Book Review – The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul

My review: The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was interesting. I consider myself to be a bit left of center politically, but there are certain aspects of libertarianism that appeal to me. Ron Paul (who I was surprised to learn was a practicing OB/GYN prior to entering politics) makes several very good arguments, and it is hard to disagree with him.

He bases many of his opinions on a literal interpretation of the constitution. This is fine, because we were fortunate in this country in late 1700’s to have several very wise men concentrated at the same place and the same time. Paul makes the argument that our constitutional system of checks and balances has been corrupted over the years. One example of this would be the growing power of the President and the executive branch of government.

Another premise that he espouses is that the federal government should have a very limited role in what we do. He advocates for a greatly reduced bureaucracy and increased ability for state and local governments to pass laws relevant to the desires of the local residents. The best example that he cites is the department of education, which he sees as a totally ineffective, unconstitutional and expensive institution. He then takes the extra step to say that by advocating the dissolution of this agency, it does not mean that he is anti-education.

Another example of over-reaching government is the ever growing and increasingly punitive drug enforcement laws. We spend a lot of time and money waging a war on drugs, but we do not see significant declines in drug use, and we have one of the highest prison populations in the world, mostly people charged with drug related offenses.

Something that I really agree with him on is a need to decrease our military presence around the world. We should not have to be, and other countries would rather us not be, the world police. We need to focus our strength and resources on the welfare and safety of our own people. It is perhaps ironic that our meddling in the affairs of other countries actually decreases our safety.

This book is very thoughtful, and well written. It is a good introduction to Libertarianism (Though Ron Paul recently ran as a Republican Presidential candidate) I have to think about it more to decide how much I agree with him.

(**This post was cross-posted on my political opinion blog The Way I See It.. And on my Goodreads.com account.  View all my Good Reads reviews.)

Driving home in the snow…for 2 hours

As I write this, the songs “I’m Dreaming of a white Christmas”, and “Let it Snow” are ironically and sarcastically running through my head. It took me two hours to get home from work today because of the snow. (my normal commute is around 40 minutes)

This gave me the opportunity to listen to a few podcasts. You should check out the Moth Podcast, as well as Stuff You Missed in History Class. Both of these podcasts are engaging, funny and intelligent. After I grew tired of podcasts, I hit shuffle om my workout play list. Is is an eclectic mix ranging from Slayer to Tori Amos. I found myself singing out loud along with the songs. It’s especially fun to sing the song Low by Coldplay on their X&Y album. The windows in my car were sufficiently foggy and icy to block out stares from my fellow motorists.

By the way, I can’t sing all that well.

Obama draws attention to Limbaugh

“You can’t listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” – Pres. Barack Obama

At first, I was happy to hear Obama make this comment during a discussion with the congressional GOP leaders. He was making the point that we need to work on common goals and not focus on our differences. This may also have been a calculated statement in response to Limbaugh stating explicitly and clearly yesterday that he hopes Obama fails.

But then I realized that mentioning Rush Limbaugh by name will just draw more attention to the narcissistic ultra-right wing talk show host. Limbaugh is widely regarded as an over-rated blow-hard who makes his living inciting right-wing nut jobs to hoot and holler at their radios. It is surprising to me that anyone still takes him seriously. His unpatriotic vitriol is probably best ignored.

Top 10 Reasons that I’m impressed with the 2 day old Obama Administration

It has been a while since I’ve posted here. I just wanted to chime in quickly and say that I am very happy the we now have President Obama, and even more thrilled that W has left the building. (good riddance!)

Obama is extremely popular right now. Unfortunately, his popularity has no where to go but down. What I’ve been impressed with so far about his administration:

1. His willingness to embrace dissension and debate.

2. His pledge to embrace and promote science

3. He has made “transparency and the rule of law” touchstones of his administration.

4. The fact that he mentioned “non-believers” amongst those who seek equality in his inauguration speech

5. He is displaying a good work ethic

6. He is denouncing torture and will shut down Guantanamo

7. He is drifting towards the middle and annoying some of the Democratic leaders

8. He is planning to decrease the military focus on Iraq and increase the focus on Afghanistan

9. He was very gracious to the outgoing administration

10. He is a good dancer!

Cannon and 12th

The Laughing Skull

While stopped at an intersection on the way home from work, I noticed that the car in front of me had a silver laughing skull sticker displayed prominently on the trunk. Now, I’m not judging. People should have the freedom to display whatever they want on their cars. But I still wonder why people do this. What is this person trying to promote? Is he trying to inform me that he is a fan of the undead? Is he trying to inform me that he himself is scary? Is this some sort of tattoo reference?

Laughing skulls and the like I think serve to assuage our fear of death. If the skull was actually dead, then it would not be laughing. There seems to be a level of reassurance, likely in a person with no strong religious convictions, that there is an afterlife. It is likely that most would be truly frightened by the prospect that death marks the end of our existence.

I knew someone once that was a horror film enthusiast and spent a great deal of their time and energy immersed in this world. This all changed unfortunately when a close family member was the victim of an untimely death. Here the worlds of fantasy and reality collided. This person was shaken not only by the death, but also by the loss of identity when they could no longer watch horror films.

Existential angst is a normal part of life. It is, in my opinion, the root cause of all religion, philosophy and science. Because our mortality does not at some level make sense, we strive for understanding.

the Total Perspective Vortex

Here’s the problem that I’ve run into with blogging. I post some things, and get positive feedback. Then, I feel pressure to post something else, and get stuck. I’m worried that my next post won’t be as cool as the last. I have a bit of a self esteem boost when I research a topic and write about it, then I feel a mild knock when I find that others have more expertise and insight. It is interesting that there are millions of people blogging out there. The Internet is teeming with chatter. It is like the Total Perspective Vortex in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.

The Total Perspective Vortex is allegedly the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected.

When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, “You are here.”

What I should do is just write and let my writing stand on its own merit. I can’t expect that the coolness and relevance of my posts will be forever on a linear upward gradient. (There, I’ve just done a mini-cognitive therapy session on myself!)

It makes me wonder why I’m blogging in the first place. I’ve always had the notion that I am a good writer, but that I’ve never taken the time to hone my skills. I have approached blogging as a format to do this. The idea is that the more you write, the better you get at it. In the past, there was no way to do this and have other people read it. With the Internet, now anyone can read it. I find that my writing is different when I’m writing for an audience. There is a certain element of shyness that must be overcome. I want to be honest, but not too self-disclosing. At the same time, I don’t want to appear self-righteous or pretentious.

I guess I am blogging because I want to be heard and acknowledged. Everyone has this basic need. We all want to feel a sense of relevance and importance.

Mobile Me

Here’s a follow up to my post about my new MacBook in which I complained about my frustrations with Mobile Me.

Mobile Me is the Apple product that offers synchronization of multiple different devices via the internet. Also included is 20gb of online storage space. After some tinkering, I’ve finally gotten it to sync! I now have my laptop, desktop and two iPhones all playing well together.

It has really come in handy. Whenever an entry is made on any calendar, it automatically shows up on all of the calendars. Now my wife and I are tuned in to what each other are doing. The same goes for our contact book.

Mobile Me also provides storage space on the internet, which has come in handy for sharing pictures and files for work. This has also allowed me to experiment some with iWeb. You’ll notice that I have a spot on the left to click for the Loose Associations Podcast. It doesn’t work yet, and I may not follow through with it. But you never know!

So, now I can say that Mobile Me was a good purchase, even if it was somewhat impulsive. The problems with the set up process were annoying.  The ease of set up and day to day use are the main reasons that I prefer Apple over PC/Windows. I don’t like having to tinker with settings and download patch files etc. Setting up Mobile Me had a PC/Windows feel.

Hopefully this is not the way that Apple is headed.

Actual bowling