Refined Alphabet

It okurs to me that the English alphabet kould stand some refining.  Spesifikally, I believe we kould eliminate C's, Q's and X's.  Q's and X's kan go without a long goodbye but the "C" will be a bit more diffikult.  For instanse, there is the kase of the word 'chicken', or any word with the "ch" sound but a little linguistik thought will solve the puzzle.  Replase "ch" with "tj".  It looks odd but now we have an alphabet with only 23 letters, not to mention a whole new industry sentered around korrekting all the literature, diktionaries and all printed matter going forward.

One Step Method to Stop Smoking

In a word, STOP.  Pick a day and stop.  It doesn't have to be some symbolic day, either.  Just so it isn't too far in the future.  Don't waste your money on nicotine gum, Chantix, patches or any of those 'faux-smoke' gadgets.  And definitely don't waste money or time on books that claim to have the "secret".  Chances are, you are not a moron and have control over your actions.  Don't give your control to some external source that doesn't have your best interest as a priority.  If there is a "secret", that's it.  If you smoke, you've given control to some tobacco company.  How much have they done for you?  Have you gotten so much as a Christmas card from Phillip Morris?  Have they thanked you for supporting their stock price?  A few years back, I bought a nice automobile.  Now, every year, I get a calendar, a Christmas card and friendly reminders that services are due.  I do the services myself but the reminders still come.  Has a tobacco company ever thanked anyone for giving up their good health and a significant portion of their income to support their cause?  Have they sent flowers to the funeral of anyone that died of cancer?

The only method of quitting any substance that really works is:  QUIT!!  And when you're tempted to start again, DON'T!!  I'm not over-simplifying or minimizing the difficulty.  It isn't easy at first but it gets easier when you start to realize the benefits.  For me, it was the absence of that awful feeling I would have at the end of the day.  My eyes would feel like they were sunken in to my brain and my face would feel like a raisin looks.  My eyelids would burn and sting.  I would be tired but not in that satisfactory way that you get from an honest day's work but just tired and lacking energy.  I hated doing anything I didn't have to do like yard work, shopping with my wife, playing with the kids.  All that stuff took energy I didn't have and I felt a sort of energy sapping burn in my mid-section.  That was gone in less than three days.  I was 43 when I quit over a year ago (11/11/09) and I feel better now than I did at 18.  That's no exaggeration.  I smoked for 30 years, quit cold turkey and made it.  What got me through was all the little things such as waking up refreshed, having my dentist tell me my gum health was improving, not feeling putrid at the end of the day, having an abundance of energy, not feeling foolish when coming back from a smoke break during a meeting knowing everyone can smell me, not having cold hands and feet, better digestion, better breath (better stated as the lack of dragon breath), more physical strength and endurance.  Some people fear weight gain when they quit but think about the weight LOSS that happens during radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Some of you are saying "Addiction is a DISEASE".  Addiction is not a disease.  Addiction is a lack of discipline.  You did not CATCH an addiction.  It's a psychological problem but it isn't a disease.  You have control over your consumption of any substance, therefore, a compulsion to consume is under your control.  I know what I'm talking about.  In my lifetime, I've been addicted to alcohol, nicotine and caffeine.  I'm hanging on to the caffeine addiction although I've reduced my consumption considerably.  Before I quit drinking, I thought I'd never quit because I couldn't imagine myself not drinking.  I used to imagine with dread the days, weeks, months, years of fighting the urge, missing the euphoria, the fun.  How wrong I was.  Same with smoking.  I would imagine the misery of not smoking as if that feeling you have when you have to go without a cigarette for longer than you want such as when you fly or attend meetings, church, etc. would last forever.  It doesn't.  Those are cravings and they pass remarkably soon and quickly reduce in frequency.

I'm not selling a method for quitting because there is no set method that necessarily works except just quitting and that makes for a very short book.

Turn the Tables on Big Ticket Retailers

When you purchase something large on credit, the company extending you the credit wants to know a few things about you, right?  Of course.  Unless you're using a credit card, they'll want to know all kinds of things about you.  They'll run a credit check for sure and they'll know a lot about you based on what they are authorized by the government to pry into.  If you're like me, you don't like the one-sided nature of these transactions.  I'm purchasing something that costs a lot of money and my integrity as well as my credit record are spotless.  I'd be willing to bet that I am a better, more reliable and honest member of society than the organization I'm patronizing deserves.

The next time you buy something, ask the representative of the company you're buying from a lot of questions about the reliability and integrity of the company.  This works with locally owned businesses like car dealerships, home builders, real estate agencies, etc.  Don't go into Target asking the salesperson about the reliability of the company.  You'll just get blank stares and probably hold up the line.

If you're buying a car, ask for the names of every layer of management from the salesperson to the owner of the dealership.  Ask for their tax ID number.  Ask them if they have any unresolved complaints with the Better Business Bureau.  If they answer that they're a member of the local BBB, tell them that a sticker on a window doesn't constitute a complaint free business.  Of course you should already know the answer yourself.  If not, verify it before purchasing.  Your decision whether or not to deal with the company will make itself if they lie.  But that's the idea.  Asking questions gives them every opportunity to prove themselves as a worthy seller.

We, as consumers, as patrons of so many establishments should not let them control the transaction with questions that put us on the defensive, as if WE were the seller.  The buyer has the money and therefore the power.  Don't allow salespeople to gain the upper hand (and every single one of them will try), be the buyer who doesn't need what they're selling.  Don't deal with companies that are dishonest or unresponsive to you, the customer.

Ultimately, you shouldn't buy anything from a chain of any kind.  These places have almost completely taken the power away from the consumer.  This is especially true when the economy is good.  Have you ever felt powerless when dealing with a problem in a chain store or on a customer service line?  Don't you get the feeling that they don't care about you as an individual customer because you're more trouble than you're worth.  Have you ever felt just the slightest bit silly after threatening to take your business elsewhere and then realizing that the person you're speaking to could not care less, regardless of how many apologies they've plastered you with. The two most meaningless phrases in customer service are "thank you" and "I'm sorry".

We could completely turn our economy and our nation around by the simple act of refusing to buy from chain stores and franchises.  Buy local.  Deal locally.  Get to know the people you do business with.  But be an honest customer; don't take advantage of good people.

Large corporations want us to be homogenized so they can produce a limited number of products and sell them in large quantities to a population with very few choices.  Now you're saying, "But we have an incredible number of products and more choices than we know what to do with."  Think about this:  There used to be dozens of car manufacturers in this country making a real variety of automobiles.  Now look.  It would be difficult to make any real distinction between all the models available.  They're homogenized for mass appeal.

Don't buy them...

The Number of the Beast Explained

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.    – Rev. 13:17-18

This post is for those of you out there that have not had the benefit of discovering biblical scholarship or the profuse amount of material written by some brilliant and very hard working biblical scholars. I was introduced to the world of biblical scholarship when I ran upon a book in the post library at Fort Hood, Texas called "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong. That was in 1997. From that point, I became sort of an amateur biblical scholar myself, emphasis on the amateur.

Over the course of not only my period of amateur biblical scholarship but most of my life, I have been fascinated with the Book of Revelations, particularly the part quoted above. So much fear and misinformation in our society is based on this passage. Why? I'll tell you why; not because it was originally intended by its author to have that effect but because it serves as a tool for propagating fear and therefore control. But that's another post. And besides, there has been so much written on the topic of religion based fear that I would be delusional to think I could do it justice.

My purpose is to kill the myths surrounding this bit of literature and hopefully eradicate some of the fear.

The current wisdom on the subject is that it symbolizes the Roman Emperor Nero based on the fact that the Hebrew alphabet had a numerical value assigned to each of its letters and the sum of the values of the letters of his name total, you guessed it, 666.

Bust of Nero at Musei Capitolini, Rome

But this parlor trick can be performed with any number of names of leaders from biblical times as well as modern. The theory has merit, possibly more merit than all others on the subject.

An alternative theory, and one that I've held for some time until reading about the one above is this: the symbols of the Roman numeral system that existed at the time Revelation was written (D, C, L, X, V, and I, M was added later to accommodate larger numbers) add up to 666. D (500) + C (100) + L (50) + X (10) + V (5) + I (1) = 666, implying that Rome, itself, was the Beast. I liked this one for a long time but it doesn't account for the specific physical description of the individual unless we start performing more parlor trickery.

Either way, the author of The Book of Revelation was definitely NOT referring to any 20^th or 21^st century figure as Christian zealots and fundamentalists would have us believe.

If you want to have some fun with your fundamentalist friends, show them this:

Bar codes work by means of interpreting black as a binary "1" and white as a binary "0". Red dots mark the areas on this particular code that represent the number 6, "101" in binary which converts to the number 5 in decimal, or the sixth number in the binary sequence of decimal numbers which of course starts with zero. Every manufactured product you buy (yes, even stuff bought in Christian book stores) has one of these on it and every one of them has a binary 101 at each end and in the middle to frame the code in order for the reader to decode the correct product number regardless of the distance from the reader or angle in which it is read. So the mark of the beast has been with us for years. How many of us live our lives without purchasing manufactured products?

Reckless Endangerment and Extreme Vanity

Yesterday I was driving on I-95 South between D.C. and Richmond. As usual, before a holiday weekend the slowdowns start early. Normally you can do OK coming out of Northern Virginia if you get out by 2:00PM. On holiday weekends however, you can take 2 hours off that. I had business that kept me in the area until almost 1:00PM. I wasn't particularly frustrated with the traffic; the slowdowns were brief but frequent. As I'm rolling along somewhere between Fredericksburg and Doswell, I see the traffic in the left lane start to contract. The road is mostly free of trouble by now so I wondered if someone may be having trouble on the left side of the road. Rather than follow the rules of the road and remain in the left lane to let other drivers my intent to travel faster than the flow of traffic, I broke my own rule and took to the "sandwich lane" with the rest of the impatient speeders. After a few cars I see the hold-up. There's a guy, early to mid-twenties, driving a new Volkswagen. How did I know it was new? No, it wasn't the sticker still stuck to the side window. Apparently that would never be ostentatious enough for the young gentleman at the wheel of this car. No, he has also chosen to leave the protective lamination they apply before transporting new cars to the dealer. Now, the car was black and the lamination is of course, white, so when you first see it, it looks like some sort of municipal police vehicle with no markings or perhaps it's a panda enthusiasts car. As I get closer, I realize the white portions of the car are just giant stickers. So this guy is driving his brand new VW down the interstate. No problem. I thought about Minnie Pearl (dating myself) who used to leave the price tag on her hats to give the impression she was wearing a new one all the time or my Aunt Betty who used to leave the plastic covers on her new furniture until it was all but completely shredded to (supposedly) protect it from spills but we all knew that her true aim was to impress anyone who stopped by for a visit without having to be so openly vain as to mention that the furniture was new. But wait, he's in the left lane doing approximately 50mph. Is this his first time on the interstate? Does he not understand the graduated lane hierarchy?

The truck drivers have it broken down as follows:

• Right Shoulder – Break-down Lane
  
• Far Right Lane – Granny Lane
  
• Center Lane – Sandwich Lane
  
• Far Left Lane – Hammer Lane
  
• Left Shoulder – Suicide Lane
  
• And of course, exits are Get-offs
  

But alas, I was to learn that vanity was not the only malady this young driver suffers from. He was also texting with one hand. When I passed him on the right, glaring at him disapprovingly, as I always do when someone has forced me to break my courtesy rules, he never looked up from his phone, at me or the road. I don't like to resort to name calling but it's difficult to avoid terms like 'idiot', 'dumb-ass' or 'future Darwin Award recipient'.

I drive between 30,000 and 40,000 miles a year and I see things like this on such a frequent basis that I find it difficult to believe that the state police are doing their part. For every blatant case of speeding on the interstate where the driver is 15mph over the limit or more, there is at least one of these brainiacs doing something less detectable but more dangerous like putting on make-up, eating with utensils, looking for a CD, disciplining children, giving or receiving a sexual favor or my personal favorite, reading a newspaper or book. I have seen all these and more. I could do an entire blog on this subject alone. Maybe I will. If you have an interesting story about something you've seen on the interstate or anywhere in your car/truck/motorcycle, tell me about it. Particularly interesting are incidents involving police or that happen in view of a cop that get no reaction especially while the cop is running a speed trap.

How to beat a speeding ticket without a lawyer or some jerk's book.

Most people who get caught speeding just seem to pay their tickets without protest and suffer the point accumulation and higher insurance rates.  That's perfectly acceptable if you're one of those people who learns a lesson from the experience of being pulled over and subjected to public ridicule from the other drivers while the officer does a special background investigation and writes a dissertation about the heinous crime of 80 in a 65.  However, you don't have to pay without due process (in most states).  But before we get into what to do to beat the ticket, let's talk about what not to do at a traffic stop.

1) Do not argue with the officer.

A cop does not have the authority to debate the law with you.  His job is to enforce the law by detecting and apprehending violators.  And besides, unless you are a lawyer, judge or another cop yourself, you'll very likely lose the argument, get your ticket and gain no advantage from the experience.

2) Do not make snide comments or otherwise try to antagonize the officer.

Cops love this stuff.  Imagine the sheer boredom of sitting in a median listening to police radio, watching cars go by for hours.  Don't you think this fellow would like to go back to the precinct with a story to tell to his buddies at shift change?  Any remark you make will most certainly be used against you when you do show up for court.  If you want to ridicule the officer for his low IQ or poor career choice or his resemblance to some scavenger bird, you'll probably be better off paying your ticket by mail.

3) Do not fumble through your glove box.

Try to have all required documentation in your hand by the time the officer approaches your vehicle.  He/she is used to people doing this but gains no patience or tolerance from the frequency of it.  You know what he's going to ask for; just have it ready and waiting when the time comes.  This will be to your advantage.  Part of the game cops play is simply power.  If you make him wait for you, you're taking some of his power.  He'll do whatever he can to get it back.  By acknowledging his authority, you stand a better chance of receiving whatever break he/she might be inclined to give.  Rule of thumb:  Keep your updated registration and insurance documentation (if required to be presented) within easy reach of your position.  It's not a good idea to be stretching across your vehicle reaching for something.  Cops think you're reaching for your Glock.  Don't be a victim of poor preparation.

4) Do not give the officer anything negative to remember you by.

Being visibly upset or impatient has no value here.  You are being cited for breaking the law.  Showing your contempt for the law, the officer, the government, the establishment or all of the above will not work in your favor.

5) Don't give the officer more power than he already has.

Many cops will try to take advantage of your misfortune by doing little things to enhance the annoyance factor and try to knock you further off balance with your own anger.  For example, an officer will pull in behind you during a stop, turn on the search light and aim it directly at your side view mirror.  Someone please tell me what purpose this serves other than annoying the driver.  Personally, as soon as I come to a stop, I divert the mirror as far downward as possible before the pig turns on the light.  I've seen them trying in vain to find the spot unsuccessfully.  They'll change to the rear view, I'm way ahead of 'em there, too.  So far, I haven't been called to task.  There's no legal requirement to point your mirrors in any particular direction.  If you want to be as low key as possible, just lean out of the way.  Once, I even aimed the mirror back at the officer in his car.  Still no response (verbally).

Go to Court

In states where speeding is still a criminal offense, you have the right (some would say the obligation) to appear in court and defend yourself against prosecution.  It is by no means a forgone conclusion that you'll be found guilty.  In my state, your ticket will be handed to you with a court date already scheduled.  Some states require you to schedule the court date yourself.  And yet others have decriminalized speeding and have designated speeding a civil offense and your rights under criminal law have been removed.  Therefore, you pay your ticket or suffer the consequences.  Your insurance will still go up and you will still be that much closer to losing your driver's license.  At any rate, if the state in which you receive your ticket is one that has not decriminalized speeding, it may be to your advantage to go to court.  Obviously, if you're nabbed in Nebraska on a road trip between Seattle and Atlanta, you probably aren't going to be available on the court date but if it's convenient and feasible, by all means, go.  

First of all, the state is required to produce evidence against you.  This can only be done by the "arresting officer".  That's the cop who wrote the ticket.  He's generally the only witness for the state.  Most of the time he/she will be there but if not, you may ask the judge that the case be dismissed due to a lack of prosecution.  The one time this happened to me, I didn't even have to ask.  I approached the bench when called, the judge immediately realized the policeman was not in attendance and promptly dismissed the case and wished me a good day.  That was in Michigan.  I've been pulled over numerous times in Virginia, been to court every time and the officer always managed to make it.  Mainly because each officer in Virginia has his/her own assigned court dates.  On those dates, the officer basically spends his day as a witness prosecuting traffic violations.  Once, an officer showed up on his day off in full uniform just to present his case against me for 65 in a 50.  I guess he didn't like his convictions being overturned on appeal. 

If you decide to go to court, you'll have choices as to what to plead:  guilty, not guilty or nolo contendre.  Pleading guilty will generally result in exactly what you would expect, a quick judgement against you and you'll owe some money.  Pleading not guilty will result in the state or other government entity presenting their case against you.  This will usually be a recounting of the date, time and particulars of the case with particular attention paid to the method used to ascertain your speed.  This typically includes a statement by the officer that the radar was calibrated before, during and after the stop.  It's probably a lie but it will never be challenged by a judge.  Unless you are a lawyer, I don't recommend challenging this.  Judges generally accept radar detection as indisputable evidence and this rehearsed speech about calibration of the device as gospel.  Don't try to debunk either unless you have rock solid scientific evidence against the radar results or the truthfulness of the rehearsed speech.

Most counties have a law library where you may be able to discover holes in the case against you if there are any irregularities.

Don't go in armed with only rumors and myth.  For example, I have heard that you can have a case dismissed if there is the slightest mistake on the ticket.  Wrong!  Almost every ticket will have some mistakes.  Judges see this as a minor issue in these cases.  Don't bring it up. You'll get no sympathy unless the ticket has a wrong date, wrong name (not a misspelling) or wrong license number.  Cops are quite careful in their ticket writing and judges are quite unconcerned with minor mistakes.

If you plead not guilty and are found guilty, you may have the right to an appeal.  Go for it.  The burden of prosecution is still on the state, county or city.  Same rules apply.  I might suggest requesting a jury trial but I haven't had the experience and can't say what the results might be.  Perhaps someone reading may have gone through this and be able to enlighten us all.

My best advice:  Don't go more than ten mph over the limit.

I finally learned my lesson after many years of defiance.  The way to take away the power of the state is not to invite their attention to your activities, period.  

You might say the title I chose for this post is misleading.  Perhaps.  But I would rather mislead with the title than with content.  I have as much experience at fighting tickets as just about any non-lawyer you'll ever meet and my conclusion is without question the best legal advice you'll ever get for free.

The Decay of Society

I grew up during the seventies and early eighties in a rural area of The Ozarks (as if there were urban areas in the Ozarks).  When I say rural, I mean the nearest McDonald's was 40 miles away.  My cousin, who ran a business with her husband, was unable to get a dedicated phone line until recently.  We did not lock our doors at night.  We didn't even lock the house when we left, even if we were gone for days.  In fact, I don't remember ever using a key on our door lock.  When we drove to town (12 miles away), we didn't lock our car doors or even take the keys out.  It was very common in that area to buy a vehicle and leave the ignition key in for the entire time you owned it.  The thought was that it made no sense to take the key out since you'll just have to put it back in when you're ready to go again; why take a chance on losing or forgetting it?

How could this kind of trust exist?  Easy; there were no strangers, no anonymity.  Any would be thief would have to avoid being identified by anyone in the area, which in most cases would be impossible.  It wasn't as extreme as the cliche':  "Everybody knows everybody else".  However, it may as well have been.

Imagine the scenario:  person A decides to steal a car from a parking lot where the owner has carelessly left the keys in the ignition.  He/she might as well choose the nicest car because all the cars have the keys in them.  The problem for the thief begins as soon as an approach to the vehicle is attempted.  Anyone in the area would most likely know the potential thief, the owner of the car in question and whether or not it would be unusual for that person to be approaching/entering the owner's vehicle.  Even if someone was able to take the vehicle, they would then have to leave the area without being identified.  Not an easy task, even at night since the one policeman on duty would be perched nearby watching for just this kind of activity.  A thief would have to leave with the vehicle in a direction that would not arouse suspicion and not be recognized by just about every person they pass on the way out of town and for at least a 20 mile radius past that.  I remember being able to identify who drove by our house by the sound of the vehicle.  And I could very often identify which family member was driving the vehicle by how it was being driven.

Change the scenario.  the person is a stranger in town.  A close eye is kept on even the most honorable person if they aren't known in the community.

Take it a step further and assume someone was somehow able to steal a truck and leave town without being noticed (highly unlikely).  Now they have to get out of the area without raising the suspicions of every person in every vehicle and every house near the road they pass for the next hour.  A difficult undertaking indeed.  Even though these people were essentially unsuspecting and remarkably unparanoid, the town would have gone on full alert if at the drop of a hat if something as exciting as a theft had taken place.  A quick call to the local police would facilitate road blocks in every direction out of town and neighbors calling neighbors spreading the APB to practically every square foot of the countryside.  I can't remember a single occurrence of automobile theft in all the years I spent there.

I think my astute readers get the point.  The idea I'm trying to convey is that community equals security.  Anonymity equals danger and instability.

Another example:  In the summer of my 5th year, I and the girl next door who was about my age decided we were running away from home.  Our destination was the local telephone facility, a brick building with no windows and most likeley, a locked door.  It was probably half a mile away around a curve in the road.  We set out on our journey with no provisions of any kind.  We managed to get just beyond the curve out of sight of our houses when we were spotted by a neighbor who stopped immediately to ask us where we were going.  Being five, we had no reason to believe we were supposed to try to disguise our intentions and freely provided our destination and purpose.  To our surprise, she quickly collected us in her car and delivered us home.  Imagine this same chain of events in an urban setting.  Granted, our parents would probably have kept a closer watch on us but that enhances my point, they didn't have to because they had the help of the entire community without asking for it.  I later found this somewhat frustrating.  My father had bought me a small motorcycle when I was eight.  My instructions were to be home by dark and stay off the paved roads.  I tried dilligently to obey the former directive but found the latter too much of a hindrance and would occasionally commit violations.  Invariably, a full report of the crime would beat me home.

Why have we permitted this to erode away?  Community isn't something the government can or has taken away from us.  Each of us has the ability, motive and opportunity to increase the stability and security of our neighborhood, community, city, county and for that matter, the entire nation and world.

What sinister purpose would stand a chance against the onslaught of familiarity that would result from people getting to know each other in their communities.  World peace is not impossible.  How can you say something is impossible when it hasn't even been attempted?  Race, religion, nationality; these are just artificial categories we use to differentiate ourselves.  I use the word "differentiate", not "divide".  I see no reason that we should all live by the same creed or religious system or under the same government.  Differentiation is good; division is bad.

What is the reason for racism, bigotry and prejudice?  "Well", you're saying, "there are lots of reasons." WRONG!!!  There is only one reason for any negative behavior, thought or feeling:  FEAR!!  Mr. Roosevelt gave us possibly the greatest revelation of history.  "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  We, the individuals, the people, can achieve world peace ourselves without the help of governments and treaties by simply observing the customs of a community at the individual level.  When disputes happen (and they will), they can be resolved at the lowest level with the highest degree of civility.  Sound like a pipe dream?  It's not.  Consider how people behave in our society now.  We exercize anonymity.  We isolate ourselves from the world in our cars, houses and offices.  We transact business anonymously over the internet, with credit cards and in department stores that have no idea who we are and do not share our concern for our community.

To expound on a previous post, big cities, big government and big business tend to proliferate anonymity, thereby reducing our security, increasing the level of fear which leads to every, not most, every form of crime.

The 3 Factors That Lead to the Ruination of Culture

Big Cities

Big Government

Big Business

Softcore Voyeurism

Before I begin, I have to clarify that I understand it takes all kinds of people to make a society and I further understand that I have the option to change the channel, turn the idiot box off, go to another site or not read the article.  I'm not questioning whether choice exists, I'm questioning the choices made.

That being established, I still wonder what the appeal of these entertainment news and celebrity gossip shows have to such a large sector of the (American) population.  Do people want so badly to be famous (or infamous)?  I find it hard to believe that so many people lead such pathetic lives with such trivial interests.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy watching TV and movies as much as anyone.  I've learned to recognize and appreciate good acting, good writing, good direction, etc.  But am I the only one for whom the interest stops there?  Personally, I don't care whether Britney Spears goes to rehab or gets married once a month.  Tiger Woods' sex life is his own business.  Sports figures and entertainers (redundant) private lives should stay that way.  Leave them alone to lead their lives as they see fit off camera providing they aren't harming someone else in the process.

 And on the subject of doing harm, don't start screaming 1st Amendment but I believe it should be illegal to take or publish photos of not only celebrities but anyone if those photos have the potential to cause harm to the person, their family, their business or their associates if the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as when they are in their home or behind enclosures such as privacy fences on private property.  It would be illegal to climb a tree and look in someone's window or over their privacy fence without a camera; why do these so called photographers and paparazzi get a pass?

As always, money drives this activity.  People find celebrities private lives interesting and are willing to pay to get a glimpse of them.  Therein lies the problem.  The general population has so much spare time, money and energy to devote to such trivial interests that an industry has developed around it.  Entertainment Tonight, Extra, TMZ, to name a few, have tremendous ratings.  Entire television networks exist for the purpose of exploiting this softcore voyeurism.  It reminds me of a quote by Henry Louis Mencken:  "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

One Difference Between a Hillbilly and a Redneck

A redneck might live in a house that has plumbing that doesn't work and have to use an outhouse.

A hillbilly's house might not have plumbing but his outhouse certainly will.

Religious Persecution in America

I am very thankful for a non-religious up-bringing. I was raised to be a moral, kind and compassionate member of a community. I remember at about what age it became apparent to me that being raised outside of a church wasn't a normal thing in the part of the country I was raised.

In second grade, the teacher actually took an oral survey of what church each student attended with his/her family. She started at the opposite side of the room from where I sat so I listened as each kid dutifully (and knowledgeably) spouted off their affiliation. By time she got to me, all but one or two other kids had a church on record with the school. I saw the reaction to the kids who said they didn't go and decided I would adopt the church near my house. The church was named Yount Memorial Baptist Church. However, at seven years old and seeing the relatively small print on the sign, somehow I thought it said "Youth"; so that's what I said when it was my turn, "The Youth Church". The teacher didn't ask any questions, she just snarled her lip and said, in a most condescending tone, "That figures." I had no idea what that meant at the time but I did find out very soon that she didn't like the fact that I went to the "Youth Church". I was moved to the front of the room, scrutinized and ridiculed at most every opportunity. This same teacher even came to my desk and picked me up by the hair at one point.

Now, prior to this, I had had a promising academic career. I was the only child in my kindergarten class who knew how to read on the first day of school. I could count as high as needed, knew all my letters, both upper and lower case and could write them as well. I was a star pupil. In first grade, I was actually moved up to fourth grade for a week because I was so far ahead of the other students. They moved me back for several reasons. First, big distraction to the fourth graders. Second, I was able to conceptualize at their level just fine but was unable to complete work at the necessary speed. I was just thrown in with no coaching, no briefing, no instruction as to what was happening. They just put me at the back of the fourth grade classroom and I was supposed to take it from there. It didn't work.

If only it had. The next year proved to be a crossroad in my life. I went from being confident eager to learn to being one of the "bad kids". I still haven't figured out how I managed to get poor grades when I was doing the work correctly. I have always been a good speller but that year I actually got D's in spelling. This can only be the result of grade tampering by the teacher. My parents missed the clues and I didn't know there were any. Like any kid that age, I blamed myself, both for the bad grades and for the bad treatment I received. This was 1973. My life was changed for the worse because of religious persecution in America in 1973.

Our Bill Of Rights Unaltered and Uninterpreted

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Tax Churches On Their Income and Real Estate/Property

Churches should be taxed the same as any other business. I say "any OTHER" because to call a church anything other than a business would be wrong.

And no, the first amendment to the constitution does not prohibit taxing churches. I challenge anyone to show a valid legal argument against this.

The Age and Size of the Universe

I'm going to go on record here and say that within the next decade, astrophysicists will discover/figure out that the universe is much older and larger than it's currently thought to be. I say this because I have thought for some time (years) that the dark matter that seems to be unexplainable along with the dark energy that seems to be undetectable would both be explained by taking the red shift a step further in thought to account for the increase of perceived speed of expansion at the outer edges of the known universe. The light from those distances simply hasn't reached (or can't reach) us yet. Crude, I know. I will refine this post as needed. If you can enlighten me, please feel free but don't come half-steppin'.