Nick

Barack Obama: Misconceptions

2008-03-04T04:05:13Z

I find that there are some pretty wild misconceptions about Barack Obama.

1) Barack is a uniter
In fact, he has been described as the most liberal senator. I'm not sure exactly who people think he is uniting, but it sure doesn't include conservative republicans. Be realistic, folks. He faces an uphill battle to bring about his so-called change, especially if the democrats continue to not have a workable majority in the senate. Barack is not going to simply roll through Washington turning everything he touches into gold.

2) Barack has a better chance against McCain
Maybe. Maybe not. Barack Obama has never really had to deal with the full force neo-con spin machine. Right now, he just has to sell himself to democrats. Taking on the republicans will be a whole new battle. He will be facing the challenge of proving that he is a better person to be Commander in Chief than a decorated war hero who spent 4 years in a POW camp and then went on to become a Senator for 20 years the whole time serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Maybe he is, but republicans aren't going down without a fight and they certainly have a strong prima facie case. The point is, Hillary has a history that may be an advantage in the general election.

(I couldn't believe I actually heard this one the other day)
3) Barack voted against the Iraq war
Barack didn't vote at all! He didn't enter the Senate until 2005. AND he's spent the last year campaigning to be president. I admit, Hillary's war authorization vote was wrong, but nobody bats a thousand, and I'll take her experience in the White House over Barack's war "vote" any day. Hmm, come to think of it, I "voted" against the Iraq war too. Maybe I should run for president. I'm not 35, but if I could just get stadiums full of people to cheer me on for blowing my nose, maybe the media and everyone else will just overlook it.

There are certainly some negative misconceptions about him too, but I don't think they even compare to the misconceptions that Hillary has faced and fought for years and years.
4) Barack is a Muslim.
In fact, he is not.

OK, that's enough for now.

Cross-posted on facebook.

Obama or Hillary?

2008-02-22T23:02:33Z

Once again, Ohio is likely to play a decisive role in choosing the next president. It is as important as ever that we make the right choice.

It's not difficult to see why so many people are attracted to Obama. He's an inspiring speaker and for many people a welcome fresh face in the political arena. For too many years Washington has been dominated by a few very powerful men. Congress seems bought and sold and the media seems sort of OK with that. The point being OF COURSE Obama is an appealing candidate for president. After eight years of neo-cons in office, many Americans are starving for "change" and Obama is just what they were looking for.

But is he really the best person for the job? Obama says having the "same old folks" in Washington would be a mistake, but who exactly is he talking about? Clearly (at least to most of us) we don't need any more neo-cons in office. Been there. Done that. Didn't work. (Which rules out McCain since he seems to be towing the neo-con lines now). But what about Clinton? Surely Obama doesn't mean to imply that there is no difference between Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush. This is absurd on its face. So what then is his argument against Clinton? Is he really trying to convince us that we all hated the Clintons? Bill Clinton's approval ratings were in the 60s (percent) when he left office (even after dealing with scandal). The fact is, many Americans really liked Bill and Hillary Clinton. If that isn't it, is Obama trying to say that just having experience in politics is a bad thing? Come on people. How did this get to "Experience == Bad"? It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyways) intimate experience in Washington politics is a *major asset.* A president only has so many years to be effective. Why wouldn't you want the candidate with the most experience?

The answer is politics. If you don't agree with a candidate's politics, even if he is the most experienced, you shouldn't vote for him. This is why I won't vote for John McCain in the general election. His resume speaks for itself, but I just don't agree with his politics. The problem is, Obama and Clinton have virtually the same politics. They agree on almost every issue. This brings me to my point: all things being equal in terms of politics, you should choose the candidate with more experience (and thus more potential to be effective). Yes, I like Obama. No matter what happens, he will certainly continue to be an influential figure in national politics. Still, there is *no question* in my mind that Clinton is more prepared for the job.

Let's all practice the lesson we all hoped we learned after the 2000 general election: this is not about electing a Prom King (or Queen) or about deciding who we'd rather have a beer with. The choice each of us have to make is who do we think can most effectively apply our values to Washington policy. If Obama resonates with your values, then *you should vote for Clinton*. She can (and will) more effectively implement *Obama's* values than Obama can.

The only person who could be more effective than Clinton would be Al Gore, but that's another story.

x-posted on facebook

sid249 @ 2007-07-29T15:40:00

2007-07-29T19:43:59Z

I found this today while reading Wikipedia's article on Conservapedia. It's a satirical alternative to Conservapedia called Liberapedia.

sid249 @ 2006-12-11T23:43:00

2006-12-12T03:43:29Z

When I'm drunk I'm zero sober.

Can you make tea out of apples?

sid249 @ 2006-11-03T20:16:00

2006-11-04T00:16:23Z

So we had a wierd SQL problem at work that we just solved today. We were running an UPDATE query something like:

UPDATE Schedule

SET InterimReport='Some text blah',
InterimGrade='ME',
FinalReport='Some more text',
FinalGrade='EE',
ICName='Text Here'

WHERE StudentID='985' AND
CourseOfferingID='1601'

The query ran fine without returning any errors, but the database just didn't seem to get updated. Can anyone guess what the problem is? It would probably be more obvious if I gave more context, but whatever.

sid249 @ 2006-11-02T01:20:00

2006-11-02T05:20:46Z

Hahaha. Penn Jillette just said "There is no Santa Clause" on The Colbert Report, and the beeped out the words "Santa Clause." Also said "The tooth fairy is your mother and your father" and they beeped "your mother and your father."

sid249 @ 2006-10-27T23:21:00

2006-10-28T03:36:23Z

Wow. My best friend (best friends I should say) are married now. We always knew it was coming, just not this soon. I still can't believe it. At first I wasn't sure what to think. But now I'm really happy for them. They're a great couple and they really deserve each other. The wedding was really nice. We all walked down the aisle to the Aeris Theme from FF7, except for Kellagh (the bride) who walked in to the them from Laputa (a Miyazaki movie). Later I got nervous and didn't give my toast on time. I ended up giving it in front of a smaller crowd though, I guess it was OK. All in all a really fun (albeit long) day. I'm happy for Mike and Kellagh, but I'm going to miss him as a roommate. Se la vi.

sid249 @ 2006-10-02T21:26:00

2006-10-03T01:27:39Z

listen up bitches.

all we are saying, is give peace a chance.

how do you like them bananas?!

sid249 @ 2006-10-01T16:44:00

2006-10-01T20:55:51Z

<rant>
I hereby forbid the use of the word "whilst." It seems to be used often in geek-dom, and no, it does not make you sound clever. You are not clever because you know an archaic word that can technically be substituted for its modern equivalent.
</rant>

sid249 @ 2006-08-13T18:17:00

2006-08-13T22:16:37Z

Keyboard failure
Strike F1 to continue

yeeeeahhhh

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-06-26T14:47:22Z

I definitely recommend seeing An Inconvenient Truth.

Some things to keep in mind when watching the movie:
1) Just because it's Al Gore, doesn't mean it's not true.
2) Just because you're watching it at a movie theatre, doesn't mean it's not true.
3) The Dispatch doesn't always know what it's talking about. Just because they say there is major disagreement, doesn't mean there is.
4) Don't judge the movie negatively just because it doesn't prove anything to you. Let me emphasize this. The movie is not meant to serve as proof in and of itself. 2 hours is simply not enough time for a complete proof. The movie is meant to /outline/ the arguments involved in proving that Global Warming exists and is dangerous. It is the responsibility of the informed viewer to corroborate the facts of the movie if you don't take it at face value (or even if you do).

If you go into the movie keeping these things in mind, I think you'll get more out of it.

sid249 @ 2006-04-05T22:40:00

2006-04-06T02:41:49Z

Oh man. South Park. I can't even describe it, but catch it this week if you can.

sid249 @ 2006-03-12T21:53:00

2006-03-13T02:58:36Z

I'm in my room lying down when I notice the thunderstorm. I think to myself, "Wow! A thunderstorm in March. Cool." I open the window so that I can just listen and relax. But then I realize I'm going to have to get up to go to the bathroom. I consider my dilemma. "I would like to go to the bathroom, but what if the storm doesn't last very long? I don't want to miss it. What should I do?!" Then, as sudden as a flash of lightening, the solution hits me. "I have Tivo! I can just hit pause until I come back!"

Then I decide that I probably watch too much TV.

shut up

2006-02-22T16:44:57Z

Modern, Cool Nerd
52 % Nerd, 56% Geek, 13% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used
to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a
pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world
that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and
geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very
least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent,
knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing
computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one
you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one
up there, winning the million bucks)!

Congratulations!

Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 46% on nerdiness
You scored higher than 82% on geekosity
You scored higher than 8% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

sid249 @ 2005-09-20T10:55:00

2005-09-20T14:58:14Z

i don't usually do these... but here it is.... apparently i'm a socialist. stupid deprecated html

You are a
Social Liberal
(73% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(16% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

sid249 @ 2005-08-31T11:10:00

2005-08-31T15:25:57Z

Gmail is sooooo the man. They added the feature to specify your reply-to address for each email you send. You get a drop-down box with a list of the addresses you've set up. Until now I would check my email at gmail and then reply from my various other clients. Now I can do it all in gmail.

sid249 @ 2005-08-22T21:32:00

2005-08-23T01:34:03Z

The Internet (and google) is (are) so cool. Where else would I learn how to do long-division with polynomials??? Certainly not in a math book.

sid249 @ 2005-08-22T20:37:00

2005-08-23T00:38:58Z

that cat is soooooooooooooo getting de-clawed. i'm tired of have my eyelids peeled open and my feet treated like mice.

on another note, maybe he would like some company of his own species... then again, maybe not, who knows.

sid249 @ 2005-08-22T00:19:00

2005-08-22T04:20:42Z

It's not for the faint of heart, but oh man, go see The Aristocrats. Please though, find out what you're getting into before you see it.

sid249 @ 2005-08-05T01:45:00

2005-08-05T05:49:51Z

Heh heh. So I tried to get to bed early tonight so I could have a nice full night's sleep, and as I was lying there, it occurred to me that I hadn't eaten in something like 8 hours. Then of course I couldn't sleep. So I got up, got some food, and watched an episode of DS9. Now it's almost 2. Le sigh.

sid249 @ 2005-08-04T14:38:00

2005-08-04T18:39:30Z

Pimptasterrific. I got an 87% on my math exam.

sid249 @ 2005-08-02T21:31:00

2005-08-03T01:41:37Z

Well, I think part of this sleep issue may be work related. For some reason, my work tends to float through my head all day long. Last night I took a benedryl or two to help me sleep. For about the first four hours of sleep I was tossing and turning and waking up, and I distinctly remember a Squid configuration file keeping me awake for what seemed like forever. WTF?? I mean, Squid is cool and I had fun implementing it at TGS, but I really don't think it should keep me up at night. So anyways, work in general just seems to distract me. I keep thinking "Oh, man, it would be cool if we ..." Sigh. So what I need to do is compartmentalize my life better and just do work at work. It's not like I don't have enough other stuff to do.

Also, I talked to my parents about my trouble sleeping and they gave me a variety of good suggestions. My dad recommends reading every night for at least a few minutes before sleep.

OK, I'm going to have to cut this short because I have to restart my computer. My goddamn gnome-panel keeps crashing.

sid249 @ 2005-08-01T04:20:00

2005-08-01T08:34:00Z

i get this insomnia from time to time... i hate it... all i want to do is sleep, and i've been trying to for about two and a half hours, but it just doesn't come to me... and the longer it takes, the more nervous i get, since i have work in the morning... and of course being nervous just makes me more alert and makes my heart beat faster. it's like my mind is in fifth gear and i really just want to be in first. i have no idea what it is though that's keeping me up. i've had a cold lately and that kept me up a couple nights. it's bothering me now so that's probably part of it. ugh, with the coughing. anyways, i took some melatonin, but that doesn't seem to really make me tired so much as it makes me have to piss every 10 minutes (which of course serves to keep me up more). i tried warm milk and that didn't really help. i tried shutting the windows and turning the ac on thinking it might be too hot, but then i just felt stuffy. i've been sleeping on the couch lately (because i couldn't get to sleep on my bed before), so i tried moving back to my bed... but none of it helps. i really just want some stronger sleeping pills that i can just take at midnight that knock me the fuck out, because this happens way too often. sigh... i could just go into work without sleeping tomorrow. but that would suck ass, because i really have to study for a math exam for tuesday. oh, yeah. i tried opening the windows again, but i'm just getting hot again. oh yeah, i even tried reading, which almost always makes me tired in other circumstances. i think i'll go see a doctor about this. i'm tired of having to play mind games with mymself just to get to sleep.

sid249 @ 2005-07-31T16:03:00

2005-07-31T20:03:53Z

Google is so cool. Finally their personalized home page allows adding custom rss feeds. I'm going to add Shawn's podcasts.

sid249 @ 2005-06-07T17:13:00

2005-06-07T21:22:03Z

So this morning was fun. Last night I worked on stuff for 670 all evening until I decided to go to bed around 1. I probably fell asleep around 2. I had set my alarm for 6:15, intending to be up by 7 or so (yeah, snooze). Anyways, I woke up naturally around 5:50 and was getting ready to go back to sleep, when all of a sudden everything went silent. If it weren't for the computer I wouldn't have noticed, but I looked around and sure enough, the power was out. So I had to stay half awake until about 7 when it came back on. At that point I reset my clock and decided that I really wanted some more sleep before my finals. Soo.. I slept until about 8:45, then got up and studied for two hours until my 670 final at 11:30. I learned about a quarter's worth of material in two hours this morning. The exam went /OK/ but not great. I still have a few assignments to turn in for it. Hopefully, I can get a C in that class. Directly following that final, though, I had my philosophy exam, which I hadn't been able to do my usual last minute studying for. Fortunately, I knew the material fairly well and actually did really well on the exam (I think). So, I think I'll probably get an A in that class, probably a C, maybe a B in 670, and Oh lord I hope a C in 625 (that exam is tomorrow morning). Unfortunately, I can't go to Kelly's bday party tonight, because of that exam. Well, less than 24 hours to go.

Oh, it turns out Columbus State wants proof that I got a C or better in 152 (which I didn't), so I may actually end up taking 152 there, and then taking 153 in the fall. I'll finish school in about a hundred years.