Okay so I’ve already had this blog up for almost a week before I realized that I can actually write something in this and it’s an actual post. Silly me!
Okay for those of you who did not read the “about the author section” I’ll give you a little background on me. My name is Matt, I’m (as of this posting) 26 years of age, and I hail from and currently reside in the city of Fresno, California. I’m a veteran who served in the Marne Corps from 2000-2004, including a tour in Iraq (my unit was part of the initial invasion force in March of 03). After my honorable discharge from active service, I moved to Long Beach and began attending college at Long Beach City College. After earning my AA in Liberal Arts, I transferred to California State University, Long Beach, where I majored in History while working full-time. I graduated from Long Beach State in May of 2008 with my BA in history. I’m not a member of any political party, and I fully and wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for President of the United States in the 2008 election. With that said, as a veteran I fully respect the service and bravery of John McCain and consider him an American hero. My other heroes are my father, a German immigrant who fled the communist East in the 1950’s and moved to the United States in 1963, and has lived a true American story; the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., probably the greatest AMERICAN that ever lived; First Sergeant Edward Smith, my former First Sergeant who was killed in action on April 4th, 2003 at Al-Aziziyah, Iraq on the road to Baghdad; and of course Jesus Christ. I am a Christian, although I do not consider myself a member of the religious right. I am neither a conservative nor a liberal. I don’t condone abortion and I think it should be restricted, but not wholly illegal. I don’t believe the government has the right to define marriage in one way or another, and in fact I believe marriage is not something the government should have any ability to issue licenses for or court decisions upon: it is a union of two people within their own religious or cultural system. I believe in the 2nd Amendment, however I don’t think belt-fed machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades should be available to anybody, and I do believe that you should have a license to operate any kind of firearm. I strongly dislike activist judges and legislating from the bench: the Constitution was designed to be amended, if you want to change something, amend the damn Constitution. If you can’t get enough votes to amend, too bad so sad. I am very much in favor of energy reform: we need to wean ourselves off of foreign oil ASAP, every other problem in this country right now is linked to our dependence on oil, in my mind. I’m all in favor of fair enterprise and the fair market, but I believe that the free market is about the worst thing in the world.
As I said, I have a BA in history. My ultimate goal is to get a PhD, and I’m most interested in the history of the United States, especially of American cities, and especially in the 20th century. I love to understand how urban conditions developed, how neighborhoods are born, how they grow, and how they die. I’m a big fan of hip-hop music (real hip-hop, not this crap on the radio today) and culture, and I think it plays an important role in culture and politics today and over the past couple of decades. Any issue relating to urban culture and history in the United States is of interest to me.
This blog is pretty much a random sampling of stuff I’m interested in and my points of view on certain issues. Some of it will be politics, some will be news, some will be academic work, some will be sports. I hope you all will find something of interest to you, and feel free to leave comments and engage me in debate or discussion. I’m not one of these egotistical bloggers who thinks my shit don’t stink and I’m the final authority on everything. I love a good discussion with a smart person, and I love being challenged. Just don’t ever, ever, ever disrespect me or come on here and be ignorant because I don’t reward ignorance. Thanks, and enjoy!
Personally I would put a lovely bench so all the squirrels could use it and maybe add a mini bar and a Jacuzzi at a later date just for the wildlife though!
Comment by jason kenny — January 16, 2009 @ 8:12 pm