Entry: In God We Trust.

I received this e-mail from a good friend earlier. I thought it was interesting...



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I'm proud to send this one...

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE
NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR
ALL.

I was asked to send this on if I agree or de lete if I don't.
It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore
I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a
problem in having "In God We Trust" on our money and having
"God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell
the 14% that they're free to leave the country if they don't
like it! If you agree, pass this on, if not delete it.

I AGREE !!! 
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I'm actually very glad that I received this.  It gives me the opportunity to vent on something that has always bothered me.

First off, a little history (for those who don't already know this).  In 1954, the phrase "Under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance and the following year saw the addition of "In God We Trust" being added to all American currency.  Contrary to popular belief, these phrases were NOT always there.  They were added to solidify America's diametrically opposite views of the ever-growing atheistic stance of the communist powers.  Even if I agreed with America's stance at the time, I still think it's fair to say that that addition to the pledge is no longer applicable given the reasons that it was added.

Now, let's check out some similar situations...

- A LOT of people in this country smoke.  However, the majority does not and (arguably) think that the others are simply forcing a disgusting habit on the rest.  The smoking minority can feel free to leave this country if they don't agree with the rest.

- In 1920, the 19th Amendment was made to the US constitution which granted women the right to vote.  If a census had been taken among the male and female populations at the time, I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the country would NOT want to give women that right (this includes the conservative female demographic).  Therefore, at the time, all people who felt otherwise should have been gladly free to leave this country because they didn't agree with everyone else.

- In 1862, President Lincoln abolished slavery with the 13th Amendment to the US constitution.  If a popular vote were taken at the time regarding whether or not that amendment should have passed, do you really think that it would have?

(By the way...feel free to argue the statments above.  I'm a computer jock, not a historian.  What's important is that you GET WHAT I'M SAYING - and please don't argue that you don't.)

The U.S. is a very heterogeneous populous.  It has always been my humbled opinion that her doctrine's should be compatible with everyone possible.  By having "under god" in the pledge, we ensure that it only applies to a percentage of her people.  By NOT having it there, we make it so that ALL can enjoy pledging their allegiance.  I'll never understand why people think that God isn't given more than the necessary reverence every single minute of every single day.  Why must we force it in our pledge to our country?  I'll spare you guys my seperation-of-church-and-state speech.  But seriously....some of this planet's worst atrocities have been commited under the impression that one school of thought should be forced upon the whole.

So, what's the bottom line to all this?  Simple.  Firstly, just because a lot of people agree on something doesn't necessarily make it right.  Secondly, trying to enforce your idea of "right" on someone else is the same thing that has started some of the worst of history's wars.  What if the roles were reversed?  What if the majority wanted "Under God" removed from the pledge and told all the others that they were "free to leave this country" if they didn't like it?  Do you really think that they'd wanna leave either?  Probably not.  They'd probably huddle in a corner somewhere in a fetal position and keep as quiet as possible.

Anywho....asalamalekum!  ;)

Movie: Match Point

I give this one an 8 out of 10 stars. It was a pretty good flick. It was all story....no action. Definately one to be enjoyed for its plot (and their twists). It's kind of a chick flick but with more infidelity and fornication than other chick flicks. I definately recommend it! :)

Article: The Best Way to Negotiate a Better Salary

This is a pretty good article. The author chimes in on topics such as increased workloads with no pay increase and also lack of severance pay. It's a good read.

Entry: Hello everyone!

Hello and good day! Many have been asking (more like complaining) about my blog and why I haven't updated it in a while. Well...I've recently lost interest in the media. Don't worry....it's just one of those mood swings that everyone goes through every once in a while. I haven't even been reading the news every day like I usually do (which is where I get a lot of the material for this blog). No cnn.com. No msnbc.com. no google news. No fark.com. (sigh). It'll all pick back up one of these days. ;)

I do have some rather exciting news (well...at least *I* think it's exciting). My friend Tracy has moved to SC from Conn. I had my first visit with her up in Columbia this last weekend. Good times were had by all. We watched a couple of movies.

The first movie was 'Underworld 2'. Rule number 1....try not to let your sequals be as bad as this one was. Rule number 2....make sure that the person that you're seeing it with has seen the first one. I give it a 6 out of 10 stars. Blah. At least all the main characters came back for it. Even the ones who died off in the first movie came back to do flashbacks and cameos in the second. Other than that, I think the story was a joke. What I'd like to know is this....if Celine became a super vampire after drinking the blood of the oldest immortal and Michael was a super hybrid (being half werewolf and half vampire), what happens when they mate? Do they conceive Godzilla or something?

The second movie we saw was was 'Firewall'. I rather enjoyed this movie (which is surprising since Tracy actually picked it). ;) I give it 8 out of 10 stars. As for technical details, I'm kinda up in the air about that aspect. They used some good techno-speak in the movie which sounded legit. For instance, in the beginning, Harrison Ford's character uses a terminal screen to add/modify a router access rule to block out some would-be cracker(s). Of course, the scene was so fast that I didn't get a chance to view it all for a total analysis. Unfortunately, a secondary character had to add some BS line about "Wow...that would eliminate false positives too!!". (barf). I also like the way that he removed the scanning filament from a fax machine and hooked it up to his daughter's IPOD and then scanned a database record dump as it scrolled up the terminal. However, he was kind enough to add the fact that he would use some OCR software to later get the data from the image that was captured. They had a habit of mixing really good techno kung fu with some really bad. Blah. Good movie though. It was right there in the same line as Ford's role in 'Airforce One'. Same type of role. Same type of situation.

Also, this weekend, Tracy, Katie, Myself, and some of Katie's friends went to a "tupperware" party. It was interesting. It was the first party of its kind that I can honestly say that I've ever been to. Let's just say that certain "tupperware" can be used to scratch backs and comb hair.

I also ended up buying about $50 worth of those Magnetix toys that I like so much. Those things are so cool. They're like legos, but kewl in a different way.

I went to a lecture last night at the 2nd Presbyterian (sp?) church downtown. It was concerning the whole evolution/intelligent design issue. Unfortunately, the first hour was spent discussing the personal histories of EVERYONE even remotely connected to evolution. So, after the first hour, we ended up leaving.

Blah.

My eHarmony account has expired. However, the folks at eHarmony are kind enough to send me e-mails telling me about my latest matches. Of course, they don't let me actually contact them. I think that's kinda rude not being able to tell people that I'm no longer available when they request communications with me. Blah. Then again, maybe it's just another case of RTFM. I seem to suffer from that a lot these days. :)

I'm within a few pages of being done with 'Sphere'. It's my latest Michael Crichton book. I'm still kinda stumped as to what to read next. A friend suggested one but I kinda want to stay on the Michael Crichton vein. So I'll see where that goes.

I hope that all is well with all my peeps out there. Sorry I haven't written much on here lately and sorry I haven't e-mailed many people either. Getting me to talk on the phone seems to be a bit troublesome these days too. Again, apologies to all. :)

Other than that, my time has been spent wisely watching TV, sleeping, and reading. That's 'bout it. :)