A thought to explore: One of the main deficiencies of capitalism is the fact that competition does not necessarily produce virtue.

On an unrelated note: It’s about time to re-read Edmund Burke.

The current level of corporate influence on government is a terrible thing. In general, I’d like corporations to have less political power.

If this is true in the US, what of China? Here I am, cheering on how Google is finally standing up to the government there.

Yet to remain philosophically coherent, shouldn’t I not cheer this on? Process does matter, and I shouldn’t like a big corporation having so much influence on government, regardless of whether I like the results or not.

That much is true. I should at least try to be coherent, but I don’t know if these situations really are similar. Is the problem really corporate influence, or is it the incestuous relationship between government and corporations. These would suggest different things between the US and China.

Something to ponder.

Well, Opera’s at 10.51 now and it’s pretty sweet, except I have a few complaints.

1) Ctrl-z doesn’t work on the Speed Dial for reopening the last tab. I set up the ctrl-shift-t shortcut to ctrl-z to take care of that.

2) Opera 10.50 was extremely slow behind the proxy at work. I had to make a change to the config, but the average user would just switch to a different browser. It makes me sad because I love Opera.

3) Search bar gets squished when I put my Delicious bookmark next to it. Still have to report that.

Other than that, I love the update! Especially all the CSS support!

EDIT: Here’s how to fix the proxy issue: http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=433781

Online poker is a transfer of wealth from the ignorant to the savvy. A professional poker player qua poker player doesn’t create any value or do anything meaningful. While poker can teach good lessons (as can most games and sports), it isn’t a great career choice.

I’d have to categorize poker differently from other spectator sports (using the term “sports” loosely). While I can admire football for its athletic aesthetics, it doesn’t inspire me to go out and become a football star. Poker, though, inspires millions of idiots to lose their money. So the sharks get more fish in the sea. It makes the tournaments tougher to weather, but I suppose overall it is a net benefit for the savvy.

If poker is your thing, I’m not going to knock you. I love the game too. But I have to make things in order to be happy. I have to add value to society.

I keep forgetting to hit send when I write messages. If my life were a book, this would be some kind of symbolic insight into my character or my state of mind. Instead, it just means that I’m stupid with Outlook.

I want to redesign The Chalkboard Manifesto website. It’s pretty cluttered right now, with the comic pushed halfway down the page.

I’m going to take away the navigation links. I don’t update the blog anymore. There’s no reason for a comic to have a faq that I’m never going to update. I don’t need a contact page; that’s so 1999. People can contact me via facebook or e-mail. I need the archive, but I can put that elsewhere and the same goes for the RSS feed. No one ever visits the links page, but I may put a box somewhere for my favorite comics.

I’ll probably move the search to the top of the page.

I’ve decided to pull the advertising box. The pennies (or the occasional dime) I get per day isn’t nearly enough to make the distraction to my readers worth it.

I want to keep the thumbnail navigation. I love that stuff.

Since I’m going to do a redesign, should I put in a tag system? I wanted to a long time ago, but I never finished it. Hmm. Maybe I’ll do it.

I also had an idea for something way more complicated, so people could collect albums and share them and rate comics and such. Sure, it’d be kind of cool, but would anyone actually use it? Hardly. I do kind of like the album idea, but I don’t think the work I put in will be worth it. At least, not at this point in the game. I don’t really want to deal with managing users.

I suppose I should put some kind of deadline on this so that it gets done. End of April? Is that enough time?

Compare Muse’s Uprising:

With Public Enemy’s Fight the Power:

I mean, seriously, compare “Motherfuck him [Elvis] and John Wayne!” with “It’s time the fat cats had a heart attack.” Uprising is vague and makes you feel good, so protest music it is not. Don’t get me wrong; I love the song, but it has absolutely no power.

Listening to this…

If a system of “preventative detention” (or rather, arbitrary jailing) is implemented during the Obama administration, I can only judge his presidency as a failure and a stain on America. It will be a most radical shredding of constitutional principles. It can only be described as tyranny. Whatever else he does will be tainted.

So far, he has escalated the war in Afghanistan and there is good reason to doubt that he will live up to his promise to end the war in Iraq. If so, he will be a warmonger with a Nobel Peace Prize. What a world we live in!

It is still to early to talk about an Obama legacy, but as of now, I cannot judge this president positively. The revolution must come from elsewhere.

I’m sitting here bored after a fun day chomping on Dino Chicken Nuggets with my friends. I’m out with people quite a bit these days. I put parties together. I enjoy being the center of attention.

I have always been incredibly sure of the fact that I was an introvert. That I needed time alone to recharge was definitely true.

But now I have much greater compulsions to see people and talk to people. It’s almost as if I’ve been equipped with another battery. Curious.

OH and there’s the phone. Salvation.

I just designed this website for my friend Jason: Kahala Kitchens.

Actual exchange with the cashier at Michael’s:

Cashier: “Why are you dressed up all snazzy? Do you have a hot date or something?”

Me: “No, I always look this good.”

I’m ridiculous. I don’t know how I say these things with a straight face.