Recently …

Well, the return of my interest in politics was decidedly short, and probably for the better for most people. After all, who’d want a sane person actually running the country. Ron Paul may not have been the most charismatic talker or most uplifting, but the man is a damn genius, of sound mind, and … well, just too good for the American public. My good friend Mr. Pengo provides a far better discourse on this topic over various entries at his blog. Check it out if you’re interested.

That aside, I finally got Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii last week. Not sure about elsewhere, but here in Australia Activision recently released a “limited edition” double-guitar set for the Wii and with a 15% pre-Easter sale I got the whole thing for AUD 170 (it was 169.something). Not a bad purchase especially as it already had a chance to liven-up a party.

Also of recent interest was my work trip to Tokyo. Not much to say as I was pretty much working every day but I did get a free day on my day of arrival (Sunday) and an old friend from Wesleyan, Janice, was kind enough to take me around Ginza, which happened to be just next door to where I was staying, Marunouchi. My last night there, a Friday night, was mostly a blur with much drinking and laughing capped by a 4.30am trip to Tsukiji Fish Market for some fresh sushi breakfast. Unfortunately for me I was rather ill after staying up the whole night and just managed to wolf down my food. But yes, it was fresh.

On this trip I discovered that Banana Republic now has a store at Paragon in Singapore and also at multiple locations in Tokyo (one of which was practically across the street from my hotel)! Now if only their American website will ship internationally.

I attended the Easter Mass this past Sunday but was mostly bored and falling asleep as I stayed-up rather late the night before watching The Prestige and it was standing room only at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Thankfully I had a pillar to lean on. I have to admit I still have mixed feelings about attending a Novus Ordo mass, even if this was a “Solemn” Mass (is there any other kind?) which apparently meant that much of it was sung (in English). I can only imagine a Latin High Mass being celebrated inside St. Mary’s–it’s actually quite a decent cathedral.

The SonyEricsson W910i phone is a pretty damn sexy phone, especially the red colored one. I got one for my girlfriend as her old Nokia guaranteed a one-sided conversation for anyone whom she called (or called her on) from it and now I can’t help but drool over it every time I see it. Between the crappy 5MP camera on my new K850i (the old K800i produced far better images than this) and the stupid firmware issues SE has with this phone I wish I could exchange it. The biggest reason though is the little “H” icon at the top of her display that I see all the time. I switched to Telstra as I was getting fed-up with Optus (for a variety of reasons) and also because I wanted to get on their NextG network (their branding for HSDPA). Telstra, however used the 850 frequency–unlike all the other local provider or most of the world for that matter–so I had to make sure my phone would be able to use the 850 frequency. However, ever since I brought this phone back from Singapore all I see is “3G” and “H” only very rarely. Her phone (which is only capable of using UMTS 2100), on the other hand, is always showing “H” on Optus’ network. -sigh-

Back to politics again

About a year and two weeks ago I was flying out of Shanghai on my way to Singapore before heading home when I asked one of the wonderful flight attendants for their writing kit. All I wanted was just a few pieces of paper to write on but I got the “kit”: a slim heavy paper container with a few sheafs of paper (about A5 size), a few postcards, envelopes, and a pen.

I was rather inspired that morning (not to mention lacking a book to pass away the time and I had already seen all the movies I wanted to see on the way over). On the walk from the lounge to the terminal I passed by another terminal where a Garuda plane had parked itself, setting off in motion one thought after another in my head. The question I eventually wrestled with that morning on flight SQ815 was what made for a good American ex-pat behavior, especially one who is a conservative. This is a particularly interesting question because the Republican party, the party of Conservatives, had been hijacked by two opposing factions, neither of which are something to be proud of: the neo-cons and their pursuit of global hegemony or the so-called traditional conservatives which actually were just your traditional isolationists. Either way, not a good example of an American, especially for one who was living abroad and traveled every now and then for work.

Then there were the other American ex-pats or travelers to consider as well: the liberals who are so ashamed of our country that they would waste no time in trashing America, highlighting only our failures, and the more stereotypical loud-mouthed American tourist. As much as I hate to admit it, this stereotype, like many others, exist because it is true (not that other countries are not without their loud-mouthed tourists: soccer thugs, British stag-party goers in Prague, etc.).

Out of this I realized that traditional conservatives, those of us who love our country and yet are also open to the beauty and strengths of other nations, other cultures, are the perfect ambassadors for America. We love our country yet we are not blind to her faults, nor would we overlook the achievement of others. We are the carriers of that “American Dream”, of the values of America: of freedom, self-discipline, self-reliance, and generosity.

I looked-up quickly at the flight monitor and noted that it was just around 11:44 local airspace time and that we had just flown past Ho Chi Minh City but still (presumably) inside Vietnamese airspace. Vietnam: at that moment the baggage the name brings to someone who went through the American education system came up and yet, at the same time, from up here it was just another South-East Asian country. (One I now wanted to visit in fact.) And it was here that I finished my rough draft with the following conclusion:

After all, if the French and Italian can try to out-boast each other as to who’s better (as my two colleagues around me at the time would do on a daily basis), if the Singaporeans and Malaysians can trade friendly barbs, why can’t we Americans be proud of our homeland? Why must we always be apologizing for everything?

And yet, all this time this rough-draft sat inside the little box the papers had originally come in, sitting on my shelf untouched and mostly out of sight. Sometimes, I thought to myself, I really didn’t care anymore. In fact, I have been generally pretty apathetic toward anything political. And as much as I cherished my American citizenship, I was not thinking of returning anytime soon. I didn’t know of a place in the country where people cherished the same values I held, the ones I thought of as uniquely American.

“Where would you raise your kids?” People would ask. Ideally this would be the US, I thought to myself, but where? On the other hand, if I could pick any place in the world, what would I pick? I had no answer.

Lately, however, I feel my optimism returning and I’m even following the lead-up to the Primaries in the US. What changed?

RON PAUL

For the longest time I had become disenchanted, disillusioned, and all but given up on the democratic system. Democracy, I would argue, is just a people-approved tyranny with the numbers to legitimize it. But this guy is just about the most honest politician I’ve ever known. I can’t say I agree with all his stances, but I have to admit that with his honesty, I’d vote for him even if he was running as a Democrat. On top of his refreshing honesty he’s also a strict Constitutionalist, has a 100% consistent voting record, and, for the love of God, the man ANSWERS your questions. Watch his interviews and if his plain-speaking style doesn’t immediately grab you, then I hope his answers would because he actually answers the questions! (Unlike all other politicians who are always brushing off questions and saying whatever they felt like.)

For instance, see the following videos:

1. Ron Paul opening a can of whoop-ass on an “upset” Giuliani (I particularly liked this one)

2. Ron Paul on CBS’ Face the Nation (Part 1)

3. Ron Paul on CBS’ Face the Nation (Part 2)

There you go. If you want more, visit his official homepage, and if you like what you see then be sure you donate however much you can on the Tea Party money-bomb on December 16th: