I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
August 23, 2012 - 1:14 p.m.
It's after noon. I�m supposed to start writing at 9 AM If I can't manage that how can I hope to take control of my life?
Lets' start off with some gripes. My apartment has been invaded by flies. It's better than mosquitoes like I had earlier in the summer but it still isn't nice. How do I get rid of them? Do I need to get a fly swatter and kill them one at a time?
I've been spending far too much time in the bathroom and my hemorrhoids are acting up. I can use that as an excuse for a lot of my inaction.
I didn't accomplish anything that I wanted to accomplish yesterday. I can't really use the last paragraph as an excuse.
Now moving on to good things. I made one of my favorite dinners, Cajun eye round steak, for the first time since I left Queens. I finally found it on sale in my supermarket yesterday. I not only cooked it perfectly on my cast iron stovetop grill but I served it on garlic cheese bread I made out of a ciabatta roll. If you want to make that yourself a word of advice. You can't just put the steak on the roll. You have to cut it up first. I had mashed potatoes with it that I made with a locally grown potato I bought at the farmer's market. I don't put a premium on it being locally grown, that whole movement is pretty much a canard, but I like food that's been bred to taste good not look good on a shelf. With some foods the emphasis is on making it ship well but I don't think that's a problem with potatoes. In any event dinner was delicious. I had soda with it, I never drink soda at home but 2 liter bottles were on sale for $1.
I realized that part of the reason I have for being annoyed with people is that I'm spoiled by my friends. I'm used to people that are not ordinary, that think outside the box. It's why I get frustrated playing WFUV's Question of the Day. So many people's reaction is to suggest the most famous song that people hear all the time that can somehow fit the question.
Now on to what I really want to talk about today, politics.
I invented a new form of government. It addresses some current problems but of course it will also create new ones. I'm not saying that I�m in favor of instituting it. The idea is simply to get me and now you thinking.
The president would be elected by popular vote; there are no good arguments for the Electoral College. He wouldn't be the head of government, only the head of state as in a parliamentary republic. In addition to all the ceremonial duties he has one important government role. He chooses the head of government, the one that has all the substantial powers of the current president. Let's call her the CEO. He doesn't appoint her immediately. By law he has to do a candidate search for six months. During that time candidates are vetted and interviewed. It is the same process a sports owner makes when choosing a team president or general manager.
One benefit is that the CEO is free of political concerns. She doesn't have to spend half her time raising money. She isn't beholden to big donors. There can't be any connection between the president and the CEO, if there is they are both guilty of a grave crime that involves a large amount of jail time. The President is supposed to do an unbiased search for the best person for the job.
Another advantage is that the CEO does not have to cater to the demands of uninformed voters who are looking for someone they want to have a beer with. That's the President's job. No one is going to worry if she wears a flag lapel pin. No one will worry about minutiae. The president will choose the best person for the job that follows his basic political philosophy.
The term of office for the president and the CEO is six years with no possibility of running again. The president will take office six months before the CEO.
The system would attract more capable people, people who would have no problem running the country but don't want to go through the stress of running for office or lack the skills for getting elected.
Most of the candidates for president and vice president are far more suited to the office of president in my system not CEO. People like Bush 2 and Sarah Palin would never even be considered.
He's something to think about. If you were president under the system who would you pick to be the CEO?
I wonder if the system would help in ethnically divided countries like Iraq. I often try to come up with a system of government that would force the people to vote for parties based on their programs instead of just voting for the one that supports their ethnic group. Imagine what the US would be like if the parties were The white Baptists the white Catholics, the black protestants, etc.
Now it's after 1. I better eat. It's bacon and eggs for breakfast today.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Horvendile August 23, 2012
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