(no subject)

"I see the future. I see hybrid vehicles running half on oil, half on seething hate."

Chin up, my friends who despair. We still have a constitution. We still have something to live for. And maybe that right to bear arms will come in handy...

But seriously, maighdlin has a point. Our nation is, give or take 3 million plus votes, polarized on the issue of where our country is headed.

So, the election may be winding down, even if it is a bit of a fight, but we need to not be a country divided. We may disagree, but we must not be divided. We must continue to keep the dialogue open and challenge each other.

There is a whole bunch of us who think we have a clear understanding of what's going on with our government. There seems to be a ton of other people who think they have a clear understanding as well. Our arguments have not been persuasive enough.

We must try harder. We must be more persuasive.

A note to all my friends

Oy, work is busy, but I'll take time to jot this down to y'all:

To my conservative friends: I hope I've not insulted you with some of my whining. I am upset, I will continue to be upset. But know that I do not hate you or truly think you are stupid, blah blah blah. But I may want to argue/disagree with you from time to time. I hope you don't mind. And it's okay if you get testy with me. I'm okay with dissent and disagreement. I'm here to learn as well as educate.

To everyone:I'm not perfect, so sometimes I may come off as an asshole, but the good news is I don't expect you to be perfect either. And you're welcome to be imperfect with me any day.

I love my country, I love you all.

We're all in on this together, and I believe that even though we're emotionally and intellectually on different sides, right now, I think it stems from wanting similar things in our lives. We want safety, we want justice, we want peace. At least, I think we all do.

At the end of the day you're a little bit older...

Well, I've wrapped up work and will now go help a friend try and fix her software version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

I love that program. I love it *so much*.

Did you know that the definitions and usage history of the word "read" spans 16 printed pages in the O.E.D.? Not all words can claim that distinction, let me tell you. One would have thought the word "read" would have had a fairly simple and straightforward word history. Not so.

And a word for the day:

zabernism (ZAB-uhr-niz-uhm) noun

The misuse of military power; aggression; bullying.

[After Zabern, German name for Saverne, a village in Alsace, France. In 1912, in this village, a German military officer killed a lame cobbler who smiled at him.]

"Both countries have been slaves to Kruppism and Zabernism--because they
were sovereign and free! So it will always be. So long as patriotic cant
can keep the common man jealous of international controls over his
belligerent possibilities, so long will he be the helpless slave of the
foreign threat, and 'Peace' remain a mere name for the resting phase
between wars."
H.G. Wells; In The Fourth Year: Anticipations of a World Peace; 1918.

Happy happy birthday...

... in 20 minutes to adgy, who is yet another year older! May your birthday be a fine one!