Sunday, November 26, 2006
Finding a way to put the bottle down
A few months ago, it seems like an eternity now, I managed to get drunk out of my mind on an empty stomach filled with copious amounts of Crown Royal. In the process, I crossed paths with the ex...and the rest should be self-explanatory. It was one of the more singularly telling events in my adult life, primarily because it was completely out of character (the encounter, not the drinking). Cue the running theme music for this year. While I wish that things had gone much differently that night, for a multitude of reasons, some good did rise from the ashes of my self-conception.
After 8 years of drinking socially, sometimes heavily, but always socially, I had gone from a 21-year old kid who had never been drunk in his life, to a 29-year old man who had been known to put away an half bottle of various liquors as a means of pacing myself. Somehow, for 99% of those 8 years, I had managed to remain true to myself, despite traveling through many a drunken weekend. That all came crumbling apart this year, and in many ways my eyes were forcibly opened wide as a result.
I haven't been drunk since that night and haven't had the urge to be. In fact, you could count the number of beers I have had since August on your fingers and toes. That's an impressive statement for someone with the consumption record I have had. Liquor has only passed my lips once, and it was a single Jack and coke on the rocks. That is an all-time record low for me, in my drinking career.
I'm not looking for a pat on the back, just musing on how much I actually used to put away and starting to realize that I am getting older. In the process, I've come to realize just how much time, money, and energy I wasted these past 8 years. Sure, there were good times with good people, some I would not want to be without, but much of it was nothing more than pointless bar tabs, needless all-nighters, and senseless liver abuse. Looking back, I would have much rather been studying, traveling, or training during all that time, particularly that night in August.
Live and learn, I suppose...sometimes that hard way.
Speaking of travel...some interesting news is on the way, but that's a topic for another day.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
And on this day of thanks...
I am indeed thankful for a few things. There are those things that I am thankful for everyday: my health, my family, my friends, another day. Those are easy and obvious ones, but there are a couple of other things I can note in particular this year.
This year saw my brother come home from Iraq, in good health and for good, which is a great thing. Not only that, he and the SIL are getting ever closer to being the parents of twin girls, which is an awesome thing. So I am thankful for their good fortune, and can't wait to be an uncle.
Then there is school, which has been great, so I am thankful to have the time and resources at my disposal to make going back a reality. I am especially grateful for a second chance to delve deeper into my potential as an artist. Enrolling in August was easily the best decision I have made all year.
Finally, I am glad 2006 is almost over. Where school was a good decision, every other major decision I have made in the past 11 months has been a bad one. For reasons that are too convoluted and difficult to explain in detail here, this year will be one that I will not ever forget. The quick and dirty is, I made a decision to gave a part of myself away that I regret having surrendered now. I made a decision to let someone in my world and lost sight of all objectivity, ultimately to my detriment. I made a decision that ended up damaging my car, costing me a significant amount of money, and a ridiculous amount of time. To then have the car damaged again, this time because of someone else's stupidity, was a kick in the nuts, but par for the course this year.
So in the end, I'm thankful for all the good that has come into my life this year, accepting of the bad, and regretting the avoidable hardships that I brought upon myself in one way or another. It hasn't been all good, but it certainly has not been as much fun as I had hoped back in January.
But I think I covered most of this in a post not so long ago, so I'll leave it at that. In the meantime, enjoy a little Ferrari F40 goodness via Google Video. Why? Because I am ALWAYS thankful for fast cars. :)
Here's another guy with plenty to be thankful for. That is a Ferrari FXX making around 800hp and weighing in around 2100lbs. This is all the car a man could want, and then some.
Another FXX vid, but this time the driver is the owner, who is a civilian. Lots of countersteer and pucker moments in this one. This is one thankful son of a bitch. :)
This is becoming a video post. The vid below is super, super slow motion video from the last NHRA event on ESPN. These cars make 7000hp and do the quarter in about 4.4 seconds. Pardon me, I have an erection...
Labels: general, life, thanksgiving, video
Mazda MX-5 vs Ninja!
This car lacks the horsepower, foot space, and masculinity I look for in an automobile, but this ad for Mazda's hardtop, MX-5 convertible is still cooler than most I have seen lately:
Labels: convertible, mazda, video
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
We could all be a little more Jesus
I like Jesus, as a man, as an example of what a human being is capable of, as role model. Do I believe he was the son of a god, or immaculately conceived, no, but I have always believed that those things are irrelevant. How can something as immense as godliness be irrelevant? Simple, I sincerely believe that Jesus' life serves as a powerful story of spiritual faith, transcendence, and the beauty we are capable of as humans, and is made more powerful by the notion that he may have been an ordinary human, made of the same stuff as the rest of us. The power of Jesus' words are not in the magic, but in their simplicity, purity, and inarguable truth. No decent human being can argue against the principles behind idealistic love, honesty, and altruism. What rational person would make a sincere argument against honor, respect, dignity, integrity, kindness, and compassion? What decent person does not hold these concepts in reverence? How can anyone argue that these concepts should NOT be the cornerstone of decent society?
The best thing about Jesus' life, in my mind, is that many of his teachings, at their core, were ancient, even in his time, and thus, were completely obvious. He may have been something of a revolutionary in his description of a loving, accepting, and forgiving God, but the idea that love, peace, gentility, kindness, and selflessness were the most direct paths to spiritual bliss had been a part of many Eastern philosophies for ages by the time Christ was giving his sermons. These ideals run deep through numerous spiritual traditions and despite humanity's monotonous nature, they seem integral and self-evident. Would it be so terrible if Jesus were "merely" a very faithful, devoted, courageous man?
Would he be any less admirable, were he a man who reached out to the poor, the sick, the downtrodden, and offered them his wholly human assistance? As far as I am concerned, there is no value added to his lessons by the magic attributed to him in Christian mythology. I find it more amazing to think that a man, flesh and blood, like you and me, preached the virtues of goodness, righteousness, and love, then backed those words up with action. Magically creating food, walking on water, and even coming back from the grave are nothing compared to living an authentically good life as a material, simple human being. With all the distractions, temptations, and hypocrisy surrounding us in our daily lives, isn't it magical, in and of itself, to live a decent, honest, and just life? Why is it always necessary to assign superhuman powers to religious figures after their deaths? Why do we always have to spoil the lessons with theatrics and special effects?
The message was, and has been for eons, that we are ALL capable of living righteous lives. We are all worthy of love and we can all be part of something better. In my eyes, the idea that Jesus was something more than a man is a loss to us all, because his message is now that of a superior, not a peer. His actions are now the byproduct of a supernatural heritage, rather than those of an equal. Instead of a seeing a man who overcame the same challenges we all face, we are taught to see a man who is something more than any of us can ever be. Why does our species always do this? The man credited as being the original Buddha, Siddhartha Gotama, is said to have explained himself as being a simple man, with a simple story, that he felt had culminated in something special that he was compelled to share. He walked amongst like-minded peers and shared their stories and ideas. He was accepted as a man with knowledge to bestow on others, but it was not until after his death that he would be assigned the powers of godliness, and subsequently be made into a religious icon.
What is wrong with the idea that every man and woman walking the Earth is born with the capability to make something more of their life than selfishness and gratification? How is the message diminished or cheapened by the thought that a man like Jesus may have been nothing more than a man? In my opinion, his story becomes all the more inspiring! Take away the mysticism, magic, even the resurrection, and the story that remains is still awe-inspiring. What good comes out of making such a story of faith unattainable by the common man? Honestly, I simply do not understand what motivates average human beings to idolize others, denying their own possibilities in the process.
Which is why I am not a Christian, or a Buddhist, or a subscriber to any other fixed form of indoctrination. I believe that we are all capable of living these supposedly special lives. I believe that we all have it within us to infuse goodness into our world through our lives. None of us has been, or ever will be, perfect, but that is no excuse to discard the principles of goodness for some form of poorly rationalized apathy, or pervasive disinterest. The greatest lesson I have learned through my years of dabbling in various religions and philosophies has been that decency is a real, and totally achievable possibility. We are all capable of righteousness and courage. Our spirits beg us to be true and devoted to ideals, because it is this devotion that ultimately frees us to live a life of sincere spirituality, just like the men and women who have come before us, whether they be Jesus, or an anonymous neighbor who has devoted her life to loving her family, her friends, and her existence.
Maybe I am the only one who sees any truth in that. Maybe people feel more comfortable with magic, and myth, as it frees them from accepting that the only thing stopping their ascension is within, and not the result of some inherent flaw or eternal inequality...I think I've gone down this road in one blog post or another, but the questions continue to linger. I don't understand Western religions and probably never will, but I do understand exactly what men like Jesus were talking about, and I believe that is more than enough to keep me pointed in the right direction.
Labels: life, love, religion, spirituality
Friday, November 17, 2006
Paying for the pleasure
I rarely watch TV, but last night I was exhausted with reading, writing, and assembling the research paper I have looming on the not so distant future, so I turned into HBO in hopes of finding something worth wasting an hour or so on. First channel I try, a scantily clad blonde is talking about sucking this and fucking that. The information bar indicates that the current program is called Cathouse...interesting. Intrigued, I expand the info window and discover that the cathouse in question is none other than the world famous Bunny Ranch brothel in lovely Carson City, Nevada. Apparently, someone thought it would be a good idea to film a pseudo-documentary about America's most profitable, legal whorehouse. What choice did I have but to watch?
After 5 minutes, my first thought was, "Who the hell would pay to sleep with these women?" That's not to say that they were all scab covered, bedraggled, toothless streetwalkers, but we're talking about walking, talking gloryholes here. These are women who have had more miles of penis run through their orifices than there are linear miles between Mother Earth and the Sun. I didn't find any of the featured hookers particularly attractive on a physical level, and there isn't enough liquor in this world to convince me that their personalities would be worth $1500/hour, so I was left to wonder, what the feck is going on here?
In a world where meaningless, NSA sex is only a few miles and beers away, why the hell would anyone pay for the privilege of taking their shot at being the 1,000,000th penis served by some soulless, deeply troubled, fuck factory? For $1500, you could buy a decent outfit, get a haircut, rent a Ferrari F360, reserve a room at one of the nicer hotels downtown, and still have enough left in your billfold to get one of South Tampa's wonderful young ladies drunk at the area's trendier watering holes. As a bonus, chances are good that Ms. Tampa will be just as soulless and troubled as any Bunny, but with a bit of luck, her mileage would be more like that of a highly used car, rather than that of an over-the-road, long haul, diesel truck. A 50,000 mile Honda seems a lot more appealing than a 1,000,000 mile Peterbilt for a multitude of reasons, but then again...
There was one interesting factor that could sway things in the Bunny Ranch's favor: STD testing. The BR's bunnies are tested weekly for the low grade STDs, i.e. herpes, chlamydia, etc, and monthly for the heavy hitters, i.e. HepC and HIV. Now, how many of America's non-professional, promiscuous women can boast such diligent vigilance over the viral condition of their not-so-private parts? My guess is not many, given the current all-time highs of STD infection in this country. To think that it very well may be safer to have unprotected sex with a prostitute than many of the women you are likely to meet during a night out is downright mindblowing, but it is a fact. When this thought dawned on me, I literally started laughing like a hyena. The BR requires safe sex practices of all its customers, without exception, which is also something most promiscuous women simply can't boast.
Think about that, prostitutes in Nevada are probably safer as sex partners than quite a few women one might run into in a place like Channelside, Hyde Park, or Ybor City. According to the State of Nevada, every girl at the Bunny Ranch is STD free. You simply cannot say that about the women frequenting the aforementioned night spots. My brain is not sure what to do with that information. It is not unrealistic to believe that I have a lower chance of contracting a STD from a pro sleeping with 8 to 10 (or more) men a day, than I do a modern, sexually enlightened woman who might only sleep with one or two random guys a weekend. Yet, that same 1- 2/weekend girl is almost surely going to condemn the 8-10/day pro as a whore, or worse. The irony makes Jesus cry! In reality, I think the whole damn thing would make Jesus cry, but there you go.
On that note, enjoy your weekend!
Labels: learning, life, sex, STD
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Getting back to being an art geek
There was a time, back when I was more depressive than aggressive, that art was my thing. It was my therapy, my pastime, my constant companion, and one of the few things that I was absolutely sure that I could count on. Of course, it was also one of the things I took for granted. Which made my slow drift away from the graphic process that much easier, in hindsight. It was always something that came easily, but it was also something I did not properly pursue and explore. Like a long-term friendship that had been neglected, my ties to art eventually weakened and nearly disappeared altogether.
That's changed over the years. I came to really miss the creative sequence...the sporadic moments of inspiration, rouging out sketches, refining the image, the fits of start and stop...more or less everything that comes along with actually creating something. And it is no revelation, the idea that creating or building something is a magic every human can appreciate. We are most fulfilled when we are engaged in positive, constructive processes...it's a universal truth, regardless of what the cowardly cynics and stunted souls have to say. When you discard all the distractions, all of the mundane, disposable bullshit, you are left with the things that give weight to our souls and make our eyes yearn to be open. In my case, that is art and the creative process. I decided some time ago that it was time to get back around to taking care of that itch.
Art is one of the few constants in our species' erratic history. From ancient humanity's cave paintings through the Renaissance to our modern "culture", artistic expression has been with us from the beginning. It's a shame that there is so little value put in it today, but I think that is more a commentary on modern society than evidence of art's actual value. After all, how much credibility does a society like ours really have where value judgments and worth are concerned?
I met with Lin Jorgensen, the academic advisor for Eckerd's PEL Visual Arts program, this morning. She is most definitely an enthusiastic, invested artist. I have always enjoyed artists, because in some ways, I have always understood them a bit better than most people. I wouldn't classify myself as an artist, but I would one day like to. So I registered in two art courses next semester, which should counterbalance the two business courses I will be taking. The soul's expression and the soulless, balanced against one another. That works for me, to be honest.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
The worst year of my adult life...
isn't over yet. I received a stark reminder of this today(Saturday the 12th) in the form of yet more damage to my beloved Scooby. This time the passenger's side, rear quarter panel had a close encounter of the expensive kind with a taxi's rear bumper. Scooby was parked on the street in front of the house, unoccupied, quietly minding her own business, when a cab ran out of room backing out of a neighbor's driveway, despite having 95% of the street to do it. No one was injured, but my pocketbook is going to take another hit, though this time insurance will be involved. In and of itself, the money isn't a great hardship. It is the aggravation, the seeming endlessness of life's bullshit, particularly surrounding this car, and the attacks my personal morale has had to withstand, that are taking a toll. Which leads me to thoughts on karma, gods, God, how spirit factors into this seemingly nightmarish equation...generally speaking, life philosophy.
This year has been a bad one, but things seemed to have begun so promisingly in January...it seems like a lifetime ago, now. I was debt free, optimistic about work, happy with the trajectory my life seemed to be taking, and generally content. I met a girl, fell for said girl, and that was nice for a while. By the end of February, I was a pretty happy camper. Then, in April, the wheels came off, and everything has degraded since. Fast forward 7 months and the girl was gone, Scooby had been injured and repaired (at a non-trivial cost), the work situation had begun to sour, and my purse strings had tightened considerably as a result. For the first time in a long time, I found myself stewing in regret and uncertainty, but I allowed myself to feel sure, believing that I had weathered the storm.
My return to school, combined with a plot to bring Scooby new, fire-breathing, time-warping life, reignited my sense of optimism. Things seemed to be getting back on track and as a result, I was beginning to get back onboard the optimism bandwagon. Then another proverbial speed bump sprung forth from the bowels of destiny. Now, I am inclined to feel that life fired a warning shot across my bow, reminding me that things are not sunshine and rainbows. And that is where my struggles with faith, spirituality, etc come in.
If I am to believe in a thing like fate, then it would appear that I am to sit passively as Fate continues kicking my ass for the remainder of the year...and perhaps beyond. At this rate, I am no longer sure it will ever end! If I am going to believe in something like karma, then this was all meant to be, but worse, the sequence of events that have unfolded were determined by me, the inevitable outcome of a karmic boomerang effect. If there is a God, I have to be contented with the idea that he is having a laugh at my expense, watching me struggle through these various emotional, financial, and motivational hardships from some pearly throne...something like a supernatural toilet, I would imagine.
To be honest, none of those options are very appealing, particularly God's toilet. I actually prefer to think that "shit happens", sometimes mighty, Earth-shaking, life altering shit, but shit nonetheless. The random in "random misfortune" makes things much less personal and therefore, easier to deal with. After all, if there is no one to blame, and no punishment being meted out, then there is nothing to be angry at, which makes being angry much more difficult. If God doesn't hate me, karma isn't punishing me, and Fate isn't whimsically taking cheapshots at me, the ups and downs of this year become less like pushing a massive boulder up an increasingly steep mountain.
Sure, there are still problems, worries, stress, and uncertainty, but there is less acidic reflux inducing anger, and sleep destroying worry. It is a shitty thing, and it has been a sometimes painful, sometimes heartbreaking, and sometimes maddening year, but it is not the end of the world. With Thanksgiving approaching, I still have an assortment of things to be thankful for: my health, my family, my friends, the forthcoming arrival of twin nieces (twins!!), my return to school, and the like. The icing on the cake is that only 38, just 38, days will remain in 2006 after the Thanksgiving feast has passed. I can only hope they go by quietly, peacefully, and without incident...maybe that is asking too much. How about 38 days without injury to myself, my car, my emotional well-being, or my mental stability. Even that might be a little much, but I am going to hold fast. After all, it never hurts to be optimistic.
Labels: general, life, spirituality, whining
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Hooray for the Dems?
So the Dems have managed to retake the House, and as every media outlet in the country is reporting, the Senate is still up for grabs. Does this mean we are going to see a change in direction for this country? Will the damage done by the “party of values” and their accomplices in the Democratic circus be repaired? Is genuine reform on the way? I think any rational human being has to be skeptical.
The Democrats have shown themselves to be a party composed primarily of double talking cowards who are highly fluid on just about every position they have taken since Bush II came to power. Where the Repubs have conducted themselves as hypocritical bullies, the Dems have chosen to embrace the same sorts of hypocrisy, minus any illusion of values, but elected to be cowardly in their duplicity. I have no respect for bullies, but I am disgusted by cowardice. Things have gotten so bad, I am no longer sure which party sickens me more, and I believe that I am not alone in my confusion.
Have no illusions, the same powers purchasing Republican politicians are working just as hard to put Democrats in their proverbial pockets. Companies like Enron financed the Republican revolution, but they were also hedging their bets in the form of contributions to “friendly” Democratic interests. This practice is not new, and is most definitely not going away. We had better all believe that Jack Abramoff was not the only lobbyist bribing and buddying up to members of Congress. Human nature and political history assure us that those few Republicans who have been indicted are certainly not the only ones taking illegal ‘gifts’ in exchange for political favors.
What I am saying is, there are few reasons to be genuinely excited about the swing from Republican to Democrat in the House. The House is a cauldron of backroom politics, underhanded deal making, dishonesty, and pork barreling. If a comprehensive, ethical investigation were ever carried out, who believes that two-thirds, or more, of the House would not be brought up on charges? The Senate is not much better, but they are the real power in Congress, and the Repubs have a very good chance of remaining in control there. If they do, what then?
In a word, gridlock. So much law will be buried in committee, doomed to endless revision, and infinite debate, this record setting “do-absolutely-nothing-whatsoever” Congress would become utterly impotent. These people are working less than half the year in their efforts to govern the most powerful military power in the world’s history. Economically, they are laying the seeds for a major shift in geopolitical power, allowing the Chinese monolith, among others, to mobilize and maneuver its way toward becoming the next great force in the world market. America is already suffering the ills of horrendous leadership and I see few faces in the Democratic party that would make me believe we are in for a sea change at the Congressional level.
Combine the total lack of vision with zero work ethic, or zero ethics altogether, and you have big problems. If you then divide the House and Senate, you have a recipe for complete and absolute stagnation. Cap it all off with an incompetent White House distracted by a nation building project gone off the tracks, and it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to remain optimistic.
So long as these people, and it is hard not to refer to them as criminals or, as I would prefer, treasonous shitbricks, put the interests of their corporate sponsors ahead of the interests of the American people and the country as a whole, these elections have little or no meaning. It seems that, with each passing year, we take another step away from common decency and our core values. By doing so, we allow our political representatives to take similar, if more egregious, strides in the same direction. Hooray for the Dems, but we’ll see if this party of invertebrates makes good, or continues to disappoint. My money is on the latter outcome, but them I am admittedly a total cynic when it comes to people, particularly people in politics.
Update: Donny Rumsfeld is out! That was something of a pleasant surprise.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Speaking of the Ten Commandments
A little George Carlin goodness on YouTube. Not for the overly sensitive, but I'm thinking that people like Ted Haggard could use a little of Carlin's commandment magic in their lives.
Carlin's comedy is the intellectual equivalent of Pringles...
Labels: funny times, opinion, society, video
Monday, November 06, 2006
Evangelical diabolical
What is the deal with conservative America these days? First we had Mark Foley, now we have Pastor Ted Haggard. Everyone in the US knows the story by now: stridently anti-gay pastor turns out to be a closeted homosexual. Not an Earth shattering revelation in a world of child-molesting Catholic priests and teenager seducing politicians. What really sets Haggard apart is that he paid a male prostitute for sex, abused methamphetamine, and did it all under the radar of his wife, his five children, and his New Life Church, which includes 14,000 members.
Haggard is an evangelical, which is to say he is a Bible literalist, and his New Life Church is one of the largest evangelical organizations in the US. Haggard’s personal congregation was inarguably substantial. As president of the National Association of Evangelicals, he oversaw a collective congregation of over 30,000,000 American faithful. Naturally, Haggard’s political influence was far reaching, to say the least.
This man was named one of Time’s top-25, most important evangelicals in 2005. He participated in White House conference calls, served as one of President Bush’s advisors on evangelical activities, and mingled with the highest ranking movers and shakers in America’s right wing, evangelist movement. It is safe to assume that he was on a first name basis with just about everyone who is anyone in the modern evangelical subculture. In short, he was The Man, and certainly must have been a force in evangelical politicking. His most recent pet project: lobbying for a ban on gay marriage. The irony of all this is so thick that it borders on the insane. Here is a pastor who was cheating on his wife with a man, deceiving his family, his Church, and millions of believers, and he is out stumping for the oppression of homosexuals.
According to my understanding of the Ten Commandments, adultery isn’t exactly a minor sin in Haggard’s religion. Sex with a man is the sort of thing that got whole cities wiped out in the Old Testament. Deception, especially on the level Haggard has engaged in the practice, is no small thing either. Put it all in the modern media pressure cooker, pressurize it with the heat of election season, and you’ve got one clusterfuck of a mess. The man’s politics influenced millions. Worse still, these are the sort of people that vote as they are told. After all, Haggard is one of the men who helped Bush remain in the White House in 2004, as the evangelical movement is widely recognized as a significant part of Dubya’s “base”. Should we be worried about any of that? I say, absolutely. If Haggard could rise to such power, who’s to say there are not other morally vacuous hypocrites in positions of incredible power within the conservative monolith? If he was able to hide it, how many others are similarly saying one thing and doing another?
Politics aside, religion in general has taken a beating in recent years. American Christianity gets another BIG black eye here, and the scandals just keep coming. Honestly, I feel for those believers in the country who actually practice what their leaders, and their religion, preach. The idea that church is a hospital for wounded souls has never seemed more accurate to me. How can a man put his penis in another man’s ass, go home to the wife and children he allegedly loves, then go before 14,000 faithful followers and decry the very acts he has just engaged in? How can no one know about it?
With all that has happened (going all the way back to the founding of organized, Western religion), how can anyone still see institutionalized religion as viable? When so many prominent adherents fall from grace in such incredibly hypocritical ways, doesn’t there come a point when following others in one’s faith becomes inexcusably foolish? The Catholic Church is STILL taking damage for the way it handled child molesters in its fold, now it appears that the evangelical movement is going to take a turn in the spotlight. Of course, no rational person would condemn the entire movement because of the actions of a single man, but this particular man just so happened to be the leader of their largest, national organization. How does that happen? I repeat, how did no one know that this was going on for 3 years?
Now his family, friends, and even members of his former congregation, are asking for forgiveness. His wife has publicly stated that she intends to stick by his side until the bitter end. I ask myself, are these people for real? I suppose some of them are sincere, but I have to believe that the rest are feigning piety, rather than genuinely pleading for absolution. They should be disgusted, angry, and condemning, not consoling. How do you feel sorry for a man who cheated on his wife? How does his wife look past the fact that her husband was sleeping with a male prostitute? Fact is, in the real world, you don’t and she won’t. This man is not worthy of forgiveness. He’s a liar, a fraud, and an adulterer. What good is he to anyone, beyond serving as a lesson of what NOT to do with one’s life? Is their redemption for such a person? Not in my mind, but opinions will vary widely on that one.
What is certain is that Haggard’s credibility, and in some ways his life’s work, is now destroyed. At the same time, we are given yet one more example of a person in a position of power being utterly corrupted. It seems that power and corruption walk hand-in-hand in the American political and religious landscape today. Not exactly the stuff of sunshine and happy optimism, for sure.
Labels: opinion, politics, religion
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking...
All of Scooby's drivetrain components have been ordered. They should be here the third week of November, or so I hope. Some of the bits have already started arriving, which makes me eager as Hell, despite the hefty payout. Step 1 in my 2-part plan for street driven insanity is now half complete. It is only a matter of time...MWAHAHAHahahahaaa.
Right...so anyway, school is going well. The Stats class has turned out to be much more enjoyable than I had previously thought. This week's "assignment" was to head on down to Neiman-Marcus, have a look at the Philip Stein timepieces, ask a few stats-related questions, and grab some documentation. For those that haven't heard, this watch is supposed to be something of a miracle. Supposedly, it acts as an electromagnetic field sink, meaning it pulls electromagnetic(EMF) field energy out of your body, when worn. Why is this a benefit? Well, EMF energy is bad for you, apparently, and the Philip Stein Teslar line of watches are exactly what you need to protect and fortify your well-being against this invisible killer!
According to the pamphlet entitled "Life, Electromagnetic Energy and your well-being", which published and distributed by the watch line's manufacturer, electromagnetic fields have been linked to Alzheimer's, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and even Cancer. I wasn't aware of this, but it is in print, so it must be true! Needless to say, I was eager to try one on and see how they felt. To be honest, the models I looked at were very nice timepieces. I especially liked the blue-faced, stainless stell, chronograph with stainless steel band. It felt hefty and solid, which is good, because I would want to feel like I am getting a fair amount of metal when I spend $1500 on a watch. The cheapest watch I tried on was $1000, the most expensive was just under $3000. They were all very nice, not Rolexes, of course, but more than nice enough for this prole.
Since the beneficial effects of the watch are only apparent after an extended period of use, I can't speak to the power of their EMF absorption. What I can talk about is the "cellphone demonstration". Apparently, this is the demonstration that made the watch famous and got it featured on Oprah (who owns every female face combination available, according to the helpful folks at Neiman-Marcus). What the salesperson does is have you stand with one arm extended, and other hanging at your side. They then proceed to press down and tell you to resist. Empty-handed, I resisted pretty well. You are then instructed to pick up your cell, holding it in your off hand, while you extend the other arm again. The salesperson presses down again and this time I was unable to resist the pressure at all. I was skeptical, but curious at this point. He then had me pick up one of the Philip Steins, while still holding my cell in the opposite hand. This particular watch was a round faced piece, rimmed in diamonds, that came in at about $3k. Of course, when he pressed down this time, I was able to resist easily. It must be magic! Or not. I'm thinking this is more a demonstration in leverage than a demonstration of the effects electromagnetic fields have on our body.
During the empty-handed demo, he pressed down on my extended arm near the area where the forearm meets the elbow...a little short of halfway down my forearm, biased toward the elbow. Next time, when I was holding the cellphone, he was much closer to my wrist, putting my shoulder at a greater disadvantage, mechanically. Did I mention that each time my arm was extended, my thumb was pointed down? Well, it was. Finally, when I was asked to hold the Teslar in my extended arm, his hand was much closer to my elbow, giving me back a lot of leverage. I didn't call the guy out, but I definitely made a mental note.
If you're curious about the brand, I recommend checking it out for yourself. They are stylish, with a bias toward classic, rather than trendy, and the cellphone demo is worth a go. If nothing else, you could confirm my observations about hand placement and start a debunking movement on the web. Or not...
So things are going well. I'm feeling good physically, staying focused mentally, and perpetually working on the spiritually. Good times...
Friday, November 03, 2006
Searching for a way forward
I think there is a direct, common sense way to fix things, and get our dilapidated experiment going back in the right direction. It doesn’t take a miracle. There is no need for a bloody revolution. It can happen, but it will take the will of a massive amount of people to put real, bottom up reform into action. Here are just a few of my ideas for laying the groundwork for a real shift in our social construct.
First and foremost, we have to stop referring to America as a democracy. This is no democracy. Never has been, never will be. Our government is a representative republic, and it is time that we stopped throwing around the word democracy, because it is meaningless in modern society.
It is the moral responsibility of every citizen in a representative republic, to inform and educate themselves. This does not necessarily have to be through formal education, as there is no guarantee we will learn anything of real use in the formal education system. There is a mountain of free information available, if one is properly motivated to seek it out. An uninformed citizen is a liability in a society like ours.
It is the moral responsibility of every citizen in a representative republic to be involved in their own governance. This means, at the very least, actively voting. Writing letters, participating on some level in the functions of government that regulate and impose the ruling power’s will upon our lives doesn’t hurt. A non-voting citizen is deadweight in a representative government.
Sheep are useless to an healthy, diverse, representative republic. Those who fall in line, taking what they are told at face value, are a hindrance to social change. They function as the antithesis of the informed citizen, who makes decisions based on conscience and critical analysis. Sheep are cowards, and as such, have no real worth in a society set on governing itself effectively.
There will always be bad/evil people in government, and they must be dealt with. From the likes of Tom DeLay to Ted Kennedy, bad leadership must be dealt with swiftly and decisively. A number of things would have to change, from the ridiculous allowance of limitless reelection, to the laws governing political campaign finance, and it is up to the populace to demand these changes. Term limits are a good thing. The banning of lobbyist and corporate bribery is a necessity. Holding politicians accountable for every transgression is paramount.
People need to step up and address the fact that their interests are no longer being represented in government. In effect, the government has become an extortionist overseer, charging us for the right to sell our future down the proverbial river. Greed, egomania, and total disregard for what is best for the country at large has created a system that often times acts in direct opposition to the peoples’ best interests. We suffer taxation without representation, which is exactly what this country was founded as a refuge from.
This list could go on forever, and I haven’t even mentioned the monumental debt being accrued by our culture, the social ills that plague our crumbling civilization, and the natural resource issues we face going forward. It seems overwhelming, but like all massive problems, these can be broken down into smaller pieces, and addressed in a managed fashion. Whether or not we have the courage and integrity as a culture to step up and do what’s right is another issue entirely.