Hope

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

"For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works."

Pride's a funny thing, innit?

Still Alive

Huge success... Eh, not really, but the song is still catchy. I'm not dead yet, nor have I entered the ranks of the undead. I will be returning from Winter Break tomorrow, and from there back into the world of debate and coding. Not much has happened on the Python front, as I am still stuck with learning Java for now, but I am going to try returning to it soon. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I wrote a "Fortunes" script in Python over break. It can stand alone, but I combine it with Samurize to display the current quote selection on screen. For your convenience: the script. The zip file contains the script, as well as a custom Fortunes file that I've been building over time. If I could figure out how to have a special format for code, I'd display it so that I could dissect it and show how it works. Here is the Samurize script as well. It has a todo list, an attractive date and time display, as well as the Fortunes display. You'll have to edit it some to point to the proper files, but besides that it should be pretty self-sufficient.

On the forensics front, not much is brewing. I've learned about IPDA debate, which is new to the Oregon college circuit, and I've been to my first tournament. IPDA is pretty much Lincoln-Douglass debate with public-style topics. Anyways, for ye few readers, keep on reading. I should be posting much more often here soon.