Happy new year(s)

<![CDATA[ Normally for me, one year passes to the next without much fanfare. However, this year is a little different, because my brother decided to propose to his now-fianc

run and hide some more

<![CDATA[ So when I posted run and hide, I asked a friend of mine if the song should be remixed. His answer came back as a "YES!" He's actually working on a remix of his own -- I'm looking forward to hearing how it turns out.

In the meantime, I also took a crack at it, expecting a by-the-numbers dance track and instead getting something very different:

run and hide (deconstruct this! remix) ]]>

Andy Mckee

<![CDATA[ My friend Doug sent me an IM with a link to this amazing guitarist, Andy Mckee. I think I'll have to find out more about him...

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but what does it mean?

<![CDATA[ So this was an eventful election week, especially in this country. What I find even more interesting now is the response:

• (obviously) the Rumsfeld resignation

• Bush's pledge to work with Congress
• The Democrats' public intent to jump right in and deal with tax issues

I'm looking forward to next year already, if only to see how this plays out. The hopeful me says we'll have significant and meaningful results from the balance of Congress and the White House. The cynical me says, "Gridlock time!" ]]>

making time for new songs

<![CDATA[ It's way too easy to keep tweaking and (re-re-re-re-)mixing, especially when I can rationalize by saying that I barely have any time between work and school to do any tweaking or mixing. In any case, I'm calling these songs done:

• run and hide

• dying ground

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Life in the boondocks… er, suburbs

<![CDATA[ This is completely random, but...

I was reading about the not-so-good news that Aaron McGruder is no longer putting "The Boondocks" in the newspapers (or Web equivalents, presumably). I've been reading it for several years and want to share at least one reason why I like it so much...

(from GoComics) ]]>

how we hurt ourselves

<![CDATA[ The federal government's intelligence community has released a new National Intelligence Estimate, which notes that terrorists have profited from U.S. efforts to combat terrorism. I don't know if the administration will believe such a report, but it does bring a couple of items to the front of my mind:

1. The article notes that at this point, both the U.S. and al-Qaeda consider Iraq as the center of the current "war". As an opponent of our invasion, I have to wonder who considered it first -- I'm guessing the U.S. al-Qaeda has been able to use our (over)reaction to great effect in hindering our efforts to establish a stable government and infrastructure.

2. An anonymous intelligence officer is quoted as saying that one of the problems with U.S. strategy "is that we focus on the terrorists and very little on how they are created." In my line of work (IT support), we're usually behind the curve if we're being solely reactive to current situation; we can be effective only when we combine our responsiveness with the ability and drive to anticipate new issues and prepare accordingly. I can't see why we would want to be more thorough in supporting Microsoft Word than in protecting ourselves and others from the radical and hateful ideology that al-Qaeda espouses.

Over at the Washington Times, they don't mention the NIE, but do include John McCaslin's "Inside the Beltway", where he proclaims that the Guantanamo prisoners are well-treated because we spend more money on food for the prisoners than on food for the troops and because we provide basic dental and optical care for those we've imprisoned. Of course, he doesn't mention how much is spent on food per person -- that may muddy his argument. He also doesn't compare this to what we spend in potentially similar arenas (i.e. federal prisons). Unfortunately, people will come away with the feeling that it's good times in Gitmo, when we know differently. ]]>

starting anew

<![CDATA[ For the first time in my post-collegiate career, I'm about to start working in a new place. I believe these things:

1. I left my last organization for the right reasons for me.

2. I chose a company that I can learn and grow in.
3. I'm nervous and excited about starting off in a new organization.

Now it's time to see which of my beliefs are correct. ]]>

(two hundred) thirty today

<![CDATA[ So it's my birthday today, number 30. I think I'm supposed to attach some sort of importance to the round number and reflect on what I did with my 20s:

• met and married my life partner
• graduated from college
• moved along on my chosen career path
• gone back to school
• learned to play guitar and write songs (available here, if you weren't sure)
• established a more meaningful relationship with my mother and brother
• traveled to Europe

So, so far, so good. Any regrets I may have are far outweighed by the list above and the other positive moments of the past ten years.

Oh -- it's also our nation's birthday today -- enjoy the day off. ]]>

how can we ensure that we are the minority?

<![CDATA[ What's wrong with the Democratic Party?

The main question of the article revolves around the party's identify: liberal or centrist? Since "the middle" moves around a lot, the party should take a stronger stand in its core principles rather than continue along its "we're not them!" model. Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen; nor will the Dems muster up enough righteousness to go on the attack, even when they have a shot at winning something for the first time in 6 years.

One note: the article credits Jeffrey Goldberg with this statistic: the GOP's base is one-third of the country; the Democrats' base is one-fifth. This leaves 47% for "the middle." This seems pretty similar to the Conservative-Labour-Liberal Democrat breakdown in the UK -- I wonder how a third party for the middle 47% would change the political landscape here in the U.S. ]]>