OK, a little more

I am enjoying the online discussion between my good friend and I, it's refreshing to be able to have different views and be able to freely express them.

My sources on the last post came from a 15 minute web crawl, as I mentioned my research is heavily influenced by my feelings, not my experience or understanding of the system.

A strong word of caution on sources though, Wikipedia is probably the last place I would go for truly credible accounts. To many times it has been shown to be wrong (the price to pay for community involvement/information sharing)---many times the sources are incorrect or misleading...Update: Nature Magazine found the scientific articles reasonable accurate-which was soon disputed by Britannica on BBC (see below), but I still caution single resources, biased or not.

Looky:

Nature Article references from BBC

Wiki Accuracy 1

Wiki Accuracy 2

I'll give you my POV and that will help determine where I am heading socially, politically and personally...

+ I have a family including a 5 year old son whom I love more than anything. Given my current circumstances, they are a primary focus. The fact I could lose them makes it all that more important.

+ I am a graphic designer by trade-not quite an artist, but inclined toward it and very appreciative of the arts

+ I am heavily involved in the outdoors--cycling in any shape, kayaking, hiking, camping---my "religion" if you will, my closest moment to a higher power, comes when I am outdoors, usually alone, but always outdoors. It is when I am the most clear headed, calm and thoughtful.

+ I am working on be a healthier individual, including eating better, understanding my impact on the world and environment, including how my actions influence the world around me both intimately and from afar.

+ A consumer at heart, I find my desires lend themselves to the following: bikes, music, shoes, jackets and more bike related stuff. Toss in a new Mac every 4 years and that covers my compu-side. I look at HDTV's, even want one, but find my money goes to bikes, coffee or clothes (after bills and family fun). My turning point has been paying off my credit cards and living more within (still a WIP) my means. Quite the contrary to the American standard, whether individual or as shown by our own government (deficit spending, borrowing from other nations, the feeling like you are owed an SUV or HDTV, instead of the FACT it is a privilege---NOT a right).

There's so much more, but my point (if there is one) is the parts of me described above, help build the person I am and how I look toward leadership, choices and decisions and the future.

The major problems I see are the usual; the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and more widespread (as the middle class begins to be absorbed into the classification), special interests (generally spearheaded by the ultra rich in my opinion) gaining favor and influence (yes, that includes BIG oil as they influence so much of what we do everyday), and a general disregard for personal responsibility and understanding of yourself and fellow man, woman and child.

Problems, blogging, chatting are all fine to ponder, my next step, albeit a very tough one, is figuring out what I can do at even a small scale to make a difference...and that my friend will be a life long endeavor.