, and although he had to inform me that, at this late stage in the campaign, David Cobb has practically no time whatsoever to interview with me, there is a fairly good chance that I might be able to do an interview with him after the election.

I only have one day of vacation remaining, and for the first time (out of all the vacations I've taken in my life), it actually feels like I had a full nine days worth of vacation. All of the other times when I've taken vacations, the end of the vacation has run up on me so quickly that I found myself wondering, How could this be over already? Where did the time go?

You've just read the beginning of my post...and here is the rest of it.

Staying home for most of it, I think, has been the key factor in making this vacation feel like it didn't slip away from me. When you take a vacation and spend it running around, doing lots of things and rushing here and there-or even travelling from one point to another, to another, to another...you aren't truly resting and relaxing, so your time will go by much faster.

Of course, there is something to be said for traveling, for visiting loved ones, and for seeing the sights. And, for many people, staying at home for most or all of their vacation wouldn't feel like a vacation at all.

I've enjoyed it, though, and I've especially enjoyed spending time with my daughter. We've grown closer over these past eight days, nurturing a friendship which every parent should have with their child(ren). I only hope that this friendship can be maintained, onward through her childhood, through her difficult teenage years, and into adulthood.

While it is difficult, I know that is not impossible, for I've seen other parents (my older sister, for example), who have done this successfully.