Category Archives: RIGHTS

Policing the Police

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UPDATE: see end of this essay for my updated remarks after learning new information…. Few things are black and white, unless you’re talking about racism. In regard to gun violence and police shootings, there are solid arguments on either side of this contentious issue which tells me once again that the truth is most often found in the middle and that extremism of any kind is both dangerous and counterproductive. Right out of the chute, let me say that I know there are good cops out there. In fact, I believe that MOST cops are honorable, compassionate people who really … Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgivoween

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NOTE: I typed in Thanksgivoween, as the title of this blog, while thumbing it into my iPhone…and the autocorrect made it Thank Gully Nig (sounds like a good title- who’s Gully Nig?–I’m sure I’ll come up with a story for that). So–Today I am thankful that I finally found the love of my life even though we can’t be together right now. I am thankful that I have a nice vehicle to provide autonomy and comfort, and a reasonably comfortable place to live, even though it’s just a lonely hotel and nothing more. I am thankful that I am able to … Continue reading →

Condemned to Repeat it?

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Today, I woke, sat down to my first cup of coffee and found a headline that gave me the sensation of a lead weight in my stomach. North Carolina May Declare Official State Religion Under New Bill Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings. The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state “is sovereign” and courts cannot block a state “from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.” … Continue reading →

Gun Laws: the Truth is in the Middle

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In a sign-meme on Facebook recently, there was a quote by Ronald Reagan: “I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth, or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.” ~Ronald Reagan, in a speech at his 78th birthday celebration in Los Angeles on February 6, 1989. KG MacGregor makes all salient points on this, in her blog Baby, You Can Drive My Gun when suggests using driving laws as a template … Continue reading →

The Handmaid’s Tale: An American Dream Gone Awry

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Throughout our recent election process, I kept thinking about how a Romney presidency would begin to remind me of The Handmaid’s Tale, the dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood. It reminded me that I wrote a paper on this book years ago in college. I don’t seem to have it compiled in any of my published anthologies, so i thought i would post it here. It’s a timely piece of literature still, which does not speak well of our republic. The Tea-Party is just the sort of organization to bring this dystopian theocracy to fruition. Hopefully those things are back on … Continue reading →

More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops (NYTimes)

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More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Published: April 26, 2009 CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” the group’s 13 board members met in Laura and Alex Kasman’s living room to grapple with the fallout. The problem was not that the group, the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, had attracted an outpouring of hostility. It was the opposite. An overflow audience of more than 100 had showed up for their most recent public symposium, and the board members discussed … Continue reading →

Knock & the Door Won’t Be Opened to You

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I have a condition called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, and that often means I wind up sleeping during the day, and being awake at night. This schedule has its negative aspects. One of them is the fact that I’m asleep while everyone else is going about their business. Few things can awaken the irrational beast in me faster than someone knocking on my door when I’m asleep. First, it scares me, and so that’s what is known as a rude awakening. Who likes waking up scared? Knocks on the door have always scared me, even when I’m awake. I’ve tried … Continue reading →

Specious Nonsense: Dobbs on the Dot Again

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Lou Dobbs is one of my favorite journalists, (along with Keith Olbermann) because he speaks the truth…the stories he covers are not the usual fare, but are at once indicative of how the mainstream media misses the most important stories–the ones that really matter. If i have to watch another 30 minute segment on Brittany Spears, i think I’m going to claw my own eyes out. When did some wayward pop star become newsworthy? How is the state of her psyche more important than the slew of other things going on that we, as citizens, need to know about? To … Continue reading →

Symbols Are Not Things

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In recent news there is a battle of wills at play regarding the presence of a 10 Commandments monument in the Alabama Judiciary Building. I feel the same way about this as i do the flag-burning issue. The real issue here, i believe, is that people make the error of attaching God to a symbol, rather than to their own inner consciousness. It makes no difference what they do to that monument or symbol. Proponents of keeping it in that building are saying, essentially, that removal of the monument will somehow damage God. This is essentially a fallacious argument, since … Continue reading →

Door Christians

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Well here’s my latest little adventure…I’m one of those people who has to have a certain amount of control over my environment to be happy. When that gets disrupted, it fucks with my Chi, as I like to say. As a songwriter, I often spend long hours working on tracking my music in my home studio. I was in the middle of recording a new song and had already started over twice, and really had it going good this time when…. …there was a knock at the door. My dog, Giz, went to barking, (‘Cause it fucks with his Chi, … Continue reading →