November 2004 Archives

I have fallen in love with the SB-800. I still love my kitties more.

I had some random issues with my blog--blame it on Sam. If you catch any other bizarre errors when you're trying to view my site, just drop me a line. It's easy. Take an Erica, put an at sign after it, then the domain, sperari.com. So intuitive. :mrgreen:

Tune in, folks. Bush press conference time, and John Ashcroft is expected to resign. My least favorite component of the Bush bunch is (hopefully) getting the boot. Fantastic.

...as another libertarian[1] who's a mite uncomfy about the sudden and huge tip in the balance of power in the government. Hot damn, but I didn't expect that. I voted Bush, because I generally find the things I dislike about Bush (social policies--stuff like his stances on gay marriage and abortion and atheism) to be less threatening in terms of passable legislation than the things I dislike about Kerry (economic and foreign policies). But now, with a majority of the Senate, House, state governorships and the White House in Republican control, I'm really hoping Mr. Bush shows some restraint when he's doing nasty things like legislating his ideas of morality, which the rest of us may or may not share. Is it a strange idea that, with extremely limited exceptions, I want the least effective government possible? The dual-party system, while annoying me to no end, piles on the wonderful federalistic ideas of checks and balances, happily keeping our government from doing... well, much of anything other than appropriating money and declaring new holidays, since that's all they can really agree on most of the time. It's that fantastic old notion--the government governs best, that governs least--that drove the creation of the original system of checks and balances, and it's the same notion that makes even the legitimate removal of the unintentional ones ominous and scary. If you'd like to see the polar opposite of my attitude, check out Noah Weiss' free PDF at Change This, The United STATE of America. I bet a hawkish Republican mandate wasn't what he intended when he envisioned a 'unified American voice and policy'. :lol: [1] Whoopsie. I almost forgot the disclaimer. I'm a small-l libertarian; having been inside the Libertarian Party, even if only in the lowly role of a state press secretary for awhile, I really have no interest being associated with the official party. Reading half-baked, unedited, meandering drivel[2] from the Libertarian Party candidate for Nebraska's second seat in the U.S. House of Representatives makes me want to scream and join a commune. Reading sound bytes from the Libertarian Party presidential candidate that completely miss the salient points of the conversation they are meant to join makes me long for the long chats I used to have with my friend Anna, who was fascinated with--nay, worshipped--Kant. Yea, verily, I do loathe the Libertarian Party proper. Plus, I disagree with most of my small-l libertarian brethren that the war in Iraq was any of the following: not worth fighting, the new Vietnam, making the U.S. less safe, empowering the terrorists, taking our eye off the realy prize. [2] No, this isn't a double standard. I'm allowed to write half-baked, unedited, meandering drivel, because I'm not running for the ONE OF THE HIGHEST FREAKING OFFICES IN THE STATE OR COUNTRY WITH NO POLITICAL OR MILITARY QUALIFICATIONS WHATSOEVER. Did I mention that the Libertarian Party nominated these guys? There are paths of action here, guys.[3] You can change the system from outside the system, or you can change the system from inside the system. Either way, you need to know a thing or two about the system before you can freaking change it! How about a little crawling before we walk, and walking before we run? Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick. And they wonder why they can't get even 1% of the popular vote. [3] No, I didn't intend for this to turn into an angry, anti-LP screed. Look who's not running for office.

( Note that I can't decide if this is finished, or if it was finished after the first stanza. I can't decide if I'm satisfied. This piece makes me uncomfortable. ) I am a weakend petal, time is ruffled on my edge For I fold on every flat, and I finger every ledge And here, these aching bones--are they so much more than mass? These bodies leak potential, they refract like oily glass. The shine along the edge that lights the darkness of our doubt: The lost shall soon be found. The promise, not without. And then we seek the answers as we're buried in the black We step to every side, now blocked, but never stepping back. The slip, it falls around us, and the fabric piles low Pushed through the satin, I move yet! If ever stiff and slow. And where in water lies the current, driving to exclaim? She says in girls in other worlds--or here, who've lost their name. Don't fall too far. Don't bury deep. There's hope still in the air. Give root in shallow, hollow earth. A dream will find you there.

I know I haven't been writing here enough for this to matter to most folks, but I wanted to mention it quick. I've had a minor but consistent problem with comment spam over the last couple weeks, and as such, I've switched to moderated comments. I will approve comments quickly, if they're legitimate, so please don't let that discourage you from leaving your thoughts and responses. Thanks!