Down to the Wire

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As you know, I’ve held off on discussing politics on here for some time now, but it’s time to come back to the most important issue. I know that most of my readers are good citizens so I’m preaching mostly to the choir, but please make sure you do one thing tomorrow: vote.

Even if you don’t believe we have the most stellar options, and even if you’re not happy with some of each of the candidates’ pasts, we have two individuals neck-and-neck and voter turnout is what is going to shape the course of the country and the world for the next four years.

Still undecided? Think the two candidates are two sides of the same coin? Well, they agree on one thing, and that’s that the war in Iraq has to be finished in some manner. Fine. But on almost every other issue they are polar opposites. Consider that the next president will likely appoint between one and four Supreme Court justices. Think about your values and which individual most closely represents your values. I’ll spell it out for you.

If you want tax breaks for the big corporation you work for, then Bush is your man. If you want the top 1% of income earners (who mostly earn their income from their investments and not from any actual work) to have a more fair share when it comes to paying for the services the government should supply to all citizens, then Kerry is your guy. If you believe that even when the life of a woman is in danger, or after she is raped, she should not have any option of terminating the pregnancy, then Bush is your guy. If you believe that a woman has the right to choose to protect her body and can make decisions for herself with guidance from doctors, then Kerry is your man. If you believe church and state should be separate, that empirical reality is truth (or the path to the truth) and faith-based “reality” leads us back to pre-Enlightenment times, then Kerry is the guy you vote for.

The only explanation for anyone who is undecided is either they don’t know what their own values are or they just don’t have the mental capacity to contemplate the differences between the two main candidates.

Will the world be better off four years from now if one guy is president instead of the other? That’s impossible to say. But you have to start by taking the path that is best. The only way to do this is to vote.

Poker

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I’ll admit I’m not very good at Texas Hold-Em, but if I can remember not to keep betting when I have a bad hand, I should be able to… maybe… win a hand at some point.

The weather in Baltimore for tomorrow (technically later today) looks like it’s going to be better than originally forecast. Rain early in the morning, before I get there, but then mostly sunny in the mid to high 70s. I was hoping I’d be able to meet up with someone or bring someone down with me for some company, but looks like that’s not to be this time.

I’ll be at Ravens Stadium from around noon until probably midnight. For most of that time I’ll be talking to the participating music teachers. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hi.

Fall Back

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Don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour this weekend. I know I could use the extra sleep. However, at the designated Turn Back the Clock time (2:00 am), I will most likely be driving home from Baltimore after a very long day volunteering for a marching band championship show. I don’t see sleep in my weekend forecast.

Now for something meta-related… I signed up for BlogExplosion which presents your website to other internet surfers if, while using their interface, you browse random weblogs who have also registered. I’m not sure that it’s worth it. I’ve noted a lot of new visitors here, but what’s really the point of getting random visitors? It would be nice if they come back and read often outside of the BlogExplosion system, but I bet most people browsing through BlogExplosion are only doing so to give their sites more exposure. I don’t know, I haven’t decided if it’s a waste of my time yet. It probably is, but I hope other browsers are getting something out of it if they happen to be served my site. To those people: “Hello!”

Good For Him

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My brother has been playing guitar (he’s very good) in a band of sorts out in California. They’re being flown to Philly for their first real gig on Halloween. He sent me a photo of him (on the far right) and the rest of the band. Click on the picture to see it full-size.

I wonder if they’ll wear the get-up on the flight.