away from home
Well, I think this is my first entry from outside of Florida. Right now, I'm in New York at the house of my grandmother and my aunt. This is my first vacation from work... at least where I've taken more then half a day off. It seems more like a family visit, although it's only one family member I'm seeing... my grandmother... until Friday, the day I leave. I'm here with my dad. We'll see my cousin, Peter, and his 2 kids. I've never seen his kids, and the last time I saw Peter, I don't think I was even in high school yet.
I've been noting some major differences between New York and Florida with my dad. The biggest difference is that there's variations in altitude. On top of that, it still can get to freezing here at this time of year. They were thinking it might snow while we were here, but now it seems doubtful. It might've been nice to see. Besides a light dusting of snow back in March 2001 on a trip that included visiting some people in Tennessee and Kentucky, I haven't seen snow since 1988... maybe '87.
Also, most places around here seem much more open. It's almost like country living here in Long Island. It's more of a quiet suburban area than what I'm used to in South Florida, though I wouldn't say that Boca is all that loud either. Maybe I just haven't gone to the right places. I don't have too much freedom to explore, since I'm here with my dad and I can't drive the car that's here (it's my aunt's car, and she hasn't seen me since before I learned to drive).
I did get to see a lot of places from my youth, and it's not quite as I remember it. Seeing things as an adult is a lot different from seeing them as a kid. One of the other big things I noticed that never crossed my mind until seeing things around here is that this area... around Plainview, Huntington, Woodbury, etc.... is very Jewish. A lot of Jewish centers... one of the hospitals now lists the word Jewish in its name.
And I saw a lot of fire stations... most of which seem much bigger than in Florida.
Anyway, that's a bit dull, huh?
A topic that I've been avoiding at almost any time, except for at Greg's house, is politics. My parents, I think, are getting sick of hearing about it. No one else really discusses it. It just seems to me that people are disinterested in it, but it is important, especially now with all of the changes being made... or potentially being made. The war in Iraq, the economy, along with civil rights issues (gay marriage) and abortion rights are all hot topics. Obviously, if you've read my posts, you'll see that I take a MUCH more liberal stance on ALL of these issues. I've been wanting to post about them for a while, actually...
The war in Iraq:
Well, there's this guy who lives in Florida who decided that, during his 2 week leave, would not return to service to Iraq because he didn't want to fight a war based on oil interests. Personally, I wouldn't have joined the service in the first place. But if I was there, I would've, if possible, discussed this with my superiors beforehand. And my final disagreement with this guy is that, although I think this war was arranged for the wrong reasons, I don't think that oil was the biggest priority.
Bush had a hard-on, if you will, for Iraq, and Saddam Hussein. Greg's friend, Vicky, said she knew as soon as he was elected president that Bush would get us into a war with Iraq.
Personally, it seems to me that none of the reasons Bush gave for going to war with Iraq was a good enough reason.
First, his original claim was that there were weapons of mass destruction. Nothing has turned up yet. I don't think Iraq could have attacked us with those weapons, if they had any, though they would've been able to attack surrounding countries. And I don't think all possibilities for diplomatically solving this problem were approached before war was called. Bush seemed to base his reason for going to war, at the point of the last vote in the UN, as not being able to diplomatically solve things due to France's deaf ears on the matter. I don't think they ever tried to talk things out about that issue, and the way Bush reacted to France on the "showing their cards" issue was VERY childish, and certainly not the sort of behavior I would expect of a president, a role model to children.
Second, he claimed that Iraq was an imminent threat to the US. I've already noted that the supposed weapons of mass destruction likely would not have reached us, especially considering the weapons would have to cross large oceans in order to reach the US.
Bush also claimed that Saddam was an evil dictator. This may be true, but this shouldn't be our concern. However, if this IS our concern, we aren't doing enough to weed out evil leaders. We should invade North Korea and Cuba, among other nations, in order not to seem hypocritical. This is not on the Bush agenda.
Finally, Bush says he wants to free the Iraqis. That's really nice and all, but quite unbelievable. He's limiting the freedoms of Americans through all of these security concerns, limiting freedoms of speech, abortion rights, and proposing an amendment that will limit the freedom for gays to marry (more on that soon).
Basically, I think Bush went to war to finish the job his dad couldn't do... to get Saddam Hussein. Also, it's an act of revenge, since Saddam attempted an assassination of Bush 1 (I'm getting tired to sequels).
The economy:
Well, I won't go into much detail with this. However, though there were strong job growth numbers for March, this has not set a trend yet. Besides, I'm still seeing plenty of businesses closing down.
Abortion rights:
Now, there are 2 things that have limited abortion rights thus far: partial birth abortion ban, and Lacy & Connor's law.
The partial birth abortion ban bans one type of abortion... a rare one. Some think it grotesque, the main reason for the ban. Yes, it's almost a born child, and that's sad. One thing that was not given enough consideration was the right of the mother to life, cases where the birth of the child would kill the mother. I don't know about you, but I don't think a woman would go through the trouble of carrying a child for 9 months, and then decide that all of the time and energy put into the pregnancy wasn't worth it, causing her to decide on having this particular type of abortion. If a child was unwanted, I would think a mother would abort MUCH sooner than near the time of birth.
Lacy and Connor's law is one that allows an additional charge for an injured or killed fetus in a crime... a law that ends up defining a fetus as human from the point of conception. This is not a law that directly affects abortion rights, but saying that a fetus is a person would make the next step to banning abortion much easier.
An added piece of news that I've been hearing lately concerns prescriptions of the day after pill. Some pharmacists will not fill the prescription based on their religious beliefs. If they aren't willing to fill a prescription, they should've considered another field of work. This was a decision made between a patient and her doctor. On top of that, it's pushing one's religious beliefs onto someone else. You may believe something. You may discuss it with others. But you should not force others to accept those beliefs.
Gay marriage:
This topic, as you may have guessed, is one of my favorites. Recently, there was a group here in New York from Kansas that decided to hold a protest against gay marriage on their way to some other place. They said that, while protesting, they got another 4 people to join them... not significant, just a funny story.
Conservatives have funny things to say concerning gay marriage and its supposed ill effects. I'll list some, and an easy argument against each one.
Gay marriage will destroy "traditional" marriage (and that gays are a destruction to marriage and family values).
I would think the most destructive thing to marriages would be divorces, but that's just me. And gays have been parts of families for all of times. Being gay is not something that's new... even to the animal kingdom.
Something that's been around for 10,000 years can't be wrong.
What about slavery? What about keeping women from voting? The list goes on and on.
If gay marriage is allowed, what would stop other marriages from forming?
First, I'll start with bestiality, because it's easy. An animal cannot consent to a marriage, just as it cannot consent to sex. A marriage cannot happen without consent, and sex without consent is rape.
Polygamy and polyandry are rare practices, and few have tended to work well due to human nature. This is why threesomes can be difficult as well. Humans have wants. Humans are selfish, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sure, if multiple partner marriages are legal, it could cause many legal hassles in terms of divorces, but things should be set up beforehand to avoid these problems. Settings things up for that would be fairly easy, and since it will likely be a rare thing, I don't see major problems with it.
Prostitution is legal in some places, such as Amsterdam and Las Vegas. This practice could be done easier by prostitute if it were made legal, since things wouldn't need to be hidden. Basic rights would still apply to prostitutes, and it would be kept out of the streets.
I can't think of any other topics that have been posed off of the top of my head at the moment, but I can address them later.
Anyway, that's all for now, and remember, if you don't care to read what I write, feel free to go elsewhere. I'm not forcing anyone to read this. Thanks
I've been noting some major differences between New York and Florida with my dad. The biggest difference is that there's variations in altitude. On top of that, it still can get to freezing here at this time of year. They were thinking it might snow while we were here, but now it seems doubtful. It might've been nice to see. Besides a light dusting of snow back in March 2001 on a trip that included visiting some people in Tennessee and Kentucky, I haven't seen snow since 1988... maybe '87.
Also, most places around here seem much more open. It's almost like country living here in Long Island. It's more of a quiet suburban area than what I'm used to in South Florida, though I wouldn't say that Boca is all that loud either. Maybe I just haven't gone to the right places. I don't have too much freedom to explore, since I'm here with my dad and I can't drive the car that's here (it's my aunt's car, and she hasn't seen me since before I learned to drive).
I did get to see a lot of places from my youth, and it's not quite as I remember it. Seeing things as an adult is a lot different from seeing them as a kid. One of the other big things I noticed that never crossed my mind until seeing things around here is that this area... around Plainview, Huntington, Woodbury, etc.... is very Jewish. A lot of Jewish centers... one of the hospitals now lists the word Jewish in its name.
And I saw a lot of fire stations... most of which seem much bigger than in Florida.
Anyway, that's a bit dull, huh?
A topic that I've been avoiding at almost any time, except for at Greg's house, is politics. My parents, I think, are getting sick of hearing about it. No one else really discusses it. It just seems to me that people are disinterested in it, but it is important, especially now with all of the changes being made... or potentially being made. The war in Iraq, the economy, along with civil rights issues (gay marriage) and abortion rights are all hot topics. Obviously, if you've read my posts, you'll see that I take a MUCH more liberal stance on ALL of these issues. I've been wanting to post about them for a while, actually...
The war in Iraq:
Well, there's this guy who lives in Florida who decided that, during his 2 week leave, would not return to service to Iraq because he didn't want to fight a war based on oil interests. Personally, I wouldn't have joined the service in the first place. But if I was there, I would've, if possible, discussed this with my superiors beforehand. And my final disagreement with this guy is that, although I think this war was arranged for the wrong reasons, I don't think that oil was the biggest priority.
Bush had a hard-on, if you will, for Iraq, and Saddam Hussein. Greg's friend, Vicky, said she knew as soon as he was elected president that Bush would get us into a war with Iraq.
Personally, it seems to me that none of the reasons Bush gave for going to war with Iraq was a good enough reason.
First, his original claim was that there were weapons of mass destruction. Nothing has turned up yet. I don't think Iraq could have attacked us with those weapons, if they had any, though they would've been able to attack surrounding countries. And I don't think all possibilities for diplomatically solving this problem were approached before war was called. Bush seemed to base his reason for going to war, at the point of the last vote in the UN, as not being able to diplomatically solve things due to France's deaf ears on the matter. I don't think they ever tried to talk things out about that issue, and the way Bush reacted to France on the "showing their cards" issue was VERY childish, and certainly not the sort of behavior I would expect of a president, a role model to children.
Second, he claimed that Iraq was an imminent threat to the US. I've already noted that the supposed weapons of mass destruction likely would not have reached us, especially considering the weapons would have to cross large oceans in order to reach the US.
Bush also claimed that Saddam was an evil dictator. This may be true, but this shouldn't be our concern. However, if this IS our concern, we aren't doing enough to weed out evil leaders. We should invade North Korea and Cuba, among other nations, in order not to seem hypocritical. This is not on the Bush agenda.
Finally, Bush says he wants to free the Iraqis. That's really nice and all, but quite unbelievable. He's limiting the freedoms of Americans through all of these security concerns, limiting freedoms of speech, abortion rights, and proposing an amendment that will limit the freedom for gays to marry (more on that soon).
Basically, I think Bush went to war to finish the job his dad couldn't do... to get Saddam Hussein. Also, it's an act of revenge, since Saddam attempted an assassination of Bush 1 (I'm getting tired to sequels).
The economy:
Well, I won't go into much detail with this. However, though there were strong job growth numbers for March, this has not set a trend yet. Besides, I'm still seeing plenty of businesses closing down.
Abortion rights:
Now, there are 2 things that have limited abortion rights thus far: partial birth abortion ban, and Lacy & Connor's law.
The partial birth abortion ban bans one type of abortion... a rare one. Some think it grotesque, the main reason for the ban. Yes, it's almost a born child, and that's sad. One thing that was not given enough consideration was the right of the mother to life, cases where the birth of the child would kill the mother. I don't know about you, but I don't think a woman would go through the trouble of carrying a child for 9 months, and then decide that all of the time and energy put into the pregnancy wasn't worth it, causing her to decide on having this particular type of abortion. If a child was unwanted, I would think a mother would abort MUCH sooner than near the time of birth.
Lacy and Connor's law is one that allows an additional charge for an injured or killed fetus in a crime... a law that ends up defining a fetus as human from the point of conception. This is not a law that directly affects abortion rights, but saying that a fetus is a person would make the next step to banning abortion much easier.
An added piece of news that I've been hearing lately concerns prescriptions of the day after pill. Some pharmacists will not fill the prescription based on their religious beliefs. If they aren't willing to fill a prescription, they should've considered another field of work. This was a decision made between a patient and her doctor. On top of that, it's pushing one's religious beliefs onto someone else. You may believe something. You may discuss it with others. But you should not force others to accept those beliefs.
Gay marriage:
This topic, as you may have guessed, is one of my favorites. Recently, there was a group here in New York from Kansas that decided to hold a protest against gay marriage on their way to some other place. They said that, while protesting, they got another 4 people to join them... not significant, just a funny story.
Conservatives have funny things to say concerning gay marriage and its supposed ill effects. I'll list some, and an easy argument against each one.
Gay marriage will destroy "traditional" marriage (and that gays are a destruction to marriage and family values).
I would think the most destructive thing to marriages would be divorces, but that's just me. And gays have been parts of families for all of times. Being gay is not something that's new... even to the animal kingdom.
Something that's been around for 10,000 years can't be wrong.
What about slavery? What about keeping women from voting? The list goes on and on.
If gay marriage is allowed, what would stop other marriages from forming?
First, I'll start with bestiality, because it's easy. An animal cannot consent to a marriage, just as it cannot consent to sex. A marriage cannot happen without consent, and sex without consent is rape.
Polygamy and polyandry are rare practices, and few have tended to work well due to human nature. This is why threesomes can be difficult as well. Humans have wants. Humans are selfish, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sure, if multiple partner marriages are legal, it could cause many legal hassles in terms of divorces, but things should be set up beforehand to avoid these problems. Settings things up for that would be fairly easy, and since it will likely be a rare thing, I don't see major problems with it.
Prostitution is legal in some places, such as Amsterdam and Las Vegas. This practice could be done easier by prostitute if it were made legal, since things wouldn't need to be hidden. Basic rights would still apply to prostitutes, and it would be kept out of the streets.
I can't think of any other topics that have been posed off of the top of my head at the moment, but I can address them later.
Anyway, that's all for now, and remember, if you don't care to read what I write, feel free to go elsewhere. I'm not forcing anyone to read this. Thanks