You know, I can�t Think of a more negatively-driven field than politics. It�s gotten to the point where I Can�t have Any sort of political discussion any more, and not because I disagree with what people are saying, but because when people begin discussing politics, THE most ridiculous shit starts pouring out of their mouths almost instantly.

Political dogma is driven largely by demonization of the alternate viewpoint. Most political thought in this country is obviously bipolar, given the whole Democrat/Republican Liberal/Conservative duality. This seems to cause people to oversimplify problems drastically. For instance, many people right of center LOVE to blame �the liberals� for seemingly Everything under the sun.

Most people�s political viewpoints are driven by negative emotions as well. People tend to align themselves based on what they Don�t like, develop what seem to be rather arbitrary biases that serve as excellent filters for any data they take then, and then make silly, rash arguments � under the guise of reasoned, informed opinions -- blaming the �other guys� for everything that�s wrong. Seriously, take a listen as a bystander to a political discussion sometime, this is the path they usually follow.

To avoid hypocrisy, I should probably point out at this time what seems to drive my political thinking. To put it simply, I Hate the religious right, the conservative Christians� whatever the fuck you want to call them. It is a simple, undeniable fact that the Republican party houses these whackos, ergo I usually vote Democrat. I don�t consider myself a Democrat, largely because I hate politics and the insufficient two-party system, but also because I honestly don�t agree with a lot of �liberal� views.

Of course, therein lies another problem. �Liberal� and Conservative� are little more than labels, more than anything I think they have become clich�s. The don�t seem to Mean anything any more, and it is again an oversimplification derived from the �blame game� that drives political debate. What exactly the hell are you referring to when you say �liberal� or �conservative?� Socially? Financially? I know people who I would consider �conservative� socially, yet �liberal� politically, and vice-versa� and then who knows where finances fit in. Both parties are adept at wasting money, and of course yelling that it�s the other side�s fault (we all have become all too familiar with the �tax and spend liberal� term!)

This is all why I have come to believe that politics are a trap. You end up just getting all irritated about nothing, coming to no decent conclusions, making no sound arguments, and pointing fingers. There are plenty of other things to cause aggravation, I don�t need that.

The fans and sportwriters who are up in arms over last night's draw in the MLB All-Star game are completely off base.

I wonder how stupid people are sometimes. Quick, who won the All Star game three years ago? Two years ago? Last Year? You don't remember, do you? Exactly! I happen to remember last year, only because it was in Seattle, that Cal Ripken won the MVP, so I'm assuming the AL won it, but I couldn't even guess the score. 4-2? I really have no idea.

The All Star game is an exhibition. It is (almost) utterly meaningless who wins it. Furthermore, these are star players who have an obligation to their teams, first and foremost, and putting these players in danger of injury in the All-Star game is a move that borders on incompetence.

You know, I don't like Bud Selig either, and I hate to support him on anything, but he made the right decision, the only decision. beyond that, why is everyone ignoring the fact that the managers came to him and asked him to call it. What the fuck was Bud Selig supposed to do? Go against the wishes of the managers, the players, and the teams who's players would be out there risking their health so Joe Sixpack can see someone win an exhibition game, the result of which he won't remember in a couple years? C'mon, that is oncredibly naive. For once, Selig did the right thing, and people should at least be able to recognize.

I am a Mariners fan, and a Freddy Garcia fan. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves on a national scale for being as good as he is. Last year he led all AL starting pitchers in inings pitched and ERA, so we know, if nothing else, he is durable. Even so, if he had been forced into pitching more than his customary limit of 2 All-Star game innings last night, I would have been Pissed (Garcia was the AL pitcher for the 10th and 11th innings). I can't imagine Lou Pinella would've been happy, and credit to Joe Torre for recognizing that he couldn't exceed the unwritten 2-innings rule. Same goes for Bob Brenley on the other side, and to Selig for making the tough decision.

Why are people reacting so negatively to this. If anything, they should be elated. This is the second tie in 73 All-Star games, and the first one was due to weather. This is a memorable result. Isn't that what people really want out of the All-Star game? Something Memorable. It's not like it wasn;t an entertaining game, and it's not like they didn't play extra innings at all. It a sound decisions, play two innings, and if it's still tied, call it a game. What the hell is so horrible about that?

C'mon, people, pull your heads out of your asses!

Since when did adults become so damn boring?

I remember as a kid, I always thought grown-ups were boring. They were in to boring shit, talked about boring stuff, and everything fun and simple had to be made overly complicated.

I remember being at Whidbey Island once, and wanting to head over to the beach with my aunt, but I had to wait while she finished her coffee. That seemed like it took forever. Of course, now-a-days, I don�t go Anywhere until I finish my coffee.

Why did it get exponentially more difficult to just have fun when we got older. Why are we all so god-damn� Dull?!

Okay, I realize that I�m lazy� Incredibly lazy, as the case may very well be � or is it that I just don�t care � but I just get tired of how everyone lets there jobs get in the way of living their life.

It annoys me that people feel like they have to do the laundry or clean the kitchen instead of just saying, �fuck it, let�s just go do something.�

And why does that �something� have to be so thought/and/or/planned out? What about simple pleasures.

This time of year always seems to remind me of lost youth. It�s no wonder. When I was a kid, I could just amuse myself as the long summer days ticked by, enjoying almost unbelievable freedom, not a care in the world. It was great. It didn�t seem all that difficult to �enjoy� life. I didn�t have to put any real though or effort into it. I just did it. I enjoyed myself, just� being, doing� whatever.

Then, we start to make things complicated for ourselves. It�s really stupid. We have to �do� something. We have to make something of our time. Accomplish something� blah blah blah what a bunch of bullshit. Because the next thing we know, we realize we have to put some effort into doing things so we can �enjoy� ourselves. We realize we have to schedule time for �fun� things, if we can afford to, after all, well, gosh, I gotta go to work tomorrow , and you know, I had a hard day, and I�m just beat, and well, you know, I�ve been working a lot lately and I THOUGHT I WOULD JUST PISS AWAY MY FUCKING LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, people always tell me the same things. �Well, that�s just the reality of it.� Bullshit. Reality is whatever we want it to be. In fact, we all live in two separate, often conflicting realities at once. First there is our own, the reality that we construct out of our perceptions. It�s our version of the �truth,� if you will. Then, there is the greater reality of the world around us, the truth that exists around us, that is built by everything we touch or interact with.

They are both bullshit, in fact. The reality we build for ourselves is full of half-truths, skewed memories, self-delusional bullshit� it is a self-serving entity. We construct revisionist histories out of our past events, listen to what we want to and see what we want to so we can support our arbitrary biases.

Of course, the �greater� reality is actually nothing but. They can�t see what we are thinking or feeling. We can�t know what They are thinking or feeling. It is constructed only out of what is shared knowledge. Most of us tell ourselves, often rightfully so, that the �greater� reality is incomplete because it hasn�t been seasoned by our own perceptions. The �greater� reality, in fact, doesn�t really exist, beyond purely conceptually, because it is �downloaded� through the filter of Everyone�s perceptions, and they are all uniquely different.

But now I�m rambling and I need to go to bed.