things worth mentioning ...

justice sandra day o'connor has quit. most people are concerned that this will affect the federal government's stance on abortion. me, i am a man. i could really care less about whether or not women can have abortions ... on top of that, i am not even sure that i support abortion -- though i certainly support the women in my life who have chose to get them.

i do believe that when you are faced with demographic numbers as evenly split as gender, it would be wise to insure that each gender is appropriately represented in the governments. and by that, i mean that for every position, including president, there should be a female and a male. but i digress.

the fact is that i can't be fighting for the rights of women. men are in a pretty fucked up situation right now as well. and someone has got to stick up for them. no, the thing that concerns me about the retirement of o'connor is that she has always been (to my knowledge) a states' rights judge. and i honestly believe that the conservative point of view is becoming obsolete in the united states.

people are always so apt to point out the apparent shortcomings of the so-called "left" or "liberals." but really, it is the neo-conservative right that is calling for more government and less libertarian freedoms. really, we have something that amounts to little more than a power struggle between socialists and facists ... and the facists seem to be winning.

so what concerns me is that i am fairly sure, no matter what the stance on the abortion rulling, that the new justice will be less conservative and more of a right-wing idealogue.

ok, i admit .... that's all i have to mention. it's hard for me not to rant on about iraq and the metaphysical ramifications. it's hard because i don't want to give the impression that iraq matters, per se. it's a common misperception. who gets killed ... no ... who dies and who lives can't matter very much at all. life is so fragile, both in theory and in practice, that to give it a value based on when it ends doesn't make any sense.

either way, tonight i shall give my mind a rest. i don't feel like i am at the top of my game. i am not sure i have even cussed once in this whole entry. today is the nation's birthday. it is a time to celebrate. i even think i might find my hands around a samual adams by the end of the night.

it will be fun to sit and watch people set off their fireworks -- imagining in my mind the progression that leads from rebellion and enlightenment to the mindless following of customs and blah blah blah. i have nothing to say tonight.