There is nothing, and I mean nothing, to talk about today. Most articles I found were about the antenna problem regarding the new iPhone, and that's not exactly a big talking point. So I'm gonna discuss something that's not in the news, but more something that's close to my heart, and something I was working over my head yesterday. I was working over the idea of New Age and Alternative medicine, I was working over the sadness I feel for the patients, and the anger I feel towards the practitioners.
Let's get the easy one out of the way first, New Age medicine. Now I really shouldn't have to go on how three thousand year old eastern medical practices based on spiritual healing and, well, nothing else could possibly thrive in a world with modern medicine. Unfortunately I have to do just that, because it just won't go away. The New Age Medical practices are based off the old Eastern philosophy of healing spiritual energy, add that with Hippies minus the tie dye, and you've got yourself a nice placebo that will not only earn you cash, but get you the appreciation of your fellow man. Unearned, and unwarranted. New Age Medicine, incense therapy, and any other spiritual nonsense are nothing more than placebos. They put the patient in a relaxed state, they're calm, they're at ease, and worse off, they believe it will work. They end up saying they feel great! And continue to go for treatment while the real problem continues.
Now Alternative Medicine is a bit trickier as there's no aspect of spirituality in these... most of the time. They try and sound scientific, while in essence have no scientific backing to their methods. You're likely to see a lot of alternative medicine on late night infomercials promising to heal that back, ankle, wrist, neck, and weight problem you have. Things like Reflexology, Magnet Therapy, Herbology, and Homeopathic medicine provide the same placebo effect for those who don't critical thinkers who don't want spiritual healers, and don't want to think critically enough. These practices mostly seem to be elaborate massages, or using devices that have little to no actual effect on the human body, or just really bad science like diluting medicine with water somehow making the medicinal value stronger?
So how do these practices continue to thrive? I could easily say that people are gullible and knock off for the day, but I don't think that's truly the case. In my experience, every person I've known that prefers alternative or new age medicine had some tragedy in the family caused by modern medicine. These people watched a family member suffer and die due to a mistake by a doctor, or an adverse reaction to a medical procedure. It's heartbreaking watching these people, who aren't stupid, they're not dim witted or lack any sense of sense, they're angry and spiteful. So here comes a practice that promises to make you feel great with no risk. And hey, it works, you do feel great and there was no risk.
But while feeling great, real sickness and illness can take hold and these people just can't fix that. There is no getting better without some risk, we're talking about altering the state of our bodies, and our bodies can be temperamental bitches. Being angry at Medicine because your doctor was a fuck up, or because one time a medication had a side effect just doesn't justify endangering your own life, and possibly your families. Realize that Medicine is not a practice that can ever be one hundred percent, and for practitioners is an ever learning experience. Realize that Modern Medicine has completely eradicated thousands of diseases and illnesses through cures and treatments, and that New age and Alternative Medicine has completely cured absolutely nothing.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or it does nothing at all.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Broadcast Someone Else
I've talked in the past about piracy, bringing up the point that though those against piracy on the internet are right, their methods of enforcement quickly turn public opinions against them. No greater case can be listed than Viacom's nearly two billion dollar lawsuit against Google in regards to their property YouTube. The ruling has finally come, and the Judge stated that YouTube was doing everything in it's power to remove copyrighted material from it's site, IE someone flags a video as copyrighted and YouTube removes it. Therefore YouTube was acting in accordance to all laws regarding Internet Media. Viacom states openly that they're sure they will win in appeal, and continues it's effort in making itself the enemy of this situation.
Now this is a little different from the last article I did on Piracy, where the individual person was stealing and distributing media, now we have a middle man, a company, YouTube. Viacom's case is that YouTube's methods of removing material from their site is inadequate and therefore the mega-giant that is Viacom is losing money from people watching their shows on the site. They go on to point out that YouTube actually encourages the posting of copyrighted material and are making money off of it. As ludicrous as this is, it becomes even sillier when the fact that Viacom itself has posted it's own material on the site to spark a viral interest in the material, and have asked YouTube to put it back up when it was taken down...
The simple fact is that YouTube has a EULA, an End-User License Agreement, which states quite clearly that the posting of videos that you do not exclusively own without permission is prohibited. When someone ignores this, the video can then be flagged by any user, and will then be viewed by a moderator, and removed if the video goes against the User Agreement. Case closed. YouTube has always made it clear that videos you do not have permission to show are not allowed, and it is the individual users that ignore this agreement that cause the problem, and with a user base numbering in the thousands of people who use YouTube regularly, not even mentioning the casual users, it creates a pile that can be difficult to manage.
What strikes me is Viacom's assertion that YouTube makes it's money off this material. This is a lie, and one I cannot fathom anyone buying. The core premise of YouTube is the ability to share an individual's videos with the world, and that's generally how it's used. From funny accident videos to vloggers, the people who do actually bring most of YouTube's money, the site is about self expression for anyone and everyone.
Right now I'm looking at YouTube's front page and you know what I see? In the Featured Videos I see Tiny Bubbles; a bearded man talking to his camera about explosions, Understanding GIRLS!!!; a video of an Asian girl talking about, well, women. In the 'Videos being watched now' section I see Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Gameplay Footage posted by IGN, and Ken's Dating Tips, a comedy skit promoting Toy Story 3 posted by Pixar. Wait a minute, you mean legitimate companies are using YouTube to distribute their content so they can make money?
This is where Viacom should be, they should be using YouTube, not trying to milk it for two billion dollars. The simple and instant access to media is what makes sites like YouTube so popular, people can instantly find something they want to watch. Whether it's Movie Trailers posted by the Studios, reports directly from the floors of E3 posted by G4, or news reports put up by CNN. YouTube is not hurting media distribution, it's giving it a new tool to provide us entertainment on our schedule, and putting it in a place we're all gonna be able to find it. Here we have yet again a company that doesn't want to see the world of technology evolve, they just want to keep everything the way it was...
Knock it off Viacom, and upload a video.
Now this is a little different from the last article I did on Piracy, where the individual person was stealing and distributing media, now we have a middle man, a company, YouTube. Viacom's case is that YouTube's methods of removing material from their site is inadequate and therefore the mega-giant that is Viacom is losing money from people watching their shows on the site. They go on to point out that YouTube actually encourages the posting of copyrighted material and are making money off of it. As ludicrous as this is, it becomes even sillier when the fact that Viacom itself has posted it's own material on the site to spark a viral interest in the material, and have asked YouTube to put it back up when it was taken down...
The simple fact is that YouTube has a EULA, an End-User License Agreement, which states quite clearly that the posting of videos that you do not exclusively own without permission is prohibited. When someone ignores this, the video can then be flagged by any user, and will then be viewed by a moderator, and removed if the video goes against the User Agreement. Case closed. YouTube has always made it clear that videos you do not have permission to show are not allowed, and it is the individual users that ignore this agreement that cause the problem, and with a user base numbering in the thousands of people who use YouTube regularly, not even mentioning the casual users, it creates a pile that can be difficult to manage.
What strikes me is Viacom's assertion that YouTube makes it's money off this material. This is a lie, and one I cannot fathom anyone buying. The core premise of YouTube is the ability to share an individual's videos with the world, and that's generally how it's used. From funny accident videos to vloggers, the people who do actually bring most of YouTube's money, the site is about self expression for anyone and everyone.
Right now I'm looking at YouTube's front page and you know what I see? In the Featured Videos I see Tiny Bubbles; a bearded man talking to his camera about explosions, Understanding GIRLS!!!; a video of an Asian girl talking about, well, women. In the 'Videos being watched now' section I see Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Gameplay Footage posted by IGN, and Ken's Dating Tips, a comedy skit promoting Toy Story 3 posted by Pixar. Wait a minute, you mean legitimate companies are using YouTube to distribute their content so they can make money?
This is where Viacom should be, they should be using YouTube, not trying to milk it for two billion dollars. The simple and instant access to media is what makes sites like YouTube so popular, people can instantly find something they want to watch. Whether it's Movie Trailers posted by the Studios, reports directly from the floors of E3 posted by G4, or news reports put up by CNN. YouTube is not hurting media distribution, it's giving it a new tool to provide us entertainment on our schedule, and putting it in a place we're all gonna be able to find it. Here we have yet again a company that doesn't want to see the world of technology evolve, they just want to keep everything the way it was...
Knock it off Viacom, and upload a video.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Bad Blood
Let's say that you, spurred on by the recent tragedies of the past few years, want to give something back. You wanna help out, do something right, but you have a problem. You see, you're broke and really can't give any money to the relief funds and you're too busy to go down and volunteer, so what do you do? Well why not donate some blood? Yeah, that's something you can do. It doesn't cost you anything, you only have to give up about an hour of your day at most, and you get a cookie and some OJ for your troubles. That, and you'll know that you're helping people who truly need it... What's that? You're a gay man? Sorry, never mind.
Since 1985 the FDA has put a ban on any male donor who has had even one sexual encounter with another man since the year 1977. Though there have been several attempts to remove this ban, as far as I can read, it is still in effect. The reasoning for this is because it is seen that homosexual relations is a high risk for transmitting diseases. Basically, it's easier and more prevalent for gay men to have HIV.
Now I could blow that away as really bad science and forced statistics. I could point at the level of disease on race lines, how any man and woman who preform anal sex are just as likely, or that it's actually shared needle use that is the higher transference of blood born diseases. But I won't, cause it's not the point. You can't just lop off a litany of perfectly viable volunteers just because the odds are higher that they might be diseased compared to another according to your bad math. The FDA is in essentially saying that one group of people can participate, and another can't. That's right, they're discriminating against male homosexuals.
They're not doing it intentionally, no, they're only doing it because they're looking at the data they gathered, and came to the wrong conclusion. In 1985 when this ban was passed HIV and AIDS was new and scary. They didn't know a lot about it at the time, they didn't know many ways to prevent it, and it seemed like it was located solely in the Homosexual population. The disease was referred to as the Gay Cancer, it was wide spread, it was terrifying. In they're haste to keep this deadly disease out of the population at large, one could argue that the ban was needed.
But it's not anymore, it's just not. They argue that the tests aren't one hundred percent, that there's human error, and that it's just too much of a risk still. But it's 2010, HIV and AIDS are not the gay cancer anymore, just as many straight people suffer from the disease as well. It's no longer so very wide spread among the gay community with the increased use of protection and testing. Every gay man walking the street is not diseased, and they're blood is just as 'high risk' as the woman who last year banged three guys in one night with no condom... Right now all this bad does is discriminate, it keeps a part of the population from helping with the massive needs blood donation. If you need to live in your small minded world, test the blood more strictly, but don't disallow good blood.
You need it more than they do.
Since 1985 the FDA has put a ban on any male donor who has had even one sexual encounter with another man since the year 1977. Though there have been several attempts to remove this ban, as far as I can read, it is still in effect. The reasoning for this is because it is seen that homosexual relations is a high risk for transmitting diseases. Basically, it's easier and more prevalent for gay men to have HIV.
Now I could blow that away as really bad science and forced statistics. I could point at the level of disease on race lines, how any man and woman who preform anal sex are just as likely, or that it's actually shared needle use that is the higher transference of blood born diseases. But I won't, cause it's not the point. You can't just lop off a litany of perfectly viable volunteers just because the odds are higher that they might be diseased compared to another according to your bad math. The FDA is in essentially saying that one group of people can participate, and another can't. That's right, they're discriminating against male homosexuals.
They're not doing it intentionally, no, they're only doing it because they're looking at the data they gathered, and came to the wrong conclusion. In 1985 when this ban was passed HIV and AIDS was new and scary. They didn't know a lot about it at the time, they didn't know many ways to prevent it, and it seemed like it was located solely in the Homosexual population. The disease was referred to as the Gay Cancer, it was wide spread, it was terrifying. In they're haste to keep this deadly disease out of the population at large, one could argue that the ban was needed.
But it's not anymore, it's just not. They argue that the tests aren't one hundred percent, that there's human error, and that it's just too much of a risk still. But it's 2010, HIV and AIDS are not the gay cancer anymore, just as many straight people suffer from the disease as well. It's no longer so very wide spread among the gay community with the increased use of protection and testing. Every gay man walking the street is not diseased, and they're blood is just as 'high risk' as the woman who last year banged three guys in one night with no condom... Right now all this bad does is discriminate, it keeps a part of the population from helping with the massive needs blood donation. If you need to live in your small minded world, test the blood more strictly, but don't disallow good blood.
You need it more than they do.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
[Insert Title Here] Day
So it's Father's Day, a day in which we celebrate dad, and despite my issues of distance and unfamiliarity with the man, I called my father to wish him a happy Father's Day. We talked for some time about this and that, and all was well. However I may feel about him as a person, he is my father and he deserves love and respect for what parts he did have in raising me, and that is my problem with Father's Day. In fact, it's my problem with any 'holiday' that puts some arbitrary importance on any one subject more-so than any other day of the year.
I hate Father's Day, I hate Mother's Day, and like any single person I hate Valentine's day. Secretary Day, Nurse Appreciation day, every year it seems a new day comes up we're expected to respect a person or persons we should already respect on any given day. I can go on to tell you how it's all pushed by Hallmark and other such companies to keep themselves relevant the other ninety percent of the year people aren't buying three dollar pieces of cardboard paper with some sappy words on them, and as true as it is, I won't. Instead I'll simply talk about how these companies, the ones who push these Holidays in the first place, end up destroying the true sentiment behind them.
Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentines Day, all these holidays are in spirit a celebration of love and cherishment of a person. These days of respect and admiration to people we care about are instead turned into mini-Christmases where we're more concerned about the guilt of buying something nice for the person instead of giving them our love and respect. Love and cherish your Father, but also buy him a cool toy from Radio Shack. Show your utmost desire for your lover on Valentines day... by purchasing them a gold ring. Maybe it's just the cynic in me, but sometimes it just feels like the gift overshadows the intent behind the gift.
These holidays are ridiculous, they push on to you an obligation to feel for someone as you should every day without the need for a date on a Calendar. The celebration of love should not be exaggerated on one specific day in the year, it should be honest and heartfelt every single day. The only days that should be any different are personal milestones, hallmark moments, and annual achievements like Birthdays and Anniversaries. These days have actual meaning to the people being celebrated, they're not arbitrary third Mondays of a month you're expected to care a little more. They're special not cause it's the day you need to buy a card, but because they mark a moment in time that matters whether it be a birth, falling in love, or a marriage.
Even with all that I've said, do call your Father if you can, tell him you love him, spend some time on the phone with him. If you're able to a dinner with the man won't hurt, and yeah, a gift that shows you appreciate what he's done for you would be nice. Just don't do it because of what today happens to be, do it because he deserves it. Do it because you love him.
Putting so much love into one day, just means there's less to give all year round.
I hate Father's Day, I hate Mother's Day, and like any single person I hate Valentine's day. Secretary Day, Nurse Appreciation day, every year it seems a new day comes up we're expected to respect a person or persons we should already respect on any given day. I can go on to tell you how it's all pushed by Hallmark and other such companies to keep themselves relevant the other ninety percent of the year people aren't buying three dollar pieces of cardboard paper with some sappy words on them, and as true as it is, I won't. Instead I'll simply talk about how these companies, the ones who push these Holidays in the first place, end up destroying the true sentiment behind them.
Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentines Day, all these holidays are in spirit a celebration of love and cherishment of a person. These days of respect and admiration to people we care about are instead turned into mini-Christmases where we're more concerned about the guilt of buying something nice for the person instead of giving them our love and respect. Love and cherish your Father, but also buy him a cool toy from Radio Shack. Show your utmost desire for your lover on Valentines day... by purchasing them a gold ring. Maybe it's just the cynic in me, but sometimes it just feels like the gift overshadows the intent behind the gift.
These holidays are ridiculous, they push on to you an obligation to feel for someone as you should every day without the need for a date on a Calendar. The celebration of love should not be exaggerated on one specific day in the year, it should be honest and heartfelt every single day. The only days that should be any different are personal milestones, hallmark moments, and annual achievements like Birthdays and Anniversaries. These days have actual meaning to the people being celebrated, they're not arbitrary third Mondays of a month you're expected to care a little more. They're special not cause it's the day you need to buy a card, but because they mark a moment in time that matters whether it be a birth, falling in love, or a marriage.
Even with all that I've said, do call your Father if you can, tell him you love him, spend some time on the phone with him. If you're able to a dinner with the man won't hurt, and yeah, a gift that shows you appreciate what he's done for you would be nice. Just don't do it because of what today happens to be, do it because he deserves it. Do it because you love him.
Putting so much love into one day, just means there's less to give all year round.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
When is a law the law?
Last Wednesday Aline Wright had a stroke, but was luckily enough to feel it coming along early. Her husband of four days Jesse, was quick to put her in the car and rush her to the hospital. On their way there Jesse ran two red lights, he was not reckless though, he in fact stopped at the light and made sure there was no oncoming traffic before moving on, treating the lights as stop signs. On the second light a cop spotted them and gave chase, being only a block away from the hospital, Jesse decided not to stop thinking the cop would realize why he had done what he did. The cop caught up with them at the entrance of the emergency room and actually stopped them from entering, Aline actually being carried in Jesse's arms. The cop did eventually let them through, but followed them in intent on arresting Jesse. The Hospital, though, turned him away as Arline could not speak, and Jesse was needed to answer questions.
The following days progressed oddly, when on Thursday Jesse was told there was a warrant out for his arrest, upon turning himself in though he was told no such warrant existed. Returning to his wife, he was awoken on Friday morning to find that he was being arrested. The couple already have a lawyer ready to fight this, and intend to lodge a complaint against the police department. The only comment the department would make on the issue was that the officer was "just doing his job." And you know what? He was.
Yeah he was being a dick about it, and went about this whole issue the completely wrong way, but this officer saw a man run a red light, and when giving pursuit, the driver did not pull over. Here's a simple truth that many do not know, it's not a cop's job to protect you, a cop's job is to enforce the law. The question of this story to me is when does the law become supplemental. I'm sure we've all heard a story of a frantic man driving a pregnant woman to the hospital as she enters labor, the man is pulled over for speeding, and the cop then gives the two an escort to the hospital. But Jesse didn't stop, he didn't have a police car ahead of him clearing traffic for him, and despite being only a few blocks to the Hospital, a cop could interpret this as endangering others, and the man did not stop when caught.
Even with this I'm going to be siding with the Wrights here. Once the cop realized what was going on, he should have let them go, possibly with a warning. The man stopped these two right outside the entrance to the ER while Jesse was literally carrying Aline because she was unable to walk. This man followed these two into the hospital with intents to arrest Jesse for the crime of carefully running a red light with no traffic, and a wife experiencing a stroke. The law or not, it takes someone very cold to not understand that going after a guy for that is wrong. And that's the thing with this story to me, there's a legitimate complaint for both sides, but the Cop tops it for not realizing that while Jesse did break the law, he didn't do anything wrong.
“Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.” Mark Twain
The following days progressed oddly, when on Thursday Jesse was told there was a warrant out for his arrest, upon turning himself in though he was told no such warrant existed. Returning to his wife, he was awoken on Friday morning to find that he was being arrested. The couple already have a lawyer ready to fight this, and intend to lodge a complaint against the police department. The only comment the department would make on the issue was that the officer was "just doing his job." And you know what? He was.
Yeah he was being a dick about it, and went about this whole issue the completely wrong way, but this officer saw a man run a red light, and when giving pursuit, the driver did not pull over. Here's a simple truth that many do not know, it's not a cop's job to protect you, a cop's job is to enforce the law. The question of this story to me is when does the law become supplemental. I'm sure we've all heard a story of a frantic man driving a pregnant woman to the hospital as she enters labor, the man is pulled over for speeding, and the cop then gives the two an escort to the hospital. But Jesse didn't stop, he didn't have a police car ahead of him clearing traffic for him, and despite being only a few blocks to the Hospital, a cop could interpret this as endangering others, and the man did not stop when caught.
Even with this I'm going to be siding with the Wrights here. Once the cop realized what was going on, he should have let them go, possibly with a warning. The man stopped these two right outside the entrance to the ER while Jesse was literally carrying Aline because she was unable to walk. This man followed these two into the hospital with intents to arrest Jesse for the crime of carefully running a red light with no traffic, and a wife experiencing a stroke. The law or not, it takes someone very cold to not understand that going after a guy for that is wrong. And that's the thing with this story to me, there's a legitimate complaint for both sides, but the Cop tops it for not realizing that while Jesse did break the law, he didn't do anything wrong.
“Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.” Mark Twain
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Time To Grow Up
There's something strange,
Taking care of someone else,
Hearing the call of help
Or the whine of unhappiness.
You wonder,
How did I get to this place?
I'm in charge of someone else.
I can barely take care of myself!
How... frustrating.
Dizzying.
Exciting.
Endearing
Taking care of someone else,
Hearing the call of help
Or the whine of unhappiness.
You wonder,
How did I get to this place?
I'm in charge of someone else.
I can barely take care of myself!
How... frustrating.
Dizzying.
Exciting.
Endearing
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Your Own Man
In September of 2007 I found out that my father was dying. At that point he had been living in North Carolina for some time, and I hadn't seen him in years. We were told he didn't have much time left, so me and my family got on a plane to go see him, we spent a few days there, visited my father, and discussed what was to be done. It was decided he be moved up to Jersey where his family and friends could be close, and the medical care would be infinitely better, since on the day of our departure to see him, the hospital had lost him for a day. Nearly three years later and he's fine, the two week time-line his doctors in North Carolina gave him was a bit of a miss. He had been living with my sister, and I still had little contact with him. Today I found out he's in the hospital again, and will be going into surgery tomorrow. And like when I heard of his imminent death... I didn't really feel anything.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't want my father to die. But the man has not been a part of my life in a very long time, and I've actually made efforts to distance myself from him. My father has a genius level IQ, he was a Marine, a brilliant mechanic, and at heart a cowboy and a biker. He also may have schizophrenia, was kicked out of the Marines for punching a superior officer, could never hold down a job, and was an alcoholic which lead to the cirrhosis of the liver. In his life he did some bad things, he was in and out of jail for drunk driving and fighting, and I remember him being arrested once for punching an undercover cop. This is the man who taught me how to ride a bike, how to throw a baseball and a football, he taught me how to fish, and for that I defended him for years.
Years of my life I remember becoming angry when people spoke ill of my father. I always tried to point out his good when the bad came out. This is the man who raised me, the man I'm named after, I hated to hear him put down, even when it was justified. In my early twenties though, something changed. I started to realize that I was defending a man in his late 40s, a man who would regularly get into brawls at bars, and who would drink while his family was in the car with him, a man who everyone told me I was just like.
That was the driving point, I look like my father, I'm named after my father, but I don't want to be my father. My fathers life is not something to strive for. I put distance between us, determined not to be him, and the unfortunate side effect is a apathy when I hear he might be dying. Like I said I don't want my father to die, but there's so much distance between us now, I don't know how to feel bad for him.
When you're a child your dad is a super hero, as you grow up though you realize he's not, he's just a man. He makes mistakes, and my father has made many. My father is not the greatest man in the world, but he has shown me and my brother nothing but love. We are the two things he is most proud of in his life, but we're not his little boys anymore. I've changed so much in the past few years, and maybe that's why I feel the way I do about my father. Maybe it's not because I've tried so hard not to be him, but because I was successful in not being him. I'm my own man, and I'm not sure my father would like the man I've become.
Maybe I'm just afraid that if he gets to know the man I am, I'll stop being my father's son.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't want my father to die. But the man has not been a part of my life in a very long time, and I've actually made efforts to distance myself from him. My father has a genius level IQ, he was a Marine, a brilliant mechanic, and at heart a cowboy and a biker. He also may have schizophrenia, was kicked out of the Marines for punching a superior officer, could never hold down a job, and was an alcoholic which lead to the cirrhosis of the liver. In his life he did some bad things, he was in and out of jail for drunk driving and fighting, and I remember him being arrested once for punching an undercover cop. This is the man who taught me how to ride a bike, how to throw a baseball and a football, he taught me how to fish, and for that I defended him for years.
Years of my life I remember becoming angry when people spoke ill of my father. I always tried to point out his good when the bad came out. This is the man who raised me, the man I'm named after, I hated to hear him put down, even when it was justified. In my early twenties though, something changed. I started to realize that I was defending a man in his late 40s, a man who would regularly get into brawls at bars, and who would drink while his family was in the car with him, a man who everyone told me I was just like.
That was the driving point, I look like my father, I'm named after my father, but I don't want to be my father. My fathers life is not something to strive for. I put distance between us, determined not to be him, and the unfortunate side effect is a apathy when I hear he might be dying. Like I said I don't want my father to die, but there's so much distance between us now, I don't know how to feel bad for him.
When you're a child your dad is a super hero, as you grow up though you realize he's not, he's just a man. He makes mistakes, and my father has made many. My father is not the greatest man in the world, but he has shown me and my brother nothing but love. We are the two things he is most proud of in his life, but we're not his little boys anymore. I've changed so much in the past few years, and maybe that's why I feel the way I do about my father. Maybe it's not because I've tried so hard not to be him, but because I was successful in not being him. I'm my own man, and I'm not sure my father would like the man I've become.
Maybe I'm just afraid that if he gets to know the man I am, I'll stop being my father's son.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pretentious Poem That Has No Sense
The mimicry of insolence,
Calling on one untruth, one horror,
And recalling, resending, revealing;
It's terrifying and persuasive.
So why listen to it
In all it's shaking terrors
And unseen prospects of unending sadness?
Are you so lost?
If you walk away,
Toward the light of unannounced bliss,
Maybe you won't be charmed
Into the falsehood of despair.
Calling on one untruth, one horror,
And recalling, resending, revealing;
It's terrifying and persuasive.
So why listen to it
In all it's shaking terrors
And unseen prospects of unending sadness?
Are you so lost?
If you walk away,
Toward the light of unannounced bliss,
Maybe you won't be charmed
Into the falsehood of despair.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Crossing Boarders
You know, Arizona, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I stated quite firm that while your anti-illegal immigration tactics were on the borders of morality, they were not inherently evil. One of my commenters even pointed out that I had the early draft of the bill and the legislation was much more reasonable than people were saying. Now what do I hear, Arizona? You're trying to push in a bill that would refuse a birth certificate to children of illegal immigrants born here in the states... I just can't can't find the words to understand that, it's beyond me.
Illegal Immigration has been a topic of discussion over the past couple years, and though it seems to have died down, the good people in charge of Arizona are here to keep the issue hot it seems. You hear it all the time, you hear the term Undocumented Workers from those against harsh immigration laws, you hear the words racist for those for. You hear that they're stealing jobs from Americans, and you hear the counter that it's jobs American's don't want. It confuses me sometimes cause when it gets right down to it... It's illegal.
Now I'm not about to go all hard headed conservative on you here. I'm not going to forget that at some point in the past my own family came blinking into the sunlight off some boat, just looking for a new life. I have nothing but compassion for those who come to this country for the reason of helping their family, they're good people and hard workers. But the problem is my family did it all by the books, and every cent they made they paid taxes. And that's the issue, that's the 'problem' with Undocumented Workers, they don't pay taxes despite living in this country.
Most illegal immigrants, and hear me when I say most not all, come to this country to work and then send money back to their family in their native country. These people take cash, and then do not put it back into our economy. Their dollar doesn't go to funding everything that's needed to make the world around us run, now I'm trying very hard not to come off as some ignorant prig, but it just seems so very wrong to take money you gained from working in one country and not helping the country run through taxes or aiding the economy.
Now I'm not about to be all one sided, I'm not here to generalize, there are many illegal immigrants who do come here and spend the money they make here in America, they still don't pay income tax, but they do put that money back into the economy. But you know what? It's not all that fair to them... These people are paid pittance, they're paid pennies on the dollar for backbreaking labor. They gain no benefits, no health insurance, they have no workman's comp, union protection, or even job security. There is no regulating something that is illegal, and the men hiring these immigrants under the table are taking an unjust profit from it all.
Now I know what many people will say, if we only hire legally, locally processed goods and services will be more expensive, and I can tell you as a man who makes very little money that I'm willing to pony up the dough. Yeah it's nice that those strawberries are so cheap, but what you don't realize is that it's only cheap because a man was slaved away for a 14 hour day picking them and probably only made fifty bucks for it.
Illegal Immigration is illegal, it's illegal for a reason. I know it sounds cruel, I know it sounds elitist. I know that families that come to this country only seek the chance to thrive, and I want them to be able to, but I don't think they should be doing it illegally. Compassion is one thing, but letting it make you blind to a system that hurts the immigrants just as much as it hurts everyone else is not something you should let happen. Whether you think all current illegal immigrants should be made legal or not, something needs to be done to help these people make a fair wage, and help them from breaking the law just to pay for a small home. I'm willing to pay the difference, are you?
Cotton was really cheap back in the day too.
Illegal Immigration has been a topic of discussion over the past couple years, and though it seems to have died down, the good people in charge of Arizona are here to keep the issue hot it seems. You hear it all the time, you hear the term Undocumented Workers from those against harsh immigration laws, you hear the words racist for those for. You hear that they're stealing jobs from Americans, and you hear the counter that it's jobs American's don't want. It confuses me sometimes cause when it gets right down to it... It's illegal.
Now I'm not about to go all hard headed conservative on you here. I'm not going to forget that at some point in the past my own family came blinking into the sunlight off some boat, just looking for a new life. I have nothing but compassion for those who come to this country for the reason of helping their family, they're good people and hard workers. But the problem is my family did it all by the books, and every cent they made they paid taxes. And that's the issue, that's the 'problem' with Undocumented Workers, they don't pay taxes despite living in this country.
Most illegal immigrants, and hear me when I say most not all, come to this country to work and then send money back to their family in their native country. These people take cash, and then do not put it back into our economy. Their dollar doesn't go to funding everything that's needed to make the world around us run, now I'm trying very hard not to come off as some ignorant prig, but it just seems so very wrong to take money you gained from working in one country and not helping the country run through taxes or aiding the economy.
Now I'm not about to be all one sided, I'm not here to generalize, there are many illegal immigrants who do come here and spend the money they make here in America, they still don't pay income tax, but they do put that money back into the economy. But you know what? It's not all that fair to them... These people are paid pittance, they're paid pennies on the dollar for backbreaking labor. They gain no benefits, no health insurance, they have no workman's comp, union protection, or even job security. There is no regulating something that is illegal, and the men hiring these immigrants under the table are taking an unjust profit from it all.
Now I know what many people will say, if we only hire legally, locally processed goods and services will be more expensive, and I can tell you as a man who makes very little money that I'm willing to pony up the dough. Yeah it's nice that those strawberries are so cheap, but what you don't realize is that it's only cheap because a man was slaved away for a 14 hour day picking them and probably only made fifty bucks for it.
Illegal Immigration is illegal, it's illegal for a reason. I know it sounds cruel, I know it sounds elitist. I know that families that come to this country only seek the chance to thrive, and I want them to be able to, but I don't think they should be doing it illegally. Compassion is one thing, but letting it make you blind to a system that hurts the immigrants just as much as it hurts everyone else is not something you should let happen. Whether you think all current illegal immigrants should be made legal or not, something needs to be done to help these people make a fair wage, and help them from breaking the law just to pay for a small home. I'm willing to pay the difference, are you?
Cotton was really cheap back in the day too.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
It Fits
I was going to write an article today but instead this poured out.... Also none of you left suggestions cause you're too busy being awed by the sheer awesomeness of William.
I find myself believing
In what I never did.
The kinds of things I never thought,
Never began conceiving.
I'm stronger now than ever before,
Not that lost little girl.
I'm not afraid of losing them,
Not afraid of myself anymore.
I will wonder this way,
Head high and proud.
I will guide and mold,
Comfort and cherish day by day.
Everything is falling in place,
Shaping just quite right.
And tomorrow is no longer blank,
I can even see her face.
I find myself believing
In what I never did.
The kinds of things I never thought,
Never began conceiving.
I'm stronger now than ever before,
Not that lost little girl.
I'm not afraid of losing them,
Not afraid of myself anymore.
I will wonder this way,
Head high and proud.
I will guide and mold,
Comfort and cherish day by day.
Everything is falling in place,
Shaping just quite right.
And tomorrow is no longer blank,
I can even see her face.
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