Kirby Puckett

• March 7, 2006
• James Skemp

I don't typically keep track of sports, but since Kirby Puckett was one of my favourite sport's people when I was younger, I have to at least mention his passing. It's funny, but now that I bought rabbit ears for the TV, I've been actually getting more news than I was before.  Unfortunately, and in some ways fortunately, the numbers I'm hearing from the news are quite high.  As in over 60% of troops in Iraq want out of Iraq, over 60% don't have confidence in Bush, and over 60% think civil war in Iraq is likely.

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France delivers nuclear threat

• January 20, 2006
• James Skemp

What a headline … Jacques Chirac, France's president, has threatened to use nuclear weapons against any state that supported terrorism against his country or considered using weapons of mass destruction. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e805e2d4-88e6-11da-94a6-0000779e2340.html So, terrorists are everywhere, not contained within set land boundaries. States/governments/masses of people, on the other hand, are/can be. Are you punishing the 'terrorists', or are you punishing the common man in what-so-ever country is determined to be aiding the terrorists, in that some of it's most popular few are assisting?

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What can the birth places of the United States Presidents tell us?

• March 15, 2005
• James Skemp

There is an old saying that says something to the effect of “if you try hard enough, you can become anything, even president” (the President of the United States is usually implied, but the general idea is the ruler of a country/government). I was thinking one day that there must be certain states in which certain individuals have little chance of actually becoming President of the United States, so I undertook to find out what states Presidents have come from, and look at what states Presidents have not come from.

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Have we discovered the true goals of the United States of America?

• January 22, 2005
• James Skemp

First it was Afghanistan. Next, it was Iraq, Iran and North Korea, parts of the ‘axis of evil’. Now Condoleezza Rice is calling our attention to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Burma and Belarus (Belarus? Is anyone else wondering where this is? And I keep myself fairly up to date on these things, I thought.). Gavin introduced me to Noam Chomsky’s spoken word, so I understand why Cuba would be a threat to the United States.

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Can Wisconsin Pick a Presidential Candidate, or What?

• January 8, 2005
• James Skemp

After the 2004 election, where Bush won by allowing the American public to live their lives in fear (see my own On the Saying “Terrorists Will Put Bush in Office”), I decided to look at the voting record of Wisconsin, whether they could pick a President, or not.

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On the Saying "Terrorists Will Put Bush in Office"

• August 23, 2004
• James Skemp

The reason most people foresee George W. Bush taking the presidency in the 2004 election is because most people believe Bush has the best chance protecting America from terrorists, compared with John Kerry.  The question is, what does this mean? Put bluntly, this means that despite Bush’s record from 2000 to the present, fear will put Bush in the Oval Office for another 4 years – fear brought on by an arbitrary colour system – fear of a people on the other side of the world, attacking us because we believe in freedom, or so they say.

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On Arnold Schwarzenegger Having Become Governor of California

• October 13, 2003
• James Skemp

Unless you've been lying in a coma, or spending an extraordinary amount of time playing such games as Sid Meier's SIMGolf™, SimCity 3000™ Unlimited, Age of Empires II, Solitaire, etcetera, or, if you're just reading this (perhaps) long after I've written it, you probably heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger (see Running Man, Terminator, Terminator 2, Terminator 3, Kindergarten Cop, Total Recall, etcetera) has become, according to the masses of Californians that went out to vote, the next Governor of California, taking the place of the recalled (the second in the nation) Governor, Gray Davis (I personally keep thinking it should be Gary, but... interesting name I suppose). There's a lot going on with this, Arnold becoming the next Governor, and I've put off writing this page for that reason, as well as for a few other reasons... Anyways, even though I live in Wisconsin, I figured I'd tackle a few of the things that I've thought whilst paying attention to this. Here goes :)

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Confucian View on Conflict and the Ruler

• April 22, 2002
• James Skemp

For this paper, I would like to focus on the topic of conflict and the ruler from the view of Confucianism. Specifically, I would like to look on how a ruler should operate, and under what conditions conflict, or war, should occur. By looking at the Analects, the Book of Mencius, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Great Learning, I hope to gain some insight into the relationship between these two subjects.

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Chapter Synopsis - Chapter XIX, John Locke

• November 3, 2001
• James Skemp

For my chapter synopsis, I read Chapter XIX. Of the Dissolution of Government for John Locke. This chapter deals with dissolving the government; how governments are dissolved, and what do to when they are. He says that governments are either overturned from without, or from within. When a foreign force conquests the commonwealth, the current government can not survive. Therefore, we return to the state of nature, and are free to survive alone, or find another way to survive, with another government.

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The Foundations of Western Culture and Nationalism

• May 13, 2001
• James Skemp

“O my brothers, love your Country! Our country is our Home, the house that God has given us…” (Mazzini). It’s not hard to see why nationalism doesn’t sound like a good idea. Nationalism is the idea that the nation that you live in is important, and that when you look at yourself, you should see your nation, and its ideals. Nationalism has been around for a very long time, probably as long as there have been nations.

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