Aug 2007
No More Albertos
30-Aug-07 07:18 PM Filed in: Politics|Current Events
As you have surely heard by now, the tenure of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General is finally coming to an end. While this is certainly good news, we cannot just sit back and relax now.
Gonzales may be taking his creepy appetite for torture, unconstitutional detention, and spying back to Texas, but George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are still around, which means that the Constitution and the rule of law are still endangered.
That's why I just visited the American Freedom Campaign and took action by sending an e-mail to my two U.S. senators, urging them to confirm as the next attorney general only an individual who is committed to defending the Constitution and restoring our system of checks and balances.
The senators need to hear from as many of their constituents as possible about this. Please take a moment and e-mail your two senators. Follow the link to take action:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12452
Thanks so much for joining me in this effort.
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You Tube Debut
This is a repeat of a posting from April 10, 2007. The significance of this posting is this marks my debut video on You Tube (woo hoo). This will not win the academy award or any other kind of recognition, but this is a nice demonstration of the newest features in the iLife 08 software package from Apple. This video was posted directly to You Tube from inside the Keynote application on my Mac. The same thing can also be done from inside iMovie 08 for posting videos to You Tube. Tight integration of web services built right into the various applications opens up new and easy ways for people to go further and explore more in the digital universe.
Who Was Thomas Paine?
It is truly amazing how little is known of Thomas Paine amongst the general public nowadays. A man of significant historical value and influence to the very founding of our great nation; a man who greatly inspired the founders such as Jefferson, Adams, and Washington; yet also a man silently relegated to the almost forgotten pages of history.
He was an intellectual and a man who wrote an amazing treatise entitled "The Age of Reason". The contents of this book are almost certainly the reason why Paine has been neglected in our history books and out of our collective conscience. Paine was not an agnostic nor an atheist but he was a deist and the writings in "The Age of Reason" was his explanation as to why he did not believe any of the organized religions or their teachings. For this reason he has been smeared and defamed and now forgotten by those who were incensed at his writings and at his logic. This is a man who should be rediscovered anew for I believe that his writings are still fresh, relevant and educational even for today.
Many people will disagree with his arguments presented in "The Age of Reason", and that's their right. Even Paine himself acknowledged that these were only his opinions and he condemned no one for holding to a different viewpoint. For me, reading this book was a fresh confirmation and a reaffirmation of many thoughts, feelings, and ideas that I had held for a long time previously. Seeing the words and thoughts so carefully crafted and penned with such skill was a truly remarkable experience. If you've never read "The Age of Reason", I highly encourage you to check it out and read it all the way through. Even if you disagree with his opinions, he never presents anything insulting or derogatory and thus establishes the ability to be listened to without animosity. For me, I agree almost entirely with everything he states and find the words truly enlightening. The book is in two parts - the entire work can be read on line here.
"...I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it. The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall..." -Thomas Paine