The Six Best Reasons Not To Vote

This guy says it better than I ever could. Especially the "Methodology" section. He didn't mention the whole electoral college foolishness but that's ok. He said enough.

Hey did you see that episode of South Park about the folly of voting?

I love having a job where I get a day of the week off. It's very useful. I can get things done. Places aren't as busy. I hate having an unsure schedule every month or so but I'm focussing on the positives right now. I like the freedom and the change of pace. But sometimes it makes me a little insecure. Walking around the grocery store with my peeps (read : wife and children) makes me feel like everyone around me is looking at me thinking, "Shouldn't that guy be at work?" "Doesn't he have a job?" "He doesn't look like a rock star or Internet billionaire or fortune heir..." Screw them though. I'm buying lunch meat.

Ok. A few minutes to myself.

I've been pretty busy lately since I've been promoted to supervisor of the department of the library I've been working in. It's great to be the boss, being able to more freely make changes and try things, but it is a little bit more work. And it's a little bit more stressful having to be constantly "on", making decisions, being responsible and keeping a good face on everything. Not only that, but I'm still no less responsible for the regular responsibilities I had before. But it's fun, and the money's better, and it will look good on a resume. Isn't that sufficient justification for anything? *laugh*

Well, I guess I'll get back to taking care of the kids.

Another weekend, another chance to get a whole bunch of put-off things done. But as anyone with a newborn (or worse, a newborn and an older child) knowns, sometimes it's just impossible to get things done regardless of the "free time" on your hands. Just as you're trying to get down to some serious dish-washing or sorting or laundry or even sleeping, some little mouth starts wailing or spitting or chewing on something it shouldn't. But that's ok. It's worth it for when they're quiet and you've got a chance to just sit and watch them look back at you. Yep. It's worth it for those 2 seconds.

"Delusions of Empire"

Interesting article. A little extremist but interesting to think about. I would say that the author's understanding of "creating our own reality" is a little too literal, I think. They could be thinking that but it's unlikely. What the unnamed advisor was probably talking about was that reality to people is not simply what is real but rather was is perceived as real. Perception is everything and specifically practically so in politics. I don't think they are saying that they change reality but rather that by their actions and communications, they are controlling what people see and hear and therefore believe. Still very Machievellian and kinda Big Brotherish but not as outright delusional as think they are god-like.

Ok. I guess being from Canada and enjoying the cold more than most people biases my judgement a little but it's really funny how the slightest drop in temperature really affects people in the NYC area. During previous months, when I started my day at the library, I would see almost a hundred people clammering to get into the library, waiting outside the front doors, pressing their noses to the glass, almost an hour before we open the doors at ten. And they keep coming throughout the day. It gets a little colder (what is it now, about 54 degrees Farhenheit or 12 degrees Celsius?), and that number drops to about 20 or 30 and barely a trickle after the initial rush.

I see people wearing scarves and earmuffs and big parkas... And I'm not talking about the old and the invalid. These are the young, the athletic, the strong and healthy. But obvious they are also the temperature sensitive.

Or maybe it's just impatience for different fashion season.

So, we've all heard about Mrs. Kerry's comment about Laura Bush. *yawn* 1. I wish people would stop worrying about what the spouses of the candidates do or say. Nobody's voting for them. When I applied for my job, I didn't drag my wife into the interview so they could see what an upstanding citizen she is. 2. It's a shame that the general public and the media can't accept an apology that has already been accepted by the person who was insulted. And 3. We all know exactly what she meant : that Mrs. Bush doesn't really seem like the real-world hardened type, at least not compared to Mrs. Kerry. Being a school teacher and a librarian can be trying sometimes but not always. And forgetting for the moment that Mrs. Kerry did mention being a mom despite everyone saying she forgot about it, being a mom isn't a job. Hard work, definitely. But so is being a father, mowing the lawn, painting your own house, being a good person, studying for finals, etc. They are chores, tasks, assignements, occupations (in an informal way, as in a thing occupying your time), etc. But they are not jobs. Not in the way that most of us use that word.

Use some common sense, people.

Regarding sports fans and their teams winning or losing : Firstly, If they were half as excited about the world, their neighbours, their jobs, their kids, their spouse/significant other, etc as they are about "their team" and the chances of them "going all the way" this world would be a much better place than it is. If we could just harness that energy. Wow. Secondly, It's really sad that many of these people do not "allow" themselves the happiness they feel when their team wins at times when it doesn't. It's sad that so much of their joy in life is dictated by events that do not help their lives in any way.

*sigh* Just my reaction to having to hear about the Red Sox and the Yankees incessantly on my way home last night and much of this morning.

Finished reading "The King of Elfland's Daughter" by Lord Dunsany. I've heard that this man's other work is a little confusing and reading this, although not so, I can understand it. This fantasy work about the interaction of a small human village and it's nearby neighbour, Elfland is refreshingly unlike a lot of other mindless filler fantasy works churned out of the system much too often now. They are entertaining, yes, but this is truly interesting and thought-provoking. Even just the wording and style is enjoyable. Find this and read it.

Have I mentioned that I love the Daily show with Jon Stewart? Funny and interesting, Jon Stewart should almost be doing serious political reporting and analysis. And thanks to an entry from a hilarious blog that my wife usually reads, I got to see a clip of Mr. Stewart being who he is on a little show he was invited to called Crossfire.

Well, I've encountered one of the very few movies that I have been forced to stop watching in the middle. Shallow Hal is onstensibly about seeing the inner beauty in people not normally seen by the average person as beautiful, but I don't think it really hits the mark. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea and Jack Black is damn funny, but this movie just didn't strike me as particularly engaging. I don't know. Maybe it was just the boring, usual "fat jokes" that were never funny to begin with [like Paltrow's character constantly eating]. I know that it was supposed to be a comedy but it just didn't make me want to sit through it to the end. Oh well. It was just on TV so no big loss. Try it if you want. Maybe you'll have more luck.

Huckabees for philosophy majors only

Cool. I'm in then. You know, after reading this, I only want to watch the movie moreso, if that was possible. The media wins again.

So, here's my personality disorders. I don't know if I agree with everything said here. I think I'm quite antisocial.

The right hand knoweth not...

Yes! This is so true. Despite the fact that a lot of librarians are not as bright or as knowledgeable as I would like, we are a reasonably well-educated and well-placed (information and technology-wise) bunch. I have experienced the resistance older librarians have when faced with a young upstart suggesting new ways of doing things. I'm not saying that everything I suggested when starting out was perfect (although it was, of course) or that it was all met with "this is the way we've always done it" (although I have heard that), but rather that there's simply no easy way for new ideas to bubble up and have their day in court. We need to harvest the youthfulness of youth or at least come up with better reasons why we shouldn't listen to them! *laugh*

Finished changing/updating my appreciation page. I have to fix the navigation stuff on the page but I like how the design turned out. I just sat down last night and whipped it off in a couple of hours. What do you think?

Philosophy’s dilemma: the institutionalising of ethics

An area of philosophy [albeit the most practical and non-philosophical one] has really made it big-time : ethics. It has taken the business world by storm, making everyone scramble for a code, a policy, and mission statement, a way to regulate propriety into the redtape. With this need for ethics comes the need for professionals trained in ethics and viola! out step the philsophers to take the reins. I knew we would start taking over soon.

Barry the Book on trail of bad borrowers

Article about a library stock recovery officer in Bury, England. Hey, I like working in a library and all, and I believe everyone should return their books on time (of course I have two overdue books as I type), but I would HATE to have this job. Maybe in England it wouldn't be that bad, but in New York City this person might very well be shot on this job... No thanks.

Our debt to Derrida

Let's remember Jacques Derrida, French philosopher (in my opinion, although many would see him as primarily a literary scholar) who died on Friday, October 8 2004. Deconstuction has seen many a critic but is epistemologically (my fav) very interesting and is one of the most unique ideas in recent thought. Regardless of the accuracy of the theory, you have to admit that new ideas are important not only to philosophy and academia but to the growth of society as well.

Here's some background information and sources if you're interested.

I hate to sound too one-sided because, although I do agree with many stereotypical "Liberal" ideals, I try to remain philosophically objective. Besides, I don't normally vote (for epistemological reasons) and I'm Canadian (so U.S. politics shouldn't really concern me). But Bush really makes it hard to stay on the fence. This latest attack on Kerry by Bush and his supporters concerning the nuisance "quote" makes the hair on the back on my neck stand up, reminding me of all that is wrong with politics, human nature and democracy. All loyalty aside, let's ignore the grammatical, logical and intentional meaning behind the words.

Kerry said "reduce terrorism to a nuisance level". Bush turns this into saying that terrorism IS a nuisance and mocks him for such naivete. Grammatically, Kerry's words explicitly means that terrorism is NOT a nuisance (since we have to reduce it to achieve such an equivalence). Again, ignoring any value judgement of the words, although nuisances are still bad, reducing terrorism from a major everyday horrific occurence (which I assume everyone thinks it is) to a less horrifying but still bad rarity is logically an great increase in goodness. And finally, Kerry's point seemed not to be that terrorism is unimportant but that by its nature it is impossible to stop entirely (without destroying all semblance of freedom for the innocent). Regardless of your political position, you can't argue with that. Or can you?

I watched "Super Size Me" a few days ago. Unlike every other person, I'm not going to go into describing the story/concept except to simply say that it's a documentary about a guy eating McDonald's for a month and getting sick. Watch the film for more detail... Seriously. It's good.

But it's really sad to think how it takes someone intentionally harming themselves to make us think about this kind of thing. I mean, we all know that fast food and other things are bad for us but we don't do anything about it unless someone is visibly and gruesomely harmed or even killed. And even then maybe not... Since I saw the movie, I overheard these people talking about it, saying how it's just horrible, and that they're not anything like that. They went on to say how they only go the McD's 2 or 3 times a week or only get salads. Ok. I wish some people would cull themselves from the herd a little quicker...

"Support the Team"... I hate this phrase. Not only because it's related to sports [and I'm certainly not the biggest fan of watching sports], but because it raises watching a bunch of other people playing a game to the level of an important duty. "I'm going to a Jets game, not because it's fun, not for my own interests, but for the sake of the team. I've got to go support the team!!!" Like they can't win without Bobby Q. Bleacher-Jockey sitting up in the stands spilling bear on himself and hooting like an idiot. Like if they lose a game, they have truly lost something important. C'mon. If you like the game, then isn't even losing more fun than not playing at all?

RFID library opens tomorrow

I think I wrote about this stuff before but it really deserves another mention. Wouldn't this be cool in any kind of inventory based business or service? More accurate and up-to-date control of what you've got and where? Sweet. I want to do this to all the stuff I have. "Computer? Where are my keys?"

I'm getting lazy again! I'm putting off all the things I want to read, write, clean, watch, finish, do... Of course, I've got some good excuses : We're taking care of the new little baby Max, and I'm trying to get caught up at work. I have just got to get back into the swing of things. Of course, on my way to work today, I was rummaging through my backpack and found an unfinished short story I was writing in April so I finished it. That's a good sign. As for some short term goals, I want to : read something [grabbed a book off my shelf before I left this morning], clean up at home generally [and specifically, in a few places], and complete some overdue paperwork.

Another early morning rise today. Even earlier than before. My wife and I have been taking shifts so that we can each get a good length of time to sleep but one of us can feed and change [and feed and change] and watch [and cuddle] the baby. I took the morning watch because I have to be up anyway to get ready for work and I can have a little rest on the trains [theoretically].

I really wish I was a morning person. When I have to and I eventually fully awake, I really enjoy the silence and the chill of 4,5,6 o'clock. I like the darkness, slowly lightening. I like the people who are up at that time -- the really annoying people tend to sleep in. And I like the jump on the day. There's so much day left when you wake up early.

But then again, sleep's so nice.

Well, I stayed up [while watching little Max] and watched the Bush-Kerry debate and much of the analysis afterward and I just have to say... WHAT WERE SOME OF THESE PEOPLE WATCHING??? Some of the things that people were talking about [on both sides] simply did not happen. Some people said things like Kerry seemed nervous at the beginning. Not to me. If that was nervousness, then Bush was easily as nervous or more so. I don't think either were truly nervous. They have both done this for many years in more nerve-racking situations. Come on. Many pro-Bush people were saying Kerry continued to show his flip-floppiness. What does a guy have to do?!?! Everything the man said was intentionally phrased to make clear that he does have a plan, that he does have focus, and that we have to be smart when we deal with important issues like going to another country to impose our wishes, killing large numbers of people, and going against the rest of the world. The only way you can continue with this belief is to think he was blatantly lying. Which he could be. But so could Bush. So could everybody. Anyway... it's early. I've got to get to work.