Late Night Thoughts

Wednesday 05.07.2008 02:42AM

I should write a blog post, eh?

I keep thinking that, but have not made the time to do it. That usually makes me think about the busyness of life and how I have not been doing well at balance, as far as being productive with my time. It is easy to let the free time slide, especially now that Spring is here and there is plenty of fun to be had. I am not too hard on myself about it, but have been breaking my to-do list into easier, discrete tasks and using rememberthemilk.com to keep on top of them.

I have not done the “No Screen Night” consistently, unfortunately. The other week I really needed it though, so disconnected for a night. Nothing interesting to report there, except that I got several things done and it was relaxing.

For some reason, I have never really jotted notes or drafts for blog posts. I should probably do that more often, then I would have more frequent posts – and of a better quality than this one.

Changes. It was back in February that I started to decrease the dosage on my anti-spasmodic prescription, and as of April 22 I am off it entirely. I have had no symptoms or side-effects during that time or since stopping entirely, so that's good. Since they do not know how my body might react after being on the medicine for about a year, I'm not supposed to drive for several months (seizure risk while driving).

My California plans are most likely on hold for a little while longer. I need to finish my degree, which unfortunately means enrolling as a returning student and putting me under a different course bulletin than I was before. It has not changed a lot and all of my courses will apply, but I will probably have to take two or three more classes instead of one. I'm ok with it, I guess. I'm not as concerned about the “safety net” of having the degree as I am just accomplishing it. Plus, I get to be around my Midwest friends a bit longer; leaving was never going to be easy.

I voted for Ron Paul today in the Indiana primary. I never got around to writing more in-depth about him and why I support him, unfortunately. Maybe I'll write something later, in retrospect (or not, since that will fall in my to-do list and disappear :). I know McCain has the nomination sealed up, but it's just a primary and Paul is still on the ballot. It was symbolic support for the message, which I always thought was more important than his chances at the nomination / Presidency.

I am excited to see that Mary Ruwart recently announced she's seeking the Libertarian Party nomination. She's the author of the book I have been reading, Healing our World in an Age of Aggression. Every article I have read (and her book) has been principled, consistent, and articulately deals with issues of liberty. She has a long history as a liberty activist and knows her stuff; I'm really hoping she gets the nomination.

And now it's quite late. Stream of consciousness over.

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My political philosophy, Volume 1

Sunday 04.13.2008 01:40AM

It was back in October that I was given a blog homework assignment about my political beliefs and how my faith has impacted them. It is a topic I have been interested in writing about, but it is such a broad topic that often I did not know how to best tackle it. Some discussions have happened recently among friends and I finally decided to just jump into it and do my best.

I do not support the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals.

That is about as simple a groundwork as I can lay for my political philosophy. While succinct, there are nuances to it that are commonly overlooked or misunderstood. It's known as the non-aggression principle and Wikipedia elaborates:

It holds that “aggression,” which is defined as the initiation of physical force, the threat of such, or fraud upon persons or their property, is inherently illegitimate. The principle does not preclude defense against aggression.

This is easy to understand in simple, one-to-one, real world interactions. If Jim has an apple and John wants an apple, it is wrong for John to punch Jim and take the apple. It is also wrong for John to threaten to punch Jim unless he gives him the apple; and it is wrong for John to deceive Jim and take the apple while he is not looking. In an instance like this, the majority of people will agree with the principle. It is something we learned from a young age.

In order to consistently apply this principle, it should not change when there are more than two people. John's actions would still be wrong if he got 2 people or 1000 people to go along with him.

My faith has impacted my political beliefs, quite simply, by containing this principle as part of its core. I believe Jesus epitomized the non-aggression principle. His example calls followers to peacefully (e.g. non-aggression) spread the gospel - to use persuasion, not coercion.

Continuing with my political philosophy, it is important to understand that governments rely on force and the threat of force in order to enforce laws.

When we see a speed limit sign, most of us will make sure we are close to that limit. Why? Because we understand if a police officer catches us speeding, there are escalating penalties: there is a fine with the ticket, then there are more fines, then there is suspension of the license, then there is arrest for driving with a suspended license, and finally there is risk of bodily harm for resisting or fleeing the arrest. These penalties act as coercion and work well enough that most people will be very careful to avoid speeding in the first place, much less do anything to escalate the penalties beyond the first fine. Without these penalties – the threat of force – who would care about the speed limit? It would just be a speed suggestion.

Similarly, with income taxes, we know there are escalating penalties if we fail to file or pay: fines, interest charges, bank account seizure, liens against property, arrest, and the risk of bodily harm for resisting or fleeing arrest. Again, these act as coercion and work well enough that most people will file their taxes. Without the threat of force that we know lies implicitly behind each law, there would not be reason for people to obey them.

If it is understood that governments rely on force and the threat of force in order to enforce laws, then the next logical question should be: is it legitimate in the case of government? I have come to the conclusion that it is not, because government is just a grouping of people, and as I mentioned before, the principle should be consistently applied.

If John formed an organization that coerced Jim to give it his apples, it would be illegitimate. Even if this organization had support from a majority of the population, it would still be illegitimate. Should it change anything if John called this organization “government”?

Your thoughts and questions are welcomed. I know, from experience, that these ideas can bring up questions that head in a variety of directions. I would prefer the discussion stay roughly within the concepts of this post; others I may wait to address in future posts.

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Feeding the Meter

Sunday 03.30.2008 06:24PM

I have been encouraged lately by seeing groups of people organizing to help others in the community. It reinforces my belief that the majority of people in the world are quite generous.

In the last several months, some friends and I have met together to brainstorm things we can do around Indianapolis. Instead of reinventing the wheel, the group currently serves as a clearinghouse of ideas and events we can participate in. We call it Feeding the Meter, which is based on the idea of going down the street putting money in all of the parking meters; a simple pay it forward action. The link above is to our Google Group, where most of the communication takes place. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Speaking of “paying it forward”, another group recently restarted: The Pay it Forward Meetup. I went to the first meeting and there were about 10 people there, with a variety of interests and passions. It, too, seems to be a clearinghouse of things to get involved with. As mentioned, it's encouraging to see so many people getting together to help. It also shows me that sometimes we just need an idea of “where to start” and groups like this give the opportunity to join in with like-minded people.

An event that I discovered recently and decided to participate in is Homeward Bound Indiana. This project is a series of walk-a-thons throughout the state that raise money for affordable housing and homeless service providers. Since 2003, they have raised nearly 2 million dollars for over 90 different agencies.

I have started up a team with the goal of recruiting 10 walkers and raising $1000. This works out to each walker raising $100, which I think is a reasonable goal. Please consider joining our team or donating. Keep in mind these are goals and not requirements – you're welcome to join us no matter what amount you raise, and 10 is not a cap on the number that can join us. Every dollar counts and the more people the merrier! The 5K walk is on Sunday April 27, 2008, 2pm - 3:30pm at University Park in Indianapolis.

Here is the list of agencies our team's fund raising will be supporting (total amount split among them):

April 27, 2008 2–3:30pm – Homeward Bound Indiana– at 300 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN (University Park)
5K Walk-a-Thon raising money to provide housing and fight homelessness in Indiana.

This hCalendar event brought to you by the hCalendar Creator.

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Health update

Thursday 03.06.2008 12:57AM

Overall: alive.

++ In January I had another echocardiogram, this time with an exercise stress test. I have not been exercising much over the winter, so I was out of shape and the treadmill wiped me out. The result was “normal”, which means an ejection fraction of about 55-60%. When I initially left the hospital it was 20-25%, a month later it was 40-45% – so this is very good news, meaning my heart is recovering and working well.

++ The other week I met with my neurologist. The results of my EEG were normal, which I guess means I still have something like a brain up there. I have been on an anti-spasmodic prescription because I did have a seizure during the event. Since the EEG looks good, I have no prior history of seizures, and it's been 8 months, they're starting to slowly take me off of that. As long as I'm responding well and there are no problems in April, they will take me off it completely. She did advise me to be more careful about driving distances, and if I notice any symptoms, including staring - like zoning out for a bit. These aren't very likely, but are possible, so let me know if you see me zone out. :)

-- I have shingles on the left side of my face. I had a bit of lymph node pain the middle of last week and started to notice a small blotch on my cheek on Friday, but did not think much of it until over the weekend I realized it was a rash of some sort. I should have gone to immediate care on Saturday, but oh well. I went to my doctor on Monday and they got me on some Valtrex (yeah, har har. Shingles is in the herpes virus family). Thankfully, there hasn't been a lot of pain associated with it so far and hopefully it will clear up soon. There is a bit of reaction on my eardrum. There is a risk of Bell's palsy if that were infected, but currently it's looking good, so that should not be a problem. If sharp ear pain develops, I'll see the ear doctor again and we'll go from there.

-- Most likely I got shingles because my immune system was weakened about a month ago by the flu, which hit me for about 5 days despite the vaccination (aside: I've heard this round of vaccination has a rather poor 40% rate of effectiveness).

So yeah, that's the health update. Overall, pretty good, but the last month or two, not so great with the flu and shingles. I think my body has just decided to get all the typically “older” health issues over with now, so when I'm 40+ I can be fit as a fiddle and not worry about them. :)


It is pretty crazy how many medicines I'm on at this age.

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Happy 303

Monday 03.03.2008 06:31PM

Back in the good 'ole days, this was a closely guarded secret. Now, in the good new days, it's not so much. Let's just say that... security was breached. It is still fun, though, and thus I share:

Circa mid-nineties, when I was in high school, my friends Tim and Andrew (I believe; correct me if I'm wrong) were responsible for coining the phrase “303.” It was clever because saying “303” among your friends drew less attention and was easier than saying “Wow!” when some hottie came by. It was cool (well, okay, to us *) because it was derived by holding your hands with your thumbs touching and your index fingers touching. It kind of looks like “wow”; 3 fingers on your left hand, an O in the middle, and then 3 fingers on your right hand. Thus, 303. It was even cooler* because it worked by addition, too. 2 pretty girls? 606. 3? 909. Ad infinitum.

So yes, we were known to toss around “303” or occasionally make the hand sign when appropriate.

Years later, after the secret was leaked and the female populace became familiar with it (via The Mothership; that's another post entirely), there was a surprise party that I was planning and I did not even realize it fell on 3/03. Sheryl, Lindsay, and Ronda did, though, and made a “Happy 3/03” cake, which was pretty awesome. I might have pictures of it around here, somewhere.

So, that's the summary of “303”, and why March 3rd is 1000 times better than Valentine's Day.

Happy 3/03!

303

The sign. Did it open up your eyes? Yes, I framed it this way on purpose.

* and to those who aspired to be as cool as us. what!? we weren't socially awkward at all!

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