I'm a freelance writer currently partnered with wwwireframe. I'm working on two books at the moment - one's called Rethinking Life, the other's called Hammering Times - and all my words are simply an expression of mind.
On a less professional note, they say I have sex hair.
2012ā²s presidential election has, for the umpteenth time, sparked a national debate on religion. In the past, this debate has focused ultimately onĀ whichĀ religion is best fit for the presidency. Recently, however, it seems a bit of common sense has found its way into the American people and, thank God, the debate is finally putting significant focus into whether religion should even matter. With Romneyās ill-perceived Mormon faith and Obamaās still uneasy grounds after accusations of being Muslim (those dern rednecks), I doubt either candidate will speak much of the issue in their campaigns. But, despite their probable silence and despite this recent questioning of its place in politics, religion will still carry defining weight in 2012ā²s election.
But it shouldnāt. Hereās why.
Those who support religionās role in politics argue that a candidateās religion will define his actions. They say he will lead under the authority of his religion and that his executive actions will not deviate from that religion. If a president were Muslim, they argue, his decisions would reflect Islamic beliefs as he would most certainly make those decisions in accordance with his faith. The same goes for a Christian president or, as relevant this year, a Mormon president. They argue that oneās religion will define his leadership and, consequentially, the nation. Therefore, it is in a nationās best interest, they argue, that the nation elects a president who shares the same religion as the majority of that nation. This argument is flawed.
First, it must be recognized that ā and this might offend some people ā that the majority of those who claim a religion donāt actually practice that religion in their daily lives. Secondly, it must also be recognized that each religion is not only perceived and therefore taught differently by each housing of that religion but that it is also perceived and therefore acted upon differently by each practicing individual of that religion (pending, of course, that the āpracticing individualā actually practices the religion). In Laymenās terms, everyone interprets their religion differently and not everyone claiming a religion will practice the religion.
It is reasonable to assume, then, that if oneās religion is not be practiced in his daily life (which it typically is not), then his religion should not carry much weight in whether or not he wins an election. If it did, thatād be like a candidate winning votes for his preference to coffee instead of tea; a preference with little to no impact on his ability to perform in office. Pending he did actually practice his religion, one should judge him, not his religion, for what he practices likely isnāt to par with what stereotypes of his religion say he practices.
Thatās all I have to say about that. Happy Easter aka second hangover morning of April everyone.
I had some jaw surgery done today. I didnāt eat since midnight, just like theyād told me, and I starved through the morning until ten, the time theyād scheduled my surgery, just so I could starve another hour cause theyād double booked me, those bastards. That alone was traumatizing; sitting in a waiting room full of people snacking and sipping while my stomach basically imploded.
They called me at eleven and, aside from answering a few questions, I was politely quiet. Oh, and can I note that they put those nipple monitor things on me? Like, the ones from drama TV that measure your heart rate or whatever? Yeah. I felt like someone from House as the lines on the computer bounced with my beats. Also: they put one on your tummy. I donāt know what purpose it serves, but they put one on your tummy.
Then they gave me theĀ anesthesiaĀ injection, but they stuck that bitch up into my hand, like on the top of my hand. Odd choice of placement for a needle, if you ask me. Iād rather have it like, in my arm or something, you know? It hurts less there. But on the top of my hand? man. And that nurse like wiggled itĀ aroundĀ and shit too.
Anyways, thatās when things got trippy. The last thing I remember is telling the nurse about my childhood hospitalization (the nurses back then also put a needle on the top of my hand) and how I donāt understand why they donāt just stick your arm. Iām pretty sure I ranted about that for a good ten more minutes, but I only remember five minutes of the conversation. Next thing I know, Iām coming to, waking up. What follows is what my step-mom told me the entire family over dinner; I barely remember any of this.
My waking question was something along the lines of āso when am I actually gonna fall asleep, anyways?ā Iām not sure if I was serious or joking and apparently the nurses werenāt sure either, because nobody laughed. Then I talked about prom this year and how I was getting to go a year early and then I flirted with the nurses, too, and hinted at asking one of them to go with me on my senior year. I talked about how much I lovedĀ Hispanics, too, and hereās the best part; all the nurses wereĀ Hispanic.
They wheeled me to the car and much to my protest, too; apperantly I was āman enoughā to walk down the hall alone (they let me try, I fell). As I stumbled into Debās van, I said something like āman you guys need someĀ anesthesia or weed or something youāre all so serious like donāt be so stiff.ā
Hereāre my tweets fromĀ right afterĀ surgery, on my way home:
But seriously though. All my nurses were hispanic. I was like in heave or something.ā
dylan (@dyylannnn) March 27, 2012
Personally I think I'm behaving fairly okay considering how heavy that sedation was.ā
dylan (@dyylannnn) March 27, 2012
I'm so fucking drowsy though. Can't think straight.ā
dylan (@dyylannnn) March 27, 2012
Dude this one nurse issso hitting on me sand shes so hot and hjuspanic and unff marry meā
dylan (@dyylannnn) March 27, 2012
The nurses said I talked all through the procedure. Lord knows what I said then.
Iāve started a sort of practice lately in which I flip through headlines every morning, find an interesting article ā usually one which I think exposes an important topic of little previous exposure ā and I tweet it. Due to Iām doing this as I drink my 7AM coffee, Iāve noted these tweets with the tag āmorning coffee reads.ā
Today, however, I tweeted an article but wanted to further it with my own opinion, so I went on a sort of Twitter-rant. Upon finishing my rampage, I wonderedĀ why donāt I just start a blog and carry on the Coffee Reading tradition there, where thereās room and place for my opinion?
And so it is with great, rant-happy pride that I bring you Coffee Reads: the blog.
It will be updated once daily, likely in the morning, with an excerpt of a news article and commentary on the topic. As a sort of grand unveiling, Iāve already published an article ahead of schedule. Go read it.
This blog will continue to function in itāsĀ philosophicalĀ and sometimes personal manner. Also, catch some humor over at The GruggĀ (thereās an article on smoking weed there and, thanks to retweets, I now know who the potheads of my school are).
Itās funny what Iāll do to know the truth of some things. And scratch that, itās not funny. Torturous, rather. Itās borderline insane.
Something happened to me, see, and what happened to me hurt and I didnāt know why. I never exactly got a straight answer. But it hurt, and I hadnāt hurt like that before because Iād never been foolish enough to allow myself to be hurt like that before. So it hurt pretty bad. Like, a drunk man falling and hitting his head and bleeding out but not blacking out, that kind of hurt. And I never really got a straight answer as to why.
I never got a straight answer because that answer wouldāve hurt more. But curiosity killed the cat, and, though I despise all felines, I was a cat fulfilling my curiosity. So I hunted out the truth ā I tried hard to rid myself of emotion so that I wouldnāt be biased and I opened my own investigation -, and I found it, and it hurt. It hurt even more than the original hurt, like, a bleeding drunk man slipping in his blood and falling again, that kind of hurt.
I write a lot about how our minds distort reality to a form more easily acceptable by our emotionās expectations of reality. Itās the topic of my new book, in fact. In these writings, I encourage us ā everyone ā to fight against that distortion so that maybe weāll see more reality, more truth, than we previously saw. But Iāve had a new epiphany; thereās a reason our minds keep reality from us. Perhaps itās best we donāt intervene. Perhaps this distortion of reality is what gives us happiness, and perhaps we ought not give up happiness.
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āYou wrote a poem on your Tumblr and for some reason I was stalking it in my theater class and I came across it, and I think it was titled āto the body in the airā or something, idk but it was soooo good that I read it to my friend who is a bit suicidal, he got all quiet and stuff but I think he kind of understood in that moment that heās worth more than he thinks, and we wrote it down and signed your name on it, and I showed it to Kevin and told him all about you and how you helped me a lot.ā
I write because it is the exchange of ideas that moves humanity forward. Iām not giving merit to my own ideas ā thatās for my audience, if they see fit, to do ā Iām simply, by writing, fulfilling what I see as a social obligation that we all hold; Iām expressing myself. It goes a long way sometimes. So write, speak, paint, or do whatever you have to do to convey, peacefully of course, what you feel, because weāre all human, and what you feel could mend how someone else feels, and itās a beautiful thing to have mended someone else, even if just a little bit.
āTo the Body in the Airā
To your hair
Flying in the wind;
I suppose you thought not of
Those hands that run through you.
And to your eyes
Blood shot from the rush;
I suppose you thought not of
All the smiles youāve seen.
And to your hands
Squeezing onto fear;
I suppose you thought not of
All the lives youāve touched.
To the body in the air
Gasping one last breath;
I suppose you thought not of
All you left atop the ledge.
Alright. Iāve got my drink, got my chips ānā sausa, and HOLY SHIT I donāt remember Kelly Clarkson being so ugly and this from-the-waist-looking-up camera angle isnāt helping and why on Earth is she on camera again?
Oh. Sheās singing the National Anthem. That makes sense. Well her voice is pretty at least.
Game time. Wait, did you seriously just ask who Iām rooting for? Do you like, not know me? Iām all things New York dear and that includes the Giants so figure it out. Yeah. The Giants. Oh; and I betted a bag of Italian Roast coffee that theyād win, too, so that kinda factors into my loyalty. Just a lil bit. You know.
Budweiser is still celebrating the end of prohibition eighty years later. A bit outdated but that era was golden, so this commercial is also wait what the fuck whyās he shaving in a bar?!
This game is boring. Iāve gotta pee. Tell me when the commercials are back.
Run to bathroom unbutton unzip aim fire pee pee pee hurry now before the commercials come back on shake it now pack it up zip and button wash hands RUN TO THE TELEVISION.
Just in time for commercials and this dog has more motivation to work out than I do and heās just a dog. Sigh.
Lookinā fine, Steve, lookinā fine. You keep rocking your Aerosmith hair for as long as you like buddy OH SHIT NEW YORK JUST MADE A BEAUTIFUL CATCH MID-FIELD. Play that one over again, please.
Thereās not a law that makes skydiving cars illegal??
This game is boring. This game is really boring.
OH MY GOD ITāS ADRIANA LIMA AND SHEāS HOT AND SHEāS SEDUCING ME BY PUTTING HER SHOE ON OR TAKING IT OFF I CANāT EVEN TELL BUT DAMN SHEāS HOT oh my god OH MY GOD SHE TALKED SHEāS SPEAKING ITāS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL. Note to self: Valentineās Day is simple; give and you shall receive.
Youāll always have a place in my heart Adriana you beautiful Brazilian beauty you.
Madonna has the half time show? Huh. I wonder how many 50 year old dicks she had to suck to get that. You do have to hand it to her, though; she still moves like sheās young and sheās better than the Black Eyed Peas. Wait. Two black guys. Or Hispanic? I canāt tell. It must be LMFAO. Yup. Itās LMFAO. Theyāre on stage with Madonna. God help us all WAIT WHAT MADONNA IS SHUFFLING HOT DAMN SHEāS CRAZY.
Oh no. Not Nicki Minaj. Iād rather die. Like seriously I hope someone brought a sniper rifle. Take this bitch out.
Cee Lo. Okay. I can live with this. Sing some soul Cee Lo give us some gospel, you and your churchy bedazzled bath robe. And while youāre at it, spew a few lines of Fuck You in Minajās direction.
The NFL is thanking me for watching that half time show but Ā dammit I want compensation in cash. That was awful.
BETTY FUCKIN WHITE!
Everyone be quite Clint Eastwood is talking and when that man opens his mouth you shut the Hell up or else.
Damn.
Damn.
Damn why doesnāt he run for President already. Just his face and his voice and everything ugh Eastwood For President 2012. Heās got my vote. Just look at him uniting this country with his raspy inspirational old-man monologuing.
Okay. Back to the game. Letās go Giants.
Another Hispanic woman and sheās hot and sheās talking in Spanish and boy oh boy I need to change pants this is just too much for me to handle.
THAT WOMEN JUST HEAD-BUTTED HER HUSBAND OVER A SPOON OF I DONāT EVEN KNOW WHAT. Bitch is crazy. Thatās why you donāt get married, men; they all turn into vicious life-sucking demons the minute you say I Do.
Dammit the Giants are losing. But, on the bright side, I only betted on the bag of coffee that my ex gave me, so itās not too much of a loss. If any. Lol that suckerās about to win cursed coffee poor guy.
NEW YORK JUST PASSED THE BALL LIKE HALFWAY ACROSS THE FIELD AND CAUGHT IT BARELY IN BOUNDS AND OH THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL Iāll tell my children about that and my childrenās children and even their children. Except Iāll likely die by heart attack at age 30 ācause of this enlarged lover-thumper in my chest so Iāll be lucky to even see my own kids. Sigh. Iād better get busy on that. BUT NEW YORK THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL PROPS TO YOU.
Okay. Move the ball down the field. Keep going. You got this.
Weāre so close to a touchdown, so close. Oh my god they almost fumbled it WHY GIANTS WHY? Do this right. No fumbling.
PUNT! Heās moving in, heās broken through the line, heās, wait, heās turning around? Heās squatting over the zone? Lol heās just fuckin with those Patriots now. Look at that; definitely direct eye contact with Brady over there. HE SITS DOWN! TOUCHDOWN!
Yeah we just won the game.
Confetti and shit.
I had to write a poem the other day about social reform for a contest (which Iāve advanced places in and have yet to be determined the winner of) and, as I wrote my poem, I had a small epiphany of truth. Now, so that I donāt sound stupid, I suppose that Iād known this truth for a while; Iād just known it in a different form.
I think we can all agree that ā and this is a major theme in literature, British literature especially ā that man is a product of his past. We start as a baby ā blank, like a white sheet of paper ā and, as we mature and grow, our parents and what we see influence and build our minds. As youāve surely heard before, the early years in life are the most critical because they build character, and I hold that to be true. After our parents have built our base character ā defined, indirectly through their influence, the characteristics in us that are strongest ā after that happens, then weāre seasoned, and sometimes weathered and chiseled, by society; friends and school and the news, etc. What we observe and what we absorb becomes who we are,Ā for man is a product of his past, and observations and absorbings become that past.
And then we have free will; the ability to choose for ourselves what we want by ourselves. But if we are our past, if our mindsets and thought processes are built atop what we have seen and what we have experienced in the past, then we will choose each present decision based on that past, for that past is what built our mindsets. In this sense, there is no free will but, instead, will that is decided by the past actions of oneās surroundings.
Thereās not really much we can do about this, but itās not like weāre helpless, either. Although the past is set in stone and, therefore, how the past has affected us is too set in stone, we still have the future ahead of us. So, although none of us can completely see reality for what it is, we can still try, and, in trying, we can see more of it than previously possible. So tryĀ to see reality ā truth, untainted by your emotions ā try to see that as it happens,Ā try to process it as near realistically as you can. Although youāll never fully succeed, youāll lay stronger foundations for the future decisions that youāll make.
Free will is not free but it is our past according to ourselves and, therefore, it is a lie, and a lie that we claim to ādecideā under. But we arenāt deciding, the lie is.
Now perhaps youāre wondering why Iāve written a paragraph about rationality in response to a quesiton about love. The answer is simple;
Because I believe thatĀ love is the exact opposite of rationality.
- What is Love, Dec 2011
I like relationships. I really do. And I loved being in the only real one that I was in, at least I loved being in it while I was still in it.Ā See, since then, Iāve realized a fewĀ an overwhelming amount of things about relationships both in general and in that one in particular.
First, although Iām sure the girl still cares about me to some degree, I donāt know how much of that relationship she spent feeling ālocked inā with me. And that makes me sick with myself, knowing I couldāve made ā and likely did make ā someone who I care about so much feel ālocked in.ā Second, I realized that Iām, bluntly put, way too fucked up in the head to mess around with anyone past the 3 feet deep marker. And I donāt say that in a bad way ā Iām not like Drew Peterson or something. Ugh, shiver ā I just have a lot of internal conflict to sort out before I go inviting people into my internal affairs. Third, Iāve realized an assload of mistakes that I made, mistakes that, while I was making them, I believed myself to be doing the right thing.
Thoseāre all good and well realizations, but hereās what Iāve realized that is, perhaps, most important.
High school relationships are the biggest load of bull shit in the building. Yeah, even bigger than the āyouāll use chemistry in the real worldā bull shit. And when I say relationship, Iām talking about, you know, an actual relationship; not mindless fucking. See, upon entering a relationship, you go straight into that oh-so-infamous āhoneymoon phase;ā everythingās perfect, theyāre the one, you know; that crap. Upon leaving the honeymoon phase, however, upon realizing that theyāre notĀ perfect, youāre faced with a decision: end the relationship or put effort into its continuity. And hereās where it gets shitty, cause if you value something past what it offers you ā and I call that love; valuing something even though itās an irrational thing to value -, so if you actually loveĀ the person, then youāll put effort into the relationshipās continuity. And more effort. And more effort. And motherfucking more effort. But guess what; itās goingĀ to end. I guarantee that*. So all that effort you put into the relationship and all that extra time gained as a result of your efforts ā and, with that time comes emotional attachment -, it all comes back to slap you in the face, and boy oh boy does it ever slap you with more force than the force you put into not ending the relationship. And it hurts. It hurts bad.
So itās a waste. Getting into a relationship past whatās physical is a complete waste, and putting effort into making the relationship work is the motherload of waste, because the more effort you put into the relationship, the sharper the sting on your face afterwards.
In the end, it all boils down to this: being in love is for the people who donāt mind living in irrationality.Ā Thatās what Iāve figured thus far.
But hereās the crazy part. Obviously, I believe that high school relationships are stupid. Ā Itās probably just as obvious that I donāt want one, and I thatās right; I donāt. So, from that, you can correctly conclude that ā in my mind, at least ā that I see high school relationships as wholly irrational, and I do. But hereās the crazy part, and this is how I know that I actually love that girl: Iād get into a relationship with her again. Iād do what I see as irrational, Iād break my new-found rules, Iād do what I know will hurt in the end, Iād do this all for only one girl even though I firmly believe against it. Iād make an irrational decision for her, and love is the opposite of rationality.
Lucky enough for all of us, however, sheās not interested. Lol.
*statistics are telling me that itās safe to guarantee your high school relationship wonāt work ācause 99% of them donāt. So yeah.
Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, died in Afghanistan last week as he lifted an Afghan girl who was in the path of a large military vehicle barreling down a road.
Weichel spotted the girl and quickly moved toward her to get her out of the way. HeĀ succeeded, but not before he was run over by the heavily armored truck. The girl was safe, but Weichel later died of his injuries. He had arrived in AfghanistanĀ a few weeks ago and had been a member of the Rhode Island National Guard since 2001.
ā via āHeroā U.S. Soldier Gives Life to Save Afghan Girl ā ABC News.
Thereās not much to analyze about this article, not much to tear apart or opinionate over. There is only the sad but important reminder ā and one amidst the chaos of last monthās slaughtering ā that not all our soldiers are cold and numb towards the Afghans, that, although we train our men to kill (for it is war), that there are those, perhaps more than we think, who maintain compassion and humanity, heroism,Ā at the same time. Sgt. Dennis Weichel just died showing us that, died saving a little girl playing in the dirt.
A woman who became the disfigured face of the shunned and forgotten women of Pakistan committed suicide, jumping from her sixth floor apartment window in Italy last week.
Durrani wrote of Yunus inĀ The News Daily, āI have met many acid victims. Never have I seen one as completely disfigured as Fakhra. She had not just become faceless; her body had also melted to the bone. Despite her stark and hopeless condition, the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was not in the least God-fearing. She was provided nothingā¦but disdainā¦and trashed.ā
Acid attacks are prevalent in certain parts of Asia. According to the New York Timesā Nicholas D. Kristof, whoĀ reported in 2008Ā that attacks were then at an all-time high in Pakistan, they are often the work of husbands who attack their wives as a form of revenge for refusing sexual advances or other proposals.
In the Washington Post article on Yunus, Durrani quoted an Italian professor who assisted in Yunus recovery, āI tried to mend her physical scars, but was unable to heal her soul.ā
ā via Victim of Acid Attack Commits Suicide ā ABC News.
The pinnacle ā the most hurt victim whoās received the most help whoās become the veryĀ faceĀ of hope for other victims ā the pinnacle of this tragedy has just killed herself.
The face is what gives the soul an identity, see. Itās what represents the soul, what represents you, and the burning of a face burns that faceās soul, too, and living with a soul so intensely scarred is worse than living without sight or without legs or without anything physical; itās living without life.
Though not all the victims are as hurt as Yunus was, her suicide shows us how deep theĀ pain ā the pain beneath the burnt skin, the pain we canātĀ seeĀ -Ā this shows us how deep that pain is, and that showing should drive us to stop this horrific practice, and to stop it at all costs.
This suicide was Yunusās last cry of agony. Donāt let her have cried that agony ā have jumped those six floors ā donāt let her have done that in vain. Do something.
Most political brawls are drummed-up follies, but the fight over health-care reform is legitimately historic. The law is the biggest achievement of Barack Obamaās presidency. If it survives, Democrats say, it will expand and transform American health care. Republicans, though, see it as a government intrusion into private affairs. If the law is upheld, they say, no area of American life will be safe.
Americaās highest court usually devotes one hour to arguments. For this case it will devote six hours, spread over three days. The Economist has a seat for the proceedings; weāll be posting our thoughts on Wednesday, and a detailed story will appear in next weekās issue. In the meantime, here is a guide to the arguments.
ā via Obamacare and the Supreme Court: A guide to the health-care case.
Hereās an interesting article thatāll perhaps help you form your own opinions on the infamous health care debate before and as itās being debated. Personally, Iām leaning towards it, and is a former Reagan official (funny as Reagan seems to be the political God of the republicans). Ā But weāll see how this plays out.
The veteran TV personality, speaking on āFox & Friends,ā waded in with an opinion on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a story that has attracted national attention over the past month. He later acknowledged that his comments were āpolitically incorrect.ā ā¦
āIāll bet you money that if he didnāt have that hoodie on, that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldnāt have responded in that violent and aggressive way,ā [Fox News's] Rivera said.Ā ā¦
Of Martin, Rivera said, āGod bless him, he was an innocent kid, a wonderful kid.ā But he said the case should be a warning to parents to watch what their children should wear.
āIf you dress like a hoodlum eventually some schmuck is going to take you at your word,ā he wrote in a commentary posted Friday on the website Fox News Latino.
ā via News from The Associated Press.
The article at first sparked a bit of anger and rage towards Rivera, but upon some digestion Iāve concluded that part ofĀ what he said, in a facilitating social context, carries at least a little bit of truth.
Some communities, especially down South, are quick to make judgments, to profile, and to stereotype others based just on what those people are wearing. In this sense, Riveraās initial statement, that the hoodie instigated Zimmermanās actions, carries some ā not a lot, but some ā possible element of truth.
That being said, that possible element of truth should only be taken with a grain of salt. The hoodie could have only instigated Zimmermanās actions because Zimmerman is a part of a not-uncommon group of stereotyping and racist people who fear, leading to hate, what theyāre too ignorant or too lazy to understand.
In the end, Trayvon Martin has no fault here. He wore the article of clothing that he saw fit and it is in no way his fault that Zimmerman is a stereotyping and racist pig. Further, hoodies are common not just among āhoodlums,ā to wear one on a rainy day is only more common, Zimmerman ought to be locked up and forced into some racial acceptance classes, and Rivera ought to learn that nobody can help how others perceive them.
Alas, to the surprise of no one, the justices announced last week that they would not permit the Care Act arguments to be broadcast live or on video. Instead, interested people will be able to hear the argument, but only in the afternoon, after the dayās argument has concluded. The most eagerly anticipated (and most important) reality show in America for the past two years ā ever since President Obama signed the Care Act into law on March 23, 2010 ā will be entirely blacked out. Thatās just not good enough.
This is arguably the 21st centuryās most debated legislation. I donāt know ā and neither do many other people ā whatās inside it so Iām not really for or against it, but the fact that its legitimacy is being debated behind closed doors doesnāt really bode too well for me.
Our government, Congress specifically in this case, is run by people who represent the majorities of their parties. Represent, as in they vote based on our interests. We donāt know whatās in the bill, however, and ā letās be honest ā some of our Congressmen probably donāt either, so us being represented in their voting didnāt really take place back in 2011 when the law was signed.
There was a chance for this to be corrected with the Supreme Court hearings this week. Didnāt happen. Democratic Republic fail.
Nearly four in 10 Americans (38 percent) say there has been too much expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders ā an all-time high since the Pew Research Center began asking the question more than a decade ago. Thirty percent say there has been too little.
ā via U.S. News ā Pew survey: Americans think politicians are talking too much about religion.
Can I get a no shit? I mean, just, duh. My grandma, though, sheās part of the thirty percent whoāre insistent that thereās too little religious expression (especially from Obama). āOur nation was founded on Christian principlesā she says oh so passionately. But no. Half of our fathers were deists and the other half signed this piece of paper called The Bill of Rights which includes The Establishment Clause and quoteth the clause; āCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.ā
So, uh, if religion has to stay out of law then it would seem that a political officialās religious convictions and expressions arenāt all that important.
That being said, Christianity is a key part in American history. Itās been a prominent factor in both social and political movements since day one. It is, however, completely non-requisite by or in law and to say otherwise is to impose tradition in fear of change, and when change is avoided then progress is hindered and when progress is hindered then problems remain unsolved.
Leave it up to them good olā conservatives and weād done still be in the dark ages of tuberculosis and lynching.
His first memory is an execution. He walked with his mother to a wheat field, where guards had rounded up several thousand prisoners. The boy crawled between legs to the front row, where he saw guards tying a man to a wooden pole.
ā via How one man escaped from a North Korean prison camp | World news | The Guardian.
Instead of summing this article up for you, I recommend you just read it. Itās eye-opening to the atrocities occurring inside N. Koreaās borders and itās educational and itāll make you think twice before taking your comforts for granted. Seriously, read it. Itāll take some time but itāll draw you in, too, and itās worth it in the end.
I would also like to note that if the United States really considered itself the āpolice nation,ā itād do something about this. Deep down under the yellow journalism and sensationalizing headlines, however, our actions arenāt decided on moral factors; rather, theyāre decided on economical investments and good publicity as are the actions of any other reasonable nation.
āTo say to any child of 13 that you are only fit to die in prison is cruel,ā Stevenson has said. āIt cannot be reconciled with what we know about the nature of children. It cannot be reconciled with our standards of decency.ā
ā¦
āKids are different from adults,ā explains Father Greg Boyle, the founder and director ofĀ Los AngelesāsĀ Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention, -rehabilitation, and reentry program in the nation. āThey are not as developed as far as brain science, controlling impulses, and maturity, and fall prey to all kinds of pressures. Young people can change and grow. Every parent knows that. Redemption is possible and it is the measure of a civilized society. Our society ought to catch up.ā
There are those, however, who maintain that killers, no matter how young, cannot be rehabilitated and continue to demand revengeāthe proverbial eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
āvia Ex-Prisoners Say Life Term Is Cruel for Teens, As Case Hits High Court ā The Daily Beast.
I donāt know that a generalization can be set here. It seems, as the last quoted paragraph states, that it would be reasonable that there are people ā kids ā who are unable to change, who are āunfit for societyā no matter what. At the same time, however, there are those who have simply caved to pressure or inadequate upbringings. There are people who have no care for what is right and wrong, and there are people who do; those without care should be locked away for life, while those with care should be given, after reasonable punishment, a second chance (pending evaluations deem this appropriate). In Laymenās terms, this issue should be dealt with on a case-by-case policy. I do, however, believe that parole should always be given to underage convicts.
The killing of 16 Afghan civilians last Sunday is now one of the greatest points of tension between the United States and Afghanistan. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales allegedly killed the civilians in cold blood; those close to him say they were shocked by the news.
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Gen. Peter Chiarelli spent the last couple years of his military career working to help troops returning from combat with invisible wounds of war like post-traumatic stress.
He says what the incident āproves more than anything ⦠is just how much we donāt know.ā As vice chief, Chiarelli says he was frustrated by not having reliable diagnostic tools to screen for behavioral health issues.
ā via Troopsā Mental Health: How Much Is Unknown? : NPR.
Not too long ago I saw the movie Jarhead. I was bored through the entire thing as it was not a typical war movie ā it had no action, no blood, no running under heavy fire, none of that ā and then, as the credits rolled, it hit me; thatās what made the movie so great. It wasnāt a sensationalized āpaint a war heroā movie, it was reality. It was a cold, hard, bitter depiction of the reality of what many soldiers have had to deal with. It was a depiction of the human psychology under warlike circumstances ā a film of the mind ā and when I saw it from that perspective, I was intrigued.
Though I frown upon the soldierās actions here in this slaughtering and also the actions of other soldiers ā the Qurāan burnings and corpse pissings ā I think it necessary to keep this in mind; that their actions are the results of a psych that has crumbled under the pressure of circumstances that you and I have not the slightest clue about, of circumstances that we could never fathom in our wildest nightmares.
To condemn this soldier ā or any, for that matter ā would be to condemn something that you know nothing of; an ill-founded judgement. There is no right way to condemn, then; only the handling of this present circumstance and the preventing of future similarities.
Chiarelli, however, argues that we have no reliable way to, with integrity, gauge the psychs of our soldiers, which dents our ability to prevent future similarities. And I agree; the human mind is far too complex to determine through written tests or oral evaluations or even, if weāre being honest here, at all.
Perhaps, then, a different approach should be taken. Some would argue that the end to war is a viable solution, but those are the hippies talking and it must be realized that we do not live on a utopia and that, though perhaps not this particular war, that war is an inevitability, a sort of necessary evil. But weāre still at square one; the issue of the psychological integrity of our soldiers remains.
My proposal: start at the root. Instead of squeakily testing the psychs of soldiers during duty, instead of relying on evaluations, perhaps the founding of a humane, strong, resilient-to-snapping psych should takeĀ priorityĀ in training. Hell, give it its own program, perhaps even a separate training if you will. What good is brute force when the mind is crippled?
Thatās my idea. Yours?
āA number of previous studies have linked narcissism with Facebook use, but this is some of the first evidence of a direct relationship between Facebook friends and the most ātoxicā elements of narcissistic personality disorder.
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GE includes āself-absorption, vanity, superiority, and exhibitionistic tendenciesā and people who score high on this aspect of narcissism need to be constantly at the centre of attention. They often say shocking things and inappropriately self-disclose because they cannot stand to be ignored or waste a chance of self-promotion.ā
I feel almost as if I am unable to effectively commentary on this since perhaps this applies directly to me. After all, I match most the criteria. Iāve even already formed a few ājustificationsā for my behavior. Kinda scary.
The article, however, brings to light perhaps the most overlooked yet obvious side effect of social media. I see this effect, this development of narcissism, to be true and real not just potentially in myself but in some of my friends both globally online and locally at school as well.
Perhaps a month or two of social detox is due, just to reevaluate my psych. If youāre also a little freaked out by this article, I recommend the same for you.