Taxation without Representation

As I watch my friends vote this week I can't help but feel left out. I am 17 years old, my birthday is November 10. It seems my opinion doesn't matter simply because of my age. This might just be me though, I mean, I have plenty of friends under 18 who have no problem waiting for the next election.

I think the voting age should be lowered.
I can only think of two arguments why:
In Texas, once you're 17 you are charged with crimes as an adult. Youth should not be subject to adult criminal penalties without having the right to vote.

"What kind of twisted message do we send when we tell youth they are judged mature, responsible adults when they commit murder, but silly, brainless kids when they want to vote? This is a double standard"

-NYRA

My other argument is perhaps the most obvious, taxation without representation. Rebecca Tilsen, age 14, testified to the Minnesota house subcommittee, stating:

"If 16-year-olds are old enough to drink the water polluted by the industries that you regulate, if 16-year-olds are old enough to breathe the air ruined by garbage burners that government built, if 16-year-olds are old enough to walk on the streets made unsafe by terrible drugs and crime policies, if 16-year-olds are old enough to live in poverty in the richest country in the world, if 16-year-olds are old enough to get sick in a country with the worst public health-care programs in the world, and if 16-year-olds are old enough to attend school districts that you underfund, then 16-year-olds are old enough to play a part in making them better."

Do you consider these legitimate arguments? Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? If not, then why?

Do we really want to become a socialist society?

I am proud to be an american. And always have been but seeing were this country is going scares me. As I listen to the politicians talk about health care and "sharing the wealth" I wonder weather or not the majority of people know that we are a republic and not socialists.  The definition of socialism is a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land,ect. in the community as a whole. Now this might not sound bad to some such as the French, but as an American I believe that you should be able to own your own, land, and run a business and if you make money you have the right to keep that money. I am not rich by any means and currently my family struggles to make the money to pay our bills, but that does not mean that I think that Bill Gates should cut me a check just because he has the money. And if you do then maybe you need to rethink your citizenship.

Digital or Hard Copy

I know we've had at least a few discussions about the repercussions of the digital age. Personally, I believe there are a great deal of things that have arisen from the digital age that I love. The Internet allows me easy access to a great deal of information that I otherwise would not have the time or energy to research. Email and cell phones allow me to keep in touch with friends and family back home (Wisconsin) much easier than would otherwise be possible. Though admittedly, I am terrible at keeping in touch with people despite that, as I'm often reminded. One thing that really irks me about digital information, though, is this movement to replace books and magazines with 'e-materials.'

I hate e-books and e-zines, and the like, for a number of reasons, and particularly when I have to pay for them. I'm a Dungeons and Dragons fan, and have been since late elementary school. For those of you who don't know what that is, I'll explain as briefly as I can. You've heard of World of Warcraft or Everquest? Well, Dungeons and Dragons is the basis for those games. Instead of playing it on a computer, however, Dungeons and Dragons is played with pencil and paper and, most importantly, imagination, at a table with a group of your friends. Well, Dungeons and Dragons requires a good many books to play, instead of CDs with expansions for WOW or Everquest and the like. Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of D&D, used to publish a pair of magazines named, respectively, Dungeon and Dragon. Original, I know, but they were great publications! Dragon contained information to help the players create better characters. Dungeon detailed adventures for those players to participate in from start to finish. Well, recently, WotC decided to cancel the publication of these magazines and move them onto their website as ezines. I was a little miffed about this. I've been collecting these magazines nearly since I started playing the game. But I tried not to get too up in arms about it, because the information was being released for free from the website.

Well, today I logged on to look at the new articles published, and I found out that I now must pay $7 per issue of each magazine in order to view the content. For those too lazy to do the math, and I don't blame you, that's $168 for access to all 24 issues that will be published in the next year. $168 for something that I can't even take away from my computer!

Now, the costs aside, I hate this movement to digitize books and magazines for other reasons. I like to pick up and feel the books I'm reading. I like to fill my bookshelves with all the volumes I've collected. My wife and I have three bookshelves bursting with books, and most of those are double stacked because we don't have room for more shelves. I keep my Dragon and Dungeon magazines in protectors in binders, organized by date of publication. I like to write notes in the margins of my books and make marks when I find something interesting. I like the feel of the paper of old books, and I love the smell of old libraries. I used volunteer my time in an old elementary library, I loved organizing and categorizing the books (I liked reading children's stories to the classes that came in, but that's beside the point). I like carrying books in my backpack and being able to whip one out to read when I have nothing better to do. Perhaps that's a materialistic attachment but there's just something about holding a good book in your hands, rather than bringing up some ethereal file on your harddrive that could perish with a particularly nasty virus or power surge.

So I leave you with a quote from the character Rupert Giles, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I know I'm a geek, it goes without saying): "Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer... It has no texture, no context. It's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, uh... smelly."

What do you think?

For or against same-sex marriage?

After attending the same-sex marriage debate, I am interested in hearing what everyone's views are. Same-sex marriage is legal in California, Massachsetts, and Connecticut. There is much dispute as to whether the legalization should be recognized by all states, or if it should be abolished all together. Many people don't think that it should be morally accepted in society. Many religions are against homosexuality. Proposition 8 was created in hopes of making an amendment to the Constitution to define marriage as strictly being made between a man and a woman.

I think that no law should require people to change their sexual orientation. It's not ethical making people force or change their relationships. Marriage entails the same committments, obligations, and vows regardless of whether it's a traditional couple or same-sex. It isn't right to say that gay marriage is inferior to traditional; all marriages should be treated equally. There are 1,138 statuatory provisions for tax laws in which marital status is involved. I think that the government should grant the same tax benefits and guarantees for ALL marriages. A big question at the debate was if same-sex couples could legitimately raise children. I think that you're sexual orientation doesn't dictate if you and your partner are fit to raise a child. As long as there is a stable and committed, loving home environment, then it shouldn't be an issue. If a single parent can take care of a child, then there's no reason why a same-sex couple shouldn't be able to as well.

I think that same sex marriages should be legally accepted. People should be allowed to choose who they marry. What happened to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ALL?

Should the legal drinking age be lowered?

Alcohol is consumed by many people every day. It can be found in common places like the supermarket, church, restaurants, gas stations, and especially social gatherings. But where should the legal drinking age be set? Is 21 an appropriate age to start drinking, or could the age be lowered without any additional negative consequences? I think that once people are 18, they should be entitled to make decisions for themselves. There are some negative effects that can come with alcohol, but I don't see those effects being any different when comparing an adult of 18 to that of 21. At 18, you can legally vote, smoke, be arrested, and you are free from your parents' rule. The pressure that is on teens as they reach adulthood prepares them for making life decisions. I think that if you are legally responsible for yourself, you have the ability to judge if drinking is appropriate for you and fully understand the possible consequences.

The Pains and Joys of Love

Hola fellow beings of life!

So this Sunday totally sucked big time for me because at 8:30 in the morning the father of the girl I have completely fallen for has told me to stay the *@#**!! away from his daughter. While he was chewing my head off I really wanted to tell him off because it wasn't my fault that his daughter has a smile that entrances my entire soul. So I took his rebuke willingly and tried to make it as painless as possible.

In the beginning his words scared me a ton and I felt like Brian Regan when his doctor tells him to lay off dairy: "what kind of blanket sweep was that... and no more happiness!" visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBko_3wT44Q
During church I did every thing to stay away from him but it seamed that everything I did to get away chance made it so I kept on running into him. I couldn't take it any more I was getting the eye of death, and there was going to be no more happiness in life any more, and the cause of all my problems was sitting directly in front of me.

Now that I reflect on what happened 2.5 hours later it is actually pretty funny. There is this boy that likes my younger sister and I want to kill the poor kid just because he likes my sister, so I can only imagine what this father wants to do to me. So I'm curious, for you that have younger siblings do you get defensive when someone starts to like them?
Thanks for reading my woes of life,
~Ukulele kid

Different Views on Hunting

So i am going hunting this weekend, and when i told my roommates i would be gone hunting i got mixed reactions. One of my roommates thought it was cool and asked me to take a lot of pictures. My other roommate however, thought i was the meanest person in the world for "slaughtering beautiful creatures" as he put it. It surprised me because i have always known there were people against hunting, but i have never actually talked to anyone who disliked hunting about hunting. My family all hunts or fishes and so do most of my friends. So I am curious to see what your opinions on hunting are.