I’ve been conflicted about President Bush’s proposal for establishing a base on the moon and a manned mission to Mars. My first reaction is I feel space exploration is something we should be doing. We humans can learn a lot from exploring the universe around us. The more we learn, the better off we will be. Just think of all the technological innovations we use everyday, which evolved from the work NASA did in the 1960s. I also feel that someday humans will be living on other worlds and in space. Perhaps that’s the best insurance for the disastrous asteroid strike that scientists say will inevitably occur on our planet.

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Complaints about taxes have certainly been a strong fixture in the news lately. After opening up my property tax bill (which arrived in the mail the other day) I thought I’m really getting a lot for my money. Parks, recreational trails, library services, fire protection, police protection, refuse pickup… the list goes on and on. I would much rather pay to have those services and facilities available to me than to live somewhere without them. What would it be like to live in an area without libraries, without a good park system, not to mention fire and police protection? Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”

I for one would rather live in a civilized society than have a little more money in my pocket.

Our nation is battling terrorism and violence overseas, the deficit is growing exponentially, unemployment continues in this stagnating economy and what are our lawmakers working on? A bill that would replace the face of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the dime with Ronald Reagan.

Don’t they have anything better to do?

I don’t understand the conservatives need to push Reagan up to iconic status — not to mention the fact that the man is still alive. If they must use Reagan’s likeness on a coin, considering his administration’s trickle-down economic policies, putting it on a penny seems more appropriate to me.

Who would have thought that I have something in common with Gandi, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela? According to the quiz I took at Political Compass, our political views all fall into the libertarian left category.

I’m sure my mother will be proud to learn that I also seem to be the exact political opposite of our current President (who is listed as authoritarian right). Come to think of it, I’m a little proud myself.

Like many others, my thoughts have been with the people in Iraq lately (with the innocent civilians and the soldiers that are there). During a lunchtime discussion at work one of my coworkers raised an excellent point. Why must most things that are said or reported on be cast in such absolutes? Issues are not all black and white. Just because someone is against the war, does not make them anti-American or against the troops. I might disagree with someone’s opinion on the war, but does that automatically mean their reasons are invalid?

A person who blatantly disregards someone’s ideas just because they don’t happen to share that opinion can tell me a lot more about them than what their opinions actually are. I only hope our leaders share this philosophy and can see the many shades of grey.

The Department of Homeland Security is recommending that everyone buy plastic sheets and duct tape, to seal a room where you can be safe in the event of a bio-terrorist attack.

Am I the only one who finds this a bit ridiculous? Yes, duct tape has to be one of the most useful inventions ever created, but I seriously doubt it has the ability to repel biological agents. Part of me wonders if the current administration is getting the public all hyped up, just so that more of us will be in favor of war with Iraq. Unless their plan is to boost the struggling economy with massive sales of plastic and duct tape…

Tonight I tuned in to watch the debate between the candidates for Wisconsin Governor on TV. Either the debate wasn’t all that exciting or I was pretty tired from a hard day’s work. I saw the first two questions, responses and rebuttals, and the next thing I remember was waking up 15 minutes after the debate was over. So, I turn to Google Fight for enlightenment. Enter Scott McCallum versus Jim Doyle and Doyle wins by over 200,000 Google entries. It’s official — I’m voting for Doyle. (It’s okay, I wasn’t going to vote for a conservative Republican no matter how many Google entries he had).

Condo news: My loan has been approved! In just another 24 days I will be thirty years in debt. Now, who wants to come over and help me pack?

Next week we have a primary election in Wisconsin. In today’s mail I got two separate flyers for my congressman, urging me to vote for him. On my answering machine was a message from a campaign worker, telling my why I should vote for my congressman and urging me to go to the polls to vote for him. While watching the evening news tonight, I saw two advertisements explaining why my congressman is so good for our area and that we should go vote for him.

I swear if a politician would come out and say, “I’ve decided to donate all the money I raised for my campaign to a worthy charity and I will not waste it all on ads” I would kiss them on the lips. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t actually do that. Unless they were female, available, a good looker, and wanted to kiss me back of course. But I digress.

I get a little amused when politicians go on about wasted government spending and then they turn around and spend millions of dollars saturating their constituents with ads, direct mailings and answering machine messages. By the way Mr. Congressman, if you really think I was going to sit there and listen to that message on my answering machine, you aren’t smart enough to be re-elected.

From today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Al Gore searched twice during Wisconsin trip. First when he left the airport in Washington and the second time when he flew from Milwaukee to New York. What a perfect illustration of the lack of common sense these newer measures are from the office of homeland security. I’m sure that the former vice president was considering an act of terror on the plane, yet the possibility of a random screening dissuaded him from carrying out his plan.

Oh look, an elderly woman is getting on the plane. Make sure she doesn’t board with that crochet needle!