Soapboxes

I really do want to update this blog everyday, its a resolution, and I have also taken a bunch of pictures to post too. I meant to yesterday... and I wanted to say how much this new presidency means to me... in response to the inauguration, but then, I got side tracked.

These pictures are from Sunday I think, and I have others too, I took a walk in a park near the sound (Myrtle Edwards Park) at about 4pm to 5pm... and the sun was so pretty. I am going to write the rest of my update between the pictures, even though they have nothing to do with anything else I have to say.

What an Obama presidency means to me, number one, the rest of the civilized world will respect us... hopefully. I know on one side Bush seemed like a guy you could invite to your barbeque, and not really clean up your yard, a regular guy, but on the other side, he also seemed like a retarded asshole, to be blunt, and a bit of a puppet. At least Obama seems literate. Just to stay semi bipartisan, McCain would have been a huge step up as well.

Number two, now that we have a democrat in office I feel we can all critize our government, for the last few years it has felt to me, that I couldn't say bad things about things I didn't like without being hissed at for being unamerican. Now we can both express our feelings, about what we like and don't like, thank god.

Things I hope for, well, I would like some resolution to this war, I hope we don't pull out so soon that we leave the Iraq in a shambles, a ripe ground for future terrorists, but I feel more confident there isn't a hidden agenda going on.

I hope our economy gets better, its in a terrible state, I don't even really blame Bush for it, it was something coming to a head for a long time, you can't make money for nothing forever. There will a bunch more about this for a long time, or it might just feel like a long time... and in the end, since no one can really agree on what to do, we might not even realize what helped fix it. Everyone points to the Great Depression, and how we got out of that, and from the podcasts I have been listening to, the only thing economists can agree on about the Great Depression, is there is no way to be certain what got us out of it, they can't even really point to the end of it.

It seems like Obama plans to invest in a greener infrastructure, and I think this is a good idea, and not just because I am a greenie person, but because, the oil won't last forever, my lifetime or more, certainly, but there are going to be problems with new technologies, lets figure those things out now, when it isn't a crisis... Some say exploiting our own oil sources is the answer to dependence on foreign oil, but our oil companies are under NO obligation to sell us our oil, they will sell it at the highest bidder, why wouldn't they, so in the end the oil is no cheaper... only if we can produce enough to flood the market, but why would any reasonable capitalist flood the market. What will it hurt to expore new options? Other than creating a few jobs for a while.
I also hope that maybe we can keep church and state separate, now. I would like to say, if your basis for making the law is the Bible, maybe we should rethink it. We don't live in a theocracy, we live in a democracy. Lets take abortion as an example, or even contraception - yes, in a perfect world there would never be an unwanted child and no one would ever have sex without a committed relationship, is the world perfect, no, there are teenagers in it, there is sexual violence, there are just plain accidents with people who are committed, but not ready. As a buddhist, I don't believe in abortion, its not a choice I could make, but I don't have the right to make this hard decision for anyone else. I have held friends hands over this, while they made their decisions, and its hard... but not my place. People want to remember a happy time where women never had abortions... but you know, no such time. So, with abortion not an option, no real desire for children, my option is contraception, or never have sex again.. yeah, thats a hard one. But for teenagers, and young adults, I think the parents instill their values in their children, but, kids are kids, and a condom can save their life.
I am getting off my soap box now, its tiresome... on a completely different note, I have been doing weight watchers for about 2 months, I will say I was still bad over the holidays, and as of today, I have lost 10.8 pounds, from 193 to 182, so, it will take a while to get to 130... but I am closer. I am thinking about training to walk a 1/2 marathon too, but, if I get this job at the Initman, I am not sure what sure of time committement I can make to it. More on that later.