Allow And Then Take Away – The Fears Of The Majority

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Any who know me also know that I am very vocal when it comes to the issue of marriage equality; for me it is not just about equal rights it is the acceptance of everyone’s differences.  There are already the arguments out there that the modern fight for same-sex marriage should not be compared to the Black civil rights fight or woman’s suffrage, however, on a certain level it is all the same fight; that is the fight against the majority imposing their will on the minority of people.  “Majority rule” is a fine concept when it comes to elections, however when it comes to people’s rights there should never be a vote in the first place.  Despite what Chris Christie believes, if the issue of Black civil rights had been put up to a common vote we would still be living with segregation.

 

With the current events in California (Prop. 8) and with some New Hampshire people trying to overturn the law allowing gays to marry, I felt it was time to get some thought circulating around.  There are many stances on this issue, religion being the most popular (which I am not even going to touch this time), however the one I want to discuss is perceived notion of “saving marriage”.  What a bogus argument this is, really is this the best that the anti-equality people can come up with?  With the rise in heterosexual divorce rates, the rise of premarital sex as well as children born out of wed lock, don’t you think they really have more to be concerned with in saving marriage than two people who absolutely love one another tying the knot?

 

If these hypocrites really wanted to “save marriage” they would start promoting laws that prohibit divorce and premarital sex.  Oh wait, I hear the Tea Baggers screaming now; “I have the right to sex!”  Who says you do?  The Catholic Church says it is a sin to have sex outside of wed lock as well to have sex if you do not intend to produce a child from the act…  sorry Tea Baggers, but no matter how hard you try you cannot butter both sides of the bread without making a mess.

 

I honestly want to know, how is it going to affect you or your family if same-sex marriage is made legal?  It’s not is it…  well except for the fact that some of your family members may finally feel brave enough to come out of the closet.  Worried about same-sex marriage being discussed in school?  HA! Sorry folks it already is and has been for decades; personally I would prefer it to be included in the curriculum than have my children hear about it in derogatory terms or poor jokes.  And no, I do not mean a class dedicated to it, but have mixed race families, same sex spouses and what not in the text books is not going to drastically change education.  Our children are already being educated on same-sex marriage and I can guarantee you the information they are getting is not factual or proper by any means.  It is time to come out of the dark ages already.  Genetic or choice, nature or nurture…  it really doesn’t matter anymore, there are LGBTQ people in this world and that population is only going to grow not go away.

 

The majority should never be allowed to vote on the rights of the minority, it makes no sense.  By allowing this voting to continue we are acknowledging the fear and hatred that is inherent in our society.  It is time for everyone to be equal regardless of any qualifiers.  We are all human beings, separate in genetic identity by a very small percentage.  Do you really want to be on the side of history that is viewed 500 years from now as being the scared close-minded witch hunters?

 

 

 

Related articles

 

• Black pastors take heat for not viewing same-sex marriage as civil rights matter By Marc Fisher (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
• Christie Vetoes Same Sex Marriage Bill In New Jersey (lezgetreal.com)
• NJ Lawmakers Rip Chris Christie for Suggesting Civil Rights of Gay People Should Be Put to a Vote: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• Archbishop Supports Marriage Discrimination (therightisalwayswrong.wordpress.com)
• Chris Christie Doubles Down Same-Sex Marriage Referendum: ‘This Is The Bargain Of Your Life!’ (thinkprogress.org)
• NYT Lauds Chris Christie’s ‘Considerable Political Skills’ In Calling For Marriage Equality To Be Put To A Vote (thinkprogress.org)
• Chris Christie: Civil rights movement could have been resolved via referendum (thegrio.com)
• MAPS: The Consequences Of Voting On Civil Rights (thinkprogress.org)
• Archbishop of Canterbury says law has no right to legalise same-sex marriage (telegraph.co.uk)
• Poll Shows 6 In 10 California Voters Support Same-Sex Marriage (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com)
• George Clooney ‘Doesn’t Give A Sh*t’ If People Think He’s Gay (huffingtonpost.com)

 

The Dream of Alternative-Higher Education

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Given the current hooplah going around between President Obama and Rick Santorum regarding higher education, I figured it was a good chance to vocalize what my thoughts are on this issue.  I am not going to flat-out say that either Obama or Santorum were right in what they said, however I think there is a middle ground that is not being adequately addressed here.  Part of my degree program towards becoming a teacher is taking classes in basic educational thought and theory; from this I will develop my own teaching philosophy.  Education should not be a “party” issue (it’s not an indoctrination process), or a budget consideration it should just be; if we want our children to succeed (and I do not mean on the global scale, I mean succeed in general) we need to do our best to provide a quality education for them.

 

We need to be reasonable with our thoughts and expectations for higher education.  Not everyone that graduates high school will want to, or have the skill set, to become a professional that requires one form of a college degree or another.  That is a basic truth we need to accept, not every child will go to college.  However, that is not to say that there should not be alternative options for these students; vocational schools, the Job Corps program and beyond high school versions of wood shop and auto shop.  And that is where I want to focus this post – alternative higher education.

 

However before I do that there is one issue I do need to address, those that stop their education after high school and the jobs they occupy.  While not the most glamorous or highly sought after jobs out there, these people do have jobs that the rest of the world is highly dependent on:  grocery baggers, cashiers, waitstaff, burger flippers…  the list goes on and on.  While these are jobs that almost anyo0ne can do it is imperative that we recognize and, yes, appreciate the people that do these jobs to make our lives easier.

 

Now, onto alternative higher education, there are programs and schools currently in place for this, however not enough focus is put onto them, especially during high school to make them known to students.  Creating a situation where our students think they have to go to college or they are failures is a great wrongness.  Not everyone had the drive or desire to go into a career that is based around a college education.  There are people more interested in welding, auto repair, construction, building maintenance and so much more that are viable careers out there.  Just as much as we promote traditional colleges and universities we need to promote the vocational and technical schools, hell, the Job Corps program has been around for a long time but the certification you get from that is treated as a joke, that needs to change.  Job Corps needs to be revamped, a redesign of the training program and acceptance of the certifications needs to be more promoted by the government.

 

We are a very diverse nation and we need to realize that with the planning of our education system(s).  There are many different jobs/careers out there that people do and that we are all dependent on them doing and we need to provide the educational resources that these people need in order to be able to succeed in the profession of their choice.  We should not under any circumstances idealize one type of judge and at the same time create a negative connotation for others.

 

Related articles

 

• Rick Santorum Criticizes Obama Over Education: “What a Snob!” (fidlerten.com)
• MSNBC’s Wagner Deliberately Distorts Santorum Swipe at Obama to Be Anti-College Tirade (newsbusters.org)
• Higher Education Dangerous, Says Rick Santorum: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• Santorum ‘snob’ comments on college an age-old appeal to anti-intellectuals (thegrio.com)
• Gingrich: Obama’s call for higher education ‘perfectly reasonable’ (thehill.com)
• If you’re not embarrassed by Rick Santorum you’re an embarrassment (atlmalcontent.wordpress.com)
• Rick Santorum: More Ignorance, Less College (lezgetreal.com)
• Santorum Reaches Out to Voters Who Don’t Want College Degrees (blogs.wsj.com)
• Rick Santorum’s 2006 Website Called For Full Access To Higher Education (huffingtonpost.com)

 

My Response to the Zombification of Religious Leaders

A lot of people have commented on this article and while they have all had thought provoking and interesting arguments about it, it is time for me to post my own feelings on it.  Quite honestly, the judge was completely wrong in his ruling.  We have specific laws governing freedom of speech (which does include expression) and these are not to be tossed away just because something offends you; we defend hate speech all the time i.e. the Westboro Baptist Church.  It does not matter what the Muslim that assaulted Ernie Pierce thought, or the judge’s own beliefs (which in my mindset is grounds for the decision being overturned), attempting to stifle someone’s freedom of speech is a vile act, no matter what pretense you do it under.

Let’s put this into perspective shall we?  This was a Halloween parade with a zombie Jesus and a zombie Pope walking along with Mr. Pierce, neither of them were attacked by Christians, so apparently the costume ideas were not all that horrible.  So we are faced with a situation where a Muslim was offended and once it came before a judge, it was dismissed because of the judge’s biased towards the Muslim community…  this is such a clear violation of the law it is not even close to funny.  We are so stuck on this current trend of “Don’t offend the Muslims no matter what” that people that are perfectly within their rights are being the persecuted ones.  I’ve had Muslim neighbors and we got along very well, I am not judging them all, however I am judging this man in this specific instance.  He was wrong in his actions, very wrong, and if he has become a citizen of this country he needs to be sent back to citizenship classes and be forced to retake them to learn the laws of this land.

The idiot judge for this case, Mark Martin, should lose his robe, be disbarred and quite frankly face some jail time of his own.  One quote from the trial is as follows:

In many other Muslim-speaking countries, err, excuse me, many Arabic-speaking countries, predominantly Muslim, something like this is definitely against the law there, in their society. In fact, it could be punished by death, and frequently is, in their society.

Here in our society, we have a Constitution that gives us many rights, specifically First Amendment rights. It’s unfortunate that some people use the First Amendment to deliberately provoke others. I don’t think that’s what our forefathers intended. I think our forefathers intended to use the First Amendment so we can speak with our mind, not to piss off other people and cultures – which is what you did.

Well Mr. Martin, this is not a Muslim country, hell it is not even a Christian country.  As I have said before and will say forever the Founding Fathers intended this to be a secular nation and no one will ever convince me otherwise.  Mr. Martin what happens in other countries and with their legal systems has absolutely no barring on judicial proceedings in this country, none at all, just like our laws and customs are not taken into account when it comes to courts in other countries. (Anyone else remember the youth that got himself caned in Singapore?)  As for your “interpretation” of the First Amendment Mr. Martin…  well this is why you will never advance any further in your career, the Founding Fathers did in fact intend for it to be used in this manner as they themselves used the same practice to send a big Fuck You to the most powerful nation in the world at that time completely denouncing England’s laws and customs.

As much as something someone does may offend you, such as burning the flag, you do not at any point have the right to assault them for it, it is that simple Mr. Martin.  You Mr. Martin are trying to re-open Pandora’s box, you are trying to create a world in which chaos can rain supreme and whenever we encounter beliefs we do not accept or support we can beat them out…  or perhaps in your twisted mind set it is only YOUR beliefs that matter, that could be interesting to study.

Either way, I am grateful to live in this nation and have the freedoms I do and I sincerely hope that Mr. Pierce pursues this case and does not let the simple-mindedness of Mark Martin rule.  Perhaps I will get lucky and be brought before Mr. Martin on some drummed up contempt charge, I would love the chance for that as I am sure the ACLU would as well.

Related articles

• American Muslim Judge Who Imposed Sharia in Pennsylvania Court (onemorecup.wordpress.com)
• The baseball conditional in the Zombie Mohammed case (languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu)
• News – When will America ban parts of freedom of speech? (thesecularity.com)
• Judge In “Zombie Mohammed” Case Responds (jonathanturley.org)
• Geller Exclusive in the Daily Caller: Hundreds of threats for assault victim in case dismissed by Quran-minded judge (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• Tolerance and Multiculturalism (ontoliberty.wordpress.com)
• Atheist in “Zombie Mohammed” Case Responds (jonathanturley.org)
• Sharia Law in a Pennsylvania Courtroom? (anthonyamore.wordpress.com)
• Depicting Muhammad Is, In Itself, Constructive (amandatheatheist.wordpress.com)

The Courage Inherent in Coming Out

Bi Pride Graphic (Photo credit: dnnya17)

Just in case the obvious has not be realized by anyone that has come to by blog, yes I am bisexual.  And ya know something, I really fucking hate labels, especially that one, but in the interest of the simplest way to convey a thought I will leave that alone for now.  While I have always known this about myself for a long time, since I was at least 10 or so, due to the household, location and time period in which I grew up there never was a chance for me to come out until I was an adult.

First and foremost I generally identify as a sexual person, that is it.  However, as I stated we will use the term bisexual as I am attracted to both men and women.  Ironically enough, in my experience the issue of bisexuality has been the most misunderstood by the gay community itself; we are called fence straddlers or “phasers”, as in it is just a phase we are going through.  People, gay and straight, insist that I have made a choice based on who I am with.  Well, it is not as simple as that, sorry to disappoint you.  When it comes to being bisexual your are attracted to people regardless of gender, which is a great thing because it means you are attracted to them for the right reasons, namely their personality and how they present themselves – Yes Virginia, there are some people that look for more than big tits, a nice ass or a large dick.

Now, here I am 37 years old, not an old man but I am definitely seeing the generation gap and the differences in the world now from when I was growing up.  For instance, young people being able to come out and being accepted for it.  While yes, we have a major issue with bullying of gay youths, for the most part it is accepted that young people are discovering their sexuality at a young age (something unheard of in my youth even if you were straight) and we as a society are becoming more accepting of it.  Let alone being sexually inquisitive as a straight person when I was growing up, being alternative was not something you announced at all, rarely, very rarely, to close friends if even that.  I grew up in a household and neighborhood where even the slightest pretense of non-straight behavior was frowned upon and you could be expected to be ridiculed.  My first sexual relationship was with a male friend and went on for a number of years, we lived in secrecy scared to death we would be found out but unable to stop due to the closeness we shared.

When I was 22 I was finally able to come out and I was shocked at how easily I was accepted for who I was.  No one ran screaming, no one tried to kill me or assault me and no one ridiculed me.  I was finally able to be me, or at least start the process of fully being me.  It has been a long hard ride but here I am, secure with who I am and able to enjoy life as myself and not being the person that people expect me to be.  I am a happy person, secure in both my masculinity and my sexuality, I do enjoy dressing in drag from time to time (see below, yes that is me) and I just plain enjoy my life now as opposed to the terror of my youth.

I greatly applaud and support the youth who are coming out today.  I know to well how liberating it is to  be able to be yourself and not have to live behind a mask.  Despite what anyone else tells you, you alone know yourself and understand your feelings about your own sexuality.  Sexuality is NOT a choice, we are born with it.  We realize it as we grow up, preferring the same gender, the opposite gender or even both as our own coding tells us to.  The only deviants in this world are the ones that deny themselves to themselves and others.  I have learned the hard way that being the person that everyone wants you to be only causes self-harm, you must be the person you are, nothing less, and if people cannot accept that then they have no place in your life.

I love my family very much, but I know there are some that would never accept this part of me and that saddens me, it truly does.  But, I cannot live a lie and I refuse to be the person that others want me to be instead of being myself.

Related articles

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• How Queer! (itsmindblowing.wordpress.com)
• 8 Common Myths About Bisexuality (eburrows.wordpress.com)
• Cynthia Nixon: Sexual Orientation Not A Choice, Even Bisexuality (lezgetreal.com)
• Cynthia Nixon: Bisexuality is Not A Choice – It’s A Fact (justjared.buzznet.com)
• Pansexuality vs. Bisexuality: an explanation for the sake of education (curiousrantsofawannabephilosopher.wordpress.com)
• Getting Personal: the Aftermath of Being Attacked – LGBT History Month (themagnificentsomething.com)

The Bible as Literature

People amuse me, really they do.  I just love how they assume because I have a working understanding, most of the time better than them, of the Bible that I have to be a Christian.  While it is true that I have studied the Christian bible, I am be no means a religious person.  The reason that I have studied the Bible is so that I can be prepared to debate someone when it comes to the text.  When it comes to critical thinking and presenting a valid argument you have to know what you are talking about and be able to provide evidence for it, you cannot merely use the “Because” phrase.

Despite their best attempts, I have never been swayed to the Christian belief, it just holds to many inaccuracies for me to be able to accept it; not to mention the forcing of their beliefs on people.  Christ told his followers to spread his message, he never intended for his followers to torture, condemn or otherwise mistreat those who could not accept his message.  Personally, for me, the Jesus as portrayed in the Bible, loves me more for the beliefs I hold dear to than succumbing to the will of others and embracing a belief that has no meaning to me.

What are my beliefs?  you ask.  Well, I am not entirely sure myself.  I am stuck somewhere between being an atheist and a deist.  I cannot accept the Christian concept of God for the simple reason that what is portrayed in the Bible and what we live with these does are so completely different.  We have no presence of God today, well, with the except of the church and the so called “faith of God.”  That is not what the Bible shows us, God and/or Jesus was an obvious character throughout the book and suddenly he is gone now, even with the reasoning for that given it makes no sense for him to have allowed things to go this far.  Seriously, look at the short amount of time that passed from Adam and Eve to Noah, he got so pissed off in that short span that he flooded the world, yet people like Hitler, Stalin and other assorted bad guys are allowed to walk the Earth with impunity.

However, getting back to the point I started with.  Yes, I understand the Bible, I have studied it quite well and it has served me very well in various college courses for papers I have written, but, that does not make me a believer.  My fellow students consistently are shocked to find that I am not a believer after reading my papers and yes, some even try to convert me and it becomes quite a mess when I refuse.  People really need to learn to stop enforcing their beliefs on others, I do not try to get people to not be Christian, that is not my way or my place.  However, for Christians it seems it is their lot in life to bring others to their faith, sorry, I don’t drink that Kool-Aid.

If I am wrong then so be it, however, history has shown us over and over that religious beliefs come and go quite often, look at the fate of Zeus, Jupiter and Odin as an example.  It is in this spirit that I share the following quote from the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans

Zeus: Perseus has won. My son has triumphed.
Hera: A fortunate young man.
Zeus: Fortune is ally to the brave.
Thetis: What a dangerous precedent. What if there more heroes like him? What if courage and imagination became everyday mortal qualities? What will become of us?
Zeus: We would no longer be needed. But, for the moment, there is sufficient cowardice, sloth and mendacity down there on Earth to last forever.

Related articles

• Letter: Don’t just repeat Bible (knoxnews.com)
• The Bible Isn’t A Medical Book (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
• “Blessed Are the Queer in Faith”: 60 Years Reassessing Scripture (queeringthechurch.com)
• Stop Forcing the Bible On Arizona Public School Students (forcechange.com)
• There and Back Again: A Prodigal’s Tale (howtofalldown.wordpress.com)

Now That The Birther Argument is Dead; Let’s Rape The Constitution

Once again surfing around the internet I trip over an article that makes me go, SAY WHAT?  What it boils down to is that Mr. Epperly is claiming, according to The Constitution and its amendments, that Barack Obama, along with all other Black, mulatto, or non-White races, are not eligible to run for President; one can assume they want to include any other political position as well.  An excerpt from the lawsuit is as follow:

As Barack Hussein Obama II is of the “Mulatto” race, his status of citizenship is founded upon the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Before the [purported] ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the race of “Negro” or “Mulatto” had no standing to be citizens of the United States under the United States Constitution.

As the fourteenth amendment is only a grant of “civil rights” and not a grant of “political rights” Barack Hussein Obama II does not have and [sic] “political rights” under any provision of the United States Constitution to hold any Public Office of the United States government.

See what I mean?  According to this man, any Black or Mulatto that has served in the US Government did so unlawfully…  as this includes Supreme Court judges does this clown even realize the can of worms he is attempting to open?  I really do not expect this case to go anywhere, however one can never be to sure.

It is rather scarey that there are people that think in this manner, and I have to say the media is to blame for giving him air time.  This has the potential to go viral and from there it is just a matter of time before other birthers, and even GOP candidates jump on this bandwagon.  So the President is a black man, BFD!  He hasn’t done any worse of a job than any other President we have had, and if there was any truth to the rumors of him not being a natural born citizen that would have come out long before the election.  Speaking of the job Obama has done, to the people who claim he has done a poor job, I would like to see you do any better when you have a congress full of people of the opposite political party who are against you because of the color of your skin and assumptions about your religious beliefs.

America, get over yourself.  This is the 21st Century, it is time to wake up and realize that there is more to the population of this nation than White Men.  The people are waking up, actions are being taken, equality is being valiantly fought for an will be won.  I cannot wait for the day when bible thumping, ignorant bigots are the unheard minority.

 

Related articles

• Lawsuit claims Obama can’t be president because he’s ‘mulatto’ (thegrio.com)
• Just when you thought the birther movement was over… (newblackwoman.com)
• SMH: Lawsuit Claims President Obama Can’t Run For Reelection Because He’s ‘Mulatto’ (clutchmagonline.com)
• Lawsuit Claims Obama Can’t Be President Because He’s Black. Seriously. (addictinginfo.org0

The Issue With Single Issue Voting

As we are fast approaching the Presidential election, along with other various positions that are up to vote, it is imperative to analyze why people vote.  In local and national elections I am seeing more people basing their votes on one or two issues, as opposed to the candidate overall.  While it is not for me to dictate to people how to vote, I do feel it necessary to alert people to the fallacy of what they are doing in hopes of them adjusting their viewpoints.  If I am able to reach just one person and have them become aware of the dangers of single issue voting then I will be satisfied.

Let’s take the state I live in as a good example.  In 2010 Paul LePage was elected governor of Maine.  While he did not receive the majority of the vote, in fact he only got 39%, because of multiple candidates and the fact Maine does not allow for run-off elections he won.  Now, one of his big campaign promises was to cut down on fraud at DHHS, the welfare system.  As people who do not receive do not really understand how the system works have been angered about this issue for quite some time, of course they jumped on that bandwagon and voted for him.  So fine and good, they got their anti-welfare governor elected, however in the process they also put a foul-mouthed, bigoted moron in the position.  Think I am exaggerating?  Here are some of the fine things LePage has done/said while in office:

• “The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards.” – this is reference to the dangers behind BPA.
• “Foxcroft Academy brought the math scores way up because they bring kids from the, from Asia. And they’ve brought their verbals up because and the languages up because they brings kids from the Asia.”
• “And as your governor you are goin’ to be seein’ a lot of me on the front page saying “Governor LePage tells Obama to ‘Go to Hell’”
• LePage on NAACP: “Tell them to kiss my butt”
• “Conservation is just another word for a Ponzi scheme in many respects.”

So there you have it, a man that is no better than New Jersey governor Chris Christie.  Although I cannot recall anything LePage has said on marriage equality, I am sure he will start on it soon as we have the ballot initiative coming up soon.  *sigh* I have digressed from my original topic, but not by much I think.  These quotes show what happens when you vote on a single issue, especially when, as in the case of LePage, there was a lot of B.S. floating around before the election.

So, it comes to this.  I beseech all of you that are reading this to really look at the candidates you will be voting on this November.  Turn off the t.v., stop visiting partisan news sources and really do some research on all of them.  No, you are not going to find a candidate that agrees with everything you stand for, but with some critical thinking you can find a candidate worthy of your vote.  And just keep in mind, if you vote in a candidate because both them and you are against same-sex marriage you have no place to complain when your taxes go up, your liberties are lessened or you suddenly find yourself without the medical care you or a loved one needs.

Related articles

• Are You a Single-Issue, Drug-Policy Voter? (slog.thestranger.com)
• Maine Gov. Paul LePage: Democrat’s efforts on unemployment are ‘bullsh*t’ (dailykos.com)
• Abortion and Single-Issue Politics (rightonlife.org)
• Life: Single Issue or Prerequisite Position? (rightonlife.org)
• After Voters Reject One Voter Suppression Measure, Maine GOP Moves On To Another (thinkprogress.org)

When “What If We” Becomes “But Should We?”

As I was surfing around the Internet I trip over this article which of course made my lateral thinking mind immediately reflect upon the movie Jurassic Park.  While it is all well and good that we were able to bring this specific flower back to life, so to speak, it begs the question of other, more prominent species, in the life of Earth.  As the article mentions this could very well open the door to regenerating mammoths, however it is imperative that these scientists should explore the impact that mammoths would have on the environment if they were to be reintroduced.

For reasons only known to her from time to time Mother Nature determines that a dominant species lifespan upon this planet has come to an end.  Typically what happens is a lesser species then moves up, through evolution, to take the space left by that dominant species.  This has all worked out very well until the coming of the current dominant species on the planet, namely us, humans.  Not only have we firmly established our dominance we have begun working on ways to ensure that we hold onto that position.  While this is all well and good, eventually Mother Nature will take notice and when she decides we have had our run will take whatever means necessary to get rid of us; apologies to the faint of heart but that is a truth well told in the history of this planet.  Now the scarey part of this is how drastic will She have to be in her measures to eradicate us and will it cause irreparable damage to the planet in the process?

Now, humans are a very advanced and intelligent species.  We moved quickly from the baser instincts of shelter, nurturing young and finding food to everything that we have available at our disposal today, including the Internet.  However, as we move faster and faster in our discoveries and inventions we are ignoring the whole “Should we?” aspect of it all.  Take for instance the above article and its references to regenerating older, even extinct, life forms.  We have no idea how these species will interact with the current lifeforms on the planet, whether they will kill off some or pose other less sever hazards.  Even if a plant is 99% the same as its modern day form, what is left in that 1% that could prove hazardous to us as humans?  After all the planet was a lot different 30,000 years ago and who can measure the changes we have gone through since then?

I can point to the science fiction genre of movies for ages to ask these questions, but those are just movies.  However, a reflection of past science fiction shows a startling pattern of science fiction becoming science fact.  Movies such as Jurassic Park, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The 6th Day all bring to the forefront, or should at least, questions regarding the right and wrongness of the science involved here.  When I use the terms right and wrong I do not mean from any religious sense, but as I have stated previously, the whole Should We? aspect.  Along with an understanding of what we are doing with the species we are experimenting on, we need to understand how the changes they may achieve through this “force evolution” could impact us as humans.

While the idea of forcing evolution on primates is a disturbing one as shown in various movies, even more frightening to me is bringing back a species such as the dinosaurs.  While it can be argued that primates other than humans can be sympathetic to our species, to dinosaurs we would just be seen as food, mostly a snack.  While science can be a wonderful study for discovery and what not, we do need to keep in mind what it is exactly we are doing and the impacts that it could pose.

 

Related articles

• ‘Jurassic Park’ Live (screenphiles.com)
• Squirrelled Away (thelastliberalinbeaconsfield.com)
• Resurrecting Ancient Life [Life Lines] (scienceblogs.com)
• Ideas of science (taholtorf.wordpress.com)

I Had Sex With Kevin Bacon

No, not really, and sorry Kevin I really loved you in Footloose and Tremors but you are to rugged for me.  However, bear with me for just a minute and you will understand where I am going with this.  Everyone else remember the whole “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” fad that went around a while back?  The one that basically says, given six connections you can connect any two people in the world/history.  All right now keep that in mind as we move on here.

When I was in school and they got around to sex education and safe sex et al. one of the statements they posed was:

Every time you have sex with someone, you are also having sex with everyone they have ever had sex with . . . so on and so forth up the whole food chain, so to speak.

And that is where the title of this post came from.  However, what I want to discuss here is the real connections that we all have in this world.  With the advent of the internet and social networking sites we are more connected as a species than we have ever been in the history of our species.  So our six degrees are really much less than that.

It is hard for people to conceptualize just how connected they are with the rest of the world.  The best example I can provide is that of a spider web as shown below.

If you picture yourself as the center of the web, you can easily see all your connections as they are laid out before you.  Even with friends of friends of friends, you can see that you are only a figurative mouse click away from being friends with them yourself.

So, what does this all mean Jimi?!?!?  I can hear you shouting at your screens now.  Honestly, I do not know, this was a thought that came to me in the shower and I wanted to get it written down (so to speak) before I forgot about it.  I will probably revisit this post at some point in the future to edit and update, however for now I want to leave this open for discussion and everyone’s ideas on the topic.

Related articles

• 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon (gcsagents.com)
• Six degrees (bubblesofmischief.wordpress.com)
• Networking is imperative; 6 degrees… 2, 2 degrees of separation (bbroseproductions.wordpress.com)
• Facebook Kevin Bacon Study of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
• ’4.74 Degrees Of Kevin Bacon’ Just Doesn’t Sound As Good As 6 (npr.org)
• 10 Things the American Media Really Need to Learn About Sex (alternet.org)
• Less than 6-degrees separate you from Kevin Bacon (slashgear.com)

Why It Should In Fact Be Called President’s Day

I know that as far as the law is concerned the holiday is “Washington’s Birthday”, however that does not mean that it is a “right” concept.  Every person that has served as President should receive recognition for the duties they performed for this nation during their term(s).  As a practical matter it is really not feasible to have each President have their own day so it only seems logical that there should be a unified “President’s Day” in this nation.

By now you are probably talking to you monitor and listing various Presidents that should not receive recognition, well guess what, you are wrong.  Whatever your own thoughts and beliefs, the presidency goes beyond the man in the office, it is the symbol of this nation, the leader.  Even more than this nation being judged by our President we are judged by other nations by the way our people treat and react to the current, and past, Presidents.

I do not have some liberal agenda on this issue, all I am advocating is a fair recognition of all the people that have given their time to serve as President of this nation.  Granted, Washington is considered the father of this country, however it can easily be argued that there were Presidents who had more of an influence of the progression of this nation than him.

Is this revisionism in my eyes?  Maybe, or maybe I believe in my nation and those people that have served this country, be they elected officials or members of the military.  All of these people deserve our support and recognition of their service.  So please folks, let’s be reasonable here and stop taking a chance to correct someone over something so trivial.

Related articles

• Why you should stop calling today Presidents’ Day (csmonitor.com)
• Presidents Day: Its origin and closures on the holiday (examiner.com)
• No lie: It’s Washington’s Birthday, not Presidents Day – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
• A Brief History of (What You Think Is) Presidents’ Day (newsfeed.time.com)
• Happy Presidents Day (slog.thestranger.com)
• Happy President’s Day: Do You Know Why We Celebrate President’s Day, How it Happened or Who Invented It? (thehispanicblog.com)
• President’s Day Isn’t Really President’s Day, and Other Facts – Patch.com (diamondbar.patch.com)
• Presidents Day (neatorama.com)
• Note to Michelle Obama: It’s ‘Washington’s Birthday’ (whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com)
• Presidents Day reality check: Abraham Lincoln was robbed (latimes.com)