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| [a letter I submitted to my congressional representatives this morning]
Ms. Boxer/Feinstein/Sanchez,
As a California resident, I am writing to implore you to reject the stimulus bill that is making it's way through Congress. There are two truths to the current economic situation our country is facing:
1. We as a nation are near-bankrupt
2. The economy needs to correct itself and remove the bad debt
This stimulus package will only serve to exacerbate both situations: it will pile nearly $1 trillion dollars of additional debt on the backs of Americans, and it will further prolong the recession by falsely shoring up the economy. The benefits will be few and short-lived, while the consequences will last for a very long time.
Please reject the stimulus bill. Our children already have enough of an economic burden waiting for them.
Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
- David Condolora
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Whew. It's good to be back on Xanga! | | |
| I was awoken at 6 a.m. today by a phone call - the camera that we use for the Morning Show on our TV station wasn't working. I reluctantly drove in, unplugged the video cable, and plugged it back in. It worked.
I was a bit grumpy, finding it difficult to keep a good attitude. When I got home, I contemplated for a moment about going back to bed. There was an hour left until the alarm broke the stillness. I decided to stay up so that my wife could sleep uninterrupted. I didn't think I'd be able to fall back asleep anyway.
When I was a kid I would rise early every morning, usually around 6 a.m. I would go downstairs and pop in one of my favorite movies or TV shows, usually Star Trek or Star Wars; sometimes Gettysburg. I always enjoyed that time in the early hours, the house silent, dark. I was able to truly relax, revelling in thought and imagination.
This morning I repeated the ritual I had begun so many years prior, and popped in Lady in the Water. I decided to watch the behind the scenes features; I felt the need to be inspired.
I was.
There are stories inside of me, stories that I want to set free, to make a statement in the world for good, for God. Stories about struggling with yourself, about the future, about the past; stories that run through your head days after you've experienced them, your mind alive with the untold possibilities.
Stories that set the imagination free.
Someday I'll be able to tell those stories. | | |
| Dust.
The word alone conjures many images: A library full of ancient knowledge, untouched by many. A grandmother's hope chest, the items contained carefully preserved for future generations. Perhaps something as simple as the top of your computer monitor, a spot often overlooked during weekly cleaning.
Dust.
It also brings to mind phrases, Biblical messages of old. The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. You will eat dust all the days of your life. For dust you are, and to dust you will return.
Dust. For me, it is the film that covers my Christianity, the truth of my existence. So easily set aside, the dust gathers upon it - ancient knowledge untouched, hope for the future. Yet lying silent, ignored.
No more. | | |
| I finally finished Gone For Soldiers, and it was incredible. I'm glad I finished so that I can move on, but I'm also sad that it's over. It was a phenomenal book, and a great learning tool. I know much more about the Mexican War than I did before. It's amazing how many of our greatest soldiers got their start in Mexico: Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, James Longstreet, P.G.T. Beauregard, and many others. Some soldiers proved just who they were during the course of the war, specifically Winfield Scott. Unfortunately, politics eventually took him out of Mexico, just a few months before the final treaty was signed.
It's interesting to note the parallels between the war in Mexico and our current war in Iraq. While they were very different conflicts, they share many similarities in how the public viewed them:
"Mr. Lee, I finally received copies of the newspapers in Washington, New York. Did you know there have been public protests? There has been an organized movement calling for an end to this war. Even congressmen have made speeches, great public outrage, end the war, stop it, pull out. Polk has been under fire from the start. I knew the Europeans would howl, they howl at anything we do. But it's not foreigners, it's Americans who say we have no business being here in the first place."
- Major General Winfield Scott, November 2nd, 1847
160 years later, it seems that little is different.
I'm now reading Betrayal, a Star Wars book mom included in a care package sent to me about a year ago. I'm a bit late, but I'm reading it, and so far it's pretty good, I must say.
Brooke and I have recently seized the opportunities offered by Saturday's to explore the world around us. We've sought out ghost towns, old settlements, and the wilderness. Below is a slideshow from our adventure a couple of weeks ago to Cadron Settlement Park. It's an old settlement containing a large recreated Blockhouse that was originally constructed in the late 1700s. The "Trail of Tears" passed through that part of Arkansas, and stopped at the Blockhouse due to an outbreak of cholera. One of the last battles of the Civil War was also fought at the site. It was a very interesting place.
We have photographs of our other adventures (thanks to the incredible camera that mom and dad gave us as a wedding gift), and I'll put them up soon.
Life is good. Brooke and I had a fantastic weekend. As you may have read on her website, I bought the most fantastic fudge at a local store in downtown Searcy - Pumpkin Pie. Won. Der. Ful. Although...I may still like Maple fudge better...but I'm just not sure. This is really good. I bought her roses (*ahem* - moving on), and then took her on a date. We went to P.F. Changs in Little Rock, and had some great food, with really good service. We even got a free appetizer coupon from the manager because they gave us the wrong kind of ice cream with our dessert, and they were out of the right kind (they swapped vanilla in for toasted coconut/pineapple - it was still awesome, but hey, I'll take a free appetizer. Wouldn't you?). We then went to the Rivendell (erm...Riverdale, whoops) Cinema and saw "Mr. Bean's Holiday," which we really enjoyed. It was rated G (which stands for Good, obviously), which was a nice change of pace, and there was hardly any dialogue. But we laughed. A lot. We probably annoyed the family in the back row (the only other people in theater, oddly enough) a bit (it is odd, isn't it? hmm). Willem Dafoe delivered a surprising guest starring role as an indie film director, which was hilarious. And the movie featured the best parody of an independent film ever - PLAYBACK TIME. It was great.
Saturday we worked out, played tennis, read at the park, made breakfast for dinner, watched Star Trek III, read some more, and went to bed. And I hardly had to do any work, which was a nice change of pace (the last 4 or 5 Saturday's I've had to go into work and finish up editing and programming football games that people weren't able to finish - which makes for a mildly unhappy start to the day).
So. In the end, what I really mean by all of this is that life is good. God has richly blessed me, and all those that carry the name Christian. | | |
| An interesting way of looking at the abortion problem:
"The "pro-choice" argument has always been incoherent because it depends on the absurd idea that there can be a constitutional right to do wrong. Rational and decent people can believe that abortion should be legal, but only a monster or a moron can maintain that a civilized nation should celebrate abortion as a constitutional right.
Social conservatives don't need a president who will mount a crusade to re-criminalize abortion nationwide. They need a president who can persuade the American people that proclaiming a constitutional right to abort is barbaric. In all the decades since Roe v. Wade no politician has ever made this point clearly and forcefully."
You can read the rest of the article here.
The 2008 race is going to be interesting.
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