Wordless Wednesday: Apparently I'm not the only one "following" the progress of Spirit and Opportunity...

(image courtesy of MarsPhoenix and Gizmodo)

Wordless Wednesday: while we're on a Star Wars note, it appears there was a truce while I was gone the other day...

That's it...

It's happened. That point in every debugging session where if I don't take a break I will cause myself or my computer physical damage. So I'm taking a break.

I've been mildly amused by reactions to the election last Tuesday. For several reasons. So here goes.

1. It's amusing how much the American people attribute to the President in light of how little he can actually do. Sure, he can suggest a bill, but law-making is entirely out of his hands. Sure, the confidence of the people in the President reflects somewhat on the economy, but there's not a dang thing he can do about it actually. Sure, he can say his plan includes tax cuts, improved programs, etc... but the legislative branch has to actually make the laws to implement them.

2. I've heard several people mention (mostly before the election) that if Obama were elected they would move to Canada (presumably because it's easy to cross the border???). People. Have you ever _been_ to Canada? Obama would make a pretty good right-wing nutcase up there.

3. I've heard several people express their sorrow and/or fear for our nation at the fact that Obama was elected. This is really funny to me. How much direct effect has the Bush administration had on your daily life? Really? The only direct affect the Bush administration has had on my life is that Federal Financial Aid was cut. And it's a lot more of a pain in the can to get on an airplane. Don't get me wrong. I voted for Bush both times, and I'm not sure the alternative would have been much different. It's just funny that people are so concerned about the future of the country now that a different idealogy will be in the White House. If you look at numbers throughout the last few decades, the so-called "GOP" has been the party to increase government spending and government size. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure 4 years of a different mindset will be that bad of a thing.

4. I've seen several petitions/groups asking for Obama to provide his birth-certificate. This is a good one. His mother is an American citizen people. Therefore, he is an American citizen. Do we really need to argue the point?

5. I have finally reached the point of complete apathy regarding the election process. My life's dream now is that someday there will be an election wherein I won't be trying to decide which of the major candidates will do the least worst job. After months of mud-slinging ("He's un-American. He's unbalanced. blah, blah, blah) I was completely fed up. While I like _some_ (not to be confused with "all") of Obama's policy ideas better than McCain's non-specfics, I don't really like either of their policy ideas, so I voted for Bob Barr.

6. I've heard a lot of people (not just my boss) say that Ron Paul would have been an ideal candidate 200 years ago. I'm not entirely certain a candidate who looked good 200 years ago would look so bad today. Most of my displeasure over the Bush administration stems from a less-than-intelligent foreign policy program. I agree entirely with Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and others who say we have _way_ too many problems here at home to need to be bothering with the rest of the world. There are certain things that I believe should not be allowed anywhere, anytime. Genocide is one of them, which is one of the reasons I think that we've accomplished something worthwhile in Iraq, even though I don't agree 100% that we should have been there to begin with. It's kind of irritating that so mass murder/genocide happens elsewhere in the world that doesn't rate the same kind of response. If you're going to be the international do-gooder, at least spread it around a little, eh?

7. As you might be able to tell, I'm a little fed up these days. The Bush administration has failed to make good on quite a few of its promises. The soon-to-be Obama administration has lots of ideas that look good on paper, but I wonder where they will get the money with the tax cuts he has proposed. Whatever happened to finding the best person for the job? Hence, my previously-mentioned life dream. Maybe someday.

8. Don't get me wrong here. I think George W. is a good guy, and I think he felt that he was doing the right thing most of the time. If I weren't so sick of the partisan mud-slinging fest, I probably would have voted for McCain, simply because on the whole I still feel that of the major parties (i.e. those whose candidates have a chance of being elected) the Republican party comes closer to my ideals than the Democratic party. It's just mildly amusing to me that so many people think a Democratic president (whose projected ideas are not much different than any other Democratic president we've had in the last few decades) signals the end of the world.

9. I am now done being amused at politics and will now return to debugging my graphics project.

(almost) Wordless Wednesday: that's 5 bags, with 5 bottles each

Happy birthday Hen. Hope 50 liters of Diet Coke is plenty for your celebration...

I suppose it could have turned out worse...