Careful Man, There's Vinegar Here!"

Here is an article that I wrote for The Dudespaper.com with a bit added by the editor.  I am reprinting it here as well.  I little note for those that are unaware.  The Dudespaper is the official publication of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude, also know as Dudeism.  The basic ideas of Dudeism are a mixture of Taoism, Humanism, and The Big Lebowskirolled into one package.

This article is about how I equated The Vinegar Tasters to the bowling team from the movie, The Big Lebowski.  Hope you like it!

By William Hoffknecht, The False Prophet of Dudeism
To have a great team, you need a good balance. The bowling team comprised of Donny, Walter, and The Dude is a perfect example. They work so well because of the mix of people and emotions that are ever prevalent within their circle. They are able to combine two great extremes, and one center weight to keep the polar opposites from clashing constantly.
Their mix reminds me of one of the most important pieces of ancient Chinese art, especially Taoist art, entitled "The Vinegar Tasters". If you are unaware of the piece, it is a simple picture with a vat labeled "vinegar" in the center and three men standing around it. The three men have all taken a taste and each is giving a different reaction to the situation.
The three in the picture represent the three pillars of Eastern thought. The first man in the picture is Confucius, standing next to him is Buddha, and the three are rounded off with the wise master, Lao Tzu. Each of their reactions are indicative of their philosophies and schools of thought. I equate Confucius to our friend Walter Sobchak, Buddha to Donny, and of course The Dude is very much Lao Tzu. This analogy can be expanded very deeply if you really want to try…and I do!
Confucius:
As the history of the painting describes, Confucius tastes the vinegar and finds it to be sour. This is a metaphor for the fact that he thought life to be sour and that the only way to find balance with nature and the way of things was to implement rules while remembering and worshiping the past, the ancestors. Walter, as much as we may love him, is so hard-line with the idea of following the rules that is goes to a great extreme. He also finds any situation to remind us of Vietnam and the sacrifices that his friends made for this country. Not only that, but he continues being obsessed with his ex-wife, her religion, and her dog. It is as if Walter is telling all of us that in order to be at peace, we need to find rules, live by them, and be reminded of the past.
Buddha:
It is said that when Buddha tastes the vinegar he found it to be bitter, full of tragedies and desires, extremes that lead away from inner peace and enlightenment. Before he became The Buddha, Siddhartha lived a lavish life of beauty and love with no idea about pain and suffering. One day he saw a sick and dying man and wanted to know more about the real world and what was happening. This caused him grief. After more trials and many years of meditation, Enlightenment was said to have been reached when Buddha practiced "The Middle Way", balance of the body and the soul. This reminds me of Donny in a lot of ways. He is not an extreme in the ways that Walter or The Dude are, but instead stays peacefully in the middle, totally unfazed but also somewhat unmoved by the complexities in life.
One can also find a parallel in the fact that Donny was on a roll, strike after strike, until one day he left one pin hanging and finally learned about suffering. This was also the last day that he walked the earth, at least in a physical sense of the word.
Yet also, in comparison with Confucianism and Taoism, traditional Buddhism has as its ultimate goal "Nirvana", which literally means a "a snuffing out", that is, a release from the cycle of birth and death (and by extension, bowling). Taoism and Confucianism are arguably more interested in the day-to-day affairs of our physical and social lives; in the same way, the Dude and Walter are far more "in the world" than Donny is.
On a slightly different note, when Donny hears the conversation about Lenin and thinks they are talking about John Lennon, his mind goes to "I am the Walrus", who has been revealed (by Kevin Smith in the movie Dogma at least) to represent the Buddha. I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together my friends.
Lao Tzu:
In the painting, Lao Tzu is said to be smiling. That’s because he found pleasure in the flavor of life as it is. As he tasted the vinegar, he realized that this is the way nature intended this vinegar to taste and therefore was at peace with it. The Dude is very much the same way. We also know that the Dude rides the Taoist wave. He is a human and sometimes gives into human stress and frustrations, but he is quick to be reminded that he is being very "un-Dude" and meets life’s challenges at the next crest, never fearing the outcome. The Dude does not get bitter or find suffering in the fact that he may need to get more milk for his Caucasian, or that it is time to pay the rent again. I also think of the Dude mixing a White Russian. He does not measure the parts, but pours them and drinks merrily. Maybe there is a different mix of Kahlua or Vodka, but each serving has something positive to take from it.
There is beauty in the fact that it was the Chinaman that caused his heroic journey by peeing on the Dude’s rug. We know that the Dude was a more of a fighter from his past experiences. After the Chinaman set forth the series of events that we know of, the Dude is a more peaceful and calm man in the end. Perhaps the Chinaman taught the Dude that a little vinegar need not be such a catastrophic drag.

The Vinegar Tasters has been one of my favorite pieces for many years, as has the Tao, but now we see that Lao Tzu was ahead of his time. The Vinegar Tasters lived in the days before Ralph’s, In-N-Out Burger, or bowling, but they knew that even many years later they would be reincarnated in the souls of these people that would go on to teach us all that there are many different ways to view a situation and react to it. Walter found peace in structure and the past, Donny in both knowledge and the present, and The Dude in life as a whole.
To which I say, "Mind if I do a J?"

Looking for Another Writer

Hello all.  I am posting this here first and depending on what kind of responses I get I might expand out to craigslist.  I am looking for another blogger to join my little project here.  This is, at the moment, a non-paying position.  Hopefully that will change in the future.

I am looking for someone that can submit an article once a week.  I would like to edit this article, but I will not silence or change your voice.  Overall I am just looking for someone with an opinion that can meet a deadline.  Preferred length of the editorials are somewhere around 750-1000 words, but that is not firm as of yet.  You do not have to agree with all of our politics nor am I looking to censor here.  The only thing that I do ask is that you have a humanistic viewpoint, whether secular or sacred, I do not care about.  This is a website that as you can see by the title is based on reason and humanism, not lies and ignorance.

Near the bottom of the page is a link to a contact form if you are interested.  I would like your name, contact info, and if you have links to some sample writings or just add some into the email.  If you have opinions on how or why to change this site, I will gladly accept those as well.  I am posting here because I would like to give my readers the first crack at this, but if I do not get any replies, then I guess I will go outside of our little circle to find someone. 

Thanks!

Time to Touch on a Few Points

This has been a very busy and exciting, as well as frustrating month for me.  It has been very hard for me to find the time to sit and write like I am used to, so that is what has caused the lack of recent posts.  I suppose that would matter if I had readers, but that is a delusion of grandeur at this time.  =)

First I need to touch on the Health Care Overhall bill that is about to be passed in the Senate, once the Republicans run out of stall tactics and go on with doing business.  As happy as I am that there will be this bill and some good things are coming out it, I am disappointed in almost everyone over this, but mostly that traitor Lieberman.  He says he is standing up for what he believes but I doubt that.  Whether or not he voted for the bill is not the issue, the fact that he would have broke lines and voted with the Republicans for filibusterer is sickening. 

Back to the matter at hand.  This bill is going to help a lot of people and screw the insurance companies.  Fuck them.  They do way more harm than good and hide under the veil of being helpful and welcoming.  I was for abolishing the entire thing.  Get rid of them as a whole and go with the system that makes sense:  the single-payer system.  This was never going to happen at this time though.  Instead we were given the "public option" which the Republicans misrepresented and consistently LIED about until they got enough people on their side as well as a couple of the democrats that are in the pockets of the insurance agencies to vote it out.  So what does this bill really mean?  Not much at all.  The consumer now has some protections against the beast, but that is really about it.

The fact remains that without free preventative health care, with fast food so cheap, and with so many alcohol and tobacco related deaths, our nation will continue to have an awful health record.  Health care is so expensive because we spend so much on a mixture of things that we do not need as well as on things that are preventable. 

I will get down from my soapbox on this issue for now.  Time to move one.

Dell, the computer company, has just about the worst customer service I have ever seen.  I am waiting to deal with them again sometime in the next few days and depending on the outcome with decide whether or not I will be a customer of theirs ever again.  They have long wait times, a horrible system where you have to bounce around between a ton of people just to get a hold of someone that can actually answer you question, a recording system and does not work right, shipping, delivery, and contact promise times that are a lie, and overall a website that is a joke to navigate.  I have been through hell and back on the phone with them for over a week and I am still in a place where I am unclear about the status of my order.  Fuck their service and I ask all of you to save yourself the hassle and never purchase a Dell product again.  It is nice that they are a US based company, but when all of their jobs are shipped overseas, what does it matter?  You are no longer supporting Americans except the few that are still on the board.

In other news, Google.com has gotten hit with a huge fine from the French.  About time.  I love Google and for the most part love their business model, but they are one of the worst offenders in copyright violations and are finally getting some shit for it.  There are some things that I agree with the laws and others that I do not.  When it comes to copyright, I will side with the artist 99% of the time, and with the heirs and family of a deceased artist about 1% of the time.  This is a time where Google needs to step back and rethink their system.

We are in the thick of the holiday season at this moment which for me means work work work.  I do love working for Amazon, not just because I love my company, but also because with the amount of stuff and orders that come through our building, I feel kinda like Santa, or at least one of his elves...a manly elf though.  Not one of those with a high voice and pointed shoes.  I am like the elf tech support guy...hey...I wonder how I can get that job??

Just a Quick One to Start Off the Month

Happy December everybody, fellow writers and readers alike.  This is the beginning of month number three for my little project here which, even if I have no readers or people who give a shit, I feel better getting to speak to my small, no wait, exclusive audience.

Today I read an article that sums up a lot of what I think and things that I wish to make better in this world while I am here.  It is on the website "Art of Manliness" (artofmanliness.com) which is one of the most excellent web sites that I have found in recent times.  If you have not read it, do it, sign up for it's RSS feed (...and mine while you are at it) and take the time.  Women, this web site has stuff for you as well!

Anyway, here is a link to the specific article:
Amusing Ourselves to Death

I will say that some of the skills and thoughts that I found here and all over this site I use in daily life.  I think I actually do feel more manly, but in a good way, not in the alpha-male sort of way.  There are skills that all men should know.  I grew up in a house where my father worked hard and knew a ton about a lot of things, but unfortunately he worked all of the time and did not have time to show me as much as I would have liked.  A lot I figured out on my own, but some came from the AoM site.

I will stop gushing and wish everyone a happy holiday season, whatever religion/social class/creed/ethnicity/nationality you may be.

It is Good to See Hate Still Exists in This Country

So an article tonight caught my eye.  It is about a new billboard put up outside of a small town in Colorado.  Here it is:

 

I protect their right to say it, but this is the exact reason that we need to educate people.  This is why we liberals feel that spending money on education is an important thing.  This person/group that devised this piece of ignorant racist hate is why we want people to think and read and know what is actually happening in the world.

There are many things wrong with this opinion.

First of all, Obama has shown his birth certificate, but these people choose to ignore that.

Second of all, he is not Muslim, or even if he was, that would not mean a fucking thing people.

Third, even if Obama was a Muslim and even if he was not born in the US, then where is the connection to Ft. Hood there??

There are so many leaps in logic on this that it spun my head when I saw it.

They want people to believe that there is some huge cover-up or something going on, which they have NO PROOF of.  They have their wild and crazy speculations that do not hold water.  Anyone that can think about this for more than 5 seconds sees this.  I am surprised that this billboard was not written in crayon with the level of thought that we are dealing with.

This is what happens to ideas that are dying.  When an ideal is compromised, then the survival instinct kicks in.  Just like a person caught in a corner, they become desperate and lash out.  Their reason does not hold water, they do not have any kind of proof, they turn to ad hominem attacks and any other tool that is within reach.  Really this is just sad and pathetic.

Who contrives this?  Are they living in a bunker twirling their mustaches and hatching plans to take down anyone that is slightly different?

No...

These are follow people.  These are our neighbors and people that we work with.  It bothers me that some of these people are at heart good people that truly just do not understand or choose to stay ignorant for fear or security.  Bush scared so many people so badly that they think that everyone that is not white, christian, and rich are the enemy attempting to take down everything we believe in.

I pity these people.  If ignorance is bliss, then they must be in heaven, but I still pity them.  They are sad and as we evolve as a society they will find themselves more and more lost and lonely.  At least we, the people of character and empathy will be there to keep them company in their dark days.

I think I am going to stop now before I stoop to their level....

Musical Revolution

Music is a weird thing:  It can recall so many memories, fears, loves, and joys in a simple melody.  Bands come and go, but some stay around for a long time, others disappear leaving behind a legacy pressed in vinyl that people will listen to for many years to come.

For anyone that knows me, I am a huge fan of The Beatles, as many of us are.  They were hands down the greatest and most influential rock band and will continue to be for the future.  There is no sight of anyone taking them down.

Anyway, back in February there was a leaked version of the song "Revolution" that was almost 11 minutes long and seemed to fulfill the rumor of a version of the song that connected the song "Revolution1" and the sound scape of "Revolution 9", both found on what we call "The White Album".  I recently listened to this and was blown away.  First of all, if you need any evidence to the fact that The Beatles were the greatest, all you have to do is listen to "Revolution" and "A Day in the Life" and that should convince anyone.  Second, this was like hearing a brand new song by your favorite band.

Did you ever have that?  A band that you loved so much and could not wait for their new album or single to come out?  I know that feeling so well, mainly from when I was younger.  Now, I am far more patient and other things are important in life.  When I was in high school though, everyone came to me because I always had the newest music before anyone else and a trustworthy opinion on it, along with the meanings and references.  When I first heard this new Beatles version of "Revolution", called "Revolution 1, Take 20", I found that feeling all over again.  It was as if I was a kid, brimming with amazement at the newest release from my favorite band, which in those days were Tool, Nine Inch Nails, or Cake.

A melody is a simple thing.  If you are unaware of the parts of music, the melody is the tune, the thing that you hum when you have a song stuck in your head.  It is wonderful how we as people can find these associations, a simple thing like "ba-da-da-lalala" can find its way into the depth of what some people would consider a soul and transport you to a time or place, a feeling or range of feelings.  Sometimes when I hear certain songs I feel as if I am Billy Pilgrim becoming unstuck in time.

Please my dear readers, comment on your songs, where they take you emotionally, and the stories behind them.  Continue to rock on, and here is the link to that Beatles version if you want to check it out for yourself:
http://nevergetoutoftheboat.blogspot.com/2009/02/beatles.html

Meditations on Food and Sex

I love my food. 

Some of us really enjoy our food, others despise it, and others really do not care much about it.  Here is America we are taught a few different things from our parents depending on cultural differences.  There are two main viewpoints and some people get one, some get the other, while some people are torn and taught both.

1. Eat all your food.  There are starving kids in Africa that could live for a week off of what you throw away.
2. You ate too much.  You are fat.

Now, there is most definitely a major problem with obesity in this country.  There is also an issue with eating disorders.  On top of it, we are force fed the idea that your image means everything from the time we are young children.  This is where it all clashes.  What are we supposed to do?

To top the issue off even more is the prevalence of video games, computers, and of course television.  These are all things that keep us from getting off of our fat asses and taking a walk.  They also help with the fact that we do not really have to converse with people face to face anymore.  Intelligent conversation, the evil riot-starter is out the window as well.  As long as we are still happy watching that reality garbage, we no longer have to want things.  As long as we, bovine America, are being force-fed Doritos by some asshole with a bad toupee or some dysfunctional family with a million kids, then we will sit and be happy as Hindu cattle.

I know I know, television is not all bad.  I agree, it isn't, just most of it.  Advertising is one of the major culprits here.  If we do not have the best body, the coolest shoes, the nicest skin, the most awesome iProduct, then we are even bigger losers than we already feel like and, again, no one will want to have sex with us.

Is that what is all boils down to?  Sex?  We all know that sex sells in advertising and all that, but I am thinking that it is the heart of everything.  We are, for the most part, endowed with this very strong instinct to want to reproduce.  We are built to survive, but that survival instinct is really only in place to fuck.  I remember that time in high school, puberty, and those feelings that a young man gets.  I felt like I wanted to have sex with everything, not to mention that I could many many times in a row.  To a young guy, anything can make you want to.  It is so hard to get anything done when every math problem reminds you of sixty-nine, biology class reminds you of the female body parts, and when you are trying to do sports the cheerleaders are distracting ever move.  It is frustrating and overwhelming.

Sex.  We want to reproduce.  The smart people in marketing, those assholes that see everything as a dollar sign know this.  What are our fears and insecurities rooted in?  The fact that if we do not have a biggest tits, hardest penis, or most awesome car, then it is less likely that we will find a beautiful mate to reproduce with.  You will not be the alpha male and only get the sloppy seconds of of the alpha male.  You are a sub dominate example of a human and therefore do not get to mate with the people that will produce the smartest and most attractive offspring.

Is this what our ancestors meant for us?  Did they toil and fight for survival so that some smooth young prick can tell us what to eat, what to wear, and how to treat a woman? 

It all seems so unnatural. 

I do not offer much in the way of conclusions, just questions.  It just occurred to me that the cavemen are probably looking down on us and thinking that we are morons.  They may have worked harder than we do, but at least they had a purpose and something worth being proud of.  Voltaire famously stated that we much "cultivate our garden".  This is what we, as a society, seem to not be doing enough of.  We are too busy giving our children diabetes while destroying the planet.

I guess that at least we are multitasking this issue.  All I can think of is a drunken frat idiot yelling "I've got two beers!!"

On that note, I feel like asking Donald Sutherland if I can buy some pot from him.  =)

AdSense Makes No Sense

So I added these ads onto my blog and have been disappointed so far in what their automatic engine has decided are the ads that will best work on my blog.

Just a few minutes ago I noticed one at the bottom that just pissed me off something fierce.  It was an ad against gay marriage in Maine, a vote that takes place tomorrow.  Fuck that.
Here it is:


I do not want to endorse any of those idiots that think that denying someone the right to marry based on sexual preference is okay.  I think I will write a nasty letter to Google over this even.  I want everyone to know that not ONE of their arguments against gay marriage holds water when you actually think about it; when you take more than 5 seconds to consider this.  It is just another way for religious types to cast their moral values on other people.  It sickens me and I will get into a debate with anyone any day of the week over this.  I have been arguing for gay rights since I first learn how to form an argument and I am tired of it.

Are we still children here?!  Are we this cynical as a nation?  I thought that our society has moved past this.  At least I know that gay marriage will become legal in Maine, as it has in many other states now, and will soon be in California again.

I am usually against name-calling, it is no way to argue a point, but I am just getting so frustrated over this argument.  I think that is what they want though.  If we get frustrated enough that we resort to the way that neocons like to "argue", then they win.  Fuck that shit.  I want to sit and call them all a bunch of people using religion to hide their thinly veiled racism and fears.  They do not understand, so they push away.  I want to call them a bunch of ignorant pricks, but I will not resort to that.

I welcome any of you to comment or email me through the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page.  Come on, I am ready to throw down with this any day of the week.  I have logic and reason on my side, you have nothing.  I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE on this topic!

...and one last thing:  Google, you should be ashamed of yourself.  If your little crawlers worked at all, then your AdSense crap would know that this blog is for reason and humanity, not junk science and silly beliefs or superstitions that do not make ANY SENSE.

Month Number 2

Thanks for the few readers, writers, and comments that we have gotten over the first month of existence!

Today is the start of November and I want to talk a bit about what November means to me.

There are a few family things, my mother's birthday for one, and of course Thanksgiving, but that is not all.  For those that have known me for awhile you will know that my favorite writer in the late Kurt Vonnegut.  I have read everything that I could possibly find of his and will continue to search and hope for more.  And for anyone that has read much Vonnegut, you know that his writings are personable as well as very personal.  We readers of him know many facts about his life.  We feel like we knew him.  That sad April night in 2007 was hard for many of us...the news broke to me in a text message from a friend reading something along the lines of "I am sorry...about Kurt".  Just reading that...I knew he was gone along with all hopes for a new piece of fiction and the chance to shake his hand once in my life.

The reason that I think of him here in November is because his birthday is the 11th of this month.  On his birthday I celebrate a personal tradition of buying a pack of unfiltered Pall Malls and enjoying each one, trying to get slightly closer to his life in some way.

As I sit here, I realize that I am looking back, which reminds me that this writing must be a failure because it was written by a pillar of salt.  If you do not understand what that means, you have not read enough of KV.

The first thing that I read of Kurt's was Slaughterhouse-Five.  Some of my friends had read it and told me that I would love it.  I  knew about Kurt, but had never gotten around to reading him.  Finally one of my dear friends forced the book on me.  I read it all in just a couple of hours.  From the first moment that I read the opening title page I knew that I would love this book.  I had never read something so silly and honest at the same time, which if you know me, then you know that is my style 100%.

After that I reread the book.  Then I went out to one of my local used book stores and picked up another book, this one was Breakfast of Champions.  I was again blown away with humor and all the time realizing my values.  Someone once asked me before this if I was a humanist, based on a conversation of personal philosophies.  At the time I had answered no.  Through Vonnegut I realized that I was and that my understanding of what a humanist is was greatly misinformed.  Vonnegut had a way of making anyone understand.  I now had quotes and reasons to sum up all of my ideas.  I guess what he gave me was validation.  I was not alone and I was not crazy.  This opened up all new doors of thought and reason for me, and Kurt did it all with a smile and a joke, even in the most horrible of times.

I always think of when he wrote about himself in the underground meat locker.  They listened to bombs dropping and nothing but Hell above them.  Someone made a small joke and no one laughed, but he wrote that they were all happy that he said it.

Since that time, I veraciously bought every book and read it very quickly.  I buy used copies are book stores to give away to people or leave around on bookshelves, hoping that some person will see it and become curious.  I know I have gotten a few people into him, but who knows how many overall...

Kurt was the Honorary President of the AHA.  After his death, the position was given to the brilliant Gore Vidal.  As much as I respect that decision, there is a major difference there.  Reading some of the recent interviews with Gore, he seems to have become very bitter in the world.  He has lost hope in our society.  That is something that I do not believe Kurt would have ever done.  One of his sons wrote after his death that his father was an eternal optimist striving to be a pessimist, wanting to be depressed but having far too much hope for that.  I believe that about him.

I guess I am just talking about him and for those that read this and know nothing about him, I am probably boring you, but it is my blog so if I want to write a long article about my hero and his affect on me, I will.  That is the beauty of this medium.

I guess the reason this is on my mind so much more is that I relate to that attitude so much.  I am known as a rather happy person.  I consider myself a realist, but I am considered by most as an optimist.  I would say that I am a cautious optimist at best, but more like a hopeful realist.  I see hope everywhere and reasons to be happy.  Kurt assisted me with that and I miss a voice like that in our world.

There are a few great voids  in the world today.  They are all heroes of mine, and we need them:

Kurt Vonnegut - We need guidance, we need a voice for the public to help them understand what we are all about and why we should be loving one another.
Carl Sagan - He was the voice of science to the public and since his death we have no one of his clarity, reason, or visions out there that can command a crowd as he did.  The "Pale Blue Dot" speech is one of the greatest things ever written.  I think that his loss is one of the only reasons we have such a misunderstanding of science in our current society.
Jim Henson - I cried as a boy when Jim died.  I still weep from time to time when I think of my son growing up in a world where adults, the ones that create children programming, seem to have nothing but contempt for their audience.  Jim treated kids with a beauty and an art, with a general respect for their ability and intelligence that has not been matched.

For people that are unaware, humanism is not a bad thing.  In fact, there is a good chance that you are one and do not even know it.  Whether sacred or secular humanism, learn about what it means.  Kurt once stated that he would vote for the first person that ran under the banner of the beatitudes, but none of them do.  That is one of the best ways to think of what we stand for.  The beatitudes.

I also often quote the idea that if Jesus Christ had walked the Earth, and if he actually said the wonderful things that he said, then what would it matter if he was the son of God or not?  I quoted that to a Christian friend of mine and she agreed.  I like that.

Now I shall let you all go your separate ways.  Feel free to contact me with the "Contact Us" link at the bottom if you want to know more about him or his writings, or humanism in general.

Also, if anyone can find out where he is buried, please share.  I want to start a tradition not unlike the "Poe Toaster".  I would leave notes with reason and quotes on his grave along with a shot of something that would make my breath smell like "mustard gas and roses".

NC is still living in the 16 Century.

Check out this article and watch the video:

http://www.examiner.com/x-10853-Portland-Humanist-Examiner~y2009m10d23-NC-Baptist-church-plans-Halloween-book-burning-Video

Wow.  Sometimes people still amaze me even though I know in my heart that they shouldn't.  I have met a lot of people with all sorts of beliefs and feelings.  We are all made differently and, as the saying goes, it takes all kinds, but this really amazes me.  I thought that we put these things behind us.  Even the Christians should have...

1 Corinthians 13:11 - When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Are people still this lost and confused in the world?  The area where I live, Northern Nevada, is full of a lot of misinformed people who think that hoarding their dollars is more important than the health and education of their community, people who do drugs or drink are accepted as either friends that are just doing their thing or worthless trash that needs to be dealt with instead of realizing that the alcoholic and drug addict are a product, a reflection on their community, and that hate and violence is okay as long as it is against whomever they choose, but I have not met many people with the gall to stand up and say that we need to burn books.

I can see them now, a bunch of older, confused people dancing around their book pyre, speaking in tongues and hissing as if it were nothing more than an old time melodrama.

I believe in freedom of religion and I think it is one of the many brilliant sparks in the Constitution.  I believe that these people, whom I wish I could just write off as crazy, but that is not productive, should be able to burn these books if they want.  The right of protest is important, but I cannot understand how people are so lost and misguided.  Do these people actually think that destroying books is going to change anything?  It sounds to me like it is revenge for logic and reason showing how obsolete and ridiculous these people are.  Through education we find that these silly acts of childishness are just that, silly and childish.

There is another thing going on here as well:  The town has said that setting this bonfire is a safety hazard and that the fire department will stop it.  If the church continues with the burning, the FD will put it out and charge the ringleader for the services.

I do give them a certain amount of credit for standing up for what they believe in, something that a lot of us have lost due to apathy.  If we as reasonable people stood up in 2000 and protested the election, maybe the Bush/Cheney regime would not have ever happened.  It shows that us reasonable people believe in the rule of law and the constitution.  By the way, whatever you think about 2000, whether you thought it was fair or stolen, you have to admit that it was very fishy and not everything was on the level there...but I shall move on.

According to the website of the church, they are destroying perversions of the will of God, including many books written by other christian writers as well as various versions of the bible that they see unfit.

First of all, don't you think it rather presumptuous to assume the word of God??  I don't even believe in that great illusionist, but I cannot assume to know what he wants.  Even if they go by the word of the bible, they should read the damn thing before making assumptions and learn a little about their actual history.

The very early Christians were considered a cult in ancient Rome, which in turn made them illegal.  In order to fight this, they decided to add what we call the old testament to the new testament and therefore claim that this is an actual religion that goes back a long time.  this gave them a certain amount of acceptance, especially after Constantine came along.

In the new testament, Jesus, the man that they claim to follow, the man they claim is their lord and savior preached a few, very simple things to live by.  He also made this statement that he would tear down the church and rebuild it in three days.  This was a great metaphor meaning to turn away the old practices and look forward to the new ones, those simple ideas that are quite often summed up as the Beatitudes.
Here:

Matthew 5:2-10 (New International Version)
²and he began to teach them saying:
 ³"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 ⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
      for they will be comforted.
 ⁵Blessed are the meek,
      for they will inherit the earth.
 ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      for they will be filled.
 ⁷Blessed are the merciful,
      for they will be shown mercy.
 ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
      for they will see God.
 ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
      for they will be called sons of God.
 ¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Christians today seem to forget that they have a religious obligation to the poor and to make peace, but many choose to follow the old eye for an eye saying or practice hate on others unlike themselves.

On eye for an eye for a second, Jesus specifically said in the book, and mind you this is not me assuming, this is what is says, that eye for an eye is the old way and we do not practice that anymore.  Now we practice love and forgiveness, turn the other cheek.  Oh how quickly we tend to forget when we are becoming desperate.

I did not mean to turn this into a christian-bashing party or anything.  I actually have many christian friends and agree with a few of them, mainly the ones that follow what the book says and don't cram their religion down your throat.  I have one friend that never, ever preaches to you.  He is willing to speak and educate you on the bible if you would like, but truly understands that it is not his place to convince you of anything.  I respect that a lot.  It is refreshing in this world to see someone that has great experiences with religion and has used it as a tool to assist him in becoming a better person, not a crutch to fling hate and fear at one another.

This NC Church enjoys this book burning.  To them, it is a practice of faith in some twisted way, but to evolved beings, they are nothing but silly, uneducated people.  To quote Mickey Knox, "From where you're standing, you're a man, but from where I'm standing, you're an ape."

Let them burn their silly books.  Let the people like Limbaugh, Savage, Robertson, and the other right-wing wackos say what they want.  It will only be through education that we will evolve as society toward peace and love, not the hate that these people want to spew.  It takes us not regulating or looking away, but watching and seeing the ridiculousness of it all to show how weird these people really are.  You cannot argue against that which you do not understand or know about.

The Tao teaches us that when you create more laws, you create more criminals.  It is with patience and teaching that we will move forward.

I guess this post went a few different directions there, but oh well.  Say what you will because I will not shut you up.  I will not burn your books.  I may call you a moron and laugh at your antiquated superstitions and rituals, but feel free to do them as long as you need to.

That is one of the great things about the internet:  People can't burn it.  Also, really check out that website of the church.  It is almost as funny as the all-powerful TIMECUBE!!

Lies Conservatives Believe

I have several motivations for what follows. I have a sincere desire to see a better world come to pass and to make peace with my conscience. I believe that there are many great people in this nation who will, if given the chance, always do the right thing, and it is my duty to say something when my people have been mislead. Too, I have written the things which follow because I have a sincere love for those soldiers who have given their lives for our country and for those who honor them with local tributes and memorial services which I have witnessed. Jesus said that a man has no greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. I think of Jesus’ words every time I witness a memorial service for a fallen soldier. Along with that, part of what follows may have kind've a religious tone. I usually don't write or speak this way, but because of the religious nature of some of the right wing notions, this time I have written this way purposely.

Well, I’m neither a democrat nor a republican; neither a capitalist nor a socialist; but I do consider myself a realist. When I write about the problems with right wing conservatives I am writing about the problems of moderate democrats and common everyday well intentioned people as well. The problem is two fold as I see it: 1) Some people just do not know the truth about our nation; 2) Others can’t understand the truth because of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, because of its nature, is a malady of deception. Americans, like any other people, tend to believe that they are more intelligent and righteous than they actually are. Let me discuss briefly six lies which many people believe about our nation but do not really think about.

(The following is a work in progress. I am planning on adding references later. However, any of the statements made concerning U.S. foreign policy or references to Jesus can be looked up very easily by quick web searches.)


The first lie is that our country has done more to promote democracy and freedom than any other nation.

Like all of the lies our nation has come to believe, I wish this statement as well as the rest were true, but an accurate telling of history will deny this. From the very beginning and before The United States Constitution was signed into existence, the hope which America offered to “all” men (all people) has never been realized; neither have the most powerful leaders of this nation tried to realize the hopes of equality the Constitution guarantees.

It is a hard truth to accept, but most of the wealth generated in this nation from the very beginning has been made possible by stealing from vulnerable people. The obvious examples are committing genocide against the Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. Too, as our nation began to prosper from cheaply gotten land and labor, our nation was able to steal large tracts of land from Mexico and exploit cheap labor and cheaply gotten natural resources from Central and South America. After the Spanish American War, our nation was able to not only exploit the people south of our borders, but we were also able to conquer the Philippine people. Our nation is still oppressing and exploiting other people by cheaply taking natural resources which rightly belong to others. One can easily research the tin mines of Bolivia; the overthrow of elected President Allende, by Pinochet's cruel military forces, in Chile for the copper mines; the oil fields of Peru, Columbia, and Ecuador; the fruit wars of Guatemala instigated by the U.S. United Fruit Company; and the cruel repression of public opinion and labor forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua. It does not take much effort to come to the realization that the wars which we are waging at this modern time in Iraq and Afghanistan are about exploiting the natural resources of those lands which we are occupying by force.

From the very beginning, our nation has been extremely hypocritical when it comes to promoting freedom and democracy. Freedom and democracy has never been promoted by our nation in any other country, and it has not been realized by the Native American or the Black African in our own nation until recently. Freedom and democracy for Central America, South America, The Philippines, Israel, and many African Nations, costs too much for most of the policy makers of The United States.

The truth is that our nation has done more to stop democracy and freedom than any other nation. Anytime the people of other nations wanted to keep the wealth which came from the natural resources of their nation or keep more of the wealth from their labor by electing officials which represented their interests more fairly, those movements and leaders were put down by force and dictators were installed by brute military force empowered by stolen wealth and our taxes. [Check out the list of dictators which are and have been supported by our government: < http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/dictators.html >]


The second lie is that capitalism is a good thing for all.

Capitalism in the United States is like a single big apple pie made for a holiday picnic. There are a hundred people who want a piece of the pie. One person takes ninety-nine percent of the pie and leaves one slim piece of pie, equaling one hundredth of the pie, for the ninety-nine people left to fight over. It is well known fact that ninety-nine percent of the wealth in the United States is held by one percent of the population. The rest of us feel fortunate and blessed if we get a single crumb of that wealth to live on. However, there are many who not even get a crumb. It is a plain fact that to succeed in small business and practice any kind entrepreneurship is getting to be harder and harder. Big corporations are monopolizing everything—making things cheaper and cheaper but lowering the common man’s working wage more and more. It is almost impossible for most people to start a successful business in this monopolized country.


The third lie is that if a person works hard in this country she or he will be rewarded.

It doesn’t matter how hard some people have worked; many hardworking people still do not live above poverty level. Many migrant workers who migrate to the states to work are denied health care and never make any better than minimum wage, and some never get paid even minimum wage. Too, millions of hardworking citizens are denied health care because the insurance is too expensive. Most small companies struggle to provide health insurance for their employees; when many small companies try to pass the costs of health care to the employees, the insurance is too expensive for the employees to buy. I’ve known loggers, truck drivers, farmers, and teachers who have worked hard their whole life, but at retirement, they live barely above poverty level—many times because some health issue depleted their savings. Where is their reward? The fact is that a person must be smart and lucky enough to get a good job in order to live a wealthy life and few do.


The fourth lie is those who cannot take of care themselves will be taken care of.

There are thousand of people every year who die because they cannot afford the health care: many drugs and operations to keep them alive are too expensive for them.


The fifth lie is that our nation was founded on Christian principles and that it promotes Christian principles.

In order for a nation to call itself Christian it must live according to the teachings of the founder of Christianity—that would be Jesus Christ. Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and mammon—that is, that a person can not serve money and power and, at the same time, think he or she is serving God. Jesus said that the heart is the eye of the body. If the eye is bad the whole body will be full of darkness. Where a man’s treasure is there will be his heart also. Jesus told a parable about a wealthy man who stored his wealth in barns until they were all full, so he built more barns so that he could store more of his wealth. The man thought to himself, “See, I have much wealth. I will relax and enjoy myself for many years.” But before the man could enjoy his wealth, he died and had to give an account of his wealth to God. This is what Jesus said about people who are rich toward themselves and not rich towards God. At another time, a rich and powerful ruler came to Jesus and asked how he could enter the kingdom of God. Jesus told him to give his wealth away to the poor so that he would have treasure in heaven. Jesus exclaimed, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The Apostle Paul said that the love of money is the root of all evil. Again in another place, Jesus also said, “To them that are given much, much are expected.” The more power and wealth one has, the more God will expect for that one to take his responsibilities seriously in this life—that is to use the wealth and power for the good of all.

Greed has driven the policies of this nation from the beginning, and the concern of most people in this country is continually economic. According to the teachings of Jesus, this nation is far from what He meant by the kingdom of God, and, according to the teachings of Jesus, this nation will be judged most severely. Many actions of our government are opposed to the teaching of Jesus.


The sixth lie is that the United States is special—more special than all other nations—that it has a special calling from God—like a light on a hill which gives light to the world. This is spelled out in books like “The Light and the Glory.”

This doctrine is made most clear politically in the Monroe doctrine called “Manifest Destiny.” The meaning of this term is that the United States has been predestined by God to conquer and progress over other peoples—supposedly influencing the world for democracy and freedom. Such a belief has justified the dehumanization of millions. This justified the genocide of the Native Americans, the enslavement of Africans, the cruel domination of indigenous people and people of Spanish descent south of our borders, and the cruel domination of our country over other peoples of the world by military force and the installment of cruel dictators.

The worship of a nation or any organization above God must be condemned as idolatry. This is what has happened in the United States. Not only has our nation with military force taken natural and cultivated resources which did not belong to us because of blatant greed, but, also, in the name of security and securing power, thousands of innocent people have died in needless wars. Power comes from God—not wealth and military might. What ever special calling this nation has had it has desecrated severely.


One cannot trust in money and power and at the same time think he or she is trusting in God. Jesus instructed his disciples that his followers would be recognize by their love—not wealth and military power. Likewise, a "Chosen Christian" nation will be recognized by its love--not cruelty!

Just a Quick One...

This is just a quick announcement:

We have registered and are now functioning with various domain names:

nvfreethinkers.com
nvfreethinkers.net
nvfreethinkers.info
nvfreethinkers.org.

I was just looking to set up the .com, but they had a bundle deal for cheap, so I took it.  =)

Well It Ought To Be...

The philosopher David Hume once wrote this paragraph:

In every system of morality, which I have hitherto met with, I have always remark'd, that the author proceeds for some time in the ordinary ways of reasoning, and establishes the being of a God, or makes observations concerning human affairs; when all of a sudden I am surpriz'd to find, that instead of the usual copulations of propositions, is, and is not, I meet with no proposition that is not connected with an ought, or an ought not. This change is imperceptible; but is however, of the last consequence. For as this ought, or ought not, expresses some new relation or affirmation, 'tis necessary that it shou'd be observ'd and explain'd; and at the same time that a reason should be given; for what seems altogether inconceivable, how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it.

This is a small paragraph that Hume was not overall concerned with, but it has sparked some debate with philosophers in the past 300 years since.  In case you have a bit of trouble understanding what Hume is saying, the basis is this:

The world is a certain way.  We say that things should be different sometimes, but how do we know that the world should (ought) to be that way until it is actually that way?

This is a very poignant thought that a lot of people overlook.  The idea is that we really cannot claim that things ought to be changed until they are and we can see the overall consequences of those actions.  Politics in America and really the world today are ruled by these things that we want to change.  We think deep down that there is an issue and that needs to be rectified.  Then when things get changed, later there is another issue that occurs which leads to the world needed to make another change or remove the original change, again, sometimes for the better and other times not.

Poor ol' Jimmy...I love Jimmy Carter and while some consider him one of the worst presidents ever, most people recognize that he is one of the best people ever, exemplary in fact.  Jimmy gets a bad wrap quite often I think.  A lot of things that he tried to change in the 70's got shot down due to politics, and other things that he did change got turned over once Regan came into the picture.  The "Malaise" speech was brilliant and very true, but people turned away from it because Jimmy sat up and had the balls to tell people that we needed to change as a society.  No one wanted to hear it.

The point being that now we see the effects of those things.  We see the world in a terrible ecological state and in the past 28 years, my lifetime, 20 of them were ruled by Republicans who went out of their way to deny the reality and force their dogmatic visions down our throats.  People who dislike President Obama are calling him all sorts of terrible names and threatening him and his family.  It is sickening to me.  Even if I agreed with their principles, and a few I do, I could never call myself a Republican or support them after the display during my lifetime.  They call him a socialist, which if you know what a socialist is, then you can clearly see that he is not one.  They call him a Nazi which he is no where near.  In fact, on that note, the Bush administration went out of their way to use religious dogma and fear tactics for political and social ends which is a simple definition for a fascist, but who cares.  We were safe!

We were not safe.  All we did was move the battle onto their turf.  Thousands of Americans, some of them innocent, have died in this war of lies, this shadow war used to remove the rights of the people, lie to us on many multiple occasions, elect their cronies to high ranking office, and give money to large companies with religious agendas or direct connections to that administration.  That is fascism at its purest.

I digress though...

The best tool that we have to work with to determine answers of what should be is empathy, which can be broken down to what we know as the golden rule.  The golden rule my friends...it makes sense.  This is why it is one of the things that they first teach you in school.  This may also be why ever major religion in the world has something very similar in its teachings, yet many of the followers choose to ignore it.

If you are sick, don't you want to be given the chance to get better?
If you make a mistake, don't you want a chance to admit and atone for that mistake?
If you were in a position of power, wouldn't you want people to believe that you had what you thought were the best intentions in mind?
If you were in a position of power, would you want your family threatened just because someone did not agree with you?
If you go to a news source, don't you want to trust you are getting accurate reporting?

These are simple questions people. 

Overall, we as a society are evolving.  We are moving in a forward direction I believe, but just like any idea that is becoming obsolete, the hardcore followers are becoming desperate, lashing out with all that they have left.  The McCarthy-based Neocon Republicanism is dying and dying rapidly.  Republicans used to be a symbol of the constitution.  Now they are a joke, based on fear and revenge, not rights and reason.  Do not get me wrong, Republicans will always be around, but they are being forced to evolve with the rest of the world.  Hopefully they can put this dark history behind them and start thinking again sometime soon.

Hopefully...but with figureheads like Rush, Beck, Savage, and especially Palin, it is not looking too hopefully.



On that note, I cannot believe that any woman would vote for Palin.  She does nothing but a disservice to women everywhere.

Time to Have some Fun!

So those of you that know me know that there is only one major sport that I really care for other than arguing with idiots and that is baseball.  As I am writing this we are in the heart of the MLB post season and to lighten up the conversation some I have decided to write a bit about my reflections of this brilliant, yet in some ways dying sport.

Baseball has been played professionally for something like 130 years and the World Series has been played consistently (except in '94) for most of that time.  This is a sport that really grew with our country.  Through the hard times: The Spanish American War, The Great War, The Great Depression, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Nixon, baseball has been there to calm the minds and lift the spirits.

So when I see the game today on television, as much as I enjoy it, I know that being able to watch that game is what is killing it as well.  Television ratings now rule the game.  They start games later, there are more pauses, and the ticket prices have sky-rocketed.

These three factors lead to the main reason that the sport is in decline and that is because they are no longer marketing, nor have they been in 35 years, to what should be their chief audience.

Kids.

When baseball was truly the national pastime, games quite often started not long after school got out and the tickets were dirt cheap, even when you factor in proportionality of today's money.  Kids are shut out of the game unless their parents have a ton of cash, let them stay up late and don't fight them for the remote, or if you are like me, make it a point to have live baseball on the radio (the way it was intended), keep supplies like balls and gloves around for when my boy is ready to start playing catch, and use a huge chunk of a paycheck to take the boy to the Bay Area for three hours of great food, good people, a great game, and what can only really be summed up as Heaven.

To survive the game had to make some concessions, as all of them do, for advertising revenue and all that, but there is a limit to where they are destroying the game.  Look at Nascar and Football.  Those are two sports that are completely ruled by their advertisers and they are now both abominations of what they once were.  A few years ago baseball wanted to put small ads on the bases themselves, on the field.  Luckily this got shut down.  The base itself is what the game is named after and they're are beautiful white padded squares.  An ad would have destroyed one of the last pure items left in sports.

The other reason that the game is dying is because as it may gain some fans, our culture and our current society has moved us away from the game.  We got ourselves into a big goddamn hurry and all of a sudden find something like baseball boring.  Baseball is a game of total nuance, a cerebral mindset, and patience, but in the end it pays off to one of the best and most unique sports.  Of the major sports in the U.S, it is the only one where there is no timer, every field is different, and their two leagues play by different rules.  Not only that, it is one of the only sports that you take a scorecard to and fans are encouraged to keep their own score, which in baseball, is a skill.  It is one of the few sports that puts one man against a team, then breaks that team up and each one of them then has to challenge your team.  One against all, but no one man can control that game.  Not only that, but no one team is immune to one great swing of the bat.

You know that hitting a big league fastball is still considered one of the hardest feats in all of athletics.

Anyway...I should stop ranting.  I am just saddened that people do not take the time to appreciate things as much anymore.  We lost our ability to really relate to rituals and learning to calculate things on a slower pace.  We want answers now and are not going to do your silly steps to get them.  Another example of this is shaving.  We want to get it done with so we get that awful foam in a can stuff and those VERY expensive throw away razors instead of taking the time and learning how to use the "badger and the blade" to get a better shave.  We want quantity, not quality.  The Wal-Marts of the world have taught us that everything should be cheap and disposable.  Those press-board shelves that Wal-Mart sells may only be sixty bucks or whatever, but you will have to buy them 5 time in your life time instead of spending five-hundred bucks on a nice oak shelf that will last your life time and your child's as well.

So it may be a backwards way to say it...but Wal-Mart has destroyed baseball.  I know that is not true, but I will admit that I take pleasure in blaming Wally-World for everything.

 So now I am rounding third, and heading home...

Eugenics...no way!

Most people do not remember or even believe this...but the practice of Eugenics, in some form or another, was still legal in this country as late as 1978.  31 years ago.  Not long before I was born....

Eugenics, at its heart, is meant to be the practice of selective breeding in people to weed out the "bad genes", but that is not what it really was.  It really was the forced sterilization of people that other people decided should not breed.  Examples of this were hardcore criminals such as rapists as well as mentally disabled people.  Now, there were cases of "purity" groups (i.e. white supremacists) that attempted to perform this practice on people they decided were beneath them.

I felt kind of dumb that I have never heard of this until a few years back, just the practice, and it was not until recently that I learned about how recently this was still enforced.  I cannot even get that word out of my head, Eugenics.

The reason I bring this up is because of a conversation that I overheard the other day about the health care debate.  A woman was talking about her anger toward our government and especially the President.  She was bitching and ranting saying that "We are not Canada so don't try to make our health care like Canada's".  Let me go on a tangent for a second here...

The health care bill that they are trying to pass is NOTHING AT ALL like the Canadian health care system nor does it try or claim to be.

Okay, back to my discussion.  She went on to say that this is just a way for lazy people to bleed her dry and that they all need to either get a job or be castrated.  I wondered at that moment who she wanted to pay for this castration because if she wants it, it will her money paying the bill and that is just another way to "bleed her dry" I suppose.

Well, the reason this is so enthralling to me was that she was advocating eugenics.  For some reason, whether is be her religious, social, or economic beliefs, or may just the way she was raised, she decided that she was perfect and that anyone unlike here was not perfect and therefore deserved to die.  Let's not beat around the bush here.  To practice eugenics is to advocate death.  Don't sugar coat it.

If everyone was like her...I probably would want to die anyway.  Hell, I would pull the trigger in that case.

Then is reminded me of the fact that she is a person that constantly bitches about wanting her freedoms and that only her choice of people should deserve those freedoms.  What I wanted to say to her at that instant was to call her a Nazi Cow, but that would not have been productive.

Anyway, all of this revolves around Health Care and the ongoing debate in our country.  I hear the right say that we have the best health care system in the world.  They say this and I wonder how this opinion is being formed.  What, to them, is the definition of good health care because I see two glaring facts that counter act that statement:
(Both of these facts come from the CIA World Factbook)
1. We are rated #46 in the world for infant mortality rate, with 6.26/1000.
2. We are rated #35 in life expectancy with an average age of 78.11.

I am not complaining about these numbers.  They are actually quite good overall, but to claim that we have the best system in the world while we are no where near the top in really the two major categories that help define health care is just ridiculous.  Canada, UK, France, and other European nations with systems far different than ours that they like to just label as socialist or evil, are all above us in these categories.

I am not saying that we need a single-payer system like Canada or that we want a more government run system like in the UK, but something needs to be done.  If you don't like this bill, do not worry, it will change once it is passed and we will fix the issues.  Do not fret.  In the end, even if it is nothing more than a health insurance reform bill and helps regulate this horrible market that is insurance, then at least that is a step in the right direction. 

As long as it does not contain money for eugenics, then I think I am happy.  =)

A New Project...

Welcome all! Welcome to this new project that I am attempting to start here called "NV Freethinkers".

I live here in Northern Nevada and having lived here now for two and a half years I am tired of the lies, misinformation, nepotism, and general apathy that exists in this area. I wanted/needed someplace to write and speak my mind without getting yelled at and where someone might actually listen and want to engage in intellectual debate.

People around this area are so quick to judge and label, so quick to pounce on whatever Fox (Fix) News says that they just spew it back out as if it were gospel, never taking the second to reflect and wonder if they actually agree with their editorials, because, well, let's face the facts, they do not present news. Fox presents opinion and even when they are honestly trying to present facts, they use their amazing powers of rhetoric to frame their facts the way they want to present them.

Anyway, back to the people:

They are not bad people, most of them. A lot of them that I have talked to and are willing to discuss things on a platform of reason and education come to see how badly their politicians, media, and friends have misinformed them about the world. A lot of them though are only interested in lashing out, and if you disagree and show that their points of view do not hold water, then they just attack. It is no longer debating or exchanging ideas. It becomes hostile and argumentative. At that point you might as well just make fun of their haircut because nothing will get through to them.

Like I stated, I have lived in Nevada for over two years and in that entire time I have only met a couple of people that are like-minded, and I do not mean agree with everything that I think, but when we disagree, we are willing to exchange ideas to try to better both of our understanding of what is happening. So for over two years I have been kept relatively silent.

No more.

Today I heard some one talking (yelling is more like it) about their issues with our President and his politics, but they could not back anything they were saying up with actual reason. It became hate, racism, and just ignorance after a bit. For the first time ever I was so disgusted that I walked away from this person. I am a listener and enjoy trying to understand the beliefs of people. I want to know their logic process. I am one who never shuts someone out, but this person today I could listen to no more. I could not speak up either because of where I live and work. I have to maintain a level of decency with my job, but that would not have been possible here.

I hated myself for not speaking up. I realized that the apathy had gotten to me as well. I was sickened by this person's display, but all I could do is walk away. I knew that if I tried to say something, I would just get shut down and yelled. I knew that I would not get a word in and even if I did. It would just fall on deaf ears. What else could I do? Walk away. There is a great song lyrics that says "You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding" and that was how I felt. If I did not leave, then I was condoning this person's rants. I did not want anyone there to confuse me with the people that agreed.

Well, I am tired of being silent.

I know that a blog is a pathetic attempt to be heard, but at least it is an attempt. Also, this blog is only the first step in a multi-pronged attack that I am going to attempt to launch in this community.

It is time that I put my balls out there and hope that no one castrates me. If I don't, I do not think that I will be able to look my child in the eye anymore.

Enough rambling for now. I know it is a long introduction, but I wanted to give you some background. In time, you will know a lot about my background I am sure. I hope to have a few fellow writers join me on this site as well.

G'night.