Reporters without Borders' Freedom Index

I was somewhat shocked to learn that the USA has a lower freedom index than South Africa. In fact the USA placed 44th out of 167 for news reports from its own territory and a dismal 137th for news reports in one of its occupied territories, Iraq.

To put that in perspective, China (with it's totalitarian throw-you-in-jail-for-disagreeing-with-the-party policy) ranked a nearby 159th.

The lowest scores were reported by North Korea, which has a total black out on unauthorized news.

As would be expected, the highest scores were placed by the most evolved and mature cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

What's the point of asking congress to renew so-called "Patriot Act"

Today. Bush has admits that he broke the law and authorized spying on domestic citizens without court order. So let me ask you, what's the point of him begging Congress to renew the so-called "patriot act" when ol' Big Brother Bush obviously doesn't care about laws anyway. It's like those jerks who fly down the interstate at 90 miles an hour and complain when other people don't use their signals. If you're going to be an outlaw, why follow any laws?

Our laws are what make us different from communist and facist countries like China. W have a code of law that is written by the people, via a democratic process, as outlined in our Constitution. When leaders break this sacred code - no matter what their motivation - they are acting as dictators, plain and simple. It's about as unpatriotic as you can possibly be. Dictators disrespect the very core of what makes the United States so unique and powerful in the world: Democracy.

So with that said, I have a message to our President. There is a technique used by good leaders and mangers of people. It is called diplomacy. I know that's a big word Dub-ya, so let me spell it out for ya. It's when you use your communication skills to work through problems and build relationships with other people. Since you obviously have no communication skills to speak of, and have proven yourself unable to resolve conflicts (most of which your family started by the way), you instead try to "protect" America from people who disagree with you. These are the people you are calling "terrorists" or "enemies."

Now, I agree that killing innocent people as a form of revolution is quite possibly the worst crime one can commit on this Earth. The people responsible should be caught and hanged as quickly as possible - and I mean every word I am saying: FIND THE FUCKERS AND HANG THE BASTARDS ON NATIONAL TV, UNCENSORED.

However, know this, Dub-ya: The constitution allows and ENCOURAGES us to disagree with government, and to use violent force, if neccessary. I mean, duh, that is the entire reason why we created the Constitution in the first place - to provide the people with the rights and freedoms necessary to check, and possibly overthrow, governments that have grown too powerful.

In the guise of "protection" you are really destroying the very foundation of our strength. The people do not need to be protected. They may wish to be protected, but that is not what they need.

What they need is a little hard love. They need a little dose of realtity. That is what the Founders had in mind. Benjamin Franklin once said "Anyone who would give up a little freedom for a little security deserves neither freedom nor security." They firmly realized that We, the People, must be fully informed, and firmly entrenched to Reality, in ordrer to govern best, and take action when necessary to correct matters.

Frankly, the only good outcome of 9/11 was that it boosted the bumper sticker industry; every gas-guzzling SUV in my neighborhood now sports a "support our troops" ribbon. If that is all we can do when 4,000 of our citizens are butally murdered, then perhaps we need some additional events to shock America into getting up off its flabby ass and start improving itself as a nation.

I have examined all of the known superstitions of the world

"I have examined all of the known superstitions of the world and I do not find in our superstitions of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all founded on fables and mythology. Christianity has made one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites." - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

For more quotes visit the link above.

Time Chooses Mini-Bush Man of the Year

Time chose Bush “for sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a majority of voters this time around that he deserved to be in the White House for another four years,” Jim Kelly wrote in the magazine.

Funny.

I think Time chose Hitler as man of the year 1938 for pretty much the same reasons.

Journal Entry

With the advent of blogs, it is pretty important not to make the mistake of confusing the blog with a journal. I read some blogs lately where it was pretty evident that the author was posting something to the world that was probably better kept in a private journal. Unless you are trying to scream out "help me!" (which would be better directed to the telephone after dialing a help line)...

I don't see any reason to publish your private journal to the world unless you want to give away your half-baked ideas to people, or you are crying out for help. On one hand, it seems as though a blog should be a place to put finished ideas.

On the other hand, sometimes you just don't feel like finishing an idea.

Like this one!

Fat, lazy, dumb and ill-prepared to deal with nearly everything.

The US has gotten itself into a very precarious situation. We heavily rely on resources like electricity and gasoline, and we have continued to distance ourselves and make enemies with those who control and compete for those same resources. Furthermore, we have not taken the time to protect our infrastructure from those who would do us harm. And let me add that when I say infrastructure, I am not only speaking about power plants and drinking water systems, I am also speaking about the conditions of myself and my fellow citizens. We have been disarmed. We are fat, lazy, dumb, and ill prepared to deal with nearly everything.

2nd ammendment analysis

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

When our forefathers penned these words, they hardly could have imagined how much today's Americans could have twisted their original intention.

This is because of several reasons, I think. Firstly the meanings of the words have changed quite a bit since this draft was scribed. And secondly, arms technology has evolved as well.

The link above points to a DOJ document defining a facet of the 2nd ammendment, specifically if the 2nd amendment speaks of the rights of an individual, a group, or established militia (independent, state, or federal) to keep and bear arms.

Because it is so specific in its focus, the logic used to interpret the ammendment text is very interesting. Here are some points:

The DOJ starts by defining the various possibilities of interpretation: rights are given to individuals, organizations, or militias. Then they speak a bit about the history of court decisions on the subject. Finally they conclude that..." Recent decisions of the Fifth and Ninth Circuits have begun to remedy the relatively sparse judicial analysis of the meaning of the Second Amendment. In 2001, the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Emerson adopted the individual-right view, based on an extensive analysis of the Amendment's text and history. The following year, the Ninth Circuit in Silveira v. Lockyer rejected Emerson with an extended counter-analysis and reaffirmed its adherence to the collective-right view.
Six members of the Ninth Circuit dissented from denial of rehearing en banc and endorsed an individual-right view.
In sum, the question of who possesses the right secured by the Second Amendment remains open and unsettled in the courts and among scholars."

Why there is so much confusion on such a simple statement as "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" is a bit beyond me. When I read the phrase, it is pretty clear what the forefathers meant. Those who strive to twist the meaning of the words to suit their own unconstitutional gains need only place the original words in their original context and it will be quite clear that any attempt to interpret the words as anything other than a ban on the peoples' right ot keep and bear arms is simply wrong. In fact, this is exactly what the DOJ did in their research: "Accordingly, we turn to the Amendment's text, as commonly understood at the time of its adoption and interpreted in light of other provisions of the Constitution and the Amendment's historical antecedents, to discern its proper meaning."

So what did they find?

Well, you can read the text for yourself (it's pretty long). Essentially they break the ammendment into two sections: the core statement: "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" and the "pretext" "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State". They proceed to analyze each part.

"The right of the people" refers to a right of the individual citizens of the U.S., not a militia, or branch of the armed services or individual in active duty in the armed services. "To keep and bear arms" is interpreted in the language of the time (and it means the same thing today), as "to own or carry." "Shall not be infringed" is also very clear. The word "infringed" has not changed in meaning very much over the years and it obviously means that in order for something to be protected from infringement, no restriction whatsoever shall placed upon it.

The very phrase "gun control" is therefore unconstitutional.

Hey, let me be very clear. I am not a gun-toting NRA card carrying Republican. But I beleive VERY strongly that we need to protect our country from this blatant disrespect for the Constitution.

The Constitution protects us. It contains our Bill of Rights. It prevents one branch of the government from gaining control over another. It prevents the government from overpowering the people, and one State from overpowering another. It tells us how to conduct our voting ...and to the letter! It is the basis of our democracy, it is what separates us from socialist countries and dictatorships, it is our American ideal! It is a very clear and specific document.

The farther we get away from the strict interpretation of the Constitution, the more we bastardize its true meaning and disregard it's clear guidance, the harder it will be for us to call upon its Power when we really need it.

You may not agree with the right to keep an bear arms, however know this: it is unconstitutional for you prevent another from keeping and bearing them. If the Gun Control lobby wants to create laws that control guns IN ANY WAY, they must first follow the constitution and garner support for a Constitutional amendment!

Please read and protect our Constitution!

Never Forget?

After 9/11, we saw such phrases as "never forget" and "never again". Well, several years after the incident, I ask, "Forget what?" Do we even know what caused this attack? Well I guess we know but we obviously don't care. In response to an attack which was originally provoked by theU.S. invading and occupying a foreign country (Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), folks from the other nation wanted to send us a note, teach us a lesson: "Hey U.S., you don't own the world. Get out of our country and leave us alone." The failure of most Americans to understand this message is mostly due to our egomaniacal belief that everything we think is "right." Imagine some other country invaded the U.S. and occupied us. Their reason: Americans are fat and unhealthy, they use too much of the world's resources and in their refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty, have shown that they do not care about how the U.S.'s careless actions are destroying the environment and hurting the world community's health. Hey, these are valid concerns. Why not invade us and straighten us out, right? Are these reasons any less valid than those of Bin Laden? All he said was "get U.S. military out of Saudi Arabia". A pretty simple request if you ask me. Why do we need U.S. military in Saudi Arabia. There is only one reason...to secure the oil.

Anyway, what do we do in response to getting attacked. Well most folks would try to unravel WHY our enemy hates us so much and then try to resolve that issue. This is a diplomatic solution and one of the oldest military tactics. If you remove the reason that the enemy is attacking you, they will have leas reason to attack you, their troops will have less moral, etc. Jesus Christ used this tactic repetitively. (And I should point out, it's obvious that Jesus NEVER attacked ANYONE physically for ANY reason. He used diplomacy for all solutions, even making the ultimate sacrifice, surrendering himself to die as a diplomatic example to represent visually to all people what is good, and what is evil.

So what has the U.S. done in response to being attacked? Well we've gone and invaded another country. I ask, how is that going to resolve the problem that we had in the first place: a small group of people hates us because we attack and invade Muslim countries. They attack us for it, so what do we do? Well, we go and do it again, thus making more passionate enemies.

In the months following the attacks, we had the world's sympathys. We could have negotiated ANYTHING we wanted. But instead of rallying the world in our support, we lied to them (Bush: "Hussein has WMD's") and distracted them (Bush: "Hussein is connected to Bin Laden"). Now most of the world thinks we are bunch of arrogant bastards and doesn't side with us.

And our original enemies: They hate us even more.

Bin Laden waited 10 years to attack us after George Bush (Senior) invaded in 91.

When will the next attack against us occur?

I ask you, How have we made our country safer?

The answer is, We have not. We have made it more dangerous and uncertain for our children.

Happy Holidays

This Holiday Season I ask all to take a look inside...at our religious beliefs. Are our actions in line with our beliefs?
Don't be a hypocrite in the name of religion. For example, if you are going to bomb, maim and kill people in the name of Jesus, ask yourself if Jesus would really do that. The answer is no, of course not. Jesus would have chosen diplomacy or death. Therefore, if you are of like mind to continue killing, then don't go around calling yourself a Christian. That's insulting to real Christians, scarce as they may be.

I wish you all a safe and happy new year season,

S

PS- I am not religious at all.

There's a circuit inside! I'm being bugged by enemy spies! 

This device in particular looks like a terrorist threat! 

All this was removed from the dashboard of the six series. I'm surprised it even ran! 

Osama's Uncensored Message

"Outside the bubble of the American election, blogs are focused on other news, too. There is still much discussion that Osama Bin Laden declared war on the Red States. Bill Hobbs writes that that Osama, based on a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, does not want Bush re-elected. Bird Dog at Tacitus that the speech was originally mistranslated and, based on an accurate translation, Bin Laden says he will not harm states that vote against Bush, but will not guarantee the security of pro-Bush states.
Powerline reports that the Islamic website Al-Qal'a has this interpretation of Osama's message:
"[H]is message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, 'Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,' it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy."
Additionally, and quite disturbingly, a Dutch film maker was murdered yesterday after making critical statements about Islam.
—Erick Erickson, Redstate.org"

Scottie's comment: Beware of all religious extremists, Muslim, Christian or otherwise. These folks are all moronic and dangerous freaks because they do not preceive reality as it is; they can only see it as filtered through their ignorant beliefs.

Wanna see something scary this halloween? "Top film villain" of 2004 is not even an actor.

Total Film Magazine ran a survey of their readers to find out the scariest character in film for 2004. The winner was not even an actor, but the subject Michael Moore's documentary, Farenheit 911.

"Mr Bush beat stiff competition from Spider-Man 2's Doctor Octopus, played by Alfred Molina, and from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's wannabe lumberjack, Leatherface. Even Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and Kill Bill assassin Elle Driver, played by Daryl Hannah, proved no match for the White House's current tenant."

"Lots of people saw [the movie] and movie-goers are saying that there's no one like George Bush to strike fear into people's hearts."

It would be funny if it weren't actually real.

The current state of affairs. 

Epitome

Religion
Religion is a sad commentary on life and people. The distilled truth is distorted for personal gain, to appease the fears of the governors, for will of the insane. It is uniquely startling to most that the core of most religions is ideal, peace, respect and love – all core principals.

War
Sometimes you have to slap people into seeing what is obvious: it doesn’t matter how you got here, where you live or what you believe; the bottom line is that you are probably wrong and so is everyone else. Get over it.

The Environment
You aren’t leaving anytime soon. Don’t fuck it up.

Philosophy
Fools and devils are necessary evils, as are flies and cilantro.
Flies and cilantro are necessary evils, as are fools and devils.

Music
I am always two or three years ahead of the trends, but is it recorded? I want to start a band that plays songs. Why even write original songs anymore? Ok, I take that back. We could start a fat farm where instead of loosing weight, musicians would go to shed excess kitsch. I want to sit on the back stage and keep beats while skilled players thread tacky good tunes like “Brandy.” The confluence of skill, melody and beats.

The World...

The world is a dangerous place; full of ingredients, cooks and recipes for disaster.

Talking about Religion

I took so many "Black Christianity" courses in college that my father used to tease that I was training to either take over for Jesse Jackson or start my own Baptist church. I ended up starting my own Baptist church, kind of a one-man-show. It was tough trying to play the drums, organ, sing in the choir and preach at the same time.

I have always been very interested in religion. The first book I ever bought for myself was a King James bible which I found at a used book store for 10 cents. I read it. I was facinated that so many people in our society look at this book as more than a book. It is an icon. I would venture to say that most of the people who treat the bible as cannonical have never read it cover-to-cover (reading it church, or hearing it read in church doesn't count). I studied the origins of the book. I found out how it was written (in different parts at different times), who wrote each part, and when they were written, and re-written.

One of the most facinating things about studying the bible is looking at the other people who are. Was when I was taking 400-level courses in biblical studies at Penn State, about 40% or so of the kids who attended the various classes (Old Testament, New Testimant, Bible in the Black Church, etc..) were born-again Christians, as opposed to the rest of the students, who were scientists or historians, or, in my case, psychologists. It was really fun to watch the born-again's try to asimilate the scientific canonical knowledge into their rigid belief system. Oh the things that used to amuse me back then.

Alan Greenspan announces increased rate hikes...

Apparently Georgie Jr. has sent a message to Greenspan which reads something like this: "HELP!"

I guess the shrub is in a predicament cause the economy is showing very few signs of life. Here in silicon valley, many tech companies have announced lower than expected earnings. (That was actually a little shocking to me cause I was expecting the local economy to be better. I am a homeowner here, so I don't want to see it get worse than it is.) While a bad ecomony is good news for folks who want to see evil dictators out of US office, the bad news is that for them to be ousted, the nation really has to suffer more. Perhaps this is because most of the folks in our nation are easily duped into voting for extremes. For example, the the radical vote tallies (record number of people registered at the polls and actually voting) in recent times have proven this. Furthermore, it also has revealed how divided our nation is: you are either extreme right or extreme left. Conservative or republican. The reason I bring this up is because I think extremism is a sign if ignorance. (E.G., fundamentalists and hippies)

BMW Turbo Discussion Forum

Team 745i Forum Website

Don and Wonder Woman 

Looking up the light house of Forbes Island 

Trip to Forbes Island 

My charming wife at a romantic dinner setting 

My beautiful wife.