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The Barren Middleground

2009-08-19T10:28:00.003-05:00

When I was younger, growing up with conservative views in Massachusetts, I assumed I was a Republican in a Democratic State, as my views were often in direct opposition to my class mates and later co-workers. Now, after having served in the military for about two years and meeting people from all over the United States, I have come to realize a few things about my political beliefs. As it turns out, I'm more of a moderate than I realized.

Growing up in Mass, especially when younger, any conservative viewpoint I put forth amongst my friends was pretty much universally met with anger and confusion of how I could be so heartless. Granted, I suppose you're sort of supposed to be extra compassionate when young and an idealist, so maybe I just became a callous bastard younger than most. It's a distinct possibility that I'm strangely comfortable with.

In general, I am pretty conservative on economic, military, and foreign relations issues. I'm strongly free market, and think the government should be as small as possible, providing only what is necessary. Conversely, I also am relatively liberal on social issues, maybe not a total 'bleeding heart,' but still, I'm pro abortion, and honestly couldn't care less about gay marriage. Having said this, it leads to one nagging question that I have yet to fin an answer for: Who is my candidate?

For people like me, who are moderate on many issues, there seems to be a glaring lack of anyone who can represent a mix of both ideologies. With far right and far left special interest groups so firmly entrenched in the financing of elected officials, there is no opportunity for a candidate who is truly moderate to really even have a shot at being elected. This forces moderates to almost always have to choose between a sort of lesser of two evils in any situation, as I have rarely heard anyone who espoused the same balanced view point,as they simply will not receive the necessary funding from special interest groups to compete in a campaign in any meaningful way.

I wish I could offer some solution to this, but, though it's posted in the 'Opinion' section, I write this as more of an open question of what moderates are supposed to. As someone who has grown up the son of a lobbyist and been around politics my entire life, I find myself at a loss for an answer.

The Barren Middleground

2009-08-18T21:05:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I've written anything as my job has been eating up a lot of my time, but as times have changed, so have my political philosophies (if only slightly), and look forward to getting back to writing soon.

Islam and its Adolescence

2007-07-08T21:17:00.000-05:00

As far as I can tell, Islam is in it's version of adolescence. We Christian's had one too, some of you may have heard of it; the Crusades. Granted I'm no master of theology, but thats just the way I see it, especially after finally getting around to watching the parts of the documentary 'Islam vs. Islamist,' which, though funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, was blocked from airing on PBS's 'America at a Crossroads' series, allegedly because of political bias at PBS. I say allegedly because I have no way of knowing for certain, but if i had to bet, based on its history, it certainly sounds pretty reasonable to me. Yeah, I know I'm sort of behind the curve in this case, as Fox has been airing this for a while now, I just haven't been watching TV when they had, so I went and downloaded it instead.

Some of that stuff is really scary, and, as I mentioned before, it further reinforced my belief that Islam is in its teenage years and embroiled in an internal battle that will determine its survival. Just like when we are teens, we have an extremist and a reasonable side, an analogue being maybe deciding whether to go out and get completely wasted with your friends, or stay home and study. Yes, you'll have plenty of other people telling you what you should do, but in the end, it all comes down to your OWN choice. Islam is faced with that situation today. Its inner struggle is between the radical Jihadist sect of Islam and the moderates, who advocate separation of church and state, democracy, etc..., and no matter how much westerners or others try to dictate to them what's right and wrong, it can only be Islam and its followers who come to that decision.

That's why I feel it's so important for documentaries like this to be seen, as it's very hard to hear the voice of moderate Muslims over those of the extremists these days. Luckily, PBS in Oregon will be airing 'Islam vs Islasmist' in August, and hopefully other public television stations will follow suit.

Also, if you are interested in hearing what REAL moderate Muslims are talking about, check out the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

Romney on CSPAN

2007-07-06T12:03:00.000-05:00

For future reference, I will now be separating my personal and political/social commentaries into separate entries as I will be posting to Blogcritics.org again, only now under the political section instead of the video game one.

Anywho, I was flipping through channels in my hotel today when I came across Mitt Romney answering questions, town hall style, on C-SPAN. I like Romney, I think he did a decent job governing here in MA, even if he did a horrible job picking a Lt. Governor, Kerry Healey , who was clearly taken to get votes from women and ran a terrible campaign, both votes wise and morally, in her run for governor against Deval Patrick.

The questions he answered today were all pretty standard, and normally would not be worth mentioning, but one stuck out in my mind. When asked about violence in the media, he responded and basically said that he thought all media should be wholesome family entertainment with no violence, sex, etc..., and sort of indirectly blamed those things for the VT shootings, columbine, and other seemingly random acts of violence in recent memory.

This worried me, because I knew that he was basing his views on this not on the numerous studies on whether violence in media can lead to violence in people, which it does not, except in the very short term, but rather on his highly religious moral compass. Now don't get me wrong, I don't feel that religion is wrong or bad, and I think that the people who don't want to vote for him simply because he is Mormon are bigots and stupid, but it still worries me.

History has a tendency of repeating itself, and attitudes like that make me think book burnings in the middle ages, when that media was deemed 'dangerous' as well. Hell, some of the rest of the world STILL does things like that, and there, but for the grace of God, go we. I know free speech is really free speech with responsibility, and probably nothing will come of this in terms of legislation banning video games or anything of that nature, but it does leave me with the nagging feeling that he is a bit behind the times in that aspect.

Then again, nobody's perfect.

Goddamn Crazy People

2007-07-06T11:36:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I drove down with my parents to the Cape to see a cousin of mine. He's older than my parents, but he's something like my 1rst cousin twice removed, or something along those lines. He's also the nicest guy in the world pretty much, but to prove no good deed ever goes unpunished, he currently has a court date in which he's facing assault charges.

I can't go into details because of the nature of his job and because its an ongoing case, but he, and his wife to some extent, got royally screwed over. I guess its just all the thanks he gets for helping to take care of a crazy person for around 10 years. Its frustrating to not be able to go into any details, because he's one of the most moral and outstanding people I've ever met, and I hope everything works out for him and his career, which is also in serious jeopardy because of this.

Kim and I got back together as well, which I'm naturally happy about, and, depending on what time I get back from the Cape tonight, we're planning on going and seeing Rattatouille. I know it's a kids movie, but Pixar is usually pretty good about putting jokes in their movies for adults or boyfriends dragged along to see the movie as well.

Chugging along

2007-07-04T17:37:00.000-05:00

So since my last post Erin has started seeing someone, I have have moved on, dated a fellow Navy recruit, although we broke up today. Happy 4th right? I am strangely not nearly as hurt as I usually am after break ups, can't say for certain why, but if I had to take a guess, I would say it's probably because i was so badly hurt by Erin, though I don't blame her nor anyone for what they do or do not feel, that I'm still partially numb. While that's good in the sense that this was the most painless break up I've ever been through, I guess it sort of worries me as well. Time will tell, I suppose.

I have recently had my interest in both the Red Sox and politics spark up again, though I never really lost interest in either. I suppose a more accurate statement would be that I'm back into borderline obsession with both. Not much to say on the Sox, other than that my Dad got us tickets to see them play the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in August, and I plan to buy and wear a Navy baseball jersey and my now 8 year old, beaten up, filthy Red Sox hat to it. Should be a good time.

In terms of politics, my support is tentatively behind Fred Thompson. For starters I am of course conservative, I strongly dislike Clinton, and though I disagree with many of his ideas, I do like Barack Obama, but now way in hell is he experienced enough to be the President of the United States. He reminds me of my High School class president who promised more senior free time, class selection, other perks, etc.., but had no actual idea of how exactly he was going to get this done.

On my own side of the aisle, were this 10 years ago I probably would have gone with McCain, but he is really getting up there in age, and it certainly seems as if his campaign is losing steam quickly. Giuliani isn't too bad, but I sort of see his entire candidacy being a result of him happening to be Mayor of New York when 9/11 happened. I just like Thompson, and am pretty pleased with his biting sense of humor and acerbic attitude towards all the left wingers ALREADY criticizing him, though he is technically not even a candidate yet. Also, his response to Moore's "clever" remark about him smoking Cuban Cigars even though he (rightfully) bashed their health care system and Moore's as per standard misleading depiction of it in relation to our own, was pretty funny. In case you didn't see it, for starters, Google it immediately, but the gist of it was Thompson telling Moore he belongs in a nut house, while smoking a Cuban cigar. It was legitimately funny, not just funny in a fake politician joke sort of way.

And so it goes again

2007-04-09T20:12:00.000-05:00

Long time no update. Since my lats entry, I am single, and no longer attend WPI. Part of me wishes it hadn't cost me 50k or so to do, but I came to realize that a desk job just wasn't for me. I will always value my fraternity brothers, but even Crow wasn't enough to stop me from making what I feel to be a necessary and long coming change in my life.

Currently, I am E-3 in the United States Navy, and will be going off to basic in November, and then to South Carolina for two more years of schooling to work on the Nuclear reactors of aircraft carriers.

Part of me is scared thinking about all the creature comforts I will be leaving behind for at least the next six years, but I think this is the best route for me, patriotic as I am. Part of me wishes I could relive my senior year in high school and the last two years of college over and over again, but nostalgia, more than grief, anger, or any other emotion I have ever encountered, I have found to be the great limiter of people's will to completely start again.

I wish I had stayed in better contact with my High school friends, and now, saddened by that experience, I at least know not to make the same mistake with my college friends.

20 years old. Everything has changed.

Worth fighting for

2006-06-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

I had an interesting conversation with Erin yesterday, revolving around how little we have in common, and what I have been doing that sort of makes those differences hightened, without getting too much into it. I'm glad she brought it up, I think it made our relationship stronger in the end. She did have a good point, we do seem to have little in common, althoguh I don't think we've really looked for much in common, and I'm sure there are things we just havent found yet, and I know I'm willing to fight hard to make it work with her.

I also talked to Titter's cousin some mroe last night, she's pretty fun natured, and provided me with ltos of innuendo to use to annoy her cousin, which I found pretty hilarious. Now that almost every single guy in the fraternity is gunnign for her, I think it may have finally dawned on Titters that bringing attractive relatives to a fratermity may not be the wisest course of action to ensure one doesn't wind up with thoughts about their cousin and another brother they may not necessarily want. Jen's a smart girl though, I'm sure she notices, and most likely even milks this, which is pretty funny. Those two are so similar its uncanny sometimes.

Oh, and one last thing, for those of you who dont use it, Pandora is an amazing tool for finding new music, and the way in which it determines what musis it thinks a listener will like is pretty ingenious, however, it still needs to work out some bugs. For example, after listenign to Tool, Slipknot, the Deftones, and other variosu heavier bands for about an hour, Pandora decides the next appropriate song to play would be Journey's "Dont Stop Believing." While I do like that song, I can't help but give Pandora a slow clap for that one.

And so it goes

2006-06-04T10:45:00.000-05:00

Well, I got payed again, it would seem they upped my pay to 7.50 an hour without telling me, which is strange, but fine I suppose. My dad got me an in with Providence and Worcester Railroad, so I have to schedule an interview their soon. They pay would be almost double what I'm making at subway right now, but at the same time, I can work the Subway job during the school year, and I'd feel bad about quitting so soon after being hired.

I'm still douing shittly in my classes, so I'm going to send and email to my professors tomorrow asking what I can do to make up the work I missed. I mean, this is Physics and Calc 1, which I took at Honors and AP level in high school, respectively, so I know the material, it's just I can't seem to sit down and start the work, which is insanely frustrating.

I talked to Erin, and in a few weeks, work permitting for both of us, since she just got a job at Quizno's back home (first liking the Yankees, now working at Quizno's when I get a job at Subway :-P), we'll be going to main and spending a day or two in Ogunquit in a few weeks. I havent been there since last summer with Julie, and I can't wait to bring Erin there, it's such a gorgeous beach.

Speaking of Julie, reading here latest livejournal entry, it seems she still holds some ire for BLS, hell, other than Star Trek, she seems to be pretty bitter about anything having to do with me. I guess its not to be totally unexpected, but still, it's been monthes since we broke up, and she's still pretty passive agressive about it, I had kidn of hoped we would be friends, I mean, we were for 6 years before we dated, but it doesn't seem like she wants that, so I guess oh well is all I can say, since I don't want to fight with her about it.

It's been over 2 weeks since I saw Erin, and I miss her more and more every day.

Payday

2006-05-26T21:11:00.000-05:00

So ya, I got my first paycheck from Subway today, $281.26. Not too shabby, but the owner called me today to say there had been a clerical error and that they forgot to deduct my taxes from the paycheck, so my next one will be docked both for this week and the week upcoming, which sot of sucks.

I really need to catch up on my classes, I can't believe how far I've fallen behind in two classes in which I already know all the material. I wish I could just will myself a better work ethic, but life is never that easy.

I had to skip a party today, a friend of my girlfriend's graduation party in CT, mainly because I had work and had no way of getting there, combining to make it an impossible trip. She went though, coming from Albany, and drunk dialed me (though she had planned on calling me anyway, in all fairness) so I guess the party was fun. I hope I get to see her again soon, I can;t believe how much I miss her. I mean, it's a good thing, but even when I dated Lindsay, she lived in England, much further away than Albany, and I didn't miss her nearly as much. I just hope I don't wake up one day and Erin won't be there anymore, but thats a paranoia type of fear more than a legitmate one.

Anyway, I'm closing Subway both tommorrow and Sunday, so I can expect a good chunk of change for the horus I'll work those two days, even if the store won't, with everyone gone for memorial day and all.

This will be the first memorial day I don't spend in Boston.

Going into work even when I'm not on today

2006-05-25T07:47:00.000-05:00

Well, have to head into work today, I don't usually work on Thursdays, but the guys at subway have figured out that I used to do PC repair, and, as such, want me to work on theirs. Apparently, they're having some problems connecting to a server, though my manager didn't actually seem to know which one, I would have to guess some sort of Subway inventory database.

I saw the Da Vinci Code yesterday, I don't know what all the critics are complaining about, I mean, it's clearly no masterpiece, but it was entertaining still. I really don't see what people were expecting, since the book itself was the same way, entertaining, but no masterwork.

I've taken to using pandora more and more nowadays, just to try and find new music, I seem to hear less and less of it on the radio these days. I love the program, www.pandora.com , but it still needs some work, I get soft emo type stuff still when my only base artist on the sation they generate is Tool, that's a bit of a genre gap. Still, better than nothing I suppose.

Starting Again

2006-05-24T08:31:00.000-05:00

So, starting this back up again, lol, the first thing I notice logging in is that my test post has four spam comments on how it is inquisitive, and how i should read so and so's blog. School is very hard at the moment, even summer classes, though by all rights they shouldn't be, since i know the material in both so well as it is, it's just so hard to actually sit down and start work, and has led me to decide I'm going back on aderall to help with classes. I hated its side effects, but with my financial aid in serious jeopardy, I don't think i really have a choice. Anyway, things with erin are going amazingly, I serious cannot believe how lucky I am to have found her, and she seems to feel teh same back, althoguh admittedly not as much yet, after her last relationship, that's understandable, but I would be lying if i said it still wasn't a bit of a downer sometimes.
I'm living at the Alpha Chi Rho house now, even in the summer it's a blas, and my roomate is pretty cool, if completely insane, but I'm definately not one to judge in that respect. Oh, and I work at Subway now, it's not an easy job, persay, but its still alright, my coworkers are cool. Speaking of work, I should be getting ready for that.

PS, coincidentally, this is exactly 2 years after i created the blog, how about that huh?

test post

2004-05-24T20:05:00.000-05:00