Friday, August 6, 2010
Which Ten?
I have only a few grievances with American Christians, but none are as frivolous as their fight to display the ten commandments. There’s really not much at stake, and I feel those who oppose the erection of ten commandment displays in public buildings have a rock-solid argument backed by a constitutional amendment (the first one, no less).
But I’ll play Christian’s advocate for a second and pretend the first amendment does not explicitly deny the government the right to encourage the establishment of a particular religion. Which ten commandments shall we use?
The fact is, America’s single largest denomination of Christians does not agree with the others on how to number the commandments. Catholics split the “covet” commandment, separating wife from objects. In turn, lines such as “I am the Lord your God,” “You shall have no other gods before me,” and “You shall not make engraved images” are all combined to be the first commandment.
So, which 10 will it be? And will the heavily Catholic Supreme Court uphold the rights of Protestants to push their version of things on not only non-Christians, but Catholics?
But I’ll play Christian’s advocate for a second and pretend the first amendment does not explicitly deny the government the right to encourage the establishment of a particular religion. Which ten commandments shall we use?
The fact is, America’s single largest denomination of Christians does not agree with the others on how to number the commandments. Catholics split the “covet” commandment, separating wife from objects. In turn, lines such as “I am the Lord your God,” “You shall have no other gods before me,” and “You shall not make engraved images” are all combined to be the first commandment.
So, which 10 will it be? And will the heavily Catholic Supreme Court uphold the rights of Protestants to push their version of things on not only non-Christians, but Catholics?
Thursday, August 5, 2010
New Pooch
My wife and I just got home from adopting our second dog. His name is Max, and he’s an eight-month-old Tree(ing) Walker Coonhound. He is white with tan spots, like our previous dog, Barkley (whose visage graces my profile picture).
When the woman fostering him brought him out today, he looked completely orange with slightly darker tan spots, but apparently he had been rolling around in mud all day, and the dirt here is reddish clay. After a quick bath, he’s now Barkley’s twin, only much taller and skinner. They weigh roughly the same: about 45 pounds.
Before long, our previous dog Barkley humped Max around the house. Through every room and hallway, Barkley did his best to show Max who the boss is. The woman fostering him told us Max was very submissive, and she wasn’t kidding. It got so bad at one point, I had to crate Barkley just to give Max a chance to relax and check out his new surroundings.
Our three cats are also adjusting, mostly by hiding under the bed. Our tabby greeted us at the door when we came in, as she often does, and she even nuzzled up to Max, but once she realized it wasn’t Barkley, her tail poofed out and she slowly made her way out of the room, back arched.
Our biggest dilemma is dealing with feeding. Barkley is like a cat: we put food in his bowl and he eats when he’s hungry, a few bites here, a few bites there. Max is like most dogs: if he smells anything edible, he would jump over a flaming lava flow to get it.
To be fair, Max is coming from a tough situation. He was abandoned after his owner’s home was foreclosed (not too dissimilar from Barkley’s history), and he was fostered by someone who has 10 dogs. He is covered in bites (at least 4 scabbed wounds) and is very skinny. When Barkley was trying to eat, Max bit him and ate his food.
So, we put Max in another room, closed the door, and I slowly put bits of treats into Barkley’s bowl to encourage him to finish as much as possible. Meanwhile, Max peed on the guest bed, so now I’m doing laundry while my wife is walking the dogs.
The tabby cat came out to check on things, and I predict she will be the first to warm up to Max, since she is also the only one of our three cats who is friendly with Barkley (the other two either hide, scurry past, or sneak attack Barkley, depending on their mood).
I’ll be sure to post a couple pictures as soon as Max calms down enough to sit still for them. If I don't post as much over the next couple of days, you will all know why.
*Update*
He has pooped once in our house, once in the pet store, and zero times outside.
When the woman fostering him brought him out today, he looked completely orange with slightly darker tan spots, but apparently he had been rolling around in mud all day, and the dirt here is reddish clay. After a quick bath, he’s now Barkley’s twin, only much taller and skinner. They weigh roughly the same: about 45 pounds.
Before long, our previous dog Barkley humped Max around the house. Through every room and hallway, Barkley did his best to show Max who the boss is. The woman fostering him told us Max was very submissive, and she wasn’t kidding. It got so bad at one point, I had to crate Barkley just to give Max a chance to relax and check out his new surroundings.
Our three cats are also adjusting, mostly by hiding under the bed. Our tabby greeted us at the door when we came in, as she often does, and she even nuzzled up to Max, but once she realized it wasn’t Barkley, her tail poofed out and she slowly made her way out of the room, back arched.
Our biggest dilemma is dealing with feeding. Barkley is like a cat: we put food in his bowl and he eats when he’s hungry, a few bites here, a few bites there. Max is like most dogs: if he smells anything edible, he would jump over a flaming lava flow to get it.
To be fair, Max is coming from a tough situation. He was abandoned after his owner’s home was foreclosed (not too dissimilar from Barkley’s history), and he was fostered by someone who has 10 dogs. He is covered in bites (at least 4 scabbed wounds) and is very skinny. When Barkley was trying to eat, Max bit him and ate his food.
So, we put Max in another room, closed the door, and I slowly put bits of treats into Barkley’s bowl to encourage him to finish as much as possible. Meanwhile, Max peed on the guest bed, so now I’m doing laundry while my wife is walking the dogs.
The tabby cat came out to check on things, and I predict she will be the first to warm up to Max, since she is also the only one of our three cats who is friendly with Barkley (the other two either hide, scurry past, or sneak attack Barkley, depending on their mood).
I’ll be sure to post a couple pictures as soon as Max calms down enough to sit still for them. If I don't post as much over the next couple of days, you will all know why.
*Update*
He has pooped once in our house, once in the pet store, and zero times outside.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Pithy News 8/4/10
The Food Standards Agency in the UK has disclosed that cloned meat was sold to consumers. They warn it may cause déjà vu.
Writer Anne Rice announced she “quit being a Christian.” Asked why she was initially attracted to Catholicism, she cited drinking Jesus’ blood and God’s need to be “invited” into your heart.
Sarah Palin proclaimed the rise of “Mama Grizzlies.” Citizens are urged to bungee cable their trashcans shut.
Six black teens drowned in Shreveport, Louisiana. Mel Gibson has reportedly begun digging a moat around his home.
Writer Anne Rice announced she “quit being a Christian.” Asked why she was initially attracted to Catholicism, she cited drinking Jesus’ blood and God’s need to be “invited” into your heart.
Sarah Palin proclaimed the rise of “Mama Grizzlies.” Citizens are urged to bungee cable their trashcans shut.
Six black teens drowned in Shreveport, Louisiana. Mel Gibson has reportedly begun digging a moat around his home.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
What Good Old Days?
I was recognized as the “Blog of the Moment” over at Skeptical Eye last night, and it got me thinking: what have I ever done?
I decided to dig up some old stuff I wrote in high school and college, and I must to say: I have never felt such a strange combination of pride and embarrassment. One piece won the newly established, first annual fiction writing award at my university, and I actually posted it on my blog a while ago. I was also reminded of how much poetry I used to write, and how little I write now. The last lines of poetry I found in my old notes:
How apropos...
In 2002, a high school friend of mine contacted me about a website he had started, TheSecondRevolution.com. The site didn’t last more than a couple months, and it was taken down long ago, but I remember it was the catalyst for me getting into writing about politics.
The first thing he posted to the site, besides the general ideology he espoused, was a piece of hate mail. I emailed a critical response to my friend, and he posted it on the site. He then offered to have me write a regular column for the site. I titled it “Ginx’s Symposium,” and wrote what were essentially my first blog posts.
However, my biggest surprise (and pride) comes from a class assignment I wrote in September of 2002. I decided I would reproduce it below in its entirety, because I am so proud of how a young, 18-year-old version of myself still possessed an uncanny view of reality, despite being surrounded by a whirlwind of stupidity pressuring me to throw my hands in the air with fear.
The class assignment was some form of answering the question, “How has 9/11 affected you and/or America?” It was assigned to be due on September 11th, 2002, just one short year after the attacks.
Bret Alan
11 September 2002
English 101
American Stasis
One could have predicted the horror that occurred on September 11th, or at least anyone who had been paying attention to world events. On that day last year, some 288 million Americans stared into a flickering box displaying bright pictures [inaccurate; I should have at the very least subtracted the number of blind and Amish people]. They donned their traditional lifeless cattle faces as they were dragged, kicking and screaming, into the reality of this world.
Around 3000 people died, the most casualties during any terrorist attack to date. Some thought America would finally awaken from the complacency that it had slipped into for years, that America would finally use its power and worldwide influence to make a positive contribution in the world.
Instead, what happened was an ironic twist in the fabric of history, as America became the new prominent outpost for intolerance and ignorance, displacing the Taliban as the primary enemy of liberty. The land of the free would soon prove that only its own leaders could threaten the liberty and justice of its people; that civilians nationwide would not only perpetuate the endless cycle of money hungry capitalism, but would stubbornly hold onto its role as a country of numb slugs.
The government could not have staged an event that would better allow them to flex their bureaucratic muscles. With the new threat of global terrorism, government officials can finally do away with such inconveniences as civil liberties and privacy, all in the name of security. Benjamin Franklin wrote, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,” and the American government doesn’t seem to adhere to this idea.
Our government has decided it has the responsibility to not only invade the private dealings of other countries, but now to do so to citizens at home as well. It seems new acts are passed weekly as a result of September 11th. From broad sweeping laws about internet privacy to petty laws banning plastic weapons that can evade metal detectors, the government continues to clamp down on what we can and cannot do, even what we can say and write.
Americans are told that terrorists endanger the freedom of every person in this country, and that Osama bin Laden does not like the liberties we enjoy. However, it is the hypocrites in Washington that are actually passing into law the things that threaten our civil liberties.
Stagnant and apathetic Americans everywhere scoff at the notion of a “Big Brother” society, saying laws being passed now do not enact anything like those measures described in “Farhenheit 451.” However, they fail to see that it is a small step into that direction, and that it opens the door to further violations in the future. Thought police may not be here yet or even in the next ten years, but we should not be giving anyone the tools to start down that road, even though we are scared and unsure.
The only way to reverse this trend is through knowledge. This is a country that is supposed to be run by the people, so the people must know what is going on. They must strive for knowledge, not just from the corporate media who conveniently give them sound bytes and out of context highlights while rarely focusing in on real issues. This is a nation that has more free time than any other [not true], and we spend it sitting on our asses filling our bodies and minds with garbage.
Know your government. Write letters to your representatives. Do something to make this nation the pillar of freedom that it once was. If we leave the government to lead without knowing what they are doing, we are conceding to a dictatoriship. This is our country to take back from the real terrorists; not the ones in turbans, but the ones in designer suits.
I decided to dig up some old stuff I wrote in high school and college, and I must to say: I have never felt such a strange combination of pride and embarrassment. One piece won the newly established, first annual fiction writing award at my university, and I actually posted it on my blog a while ago. I was also reminded of how much poetry I used to write, and how little I write now. The last lines of poetry I found in my old notes:
If you have an idea,
And want no one to know it,
The answer is simple:
Become a poet.
How apropos...
In 2002, a high school friend of mine contacted me about a website he had started, TheSecondRevolution.com. The site didn’t last more than a couple months, and it was taken down long ago, but I remember it was the catalyst for me getting into writing about politics.
The first thing he posted to the site, besides the general ideology he espoused, was a piece of hate mail. I emailed a critical response to my friend, and he posted it on the site. He then offered to have me write a regular column for the site. I titled it “Ginx’s Symposium,” and wrote what were essentially my first blog posts.
However, my biggest surprise (and pride) comes from a class assignment I wrote in September of 2002. I decided I would reproduce it below in its entirety, because I am so proud of how a young, 18-year-old version of myself still possessed an uncanny view of reality, despite being surrounded by a whirlwind of stupidity pressuring me to throw my hands in the air with fear.
The class assignment was some form of answering the question, “How has 9/11 affected you and/or America?” It was assigned to be due on September 11th, 2002, just one short year after the attacks.
Bret Alan
11 September 2002
English 101
One could have predicted the horror that occurred on September 11th, or at least anyone who had been paying attention to world events. On that day last year, some 288 million Americans stared into a flickering box displaying bright pictures [inaccurate; I should have at the very least subtracted the number of blind and Amish people]. They donned their traditional lifeless cattle faces as they were dragged, kicking and screaming, into the reality of this world.
Around 3000 people died, the most casualties during any terrorist attack to date. Some thought America would finally awaken from the complacency that it had slipped into for years, that America would finally use its power and worldwide influence to make a positive contribution in the world.
Instead, what happened was an ironic twist in the fabric of history, as America became the new prominent outpost for intolerance and ignorance, displacing the Taliban as the primary enemy of liberty. The land of the free would soon prove that only its own leaders could threaten the liberty and justice of its people; that civilians nationwide would not only perpetuate the endless cycle of money hungry capitalism, but would stubbornly hold onto its role as a country of numb slugs.
The government could not have staged an event that would better allow them to flex their bureaucratic muscles. With the new threat of global terrorism, government officials can finally do away with such inconveniences as civil liberties and privacy, all in the name of security. Benjamin Franklin wrote, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,” and the American government doesn’t seem to adhere to this idea.
Our government has decided it has the responsibility to not only invade the private dealings of other countries, but now to do so to citizens at home as well. It seems new acts are passed weekly as a result of September 11th. From broad sweeping laws about internet privacy to petty laws banning plastic weapons that can evade metal detectors, the government continues to clamp down on what we can and cannot do, even what we can say and write.
Americans are told that terrorists endanger the freedom of every person in this country, and that Osama bin Laden does not like the liberties we enjoy. However, it is the hypocrites in Washington that are actually passing into law the things that threaten our civil liberties.
Stagnant and apathetic Americans everywhere scoff at the notion of a “Big Brother” society, saying laws being passed now do not enact anything like those measures described in “Farhenheit 451.” However, they fail to see that it is a small step into that direction, and that it opens the door to further violations in the future. Thought police may not be here yet or even in the next ten years, but we should not be giving anyone the tools to start down that road, even though we are scared and unsure.
The only way to reverse this trend is through knowledge. This is a country that is supposed to be run by the people, so the people must know what is going on. They must strive for knowledge, not just from the corporate media who conveniently give them sound bytes and out of context highlights while rarely focusing in on real issues. This is a nation that has more free time than any other [not true], and we spend it sitting on our asses filling our bodies and minds with garbage.
Know your government. Write letters to your representatives. Do something to make this nation the pillar of freedom that it once was. If we leave the government to lead without knowing what they are doing, we are conceding to a dictatoriship. This is our country to take back from the real terrorists; not the ones in turbans, but the ones in designer suits.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Picture Puzzle #2
 |
From now on, the answers will be in the title of the picture, so you can see it anytime by right-clicking the image, and choosing "Save Target As...", "Save Picture As...", or "Properties."
Picture Puzzle #1
I always liked doing these as a kid, so I figured I would try my hand at making a couple. The idea is, a common phrase is represented in pictures. They will not be easy, though, because I love GRE words and puns.
Without further ado...
Without further ado...
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A Market for Fear
When I became a teenager in the late 90’s, becoming a punk was easy. I just had to go to the mall. Some band t-shirts from Hot Topic, stickers with cynical aphorisms, and of course a pair of Converse All-Stars later, I was a bona fide punk. Or was I?
By the time I was born in 1983, the movement of punk rock was already dead, or more accurately, it was in a lucratively profitable vegetative state. I was even too young to appreciate therebirth rebranding of punk: grunge.
Punk and grunge sold out (in the parlance of those genres). There is no integrity in punk or grunge as an ideology. Sure, they are still genres of music, but they claim to be much more. Punk in particular touts itself as a lifestyle, an ideology, almost a religion.
I suppose everything is what we make it, but if you’re allowing someone else to define your style of dress, let alone how you see the world, you should realize going in that the whole scene is a marketing gimmick for getting you to buy stuff. Punk rock culture turns the world into a fashion runway, encouraging an obsession with physical appearance.
It’s a strange situation. Sub- and even counter-cultures in America are routinely absorbed into the mainstream, or they at least become marketable. One can see it has already happened long ago with Hip-Hop, and even anti-corporate bands signed to small-sounding labels (owned by larger subsidiaries).
Political ideologies are ripe for profiteering. We’re all familiar with the “Green” movement, a hollow attempt by liberals who don’t want to make any real changes, but are willing to buy something with a label proclaiming their purchase to be environmentally friendly (at a slightly higher price, which I call the “gullible guilt tax”). Republicans even had a brief “Buy American” fetish, until their resolve buckled under the pressure of their purses.
However, there’s one particular ideology that has been very successful for basically all of human history. The people who adhere to it have many names for it, but I will use the collective term “survivalism.”
Survivalists can be left-wing or right-wing, though they are all ostriches with their heads in the sand. Some think the government is too big, and that the people will need to rise up and overthrow it. Others think the government is powerless and crumbling, and that America will be plunged into anarchy.
Some even hope for anarchy out of some romantic notion of human dignity and independence, forgetting that we are co-dependent social beings with blatantly antisocial behaviors (or they know this and revel in it).
Some don’t even factor government into it. Some think our treatment of the environment will wreck natural havoc. Others believe a race war or global religious conflict is inevitable. Some are even banking on religious prophecies foretelling the end of the world.
Regardless of the specifics, there is a vast industry catering to the paranoia of doomsayers everywhere. People are told to buy gold, despite ridiculously high prices. Forget “buy low, sell high,” this is an emergency! There are times to think, and there are times to act, and this is no time to think! See the exclamation point? That means this is serious!!!
However, you can’t feed your family with gold. Gold actually loses its value when there is no luxury market for its sale. If you’re banking on surviving a massive worldwide disaster, gold is about the dumbest investment you can make. Luckily, things will probably turn out fine and gold won’t lose value (especially in China), though all the virtual “trusts” and “promissory notes” will probably be worthless when the fly-by-night scamsters selling that fool’s gold close their doors after their CEOs embezzle too much capital.
No, if the world were really headed for disorder, there’s one thing I would want: guns. Guns are the ultimate chaos currency. If you have guns, you can get just about anything you want, er, anything your neighbors have. Of course, if they have guns, you need more guns, and you need to wait until they’re asleep or distracted. You’ll be wanting protection from others beyond guns, so be sure you have a dog to alert you to intruders, and land mines aren’t a bad idea.
Survivalism has even gone green, with the movement to go “off the grid.” This is definitely the coolest sounding idea environmentalists ever came up with. Way better than global warming (which just sounds cozy). When you go “off the grid,” it’s almost like you just got unplugged from the Matrix, and you’re no longer part of the problem, you’re the solution. And you can dodge bullets.
Of course, a stretch of cloudy, breezeless days will have you on generators that are several times less efficient than “the grid,” and the cost of initially installing enough equipment to maintain your power needs is far beyond the average person’s means. Not everyone can be ready when the shit hits the fan. Sacrifices will have to be made, both in terms of the poor and length of showers.
Then it dawned on me: people are rooting for a revolution because they’ve already invested in one. Nothing like a violently self-fulfilling prophecy.
By the time I was born in 1983, the movement of punk rock was already dead, or more accurately, it was in a lucratively profitable vegetative state. I was even too young to appreciate the
Punk and grunge sold out (in the parlance of those genres). There is no integrity in punk or grunge as an ideology. Sure, they are still genres of music, but they claim to be much more. Punk in particular touts itself as a lifestyle, an ideology, almost a religion.
I suppose everything is what we make it, but if you’re allowing someone else to define your style of dress, let alone how you see the world, you should realize going in that the whole scene is a marketing gimmick for getting you to buy stuff. Punk rock culture turns the world into a fashion runway, encouraging an obsession with physical appearance.
It’s a strange situation. Sub- and even counter-cultures in America are routinely absorbed into the mainstream, or they at least become marketable. One can see it has already happened long ago with Hip-Hop, and even anti-corporate bands signed to small-sounding labels (owned by larger subsidiaries).
Political ideologies are ripe for profiteering. We’re all familiar with the “Green” movement, a hollow attempt by liberals who don’t want to make any real changes, but are willing to buy something with a label proclaiming their purchase to be environmentally friendly (at a slightly higher price, which I call the “gullible guilt tax”). Republicans even had a brief “Buy American” fetish, until their resolve buckled under the pressure of their purses.
However, there’s one particular ideology that has been very successful for basically all of human history. The people who adhere to it have many names for it, but I will use the collective term “survivalism.”
Survivalists can be left-wing or right-wing, though they are all ostriches with their heads in the sand. Some think the government is too big, and that the people will need to rise up and overthrow it. Others think the government is powerless and crumbling, and that America will be plunged into anarchy.
Some even hope for anarchy out of some romantic notion of human dignity and independence, forgetting that we are co-dependent social beings with blatantly antisocial behaviors (or they know this and revel in it).
Some don’t even factor government into it. Some think our treatment of the environment will wreck natural havoc. Others believe a race war or global religious conflict is inevitable. Some are even banking on religious prophecies foretelling the end of the world.
Regardless of the specifics, there is a vast industry catering to the paranoia of doomsayers everywhere. People are told to buy gold, despite ridiculously high prices. Forget “buy low, sell high,” this is an emergency! There are times to think, and there are times to act, and this is no time to think! See the exclamation point? That means this is serious!!!
However, you can’t feed your family with gold. Gold actually loses its value when there is no luxury market for its sale. If you’re banking on surviving a massive worldwide disaster, gold is about the dumbest investment you can make. Luckily, things will probably turn out fine and gold won’t lose value (especially in China), though all the virtual “trusts” and “promissory notes” will probably be worthless when the fly-by-night scamsters selling that fool’s gold close their doors after their CEOs embezzle too much capital.
No, if the world were really headed for disorder, there’s one thing I would want: guns. Guns are the ultimate chaos currency. If you have guns, you can get just about anything you want, er, anything your neighbors have. Of course, if they have guns, you need more guns, and you need to wait until they’re asleep or distracted. You’ll be wanting protection from others beyond guns, so be sure you have a dog to alert you to intruders, and land mines aren’t a bad idea.
Survivalism has even gone green, with the movement to go “off the grid.” This is definitely the coolest sounding idea environmentalists ever came up with. Way better than global warming (which just sounds cozy). When you go “off the grid,” it’s almost like you just got unplugged from the Matrix, and you’re no longer part of the problem, you’re the solution. And you can dodge bullets.
Of course, a stretch of cloudy, breezeless days will have you on generators that are several times less efficient than “the grid,” and the cost of initially installing enough equipment to maintain your power needs is far beyond the average person’s means. Not everyone can be ready when the shit hits the fan. Sacrifices will have to be made, both in terms of the poor and length of showers.
Then it dawned on me: people are rooting for a revolution because they’ve already invested in one. Nothing like a violently self-fulfilling prophecy.
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