The Adventures of The Flying Dutchman

2005-11-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

I'm in lovely Pueblo COlorado, visiting my old roomate Tyler Watts and his lovely wife Jeanna, as well as my God daughter, the incredibly gorgeous Ms Emma Jean Watts!!!

2005-09-28T17:29:00.000-04:00

While for much of American history the Constitution was the focal point of civics instruction and education, in the later half of the 20^th Century the Declaration of Independence has resumed its rightful position. Though simply a declaration of secession without the force of law inherent in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence contains statements of philosophic principles deeply ingrained in the signatories’ character and found throughout the later Constitution. The distinguished author of the Declaration of Independence envisioned a land whose governments were based on the rule of law, dedicated to the belief in the right of individuals to live their lives free from unjust deprivation of property and government oppression. Above all, the Declaration of Independence was grounded solidly upon the principle that governments derive their just powers only from the consent of the governed. To defend this principle the drafters voluntarily offered to, in Lockean fashion, hazard everything, mutually pledging “to each other, our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Thus the Declaration was based on the principle that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights”. Furthermore, to protect and “secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed”. Continuing, the Declaration states that the people have the right to “alter or abolish” any government that fails to secure these God-given rights, creating and instituting a new government in such a fashion as to “effect their Safety and Happiness.”

They tried. Through failed experiments under the Articles of Confederation it became apparent that a more vigorous central government was necessary to provide the protection of rights sought and described by the Declaration To better secure their hard-won rights and liberties, the Constitution’s framers met in Philadelphia to create a government energetic enough to fulfill its numerous responsibilities, yet within specific limits designed to check its growth beyond its delegated sphere of imperium. Intended to preserve and secure property rights claimed in the Declaration, the Constitution created a federate, republican system of government designed to protect and defend liberty from government. It forbade the violations of individual rights the British committed prior to the revolution, including suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, torture, perpetual surveillance, seizure upon suspicion without a probable cause, abolishment of Posse Comitatus, and warrant-less searches of a person and his property.

The new Constitution was specifically designed to protect the rights of individuals and the pre-existent powers of the States while forestalling the possibility of the eventual emergence of tyrannical government. To achieve this end, the framers entrenched structural limits into the Constitution. Moreover, to provide protection, the framers of the Constitution implemented the unique and ingenious system of government which composes the central government of the United States. A powerful legislative branch, with all delegated power over the sword and the purse, and all matters falling under the mantle of the “enumerated powers,” an independent Judicial branch, peerless in federal cases in its jurisdiction, and the Executive branch, the enforcer of the laws, chief negotiator with foreign powers, and commander in chief of the military completed the system.

Divided into Articles, the Constitution was specifically designed to prevent repetitions of the tyrannical abuses of power by the English Parliament condemned so strongly in the Declaration. Most prominent among these is Article I, Section 8, which defines the limits of the branch of government closest to the sovereigns, the people. It grants Congress authority only for the accomplishments of specific constitutionally permitted aims.

In addition to establishing this strong system of checks and balances within the three branches of government, the Constitution provided an even more important system, the system of divided sovereignty. Complete with sovereignties within sovereignties, imperium in imperio, this dual federal system was designed specifically to deal with the conception of just government the signers of the Declaration of Independence maintained; a system where the government protects the natural pre-existing, God-given rights of the people. Under the system of dual sovereignty, the enforcement of the Constitution was neither left to some government administrator, nor its interpretation solely to a life-tenured government judiciary. Instead, it was to be enforced at its most fundamental level, by the parties to its articles, the people of the several States.

The framers of the Constitution were aware of the inherently evil tendencies of government, its propensity to gather power onto itself until it reigns as a single monolith over all its subjects. They recognized that no matter what a parchment says, liberty is dependent upon the republican character and virtues of its citizenry, and they labored to create a system which fostered rather than hampered these crucial civic virtues. To forestall the possibility of the emergence of such despotism, the framers conceived a brilliant plan, the creation of an extra-governmental system of checks and balances. As a result, the Constitution they created mandated and enforced an atmosphere of divided loyalty to the State and to the federal government. The object of this Constitution was specifically to create a “more perfect Union,” a union to provide for the mutual defense of the States: to secure their liberties and general welfare. In essence, the Constitution sought to defend the independence the States had won during the revolution and assist the States against all force threatened or exercised against them on any grounds in the future while remaining consistent with the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

This States’ “rights” tradition promoted and fueled psychological opposition to any attempt at nationalization of power. It was recognized that both State and federal governments would be jealous of the affections of the citizenry, both would strive for their loyalties by offering better protection of natural rights, allowing neither to focus on self-aggrandizement. Thus the founders clearly understood that a government could not become absolutist without a monopoly on the loyalty of their citizens. Though within its structure there are defenses of Lockean natural rights theory found in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution’s Bill of Rights most clearly demonstrates its pedigree.

The Bill of Rights apply equally to all departments and branches of government, and simply enumerate rights without grant, in essence, recognizing the pre-existent natural rights of human beings. Moreover, they act as a further negative force on the aggrandizement of central power. The First Amendment acknowledges freedom of conscience, banning federal intervention in private religious beliefs. The Second recognizes that despotic governments seek to disarm the citizenry and to counter this threat the amendment helps guarantee the right to “throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.” That is, the right to revolution found in the Declaration. The next three amendments all specifically forbid central government interference with, or violation of, the individual unalienable right to private property. The Ninth Amendment explicitly guarantees that the power grants in the Constitution are limited to their literal English meaning; thus ensuring that the federal government has been notified that the rights enumerated in the Constitution are in no way reflective of the great mass of residual rights and powers the sovereign people possess. The following amendment, the 10^th, simply underscores the nature of the Constitution, proclaiming that the central government only possesses those powers delegated to it by the Constitution: all other powers reside with the States or the people.

Though the Constitution largely followed and enacted the principles and promise of the Declaration of Independence, it compromised the core principles of the Declaration in several key areas. Foremost amongst the compromises is the problem of those held in the bondage of involuntary servitude. The Declaration of Independence states unequivocally that “all men are created equal,” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” among which are “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Additionally, the Declaration makes it clear that governments derive “their just Powers from the consent of the governed.” Those held in involuntary servitude were “governed,” but they assuredly did not give their consent to such a tyrannical system. However, the framers of the Constitution realized the insidious nature of this particular “institution,” and made provision for its eventual elimination as demonstrated by the Northwest Ordinance, and the anti-importation clause (Article I, Section 9, Clause 1). It is important to realize that this “institution” was widespread and had been in existence the full entirety of civilization. The framers understood this conflict but desired to form a “more perfect union,” a country with a bright horizon unfettered by the shrouds of conflict (religious, social, political, economic) which beset Europe. To realize their passion for preserving and expanding liberty for the next generation, the founders compromised and accepted egregious demands, though never truly referencing the “institution.” They recognized its existence without granting it the weight of their moral support. They abhorred it, but believed its temporary acceptance would serve, in the future, to actually spread rather than constrict freedom.

2005-08-11T00:14:00.000-04:00

I'm in Minnesota, Brit and I are broken up, and I have a job offer for about 40K a year...not too shabby, but I'd trade it for a healthy relationship-Anyway, I'm off to bed.

2005-08-02T20:14:00.000-04:00

MUhahahahaha

2005-03-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

New Web blog folks, I'll occasionally post on this one though....

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=GoDutch

Later

2005-03-08T12:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I switched rooms yesterday, and now I occupy a 3 person room...complete with 3 beds, which have managed to make one large bed for me ;-) In any case, I got up early and went to the gym this morning, I go tuesday and thurdsay at 6 and sunday afternoons in addition to using some of the free weights I have here with me and running on the aqueduct behind the foundation. I have to get back to work. Tschuss!

2005-03-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

Hello,

While I haven't managed to recently update my blog I did think that I should at least attempt to post on it every few days. Hopefully I remember...

As previously mentioned in a post, I am now working at the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, living east of Michigan for reasons other than vacation for the first time. I live in the 3rd floor of a marvelous old mansion overlooking the Hudson, I have all the ammenties necessary for comfortable life, or rather, a tolerable existance, and though for a few weeks I didn't see all that many great things about living and working in the same place, I am actually greatly enjoying myself now.

I wake daily at around 8:50-shower-return to my room soaking wet in a towel to discover that once again I have showered for 11 minutes and I'm late for work downstairs. Stumbling to throw my clothes on I usually step on something incredibly painful in my room, perhaps an old broken hanger I've neglected to pick up and disgard for months, perhaps a razor sharp pen, callously left on the floor after a late-night reading session. I grab a few vitamins, rip my cell phone and its charger directly from the powerstrip lurking for me beneath my feet when I awake and spring from bed, stuffing them into my right pocket I frantically rip piles of laundry of quite dubious condition apart in an often vain quest for clean matching socks. Inevitably, I fail to find any in the 5 seconds I have available for this search and I settle for a pair that either doesn't smell too bad or that doesn't match...stuffing them into my left pocket, I tuck in my shirt, hastily-almost strangle myself putting on my tie of the day, almost rip it off again trying to breathe, thunder half-way down the stairs, only to remember my immediate superior at the bottom, I pause, contemplate turning around and going down the stairs at the other end of the long upstairs hall. Then I decide, what the heck, I walk down and sigh with relief and cross myself despite not being a catholic. Turning the corner, I thunder down the other set of stairs, through the mailroom into my office. I collapse to recuperate from everything in my chair, grateful to have escaped. Then my day begins.

2005-01-17T16:25:00.000-05:00

Well all, I'm now out in Irvington-on-Hudson at the Foundation for Economic Education. I'll write more later. BK

2004-10-18T14:35:00.000-04:00

Nearer still my God to thee.

This past Thursday I drove to the Detroit airport and flew to Kansas City where my parents picked me up and drove me down to Mountain Home, Arkansas for the funeral of my grandmother. When we arrived at my grandfather's home I was shocked. He has become an old man since I last saw him. His once beautifully weeded and tended gardens and greenhouse were overrun with weeds. Spiderwebs hung from the entryway and ceiling. His cupboards largely bare, but upon the wall hung a magnificent painting by my uncle, depicting the young 13 year-old Christ in the Temple with the Scribes. All the family was there, Aunt Ruthy, Rebecca, Judith, Stephanie, my mother and all the brothers, Johnnanes, Michael, and Stephen, as well as a few of my cousins, John, Mary, Deborah and Abbigale. Grandpa was hiding behind the door, and as we entered, Uncle Stephen signaled to him, and out the 82 year-old jumped, seizing my hand and with his usual unnabated strength, gave me a real handshake. He has aged many years in the brief 3 year interlude in which we have been separated. But as Moses, his strength is not yet abated, nor his eyes yet dimmed. The next morning we all rose and went to the viewing service and for the first time in my life I saw my grandfather cry, in sobs surrounded by his children with Oma in the casket in front of them. After this we all went to dinner together. We rose the next day and attended the funeral service. The chappel was completely filled, and my grandfather sat on the front row in his suit with his too short tie with his American flag lapel. We sang two lovely hymns and heard two others from a dear old friend of grandpa and grandma. Then the pastor read a poem found in grandma's journal. It reads:

Why should I be afraid?
It is not death to die
Tis but a step to glory
And a mansion in the sky
How can I be afraid?
The Lord is with me still
And loves me as he did that day
He died upon the hill
Afraid? Of What? No nights so big,
It can be his glory dim
Afraid, Oh no, though Jordan roar.
I cross dry shod with him.

As the service ended the entire audience was led to the front of the chaple to walk past grandpa and the body of grandma. To see so many people pass and thank my grandfather for all Oma and he have meant over the years was truely incredible. Neither my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my parents or myself could contain ourselves. We wept. Everyone paused and placed their hand upon his shoulder as they passed, they paused and looked down upon him. Offering a brief statement, each passed by. After this we drove to the gravesite for the graveside service, and as it went on, the wind crept up and blew, and John and I gave our coats to our cousins and they wrapped themselves in them. This being accomplished, we all went to lunch, leaving my uncle standing alone upon the little hill beside the grave, his form only being recognizable beside the plot. And so passed Lucille Esther Veldhuis, born in another age in 1926 and being reunited with the Lord 78 years later on 12 October 2004. I can write no more.

2004-10-13T00:19:00.000-04:00

Good evening,

This afternoon I was notified that Oma Veldhuis died this morning, 12 October 2004. Married for many decades to Opa Veldhuis she was, despite her flaws, a grandmother, and a loved and cherished wife. Her passing marks a large break with my family of the past. I will attempt to attend her funeral this coming Saturday morning. My grandfather, a man for whom I have unbounded respect and admiration, a man of sterling character and unyielding principle in the face of seeming failure, a Christian gentleman in all cases, the vanquisher of supposedly terminal cancer, a heroic explorer of the Dutch East Indies, a young sailor in the Dutch Royal Navy, and the husband of a young wife who knew him 6 weeks before his departure for the South Pacific. It is for him that I will go, for him I will make the effort, it is his life that has been spent so fully in the service of his fellow man and loved family. If for once in my life I can manage to life to his standards I will die a whole man, my life completely fulfilled. I pray I may be a man like my grandfather. After so many years of marriage, to sit beside Oma and hold her hand, reciting the entire book of Psalms for days. It is for him, for my mother, for myself, that I will go. I must take up the torch which has been passed, and fulfill the potential which, God-willing, resides within.

Goodnight.

2004-09-25T03:14:00.000-04:00

finished a class for the semester for dr victor davis hanson, the history of the peloponnesian war....finis

2004-09-08T21:06:00.000-04:00

And now, friends and countrymen, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world, the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind?

Let our answer be this: America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.

She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.

She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.

She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart. She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right. Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.
She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.

She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....

She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....

[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice. ~John Quincy Adams, 4 July, 1821

2004-07-30T15:18:00.000-04:00

in NYC, having a blast, gtg beotches

2004-07-19T12:44:00.000-04:00

aut vincere aut mori

In less than a week I depart for FEE....Brit was down here for the weekend, watched a couple of sweet movies, took her to dinner, read in the arb and watched 3 fawns playing together...most enjoyable experience. I checked 23 books out from the library last week and I've read 6 of them, most on the rise and fall of Saxon England, and of course, on the nature of government and its tyrannical officials and officers. Is not being forced to fill out an income-tax form a violation of the 5th Amendment, prohibiting coerced self-incrimination? I think it very well might be, and I'm exploring the possibility of bringing a case dealing with such a topic to the attention of the Court. This is obviously quite risky, if one brings such a case and loses, the penalty would be quite severe...Additionally, is not jury-service involuntary servitude equal in infamy to the coercive military draft??? Anyway, enjoy the picture below, taken of a dead Confederate volunteer at the fall of Petersburg to Grant in April 1865. These are the results of the Lincoln Administration's adoption of the philosophy of Total War. President Jefferson Davis and the South stalwartly refused to adopt the same murderous civilian massacring tactics employed by the North, and thus attempted to employ Trench Warfare to combat it, this dead patriot is a profound example of the results. Finis

2004-07-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Anno urbis conditae 2603 VII JER

Well, sitting here for the first time since I arrived back here, Cass and Conan are awesome roomates, and even though I don't have a car, life is grand, I'm tired all the time, playing soccer, working painting and plumming, and reading the rest of Human Action...in any case, farewell...

2004-06-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat

Sucessfully and by the grace of God miraculously completed straight A's for the summer session!!!!!!! swung through chicago for the weekend on the way home, had a decent enough time I suppose, though riding in the back of a crammed 2door montecarlo while being bombarded by rap and trying not to offend a rather peevish trip companion(who was driving as one possessed) sucked monkeyballs...I've decided that I like Michigan better than Minnesota, and with so many friends there I can't resist going back for the rest of the summer. I've managed to line up my own handyman jobs for the rest of the summer....they pay good money, offer hard work in the sun, and no taxes!!! FUCK the gov't....I was awoken this morning by a very close and dear old friend of mine, a friend whom I first met in 5th grade and with whom I shared many experiences...including a quite serious drunken fistfight which almost resulted in a baseballbat brawl but was avoided by our well timed but very ill-advised drunken escape in my old "blue beast" down the road to an church parkinglot for the rest of the night...in any event, getting a call from him from North Carolina with the news that he'll be arriving shortly really made my day....Additionally, I caught a 4 1/2lb bass at the willow creek resovoir...a monstrous old fish, scarred and strong, it broke my trusted reel and stripped out all my line, but I seized the line in my hands and fought the fish, pulling him in hand over hand in a struggle for "dominion" praise Allah, I prevailed..enough blather....peace beotches

2004-06-14T11:21:00.000-04:00

Damn, I love this. 85 degrees and sunny...I've just finished my final in pongracic's Money and Banking and I have to confess that I've probably learned more in the past several weeks here than in several combined semesters of "forced" classes. To partially comprehend what government has done to our money is I believe, crucial for any correct understanding of the health and wealth of the United States' political economy. The weekend was spectacular, though I studied a grand total of 3 hrs last night, being distracted by more pressing matters the remainder of the last 3 days....I am anticipating leaving here once again with an inexplicable but ever present sense of dread, an intraverted and somewhat repressed phobia of change....it is the "conservative" within my soul, welling up, fearing change and progress...I hope I may not be either a conservative, fearing change and worshiping old evils, or a liberal, seeking to substitute new evils for the old...I'm thinking of visiting Christian for a few days up in Leamington across the border, but I foolishly neglected (for the first time since I arrived here) to bring my passport along with me....the last time I crossed back from canada without my passport I was searched and detained for several hours...and I would prefer to avoid a reenactment of that occurance. But my desire for incredible cooking and the company of my illustrious cousins may overwealm me yet...cass and I have been runnning twice a day, swimming, lifting, and playing soccer(as best we can with only a handful of guys....) so I feel that I can take a break for a while and still be fine....later beotches

2004-06-10T14:55:00.000-04:00

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

2004-06-02T14:30:00.000-04:00

back in the 'dale for summerschool WHOOPI!!!!!!! actually i'm having a grand time here, it's incredibly sunny and warm outside, and I've grilled out every meal I've been back....consuming 10lbs of chicken yesterday. The gym's open, and with all my class work done by 2 pm each day I have been able to run 6 miles a day, 3 in the morning, and 3 in the afternoon for the last couple days and have time to play soccer with ike, moe and cass. I talkled to Michelle yesterday at the gym, and she's going to go somewhere down in Texas for law school in the fall. Money and Banking is a magnificent class, I absolutely love going through the history of the consolidation and governmental monopolization of banking, and the horrid destruction of the gold standard and introduction of fiat, fractional-reserve banking. To me it is evident that our economy is fucked, whenever the final break comes is of little consequence, the fact remains that our currency has been effectually separated from commodity based monetary units since 1971, and the dollar, once defined as 1/20 an oz of gold, has sunk to aprox 400/oz. But I digress. . .Conan is a truely a barbarian dog, but I am sucpicious that he has homosexual tendencies hehehehe....based on his encounter the other night with ike's husky...I've burned over 50 CDs since I came back here, recapturing most of my Pink Floyd and Guns N' Roses collection which was so violently ripped from my still grieving person...Tschuss Beotches :-)

2004-05-28T00:04:00.000-04:00

"felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas"

What defines a man as a human being and separates him from the beast of the field is not his desire to better his condition, or his search or pursuit of "higher things." Rather, and most fundamentally, the creature man is human because of his ability to act in direct opposition to his instincts, to violate nature and her commandments in an often vain attempt to satisfy some greater longing. It is evident that man acts in order to satisfy the want of the greatest magnitude and proportion, and this, in my opinion, also includes those who are "criminally insane," or commit "crimes of passion." Man is no puppet of his desires, supposedly innate instincts can and often must be overcome, I for one am a clear example of this...Often I feel the burning blinding rage at a foe or opponent, and think, "I'm bigger, faster, stronger, why not knock this cheeky bastard down," only to stop and restrain myself, evaluating my options and adopting that which I believe will most ably fulfill my final objective. Thus the only difference between premeditated crimes and an emotional crime is in the motive, the action was identical, and as we each may never grasp or hope to understand the subjective valuations of individuals, all we can judge is the act in its raw form. However, this is not to say that an emotional outburst is based upon the same thoughtful evaluations and deliberations as a normal decision. Clearly, emotions disarange valuations. Blinded by raw passion, goals appear so desirable that the costs pale Pyrriclly in contrast. Thus acts undertaken in an emotional haze, either love or rage, often are far more costly than originally intended, and are thus, as often regretted.

P.S. We sold the first of Stormy's puppies today. . . $1,000

2004-05-26T00:31:00.000-04:00

chillin once again in my luxurious house, several friends are downstairs relaxing watching Basic. . .I'm beginning to settle back in to this slower pace of living. . .running around town doing various tasks for the family, collecting on a few old debts, and planning my escape back to the East in slightly over a week. . . but, I must not be a neglectful host, so I bid you adieu. Ben

2004-05-21T11:59:00.000-04:00

quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?

2004-05-11T01:03:00.000-04:00

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all we know on earth, and all we need to know.

you do not need to know my fucking thoughts, each of us must be the sole keeper of our consciousness, we alone must act, seeking beauty in whatsoever form we may desire it. Perhaps epicurean in nature, perhaps hedonistic in practice, it is the inevitable conclusion of this erstwhile "rational" man. Why should we not, famed economist and political theorist Ludwig Von Mises clearly established that all human action is rational, self-interested action. Furthermore, despite the "obvious" similarities, this existence is not one founded upon raw emotion or base instinct, but is rather based upon a logical appraisal of the situation, and the clear and decisive choice to follow that path which improves one's condition by the greatest margin. Thus I have over the course of the recently departed semester radically and fundamentally changed my views on how I should as a human being act in relation to other like creatures; deciding essentially to "fuck them," however, restrained by the prior knowledge of and personal regard for certain individuals I cannot, despite an occasional attempt, treat them in such a fashion. However, I have noticed a distinct change in the manner n which people deal with me, and in how I view them. Perhaps it is demeaning and inhumane to view people as means to an end, my personal happiness, but I believe that I am not merely using them to facilitate my own happiness, but rather a more rapid educational introduction to the shit hole we call earth, perhaps this planet is indeed "another universe's hell."

2004-05-09T05:35:00.000-04:00

To the few readers: you may as well think what you wish, for you must live with your own thoughts. However, I do wish to express my sincere appologies for the language in my post formerly holding this position. I was quite intoxicated at the time, having just returned with mark and tyler from originally Karl's, and later in the evening, Brittany's. I have just now returned to Minnesota, and having driven the distance for the 7th time this year, I feel somewhat at-ease with the road. I forgot my collection of beer bottle-caps, so I'll have to start with a new glass jar next fall. The 7 puppies are a month old today, being born just after my birthday, and they are truely magnificent creatures, additional to the 3 adult newfoundland dogs my family currently holds, we now have a St Bernard it would appear. Perhaps I will finally have enough to train them as sled-dogs. Im not precisely sure how long I'll spend in rochester, I was actually sickened when I drove in tonight, something deep in my stomach, some phobia, some irrepressible hatred of what has happened here, what happens here, and what will continue to happen here. However, I had to return, at least for a few short days in order to keep my word to friends, and of course pay my highest respects to my siblings, who I have disgracefully neglected in the past year or so, prior to their departure from rochester for the summer. The first summer session begins soon, and the second, which I will attend, commences on the 1st of June, my immediate older and younger brothers' birthdays. I'll be living with Cass at his house, and we have a great number of plans ready to implement at a moment's notice, plans including such diabolical amounts of fun that the gov't bastards assuradly attempt to squelch our little parties. . . However, enough mindless droning, I'm going to suprise my sisters in the morning by making them breakfast, so I need to get to bed, it's past 4:50 amazingly enough. Godspeed.

2004-05-07T05:33:00.000-04:00

well, poor ike got his faced smashed, i think steve's ok- my knuckles are bleeding,steve started it the fucktard. im tired and wet from tho rain,but in totalitytoday was a good day though i had to carry a fucking keg of Rolling Rock for a block on my shoudler which got damned heavy considering my mental state. The cops came, ordered everyone outside, and started looking for everybone who was fighting outside. i had blood on my handsface so i scooted. It wasn't a fair fight thouhg, and it ended up basicaly the delts adn allied "uber-pissed-off-at-the-world-redhaired-dutchmen" verses the offensive line but the cops intervened to save them :-). soccer was fun, tho tiring, and tommorow we play at noon as well,damit, i thoughtwe had our last game onsaturday. When I got in here i was drunk, but then I started writing this poem, which I now include below, after having cleaned the language and most of the gross spelling errors in the earlier typed material. this poem is based on a poem i read awhile ago, and on my original thoughts, yoube the judges....

Before full time summons softly me to sleep
Perhaps I nodding gently will recall,
And pausing deeply, remember in life's fall.
The shadowy pools your eyes gloriously so deep;

If I had but courage matched equally with desire,
For so I loved your movements of simple grace,
That I gladly bore the etched sorrows on your face
Yet somehow, despite love like consuming fire,

I in error did despondently retire,
To you blame was directed for many days
But now I stand a man perceiving life's ways,
Being flung aside by your ferocious ire.

Thus now I bend beside the sun-struck bars,
And murmur forlornly how love fled
Then stride back into the mountains overhead
To hid my face among the crowds of stars.

2004-05-04T03:14:00.000-04:00

"Magna eloquentia, sicut flamma"

Tonight I have witnessed the veracity of this statement when applied to writing. As oration, writing requires a certain fervor, it consumes energy like a flame and must be re-kindled often to retain its radiance of light and heat. When the day opened I had been awake for well over 24 hrs, and at the present hour I have been in a conscious state for over 40 hrs with no end in sight. Fortuna has smiled once again, though perhaps it is a grimace of sadistic pleasure at my unfortunate condition. While I have had two finals over the last day I have also almost completely written a 25 page research paper on the hidden costs of waging war. In the interregnum between the end of classes and beginning of summer I have 2 more tests and this "treatise" to complete. I'm told that tomorrow's edition of the Rochester Post-Bulletin will contain a full article on my two young sisters, one of whom, Rachel, departs for Rice in the distant Southland in the coming fall; while the other, Hannah, remains in Rochester as a junior at Mayo High School. I am completely unaware of anything that has transpired at home, being almost completely isolated in a state of de-facto ostracism here in the Michigan pastureland. I soon shall be released from my prison, and shall spring into the sunlit sky ecstatic in my new-found freedom. Part of me will regret leaving here, defeat only reluctantly is acknowledged by these lips. Additionally, over the last semester I have become fast-friends with a large number of ex-delts and gotten to know a sizable percentage of the Chi O population here on campus, and I have found them worthy of camaraderie. Tonight one of them, a young lady with whom I had rarely spoken, yet had been in class with since freshman year told me that she was horrified that I was leaving, and that she always thought I was brilliant in class and that she had only admiration for my continuously stalwart refusals to consider any compromise of principle. I must confess that I was taken aback, I don't take complements well, and I attempted to correct her for a few minutes, but to no avail. At any event, individuals such as this I will miss deeply, conscienciously. It's too bad I didn't make their acquaintances previously, as they are fine indeed. ;-) In any case, I have decided to fly the coop, and only a paper and 2 finals remain to be beaten into submission before I return to Rochester and commence plotting the demise of opponents, victory of allies, and what future the fall holds for me. Finis

2004-05-01T03:53:00.000-04:00

Selig sind, die in dem herrn sterben

MAYDAY!!!! To open with a captioned warning, Im not in complete comtrol of my mental or physical faculties, but I highly doubt it really matters. anyway, It's Mayday, a day of happiness, and the world is full of a bunch of FUCKTARDS. People are not human, humanity requires certain characteristics which are clearly missing from people, they may look human, they may breathe and perhaps even feel physical pain, but they lack the soul, the consciousness of external individuals' existance which truely defines man as a social creature. they do not act as social creatures, but as if they and they alone exist and all the rest are subservient to their petty desires and wants. While i whould not be so proud to exclude myself from this broad classification, i think that i do occasionallu try to assist my felelow man. WHen we walk in the street, or go to class, do we not think to ourselves, the world is mine, i am its master. i think far to many of us do, and in doings o, forget that we are all crerated in the image of God, or if you prefer, a stoic "universal rreason" which has endowed us with reason, a kindled spark which allows us to advocnce ourselves through providing mutualy benefitial goods to one another, but limited and prevented from destructive capacities by property rights and an understanding that a man's labor is his owm, and to come betweent hat and him is theft, and may justly be resisted, evern to the point of lethal force. Howevr, I digress. perhaps aeschyllus was right, perhaps we must indeed learn the nature of man soleely from suffering, against one's ownwill. As for me, I dont want to evenrwrite in a complaintive mood, so i will spare you lonely reader the mention of my own personall experiences reagrding these subjects. howver, i must say that i feel poissoned, my soul feels sick, i see myself a shell, i think the best thing to do is shut yourslef off from feeling anythingabout anyone in particular, and jsuyt be "nice' ato everyone in general anda godamned prick to anyione you even contemplate getting close to, interesting bullshit huh.blahh perhaps itsthe (deltted to prevent ATF/DEA raid) talking;-) anyways, im fgoing to go smoke some lucky strikes, the best damned unmothefuckingfilteredcigarretts on the market. the fogrises, i must be away...beotch ehhe

2004-04-27T18:50:00.000-04:00

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht? -
Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif? -
Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif. -

Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit dir;
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand."

Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht? -
Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein."

Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort? -
Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.

"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!

Dem Vater grausets, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

English cannot do it justice....however, for those of you less capable of reading German, try to enjoy the translation below, I'd encourage all of you to listen to Schubert's rendition of the Erlkönig...farewell

WHO rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely, he keepeth him warm.

"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."

"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me!
Full many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
The words that the Erl-King now breathes in mine ear?"
"Be calm, dearest child, 'tis thy fancy deceives;
'Tis the sad wind that sighs through the withering leaves."

"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care
My daughters by night their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters has brought here for me?"
"My darling, my darling, I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."

"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy!
And if thou'rt unwilling, then force I'll employ."
"My father, my father, he seizes me fast,
Full sorely the Erl-King has hurt me at last."

The father now gallops, with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard with toil and with dread,--
The child in his arms finds he motionless, dead.

2004-04-22T20:27:00.000-04:00

Strenuous day, but managed to survive, soccer in the afternoon, gym in the early evening...now im in afine frame of mind and relaxin in style....I have to write a paper tonight, and that certainly will be interesting...somehow I agreed to go play my bass for Natalie tonight, so hopefully I can get in the bass room(I lost my key a long long time ago)....whatever, I hope I can walk straight all the way there, the damned cops are thicker than flys. I just put a bunch of new pictures on the blog, so hopefully one or two of you might see them at some point...here's something that I found in J.J. Rouseau's Social Discourse that I think is worth while.... "The misfortune is that the man who compares himself with others is always unhappy....Not only does the desire to be first lead him to commit the everyday mischief...it also obliges him to to give others a pleasing image of himself...his exterior will can never be in harmony with his interior and his life will be a permanent lie...for the man who lives by comparison is the one who, in his relationships with others only thinks of himself, and in his relations with himself, thinks only of others, HE IS DIVIDED MAN." thats it for now, im done, later beotches

2004-04-21T22:10:00.000-04:00

I Just arrived home from haskins', where michelle, anna and a bunch of other kappas made us a Porto-Rican dinner which I must add was incredibly good, though I had to provide the wine.....Tyler's finally back from colorado, and I've concluded that for the duration of the semester I shall not get plastered at all(save perhaps on the last night of finals) this only precludes and prevents me from partaking in excessive alcohol consumption, and is in no way intended to be interpreted as a signal that I have become temperate in any way. I have two large papers totaling 35 pages to write before next friday and I just know I'll be writing the last 25 the night before.....oh well, procrastination can be such a bitch hehehe. On another note, I have been reminded that I placed a 100$ bet on the victory of John Kerry in November of this year, so perhaps I should begin collecting the pennies with which I intend to pay if indeed I lose....well, Im off, I must go negotiate a certain illicit transaction...later beotches

2004-04-19T02:20:00.000-04:00

well, I wish i could write something prond,, but that indeed is overated in my opinion. this may not be the most coherent enry, but I feel it to be necessary, if not, okey doke as well. i dont remember wwhat im talking about and i cant focus on this damned screen, this weekend toughh was absolutel spectaculus eheh,the pig dig rocker....7 KEGS BEOTCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe, the Chi O date party was excellent as well, except fucking Snow got alcohol poisoning and we had to get ff the dance floor early and shit, but rest assured, alrightt experience that evening anyway, up up and away BITCHES!!!!!!!!!fu

2004-04-15T23:34:00.000-04:00

“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.”

The Iron Chancellor's statement remains true today; well over a year ago I listened to the limited debate within the chambers of power regarding the now clearly reprehensible war on Iraq. While it was evident to some foresighted individuals prior to the invasion, many did not recognize the light until the truth was brutally thrust into the forefront. The full scope of the military disaster in Syracuse...oops, sorry, I meant Iraq. It will become increasingly evident before the twin "foreign interventionist" party conventions, certainly prior to the November election; though hopefully without the defection of our Alcibiades. To remind those skeptics among you, President Bush claimed last spring that: "Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles; far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and other nations in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and service members live and work." Hmmmm.... interesting isn't it. This is indeed ironic because NONE of the countries mentioned save Israel seemed at all concerned. Moreover, even if this claim had been true, it did not necessarily support armed aggression, but perhaps might have demonstrated a need to return overextended and imperial troops home to defend America. Cicero, to the day of his death at the hands of Marcus Antoniusbrilliantlyy explained why it is death to republican institutions to compel them to serve an empire. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and in like manner, a government cannot long remain one based on consent domestically and based on sheer unadulterated force abroad. As John Quincy Adams so poignantly stated: . Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. . . . She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit. . . . [America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty America has not heeded the prophetic warnings of our great and noble forbearers, she has spread like a great bay tree, and like that tree, may be swept down in a fierce gale. May God show mercy. (dont be to critical, I wrote this while drunk, later beotches)

2004-04-15T14:52:00.000-04:00

At ego non verebor nominare singulos.....

spoke to Joe last night for awhile, hadn't spoken to him in some weeks....a good conversation. finally fell asleep in the midst of a page of Crisis and Leviathan, woke up sitting in my armchair with the dawn breaking in front of me, a most captivating experience, for lo, the darkness has passed... I went up the hill early and walked through he arb, I watched and crept up upon 2 fawns nibbling the grass, getting to within 20 feet or so before I stopped. I read some Rousseau on the same bench that lisa roache shot herself 3 years ago this month, but I only realized it when I stood to leave. The carp and suckers are spawning in the creeks, some being well over 18 inches in length....one more entry relating to last weekend...after we had been drinking for some 6 hrs we piled into a couple trucks and all went spearing carp...an enterprise I advise all to attempt...tho myself I was hesitant for fear of impaling my own foot with the 10 foot long spear....well, I'm afraid the time has come to talk of cabbages and kings, of ships and sealing wax, and whether pigs have wings....no, not bed time :-) Soccer....later Beotches

2004-04-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

pigrum quin immo et iners videtur sudore adquirere quod possis sanguine parare.

back here at last at my house, it's cass's 21st birthday today and I'm goin to take him to the bar...we would have gone last night but sarah drove down from kalamazoo and we thought it might be imprudent to abscond when she's under 21 and just drove all this way to be with him...oh, check this shit out, he got a pretty sweet gift from her, a drumhead autographed by all the members of Guns and Roses...soccer was fun, orchestra a bore, the choir just can't get it right, fucking douches..That's right, all of ya!!! I discovered that I have been nominated to play the privilaged role of sawer in half-nose to tail...of the hog...this will occur tommorow evening, so pray for me :-), I've never had to cut something in half like that, it should be interesting. Almost everyone I've talked to is planning on coming, so this should be the mother of all parties for the semester. On a completely different note, this sunday I'll be paintballing in the afternoon with the ex-delts vs the sigma chi s, and I'd encourage all of you do sign up...come on out, I'd love to shoot most of you...repeatedly :-) On the war front...The rally in front of central hall went well, apparently we are in fact highly dangerous individuals, we were infact outnumbered by police and security guards, and when I mentioned that I was going to move closer to one of these gov't "agents" I was notified that an action of that sort would be highly imprudent on my part...the war/occupation of iraq is clearly a failure, and yet these neo-cons still cling, wholly without reason of defense of logic to their ill-conceived war of aggression. It arouses such fierce and bitter anxiety within me that I believe it best for everyone, especially my vehement opposition here, if I remain silent. For this reason I will soon be issuing yet another manifesto...I mean essay...on the nature of this war, it's striking similarities to Israel's incursion and occupation of Lebanon and it's miserable future of failure in the desolate oily quagmire we know was iraq. later beotches...

2004-04-13T23:17:00.000-04:00

well, had a roman civ test today, went well, followed by soccer...of sorts :-) then gym, then dinner, then watched the Wings game at Kyle's....the party looks like a definite go for friday with the Kappa Kappa Gamma's and Pi Phi's deciding to fund us....anyway, I wnt to Haskins' house this afternoon and talked to joel, victoria and ben for awhile and took a look at their ducks....I discovered that I'd drawn the ire of some young lady for abrading her publicly at an IM basketball game in which I was a leading participant....but I apologized for my unsavory language...I only remember cussing her up and down because she was interfering in our game, interjecting her senseless babble into the already tense environment...anyway if she reads this I'm toast but what the fuck, that's unlikely hehehehe, anyway, I'm off, later beotches

2004-04-12T23:57:00.000-04:00

Today was just peachy, got up and ran all day, sometimes literally....now Im studying for a Roman civ test I have tommorow, so tonight should be interesting at the very least. I guess I went a little nuts saturday evening, the other fine gentlemen I went with have been telling about these "alleged incidents"...now I'm confused as to how much f this I actually did...the only thing I remember vividly(and lucidly) is comming up for air after I dove into the lake on a wager and thinking, "OH MY GOD, this is fucking freezing" followed immediately by that exact statement.....followed by a mad scramble to get out of the water. This object being attained, I promply fell off the other side of the pier back into the water, and dispite my valliant efforts I was unable to clammer back on, so I had to "swim" to shore. This action did i fact rouse me from my alcohol induced stupor, at least temporarily, and I, with some much appreciated assistance, staggered back up to my room, peeled off my shirt, and then....my memory fails....so much for that huh....peace beotches

2004-04-12T02:07:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter to ya'll!!!!!!!!! I have quite the story to tell about this last weekend, but I shall relate it later...suffice it to say, it was far and above the best weekend of this school year, and perhaps my entire collegiate career....head-butting Marius to metalica was unbeatable, even if I can't really remember..... later beotches.........

2004-04-09T06:07:00.000-04:00

Non cum corpore extinguuntur magnae animae, placide quiescas

Tonight I can't really sleep, I have tried, but have failed... in each case drifting slowly into a contemplative dream only to spring awake with a sudden thought, perhaps delirium :-). Thus I've had a significant amount of excess time, and in it I've been listening to a broad array of alt rock, and additionally have been voraciously reading various news sites all presenting "breaking" news about the crises in Iraq...the "insurgents" etc.... This coverage is quite intriguing to be because it's primary characters, i.e. the Iraqi Shiite resistance fighters are not(in my humble opinion) properly understood, their motives and basic belief structure remain un-penetrated by Western media. While I would never presume to be in a superior position from which to address this horrendous situation, I do feel that the comments I have written below have some validity. This being said, I will proceed with my main thesis, the incompatibility of the Western understanding of representative republican government and Islam. When I conclude I believe I shall drink a significant amount of wine and attempt to drown my darting thoughts and perchance sleep.

However, before this luxury is possible I must first proceed. Though sure to be controversial, I submit that Islam is fundamentally incompatible with freedom and a constitutional republican political theory. It is not only incapable of producing freedom, but it is also incapable of tolerating it. The fundamental tenets of Western Heritage, e.g. individualism, liberalism, constitutionalism, natural rights, liberty, equality, the rule of law, and the separation of church and state often are completely absent in the Islamic world. It is evident that this is primarily because Islamic law attempts to legislate each and every aspect of a person's life. Within Islam the individual generally does not have the freedom to decide his own course. He must accept Allah's rulings, as interpreted infallibly by the Muslim clerics. Liberal democracies are completely incompatible with such a pervasive and comprehensive legalism.

For those of you who are perhaps not versed in Islamic theology, Islamic law is codified in what is known as Sharia, which, combined with the Koran, dictates all aspects of a Muslim's life. Muslims, through Sharia, are denied free enterprise. They cannot take responsibility for their actions, as their actions are not free, but rather are merely legal requirements of a totalitarian religious law. Sharia is a harsh and repressive legal system. For example, under Sharia, women are considered inferior to men; the Koran states "Men have authority over women because Allah has made one superior to the other"(sura 4:34). The passage continues with a dreadful warning "As for them from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to their beds apart and beat them."(4:34). Moreover, their testimony in a court of law has half the value as a man's. Their movement is strictly restricted, and they cannot marry non-Muslims. It is a law code which is grounded neither in natural nor common law, but rather by the divine revelation of Allah. Sharia is considered divine and immutable, contrasting distinctly with "western" law, which is more "human" and is thus constantly changing.

To further address the issue of Islamic law it is necessary to examine the foundations of Islam. The Koran, the fundamental scriptures of Islam, is a tangled jungle of inconsistencies and contradictions. It is composed of various Talmudic, Christian, Samaritan and Zoroastrian writings. Though it contains a great many historical inaccuracies and errors, it does contain many laudable principles, even if these are not original ideas. These good principles, however, are vastly outweighed by terrible precepts: intolerance for other beliefs, multiple calls to violence, the acceptance and support of slavery,(sura 4:24) contept for human reason("he that follows a path other than that of the faithful, shall be given what he has chosen. We shall cast him into Hell."(4:112)., and discrimination against women(sura 4:24), among others.

While such private religious beliefs are certainly unsavory to the vast majority of American citizens, and further, to most inhabitants of this world, they are yet tolerated by and in the free countries of the world. The great distinction between the West's toleration of the private belief of an individual and that of an autocratic theocracy is plain. The individual, in the Western tradition, has a natural right to freedom, this includes freedom of expressing one's own religious opinion. In Muslim states, where separation of mosque (church) and state is unknown, the very mention of such a proposition is considered heresy. This is because Muslims believe that Allah is the head of state, so to separate religion from politics is akin to the worst abomination. Muhammed, the founder of Islam, was not merely a prophet, but also a statesman. He set the deadly precedent of an autocratic theocracy.

In contrast to Islam, in the Western tradition there is a distinct separation between politics and religion. This is because Christ's followers were persecuted for three centuries after he made his presence. Christ himself said, in adherence to this principle, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's (Matthew 22:21). These authorities, Caesar and God, dealt with different issues, each ruled his own realm, and each had his own laws. The United States presents a great example of the West's implementation of this principle. The Declaration of Independence of the United States restates the Lockean Natural rights theory of liberty; it states that the citizens have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, among other rights. These freedoms are irrespective of a citizen's religious or political views, there is no religious litmus test, no commandments about the clothing one can wear, or other legalistic religious qualifications. It is presumed that one will follow his own religious views with tolerance for dissenting opinions.

Moreover, the example of the US highlights other key differences between the religious-based Islamic polity and the West's more rational approach. The Constitution of the United States expressly forbids slavery and involuntary servitude (Amendment XIII). This contrasts with the Koran, which accepts slavery, even allowing Muslim men to cohabitate with any of their female slaves. (Sura 4.31) The US Constitution explicitly forbids and decries cruel and unusual punishment; (Amendment VIII). This is diametrically opposed to the position of the Sharia law code, which allows amputations, crucifixion, stoning, floggings, and other heinous punishments. In the Western tradition the individual is supreme, and the rights of the individual cannot be trumped. The US Constitution limits the power of the government, it shields individuals from unjust actions by the government, it preserves the individual's rights of freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, peaceful assembly, and the rights of persons accused of crimes against state abuses. A constitutional republic extends the sphere of individual freedom and attaches all possible value to each man and woman. It follows that a legitimate ruler derives his power from the people; contrary to this, Muslims believe that legitimate authority comes from Allah alone, and that it is their duty to obey his commands. This kind of belief structure succeeds only when total obedience is enforced, and any religion that demands total submission in all of life is highly unlikely to create critical thinkers.

Individualism is thus clearly not a distinct feature of Islam. Instead, the collective will of the Muslim people is emphasized, without any notion or conception of individual rights. Thus, Islam is much more conducive to an overbearing clergy, and is hence responsible for the many centuries of stagnation in the Islamic world. Muslim clerics associate Islam with nationalism, equating differences of opinion in religion to treason, and the desire to reform government with impiety. Because of this, unlike the West, Islamic regions never managed to undergo a "reformation", and most certainly did and can not, as did Europe and America in the 18th and 19th centuries, embrace secular liberalism.

A particular objection to the belief that Islam is inconsistent with freedom is that there are no true Islamic states, but only corrupt fundamentalist-hijacked states. This may be true, but surely there is or has been no example of a wholesome, tolerant Muslim state in modern history. As Norman Podhoretz states we can learn more by looking at really existing Islam today than by reading the Koran. Leading Islamic apologists wanting to adopt Western institutions have pretended to find Islamic antecedents for them in order to make these foreign institutions palatable to their own people. This strategy, far from promoting democracy, has led to intellectual dishonesty and has ignored the true problem. For example, Shaykh Muhammed Hisham Kabbani states that Islamic traditions should be underscored by such ideas as human rights, religious tolerance, respect for women, democracy and civic virtue. The true issue, whether the Sharia is an acceptable form of law, has been left untouched.

Thus it is unnecessary and impossible to attempt to invent a precedent for an Islamic state accepting the principles of liberty, human rights, and the separation of church and state. In 1947, India became a democratic state and it has survived through this day. No one wasted time looking through the Hindu holy literature to justify the decision to adopt a parliamentary system upon independence. The only country in the Islamic world which can perhaps be said to be democractic is Turkey. Consequently, (direct correlationn in my opinion) it is the only Muslim country which has adopted the separation of religion and state. Islam has been fully eliminated from the Constitution, and the Sharia is no longer the basis for the laws of the country.

Because the vast majority of Muslim clerics have their own interpretations of the Sharia, what allows us to say that their interpretations are incorrect, and that of the Muslimapologistt minority correct? The Sharia remains the essence of Islamic civilization and society. It is perhaps open to some interpretation and debate, but it certainly is not completely flexible.

The individualism common in Western civilization was a critical ingredient in the development of human rights, but this Individualism is not present in Muslim nations or Islamic culture. Moreover, it is difficult to locate any modern historical example of an Islamic school of thought that celebrated critical thinking as a virtue. Islamic civilization does not create an intellectual climate that was conducive to the protection of individual rights and freedoms. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in a speech in my presence here at Hillsdale College, stated(refering to 9-11), "freedom is under assault." She is partially correct: but freedom is under assault from more than terrorists, it is besieged by Islam itself. The current Iraqi situation cannot be fully comprehended without a soulful and honest examination of the fundemental belief structures of the "players of the game." Thus, it follows that; fully incompatible with personal liberty, Islam seeks to rid the world of it. As the Noble-Prize winning economist Friedrich von Hayek wrote, "individual freedom cannot be reconciled with the supremacy of one single purpose to which the whole society must be entirely and permanently subordinated. Islam will produce freedom and champion human rights only when it insists on the enforcement of an altered Islamic law, or Sharia, and when there is at last true and unbridgeable division between mosque and state.

In vino veritas....paucioribus tamen lacrimis compositus es, et novissima in luce desideravere aliquid oculi tui. FINIS

2004-04-08T15:57:00.000-04:00

Last night I watched the Wings game and relaxed at a party over at Karl, Kyle and Cass's house, and we came to the positively brilliant(inebriated) idea that a party royal must be thrown in honor of the end of this most ungracious semester, and the arrival of summer. We've settled upon a drunken bash/pig roast, and decided that in addition to 4-6 kegs, we would purchase a large pig and cook it whole, or split down the middle...in an oven of our own manufacture....So today we purchased a 180lb piggy.....should be about 130 lbs dressed, so a good sized lunker....gathering money will be the most difficult stage of this operation, especially because we estimate that this party will attract several hundred people...but, do to our great ability to "scrounge" up materials, we've established an achievable budget of $600 for the party. I'll prob put another post up on Lockean political theory in the immediate future, so you may have something worth reading on your screen before long....OH, BTW, my ticket was reduced to $10 by the magistrate I appealed to....., she wrote "It was refreshing to read your explanation, your frankness and candor impressed me, personal responsibility is a rare trait these days and I assuradly believe it will make you sucessful in academic pursuits, and in your life. I have decided in light of the information provided me to reduce you fine to $10."....peace beotches

2004-04-07T20:23:00.000-04:00

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

2004-04-05T23:59:00.000-04:00

The few who may perchance read this post, or this site are likely wasting their time if they want to learn anything; because at the moment I'm in the lengthy process of being formally educated, and though someday that may in fact conclude, like every open and honest individual, I know nothing... Be that as it may....Upon further contemplation on the preceding topics and posts, I've concluded that it would be both wise and expedient if i don't put any emotional or moral attachment on any of my actions or the actions of others. I dont know if I can actually implement this though, I fear that I am to weak, maybe I am craven...But by God I will try come hell or highwater, my grandfather told me that when a duty presents itself, a corresponding power comes to enable us to perform and fulfill it. I dont know, I want to believe it, I honestly wrestle within my beleaguered mind to seek solutions based on a fundamental principle, rather to rely upon the momentary shifting winds of "necessity." I was taught that doing the right thing never requires one to resort to vile subterfuge or guile, but rather is simple and direct, requiring only a noble soul and a firm will in order to be implemented. But here I am damned completely and all my possible powers of persuasion fail utterly...I know these great governing guidelines and truths and even talk to others(such as yourself) about them in complete hypocrisy as I fail to enact them. Anyway, I ramble on again incessently, it's amazing, if you've managed to slog your way to this juncture, I've actually become tired of my own words and thoughts, but my only refuge is sleep, alcohol, and a few other things, ..and angels bear thee to thy rest...

2004-04-04T23:59:00.000-04:00

well happy campers, I'm here in my house on rippon street, contemplating life and finding it lacking on several fundemental levels, so I think I'm going to focus on finishing what I've sworn to finish here, then i'll be free. At least until I blunder again...it's amazing how long my learning curve is, I have concluded that contrary to the assurances of friends I am in fact not gifted with intuition, but rather rely on a strange mixture of hard work and painful experience in my decision making. What to do though now is of the gravest importance, to finish a paper in which my interest is minimal, or simply defy it and simply cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war. I think I shall attempt to do the right thing. Perhaps for once fate will smile, and I shall suceed.

2004-04-03T00:50:00.000-05:00

Der fliegende Hollander...Noch merh zuruckhaltend

For all those of you who have been wondering, aching to know why my blog is thus named, the following is dedicated to you. The term 'Flying Dutchman' actually refers to the captain, not his ship. Legend has it that in the mid 17th century this certain maniacal Dutch sea captain was struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope in the teeth of a terrible gale that threatened to sink his ship and all aboard. Ironically, my Dutch ancestors are in fact sailors back for hundreds of years.....in anycase, The sailors onboard warned and implored him to turn round the ship, but the captain, quite mad and drunk, refused stalwartly to change course. Instead, he pressed on, singing loud and obscene songs, before going below to his cabin to swill fine ale and smoke his pipe. The crew mutinied and attempted to rush the cabin, but the captain, being a powerful man, killed the ringleader and threw him over the side, then, swearing a terrible oath, the swore to round the cape at all costs....Who should appear at that moment but the Devil, who in turn is also roundly cursed by the thoroughly irracsible Dutchman. The Devil then condemned the Dutchman to sail the spectral seas forever. However, the Devil left him one small hope; a promise that only through the love of a woman could he be released from the terrible curse. Thus, over the centuries, the unfortunate Dutch captain has returned to land every seven years in a hopeless search for salvation and eternal peace in the arms of a faithful woman. Additionally, Wagner's opera, "Der fliegende Hollander," is based partially upon this legend. Ironically, the Overture to that opera is a favorite of mine....explaining perhaps the name of my blog....peace Beotches.....

2004-04-02T17:19:00.000-05:00

Desine de quoquam quisquam bene uelle mereri,
aut aliquem fieri posse putare pium.
omnia sunt ingrata, nihil fecisse benigne
prodest, immo etiam taeder obestque magis;

Look for no gratitude, tolerance or respect anywhere on earth
nor place you hopes in man, for everything is lost:
If you are generous, expect no answer and no return for generosity.
All goodness fails.

While reading Catullus today I came across this magnificent poem, LXXIII, I hope all of you will at some point in your busy lives step aside into the quiet solitude of a library, brush the dust from the cover of such a marvelous work as this, and awaken your soul to the ancient glory and truth poets once inscribed. I am at peace, and have decided to give up alcohol for a period of time in order to clear my mind and to focus upon more pressing matters. Furthermore, I have decided that drinking or smoking to such excess as I recently have been engaging is indeed a perfect description of the very passion I wish to subdue at the moment. On a completely unrelated topic, I went to court today and spoke with a "magistrate" who returned my driver's license and offered to consider my plight, I was partially put at ease by the way I was treated, that is, with respect, so I gather that the calls I had placed to the court on my behalf had their desired effect. It would appear that I'll only be forced to relinquish about $86 due to my personal pleas to the judge so all's well. Now I'm going back to listening to Early November....Peace Beotches

2004-04-01T16:42:00.000-05:00

Magna eloquentia, sicut flamma, materia alitur et motibus excitatur et urendo clarescit.

Today I woke peacefully and decided to allow fate to take its course without my futile opposition. I've been studying the great Stoic and Epicurean thinkers of ancient Rome, and have decided to adopt for myself a blend of these two belief structures, albeit tempered slightly by my Christian beliefs....However, these belief structures are in no means wholly irreconcilable; quite to the contrary in fact, John 1:1 begins with "In the beginning was the Word(logos in Greek), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." This fits magnificently with the Stoic conception of a Divine Reason(logos) which predominates and governs(or should govern) this mortal world. An interesting note here, contemplate upon the fact that ublike animals, human beings are the only creature on earth capable of contemplating our position, and as such, are the only ones in the world capable of violating the natural order or "Divine Logos"(reason). Those of you knowledgeable about the Epicureans may be stunned to hear me state that I'm in the process of adopting several of their tenent beliefs(e.g. that each individual should work to further our own individual pleasure), however, I suspect that your understanding of what constitutes an Epicurean may be deeply flawed. While later Epicureans in Imperial Rome did in fact attempt to satisfy all their wants and desires with raw pleasure, Epicurus and other early philosophers vehemently disagreed and proposed a diametrically different means of satisfying ones desires...This they accomplished by dividing pleasure into the tow following categories; 1) Kinetic pleasure, or pleasure gained through satisfying natural needs, ie. Eating, sex, etc... and 2) Static pleasure, or that pleasure which results from having a balanced life. According to Epicurus, pleasure should be sought to the point where it fulfills or satisfies ones natural needs and desires without passing on into excess. If pleasure is indeed sought to excess it effectually drives an individual out of natural alignment and causes harm. At some visceral level then, Passion in excess is indeed the true enemy. In anycase, I need to resolve this traffic situation, and thankfully, the passion of last night has long since flown from my mind, and hopefully, reason is fixed mightily in her chair......peace

2004-04-01T02:23:00.000-05:00

well, this is a most distressing entry into this most distressful blog.........I drove the two russians home this evening about 1, witnessed a fight on the ATO's lawn, and was stopped by a state policeman on west street on my way home.........I was coasting down the hill and he was at the bottom.....so he stole my license from me the motherfuckingcocksucking manwhore, but he offered me a fucking choice..."EITHER give me $100 cash, or hand me you license, insurance and registration." What a complete fucktard, anyway, I am literally fuming mad, spitting mad, I honestly have not been this mad in years.....................................................ok, I need to get a grip here, I'll write more layter perhaps.

2004-03-29T18:18:00.000-05:00

Well, today is the 29th of March, which means that as of this evening at 12:01 I shall be 21 years old. I'm not exactly happy to be 21, but then again upon contemplation, I've never really been happy to be any particular age at all so fuck it, at least now I won't have to dive into bushes to evade police and minors..... I almost was hit this morning by some fucktard woman in a van on a cellphone, a ignoble demise which I would rather avoid....A number of you have apparently gotten the idea that, upon seeing someone talking into a cellphone, I descend into a horrific, terrifying rage and am consumed by a burning desire to conduct a manual insertion of the offending phone into the offending individual's urethra. Without lubrication. However, this betrays a certain ignorance of my true perspective....I merely have an incredibly strong distrust of the ability of others to multi-task, so I naturally recoil when they make an attempt at it.....In truth, it's not cell-phones that I hate, it's people in general. I'm off to eat, then watch the wings, and....about 9 pm, commence the celebration at Cass's house. Peace Beotches

2004-03-28T20:54:00.000-05:00

Just some funny shit I found lying around in Quinn’s Devious Dictionary

MARRIAGE, n.
[1] the dawn of romance and the commencement of history;
[2] a word that should be pronounced as "mirage";
[3] an event, for the upper middle class, is the only adventure left;
[4] a very good way to promote civilization - if you get a good wife you will be happy, if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher {Socrates};
[5] a process much like a cafeteria - you carefully look over the choices, select what looks the best - and pay later;
[6] an event which is called "tying the knot" - unfortunately, the knot can be a noose;
[7] a word which always means commitment - but so does insanity;
[8] a ceremony favored in England - it's the only way to beat their cold winters and lack of central heating;
[9] something that changes the demeanor of a driver - there is no longer any effort needed to keep both hands on the wheel;
[10] the only permanent cure for love;
[11] is only compatible when the man makes a living and his wife makes living worthwhile;
[12] the only adventure open to the cowardly;
[13] something which is called a feast - unfortunately, sometimes the appetizer is better than the main course;
[14] a group which consists of: a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two;
[15] the alliance of two people, one who never remembers birthdays, and the other who never forgets them;
[16] the process that turns a female from an attraction into a distraction;
[17] a legal custom which turns a man into the captive audience of his wife;
[18] that ceremony which makes more strange bedfellows than politics;
[19] a rite where two people, under the influence most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal and exhausting condition until death do them part;
[20] occurs where a man gets hooked by his own line;
[21] in America, is the only legal method of suppressing freedom of speech;
[22] is made out of two toothbrushes but a single tube of toothpaste;
[23] is just a three-ring circus: engagement, wedding, and suffer;
[24] the process of finding out the kind of guy your wife would have preferred;
[25] a condition where no wife gets what she expected, and no husband expected what he was getting;
[26] the ceremony which provides a man with something that, sooner or later, he will find he can't blame on the government;
[27] a tradition which would suffer considerably if men had to pay the minister the same fee they will eventually have to pay the divorce lawyer;
[28] is much like a pair of shears, so joined so the parts cannot be separated, often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who tries to come between them;
[29] the continuous process of getting used to things you never expected;
[30] a status which depends upon two to be successful but only one to turn into a failure;
[31] is a book in which the first chapter is written in poetry and the rest of the pages is prose;
[32] a bargain, and a sensible person understands that someone must get the better of any bargain;
[33] in Japanese is called "Judo" - the art of conquering by yielding. This is the western equivalent of "Yes, dear";
[34] a confrontation which always demands the greatest understanding of the subtle art of insincerity possible between two human beings;
[35] is not a word, but a sentence;
[36] a delightful form of combat where you get to sleep with the enemy;
[37] an investment that pays big dividends if you manage to keep up the interest.

And of course some opinions on what actually constitutes this "sacred institution"

In my house I'm the boss, my wife is just the decision maker." -Woody Allen

"Ah, yes, divorce...from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet." -Robin Williams

"A married man should forget his mistakes; no use two people remembering the same thing." -Duane Dewel

"When you see a married couple walking down the street, the one that's a few steps ahead is the one that's mad." -Helen Rowland

"I have never really understood this liking for war. It panders to instincts already well catered for in any respectable domestic establishment." -Alan Bennett

"Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe."
-Jackie Mason

"Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel." -Leonardo da Vinci

"I don't think I'll get married again. I'll just find a woman I don't like and give her a house." -Lewis Grizzard

"I'm one of the few men in the world with a marriage license made out to whom it may concern." -The Street Doctor

"I haven't spoken to my wife in years. I didn't want to interrupt her." -Rodney Dangerfield.

"The difference between divorce and legal separation is that legal separation gives a husband time to hide his money." -Johnny Carson

2004-03-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

It's a known psychological phenomenon that some people can't help telling tall stories in one breath and actually believe their own divagations. But deep-down they know they're stretching it thin - and yet can't help themselves.

I don't know if you've ever encountered these cases. In flesh and blood, so to speak. The person seems pretty normal, maybe a bit hyper though, and they just keep going on and on about things that just sound too unreal - and yet he obviously believes what he's saying, and at the same time is scared to death that you might catch him out on some of these (he or she, btw, I've seen both). So you don't - you don't point anything out, you play dumb and you act kind. Because one psychological fact about this is that somebody who resorts to unconscious lies is too low on himself to believe he still has some truths to tell that would be enough to lift him out of that lowlessness he sees himself in.

Dostoevsky described this type perfectly, for all ages to come - the cast-out drunkard who has not one shred of anything left to hold on to in the world, and those tall tales are the only pitiful thing that he can build some dignity upon. How crazy is that? It is crazy. Some people are so utterly, so profoundly destroyed they have no other choice - they don't lie on purpose, and there is no malice in such lies. Yeah, they're crazy. You'd be crazy too, if your life put you that low.

What can you do for such an individual? Nothing at all. Absolutely nothing. All you can do is show some good humour and take it easy and buy into everything and not be scandalized that you're being taken for a ride. It doesn't matter. You're in the presence of pure desperation, such that you rarely see otherwise among standard people. Nobody's crazy on purpose. Sure not.

But it does require that you be flawless yourself. You gotta hold two completely opposite attitudes at the same time - knowing better all the way, combined with complete belief. Mind-twisting? Yes. You dance on a dime. Don't get yourself manipulated, albeit willingly but not unknowingly. Because you're in the crazyland and you gotta hold on to some of your own normalcy - but not too much.

The greatest difficulty is sadness. Overwhelming sadness and helplessness at seeing someone so beyond it. Nothing you can do. Except tough it out regardless and not defend yourself through judgment. Too many times I've been incapable of sustaining this line because it's too overwhelmingly sad and it kills you. That sadness is the fear of your own possible madness setting in - we all carry these seeds inside us, coming in contact with madness brings it out, that's where fear comes from.

Fear and rejection. You want to flee and hide from this. You don't want to know. The most susceptible ones are the ones most in fear of their normalcy getting shattered. Cetainly that would include me on various occasions.

2004-03-25T04:02:00.000-05:00

hey ya'll, im here at my lovely house drinking courvoisier cognac9my mom's expensive cooking cognac) and I'm finding that I enjoy it emmencely, unfortunently, I've consumed my stash of alcohol that I brought hojme, all of 100 $ worth, unfucking believable, oh well, I'll have to go shoppoiing when I return to school/ Life sucks ass, if I wasn't naturally disposed and trained to despise failure and suicide,Id be like fuck this miserable motherfucking world and go out in a hail of gunfire doing the world a service in getting rid of a bunch of assholes, of which I am certain tyhere are an excess number....these cockroaches, the scum of humanity, perhaps im in a bad mood, perhaps a realistic frame of mind, but whatever it is, I have only hald a bottle left and then i have to go dry for a bout 3 days, so I think that I ll just quit alcohol for the duration othe semester abnd instead take up some lower calloric practice that has a greater and more far ranging ompact upon my soul and personality. I nmet tyhis guy tonight, patrick, ast hollywood video on 37th street, I havent seen him in years, wbut we went to europepe together when we were seniors, and look now, he hasen't madfe shit of himself, and what have i accomplished, I fucjking demolished the act and sat and got into a good solid school of my own chipoice, only to discobver that it s a niughtmare instead,m oh how dreams become nightmares, unbelievable, so incredibly often ofr me. hahah, look at this pathetic drivel emmiting for myy own mind, I've grown soft, fuck it fuck fuck fuck cfuck fuckfuckfukcfuckheheeeeeeheheheheh, fuck everything, and will I remember this, or take this rant off my blog, no, becausder I have come to the conclusion that I in truth do not give a rats ass, thbis may be is in error, likely considering my past decisions and chioces in the last 6 months oir so, however, whatcna meb done, absolutely nothing, bring it on, see if you can penetrate theis new shell I have created, imn skeptical at best tiyou son of a bitch, nighty night old sausage

2004-03-21T16:12:00.000-05:00

back in lovely sultry Minnesota for another break....just chilling on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I bathed Stormy the other day, but other than that really haven't done much of anything productive since I got back. Spent the night at the Welsh's house and made another fire out in the woods, though not as fun as the one on St Patties day it was still good but the beer charles brought for me knocked me on my ass, I gather that I deteriorated rapidly once we reentered the house....all this for some measily beer, haha, I must have more!! At anyrate, Rachel is playing in Carnegie Hall on March 28th and Hannah just triumphed in the Clements Music Competition here in Rochester, winning first prize and annihilating a fair number of seniors on the way....well I'm off to the rac, then a haircut, then a shave perhaps.... russell informs me that I appear to be a "damned hippy" to him, godforbid........hehe, peace........

2004-03-16T12:18:00.000-05:00

just took the first half of my political philosophy midterm with dr craig.... Im actually beginning to like Plato...I know, how incredibly ironic, but I've taken a shine to him....other half in the morning...more layter, I'm hungry beotches......

2004-03-15T18:43:00.000-05:00

magnificent, simply magnificent!! I love the weather, my friends here, my professors...except 1(guess who? haha) and the fact that I got 95% on my hist of the US presidency midterm!!!!!!!!! and a 98% on my last paper.... HELL YES, so after receiving this most gratifying news I returned home and cooked out for lunch and swilled some excellent Irish beer....... then I went to macro, and for once didn't fall alseep there, now I have to cram all night for a test in the morning that, when combined with the other half of it(which I take weds morning) counts for 50% of the class grade(dan, correct me if I'm reading the syllabus wrong). and now a poem hehe, I was feeling like I should inspire ya'll to keep preserving.....nothing is written

Have you ever seen how an eagle feeds?
He finds his shellfish by the shore,
Grips them in his razor talons:
Then rises, ever upward, to dizzying heights
Where lesser birds fear to tread,
Up, where the skyward-gazing clam
Could only dream to go;
He takes his companion with him--and then
Releases.

The long fall--slow at first, barely perceptible
The altitude drops:
Suddenly gravity can be felt,
Determined to return the clam to
Its rightful place
Groundward.

It hurtles downward, faster and faster,
More aware of its descent,
More terrified with every moment.
Down, down, down
To the rocks belowÂ

The sudden, shattering stop.

For though clams may dream,
To fly with eagles
Is Folly and Destruction.

2004-03-13T06:50:00.000-05:00

just some thoughts this fine morning, I cant sleep and i have to confess that i tryed a bunch of shit last night that really blew my mind so im feeling really good at the momenbt, even though my heache is a real bitch... anywasy my tests yesterda ewnt really well and my apper got finished justy on the nick of time to habnd in. back to bed peace out.......

2004-03-12T06:27:00.000-05:00

I have just completed writing a rough draft of a short review of a few chapters from some commonly used American History textbooks, all of which have sold over 1 million copies, and incidentally, have all earned their authors Pulitzer Prizes, they are John M Blum's The National Experience, Bailey and Kennedy's The American Pageant, and Irwin Unger's These United States.... I was asked to write a brief review on several exerpts from each, and the following are the incomprehensible results .....enjoy....peace ya'll

Principle and Power, Madison and Cleveland Reconsidered
While reading relevant portions of the three textbooks it became apparent that in order to summarize the opinions of the books’ authors regarding Presidents Madison and Cleveland it is first necessary to examine their particular political and economic biases. Fortunately this can readily be done through the use of their own words regarding Madison and Cleveland. When the question of whether a book is “fair and balanced” is leveled, the ideology of the author must be questioned, and in this case it is patently obvious that the authors of these texts are proponents of a powerful central government led through decisive and direct leadership by the president.
It is for this reason, in the estimation of the author, that The American Pageant derisively calls James Madison the “dupe of Napoleon” for “blindly” accepting Napoleon’s offer to resume trade relations with certain naivety and trust. Additionally, The American Pageant argues that Madison was an incompetent and utterly ineffectual leader during a time of great national crises when a strong hand on the helm of power was required, and that it was only though good fortune that the young republic did not completely collapse. Madison they allege; “fell tragically short of providing vigorous executive leadership,” being “unable to dominate his party.” Within These United States, Irwin Unger states that “Madison lacked executive ability. In peace and war he would prove irresolute and when he did bring himself to act, he would often do the wrong thing.” Moreover, “Madison still must bear much of the blame for the failures of the American war effort.”
Additionally, in their treatment of President Cleveland these various authors are only slightly more charitable, celebrating his exercise of executive authority in “retrieved[ing] for the government some 81 million acres of public domain….from the cattle barons,” but largely ignoring his role in limiting the maturation of the behemoth today known as the federal government. Furthermore, The American Pageant alleges that Cleveland was “not a suave or skillful political leader,” or being translated, his knees knew not how to bow, for with Cleveland principle overpowered political expediency, hence according to the author, he was a much weaker chief executive than otherwise possible. The National Experience states that “Cleveland...surrounded himself with a cabinet who were as out of touch with the discontent [of the people]…as he was.” On very rare occasions though positive portrayals do occur, though perhaps though the tinted glass of this author; Cleveland was “a staunch apostle of the hands off creed of Laissez-faire.” Incredibly, in one of the few complementary phrases detected in any of the books regarding these presidents, Cleveland is quoted as having said “what’s the use of being elected or reelected unless you stand for something.”
Throughout these works, Presidents Madison and Cleveland are portrayed in a distinctly negative and statist light, the standard of excellence apparently being the level of support for big government. In these texts there is not a single mention of Madison’s great and amazing “neglect” of suspending civil liberties during the great crises of the War of 1812; what there is however is an apparent complaint that Madison did not attempt to expand and assert the executive. Nothing is mentioned either about the ingenious manner in which the war was prosecuted, complete with privateers with neither conscription, direct taxation, or suspension of Habeas Corpus occurring to support the effort. Furthermore, nothing is mentioned about Madison’s toleration of what might easily, in the shadow of the “imperial presidency” and the War Between the States be called the “treasonous” Hartford Convention. In their treatment of Madison, none of the authors in question related the mind-boggling revelation of the bailout of the U.S. Treasury and the financing of the war by Astor and his three immigrant companions. Moreover, when President Cleveland is mentioned, his great Classical Liberal, Laissez-faire attributes are somewhat downplayed, and his actions regarding the Pullman Strike emphasized greatly, stressing executive initiative in sending federal troops into a state to quell a domestic disturbance under the auspices of preserving the delivery of the mails and securing free interstate commerce. However, a truthful examination of Cleveland reveals him as the first and last president after the War Between the States who attempted to restore the principles of Jefferson to the highest executive office in the land. Cleveland sacrificed his own political future for principle, defending sound money and staunchly opposing the protective tariff. He believed and eloquently defended the proposition that the executive is to be the promoter and defender of individual liberty, not the instrument through which an organ of government appropriates power or aids special interests, stating “though the people should support the Government the Government should not support the people."
Thus, the depictions within these books are especially biased and one sided, based almost entirely upon a presupposition that a powerful and centralized government is and ought to be the goal of the governance, thus completely ignoring constitutional and traditional limited government arguments supporting or prohibiting certain governmental actions.

2004-03-11T16:20:00.000-05:00

I took a couple personality tests today and discovered what dr. craig told me on tuesday is true, I have great potential to be a tyrant, as I recall, his direct comment was "ben, you'd make an excellent tyrant or despot, you have a cultured and liberally educated mind, but your soul remains largely intemperate and barbaric." And now the test results.....should I include an explanatory key...fuck no! I don't want you to know to much about my troubled psyche....

Cattel's 16 Factor Test Results

Warmth ||||||||||||||||||||| 62%
Intellect |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 90%
Emotional Stability |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74%
Aggressiveness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78%
Liveliness |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 82%
Dutifulness |||||| 18%
Social Assertiveness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78%
Artistic Interests |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 86%
Paranoia |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74%
Abstractness |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 90%
Introversion |||||||||||| 34%
Anxiety |||||||||||||||||| 54%
Openmindedness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74%
Independence ||||||||||||||| 46%
Perfectionism ||||||||||||||| 50%
Tension ||||||||||||||||||||| 62%

Only 74% paranoia??? I disappoint myself...Peace

2004-03-09T14:52:00.000-05:00

I know my soul hath power to know all things,
Yet she is blind and ignorant in all:
I know I'm one of Nature's little kings,
Yet to the least and vilest things am thrall.

I know my life 's a pain and but a span;
I know my sense is mock'd in everything;
And, to conclude, I know myself a Man—
Which is a proud and yet a wretched thing.

here back at the house working on my truck, a kind of uneventful peaceful afternoon after surviving the unseemly politics class this morning, all I have for the day is pit orchestra tonight and a debate over gay marriage hosted by the jake german's politics club.....peace

2004-03-09T03:20:00.000-05:00

listenin to the best of johnny cash and bob dylan....got a couple new magazines today, pretty cool, and someone signed me up fpr some "interesting" reading material, so whoever it was kudos to ya chief!!! oh yeah, the victoria's secret catalog someone also signed me up for is alrigt as well. hahaha, Now i have to got o fucking craigs class in the morning to study why socrates was such an awesome guy....later beotches

2004-03-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

up in mo-town chillin....decided to take the day off from running cause my knee's messed up a bit again, anyhow, i've gotta get off this and meet some writer from new york to discuss linguistics and crap....peace ya'll

2004-03-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

was up all night studying, took a test, am absolutely confident that i anhililated it.....so I'm golden in roman civ till the final two weeks hehe... anyway, time to go play some starcraft then out for the night.............Peace

2004-03-01T23:41:00.000-05:00

Go an A on a paper for my History of the American Prez class, so don't let anyone tell you that you can't write a 4 page A paper in 4 hrs....other than that i didn't do much today...........except, get on the soccer team as a goalie for the spring....yeah, that's right, how fucking awesome is that!!!!!!!!

2004-02-29T23:57:00.000-05:00

tday was a good day....I played two intermural basketball games for two different teams, then lifted with ben, kass, jay and ike..........anyway, that was kinda a drag hehehe, then pit orchestra, hockey(which was lost 8-2) oh well, a hard fight, douglass scored the only two goals, on the plus side, there were fewer penalties tonight........Now I'm working on a project due tommorow morning....peace beotches

2004-02-29T04:44:00.000-05:00

well, back home now.....I heard a bunch of stories about what I did last nigth at the roxy..............it would appear that I need to be more temperate in my behavior while intoxicated....somehow I thought running around drinking from a pitcher in each had while shouting and showing approval for the band was perfectly acceptable :-) My Bad, how uncouth. This even went well, poker was excellent, and I came away ahead, the party at Bentley's was canceled, apperently Koenig was driving home last night down an alley and smoked a telephone pole, then the bastard cops came and made him take a breathalizer, and he blew a .10-the old limit, no lowered to .08, so he's likely to be expelled come next week. This is so very regretable, another ex-delt going down, and one like Andy at that, while somewhat of a buffoon at times, he was a singularly comediac fellow and raised my spirits often when I see/saw him...the rough thing for him is that he's barely squeeking by here financially as it is, and he can't pay to fix the car, so he's in some serious trouble, I pray he will find solace and resolve this dreadful situation. I hung out with a lot of delt alumni and drank with them for a couple hrs, then I did something quite foolish....I challenged them to play foosball-with house rules....i.e. if you don't score cleanly, it doesn't count, AND, if you don't score...you have to drop the pants, all of them and walk around the table...mind you, there are about 100 people thoughout the house, but I went for it, and thankfully, I managed to score 3 times, preventing a most unfortunate episode from occuring....well, I'm off, and may the sun shine on your face, and the wind always be at your back....

2004-02-28T20:54:00.000-05:00

Hangover's suck ass.........and I woke several times with one....Apperently I had a really really good time last night, consuming beer by the pitcher, though all I remember is john dove diving off the stage on top of me, and paul harold pouring a beer all over my head....Other than that, all I know is that pongracic's band was totally sweet. today I really didn't do much, I read a bit, ate dinner, lifted weights, ran a couple miles, read the wall street journal, and most importantly, decided on when to have our big end-of-the-year bonfire-kegger-party.....hehehe, we're only planning on a 100 people or so, so this one will be a little more subdued than possible....no band, but we have the best deck in hillsdale county complete with torches benches and plenty of room for a serious number of kegs....Anyway, I'm late for my poker game, then I have to be at Graves' house....so peace ya'll

2004-02-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

Today was an awesome day, perhaps this is not ironic considering it's a Friday :-) At anyrate, I have a awesome opportunity on Monday, for I get to lecture my History of US Presidency on Lincoln, so it should be quite stimulating for everyone there hehehe, I have a vast array of notes, articles and papers on the topic, I'm thinking of basically focusing heavily on Lincoln's treatment of Civil Liberties and economics before and during the War of Northern Aggression. Anyway, this afternoon was terrific, I love macro with passion and then on top of that, I went shooting with karl, ben and a bunch of ex-delts in the "lost nations" state park...and boy oh boy.....I was deadly, when I first got there I got a squirrel in my sights a couple hundred yards off...poof. Here's the kicker, even though I was owned in the trapshoot, I nailed a target several times at well over 100 yards with my 357 mag. pistol!!!! But I digress, Pongracic and his band are playing at the Roxy tonight along with a couple other bands of dubious origin, so I'm there....just remember, temperance is a virtue...wink-wink...

2004-02-27T02:48:00.000-05:00

I memorized this peom when I was in 6th grade, and it still remains a stalwart favorite of mine these many years later....Read it, stop, and question yourself, for if you desire wisdom....as Socrates said, you must first "Know Thyself" Goodnight and Godspeed noble and loyal friends

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings-nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!

2004-02-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison

Today I've appeased my hunger and my conscience.....both amazing feats. I've had quite a bit of time on my hands lately, today for instance I took a book, walked into the arb, sat down overlooking a little thawing pond, and read. Watching the birds, the squirrels, and a deer profoundly impacted me, it reminded me of all those years when I would on sunny afternoons, go exploring throughout the woodlands, often with camera or cannon of some sort in tow....finding old tree-stands, climbing high up into them, and watching as the evening wore on, the clouds on the horizon, the small delicate birds which would so often land beside my hands, the chattering squirrels, scurrying about on the other side of the tree behind me, coming so close I could hear their breath...It reminded me of stalking turkeys while a 10 year-old strappling with a slingshot, as a 14 year-old with a 22 marlin in tow, as a 16 year old with the joy of my high school years, a Colt AR-15 with 30 round capacity, loaded with fmj 55 grain bullets, and more recently, with mere camera in hand, seeking not to kill, but to capture for all time, the exquisite magnificence of nature in all its splendor...Yes, I admit it, it shook me, perhaps deeply, and I realized that life is but a vapor, it is a small delicate flower, wondrous to behold, but fragile and easy harmed when touched. I'm finally almost completely over a particular young lady I was interested in for some time, and I must confess that it's been a real anomaly for me, as a matter of fact, I can't ever really remember feeling so despondent about something, well, except perchance when my Newfoundland Barnabas was struck and killed by lightening when I was a boy due to my insane invention of a steel-wire zipline. Fortunately, I am to the point where I really don't care what she or anyone else thinks, perceives, or fails to perceive. Life must go onward, and each man must either surge ahead, or die in the traces, a victim of his own apathy and lack of resolve. Resolve. That is a word that bears a strong meaning, fortitude come to mind, perseverance as well, a drive to overcome obstacles, to hurdle and vault past trials, past conflagrations of emotional distress, once more into the breech my boys, or, as the good book states press on towards the mark. I have drawn a line in my mind, a willful decision, to forsake some completely, some partially, and some I will embrace as brothers; perhaps with God's help, and a good dose of luck, I'll soon be stalking the woodlands and meadows of southern Minnesota in search of my illusive quarry, camara, rifle or bow in hand, whistling Led Zeppelin tunes and repeating in my mind dear old adages.

For everything there is a season,
And a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, And a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time of peace.

2004-02-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

Ha, finally got Haloscan on here, so now ya'll can respond to my insipid comments :-) I got to bed a bit late last night, about 5:30, and barely made it to my 9:30 Political Philosophy class, apparently we'll be having two mid-terms on Plato's Republic on consecutive days, so shit. Dr. Craig cancelled the paper we were supposed to have, so I guess I may actually have to study now...BLAH; I was strongly considering scooting back to Minn for the weekend, but I'm in a bind, in order to get out of staying here the last week before Spring Break(and playing in the concert the night before it officially starts) I promised Professor Holleman I would play in the Pit Orchestra for Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing, and apparently I have another 4 hr rehearsal starting on Sunday at 7. I could get out of it, but I gave my word to Holleman over a month ago that I would be there, so I guess the cigars and brewski's will have to wait another few weeks for my return...I decided last night that I would write an article for some newspapers on this latest "Gay Marriage" and "Anti-Gay Amendment," so I as usual took it too far and immediately started work on it, and low-and-behold, I glanced at the clock and it was almost 5...I think this one will be a particularly good article, and I'm going to try to get it published in some larger newspapers/or magazines.....I'm hungry, more later....

2004-02-25T15:14:00.000-05:00

In Flander's Fields : We would all do well if we considered the price, the cost of war....87 billion nothing...........think of the value of a single human life...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

2004-02-25T14:04:00.000-05:00

98% on my test~ HELL YES.....went to bed late, woke up late with a hangover, didn't have breakfast as usual, went to class, fought for popular sov and states rights against the Lincoln Lovers i.e. neo-merchantilists...Wnt to Macro, got back my test....WHOOPII!!!!!!!!!! and listened to Dr. Pongracic shred El Presidente Bush again hehehhe Man, the republifascists lie even to their own supporters about supposedly basic "conservative" tenants.....The Choice is clear, either Boycott the election, or vote 3rd Party!!!! Talk to ya'll later....................

2004-02-24T19:59:00.000-05:00

Thou wast not born for death, Imortal bird!
No Hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. ~Keats

2004-02-24T05:43:00.000-05:00

Man, after staying up all night once again working I've had the opportunity to sit and listen to silence, dead silence, nothing, no one speaking, not a breath save my own, and it's somhow so incredibly peaceful, then I put my music back on, and God, I love Hendrix....ANyway, enough of my mindless babble, hahhaha. I managed to completely write a paper from nothing at 12:30 last night to a fully completed and edited research paper as of 25 min ago....HELL YES!!! I just ran 3miles, so now I think I'll shower, catch a few min of sleep, and hit breakfast then hand this motherfucker in and go to my classes....here's the rough part, my T/R classes normally put me to sleep anyway, hahhaha today will definitely be interesting to say the least.....

I was just visiting too,
though I had no badge to mark
my chest.
Your district sounds like a
lonesome district.
I'm sorry if you are feeling
sad.
I hope that you
will feel better in the morning.
Hope drifts from star to star
and from moon to moon. It doesn't know whether the light it sees is radiant or reflected.
While your district sleeps
alone, hope moves above it drifting, always drifting until
at last it finds a home.
Sleep well and deep
and become a home for the drifting hope...

2004-02-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

"These are the times that try men's souls....."

Today if at any time, this is the case.....From dawn yesterday I've been struck with the incredible realization and understanding of forboding gloom....so study I did, and continue to do, taking a test this morning(should have aced it) in macro, and beginning writing work on one of two research papers due today and tommorow respectively....I'm actually almost to the point where I need to prepare before writing, man, I'm getting soft, I need to concentrate much more on accademics.....fuck this social life bullshit, there's time enough for that in a couple short weeks, but for now, I've sobered up, quit smoking lucky strikes, taken a break and cleaned my room, because I find it easier to work in a clean environment while listening to some serious tunes than constantly wading through heaps and heaps of various types of matter on the floor.....I collected up the bottles in our house, so the recycling money is all MINE!!!! hehe. I actually discovered something radical in class today, I agree with Abraham Lincoln on something, opposition to the mexican war....unbelievable...at the onset of class I was the only one against that particular war, and by the end when dr fulsom asked us to vote on it I was stunned, somehow half the class had been convinced that the war was unjust, immoral, and unconstitutional....SO that made up for the dreadful day that is today, however, the sus still shines, and I only have one more little 3 pager to write in the next 2 hrs, so Godwilling, I'll only have the mega-bitch paper to grapple with after orchestra and pit orchestra tonight................The Crazy Dutchman

2004-02-22T22:23:00.000-05:00

Nothing is Written!!!!!!

2004-02-22T18:04:00.000-05:00

HELL YES.....Ralph Nader is running, man, what a nut, but you know what, he'll fuck up the two parties again, and for that, he may have my vote!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, back to the drudgery of reality studying for exams........................

2004-02-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I have been neglecting the reading of many great plays that I once found so inspiring, and thus, while with several tests and a paper all coming due on monday I knew I probably shouldn't delve into them, the temptation was overwelming.....and so I spent several hrs reading Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and once again, found myself lost in that great imaginary world of verse and ryme, but now I must make haste, for the hrs grow together.....Damn 300pages of unread Macro!!!! hahaha....later

"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear;
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream.
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend;
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long.
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends."
~ A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene I.

2004-02-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

Attributed to Nietzsche by Dave Frank....an excellent quote nevertheless.....

"In some remote corner of the universe, poured out and glittering in innumerable solar systems, there once was a star on which clever animals invented knowledge. That was the haughtiest and most mendacious minute of world history--yet only a minute. After nature had drawn a few breaths the star grew cold, and the clever animals had to die."

2004-02-21T23:06:00.001-05:00

In Britian today, the goernment announced tgat MI5(the internal naional police force) is being roughly doubled in size to counter the LOOMING threat of Al-Qaeda. The increase will bring MI5 back up to world war 2I staffing levels. who would have thought that the UK would institute a police state akin to that of nazi germany in that they place constantssurveilance on their own people....In other highly important news, the Dutch National Team beat the US 1 to 0 in soccer, a true sport...Otgher thatn that, nothing of much value happened in the world......

Today I did laundry, at least 6 loads of it in fact, I letterally was out of clean clothes and thoiugh I really don't have any money I still decided to do it, so I went through some various bank cards and finnally found onr taht worked.....then I wennt and dried it at the laundramat, after this my good, though texan, friend ben pierce gave me a call and invitd me to a evening of debauchery at his house, so I naturally accepted with a magnifecentt sense of glee.....now I don't feel; good , i wonder what magninficent work of art i shall post forthwith hehehehehe OH, BY THE WAY, I IRONED OVER A DOZEN SHIRTS-WITHOUT DESTROYING EVEN ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hhahahaha, i'm a demigod

2004-02-21T13:42:00.000-05:00

Eternal Father a.k.a. Navy Hymn, circa 1860 ~William Whiting

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Who's arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

Eternal Father, lend Thy grace
To those with wings who fly thro' space,
Thro wind and storm, thro' sun and rain,
Oh bring them safely home again.
Oh Father, hear a humble prayer,
For those in peril in the air.

Aloft in solitudes of space,
Uphold them with Thy saving grace.
Thou Who supports with tender might
The balanced birds in all their flight.
Lord, if the tempered winds be near,
That, having Thee, they know no fear.

O Trinity of love and power,
Our brethren's shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go:
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

2004-02-21T00:43:00.000-05:00

You know, after a tumultous day, classes, raquetball, papers, lifting, running, the whole shbang, just sitting here this evening sharing a pipe with trusted friends, swilling down some bacardi and listening to some serious alt-rock while evading repeated calls has made this hellish week appear in a much more mild light, in fact, I have determined that such a week as this past one is infact very useful. In the hustle and bustle of daily life few of us manage to take the time to be bored. That's right, bored. I truely believe that it is absolutely critical and crucial for one to be able to deal well with bordum without turning completely to vice haha. (Being sick helps let me assure you). Taking time to read, to meditate, to smoke, to unwind, to cook, and enjoy the wonderous aromas from the kitchen (usually not due to my abilities)....as Carlyle states so poignantly, "Silence is the element in which great things fashion thenselves." Though the formation of truely great ideas will very doubtfully occur with yours-truely, I do suggest, nay insist, that it is possible if not likely that sooner or later it must occur to someone in our midst. At anyrate, I digress, the true purpose of this post was to simply put up a favorite poem of mine on the blog, a poem that I believe captures life in an unforgettable manner....I hope you may enjoy and perhaps one day come to treasure it as I have. This world is not our home, we're just apassin though....The Crazy Dutchman

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
~Longfellow

2004-02-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

Robert Mugabe, the dictator in power in that refuse of a country Zimbabwe that once flourished as Rhodesia has today announced that he may step down from power in 2005, after only 25 years of power and overseeing the destruction of Africa's second strongest economy. May he rest with the same peace, and in the same place as his fellow socialist tyrants from the 20th century, Idi Amin awaits you Kaffir....Afrikanners and men of the West round the world prepare the bells of joy, Mugabe is 80, and soon to die!!

Just got in from gazing in rapt attention at the dregs of society at Wal Mart, and decided that I had to go hunting, Karl gave me an open invitation to go with him anytime I want, but as my weapons are apperently to powerful to hunt squirrels I haven't gone, plus, it's not a challenge to shoot them with guns, so I got out my bow,and proceeded to lose a few arrows in the trees, though I must say, my accuracy is improving....Anyhow, I picked up a bottle of Bicardi 151 this afternoon, so that should be just the right temperature by later this evening...

2004-02-20T14:51:00.000-05:00

Ever Wonder what the Future holds for American Politics??????

2004-02-20T02:15:00.000-05:00

Before you edit the Bill of Rights, these fella's would like a word with ya.....

2004-02-20T01:41:00.000-05:00

Quo usque tandem abutere, OByrne, patientia nostra? Quo Vadis? HAHAHA, just messin man

2004-02-20T01:11:00.000-05:00

Once to every man and nation, Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with false-hood, For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, 'Twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble, When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, And 'tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses, While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue, Of the faith they had denied.

Though the cause of evil prosper, Yet the truth alone is strong:
Though her portion be the scaffold, And upon the throne be wrong,
Yet that scaffold sways the future, AND, BEHIND THE DIM UNKNOWN,
STANDETH GOD WITHIN THE SHADOW, KEEPING WATCH ABOVE HIS OWN...
~James R. Lowell

2004-02-20T00:54:00.000-05:00

"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon....And I saw the heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in rightousness doth he judge and make war. His EYES were as a flame of fire....And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses....."

2004-02-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

If there be grief, then let it be but rain,
And this but silver grief for grieving's sake,
If these green woods be dreaming here to wake
Within my heart, if I should rouse again.

But I shall sleep, for where is any death
While in these blue hills slumbrous overhead
I'm rooted like a tree? Though I be dead,
This earth that holds me fast will find me breath.
~William Faulkner

2004-02-19T14:41:00.000-05:00

Today another two American soldiers were killed in the desert sands of Iraq, bringing to 545 the total of American Military servicemen who have died since El Presidente Bush launched the Iraq war on March 20....Additionally today, over 300 Iranians were killed in a massive train explosion near Neyshabur....In France today, two airliners containing 228 people came within 300 meters of one another just outside of Rheims....And perhaps most importantly, in Bangladesh today a company has found what it believes to be a legal loophole enabling them to evade the Islamic country's ban on alcoholic drinks!!!

2004-02-19T12:26:00.000-05:00

"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pstilence that walketh in darkness;
nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A Thousand shall fall at thy side, and
ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only With thine eyes shalt thou behold
and see the reward of the wicked....
There shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For HE shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands,
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."
~Psalm 91:5-8, 9-13

2004-02-18T18:27:00.001-05:00

To everything there is a season,
And a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
And a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time of war, and a time of peace.
~Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

2004-02-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS~Hugh Cook

Now it is noon.
At apogee of light, defined by sun,
Patroclus finds his own apotheosis.
He is man no longer - bronze.
And Hector likewise - a rumor in the dust.
Patroclus hunts.
A warrior of the sun, he hunts his shadow.
The moons of his fingers, the skin of his thumbs.
His kidneys sucked by the heat.
Joint by joint, concatenating bones
Make cause compel effect, despite the gripe
Which cramps the calf and crabs within the thigh.
Sinovial fluid flows: his gait
A lubricated stagger as he steps
From swing of hip, from swing -
Earth jolts beneath his foot, and sways, and then sustains.
The plain of Troy has melted: in the blood's black heat
Floats on a buckle-twist of air, a warp
Of fluctuating heat made living vision.
Now the sun sweats dry. Patroclus burns.
Clatter by clatter, the shouts
Scream frog amidst the chariots.
Maimed by heat, Patroclus shuns and sheds,
And bronze goes reeling.
The helm of Achilles
Falls to the hoofbeat thunder,
Rolls to the fouling of blood and dust.
Gaffed by the sun, Patroclus
Kicks on a hook, and shudders.
His eyes are blind: his mind
A great fish breaching.
Struck by a god, Patroclus reels,
And seeks his footing in a chorus-cry of gulls:
The wheeling voices of the toppling sea,
Their discord shrill as arrows in their fall.
Doomed down to his heartbeat shadow,
Patroclus falls,
Falls in the roar of the toppling world
As Hector steps and drives,
As Hector drives his spear to kill,
To take beneath the ribs and drive,
To drive the great bronze blade
To the heartbeat's stagger, home.
And the reeling gulls
Pull back, pull back and wing.
Pull back to the wind's mock, to the heights
Where Ida answers Samothrace
And shuns the battle.
White wings whipped to the sea's scud.
The North Aegean foaming on the shore.

2004-02-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

יה׳ה בםדך .....ok, ok, my hebrew sucks.....Lekh teda....hehehe

2004-02-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

"Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it."~ Alexis de Tocqueville

Throughout the past 60 years or so, conservatives have developed a largely unfounded and definitely unclear reputation for defending private enterprise against the tyrannical expansion of federal regulatory agencies. This is aptly demonstrated this very week by the massive lobbying "conservative" groups such as the AFA(American Family Association) engaged in to help facilitate increasingly complete federal control of private media By supporting limitations on the freedom of speech guaranteed in the constitution, and by attempting to violate natural rights by seeking to prevent the peaceable use of another's property by those individuals these "conservatives'" actions begin to sound suspiciously totalitarian. Truly, many of them are astounded by such accusations, especially coming from a self-proclaimed "conservative-libertarian"(one who may agree on many issues with conservatives i.e. moral...but believes that it is not the role of the state to enforce them), however, it is in essence what they support. While I recognize absolute truth I also recognize man's increasingly unclear understanding of what it entails, and for this reason I refuse to condone any attempts to force one's particular moral view on another. This is not to say however, that certain things may not be condemned and forbidden(murder, rape, theft etc...) but rather that is it not possible that in the future there may come a majority to power who may disagree with me on what does in fact constitute morality, and they may, under the same standards as conservatives would have us adopt, force us into actions which violate our own consciences? I submit that this in fact is quite likely to occur, and as such, any "victory" conservatives now win, will be a mere Phyric blip on the radar of political history. Today, as never before, it is openly obvious to any but the partisan blinded activists of both parties that conservatives have abandoned what little real ties they had to limited government, and are now, as Cal Thomas demonstrates, supporters of a federal government which now spends about $21,000/household, as opposed to $16,000/household in 1999 under Bill Clinton. They seek to simply replace the former left-wing gov't with a right-wing one, while failing to dismantle and destroy the many wastful and harmful aspects of it. When one examines the current Bush regime, it is evident that it is neither conservative(in the old sense) or principled in any sense. Acts such as the aptly Orwellian named "Patriot Act" demonstrate the fascistic beliefs of many in this regime, and their continued support for such measures is mindbogling, apperently the "patriot act" has saved America from other attacks, but from who? From this unbeatable foe "Terror" that El Presidente Bush declared war upon? HA, I am sceptical to say the least, and for now, I rest my case

2004-02-18T12:23:00.000-05:00

Being sick sucks ass, then again, not going to class for 2 days has it's merits...hehehe I'm almost caught up with my reading, unbelievable.....Livy's brilliant, think about it, 142 volumes of a history of Rome by age 40....."I hope my passion for Rome's past has not impaired my judgement; for I honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer that ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds" ~You'd almost sucpect he was an American Uberpatriot writing in the 21st century.....

2004-02-18T00:36:00.000-05:00

Well, this being the first real post on this site, I wanted it to be good, but I fucked it all up......haha. At any rate, that this blog will be a proverbial "voice in the wilderness" I have no qualms. However, which "wilderness" has yet to be determined, and the reader must be aware that I am continually shifting views on important matters, albiet reluctantly at times because I also recognize that an "double minded man is unstable in all his ways." It is apperent to me that words are formidable weapons, but a man can injure himself with them much more easily than he can other people. For this reason, this blog will not contain all my thoughts, but merely a brief smattering of occasional thoughts, profound poems, short stories, and of course, my own slightly opinionated editorials on matters of personal importance and political matters...just remember, as the great writer Mencken wrote, “The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it’s good-by to the Bill of Rights."

2004-02-18T00:33:00.000-05:00

CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others.

2004-02-18T00:28:00.000-05:00

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."

2004-02-18T00:25:00.000-05:00

The First Posting on my ingeniously designed blog....