In case it’s hard to make out what she’s saying, it’s “Vote Ron Paul.” And yes, she’s wearing socks on her hands.

I’ve never actually gone anywhere to vote before. I voted absentee in the last presidential election (was living in LA but was still a WA registered voter), and I’ve never cared enough about Louisiana’s local politics to vote for any of their elections, but today, I am happy to vote. There’s finally someone worth voting for. I know that people will say he’s not gonna win, but I don’t care. I’m going to vote for who I think would be a good president regardless of his chances. And if more people thought that way, maybe he’d have more of a chance.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know, I’m voting for Ron Paul.

One of my favorite things about LOST is all the characters named after philosophers. Lostpedia needs to update their page though. They list the following connections:

Character………………..Philosopher
Mikhail Bakunin………….Mikhail Bakunin
Edmund Burke…………..Edmund Burke
Boone Carlyle…………..Thomas Carlyle
Anthony Cooper………..Anthony Cooper
Hugo (Hurley)………….Hugo De Groot
Desmond David Hume…………….David Hume
John Locke……………..John Locke
Danielle Rousseau……..Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Now I am sure I’ve missed some, but I’ll list some off the top of my head that they haven’t added yet. Help me fill in the gaps if you know some.

Ms. Hawking, who appears when Desmond slips through time, represents Stephen Hawking, who wrote A Brief History of Time, which discusses wormholes.

Richard Alpert is Dr. Richard Alpert (Baba Ram Dass) This seems clear from the Hindu spirituality and the references to Aldous Huxley’s Island. (side note: Do people age on the island? Walt ages. Ben ages. But they, presumably leave the island [the boat and the submarine].)

BF Skinner is, of course, mentioned, and the Dharma Initiative is an excercise in Skinner’s behavioralism. Okay, back on track.

At least two of the four new characters are definitely named after philosophers.

Daniel Faraday is a physicist named after the physicist Richard Faraday.

The coolest one to date is Charlotte Lewis. Charlotte Staples Lewis=Clive Staples Lewis=CS Lewis. How freaking cool is that? CS Lewis on the island. In Prince Caspian, the first thing the children do in Narnia is play in the water. What is the first thing Charlotte does in the neo-Narnia? Play in the water. The way time works in Narnia would make sense of the Richard, Walt, Ben aging thing above, but that’s off topic again.

Frank Lapidus may be named after the Russian anarchist Vladimir Lapidus, but Lostpedia suggests that he is a reference to the movie Sleeper, where Lapidus is a man struck by lightning. That also makes sense. Could be both.

Miles Straume is obviously maelstrom, which with all the Homer references, probably sets him up as Charybdis, which makes me wonder who will be his Scylla.

Finally, here’s an interesting theory on Benjamin Linus. Of course, Linus is always the one philosophizing in Peanuts, so why not the simple explanation? Even wikipedia calls him a philosopher.

I’m sure there are more, but it’s one in the morning. Help me compile some more philosopher references.