Tag Archives: Philosophy and Politics

Computers and Cars

So I’ve had a shift in scenery to Bellingham since yesterday, which is, as usual, quite welcome. It’s interesting to go somewhere else for a little while and just sit around doing nothing but observing and relaxing. Well, not entirely true — we’re still doing some things, Amanda and I, though perhaps not as much as we could be doing. Not that I’m complaining or anything!

I’ve been thinking the last little while about the implications of being a licensed driver. I came into it later than most people, though that’s not all that uncommon judging from other people I’ve talked to. Obviously, it’s a great responsibility, both for the safety of others and for your own mobility. If there’s one thing that not getting my license officially for a few years showed me, it was that driving isn’t something to be toyed around with. That’s probably a lesson I had already learned by being in a head-on car accident back when I was about 15, but it’s driven home to me now that I’ve finally gotten a license rather than still sitting around with a permit for two or three years.

The fact is, I now have some measure of freedom with that license, even if I don’t have a car and I’m not a perfect driver. Everyone can improve, of course (some more than others, and some never improve). I somehow feel like I still have a long way to go before I can consider myself a “safe” driver. Perhaps that’s a misconception on my part about my driving skills and my comfort behind the wheel. Only time will tell.

Someone said the other day that I was crazy to switch all my computers to Linux, that I’d never be able to run anything. That’s one of the major misconceptions about Linux today. While it was once true that you had little or no accessibility to common Windows programs, the fact is, I’m running Macromedia Dreamweaver MX on this system (which itself is a SuSE Linux 9.1 Professional laptop). In addition, I will be loading Adobe Photoshop 7 for my graphics work in the near future. For the Linux people out there, I’m not relying on Gimp simply because I’m used to Photoshop and I’ve always been taught to use what you know. Granted, running Linux may lower the number of options I have in running Windows software, but that’s not that big of a deal — I’m not much of a gamer, so my Windows games don’t matter much. I may, however, research getting SimCity 4 and Civilization 3 on this system, just for fun.

It’s funny, there’s almost an overlap in my interest in computers and getting my license — switching to Linux has brought me a measure of freedom from having to pay higher prices for software, and has also allowed me a greater flexibility in tinkering with my systems. My license has given me physical freedom without tying me to other people to get me places. Granted, in the short term, I am still relying on others, but I hope for that to change quickly.

We’ll see what happens on both fronts.

Violence and Presidential Politics

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”

— Isaac Asimov, Salvor Hardin in “Foundation”

I came across this quote a few days ago while browsing through quotation pages. It strikes me how true this is surrounding the current situation in Iraq and the leadership that caused it. I’m not trying to point fingers here — merely suggesting that we don’t always listen to history or the things that others tell us when it comes to making historic decisions on the behalf of entire nations.

With the President losing backing from previous supporters and yet still being very highly ranked in this year’s Presidential race, this is definitely something to consider. There’s no question at this point that there are only two votes to consider here: Kerry or Bush for the next President of the United States. Don’t bother with Kucinich (who’s in it for his own image more than vested interest in this country’s future) or Nader (as my father put it, “A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush”, well evidenced in the 2000 elections). It’s down to those two — to me, it seems unquestionable that Kerry is the best choice, what with Bush’s track record on the war.

Is it too late for a write-in campaign for Joe Lieberman?

Advertising and Completing the Year

I have to say, I really love television ads that guilt you into doing things. Think Christian Children’s Fund, anything selling “ab-crunching machines” that are “medically proven” to work (anyone knows we can manipulate numbers — it’s called statistics), and weight loss ads. I should also note the extreme sarcasm in that statement.

Really, why do people think that tugging at the heartstrings (or at the fat or at the look or at the wallet) works? Easy. It does. The sooner we stop buying into this stuff, the sooner it all stops. Oh, I don’t disagree with the mission of the Christian Children’s Fund, in fact, I completely understand it; I just don’t believe in the advertising tactics.

Anyway, in case it wasn’t obvious, I’m done for the year. Moved out on Tuesday after going to my evaluation appointment and finding out that I got all 48 credits (plus 4 upper division programming credits) in Data to Information. Thanks to Amanda, I got moved out quite well, though we had some trouble getting everything into the car. That’s my fault for having so much crap in the first place.

Now that I’m home, I’ll just be doing mini-projects all summer and taking care of things that need to be taken care of. Top of my list are getting my room organized and getting my license. I’m hoping it’s a slow-ish summer, though I already have things on my calendar, including going back to the College for a few days this summer and going camping in late July.

In Memoriam

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

— Ronald Reagan

“When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.”

— Ronald Reagan

With great thanks, we remember former President Ronald Reagan, our fortieth president who did so much for this nation. He will be remembered for all time for his undying support and love for the nation he once represented.

U.S. Energy Dependence

A friend of mine, Sean Paul-Rees, wrote on Tuesday about the rising gas prices across the U.S. I have to say, I agree with him; hopefully, this will finally induce a shift towards less dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

However, this is unrealistic; the fact is, our current leadership under President George W. Bush has simply not been pushing for alternative energy schemes, despite such projects as the Apollo Alliance, which presents a ten-point plan to reduce our energy dependence. Key partners of this Alliance include Washington’s own Senator Maria Cantwell, Carl Pope, the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, and Representative Jesse Jackson of Illinois.

I also support the plan set forth by the Apollo Alliance, and support hybrid car technology and the improvement of transportation opportunities nationwide. I would be so bold as to suggest a national subsidy for the research and manufacture of hybrid car technology, offering tax cuts to business and organizations that choose to construct buildings conforming to LEED standards set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council (such as Evergreen’s own Seminar II building), and continuing to promote commute trip reduction programs for state agencies and businesses past a specific size.

Here’s hoping that the next President of the U.S. is smart enough to recognize that this should be one of the top national priorities and take steps to make it happen.

Truth in Magnetic Poetry

“Be ugly though fast as tongues.”

Thus spake the magnetic poetry muses as I fiddled with the magnetic poetry set we have up in the Writing Center this afternoon. For some reason, I found this to have a very faint glimmer of truth, depending on how you interpret it. You can interpret it as being an ugly person, yet being able to run fast. This isn’t really the one I was thinking of. No, the interpretation I like is being ugly as in being truthful, yet being quick enough to realize the power of your words and work accordingly.

Okay, this may seem as if it is quite a stretch to some, but think about it. Words have a power over us that is undeniable — if used in the right way, they wield an enormous amount of influence. The issue at hand is not tact, but rather, honesty: we should be honest enough to say what we think, but careful enough to make sure we also say what we mean. This is a lesson a lot of people never truly learn.

To me, it is a valuable lesson, and guides my tutoring work at the Writing Center. I tutor knowing that honesty is the best policy, and I’m unafraid to tell someone that their work has problems or to discuss those problems within the framework of the piece. The trick is to do it in such a way that it comes across as an impression about the writer’s work, rather than a criticism.

My two cents about the work I do.

Hydrogen in California

In California, Governor Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-7-04 on April 20, establishing a California Hydrogen Highways Network. It’s been reasonably well known since the Governor took office that he would be big on environmental issues (the clue was his conversion of his Hummer to hydrogen fuel, not to mention that it was a campaign pledge), but is this too big of a leap?

Hybrid gas/electric cars are all the rage at the moment (my particular favorite is the Toyota Prius 2004, highly rated by Consumer Reports, though the Honda Civic Hybrid is also very interesting). Hydrogen, however, has some concerns, such as reliability, accessibility, and safety (specifically, some concerns I seem to remember reading about surrounding the volatility of hydrogen causing highly inconvenient explosions — I could be wrong). Oh — not to mention cost issues. In fact, there was a story by Reuters in March of last year that suggests that hybrids are far more efficient in the long run.

The Governor has taken the first step to help the infrastructure of possible hydrogen-based transportation; the question in my mind: is this a waste of time and money?