Political parties

When we go to the voting booths in August, and again in November, how will we decide who to vote for? If you're like most Americans, you'll look for the D or R after their name, and mark accordingly. While a political party can be a good indicator for what a candidate stands for, should it really be the sole, or even the primary motivation behind voting for them? When you look at the ballot this fall, ask yourself what you really know about the candidates, or the issues on it. Ask why you are voting this way or that, and see if you can justify your actions with more than party-line votes.

When we elect leaders to represent us, that is what we should be voting for: leadership. We should seek out candidates who will not make every decision based on how the winds of politics is blowing today, but on what they know is right and wrong. We need leadership who will lead, as a statesman should, not politicians who will do anything for power.

Basically, vote for the person, not the party. This is the only way that we can change the political beast that has taken over most areas of government.

Mexamericanada

An extremely disturbing website came to my attention this afternoon. I mean this sincerely, it is a real website, published by the US government. The website is SPP.gov, that stands for Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America. The description sounds an awful lot like that of the European Union.

The question is, what are our leaders doing? Are they really trying to merge with Mexico and Canada? It certainly seems so.

This organization, if it does turn into a North American union, would violate our national sovereignty more than the UN ever has. America was founded as a sovereign nation, and if we are going to merge with another nation, it must be through the constitution, not some "international" body.

This is another example of globalism run amok. America is the most powerful nation on earth; we have the resources and the people to compete and excel in the world, if we are only allowed to do so. Diluting the wealth and power of the US will not help us. We need to shore up the foundation of this nation, not add more infrastructure, corruption, and regulation to an already overstressed legal system.

I may be overreacting (but what are Blogs for?); however it seems to me that something must be done, or we may just wake up one day, and find ourselves no longer citizens of the United States, but of Mexamericanada.

Video Games

As most of my readers (assuming, of course, that I have any) know, I have spent much of my life playing video games. I really was, at one time, addicted to them. However, in the past few months, I have simply had too much to do to spend very much of my time gaming. I've gone to a couple of LAN parties, and played a little here and there, but nothing like any previous summer. They say that "absence makes the heart grow fonder," but this has definitely not been the case with me and video games.

I've gone back and looked at some of the games I have not yet beaten, and watched my siblings play games (ironically, almost all them I purchased), and I just don't see any reason to play them like I used to. In the past, I justified playing for several reasons. 1) Stress relief, 2) Forces you to think (only worked on a few games), 3) Engaging Story and 4) Entertaining.

I have found that none of these justifications really holds watter when compared with other activities. There are far better ways to relieve stress than causing the destruction or conquest of a digital world. There are definitely better ways to force yourself to think. As for engaging stories and entertainment value, some of the lamest books I've read, and even most movies, had better stories than the majority of video games I've played, especially those made in the past couple of years. The only reasons I can come up with to still game at all is as a social activity (LAN party) or as a short distraction (like playing Mine Sweeper or Solitaire [or maybe something more interesting] for a few minutes). Neither of these justifies hours of gaming every day.

Basically, I've finally realised that what my parents have been telling me for years really is true. There really are better things to do with your time than sit in front of a TV or computer screen and play games. I know many of you still game too much, so my message to you is: Go get some fresh air, make sure you see the sun at least once a day, and pick up a better hobby, like sword fighting.

Deja vu?

I was reading about the recent presidential election in Mexico, and the course of events sounds strangely familiar. A leftist candidate and conservative candidate have an extremely close race, the initial count indicates that the conservative is the victor. However, the vote count is so close, a recount is necessary. Throughout the recount, the indicated winner changes back and forth, and in the end the conservative candidate still wins. However, that is not the end of the story, the leftist candidate, not willing to loose in a fair fight, appeals the decision in court, accusing the conservative of fraud and cheating.

I couldn't help but remember the 2000 presidential election here when I started hearing about this. Do you think the result will be the same? You'd think Politicians would learn that whining rarely pays off.