Thursday, December 30, 2010

An Ode to Minecraft

I wonder, as I wander, through these cubes piled so high,

when will it end, when will I die?

For the monsters are out there, ready and tall,

To put an arrow right through me, and tear down my hall.



I spend so many hours, building my keep,

tall walls that surround it, their benefits I reap.

cap'd with tall towers, perched on mountaintop,

the castle of Andy, is solid as rock.



Below in the mountain, I've delved and I've dug,

and carved out a city, hidden deep from above,

the rooms and the vaults are all full as can be,

holding my treasure, and a tall Christmas tree.



Back up above, one peak tops the rest,

Upon it, my watchtower, watching the west,

and the east and the north and the south all as well,

On the lookout for monsters and minions of hell.



My fortress is perfect, my castle is tight,

But sometimes I must leave, and venture into the night.

Each time's a battle, each time's a risk,

There's even giant spiders thrown into the mix.



So what will become of me in this my dark world?

Stay safe and bored in my castle, or see my banner unfurled,

as I step into the wild, out into the unknown,

I wonder, as I wander, am I really alone.
 

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

You Can't Always Get What You Want

It's a hard life lesson to accept, but one that touches all parts of our life. There's no such thing as inherent fairness in life, excepting what we create, and fate plays no favorites. Even though we all want things like a new car, a bigger house, and even something that's considered less selfish, true love, we won't always get it, and it's just life.

Whether it's never finding your soulmate, or worse, finding one you consider to be it and having that person reject you, many times life Doesn't work out. Even worse than being rejected, is having to reject someone else. An unmutual interest is bad on Both sides. Whatever the situation though, for whatever reason, you could, as scary as it seems, end up alone.

Is it really that bad?

Maybe. I had a friend tell me recently that she didn't even know what she was working towards anymore. What is the point in the end of amassing wealth if one has no one to share it with. That's certainly a valid point of view, but I reject it, because I don't think that love is in a catagory of it's own. What is the point of anything? Money, power, wealth? We all die in the end, and on that deathbed, all the money in the world isn't going to save you. By the same key, the love of your life holding your hand isn't going to save you either, and if you are the one holding the hand, it's the most painful thing in the world.

I'm not saying that finding that perfect someone is pointless, nor that we shouldn't attempt to do so. But failing to find him or her isn't the end of the world, similarly to a failure to become a millionare isn't. It's just one aspect of life, and there are others. Close friends, family, they can all fill emotional gaps.

We must realise that there are no guarantees in life. Being rejected sucks, but it's nothing to be mad about, it's just part of life. Move on, maybe we'll find somene, maybe not. That's one of the reasons I hate when people say, ohh there are plenty of other fish in the sea, or don't worry, you'll find someone eventually. You very well might Not. If we accept that fact and live with it, we acn avoid a whole host of depression, and overall live happier lives. Just need to accept that you can't always get what you want.


 

Monday, December 27, 2010

Life

I wake up so early,
it's 1 pm,
who turned the lights on?
warm bed for the win.

I hate getting up,
but I hate going to bed.
Should I sit up?
Naw, I'll go back to sleep instead.

2 hours later,
I'm finally at class,
trying to listen,
but the prof goes so fast,

Write down my notes,
Even study them too,
When the exam rolls around though,
I never have a clue.

At least some things are up,
I've got my friends,
Hang out, play xbox,
I can watch the trends,

Of which games are up,
which games are down,
Man, I love halo,
but I look like a clown,

When I try to shoot doubles,
or I bust out my sword,
at least I can be 1337
when I'm fighting the hoard.

Sometimes I go out,
Walk around town,
Watch the snow falling,
campus's winter evening gown.

So peaceful out there,
when there no one hear,
I burst into song,
Until strangers appear.

So my life isn't bad,
but I do have one wish,
I wish for one to share it with,
Without using a satellite dish,

or a wifi connection,
Or a cable internet wire.
I want to hold her hand,
no I'm not a liar,

I want to kiss her lips,
touch her face,
hold her in my arms,
wouldn't that be grace?

Yes I want someone to share it wish,
Share my life, she'll be my mirror,
fight here in Halo even,
Ha, you're goin' down, dear!

Someday I'll find her,
Keep searching 'til then,
I know that she's out there,
That day will be full of win.
 

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Pedestal

A friend of mine wrote this poem recently, and it got me thinking about people's relationships, both romantic and platonic.

Nice boy, what makes you think you could pursue a goddess?
Offer gifts, quake in her presence, avert your gaze, grovel,
you in your lowly state could never please her.
She’s transcendent, she's out of your reach.
You’ll never have her,
ignored despite the fact it was you that made her.
You’re so afraid to be impious,
to forget what you've claimed as your place.
Try looking at her with confidence, humbled and human,
vulgar, chaotic, remarkable.
The girl doesn’t want to be what you’ve made her,
but the goddess will never love you.


Growing up, I used to say that 'girls are dumb', because they always chase after guys that are jerks, and ignore the nice guys. Later on after taking some psychology courses in college, I refined, 'dumb', and posited that many if not most women are emotional masochists. However, it's not just women, but men as well. All of us seek perfection. We chase the unattainable, and ignore the attainable. It's a huge turnoff if someone actually is interested in us. And why not? If that person is interested in ME, can she really be worth all that much?

We chase the unattainable, we chase those who hurt us. Possibly because we are emotional masochists, we enjoy the pain. But that's not really it, other than as a punch line. We don't enjoy the pain, no one enjoys the pain. We seek perfection, and the only ones that are perfect are the people that we can never get close enough to to see the flaws. And so we chase them. But as the above poem asserts, are we in fact so addicted to that ideal, that perfection that cannot exist, that we have to create it? We ignore and blind ourselves to reality, we put the object of our desires up on a pedestal so high that we in the end create the unattainableness we seek, because in reality, almost never is someone really unattainable if we have the right mindset. Maybe they aren't interested, maybe they are already taken. But not unattainable for the reason of being superior.

If we could all get rid of the idea that we are inferior, and realize that that pedestal is created by our own mind, then suddenly the unattainableness goes away. But we won't, because then we'd have to face the even worse reality, that our God or Goddess is actually not perfect, but just as flawed as us.
 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

Dems Lose Big, Theocrats Take Power

Well, the midterm elections are over, and as you are probably aware, the Republicans have taken control of the House by a massive margin, and nearly evened out the Senate. What does this mean for the majority of the Country? Not much really. The GOP is going to try to repeal healthcare, and is going to fail because the don't control the Senate. They are going to try to work on the economy, and probably fail because at this point, government interference isn't going to do much. Lastly, they are going to fight marriage equality, because they know their time is limited. Why? Age.
The Republican base is old, averaging over 45 years of age. The Democrats range more, but if you look at the 2008 election, when the Dems won huge, it was the younger vote, 18-30, that really swayed the count. Younger voters are more likely to be Democrats, and this means that in the next 20 years, the GOP faces a huge problem, as their base literally begins to die off around them.

This matches the typical idea of young people being more liberal, being the voices of change in societies. Look at marriage equality, for example. The main group that is against it is older white Christians. The demographic most likely to support marriage equality are people under the age of 30, as shown by the 2009 Gallup poll.


The question then, is how much damage can these aging theocrats do before they kick the bucket. We've got at least two difficult years ahead of us. The only bright spot is that they have no public mandate to go after marriage equality. NOM may enjoy talking about how they have stopped the wave of marriage equality and the next 2 years will be regaining ground, but the truth is that the majority of Republicans were elected because of economic issues. The tea party movement, largely credited with fueling the so called conservative wave, shied away from commenting on marriage rights at all, for fear of alienating independents who are more socially liberal. If the Republicans DO try to push for any major legislation that is anti marriage equality, we're going to see a large backlash at them. Because of that, they'll probably be hesitant to do anything direct. They'll definitely stop all forward progress though.

In summary, Republicans now have control, and they oppose marriage equality. They'll be hesitant about bringing up any direct conflict on the issue though, because they were elected on a mandate to fix the economy, not restore old values. So, we will be unlikely to see any large ground lost. On the same key though, it will be difficult to gain any ground, and so the next 2 years are going to be a waiting game. If we can make it to 2012, hopefully the public will have turned again, and we can resume progress with a Democratic congress.
 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Stand Up For A Victim

Inspirational video I stumbled upon.


 

Saturday, October 2, 2010

The Consequences of Bullying and Intolerance

Imagine you are a college freshman. You are finally out into the real world, away from home. As someone who was in that position 2 years ago, it was fun, but definitely intimidating at the beginning. All the new faces plus a lack of familiar ones, added to an increase in responsibility. According to American College Testing (ACT), more than 1 in 4 students drop out before completing their sophomore year. And that number is a broad average, for all students.

Tyler Clementi had to worry about all the normal stresses of being a new college student, plus the stress of dealing with intolerance and hate because of his sexuality. And he was doing just that, until one day his roommate decided it would be a good idea to use a webcam to record Clementi and his boyfriend while they were having intimate relations.

This could be looked at as a prank. It could also be looked at as a hatecrime. The problem is determining why the roommate did it.

Why is it so bad? People post sex tapes all the time, it's true. But posting one yourself is one thing. Having someone else post it without your knowledge or consent is entirely another. This is added to the fact that the video advertised to the world in a very graphic way that Clementi was gay, when it should have been his choice whether or not to tell people. Personally I think hiding it isn't a good idea, it makes it seem like it's a bad thing, but there's so much negativity surrounding the issue that coming out is difficult sometimes. Even so, it's still just a really bad prank, right? Yeah, until Clementi committed suicide because of it.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/01/new.jersey.student.suicide/

Now we come to the question of why. Why did he commit suicide? Quite obviously the invasion of privacy, the fact that his private relations were shown to the world (twice), had a large impact, because the suicide happened right after them. However, was it the only reason, or simply the last straw? Personally I suspect there were other things going on; other people he was afraid of. Think about it. If he asked his roommate for the room both nights, he had to realize that the roommate probably knew. Yet he didn't commit suicide after the first night, didn't even refrain from telling the roommate. IE, the roommate knowing didn't bother him, or not enough to commit suicide at least. It was only when other people became aware of the problem that he jumped.

Bullying is rampant throughout our school system, from K-12 through college. Obviously it varies in type and severity from school to school and from grade to grade, but if you look hard enough, it can usually be found. It's difficult though, because our culture idolizes people who can take care of themselves. for example: In the show Freaks and Geeks, at one point the main character, a younger geek, is being bullied, and asks a teacher for help. The teacher does help, but then tells the kid to be more of a man next time. I personally had a bully when I was in middle school, and my problem was that he was a year younger than me. Anytime I told anyone, I got a universal answer of, dude, he's a little kid, he can't be that bad. Finally one day on the school bus, he took an empty soda bottle and threw it cap first into my face. Bounced off my glasses. So I waited until he turned around and cuffed him in the back of the head. I got in trouble of course. The same teachers that wouldn't listen when I said he was starting things were happy berate me for attacking a child. (One year difference, what a 'child' he was). I got out of it with just a detention, and I noticed that afterward, despite the fact that the teachers were angry, I was left alone afterward, never got bullied again. Only because I hit someone though, which shouldn't be the case.

Schools always trying to cut back on bullying, but it's still always there. And it's orders of magnitude worse for LGBT students. Not only are the bullies vindicated by normal reasons of success and friends, they are also vindicated by their pastor preaching homosexuality is evil, their parent talking about the radical gay agenda, and the students around them casually tossing off the word 'fag'.

While bullying might be less prevalent on college campuses, if it does occur, it can be far worse. Most bullies grow out of it, but the ones who continue just get more dangerous. This is what I fear was plaguing Clementi. The day after he found out about the videos, he threw himself off a bridge. What could cause such fear? What could be worse than death? Obviously there was SOMETHING, or he wouldn't have done it. He didn't do it because his privacy was breached. he did it because of what he feared that would cause. Will we ever know what that was exactly? Probably not.

But we do know the both the direct (video) cause, and the indirect cause (hatred and intolerance). The first we can deal with by prosecuting the offenders under the State's Privacy Invasion laws. The second isn't a crime. But we can still fight it. Call someone out if they use the the word 'fag'. Challenge people who try to spread fear and hate. Mostly, be accepting of others, even if they have different lifestyles. Day by day, people are abandoning the hatred which Fundamentalist churches keep pushing. Hopefully we will live to see the day that we all abandon it.
 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Monetize

So, I've been examining all the options on the Blogger Dashboard, and found this cool "Monetize" tab. It simplifies adding ads to my blog, so that you all can click, and I can make money.

Yay ..... not.

I hate ads. I hate viewing them. I hate having them even on the page. Ads are annoying. So, I am going to do you all a favor and Not monetize my blog. No annoying ads.

What about the other blogs, which do have ads? I can't control them. What I can do though, is tell you how to get rid of the ads, from your own end. Let me introduce you to a beautiful little thing I like to call AdBlock Plus. It's a Firefox addon, that blocks ads. It blocks picture ads, it blocks Java ads. Even blocks Flash ads. It's quite nice. It even blocks the ads on the side of Facebook. Here's a preview of how it handles the PCMag website.

















I'd recommend this, it's a nifty little addon that makes the web nicer. Granted, in a way, this whole post is an advertisement. Yay for irony.
 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

R2D2 Video Game Droid

This is a bit out of date, but I just found it, and it's pretty fruiting awesome. Imagine if you will, R2D2 in all his glory from the movies. Now, imagine all your favorite classic video game consoles and put them together in your mind. Now, take R2D2, and the video game consoles, and combine it all, and you have:




Brian De Vitis is a mechanical engineer who as a side project, decided to turn a promotional R2D2-shaped Pepsi container into what you see before you. It houses an Atari 7800, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, PSP, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Sega Genesis.



You don't even need a TV! R2D2 comes with a build in projector as well.



Sadly, this amazing robot isn't for sale. However, you can go to De Vitis's homepage and drool over more pictures.

 

Monday, September 20, 2010

Masturbation = Adultery ... Ohs Nos!

Christine O'Donnell is running fora 4 year term in the US Senate, in a special election to replace Biden, who left to become Vice President. She's tea party backed to the core, and recently won the republican primary over Mike Castle, (the RNC endorsed candidate). Her views:

Abortion: Against. This is expected, she's a Republican.

Economic Policy: Spend less money. That doesn't sound to bad, okay.

Environment: Block cap & trade. Debatable, but okay.

Gun Rights: Second Amendment protects individual rights.

Health Care: Repeal

Masturbation: It's a sin and a form of adultery .... wait, what?



When asked about her belief on masturbation, she replied:

Yes, I have my personal beliefs," she said when asked about her views. "These are questions from statements I made over 15 years ago. I was in my 20s and very excited and passionate about my new found faith. But I can assure you, my faith has matured. And when I go to Washington D.C., it will be the Constitution on which I base all of my decisions, not my personal beliefs.


Sounds good, right? She's matured, and will base her decisions on the Constitution. Ehh, not really good. StudentLiberal over at Classically Liberal wrote a very good analysis. He says:

Let us go through this statement to see what she is actually saying and what she isn't saying. She says the statements were made when she was young. At that time she had a "new found faith," which means a belief system she adopted wholesale from dead books without any intellectual scrutiny. But "I can assure you, my faith has matured."

What does that mean? Previously she held beliefs without reasons, on the basis of faith. Now she has a mature faith, which means what? How does the mature faith differ from the youthful faith? Faith is faith, it is still not reason. Was she previously a young fool but is now just an old fool? All she said is her faith is mature. People say that they have "faith" when they merely adopt a view without rational reasoning behind it. They hold the belief on the basis of "faith." All this does is tell us how she comes to her beliefs, not what those beliefs are. And both are rather critical here.

She does not indicate at all that her views on masturbation, sex and abstinence have changed at all. In fact, she rather strongly hints that she has NOT abandoned her beliefs whatsoever. She begins her statement saying: "Yes, I have my personal beliefs." This is present tense, not past tense. At best she is hinting that she now understands that there are other ways for her to express the same viewpoints without creating a firestorm. She has not repudiated her "personal beliefs" nor has she said that they have changed, only that her "faith" is now more mature....

The first half of her statement is meant to address the issue of her past beliefs in contrast with present day beliefs. But nowhere does it actually indicate that these beliefs are now different, only that she has a more mature faith—and what that means is never explained by O'Donnell.

The second half of her statement is meant to address how she would vote on issues. It too avoids indicating anything of substance. She says that she will base all her decisions on the Constitution. Whoopee! What a meaningless statement!

If there is one thing that most politicians agree upon it is that they all think they vote according to the Constitution. Believing the Constitution is like believing the Bible. It means nothing. Why is that?

We can all debate what the Constitution means and we each come to our own conclusions. O'Donnell can happily vote for moralistic legislation, if offered the chance, and still proclaim she is within the Constitution as she sees it. The problem is that we have no idea how she sees the Constitution.
The problem with electing someone like this is that there is no way to know they won't put their own morality in front of the Constitution, or in front of your personal rights. She says elsewhere that "as someone who prays about every decision I make, I felt like God was leading me" [1].

If God is real, AND God really talks to people in a physical sense, then a Theocracy could be viable. If either of those two aren't true though, then a Theocracy is a very dangerous form of Autocracy, and nothing more. That is the danger we face when allowing people like O'Donnell into office. She says that she bases all decisions on what she feels God wants her to do, and we have an example of what she believes God's morality is. Is making Masturbation wrong and illegal what we really want? Be careful, Delaware, what you elect.
 

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Epic Parody

Someone shared this with me over Facebook the other day, and I just wanted to pass it along. Great lyrics.



 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Free Will & Morality

Humanity is enslaved to the ideas of our forefathers. Every child is classically conditioned while growing up. They are taught what is right and wrong according to the concept of right and wrong possessed by their parents. What we think of as free will is in essence pre-programmed response to the world, to stimuli. But can we break free?

Humans can only exercise true free will by stepping out of their conditioning. By examining every part of ourselves, every belief, from a 3rd person perspective, and then rejecting or reaffirming. We must look at all competing beliefs and decide which are more rational, which is correct, which holds merit.

The basis then, of true morality is rejecting our parent's concept of right and wrong, realizing that right and wrong are not inherent concepts, and then from that blank slate, reaffirming morality piece by piece. Examine each concept, probe it, break it down and ask Why. Once you have built up your concept of morality from the ground, you can accept it, defend it, and live it; Not because it was conditioned into you as a child, but because you, the free person that you are, have examined and found it worth.

Know yourself entirely. Don't let the morality of the majority rule you. Where would the slaves of the Confederacy be if no one questioned morality? Where would gay rights be? Question what they tell you is right. Question what they say is wrong. And mostly, don't be afraid to disagree, to argue, to debate, to push forth your beliefs. Yet at the same time, don't be afraid to look at the beliefs of others. Don't be afraid to listen. If someone proves you wrong, be willing to open your mind, to be flexible. Never bury your head in the sand and refuse to listen or look at evidence. "I knows what I know, don't confuse me with the facts". <-- Don't be that person.

Know yourself, question, examine, and probe everything. Don't be afraid to argue, but more important, don't be afraid to listen. Know yourself, and be free.
 

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Positive Experience

People hear stories all the time about Police running rampant, going into homes illegally, shooting dogs, etc. We never hear about all the good things they door, the day to day activities. I had a very positive encounter with the Purdue Police Department(PUPD) today, and I'd just like to give them a shout-out:

I ride a bicycle to and from campus, because it makes the 10 minute walks into a 2 minute ride, and gives me more time before I have to leave. Purdue provides bike racks quite plentifully, and on Saturday around 1pm, I returned to my dorm from work, and locked my bike to one. Later than night, I noticed that someone (presumably tired of looking for an empty spot), had instead locked their bike directly to mine. I didn't do anything, and left it until today, figuring the person would leave sometime. This evening though, I had to leave for work again, and it was still there. I called the PUPD and explained, and the dispatched an officer to my dorm. Within 15 minutes, he was there. After I showed him the bikes, he got out the metal cutters and removed the lock which the unknown person had used, thereby freeing my bicycle. He spent 30 seconds afterwards taking down my name and phone number, and then I was free to leave with my bike.

No problems, no issues, just the bike lock resolved quickly and politely. Thank you PUPD!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Murphy's Law, Silver Linings, and How Life Changes Off of Little Random Things


So, today I had to work from 7am - 12pm, at the Marriott hotel as a server. That's my summer job, I get to dress up fancy and be a waiter at hotel receptions and the like. It's an okay job with the exception that the people I work for are very unorganized and don't seem to care about us. *shrug*

Murphy's Law: If anyone was awake at 7am, a storm system hit Indy at 6:55ish, right as I was finding a parking space and getting out my car. I ended up having to run through the rain (and it was POURING) and getting soaked. It didn't start really raining until right as I made the last turn before pulling into a parking space. And it only lasted about 15 minutes, I was told.

Onto the next bad thing, not as bad, but annoying. I was told to be at work at 7 am. I was there at 6:59. The way it works is, I wait in a waiting room for someone from the hotel to come get me. No one did until 7:10, and because they were late, they docked my pay. Also because of this, and because I was the last group in, the 3 people with me and I didn't get jackets to wear over our T-Shirts. So we went in and started working, with 70 other people looking fancy, and me in a ThinkGeek.com t-shirt with a nerdy saying about electricity and Star Trek. Needless to say I felt foolish.

The silver lining: A few minutes in, one of the guys who was doing the audio for the breakfast (it was a breakfast for the girl scouts) came over and told me he found my shirt quite funny, and when I mentioned the reason for not having a jacket, he scoffed and told me I should keep wearing my t-shirt itself because of how much of an "epic win" it was. Also, later when I was on break, he found me and had me show it to a friend of his. So that was sorta cool. I ended up getting a jacket before guest arrived.

How Life Changes Off of Little Random Things: As I was finishing up my shift, my new friend came over and asked if I had a full time job, and if I had any experience in audio. I explained that I had been a sound technician for weddings at my church for years. We talked for a while, with the end being that he asked me for my resume and contact information, so I now very probably have a better job lined up for the rest of the summer. All because I was almost late and wasn't wearing the overjacket like I was supposed to be doing.
 

Monday, January 11, 2010

A Little Humor

I found this from StumbleUpon today and it gave me a laugh. I thought I'd share it with you.

Don't Argue With The Gay Flight Attendant

My flight was being served by an obviously gay flight attendant, who seemed to put everyone in a good mood as he served us food and drinks.

As the plane prepared to descend, he came swishing down the aisle and told us "Captain Marvey has asked me to announce that he'll be landing the big scary plane shortly, so lovely people, if you could just put your trays up, that would be super."

On his trip back up the aisle, he noticed an extremely well-dressed and exotic young woman hadn't moved a muscle. "Perhaps you didn't hear me over those big brute engines but I asked you to raise your trazy-poo, so the main man can pitty-pat us on the ground."

She calmly turned her head and said, "In my country, I am called a Princess and I take orders from no one."

To which the flight attendant replied, without missing a beat, "Well, sweet-cheeks, in my country I'm called a Queen, so I outrank you. Tray up, Bitch."
 

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Profiling Passengers - Wrong?

I was watching C-Span yesterday morning, and one of the guests was Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is a group dealing with American Muslims, and the relations between America and the international Muslim community. Awad has been the Executive Director since 1994, and was speaking yesterday about racial and religious profiling.

There have been a few instances of security officials stopping Muslims, but religious profiling isn't US policy. Awad was making the point that the profiling will only serve the alienate Muslims that don't hate the US yet. IE, our own citizens. And while he makes a valid point, it doesn't change the facts. Fact, all terrorist attacks of the last 15 years have been Muslim extremists. Fact: They were young men.

When we are looking for White Supremacists, do we go to Harlem? No, it doesn't make sense. It's logical to scrutinize young Muslim men more than other passengers, because they are more likely to be a threat. Profiling will save time and money, and increase our chances of actually catching a terrorist.

That said, profiling is still not right. Frankly, and I know that I'm going to be disagreed with, none of this security is right. Controlling who gets on and off a private plane, that's not the government's place. We shouldn't be wasting money on any of this. Bin laden did much much more with 911 than the innitial effects. How much money has been lost due to the extra security across the country? The time lost? The threat of a terrorist attack is bad, but it's not worth the loss of civil rights. Religious profiling .... doing nothing for the last hour of the flight (including the bathroom! even for children!) .... possibly having to register travel plans and reasons for traveling ... it's not worth the small bit of extra safety. And it's giving the government way to much power.

Remember the Nazis? "Your papers, please"
 

Saturday, January 2, 2010

New TSA Regulations



Following the attempted bombing of Flight 253, the TSA in their infinite wisdom has declared new regulations on all of us. The short version is, you aren't allowed to do anything during the last hour of your flight except breathe.

No getting up to use the bathroom (even little kids), no laptop computers, no food, no drinks. You can't even read a book. Now, I'm not going to get into how many civil liberties this violates, because the government doesn't care about such trifling concerns. The Patriot Act started it, and Obama has continued, if not gotten worse. All I'll say is that the Founding Fathers (after being taught was a plane was) would declare a revolution was needed against this Tyranny.

However, there is hope. The security measures are like a magnet on a slippery refrigerator. Constantly slipping down, and then every once in a while shoved back up suddenly. Things will calm down and the regulations will slowly be relaxed, because people don't really care. Even the TSA doesn't care. They are only doing this, in a knee jerk reaction, to curry public favor. To try and look as though they are Doing something, and damn the rest of us for wanting to not be controlled.