Some people try and say money's only the root of all evil if you let it be, but I would disagree with that. I believe we are all drawn into the evilness whether we wish to be or not. There are many choices in life of how you can choose to live, but when it comes to money and the system that circulates it, there's only one choice. That being said, I believe there are endless choices to any given situation no matter how bleak your options look. So sure, we could be cavemen, or Indians, or maybe Amish, but as far as having immediate diverse options involving our life and how it can be maintained, we're left with but one option...that dolla dolla bill.
It's as though it's ridiculous to think there could be more efficient ways to balance a work life, a social life, and a home life without automatically wasting two-thirds of each day with sleep and a job, both which might feel like the same thing. Certainly it could be worked out to have the norm be a twenty hour work week opposed to a forty hour work week. People don't work anyways, they just pass time. Obviously every job is situational and some more strenuous than others, and also some obviously more important to human life than others, but all I'm sayin' is everyone deserves to be able to do things their own way, especially since life's so precious, and a one-serving gig. Everything can be simplified, it just has to be reexamined first. And after it's been reexamined, someone has to be in the room willing to make changes. Otherwise, people will continue to talk themselves out of being happier, and they'll just become content. They will then pass that on to their children who will in turn pass it to their children and so on. Where does it stop? How many people have to drown in a crosswalk before the people behind start goin' around? How long before there's a new path to tread?
Even the people who stray from the beaten path are still straying from that same ol' sick path. How about straying from a path that's fresh and doesn't suck so much. How about waking up and taking back your ability to dream like when you were a kid. How about believing in yourself so that when you feel scared because you don't know what to do, deep down you know it'll be okay, because you know you can handle anything and you understand that you and only you is who controls how you live your life. Just because the sign says walk, doesn't mean you won't get hit by a truck. So what do you want out of this life? A chance or a choice? I think we deserve both.
This is for the people in the back of the room
This is for the people in the back of the room
This is for the people in the back of the room
Now that we here- what you wanna do
Get it cuz you need it- it's attracted to you
Like a magnet I'ma drag you in view
Cuz I have that realer majic it's true
So you better come and get it- it'll make you move,
Some wanna run from my rhythm though
But I just run with the sickness flow
And I just come with the quickness on-
On a bang beat cuz my brain leak and I'm-
Flyer than a little bit that's been known
I'm fire and a little bit 'a gas on roam
Iron with the divot that'll crack on dome
Who hasn't hit it- don't pass on my dope
No profolactic trap this life germ
It'll fuck you up- and then you might learn
Or you might not- and so you pass it
On to more kids so more kids hatch it
Have it eyeballed but now that eyeball
Has lost it's focus- can't see the downfall
Feet that pound floor- are seen as no fix
Cuz if you don't move it seems you throw fits
So no one wants to hear- no one wants you here,
Guard your game up or go son run from here
Flow come lung for real- word up tongue for real
How ya doin'- check us out- we's ill
Ya heard the pitch- I done heard the shit
"Yeah I heard 'a this" - you AIN'T heard 'a this!
I'ma murder this- cold chill for real
Library thoughts I card catalog to kill
Kill the hate with great will to break they
Will to make what's real be fake lay
Still we take this film and make
What's filmed of hate change reels with mates
Make love to make love- fuck the fuck war
Half the time it's like what the fuck for
Still it seems that some people want more
But only take one to want then come war
Gotta come and want more- or they'll just run the score
Strike a chord of what's sore
But try to deny it- hide it- that just reignite it
And everybody hurt more
What for? - We need to wake up
New fights erupt in middle of make ups
Bruises below hid with make up
Only one test- you get no make up
Too late for that- can't take it back
Rush to the front don't wait for jack
Gotta go home or go hard though
Cuz the cards don't gotta define
How you get on the grind if you can get in your mind
Then bring it from the inside and march on
But the people is mad here
Half of 'em have fear
The other half have no sense
And still think it's last year- that's rare
So people got a sad stare
No hope left so they hope for death
So it's anybody's guess wrath is near
If you have a tear then have have a chair
Cuz anybody cryin' ain't ready to stand,
Anybody flyin' ain't ready to land
If any man's tryin' then that man he can
But every man's lyin' so when shakin' hands
Think twice 'bout a grin from the man who flashin'
Snakes shed skins when you get distracted
Makeshift friends ain't shit that's lastin'
So think about this- who's dick you grabbin'?
This is that shit to round 'em up now
A roundhouse kick to your blouse i'm out now
My sounds sound sick with a pinch of outhouse
So that's the shit- and this the countdown:
5 alive I ride hide your wife ya kids
4 I'm more than hype more I'm like the shit
3 believe I sea tide the rhyme the sand if
2 believe the dream
1 can handle this
What could be wrong with a plan like that
They took away the world now we take it back
It doesn't take much to stand 'n act
But if you won't do that just move back
yeah..
Poison- to the touch it's toxic-
No choices- So you watch it-
Burn slow- glow- to low to know-
Too cold- so you get no profit
T.V. tell ya it be alright
But when T.V. fail ya you'll feel all like
Channel 3 static- white noise
But I'll replace that with my voice
At the park on a bench with a pocket fulla bird seed
But it wasn't even the kind that birds eat
Early bird use to get the worm
But now the early bird don't get the first seat
Cuz fat birds had them reservations
Ain't even hungry but still 'gone take 'em
Ain't even eatin but still at the table
While hungry motherfuckers ain't able
So it's back to the madness- back to the trajic-
Back to the havoc that has us askin-
What happened to havin' half a chance at havin'-
Happiness when livin'
So you're livid- that you're givin'-
False hope went taught those scopes on growin'
Kids in danger- stranger than it once was cuz
Too many angered- danger ain't even that dangerous
But what is is the lies
Bold face and ghost face
Here or there in both place
In most case it's all raw
And all just lies
But you ain't gotta know the right way
To know that this way is wrong
And you don't gotta light J's to fly way
If you get thrown
Roam this road that's washed away
Skip stones on frozen lakes
This cone is home so stay away
Or use caution
Watch 'em sleepin'- at the wheel they drive with eyes closed
So if I drive will I survive as time goes
Well will I survive when time ends- I doubt it- I think that's what time is
So what life is is what one might get out it
So live strong when not gone
And do that with or without a live strong bracelet on
Live long and long live the love- shit's calm but 'bout to erupt
So get soft or get tough- cuz when you're lost then you're stuck
Sometimes I don't know what to do
And sometimes I don't know where I
Am but I am right next to you
You just need to open your eyes
Time never stand still- never can heal when you just pick scabs-
Need to kick back- need to kick facts 'fore you get flat
This is tic-tac spit rap phat- fresher than your lesser shit snack
If shit's stacked- fuck it- got to trust that it's whack- got to get back
To them days where the days wasn't never measured by the ways
That we strays from each other- if we stays on a track to attack how we behaves
Each and every day- shit is so depraved- wave goodbye
Cry cuz ya still wanted to play- wanted to stay- but you just die
While still alive like wow- now I'm down down
Now I'm found broke down
Not even speakin' in money terms
Word heard is worse now
Cuz they just puttin' all the stupid fuckin people against all the smart ones
Not even all the smart ones- just people like me that aren't dumb
That way there's no debate- that- that way there's no debate
That's why this is for the people in the back- we can act if you take
A little stroll up to the front where they already ready they are
Back up to the front- we can all shred confetti- let it fall let it fall
And celebrate for once- for once it's the essence
Cuz it's always the same people gettin' presents- let's have a presence
And represent this new day- yeah baby new dawn
A revolution 'fore the Earth and you gone- let's move on
And take the brain leak and make the rain leak- on new lawn
Flowers grow- so does grass- and even trees that shade the sun son
Sometimes I try to reach you all
Cuz these days these are things I saw
These days these are days we call
Lazy days- so away we fall...
So I push on with my story... So i was kicked out of high school... That sucks. But oh well I say right... There are all kinds of jobs at this time remember and it wasn't required indoctrination to get a decent wage. So whatever. Now for the disclaimer... I am a high school drop out. I'm not proud of it. I don't think it's awesome or anything... I don't claim to be a great writer. Or have an education at all... I AM A HIGH SCHOOL FORCE OUT... really.
Once again... I'm not concerned with religious debate. Religion is a great and powerful thing. So I don't want anybody to think that I'm criticizing religion here. I absoloutley am NOT. I am however trying to convey a story... In a funny and exagerated way. I like to entertain.
Moving on. So here I am.. a young gangster wannabe of the 90's and I start doing my teenage thing so... Long story short... I have a son... Who is the most talented kid I've ever met by the way. I may be a little biased... But you know...
I do what I think is right and I get married. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how this ended... How most marriages end.
I only bring all this up because I want you to see how I formed the opinion... That again... MONEY ISN'T SHIT.
So.. Time passes and I pass my time doing different things. I start up a rap group. Start picking up work like all my friends at the time in and out of factories. A CF Gomma here, a little Dekko there, Then I finally find a job that I like. I took pride in my work too... I was a rewinder operator... It's silly I know... But my options at this point are severely limited.... They fired me. Yeah they fired me at the end of a 12 hr. shift... for leaving 10 hrs. into my shift the day previous. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I took what little money I had and I invested $600 into a poker site called Full Tilt. I had a small interest in this game from when I was younger. My dad taught my brothers and I 5 card draw. We had dealer call home games a lot. There were all kinds of silly games we played... My favorite was "7 card no peak". It was funny as hell that game.
I hit the books... I mean... I've studied poker more than anything else in my life. My roommate is the infamous "ScoopTheLoop" on Full Tilt. I play by the name JCROBERTS. We sat and studied this game up and down. I know that I'm not even very good at this game and I still have a lot to learn. But from what I have learned... money is just numbers. It's easy to accumulate. It's worthless. And you trade your soul for it. Is that crazy? Am I crazy?
I'm lucky. I love poker. And not just for the money. I love the game. I don't make much.... I don't try to hard. But I don't depend on any other man for work. And that makes me happy. I see the war around me over this worthless object. It makes me sad.
I have so much to say... I'm here to give my opinions. I'm here to incite a dialouge between people. I'm here to be criticized... So go at it if you feel the need. I like talking to people. Log into Full Tilt and say what's up on the Rail. And anybody that would like to help make me better at this game of poker or life.... Your advice would be appreciated.
As i sit here in my little box. My custom made box. My little box. My just for me box. My it's all about me box. I sit. I sit surrounded by people that I love. By friends and family. By cats and dogs actually. Remnants of love really. I sit with struggle. I sit with real life struggle. I struggle with my brothers. I struggle with my past. I struggle with the family. I struggle with struggle. The fuck is a struggle anyway? Just look at the fucking word. That fucking word is a struggle! DAMN IT!!!
Anyway... Now see... I just thought about going back and deleting that last bit. But this is soliloquies so you just get mes.
Back to why I began writing. I am looking around the world and I see rioting in other countries. Lot's of them. I wonder in my head... Man, what the fuck is going on in this WORLD???? I think Jesus Christ, please tell me that I'm dreaming all this shit up. Please tell me that none of this makes sense. Please tell me that money is not so fucking important. That people are just standing by and watching people DIE for it.
Money isn't shit. Let me tell you how I know. Let me tell you from my own personal experience. I want it to be known. MONEY ISN'T SHIT!!!! This is my story. I will exagerate... that's a human flaw. Look in the mirror you arrogant fuck!
Past:
Was born in the middle of no where in 1980. That middle of no where is known amongst a few elites as the 495. That's the E in me. Anyways, I got to make this make sense so I'll leave the Epidimic lore out of it.
I was born. I went to school like a good boy. While I was there I learned. I learned a lot. I love learning. I learned that I was FREE. They taught me that. They really did to and I believed every word. They taught me about justice. I got to watch a video on the Bill of Rights. I was singing fucking "We didn't start the fire.... It was always burning since the world was turning" That was history class for me. Laughable now, when I look back. But man I enjoyed school. I loved being around my friends. Our town was small so we all knew everybody. You know how that is? If you don't then FUCK YOU. Because in my small town I WAS free.
I went through a lot of silly shit when I was small. I was pissed off and all. I'm sure lots of people went through silly shit though... And I'm not looking for a fucking pity party so I'll move on. I just wanted to bring us to the point that at one point I turned into a bully. And to those I bullied. I apologize. Really. To all those I've wronged... I'm sorry. I am. I'm short... what the fuck do you expect?
But I loved my town man. All the people in it too. I was friends with everybody it seemed. It didn't seem. It was real. Cause that's how small towns work. But then one day a friend of a friend of mine came to school and was wearing a 666 shirt. Yeah some fucking White Zombie shirt or something and he got kicked out of school. Well now.. I didn't take kindly to this kind of rediculous shit. Not because I was down with the big bad boogie man himself or anything. But because some fucking lady named Mrs. Lyons told me "We have freedom in this country. Freedom of this freedom of that and freedom of Religion." I remembered that like instant. Bam... I say to another friend of mine. "MC" That's what I'm going to call him. "MC, How is it that this dude can just be kicked right the fuck out of school for wearing a 666 shirt... While fucking ol Pea Bug Dickie Dumbass can wear a shirt with Jesus doing 1 handed push ups with a crucifix on his back?"
Then I remembered... I mean it hit me like a fucking ton of bricks. I remembered Mrs. Lyons 73 year old ass lips in slow motion. Teaching away the way she did. "Freedom of Protest"..... Light Bulb moment. Man I'll tell ya... Me and MC jumped in his truck and we went down to the Dollar General and we bought shirts. A shit ton of shirts and red paint. We took those shirts to his house and we painted 666 on them... I was going to protest this shit. I mean... It's the way shit gets changed right... I mean Mrs. Lyons wasn't really lying was she? No, not her... this shit had to work.
We got to school and we passed them out to our fellow young community thug life compadres and they wore them. For like 4 minutes til their nuts tucked. Yeah busters... your nuts tucked. Now again... I'm no fucking Satan worshiper.... that's fucking ludicrious.... But I am an American... Right????
This all during my 2nd year of high school by the way.... Anyhow... So they march me straight to the Principals office and they sit me down. They proceed to tell me that we in fact do not have freedom of religion... now this blew my fucking mind out. Shattered it. I could not believe what I was hearing... He was calling that 72 year old woman a fucking liar. Mrs. Lyons... Fucking irony for ya. So they call my mom. Who by the way is the most beautiful woman I know. And fuck you if you don't love your mom you piece of shit.... I mean... you know.. barring some crazy Cut off your baby arms type of mom shit.
Getting on with it... They expell me... REally? And that isn't even shit... the point is.. they take me and my mother into a "court" with the school board.... No legal representation... none of it. Just... Bang... you are done you freedom loving Commi. Bam... Now... Think about that for a minute.
I think it is time for a revolution. Not the kind where silly retards gather their guns and militias and take it upon themselves to violently oppose their oppressors. No not that kind at all. In fact I am against violence as a whole unless it is an absolute last resort.
I'm talking about an intellectual debate in a world of non intelligence. It's time to put your personal beliefs aside and look at the world as a whole. It's time to understand that you don't know anything other than what you were taught. Understand that what you were taught can be and possibly is fatally flawed. This is a hard realization on most people. I mean most people know exactly what they believe all the way down to their opinions about how life on this planet started. But let me ask.... How many people formed their own idea on the world? How many people just take the people they trust at their word? How many people ever question anything at all? How many teachers teach what they BELIEVE instead of what is true? How many lesson plans are not that of the teacher, but that of an established indoctrination of ideas? How many of you ever even question what the public education system is teaching your children? You do realize that they are YOUR children right?
The next point I want to make is this. I am this country. You are this country. WE are. And the things that are happening in this world is a direct result of our apathy and low education. We have lost our willingness to say NO to bad ideas. Out of fear that somehow we don't count... Or that we'll be looked down upon. Well I'm sick of this. I'm a 30 year old man. I'm the future. You are the future. And look at us. Walking around fighting over every body's differences instead of focusing on the common. Are you for abortion or against it? WTF does that have to do with anything? What do you think about gun control? WTF does that have to do with anything? What do you think about violence in video games? WTF does that have to do with anything? Are you opposed to GAY marriage? WTF does that have to do with anything? Republican or Democrat? WTF!!!!!!
Quit talking about surface issues you assholes. I am for FREEDOM!!! And that my friends is the only thing that matters. WE decided long ago in the good old United States that we as HUMANS have rights. WE are free to express ourselves in any manner we choose. WE are free to choose the direction of our lives no matter what direction that takes us. WE are however not free to impose the will of the few on the many through government regulations. Don't you see... WE are protected from OUR government from persecution from any entity. ANY, even them. The more rights that we allow to be taken from ourselves the deeper the hole gets.
So here's the answer to all the questions in it's simplest form... you ready for this? Abortion? We are free to choose. Religion? We are free to choose. Gun Control? FREEDOM. Gay Marriage? FREEDOM of CONTRACT. Republican or Democrat? Whoever promotes FREEDOM the best!!! Video Games? FREEDOM. Violent movies or music? Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press. New improved CENSORSHIP of the Internet? FREEDOM of Speech and Press.
So what I am telling you is that it's already been thought up. The answer to all your silly surface debates is already there. Now if you respect your own FREEDOM then you should respect the FREEDOM of ALL men. If you don't respect your own FREEDOM. You are already a slave sailing aboard a sinking ship. So I ask you, my friends, my family, my fellow country men and women, what do you think about FREEDOM?
Do you value it? Or do you wonder WTF it has to do with anything?
My name is John Roberts. I started a group called Epidimic when I was 18 yrs. old. I go by the name Droopy Jeezus, but you can call me John Quest. I will be recording some new music in the upcoming weeks. It will be released immediately upon it's finalization.
It's said that less than 5% of the ocean has been explored. Communication meanwhile has evolved from smoke signals and morse code, to real time messaging in the realm of instant instantaneous instantaneousness. You can holla back at your brother two world's away without even getting up from your lazyboy. We are connected. Without wires even. Everyone can converse about everything that's good, and they can share all which is new in terms of news and the current happenings. But what does anybody know? 5% of the ocean has been explored. Probably 5 tenths of a percent of space has been explored. I might even dare to say 5% of the human body has been explored. Beyond all that though, how much of ourselves as people have been explored? All the historians, all the books on the past, all the antique road shows...and yet we still make the same mistakes. We still think we are all knowing, and furthermore, we still think we are deserving of everything that is good. Who are we? Are we a member of a country? Are we a member of a congregation? A member of a society? Are we cool? Are we tough? Are we tough and cool? Everybody is different and everywhere you look it's the same. Everyone looks down because they're afraid to communicate unless it's through a phone or an email that they can hide behind. Maybe i'll wave, maybe I won't, either way i'll see you tomorrow and nothing will be new. 5% of the ocean has been explored. It ain't no thing though to send a picture of your fractured olecranon to your step sister's aunt in southern South Carolina just to give her a good laugh... (She fractured hers trying to elbow drop her dog after he chewed up her new loveseat- dog's are pretty good at rolling quick though!) The point is, everyone knows nothing and they want to tell everyone all about it. Feel for me, I am real, like no other before me I am real, and "right now" is the most enlightened "right now" of all. Just as everyone has always said, and has always said, and has always said. Come here, I want to see you, I have things to say, but these things don't mean much, because I know nothing. I choose to have it that way. 5% of the ocean has been explored.
Today as I walked down the aisles of "America's Store" amongst the many choices that I faced... or thought I faced for that matter... it became apparent to me that we are not even satisified with the media that we have in our homes. It's got to be everywhere. The television was calmly telling me that I should buy this product. Then that product. Then the same one again in the next aisle. "You don't mind, do you?" I thought to myself.
Nothing works better!!!
I got in my car and drove to the local gas station. Noting the prices like all concerned citizens. I pulled the nozzle out of the pump and figured out how to use this modern marvel of a gas pump. I start pumping my gas all super cool like when out of this fucking machine spits some more info on rewards cards and some other bullshit. "You don't mind, do you?" again I thought to myself.
I'm hungry now like all depressed citizens. So I drive over to the local eatery. The Taco Bell. How fucking lucky I am to eat this generic version of food. But fuck you... It cost to eat good and we are all poor. Now I order my favorite pile of shit... The #7 with no quesadilla sauce... and an extra fucking taco that I don't even need. Of course. Now I pay my lil 7 bones or whatever it cost these days and this little kid hands me my receipt and says "If you go to our website you can register to win $1000 by taking our survey." Again I think. "You don't mind, do you?"
The last few days I have sank deep into research about the way I feel about things. The more I reflect on what's really what, the more I am convinced that the only way out of all this madness is for people to change their attitudes towards labeling of individuals.
You can be called a Nigger, Jew, Bible Thumper, Atheist, Right Wing, Left Wing, Fag, Idiot, American Indian, Native American, Mexican-American, Spic, Whop, Kike, Kraut,....... you get the point right?
But at the bottom of it all the one thing that is missing in this is what we all are.... HUMAN. Am I all alone on this or what? This to me is a huge misunderstanding in most people. They are extremely mad at the way that others are living. My question is ... Why do you give a fuck about the way another man conducts his business unless the way that other man does it infringes on your own personal freedom? And I'm not talking about the rights of an American vs. everybody else.... I'm talking about the rights of all humans to live and be free from fear.
You wanna know who makes up all these names for us? We do. Our parents, our media, our leaders. They have chosen your path for you through the indoctrination of you to their own ideas. They laughed when a man suggested that the world wasn't flat. But sure as shit it was. And it was due to a man who went against the grain of society at that time. They burnt people like your sons and daughters at the stake for using herbalism as a remedy. I shouldn't even use the word "they." We did that. We humans in our misunderstandings done that.
So this begs the question... What am I? Well I know what I'm not. I'm not a Liberal. I'm not a Conservative. I'm not a Libertarian. I'm not an Atheist. I'm not a Theist. I'm a free minded individual who agrees with some things that others say and disagrees with others. I'm a Human being.... created perfectly... deliberately mis-lead.... and still have a child like understanding of the universe.
The good news is that I want to understand you. I want you to understand me. I don't want to label you so please don't label me. All ideas are welcome here. We need to establish communication on an individual level again so we can all understand each other and all of OUR miscommunication.
You don't have to agree with me. I don't even want you to. I want you to be yourself and formulate your own judgement of the world based on your own experience. Not that of your elders or those who have you pre-ceded you here. Their journey was theirs. Yours is yours.
Next time some guy says you are a Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal, Christian, Muslim, so on and so forth. He's not identifying you. He's identifying himself.
Change can happen within the blink of an eye, everyone knows that, and there is never a time when change can't happen. It's a magical variable that can be automatically inserted into any equation, regardless of who or what might be in place to try and stop it. Objects, both animate and not, are often put in place to gain complete control of a given situation. But one can never really be in complete control of a situation. It's the same reason when crossing the road you're told to look left, look right, and then look again. In the time it takes to turn your head from left to right, which I would assume might take take about three fourths of a second, the road which was just confirmed clear to cross by your very own eyes, may now indeed be underneath a half ton fed ex truck. And if you don't look left again to see it, well...you'll surely be on your back with crushed legs, only to finally look up and see an arrow float past your eyes.
Re-examination is a good practice just because humans aren't perfect. Humans program computers therefore even computers aren't perfect. Now I don't think the saying says to look left again because maybe you didn't see the the big body crushing truck even though it was really there, it's just because change happens that quick. But what if the truck really was there, but it looked like something else. What if it looked like something soft, like something slow, something that couldn't hurt you. It could still inflict all the same damage but because it looked so unimposing everyone would just step in it's way, and that would cause a lot of unnecessary destruction. It's the same reason in prison you have to never appear weak. You don't want to invoke any challenge, even if the challenger can't come close to defeating you, it's the time it takes to tussle with the challenger that is important, because it's lost. Now what if it was you driving the truck, and the person crossing the road was in disguise. If you saw a brick wall disguised as an opening would you drive right through, or would you stop to make sure it's really the right path? Because stopping and checking takes time, and we all know how important time is, it's probably the only other thing as consistent as change, as far as earthly speaking that is. But what if you re-examine every angle, see what's in front of you and analyze it's affect on you, and then still end up being proven wrong on everything you know. Would you continue to look left, look right, and look left again, or would you just start looking ahead not paying any mind to what's around you? Or maybe you'd just put your head down, and not look at anything at all...
Peoples' moods change just as quick as their minds do because they're both connected. How you feel affects how you think, and that goes for the opposite as well, how you think affects how you feel. But at some point, there has to be a decision made which is inspired by your heart but made in your mind in which you choose to go forward making your own path. The other alternative is the decision made in your head that you can't do anything, and then let that feeling trickle down to your heart so it can know to just turn off. If you give up when you can't handle the fact that you have no control, that's when you give up the right to ever control anything again. It's when feeling like you still can control though, even when you really can't, that you just might gain control. You may even be able to control something, which realistically thinking, shouldn't be able to be controlled. But that's a two sided coin to the fullest. So look left, look right, and then look left again. And if you don't like what you see, then change it.
Slug: Life is bigger than you. And you are not me.
Spaceghost: Wrong!!! Life is your perception and people are all the same at their core. Humans. So since we are one and our perception is our "world". We collectively, as one, ARE the world.
So I see this bug peeking it's head out from underneath the sliding door track on my porch. I thought it was a grasshopper at first, but then it came down and exposed it's rare self. I had no idea what it was but began taking pictures about 2 inches away from it with my phone. It froze of course, and I wasn't sure it wouldn't attack me, but I was confident that if need be I could snap my hand back before it could do it's attacking. So I take about 20 pictures of this bug from all angles, and then sit back down in my lawn chair. The bug stayed froze for probably 4 or 5 minutes before it started moving. When it did finally start moving, its steps were graceful like that of cat, but delicate like a spider. Actually it reminded me of a cross-country skier in slow motion. There's maybe a 3 inch gap from the track of the sliding glass door down to the wood floor of the porch, and the bug had reached it's 2 front legs up to the track. It then pulled each set of legs up to the track in unison 2 at a time, until all 6 legs were on the track. Next it began to try and walk the length of the track, heading towards the door. It fell in its first 2 attempts almost right away, but by the third attempt, it was finally moving across the track without falling. I was watching pretty closely at each right leg, as the end would get stuck in the millimeter crack of the sidewall, and each time the bug would have a slight pause as it would unstick it's leg ending. I would say it had been about 20 minutes since the conclusion of my picture taking, and the bug had made it across the track to the corner of the door. It then began to climb straight up the side of the door frame, ever so slowly, making sure not to fall and have to start over again. I was thinking to myself that I'd feel kinda bad if it fell, as this was becoming quite a long journey timewise, yet it had only moved 4 ft. Once it made it to the top corner, it then walked back towards the way it had came originally, gently traveling across the top of the door frame. Now I could see that soon there may be a problem, as the bug was approaching a point where the track was coming to an end, unless it went higher onto the wood siding of the house. And sure enough when it got there, I saw the bug outreach it's legs as far as they would go hoping to be able to grab onto the ledge, but it was just too high. The bug would need to have sticky feet or something to scale the wall, which I was pretty sure it didn't. So afer the bug made sure it could no longer reach any point in any direction it began to rub it's front 2 legs together like a fly does when it lands on your arm. Actually that's probably what a lot of insects do I imagine, but anyways, I was thinking wow, it's actualy working up some sticky goo or somethin to scale this wall. It continued to do that, as I continued to watch, then it stopped and turned it's body to where it's front 2 antennas or whatever, not to be confused with it's front 2 legs, were positioned right at me, so being that it's eyes were back on it's body directly behind these antennas, I knew it was looking right at me. It stayed that way for about 2 minutes, and then.... IT JUMPED! I didn't get startled, as I was already back leaning on the porch ledge, as far from the bug as I could get. I had been positioned there ever since I saw the fork in the bug's road approaching and wasn't sure how the bug would react. So the bug jumps off the top track of the sliding door, and as it was in the air about a half inch lower than where it had jumped from, it pulled out it's wings and flew over my head and into the surrounding winderness. I was amazed, this little bug just spent an hour walkin and fallin and slippin and stahlin all over my porch to try and move itself up in the world only to get to the top and then flip out some it's little bug back wings and fly off with ease. I didn't mention it, but I could see the wing membranes laying on it's back when I was taking pictures, but seeing how it never used them for an hour long trip of 8 square feet, I just assumed they weren't really wings. The bug looked weird from the getgo anyways, so I didn't think much of it at first. So the bug is far gone now, and I head inside to try and see if I can use this here intro net to find identify this bug that has captivated my attention for the past hour and a half. I google insect identification, and shortly change the search to florida insect identification to try and narrow it down. I wasn't sure if it was a kind of mayfly, or grasshopper, or what really so it took some searching around but then I came across a picture of the same looking bug. It's called Arilus cristatus, or more commonly a wheel bug. Some also call it an assassin bug. Anyways, it's in the true bug category, which are bugs that poke and suck and inflict pain. I also learned it has a defense like that of a stink bug, in which it emits an unpleasant odor when it's disturbed. So I'm not sure if I smell of Arilus cristatus or not, but hopefully my intrusion on the insect's capers were a welcome addition to the wheel bug's day. I also learned that it has a nasty bite more painful than a bee sting, and in some cases the bite can take months to heal and may even leave a scar. I'll remind you I was within inches of this guy's mouth for a twenty minute photo shoot in the beginning of our meeting. So anyways, I felt compelled to share this with whoever may still be reading because I feel as though I conquered a small piece of the world today. I had no idea what I had just witnessed, but after 15 minutes on the internet I found exactly what it was I had saw, and even learned a little bit about it's life. We should all take the time to look at what's around us and then learn about it, as sometimes it seems the world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.
"If you don't have anthing nice to say then say nothing at all." This is what I have practiced for a long long time... and yet still I 'm the most out spoken person on my personal beliefs out of most people I know. I want you to understand that my beliefs are my own. In no way do I intend to push them on you... But with that in mind I do have a bias towards myself... Just like you have one towards your own views. It's natural. There's ego in it. There's fear of being wrong involved. It's what our parents told us not to do. It's what our government still actively tries to discourage. THINKING is natural!!!! DO NOT underestimate your own intelligence. I believe people are smart by nature.
Have faith in your GOD!!!! By all means do what ever you feel like when it comes to you and your connection with your soul or just your inner self or whatever religion you subscribe too. But to have blind faith in a MAN or a Political Party without truly understanding their motives and priorities is pure and absolute ignorance.
Did your parents not alert you to your duties as a Patriot? Being a Patriot and questioning the role of government is not a law people. It's a PRINCIPLE. "We the people" are responsible for checks and balances.
I know. That's a big responsibility isn't it? It's almost like protecting yourself. It's often easier to divert yourself from truth. And honestly it works very well for the government to just allow this to happen... Also, it's convienient that while you sit there and watch the rock box you offer their sales people a great chance to sway your views and the way you think by their well thought out marketing campaigns. If you think you are immune... you are ignorant.
In closing, I guess I'm just ranting. I want to talk to my friends... but they are busy. Be open minded, don't judge, listen, be passionate in what you do, and be fearless. Mistakes are natural we all make them... It's how we learn. But we must LEARN from them. We must forgive the people that make them and help them to understand reality and the world around us. I can't change any of you. To be honest, I can barely change myself. But at least I'm not afraid to SELF REFLECT and find the error in my ways so I have a basis for positive change. I hope you do the same.
This is solely in support of a man who will, for now, remain nameless. This man is a husband, and a father of IV little girls. He's true to his word, and his heart is honest. He's a friend, a family man, and a provider. He's, as we all are, a human being, with only one unreplacable life. And at this moment, as a write this now, he's a victim.
Our beloved American government loves to bestow glory upon themselves, and thus on frequent occasion, will piece together "fact" from numerous fictions in order to create make-believe criminals out of innocent people. They also like razorblade lined vibrators in their butt-chutes, but that reality is for another time. Today the focus centers on lies that destroy lives. Lives, as previously stated, are unreplacable, and such lives should not be in the hands of evil men. For every evil though, good has to exist or else the evil wouldn't either. This is my attempt to gather that energy in hopes to defeat the evil with the collected good. Truth.
It's a known fact that "average people" please the government. "Average" people are known to do "average" things and have "average" responces. But those failing to fall into that category are all too often demonized, too similar to Salem, 1692. It's sad, and it's not alright.
We live in a technological world. Wire taps, video surveillance, and GPS tracking systems coexist amongst microphones that fit on ball point pins, and satellite cameras that, from space, can zoom in on the toothpaste stain that's spilled on your shirt. It's insane, and in the end, so will be all the people so wrongfully probed. And they say that stalking is illegal...
So for all the people persecuted everyday for not fitting into what Uncle Sam and his whorehouse bitches want to call, "lawabiding," I attempt to draw on your strength now. A man is standing, shackled and numbered, about to be cast into a lake of fire by not God, but by another man, and by the hands of other heartless men called agents. Agents are programmed technicians on what's allowed and what's forbidden, but yet the cop is the robber, money runs blood deep, pockets get lined like ripped jackets, and innocent lives are washed away. Unreplacable lives. And that's sad. But it's truth.
show love... for the good.
In our society, when the topic of marijuana surfaces, many people often wonder if marijuana should be legalized. There are, however, many people who wonder why marijuana is illegal in the first place. With marijuana prohibition currently limiting our inherent civil liberties, restricting our freedom, and costing the American taxpayer seven billion dollars a year in prohibition costs, the need for a change seems evident, not to mention the fact that marijuana prohibition simply does not work.
The American public has become accustomed to a life of freedom, or at least the implication of being free. People of the required age are allowed to indulge in alcohol, as well as tobacco, with the only real government intervention being age restrictions of its users, advertising of its products, and taxation of sales. The adverse health effects of both alcohol and tobacco are no secret, yet these products are legal. Marijuana on the other hand does not reflect the same dangers of alcohol or tobacco, and still it is outlawed by the federal government. The United States government has the right to intervene in someone’s life, and in turn stifle their actions of freewill, when the person risks endangering other people. Marijuana users though, just as consumers of alcohol who abide by the rules of law, affect no one but themselves. This being said, some would say the government might have the right to intervene in a person’s choice of actions if those actions could cause substantial harm to the person. Again though, marijuana use and its relation to a person’s health, is minute in comparison to either alcohol or tobacco. In addition, there is no record of anyone dying from the use of marijuana. Each year a half million people die from alcohol and tobacco use in the U.S., in regards to marijuana use though, the number remains at zero. (Lancet)
Freedom has become a household name in recent years, and the ideal of being free resonates with most all Americans. When looking at freedom in relation to marijuana users though, it is taken away at an alarming rate. In recent years more than six percent of all arrests in the United States were for marijuana possession. More people are incarcerated for drug related offenses than violent crimes, and valuable time is wasted pursing those who chose to use marijuana. The time that police officers expend while dealing with those involved in some form or another of marijuana participation, allows violent offenders a better chance of evading capture. It also weakens any attempts to halt those violent crimes before they happen. Even former President Jimmy Carter was quoted saying, “Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.” The subject may be revered as taboo by some who wish to demonize marijuana, but over fourteen million Americans use marijuana each year, and when asking the general public, the majority of people favor legalization. Freedom is not free though, and for the time being neither are those who wish to use marijuana and avoid prosecution, that is according to the federal government and its current stance on marijuana.
As American life continues on, slowly evolving as a whole in regards to marijuana’s classification as a controlled substance, it becomes more apparent that the illegalization of marijuana is ridiculous. One of the biggest counterarguments for illegalization is the cost of prohibition. Especially during times of economic strife, spending tens of billions of dollars on the regulation of a substance that cannot be clearly identified as any more harmful than the food we eat, is something that many hardworking citizens find hard to swallow. Over seven billion dollars is spent each year on prohibition efforts, and over forty billion total when adding in missed tax revenue. (Norml) The amount of money each state could generate from legalizing the drug would be staggering. California has proven this to be true, as marijuana is the state’s number one cash crop. Still, in a time of nationwide economic disparity, money is wasted on the prosecution of marijuana users, and also essentially refused, in that it cannot be taxed if it is illegal to possess.
Prohibition is not an original concept to deal with marijuana. Alcohol was once outlawed in America, and it should be noted that many lessons were learned from that experience. One simple lesson being, people will continue to do what they want, no matter what the consequences may be. Marijuana is easily accessible in every state, and in every city, and in every small town across America. It is widely agreed that marijuana usage rates would show little change if made legal. (Drugwarfacts.org) Those who oppose the plant’s legalization would argue that marijuana usage would skyrocket, thus leaving the country in shambles, while seemingly being overran by a new breed of lazy, yet aggressive, drug-induced sociopath. This however, is not the case. More so reflecting the feel-good nature of an after dinner glass of wine, marijuana would simply let everyone relax a little, and with the stresses each American witness on their local newscast each day, relaxation might just be what we need as a nation.
The marijuana discussion continues to grace the pages of magazines, shows on cable and even primetime television, and pages of internet forums in numbers higher than any other time before. The percentage of citizens, who accept marijuana as not a drug like heroin, but more like beer or other alcohol, is at an all time high as well. The truth is, marijuana will continue to be used by people all across the globe, and especially in the United States. Regardless of penalties imposed by the use, or even, just possession of the drug, people of all ages and all backgrounds will risk imprisonment in order to obtain their own civil liberties. They will make this choice because they know and understand what marijuana is, and they see through the misconception that is painted of marijuana, when looked at through the eyes of the law.
Media today has a colossal effect on the world. People are subjected to telecasts wherever they are at. From televisions in school classrooms, to the checkout line at Wal-Mart, media delves into every aspect of life. One example easily accessible is MTV. Although keen to their marketing potential, a healthy stimulus for American culture is far from what MTV strives for. Their programming is limited on actual learning, and instead loaded with mindless drivel. Substance may be hard to identify in the majority of these shows. While they reach mass amounts of people, what they teach is deceptive to those with growing minds. And although one may not intend to be teaching at all, if something is learned, it has to have been taught. So in relation to music, news, and basic American lifestyle, MTV leaves the world confused, uneducated, and unable to inspire. Consequently, the effects of MTV are catastrophic.
MTV started as a medium for bands and artists. It has evolved though, into a factory like setting in which creativity is kept to a minimum. Often songs are not produced by the artists who perform them, but are instead assembled for the performer rather than created by them. The monotony leads to a music scene which lacks a message. The absence of thought provoking music not only frustrates true music lovers, but it lowers the ideal of musical respect for younger fans who may not know any better. Usually, a sense of integrity is regularly affixed to music artists. In MTV's case though, that characteristic has seen its way out the door, and has been replaced by a music order in which special effects override actual talent, and in most cases, takes the place of any talent at all.
In addition to music, MTV offers numerous programming based off the concept of reality television. These shows range in premise from groups of strangers living amongst each other in secluded surroundings, to social pariahs who try and blend with their more popular counterpart. While reality is not a direct correlation to the show, calling it reality TV adds to the confusion of the viewer. Viewers, especially those of budding age, may eventually possess a self image that is distorted. This coincides with the idea of a reality TV based life, in which, those watching at home, blur the line between true reality and what is seen as reality on television.
MTV has also expanded it's horizons in efforts to report actual news, other than just news related to celebrities. The news though, leaves the audience with a false sense of being informed. Focusing on talking points rather than actual issues, the array of information is often generic, and reporting is far from being in depth. What is most tragic is MTV preys upon young adults who otherwise would be in tune with the world around them. These viewers continue to feel as though they are informed on what is important, but in all actuality remain locked in a box of regulated knowledge. This adds to the diversion which MTV has become.
While adolescents, and even adults across the world, continue to be plugged into MTV, they lose valuable time to focus on legitimate things in life, such as school, work, and family. And though music and entertainment are an essential aspect of humanized life, sadly, the negative effects of MTV penetrate deep into society. When the world becomes uneducated, confused, and unable to inspire, it becomes more difficult to evolve as people. Therefore, the world can thank MTV for the extinction of the natural evolution of life.
Posts
