Running is therapy

When I was a wee pup, I remember the Polish Solidarity movement. It was all very interesting to me at the time. I think because my Grandmother found it interesting, so did I. She was Irish, not Polish, however she was a devout Catholic, and Catholics at the time supported Solidarity.

One figure from the time that was of particular interest was Lech Wa??sa. My Grandmother said his name flawlessly, however I always had a bit of a time of it. This pronunciation makes it a little easier…in case you too are a 30 something ex-catholic with an affinity for 80’s politics :)

I ran across this article that claims that Dennis Kucinich is interested in impeaching president Bush. My representative is Todd Platts(R)…I figured it was worth a shot. Also if anyone has other links that back up the claim in the link below, please forward them to me.

Mr. Platts,

Nathan Powell

If I disappear, I leave my cat boxes and all their contents to the folks who comment here on a regular basis.

**UPDATE** :)

Thank you for taking the time to send me an e-mail. It is especially
important and beneficial for me to learn the thoughts, views, and concerns
of individual citizens such as you. Annually, I receive over 20,000
e-mails, letters, phone calls, and faxes from constituents.

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS
Member of Congress
19th District, Pennsylvania

There is an interesting snippet in The Blood of the Fold book I am reading. When asked if other kingdoms will join in a fight against an oppressive regime someone in the audience asks:

What if we choose neither? It is against our principles to fight. We want to be left alone to go about our lives. What if we choose not to fight, to simply go about our business?

The reply given:

Do you arrogantly believe that we want to fight - you are somehow better because you wish not to? Should you enjoy the freedom to live by the same principles you refuse to help us defend?

Now, I am not putting this here in an effort to say that I think pacifism is wrong, or that being a conscientious objector is wrong, or any of that. I am more interested in the ideas and just thinking about them, not in making moral pronouncements. What interests me is the idea that there could be some conviction in the rebuttal. Leaving the current war in Iraq alone, and thinking on WWII (because that is more the type of war that is being discussed in the book). Do countries have a right to the peace, when they did nothing to secure it? My guess is yes, but I am not wholly convinced of why. In WWII, let’s say a country choose to ignore a cry for help from the Allies (I am sure there could have been such a circumstance, but I am not a WW2 historian) and the above was the exchange that ensued. Does the rebuttal carry some truth to it? I find it an interesting conundrum. On one hand I want to respect the sovereignty of nations to choose to abstain from war, but on the other, can they demand a peace they refuse to defend?

I don’t want to give the impression that I would favor attacking a nation that opted out of a war on pacifistic reasons, merely calling attention to the ideas that seem to be at odds.

What say you?

Disclaimers:
I did not serve in the military, nor do I want, nor did I ever want to. I do think there are reasons to declare war. I do think people should have the right to object to war. According to some things I have read, Terry Goodkind the author of the Sword of Truth series is influenced by, Objectivist Philosophy, and Ayn Rand’s writing in particular.

Incarcaration Rate By Country

I just want to put this out there. There was a story on reddit today about being vegetarian, and it’s overall effect on global warming. Most of the comments on reddit from vegetarians seemed apologetic in nature. Like “I am sorry I am a vegetarian, but” .

Look it. Screw that. I am a vegetarian, have been for the last 15 years. I don’t owe you an explanation. Next time you sit down to dinner with someone who doesn’t eat meat, don’t ask them why they don’t eat meat. It’s none of your business. If you want to eat dead animals and be a dick about it, that’s your baggage… don’t ask me to defend myself.

2008 presidential election…I want to seal my prediction here.

John Edwards wins, with Barak Obama as vice president.

I have heard many opinions on the legacy of Gerald Ford in the past few weeks. While I was alive during his presidency I don’t recall it at all (the first President I remember is Carter). There have been a lot of folks characterizing the the pardoning of President Nixon as a selfless act that let the country heal. I am not sure that isn’t revisionist history, but what I do know is that when I see snippets of him on film, being interviewed or whatever, I do think he seems like a rather nice person. Perhaps had I been older than 4 when he was defeated I might think differently. I do know that as an adult, he seems like a grandfather and decent guy. For all I know he was a jerk and kicked old people and hated puppies…but he seems nice :)

I was watching a campaign ad for some politician. In the ad an opponent was dispariged for wanting to send more troops to Iraq. While I don’t know anything about either person in the race, I _do_ think that sending more troops should at least be considered. One of the reasons, in my opinion, that Iraq has gone so poorly is that the troops have been understaffed. Generals predicted that we would need several hundred thousand troops in Iraq to quell the violence after the toppling of Saddam.

See, no matter what one thinks of this war, it’s important to not lose site of the fact that we ARE already there. The reasons for going were lies. The mission was a fools errand, but, we ARE there. As an American I think we are compelled to do the right thing. We OUGHT to fix this mess. Maybe the answer is to pull out, I don’t know, I don’t pretend to know. However, sending more troops shouldn’t be off the table. I’ll tell you this…neither side will do that. As I see it, because of the current political situation, we have two choices. Pull out and let the place degrade to chaos, or stay and let undermanned troops die. It’s a flase dilemma created by the inept children who are running our great nation into the ground.

* EDIT typo *

http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/10/santorum-for-whom-shame-has-no-meaning.html

Recently I ran into a bunch of blog posts about a group called Scientists and Engineers for America.

Scientists and Engineers for America, dedicated to electing public officials who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy.

I find that very interesting. Smart people looking at candidates and then reporting on how science friendly they are. I will be adding this site to my list of where to get voting information.

If you care about science and think that American politics is not doing it’s part to foster the use of science in it’s decsion making, you may be interested in the site as well.

Hopefully the silver lining in the current political climate is that good men will not stand by and do nothing, rather they will get sick of the rhetoric and ideology and push for change.