Are the people of the US failing the world?

Given the timing and the title I'm sure that most of you expect this to be an endorsement of an attack on Syria.  While that is not the focus of this post, I'd like to go on the record as saying I'm against it.  The more we try to police the world, the more we seem to be resented for it, and frankly this looks like a no win situation.

Thoughts on Science

I'm the type of person who tries to look at things from various angles. The more you understand about a situation the easier it is to deal with it, and the less chance of something unexpected popping up.  I make no claims to being great at it, but it has served me well, and can sometimes make for interesting conversation, even if it's only with the voices in  my head.

Apologies to George Santayana

There's an old saying that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  Judging from the things I hear from the media and my friends I have to wonder if that perhaps that it should be expanded to more current events.

Nostalgia in convenient app form

Like a goodly portion of the people here in the States, I'm a big fan of those wonderful little time waster apps Apple and Google like to inundate us with.  While hardly a game designer myself, I have tossed enough of them to the side that when one comes along with something that catches my attention I like to talk about it.

Since this is my blog, and since I can't see you roll your eyes at me when I do silly things like that, guess what today's post is about!

Angst and drama and stress oh my!

Alright, so not  much drama really, and most of the angst and stress is coming from internal factors, but darn it what's a blog without the occasional attempt at a Wizard of Oz reference?

Much to do about (mostly) nothing.

Currently one of the leading stories here in the States is our First Lady's response to a protester at a speech she was giving last night.  From my previous posts it should be rather clear that I am not a big fan of her husband's policies, but I will admit to being torn about this one.

Third Party Push

It should come as no surprise that I'm one of many Americans dissatisfied with our current political system.  Corruption, politics, and an all or nothing attitude caused by having to keep party extremists happy in order to continue to get donations for campaigns have caused our system to spiral more and more out of control with every day.  What is unusual about me is the fact I don't blame the politicians,  we've done this to ourselves.

Mr Rogers

I will freely admit that the recent events in Boston shook me up some, as it did many people.  As I was browsing through my Facebook feed after work, thinking about all the things going on and seeing the reactions of my friends and loved ones, I came across the now famous 'Look for the helpers' picture and quote that has spread across the internet.  Normally, when I see something like that my first instinct is to head to Snopes to find out if it's real or not, but for some reason the thought never occurred to me, it felt right, it felt true, and completely out of character for me I shared it, believing it would help others feel just a little better, like it did for me.

XCOM:Enemy Unknown

This one's been out for a while, so I really doubt anyone who cares about it is going to find anything new here.  I'm just in the mood to chatter about a game that's been taking up a chunk of my nighttime activities lately.

NASA

Last week, Charlie Bolden, head of NASA stated that he didn't think that it was likely that NASA would be heading back to the moon within his lifetime.  Naturally, this has lead to a good amount of space nerd rage, even as NASA works on other projects that are arguably more useful in the long term.  While I can definitely understand the frustration, I can't really support it.

Thoughts on the Stock Market

Another in the 'getting stuff out of my head' kind of posts, this time rambling about everyone's favorite financial institutions, the Stock Markets.  No earth shattering information, and nothing that's going to make you some money, but hey ya might learn a thing or two.

Obama-care Ruling

I will start this out by saying I was at first disappointed and confused by the US Supreme Court's ruling on Obama-care.  At first, it really didn't make sense to me and I was joining in with the crowd who were screaming about a massive increase in government power, and how there was now no limit on it because all they had to do was tax you on something to try and force you to do it.

Right now, I'm feeling glad that I made myself take a step back and think about it, because if you look at it honestly and openly, we've let Congress have that power for years and years, it's just been phrased differently.

Congressional Approval ratings in the US

Yeah, I have politics on the brain again, or more accurately the way they're covered here in the US.

A bitter Twinkie to swallow

I was checking my Yahoo email a little bit ago, when I noticed an article about Hostess union workers threatening to strike.  Being a curious guy who likes his treats I decided to check things out.  What I found rather surprised me, although maybe it shouldn't have.

Happy Birthday!

Hello there and welcome.  I'm starting this for various reasons; a desire to get back into writing, wanting a place to collect my thoughts, an unusual need (for me at least) to share some of my world view, and the urge to share stories of my young son (yes, I am that parent.)

I'm not really expecting anyone to read this, but you're more then welcome to pull up your chair and wade through the parts of my life I decide to post.  Names will often be changed to protect the guilty, as well as to respect their privacy.  At some point I'll likely get around to doing the traditional 'about me' section, but those tend to be a little dry for my tastes so I doubt I'll rush into it.  Hopefully I'll stick with this and just let you learn about me in a more organic fashion.

Anyhow, that's the end of my lunch break, back to the salt mines to earn what passes for a living.