Speedfreaks and Wall Street

I am a technophile. Most people of generation X and beyond are. There have even been studies showing how teenagers become uneasy when you take away their cell phones. I don't think that I am so entrenched in technology that I am uncomfortable without it, I am just exited about all of the advances that we have seen because it. It is frequently argued that the internet is to our generation what the printing press was to the 15th century. because both have made the world so much smaller. Communication is definitely much easier now, things visible instantly all over the world, but the effects of this are not analyzed nearly enough. One of the most obvious and apparent in our current national landscape is that of the stock market. We used to have to look in the paper to find out how out investments were doing. It was not a daily, or even hourly, activity, but a slow building process that was meant for long term growth. With the advent of the internet, day traders and do-it-yourselfers make up a large block of investors. This is especially true in tech savvy circles. If you have the $25,000 minimum to trade online, why pay a broker if you can do it yourself cheaper. We had warning signs back in the crash of 2000, but most of this was chalked up to the corruption of the Enrons and WorldComs. The ease of transaction is still there, and this is a very dangerous thing in the hands of a knee-jerk public. Our economy is not weak, but public perception of it is awful. We are sitting on a powder keg where we could see a reactionary populous turn a bad situation into a disaster, and not enough has been done to safeguard against this. Markets may act logically in the long run, but normally don't in the short.

The Wall

The separation of the church and state is a principle that most Americans believe is one of our reasons for such a successful government. However, its source is not widely known. Most Americans would answer, if asked, that this principle is in the constitution. However, it is not mentioned anywhere in our preambles or any literature prominent in our foundation. It was added with the Bill of Rights, but was first expanded upon when Thomas Jefferson, a very spiritual man, wrote in 1802 to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, that the establishment clause erected "a wall of separation between church and state."

Ironically, my good friend's parents live in a small town south of Houston called Danbury. His mother works for a catholic church there.

Debate on this topic and its meaning in our government have raged constantly. My friends argued about it just the other night. The secularist always says that there should be no aspects of the political in governance. The spiritualist claims that this idea just means that the government can't regulate religion. However, this is an issue that makes perfect sense when you return to the context of our founding fathers. The intent is not that we remove all connections between the spiritual and the institutional. Church has always played a major role in politics, even directly. Many of the roles that are now performed by the state were once supported almost exclusively by religious organizations. However, we our some of our politicians are going too far by acting on their religion.
The intent was that the federal government never regulate religion, and that the government should never force religion on anyone. It is coming to mean that the two should never intermingle. The thought of this would make someone other than Grant in his tomb roll over. How can religion ever be excluded from a debate, they would say. Now, many argue that anything stemming from a religious source be discredited. Those who would say this are a minority now, but their numbers are growing. Though most still quote some source of spiritual faith, the number of agnostics will continue to climb, and the view that religion is good for government might collapse into ignorance.

However, fueling this debate on the other side are the religious leaders of our country using a spiritual yardstick when creating policy. The creation of Israel was possibly the most obvious misstep by the international community, while our current political "right" clamors incessantly for legislation on abortion. A government must not make a decision based solely on religious conviction. One can use the principles and morals that spirituality helps make succinct, but we must safeguard urges based on the ideologies that these institutions create. To many religious scholars, the conflict in the middle east has an intensified air due to the prophecies of revelation stemming from that area. It is the urgency caused by this that we must remove from the government, not the individuals who might feel this way. When ruling for others we must act on logic, not spirtual conviction.

This Land is My Land

The idea that land is sacred may seem idiotic to many agnostics and athiests, but I find it easier if I remember back to the children's song by Woody Gutherie. The idea of your land and my land always came so naturally back when I was young. Before we even understand what the word means, capitalism makes perfect sense to the child who is struggling to overcome the hurdle of egoism. To me, so did the idea that God had created the land as he did soley for our use. The concept of land and ownership, as basic as it may seem, is at the heart of the international political debate. Some look at land as an economic assett, and others view it as a God given comodity. If we are to understand the tension in the middle east, we must explore these two views and anazlyze what they share and how they contrast.
As an American, it is easy to percieve this debate from the capitisitic frame of reference. After all, land ownership is a right that most Americans strive for. However, as an American, it is important to examine the concept of property through the lens of a spiritualist. In this perspective, land is not "owned" by anyone. God is responsible for everything that we see. For Years Arab leaders with this vision enjoyed dominance of this region and faced limited outside interferance. It was not until the discovery of large deposits of oil that frequent intervention occured.
Persian oil …is yours. We share the oil of Iraq and Kuwait. As for Saudi Arabian oil, it’s ours.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt to a British Ambassador in 1944.
However, the creation of Israel in May, 1949 was the ultimate source of strife in this region. Thrown into exile and moved from their homes, Palestinians were told to assimilate into other societies and refused a political solution.
to be continued

Exclusive Interview : Wellsy Orr

Tonight I have a special treat for my army of loyal readers. I was able to track down Reverend Orr, the founder of the fastest growing religion in Austin, and obtained an exclusive interview through Google chat! If you aren't an Austinite, you might not realize that Reverend Orr, who prefers to be called Wellsy, and his many converts believe that the land of Austin is holy, and claim to have proof to back this up. He claims to have hacked into google earth and retrieved a subset of data. With this data he has created an algorithm that explains the subtle changes to the world's landscape. Rev. Orr claims that when this algorithm is run backwards, "much like a Black Sabbath album," we begin to see patterns emerge. If this pattern is followed backwards long enough, we even see the continents all go back together in a "Pangeaesque" fashion. However, according to Rev. Orr, this was all expected when he began the process. What surprised him was that when the one large continent began to shrink back into the ocean from whence it came, one spot refused to sink, Austin, Texas. Ok, enough of the preface, here is our unedited interview:

-Brian- : Thx for the exclusive interview Reverend Orr!
-Rev.O- : Call me Wellsy
-Brain- : Sure Wellsy, so what do you think that this means to the people of Austin, and the world?
-Rev.O- : Well I think that anyone who lives in Austin knows that we are blessed, but This shows people how blessed we really are. Austin is the center of the world. Do you know what that means? We are God's chosen people!
-Brian- And what does this mean to you?
-Rev.O- Well, obviously I am his profit.
-Brian- I see, so what is so sacred about this land? It's just land after all.
-Rev.O- Austin is protected by God. The land is blessed. We are safe from natural disasters, disease, terror attacks, recessions, and the apocalypse. Austin is sacred in the eyes of God, and the people shall have no wants. In Austin we are free to celebrate life.
-Brian- I see, so your message is that in other places, people should fear, but not in Austin?
-Rev.O- Exactly.
-Brian- What did you do before you started to believe all of this?
-Rev.O- Before I saw the light I was in real estate.

The digital revolution

The Blu-Ray/HDDVD debate will be a moot point in a decade or so. Media of all sorts is going digital. You can see this with the emergence of ipods and mp3s as the preferred method of appreciating music. The speed of data transfer is not to the level needed yet, but eventually hard storage will all be done on a central storage device. All of your large music, movies, program files will be remotely accessed by whatever device you are currently using. You wont need a blu-ray player if your television can remotely access your computer, or even an online music archive, and play a high definition file from there. If download speeds are fast enough, you would be able to access this file from anywhere connected to the internet, negating the need for hard copies. However, the only limiting factor we currently have is this speed. The most apparent answer to this is fiber optic cable. Fiber can deliver transfer of data at speeds faster than any of our current devices can process them. Why worry about portability if all of the data that you need can be delivered on demand. The main hurdles to this will be the costs of the cable and the ability to regulate the new ease of data transfer.

Beta-Ray or HDMAX

I know the question has crossed your mind. You quickly opened your eyes afterwards and sat up, your alarm clock rejoining you with your mental faculties. Or maybe you are one of those who bought a PS3, or happened on a good deal for a HDDVD player. However, most of us aren't going to dump a lot of money into some technology that might be obsolete in a few years. Many who remember the burn of the beta-max are playing the wait and see game. Technical data on the subject has been available for some time now, but the shelves of your electronic store still carry both, only adding to the confusion.
Finally we have a little sales data to help sort out the mess. Blu-ray players outsold HDDVD players by a 2-1 margin in 2007. This was largely due to the PS3, but the tides finally appear to be turning in the video format wars. Now that there are more blue ray players on the market, coupled with the fact that they can hold over 60% more data, the beginning of the end for HDDVD may finally be approaching. However, I won't be first in line to purchase one. The prices of the players and the disks will not begin to come down until there is standardization in the marketplace. HD sports will have to be enough for now.

Black Tie Gala or Kegger

I want a third choice. I want another option to sate my celebratory urges. Why do I have to decide between a martini and a cold lager. I should be able to order a jack and coke, or a margarita it it suits my fancy. In our modern age of information overload we are inundated with choices. You can't go a day without being flooded with advertisements from companies inviting you to fulfill yourself with their aid. We expect choices, we even demand them. Imagine walking into a car dealership and being told that they only sell two models of cars. You would ask me manager what he was smoking. Yet, we accept a form of government that only offers us two viable political parties. We think nothing of it and accept it just because it's the way things have always been. We call our country the land of freedom, but we are only free to choose black or white. I want gray.... with a splash of cranberry.