Liberals are NOT the Root of all Evil

Amid all the bad news being reported (record deficit by our current administration; more bombings: Iraq, India, Turkey, etc.; job losses; rising costs; the list goes on and on) is the story about the gunman who killed two people and wounded seven others in a church in Knoxville, TN, because – among other things – he hated liberals and the liberal stance. I find it very interesting that there have been many stories over the years of this type and they are, as far as I can remember, always a conservative shooting a liberal. Remember all those bombings and shootings related to abortion clinics?

What’s wrong with being liberal? Are they anti-society? Are they out to take control of the world? Do they secretly worship the devil? I’ve looked around at a number of Web sites (and a selection of books) and find an unbelievable amount of hysteria and inflammatory remarks about the dreaded liberals. However, real life is not written in just black or white. Everything is some shade of gray. Unfortunately the popular press, the news media, and a great many others want to cast everyone and everything as “us vs. them” – and “them” is always evil.

Do you know where you stand on conservative vs. liberal? If you select several people at random and talk with them you are bound to find out that they have a number of views that are conservative and a number of views that are liberal. Where do you stand? If you are curious, take this Political Quiz to see where on the sliding scale of liberal vs. conservative you stand. You might be surprised.

I also came across another site, the Student News Daily, with a lengthy table listing the differences between liberal and conservative. Personally, I’ve always thought of myself as a liberal (open minded; willing to listen; willing to tolerate other’s views and differences; belief that abortion should be left up to a woman and her family, not the government; pro-environmental protection; pro-science; belief that a huge government is not the best government; among other things). I would hope that this does not make me a target for someone toting a gun just because they disagree with me. Everyone is an individual and if we shoot everyone that doesn’t agree with us there will be no humans left alive on this planet. Oh, for the record, my quiz score puts me only slightly to the liberal side.

What happened to common sense? Is it just me, or is the human race going crazy? Where is compassion, understanding, patience? Current events are scaring the heck out of me. I don’t know whether to go outside and scream at the top of my lungs or build an underground bunker and hide till it’s all over.

Some Travel Photos

I have always enjoyed photography and try to take a camera with me wherever I travel, even if it is only my little point-n-shoot digital. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite point-n-shoot photos with you. These first two were taken when I got to travel to the island of Terceira in the Azores on a business trip:
This next one is a sunset shot that I took in my front yard. Yea, it's not a travel photo, but it's one I like. I knew the light wouldn't hold for long and I didn't have time to set up my big camera and tripod, so I just grabbed the little camera and steadied it on the roof of my car.
These last two are from a cruise I went on last year. Once again I only took the little camera, mostly because if something happened to it I wouldn't be out too much money. But once again the little camera did OK. The moonlight photo was taken by holding the camera on the railing of the boat.

You don't need fancy equipment to take good photos, just open your eyes to the beauty of the world around you.

2008 Presidential Candidates

Last week I wrote about how disinterested I am in the national elections this year. This got me to thinking about who the candidates are and what choices we really have. For good or bad, the only candidates with a real chance of actually winning are the Democratic and Republican (I did that alphabetically only with no intended implication of one being better than the other) candidates. However, they aren’t the only guys running for our highest office. I did some checking and was really surprised at how many people were vying for the job. Vote Smart has the full list, check it out here.

Because the popular vote does not determine the winner in the Presidential election (it’s all done by the Electoral College) it is pretty useless to vote for anyone other than one of the two main candidates. The absolute best person for the office could be running under some other party and they have virtually no chance of winning the election, even if they get the most [popular] votes.

How does someone win the election? All they need is 270 Electoral College votes. It’s that simple. And you thought your vote mattered! Eight years ago we had an election where the popular vote went to one person and the office went to the other. Check out this link to find out what the current standings are.

Still want to vote for one of the two main candidates? Not sure which one? Take the quiz at the Washington Post to see which one of them is closest to you on important issues.

2008 Elections

I came across this while surfing through some of my favorite blogs the other day. It's a new word recommendation for the dictionary:

Elec-tile Dysfunction: The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either of the two political parties in the 2008 election year.

This really resonated with me. Back in January I wrote a blog about the primary elections going on in my state and why I felt disenfranchised by the whole mess. Well, I still don't feel any better about the whole process. Our nation is going through a series of very difficult 'economic corrections' right now and I, like many folks, have little faith in my elected officials being able to do anything constructive about the situation.

The local area of politics, and maybe the state level, is the only place I'm interested in. It is the only place that I feel I have any real control over my future and any real say in the outcome of the election. As for the national election, I'm still trying to decide who my write-in name should be for president.

Signed,
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