To Party or Not to Party

A few months ago, I was visiting the Neal Boortz site (http://boortz.com/) and no, you don’t have to type the www in front) and found a link to the world’s smallest political quiz (see link below). It is a series of 10 questions on personal and economic issues. Your answers tell you where you stand in your political views (just in case you don’t know or, like me, are having an identity crisis).

I’ve always felt that you have to vote in elections to have the right to complain about what those rascals in Washington (or Tallahassee or City Hall) were doing with your tax money. And to vote, you have to be informed and understand what you were voting for.

When I first registered to vote, I registered as a Democrat. Then, when I moved to Kansas, I decided that I didn’t want to be affiliated with a specific party, so I registered as an Independent. When I moved back to Florida, I registered again as a Democrat. And, finally, a few years ago, I had had it with the Democrats and re-registered as an Independent. I wasn’t happy about it because it took away my privilege to vote in primary elections, but I couldn’t allow myself to be associated with the antics going on in Washington at the time. I got very tired of explaining to people that just because some Democrats were doing this or that, not all Democrats were guilty of the same thing. And I couldn’t bring myself to embrace all that the Republicans were doing, either.

I just couldn’t find a place where I felt comfortable. It was about this time that I first took that little political quiz and found that I was more Libertarian than anything else. I want government and politicians to stay out of my bank account and out of my private affairs. I honestly believe that I know what is best for me, not some politician in Washington or Tallahassee who doesn’t know me.

I’ve spent more time learning about the Libertarian party and found that I agree with a lot of their foundation. I’m not ready to change affiliations yet again, but I will be doing some more study on the matter. Since the US is basically a two-party system I will have to give up my primary election privileges. No, I haven’t forgotten that there are other political parties out there, but let’s face it, they just aren’t powerful enough to play in the same sandbox with the Republicans and Democrats.

But in the meantime, I will be studying the Libertarian party and those rascals who want the White House so that I can make an informed, educated decision next November.

http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html

Once again, if you have trouble with either link, please do yourself a favor and either copy and paste it into your browser or type it in. The quiz is fun if nothing else. And you might learn somthing about yourself.

Good-bye 2003, Hello 2004

Good grief! I can’t believe that in just a few hours 2003 will be history. I don’t bother to make predictions or resolutions. I’m not psychic, so I can’t see the future, and resolutions are usually broken in the first week.

Predictions for the future? I predict the sun will continue to rise in the east and set in the west; days will be light and nights dark; that summer will be warmer than winter and winter will be cooler than summer; that there will be 29 days in February this year, and that there will be a presidential election in the fall.

I’d like to believe that the economy will continue to improve, that Osama will be caught or proven to be dead, that peace will reign in the Mideast, and that tomorrow I won’t be writing about another terrorist attack in the US.

When I do make resolutions, I try to make it more of an “I’ll try to…” thing than “I resolve to” because resolving to do something usually involves major lifestyle changes (dieting, exercising, and so on) and they almost always fail. When I “try to” do something, it’s not set in stone and not set up for failure from the beginning.

So, I’ll try to be a better person by taking better care of myself. That way, I’ll feel better, my attitude will be better, I’ll have more patience and understanding, and I’ll have more tolerance toward stupid (I have a serious problem with stupid). I’ll try to plan for the future so that I’ll be able to retire when I want to, instead of continuing to work past my burnout time.

I (will try to) plan to continue working out at Curves three days a week. I was weighed and measured a couple of weeks ago and although I didn’t show a weight loss, I did lose 6.5 inches around the waist, and a half-inch to an inch around the hips, thigh, and arm. I saw improvement and that helps to motivate me to continue. Now that the holidays are all but over, I’ll be able to work on my dietary changes (not a diet, but eating better) and the few, relatively minor health challenges I have.

I (will try to) continue to do what I can to get the Fair Tax Act passed. And, no, I don’t have such a high opinion of myself that I can get this done all by myself or that without me it won’t get passed! But I think it’s important enough to do whatever I can to spread the word about the FTA so that those who have the influence can. I’ve written about it before and there is a link in the sidebar for the website. Right now, I’m planning to write at least once a month about it. Yes, it’s that important and will make that big a difference in your wallet and bank account.

And finally, I will try to let those who are important to me know how important they are to me. I won’t regret telling people how important they are to me, but I could regret not telling them.

I just found this link at Bella Online. These are addresses for military personnel serving their country who would like to receive Holiday greetings. Some have received NO mail at all.

If it touches your heart to do so, please send a card. If you are really generous, a package. It's better late than never! Prayers are always good; they're always the right size and color.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art15521.asp

If for any reason this link doesn't work (and for some reason I'm having trouble with links so don't be surprised) please copy and paste or type into your browser.