shout-out to arthur silber. i just rediscovered this guy.
it’s not the sex. it’s never the sex.
it’s not the drugs. it’s never the drugs.
it’s not the terrorists. it’s never the terrorists.
…but where can we go? when will it be a place where it really is the sex? where it really is the drugs? where it really is all about the terrorists?!?!
i don’t think that place exists. so where do we go?
this is a companion piece to the first installment of my vasectomy experience writing. if you are bored reading philisophical/psychosocial editorials, then you may want to move on from this installment. it turns out not to be very cheerful, either.
while the first piece focused on the experience of the physical vasectomy procedure itself, i also wanted to dedicate space to describing the intangible, mental/psychological aspects involved in such a procedure. dividing them into distinct writings prevents the muddying of either aspect, in my opinion offering more clarity for each. so here we go. [Read more →]
i picked up a copy of bruce weinstein’s life principles: feeling good by doing good. here’s a summary (and some deeper thoughts) of this ethics primer. in his book, there are five guidelines that he identifies as ethics; a chapter is devoted to each one of them, and within it explains the basic tenets of the eithical guideline, its origins, as well as its societal and personal benefits when it is followed. i was inspired to write about this book moreso when, as i was explaining this book to a friend, realized i had forgotten one of the tenets…leave it to personal feelings of guilt to prompt writing…! [Read more →]
“yippee” stands for “yurts in progress; prettey exciting, eh?”
two dear friends of mine are building their home on the side of a mountain in western vermont. these are the pictures i took with my mobile phone camera while there. unfortunately, there’s no real chronology to them, but i will provide explanations of each where applicable. [Read more →]
Follow this link to view a video on barry cooper’s new television show: kop busters.
i remember when this guy’s video came out, and how the flex your rights foundation lambasted him for advocating that citizens consent to searches of their vehicles during routine traffic stops. i also gave him a tough time on a public message board (not that it matters, honestly; i was acting the part of a f.y.r. fanboy), even going as far as accusing him of being a mole for the police department. this television show of his is impressive, and goes a long way in proving that he is what he says he is: a reformed police officer willing to show the corruption rife in his and other local police jurisdictions.
though i still don’t agree with his stance on consenting to police searches, hopefully he’ll have a chance to continue the show and spread the ideas of both drug decriminalization and corrupt police to the public at large.
EDIT: as the embedded youtube video was messing up this page’s layout, i opted to include a link to the video instead. the modified post is below.
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found this just moments ago, on this holiest of holy days.
i’m going to be a lonely demonstrator this evening.
what if the united states government is voluntarily relinquishing its status as the main economic power in the world to more easily implement fascism?
citizens strapped to public assistance are much easier to control, manipulate, and monitor than those who are independently wealthy. plus, you’ll need to hire all sorts of people to process all that paperwork. a spike in hiring within the government sector does wonders to conceal the degree of shambles in which an economy finds itself.
today, i’m busy reading naomi wolf’s the end of america. happy 4th of july, indeed.
i’ve been reading this guy for a couple years now, and i’m still surprised. although i read it mostly for his inciteful political commentary, he often comes up with some undeniably amusing stuff…for example, today’s post:
Now, don’t get me wrong. I hate filling up as much as the next guy. I’ve gotten used to a life subsidized by cheap petroleum. But the fact of the matter is this - dinosaur juice is a fucking dead end. We can bore hole after hole after hole into the planet if we want, but we’re still withdrawing millions of years worth of banked energy with no way to bank more. Which is a bad fucking idea.
oil drilling in alaska isn’t very funny, but he at least tries to make it sound that way. that, and other topics that normally just piss me off.
please read you are dumb. at least every once in a while. you’ll be better off for it.
an u.k.-based privacy advocate organization, NO2ID, has recently acquired, annotated, and redistributed a document detailing a national i.d. card which stands in for all other i.d.s needed in that country. the potential for “mission creep”–how an innocuous addition to regulations or tools gradually takes on more significance and authority, such as social security here in the ’states–is incredibly strong in this case. coupled with this is the fact that if a universal i.d. card is created, and all these disparate databases of information regarding citizens is centralized or consolidated, identity theft is much more convenient for the perpetrator. many privacy advocates in the united states are concerned about such a national i.d. card scheme being implemented here as well, for many of the same reasons.
to sum up, NO2ID and their supporters are requesting that this document be mirrored on various websites. i’m doing my part.
download the annotated document (PDF file format) at this link.
