1. November 7th
   Democrats regain control of the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years. Does it really matter? Probably not, considering as how days later the infighting began and the party of new ideas began looking like the party of the same old bullshit. Democrats have an opportunity here: Put forth legislation that works for the majority of Americans, the lower and middle classes.
   • Tax breaks for Joe Average, tax hike for oil companies and the upper 25% earners. Bring down the debt and stop deficit spending. Cut earmarks and pork barrel spending.
   • Propose election and ethical reforms.
   • Don’t cut and run from Iraq. Iraq must be stable before we leave. We broke it, and consequently, we bought it.
   • Work forcefully with the insurance industry to provide affordable, subsidized insurance for the uninsured. Increase taxes on corporations who either do not provide insurance or do not pay high enough wages for employees to become insured.
   • Propose an increase to the minimum wage, while leaving the death tax alone for estates over $1 million and abolishing the death tax for estates under a million. With exceptions for family farms.

   Even if these don’t pass the narrowly divided congress, they will show America that the Democratic Party is at least making some half-hearted attempt on their behalf. Responsible governance is the one sure-fire way to win elections. Pandering to one faction or another (read: the extreme right or left) only alienates the majority of those who still vote. I predict we’ll find that the congressional majority cycle will continue to shorten as Americans buy into the new sound bite political culture.

2. Bishop Carlton Pearson
   I heard Carlton Pearson’s story on NPR’s “This American Life,” you should listen to the podcast. Bishop Pearson gives me hope for the Evangelical community.

So that’s it for now… But I’ll be back soon (and more frequently, too)

Of course, we always knew this was how Steve would go, at the hands of nature. I always figured it would be a pissed off croc, alas it was some sort of stingray.

We’ll miss you Steve.

I don’t find it sad that two-thirds can’t find Iraq on a map or that half can’t find New York- I find it downright pitiful and more than a touch shameful. This is the legacy that standardized testing will leave on the populace; people with limited knowledge, taught information simply to pass the FCAT or the SAT so that our government might feel its education policies have been successful, and certainly not educated to think critically or gain a rounded education.

Government isn’t the only culprit in the dumbing down of the populace, parents are as much to blame. Parents that don’t put in the time to help Dick or Jane with their homework, or parents that just don’t put enough emphasis on their children’s schooling. I certainly don’t fault the single mothers working two jobs to make ends meet, or those who acquired sub-standard educations themselves; however, that does not negate the fact that they should understand the importance of education to better their child’s lot in life.

Ultimately, we’ve taken education and the power to educate from the teachers on the front lines and have handed it to government… Old men who want to show statistically that kids are doing better (on a standardized set of skills and questions). Old men with no experience in education, only in law and the political rat race.

Call me crazy, but I don’t want a man who doesn’t read the newspaper and can’t pronounce nuclear setting the standards for my child’s education. Do you?

I’ve never been. Chances are, I’m going to avoid the place at all costs. I suppose I’m not much of a fan of places that can’t seem to accept the inevitable forward march of time. It just reflects poorly on Christianity, I mean, really? What would Jesus do?! Do you think a man that hung out with whores and drunks would prohibit interracial relationships without parental consent? And hell, it only did that in 2000. Figure, if you were black, you weren’t going there until 1971. And the whole Catholics being a cult and the Pope the antichist? That’s a bit over the top, don’t you think? For a religion that preaches a love of your neighbor, these guys are pretty noninclusive.

So how does this look from the outside? Probably to more enlightened folks it’s reminiscient (if on a less volatile scale) of the challenges facing Islam. They wrestle with the inclusion of women. We wrestle with the inclusion of anyone different, be they colored differently, their sexual orientation different, whatever.

What scares me most about Bob Jones University is how long it has taken for them to move forward with the recognition of basic freedoms. Whoever created us, be it evolution or God, endowed us with free will. The right to choose who we are- morally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Religion’s place is to help people grow, not to stifle them.

I’m not about to regale you with tales from Wired News, rather I want us to consider a few minor points…

1. Why is anyone naive enough to trust people who collect millions in campaign contributions from the same companies that they are supposed to protect us from with legislation? You are beholden to damn near anyone who puts cash in your coffers- especially if the check has more zeros on it than your yearly income.
2. Why do we still live in a representative democracy? Technology has advanced to the point that, in reality, we could digitally vote on important bills and have a direct democracy. Let them propose it, let us approve it… Oh wait, Diebold donates to them. Nevermind.
3. Why do we still agree to credit card terms and conditions? They bind our hands and make us their bitch- but that is another post for another day.

I’d encourage you to write your representatives, but honestly, all you get is a cheap form letter and no results. I’d encourage you to vote them out of office, but apparently that requires them to be caught in a torrid love affair with a member of their own sex or to have an abortion (which hardly applies to a congress comprised of predominantly old white men) I’d encourge you to pray, but you’re conning yourself if you think God cares about America. I suppose the only thing that you can do is purchase a nice piggy bank then pay down and close all your credit card and bank accounts… Now that would show ‘em!

In Washington today, a woman who was arrested Thursday for heckling Mr. Hu in a ceremony at the White House appeared on a misdemeanor count in Federal District Court. Wenyi Wang was charged with harassing, intimidating or threatening a foreign official and was released pending a court appearance next month.
- Washington Post

Apparently heckling Communist party leaders with shameful human rights records is now illegal in the United States. How does one woman with a press pass intimidate the leader of a foreign nation with a phalanx of security flanking him? How do you harass a man who puts members of spiritual movements into prison for debating with government policies? Is it possible to threaten a person in charge of a country that executes more people per year than all others combined?

There goes the First Amendment, at least we know the Second Amendment is safe is this political climate…

The Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Public Security has these mascots, Jingjing and Chacha, to encourage responsible, safe, non-dissenting use of the internet. Personally, I don’t find these two very scary. Although they do demonstrate a need for better art instruction in Chinese schools.

Oh, and just for the record, Cuba hasn’t (to my knowlege, anyway) mowed down its own citizens with tanks, that was China.

The maps, organized by religion, show the membership percentages of each religion for each county in the United States. The results, from 2000, aren’t too surprising. It kind of plays out like an electoral map, the most religious states are in the South and Midwest, the South being predominantly Baptist and the Midwest having Episcopal leanings. The Roman Catholic church has the Northeast on lock, as well as a large swath of the Southwest. And we all know which way Utah leans (Mormon).

So what is surprising? Well, the number of Amish in Illinois, for one. Or maybe that the Quakers are still kicking… I won’t ruin it for you… Check it out, its about 30 minutes of graphically represented statistical fun.

Although, everyone I know (except maybe my Mom and Dad) are on MySpace, and they all extoll its many virtues to me on a near daily basis. I have many reasons for refusing to take part in the orgy that is MySpace.

First, I have enough to do on a daily basis without responding to messages from people I’ve been trying to avoid for years.

Second, Rupert Murdoch. No further explanation needed there.

Third, it’s like the mall when school gets out. Crawling with high schoolers.

I kind of think of MySpace as a place for those without their own domain. Why would I want to upkeep a website (or two) AND a myspace account?! I’d be on the computer from dusk ’til dawn (perhaps even an hour or twelve more…)

If you’re wondering why I didn’t link to MySpace on this post, the reason is simple: I don’t want to encourage people.

If you can’t handle it, you should learn or park elsewhere.

Here are some parallel parking tips courtesy of TeenDriving.com:

The S method

1. Signal and pull up approx. 3 feet away from the car you want to park behind, aligning your rear tires with the other car’s rear bumper.
2. Put car into REVERSE, and turn wheels ALL THE WAY to the RIGHT.
3. Slowly back-up until you are at a 45 degree angle. STOP.
4. Turn the wheels ALL THE WAY to the LEFT. (Walter from a driver’s school in Canada from yd.com recommends that you roll very slowly while you turn the wheels to avoid putting damaging stress on the tire sidewalls and steering components.)
5. Slowly back-up until you are parallel with the curb.

If done correctly you should be less then 12 inches from the curb.
Practice will improve your judgment.