It was almost like church

I went to the University of Virginia today and saw Richard Dawkins speak. It was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I found Prof. Dawkins to be highly entertaining, modest, and most surprisingly willing to entertain a broad range of (intelligent) points of view. It was nice to see a very diverse group people there. There were obvious faculty and staff, there were Young Republicans, and atheists, and socialists, and then there were those who; like me, weren't "in a club". Everyone was greeted and welcomed in the same exact way, and I personally appreciated that.


I won't go into the discussion points, as that's several new posts within themselves. I didn't agree with everything Dawkins said, but I do respect the man and his opinion. I will also point out that I could have listened to him read excerpts from his book for hours. So much so that I hope he releases an audio version of his latest work (with him narrating), so I can pick it up. That's significant, as I hate books on CD.

Some of the day's magic may have been in listening to him speak in the Dome of the rotunda on the campus of UVA. I love the campus and could have roamed the Academical village for longer than I did. It was almost like church for me being there. All the things I hold dear are represented by the institution. Democracy, reason, higher education, and the belief that a secular government is the only moral and correct decision. All those values are embodied in that very building, and in it's creator. At the risk of sounding like an even bigger cheeseball, it was inspiring.

Anyway, I recommend you catch Prof. Dawkins if you have the chance. He's a staunch atheist, so if that offends you, stay away. He is also; however, a man of science and a brilliant one.

Virginia is for slingers

I live in the great commonwealth of Virginia. Home to one of the ugliest Senate races in all the land. I've been watching the candidates closely, and the mud came out very early. The Democratic candidate James Webb took full advantage of a large mistake by the Republican incumbent George Allen. He called one of Webb's staffers (who is a Virginian by birth) Macaca and welcomed him to our great state and country. Ouch.

Of course this scandal was over a month ago and now holds very little in the way of political influence. First Allen attacks Webb's tenure as a senior officer and some of the opinions he held at the time about women in the military. Webb thought that women were only trying to gain access to the military academies to "meet husbands". Chauvinistic and narrow minded to be sure, but this was twenty years ago when the military was still quite the boy's club (it might still be, who knows). So that didn't really cause the uproar Allen had hoped for. Then Allen desperate to dig something up on Webb, uncovers some "immoral" writings from James Webb. These writings were fictional novels based on war and overseas deployments Mr. Webb had experienced. Granted there are some very questionable passages (things like a father greeting his son with a little "genitals in the mouth" action, or women chopping fruit with their pelvic muscles, you know....Bedtime stories for the kids.). I wonder though, is a twisted sense of artistic expression enough to label the guy "immoral"? Does it make him a bad candidate for Senate? Maybe, but personally I couldn't care less.

My point? Has anyone heard anything about platforms above all this nonsense? Nope. No one knows what they're voting for or against. Interestingly, the Democrats may have ruined their best chance to take back the Senate by coming out of the gate slinging mud instead of focusing on the policy changes they'd implement. They leaned on the change for changes sake and that's a flimsy platform at best. That doesn't give near enough credit to the voters. We WANT to know where you stand on the issues that matter. Although it's fun from a gossip standpoint, we don't care about all the seedier crap. We know your opponent is a slimeball. He/She is a politician. As long as the activity isn't criminal and they aren't molesters/abusers, we don't care that much. Look at Clinton. America LOVED him.

Although I am very conservative, I also don't believe in voting according to ANY party lines. I am making my choice based on a few key things we are facing in this state.

One...An amendment to the state constitution "protecting" or "limiting" the definition of marriage as one man and one woman.
You can guess which side is for and against this measure.

Two...The war in Iraq. Who's going to side with the current administration and who's going to "fix" the problems.

Three..Taxes. Who's going to cut them, or raise them.

There are major problems with both sides. I agree with both sides on different subjects. I wish there were a candidate who was a true conservative and not a neo-con and a bleeding heart big government liberal. Although I suspect that Webb is a lot more conservative than he'll let on during the run up to the polls. That's unfortunate, because a moderate liberal is a lot more likely to win in this state than a way left liberal.

My biggest gripe with the Republican platform is the whole "Gay marriage ban" as it's become known. I don't see the point of legislating who someone loves. As long as they don't interfere with my day to day freedom, you can love/marry/screw whoever the hell you want. Republicans always want to legislate morality, which is impossible and goes far beyond the limits of where a government should be in my life. It actually starts to border on fascist.

My biggest gripe with the Democratic platform is the fact that they want to turn us into a collectivist state. NO THANK YOU. Keep your tax and spend ass away from my world. More government is not the answer. Government cannot fix all your problems. If you think it can, please move to Cuba, Venezuela, DPRK, or China immediately. They're great places to lose weight, and live a good simple life with no chance of becoming a materialistic person.

My biggest gripe with the Libertarian platform is that no one knows what it is. There has to be some big money/big special interest lobbyists that are Libertarians or Constitutionalists. PLEASE STEP UP AND GIVE US A REAL CHOICE IN THIS COUNTRY.

I still don't know how my vote is going down on Tuesday, but I do know that I'll be voting against the Gay marriage amendment. I will not stand idly by and let the government push a Christian agenda on me without some sort of protest.

I'm Brik D and I approved this message.