First Things First

The middle of Spring, and it's time for another update.  Among the updates this month is Vista Drive, which gets more pictures added to both galleries.  I've been lucky to get some really great pictures online in this update.  Check them out.

Afterthoughts : Twins or Triplets?

Growing up there was this show called "Double Trouble" on NBC staring the Segal twins, Liz and Jean Segal (pictured right).  Being a kid at the time I had the biggest crush on them.  So it was a huge surprise when one day my parents and I went to a local McDonald's and behind the counter was a girl that was the very image of the Segal twins.  She could have been their long lost triplet, or so I thought in my teenage mind.  She really looked like them, except that she was behind the counter of a McDonald's.

Throughout the meal I stole glances towards the counter, all the time falling more for her.  It was hard to keep my parents from spotting me looking at her.  I'm pretty sure that they noticed.  I could see them looking at me looking at her.

We finished our meal, and went home.  I so wanted to go back to this McDonald's, but it was not one that was close to my house.  The one close to my house would have been the first stop for any Big Macs.  I never saw her again, but I never forgot her.

Years later I went back to that McDonald's.  I guess I thought that she might still be there.  Of course she wasn't.

Editorial : A Declaration of Freedom

The time has come for those who stand silent to declare their stance on current political, and social, events.  This nation was founded on ideals of freedom.  Among these ideals is one that is paramount for any democracy, if it is to survive, and thrive, the freedom of speech.  The right for an individual to speak their mind, be it thought of as aberrant, vulgar, or indecent, by the majority of the people, must be protected completely and absolutely.  For it is more important to secure the right of such extreme forms of speech precisely because they are extreme.  Because a free, and open, society can only survive when all forms of speech are free to be spoken, and exercised.  To censor, or attempt to mollify such speech, is tantamount to censoring all forms of expression.  History has taught us that those who seek to subvert governments first turn their eyes towards censorship.  A free and open political debate is necessary in order for an electorate to remain informed, and educated, to what is being done in their name by political representatives.  When representatives deem it necessary to curtail the right of individuals to articulate, and proclaim, a descending point of view, then the right has been stripped of its meaning, and purpose.  Censorship is the first step towards the erosion, and eventual abolishment, of all unalienable rights.  It is not within the purpose of a representative government to eliminate freedoms entitled to individuals by birth.  It is not in a representative government's powers to alter, or abolish, these freedoms.  No sanctioned representative government must be allowed to curtail rights given to them by a higher purpose as birthright.

Today there is a wave of censorship based in fundamentalism, and justified by a supposed need for protection, a call to patriotism, and spiritual salvation.  All of which are subjective, and defy universal definitions.  Fundamentalists wish to see a majority bend to the wishes of a small group of religious zealots.  They wish to tear at the heart of rights spelled out long ago.  For they seek to serve a different agenda, one based in different ideals and beliefs.  Ideals and beliefs that are diametrically opposed to those spelled out in the Bill of Rights.  Their machinations are both subversive, and detrimental, to democracy.  If anyone challenges their actions, they wrap themselves in the American flag, point fingers, and throw accusations of being unpatriotic, and un-American.  They cloak themselves in ultra-Americanism.

The time has come to declare that we the people of this nation do not wish to be told what to say, think, or believe, by a militant cancer that seeks to rot the country's founding ideals.  The time has come to rejoice in the liberties so many have fought for, and relish those freedoms.  Practice them to their full measure, and stand up to those who would take them away, or impose limits on them.  One can not breath the air of freedom fully, as long as there are those who would pollute it with censorship.

Etcetera : Bush Lies

It is clear to anyone with a brain that President Bush lied to us about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  He lied to us about what he knew before 9/11.  He lied to us about so many things, that it would be impossible to write each and every lie here.  However, one fellow is doing his best to chronicle the lies told by President Bush in his stint as President.  On Bush Lies you have a place where the lies are exposed.  In the words of the author of the site, "This blog attempts to track and document the unfathomable dishonesty of the current Occupant of the White House and his minions."

The forum, like I said, chronicles the many lies told to us by this administration, backed up by news articles.  This site is not simply some guy's opinion.  The facts are there.  Look and see why any reasonable person, should not, and can't vote for Bush in this coming election.