Ground Zero Tolerance

As you all know, I've talked about race, religion, and culture over the time that I've been on this site. Now while I may not agree with a lot of people who tout the necessity of these things and may actively argue against them, I try not to have any blind hatred for these people. I never generalize that all people of a particular faith are bad, just those handfuls that use their god's words as a justification for persecution and prejudice. People tho do this, who hate and generalize, they make me sad, they make me angry, so you can just imagine how sickening it is to me to hear about the protesters of the Mosque at Ground Zero.

Now first things first, this Mosque is not going to be at the world trade center site, it's going to be two blocks away. Secondly, it's not really a mosque, it's a Muslim Community Center that will have a Mosque as a part of it. But the simple fact that it shares some general real estate with Ground Zero has people in an uproar. A huge protest was thrown on June 6th and I must say I just couldn't believe it. I mean, it's been nearly ten years now, I know it still hurts but haven't we as a nation come to a clear enough mind to separate Muslims and Terrorists in our collective minds? I thought this, I honestly did. Then I clicked the article.

I found myself staring at a woman holding up a sign, it said "You can build a Mosque at Ground Zero when we can build a Synagogue in Mecca", I was awe struck. My mind reeled at the ignorance of that statement. The 'Yous' and 'Wes' rang out as this woman certainly didn't consider anyone of Muslim faith apart of her small minded world. I went on to the article to read that at this protest, two Egyptian men speaking Arabic were accosted by an unruly mob. They shouted at the men and told them to get out, the two men were able to escape the crowd with the aide of police, and were in fact two Christian men there to protest the Mosque as well.

I have rarely seen such a unabashed showing of hatred and racism in my life. The idea of freedom of religion and practice, the laws governing property ownership, simple human decency to let others live as they will, all of these things blatantly forgotten by these men and women, if they had ever had concept of them after all. I found myself not satisfied by the one article, and moved to another. I read more of the hate and came across the worst quite I have ever read that was spoken with utter honesty... Mark Williams, a Tea Party leader put this on his personal blog "The monument would consist of a Mosque for the worship of the terrorists' monkey-god." And continue to say "In the meantime I have a wonderful idea along the same lines as that mosque at Ground Zero thing… a nice, shiny new U.S. Military Base on the smoldering ruins of Mecca. Works for me!"

My jaw dropped. It literally hung agape as I stared at the words, I couldn't believe it. I was incapable of believing these words came from a human being. I checked the actual blog, and as I could not find these direct quotes, though the articles he post do seems to be 'updated' quite often, he does in fact refer to Islamic people as savages and post disturbing depictions of Muhammad. The sheer hatred in these people sickens me, they look and see terrorists in every person with brown skin. They call anyone Arabic savages, and completely ignore the fact that whatever they happen to believe, that the people building the community center have a right to build whatever they damn well please as long as they have the blessing of the New York City Council, which they do.

I may not agree with the Muslim faith as I do not agree with any other faith. But I'm also not going to stand around and tell these people they don't have a right to build a Mosque, in the same way I won't stand in front of a Catholic and tell them they can't build a Church. It's not right, it's racist in the worst way. These people these horrible horrible people scream terrorists, they're drudging up hatred and fear that I thought was long since gone in the public mind. I thought we were passed this, that America didn't look at an Arabic man standing in a Walmart and wonder if the guy has a bomb strapped to his chest anymore. I thought in the past nine years out collective anger over 9/11 had calmed to the point where we could all be people again.

I guess I was wrong.

Snap!

Riveting, the human nature that controls,
The instinct of rash emotion and snap judgment.
Even those of us that pride ourselves on being calm,
Being the reasoning creature among insanity,
Fall to the complete overwhelming urge to snap.



I have nothing else to say today besides this;

I am disappointed.

Fresh poetry on Wednesday.

-Manda

Cultural

In a previous article I alluded that I would one day give my insight on my ideas of culture. For a long while I held off on this one, because I didn't really have any sort of counter ideal to put up against the social norm, but today my mind was centered on the gaming community and more importantly gaming culture. Here we have millions of people all coming together, all finding a common interest. These people from all walks of life, all shapes, sizes, religions, races, all with something to share with each other. They all take pride in their culture, but you know what? It's open to any who wish to join, and that's my problem with Heritage and National Pride.

I am Irish, Irish-German actually, but only a small part German so lets just go with Irish for now. I am American, I am an East Coaster, I am a Jersey Boy, all of these things describe where I come from, none of these things mean anything to who I am. Already I can feel the hatred of some who hold a particular pride in their heritage or region of birth... But why? As the great late George Carlin would say, pride should be reserved for something you achieve, not a happenstance of birth. The fact that my great grandparents were born in Ireland makes me no more Irish than a man who's great grandparent's were born in Africa.

And the very same can be said about the land you were born into. I'm American, and I'm glad I was born here. I do honestly enjoy my country, but I would never show pride in the simple fact that I was born here... I had no control of that. Now I can be proud of America, even though there are times I am not, but to be proud to be an American, well it leaves the unintended implication that it is shameful to be anything else. You have people, as much alike as they are different, beating their chest in their pride, in their invisible link to land. They all draw the sand around each other, and tout how much greater they are than the others.

Culture should not be all inclusive. To draw a line in the sand, to limit a community to one, it simply creates ego and segregation. Culture needs to be about a common interest, not a common birthplace. Culture needs to be about people sharing something, whether it be pride in gaming, food, music, science fiction, sports, or anything else. It should invite new people to keep the culture ever growing and ever evolving. It needs to be something that's as diverse as it is unique.

Now I am not saying that heritage and national cultures are a bad thing, but they're not something to be prideful of, they're something to be respected and explored. But when you're prideful of something that no other can join, that is where hate and racism blossom, to build a community that is made up of one destroys diversity. The idea that where your ancestors have come from has any impact on you as a person today to me is offensive, and the forced ideology that you must therefore have pride in those people you don't know is something I simply cannot comprehend.

Respect who you were, be proud of who you become.

Ode To You

So life is hard, deal.
So things aren't going your way, change.
So you can't, so you won't, so you don't know how.
So don't.

Close your mouth, open your eyes,
Your mind, your heart,
Stop spewing your rancid quotes
Of sameness, of uneffected monotony.

We get it, you're you,
No qualifier will ever justify.
So don't change, don't live.
Stay the same and wallow.

So I get it, you're you,
But if this pleases you so much,
Why is it a constant string of
Why, why, whys and crying woe to me?

So you get it, you're you,
I'm so happy that this is plain to see.
You've accepted your stature of sameness,
And you plan to let it fester.

So do it, end your life while you're still living.
Or perhaps you never began.
Do it and keep it to yourself.
Because if I can't help you, I don't need the reminders.

It's not that I don't care, I do.
But with every step backwards,
Or every time your feet plant into the dirt,
The pain in my heart is overwhelming.

So do what you have to do,
Don't worry, don't fret, don't change,
Stay how you are and be it always.
But do it in quiet.

But if ever you choose to live again,
To open your eyes, to take a breath,
To start that step you faltered on for so long,
Whisper your humble acquiescence.
And running I will come.

Hate

Today I'm talking about something I really didn't want to talk about. Manda came up to me with it, and I just shook it off, the video she wanted me to watch was over forty minutes long and was about a anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda (Africa). I didn't wanna watch it or get too involved with the issues for a number of reasons, for one we have enough issues here in America with our inability to simply accept Homosexuality as something not to be feared or hated, it's a bill being passed in an African Nation a place I have shall we say, limited (i.e. None), influence over, and finally I just wanted to play Hitman: Blood Money before work.

But I did watch the video after some goading, and it was... sadly... as expected. It was filled with the same ignorance and hatred as the Anti-Gay people over here. Men stood in front of many and used misinformation and lies to spread their vile hate of others. The only difference between Uganda and America is just how wide spread it has become, that and of course it may lead to death for being gay. Fueling this hatred, this vile act, is of course, Evangelicals.

Many people believe it is a handful of Evangelicals from America that sparked this whole issue, that before them, while being gay in Uganda was by no means a safe life as it was still considered illegal, has now has become deadly as the flames of hatred have fanned across the entire nation. These men came to this country and spoke lies, they spoke hatred, they spoke against their fellow man, all in the name of their god. It amazes me how one line in a book written centuries ago can still influence us today simply because a man named Leviticus said the voice in his head was God.

I felt the twinge of my rage come early in the video when the man, and I use the word man lightly here, who proposed the bill stated that the reason he did it was to protect the children. Again and again we here this argument, and it is always so ludicrous it makes me want to scream. It's a clever trick, actually, to associate something you dislike with something considered morally wrong in nearly all cultures. You say Homosexuality and Pedophilia, and suddenly anyone who happens to like men becomes a pedophile. It's offensive and wrong, plain and simple. Anyone who has looked at the statistics will know that the most common occurrence of pedophilia is adult men and underage girls. And that's only the reported cases, with all these teachers being outed lately, I wouldn't be surprised if adult women and underage boys is higher on the list than gays.

The simple fact is that these people rally against something harmless because of their fantasy. They know they can't truly get anywhere with simply saying 'the Bible says so', so they concoct lies, they slander, they mislead, and they invent. They tell people that gays want your children, that there's a massive Homosexual agenda, that gay sex is deviant and dangerous. They tell people that Homosexuality is completely unnatural, a choice, something that can be fixed and rehabilitated...

And it's all lies. It's the worst kind of lie, hate filled and designed to stir emotion of people not thinking straight. As much as I want to, and I really want to, I can't hate the people of Uganda. They're all being mislead, they're all being told fantastic and simply untrue things about Homosexuality. If I didn't know any better, if I looked upon a man I respected and looked up to, if he told me that Gays were monsters and showed me graphs and pictures of disturbing images... I too would revert to a primal emotional response... The fear, the confusion, the urge to protect myself and those I love. These people are filled with hate, yes, but it's not their fault. They're being fed... They're being lied to. They react quick to what they don't truly understand... And it's those men and women at the top, the people who have the masses trust, the ones who do know better who are the true scum. It's just so sad to see bad people with influence.

I wonder if they'd say Homosexuality was unnatural if they knew that 1500 species of animals practice homosexual relationships?

Expectations and all that jazz

It seems that expectations are never met, either way.

One is too high; the standard set so the hoops you must jump through trip you more than guide you.

The other too low; want nothing, expect nothing, ask for nothing, receive and have mind blown.

Why can't we ever just have the expectation set for "do your best". And then have that actually meant.

No saying it and then harboring expectations regardless. Secret hopes or beliefs are just.... bullshit.

I know, I know. Human nature blah blah blah, has to happen that way with free thought blah blah blah.

I do it too... but....dammit....

I'm pissed, ok?

I'm sick of being thought of like an incompetent idiot by the same people that expect the sun and the moon to shine out of my fucking ass.




Look me in the eye,
Tell me what you really think.
The truth might hurt more,
But at least then you don't have to blink.
Those tears, they are refreshing,
The cool path they run on my heat.
They may seem utter sadness to you,
But to me, they are relief you just can't beat.

Trace the lines on my face,
They are welcome; wrinkle or salt.
So when you see my reaction to your truth,
There is no wrong, no fault.
So, hearing this testimony,
Do you still wish to pump more lies.
Doing so would mean the end of our song,
And the beginning of the terrible goodbyes.





Growing. It's tiresome, to say the least.

Weird Science

Earlier today I walked downstairs to grab some dinner, after putting the barbecued chicken into the Microwave, I plopped down onto the couch and watched the tail end of Mythbusters with my mother. The episode seemed to be about the usage of pressurized air and gunpowder as a propulsion method and fuel respectively, both being obvious failures in the experiments, but entertaining enough as Mythbusters tends to be. Then another show came on, a sinister show, a show that has no place upon the Discovery channel, a channel that touts itself as a station that promotes the spread of knowledge. This show was Weird or What?

Weird or What purported to explore strange events that were unknown, unexplained by conventional science. A big fan of science, I already felt a bit of a twinge in my eye. My dinner was waiting though, and I had to send it through a second spin in the microwave already, so I got up and took my food upstairs. Though on my way up I heard them talk about the first item on this show, the idea that someone else discovered the Americas before Columbus. I thought to myself, well yeah... duh, the Vikings were there ages before Columbus, they just didn't care enough to stake out any land. But oh no, this show had a different idea... The Chinese!

What followed was silly assumptions brought on by negligible evidence. Stone Anchors being the only real showings. I was rolling my eyes already at the assertion that a Chinese boat, which a historical expert stated could never stand travel across any broad ocean, would make it across the Pacific. Then the show threw me as I realized they were in fact talking about the Chinese landing on the east coast! There was nothing to show any signs of legitimacy in any of these arguments, the theorists only providing circumstantial evidence, including a medallion the man 'found' buried somewhere in North Carolina.

And despite the fact that the evidence was lacking, and that some of these people were trying to force their preset theories to fit the available information, this show continued to put to the viewer the possibility of truth in any of this. The show continued on to examine the 'legitimacy' of organs like hearts retaining memories that are transferred to donor recipients, the idea that a man who was struck by lightning is somehow drawing the lightning strikes as opposed to being a victim of poor circumstance, and something that would give M. Night Shyamalan's schlock of a movie The Happening some credence... are plants sentient.

As I watched this show I was literally driven into a fury. I screamed at my television that the circumstances of the man's life was the most likely cause of his constant dealings with lightning, that the cluster of nerves in organs couldn't possibly store any memory and that muscle memory does not work that way, and that using a polygraph test on a plant to measure emotional stress was the most ludicrous application of equipment I have ever seen. This whole show screamed at me something I despise, something I hate, something I rally against... Bad science.

People who use science in the same way most of us would use a stick shift, incorrectly. People who use equipment in ways it wasn't intended to, like Ghost Hunters using an EMP meter. People who come to a conclusion first, and then search for the evidence that makes their preset determination work and only seem to search for evidence to disprove other theories like Creationists. People who use completely unmeasurable and untestable pseudo-scientific sounding principals to explain their extraordinary 'natural' abilities like psychics and telekinetics.

These people are con men, and charlatans in the worst way. They, unlike those in the past, aren't pointing at supernatural events and claiming magic, god, aliens, and ghosts... They aren't using words the common man can dispute. These people are using the language of science to give their half truths and outright lies credence. They are using the language of science to convince otherwise well minded people who simply do not understand how their methods are wrong. These people anger me more than anyone who simply claims 'God/Wizard/Xenu did it' because they can actually be taken seriously. These people actually become something of merit when compared to legitimate science.

The worst thing is that it can be done accidentally. They're ignorance of the actual progression of the Scientific Method allows them to feel they are being scientific, that they are actually progressing their ideas and theories. This may be more understandable, but isn't any better. A liar of accidence is no less dangerous than a liar of purpose. These people point at their half studied findings and belt out their untruth, and the problem, the huge problem, is that a lot of people will take them as bare fact. And that's dangerous.

And it's on again. Fuck.

Smile

It's not the same,
The happiness and laughter,
The conversations and uncomplicated ease.

I know things are different,
I'm not what you wanted,
I'm not who you need anymore.

But smile, dear, smile for me.
Smile for our past, for what we could have been.
Smile for me, m'dear. Smile.

Release the breath, hold onto the memories,
Without them, without those; it was all for nothing.
But I am... Sorry, I mean. I'm so, so sorry.

So smile, dear. Smile for me.
Remember our ease, what we had before.
Smile for me, m'dear. Smile.

Forced Family

Way back when we first started this little site Manda discussed how important her family was to her. Back then she also wanted each of out sequential articles to be related in some way. As you can see that has not been the case, but now I've decided to throw my hat in on this whole Family thing, mostly inspired by this weekend's barbecue where they were all nice and present. And I have to say, in all honesty, I don't like my family...

In fact, I rather dislike the most of them. Now qualifiers need to be stated, I am only talking about my distant family, I love each and every single person who lives with me in my household, why? Cause those are the people I've grown with, the people who have been in my life from day one. But my uncles, my aunt, cousins, and to a small degree even my sister... Well, I don't want anything to do with them. Whenever these people are here I holed up in my room, I avoid them at all cost. All interaction is as limited as possible. Little words, no eye contact, avoid shaking hands.

Now you may be thinking that I'm cold, that I'm so rude and disrespectful. This is my family! I should love them all because they're who I come from. I have to ask... why? Why do we expect people to endure people they would in any other circumstance despise simply because there is some limited genetic link between them? My relatives outside of my household are people I would never associate with in any way if we were strangers. If I met these people on the streets, I would genuinely dislike them...

Family to me is not blood. My mother's husband may not be my father but he is more family to me that my aunt or uncles will ever be. He is someone I often disagree with, we have different viewpoints on many issues, and we have gotten into heated arguments over the years that I've known him, but I know he's a good man and that is what makes him my family. The entire idea that being linked by blood means anything is ridiculous to me, when it's so much more meaningful to be linked by life. Your family shouldn't be the ones your expected to love, they should be the ones you've come to love over time.

Blood is thicker than water, but water tastes a lot better.

Loopholes, They Are Sexy

The roads to hell,
To suffering, pain,
Admonishment and broken minds,
Are not lined with gold
Or paved with pleasant gifts.

The roads to heaven,
To acceptance, peace,
Achievement and completeness,
Are not lined with ash
Or built in sorrow and hatred.

Nothing is completely polar,
Things are never what you are told.
Do not have preconceived notions
Do not let the world surprise you.
Give in. Let go. Free-fall.



So.. no punishment because we didn't FORGET to post. Posts were unable to be put up do to lack of internet.

We continue as normal.