A Good Run

Well, that was a good 4 year hiatus...so good, I just might make it longer.  I don't know.  I really want to comment on some of the things happening in the world today, but I just don't have time.  It's going to be a challenge to just keep up with posting occasionally to my other blog.

One of these days, though...I do hope to return to this one and move it to it's own domain.  Even use some of those nifty HTML/CSS/PHP skills I managed to acquire in the interim.

Till next time...

This Is War!

I have been inspired by something I was reading earlier. It made me think about a few things, and I came to a realization that there is something that I find that those marching us towards war are right in: Freedom is not free. You have to fight for it.

On some level, I sort of knew this, but I could not wrap my mind around the idea that we have to go out and kill lots of people to be free, especially if those people have nothing to do with our freedom in the first place. The battle for freedom and democracy is fought right here, on our home turf, and it is fought not with bullets and guns, but with voice.

You see, no one in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan or North Korea are threatening our freedom, or our democracy. The ones threatening it are our leaders, who tell us they are taking them away to protect us, and to protect those rights and freedoms. How do you protect someone's rights by taking them away? You don't save a person from slavery by enslaving them.

Our voice is right now diminished, because those with the power to enact change are listening to those with the money to give them power. We have to be the leaders, we have to show them that something can be done. What will that mean? I don't know yet. I guess we will have to get creative.

Because this really is a war. It is probably one of the most important wars we have fought, because it is the one that, should we the people lose, everything that had been won from all the battles of opinions and ideas that has given us the freedoms and rights that we have will be undone.

Where have all the heros gone?

Seems like only yesterday that there was interest, there was hope, there was a fighting spirit. Where did it go?

I fear that the fighting spirit killed itself. I fear that those most interested in making things better forgot who they were fighting for, and wound up fighting each other.

I fear that we forgot that debate is a healthy thing, like the fire that burns our forest and readies our soils for new growth, like new ideas. Where has our fight gone? Where has our interest gone?

When will we stand up?

Will you bite the hand that feeds? Or will you stay down on your knees?

Some Changes

I changed the quote of the week to something new, finally, and I renamed it "Current Quote" seeing as the last "weekly" quote was up for something like three months.

I am going to try to get interested again and start posting some more when I do. I hope there will be someone out there interested in reading it.

Anyone who has not done so yet, go to The Faulking Truth (link is on the side bar) and find and read all of Ken's "Grey Like Me" articles. Number 6 just went up recently, and it is like all of his writing...excellent.

"A Shoving Leopard"

Okay, the title is, once more, a link to another article on the Faulking Truth, this one by Robin R. Buckallew.

Tired of throw-away-everything? Me, too. Here, Robin details a trip through the looking glass of planned obsolescence, expensive heaps of plastic, and the maze of corporate surrealism. She also shows a plan to overcome these daunting obstacles. However, we need as many people in the fight as we can get. So, go on, read up! Sink your teeth in!

What are you still doing here?! Go on, click! She doesn't bite!

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

The title bar is a link to a Rolling Stone's article regarding the discrepancies in the 2004 presidential election. It is a good read (have only gotten about an eight through it, but I'm trying to squeeze it in between work, so I've printed it off to read later tonight).

All I can say is that it is some scary stuff. Makes me wonder if the '06 election is going to matter.

Sorry for not having posted here for a long, long while. Life has been rather...shall we say, interesting, and I haven't had time or the inclination. However, I am back and ready to start posting some more. Maybe I'll even make good on that and start hunting for some stuff to post about!

"Grey Like Me" by Ken Shade

I know it has been a while since I have written. Life has gotten complicated and tangled, but it is the usual to be expected; working overtime till all hours, the few minutes I do get I spend sleeping or escaping with my friends or my fiancée. Life has been good, but tiring and sometimes frustrating. This, however, is not why I am blogging.

Over at the Faulking Truth, writer Ken Shade has been putting up articles about a new reality TV show called "Black. White." If you are unaware of it, it is a show where a black family and a white family get together, living under one roof, and put on makeup to look like they are the other color. I was skeptical, but hopeful, when I heard about it. I'm not sure if I should be disappointed or pleased by what I have seen of it.

The show is up to episode five, and I will be watching it shortly. Ken is writing it as a white man who married into a black family, and is a widowed father of three children struggling to raise them in a racially inept world. He has written articles about the first four. His insights are astounding. I recommend reading them.

"Heresy"

A little something that some will love and some will hate. If it offends you, then I am sorry that the world is offensive...this is just a bit that has caught my attention again, and again, and as a fan of Trent Reznor's work, I feel it has definatly shaped my mood many a time, as only music can. I present to you a work that will likely be abrasive to Christians who do not pick up on the connections and ironies hearin.

"Heresy"
by Nine Inch Nails

he sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
he tries to tell me what I put inside of me
he's got the answers to ease my curiosity
he dreamed up a god and called it Christianity
your god is dead and no one cares
if there is a hell I will see you there
he flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
he made a virus that would kill off all the swine
his perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
demands devotion atrocities done in his name
your god is dead and no one cares
drowning in his own hypocrisy
and if there is a hell I will see you there
burning with your god in humility
will you die for this?

"The Long and Winding Road"

Okay, so I thought I would come here and explain a little better what this is all about. So far, there are three of us, including myself, who are together to debate. I am Jeffrey Hunter, the "Deranged Mind". This whole thing is my fault. Blame me for it, for the good or the bad, I don't mind. I have, for years, considered myself a liberal, and all that that came with. I even blindly looked at Democrats as good and Republicans as bad. Now, I'm mostly seeing corrupt politicians.

Next, there is the Fool on the Hill. He watches the sun going down, while the eyes in his head see the world spinning round. Nobody listens to him, for they know that he's just a fool. Nobody seems to notice, that he knows that they're the fools. I do not know just yet what the Fool will post about, but I can pretty well guess that it will be environmental in nature, being that it is what is foremost on this Fool's mind. Surely, it must be foolish to see the air turning brown, and wonder where your next breath is coming from. The Fool is a well loved and trusted friend whom I have known as far back as I can remember; the one Fool who could make another wise.

Finally, we have Neo RiNo. He is here as our opposing viewpoint, who will help us find the middle ground by being on the other side. I do not like many of his views about politics and environment, but they are his to have and hold, and his to share with all of us. I felt it would only be fair to have someone to cross foils with while debating. He and I have known one another for only a short time, but he strikes me as an intelligent and interesting person, who does think about what he thinks about (well, so do the Fool and I, but if he didn't, I would not have invited him here). He has already introduced himself better than I can, so I will leave it to you to read his post.

Real quick-like, I wanted to re-define liberal for everyone who may have their own ideas about the word. The reason for that (if you read my first post, I touched on that a bit) is that everyone has their own ideas about words. I realized that when I noticed how I felt disgusted to learn of any conservatives in existence around me...then realized that they are not angry, greedy, slimy evil people. They are people, like you and me. And so are "liberals".

So, what does liberal mean here? On this blog, Liberal is the idea that all people have a right to say their mind, no matter how little I or anyone else may disagree. To that end, post as you want. I will not censor you, I will not remove your posts. The only exceptions are spam posts, which have no relevance and will likely just fill the pages, or if your comment is one word or sentence repeated continuously to fill the entire comment block. I have seen people who protested blogs this way, and I will not have it here. I will repost what you said, but only the first one, if you chose to do that. Like I said, all opinions are valued here.

It is preferred, however, to keep the gloves on. Is language permitted? Preferably not, because I do not want this blog removed from listings. That will make it harder for people to find us. Are insults? Well, I prefer that they stay out, also. Like I said, let's keep it clean here. I don't want it getting too personal, and I want us to still be "friends" when this is all over.

I want to bring to you my own personal feelings right now. There is no research on this, just my feelings, but I think they are entirely valid. If you are a Republican, or a conservative, you are not my enemy. I might not be as nice to you, but I do respect your views as yours. I just ask that you do the same for me. I am an atheist. Let me get this strait right here and now, for any Christians reading this: I am not your enemy. We are here, and here we are. I do not believe in making labels, because it pits "us" against "them", whatever the hell that means.

My goal is one of unity. Not that of conformity, for that destroys individuality, but the spirit that we are all brothers and sisters in this. The only real enemy is the one who seeks to separate us. I may not agree with you. I may not even like you. But that does not make you my enemy. I will just agree to go my way, and you yours, and we can have peace.

Death and war are not answers. There is no way that true peace can ever be achieved through war, for it breeds hatred by necessity. We hate Iraqis. Why? Not because of anything they did to us, but because we are made to believe that they are "them", and therefore evil and against us. We hate Afghans, again, not because of anything they did to us...need I remind you that 1) the country's people did not feel that the attacks were right, on the average, and 2) most of the people on those planes did not come from either of those two countries that I just listed, but Saudi Arabia (who's people's feelings are likely not reflected by either the attack or the government...maybe I'm reaching here, but I don't believe that that many people feel that killing innocents is good)?

So, I am not anti-conservative...I don't agree with their opinions, but I think now is the time to throw down our weapons of prose and poetry (and outright slander, insults and character assassinations) and learn to work together for a better world. Was Bush a unifier? Most definitely. He unified the country into two factions. Us. And Them. For Us. Or Against Us. He unified by dividing. And, more and more, we are letting it happen. Because as long as "We" are fighting "You", he is free to take away all of our rights. How much longer before those who compare him to Hitler are irrevocably proven right?

As a side note, earlier today, Neo RiNo and myself had a discussion...it was about the rights of people and the rights of animals. I am not going to point fingers, or go into any real details, but I will say that both of us walked away from that pissed off at the other. I will not apologize for my opinions, nor will I apologize if they upset him, any more than I would ask him to for getting me worked up. That is the down side to debate. People will get hurt. People will get cheesed off. I just ask that they stay civil, and that we can still be friends when it is over.

And, to that, I say to Neo RiNo, that I hope you will still count me a friend. I still count you one.

The Vegans

You know, it's funny...I never thought, even for a moment, that I would become a vegan. I still do not, but I am, right now, closer than I have ever been in my life to becoming one. If you are reading this, then you are probably thinking two things right now: 1) What could possibly make me, an overweight confirmed meat-eater who loves his bacon in the morning, and thinks his black leather jacket looks cool ever want to give this up? 2) Why the hell am I posting this on a "liberal" blog, and not on my Random Thoughts blog?

Here is why:

This is a picture of female breeding pigs. This is how they live their lives, every day (pretty much). Now, I don't have a problem with the use of animals for clothing and food, because they are a part of our natural diet by now. It is healthy for us, and there is nothing wrong with animals dieing to feed other animals. That is part of the food chain.

I will not go into how I think we do it too much and how this overbalances the food chain today, because I am ill equipped to make that argument, and it is not my main attack here...I will let Fool on the Hill address that, and I even invite it...I would very much love to see something like that.

So, add that picture to the fact that I, long ago, read Fast Food Nation, and that just tonight, for the first time, I watched Supersize Me, and you have a good picture. However, once more, I am not arguing about our diet, though I think it is horrible (don't worry, don't feel offended...I'm leveling that accusation at myself, too). What has me pissed off is how we humans think that we somehow have the RIGHT to do this to our neighbors on this world, like we have some sort of MANDATE!

Would it be considered appropriate for humans to pen up female humans like this while they are producing babies?! Why the hell do pigs not get any form of respect that we feel should go to all including the lowliest of the humans on this planet?! Where the hell is the sense in that!?

We have no right. We are the mightiest creatures on the planet, and it is not from our forms, for we are quite weak in that. It is our technology that gives us the command of nature. We have Mother Nature in chains, rotting in the dungeons of our coal plants, insulting her by raping her lands of the golds and diamonds, which tear up hundreds of tons for very little yield, destroying acres so your fingers and ears can be decorated by a shiny rock. When she licks her wounds and fights our cancerous growth by throwing some of the fiercest weather systems at us that we have seen, we stand up and say that Mother Nature will never win. When some of the worst news possible happens, that polar ice caps are melting, nations do not stop to think about what will reverse it...no, they fight over who gets control over the newly formed waterways.

Maybe it is time that the human race die. But I am not ready to see that day come. I want, very badly, for our race to, finally, grow up and learn to live with all of the land in peace. I want for us to take back the power from those who would lie to us, tell us that they have ours and mother nature's best interests at heart, while poisoning both us and her for a greater profit. We are sick. We are sick from our own disease, of our own making. When will the madness end?

"Giving the Devil His Due"

by Michael Shermer, originally posted on Skeptic.com. Click the titlebar for the full article.

Check it out. It doesn't matter what your opinions are, it is still censorship to imprison you for them. Here is a blurb from the article:

“More women died in the back seat of Edward Kennedy’s car at Chappaquiddick than ever died in a gas chamber at Auschwitz.”

Is this line more offensive to Jews than an editorial cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad with a turban bomb is to Muslims?

Apparently it is, because the editorial cartoonists are still free, whereas the man who made this statement — British author David Irving — was sentenced February 20 to three years in an Austrian jail for violating an Austrian law that says it is a crime if a person “denies, grossly trivializes, approves or seeks to justify the National Socialist genocide or other national socialist crimes against humanity.”

Irving had traveled to Austria in November, 2005 to deliver a lecture to a far-right student fraternity, but was arrested on a warrant dating back to 1989, when he gave a speech and interview denying the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz. After pleading guilty to the charge, Irving told the court, “I made a mistake when I said there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz,” and “The Nazis did murder millions of Jews.”

That David Irving has been, and probably still is, a Holocaust denier is indisputable. In 1994 I interviewed him for a book on Holocaust denial, and he told me then that no more than half a million Jews died during the Second World War, and most of those due to disease and starvation. Irving also added that Hitler was the Jews’ best friend: “Without Hitler, the State of Israel probably would not exist today so to that extent he was probably the Jews’ greatest friend.” In 2000, the judge in his libel trial in England called him “an active Holocaust denier … anti-Semitic and racist.” And in April, 2005, I attended a lecture Irving gave in Costa Mesa at an event sponsored by the Institute for Historical Review, the leading voice of Holocaust denial in America, where he joked about the Chappaquiddick line and, holding his right arm up, boasted, “This hand has shaken more hands that shook Hitler’s hand than anyone else in the world.”

To read the rest, click the titlebar for the link.

Sacrifice Your Queen

Recently, I was reminded of an axiom that I learned from a good man and scientist, a professor at a college university that I have had the privilege of knowing for a time. As I am a chess player, I understand the idea that he put forth. That idea was that sometimes, you have to sacrifice your queen.

What does this have to do with life? Very simple. Anyone who has ever played chess will know how difficult a decision it is to sacrifice your queen. She is your strongest piece, the single most versatile on the board. Losing her is one of the worst things that can happen to you, but it does not kill you by itself.

In life, we have our set of ideas, our strongly held conceptions of life and all. This is true in all parts of life: Religion, science, politics, how we raise our children or how to bake cookies. Some of these places, our opinions are not that strong, and we can be open to change. If we are unsure what the best path is, we are open to learning from others (hopefully). Two areas, Religion and Politics, are usually very, very strong opinions, and is why it is often dangerous to discuss them with someone whom you do not know their opinion on, to some extent, before hand.

These strong opinions make for harsh debate, but also fruitless debate, for neither side will ever learn from the other as long as they are close minded. The hardest thing for all of us to do is to open our minds to something we have always thought differently on, our strongly opinionated points of interest.

That is why I say, when you are coming against harsh criticism, reevaluate yourself and your stance. If you have to, for a moment, "sacrifice your queen." This is a great tool for debate, too. If you are flexible, you are able to learn.

However, for many of us, doing so has become almost as hard as giving up one of our children. You need not worry. An opinion can always be brought back. The only risk is that you may find you don't want it back. If that is the case, maybe you shouldn't be holding on to it so carefully.

Note: This post was more on Freethought than on politics. I just wanted to make it clear that this is not a purely political site. If you have any feelings about this, please post them. If you don't want to include your name or your user ID, anonymous comments are allowed on this blog.

One Mo' 'Gan!

As my First Sergeant at JROTC in High School used to say, "One Mo' 'Gan!" This is short for "Once More, Again!" for those who haven't heard it before.

So, why am I writing that? Because I feel alone out here. Sure, I'm not talking much myself, but I also see that it feels increasingly like no one is doing. Other than the few news pieces that pop up, there doesn't seem to be much energy in this community, or in many others on the left.

Am I just looking in the wrong place? Or has the fire really gone out?

Of a more disturbing note, I have come to a realization: I am not a Left. I am not a Liberal. Is this because I do not follow the agenda? No, it is because I do not have an agenda. I am a Me. I am not a label at all, and I am beginning to really resent the labels that I have, whether society has brought them to me, or I have assumed them myself.

Some, sure, are merely descriptions. For instance, I am an atheist. Why do I not chafe at that description? Because it is merely a description of what is true: I have no theology. However, the label "Left" or "Liberal" really are only definitions of sets of ideas that people will assign it, regardless of what the people they define as such really fit those definitions. Therefore, to Ann Coulter, saying a "Liberal" hates America, those ideas are nothing more than definitions placed on a label that she can then put on anyone she wants to discredit (which is easy for her, because those people already take that label even though she has thoughtfully redefined it for them).

However, that definition is about as accurate as me saying that a "Conservative" is a greedy, money hungry monster, out to pollute and desecrate nature and people for a bigger profit.

Therefore, what I have realized is that these labels that we gladly assume really only hurt us in the long run. Remember what we were taught, so long ago? That we shouldn't judge a book by its cover? That we should not pass judgment on other people? That is what a label is. Therefore, I now have grown to detest labels such as Liberal, Leftist, Conservative, what have you. They are all useless categories, trying to stuff people uncomfortably into a little box of ideas that don't belong to them. If you don't believe me, try to fit the entire group known as "Christians" into a neat little box.

It ain't gonna happen.

So, in conclusion, I would like to ask "one mo' 'gan": "Is anybody there?"

Or, rather, I think it would be more appropriate to ask: "Does anybody care?"

(I would like to note that I originally wrote this on the message board of The Faulking Truth, as part of an old string that I started several months ago. The topic of that string was that I felt alone, and that I didn't feel the support of the community online or IRL, nor did I see much getting done. Therefore, the original title was "Is anybody there?"

Also of note: Yes, I did say I denounce the title of Liberal...why, then, is my blog titled that? Because it will be working for the Liberal agenda...however, that is only because the Liberal agenda, as it stands right now, seems to uphold more of the things that I value, like human rights and the environment. However, things can and do change, and it is beginning to look like I may abandon all labels all together soon. We shall see.)

Tips and Tricks for customers making calls to their ISP tech support

• Be sure to be completely clueless as to what you're using for e-mail as this is completely unimportant especially when you're having e-mail problems.
  
• Also be sure not to know how to find your e-mail program so you can spend a half an hour having the tech explain to you how to use the start menu and find outlook express. After all in all likelihood the tech has nothing better to do and all those phones ringing in the background are merely background music and not annoying at all.
  
• Be sure to tell the tech lots of anecdotal stories that have nothing whatsoever to do with your problem as the tech loves to listen to it and has nothing better to do but listen to you all day (and no supervisors or anyone else pressuring him to take as many calls as possible).
  
• Be sure and call and ask unrelated questions like "we just got a new computer and when we went to shut it down it just froze and the power button doesn't work what do we do?" as Internet Service Provider tech support is there to answer just such questions (hold the power button down for 5 seconds). Oh and be sure and call back angry at the tech support for "breaking" your computer when all you had to do was hit the button labeled "power" to turn it back on.
  
• Be sure to call on as crappy a phone and phone line as you can find. And talk as quietly as possible. The techs ya see, they get really annoyed when they can actually hear you and understand what your saying and your problem as opposed to static and your voice coming for a vast far distance.
  
• Now when calling the ISP be sure and use a crappy cell phone because as with the last remark being able to hear and understand a customer is the least important item on a list of things you need to get help from someone over the phone.
  
• When you have a problem with the service and/or an issue with the bill be SURE and call at 11:30 at night and YELL and CURSE and SCREAM at the tech support who is paid $7 an hour to sit in a tiny room at 11:30 at night and knows NOTHING of billing policy or anything else about the company. Because, ya see, company’s always put the BEST most qualified people on the 11:30pm shift and pay them $7 an hour. Be sure to have a few drinks before hand too. That can only help.
  
• Be sure you can only marginally speak English. It's really bad to actually be capable of communication with the tech before you call.
  
• Very important your computer isn't actually on when tech support calls you back of when you call tech support. Also be sure you're in another room and don't leave or anything to be in front of your computer when the tech starts to try and help you.
  
• Now if you're on Macintosh be sure and call up ask the tech to send you a non-existent Internet Explorer 5.5 because your bank will not let you access their web site without IE 5.5. Be sure not to be swayed by minor facts like not seeing any IE 5.5 listed at microsoft.com/mac, as the ISP after all is completely responsible for the development of IE and the name "Microsoft Internet Explorer" is completely irrelevant. And when the ISP can’t give you this mystical IE 5.5 for Mac on CD be sure to threaten to go to another ISP who can actually help you (that will help).
  
• When calling up with the error "bad username or password" be sure not to mention you don't actually know the password or you forgot it. This will only make the tech's job harder.
  
• In fact leave out as many facts as possible. Call from work and using a corporate network? Don't mention it! Still have AOL installed and aren't even dialing the ISP up? Don't mention it! The fewer facts the tech has to work with the better!

This has been a Neo RiNo Classic

Neo RiNo Classics

A collection of works by Neo RiNo:

Tips and Tricks for customers making calls to their ISP tech support

Weekly Quotes

4/15

It's not having what you want
it's wanting what you've got

Sheryl Crow in "Soak Up The Sun" - 2002
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3/26 - 4/15

Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. There is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

Hugo Weaving in V for Vendetta - 2006
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3/19 - 3/25

Language is a poor enough means of communication. I think we should use all the words we’ve got. Besides, there are damn few words that anybody understands.

Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind -1960