Life as I know it........

When you're young, young as in early childhood, the world seems so simple, and secure, and fuck, its really the ultimate high. You might have not realized it then, or remember it now, but it is a golden age following a dark age, that being infancy. When you are a child you have progressed to a stage of existence in where you can, for the first time, understand the world around you, in such a basic but stimulating way, colours, light, sounds, touch, smell and taste. And most of us remember that stage fondly; my favourite colour was red, I was put off by the flash of a camera, birds chirping, stroking the smooth coat of fur of my pet cat.

And then one day, just another day in paradise, it comes to a crashing halt, usually just preceding adolescence, maybe a relative, or a pet dies, maybe illness strikes, or some other horrific shit, it causes us to reanalyze what the world is, while multiple interpretations exist, the end conclusion is rarely pleasant. The triggering event is always different, its never the same for any one individual. However the root causes are exactly the same. Those root causes being one singular root cause, and that root cause being an ever growing capacity for intelligence. I mean these things happened before. The WTC was attacked twice in my child hood, people died each time, the media sensationalized it both times, and I'm not saying they were right or wrong in either case, what I am saying is I took notice the second time, and what was different at the time of the second attack? I had a higher intelligence and thus a greater capability to comprehend what was going on around me.

And then the high is over, and the pain and suffering that was, as I said, there all along, well, it [pain and suffering] takes hold. And there it is; welcome to your life. Hopefully you didn't fuck up your education, because if so, it makes a shitty situation even yet more shitty. Oh sure you can slap on a dumb fuck smile and skip to your lou till your hearts content, but that really only masks up the smell of shit in the air dunnint? It doesn't stop people from killing eachother, it doesn't stop rape, or genocide, or child abuse. You know somewhere a troubled young mother is tossing out her newborn baby son in a dumpster alongside a stale and rotting take out order of expired perishables; you know right as you're reading this some asshole fuck poacher is slaughtering an elephant or a tiger just for a tooth or a tusk to sell on the black market, its a fact a poor tourist from the bleeding heart 1st world is being lured to gang rape in some third world shit hole right this moment, and how many people have died at the hands of another human today is anyone's guess, all this shit goes on, there's no stopping it; the only real choice you as an individual have is whether or not you choose to face facts, to see the universe for the infinite, immortal and indiscriminate space of neutrality that it is.

The universe doesn't give a fuck how many homeless you served at a soup kitchen today, it doesn't care what book of lies you've read cover to cover, whether it be the koran, bible or torah. It doesn't care how many people you held the door for, how many people you prayed and cried for just as it doesn't care how many people you've shit on to get ahead, how many times you've cheated, lied, stole, beaten, raped or murdered. It just doesn't care either way. At the end of today, or at the beginning or tomorrow, it created all, and it will destroy all. If you think otherwise you're only fooling yourself. It doesn't matter what you did or didn't accomplish today, it will inevitably count for nothing, and the only reason we as humans see so as a negative is because we have evolved to the point to where we hold survival instincts, its unhealthy not to see reality as a negative... but so it is to consciously reject reality only to substitute it with fantasy.

Yes, the ability to see things one way or another, the one thing the universe never had, freedom of thought. You can utilize that freedom however you want, to fight and challenge the endless plane of obsticals before you, but its a losing battle. You're finite, the universe is infinite; you're mortal, the universe is immortal. You cant make sense out of something that makes no sense. Sometimes... sometimes you just have stop fighting what can't be fought, sometimes you just have to let what seemingly gave you freedom take you, to genuinely be liberated.

Cunts of the week - The ACLU and the CCR

The absolute anarchists at the ACLU and CCR are at it again. This time they think the government is infringing on the rights of self-proclaimed terrorists; they think that terrorists should be able to strike first while we ask questions later. Earlier this week the anarchist organizations filed a suit against the US Department of Justice on behalf of self-proclaimed islamic terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, who not only aided two 9/11 hijackers, but also personally aided islamic terrorist Nidal Hasan who killed 13 people in a spree shooting at Ft. Hood Texas in late 2009, and the underwear bomber who tried to blow up a commercial airliner bound for Detroit from Amsterdam also in late 2009. So can anyone blame Obama for signing off on the immediate assassination of this terrorist fuck who poses a direct threat to national security?

Apparently the ACLU and the more pathetic ACLU wannabe organization, or the CCR, can. As they always have. The ACLU has campaigned against anti-SPAM legislation. That's right, the ACLU believes that you have no right to privacy, they believe that so long as its not the government, everyone had the right to disrupt your life to no avail, and with no limits on the magnitude of it either. The ACLU, in 2006, filed another suit on behalf of domestic terrorist, child abuser Shitly syPhelpslis-Raper, also known as Shirly Phelps-Roeper, who had, apart from abusing children and eating out her father's (fred phelps) asshole while hiring illegal immigrants, at the home depot in Topeka Kansas, to strangle her while she masturbated herself with rotten produce, been picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. Of course it wasn't long before congress passed legislation barring syPhelpslis and her army of hired illegal immigrant sexual partners and fat, moronic mentally retarded inbred trailer trash. And while only complete fucktards like Ron Paul voted against the bill (fucktards like Ron Paul of which only serve in the republican party as a token for the rightwinged libertarian vote, not like anyone would seriously consider voting for him or his hick son Rand Paul) the bill remained one of the most agreed upon during the Bush era.

If by Change he meant the same old shit, more or less...

Then Obama is living up to his campaign slogan. Remember how exhilarating the night of November 4th 2008 was? Remember how it felt to actually have SOME hope again? To actually have faith in something? Well, maybe you don't but that's how I felt; and I was sure that Obama would win, at least in the last month of his campaign anyway, after McCain blew it on the economy and that tard sarah palin. I had hoped up until that last month that the republicans would lose. And that's the difference between the concepts of sure and hope. When you're sure you're sure, its a pure feeling... a, an emotion, if you will, there's nothing else to it; just a perception that this is what's going to happen. But hope is mixed. With hope you know that there is a notable chance of an outcome that would be undesirable to you. In perspective, I was sure Obama would win that night, I was sure of him. But I could only hope he could deliver what he promised.

And as time wore on a new emotion came to light. And that was denial. Denial, in my mind, is sticking to that perception of what is desirable to you, but when you know the probability of the opposite outcome is as equal or even greater then what is desirable to you. And I think from a year ago up to now that's what I was on the subject of President Obama and his presidency. Well, no more. As of this point I acknowledge that my hope for change devolved into denial. I can no longer approve of the job President Obama has done thus far, even while I grow more and more disenfranchised by the day of those in the right wing camp, or the "mainstream alternative."

When Obama promised change those... now... years, ago... well, the image of the future of the United States that I had after being inspired by his speeches and promises wasn't of a United States who's leader let the communist party of the people's republic of china hijack the Copenhagen summit on climate change, it wasn't of a leader who reengaged Iran in the art of conversation, Iran a nation of who for 30 years now has been ruled by an oppressive islamo-fascist regime who has in the past and still does wish to actively bring about the total destruction of the democratic, fair and just governmental organizations and entities of the United States of America and its allies as a means to subjugate all those who depend on, and hold those organizations and entities dear, to shia islam -- one of the most dehumanizing, unfair, unjust and undemocratic religions and system of beliefs on the planet --, and the tyrants and terrorists perpetuating the expansion of shia islam, it wasn't of a leader who spoke out against civil rights abuses of illegal immigrants and terrorist detainees, -- degenerates who deserve no civil rights -- but remained silent or sat idly by when American citizens (-- genuinely good American men and women who all their lives had paid their taxes, recited the pledge of allegiance and stood at attention, their right hands over their heart and headdress's removed when ever the star spangled banner played--) were deprived of their most basic of civil rights and freedoms based solely on their sexual orientations. When Obama promised change those now years ago, the image of the future of the United States that I had after being inspired by his speeches and promises wasn't what actually is today...

I know that a lot of the turmoil today isn't of Mr. Obama's fault. But the white house has never been ran or regulated on the principal of "he said, she said. He did, she did." The reality is, the president of the United States has for decades, and remains, the most powerful and highest office one in this world can hold; and consequently the expectations and challenges one who holds that office faces are higher then those of any other office or position in the world. And if one, one who is in this case Mr. Obama, cannot meet or face those challenges and expectations... well, then one way or another, the people will replace him with someone who can. Though that's not to say the mainstream alternatives of today could do better, they couldn't in my opinion. Alas if it remains that no one can meet those challenges and expectations, then I guess we're all fucked.

Monthly Memorial

Another feature I'll try out. This one a little more solemn...

This month I'm recognizing the life and times of Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox. A true Canadian hero and inspiration, this year marks 30 years since Fox embarked on a nation wide journey to raise money and awareness for cancer research dubbed the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope; literally. Terry had intended to run all the way from The Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland to the Western Coast of Vancouver Island. Complicating this was the fact that Fox had lost his right leg to cancer in 1977. However the trooper that Terry was before, during and after his initial spell with cancer, he made do with his situation and trekked on until he could trek no more. For 143 days, Fox ran on average 42.195 km each day, or the equivalent of a marathon.

Unfortunately Fox never did make it to his final destination. His cancer came out of remission and had spread to his lungs. Consequently Fox had to postpone his marathon of hope indefinitely; just outside of Thunder Bay Ontario in October of 1980, after running 5,373 kilometres. Terry died several months later in June of 1981. However Fox lived long enough to help organize a fundraiser, for cancer research, named the "Terry Fox Run" which served to commemorate Fox's efforts every year; and while Terry's run ended after 143 days, Canadians and individuals in over 60 other countries carry on Fox's Marathon of hope to this day. Collectively, over 500 million Canadian dollars has been raised at these runs for cancer research.

Terry was survived by parents Rolly and Betty Fox, elder brother, Fred, younger brother, Darrell and younger sister, Judith.

Jon Stewart and the Rally to Restore Sanity

You know I agree with a lot of what Jon Stewart and co. at the daily show have to say, and I enjoy the show for the most part when I watch it. But I have a problem or two with this compilation @ 3:30-4:10 on this clip here, an expert from a show earlier last week where Stewart announced a "Rally to Restore Sanity":



So, first, @ 3:33-36 we see CNN Political Correspondent James Carville stating that: "The republican party has gone completely brain dead." I mean, how does that stack up to the other clips in that line up? How is that remotely comparable to a lady with a banner crashing a speech by an incumbent president? And look at the republican party for chrissake. The moderate republicans have completely failed to uphold a legitimate opposition from the right side of the political spectrum. The republican party has been completely highjacked by these ignorant morons in the bigoted and fascist tea party league, no moderate republicans did anything to stop it, and is it a surprise these teabagger extremists are now purging those same moderates from the party? 98% of them believe that President Obama has raised their taxes when Obama has actually lowered them thus far. But I digress. 3:33-36 wasn't my only problem with that line up.

Next we see @ 3:43-45 MSNBC's Chris Matthews go on to say "Those crazed teabaggers..." which is followed by a teabagger "activist" screaming "WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK!!!" You can't have it both ways. Either Chris Matthews is on the same page as the daily show or Obama is a kenyan muslim socialist hell bent on destroying the American economy to create enough political turmoil so as to serve as a fertile breading ground for the installation of President Obama as a dictator.

Finally, @ 3:55-57 in the clip, we see a local New Orleanier holler out "Go fuck yourself Mr. Cheney" to then US Vice President Dick Cheney. But there was no context to this. To apply context to this, view this clip here shot by the local 5 years ago when this incident occurred:

Cunt of the week

This is a new one, hope to make it a regular feature :-D

This week I choose Joseph the Rat... zinger, or pope benedict the xvi, but the rat... zinger doesn't deserve a respectable title, so I'll refer to the rat... zinger as I did in the first part of this sentence.

Now taking a leap here, I could look past the nazi stuff the rat... zinger was into, as it was compulsory for all "purebred" youth in nazi germany, but because the rat... zinger didn't give so many -- too many -- molestation victims inside the catholic church a chance to tell their sides of THEIR stories when the rat... zinger was actively covering the abuses perpetrated on them up, not only as pope, but as a cardinal, fuck it, he's a nazi. I mean, on the subject of sexual assault, there is NO middle ground on this issue. Now taking another leap, but bare with me, I remember when then-president George W. Bush came out years ago and said something to the effect of "The terrorists? Well, you're either with us or against us." and I thought "wow, did he just say that?" Though then again I thought that with a lot of stuff that moron said. Obviously I was against terrorism, but that mentality just isn't going to do anyone justice when applied to a conflict as broad and ambiguous as the war on terror and the belligerents on both sides, and sure enough several months later the US invaded Iraq... But its the complete opposite here; you really are on one side or another, there's no time to butt fuck around analyzing option A or B or to determine whether or not to create an option C. There's "well, I think the child wanted it" and then there's the rest of society who realize child molestation and other sexual assaults for what they are: criminal, JUST CRIMINAL. And really just the purest form of evil there is. And yet the rat... zinger just sweeps it under the carpet, as did john paul II, and yes, he was a cunt too, but I'll let the worms have at him. There's no mid ground, if you know that's going on you alert the proper authorities at the very least. You don't butt fuck around deciding what to do, and you CERTAINLY don't cover it up. I wouldn't be surprised if the rat... zinger was helping himself to some alter boy tail on the side.

But that's the worst of the worst, in catholic terms anyways. I'm not even going to touch on the rat... zingers homophobia and endorcement of the genocide of homosexuals in the muslim world, or his sexism, or his unreasonable and stident position on safe sex and sexual education. Nope. Instead I'm just going to leave it with these telling pictures, of the rat... zinger:

























































To put this last photo in context, here's the original caption to it as found on ABC news:

A May 17, 2002 law enforcement booking photo shows Stephen Kiesle, formerly a priest in Oakland, California. A letter obtained by the Associated Press and bearing the signature of future Pope Benedict XVI shows then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted defrocking Kiesle after his case had languished for four years at the Vatican. The 1985 letter was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the Diocese of Oakland and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking. Kiesle pled no contest to child molestation misdemeanors in 1978. In 2002, Kiesle pled no contest to a felony charge of molesting a girl in 1995. He is now a registered sex offender and still lives in California. (AP Photos)

This was an essay

that I had written around two weeks ago. Shoulda posted it here but totally forgot about this place until now:

No matter what your take is

Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 10:32pm

No matter what your take is, in regards to the “ground zero mosque” or “burn a koran day,” on this, the ninth anniversary of the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, if these “debates” or current affairs are going to be the primary focus of this day, if we, as western society, are going to “politicize” this day to promote our own political agendas, then we're all in the wrong. For too long the subject of 9/11 in the mainstream media, in our communities, in our households, has only focused on the events and legacy of that pivotal day. When observing this sombre article of our modern history, we should not solely focus on how those lost that day perished, if at all, but rather on how they lived.

We – in western society – have wasted so much time, blood and potential focusing on what dehumanized us that day in the last nine years... If we had realized what did humanize us before that day, what humanized those who perished – the day to day lives those 3,000 innocent people lead, their friendships, family, careers and aspirations –, what all of us as a society here in the progressive, fair and just western civilization, maybe things would been a lot different than they are today. While we in Canada have stayed true to these realizations for the most part, I unfortunately cannot say the same for some of our oldest and loyalist partners and friends of ours. I say this not to be critical or condescending, but in an effort to help our friends and partners’, -- our neighbours -- in this illustrious, emboldened and uncontested Western Civilization of ours... our neighbours who seem to be in need of a helping hand on the long road back to normalcy ahead. There are those among us who would cut and run, but we’ve come this far, albeit we’ve made a few wrong turns along the way.

I will reiterate that if we here in Canada, or if the populace of any other western nation, neglects to realize the thousands of other days that consisted of the lives of each and every individual who perished in the events of that day... If we fail to take into account the preceding events that humanized each and every one of the victims of that day... If we only focus on how those three thousand innocent souls died instead of who they were and how they lived... then for those of us who choose only remember the events of that one day -- the images, audio and video coming out of New York City, Washington D.C. and Stonycreek Township PA, -- each day anew will be more or less a repeat of the that day going back to September 11th 2001; a seemingly never-ending cycle of raw emotion, shock and confusion rendering us struggling to try and make sense out of something that made no sense. Over time our bearings and principals and senses of who we are erode away. Those responsible for the events of that day should be held accountable for their heinous and reprehensible actions, yes; however, the quest for justice should be gone about out of a desire to seek peace and a sense of closure while maintaining a respect for the rule of law. Any future quests for justice should not out stem of a raw, reckless and impulsive craving for retribution and revenge.

For those of us who observed in horror the unfolding events of that day, we will never forget. We will never forget those events and we haven’t forgotten. Yet we have forgotten, or haven’t done as good of a job remembering, what defined us as a society, as the mighty and ever prevailing Western civilization, in the days, weeks, months and years before September 11th 2001. In doing so, or in not doing so, we have forsaken the days, weeks, months and years after September the 11th 2001; a pattern that will continue for as long as we in western society, as a whole, continue to only take into account what occurred on September 11th 2001 and September 11th 2001 alone.

So on this, the ninth anniversary of the September 11th 2001 attacks, never forget: Never forget how those lost lived, never forget what did, and what still does define us as a society. That’s just my two cents anyway...

On the subject of Drug Politics and the Mexican Drug War.

Whatever happened to all that cold war era doctrine about instability and the domino effect of chaos it triggers in nearby countries? There's Mexico with 7500 people killed in 2009 and another 1,750 so far in 2010, all victims the Mexican drug war. The map below is a map of on-going conflicts, needless to say stability is compromised or non-existent in each. The dark blue represents major on-going conflicts and the light blue being minor on-going conflicts.



And I'll tell you, those drug cartels and the other various Mexican organized crime syndicates aren't engaged in the power struggle they are with the Mexican government to market in the ole'red white and light green, no, they're vying for their stake in the American illicit drug trade in an all out death match with any shred of legitimate, clean cut, political entity left in Mexico. The conundrum really is a testament to how successful the American Government's "war on drugs" has been. In my opinion, drugs were victorious the moment the Nixon administration coined the farcical term back in the late 60's.

Where they went wrong was in who they went after. They need to go after the drug DEALERS, and not the drug users. Just the idea of locking up every guy with 5 ounces of marry-jane in his pocket is inherently ludicrous. And if you disagree then you get the Californian penal system; you get a mass influx of soft core drug users into every "correctional facility" from San Quintin to Folsom-State Pen. A hoard of babe's in the woods locked up with hardened criminals who pulverize and proposition them to the point that they either get crushed or converted to another hardened criminal, until guess what? There's no more room! There's no correcting being done.

Drug users are victims themselves, and for the large part, they're victims of themselves. Just like those addicted to cigarettes or those suffering from alcoholism. Yeah, it WAS a choice at some point along the way, but now its a full blown addiction, they're now controlled by the drugs, and not the other way around. The other problem is, these individuals need to be rehabilitated, not corrected. A prison setting is probably one of the most hostile environments when it comes to a recovering drug addict. And lets not forget, drug usage has been around as long as we have, and unlike drug smuggling and distribution which is evolving all the time, drug usage has barely evolved throughout the course of history. You'd think we'd have figured out how to tackle it by now.

For the rest of the drug trade, the reality is, for every 1 drug manufacturer, there will always be 100 or more drug smugglers. For every 1 drug smuggler, there will always be 100 or more drug dealers; and for every drug dealer, there will always be 100 or more drug users. The illicit-drug industry, like most other industries, is a hierarchy, something America's political obsession with morality has rendered Washington blind to. The illicit drug trade and industry are also based around the age old principal of supply and demand.

Realizing and applying those above concepts to the main battle plan for the war on drugs, one has to realize that if one inhibits that one asshole at the top of the drug trade hierarchy pumping out the cancer on society that is illegal and potentially physically and mentally damaging substances, you alter the whole drug market and prevent the creation of thousands of drug users on the bottom of the hierarchy. It was this plan of attack that worked in the cocaine capital of Columbia some 20 years ago. --Those cruise missiles and drones the CIA have proved so effective in the war against terror in the treacherous terrains of Afghanistan and Pakistan --, I can't help thinking that, if applied in Mexico, I wouldn't be writing this rant.

Education is the other half of the battle, and getting information about drugs across to our children has maybe been the sole success of the war on drugs, what with successful programs like the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. However in some cases, as in the case with Marijuana, we as a society still refuse to embrace reality information has outlined. Marijuana isn't addictive, it doesn't damage, compromise or inhibit the immune system in adequate doses, so why is it prohibited? In my opinion, the logging industry hired the puritan vote to run a smear campaign against the plant as a means of exploiting the general ignorance of society to eventually ban the plant entirely, along with hemp, which in the first half of the 20th century, was poised to overtake trees as the primary source of pulp and paper.

In recent years hemp has been legalized in Canada and the United States, so why not marijuana which is as harmful and addictive as hemp? The production and taxation of marijuana would provide a large surplus to our economy which the alcohol and gaming industries have, two other sectors family values groups have campaigned against.

On a final note, why isn't the government regulating the drug dealers back at home? Of course I'm talking about the pharmaceutical companies. I hear all these monetary figures being thrown back and forth between the right and the left, well have you seen how much pharmaceutical companies charge for even the most wildly produced pharmaceuticals? The United States is the only first world country that does not regulate how much pharmaceutical companies can charge for their products. It comes down to what do you believe, --People before profit? Or profit before people? Is health care a human right, or is it a commodity?-- though these days I'm thinking more and more that it really comes down to what you are paid to believe (by pharmaceutical lobbyists in Washington).

On the subject of climate change...

I often find myself picking out an old issue of National Geographic magazine from a large stack of them I've compiled in my spare time, dating from present day back to the early 60's. Last night, I was reading an issue dated February 1990, which, really for the first time, brought the depletion of the Aral sea to light, another blunder of the rapid and unregulated industrialization of the soon to be dissolved Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Back then the Aral sea actually still was a sea to some effect. However today, the Aral Sea no longer exists, like the self proclaimed worker's paradise which hosted, leached off of, and eventually depleted all the once 4th largest lake on the planet had to offer from the late 50's on until its collapse in 1991 -- a means Soviet Moscow perceived as justified by the ends, which in this case was the production of 90% of the nations cotton via the mass collective farming of cotton irresponsible and ill thought out irrigation of the two major rivers that fed the Aral only made possible --. Yes, some stagnant remains of the sea remain situated around the now, for the most part, inhospitable, sandy, salty desolate 68,000km² wasteland that used to serve as the fertile seabed of the Aral sea some 50 years ago, but the only purpose they serve today is as a testament to what used to be.

What struck me the most about the article was that the worst case long term scenario scientists had predicted and outlined was actually better then what the reality of the situation the Aral sea and its surrounding area and their inhabitants find themselves in today. I wonder if in twenty years I'll be looking back to a similar then present day report on climate change to see that I'm living in a reality worse then what was once perceived from a theoretical standpoint as the worst possible outcome. Or maybe I'm just being overly cynical.