Thu 16 Feb 2006
What’s currently in heavy rotation on my iTunes/Pandora/XM:
Wed 8 Feb 2006
What happens in a democracy when leaders create laws that a majority of the people feel compelled to disobey? Does the will of the few elected leaders ever outweigh the desires of the masses of people? At what point does a society have to trust its leaders and at what point do the leaders have to succumb to the opinions of their constituents, regardless of what is established as law?
Okay, let’s put the philosophical mumbo-jumbo aside. The truth? I’m bitter about speed limits. Yes, speed limits. A study done back in 1992 shows that speed limits on American roads are set at the 45th percentile speed. In other words, on average, 55% of the cars on the road exceed the posted speed limits. Unfortunately, although this study was done by the federal government, there is practically no trace of the data on ANY government site. Plenty of information about how bad speeding is, though!
Well, I believe in following the law of the land and in obedience to the government, for the sake of unity. Admittedly this is pretty hard… and to prove how hard it is to abide by the speed limit, check out this video about a group of youth in Atlanta that try to do just that.
Aside from the existential questions it raises (okay, that’s a stretch), those guys and girls do what I’ve always wanted to on the DC Beltway but been terribly afraid because I didn’t want to be a victim of road rage. Those are some brave Atlantans!
I have a feeling that the real answer to this whole issue doesn’t lie in a fundamental understanding of democracy or even in facts and figures about safety. Just ask anyone who’s had to pay the $100 ticket + court fees + processing fees + because-we-can fees.
UPDATE: Eric Griffin posted a comment about another video which shows that speed saves lives. Thanks for sharing, Eric!
Tue 7 Feb 2006
Finally! After a short hiatus, the infamous SamZeb.com is back! If you haven’t met Sam yet, then you’ve been totally deprived; aside from being absolutely hilarious, really really ridiculously good looking (good genes) and a really sweet guy, Sam is the best brother anyone could ask for. Yes, I love the guy. And I’m sure that after you check out his site, you will too.
Mon 6 Feb 2006
First off, thanks to Lindsay for helping me find my pirate name:
Secondly, don’t ever buy a mattress from Hecht’s or any of its related department stores. Shirin and I are coming off of a pretty bad experience so I’m spreading the word.
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