So a friend of mine posted a Jolly Roger on Facebook for Flag Day and a friend of his had this to say: "We have friends and family dying everyday, why don't you put up the flag that they all look at everyday to remind them why they are there? What you are doing seems very disrespectful."
After reading this response it got me thinking. Why should we have this blind pride for a flag. I understand having pride in your country and the symbols we use but what if you are as let down as I am by our country?
Keep in mind that there are many flags that have flown in the past that garnered such blind pride and later fell from grace. A perfect example is the Nazi flag. Don't get me wrong, I am not calling the US Nazi Germany but I am guessing that the Germans had as much pride as we are expected to.
Just because we are Americans doesn't mean our shit smells like roses. On this day of reflection over our flag we need to take a moment and ask our selves why we are proud of our country. Are you proud of the rampant consumerism that exploits anyone and everyone it can? How about the fact that we are sending our young men and women out to spill their blood for lies and oil? Maybe your proud of our corrupt political system and the religious stranglehold on our country.
Just remember that it is more patriotic to question the system for the betterment of the nation that it is to blindly goosestep with the crowd. We have seen where that patriotism leads. Granted I would guess that a concentration camp of gays would be wonderfully decorated. (Yes that was a joke)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
I Feel Violated
The truth shall set you free, or so they say. Tonight the truth almost sent me to jail.
Our story starts 3 days ago when I was "fortunate" enough to witness a recently weaned kitten fall from an open second story window and land with a sickening crack on the concrete below. I rushed over to see if it was alive and carried it home for Jennifer to look after. As Jennifer looked after the kitten to make sure it didn't have any broken bones or a concussion when she noticed that half of it upper whiskers on one side and most of the lower whiskers on the opposite side had been burnt off.
Now keep in mind that the apartment that this kitten fell from is notorious in our complex for allowing their children to run free with no supervision, steal cigarette butts from tenants butt cans, try to bum smokes from other tenants "for their mom", loud music at all hours, constant traffic in and out of their apartment, physical fights in the parking lot an MUCH more. The main resident was even recently arrested for shoplifting from Burlington and 4 other active warrants and her children have been repeatedly witnessed dragging a small yelping puppy around and abusing other pets around the complex.
With all of this in mind many of you understand why I had no intentions of returning the kitten to its certain doom. The fact that they hadn't eve taken the time to look for the kitten just added more weight to my decision.
Well today after mentioning something about being careful not to let the neighbors see Lucky Lucy (as we called her) he then walked out the front door to take Daisy for a walk and let the kitten out. Well they saw her and came to my door.
When someone beats loudly on my back door I take a small metal bat with me because our friends know not to use that door and we are besieged by drunken bangers and crackheads on that side of our apartment. This was one of those times.
When I answered the door I was greeted by a teenage girl flanked by at least 10 other children and adults that demanded that I bring her the cat. So I told her that I have AN orange kitten but it wasn't hers she demanded again that I let her see the cat. I told her that it was bullshit for her to come onto my porch and demand anything from me. Well she gave me a scolding about using foul language in front of children so I slammed the door. Se then responded by calling me a mother fucker through my door.
I then thought I should put my bat back in the closet and not leave it by the door. As I picked up the bat there was another pounding on my door. I opened the door and told them to go away and slammed the door again. They then began shouting about me "threatening" them with a bat and proceeded to pound on my door again. As the pounding grew louder and more violent I decided it was time to call the police and put an end to the situation. My first call was made at 3:56pm with the pounding in the background.
Shortly after my first call the pounding shifted to kicking in an attempt to break down my door. A second call was placed (911 this time). During my call to 911 the kicking stopped (I assume because they heard me calling the cops).
3.5 hours after the first call an office showed up at my door. Apparently they need to wrap up the rush hour ticket bonanza before responding.
When I opened the door for the officer his first comments were about the cat which leads me to believe that he was not responding to my call but one made by the neighbors about their stolen cat.
As our conversation went on he asked if I was willing to go to jail for the safety of the cat. I told him I was more than willing. Hell, it would have made a great lawsuit for me.
With that said he made up his mind that he was going arrest me. As the conversation went on I asked if I was being arrested for the cat what would be done about people trying to break down my door. He informed me that he had no intentions of doing anything about that situation.
After all was said and done I wasn't arrested because I turned the cat over to Spokanimal who promptly returned the cat.
So the bottom line is that it is more important to the Spokane Police Department that a kitten be returned to an abusive home that a home invasion attempt.
Our story starts 3 days ago when I was "fortunate" enough to witness a recently weaned kitten fall from an open second story window and land with a sickening crack on the concrete below. I rushed over to see if it was alive and carried it home for Jennifer to look after. As Jennifer looked after the kitten to make sure it didn't have any broken bones or a concussion when she noticed that half of it upper whiskers on one side and most of the lower whiskers on the opposite side had been burnt off.
Now keep in mind that the apartment that this kitten fell from is notorious in our complex for allowing their children to run free with no supervision, steal cigarette butts from tenants butt cans, try to bum smokes from other tenants "for their mom", loud music at all hours, constant traffic in and out of their apartment, physical fights in the parking lot an MUCH more. The main resident was even recently arrested for shoplifting from Burlington and 4 other active warrants and her children have been repeatedly witnessed dragging a small yelping puppy around and abusing other pets around the complex.
With all of this in mind many of you understand why I had no intentions of returning the kitten to its certain doom. The fact that they hadn't eve taken the time to look for the kitten just added more weight to my decision.
Well today after mentioning something about being careful not to let the neighbors see Lucky Lucy (as we called her) he then walked out the front door to take Daisy for a walk and let the kitten out. Well they saw her and came to my door.
When someone beats loudly on my back door I take a small metal bat with me because our friends know not to use that door and we are besieged by drunken bangers and crackheads on that side of our apartment. This was one of those times.
When I answered the door I was greeted by a teenage girl flanked by at least 10 other children and adults that demanded that I bring her the cat. So I told her that I have AN orange kitten but it wasn't hers she demanded again that I let her see the cat. I told her that it was bullshit for her to come onto my porch and demand anything from me. Well she gave me a scolding about using foul language in front of children so I slammed the door. Se then responded by calling me a mother fucker through my door.
I then thought I should put my bat back in the closet and not leave it by the door. As I picked up the bat there was another pounding on my door. I opened the door and told them to go away and slammed the door again. They then began shouting about me "threatening" them with a bat and proceeded to pound on my door again. As the pounding grew louder and more violent I decided it was time to call the police and put an end to the situation. My first call was made at 3:56pm with the pounding in the background.
Shortly after my first call the pounding shifted to kicking in an attempt to break down my door. A second call was placed (911 this time). During my call to 911 the kicking stopped (I assume because they heard me calling the cops).
3.5 hours after the first call an office showed up at my door. Apparently they need to wrap up the rush hour ticket bonanza before responding.
When I opened the door for the officer his first comments were about the cat which leads me to believe that he was not responding to my call but one made by the neighbors about their stolen cat.
As our conversation went on he asked if I was willing to go to jail for the safety of the cat. I told him I was more than willing. Hell, it would have made a great lawsuit for me.
With that said he made up his mind that he was going arrest me. As the conversation went on I asked if I was being arrested for the cat what would be done about people trying to break down my door. He informed me that he had no intentions of doing anything about that situation.
After all was said and done I wasn't arrested because I turned the cat over to Spokanimal who promptly returned the cat.
So the bottom line is that it is more important to the Spokane Police Department that a kitten be returned to an abusive home that a home invasion attempt.
Monday, April 19, 2010
From the Mouths of Babes
Last night my 17 year old step-son wrote a blog on his myspace that thoroughly impressed me. It makes me proud as a father. This is a young man that gives me hope for the future. So without further ado or gilding the lily I bring you my guest blogger and his views of the world.
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Almost intellectual sounding blog about life, lol.
Today at 9:35pm
Well, I'm pretty much draining my brain here, so don't expect too much form or any semblance of control in this blog.
I have spent a while now thinking about how, for all of the world that I have seen, for the three states I have been in, that is a fraction of a fraction of a planet. This planet is also a fraction of a solar system. Which is in a galaxy consisting of millions of other solar systems. Which is merely one of millions of galaxies. For all these planets, all these solar systems, all of these anythings, how can any race be so ignorant and self-important to believe that they are completely alone in the infinity that is the universe? And for those that don't adamantly believe we are alone, how could any race possibly believe we are the most intelligent and advanced? I believe that the phrase "ignorance is bliss" fits perfectly here. The human race as a whole has done everything we possibly can to trick ourselves into shutting out the constellations and other stars as pretty twinkling things to look at at night. We find anything we can to distract us from the daunting realization that the universe is so unimaginably large that our lives and actions in comparison are meaningless. And it's easy to do that, it's easy to just pretend there is nothing past our atmosphere. But I've come to realize that maybe doing so isn't the best way to progress as a species. Maybe, in creating our own little realities, we're actually pushing back the intelligence and enlightenment we could possibly attain.
I believe that people go through a few phases in their lives, not invariably, as some people are different than others, but as a whole. First, as a baby, they go through a phase of not knowing any language or symbols of any sort. Their thoughts are completely their own, and are altogether uninfluenced. Then, after learning language and being taught basic human being characteristics, their minds begin the process of blocking all things unknown out. They look at their lives as any child would. But then, after being educated and after fully comprehending the idea of things outside earth, things unknown, they block it out more. Eventually, some people go through a phase where they heavily practice religion. While this is not entirely bad or anything, some pledge that they have complete faith in their religion and believe it entirely, while most are merely afraid of what comes after life, so they find comfort in being told what happens. My thought is, you won't know after life until your life ceases, and it's pointless dwelling on what might happen while you're alive. In the end, whatever happens, happens. There's no stopping it, there's no predicting it. Getting back to the point at hand, later in life, they go through a phase where they accept death's grim reality. They accept the fact that their lives are coming to an end. And later on, they pass away, into whatever lies after death. While this is a very large fear and obsession of many people, there's no avoiding it, and there's no point in worrying about it.
People crave comfort. They seek endlessly to find anything they can to make their lives happy. They find ways to block out the infinity and eternity that is around us, and they look exclusively at their own lives. The thing is, who's to say that someday, in any amount of time, we won't finally find contact with another race of intelligent beings? And who's to say that we won't then discover that there is actually a whole galactic civilization that we didn't even know about? If this happens, then how will we block the infinity? How will we find our comfort that we so desperately crave? How will we explain religions and any education?
My belief is simple. I believe that we are all actually put here for a purpose, whatever it may be, and that there is an afterlife of some sort, but one that we cannot know of, being alive. I believe that it's important to block out the everything and find comfort, yet at the same time accept that the universe is an infinite thing, and that there are bound to be millions of billions of things that we don't know about. And lastly, I believe that life is too valuable of a thing to spend waging hatred and anger over petty and pointless things such as the unknown, religion, and material things. I think that the people of earth should actually work together to be the best we can be, rather than destroying ourselves over virtually nothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost intellectual sounding blog about life, lol.
Today at 9:35pm
Well, I'm pretty much draining my brain here, so don't expect too much form or any semblance of control in this blog.
I have spent a while now thinking about how, for all of the world that I have seen, for the three states I have been in, that is a fraction of a fraction of a planet. This planet is also a fraction of a solar system. Which is in a galaxy consisting of millions of other solar systems. Which is merely one of millions of galaxies. For all these planets, all these solar systems, all of these anythings, how can any race be so ignorant and self-important to believe that they are completely alone in the infinity that is the universe? And for those that don't adamantly believe we are alone, how could any race possibly believe we are the most intelligent and advanced? I believe that the phrase "ignorance is bliss" fits perfectly here. The human race as a whole has done everything we possibly can to trick ourselves into shutting out the constellations and other stars as pretty twinkling things to look at at night. We find anything we can to distract us from the daunting realization that the universe is so unimaginably large that our lives and actions in comparison are meaningless. And it's easy to do that, it's easy to just pretend there is nothing past our atmosphere. But I've come to realize that maybe doing so isn't the best way to progress as a species. Maybe, in creating our own little realities, we're actually pushing back the intelligence and enlightenment we could possibly attain.
I believe that people go through a few phases in their lives, not invariably, as some people are different than others, but as a whole. First, as a baby, they go through a phase of not knowing any language or symbols of any sort. Their thoughts are completely their own, and are altogether uninfluenced. Then, after learning language and being taught basic human being characteristics, their minds begin the process of blocking all things unknown out. They look at their lives as any child would. But then, after being educated and after fully comprehending the idea of things outside earth, things unknown, they block it out more. Eventually, some people go through a phase where they heavily practice religion. While this is not entirely bad or anything, some pledge that they have complete faith in their religion and believe it entirely, while most are merely afraid of what comes after life, so they find comfort in being told what happens. My thought is, you won't know after life until your life ceases, and it's pointless dwelling on what might happen while you're alive. In the end, whatever happens, happens. There's no stopping it, there's no predicting it. Getting back to the point at hand, later in life, they go through a phase where they accept death's grim reality. They accept the fact that their lives are coming to an end. And later on, they pass away, into whatever lies after death. While this is a very large fear and obsession of many people, there's no avoiding it, and there's no point in worrying about it.
People crave comfort. They seek endlessly to find anything they can to make their lives happy. They find ways to block out the infinity and eternity that is around us, and they look exclusively at their own lives. The thing is, who's to say that someday, in any amount of time, we won't finally find contact with another race of intelligent beings? And who's to say that we won't then discover that there is actually a whole galactic civilization that we didn't even know about? If this happens, then how will we block the infinity? How will we find our comfort that we so desperately crave? How will we explain religions and any education?
My belief is simple. I believe that we are all actually put here for a purpose, whatever it may be, and that there is an afterlife of some sort, but one that we cannot know of, being alive. I believe that it's important to block out the everything and find comfort, yet at the same time accept that the universe is an infinite thing, and that there are bound to be millions of billions of things that we don't know about. And lastly, I believe that life is too valuable of a thing to spend waging hatred and anger over petty and pointless things such as the unknown, religion, and material things. I think that the people of earth should actually work together to be the best we can be, rather than destroying ourselves over virtually nothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Thougt we were Adults
Recently the writing community has gotten a bit of a stir. The basic issue is this.
An agent recently received a submission from writer looking for representation that didn't follow the agent's "guidelines fr submission" and was greeted with a standard form rejection. This is a normal occurrence in the writing world. Where things started to turn south is when the writer responded with a nasty-gram to the agent which again is kinda common in this circle. The icing on the cake is when the agent then proceeds to attempt to defame the writer to the general public by inciting a hate haiku thread on Twitter (which seems be the meeting place for agents and writers).
Now normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but it has placed a spotlight on what I feel is a huge issue with the publication process for aspiring authors.
*note: There are still some that don't fall in this description and writers thank you for it.*
Agents are getting too powerful in the industry. They are the gatekeepers between the writer and publishers. Because of this many agents have adopted a high and mighty attitude. Many have said that if your book contains certain characters or character flaws that writers shouldn't even bother submitting or even go as far as attempting to blacklist writers that don't treat them with the respect they feel they are due.
This saddens me as an avid reader and and one that loves and supports an aspiring author. As a reader I think of all the wondrous stories that I will never have the chance to read because the right asses weren't kissed. I think of all of the Mark Twains and R. A. Salvatories that will never be published because they allowed the stress of constant rejection to get to them for just a moment.
Because of this incident there are 2 factions forming in this community. On one side we find the brave and honorable souls that have risked their own dreams and careers to speak out against this issue. The other faction are those that feel they need to kiss an agent's ass so the hop on the agent's bandwagon and bully a writer without pity in hopes of some favor in the future.
In my opinion I would say that those stepping up to defend this deplorable and unprofessional behavior are worse that the original offenders in what should have been a private conversation. They are the ones that cow to the inflated egos of the disreputable agents that help to further inflate them and reinforce their idea that they have some right to decide what is worthy and what is not.
So in short this is a salute to those that have the guts to stand up to bullies. Please take the time to read through their blogs.
A Roller Coaster Kinda Day
Can't Let It Go
This Makes Me Sad and Sick
Bullying is Bullying Period
An agent recently received a submission from writer looking for representation that didn't follow the agent's "guidelines fr submission" and was greeted with a standard form rejection. This is a normal occurrence in the writing world. Where things started to turn south is when the writer responded with a nasty-gram to the agent which again is kinda common in this circle. The icing on the cake is when the agent then proceeds to attempt to defame the writer to the general public by inciting a hate haiku thread on Twitter (which seems be the meeting place for agents and writers).
Now normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but it has placed a spotlight on what I feel is a huge issue with the publication process for aspiring authors.
*note: There are still some that don't fall in this description and writers thank you for it.*
Agents are getting too powerful in the industry. They are the gatekeepers between the writer and publishers. Because of this many agents have adopted a high and mighty attitude. Many have said that if your book contains certain characters or character flaws that writers shouldn't even bother submitting or even go as far as attempting to blacklist writers that don't treat them with the respect they feel they are due.
This saddens me as an avid reader and and one that loves and supports an aspiring author. As a reader I think of all the wondrous stories that I will never have the chance to read because the right asses weren't kissed. I think of all of the Mark Twains and R. A. Salvatories that will never be published because they allowed the stress of constant rejection to get to them for just a moment.
Because of this incident there are 2 factions forming in this community. On one side we find the brave and honorable souls that have risked their own dreams and careers to speak out against this issue. The other faction are those that feel they need to kiss an agent's ass so the hop on the agent's bandwagon and bully a writer without pity in hopes of some favor in the future.
In my opinion I would say that those stepping up to defend this deplorable and unprofessional behavior are worse that the original offenders in what should have been a private conversation. They are the ones that cow to the inflated egos of the disreputable agents that help to further inflate them and reinforce their idea that they have some right to decide what is worthy and what is not.
So in short this is a salute to those that have the guts to stand up to bullies. Please take the time to read through their blogs.
A Roller Coaster Kinda Day
Can't Let It Go
This Makes Me Sad and Sick
Bullying is Bullying Period
Friday, April 2, 2010
Sick of Being Sick
So here I sit having an asthma attack with no inhaler and no way to get one. Many may think "why not just call the doctor and get a refill". If you are thinking that then you are one of the ones that has no clue what is REALLY happening with our health care system.
So let me lay this out for you. I have medical through the state because I have been a student and cannot find a job in Spokane that provides enough hours to grant me the opportunity to get my own medical. So yes I am on state medical. Not by choice but by circumstance. I have also had the same doctor for the last 7 years.
Well actually it was only 6 years because last Fall I was informed by Dr. Mark Hart (his receptionist really) of the Hart Family Medical Center that he had dis-enrolled from state medical. In short he dumped all of his patients that had state medical because he didn't think he was making enough money off of each of us.
Because of this I have been managing mt asthma with a Primatene inhaler (it burns life fire but it works) and Pepto for my acid reflux. Again many of you are asking, "Why doesn't he just get a new doctor?" and again those people have no clue about the reality of US health care. I have tried for the last 6 months to find doctor that accepts state medical but because Chris Gregoire has allowed doctors to opt out of medical plans of their choosing there is no one that accepts my medical insurance.
So here I sit with insurance but no doctor so I am left with one place to go to seek minor medical treatment. THIS is why so many people are using emergency rooms as their primary care and why it takes people with REAL emergencies 3 hours to get a bleeding head wound stitched up.
All of this is caused by one thing. GREED. Insurance companies want to make more money so they cut what they are willing to pay doctors. Pharmaceutical companies want to increase profits so it costs $60 to refill an inhaler that only costs $0.05 to refill in Cuba (watch "Sicko") and over the counter drugs cost 10 times what hey should. Then you have the doctors that need to make tat payment on their new BMW so if they aren't making a big enough profit on you as a patient then you get dropped.
We have a "for profit" health care system that is actually killing us and we all seem to think it is a good thing. What in the 9 hells is wrong with us that we vote against our own best interests? We need Universal Health Care NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
So let me lay this out for you. I have medical through the state because I have been a student and cannot find a job in Spokane that provides enough hours to grant me the opportunity to get my own medical. So yes I am on state medical. Not by choice but by circumstance. I have also had the same doctor for the last 7 years.
Well actually it was only 6 years because last Fall I was informed by Dr. Mark Hart (his receptionist really) of the Hart Family Medical Center that he had dis-enrolled from state medical. In short he dumped all of his patients that had state medical because he didn't think he was making enough money off of each of us.
Because of this I have been managing mt asthma with a Primatene inhaler (it burns life fire but it works) and Pepto for my acid reflux. Again many of you are asking, "Why doesn't he just get a new doctor?" and again those people have no clue about the reality of US health care. I have tried for the last 6 months to find doctor that accepts state medical but because Chris Gregoire has allowed doctors to opt out of medical plans of their choosing there is no one that accepts my medical insurance.
So here I sit with insurance but no doctor so I am left with one place to go to seek minor medical treatment. THIS is why so many people are using emergency rooms as their primary care and why it takes people with REAL emergencies 3 hours to get a bleeding head wound stitched up.
All of this is caused by one thing. GREED. Insurance companies want to make more money so they cut what they are willing to pay doctors. Pharmaceutical companies want to increase profits so it costs $60 to refill an inhaler that only costs $0.05 to refill in Cuba (watch "Sicko") and over the counter drugs cost 10 times what hey should. Then you have the doctors that need to make tat payment on their new BMW so if they aren't making a big enough profit on you as a patient then you get dropped.
We have a "for profit" health care system that is actually killing us and we all seem to think it is a good thing. What in the 9 hells is wrong with us that we vote against our own best interests? We need Universal Health Care NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Smok'em If You Got'em
It is true I derive a majority of my topics from conversations I see happening over my Facebook. I find it the best way to talk about what people care about. This post will be no different.
Today a family member posted that smoking should be illegal because it annoys here that she can smell it when she goes outside. To this I ave to say, "Get over yourself". Too many things are being deemed illegal because a select few have an issue of some sort with it without REALLY thinking about what impact it may have.
Now keep in mind I am in no way advocating smoking. I am a smoker and have tried to quit many times. I council many people that they should never start in the first place but he fact remains that there are approx. 45 million Americans that smoke (as per CDC). Also statistics (not a fan of statistics but hey have their uses) show a decrease of approx. 65% (CDC) since 1997.
Now that those are out of the way lets get back to the meat and potatoes of this rant. I feel that non-smokers need to shut their yaps about smokers unless they want to foot the bill for a smoking rehab for every single of the 45 million Americans that currently use the single most addictive drug on the planet. There are those ex-smokers (they are the worst) that seem to think that any smoker can just up and quit like (*snaps fingers*) that. What they have forgotten is the hell they went through. I liken it to getting pierced or tattooed. Shortly after you are done we all seem to forget about what we went through and simply love the end result. Then you have the "half assed" smokers that smoke about a pack a week. You are not smokers therefore your success in quitting does not count. I liken it to a person that smoked a little pot in their teens telling a crackhead how easy it is to quit.
All of these people need to simply back the hell off. I am a respectful smoker. I stand down wind of non-smokers if I can. I don't smoke in the homes of non-smokers. Non-smokers come to my home I smoke outside an hour before their visit and through the duration of their stay. I do this in hopes that the non-smokers will give me the same respect by not hounding me constantly about it. But that never seems to be the case. Just like the current smoking laws in WA State.
We smokers have been steadily forced into hiding and taxed more than ANY other Americans. A law was passed that there is no smoking allowed restaurants, bowling alleys, and bars. Now the first 2 I can get behind but the bars has been a huge sticking point to me. Who goes into a bar thinking about their health? We go to bars to drink poison, dance to music that is louder than a jet engine, and try to take a stranger home to have sex with but god forbid we have to breath smoke too. Once that was passed they moved on to say we cant smoke withing 25 ft of a building. Now we have increased the taxes on tobacco by 300% making it the single most taxed product Americans consume.
So I sit here trying to be respectful that there are people that don't smoke while they repeatedly disrespect me.
Lets play with a slippery slope argument for a moment. Lets ban smoking because it is bad for you. Then shouldn't we ban other things because it is bad for you? Here is a proposed list.
Any Fast Food
Bacon
All Hostess and Little Debbie snacks
Sugar
Eggs
Internal combustion engines
Milk
Eggs
Microwave ovens
Cell phones
Cow farts
The Sun
etc...
The list goes on.
So non-smokers I will respectfully ask you to shut the hell up about the fact that I smoke. I do my best to not do it around you and all I ask for in exchange is the understanding that if I could quit I would and would rather not penalized for my addiction tat no one seems to want to help me cure. If you want us all to quit the pony up the dough to get us all patches because would you really want 45 million irrational angry Americans on your hands? That is what Republicans are for.
Today a family member posted that smoking should be illegal because it annoys here that she can smell it when she goes outside. To this I ave to say, "Get over yourself". Too many things are being deemed illegal because a select few have an issue of some sort with it without REALLY thinking about what impact it may have.
Now keep in mind I am in no way advocating smoking. I am a smoker and have tried to quit many times. I council many people that they should never start in the first place but he fact remains that there are approx. 45 million Americans that smoke (as per CDC). Also statistics (not a fan of statistics but hey have their uses) show a decrease of approx. 65% (CDC) since 1997.
Now that those are out of the way lets get back to the meat and potatoes of this rant. I feel that non-smokers need to shut their yaps about smokers unless they want to foot the bill for a smoking rehab for every single of the 45 million Americans that currently use the single most addictive drug on the planet. There are those ex-smokers (they are the worst) that seem to think that any smoker can just up and quit like (*snaps fingers*) that. What they have forgotten is the hell they went through. I liken it to getting pierced or tattooed. Shortly after you are done we all seem to forget about what we went through and simply love the end result. Then you have the "half assed" smokers that smoke about a pack a week. You are not smokers therefore your success in quitting does not count. I liken it to a person that smoked a little pot in their teens telling a crackhead how easy it is to quit.
All of these people need to simply back the hell off. I am a respectful smoker. I stand down wind of non-smokers if I can. I don't smoke in the homes of non-smokers. Non-smokers come to my home I smoke outside an hour before their visit and through the duration of their stay. I do this in hopes that the non-smokers will give me the same respect by not hounding me constantly about it. But that never seems to be the case. Just like the current smoking laws in WA State.
We smokers have been steadily forced into hiding and taxed more than ANY other Americans. A law was passed that there is no smoking allowed restaurants, bowling alleys, and bars. Now the first 2 I can get behind but the bars has been a huge sticking point to me. Who goes into a bar thinking about their health? We go to bars to drink poison, dance to music that is louder than a jet engine, and try to take a stranger home to have sex with but god forbid we have to breath smoke too. Once that was passed they moved on to say we cant smoke withing 25 ft of a building. Now we have increased the taxes on tobacco by 300% making it the single most taxed product Americans consume.
So I sit here trying to be respectful that there are people that don't smoke while they repeatedly disrespect me.
Lets play with a slippery slope argument for a moment. Lets ban smoking because it is bad for you. Then shouldn't we ban other things because it is bad for you? Here is a proposed list.
Any Fast Food
Bacon
All Hostess and Little Debbie snacks
Sugar
Eggs
Internal combustion engines
Milk
Eggs
Microwave ovens
Cell phones
Cow farts
The Sun
etc...
The list goes on.
So non-smokers I will respectfully ask you to shut the hell up about the fact that I smoke. I do my best to not do it around you and all I ask for in exchange is the understanding that if I could quit I would and would rather not penalized for my addiction tat no one seems to want to help me cure. If you want us all to quit the pony up the dough to get us all patches because would you really want 45 million irrational angry Americans on your hands? That is what Republicans are for.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
"We're Not Gonna Take it. No! We Aint Gonna Take it...Anymore"
This morning Jennifer woke me to a news story I felt needed to be shared with my audience. As we discussed it I realized there is a disturbing trend happening. On that note lets fist dive into the stories themselves.
1) Miss. prom canceled after lesbian's date request
In this story a Mississippi senior was informed she would not be allowed to bring he date to the prom because they were a same sex couple. After petitioning their decision the school board decided to cancel the prom all together.
2)6-Year-Old Boy Suspended From School
This 6 year old boy was suspended for playing guns on the playground. The gun in question was the child's fingers. He was suspended for 2 days.
3)Soldier suspended from school
A 17 year old Eagle Scout and recent graduate from Army Basic Training was suspended for 20 days for having a 2" blade in his locked car.
4) My 10 year old nephew, Dalton, was recently suspended from school for "spreading rumors". A friend had told Dalton about a crush he had on a girl. Later that day th boy claimed that Dalton had told others about the crush.
5) My son JR was suspended from school for the last day before winter break because he was sitting in the hall outside the cafeteria waiting for is lunch. JR is a Running Start student so the first half of his day is spent taking classes at the college. After that he goes to Rogers High School (so you all know the boobs that did this) to have lunch and finish his day at the HS. He wasn't suspended for skipping but instead he was suspended for showing up for class early.
These are prime examples of how our schools have allowed power to go to their heads. "Zero Tolerance" in school and "distractions to the educational process" have turned our schools into a minefield for our children. Any action that many would see as reasonable or normal for a child now holds the potential to drop our children into suspensions or even arrests (As was the case for Alexa Gonzalez).
Have our school administrators lost all contact with reality or is this just their way of feeling like they have some authority. These are basic civil servants that have so little in their lives that they are now taking out their frustrations on our children. I will be the first to say that a large reason I dropped out of school was due to the persecution I faced in school over the years and I would be a fool to think that these hapless middle managers hadn't done the same to countless other youths. So for those of you that have been suspended (or have children that have) for pointless infractions don't be afraid to stand up for yourselves.
I am all for working with the schools to better education but when we allow actions like this to go unanswered we help to perpetuate the system. Arresting a student for having a plastic butter knife has nothing to do with education. School administrators are nothing more than accountants and babysitters. They are not the police or law makers and hold no real power. If you think they are being unreasonable there is a good chance you are right. We are not slaves to authority as Milgram would have us believe but we must speak out when we (or our children) are wronged.
1) Miss. prom canceled after lesbian's date request
In this story a Mississippi senior was informed she would not be allowed to bring he date to the prom because they were a same sex couple. After petitioning their decision the school board decided to cancel the prom all together.
2)6-Year-Old Boy Suspended From School
This 6 year old boy was suspended for playing guns on the playground. The gun in question was the child's fingers. He was suspended for 2 days.
3)Soldier suspended from school
A 17 year old Eagle Scout and recent graduate from Army Basic Training was suspended for 20 days for having a 2" blade in his locked car.
4) My 10 year old nephew, Dalton, was recently suspended from school for "spreading rumors". A friend had told Dalton about a crush he had on a girl. Later that day th boy claimed that Dalton had told others about the crush.
5) My son JR was suspended from school for the last day before winter break because he was sitting in the hall outside the cafeteria waiting for is lunch. JR is a Running Start student so the first half of his day is spent taking classes at the college. After that he goes to Rogers High School (so you all know the boobs that did this) to have lunch and finish his day at the HS. He wasn't suspended for skipping but instead he was suspended for showing up for class early.
These are prime examples of how our schools have allowed power to go to their heads. "Zero Tolerance" in school and "distractions to the educational process" have turned our schools into a minefield for our children. Any action that many would see as reasonable or normal for a child now holds the potential to drop our children into suspensions or even arrests (As was the case for Alexa Gonzalez).
Have our school administrators lost all contact with reality or is this just their way of feeling like they have some authority. These are basic civil servants that have so little in their lives that they are now taking out their frustrations on our children. I will be the first to say that a large reason I dropped out of school was due to the persecution I faced in school over the years and I would be a fool to think that these hapless middle managers hadn't done the same to countless other youths. So for those of you that have been suspended (or have children that have) for pointless infractions don't be afraid to stand up for yourselves.
I am all for working with the schools to better education but when we allow actions like this to go unanswered we help to perpetuate the system. Arresting a student for having a plastic butter knife has nothing to do with education. School administrators are nothing more than accountants and babysitters. They are not the police or law makers and hold no real power. If you think they are being unreasonable there is a good chance you are right. We are not slaves to authority as Milgram would have us believe but we must speak out when we (or our children) are wronged.
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