I guess today is the day to make that obligatory "go rock the vote" post on our blogs. But I'm not going to. If you want to vote, vote. If you don't want to vote, don't vode.

It's total bullcrap when people say, "It doesn't matter who you vote for, just get out and vote." Let's be honest. Nobody says that unless they assume that most people are going to agree with them. To argue anything else is just silly.

If you still haven't made a decision, I'm certainly not going to try to change you mind now. All I can say is that for once in my life, I am voting for several candidates I truly trust, admire, and respect. If you are only voting against someone, that's too bad.

I was looking for something completely unrelated and ran across this in a Google search. It seems that goods bought out of state for use within Illinois are to have taxes paid on them here. It's called the Illinois Use Tax. Yes, it's real.

I thought that new terrorist video was scary, but this may be the most disturbing thing these eyes have seen.

I've never strived to stay anonymous online, but I have never made an effort to expose my personal life to the Web. The only reason I care is to avoid "world's colliding" between work, the Net, and everything else. But if I ever decide to hide, I guess I don't have another chance after what's happened in the last two weeks.

First, there was this listing on SlashDot. It was the biggest article I ever published under my real name. The comments weren't great, but the email responses I got were wonderful.

Yesterday, there was this listing. The signifigance of this was that it let a huge audience here my "radio" shows for the first time.

Will this end my anonymity? Will I soon be world-famous in the IT industry? Probably not. But it is, for the first time, a huge possibility. We'll just have to wait and see...

Why is it that every time I help someone with a computer problem, they feel they have to tell me they are "computer illiterate?" My mother-in-law just cuts to the chase and calls herself "computer stupid," but I don't think either one in necessary.

To begin with, I realize there are people who lack in computer skills. That's fine. Otherwise, why would they pay me to fix their problems? That doesn't make them illiterate, though. More likely, it just makes them normal. It probably makes them have better tans than me, too.

But besides that, there's no reason for us to quantify or qualify the reasons we go to professionals for help. For example, I went to Valvoline the other day and got an oil change, tire rotation, transmission flush, and stearing fluid flush. I spent $144 in about an hour for that. Did I feel the need to explain how I was "car illiterate?"

Of course not.

This was actually written a couple of weeks ago, so don't take the word "yesterday" too literally.

Yesterday, I had to let someone know of a decision I had made. This wouldn't normally be a big deal, except that I had to tell this to a person that I have enormous respect for and who would be directly impacted by it.

I know I made the right decision. It's not only that it feels right; this was one of those rare situations where a crucial decision had unarguable data to back it up. But it still wasn't easy to do. In the coming weeks, as more people find out about the choice I've made, I'll certainly face many repercussions thanks to my own decisiveness. That's a price I'll just have to pay.

For some reason, it seems that the right choices in life are often the least popular ones. In my case, I've had to make a lot of unpopular decisions. Usually, in fact with very few exceptions, I end up being right before all is said and done. Still, it never gets any easier.

In spite of my track record on making difficult decisions, the people I love most tend to be the first to challenge them. But if even I have trouble making and sharing such decisions, how can I expect them to be any better?

Fortunately, I can take something wonderful from yesterday. The man whom I had to tell about my decision did something that no other authority figure with whom I've dealt has done. I could more correctly say he didn't do what the others have: he didn't try to make me feel guilty.

Facing the ramifications of my decision, I could see that he thought first of me. He knew how difficult this decision was and knew that sharing it might even be tougher. He didn't say it, but I could see it in his eyes and his response. Everything I felt about this man was confirmed, and I respect him even more than I did before I spoke with him.

Beyond even that, he did something that a lot of folks will never do. As appreciative as I am of the fact that he didn't try to make me feel bad, he allowed me to be an adult and make my decision. In other words, he cared about me enough and respected me enough to let me make a choice that may, from his perspective, end up being a mistake.

It takes very little love to let people do what they want when they do what you think is best. It takes slightly more love to keep a person from making a decision that you don't think is is the right one. But it takes a huge amount of love to let people make a decision that you don't agree with.

This will probably be my last political entry for a while, but I thought it would make an interesting juxtapose with what I posted yesterday. This is a piece from the New Statesman which laments the demise and eventual death of liberalism in America.



While the end of American liberalism is probably a vast exagerration, I have a feeling that people of any ideological ilk will find this both interesting, validating, and informative.

I generally try to avoid this sort of thing when posting, but I was so moved by it that I'd like to share it with anyone interested. I try to respect the politics of others when they are upfront, honest, and grounded in their beliefs. Unfortunately, that isn't usually what I get in return.



The following was posted in a full page ad in the Washington post...

How does one decide who is a trustworthy friend? It's not an easy choice, especially when you want friends worth having.

The friend I want to tell you about is named Jason Braggs, although most of my family knows him by his nickname. We've only met in person twice but have spoken on the phone many times and on the Internet countless more. He's a person I trust implicitely, though I know that baffles him. He is, in fact, the first person to remind me that I shouldn't trust him. But I do.

In many ways, he and I are as different as night and day. While I've walked a unique path in my life, most of it has been equally straight and narrow. In Jason's case, I don't know the details but I know he's walked a vastly different path than I. But the important similarity there is that we both chose our own paths and refused to go where we have been told by everyone in our lives.

One great thing about Jason is that he hasn't lost the ability to have big dreams and lofty goals. Some days, I feel like I'm the only one, and that makes me thankful for him being in my life. Like me, he dreams not of riches and power, but of rewards that really matter. Money and fame will come and go, but helping people builds a kind of respect that means something and means it for generations beyond one's passing.

Jason has a short fuse, there's no doubt. But it's not what most think. He will say things and sound mad and irritable, but it's not because he really is upset from what I can tell. Instead, it's a calculated move to get a specific reaction out of someone. Sometimes, it's an attempt at humor while other times, it's to prove a point that couldn't otherwise be proven. In other words, there's always a purpose behind it and the results are often spectacular.

Still, wielding that kind of wit can be dangerous. To be honest, there are times when I am scared that he will do or say something that will be more than I can put up with and that I will lose him as a friend. But you know what? I think the thought of saying or doing something that would hurt me scares him even more than it scares me. In my book, that's a true friend.

There's one more thing about him that I love and admire. Jason is among a very small group of people that I feel I can truly connect with. We have ideological differences and lead different lives, but I share something with him that is truly rare. No matter what other people say about Jason, I know that like me, he has an insanely strong sense of justice. It's not just an abstract thought with him. It may differ from mine at times, but make no mistake that it is absolutely there. I'd love to say I knew more folks like that, but I've met less than a dozen, most of whom I've never met face-to-face.

I don't know if Jason is capable of blushing, but if he is I hope I haven't embarassed him. He is a friend and ally in a truly dangerous world. He's sees something in me that I usually can't see. I see something in him that he usually doesn't want to see. And that's a pretty good match, if you ask me.

As a believer in the Judeo-Christian God, it is my duty to tithe. As I sit here sending out bills and donations, I am reminded of the difference between tithes and offerings.

Tithing was traditionally, and definitively, a 10% payment or donation given to God in the Old Testament. Whether Christians are under the strict rule of 10% is debatable and, in fact, I believe we do not. Either way, some sort of giving is expected. One interesting side note is that even the priestly set was expected to tithe, as some preachers don't think they need to.

As a Christian who does not attend church regularly, or much at all for that past three years, I do my tithing by giving to charities. Mostly, I give to Feed The Children, which I am proud to say is ranked in the top ten world-wide charities as far as funds efficiently getting to people. I do, on occasion, give to a few others. Around the holiday season, quite a few other requests come in the mail and I do what I can. I'm writing checks for several right now.

Some people would be surprised that I do this. As a conservative, I am often assumed to be calloused to the plight of people in the world. Much to the contrary, I know it quite well. But don't assume that just because I don't trust the government to use my money to help these folks (and much less end their suffering entirely) means that I don't want to help. I just don't think it should be government coersed or mandated.

It's important that we give freely and by choice. If I give money to the government to help people because I have to, no lessons are learned other than to depend on someone else, namely the government. But if I give help to someone else freely, they will learn not only that help is out there but that they have an obligation to help people less fortunate, when and if they are in the position to do so.

So back to the original question, what is the difference between a tithe and an offering? I say that it is a tithe when you give it because you are supposed to. But it isn't an offering until it hurts.

Right now, what I'm sending out hurts. Therefore, I know I am giving a true offering. But I give anyway and not because I think God will reward me as some Christians would contend. Rather, I do it because I think it's what is right and because it's what I would expect anyone with more money than me to do. I don't need a reward for it because I do it for a third reason as well: it is an offering of faith to my God and it's one way to show Him how much I love him.