Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Why it's so important to teach our children to think for themselves

Our public school system today has become a perfect medium for pushing government propaganda and dogmatic so-called patriotism. It's curricula, policies, and disciplinary procedures ensure that our children are under-educated, overmedicated, and pummeled with the same rhetoric over and over again. Add to that the possible humiliation of being labeled as ADHD, Learning Disabled, a Disciplinary Problem, etc. for questioning the rules or failing to properly "fit" into a one-dogma-fits-all box, and you are on your way to creating the perfect society of little robots--who grow up to be big robots.

Our children are taught to react with fervent pride to the calling out of key catch phrases ("we the people" "I have a dream" "liberty and justice for all" etc.) - without any knowledge as to the context in which they were spoken - so that the mere utterance of one or more of these phrases calls them to "patriotic" attention, with no regard to the words spoken around them or what the agenda of the person speaking them might truly be. This is how our school system has created many unthinking individuals who fail to truly consider all sides of a matter before deciding for themselves what is true and right.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" ~Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Quote of the Day

Quote Details: "Character is what you have left when you've lost everything you can lose."
Evan Esar, American Humorist (1899 - 1995)

Never heard of this guy before, but he was sure right on about what builds character!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

solutions

The journey is where it's at. The view from the top is great, but no more so than any other view. It is only different.


solutions: "there is uncertainty in every situation. The wise are those who can wrest great advantage from circumstances opaque to everyone else.

Wanting everything in life to be perfect before you take action is like wanting to reach a destination without travel. For those who follow Tao, travel is every bit as important as the destination. One step after another: This is still central to the wisdom of Tao.

Every day passes whether you participate or not. If you are not careful, years will go by and you will only have regrets. If you cannot solve a problem all at once, at least make a stab at it. Reduce your problems into smaller, more manageable packages, and you can make measurable progress toward achievement. If you wait for everything to be perfect according to your preconceived plans, then you may well wait forever. If you go out and work with the current of life, you may find that success comes from building upon small things."

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Today, I spent most of the day in bed, trying to catch up on lost sleep. Tomorrow, back to work. I hope that I can find in me whatever has been missing these last few weeks that will help me gain back some amount of drive. I sincerely had no idea what surgery would do to me, that plus the withdrawals from the narcotics has brought on a state of apathy such as I have never known.

Oakland Airport, Midnight, 01/12/2010

...muses with a measure of empathy what it must be like to be John Mc at this moment -- stuck in the Oakland Airport until 6:00 tomorrow morning with his "business partner" who also happens to be our band's drummer (you know, one of those crazy musicians!) and is extremely pissed off about the fact that they missed their flight, as well as intent on letting the world know it by pacing like a lunatic, wildly flailing his arms, and shouting expletives into the air.

Were it not for the fact that it means another lonely night, I might laugh myself to sleep over the visual I got hearing Tony in the background when John called. Hell, I just might anyway!

Monday, January 11, 2010

It's about time!

Citizen initiative would legalize pot in Washington state ...
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_marijuana_initiative.html

One of the reasons I am still glad to be a Washingtonian, despite the unrelenting rain :P

We Regret These Errors - Pullout - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper

We Regret These Errors - Pullout - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: "Lindy West, film editor of The Stranger, regrets not being able to work the sentence 'My vagina is like the Mines of Moria—delve too greedily and too deep, and you'll awaken an ancient evil' into print, leaving it to languish, unappreciated, in her Twitter feed forever."

This is quite possibly one of the funniest things I have seen in print in quite awhile. Then again, the last two nights of insomnia may perhaps be contributing to the fits of laughter ... it is amazing how quickly one gets used to having another warm body to cuddle up to and how hard it is to find slumber in the absence of that body.