Andrew's Upstanding US Citizen Homepage

Corporations, monopolies and power imbalances are impeding democracy, but they are not the cause of the problem. The cause is the lack of vigilance on behalf of the American public in keeping our elected officials in check. The chain of corruption begins where the official sees a strategy other than sound policies that will get them elected. That strategy stems from the public's susceptibility to advertising and charisma over logic and reason. This is not the public's fault, but we must acknowledge this weakness before it can be overcome.

I bet you didn't know that I am a huge sports fan. I consider myself a Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers lifer. I don't watch much television, but I try to never miss a game. The NBA All-Star game isn't usually something I watch, but I have an idea that would make it more appealing.

I think the Point Guard "Skills Challenge" should be integrated into the actual All-Star game.

Words to avoid when addressing middle school students:

dongle
fluctuate
gherkin
cummerbund
volva
pianist
seminary
tipple
rear admiral
poop deck
booby
pervasive
dike
penal
ballpeen
rectify
titmouse
assonance
uvula
castrato
diction
buttress
masticate
kumquat
shuttlecock
cumin
puss
philatelist
perfunctory

Source: TFP & My Co-Workers

Lana was friendly the way Hillary Clinton is friendly. She was interested in your conversation the way a lost tourist is interested in the banter than you wrap around your directions that you give. Her euphemisms and vocabulary made you wonder if her childhood consisted of late night hypnosis in front of an endless stream of infomercials. She pronounced names as if there was only one set of grammar rules in the world. It was a shame that she was so obnoxious, or else it would have been easy to ignore her.

We must use the US Constitution as our guide and apply its principles in broad, unprejudiced strokes. We must allow freedom to the people and reshape the role information plays in our society. We must educate people and we must distribute information with equal accessibility. The visceral satisfaction of one-way entertainment must be made duplex. Emotional decision making must become educated decision making. Bad decisions must be exposed and those who made them must be held accountable, starting from the top.

This is the beginning of a story I started writing. I didn't get very far, but I wanted to preserve my efforts for future inspiration.

There is a new Sim City game out called Sim City Societies. This new installment takes a new approach to city building by getting rid of the classic zoning stratagem and replacing it with a system that allows you to determine the kind of society that you want to build from the start. You're given 6 aspects that you can build your city around: productivity, prosperity, creativity, spirituality, authority, and knowledge. The buildings you construct create and use these aspects to cultivate the right kind of environment that you desire.

Tension is a word I've found that defines music that I like. In most cases, it covers the composition of the instrumental and electronic notes, but tension can be applied to lyrics and voice as well. Tension is created by pauses in the beat. Tension is created by dramatic variances in volume, tone or pitch. Tension is caused by a growing sense of impending release. Tension is a beat at just the right tempo that tightens muscles all over your body. When the music grips your chest and shakes the core of your body to make your limbs flail, its tension that let it take hold.

Just now on the way home, Jas and I were talking and laughing as we got on the train. A very disturbed homeless black woman was already sitting across from us. She started yelling at Jas to stop laughing at her, but we hadn't even noticed this woman. Before we knew it, the woman had stood up and was yelling at us as we tried to ignore her. She took a step toward Jas and I moved myself, ready to step between them and punch the woman. She saw me and backed down, yelling at me that I wasn't going to do shit. She was right, I wasn't going to do shit because she backed off.

Every day, I come across many notable bits of information. I hold on to them for maybe a minute before the next thing replaces them in my short term memory. Very few things earn immortality in the form of writing. My goal is to remember more of these things and to then recycle them in my writing or conversation. All of the interesting quotes, vocabulary, themes, and ideas that I encounter may not be truly worthy of re-print, but they to hint towards what the world looks like through my eyes. I hope to be able to compile as much of these things together in order to communicate my passions.