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Like pillaging Vikings, we rejoice at the latest Mars landing. "We did this, this is what we can do".

It is time to upload off Earth, to dispense with current fashions and look through the latest spatial contraptions, whence come motorcycle banditas with jetpacks and hovercrafts, dead set on the destruction of their insect lovers.

Inside My Own Head

I try to abstain from writing entirely self-reflective and naval-gazing posts, but this time it cannot be helped. Those of you who have read my posts in the past, which is no more than five people, should be aware that I mostly try to tie my ranting to some bizarre or funny piece of news; unfortunately, a fierce introspection has taken hold. Recently, I have noticed an unwillingness to leave my house. It's not out of fear, or at least I don't believe it is, though I do feel uneasy every time I leave. Not terribly long ago I was quite happy to go out to bars, drink and talk with friends amongst throngs of other drunks. Now it is not so, and best as I can tell it's not because I no longer enjoy a drink or talks with friends, but they no longer hold the pull that they once did. I sit at home now, reading, watching nonsense on the internet, playing video games, and looking at porn. I have lost contact with many of my friends; choosing to let relationships slide quietly into the ether. I have no rational reason, just an odd subconscious dread of the outside world. I truly believe I am beginning my descent into madness. This is all the more reason that I should be reaching out to others, but the desire is just not there. Well, perhaps it's nothing.

Why Democracy Does Not Lead to Education

Everyone acts as though they love the idea of education, but when it comes to voting for those who promote it, the side that does not make education a priority will always have the edge.

When reacting to arguments that children's lives could be improved by bettering the educational system, most voters do not recall a childhood spent without textbooks or well-paid teachers. Instead, they remember their own childhood, when they were not in the top ten percent of the class. They had failed where others succeeded, and since then they have worked to rationalize their lack of success in school. It was a sign of independence, they will say, a necessary part of a life they deem worthy.

Telling these voters the lives of their children could be better is the equivalent of telling them that their lives could have been better too, if only they had been deemed smarter by their teachers. Rational arguments about international competition increasing the need for a globally competitive educational system cannot compete with self-validation.

Now if only improving the world for children was actually the priority of the voter...

edited: 12:31 a.m. 5/3/2008