Matt’s Blog

There is definitely a different style being expressed by the Dixie Chicks on their latest album, “Taking the Long Way.”  It’s more than apparent that their priorities have changed in life, all three now with husbands and families.  There is no rough and rowdy track as we’ve come to be used to on their previous albums.  Instead, the songs are more emotionally charged, they express sentiments of the difficulties of being happy (It’s So Hard) and being examples for future generations (I Hope), instead of mattress dancing and stuffing people in their trunk.

Though I must say, this is exactly what I expected from the Chicks.  There has always been a progression in their albums.  They’re not the average band out just for the money, releasing cd’s every year.  They take their time, and every album has it’s own style.  This one is mellow, in for the long haul.  I liked it very much.

There seems to be two camps when it comes to illegal immigrants. Either build a wall, or give them amnesty. Honestly, I would hate to see either of these options. What we really need is something in between. In all likelihood, we’ll find it over the long run. At least partisan politics gives us that, a big fight until we find an answer we can all live with. But until then, I’m more concerened with what is happening to other countries when their people come here in droves to find a more prosperous life. I’m afraid that their cultures, their traditions, their way of life may be disappearing in the shadow of America.

What I would really like to see, is America using it’s economic clout to kick start the economies of those countries. Give any immigrant a choice between a good job in his home country, or a good job in America, and we all know what most will choose. That way, fifty years from now, we’ll still have a world full of diversity, culture and unique traditions.

I happened to watch a movie that a friend of mine really likes, Amelie. It’s directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet. It’s really a great movie, so I logged on to imdb.com to find out what else he has worked on. I was quite pleased to find out that he’s listed as doing pre-production work for “Life of Pi.” This movie is based on a wonderful book by Yann Martel about a young boy name Pi Patel who is shipwrecked while moving with his family from India. It’s the kind of book you can’t put down. I’m quite looking forward to seeing what Jeunet will do with it.

We can all certainly feel more safe and secure, now that our phone records are being safely stored and analyzed by the government. I certainly feel more safe. I’m sure the government will come up with some cool algorithms to find the calls that are made to terrorists, and if it works, great. Personally, I think it’s a waste of time.

I’m more concerened with the side issues here. First of all, it feels a little shady. Our leaders won’t even come out and tell us what they’re doing. Even when the story comes out, they won’t fess up. It just makes me think that they’re not totally convinced of what they’re doing either. Sure, there’s a lot of reasons they might have for secrecy, but they’ve got to know that the truth will come out eventually.

Second, I don’t really feel comfortable with the precedence that’s being set. I don’t like the idea of any other organization doing the same thing, and feeling justified in the act simply because it’s been done before. I don’t like the idea that we may continue to use such a technique, even after the current threat is eliminated, simply because all the procedures might be in place to do it.

I’d just like to see a little more communication out of our leaders, after all, the government has more than lives to protect.

I’m writing this using the dvorak keyboard.  I am quite impressed with the layout.  The most useful keys are on home row: aoeu htns  I think I will definitely make the switch!

I only wish that the curly braces were in the same place

So said Thomas Friedman on NPR’s “On Point” tonight.  I can’t agree more.  He cried out against government funded energy subsidies as repressors of innovation in the area of alternative energy sources.  Again, I find it difficult to disagree.  In fact, Mr. Friedman is in favor of a gasoline tax in order to drive down consumption of oil and spur research into green energy.  And since I’m a guy with a blog, I’ll insert my opinion here:  Let the gas tax be levied only against those that do not strive for efficiency, commuters who drive alone and don’t carpool (I’m one of these, unfortunately) not against carpoolers, hev owners, and those who depend on transportation for the main income of their business.  Hard to administrate I think, but that threatens the economy the least.

One of the callers summed it up best when he said, “The government can legislate morality, so it should be able to legislate conservation as well”