Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Today is a great day to turn the negative into positive by doing charity work or making a healthy donation to Pakistan flood relief or a similar cause.

1. Q) I am morbidly obese, how can you help me?

   A (L) Under the new Healthcare plan, you will be provided with a physician, a nutritionist, a personal trainer and a gym membership, all at no cost to you. If you do not feel like exercising or eating right, a plastic surgeon and liposuction will be provided instead, all at no cost.

   A (C) Given the incredible financial burden created by the Healthcare plan, obesity will be declassified as a disease and instead those who are overweight will have to complete "fitness tests" to determine eligiblity for healthcare. These tests will involve seeing whether you can outrun wild dogs.

2. Q) I have just been shot, how will your the new health plan help me?

   A (L) You should seek medical attention. Go to your nearest hospital and you will recieve immediate, high quality care, all covered by your insurance provider. You do not even need to provide your name or details on how it happened.

   A (C) You should seek medical attention. Please go to your insurance provider's website, fill out a "Request to Seek Medical Services" form. Click submit. You will be called within 48-72 hours when an available hospital will be able to see you and address your issues. Please be sure to print out the form in triplicate and have your co-pay ready upon arrival.

3. Q) My Cousin Lives in America... Am I eligible for healthcare under the new plan?

   A (L) Yes, you, your cousin, your unborn children, and your dead relatives are all covered under the new plan at no additional cost

   A (C) Yes, provided that you lived in America during specific dates where you were grandfathered into the healthcare plan. If not, you will be kept out of America using a large fence and wild dogs will be dispatched to prevent you from entering the country.

4. Q) Will my wild dog be covered under the new healthcare bill?

   A (L) Yes, your wild dog, pet or farm animal will be covered, all at no cost. Deceased animals are covered as well.

   A (C) No, wild dogs would not be covered, however they are eligible to apply for a new state funded employment program.

I learned during my search for truth that there are in fact two independent and totally factual realities in America, so as an upstanding citizen I have supplied the answers to these questions for both liberals (first, in blue) and conservatives (second, in red). You can thank me later.

1. Q) What will happen to my current health care coverage under the new system?

   A (L) Your current coverage will not change unless you are unhappy with it. In the latter case, it will change to meet your personal specifications at no additional charge. Up to two private nurses will be provided per person, free of charge, to deal with your personal needs.

   A (C) Your current coverage will be canceled and given to illegal immigrants. In addition, wild dogs may be sent to your house to attack you. Any injuries incurred by wild dogs must be paid out of pocket.

2. Q) How will we pay for the new health care bill?

   A (L) Since the new plan provides greatly increased care for no additional money, there is no need to worry about this issue. In the highly unlikely case that costs to the government are incurred at some point, small tax increases will be applied only to people you do not personally like. In addition, wild dogs may be dispatched to attack those people at no additional cost to you.

   A (C) Your taxes will be increased to 95% of your current income. A small, government planned packet of food will arrive in the mail once per week based on the number of members in your family. Each packet will include one frozen vegetable, one grain or potato, and one serving of protein not to exceed 4 oz per person over the age of 18.

3. Q) Does the health care bill have support from the medical community?

   A (L) Yes. Everyone will be covered under the current plan. As a result, medical professionals of all types will be able to afford to focus on curing all known diseases, including the raising of the dead, who also receive health care coverage under this legislation. Doctors will flock to the US to take advantage of this groundbreaking opportunity.

   A (C) No. Due to the lack of competition created by the new legislation, doctors will be forced to treat only themselves or members of Congress to avoid massive financial losses. Any treatment you receive must be paid out of pocket and is subject to government taxation. As a result, most doctors and other health care professionals will be forced to relocate to other countries in order to survive.

4. Q) How will the insurance companies be regulated?

   A (L) Reasonable rules will be put in place to ensure that you, the consumer, have full control of all elements of your plan, from its inception until your "post-life". (This term has been created to label deceased Americans who qualify for health care coverage. In the event that your doctor is able to raise you from the dead, all charges incurred will be payed for in full by your insurance provider.) Since all health care companies have unlimited financial resources, all regulatory costs will be incurred by those companies at no risk.

   A (C) Unnecessary government regulations will instantly bankrupt all insurance companies, transferring the costs to you, the consumer, and forcing the government to assume full control of all health care payments in perpetuity. Once the US government is bankrupted, wild dogs will roam the streets, attacking innocent civilians with no health care coverage.

5. Q) How will the new plan affect senior citizens?

   A (L) As with everyone else, all seniors will be fully covered under the new plan. Those with serious medical conditions will be supplied a personal doctor equipped with a research team to find solutions. Should your personal doctoral research team be unable to cure your particular ailments, your post-life insurance coverage will allow your team to resurrect you once the technology becomes available. Your personal team will remain attached to your case throughout the entire process.

   A (C) The sweeping changes to healthcare include cuts to medicare in order to implement juries that will determine whether you live or die. As such, those who survive the death panel gauntlet will have no coverage, possibly leaving them open to attack by wild dogs. Those who are voted down in death panels will be euthanized, costing you, the taxpayer, billions, and using up millions of acres of valuable real estate for unmarked graves.

I started the game by creating the "mottled cephalopoids", which are based on a squid anatomy tailored to living on land. These cephalopoids are devoutly religious vegetarians who get along well with their neighbors, unless those neighbors try to eat them of course. I have since created a whole fleet of vehicles for the later stages. Both the creature and its vehicles are posted below.

The Creature

The mottled cephalopoid managed to maintain all of its deep sea style when migrating onto land.

Left: Basic mottled cephalopoid
Middle: Tribal mottled cephalopoid (dancing)
Right: Civilization and space-age mottled cephalopoid (posing)

The Vehicles

Vehicles in Spore are broken down into religious, economic, and military. Each coincides with one of the 3 playstyles you can choose in the game. The cephalopoids are religious, but each city they convert is able to retain its own specialty, so it pays to be prepared.

Cephaloprophet 3000L: Designed with style and performance in mind, the Cephaloprophet 3000L™ delivers religious persuasion from comfortable bucket seating. See your local dealer for accessories, such as a 5.1 underwater music simulator and extra cupholders.

Cephaloprophet 4000S: Sleak, stylish and most of all, convincing, the Cephaloprophet series takes religious fervor to the seas with the 4000S. Ask about our "no money down" financing options.

Cephaloprophet 5000A: Religious zeal takes to the air with the Cephaloprophet 5000A™. Complete with cutting edge trumpetacle technology, who can resist its musical message?

Squid Pro Quo Caravan: Style, style, and more style - that's what the Squid Pro Quo Caravan brings to the negotiating table. Who can resist plush leather seating, rear rocket boosters, and 6 tentacle drive? Not you, that's for sure.

Squid Pro Quo Fleetmaster: The Squid Pro Quo Fleetmaster takes economic power to the place Mottled Cephalopoids know best - the seas!

Squid Pro Quo Airship: Fashionable, fun, and far *more* than simply affordable, the Squid Pro Quo Airship delivers a return on investment in no time. Featuring a perma-shine™ gemstone coat, the Airship is sure to be noticed by friends and competitors alike!

Humboldt 31A Land Predator: To those who believe Mottled Cephalopoids will never truly master the land, watch out! The Humboldt 31A Land Predator delivers a punishing payload while maintaining all the comfort and flare expected from the patented Cephalopoid design.

Humboldt 71R - The Iron Tentacle: Due in large part to the Humboldt 71R, codenamed "The Iron Tentacle", the Mottled Cephalopoids are the undisputed masters of sea warfare. Unlike most enemy vessels, the Humboldt excels at diving deep and striking from below.

Humboldt 65D Flying Mollusk: Built with a solid titanium mantle and superior targeting optics, the Humboldt 65D rains death from above on uncooperative targets. The 65D was nicknamed the Flying Mollusk by test pilots early in production, a name that has remained popular ever since.

... and finally...

The Squidship Enterprise! Our 5 year mission: to seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no squid has gone before!

The Faces of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome will be displayed June 23 - 29 in the BodyLink Gallery of the Maryland Science Center (601 Light Street, Baltimore). The exhibit was photographed by famous fashion and celebrity photographer George Lange and features striking images and stories from CFS patients and health care professionals who treat the illness. It will include free brochures for visitors who want to know more about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options for CFS.

The photo exhibit is open to the public.

I know the Science Center isn't far away for some of you. Maybe you can pop in and take a look.

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who reads (or used to read) this site that I am not doing particularly well. If I was, you'd see a lot more posts. Everything now feels like it's moving too rapidly for me to keep up. My mind races over stupid things and I'm always fighting with morning anxiety. Presumably this is due to the med I took around this time last year, but in any case, it is really annoying and hard to deal with.

On the plus side, we decided to grab a bunch of meals at a place up the road called "Make and Take", so I think I may have a somewhat easier time managing my food supply. I have enough of these that I shouldn't have to plan much other than to get one out of the freezer and pick a vegetable to steam or pan-fry or whatever I want. I can handle this far more easily than when I have to prepare all the components.

Otherwise, I'm pretty much just playing a lot of Warcraft. I'm not feeling well enough to do much else even though I really want to be doing more. It's very frustrating. Ah well, at least the weather is nice.

If anyone wants anything from my parents' house, I put price tags on everything. Get it while it's hot!

There are issues on both sides of the political divide that seem to contradict other views held by the very same people. Many of these are used as tools for the opposition to tear down that party's credibility even while no effort is made to reconcile the confusion about these seemingly contradictory beliefs. Is it not our responsibility as voters and citizens to understand as much as possible about all of the views that matter to our nation? With that in mind, I am going to try to address as many of these points of confusion as possible with the hopes that the people who hold some of these seemingly contradictory views will explain how they relate in a rational and convincing manner.

To Conservatives

1. What is the relationship between the pro-life and pro-death penalty and pro-war platforms? How do you feel the possibility of wrongful convictions impacts your beliefs on the death penalty, particularly as it pertains to the sanctity of life?
2. The inefficiency of government drives many conservative policies. When you oppose a government plan to aid a large group of disadvantaged people, how do you believe that those people should or will get the help they need? This question assumes that the people in question are universally agreed to be disadvantaged in some way.
3. What is the basis for your strong support of the 2nd amendment and how do you explain your opposition to the "assault weapons ban"? Why do you feel this terminology is inappropriate?
4. What is it that makes John McCain so loathsome to the conservative base?
5. Why is it necessary to have economic freedom while imposing limits on social freedom? What is the relationship between these core elements?

To Liberals

1. How do you relate pro-choice beliefs with opposition to the death penalty? Where specifically does truly human life begin in your estimation?
2. Why do you believe that the Evangelical movement within the Republican party is harmful to our nation? What specifically have Evangelicals done already that lead you to believe that such influence should be opposed?
3. What leads you to generally support government controls on big businesses? What about businesses makes them less trustworthy than governments? What is the relationship between implementing controls on businesses and helping lower class citizens who are often employed by those businesses given that such controls presumably increase the costs of doing business?
4. What is it that makes Joe Lieberman so unappealing?
5. Why is it necessary to have social freedom while imposing limits on economic freedom? What is the relationship between these core elements?

To Conservatives and Liberals

1. Why is economic liberalism a core conservative value? Why is economic conservatism a core liberal value?
2. How do you reconcile the strength of governments to reach the largest groups of people with the strength of charities and individuals to more efficiently impact the lives of smaller groups of people? Do you believe that this premise holds true in the first place?
3. Why do you feel that the ACLU is a good or bad organization? Do you believe the opposition's views are valid or invalid? What about those views lead you to dismiss them to some degree?
4. What is it about the various core beliefs of modern conservatism or liberalism that make them all so critical to see at the same time in our leadership? For instance, why must a pro-war conservative candidate also support lower taxes, or why must a liberal candidate who supports stricter gun control also be pro-choice to be viable?
5. Faced with sub-optimal choices of candidates, what issue takes precedence for you in the voting booth?

Well, my brain is about tapped out at the moment. I hope a number of you will chime in with answers as well as more questions that I have not considered that you have yet to resolve Keep in mind that these questions are mostly designed to attack the problem from the side of the opposition. If you believe the questions are not accurate, that's fine, but try to explain why if you can.

Oh, and I will be dressing up as a guy that needs a haircut, who may or may not carry around a water bottle.

I had expressed interest in rehashing the first recipe we ever tried, which has already been discussed on this blog. It was great. We got the same fish from the same place, and with all the vegetables at their prime at this time of year, we really couldn't miss. Best meal ever... well, at least when combined with the fabulous ice cream cones from the Daily Scoop up the road from here. They make good ice cream to be sure, but their cones are the best I've ever had. Super fresh and with optional dark chocolate dip that doesn't reduce the crunch at all. That's some serious coneage™.

I also finished the final installment in the Harry Potter series today, which was the first novel I've been able to read in about two years. What a great book. I really feel like the last four books added so much more substance than the first three, and HP 7 added so many great lessons and inventive angles on life and death that I was not just satisfied, but touched on a meaningful level.

All in all, a great day despite my seriously poor health of late. I may pay tomorrow, but that's alright too.

I'm supposed to do a website for a small business shortly as well. I don't know if I can manage that or not what with all I've been up to lately. Final exams, medical tests, moving... it's all rather tiring on a variety of levels. All in all, I'm not sure where I'm headed next, but it's nice to be able to ponder the future in a new living space, that's for sure.

I can't shake the feeling that this is all just wrong. I don't entirely know why. Maybe some of it has to do with my previous negative experiences with trying to finish school, but regardless, I just don't feel right taking classes anymore. I'm still gonna force my way through until I better option presents itself I suppose. This is all very weird coming from me, a guy who always got straight A's and had no problem with school even when pretty exhausted. I'll just have to keep praying about it.

I believe the only thing being built right now is a parking lot, or parking lot extension, but it's better than the nothing we've had for the past 12 years.

Gnoella and Sprockette from World of Warcraft are advancing well, and both are now level 62. I will try to get some pictures up here soon.