Cyberspatialniche

Anyone who thinks Robert Wexler is foolish for his now immortal interview on the Colbert Report is absolutely clueless and tragically unhip. Any politician willing to be put in such an uncertain and potentially damaging situation as that should be given props for the bravery alone, nevermind those that go that extra step to help Colbert deliver the funny. I’m proud that the Congressman represents my district of birth, and I wish him all the best in representing the constituents in South Florida.

While I’m on a somewhat angry roll, I’d also like to make this observation – no one can force you to change your mind without resorting to brainwashing or perhaps blackmail. At the end of the day, only you can decide what you believe. Whether or not you defer your decisions to religious leaders, politicans, pundits, authors, whoever, or just plain figure out things for yourself, is your choice alone. In particular, people who go on the show 30 Days are not forced to believe anything different after their experiences. This might be bleedingly obvious to most of you, but there was actually some debate about this over lunch today. Some coworkers of mine were actually critical that the show “forces people to change their minds” about such issues as whether or not “all Muslims are terrorists.” Seriously.

Oh yeah, and this whole “we should just nuke the Middle-East” bit is getting really tired, not that it was ever anything more than a horribly glib, hopefully sardonic remark. The region has problems, to be sure, but lest we forget just how contentious the America’s, Europe, Africa, and Asia have all been throughout world history. The vast majority of the people in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc. etc. are all people just like you and I. They’re part of families, have their own dreams and art, and ultimately just want to live their lives in peace. The extremists, whether they be Jewish, Muslim, Christian, whatever, are in the minority. They just unfortunately have gotten into positions of power through the abuse of their religions and vacuums of secular leadership. While taking out Hizbollah is important, the innocent life that is lost must also be considered!

Closer to home, there’s one more issue about which I must write. Recently, the Orlando City Commission passed an ordinance restricting the organized feeding of the homeless on public land in downtown Orlando. While I do not know too much about the issues involved, I do respect Spider’s take on it as reported here. Should groups that want to combat hunger be forced to work under highway overpasses, or should be be able to serve food more than twice a year on public land? Take a read and see what you think.