US Elections

New Senate:
51 Democrats,
49 Republicans
New House:
230 Democrats,
197 Republicans

Although I'm not exactly fond of Liberals, perhaps a mix-up in Congress may be just what the doctor ordered. A diverse federal government may be the recipe for compromise, working together, and figuring things out.

More news!

The Odd Couple is well on its way. We've already sold out both performances, November 20th and 21st. Look for videos on YouTube. I will be posting them.

Robert and Julia have each returned from their trips to Thailand and Turkey. What fun!

Saddam Hussein: Death Sentence

As many have probably heard, Saddam Hussein was recently sentenced to death by an Iraqi court (which someone I know helped train). Saddam was obviously a criminal. He fed prisoners to lions and collected their shoes. He gased hundreds of innocent civilians based on ethnic backrounds, and invaded Kuwait in 1991. Saddam was the former dictator of the country Judeism was founded, but ran it as a tight Baathist dictatorship. The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and the rest is history.

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Noone disagrees that Saddam is a crook. Not even him! But here's the snag: the death penalty? Why? We captured him, took away all his dignity, imprisoned him and degraded him to nothing. We occupied his country and set up a new government. Why do we need to kill a man who has nothing left to offer? He has no means of regaining his former status. He has no hope of forgiveness, no chance of escape. What gives a court the right to murder an unarmed man? President Bush refered to the sentence as "a great achievement." If this is why we came into Iraq, I begin to doubt not only our intelligence, but our intentions. This was supposed to be Operation Iraqi Freedom. Why can't we be satisfied by a healthy life sentence?

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And the means of murder seem barbaric as well. Saddam is sentenced to be hanged. Hanging is usually seen as a punishment of the past, a page out of Elizabethian England. Many readers may be surprised to know when the last legal hanging took place in the United States: 1996! It's about time to realize that the death penalty itself is a punishment of the past, a violation of John Locke's, Thomas Jefferson's, and even the United States's unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nearly every religion preaches against it. (Iraq itself is the birthplace of Monotheism) People disconnect themselves from what's really going on, forget that these are all real people like themselves, people who long to be forgiven, people who face certain death. Readers, do me one small favor: put yourself in the noose. I'm sure you won't like how it feels.

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'Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?"

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'Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven."'

Urgent-Upgrade to Blogger Beta!

I'm just posting to remind EVERYONE to follow in my own and Smorrison's footsteps and upgrade your blogs. One major reason I find this necessary is that now I cannot comment on any blogs that don't allow anonymous comments. It's also much easier to use, and turns a lame blog into an elite forum.

I also want to address Michard's claim that blogging is a waste of time.

Blogging is by no means a waste of time. This is a permanent online journal. A blogger can look back at this any time in his life, which will remind him who he was and what he was thinking when he wrote it. Publishing writing is never a waste of time. Authors of books like the Bible and the Communist Manifesto changed the world by publishing their work. And as proven by the Waldo SiteMeter, people all over the world can and do read these blogs. In only one day since November 2nd, when the meter was installed, I got hits from Foriegn countries like Taiwan, France, and the United States. Cities like Taipei, Illes de Callais, Washington DC, Carleton Michigan, and Waltham Massachusetts. All in just one day! I hope this will convince people like Michard that blogging is an important medium to express oneself.

I would also like to announce that I am officially a contributor to the HFAC Blog. Perhaps Bilal, Ish and John will also get personal blogs and join our blogring.

Waldo The International Hit

I've recently picked up a SiteMeter, which I encourage readers to visit. It can be found at the bottom of my sidebar. This Meter keeps track of hits, visit, frequencies, and many other things. In my opinion, the most interesting statistic is the country tracker. I've found that only today, (November 2nd) someone from France visited my blog! France! Imagine that. The majority of visits come from the Emirates of course, and I have a few from the U.S. But France really takes the cake. (Haha. Like that Marie Antionnette reference?)

Blogger Beta

As you may have noticed, the Waldo Files are undergoing a series of changes, as we have switched to Blogger Beta.

-Waldo J. Cartridge

HFAC

HAFC is the newest chapter in the life of Waldo J. Cartridge. It's the Harrison Ford Appreciation Club, an organization devoted to the appreciation of Harrison Ford. It's not that I'm a huge fan of Ford or his acting, but more that I can appreciate why one would appreciate him, and understand a common study of his meaning to the world and place in society. I've convinved HFAC to start a blog, and now there is one. It can be found in the HFAC section of my sidebar. Although I am an active contributor to the Blog, the new Blogger Beta doesn't allow established blog accounts, so I started a new one under a false name. It might not say "Waldo", but it is still me inside.