break # 3

I'm drinking green tea and reading up on Candada's left-wing politics, especially on the positions of The Bloc Québécois, which is dedicated to securing sovereignity for Quebec. Deathcab for Cutie's Company Calls Epilogue is playing in the background, and I can't help but remember that Quebec was just a strategically useful country to hold when my father and I used play Risk.

Monopoly and Risk as metaphors military and economy, we Americans teach our young to play aggressively from the start. We re-enact battles from previous wars, even as we send our young to fight in another. Free-trade is war by any other name -- thanks in part to the re-structuring of the world's economy after the Bretton Woods Conference.

Projection of force, both military and economic, is absolutely necessary in securing freedom. Marketing toy canisters of mustard gas to children, complete with Nazi action-figures, or Panzer division tanks in all their graphic detail, however, is not.

ethics # one

I was reading The Complete Idiots Guide to Understanding Ethics last night, specifically the section on immigration. After some thought, I would describe my feelings towards immigration control with the following sentence: The United States federal government holds a higher responsibility to its citizens than to non-citizens, and thus must consider the security of its citizens above the pursuit of happiness of non-citizens, even if they share equally valuable claims.

Specifically, I am speaking to the security of the citizens of the United States of America versus the desired propserity on non-citizens.

Hidden assumptions in this view include: the fact that natural, inalienable rights of man to life, liberty and property exist independent of naturalization. That both U.S. citizens and non-citizens are seeking to exercise those rights in the controversy surrounding immigration. And, finally, that both of their claims to these natural rights are equally valid.

The United States government has a contract with its citizens, known as the Constitution. We elect leaders to serve on our behalf, to represent our best interests and to secure our safety and prosperity. Additionally, citizens fund the government (in all levels) through taxes, which can be considered the method of exchange in the contract for our safety. Non-citizens are not party to this contract, and therefore, bear a less significant relationship with the United States federal government. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the federal government to ply the interests of those with whom they bear a contractial relationship above those with whom they do not.

in the news # two

Jose Padilla, an alleged Al Qaeda operative, made his first court appearance Thursday after being held as an "enemy combatant" for more than 3 years.

Padilla, who was transfered from military to civilian custudy, was the subject of a lawsuit that the Bush administration took to the Supreme Court.

The decision handed down by the high court allowing criminal charges to be brought against Padilla is a temporary victory for the Bush administration, who asked the court to accept a transfer order shortly after filing charges.

In May 2002 Padilla was arrested at the Chicago O'Hare airport on charges that he sought to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside of the United States. After being taken into custody, Padilla was held for approximately 3 1/2 years without legal rights and without charges being filed against him.

The Bush administration argued that the criminal charges made the Supreme Court appeal of several civil rights groups moot. The Supreme Court had been asked to define the nature of Presidental power in reference to civilian detention. However, the Bush administration circumvented the Supreme Court's analysis on this issue for the time being.
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I'll admit that I am skeptical of the expansion of the Executive Branch during the Bush administration. I'm well aware that we need to fight Islamofascists with every possible tool, and that our leaders view this sort of detention as a necessary aspect of fighting the War on Terrorism. Hopefully we haven't scarified too much for our security. As it stands right now, I think i'm in favor of doing whatever's necessary to "enemy combatants" who are not legal citizens of the United States. If the "enemy combatant" is a citizen of the U.S., however, I think we must give them their rights (and charge them with treason!).

in the news # one

A coal mine explosion trapped 13 West Virginia coal miners approximately 260 feet underground on Monday.

Federal regulators cited the mine in question 208 times in 2005 and 68 times in 2004 for alleged safety violations. Ninety-six of the citations issued in 2005 were considered "significant and substantial" by inspectors from the U.S. Labor Department.

The question then becomes: What sort of teeth do these violations carry, and why wasn't this prevented.

With all due consideration given to the danger of working in a mine, the number of alleged violations issued by the U.S. Labor Department seems to suggest that such an event was waiting to happen. The violations represent an effort at prevention, however, it seems that they were ignored.

The West Virginia state government, along with the United States federal government, must necessarily take an interest in the protection of its citizens -- including the places in which they are employed. This is not to say, however, that the government has a right to encroach upon the business practices of an employer. There's a tricky balance between protecting employees' rights, and unduly interfering with the individual freedom of the employer. When an employer is able to shirk violations of personal safety, that balance becomes tipped in the favor of government action.

The government therefore, respectful of the local economy, must interject for the protection of the employees working in the mine. Therefore, other mines with possible violations of safety must be forced into compulsion. Something that could have been prevented is not an accident, and this, judging by the alleged safety violations, could have been prevented.
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God bless the families of the minors, and the minors themselves.

Addition: The miners have been found. The status of the miners, who have died, has been miscommunicated to their families. In the early morning hours, chaos is everywhere. I expect lawsuits shall be filed.

reading # one

In Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation Joseph J. Ellis writes:

"The politics of the 1790s was a truly cacophonous affair. Previous historicans have labeled it "the Age of Passion" for good reason, for in terms of shrill accusatory rhetoric, flamboyant displays of ideological intransigence, intense personal rivalries, and hyperbolic claims of imminent catastrophe, it has no equal in American history. The political dialogue within the highest echelon of the revolutionary generation was a decade-long shouting match."

It's refreshing to me to read those words. I spend an enromous amount of time consuming politics, both from primary (politicans) and secondary (media outlets) sources. It's hard to imagine a time when rhetoric was more divisive (see Howard Dean's comments), or more personal. However, I do take solice in that our nation has weathered through other, extremely-intense times.

break # two

I've been working on a photo album. Not the online kind, but an actual, physical, display-in-your-room photo album. I've never had a real photo album before, and so the whole thing is kind of new to me. I feel awkward asking friends to pose for pictures; I feel sort of like i'm interrupting the time we're spending together, or that i'm invading their privacy. When I think about it analytically, though, I don't think this is the case.

When I think about it analytically, I recognize that taking a picture is quick, and doesn't have to be the major focus of any given conversation or action. It's something that can occur in the background. These (I think) might in fact be the best pictures of all.

Therefore, i'm resolved, that no matter how awkward I feel, I'm going to begin taking more pictures. Maybe, just maybe, i'll upload them.

break # one

The new year has quietly delivered itself upon me. Perhaps it snuck in from behind, or perhaps it waited patiently and sprung out from somewhere to my left or right, but in any case, I didn't see it coming.

I'm hesitant and nervous about 2006. I'm not sure if it's the three games of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne that I was absolutely destroyed in shortly after midnight, or the game of scrabble Emily destroyed me in shortly before, but I've no reason (yet) to feel excited or optimistic about this year.

Basically, I believe that it's important to make progress each and every year. That, each year it's important to improve oneself and one's conditions from the year previous. I'm not sure that I believe in resolutions, though, because the general principle I uphold seems to encapsulate everything and anything a reasolution would include. Therefore, resolutions seem an unnecessary redenduncy at best, and too narrow, too rigid perscriptions at worst.

2005 held some pretty serious and heavy accommplishments for me. In 2006, therefore, i'm not entirely certain i'll be able to out perform what I've done previously. However, there's a multitude of other ways that I can still uphold my general principle. I can, for instance, become a more moral, Godly person, who treats his fellow man (man/woman) better; a person who is more patient, caring and understanding of others. Tolerance, indeed, is a virtue.

In every person, and in every organization, nation, and group of persons there is room for improvement. Some things get better, and other things get worse, and a very few things even stay basically the same. My goal is to improve what I possibly can, and to limit the things that get worse. The stuff that stays the same, is less of a priority than the stuff that needs improvement, and is probably outside of my control.

2005 has been a good year. I became the President of the KSU College Republicans, and a Vice-President of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. I met Roy Blunt, the acting Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Stossel, the anchor of 20-20, appeared on Good Morning America, and continued to do good work around the university. I'm proud of myself, and of the things that I've been able to accomplish.


I've done service projects to improve the environment, send burned children to summer camp, and make the holidays brighter for our troops serving overseas. I've been to more places, and done more for other people than any other year of my life. I'm sad to see it go. Hopefully, in this new year i'll be able to draw upon the experiences and accomplishments of the last and propel myself forward with more strength, more vigor, more compassion and intelligence then I've been able to muster with the last.