The importance of being earnest[ly interested in the politics of our nation]

I want to take the time to make aware the importance of debate- in all things, but specifically on politics.

Lets start by thinking about the consequences of not debating ideas. It's called tyranny. Where things are done in one way, regardless of the will of the people- because people are too afraid or too lazy to discuss the things important to them. So this is why it's important for a diverse group of people share their ideas to make the world a betters place.

Now some [real]quick history. You know what the longest running republic empire was? Rome, It's an easy answer.

Next question. What nation was also the most successful in supporting a public forum where the government and citizens could discuss and argue points over issues important to them?

Rome.

See any similarities there? Because I do.

The biggest problem in America today is not our lack of intelligent people, Our generation is renowned for having access to more information than ever available. A great number (not the majority, unfortunately) of us actually use the information and toss away our ignorance and trade it in for intellect.

The biggest problem is our lack of Forum, or a lack of willing participants in Forum.

"The Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate), named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas."
(taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method)

Who wouldn't want to stimulate rational thinking or illuminate ideas? Ignorant people.

Yes, some people take debate too far- they get overly aggressive, perhaps even physical- these people lead other to think that debate is a conflict of sorts.

Making people smarter should never be a conflict, one would hope it would be only natural.

I know i've learned a ton from talking to all sorts of people, Liberals, Repubs, Socialists, Communists and many many other political affiliations.

While I don't always agree with them, I can appreciate their perspectives and it allows me to see things from more than one angle for a little bit- which always makes an intellect go.

So please, I'm asking you dear reader- do not get offended when someone doesn't agree with you, don't get offended if things get warm, politics is naturally a cause to be passionate in. Why wouldn't you feel strongly about discussing the fate of all the people in a nation?

Is the FARC being supplied by Venezuela?

I noticed this morning searching google (after not sleeping tonight) a news article regarding weapons found on a raid on a FARC guerrilla base in 2008.

While guerrillas having weapons is nothing new, The source of these weapons is quite interesting.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the FARC, I will give you a brief rundown courtesy of Global Security.Org

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC

Description

Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, the FARC is Colombia’s oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped Marxist insurgency. The FARC is governed by a secretariat, led by septuagenarian Manuel Marulanda (a.k.a. “Tirofijo”) and six others, including senior military commander Jorge Briceno (a.k.a. “Mono Jojoy”). The FARC is organized along military lines and includes several urban fronts.

In February 2002, the group’s slow-moving peace negotiation process with President Andres Pastrana's administration was terminated by Bogota following the FARC's plane hijacking and kidnapping of a Colombian Senator from the aircraft. On 7 August, the FARC launched a large-scale mortar attack on the Presidential Palace where President Alvaro Uribe was being inaugurated. High-level foreign delegations—including the United States—attending the inauguration were not injured, but 21 residents of a poor neighborhood nearby were killed by stray rounds in the attack.

Strength

Approximately 9,000 to 12,000 armed combatants and several thousand more supporters, mostly in rural areas.

Location/Area of Operation

Colombia, with some activities—extortion, kidnapping, logistics, and R&R—in Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador.

Now to the reasoning behind my interest.

It seems that the weapons recovered were not the usual suspects that one might expect to find in a Latin America guerrilla base, the Ak-47s, RPG-7s, UXE, etc- The weapons found were At4 shoulder fired anti-tank weapons.

Even more odd, is the fact that these weapons were produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics, a subsidiary of Saab AB. So lets get this straight, High tech weapons manufactured by a company in Karlskoga, Sweden somehow reach a militant revolutionary group hiding in the forests of Columbia?

If you're confused, than that makes two of us- But dear reader, the plot thickens.

The Colombian Government attempted to track these weapons, to see who supplied them to the FARC. Guess what they found? Venezuela.

The Swedish apparently sold these weapons to Venezuela, no later than 2006 according to Jan-Erik Lovgren, the overseer of weapons exports- as he claims "that his country stopped selling weapons to Venezuela in 2006"

Venezuela has denied any connections and is convinced that these
allegations are a direct attack on its country.

I'm not throwing blame, but it seems that one way or another the FARC got the weapons from Venezuela, as the FARC surely didn't travel to Sweden to get them and Venezuela is only a trip down the old logging road from Columbia.

But keep in mind, There has also been
controversy regarding Sweden dealing
weapons to militia groups around the world.

Most Interesting. But a story for another day.
Stay well Dear ɹǝpɐǝɹ.

Sources
CNN Article
Saab Bofors Dynamics Wiki
GlobalSecurity

Why must one choose, when the choice isn't theirs to make?

I'm in an ever constant mood of changing ideas. To me the only constant thing I have (internally) is conflicting decisions on what to do next in my life.

To me the conflict is not what to do, as much as it is what to do next. The most difficult thing to me is deciding what the priority for now is.

Being intelligent is oft times a curse as much as it is a gift. Not to say I would rather be unintelligent, however it's very frustrating to have all these goals and not only the know how to do them and complete them but also the motivation.

What is the problem, you ask dear reader?

One, Single word.

Focus.

In my rush to develop new ideas, new goals, new projects.
I seem to forget that in order to actually get somewhere in this world,life,existence- I must be able to decide which to do now, and which to do later. Which is seemingly impossible for me to even imagine being able to do.

Possible Career Paths:
Photography
Exploring/Guide
Military
Political Science
Journalism
Music
[many more]

How does one pick one thing?
Could you tell me please?
I'll take your picture.
If you like.
Or Not.

I don't really know how to choose
I've never been the really decisive one.
Then again, I never really cared.

Again

I remembered this and hopefully will use it truly, as a blog is intended. Previous use of this was for photography, however as I found that it was painfully hard to upload my dozens of hi def photos, I moved to other things- found nothing and stopped blogging.

But new life requires new breath, so this will be a true blog with occasional photos to enhance the readers experience.

En
Jo
Y

L
If
E

today

today is the day of prom, i've been looking forward to it ever since my lady told me about it. there will be pictures and laughs and perhaps drinks to boot.It's not mine, since i've been out of school for a minute or two, however my lady is not [although she graduates this year]. a wondrous occasion i hope i can capture and bring here

still sick

new photos soon though

i would say. . .

bah