Tales of a Dying Race

It seems I share a feeling with Sam Gamgee. Okay, perhaps that's a bit understated. I traveled about 600 miles in the expanse of two days, rather than 3250 miles in the expanse of thirteen months. Not to mention the orcs. At any rate, it's good to be back and productive again (Yea for DSL!).

I do have a couple assignments to finish. I'll have to write a comparative essay of two poetic works and a problem/solution essay from a problem that can be found in Friedman's The World Is Flat. I was initially going to write it on market failure in a free market environment, but have since decided to change to the very relevant topic of the falling away of education and ambition in America. Friedman points out that from a letter he received concerning an earlier edition of his book from a school teacher, that Indian and Eastern European (not Western - they fall too close to America) parents are asking why their child's homework load is too small and why their education is too flimsy. On the other hand, countless American white parents are either complaining about the work load being too much and interfering with their child's personal life (sports, nights out, etc), or they simply just don't care and remain silent. What will my solution be? The feudal system. Maybe not. I'm not one much for tights or black death. Actually, I'm leaning toward the problem with America as pleasure driven in the core, whereas a good reformation would be to instill the next generations with a drive and lust for knowledge and wisdom. Personally, I find grasping new concepts in science, technology, philosophy, religion, etc. to be far more pleasing and satisfying than any game of football. However, I do see that the whole of America does not share the enthusiasm with me.

So there it is. This is what I will be (and have been) working on today. Obviously, I need to dedicate this entire day to my pursuits. Along with the next four and a half. Well, four and a third after this blog.    

Now, I've seen WiFi available at some of the basest of lude establishments. I've even seen Wifi at truck stops. When you check into a hotel and save money by finding the cheapest hole in the wall there is, you'd think an access point would be waiting for you with your (not so) clean sheets and the ant colony trampling down your pillow. But not so at this spectacular Easy 8 Motel. I felt like a starving child all night.

To top it all off, they provided no little shampoo bottles, no cheap coffee maker, and the only way to get an iron was to waltz to the office and pick one up yourself. Finally, when you sit down to enjoy some off-line computing, you find that the only outlet besides the one in the bathroom is conveniently located behind the TV. Not to mention, of course, it's taken by the TV and the refrigerator.

Not opting to service DSL via WiFi at your hotel establishment is a terrible decision. Forcing a man to choose between mindless rounds of X-Moto or having his Rockstars chilled is just plain wrong.

It Doesn't Always Pay to Save Money

What you're seeing in the picture is not much different from what I'm seeing right now. Actually, it's about all I'm going to see for the next four hours or so. It's just this sort of boredom that can drive a man to his knees, or more correctly, to write an entire blog on his palm centro without even bothering to take out his bluetooth keyboard. Well, perhaps that has more to do with laziness. Moreover, I've just felt the compelling call to share with you my current journey through California's glorious Highway 5. On your left you'll see the beautiful acres of farm land. And to your right, well, the similarity is enough to ambiguate the directions. I just forgot how exactly to tell them apart. Doesn't one hand make some letter?

The Scenic Route

Well, it's time to don the much-outdated, black costume with weird looking little horns on the top and rush about Internetgotham while managing to keep my cape blowing in a very cool fashion, even when no wind is present. All right, maybe nothing so dramatic as that. But I'm giving my blog a little restart since I let it die not long after its creation. I won't restart completely - I'm leaving my old stuff here by which new readers may be enlightened. Or maybe something close to that.

This is my blog, aptly entitled Tales of a Dying Race. It's a title apt to describe both the efforts of Mankind and Mankind's current, slowly degrading condition. It may also show our modern times' lack of producing the individuals of such caliber as history has held. At any rate, this is a blog about, well, whatever I want to write.

I am currently getting ready to ride in a car for five hours to Lancaster to attend the graduation of my fully educated sister. I'm hopeful that I should have some interesting things to say after a visit to that good ol' "oasis in the desert." But for now I must procrastinate packing while reviewing videos of the wonderful Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium that I plan to purchase soon. I pack better under pressure, anyway.

Leaving comments: if you'd like to contribute to the Help Joshua Buy His Totally Awesome Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium Fund, please feel free to send donations. Or, you may want to buy some things from me - perhaps an electric guitar, amp, and case combo, or maybe a nice Fender guitar amp, or maybe even a tremendous film SLR camera. Just some suggestions to helping out. With your support, poor Joshua Blankenship may soon enjoy the benefits of ultra mobile computing.
   

I find it rather comforting that this election had brought forth a Presidential candidate who actually upholds the Constitution. Like Ron Paul himself stated, the Constitution is not perfect, as nothing made by man can be, but the constitution of the United States of America, as created and imagined by the founding fathers, is one of the greatest contracts of government ever to be written to preserve and protect human liberty. But at the core of the constitution, and indeed its reason for ever being written, is the idea that all people are free and should be free and that government's sole purpose is to keep that happening. Yes, that's very small government. The problem is, our government does not want to be small and it will fight tooth and nail to remain large and in charge. We have a government that controls the people when we need a government run by and working for the people. Unfortunately, seeing the direction of this campaign, the people themselves aren't ready to be free.

Ron Paul said, "I don't want to be President to rule your lives, I want to be President to protect liberty." As much as that resembles the attitude of a pretty decent President named Thomas Jefferson, it's not what we want. Why don't we want to be free? Why are we voting for these people with agendas and revenges that say, "The government should do this!" or, "The government should help us with that!" when what we really need is to tell the government to get away and let the people help themselves. Why can we not, as independent Americans, quit crying like babies to force ourselves into complete dependency and submission to government?

That's the philosophy of election that stands today. I call it Agenda Voting. We believe that the President to be elected is the one who will force government to do the most things for us that we want done without any dream of being self-sufficient. The more we tell the government to do for us, the more dependent we become on it. The more dependent we become on it, the closer it comes to controlling our lives. As much as we don't want to admit it, the American government is moving further from liberty and closer to totalitarianism and dictatorship. But, hey, it's what we wanted, right? It has to be since, in the American system, such a thing could not have happened without our consent. The truth is, we are at the twilight of a very long night, and while our previous accomplishments may stand as great electronic machines of power to uphold our civilization and radiate false light, no energy is perpetual, and soon it will run out and America will plunge into the darkness that, as we will find, we have been sitting amongst unaware for so long. Wake up, why don't you?

On a lighter note, I am hopeful for America in that we have even allowed a candidate like Ron Paul to have such a good fighting chance. It shows that "We the people" are finally starting to get ready to "secure the Blessings of Liberty" that we never should have let slip away. While Ron Paul will not be president this time around, the fact that he got so far with the people is a little shimmer of hope. But if we want freedom, if we are to establish liberty, and if we really want to bring back the constitution, we need to quit with our Agenda Voting and start electing presidents on the sole basis of whether or not they will best "lay low" and keep America free for all. You think you're all comfortable here, and you'd rather just lay nice and cozy. You lie to yourself. There are hundreds of possibilities and freedoms you can enjoy that we simply just don't know exist. Is your money your own? Don't you ever feel that the government treats you like you're simply working to give it money, and in return it lets you keep a little? You may feel this because it's happening. This and many other unsavory things.

Well, let's hope we'll get it right by the next election or two. Or better yet, get it right now! Why rely on a president? We are the people. We are the government. What we say must go. Let's take back our land (which we don't even own any more) and make this our own country once again.

Now that I'm done with my Braveheart speech, you should go check out this video and many of the others on You-Tube of Ron Paul and, though you can't vote for him, gosh darn, you should listen to him.

Candidates @ Google: Ron Paul

I just noticed it's been three days since I've written anything. Scratch that, I've written many a paper over those days. I've also taken many a quiz and read many a book. There's something comforting in absorbing one's self in one's studies. There's nothing comforting at all about the incredibly awkward pronoun "one," however. Studies never overwhelm me. The only thing that overwhelms me at times is when I start to think about all those wonderful and profound things I would love to do and learn. Why must life inhibit my desires of grandeur? I don't ask for much - just the world's knowledge and understanding given to me on a silver platter. Where's Mephistopheles when you need him? I figured if I just gave him a good cup of matte, he'll just hand it over to me without the annoying fuss of soul-transfer.

Anyways, I'm taking the day off as my official "Spring Break" day, since I really don't get that one week vacation that seems merely a cruel ploy by the school board to allow professors to assign a ridiculous amount of work to get caught up on things after their inevitable first-part-of-the-semester slacking off. Sure, they have to grade all those assignments. But after the break is done. Enough said about that. This being my "Day Off" I figure I must refrain from any attempts of conjuring any thoughts of consequence. Have a good Friday, world!

I'm really bewildered by the American people in their inconsistencies. It seems they believe in democracy and want the freedoms they believe they should have, but at the same time desire a government controlled by the opinions of certain schools of moral thinking. Really, these two forms of government do not coincide. America's opinion of government splits into two general categories. The first is a government that is ruled by a set of principles, moral or otherwise, and philosophies that are contrived by a certain person or group of people. Dictatorships, totalitarian states, monarchies, oligarchies, and other such governments fall into this category. The other form is a government that embraces freedom and holds as it's goals the liberation of its people. This is a government that believes all have the right and liberty do to as they please as long as it does not interfere with the rights and liberties of another. America tends to be an amalgam of the two sides. Unfortunately, it's really hard to determine who gets to decide which side a certain law or policy falls under and why they get to decide it. And with a majority of American people being inconsistent even in their own beliefs, American law and policy seriously tends to reflect this inconsistency.

The bulk of the problem is that, though the people at large believe in the freedom to do as they please, the people believe in the freedom to do as they please. The hardest thing to accept in a truly free state is that some of its people will be doing what some of the other people don't believe they should be doing. I'm not sure how many times I can stress the value of trade-offs.  If there are those in the country who do or would do what you do not and cannot agree with or endure, chances favor that you do the same sort of things to produce an equal sentiment to them. Who's to say what right anyone has to decide whose word should be appealed to? Perhaps it is time to practice a tad bit of humility. Maybe it's time to sacrifice your pride. The things that are happening or that some want to happen are not bothering you, the knowledge that they do and can happen is all that bothers you (in the sort of issues I'm talking about). If it offends you, suck it up. If you think they're going to hell, then help them. These sort of issues have nothing to do with government.   

So get it together. Either accept liberty and all its annoying side affects (the other people getting what they want) or admit to a more or less controlled state that bases its laws on a certain set of opinions, which, by example of history, will soon evolve to a dark and sinister empire. Juggling the two grates on my nerves.  I really hope we pick the first one, but the second seems more inevitable.

I suppose I'll have the occasional post like this. And at the moment, I have nothing to say. I'm not quite sure what that means. "Having" means to possess. I suppose I possess nothing at the moment for utterance? No, it's more than that. It's more like I don't possess a single thought process that I deem worthy of being uttered. But who can blame me? Sometimes thoughts are just ugly. Often, they're very embarrassing. Letting them to roam free in the daylight is like removing the heavy clothing you use to cover a nasty deformity. Or, it's like bringing your ugly, disfigured hunchback of a child outside for the townspeople to see. Whereas we might realize, with much thought on the matter, that even the ugliest of thoughts grow to be beautiful swans, I still would rather hide my ugly children. Despite my intentions, I wonder how many ugly ducklings I threw away that had swan-potential. Not forgetting, of course, many of the things I do write down that I think are worthy are probably just no-potential, boring, little ducks.

What a wonderfully controversial subject. If you're under the impression that I'm going to argue a point either way, sorry to dissapoint. I'm not that incredibly stupid. I just find its existence rather interesting. It's a heated debate, and either side hates the opposition and believes all they stand for is a total lie. It's win or lose.

I won't form an opinion on what gay marriage is, what marriage is, or whether it's right or wrong in any context. Look it up. You'll find every possible point of veiw with a thorough Google search.

Now here's where I get people angry.

Either side is an opinion. And just as much proof and evidence you have to the contrary, the other side also has against your side. You may say that you have the moral upperhand, and the opposition is simply ignorant of the issues of true morality. You also may like to hear the opposition believes the same about you. The result is an endless propagation of the debate at hand. There's a reason why firemen don't carry flamethrowers.

The main thing that baffles me is the church's position in this thing. The church has become adamantly absorbed in politics because of this issue. Not only does the church try to set the Bible in place of the constitution, but it also attempts to become itslef amalgamated with government. It contradicts it's own Founder who claimed His "kingdom is not of this world." Christianity is not government. Only government can be that. St. Paul encouraged Christians to be obiedient and not subvert government. It's not a characteristic of Christianity to be government oriented.

Before I suffer the inevitable lecture concerning a Christian's responsibility to his country and his people, I'll clarify that I did not scorn government involvment. A Christian has every right as an American citizen (or in any other country where he may) to take a position in government. The citizen, Christian or otherwise, also has the responsibility to the direction of his government and the people of his country (of his world).

The church is becomming government oriented. It's making city halls its pulpits and the White House its new Rome. Not only is such a concept wrong from the standpoint of the American Revolutionaries, but it's wrong from the standpoint of Christ. He set up His ways for delivering and preserving His teachings. The church likes to find its own.

It all culminates here: if the church believes against gay marriage (it's not the only one, nor does all of it believe that way), it should by all means seek to lovingly cleanse the world of the supposed sin. Correction - it should by God's means. Why does the church need the world's system to fulfill its desires? It doesn't and it shouldn't. In the end, government principles according to social order should decide government policy, and church principles should decide church policy.

In the end, it's both sides (and every side, since there are many) that need to practice this self-regulation. Give a litte, take a little. Live and let live. Life is about tradeoffs, and if there is to be any peace we must know when our position truly does or does not merit our participation.