Op-ed piece

Take a few to read this post in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/opinion/24brooks.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

This cracks me up. The guy is telling us that we are finally doing good in Iraq. "Bush finally got one right". The odd part is that the mistake of us being there in the first place is being overlooked.

It hurts my heart that we have forgotten what has happened just years ago. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to relive it. We have learned nothing.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

COMMON SENSE

ISN'T!

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

That was quick

I think my experiment is over. That was fast. After two days my posts and the ones around me, like the stripper one are no longer receiving views. Instant gratification?

The results were interesting. I received two negative responses, two positive responses, and one that just stated "interesting". In the course of these posts, I was called pretentious and self indulgent. As a matter of point, both negative comments resorted to name calling in their replies; the first lines in the negative replies contained the insult. I found that interesting.

The positive replies provided no argument or basis for their beliefs so it is hard to guage them. The negative responses were totally different. One did not even address the point of the post and the other provided flawed logic and fallacy for the argument. Interesting.

The level of interaction on the post involving drugs received the least amount of activity and posts (one shallow post posing no argument for or against the subject). The gun control and political post both garnered one positive and one negative post. This pattern of responses totally blew my hypothesis out of the water.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

An Experiment

I am running an experiment. I posted three varied posts from this blog onto a website catering to what I guess is the "younger crowd". What I want to see is how serious issues fare against the norm for this hypothetical demographic. The posts can be viewed at

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/blogs/

Interesting so far. A post with the title "9 reasons not to date a stripper" has more views and a higher star rating than any of my posts, at this time. The stripper post had been up for 5 hours while my three posts have been up for 2 hours. I will be interested in seeing how this turns out.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

Today

Today, I am making it a point to be happy. That's right. I have to make an effort to be happy. You do too, believe it or not.

Happiness is not the normal level of human emotion. You have to feel happy. Look at the range of emotions as a continuum of numbers, infinite in both directions. At the middle is zero where you are neither happy nor sad...you just are. At any given time your emotional state is at some point on that continuum. Did I mention you cannot reach zero? I guess I cannot say that with certainty, so I will put it another way. Reaching zero on the emotional scale is like reaching absolute zero on the temperature scale. You may be able to get within a billionth of a degree of zero, but you just can't get there. Why? I speculate that you cannot survive at zero as you would be neither happy nor sad and therefore not exist. Email me if you want to get further into this part of the conversation.

Removing all the negative stress, problems, irritants, etc does not rocket you from negative 10 to positive 10. Each side of zero is its own entity and you exist on both sides at all times independent of your other emotional self. Removing all the negative things in your life would only get you closer to zero. Same with the happy side.

Now are you confused? First I say you are somewhere on a continuum, then I say you are on two planes at once. No I did not. I said that you are on the continuum, while your happy emotional state is stuck on the happy side and the sad emotional state is on the sad side. Getting the picture yet? You can only experience one side at a time but you are on each side at all times. What you are feeling is dependant on your current stimulus.

Let's bring this back to the addiction post I made the other day. Say for instance your day to day existence makes you sad. To escape from that, you fill a vein with cocaine. You just shot up your happy side to incredible levels, but that cocaine did not bring the sad side any closer to zero. When that cocaine wears off the sad side will still be waiting.

I personally try to keep my sad side as close to zero as possible and my happy side as far away as possible. I am not always successful. Lately I am rarely successful as Mrs. Biggus will tell you. The key is that I recognize how the system works and I take the appropriate steps to fix it. Sometimes the fixes are medicinal (under the guidance of a doctor) and sometimes they are sheer will power. Today, I use will power and I am winning.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

Frustration

A valid feeling

Be good to one another,

Rev.Biggus

Super High Me

Super High Me, the movie, just came out. It is a take on Super Size Me...the all enlightening epiphany that fast food is bad for you. Thank God I got that information in time, I tell you what. The premise of the movie is that comedian Doug Benson smokes pot for 30 days to see the effects. Not seeing the movie yet, I cannot comment on the scientific efficacy of the experiment, but I can comment on my particular expertise, the perception of this movie.

If this was an attempt to establish validity to the thought that marijuana should be legalized, they just set the movement back 10 years. It matters not how much "expert" data and opinion they collected, nor does their intention matter. They developed and marketed the movie as, 1: a spoof on an existing platform, and 2: a Cheech and Chong movie.

Those two variables have solidified the positions of the audience. Pot smokers will like it and pot haters will hate it. Obviously this movie was marketed for the pot smoker...guess what guys, we don't need to convince them to make pot legal. Just thought you should know. We need to convince the other side.

There are two major arguments that need to be made before there will be a general acceptance of the doobie similar to the acceptance of alcohol. The first argument and possibly the most powerful is that marijuana is a gateway drug. If you look at the literal meaning of that statement you can see that the argument is unsound. Yes, marijuana is probably the first illegal drug that an individual tries, and that individual MAY move on to "harder drugs". Dig a little deeper and you will find that most kids first taste of the reality altering substances comes right out of a parent's (their own or thier friends) liquor cabinet. Hell, nowadays parents are cramming the gateway drugs down their children's throats at ages as young as 4 years old...xanax, ritalin, and whatever other cocktail their doctors prescribe to compensate for poor parenting. No wonder why kids today cannot handle the harshness of reality; they never had to experience it before.

Notice how I used the term illegal drug in the above paragraph. This is the second argument. If everything that is illegal is bad, then their would be no need for argument because everything would be illegal. I digress. The argument is that the government made pot illegal because it is bad. Well, many points in the Patriot Act were illegal before it was passed, so if they were bad then why are they considered good now? That makes no sense. It is like saying torturing a human being is wrong unless we really want the information. Things do not go from bad to good in a society as a society is a group of people with the same beliefs. The government's logic only applies to the arguments they want it to.

The truth is that pot remains illegal because the government has not found a way to regulate it to get their share. Did you know that it is illegal for companies to claim a right to a natural occuring element with in nature? Take silver for example. Silver is possibly one of the greatest natural antibiotics on the planet. This has been known for a very long time. So much so that legends are made out of it...silver bullets kill the virus that makes a man turn into a werewolf. Since silver occurs naturally, pharmaceutical companies cannot claim a money making patent on it so it is given a bad rap.

Regulating pot hits the same wall. It is a natural occuring plant that requires no refinement for use therefore it cannot be regulated or patented. You may as well make it illegal to grow your own garden as it would fall into the same logic.

But Rev. Biggus, if we legalize pot the country will degrade into a cesspool of degenerates. Obviously the people making this comment do not read this blog regularly. Pot is like a gun...it is a tool to achieve an objective, just like a hammer or alcohol. The reason that pot is viewed as a gateway drug is because it is the most readily available on the street and it is pretty cheap compared to others so it is usually the first illegal drug tried. It is a matter of opportunity; your medicine cabinet is in contention for this #1 spot.

Something about band aids and sucking chest wounds comes to mind. Don't look at it like pot made my kid smoke it; you should be looking at it from the angle of why did my kid smoke pot? Here comes the personal experience. The Reverend use to be an addict. I have first hand knowledge of how these things work. Why did I start using reality altering substances? Because something was missing in my life. Where did it start? In my dads fridge and liquor cabinet. Am I still an addict? I don't know, I crave the physical feeling that cocaine/heroin/meth gave me every day (it is pretty kick ass but a totally different subject) but do not have the desire for the substance. Do you indulge? No, because I now have that thing that was missing and I no longer have a void to fill? Do I know what that thing is? Still don't but I can assume that it has something to do with the love in my family. The void is going to be different in every person.

The drug is not the problem here. The problem is the void kids and adults alike are using the drugs to fill. They will try to fill the void with anything they can, not only drugs. Get to the root of the problem. I found mine by accident. Most others will not. For that, I am the luckiest man on the planet.

Would I like to smoke a doobie right now? Yes, for the exact same reason I would like to have a pint of Guinness. I like them. Would it make me move to harder drugs again. No, as I have no voids to fill and I am not trying to escape my reality.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

Finally heard back

It came yesterday. The reply from the Attorney General. It was nothing short of what I expected. Here is the response.

Dear Mr. XXXXXX:
Thank you for your recent email regarding your concerns about comments made on an Internet blog. The Attorney General's Office is not in a position to respond to comments related to an Auditor General's report written about the Department of Economic Security.
If you have questions about the report or you want to read the report in it's entirety - you can access it on the Auditor General's Web site at http://www.auditorgen.state.az.us/. It is posted under reports of state agencies and it was released in November 2007.
If you have questions about Arizona law, we regret that we are unable to help you. The Attorney General's Office represents the state of Arizona and cannot act as a private attorney for individual citizens. This means that we cannot provide legal advice, opinions, or interpret Arizona law for individuals.
The Arizona Bar Association (866.482.9227 or www.azbar.org) or Community Legal Services (602.258.3434) can assist you in finding an attorney, if you do not already have one.
Thank you again for contacting the Attorney General's Office.

Office of Constituent ServicesArizona Attorney General's Officewww.azag.gov
To stay ahead of the rapidly changing consumer scams and schemes, please visit our Web site at www.azag.gov, where you can sign up for late-breaking Scam Alerts from Attorney General Goddard.

So, the answer is "we will do nothing for you." They did not even provide me with the resource to follow up with the appropriate department. My formal complaint was discarded. But what is this? The FAQ from the AG's website (http://www.azag.gov/faq.html):

Where can I file a complaint against a public official I believe is guilty of misconduct?

For a referral to the proper agency, please contant The Attorney General's Office at:
602.542.5025 (Phoenix) 520.628.6504 (Tucson)800.352.8431 (toll free)aginfo@azag.gov

I believe that I just did that, didn't I? I can hire a lawyer at my expense for a fraud committed by government officials on the citizens of the state to whose Constitution they all swore to uphold. Does this make sense to you? It does not to me.

Here is what I need to do. I need to hire one of those lawyers that works on a percentage of settlement. This will have to be a class action suit and will have to be for the past 20 years or so. What lawyer would not want 33% of $200mil+?

Wait a minute...they passed a law on our behalf I am sure that makes this fleecing legal. I bet they even used the justification "in the best interest of the children".

Screw this! I don't even have the patience to be witty and develop the associations through multiple layers. Here is the issue:

Just because a congress passes a law does not mean the law is just. The supremacy clause still exists although it is disregarded by our current administrations in every level of government. Pull your heads out of your asses and get involved in your government. Don't just vote, become educated about the issues. We are screwing ourselves by letting our government do what they are doing on a daily basis. This goes beyond child support and extends into every issue the government deals with.

Our country's voted in representation are a bunch of professional politicians that have been groomed to take that position their whole life. They do not know what it is like to be us, the layman. Hillary, Barak and John state that "when" elected they will stay true to and make decisions based on what is best for the party. What about making decisions that are in the best interest of the people???? No matter how humble a beginning they had, their learnings changed them. It is a good ole boys club that perpetuates itself on the known stupidity and laziness of its constituents. They garner your vote by telling you what you want to hear...you are smart, you can make a difference, you are in danger so let us save you....BULLSHIT!!!! Here is what they mean....You are a sheep. Behave or else.

Only we can fix this but no one man can do it alone by "legal means". Fix this with your vote. Educate yourselves and make a difference. We live as slaves to fat cats who see themselves as above the law. Being represented means having one of your own work for you, not giving the position to a professional with the biggest warchest.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

For the love of this country, read this book

I don't know if it is going to wake people up, but something has to change.

Here is a taste of what is in the book...we should be ashamed. Wait, strike that, I am not ashamed as I do my own due diligence.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

Anyone know where I can find a dead horse?

I believe I need oral surgery. I bit my tongue as I listened to the same old argument for gun control. Normally I do not bite my tongue but this was the owner of the company and I was not part of the conversation. The usual arguments were present: there is no need for semi-automatic weapons, no control promotes criminal behavior, blah, blah, blah. You heard them all before.

More band-aids on sucking chest wounds. Out of all the violent crimes committed in America, what is the only common factor. It is the criminal. Need some perspective? Did violent crime start with the invention of the firearm? No it did not. So logic would dictate that firearms cannot be a contributing factor to violent crimes. They are but a tool. Just as a knife is, just as a bomb is, just as a BFR is. Marines will remember this term from boot camp (it is a "big f&#*ing rock).

Gun control believers actually believe that taking the gun away from the criminal makes it less likely that a criminal will act maliciously. The fact is that the criminal is still part of the equation and will just find another tool. The only way to reduce crime is to remove the criminal from the equation. I am not saying more jails.

Jails are just criminal farms. The inmates in jail just learn how to be better criminals. I am saying that we need to never even let the criminal manifest itself. Oh wait, that would mean that the American citizen would have some sort of duty to raise the future generations to respect the culture of society. Given the fact that we are a selfish, lazy, greed driven society, we are screwed. Our society does not do well with responsibility.

Since the gun control sect wants to use unfounded arguments, let me throw a few out there myself.

An armed society is a polite society. Let's reduce this to a smaller scale. Put a criminal who for all intents and purposes is going to commit a crime against another human being into a room with two doors. Behind one door is a gun hating individual who feels it is the job of the police to protect him/her. Behind the other is a trained gun owner in possession of his/her firearm and willing to use it. Which door does the criminal choose?

A twist to that scenario...same doors but you don't tell the criminal which person is behind which door. Behind one door the criminal will get away with a dvd player, a beloved iPod, and a debit card. Behind the other he/she will be shot mid to upper thorax and survive to live a life of near quadraplegia, pain, and suffering; having to crap and pee in a bag for the rest of his/her life. What does the criminal do? ******** Right now, the criminal takes a chance because the latter outcome is not realistic in his/her experience. In an armed society where the latter outcome is the norm for criminals and the criminals know this, the decision would be quite different.

Guns are only a tool. Take it away and another tool will be used; whether that tool is a knife, stick, bomb, fist, or BFR is moot. The criminal will target those percevied to be weaker than themselves. Having any tool gives the criminal more targets to choose from. The only way to curb the violent crimes committed is to remove the common element....the human element...the criminal element.

Be good to one another (because I am behind one of those doors),
Rev. Biggus

Slow day

Testing out the mobile blog.

Now part of Technorati

Technorati Profile

Still Nothing

Guess what....still no response from the attorney general of the state of Arizona.

If a person went to his office and demanded an answer, he/she would be arrested. If a person withholds taxes until my redress was acted upon, he/she would be arrested. If a person decided to bypass the system and make child support payments directly to the other parent, he/she would be considered a dead beat and arrested.

That sounds like a similar process called extortion. If the government can't get their piece of the pie, you are punished. It is extortion.

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus