Pandora's Box

The 3D printer has great potential but as with any new technology it begs the question: what is the worse and best thing that can happen with this? So we have a chance to save a life or the chance to create chaos.

Basically it's the replicator seen on Star Trek, in it's infant stage that has the potenial to revolutionize manufacturing but it's still a long way from making a cup of Earl Grey Tea-hot.

Three Simple Truths

I woke from a dream and realized three simple truths.

1 We are all the same. Genetically, biologically, the difference between you, me and the rest of humanity is nil. The golden rule applies so respect others.

2 What goes around comes around; You receive as you give so respect karma.

3. Life, death, life is an endless loop.so respect the first two rules.

That is all.

It DOES get better with time

The Italians have an expression "canta che ti passa' sing and let it pass. To every kid who is teased, abused or made fun of at school for being -fill in the blank- and thinks it's never going to end, let me assure you that like a kidney stone-it will pass. Remember that none of this painful heartache will matter in 5 years. You'll probably never see your tormentors again-until a 25 year reunion where the Schenfeude will be thick with irony.

I bring this up because Dan Savage reported on an incident where a gay teen committed suicide after relentless bullying at school- again. This epidemic has been going on for some time but the media a pays it no attention. Despite all the talk about protecting children and zero tolerance for bullies in school blah, blah it goes on unbaited-why? Because the adults view bullying and harassment as a rite of passage, especially with boys. They had to deal with it, so do you-"suck it up loser" goes the mentality. There are plenty of guilty parties in these events to justify their non interference with a cold shrug that they had it coming, they weren't man enough to blow it off, who cares about gays anyway etc.

These are fucking teenagers with raging hormones and no clue what's going on. It behoove adults to let them know the bright outcome of this dark ride known as adolescence. It gets better, really it does.

High School sucks, being a teenager sucks, I know I've been there like everyone else. Oh there may be exceptions, but I have never heard anyone remember their teenage years fondly. Angst, uncertainity and a gnawing suspicion you are different from everyone else and no one understand you, haunt you. Sound familiar? We have all been there.

I was miserable as an awkward, shy, socially clueless 17 year old who was viewed as an eccentric weirdo by most -including my family. Now as a full blown grown up I look back on those years and smile because I'm happier, healthier and get along just fine thank you. I take pride in the knowledge that I was smarter than those miserable dumbfucks. And I sing.

File under- I wish I'd thought of this first.

I'm in the library on Friday as usual and looking at the new books being processed in tech service and spot " Ignore Everybody and 39 other keys to creativity" by Hugh MacLeod. He has a website and draws nifty little cartoons on the back of business cards. I read through the book 'cause it isn't very long but it's amusing and one of the things I wish I had thought of. Drawing little observations and thoughts on 2 by 3 and a half inch cards. Hmm.

He gives advice about being creative in bite size chapters (the book was expanded from his blog). He even has advice given to him by director Tim Burton. " Well, if you have the creative bug, it isn't ever going to go away. I'd get used to the idea of dealing with it."

More hmm. I'm still trying to figure out what this blog should be about and this annoying little book gets me thinking again. Arrgh, I have to lay down now.

The future of America

The past greatness of America productivity is over. We no longer lead the world in heavy manufacturing. We don’t produce the cars, fabric, or steel like we used to. Those industries were shipped overseas decades ago. America will be known for three thing: higher education, superior medical treatment and the vacation destination.

Jonathan Cole from Columbia University and author of “The Great American University” argues that universities need to be protected because they are the best resource we have. Indeed 17 of the top 20 universities in the world are here.

Medical treatment. We already have the best medicine money can buy. Not all of it is available to Americans but if you are a Saudi getting chemotherapy, a Japanese gangster in need of a liver transplant or a Russian Prime Minister with heart problems; this is the place for treatment if you have the financial resources.

Vacation destination. We have an abundance of national parks, reserves and open land that have not been exploited or overrun with development. The US provides a variety of natural wonders that are accessible to people like no where else. Throw in theme parks, tourist attractions and Las Vegas and we have a potent mix of reasons for people in over crowded and polluted countries to come here.

How to change the world

In this world of conflict, division and negative reaction to just about anything it's nice to see some people have found a way to think outside of the box, whether it's using musical theater to protest or finding fun ways to modify behavior. The world needs more of this.

I dare you

I have no idea what I’m doing here

I am a brilliant person in search of a function. I always thought of myself as a slacker who didn’t accomplish anything because I don’t have a job and let’s face it that’s what you got to do to pay the bills and be a “useful member of society” right? However upon further reflection that’s the strange part because I can do everything BUT get a job.

I know more than most people about writing having written short stories, articles and two novels. I took up silver smithing and sold jewelry at the Saturday market. I went to college and got a two year degree in graphic design. I taught myself upholstering and have redone several chairs and a two couches. I studied tarot for fifteen years to the point of giving readings to my teachers. For two terms I taught an opera appreciation class at community college. I studied aikido for over fifteen years and have a black belt. I learned carpentry from my mom- a professional and did considerable remodeling of my house and built a Japanese style tea house in the back yard from scratch.

I can look at a blank map of the US and name all fifty states, most of the capitals, major rivers and mountains ranges. I kill at Trivial Pursuit. I had to answer two questions per turn when I played with my family. I once qualified as a contestant for Jeopardy. I have an encyclopedic memory for every movie I’ve seen and some I haven’t. Only imdb.com knows more. I have excellent “object identification” skill which is fancy way of saying I can find anything. I can walk through a house once and then draw a floor plan with the location of all the rooms, windows and doors.

While other kids in high schools were skipping class to smoke dope and hang around during recreation time, I was in the study hall reading everything I got my hands on, textbooks, newspapers, magazines anything. They thought I was weird cause I read. Which meant nothing coming from functional illiterates.

So here I am, almost fifty and unable to get a job. I worked at a full time job for eight months in my adult life. I can talk to anybody from a street crazy to an a academic but can’t navigate a job interview.

Everyone talks about having a purpose in life, how important life is, how precious. Bullshit. The only thing that counts for validity in this culture is having a career, social status and an income. None of which I have or have ever been able to acquire. Am I a loser? According to society-absolutely. This is the message I hear loud and clear every day. How is it that I have learned all these skills, done so much but have so little to show for it? A matter of value. Our culture doesn’t value the eccentric, the genius or the creative person who thinks outside the box. I have tried- and I mean this before God- I have tried everything to fit in to no avail.

I dare any of you to find a place in society where I belong that is meaningful and productive because I sure as hell can’t. I dare anyone to go beyond words of encouragement and help me understand there is something I can do to make my way in the world because I haven’t a fucking clue.

The end of the world part 2

The Mayan Long Count ends around Dec. 21, 2012 but as David Stuart, a specialist in Mayan epigraphy at the University of Texas at Austin points out "It's a special anniversary of creation, the Maya never said the world is going to end, they never said anything bad would happen necessarily, they're just recording this future anniversary.”

The release of the film “2012” will only add fuel to this misconception. The idea of an apocalyptic end is so Western, so Judeo-Christian, just read “Worlds in Collision” by Velikovsky to understand the origins of our deep seated fear of the unknown around us. From the Wikipedia entry on Velikovsky:

“The catastrophes which occurred within the memory of mankind are recorded in the myths, legends and written history of all ancient cultures and civilisations. Velikovsky pointed to alleged concordances in the accounts of many cultures, and proposed that they referred to the same real events. For instance, the memory of a flood is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, in the Greek legend of Deucalion and in the Manu legend of India.. . .Velikovsky put forward the psychoanalytic idea of "Cultural Amnesia" as a mechanism whereby these literal records came to be regarded as mere myths and legends.”

The end of the world as we know it, is not such a bad thing really. We go about our business thinking nothing much changes like “Groundhog day”. In reality nothing ever stays the same. It has happened many times whenever there was a cosmic leap in understanding. When things that were obvious but unnoticed suddenly caught our eye. Subtle (and not so subtle) forces have always been at work recreating the world we precieve.

In Florence Italy c. 1430 artist and architect Flippo Brunelleschi discovered how to do perspective drawing, creating a three dimensional image on a flat surface. Now an artist could create a painting with depth that mimicked what our eyes saw. While everyone went crazy using this new technique something extraordinary happened. It revolutionized the way people looked at the world, not just visually but philosophically as well. That it wasn’t until the 15th century we figured this out is astonishing but to every artist today it’s obvious. Galileo did it when he turned the telescope on the sky and confirmed, much to our dismay, we are not the center of the universe. It’s only in the past ten years that traditional medicine has realized there is a mind-body connection.

Years ago I remember my mom and sister complaining that the sun felt warmer and brighter as they dodged from tree shade to shadow. Oh come on, I thought they’re just over reacting, our family tends to be melodramatic. Sometime later I read a curious little article in which scientists were puzzled by data that indicated the sun seemed to be brighter but they didn’t know why. How many other people felt the same way as my relatives but never said anything because it just sounded crazy? As Twain put it “ A man with a new idea is a crank until it works.”

The signs of change are all around us if we look carefully. There are also signs we ignore because they seem too bizarre to be true. What will cause the next cosmic leap in thinking and bring on a new age? Global warming? The string theory in physics? The internet? It could be anything . The end of the world means the start of a new one, so on December 12, 2012 a glass to a new beginning.

Oh grow up people!

I was thinking one morning while sipping tea, cause that’s what I do, sip tea and think deep thoughts. Anyway, I was thinking about how adults react when they discover teenagers are having sex and even gasp- having babies. They act like this is abnormal, immoral and proof of the evil influence of pop culture and so on, but it isn’t. What’s abnormal is the exaggerated shock that young adults are behaving exactly as nature intended. We are designed to procreate at an age when our bodies are in full hormonal bloom. If they are not emotionally ready to care for a child they rely on the guidance of the tribe, clan or family. It does take a village to raise a child.

I think the reaction comes from a misguided and romantic desire to extend childhood as long as possible. Since we live longer, then childhood should be longer goes the logic. Adolescence as a distinct age is a post WWII concept. In the old days you were a child until you were old enough to handle a tool and put to work, or when you married-young- and had a baby. End of childhood.

We need to treat teenagers like the young adults they are and help them to maturity. In the process maybe the adults will grow up too.

I was just thinking.

What time is it?

My day - hour by hour.

7 am Too early to get up since I have no regular job. Continue sleeping in hopes of a fabulous inspiring dream that will jump start my dormant writing.

8 am Awkened by dreams of toilets, waterfalls and running water. I get up for the morning pee, return to warm bed.

9 am Have yet another boring dream involving mindless rambling, dull scenery and stupid strangers. Where’s a good wet dream when you need one?

10 am Awakened from sound sleep yet again, by a fire truck siren. There’s a training facility a couple of blocks away. What are they doing practicing or an emergency donut run? Either that or it’s a noisy crow or neighbor. When I decide to get up the noise stops. Unbelievable.

11-12 am I have morning tea, breakfast. Stare at wall wondering why I got out of bed since I have no purpose in life or a job.

1-2 pm If it’s Thursday or Friday I go to the library for 3 hours of work cleaning CD/DVD discs, while trading bon mots with the G-man. Otherwise I run endless little errands that need to get done.

3 pm Jean Paul Sartre said “3 pm is either too early or too late in the day to start anything.”

4 pm Oprah’s on!

5 pm News. I yell at the stupid reporters onTV until I see the weather report.

6 pm Open refrigerator in hopes the random food in various states of freshness and/or decay will magically turn into dinner. Get a beer instead.

7 pm Watch Jeopardy! and hypothetically win thousands. I rock on this show. If it’s Tuesday or Thursday I rock in aikido class.

8 pm Time for more beer. Decide on either waste time watching TV, or crusing the internet. Once again avoiding writing or do something creative and productive. Get another beer.

9-11 pm TV sucks so I spend two hours on the internet. Not an improvement.

Midnight Last beer gone so I go to bed.

American Railroad Fantasies

I have this fantasy of living near railroad tracks to indulge in some performance art. Not just any kind of performance mind you. When the daily passenger train goes by I would stage some entertainment in full view of those looking out the window until Amtrak calls me to “cut it out.”

“We really insist Ms McLaughlin that you desist from staging mock executions, strangling your neighbor or slaughtering a cow with a chainsaw. These disturbing stunts must stop. Passengers are complaining and some have been traumatized by your antics.” they would plead.

Their pleas will fall on deaf ears. I love riding trains, I think it is the coolest way to go. Much better than airplanes. No long check in lines, no stripping to get through security. They have food- not half bad- on most trips. The seats are fairly roomy, you can walk around and watch people, a movie or the scenery. However we are one of the few industrialized, rich countries that doesn’t have efficient, extensive passenger rail service and I hate that. Some form of protest of this poor state of affairs must go on until things improve.

“Hey, when you burecratic niwits figure out how to improve the lousy, expensive train service in this country then I’ll stop with the Quentin Tarnatino hour.”

While politicians wail about reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we build more roads and Amtrak has to go begging every year to get any subsidy. Mind you we have been subsidizing airlines for decades, we bail them out constantly. Meanwhile Amtrak’s on time service sucks because the train has to pull over for freight that share the tracks (Don’t even get me started on Union Pacific’s “screw you” attitude toward their customers and Amtrak ).

The current adminstration has pledged money to upgrade tracks and bring high speed service to some national corridors. Hmmpf, rail enthusiasts have heard that before. The Pacific Northwest has been trying to get a fast train line from Eugene Oregon to vancouver BC for more than ten years. Daily trains from Portland to Seattle are often sold out.

Instead of doing the same song and dance about helping the enviroment, changing our way of driving, blah, blah, blah let’s get on the fast train to the future like France, Germany and Japan have done.

Now who lives near some train tracks and will join me in the quest for better passenger rail service?

This is your country on drugs

The war of drugs isn't working. prohibition doesn't work. More and more people are in prisons for being a drug user at considerable cost. But you know the war on drugs isn't working and we need a change when even the cops say enough already with some very good reasons to legalize.

I think hemp needs to be legalized and taxed  and I'm not the only one). While the controversy and mythical fears rage on- "heavens we can't do that it would encourage more drug use" blah, blah drug dealers are making money, killing civilians and cops and generally wrecking havoc on society.

Discuss.

TV wasteland

Remember when there were only three networks, PBS and later FOX. Where there was only half an hour of news? Families would fight over which show to watch because there was only one set and you arranged your schedule around what was on that night. Ah yes the good ole days. Not anymore.

Three things came along to ruin the network hold on the viewing public. The Federal Communications Act, cable and the internet. Cable, of course, meant you had 50 channels (hundreds now). From CNN news 24/7 to MTV and the invention of the music video to HBO where you could watch movies-uncut- in the privacy of your own living room.

Then FCC - long the guardian of public interest and protection -decided to do away with limited ownership of media and the fairness doctrine where you had to offer two side of any issue. Multimedia companies gobbled up competition until today all TV, radio and print media is in the hands of about five multinational corporations. The fairness doctrine gave rise to conservative talk radio and removing the last remaining vestige of objectivity from reporting.

The internet was the most dramatic and unforeseen phenomenon to change television. Now you could watch any show anytime, anywhere. How could the big four possibly compete with that?

Now that more and more people watch cable there is a demand for original programming instead of endless reruns of network shows. That demand is making FX, AMC, HBO and other channels worthy competitors for the networks in ratings and quality. One only has to look at the growing number of Emmy nominations to see the challenge to broadcast networks (ironically most of these channels are owned by the big four). Digital TV will further erode the broadcast hold as people switch to cable.

As technology changes the way we digest media so it changes society which in turn changes the technology. Some may insist that television is it still a vast wasteland but it is an increasingly diverse wasteland. What’s next? Stay tuned.

Fixing the World in a 100 words or less

Random good (?) Ideas

Warning! These ideas may make cause the following: critical thinking outside the box, viewing subjects from an alternative angle, brainstorming and problem solving. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. In these troubled times we are offered lots of problems but few solutions. Since I spend most of my time thinking I decided to consider some thorny issues and come up with a few suggestions.

Schools. Many schools are losing their sports, arts and music classes due to budgets. Well, how about pro sports supporting school sports- it’s where they get future athletes anyway. Arts and music? Same thing. Instead of coke machines to raise money ( and student weight) why not have private sponsors to promote art and music. Studies have shown how these programs help kids to learn better and keep them away from drugs, gangs etc. Sheesh this is a no brainer.

Roads. I already explored on how the government practically gives away money to build roads. If they really want to put their -excuse me- our money in the “cut addiction to foreign oil” rhetoric, pay 90 cents on the dollar to build mass transit, railroads and alternative transportation. To ensure the money is actually spent on these projects and not pissed away by bureaucratic waste, the government insists the money be paid back in say, ten years. This will encourage real change in higher ridership and create lots of jobs.

Afghanistan. What will save the country from thirty years of fighting? A demoralized and poor population? Help restore a non existent economy and slow the heroin trade? Pomegranates, almonds, and dates. Just ask Sara Chayes, a former NPR correspondent who has been working in the country for years. Never mind troops, oil, and propping up a corrupt government to bring stability to the area. Make it the fruit basket of the middle east.

“Estranged husband shoots wife, family.” This headline has become all too familiar. More and more churches are shunning quickie marriages (so is Las Vegas, you have to wait 12 hours to get a license instead of immediately). They require pre- marriage counseling to make sure the couple is compatible. Therefore, before getting divorced couples are required to get counseling to make sure the husband doesn’t go on a shooting spree. Men build monuments to themselves. The dissolution of a marriage can be seen as a huge failure, causing stress, anger and rejection by gun. Divorce runs women’s self esteem into the ground. An acrimonious divorce it’s not good for children either. This has got to stop.

Gun control. This solution was offered by a friend of a friend and the more I think about it the more potential I see in it. In order to own a gun everyone must have insurance. Prove to the insurance company that you’re not a nut job waiting to go off, or an enraged ex husband/boyfriend/ lover (see above) and that you know how to safely load, clean and store a gun and you’re ok. Let the gun and insurance lobbyist duke it out in Washington D.C. over this on. For the rest of us, it’s an additional buffer for public safety.

Somethings have got to change, I’m not sure how but these ideas should get the brain cells moving.

Laughter is the best medicine

I've suffer from chronic depression all my life, I’m not looking for sympathy, (though it’s gladly accepted) but there it is. It’s a drag but I get over it eventually. I don’t use fancy, expensive questionable psycho-tropic drugs oh no- I have something far more effective and potent.

Laughter.

When I’m feeling blue I check out comic book collections. Foxtort, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side and the classic Peanuts. The New Yorker cartoons are always good. I watch old episodes of Monty Python and Mystery Science Theater. I read James Thurber, Douglas Adams and Fran Lebowitz. Comedy is the cure for what ails you.

Laughter, as Twain noted, is a great weapon against tragedy and boy did he know tragedy. Most comedians and comedy comes from a place of misery, poverty or dysfunctional families. I had a lonely, disruptive childhood but I had a sense of humor to keep me sane. Humor is a way to deflect the horrors of life and remind us to keep things in perspective.

James Callahan draws cartoons that are both hilarious and frequently offensive but always dead on. His pitch black humor is born of surviving alcoholism and being quadriplegic after a drunk driving accident. Great comedy material.

Humor is not just a way to make people laugh, it’s survival therapy. Scientists can explain how laughing releases endorphins, helps with relaxation, even cure illness, but you don’t need them to tell you how good it feels to watch someone do a pratfall or say something stupid in public. That’s what we have politicians for.

Observing the absurdity of life or trading wit among friends is a tonic that wards off the darkness that threatens to drown me. I need to laugh, we all need to laugh. Laughter is the best medicine.

The Grand Staircase

This is a clumsy attempt to recall a remarkable dream I had.

The spiritual path is an infinite staircase with the abyss below and eternity, nirvana, heaven or whatever you want to call it, far above.

We all dwell on the staircase, mostly in the middle. Sometimes treads can be so vast all one sees is a plain as flat as Kansas. People on such a step have no idea what you mean by a staircase. They are perfectly happy where they are because, for them there is no where else. This is it. Sometimes the steps are a small toe hold on a sheer cliff in a wind storm. Other times it is a mere lift of the foot and living is easy.

The philosophers of the past know there are times when the climb is tough and accept the challenge. Shamans and the like speak of life as “The Game” and know the staircase all too well. Jesus is a master player at the game and came down the stairs to let us know that the climb is worth it.

“All the worlds a stage and the men and women merely players.” as Shakespeare put it. Castenda’s teacher Don Juan told him life is an unfathomable mystery but it it the job of a Man of Knowledge to fathom that mystery. The climb is infinite but we continue to scale it nevertheless.

However you envision the staircase- from the linear monolith of the Bible to Escher’s impossible paradox, keep climbing, keep learning.

Writing is not easy

Write,write, write, with all my might
until the words come fast as light.
For now ideas do crowd my head,
quick, quick, quick, get them down before they’re dead.
In each of us is an universe and the struggle to explain-
to others what we see and feel before we go insane.
But to those of us with some pluck,
can write something that doesn’t suck.

Writing is not easy- sometimes it’s like slitting your wrists. It’s like passing a kidney stone or the particularly difficult labor of a child who doesn’t want to be born. When nothing is coming, it’s torture to sit in front of the computer or stare at a blank piece of paper. Try writing when the beast of self doubt is waiting to rip your confidence to shreds or you’re on a deadline or you have just one more sentence to finish that chapter and you’re stuck with creative constipation.

We writers can spend an enormous amount of time avoiding writing when we’re desperate. Novelist Michael Thomas Ford once wrote about the lengths he went to avoid writing and I understood all to well the tactics. Oh wait, I have to do the laundry, then the cat needs to be let in/out several times. I should check my e-mail and pay some bills first so I’m not distracted. Too late for that.

I imagine my muse as a slacker vegging on the couch watching infomercials and eating a bag of chips. I nudge one of her fat legs. C’mon I complain, I got to write something, give me some ideas here I cajole her. No dice.

I long for the end of dry spells when the rush of inspiration threatens to drown me and I can’t get the words down fast enough. It’s like magic or being high. Time holds no power and I’m enthralled by the story unfolding before me. Disreali once said “If I want to read a good book, I writer one.” I used to have the most vivid dreams and wake up still dreaming, I’d lay still so as not to break the spell. I would caress the memory all day as a story emerged then sit down and write for hours in the evening until my hand tired. I couldn’t wait for the reservoir of ideas to fill again. I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next.

But those dreams don’t come by anymore and it gets harder to find inspiration. Writer Fran Lebowitz is right. “If you have a burning restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.”

Take my word dear reader, writing is not for the um. . .shit, I can’t think of the word.

Buddy Can You Spare a job?

I graduated from college and like everyone else, I needed a job. I started out with a sense of determination and adventure . I went through job hunting classes, learned how to write a resume, did mock interviews, I was ready. I was certain of getting a job with my skills. Then reality hit.
I found an opening at two department stores and dutifully applied submitted a resume: I have a college degree in graphic arts, experience in carpentry, and sales. I have excellent organization and people skills. I am beyond overqualified for the positions I applied for.

I never got a response from the first store but got a summons from the second to attend the stores "cattle call" application and orientation along with fifty other people. I filled out forms, watched a training video, answered the accompanying questionnaire, signed an agreement to let every major investigative company do a back ground check on me and was advised in writing that should I be hired they would require a drug test. ( I was ready for a blood test and full cavity search as well.) I was given a psyche test that had such inscrutable questions as “Can you count past 50?" and “Has anyone you know abused drugs, alcohol or stolen anything in the past six months?” All of this for a part time position in a department store? Needless to say I did not get that job.

I’ve gone through the job search thing many times since. I've tried many different approaches and applied for jobs I know I would be perfect for without success. Getting a job, I discovered was harder than I thought. I was getting discouraged. I heard of one man's quest for a position at a copy shop required him to call ten days in a row and submit to three interviews to get hired as a clerk. It's truly an employers' market.

Adding to the aggravation was the realization that employers aren't as discriminating about who they hire as I thought. I can't count the number of times I have gone to a business establishment to be waited on -eventually- by a pimple faced teenager with a dour expression that said "I'd rather be laying on a couch playing video games that deal with you". Meanwhile I'm left stewing because the nitwit can't find the right forms, doesn't know how to use the company computer or answer the phone correctly. Apparently customer service now means the service is done by the customer. I make a mental note that this business will not be patronized by me in the future.

All I've learned in my years of trial and error is that I have little chance of getting a decent job but I have developed great job hunting skills. I wonder if I could make a living as a professional job applicant. I could forget about working for others and create my own job as a carpenter / silversmith / writer: I'll fix your house, fix your jewelry and fix your term paper. Maybe I could apply to the CIA.

Go Forth and Multiply. . .Maybe

God hates homosexuals. According to Leviticus He also hates shrimp, cotton/poly blends, and tattoos. So why are those abominations subject to change but homosexuality is still considered a sin?

The discussion about gay marriages brings up the curious logic traditionalists use to defend the sanctity and purpose of a traditional heterosexual marriage.

The Washington State Supreme Court recently upheld a 1998 ban on gay marriages and ruled that “limiting marriage to opposite sex couples furthers procreation, essential to the survival of the human race and furthers the well being of children by encouraging families where children are reared in homes headed by the children’s biological parents.”(they said children three times). Marriage doesn’t promote procreation, but procreation certainly promotes marriage. My parents married because mom got pregnant first. As far as I can tell the institute of marriage has survived the presence of homosexuals and my parents pre-emptive strike.

Recently the Court of Appeals in Oregon upheld the ban on gay marriages. As Nick Graham from the Defense of Marriage Coalition said “Marriage between one man and one woman is ideal for raising children.” True but not all who marry, raise children. (Thank God these out of state people are setting Oregonians straight). Following their logic, should non procreating unions also be banned? Perhaps we should remove children from single parents for their own good. While we're at it, let's get rid of common law unions, I mean a child's parents should be legally married right?

On a planet of six billion people, procreation isn’t the sole purpose of marriage anymore. The weird part is that a gay couple can adopt a child, they just can’t give that children the legal protection marriage offers.

Same sex unions will disrupt the traditional family and harm children, the critics argue, despite numerous studies to the contrary. Critics see same sex marriages as a threat to traditional families. The ruin of the traditional family are dysfunctional parents, shifting social and economic demo graphs, the high divorce rate, and daddy preferring to cruise the internet for porn rather than talk to the family. Blaming those factors is complex and thorny, blaming homosexuals is easier and cheaper.

Opinions about homosexual marriages compares to the public opinion towards interracial marriages. In 1969 when interracial marriages became legal in every state, a Gallup poll showed 75% of Americans disapproved of such marriages. In 1991 that a majority shifted by a slim margin to 48%; today about 30% still disapprove. In a Pew Research Center poll conducted in March 2006, only 51% of Americans opposed marriage for same-sex couples, down from the 65% in 1996. Mind you, this looming, threatening group out to destroy the very fabric of the precious family as we know it, comprises less than 10% of the general population.

Banning gay marriages could lead to further discrimination. What’s to stop the morality police from outlawing common law marriages between heterosexual couples? Will they demand that all marriages be sanctified in the church of their choice or your marriage will be null and void by the state and your children considered bastards like the good old days? Will they demand that the state prosecute those who commit adultery like recent cases in Virginia, Massachusetts, Alabama, and Pennsylvania? Louisiana recently voted to ban heterosexual civil unions as well as same-sex marriages.

Marriage isn’t defended by preventing people from marrying. Reducing the 51% divorce rate and stopping spousal abuse are more positive and productive ways to protect it. People once believed that interracial marriage or allowing women to vote would weaken the American family. It hasn’t and I doubt allowing gays to enter into a monogamous, loving marriage is going to either.

Did Adam Have a Belly Button?

I have written primarily about aikido on this site and will continue to do so. I also want to practice the art of the essay and hope, dear reader, you will be entertained by my efforts. These essays are not meant to anger anyone or cause heated debate but to make you think more deeply about the world around you. Consider them lessons in critical thinking. I am interested in making you look at things from a different perspective and possibly find solutions to some problems.

I spend a lot of time thinking, that’s what writers do. I’m one one of those people who wonders about deep subjects like reality, metaphysics and social behavior. In the last week I have pondered small scale construction techniques, how legalized hemp farming could save Oregon’s economy, the meaning of several vivid dreams I’ve had and deciphering the design and creation of crop circles. Those are small potatoes compared to contemplating the nature of fear and how it drives us, the purpose of reincarnation and sharpening my psychic abilities through meditation and ki training.

I don’t know the answers but I enjoy the task of finding them. I like a good intellectual puzzle better than chocolate. Thinking is what I do best. Whether it’s figuring out the meaning of life, organizing my writing or figuring out what happens next to the characters in my latest novel.

And why do men have nipples?