This just in. There has been a recent outbreak of excessive, panicky newbreaks regarding the dreaded Swine Flu! If you are concerned you may be afflicted by this, watch for the following symptoms:
1) An increase in sales of newspapers, and in ratings for Cable Television News channels.
2) A sudden drop in coverage of Lindsay Lohan.
3) Everywhere you look, news updates on the dreaded new sickness! 1976 new!
Suggested treatment:
First, turn off your television and stop checking back at your favorite internet news feed for at least a few days. Second, remember the avian flu and every other chic 'threat' of the past couple decades. Third, arm yourself with the facts. For example: More people die from tuberculosis annually. Why isn't it making the news cycles? Also, the last time the government took action to combat the dread Swine Flu, more people died from the innoculations than from the illness itself!
Remember, the fear of swine flu is a symptom. The real disease is the news media and their bottom line.
This has been a public service announcement.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
On Torture and the Constitution
****** made a comment about your note "Why, Obama, Why?":
What you may be too young to know, is that "torture" has been a round for a very long time. Bush didnt invent it. Its just that the media and far left sympathizers have brought it to your attention recently. You know the old adage.......kill one to spare millions? The people who may be "tortured" are the very ones willing to kill you and your family and friends. If they carried out their plan of death and destruction, would you still care if they had been tortured first? Regarding the V........I think it has to do with ones interpretation, of what can happen in times of war. I took that as, is times of war all these "rights" can be eliminated.I cant believe you care about the very people who blew away innocent people on 9-11. You cant possibly be that naive
---
I care about innocent people who have been detained and potentially tortured. I am not 'suddenly concerned' with this because of recent claims of 'far left sympathizers'. To call me naive from your narrow bubble is insulting. No professional or legal interpretation in the courts in 200 years has said that the government has the right to suspend citizens' rights. Many a president and congress has tried. Wilson tried it. Adams tried it. In fact, the Bush administration was very reluctant to put any of the alleged terrorists in custody through the court system because of the likelihood of the courts holding up these rights.
I am concerned with the rights and safety of those innocents rounded up with the terrorists, and of the precedent this sets for future circumstances. That is very different from 'caring about the 9/11 terrorists'. But since you bring that subject up: I think the sane and reasonable and especially Christian thing to do is to examine openly and honestly what caused the terrorists to carry out their despicable acts and why they hate the United States so much. Not so we can apologize or make excuses for them, but so we can prevent further attacks by attacking the problem at its roots.
Suicide attacks, contrary to being the sole domain of religious extremists, have more to do with the nationalist fervor of those carrying them out. A great number of suicide bombings were carried out by adherents to secular, communist and nationalist causes. Most of the 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia, our supposed ally. None of the 9/11 terrorists came from Iraq, by the way. Most of these attacks are shown to be motivated not by the fact that we are predominantly a white or Christian nation, as some have argued. They are because these people resent US influence in other countries, what they see as war profiteering and a new wave of imperialism, which they had enough of when the Brits were doing it. And let's be honest, oil is a big reason why we've got our hands so deep into the honey pot of the middle east.
In fact, our involvement since the War on Terror began has actually had the opposite effect, bolstering the number of recruits for terror cells. Possibly because of all of the collatoral damage such a messy and difficult war has caused. I still think we should go after the terror cells, but to pretend that there aren't side effects is delusional. In many ways, it mirrors the complete failure that is our War on Drugs, which has allowed vast criminal empires to amass fortunes.
Let's also examine how the Patriot Act was made into law. Congress was given one draft the weekend before, and at the time of the vote the one being voted on was drastically different. They were given a document over 1000 pages long and absolutely no time to read it. That is not democracy. That is strong-arming legislation through that very likely would not have passed were they to take the time to read it. By the way, I don't blame Bush for that. I blame the Legislature for not doing their freaking job. An act, by the way, that could have still allowed various intelligence agencies to work together without allowing for the invasion of peoples' rights were it to be amended or replaced by something far less sinister.
And by claiming that you think the Constitution allows for suspension of rights in a time of war, you are saying that putting Japanese Americans in internment camps was the right thing to do. You are saying that arresting anti-war protesters during WW1 was the right thing to do. In fact, if our current far-left government decided that arch-conservatives and anyone who listens to Rush Limbaugh were seditionists in a time of war, that he should be able to arrest you and keep you locked up until this War on Terror is won. Damn, don't you wish you had the legal system to avail yourself of? Oh well, you willingly gave up that right. Congratulations. I hope you enjoy simulated drowning.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Why, Obama, Why?
What the hell is going on?
Obama promised transparency and accountability. He seemed to hold the Bush Administration's wiretapping and elements of the Patriot Act in the same regard that I did: they were abhorrent and evil.
So why did he renew the Patriot Act? Why is he not only defending, but extending, the wiretapping programs? Sovereign Immunity? What the fuck happened to checks and balances against power?
Now, there are a lot of other issues and concerns to be had right now, but I want to focus on this one. I've railed against the shrinking of our freedoms that happened under Bush. Originally, I thought I was fighting against a wrong-minded Republican initiative, but over the years... well, it appears the Democrats are just as inclined to permit this evil as the Republicans were... which begs the question, what is either party worth other than a swift flush and a lighting of a match?
Bush squandered his popular support after 9/11. Obama appears to be doing the same thing. I think it's time to start mobilizing, but instead of bouncing back and forth between these two evil management teams, maybe we can start to shift the power back to the people. My suggestion? Vote for your favorite third party choice and pass it on. It's time to destroy this bi-partisan (read: uni-partisan, as they both support the same bullshit bureaucracy) monopoly.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/obama-doj-worse-than-bush
That is, of course, assuming you actually think your liberty is something worth holding on to. This is not the left vs. the right, that's a wrong-headed illusion. This is the people vs. the entrenched power structure.
Use your vote while it's still more effective than a bullet.
Obama promised transparency and accountability. He seemed to hold the Bush Administration's wiretapping and elements of the Patriot Act in the same regard that I did: they were abhorrent and evil.
So why did he renew the Patriot Act? Why is he not only defending, but extending, the wiretapping programs? Sovereign Immunity? What the fuck happened to checks and balances against power?
Now, there are a lot of other issues and concerns to be had right now, but I want to focus on this one. I've railed against the shrinking of our freedoms that happened under Bush. Originally, I thought I was fighting against a wrong-minded Republican initiative, but over the years... well, it appears the Democrats are just as inclined to permit this evil as the Republicans were... which begs the question, what is either party worth other than a swift flush and a lighting of a match?
Bush squandered his popular support after 9/11. Obama appears to be doing the same thing. I think it's time to start mobilizing, but instead of bouncing back and forth between these two evil management teams, maybe we can start to shift the power back to the people. My suggestion? Vote for your favorite third party choice and pass it on. It's time to destroy this bi-partisan (read: uni-partisan, as they both support the same bullshit bureaucracy) monopoly.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/obama-doj-worse-than-bush
That is, of course, assuming you actually think your liberty is something worth holding on to. This is not the left vs. the right, that's a wrong-headed illusion. This is the people vs. the entrenched power structure.
Use your vote while it's still more effective than a bullet.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Year of the Ox
To my family and friends: an update.
On the Chinese calendar, this is the Year of the Ox. Traditionally thought of as a sign of prosperity through endurance and hard work, it sums up well what this year is for me. Edging up to January 20th of this year, I was excited, enthusiastic, and felt invulnerable and incorruptible. Despite your politics, I think most people had to have been moved by President Obama’s call to service (though with enough poison in the veins, even that can be looked upon with a spin toward character attack), and it happened to coincide with the new road map I’ve been on since this past fall, a map I started to sketch out once my work life had improved.
Of course, there were ugly reminders of the real life, and what would have been a lofty and potentially naïve blog was put on the backburner. This economic crisis with the ridiculously high numbers being spent by the government (I’m not an economist; I sincerely hope that this plan works because the alternative is an ugly one.), and closer to home the economic situation of friends. No sooner had I started down my path than my roommate got laid off… and these past few months, with an additional roommate coming on board, my life feels like a microcosm of the larger situation.
I have almost completely redirected my life in the past year. While some old and bad habits persist, I have continued to shift into a new train of thought, or state of being. I am remaking myself, a both exciting and terrifying process.
The increased income has enabled me to continue my schooling (which I intend to attend year-round until completion). I’ve cut a lot of extraneous expenses so that I could afford to go to school and still be able to put money away. Finally knowing what degree I want has made everything fall into place, however, given me a clear path to take. Year-round schooling is a small sacrifice to make when I felt adrift and in a dream since, well… 2001?
I’ve made a concerted effort to lose weight (25 pounds so far at peak, though there has been a little backpedaling). The nice thing about that is when I do fall off the horse, it’s not expensive to get back on. I just came back from an hour+ walk, which I used to organize my thoughts and reflect further on those stumbling blocks I continue to erect. If you want real change, you need to look inward.
I’m also writing again, something I thought I would be putting off, but simply couldn’t. When something is your passion, your life-blood, you simply can’t shut that off. I’m still looking to balance that with schoolwork, however.
Finally, I’m getting my own place this summer. After a lot of waffling and mind-changing, from looking at cheap homes to apartments to debating back and forth the pros and cons of having a roommate, I decided I finally want the serenity of my own place. Especially while I’ll be working full time, schooling close to full time, and losing a lot of my social free time in the interim.
I find myself looking back at the road I’ve taken, trying to really analyze it and see what I might take away from the path of my adult life so far.
Before working in the Emergency Room, I can safely say that my life was a nebulous thing. I came out of high school hating school, and that disrupted my first year on campus. I decided to put my school off. I certainly didn’t know what I wanted to do, other than write. Living at home also became unbearable, and I found myself paying some rent to live in the basement of a duplex at my friend Scott’s place. At that time, life was about hanging out with friends, movies and games and little else. I worked at a number of places during this time, saw an acquaintance arrested right in front of my eyes (that was a surreal experience), and eventually found myself back at home. That lasted no more than half a year as living with my mother was just as, if not more, unbearable.
This time, the other half of Scott’s parents’ duplex was empty, and I rented out that basement instead. I started attending classes at GRCC. The semester I went back, I ended up withdrawing from classes. It was the same semester the WTC was attacked, and my perspective, along with everyone else’s, had changed. I started working at Goldmine not long after, and found myself living from paycheck to paycheck. I moved to one apartment for three years, and I'll have been at this one two years when it's time to move. Those were good times, and I was in a work environment I loved, and for the longest time didn’t feel compelled to move on. But I was, in essence, ‘stuck’.
I’ve read articles about the psychology of our ‘generation’, who is more lost and unfocused than the ones before us. Directionless, purposeless, perhaps lacking a fire or ambition. I saw it in myself; I saw it in those around me. It was an ugly thing. But as much as I despised those years under the Bush presidency, one thing he did do for me was make me interested in politics and the shape of the country. It was an interest born of fear and loathing, of seeing the ugly beast we were becoming and of wanting to change course. Eventually, a love of country and freedom became the driving force, a bit healthier.
It seemed, at first, that all we needed was to clean house… get the other side in office and perhaps see some of the mistakes corrected. But as time went on, I found that salvation wasn’t going to be coming from the Democrats, who I now lump with the Republicans as two halves of the same problem. I’m now watching Obama tentatively, hoping to see changes for the better. My gut’s against all the spending, but I’m not an economist. Hell, professional economists didn’t see this mess coming.
I digress. What the Bush years did do was succeed in making me a de-facto Libertarian. Along with a certain political identity, I felt more and more compelled to try and shape things for the better. I don’t intend to run for any sort of office, but that, along with what Spectrum offers, did help me settle on a Bachelor’s Degree: Public and Non-Profit Administration. Getting involved in processes, trying to find solutions through puzzle-solving, and improving things, is the kind of creative effort I can get behind. Add to that a recommitment to learning Spanish (minor #1) and more professional training in Writing (minor #2, possible Masters down the road), and I was able to map out precisely what I needed to get there.
The harder work is changing patterns of behavior, developing new habits. I’m making my writing something I try to do at least a few hours a week. I want to slim down to my ideal body weight by the end of the year (or at least close to it!), and that requires regular exercise, focusing on cardio, endurance and weight training, as well as sacrificing soda pop and taming the sweet tooth.
It’s a little ironic that I seem to have found my course at the same time the country seems to have lost its way. It will take a lot of work and a lot of people to turn things around, and that feels like an exciting challenge. This is the year of hard work, and the first of many to come. All I needed was a little hope and a plan to give me the fuel I needed.
I hope I can extend that same hope to those of you in my life. We are being called to greatness. God bless!
On the Chinese calendar, this is the Year of the Ox. Traditionally thought of as a sign of prosperity through endurance and hard work, it sums up well what this year is for me. Edging up to January 20th of this year, I was excited, enthusiastic, and felt invulnerable and incorruptible. Despite your politics, I think most people had to have been moved by President Obama’s call to service (though with enough poison in the veins, even that can be looked upon with a spin toward character attack), and it happened to coincide with the new road map I’ve been on since this past fall, a map I started to sketch out once my work life had improved.
Of course, there were ugly reminders of the real life, and what would have been a lofty and potentially naïve blog was put on the backburner. This economic crisis with the ridiculously high numbers being spent by the government (I’m not an economist; I sincerely hope that this plan works because the alternative is an ugly one.), and closer to home the economic situation of friends. No sooner had I started down my path than my roommate got laid off… and these past few months, with an additional roommate coming on board, my life feels like a microcosm of the larger situation.
I have almost completely redirected my life in the past year. While some old and bad habits persist, I have continued to shift into a new train of thought, or state of being. I am remaking myself, a both exciting and terrifying process.
The increased income has enabled me to continue my schooling (which I intend to attend year-round until completion). I’ve cut a lot of extraneous expenses so that I could afford to go to school and still be able to put money away. Finally knowing what degree I want has made everything fall into place, however, given me a clear path to take. Year-round schooling is a small sacrifice to make when I felt adrift and in a dream since, well… 2001?
I’ve made a concerted effort to lose weight (25 pounds so far at peak, though there has been a little backpedaling). The nice thing about that is when I do fall off the horse, it’s not expensive to get back on. I just came back from an hour+ walk, which I used to organize my thoughts and reflect further on those stumbling blocks I continue to erect. If you want real change, you need to look inward.
I’m also writing again, something I thought I would be putting off, but simply couldn’t. When something is your passion, your life-blood, you simply can’t shut that off. I’m still looking to balance that with schoolwork, however.
Finally, I’m getting my own place this summer. After a lot of waffling and mind-changing, from looking at cheap homes to apartments to debating back and forth the pros and cons of having a roommate, I decided I finally want the serenity of my own place. Especially while I’ll be working full time, schooling close to full time, and losing a lot of my social free time in the interim.
I find myself looking back at the road I’ve taken, trying to really analyze it and see what I might take away from the path of my adult life so far.
Before working in the Emergency Room, I can safely say that my life was a nebulous thing. I came out of high school hating school, and that disrupted my first year on campus. I decided to put my school off. I certainly didn’t know what I wanted to do, other than write. Living at home also became unbearable, and I found myself paying some rent to live in the basement of a duplex at my friend Scott’s place. At that time, life was about hanging out with friends, movies and games and little else. I worked at a number of places during this time, saw an acquaintance arrested right in front of my eyes (that was a surreal experience), and eventually found myself back at home. That lasted no more than half a year as living with my mother was just as, if not more, unbearable.
This time, the other half of Scott’s parents’ duplex was empty, and I rented out that basement instead. I started attending classes at GRCC. The semester I went back, I ended up withdrawing from classes. It was the same semester the WTC was attacked, and my perspective, along with everyone else’s, had changed. I started working at Goldmine not long after, and found myself living from paycheck to paycheck. I moved to one apartment for three years, and I'll have been at this one two years when it's time to move. Those were good times, and I was in a work environment I loved, and for the longest time didn’t feel compelled to move on. But I was, in essence, ‘stuck’.
I’ve read articles about the psychology of our ‘generation’, who is more lost and unfocused than the ones before us. Directionless, purposeless, perhaps lacking a fire or ambition. I saw it in myself; I saw it in those around me. It was an ugly thing. But as much as I despised those years under the Bush presidency, one thing he did do for me was make me interested in politics and the shape of the country. It was an interest born of fear and loathing, of seeing the ugly beast we were becoming and of wanting to change course. Eventually, a love of country and freedom became the driving force, a bit healthier.
It seemed, at first, that all we needed was to clean house… get the other side in office and perhaps see some of the mistakes corrected. But as time went on, I found that salvation wasn’t going to be coming from the Democrats, who I now lump with the Republicans as two halves of the same problem. I’m now watching Obama tentatively, hoping to see changes for the better. My gut’s against all the spending, but I’m not an economist. Hell, professional economists didn’t see this mess coming.
I digress. What the Bush years did do was succeed in making me a de-facto Libertarian. Along with a certain political identity, I felt more and more compelled to try and shape things for the better. I don’t intend to run for any sort of office, but that, along with what Spectrum offers, did help me settle on a Bachelor’s Degree: Public and Non-Profit Administration. Getting involved in processes, trying to find solutions through puzzle-solving, and improving things, is the kind of creative effort I can get behind. Add to that a recommitment to learning Spanish (minor #1) and more professional training in Writing (minor #2, possible Masters down the road), and I was able to map out precisely what I needed to get there.
The harder work is changing patterns of behavior, developing new habits. I’m making my writing something I try to do at least a few hours a week. I want to slim down to my ideal body weight by the end of the year (or at least close to it!), and that requires regular exercise, focusing on cardio, endurance and weight training, as well as sacrificing soda pop and taming the sweet tooth.
It’s a little ironic that I seem to have found my course at the same time the country seems to have lost its way. It will take a lot of work and a lot of people to turn things around, and that feels like an exciting challenge. This is the year of hard work, and the first of many to come. All I needed was a little hope and a plan to give me the fuel I needed.
I hope I can extend that same hope to those of you in my life. We are being called to greatness. God bless!
Monday, March 9, 2009
"STFU"
A Reply to a Republican Family Member and Others:
I know you know how strongly I disliked Bush during the majority of his term, and the many reasons cited, not the least of which being the Patriot Act. I know you're Republican, and I know I'm not. My grievances grew over the course of years, not days, and emails like this, pictures like this, are simply grotesque. Do I disagree with stuff happening? Sure I do. Do I think this hyperbole you keep forwarding is a thoughtful rebuttal of Obama policies? Hell no. It's the same partisan tripe.
The slander machine was fast at work blaming him for all sorts of things before he even won the freaking election. It's sick, but it's apparently how things will continue to operate between the two ridiculous factions we call our democracy. The 'statistics' in this forward could be just as easily skewed against the two Bush elections. That's what most statistics are: malleable tools used to fit someone's version of the 'facts'.
And honestly, I'm offended that even with my serious grievances over serious issues building on the course of years, you seem to be determined to out-produce me before Obama can even finish out a fraction of that time in office. It makes me sick. This country was in trouble long before he took office, Republicans just didn't seem to care until a Democrat got back in the White House. It rings very false to my ears. Hollow breast-beating, useless gesturing, ravening about rights lost and liberty dying.
Maybe you could have cared more when documents were being produced that were doing just that, because you slavishly believed that Bush could do no wrong the same way so many slavish democrats think Obama can do no wrong. Seemingly disastrous fiscal policies aside (which it seems both Bush and Obama are in accord on, so please, don't sic the lynch mob on him just yet), I'm anxious to see what might be done to secure our liberty or further rob it. Have no doubt, if Obama starts passing his own Patriot Acts, Military Commision Acts, and so on, then I will be at the front of the line shouting for his impeachment the way I did for Bush's. It just hasn't happened. God willing, it won't.
Finally...
I didn't hide my opinions, and I don't think you should be denied your own either, but I wasn't visiting them on your inbox on a daily basis, so please just stop. Create a blog or use your Facebook, where I can feel free to read or not read them, as I already know before even opening the mails precisely where you stand.
If Shakespeare were alive today, he might have immortalized the popular internet acronym as "Stow Thy Faux Umbrage."
I know you know how strongly I disliked Bush during the majority of his term, and the many reasons cited, not the least of which being the Patriot Act. I know you're Republican, and I know I'm not. My grievances grew over the course of years, not days, and emails like this, pictures like this, are simply grotesque. Do I disagree with stuff happening? Sure I do. Do I think this hyperbole you keep forwarding is a thoughtful rebuttal of Obama policies? Hell no. It's the same partisan tripe.
The slander machine was fast at work blaming him for all sorts of things before he even won the freaking election. It's sick, but it's apparently how things will continue to operate between the two ridiculous factions we call our democracy. The 'statistics' in this forward could be just as easily skewed against the two Bush elections. That's what most statistics are: malleable tools used to fit someone's version of the 'facts'.
And honestly, I'm offended that even with my serious grievances over serious issues building on the course of years, you seem to be determined to out-produce me before Obama can even finish out a fraction of that time in office. It makes me sick. This country was in trouble long before he took office, Republicans just didn't seem to care until a Democrat got back in the White House. It rings very false to my ears. Hollow breast-beating, useless gesturing, ravening about rights lost and liberty dying.
Maybe you could have cared more when documents were being produced that were doing just that, because you slavishly believed that Bush could do no wrong the same way so many slavish democrats think Obama can do no wrong. Seemingly disastrous fiscal policies aside (which it seems both Bush and Obama are in accord on, so please, don't sic the lynch mob on him just yet), I'm anxious to see what might be done to secure our liberty or further rob it. Have no doubt, if Obama starts passing his own Patriot Acts, Military Commision Acts, and so on, then I will be at the front of the line shouting for his impeachment the way I did for Bush's. It just hasn't happened. God willing, it won't.
Finally...
I didn't hide my opinions, and I don't think you should be denied your own either, but I wasn't visiting them on your inbox on a daily basis, so please just stop. Create a blog or use your Facebook, where I can feel free to read or not read them, as I already know before even opening the mails precisely where you stand.
If Shakespeare were alive today, he might have immortalized the popular internet acronym as "Stow Thy Faux Umbrage."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yes We Did...
... and Yes We Will.
Now is our chance to shine. God Bless America, and Godspeed January 20.
Now is our chance to shine. God Bless America, and Godspeed January 20.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Booked
My life is once again in transition, and definitely for the better, but I don't wish to enumerate all the many thoughts and ideas that have should have made their way here throughout the year. At least, not in one post.
A friend of mine feels the 30s encroaching, so we've decided to move full hilt on our latest story concept and turn it into a novel-length project. Wouldn't it be nice to be published? Without saying too much, I will say that it encompasses our love of philosophy and religion and damn fun characters. To summarize it here would make you think, "oh that sounds like so-and-so", so let me assure you that in our minds the final product is far different from the usual popularized literature.
Maybe I'll say more on it later, or offer an excerpt should it be appropriate.
On a similar note, I've been sitting on an idea for a couple months now that I will also be tackling for NaNoWriMo.org. National Novel Writing Month is an open contest that challenges would-be writers to simply 'be' writers, where participants must produce 50,000 words (roughly 175 pages) in the form of a novel.
I've done the math. It's going to take me at least 25 hours barring divine inspiration. Last year I was considering doing this and opted out, but as my friend indicated, the 30s are quickly approaching. Yes, I'll now be full time, but classes start up again in the Winter, so seize the day!
Or month. Whatever.
If you have that novel (or dozen novels) floating in your head, I encourage you to check out NaNoWriMo.org. I will endeavor to bring you updates as well. (Hi, mom.)
Excelsior!
-B
A friend of mine feels the 30s encroaching, so we've decided to move full hilt on our latest story concept and turn it into a novel-length project. Wouldn't it be nice to be published? Without saying too much, I will say that it encompasses our love of philosophy and religion and damn fun characters. To summarize it here would make you think, "oh that sounds like so-and-so", so let me assure you that in our minds the final product is far different from the usual popularized literature.
Maybe I'll say more on it later, or offer an excerpt should it be appropriate.
On a similar note, I've been sitting on an idea for a couple months now that I will also be tackling for NaNoWriMo.org. National Novel Writing Month is an open contest that challenges would-be writers to simply 'be' writers, where participants must produce 50,000 words (roughly 175 pages) in the form of a novel.
I've done the math. It's going to take me at least 25 hours barring divine inspiration. Last year I was considering doing this and opted out, but as my friend indicated, the 30s are quickly approaching. Yes, I'll now be full time, but classes start up again in the Winter, so seize the day!
Or month. Whatever.
If you have that novel (or dozen novels) floating in your head, I encourage you to check out NaNoWriMo.org. I will endeavor to bring you updates as well. (Hi, mom.)
Excelsior!
-B
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