VOTE!

Well, my friends, this is it. In the mere two years since I started blogging to keep myself from a random killing spree, we have a true shot at redeeming ourselves here in the US of A. And make no mistake, when I say "this is it", I really mean it. Things must change. Our country can no longer bear the idiocy and incompetence that has oozed it's way into our body politic because of the knee-jerk voting habits of the ultra-religious (and hyper hypocritical) "base" of the right. Reasoned people are running for office this year. Good people that found that rising to the challenge of governance meant doing so out of the desire to see true change, not as an opportunity to become part of the Washington meat grinder that churns out a new corrupt lobbyist every time someone is leaving political office. No, there is no way to overstate this, things must change.

I will vote today, and in doing so, I bring with me a belief system just like many of the people I vehemently disagree with, but what I'd like to think is that my beliefs are second to my desire to see our government finally act out of the desire to help all of the people that reside here, not just the ones who look at life in the same way as I do. To me, the single issue voter is a loaded gun. A narrow-minded tactical weapon used to sway elections away from issues that will effect more than the people on their block. The "morality" based wedge-issue is their fuse, and what's been interesting in this election cycle is how little prominence the press has been giving them this year (aside from Iraq of course). I'm not saying I would wish to suppress the votes of the so-called "values voters", but what I would like is that if you belong to any group who chooses to demonize others for their behavior while ignoring the hypocrisies your leaders, I would prefer that these folks would stay home until such time as they have educated themselves on more than one issue dictated to them by their pastor by simply reading their states voting guide.

We have a right to vote. All of us do. It is our fundamental right and duty in this country. Don't let apathy or intimidation or any other such force imposed upon you deter you from what you need to do today. Most of all though, vote with a well informed conscience. It's your vote cast and yours alone. No one will know what you've said to the country in doing so, it's private. So say what you will to us today with a clear mind. As far as what you say, well, that's up to you. Good luck.

I'm still here

I'm pretty sure no one is reading this blog anymore, but if they are, just read the title. Most of the reason I've halted major operations on this site have to do with being physically unable to sustain the necessary amount of rage needed to write a really good and informed post. Politics, bahh! You see, in the intervening time, I've found it much more helpful to release my need to pursue truth and justice in the broader world we live in and focus on something much more pointed and urgent. I've become a capitalist. It's a wonderful thing. You should all try it some time.

Gone are the days when Mid East struggles boiled my blood and forced me into a mad tail chasing effort to eviscerated all who caused the world I once loved to tumble into chaos. No, now I just plan how much more I can get for the rental on my next job or how fat the business account is getting due to my rapid succession of 16 hours days. Yep, I'm sellin' out, I want the world to know, I've got to let it show!

Screaming "Money Fucking Rocks!" from every roof top in glamorous Sherman Oaks might mitigate some of the stress I've accumulated along with the rising pile of cash.... aaaahh crap. Who am I kidding here, I'm still broke. I'm just trying to believe some of my own hype right now so I don't freak out and run screaming from this little all consuming vortex of a business I've started.

Why do we encourage Americans to do this rather than vote? What is it about the fable of the American entrepreneur that seems to draw in millions more good hard working people rather than local city council elections? Why aren't I doing more to help the world rather than... well, making more money I can't seem to hold onto. The only reason I can come up with goes back to a daydream I had this morning.

Somehow, (either by Lotto or Gates Foundation grant) I had become unimaginably wealthy and imagined myself using every dime I had to buy CNN. Instantly, people such as Joe Scarborough and Nancy Grace were "put on notice", and I clearly let them know if they didn't start to practice real journalism, their heads were gonna roll. I was a tough boss and even though some hated me, they still respected what I was doing.

Then came the grand daddy of all fantasies. One day (as I believe truly happens) an administration official, someone of a Roveian stature, comes to visit me in my office. This official sits across from me and informs me that the president is unhappy with the recent left-leaning slant my network was taken. I sit and listen to a very long and veiled threat about regulations and tax breaks that will never come to pass if I play ball. It is at this point that I smile as I rise from my non-leather clad chair and inform him that everything he has just said has been tapped by a hidden camera crew and this meeting would lead this evenings news. Impeachments soon follow somehow.

I don't think the fantasy holds much water when it comes to the finer legal points or my ability to wrangle a couple billion dollars, but the point is still the same, money equals power. For now, this is the over ridding equation. So maybe this is why I've chosen the dizzyingly complex world of micro-finance, it's just one way to feel some pull in the world run by the shadow democracy of money. Too bad it'll keep me fixated on making more money instead of on the real matters of import. Weird thing is though, I'm enjoying it. CNN here I come!

Your vegan positive news article of the day:

A fisherman was recovering from surgery after he was speared in the chest and knocked into the Atlantic Ocean by a blue marlin during a fishing competition off Bermuda's coast.

Auto Lament

Last night at the Pharmacy while getting my EpiPen prescription (I hate bees!) the pharmacist told me not to leave the EpiPen in the glove box. I whimpered to him I don't have a car.
It's actually not true, I still have my vehicle but am selling it in about a month.
I think I sounded sad when I said I didn't have a car, but upon reflection, I think I am just in the mourning process of leaving the auto lifestyle. I think I have almost completed the grieving since I completely forgot I still have an auto.
I went outside in the 40 degree weather and had a great ride home.

Spring begins in less than a week...

It just continues to snow. We drove up the road about 10 miles on Sunday to ski. There was 3' on the ground, makes the cycling difficult.

Debtors Prison = Gitmo?

This is a long time coming I realize. I was just sharing with vuduvgn that I wasn't mad enough to post anything lately, then I read some blogs...

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

Read the whole thing to realize how totally effed up our country is right now. Just think about how many freedoms we've lost since Bush took office. Just list them one at a time. Then maybe you'll get really mad again, like me.

Bush hates fish and fat kids will rule the world

``The federal government has done absolutely nothing to help, and fishermen are angry,'' said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. ``It's almost like they created this Klamath situation to make them look competent on Katrina.''

The number of overweight children worldwide will increase significantly by the end of the decade, and scientists expect profound impacts on everything from public health care to economies, a study published Monday said.

Snow in Nevada City - Edit

We woke up to snow again in Nevada City. Not much, only about 3 or so inches, but still purdy.


Looking up Commercial St. from the office window.


Looking down Commercial St.


View over the next building to the trees beyond. Click for larger version.

Update: This is later on in the day.

From the office window

Biking as a Lenten practice

[Peter] Dula was ashen when he addressed us with his typed speech. His voice and his words conveyed the bitterness of the present-day situation in the Middle East, the Iraqi hatred for Americans, and his powerlessness to distinguish himself from the occupying military forces and contractors. He told us how he had recently been evacuated to Jordan after a rash of expatriate kidnappings, leaving behind new friends whose futures were unknown. Everything about Dula spoke to us of the horrors of seeing one's neighbors' children kidnapped, of walking with fear along a deserted street, of seeing churches exploding in the night.

By the end, our ethics class sat in stunned silence. The least we could hope for was some way to respond. Should we go to Iraq and do the same? Is it time to picket the White House? Write letters? What do we do? Dula's answer was clear and emphatic.

"Ride your bike."

He repeated this short phrase twice but the second time it sounded more like a plea than a suggestion. Then he walked from the lectern and left a befuddled crowd to ponder his words and, hopefully, to act upon them.