Skip if you're tired of political things

Okay, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but seriously, read the following. (directly quoted from change.gov, emphasis mine)

"When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood -- you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That's why it's called the American dream."

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

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Now, I have absolutely *nothing* against public service. On the contrary, I admire those who somehow find a way to carve out the time and resources, and it's a great thing to even attempt at fighting against the inequalities that exist in our society. I often wish I could do more of that myself.

BUT, if the government plans to require community service, how exactly would any of us be choosing to serve?

Students who are already struggling to pay for college will have to give up time that could be spent on the job, and put it towards public service. High school kids from poor families will have to spend *their* spare time on public service, time that they could spend working, saving for the future. Or time that they could spend studying, so they'll have some hope at a better life and standard of living than what their parents had.

I understand what the administration hopes to do, and things like improving education and clean energy are certainly not *bad* things. But, there's no reason make public service mandatory. To bring out a spirit of public service, there needs to be a fundamental change in the mindset of the people; they must be willing to do it voluntarily. Requiring it of everyone just turns it into another burden imposed by those who have more power.

Blargh. Okay, I'll post something more fun and fluffy in a bit. ;)

"Shoot him in the head! No, in the HEAD! Arrrgh!"

This thing looks terrifying: Honda unveils walking assist device. Whaaaat?

In other news, we started watching Heroes again, thanks to the Netflix online on-demand viewer, and we're now a couple of episodes into Season 3. I kind of get why viewership has dropped, because I certainly have a few complaints. The few that I can think of, off the top of my head:

1) How many times are they going to pull the, "I'm dead! Oh, wait, I'm magically healed!" bit? Sure, it fits within the confines of their universe, but come ON.
2) Peter and Mohinder need to learn that they pretty much have crap for judgment.
3) Why hasn't *anyone* figured out yet that, when faced with a person or creature that's seemingly invincible, your best bet is to AIM FOR THE HEAD?

Also, now that I've seen promo shots for the new J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek movie, I keep imagining pointy Vulcan ears on Sylar. Hurhurhur. ;p

I made chili and corn muffins for dinner last night! I deviated from my usual chili recipe and it turned out pretty well and still healthy. I think that it was technically vegan, too, because the most appropriate meat option we had was vegetarian sausage, and the other ingredients were animal-free. I need to go to Goodwill and get a crock pot, though, because slow-cooked chili is so much better.