Forces of Nature

After that nice referral that Nevsky gave me, I haven't had anything to say all week (or the time to say it).

One of the things on my plate is dealing with network administration/administrators and I have to say that we can definitely update the old quote, "For every economist there is an equal and opposite economist" (which is true), to "For every network administrator there is an equal and opposite network administrator". I think that next I will give them weapons, put them in a pit, and let them fight it out like gladiators.

Where Are We Going, And Why Am I In This Handbasket...?

I cling desperately to the surface of my planet as I feel it veer off course, potentially heading straight into a black hole. Why do I feel this way?

Stepford U is operating quietly in the rural hills of my state, creating Stormtroopers for the Evil Empire.

A Republican Senator is not only surfacing the idea of reinstating the draft (I told you that when they beefed up their oversight of the draft board it was a bad sign), but he thinks we should be HAPPY about it. "Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?" he ponders. Uh, maybe because we have been demonstrating in the streets against the Iraq war from the get go, there is no international support (I would have swallowed my opinion if the UN had bought into it), and we already have enough of our fathers, husbands, and children dying over there??

Hello there, great gaping maw of a black hole...

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World...

When I read Tom Tomorrow's post about last night's 60 Minutes show I thought, "Why haven't I heard this already? Why aren't people marching in the streets?"

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You

The reason you shouldn't ask is because you won't like the answer.

The soldiers are being required to stay in Iraq longer. *sigh* These are the things that make me want to lie down in the middle of the floor. Earlier this week I heard a man on NPR who is the father of three young men in the milirary, two of whom are in Iraq, and the guy is protesting the war. He read a pretty poignant letter from one of his sons that said, basically, you can either pick up a gun and go help the soldiers or you can pick up a sign to protest the war to try to get them home. Otherwise you just need to shut up.

Ask What You Can Do For Your Country

I'm so excited that I'm running in circles. John Kerry is proposing that we pay for students pursuing public service by limiting the profit banks can make off of guaranteed student loans. This is the first thing I've seen with Kerry's name attached that made me want to run up to Massachusetts and hug him.

Kerry contends that as many as 500,000 young men and women would be lured into public service by his plan, which he said would reinvigorate the nation's commitment to such service.

Heck, I'd do almost anything if you paid off my student loans. But then again I'm predisposed to public service (my history includes federal, state, and volunteer positions), so it's not like a two-year public service position would be a big deal to me.

What do you think? Are the kids of today willing to do public service? Should they need the incentive of a free college education to contribute only TWO YEARS of public service to their country, state, or community? Further, have college costs gotten out of hand?

Get the Smelling Salts...
...it's time to rouse Lady Liberty

Lady Liberty, soul of the American Nation, it is time for you to wake up. More of your children are dying in a war that is unjust*.

I support our troops. I don't support the war in Iraq.

*Note: If you haven't been in and about DC you may not realize that the Washington Times is the CONSERVATIVE/RIGHT WING paper. The fact that they reported on Blix's statements without comment is as close to censure of the GOP as I could expect from them.