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- Twyla_Smith
- 4 years ago
- Wedding: June 2011
Do I include my husband's name as well? The shower is for my cousin, and she and my husband both know each other and have hung out plenty of times before.
I'm trying to think back to my own bridal shower, and I really can't remember if male names were included or not.
I'm not sure if it really matters one way or the other, but just curious!


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Get On the Beer Bus
Thanks to Philly Brew Tours, craft beer fans can sign up for a behind-the-scenes tour of some of the best small breweries and distilleries in the region, including Yards Brewing Company, Dock Street Brewing Company and Philadelphia Brewing Co.
"Guests will go from strangers to drinking buddies," says Philly Brew Tours owner Chad Brodsky. Tours start in Philadelphia, where a 15-passenger van named "Barley" picks everyone up for a five-hour cruise of breweries and distilleries, plus a beer-paired meal at a beer-centric restaurant. Have questions? Tour guides are experts in all things beer.
Tours are $85 per person and include transportation, beverages, food and gratuities. Nondrinking tickets are available for $60. Philly Brew Tours also arranges private tours for corporate events, parties and more. —Robin Shreeves

subset: commoncrawl


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Leah Starkman, Part 1 | S.C. Voices: Lessons from the Holocaust
When the Germans invaded Belgium, Leah Starkman and her family evacuated deep into France where they stayed until her parents were arrested. Later the children were shipped from one house to another—from the Salvation Army to a Jewish Community Center. One little suitcase was always with Leah. She wondered if she'd ever see her parents again and kept asking, "Are my parents alive?" After a severe depression at the age of 12, she heard rumors that "I would be gotten rid of." She was always afraid to say she was Jewish. Finally reunited with her father, she asked, "Where's Mother?" Her father said, "We'll talk about it later," but they never did.
Collection: Holocaust Remembrance | G. World War II (1939–1945)
Grade: Middle School (6-8) | High School (9-12)
Subject(s): Social Studies > Contemporary Cultures > 4-Impact of the Holocaust


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Reader Mark B. writes:
Practical justifications for the RKBA might usefully be considered across a spectrum of micro to macro perspectives. At the micro level we explain to the individual that she should value the RKBA in defense of her person and that of her immediate family. Toward the macro end, we say we must prepare to guard against the tyranny of a federal government. At the macro end of the spectrum we point out the geo-political danger of genocide or more generally, democide (mass killings by government for any reason including race.) Each of these points on the spectrum is a legitimate focus of debate. Which is most effective? . . .
Some of us emphasize the micro point of individual self-defense. The weakness of this focus is that we invite our audience to think about her personal safety and her personal initiative in actuating her self-defense. Figuratively, we ask her to imagine a gun in her hand and a thug standing in front of her. We propose that she aim and pull the trigger; that she – herself – become a trigger-puller. Too few people are willing to contemplate such a horrifying proposition. Anyone is willing to dial 911 to summon a trigger-puller-in-blue to save her from a dire threat; but to pull the trigger themselves; well, she would rather not think about it.
Others emphasize the intermediate point of threat of tyranny. The advantage here is that we need not ask our individual audience to contemplate herself as the trigger-puller; better her husband. Better still, her neighbor's husband who will take-up his gun in defense of the liberty of the community. This focus is more palatable. And yet, it's difficult for so many to take the threat of Federal (or State or municipal) tyranny seriously. An encroachment here, an encroachment there; we have all become more-or-less unconscious of the threat of tyranny from our duly elected governments at all levels. Indeed, among Progressives, tyranny in the pursuit of "progress" is no vice!
We speak least about the macro level threat – geopolitical democide. I suggest here that this may be a strategic oversight.
In the post-WW II, era society encountered a peculiar phenomena for which a novel name or term was required: Holocaust denial; or, in respect of an individual, a Holocaust denier. The phenomena of someone unwilling to acknowledge a particular historical event; viz, the Nazi mass murder of 6 million Jews and 5 million gentiles. Holocaust denial is a term confined to a particular historical event. Generalizing, it is a part of a greater class-of-denial we might call "genocide denial" or "genocide unconsciousness".
Genocide as a phenomena has not been acknowledged because the evidence is too painful to bear witness and there is nothing to be done about it anyway. Not once has the UN declared a "genocide" since its founding. And rarely has any government in the world mustered the intestinal fortitude to use the term "genocide" to characterize a mass-murder by government.
Today, we are witnessing active genocide – or more precisely, a 'holy' war – in Syria and Iraq by ISIS. It has spread to Africa. The present genocide is merely part and parcel of the war of Islamic terrorism of recent decade(s). Very few citizens are vociferous in demanding that America use its military or political power to stop this genocide in progress. Why so few? The evidence is too painful to bear witness; and few of us are willing to commit the resources to do anything about it anyway.
There is still another facet to this denial of active genocide: the "It can't happen here" reaction. Whatever form of genocide is now occurring somewhere else is perceived to be peculiar to that locality. In Syria and Iraq it's confined within the age old Sunni vs. Shia rivalry which doesn't exist here. In Africa, it's confined within the Islamic vs infidel rivalry which does not exist here. Closer to home, the drug wars in Mexico, Columbia, and elsewhere are confined within inter-cartel rivalry which don't exist here (on any comparable scale at least).
The "It can't happen here" denial is a phenomena that needs a name or term that calls attention to itself. I propose 'democide denial'. To a victim, it matters little that the motivation for mass murder is founded in race, religion, politics, economics or any other cause. Nor does it matter that a mass murder is the deliberate formal act of a tyrannical government, some powerful faction or a conspiracy between the two. We might even imagine a benign government powerless to effectively check a power faction originating within or outside its territory. History – from ancient times to our present day – is replete with instances of mass murder not checked by the government of jurisdiction.
I wonder, here, whether introducing a new term such as 'democide denial' could serve to complement our RKBA arguments of self-defense and government tyranny.
To discuss with an individual audience our concern for the current war of Islamic terrorism does not compel her to take-up arms herself; better her husband. Better still, her neighbor's husband. Given her awareness of current war of Islamic terrorism and the history of genocide, is she absolutely convinced that "It can't happen here" in Mayberry? Ever? Is she convinced that America's army and her state's National Guard will be sufficient to overcome any such threat should it ever come to Mayberry? Recent experience in places like Ferguson or New Orleans is not encouraging; nor is that of any of the riots during the last 40 years of the 20th century. American federal and state governments have been manifestly unsuccessful in resolving the War on Drugs. The Mexican government less successful in controlling its cartels.
We can't predict when a threat of democidal magnitude might come to Mayberry or the US as a nation. Nor can we predict with any certainty whether it may be motivated by religion, drug profits, food shortages, grid failure, or tax-revenue collection. What we can know – with confidence – is that the only adequate power capable of being brought-to-bear, the instant that it is needed, is the local community itself – a community trained-to-arms.
As an individual audience, you may refrain from arming yourself; you may discourage your husband. Are you willing to deny your neighbor's husband? Will you take that chance with the security of your children? Or, should the crisis be deferred by another generation, will you take this chance with the security of your grandchildren?
In a political context – vis a vis a mayor or a legislator – we can ask simply, 'Are you a democide denier?' In this context, we should be able to force the civilian disarmament crowd into articulating their defense as, 'It can't happen here." Then we can have a useful discussion of the limited number of police, Guardsmen and soldiers compared to the expanse of US territory. The longer the debate endures, the higher will rise the level of voter consciousness. Eventually, we might hope, it will become un-PC to be labeled a 'democide denier'.
The anti-gunners dismiss our claims of self-defense as petty and our warnings of tyranny as unfounded in the context of our well-established democratic institutions. A warning of future democide in our nation – founded on a deep and current history of genocides (such as the widely acknowledged Holocaust and ISIS) can't be so easily dismissed.
53 Responses to A Big Picture Justification of the RKBA
What the heck is RKBA?
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
You'll have to ask somebody else, I live in CA.
And is them gents in that picture wearing Ho Chi Minh sandals?
Exactly the problem with acronyms. Great if you know what they mean but if you don't then the whole article is meaningless. It stands for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Hope that helped.
"But it's funner to say letters"
If you have a computer and can Google, it's not hard to figure it out.
This article is way too long, complicated and convoluted IMO. Can someone simplify it for the rest of us ? Seems more like an intellectual argument and most of us know just how appealing and popular those are.
Basically, that we should invoke the Holocaust/etc. as often as possible in order to inflame discussion to the point of shouting with anyone curious enough to discuss the issue with us, since nation-level hyperbole is more readily understandable and relatable than physical threats to one's personal safety. And that's why the NRA has lost enormous ground since they started emphasizing firearms for personal defense around the 80's. /sarc (God, I hate having to explain I'm being sarcastic…)
Self defense is THE ONLY means of debate with statists, as the State cannot be a threat in their minds (it'd be like saying you need to carry a gun in case your beloved and dutiful spouse 'snaps' and comes at you with a butcher knife for no reason and without warning). These days, the typical 'undecided' person, if there is such a thing, tends to be fairly statist, looking for group solutions from handsome politicians before expecting personal responsibility. But even those guys, clad in fleece though they may be, understand that a big man can bust them in the head, and that a gun can bust him back. For good.
The geo-political conclusion of statist gun control philosophy is most useful for getting someone already sympathetic to the cause to become 'radicalized' (passionate) and begin working to convert and inform others. A non-immediate, but ever present realization that they have a responsibility to get out of their comfort zone and inform peers at work and around town, take new shooters to the range, defend and promote favorable measures in representative government, and become proper responsible gun owners & proficient shooters. Not unlike the ever-present threat of hell/etc. to incite a bit of morality & evangelism in otherwise ambivalent parishioners.
And that's the short version?
Naww! Just yanking your chain. Nicely said.
". . . THE ONLY means of debate with statists, as the State cannot be a threat in their minds . . . . the typical 'undecided' person, . . . , tends to be fairly statist, looking for group solutions from handsome politicians before expecting personal responsibility."
As two broad-brush strokes, you make good points. Nevertheless, you commit the error of painting with too broad a brush.
Debating with statists is – from the outset – pointless. I'll grant that occasionally, one will make a convert; but the yield per unit of effort is too low. It's like casting seen upon a rocky field. Therefore, while your first point is valid in respect to the state cannot be a threat, it's invalid to imagine that they can be made to believe that 911 can't always protect their individual safety.
There is greater importance in your assertion that the undecided is fairly statist. And yet, he is by definition, undecided. He is still open to considering insights he has yet to recognize or connect into a bigger picture. Simply recalling to his memory the genocides of the 20th century and the 21st century as well will invoke cognitive dissonance with his incompletely-formed confidence in the state.
"Seems more like an intellectual argument and most of us know just how appealing and popular those are."
If you have the attention span of a gnat, certainly not.
Which more important? Firstly you must take into account the Progressive/liberal extremists are part of the problem as they dismiss macro~micro. This in itself places themselves and the rest of us in harms way for obvious reasons. Sadly for them, in the event of a tyrannical problem or a self-defense issue these people are no more helpful to us than the enemy. Clearly all points are important, however, too much attention on any one will quickly become a weakness. The key is a balanced approach in all areas. Enough to defend self and or family but not much more. To remain informed, follow world issues, keep one's head out of one's butt so to speak, yet not focus to the point of losing perspective. Adhering to the 2A, the micro~macro is often a matter of wisdom which explains why many progressives tend to fall in a younger category.
Micro: I'm a good person, so the State shall provide for me, the State shall protect me
Macro: The State is composed of good people like me, so it would never harm me
It's one narcissistic circle jerk of conceit and projection, which routinely spawns Frankenstein monsters that destroy their maker
Even better, due to them being on the right "side of history" and with their dedication to "progress", they will be on the "death teams". Or so they think. They have nothing to fear.
"Or so they think. They have nothing to fear." While this is quite true in one moment, in the next they are panic-struck by the memory of "The Bushes!", "Nixon", and even "Reagan". (It's not really any single deed – nor even the aggregate of deeds – by any one president. It's the myth they have spun around these names.
While they are enjoying the revery of imagining their Utopia with statues of Obama, Clinton and Carter reminding everyone of their founders, mentioning "The Bushes!", "Nixon", and "Reagan" will shock their cognitive dissonance. Even if their Utopia is inevitable, its arrival may be delayed by centuries by a string of reactionary forces from the evil-Right! What provision have they made to defend their glorious Revolution in brief moments of social panic when the Reactionaries seise power?
The strident statist won't be able to overcome the cognitive dissonance problem. While "The Bushes!", "Nixon", and "Reagan" did occur in the past, they can't occur in the future. These strident statists aren't worth talking to.
It's the undecided or Progressive sympathizers who can still wrestle with the cognitive dissonance problem. Moreover, even the Progressive sympathizers will recognize the risk of their alliance with Islamists. The Islamists are grand allies today in the sense that the enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend. However, once the allied Progressives and Islamists concur DC, the Progressives will have to cope with the fact that they are all pacifists while the Islamists are anything but.
Those who don't know history are bound to repeat it . . . Which means it will be repeated. History has shown that humans suck at history. People are too preoccupied w/ other things to even ask "can it happen here". The futility & banality of human existence is really getting me down and I am only in my thirties.
Too late, we're screwed…
History has shown we're very good at changing history for contemporary purposes: Lincoln was the defender, then Lincoln was the savior, then a racist, and now most recently homo-sexual –each shift occurring favorable to prevailing political whimsy– when in reality he was closer to a destructive fanatic slavishly (pun) devoted to the "idea" of the Union (which hadn't existed up to that point) and the South's diminished place therein. Morality was certainly present –as it is in all geo-political struggles– as a catalyst for conflict, but it was not the prime mover. Maintaining the favorable status quo was the objective (that status being the South dying as an economic force in the nation compared with the North), and the war was nothing more than a power struggle like every other war.
Excellent example!
Don't feel too bad at least you figured it out in your 30's I am still in my 20's and have already came to the same conclusion so you can already imagine how I feel.
Nice group photo of a bunch of cowards. I count two or three actual men among them.
They just need to be given jobs and their incomes equalized…
Enjoyed the article. The term "democide denier" is interesting in that it discribes collectively how people are ill equipped coming to terms with the corner of the brain that allows institutional mass murder but then individually dismiss it because it's impossible to justify.
I disagree that Democide denier label is a quantifiable term in the quest for RKBA. I contend Lawful Self Defense (LSD) is the identifier that individuals can embrace because it allows the brain room to maneuver…to self preserve and provide actionable resistance. Democide (government genocide) invokes mass submission and perhaps why its prevalent in countries that do not have insitutional civilian gun ownership.
Frontline explored why governments do little to respond to Genocide but came away with no real solution. Would be interesting to revisit and plug RKBA into the narrative and determine if it's a bulwark against the last remaining collective evil.
"Indeed, among Progressives, tyranny in the pursuit of 'progress' is no vice!"
It is actually much worse than that. Progressives embrace tyranny because they are either the ones dishing it out or reaping the benefits. Since they believe (mistakenly) that the tyranny will never wreck their lives, they are all in favor of it.
"As an individual audience, you may refrain from arming yourself; you may discourage your husband. Are you willing to deny your neighbor's husband? Will you take that chance with the security of your children?"
This is an interesting tactic. I will have to ponder it and try to anticipate whatever lame excuse a gun-grabber will spew.
The tyrannies which the founding fathers feared, and of which they warned us, were not matters of genocide or democide. Rather, our founders lived in the immediate shadow of a British government attempting to monopolize even more of the lucrative manufacturing and trade enterprises. The leaders who essentially launched the revolution, notably John Hancock, saw their profits about to disappear…and so ignited the long-simmering rage of the tradesmen.
Tyrannies do not generally kill their subjects, but rather impoverish them. Imagine, if you will, that Washington slowly and covertly implements a system by which your children cannot gain admission to a medical or law school unless their parents were were employed by the party in power or were working in the profession. It would take time, but slowly people would notice. They would realize their children were being excluded from, say, medicine. Would this not be reason to rebel if votes alone could not effect change? What if the 'tyranny' and those already in the profession preferred the system, and could convince (as they do today) 54% of the population that 1) they were not bright enough or sufficiently trained to enter med school, and 2)the system was otherwise fair to them, the 54%.
This is a portrait (simplified) of how a tyranny comes increasingly to power. Very rarely is such a tyranny rebelled against effectively, because the disenfranchised usually wait too long: By the time they realize they've been had they lack the money and numbers to succeed.
In the meantime, though, as the disenfranchised or targeted-for-exclusion groups struggle to push back, they need at the very least freedom of speech, assembly, possession of arms, and so forth.
The future struggles against tyranny will be like most of those in the past. The government's possession of enormous data capture adds a new twist…but still, tyrannies are usually partial. Overcoming them does not usually ignite all out warfare. It does very often necessitate armed self-protection. Call it "holding off the tyrants with the credible threat of armed rebellion" just as MLK Jr. held off the segregationists by warning LBJ privately of race war: LBJ did not doubt for a second that black America could, would explode into bloodshed if there were no jobs or food or opportunity. (This history from the archives of the U.S., not imagination.)
So the non-black middle class is essentially not seen as capable or willing to explode into machete-and-rocks wielding street war………but is easily imagined by the left-statists as capably of organizing with firearms to bring an end to some oppressive element introduced by a faction, an administration. And there you have both the reason the 2nd Am. is so important, and by some so feared.
I think you have articulated the most important case.
Consider the alternatives. Ordinary crime. Our society is (historically) relatively free of a real threat from crime. The police and prisons are capable of keeping enough control that crime is a threat only to a few individuals; not to survival of society. Genocide in the US is an extremely low-probability (nevertheless high-consequence) possibility. (Yet, this fact alone makes it difficult to predict.)
Now, then, the political dimension of your most important case. Our struggle – today – is to influence popular politics to protect and defend the 2A. The sheep are least amenable to the proposition that we need to arm ourselves to protect us from our own sheep-dogs. It is intrinsically true that our own sheep-dogs are only a few generations away from their genetic origins: wolves.
We are addressing Joe & Jane Sixpack; a couple that is barely getting by, falling deeper into debt. Kids go to public school with no prospect for financing their college educations. If they go to college at all, they will have to borrow and graduate with great debt and poor prospects for a job that will repay the debt. How do we persuade the Sixpack couple that it's a really good idea to maintain an armed society to be prepared to hold in-check the ever-encroaching government(s) that are wringing the lifeblood out of society?
I get it; I see the the connections. However, one must have a rich appreciation of history to see how this all works. Only 1/3 of the American population "got it" in the 18th century; 2/3 did NOT get it. This segment of the population sees government(s) as the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz; powerful enough to provide them with everything they need; powerful enough to crush anyone who would dare to oppose them.
You are certainly correct that creeping tyranny is the most probable threat; but, it is precisely this threat that is most difficult to package and market to the masses. Far more difficult to market than either of the other possibilities (i.e., isolated incidents of crime; or, some cataclysmic event such as a riot, Mexican drug cartels, jihadi attacks, who-knows-what).
Interesting, thought provoking, article. At their core most issues concerning gun ownership all seem to involve perceptions of power in one way or another. Clearly RKBA bestows powers on individuals that many people feel rightfully belong to government or other entities like the police or military. I think one reason people sometimes feel this way is that—like the woman in Sara's article a bit earlier today, a soldier who was armed, but could not bring herself to shoot a rapist who was intent on doing violence to her—is that they, themselves, not only don't feel self-empowered but reject the rights of others to empower themselves through gun ownership. I think there's something akin in their attitudes that is similar to what we can encounter with people who have been too long in co-dependent relationships.
These people have internalized their dependence on an abuser to the point where they believe their situation is right and just. Despite the pain and anguish they think this is where they belong. And so, faced with the prospect of freedom, they nonetheless return to their abuser or, leaving that one, seek out another. I think people who are anti-gun, who like Sara's example don't feel empowered enough to even protect themselves from harm, are at lot like this. They're made anxious by People Of The Gun. It's our freedom and our ready acceptance of the power they willingly or unwillingly reject that is so upsetting. And they hate us for that. They hate us because we remind them that we are more free, more powerful, than they are.
It's normalcy bias. Leftists are typically deeply immature and damaged, mentally and emotionally. One could make a compelling argument that they shouldn't even be considered adults. When we, as actual adults, bring up the harsh realities and dangers of life, the leftist is simply unable to handle it, so they lash out. It shatters the fantasyland worldview that keeps them able to function semi normally, so they have to ignore it and hate whoever believes it.
This is what happens when the concept of "equality under the law" is perverted to "total quality." The former is a beautiful concept and one the framers intended. The latter destroys civilizations.
That is what I dealt with in the former slave state I lived in and what one of my friend's deals with there on a daily basis trying to get out of that hellhole. He can only talk to me about it because his other useful idiot friends dismiss the realities of the world living in their statist bubble whenever he brings it up with him. He has burnt many bridges because of it.
My favourite response from Holocaust Deniers is that Nazi Germany couldn't commit the transport resources to take the Jews to the death camps.
They get a real eye opener when they are told the Germans sent 150 trains a day to supply the forces on the Eastern Front. Averaged out, transporting prisoners to the death camps took 3 trains every 2 days, or 1% of the resources already in use. More than manageable during a world war.
And don't forget lend-lease trucks transporting Soviet troops allowed Stalin to have whole populations transported into remote exile.
So what if a nation wants to commit genocide. If you personally are not willing to fight your self or talk your son or daughter into fighting it is not America's business. Do you have any children? Left wing statist and Right wing statist want other people to fight wars they never would. And later they will stab in the back the people they sent to fight.
The Japanese bombed pearl harbor. Not the Germans. Germany was not Americans enemy. Hitler was a bad guy. So what? And Joe Stalin killed millions of people while Hitler was in jail and before he came to power.
Mussollni (spelling ) gassed hundreds of thousands in Lybia in the 1920's and Ethiopia in the 1930's. And no one complained except black America's who had no political power. The so called peace movement in the 1930's was compromised with pro Mussollni, pro Hitler, and pro Stalin factions. Read "Liberal Fascism" by J. Goldberg to learn more.
I spent nearly half my life in the US military. I have no interest in saving people who are incapable of saving themselves or who are against my way, the American way of life.
Chris, I take your point and it is a valid one taken in isolation from other facets of the problem. Were there a riot on my street and I had to guard my house and one, but not both, of my neighbors' houses I'd have to choose. On one side is a man who has always disparaged my RKBA; on the other side is a woman who has neither taken up arms herself nor disparaged my RKBA. In such a case, I'd choose to guard my house and the woman's. (An oversimplified case but it serves to illustrate.)
Imagine a second scenario. My neighbor has a warrior spirit but, alas, has been deprived of arms. Whether due to poverty, government prohibition, or lack of a marketplace for arms. Here, we have willingness but a lack of capacity. I would guard her house as well.
A third scenario is the neighbor who has no warrior spirit albeit there are ample arms lying in the street. Suppose that she lived in a culture that had no civilian arms whether for poverty, prohibition or lack of arms in a market. (The Rape of Nanking). This one is much harder, close to what you wrote of. This neighbor – too – is "disarmed" in spirit but not through any personal fault.
My conclusion is that America ought to proselytize – to its own nation and to the world – the merits of an armed citizenry. We should be willing to sell (or donate) small arms and training to defenseless people so that they may – eventually – do for themselves what the US military has so often been called upon to do for them. E.g., had we taught Afghan villagers how to defend their respective villages and seen to it that they had the AKs and ammo to do the job, I suspect that they would have gotten with the program by now. Instead, we spent half our time doing the villagers' job and the other half trying to create a national Afghani army which would never work in their tribal society.
When president Clinton attacked a country called Serbia no one called it illegal because the word "genocide" was used to justify breaking the US constitution. The anti Vietnam war Clinton never asked for a declaration of war, never asked for a use of force as both president Bushes did.
Serbia never attacked America. (Iraq never attacked America) Clinton ordered the killing of thousands of innocent people. Christian Serbia saved hundreds of downed 8th air force bomber crews. The Yugoslavia Muslims fought with Hitler and formed an SS unit. Even when their SS unit was deactivated they continued to fight and kill for Hitler.
Now twenty years latter American soldiers are still in the former Yugoslavia. President Bush was directly by reporters if he would continue the American soldier presents in that part of the world and he said yes.
Because of president Obama you can't count on a long term commitment from the United States. American soldiers are an army of occupation keeping both sides from killing each other in the former Yugoslavia. Iraq would not have fallen a part if President Obama had kept a large American military force in Iraq like in Japan and Germany and now the former Yugoslavia.
Ughh, so I should tell people the reason I own guns is because the only thing standing between me and democide is my safe full or ARs? I hate this crap, you tell this to pretty much anyone and they think you're another antigovernment nut job gun owner. Not the picture I want to paint for the non gun owners. I believe in the RKBA because guns are fun! There are lots of different ones with different characteristics and collecting them is fun. Deer jerkey is super tasty. Practicing over and over again with a firearm until you attain mastery in hitting your target repeatably is very satisfying . I like building mechanic things with my hands. Lastly, I'm a highly educated white male who has zero violent tendencies, has not gotten as much as a speeding ticket in the last 10 years, the guns I own will never ever hurt anyone Infringing upon my rights does not make anyone safer. These are some of the things I tell people when they ask why I own guns.
". . . the only thing standing between me and democide is my safe full [of] ARs".
No, that's not quite it. Instead, what I'd say is that history is replete with disasters – both man-made and natural. In recent US history we had Baltimore and Ferguson; Katrina and Sandy. In each case, government forces of order either would-not or could-not defend the neighborhoods. Those civilians who were armed, able and willing stood to fill-in where government failed them.
As to democide in America; well, not so very long ago Negros living in the South (and in some Northern precincts) were vulnerable to lynching and murder by white segregationists. Often, it was difficult to find a meaningful distinction between the KKK and the local police/sheriff. A reading of the history of Black use-of-arms of the era (in particular, the Deacons for Defense and Justice) played a noteworthy role – together with individuals acting alone – in checking the violence of those in authority against those who were disparaged.
Set these American instances in the context of decodes and disasters throughout the rest of the world and history; the American instances fit the pattern. This is the big picture.
The little picture is individual self-defense against criminals or crazies.
Lastly, one's hobbies tend to support training-to-arms for the foregoing social-defense purposes. Least important of all is that the gun hobby is benign recreation.
JohnF below:
"If you are trying to convince anti-gunners, you are not only wasting your time, but handing them arguments to use against us by making us seem like we are crazies."
FWIW, I do believe "it can happen here," all of it. However, I also believe in this country. Not the government, but the people. In my more than 60 years as an American, I have seen dozens of gloom and doom scenarios, all with great rationales as to why a massive SHTF is about to happen, even though it hasn't happened before. It's never happened. So while it's all possible, I don't think it's likely. Small isolated stuff, yes. TEOTWAWKI, no. Besides, as William F. Buckley Jr. once said. "the survivors will not be the lucky ones."
Here's the big problem, though: Any argument you use for anything has to take into account who you are trying to convince and what you are trying to convince them of. If you are trying to convince gun people, you are preaching to the choir. If you are trying to convince anti-gunners, you are not only wasting your time, but handing them arguments to use against us by making us seem like we are crazies.
The only mass audience worth convincing for the furtherment of gun rights is the huge, uncommitted block of voters who could be persuaded either way. Doomsday scenarios scare them and their fear makes them reject the argument and the gun community loses. It's human nature. If we want to make progress, I suggest we don't use those extreme arguments.
I think self defense is a great argument. I also think the ability to protect the community in the case of localized, temporary SHTF scenarios, is a good argument. I also think sport shooting like IDPA, etc. The masses like sports!
"The only mass audience worth convincing for the furtherment of gun rights is the huge, uncommitted block of voters who could be persuaded either way.
Doomsday scenarios scare them and their fear makes them reject the argument and the gun community loses. It's human nature. If we want to make progress, I suggest we don't use those extreme arguments.
I think self defense is a great argument. I also think the ability to protect the community in the case of localized, temporary SHTF scenarios, is a good argument."
On all 3 points I think you are homing-in on the sweet-spot.
Perhaps we should say something like: 'I doubt that ISIS will come swarming over the Canadian border or the cartels over the Mexican border. Nevertheless, there have been a few lone-wolf jihadi attacks in the US as well as a number of drug-gang violence incidents tied into international trafficking. And, of course, riots in individual cities from time to time. America is in a much better position to maintain civil order because many civilians keep arms at home and some carry them in their daily routines."
In all my recent conversations with progressive statists, they are firmly entrenched on two positions:
1) It can't happen here / our government would never do that.
2) A private citizen doesn't have the training necessary to effectively defend themselves or their neighbors.
We all know that both of these arguments are hogwash, but no logical argument I can muster can budge them one inch from these fallacies. I really don't see how coining a new term will change the game. The fact is that they have decided deep down that guns are evil and the cause of much suffering in the world. They naively believe that human behavior can be controlled with legislation. They honestly believe that with enough effort, governments can gain control of arms, keep them mostly away from bad people, and only use them in the service of good. They really do believe in utopia: that which is not attainable.
There may be something to confronting them with the reality of ongoing genocidal nature of human beings, but my expectations are low at this point. To them, the fact that some people are evil is just more evidence that nobody should have easy access to weapons. To their minds, an evil person who can't get a gun does not pose a threat.
IMO, most progressive statists will continue to live in their fantasy world despite all evidence to the contrary. One minute they will protest police brutality and demand change, and the next minute they will insist that citizens don't need arms because our government would never abuse its power. Their belief in a welfare state utopia is so strong that they are incapable of seeing the contradiction in these two positions. All we can do is continue to fight them in court and insist that the Constitution be upheld.
If you use the genocide/state-as-a-bad-actor argument with regards to the right to keep and bear arms, you are automatically labeled a "kook" by the statists and even moderates. It's why I've learned to start with the micro, as the author points out, of the right and need for methods of personal self-defense.
Especially in an urban area, people usually know someone who has been a victim of assault and violence. And in each instance, the police only show up to take evidence and a report. The police never stop the incident from occurring. The phrase "you are your own first responder" helps. And the best first response is a trained hand with a firearm.
After you get them on board with that, you can ease them into the macro situations of tyranny and terror attacks. Rare occurrences, sure, but so is a grease fire in your kitchen, and no one flinches about having a fire extinguisher handy.
"A Big Picture Justification of the RKBA" simply put – there is EVIL in the world and we are obligated by the Creator to protect the good from the evil.
I get your argument. 1 issue and 1 point to press more closely.
Issue: The Japanese Internment. So easily could have been genocidal- from the citizens point of view it was the same. Group rounded up and shipped out for "relocation". In our case it was relocation and not death/work camps. But how would the average joe know that? So to be applicable we would have had to be willing to take up arms at that point- and I simply can't see such a thing happening.
Point to press: Progressives (generally) believe in an oppressive racist government. They think that cops are waging "war against communities of color". And the last Pew poll shows that black support for gun control has plummeted. THIS is the point to press and related to your main argument. Perhaps with a dash of the "black on black" violence statistics. If the government is failing you at best and oppressing you at worst while you are at heightened risk of crime in general- why would you not go back to the roots of the black civil rights movement where peaceful protest went hand in hand with armed self defense? ( http://www.amazon.com/Negroes-Gun-Black-Tradition-Arms-ebook/dp/B00E2RWQHM )
I think this is especially important because of the cultural issues. The more responsible gun owners in the african american community- the less the gang members are the go to examples of black gun owners in our cultural consciousness. And that would be a good thing for everyone.
In his book Negros with Guns, Robert Williams states he wrote to the NRA for a Rifle club of affiliation and it was granted. At the time the NRA supplied all NRA affiliated rifle clubs with surplus military rifles and sold ammunition to these clubs at a discount.
The second amendment in action.
People are going to hear "democide" and think homicide of either Democrats or democracy. No one's going to get it.
I tend not to play up arguments based on personal or national defense, when talking to the uncommitted about firearms, especially if we've just met. You either overcome their "It can't happen here/to me" resistance, or else you don't, and by default you come off as paranoid and/or a kook.
So I tend to frame the issue strictly in terms of one's rights. Not Constitutional rights, exactly, because people wrongly regard those as malleable and rightly regard them as improvable. I go straight to fundamental human rights and argue there. The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to one's right to exist, as much so as one's rights to his own body and to think his own thoughts.
"I go straight to fundamental human rights and argue there. The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to one's right to exist, as much so as one's rights to his own body and to think his own thoughts."
Very interesting insight. So, by way of example, one might ask:
If some killer threatened your life, or kidnapper threatened your liberty, do you feel you would have any right to defend yourself? Would you feel you had the same human-right as you might have if someone tried to rape you or silence your self-expression of thoughts?
At that juncture the subject being questioned is free to consider any scenario of life or liberty that she is prepared to contemplate. If street crime comes to mind, that's fine; if a genocide comes up, that's equally fine. It's purely hypothetical; the person considering the question need not discount the question due to a probability calculation.
The subject has only a few choices:
– answer yes/no – a right exists/doesn't exist
– out-source – the police/Guard/military will save me
– deflect – change the subject to the children, lead in the environment, etc.
If the subject says no right exists then one might as well write them off as philosophically unreachable. If the right is admitted to, then one can begin to discuss the extent/limits of that right; e.g., may one bring only one's fists to a knife-fight?
If subject out-sources, that leads to a line of inquiry as to the origin of the right/power of the 3'rd party to defend the subject. Is it by divine right of kings? Is it by consent of the governed? How do the governed individually devoid of right accumulate their rights to form a power righteously wielded by the agent of the state?
If the subject deflects that leads to a question of whether the subject is willing ever to discuss the right of self-preservation.
THIS is how to do it. I'm glad I read all the way to the end.
This pair of comments should be elevated to their own post.
I find it bitterly amusing that the Progs who parrot "it can't happen here" are the ones who are making it happen here, and the ones who will blindly obey the government without question.
Perhaps the scariest thing I've seen recently, is the failure of people in the US to acknowledge persecution and murder of Christians worldwide. That includes in this country. 100,000 a year. One every 10 minutes. That is on the low end of estimates.
I have a tough time even finding articles on mainstream blogs and news agencies that will even mention the religion of people in stories from the middle east or Africa. We in the US and Europe may live in an irreligious society but the rest of the world doesn't. Is it to much to ask that that is acknowledged?
It has happened here, it can happen here, and sadly, with the ineptitude of our government, it will probably happen here again. I am always armed in the maximum way I can legally be in every environment, and I do watch for not only criminals, but Islamists and other crazies who just want to cause mayhem.


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february 2, 2005
i believe it to be SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE Posted by (no name) on 2/1/2005, 2:12 pm, in reply to "PFunk1...Question"
|ive been told "this is that" and "that is this" all my life. but some of the things i was taught and told didnt make sense to me, even at an early age. like god. i kinda believed in god as i was taught to do until my teens, when it just didnt make sense to me anymore.thats maybe when i started questioning everything!! teachers, my parents, ideas, etc. i think i found also in my teens that people really mean well, but continue to believe in things that are not accurate or proven. they will teach you out of love what they believe to be right in their heart- but thats all it is!!! what THEY believe to be right...science has always played a part in my life. when i was young tv shows regarding space and science and archeology and the such ALWAYS touched me. cause they were based on evidence and experiemnt. why am i saying all this? to get to the point that there was a time in my teenage life when i really started to question everything and did not just accept things, no matter who said it- without some sort of evidence or logic to back it up.scientists were always my faves. philosphers came in my life AFTER i had developed my own understanding of life-and hell yeah it was very comforting to find famous philosophers that agreed with me. #### to find famous people who articulated things i had been believing was euphoric. and plus they would say it "better" than i could.stephen hawking, albert einstein, galileo, copernicus, joseph campbell, depak chopra, etc etcrickey vincent's chapter 18 the metaphysics of the P is another person who said sumthin i believed in a way "better" than i prolly could have at the time.FUNK and P-FUNK changed my life cause it said simply that life aint all that serious. mothership connection- it aint nothing but a party. that was something a black inner city teenager could stand by and with. it was funky and cool which was something that me and my boys could "relate" to musically.i was always told to "grow up" and "act my age." parliament- funkadelic presented something that said "funk'em be who you want" cause it aint all that serious. that shit hit home.after 30 years its hard to say whether P-FUNK shaped my thinking or did it come along at the right time for me at the right age. i dont know. now the P-FUNK philosophy is so deeply embedded in me there is no way of knowing where it began and where i did.there has never been anything in any parliament funkadelic lyric that i have strongly disagreed with. nothing that i can think of where i said "#### that, thats ####ed up." thats a big thing.imagine "using" that as a "belief system" and having it "never let you down."it not only never let me down, it has made me successful!! when people think of jeffery they think of that P-FUNK shit cause of the way i have lived my life and i am very proud of that. even my daddy acknowledges!!! where was i? you got me going...what was the question??? shit im on a roll...P-FUNK did not dwell on love or god. this is something i VERY STRONGLY aligned with. i do not like R&B cause its dysfunctional and strung out on love. and i think believing in god is riduclous. so did i develop my understanding in response to P-FUNK or did we align and grow together? i dont know. so i really do believe my ideas and philosophy are based on my subjective experiences and how i, jeffery scott mitchell, personally interprets the universe around me. thats why my book IS titled "one man's FUNK ENTELECHY and THEORY OF UNIVERSE. all it is my ideas and my personal thoughts and my ideas. i think everybody should develop their own personal philosophy based on their own experience and not try to find one in a religion or any other prepared philosophy. also regarding my book i was thinking today that when a person writes a book like i did, he is putting his ideas and beliefs in writing and making them public. this i am very proud of and it takes a lot to take a stand like this. ive found that it takes a certain kind of person, everybody cant do this. to have your ideas and theories in writings that you can be held publicly accountable is something... well based on the "P" purley? no, nothing i do is based on anything solely. i take the best and logical parts from many different ideas and philosophies to form one i am comfortable with. even jesus and religion has good points- i never was really a book reader. ive read very few books in my life and the ones i did were science based. there were never any philosophers or religions that i followed. so no i am not versed in philosophy, i dont think thank you thank you thank you for such an inspiring question- i hope i answered your question as this became a very self satisfying exercise- everything is subjective
the signifigance of my ATHEISM
Posted by PFUNK1 on 2/2/2005, 9:46 am, in reply to "i believe it to be SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE"
|once i started questioning the idea of god which led to my non-belief in a conscious higher power, i no longer looked to god or the bible to answer the ultimate questions i hadfor example, the qustion "who created the universe?" could no longer be answered with simply "god."how did he do it? the answer "he spoke it into existence" was no longer acceptable to me. it was not logical and it did not make any sense. i was "forced" or i chose to find more practical answers to my questions and for a long time now i have been finding those answers via science and experiemnt.(i mean c'mon "he spoke it into existence?? what the hell does that mean?! even devout believers cant answer what's up with that!!! how did he speak it??? LOL)
what also came from this is the realization that there are things that i and "we" dont know yet. what created the big bang? "i dont know." i "learned" that the answer "we dont know yet" is not only a valid answer, but the correct one in a lot of cases!!
i could no longer accept the answers that god and religion gave me. i do not and cannot respect this kind of blind faith and non-logical thinking. so since i was a teenager i did not look to god or religion or the bible to shape my worldview and how things work in the universe
secondly, when i stopped believing in god this removed any belief i had in a power higher than me. so what developed is the idea that there is nothing "higher" than us!!
i walk around this rock truly believing that there is nothing higher than us. i am not subservient to anything in the universe. this has to effect one's thinking and understanding.
to believe that there is a higher power that you cannot see, and to believe that there are things that you cannot know or understand regarding this god- has to limit a person's conscious awareness and understanding. i can no longer accept these kind of answers and to be honest when i meet someone who believes in the traditional god i feel i have an advantage over him because he is subservient to something. i bow to nothing, but i respect everything.
a famous atheist once said something like mankind will never reach self-actualization as long as he believes in a conscious protecting god who has determined our lives for us already. and i believe this. for mankind to make the next big step, we must understand that we is all we got.
my ATHEISM has opened a whole new world, understanding and conscious awareness for me
december 28, 2004
if god is all powerful and knowing, then he allowed this to happen- and at the least he had the power to prevent it. at the "worse" it was his idea and intention
was/is it in god's plan for this to happen?
if he did not or could not prevent this than he is not all powerful
were all 50,000 of those people sinners?
this was a natural disaster, by definition "an act of god-"
did mankind bring this on himself?
please explain how this event fits into any idea of a conscious god
i do not believe in god so basically things like this can "just happen."
should there be an underlying energy which effects processes of life and the living i do not believe it to be of a conscious nature. it could be that something like a result of our own conscious energies (thoughts, faiths, emotional energies) effect matter (the physical world) in ways we dont know yet.
this would happen at very very very sub sub atomic levels maybe even withn the interaction of the most elementary of particles
a quark is a particle they believe to make up protons
a gluon holds protons together
god does not play dice- stephen hawkin just quoted einstein in my discovery channel background noise with that mechanical voice talking about singularity and black holes
gloryhallastoopid red giants, white dwarfs, BIG BANG!!!!
that fuss was us
what if einstein was a nigga
no, not nigger cause any "race" can be that
they knew what would happen if they taught us
i realized i need whiteboy in my funk. i need that technological mechanical clang and noise in the rhythm or sumn. my funk music needs to be complex. not that black folx cant be complex its just that white people kinda invented it and just gettin around to sharing the knowledge. i aint mad at them though, not at all. if i was them i wouldnt have taught us either shit
we did build this motherfucker though. all kinds of niggers. chinese, irish, british, african, etc. the best and the brightest came later as all kinds of criminals and prisoners and slaveries occurred first. yeah, do your history and find that african rulers sold their criminals into slavery. they say that you see no indication of white people like 75 miles inland africa. african folx was "bringing" slaves to the coast to the traders.
anyways mothership connection is definitely a mechanical technological sound in the keyboards and thats what first caught me. the spaceship and themes are science based but the beat and groove is nigga.
was funkadelic technological? mr pedro bell did the covers but he says mr clinton said just do them without giving him too much of an idea but that could be wrong cause ya pick up things just by being around, anyways... parliament is almost geeky. fuck it is geeky.
1975 chocolate city (politics, race) 1975 mothership (spaceships ufos) 1976 clones of dr funkenstein (cloning, genetics) 1977 funkentelechy (mind science social psychological control) 1978 motor booty affair (coming together for a party underwater) 1979 gloryhallstoopid (big bang) 1980 trombipulation (evolution)
-unfinished so what
december 27, 2004 i think i may have heard it properly worded today. it was said by margaret macmillan on c-span who mesmerized me with her soothing caucasian demeanor. a caller asked if she ever considered the bible as a reference in her historical work or sumn like that. she very very very politely said that she would never question someone's beliefs. and i thought, WHY NOT!! if someone said something about anything else other than god its ok to challenge the validity of the claim by asking for proof or evidence. if i made a scientific or any other claim i would have to back it up, but its all but against the law to challenge someone about the possibility or plausibility of their religious beliefs.
at first this thinking may have been needed to lead to the religious freedoms we have now. but today it is used to hide behind. why are we not allowed or should i say "not supposed to" to question the logic and reasoning of a persons religious claims about god? this allows for people (us) to believe in things that could be complete fantasy and illusion cause we do not have to provide evidence (even to ourselves! we are taught its ok to believe this even without evidence!!). so basically you can believe god is anything you want cause there is nothing to base your idea on to contradict any claim.
a sunday evening get some air drive los angeles home - 134 east - 101 south - 110 south - 10 west - 1 north -chill overlooking ocean at sunset and pacific coast highway (1)- 1 south - 10 east - 405 north - home
The ultimate meaning of life is to live it. There is no big mystery about that. But life would not be worth living if it knew no happiness or love. It has been well argued since Aristotle that happiness is the ultimate aim of living, for it is the only thing we seek for itself. Everything else we pursue for some other reason, but we seek happiness for no other reason than to be happy. And though the preacher loves to attack the hedonism which he thinks this entails, in actual fact his own religion is based on the very same principle. For all the goals of religion are sought for some other reason, except the ultimate goal of eternal happiness. For when a preacher says "worship god" and the congregation asks why, and continues to ask the why of every answer he gives, he can only end the interrogation by answering with the same ultimate answer: "because it will make you happy." http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/ought.html
december 20, 2004 because we wont put our full effort into living and living right until we know and believe that its up to us and not a god to "fix" our problems. our problems simply being the distribution of wealth- primarily food, water and shelter. most people seem comfortable with living in the region where they are i could be wrong so i dont think the redistribution of lands is a problem.
until we realize that our backs are up against the wall and its us and not god that will have to take action we will not exert an urgency or
there is no god to protect us so the things that we ask god to do will go undone unless we do them ourselves. so until we deeply and truly realize that there is no protecting force we are kinda leaving ourselves open as we do not address these issues because we believe its in god's hands.we beg and plead for him to guide and protect us. we worship him like nothing else. god is the ultimate worship. its the one thing society oks you to give your all to. or should i say god is never or rarely discouraged publicly. i take that back. in the mainstream public eye. sharp witty comments and comedy can be made but is there a real and compelling documentary or sumn out there that is anti-god? i mean a good one that people can get behind. i believe deeply that most people DO NOT believe in god. they do not even understand him enough to believe in him properly.
open public discussion about one's personal beliefs. not mandatory or forced explanations, but people should no longer be "allowed" to say "its my god, its personal and i dont have to explain it." ofcourse i said that wrong but i couldnt find the right word for "not allowed." or maybe not considered acredited until its backed up with reason.
i would love for president bush to explain his god. and explain how he believes (if he does) that his god created the universe or life or whatever. people can VERY easily believe in the simple docturine of the bible and god, there is no "ability" needed. no capacity or research or work needed. all you have to do it believe.
when they are begging you to believe they should have to explain "whys" and "hows" and not just come at you with "please believes" and "the rewards are."
how does your god provide all that he says he does?
how does he guide or protect you? how did he create the universe?
i just fired the above off after reading some crazy christian spam and im gonna leave it all broken up and un-edited. i let the energy in my body go and i purposely zoned and typed crazily as i tried to keep up with the thoughts in my head. i felt i needed to get the idea down in type before it went away. they are fleeting like that sometimes when im thinking on the fringes of my understanding. when my adreneline gets going and all that energy is being pumped to my brain i try to channel it directly into creative thought. i zone i know it. i can feel myself go in and out of it. but sometimes when in it i just feel it and dont observe it. im in the moment.
and i want to write sumn that doesnt make sense anyways. that is my goal sometimes to push it to the very limit. to go farther and farther, higher and higher. to speculate wrong or incorrectly, cause that means you are out there on the fringe. sometimes thats what i want. yeah you could say i feel i aint wrong enough sometimes. but to compensate there are times when i feel im absolutely positively hittin it right on the head. cause it all fits everyday all day. 24 days a week 7 hours a day it all fits into my philosophy. dont jinx it they say. i say im gonna ride this horse until it drops. i must go with the funk. just keep expressing. keep it coming out of me and we'll sort it out later. it will all make sense as it always does, doesnt it? i know i wrote 24 days 7 hours i did it on purpose why? to trip you out to take you out of you familiar reading pattern this makes you pay more attention to whats being said. you may even have to re-read stuff just so it makes sense and that is what i want here.
i want you out of your normal comfortable thinking routines. exit your safe zone. go to the fringe. you live once. we are strong creatures built to endure thanks to our evolution so we should not worry of death. it will happen when it happens so we should not worry it. simply put but true. we are a hardy, capable species.
we are conscious. we have the ability to mind it so we have the ability to create it. nothing else we know of has that. its the most powerful thing there is in the universe. NOTHING COMPARES TO CONSCIOUSNESS. note the muthafunkin' caps people i done said sum'n. we must have an amount of consciousness or a percentage of. cause we dont have total consciousness as the chances are we have a certain percentage of consciousness. we can easily see lesser consciousness in other animals. but what is higher? what could the next step(s) in consciousness be?
prolly gonna have sum'n to do with love. for those of use fortunate enough to be able to experience this feeling we know how powerful an influence it can be on us. what we think and what we would do for what we love. what we would do for our kids is the strongest thing... im gonna revise that im gonna make it more personal in that the strongest feelings i ever had was for my children. nothing comes even close, but i know everybody doesnt have that and its cool. its just the way it is. but for me that is the strongest thing so im thinking that will influence society most. and for the most part this is true. kids rule. what kids want really does rule. american (at least this is the only one i know) society for sure kids dominate. we grow up to be spoiled also. many of us will never realize how lucky we are to be in america. or in the west. or a thriving part of western culture. to be thriving with the best of the best species in the universe. to attain a level of energy and radiance to influence the history of mankind. to do it naturally without aggression, without passivity, without thought. with an instinctive thing. go above or below civilization's pretenses to the core of it all; food, water, shelter.
somehow the human has evolved a need to be productive. to work. there are humans that cannot be happy unless they are producing something. they just couldnt sit around and eat bananas all day. without work they would wither and die physically with their mental if not challenged no matter how proper the diet. they would go crazy if nothing else. maybe one of civilization's pretenses. or sumn. im fringin so it dont matter.
i may have even forgot the point. time for monday night football.
november 27, 2004
"Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out They leave the West behind And Moscow girls make me sing and shout That Georgia's always on my m-m-m-m-m-mind"
november 22, 2004 time flys when you're havin fun. i laid down for my post steeler game sunday nap yesterday say around 4pmish. i wake up at 8:35pm, i bathroom get a taste of water and wonder if i should get up. i dont. i go back to bed and awake around 12:35am. i bathroom again and hope i can sleep the rest of the night. i go back to bed and awake around 3:31am which is like an hour and 20 minutes before my scheduled 4:50 normal rise for work. i sleep again this time till 4:44am where i get up and get the day and the week started as i will use the extra 6 minutes to cut my hair and stuff.
when you go to bed like that sometimes when i wake up i find that i left my apartment "open" in the sense that i didnt close curtains or windows and the such. sometimes food is left out as eating and going to sleep is one of my favorite pastimes. but this time everything seemed to have been readied before i laid down.
thinking this 12 hour sleep fest in which i emerged feeling really good i realized that the last (wait let me check), yeah the last 2 weekends ive been on travel and though a lot of that travel was sleeping i still needed to extended down time. there are alot of good things going on in my life and even though they are good i still need jeffery time to hibernate and be alone with my thoughts and ideas. maybe to keep my focus on where i want to go and maybe to reinforce or review my philosophy and my principles that got me here. i dont know, maybe im over thinking this cause its monday morning and im at work at 6:43am and my work day which begins with that first call hasnt happened yet.
hey we get x-giving off this thursday so thats cool and raw sugar is wednesday night and ya know i digs hanging out with them girls at they parties so life is looking pretty good. i have one issue i need to address dealing with an outstanding credit debt and once thats handled ill be completely stress free again.
the pittsburgh steelers are playing the best football on the planet right now and even though we played a bad game we won cause thats how good we are right now. at the steeler bar i sat alone as i usually do but this time i was really aware of how i seperate myself from the crowd but still participate in it. it was kinda weird in that i recognized that i want to be alone but part of the group. ya know? i dont want to sit with nobody or at nobody's table and be "obligated" to listen or talk to another person. hell im cool talking directly to the players on the tv no matter who or what is around. so as outgoing and as people friendly as i am i think yesterday i made obvious to me the "proper" separation and distance i would like to keep in a crowd. kinda cool yesterday too was a black female that i havent seen before comes in and grabs a seat next to me. its clear she is into the game for some special reason and through small talk i learn her husband plays for the steelers. in my separation zone i had no desire to ask who it was. and quite frankly didnt care to know even though i was curious. here we go, first call of the week. it was an easy one. and plus i knew i was "supposed" to go "oh really who is it?" and go wow gosh oh golly and what not. but i didnt and i wondered of the impact that would have if any. anyways it was cool and she was too and so was my yester-sunday.
response to my book is good. all good and that is what concerns me. almost 0% negative feedback or criticism. and yes im looking for a "this is wrong" or for someone to point out an inaccuracy or to dispute one of my ideas and show me where im wrong. not that i dont think that i could have written a solid enough piece that doesnt have any flaws, its just that if a person does a test and all the results are the same its up to that person to verify the test. or even make it so stringent that you do get a failure to test the test. so far, everybody seems to dig what i say in it. i sent a copy to my kids and am waiting for any feedback from their household as my ex-wife is a part of that and i am interested in what she has to say about the book. and more so what she may or may not say about my lifestyle over the past years that is revealed in my book. i aint send one to my father yet but did give one to my mother who i always assume will "report" to my father though they are some 20 years divorced and 2000 miles apart.
got an external refurbished usb dvd burner that works well with my laptop. i paid like $100 at frys for it. the next day i went to walmart and picked up a dvd player for $60. so now i have the capability to make media with the power of information of video and audio (dvds) that can be mailed cheaply and can be played in the common household. everybody got dvd and now i can make them. did a test using some of the concert video i've shot in the past and the quality is not that bad. not professional quality, but not that hideous. and i got a lot of video from the past.
what else? oh yeah the big thing is handling this outstanding credit debt. i probably owe the debt. it was being collected by an agency who told me that if i didnt do business with them it would escalate to lawyers who were ruthless, and this seems to be the case. the collection agency was happy to get $35 a month just to keep it open. this new law firm wants %25 of the amount owed and then like $300 a month. so im dealing with them as i cant afford them numbers. i have other financial responsibility that i should be able to handle as scheduled but this credit debt one needs to be settled and is on my mind. i do not want this or anything to impact my current lifestyle, if ya know what i mean.
october 20, 2004 http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html
october 12, 2004
i decided to vote for the first time in my life after watching george w. bush give a speech or some conservative republican function. i have never been "mobilized" like that in my life. i dont think anything "positive" in nature could have moved me like that. it made my skin crawl.
then to have decided months ago to vote for kerry to have him actually say the word "atheist" in the debate. right after kjlh played flashlight in the lunchtime truck ride which was after 92.3 played knee deep that sunday when i was hanging out with moremi in mommys car. its fluid and its harmonious and its beautiful.
but be it known that my spiritual affiliation with P-FUNK (PURE FUNK) is mine and my own. just as is my atheistic faith. these things are only what one man believes as i speak for only jeffery. the official combination and recognition of P-FUNK and ATHEISM i may have never directly made before. i grew up attending church and actually functioning with its system not really believing in god, but not lieing either. i never stated anything in church that i did not believe. i use to speak all the time at church up until i was 13-14. i knew how to say things that i knew they would like to hear (get the church's energy up) without going against my beliefs or by saying something i disagreed with. and for the most part i didnt believe in god.
p-funk (parliament/ funkadelic) never addressed this subject directly. so i say all this to say that p-funk never touched the religion topic so it was compadible with my beliefs. or did my beliefs evolve with this non- religious music? did the music or the times (70s and 80s) make me atheistic and this music also?
i do not believe i am a product of my environment to this degree. well i probably hoping for ego's sake that the atheism in me is unique. that may be the one thing that i really want credit for. my atheism. i want all the credit for that for some reason. i can share everything else, but the idea that there is no god has never been done the way im doing it before. this i am bold enough to stretch out on. the theories and the writing and the groovin and the such i kinda dont mind the possibility that im not the very best at. but maybe the atheistic stuff i will accept no equal. i dont know
over the weekend i zoned out and did some scattered mental scribbling with the almost intention to theorize so far on the fringes of my understanding that i state something wrong. i wanted to go so far out there that i would write something down that would be disproved later. i was dealing with time and physics and einsteins theory of relativity and where i think its wrong or where i have a misunderstanding. ive been wrong before.
i have a lot of women around me. quality women too. almost my total day im in contact or vibe energy of quality female. at work no matter where i wander. the best ones are the ones that i havent or dont talk to. the closes one is the one i see least. aint seen that one face to face in maybe 2 years. right now at work my two favorites are not talking to me. and to be honest i cant believe it could be better. the best relationships are the ones that have not yet been determined. the ones that are still innocent technically. those are the best. once you cross a line its no fun to me. i have found and have had to admit to myself there are people i want up on that pedestal. i want them to have an exaulted position. i said one time as she stood 4 feet from me that "i love her so much that talking to her would just ruin it." life is the best.
anyways to have the man you decided you would vote for come out and say the word ath... did i cover this already? it seems that i did. i think you get the point anyways. there is a girl i pass everyday at lunch that ive never spoken to. i am sure to see her as i walk by and thats all that i want. to see her. not to talk or maybe even to care how she is doing. well that may be a bit drastic as there is a romantic harmony to these relationships. the key is for all to be good. that means; kids, husbands, boyfriends, mothers, fathers, etc. everybody is happy and everybody has their place in her life. and my place is to walk by everyday at lunchtime and enjoy the female that you are. or is that her place in my life? there must be a mutual harmony. i must be of some minor signifigance to her for it to be mutual.
even if its not mutual it is in my own mind so i win. i have many of these non verbal relationships. once directly acknowledged they die. they are too fragile for the social physics in my world. my understanding of life gives me a faith beyond confidence. a place with no fear. being a man comes this capability. the physical dominance plays a part. along with the mental and spiritual. there is a strength and a power from understanding i have. not immortal physically, but there are immortal aspects of me. of us. i dont have immortal aspects but we do.
where was i? oh yeah i made an off the cuff statement that i liked the way older white females communicate. i wasnt lieing when i first typed it in an e-mail cause it sounded good. i had time to later more think it and yes it is true, i do. there is something about the way white female communicates that im attracted to. i dont mean exclusively in any way or form. i digs it all but white girls got a way of opening up and expressing themselves that is very special. and i like going there intellectually with them.
im reading and thinking that on october 5th i bought a plastic nun bank and october 7th i posted a picture of it below and then on october 8 kerry says atheist on national tv. one of my most proud atheist days ever. and ya know? i didnt even brag it up. i kept it inside as a confidence energy or ego boost. i walked around with it. i felt it. in fact i didnt even talk it up at ALL!!! i will tomorrow...and i was tired today too. sooooo....
i had an hibernating weekend. i ate and slept so much my body ached. literally. 3 day weekend by monday i could barley sit up straight. on the scale today im up 13lbs from friday. monday i dragged myself out the house and took a ride to venice beach. i had pizza and twizzlers and marshmellows and a pastrami rueben from togos and honey mustard pretzels and a gallon of fruit drink and hot wings and french fries (on two different occasions) damn now that i look back wow! i was going for it. i watched a good movie slaughter rules on ifc and not much else kinda. cool part about it all is that when i did get up and out i walked venice beach confident and dominant. strolling and just looking at and enjoying everything and anybody i wanted to. sunny, warm, not too crowded. relaxed comfortable at peace. thats having the funk as opposed to being funky. that complete comfortable relaxed coolness on a groove and in harmony with every single individual rhythm that ever was or will be.
october 9, 2004
the possible next president of the united states publicly acknowledging the rights and culture of agnostics and atheists. just even saying the word atheist publicly is major.
"daddy whats an atheist?"
october 7, 2004
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.


text:
I've spoken of the Golden Grid, a 10 x 10 section of the Player's Grid that I'm going to use to promote the book once it's published. The square was pretty bland in that post, a black and white image that I copied across from an Excel spreadsheet. So I got my "resident" artist Nas to make a proper one. The bottom right corner is reserved for the Amazon Reviewers competition. Anyone who leaves a review on Amazon between 31st August – 30th September will be eligible to play it. Here's a link to a higher-res image so that you can admire its beauty in more detail. And check beneath the square, for the profile pictures.
Join the newsletter to ensure you receive full instructions on how to participate (an email will go out on the 31st August).
The Golden Grid
Profile Pictures


text: Iroh was training physically prior to the Day of Black Sun. On that day, he took advantage of the eclipse and used brute force as a way to escape. As the guard mentioned, it was as if he was "a one man army", emphasizing the amount of power and strength he exhibited.


text:
(Old) Blog Traffic
This struck me as somewhat interesting. The above graph is of pageviews for my old blog over at Scienceblogs. The average between January and May 2009 was over 23,000 views per month, the average since was 9,900. While a drop is expected, I'm surprised that there are so many pageviews for what is a blog with no new content. The vast majority of referrals are coming from Google Image Search, rather than Google itself or linkage from other sites. Seed Media Group is still making money out of me it seems!
January 1, 2010 at 5:22 pm
this is no surprise. i think the loom & the intersection still draw lots of search traffic too.
January 1, 2010 at 8:01 pm
We averaged around 2500/day after we left Sb, then dropped down to roughly 1000/day. Then they must have pulled the plug on May 1st 2009 we dropped from 951 on 4/29 to 387 on 4/30 to 0 on 5/1 and have stayed there since. We left Sb August 2008.


text:
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