Conservatism

2009.08.29 - Saturday

This speech by Ronald Reagan to the 1964 Republican convention almost perfectly sums up my entire world view as it pertains to government and economics. It's amazing how much of it, aside from specific financial figures and people's names, is still completely relevant and totally accurate for today. In fact, today in America, things are a great deal worse than back then. Obviously Barry Goldwater didn't become President, for better or worse, who knows? The speech still rings true for me however, in almost every way, and stands as a reminder of the kind of Conservative that seems almost impossible to find today. Logical, intelligent, principled, and most importantly for me, almost completely devoid of religious rhetoric. As my friend Chris said: "You can be an Atheist and make this speech", which is as it should be for all things spoken by those in government. It's easy to see why the man eventually became President, and why the Republican party of today feels so far removed and hopelessly astray from these core values of Conservatism, and thus from the majority of Americans who still share them.

Summer

2009.08.16 - Sunday

I've been keeping busy this summer, mostly out and about, so the website has taken a hit, unfortunately. So far the summer has been pretty good. Great weather, certainly, good times with friends, but I have a feeling the best is yet to come. I'm extending it this year with a roughly three week trip to Greece at the end of the month. My biggest problem right now is the waiting, though I'm trying to organize myself by taking care of more and more nagging chores that I've left for too long.

One of those is starting to learn Greek properly. To that end I've bought the Rosetta Stone series for Greek, and I'm currently making my way through level one. It's hard, and at times I feel like I'm not getting anything right, but the software does seem to be very logical once you understand what it's trying to do with you and allow it to happen. It's going to be a challenge to get through level one before my trip, and even going at that pace I'm not sure how much will sink in. Even now, only a quarter of the way through, my vocabulary is way beyond the handful of words I learned during my last trip, and reading is getting better all the time. I'm really curious to see how far I can get using just the program, and what kind of proficiency I'll have at the end of level three. All I know right now is that's going to take some time.

Otherwise the summer has been filled with normal stuff. Going to the beach, seeing a few movies, hanging out with friends, and for me, training martial arts, workouts, a couple of goaltending clinics, and of course, the Abbotsford Airshow. It wasn't a bad show this year, despite the cloudy weather. I went both days for the first time, and wasn't sick of it at all. I think I could easily watch a full blown airshow every month without getting bored. The clouds cleared towards the end of the Sunday show, allowing the Snowbirds to perform their high show, as opposed to the low show the day before. That definitely made going twice worth the time and effort.

Not too long before the summer winds to a close, but I expect to make another update or two before then. I hope everyone else is out there enjoying the best season of the year!