Voting Decisions

The other day we were having a family discussion on voting, which I've written about before, and my 7 year old daughter asked me if there was ever a time it that I wouldn't vote. I explained to her that no, I would always vote. Not only is it my right, but it's my obligation as a citizen. Sitting home and letting any voting day go by without going to my polling place just doesn't make sense to me.

Then she asked what if I didn't have anyone I wanted to vote for? You see, I've already explained to her that I need to find the candidate that's most closely aligned with my world view. I don't care what the letter is after their name, if they align with me then that's who I'm voting for. That being said, I've already told her that I'm not voting for either of the two presumptive nominees for the Big Two, since I don't think either of them will do a good job.*

So, to answer the question, if I don't find anyone who I feel that I can vote for in a given position, then I'll write in my own name. At least then I know that I've cast a vote for someone that I can agree with. The conversation then got into the mechanics of the voting booth, so I won't bore you with that, but I'm very happy that a girl of 7 is asking about this stuff.

* And don't give me any of that "throwing your vote away" crap. People blindly voting for a party rather than a person is what's got us into this mess. At least I'll be able to sleep at night.

The Unified Theory of Santa Claus

I figured that I'd write up something that I told my daughter this past holiday season. You never know, this might just be useful to some of you parents out there. It concerns Santa and how he operates. I freely admit that some of this is stolen borrowed for the great comic series Fables, mainly how Santa makes it to each house.

Here's how it goes:

Santa is magical and doesn't need to stop at each individual house one after the other. He actually creates duplicates of himself and they are what travels to each house. Each house has it's own Santa, and that one is customized for the household.

So, if you have a house in the United States, Santa is dressed in the familiar red with white trim (thank you Coca Cola). If the house in in the United Kingdom, then Santa looks like Father Christmas. Along these same lines, if the house has a white family, then the Santa is white. If it's a black family, then Santa is black, and so on.

No, the guys in the malls, town halls, museums, or where-ever you go to meet Santa aren't really him, but they are, in fact, his helpers. These men (and women, where Mrs. Claus is around) have a direct line to Santa and they tell him what each child said to them. So, while the child is not really talking to Santa, Santa will know what was said.

Even though he doesn't require a chimney to enter a house (remember, he's magic), Santa does need permission. This permission can come in several forms. The one our family uses is something called a "Santa Key" that we leave outside on the door knob. Santa uses this to enter the house and he then hangs it on the tree.

So, there you have it. My unified theory of Santa Claus that, I think, helps explain some of the "unexplainable" things about him. Feel free to adopt or adapt this for your own use, and please let me know how it works for you.

Comfort Zone

Yeah, I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, and that's primarily because I haven't had anything to say, of substance, on politics or religion recently. Today, however, I want to talk about something that came up recently. You see, because I'm not a Christian, people tend to think that I get uncomfortable when something Christian comes up. This couldn't be further from the truth.

You see, I was raised as a Roman Catholic, going to CCD, etc, so I know a lot about Christianity. When I was in High School, everything that I had learned about the religion and my world view had a disconnect, so I left that faith. I eventually found my own path, but that was due to a large amount of research on my part. Consequently, I probably know more about the bible than most Christians do, although I can't quote it chapter and verse.

Due to this journey that I went on, I'm perfectly happy talking to people about religion, Christianity or some other, as long as it's a reasoned discourse and not, "You're going to Hell!" (My typical response to this is "Yes, but it only has one "L", which tends to get me odd looks.) So, if you want to discuss religion, please feel free to. I might just jump in and tell you something you didn't know, so be warned.

Yuletide Greetings

I would like to wish everyone that reads this blog a Glad Yule. I know it's been rather quite around here this year. I can't guarantee that will change in 2015, but I know I'm going to try and post more over here, specifically continuing the "My Worldview" stuff.

A Worthy Cause

My buddy, Paul Spataro, is raising money for Pancreatic Cancer Research. If you have a few bucks to drop in the jar, please consider donating here. Thanks.

Solar Roadways

Alright everyone, I've been seeing a lot of people posting the video (see below) for Solar Roadways and I have a few things to say on the subject.

First of all, I fully support this idea and the technology behind it. To the point that I have donated, even if it's only $5, to see it completed. I would love to investigate this for my own driveway when I need to get it redone.

That being said, I do have some concerns about how the design will hold up to heavy/highway punishment. Ask another in the Oakland part of Pittsburgh how the bus lane on 5th Avenue looks and you will understand by the current design might need to be beefed up. I do think that the current design looks like it would work for the average small road, though. Just not anything that sees a lot of truck/bus traffic, or heavy commuter traffic.

Then there is the existing infrastructure to think about. I love how they have trenches on either side of the road to connect all the piping, electrical conduit, etc, but any of these services that are already there are under the current roadway. Moving them will be a HUGE expanse for the various municipal departments and utilities, not to mention the inconvenience to the standard homeowner. Remember, your water, gas and sanitary sewer would have to be SHUT OFF in order to move these things out from under the roadway and off to the side.

Lastly, if you think that any politician would even think of implementing untried technology on the public's dime, forget it. All the vast majority of politicians care about is keeping their job, and that means not rocking the boat. If you want to see this technology get out there and grow, private citizens and small business owners have to get it going. Yes, it will be expensive at first, but so is any new technology. The more demand there is, the more the investors will see that they can make money and mass production will start.

Is this the wave of the future? I believe it is. Can we wait for our public figures to do this for us? No, we can't. Private citizens, as with most innovations, have to push this kind of thing through and then the public sector will catch up.

My World View – Concentric Circles

For the new year I thought that I’d share my religious world view with all of you.  I’m going to start with the importance I place on people/needs/etc.  The basic idea behind this is that those that are closer to me are more important that those I don’t know, or don’t know very well.  Think of this as a series of concentric circles (hence the title) radiating outward.  The further from the center, the less importance I place on it.  Here’s my breakdown:

1.       Kith & Kin – These are my family (Kin), regardless of what number/removed they are from me.  Be they blood relations or married relations, these are my family and the most important people in my life.  Also on this level are my Kith, those friends of mine that are as close as if they were my family.

2.       Tribe/Kindred – People here are tied to me through Oaths and share a common connection to the Gods and wights.  Currently I am not part of any group like this, but I was and I hope to be again in the future.

3.       Friends – People who I know and trust, but are not as close as Kith.  Most people here I have known for years, but some can get here pretty quick.

4.       Community – People that work and live in my town.  Neighbors are very important to me, since we have to live near one another, so I make it a point to help out when I can.

Now we’re getting into bigger geographical subsets, and I’m going to be specific to New Jersey, since that’s where I live and it’s what I know.  I’m sure there are breakdowns like this where you live.

5.       County – The needs of the people in my county are definitely more important to me that those of another county, and that’s because it affects my family and community more.

6.       State – The great state of New Jersey, for all its flaws, is where I choose to live and it’s more important to me than the other states in the Union.

7.       Region – The North East isn’t just a collection of states, it’s also intertwined via roads, power grids, economy, etc, and I’m a part of that.

8.       Country – As it says on the sub-title to this page, I believe that the United States is the greatest country in the world, and it definitely has my loyalty over any other.

9.       Continent – North America is my home, and the fate of Canada, Mexico and all the rest will eventually trickle down to the US.

10.   Planet – Do I really need to say more?

Since we don’t have any proof of anything beyond out little ball of blue and green, I’m going to stop here.  Needless to say, Earth trumps Mars when we finally get to colonization.

If you look at this list, it probably makes sense to you, but then it might not.  I know that my wife has a bit of a hard time with it, since she keeps trying to tell me which celebrity is getting divorces or having a baby or whatever.  Sorry, but that’s down at #8 (if it makes the list at all), which means I have much more important things to worry about.  This is also why I shoveled a parking spot for my neighbors after the most recent snow storm.  They weren’t home and were going to need a place to park when they did get home.  I didn’t do it for any reward or even a thank you, it’s that they’re part of my community (and elderly) and I was out there anyway.

Next time I’ll go into my views on the interactions between mortals and the rest of the universe.