Today's Link: Sinfest
Today's Music: Kings of Convenience
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "He turns his money into light -- To look for her" U2

So... finished the extra-long work week, without going completely insane. That's always a plus. Anyway... I've decided to do a real, honest-to-goodness, up on a soap box, rant today. Aren't you thrilled.
Why does the government make me pay for other people to drive? I pay taxes, a lot of them, so does everyone else. but since I don't drive (my wife's car hasn't moved since thanksgiving) I don't pay as much tax as some people. But I'm sure that more of my taxes go to pay for the upkeep of roads and cleanup of the soot and corrosion from the exhaust of cars and their manufacture than those who drive big, heavy, fuel-inefficent vehicles do to pay for the lake-front bike path and the El. I'm not a person who thinks that cars should be banned or anything. There are professions where a vehicle is a necessity, even a large one. However, insurance salesman is not one of them, neither is soccer mom. Yet most of the really big, really badly designed vehicles are bought by these people. Anyway. You can draw your own conclusions, but I think if the manufacturer of a vehicle classifies it as a truck, it should be classified in all ways as a truck. Special licenses, added taxes and road restrictions should be as enforced on an SUV as they are on a commercial truck. That's all. What would you to aleviate the congestion and pollution?

Today's Link: GPF
Today's Music: Jurassic 5
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "Oh how difficult it is to make anyone see and feel in music what we see and feel ourselves." Tchaikovsky

More work today, my 11th day in a row out of 12. Whee. At least they feed us on Saturdays during the holiday season. All in all a rather un-eventful day. Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. Didn't get a chance to talk to him and we're in the middle of phone tag now, but he sounded like he was in a really good mood in the message he left me. So that's a plus.
I finished Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy today. It was good, but I think I'm starting to get a little burned out on the whole Thriller genre, and I wish Clancy would write more about his John Clark character instead of Jack Ryan. But hey... what can you do. Jack Ryan now has Harrison Ford associated with him and I guess if you have an option, you follow the money. I'd like to think that I wouldn't "sell out" like that, but then again, I've been working in a doll store for almost two and a half years, so I guess I don't have a lot of room to talk. If it goes at all in my favor I argue with them a lot. Oh well... a guy's gotta eat. And as long as I'm not an employee of Disney... I've got something of my soul left. Plus they let me do the holiday show, so I get to design a bit. So today's topic of discussion is What would you not do for money?

Today's Link: Yamichi Works
Today's Music: Jack Johnson
Current Book: Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy
Today's Quote: "Art is man's noblest attempt to preserve Imagination from Time, to make unbreakable toys of the mind, mud pies which endure" Cyril Connolly

Yesterday, on the train to work, I noticed a bit of grafitti, It was written in Ball point pen on the plastic seats, so it was a bit smudged, but it was fairly standard graphitti, it said "**** & **** 4Ever" but with one difference... after "4ever" it also said "hopefully." I don't know if this is kind of funny, or kind of sad. It's funny from the standpoint of the realisim of it and the fact that between using a pen that would wash off, and the "hopefully" the person is clearly acknowledging the fact that at the stage of life when you write "4ever" relationships are not generally permanent. But it's also sad, because there's clearly a loss of the faith and hope of youth. I can only wish whoever wrote that the best of luck. You never know. I met my wife when I was 14. And now she's the Best Wife in the Whole World©. So... I guess there's always a chance. I mean, how do you you know when you've met The One It took me 8 years to figure it out. I'm glad I did.

Today's Link: The Onion.
Today's Music: U2
Current Book: Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy
Today's Quote: I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. Kahlil Gibran

So... I'm on the train yesterday to work, and a guy gets on and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas. That's very friendly. However... as the trip continues, he begins to get louder and more abraisive, even threatening people and swearing. There were small children on the train. So, I'm wondering if the guy is drunk or crazy or what. However, I also noticed that every time the train pulled into a station and the doors opened he got quiet and waited until people were on the train before resuming his ranting. So maybe he was neither drunk nor crazy.
Would you do that? If you knew nobody would call the police or anything, would you like to, every once in a while, just be completely crazy. Announce your beliefs and ideas at the top of your lungs for the world to hear, whether they wanted to or not. I suppose that's kind of what I'm doing here, however if you don't want to read this you can leave with the click of a mouse. Hmm? So... Tell me... if you were going to get on a crowded train and announce something, what would you say?

A moment of silence.

Dear God. There is no reaction to the events of today that can even begin to sum up the feelings that I, and I'm sure everyone else, feels. Those responsible are, to be quite honest, doomed. There is no way that the US government, and that of the rest of the world, will allow these people to continue living. But beyond that... groups that claim to be Islamic have claimed responsibility for this. In the first case, they cannot truly be Muslims believers as they claim. Islam is a religion that values intelligence and peace. Secondly there is a passage in the Koran that basically states that if a believer knowingly kills another believer, they are destined for hell. There is no way that there were no Muslims in the WTC today. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.
And that's all well and good, but that will not protect those responsible. There will be retribution. Is this right? Part of me says no. No life is worth less than any other life. But by that same rule, are 2 lives worth more than 1? Are 10,000? Will we just create a martyr? But then, there is another part of me that says "Kill them, Make them Pay, Hunt them down and destroy them." The United States is the most powerful force in the world. And we're pissed. Yes... right now it's mostly shock. But as we see the names, faces, and lives of those who died today, we'll get angry. And that's not a good thing for the target of the anger.
What does this mean to us. Well... a lot is going to change. Air travel will be more complicated. Security tighter, questions tougher, and everyone just a little paranoid. Most of this is probably good. Obviously, security needs to be tighter. I know when I fly next month, I'll probably leave a little earlier to get through security. And I'll be just a little bit worried as I fly. But I will not let these people keep me from getting on the plane. They want to beat us and we cannot let them.
Part of that means we have to go on with our lives. We have to help out however we can... donate blood, donate to the Red Cross. Don't make jokes in airports, and don't be afraid to tell someone if you see something that doesn't look right. But at the same time we must stand up for the things that make us who we are. Whoever has done this is responsible for their actions, but those who look like them, believe in the same God or call Him by the same name, are not responsible. Show them the same respect that you want shown to you. And pray. it needs to be done.

Peace.

It's been said that everyone rises to their own level of incompetence. You may ask "what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Well, basically... as long as you can actually do your job, you keep getting promoted. Once you get promoted into a job you can't do, you stop getting promoted. So there you are sitting in a job you can't do, and no one will move you back down to the job you could do, because that would mean those who are higher up than you would have to admit that they were wrong. and we can't have that, now can we.
Now... to an extent this is true... with the exception of the fact that all of those people above you are probably incompetent for their jobs too, so they probably don't recognize the difference between ability and incompetence. So the structure becomes more and more top heavy with incompetents. And that's why life's a bitch. Whatever... I guess that's why hard work has to be it's own reward, because God knows... that's about the only reward you're getting.