I shouldn't be posting. I have too much work to do. So I'll make this quick:

article here.

I think it speaks for itself. Oh, what a brave new world, with such people in it.

Mr. Kerry, don't try to tell me I'm miserable. I'm sure you feel pity for us helpless peons from your Boston townhouse and Heinz fortune.

As someone pointed out to me, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a reference to a poem by Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard." It's worth giving more time to read than I granted it.

In other news, I've had the idea of writing an apologetic to Shadee's editorial for about half a week now; I'm writing that down here in the hope it will coerce me into actually doing it sometime soon.

WOW.

People who have the fortitude to do things like this really amaze me. Something for me to keep in mind as I enter the third mile on my runs.

Christian Raves?

And I found out about this through a guy whose legal name is Tronster, after the movie Tron. Hey, whatever works, I guess...

Well, this is just great. Apparently the world is going to end this year in a catastrophic asteroid impact, and on my twentieth birthday, no less.

I signed up for a site which seems to have the sole purpose of allowing for bragging rights on what DVDs people own. You can view my collection here:

http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=drinian

Doing my schedule for next semester, I'm struck by all the courses I want to take but can't because I've straitjacketed myself into my majors (and minor). It almost makes me reconsider, but... oh well. It's strange to think that I only have two more years, really, to play the student. Some courses I can't take this semester:

History of Ancient / Early Modern Japan
Introduction to Old English
The Existentialist Imagination
The Postmodern Bible

Hopefully things like MIT's OpenCourseWare will extend more into the humanities, and I'll get a chance (and find the motivation) to take them up after college. That's my only consolation. Ah well, vita brevis, et utique numquam totas res habebis.

Why did I just start wrting in Latin?

I think I may need to start believing in signs, if I get a few more.

Or else happy coincidence.

...in another Derrick-fueled journal entry. The entire conversation is recorded herein:

(22:38:56) PointDriver: AND YOU KNOW I'D WALK A THOUSAND MILES IF I COULD JUST SEEEEEEE YOUUUUU?
(22:38:59) PointDriver: sorry
(22:39:01) PointDriver: just had to do that
(22:39:36) PointDriver logged out.

The Iranians are edging pretty close to a possible rebellion and overthrow of their theocracy in favor of a real democracy after last month's sham elections, and no major Western outlet is reporting it. This is possibly the first major news story, as pointed out at Fark, only to be covered by blogs. Links:

National Review
Fark.com thread where I found out about it
Iranian activist site
An activist message board
Tehran24 -- excellent pictures of a remarkably modern country, next to our perception of it

The basic conflict here as I understand it is that the powers-that-be have declared a traditional religious festival illegal because it conflicts with their view of Islamic law, and people have decided that they've had enough of that sort of restrictions. This has been a long time coming; anyone with a clue about mideast politics realizes that Iran is one of the most pro-America countries in the area if you discount its government. Time to stand back and watch democracy in action.

The fact that I'm not hearing about this all the time on CNN, though, is very bad. It's selective reporting like this that led to most Americans thinking there was an Iraqi connection to 9/11 and spending the last month getting angry at that Super Bowl business. Here's a perfect example of the best way for revolutions to take place... I hope. Meanwhile, most Americans think Iran is a bunch of mud huts.

It's exciting, isn't it?

Instead of doing some actual writing, I just wanted to briefly mention that Annan is right about poverty, although he's wrong about the US' actions not being in self-defense.

If there is one thing that can be done now by our nation to save a lot of lives, it's ending the supports and subsidies we give our farmers. The EU is no better -- they spend more per cow than per capita. Only ending the abject poverty of most of the world is going to end this war.

And, like I said, this isn't a real entry, so I'm not going to try and substantiate any of these claims.

Considering I will probably be in Baltimore this summer, I'm more than slightly interested in witnessing this. My dad has mentioned it before, it's quite a sight. Of course, by the second week of constant buzzing...

This site is somewhat interesting. It told me that the candidate most matching my views was Al Sharpton, followed by Kerry, Kucinich, and THEN Bush.

To be fair, I didn't really match any of them that well, unsurprisingly. Al was a 56% match, Bush a 42.

I had heard before that, statistically speaking, a large portion of Americans were functionally illiterate, but I never believed it until I read the letters retrieved by the Smoking Gun to the FAA on the subject of Janet Jackson's Superbowl appearance. One would assume that when writing letters to government officials one would take time to write as well as one knows how to, and, if that is the case, I can only hope these people are the exception.

I'm reminded of a comment a friend of mine made over New Year's; we were watching an episode of Family Guy at about three in the morning and he asked if it bothered any of us that we were part of only a small segment of the population who could appreciate the humor. Someone said that we should just enjoy it and appreciate how lucky we are.

This whole rant sounds rather elitist, but it's largely the truth. The people reading this, and the people you talk with and interact with on a daily basis, are not ordinary. To think that we live or even understand lives representative of the majority of this nation, or any other, is to deeply deceive ourselves. What happened in this country to make people think that a four-year liberal-arts college degree is necessary for any job?

On a slightly more upbeat note, it seems at least that perhaps the nation's public schools haven't declined as much as previously thought. Most of the people writing these letters are likely products of the Baby Boom generation.

Looking over this before I post it, it seems like I might be suggesting the wrong idea. I'm not making any judgement on moral strength here (although appeals to rationality may fall on uncomprehending ears to some of these people I'm writing about) or superiority: I know too many Nascar fans to think that. But I am suggesting that there is a gap in the basic assumptions of thought between the Us, the people I know, and the Unknown, those whom I am likely never to meet. We walk in different circles.

Speaking of inadequacy, I really don't think I'm getting my point across the way I want to. If there's one thing looking at dumb people can do, however they became that dumb, it can remind you that you're not all that smart either. But maybe Gilman (and Duke) are right when they say they are training us to be the future leaders of society, in some small way.

Seriously, don't take this rant too strongly. I'm having real trouble elucidiating what I'm trying to think. Now it's time to write a paper.