A very Merry Christmas to all you crazy cats out there.
J B
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, April 2, 2010
Guam is tipping?
This is more than a little disturbing to me. Does an elected official really think that Guam is going to literally tip over because of the addition of 8,000 more marines?
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Book Burning in America
Recently I keep running across references to book burning. As a writer I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever someone mentions books and fire in the same sentence. You may say that I am needlessly concerned about this practice. That things such as this don't happen anymore. Oh how wrong you are.
When You think of book burnings what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Is it images of the massive pyres that burned across Nazi Germany during Hitlers rule? That was certainly what I always envisaged. Then I kept seeing references to book burning here in the U.S. "Surely Not?!" said I "This barbaric and senseless practice can't be taking place here". Well it turns out that book burning is alive and well in the land of the free. In fact there are groups who actively encourage book burning. Don't believe me? check out the Landover Baptist Church (commonfreeman.com does not take responsibility for any objects or body parts smashed through your monitor while reading their web site).
Here is a little excerpt from their page:
WOW! 3.4 million books just set alight and destroyed. What exactly are these people and others like them afraid of? How is burning books helping you "say "no" to Satan and "yes" to Jesus"?
Apparently one of their goals is to protect the world from the Harry Potter series. According to Landover these books are worse than the satanic bible (Satan checks his closet for J K Rowling before he goes to bed). And as hard as it is to believe this actually gets worse. They encourage school children to take any of these books they find from school libraries, public libraries and stores.
I need to try that next time I'm in Costco: "Jesus wants me to take this 56" 1080p flat panel TV". There's not a court in the land would convict me with that excuse.
But then is book burning any different? Is that not the theft of knowledge? Books help us connect to the world and each other in ways we may have never considered. If we truly are the people we claim to be and we actually believe in things like freedom of speech, then we need to end this senseless act.
For a look at a timeline of book burning in America check out Elliot Feldman's article at AssociatedContent.com
When You think of book burnings what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Is it images of the massive pyres that burned across Nazi Germany during Hitlers rule? That was certainly what I always envisaged. Then I kept seeing references to book burning here in the U.S. "Surely Not?!" said I "This barbaric and senseless practice can't be taking place here". Well it turns out that book burning is alive and well in the land of the free. In fact there are groups who actively encourage book burning. Don't believe me? check out the Landover Baptist Church (commonfreeman.com does not take responsibility for any objects or body parts smashed through your monitor while reading their web site).
Here is a little excerpt from their page:
"The truth is, burning a book is one of the most loving things a Christian could do for a person they really care about. The Landover Baptist Church is proud to be sponsoring America's Largest Book Burning on Satan's Birthday, October 31st. This will be the third consecutive year we have held the event. Last October, we had 152,800 American Christians show up for the event. We burned over 3.4 million books! That's right! Don't let the numbers dissuade you from holding a book burning at your local church this Halloween. Thousands of churches in America have collected millions of Harry Potter books to be burned that very night. As a Christian, you should be eager to participate in this Bible based tradition. Burning books just like the first Christians did in New Testament is a great way to say "no" to Satan and "yes" to Jesus."
WOW! 3.4 million books just set alight and destroyed. What exactly are these people and others like them afraid of? How is burning books helping you "say "no" to Satan and "yes" to Jesus"?
Apparently one of their goals is to protect the world from the Harry Potter series. According to Landover these books are worse than the satanic bible (Satan checks his closet for J K Rowling before he goes to bed). And as hard as it is to believe this actually gets worse. They encourage school children to take any of these books they find from school libraries, public libraries and stores.
"We're giving True Christian® school children the Biblical authority to remove these evil books from their school libraries, bookstores, homes, grocery stores, and anywhere they find them," said Pastor Deacon Fred. "All they need to say is, Jesus wants me to take this book!"
I need to try that next time I'm in Costco: "Jesus wants me to take this 56" 1080p flat panel TV". There's not a court in the land would convict me with that excuse.
But then is book burning any different? Is that not the theft of knowledge? Books help us connect to the world and each other in ways we may have never considered. If we truly are the people we claim to be and we actually believe in things like freedom of speech, then we need to end this senseless act.
For a look at a timeline of book burning in America check out Elliot Feldman's article at AssociatedContent.com
Monday, January 18, 2010
The History of Us
I sometimes wonder what the history classes of the future will be like. When they reach our section in their readings will it be seen as a golden age, when people made some of the most important discoveries? or will it be seen as the beginning of a second dark age?
The Dark ages, for those of you who don't know, got their name from a lack of enlightenment. A time when only the ruling classes had any kind of formal education. The formula was very simple: Keep the lesser classes uneducated and they will be easier to control. Religion also played a part in this game. This was a time when Christianity and it's church held power over the major European thrones. Other religions were denounced as pagan devil worship and their practice forbidden. This led to the loss of a great deal of knowledge, some of which we are only now rediscovering.
Fast forward to the present day. Once again we have a ruling class who limits the amount of information that the great unwashed can get their hands on.
No, I take that back. This is not about a limit on information, it's about putting a limit on who can understand the information. There is a new religion that dominates our new rulers; The religion of cheap entertainment.
Each day we are bombarded with information. So much information that we do not process a lot of it. Given that about 95% of this information is all but completely useless, it would seem that being able to dump most the information would be a good thing. The problem is most of us don't seem to have a filter that can dump just the useless information. As a society we have become trained to accept more chaff than wheat when it comes to information we seek. The recent online uproar over the possibility that the Presidents "State of the Nation" speech might knock the premier of LOST back a week was a wake up call.
Something I had suspected for a long time was confirmed with that story. The cycle is almost complete and we are reaching one of those metaphorical crossroads. Are we going too continue to let the education of future generations be eroded year by year? Are we really willing to risk losing all of the wonderful discoveries of the last 200 years be lost again? A decision must be made by each and everyone of us who reads this.
I still wonder what those history classes will look like. If we aren't careful, we may find out sooner than we might like.
The Dark ages, for those of you who don't know, got their name from a lack of enlightenment. A time when only the ruling classes had any kind of formal education. The formula was very simple: Keep the lesser classes uneducated and they will be easier to control. Religion also played a part in this game. This was a time when Christianity and it's church held power over the major European thrones. Other religions were denounced as pagan devil worship and their practice forbidden. This led to the loss of a great deal of knowledge, some of which we are only now rediscovering.
Fast forward to the present day. Once again we have a ruling class who limits the amount of information that the great unwashed can get their hands on.
No, I take that back. This is not about a limit on information, it's about putting a limit on who can understand the information. There is a new religion that dominates our new rulers; The religion of cheap entertainment.
Each day we are bombarded with information. So much information that we do not process a lot of it. Given that about 95% of this information is all but completely useless, it would seem that being able to dump most the information would be a good thing. The problem is most of us don't seem to have a filter that can dump just the useless information. As a society we have become trained to accept more chaff than wheat when it comes to information we seek. The recent online uproar over the possibility that the Presidents "State of the Nation" speech might knock the premier of LOST back a week was a wake up call.
Something I had suspected for a long time was confirmed with that story. The cycle is almost complete and we are reaching one of those metaphorical crossroads. Are we going too continue to let the education of future generations be eroded year by year? Are we really willing to risk losing all of the wonderful discoveries of the last 200 years be lost again? A decision must be made by each and everyone of us who reads this.
I still wonder what those history classes will look like. If we aren't careful, we may find out sooner than we might like.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Economics of Mass Deportation
This is a special posting of a video made for one of my classes during my journal to becoming a journalist. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Presidents Speech to Nations Schools: Good or Bad?
There has been a lot of debate recently about President Obamas' speech to all the nations schoolchildren. Many parents have been up in arms about the idea of their kids being forced to watch. This seeming ly knee jerk reaction stems from the fear of their children being brainwashed with political ideals that do not match their own. That is a valid fear and they have the right to be concerned. However in this instance the reaction has been unfounded, uniformed and frankly does not speak well of us as a nation.
That's right folks, The Common Free Man is defending President Barack Obama. There is no need to adjust your monitors.
This unfortunate situation is a superb example of the utter futility of the "us and them" mentality that pollutes our society. Until we can move away from that we will never evolve as a people. For the past two weeks we have been hearing screams of "propaganda" and "socialist agenda". If this speech is an example of a socialist agenda then I must be a closet socialist. Sorry to say folks that it looks like the only propaganda being sold here is coming from the right.
I would like to ask all of the parents who read this to go through the speech (link below). I would like you to read through it carefully, forgetting everything you have heard from Limbaugh, from Beck or from any other media outlets. Approach it as if this is the first time you ever heard about it. Then I want you to decide for yourself, using only what you have read in that speech if you still think it is brainwashing the little darlings. I would also like you to ask yourselves if you would have had the same reaction a year ago under a different President.
We need to put this petty squabbling behind us if we are to move on. This is going to mean that each of us needs to start thinking for ourselves and not just going with what "your" party says. Remember that the next time you go to vote. If you truly do not like the GOP candidate or the Dem candidate, then find a third party and vote for them. The idea of voting for the lesser evil is making a mockery out of democracy.
So to answer the initial question of good or bad? In this case I would say good.
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event
That's right folks, The Common Free Man is defending President Barack Obama. There is no need to adjust your monitors.
This unfortunate situation is a superb example of the utter futility of the "us and them" mentality that pollutes our society. Until we can move away from that we will never evolve as a people. For the past two weeks we have been hearing screams of "propaganda" and "socialist agenda". If this speech is an example of a socialist agenda then I must be a closet socialist. Sorry to say folks that it looks like the only propaganda being sold here is coming from the right.
I would like to ask all of the parents who read this to go through the speech (link below). I would like you to read through it carefully, forgetting everything you have heard from Limbaugh, from Beck or from any other media outlets. Approach it as if this is the first time you ever heard about it. Then I want you to decide for yourself, using only what you have read in that speech if you still think it is brainwashing the little darlings. I would also like you to ask yourselves if you would have had the same reaction a year ago under a different President.
We need to put this petty squabbling behind us if we are to move on. This is going to mean that each of us needs to start thinking for ourselves and not just going with what "your" party says. Remember that the next time you go to vote. If you truly do not like the GOP candidate or the Dem candidate, then find a third party and vote for them. The idea of voting for the lesser evil is making a mockery out of democracy.
So to answer the initial question of good or bad? In this case I would say good.
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event
Thursday, August 6, 2009
This Flag Does Not Fly.
June 28th, 1940
A little island sitting off the coast of France is suddenly rocked by the sound of German bombers attacking it's main harbour. Two days later a Nazi invasion force took control over this little "Jewel of the sea". And so began 5 years of hard Nazi rule over the people of that little island. Food was scarce and times were tough. People had to survive on what they could find and by helping each other. Of course, as is almost always the case, there were those who only wanted too help themselves.
The Germans had instituted a program that rewarded people who turned in neighbours, friends and even family members that dared to go against the word of the occupying forces. Being a small community it was normal that everyone knows what everyone else is doing. This was a goldmine for those who would exploit such information for their own gain. Those that had been "snitched" on were often sent to a prison camp in Europe. This would become a death sentence for many of them.
1945 to 1991
Jump forward several years and you have the former Soviet Union. During the period of the cold war it was common practice for you to "snitch" on neighbours, friends and family if you suspected they were talking or thinking against the party agenda. All it took was one discreet phone call and suddenly your neighbours would disappear. You may also find that you have a little something extra in your rations as "thanks" for your loyalty to the party.
August 2009
"What has any of this got to do with me?" I hear you shout.
We look back on these events and think of them as wrong, as the tools of a totalitarian state. That could never happen here in the land of the free right?
I wouldn't be so sure.
A recent blog entry from the Whitehouse is asking citizens to send anything "fishy" they see or receive concerning the current healthcare bill. Seems fairly harmless at this point right?
At first glance it may seem so however I want you to consider this. We can see from the two examples above that this is a tactic used to suppress the ideas of anyone that disagrees with the ruling class. Is this really going to be any different? What are they going to do with the information they receive? Is it the information itself they are interested in or is it the names of the people who are spreading the information? Is this not a direct attack on the first amendment?
These are all questions that we need to ask. Sure right now they are only asking that you send information received via email or on the web on this one subject, but how long will it be until this becomes a common practice? And how long before it extends to more than just emails and web content.
For those that wish to take advantage of this wonderful new service you can forward any emails or websites to: flag@whitehouse.gov
"Rat out your friends. Snitch on your neighbours. Fabulous prizes to be won"
There is one last thing I would like to add. It's an addendum to the occupation story. Those that did feed information to the Germans were forever marked as collaborators. Once the occupying forces were defeated this people lives suddenly became less pleasant.
A little island sitting off the coast of France is suddenly rocked by the sound of German bombers attacking it's main harbour. Two days later a Nazi invasion force took control over this little "Jewel of the sea". And so began 5 years of hard Nazi rule over the people of that little island. Food was scarce and times were tough. People had to survive on what they could find and by helping each other. Of course, as is almost always the case, there were those who only wanted too help themselves.
The Germans had instituted a program that rewarded people who turned in neighbours, friends and even family members that dared to go against the word of the occupying forces. Being a small community it was normal that everyone knows what everyone else is doing. This was a goldmine for those who would exploit such information for their own gain. Those that had been "snitched" on were often sent to a prison camp in Europe. This would become a death sentence for many of them.
1945 to 1991
Jump forward several years and you have the former Soviet Union. During the period of the cold war it was common practice for you to "snitch" on neighbours, friends and family if you suspected they were talking or thinking against the party agenda. All it took was one discreet phone call and suddenly your neighbours would disappear. You may also find that you have a little something extra in your rations as "thanks" for your loyalty to the party.
August 2009
"What has any of this got to do with me?" I hear you shout.
We look back on these events and think of them as wrong, as the tools of a totalitarian state. That could never happen here in the land of the free right?
I wouldn't be so sure.
A recent blog entry from the Whitehouse is asking citizens to send anything "fishy" they see or receive concerning the current healthcare bill. Seems fairly harmless at this point right?
At first glance it may seem so however I want you to consider this. We can see from the two examples above that this is a tactic used to suppress the ideas of anyone that disagrees with the ruling class. Is this really going to be any different? What are they going to do with the information they receive? Is it the information itself they are interested in or is it the names of the people who are spreading the information? Is this not a direct attack on the first amendment?
These are all questions that we need to ask. Sure right now they are only asking that you send information received via email or on the web on this one subject, but how long will it be until this becomes a common practice? And how long before it extends to more than just emails and web content.
For those that wish to take advantage of this wonderful new service you can forward any emails or websites to: flag@whitehouse.gov
"Rat out your friends. Snitch on your neighbours. Fabulous prizes to be won"
There is one last thing I would like to add. It's an addendum to the occupation story. Those that did feed information to the Germans were forever marked as collaborators. Once the occupying forces were defeated this people lives suddenly became less pleasant.
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