FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS, CELL PHONES AND MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

Our First Amendment Rights Continue to be Watered Down

Here’s the First Amendment, in full: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Remember, ABRIDGE is not a path over water. It means to shorten a text, e.g. by cutting or summarizing it, to reduce something in scope or extent, to deprive somebody of rights or privileges.

Cameras, action

It has gotten so nobody can step outside his or her front yard without some nutcase photographing or videotaping him or her. It's downright embarrassing. You can no longer pick your nose of scratch your rear without someone posting it somewhere on the internet. You're not even safe taking a leak off you back porch for fear of someone having you arrested for indecent exposure, even if you live in the country and have a ten-foot high privacy fence.

There are cameras everywhere. They watch over traffic lights and traffic in general, parking lots, not to mention sidewalks, inside and outside of stores, waiting rooms and elivators, police cars are loaded down with them. They can take pictures of you, your car, license plate all while passing by you. Within a minute, they have a full dossier on you, your family, grandchildren, great grandchildren and all their family members. They know where you have been, what you did and what you purchased and returned, threw in the trash, and I don't doubt before long they will know when you go to the bathroom and what you flushed. Yet they-the police- don't want you taking pictures of them performing their duties.

Cell phones, they should outlay the blasted things.

The ubiquitous cell phone is a duel edged tool: it can save our life in one instance, or put blight on our privacy the next and can send us to death in another. It can expose where we are in a second. It stores evidence in all kinds of situations. I refuse to own one of the contraptions. It's not that I am hiding anything, I just value my privacy. Forced to use one in my work for a few years, I came to hate them. There's nowhere to hide, you can only claim poor reception at times.

The other day I was watching one of those TV court shows. It was a traffic accident case. The judge asked the man if he had pictures of the damage to his car.

"No ma'am. I don't own a camera."

"What about your cell phone? Doesn't it take pictures?"

"No ma'am, I don't have a cell phone."

"What do you mean? Everyone has a cell phone." She was indignant, and I couldn't believe what she said. Maybe someday it will be a requirement, but I don't believe it's come to that yet. I hope I'm taking my eternal dirt nap by then. BTW, you are not required to surrender you cell phone to a police officer unless he has a court order. That goes for searching your car too, unless their drug-sniffing dog alerts them that there are drugs in your car or on your person.

Search and Seize

Our constitution protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures by government officials. Yeah, right, in a pig's eye! Tell that to the next police officer who stops you and asks to search your car. Few realize this is an infringement of our rights, and allow them to snoop into their property. If you refuse, he'll have a hundred reasons dispelling it, and if he cannot find one to appease you, he'll make life miserable for you not complying to his wishes.

If the government wants info on you, they will get it by whatever means they wish. They just have too much pull and they care not whether it's done legally or not, and they are not above exaggerating the facts.

Another pet peeve I have with law enforcement is the way they entrap ladies of the night and their Johns. Prostitution, the world's oldest profession, it's human nature and it will go on for eternity or until we develop something to nullify our sex drive or need to earn an easy few bucks. It's been demonstrated repeatedly that legalizing prostitution, as well as pot smoking, makes it better for all concerned. It's cleaner, safer, and helps empty our jails and prisons. Then, what would law enforcers and private detention owners do? Both are income producers, as well as costly. Private detention owners rake in big bucks and law enforcer rake in big bucks that help pay detention owners.

It all comes down to big bucks and filling the pockets of those who we elect to represent us. Once in office, they seem to develop a laps in memory as for what they promised us voters but never forget extending their hands to those who funded their campaigns.

Our beautiful country today seems to be getting closer to how I perceived communist countries in the 50s and 60s where citizens have little or no rights down to dictating which religion one can or cannot practice. It's just not nice anymore.

Modes of Travel

I flew in the Air Force for many years and I still love flying. That is until they made it miserable and demeaning with their unreasonable search procedures. I refuse to fly anymore. If I cannot get somewhere by car, I stay home where sometimes in the dead of night I can sneak out on my back porch to relieve myself. Show me the man who can resist that. I fear the day when they will stop everyone at each state line and have our car checked and personal belongings mulled over by some goofball with a silk-panty fetish, and making sure our travel permits are in order.

The wife and I signed up for a cruise a couple years ago. After driving from Pensacola to the east coast of Florida and standing in line for over an hour, we filled out our paperwork before boarding. My wife first then me. The clerk asked for my passport or birth certificate. I showed her my military ID and my driver's license and a credit card. She wanted my original birth certficate. This was not a requirement on our last cruise the year before.

"I don't have it."I said.

"You can't board without it," she said.

I studied her for a minute, turned, kissed my wife and told her to have a pleasant cruise.

"Just a minute," The clerk said. "Do you have one at home?"

My wife assured her we did.

"Is someone there who can fax me a copy?"

Cell phone to the rescue: ten minutes after our son faxed it; we stood in line again waiting to have our baggage checked, our bodies searched and our pictures taken. Unless procedures change drastically, I will never take another cruise.

I recently laid out big bucks to purchase a battery-powered bicycle. My intent was to cut down on gas expenses by using it to go to the store. I had to stop riding it in fear that a garbage truck might flatten me and hall me to the landfill; not that I'm particular about my final resting place. Or, some clown fumbling with his cell phone might swerve off the road and send me to the hereafter before my time. The only accident I've had in the last two decades was when I was digging me cell phone from my pocked and I ran into the guy in front of me. My scheduler called to ask me what I was doing. You don't want to know what I told him. That was my last trip driving a shuttle van. If I keep eliminating modes of transportation, I'll be down to walking.

Here is my pitiful attempt at poetry.

Where have all our first amendments rights gone?

Long time passing.

Plucked from us one by one is where they have gone.

When will we ever learn?

Where have all our protesters gone?

Long time passing.

Plucked from the crowd as they go passing.

When will they ever learn?

Dragged to the nearest jail,

Long time passing.

They spend more time standing still.

When will they ever learn?

Off to court one by one.

Long time passing

Knowing well they haven't won.

When will they ever learn?

Where have all our coppers gone?

Long time passing.

Dressed like soldiers that seldom yawn.

When will they ever learn?

Armed with pepper spray they hum

Long time passing.

Too quick with the thumb

When will they ever learn?

They spray those on the run,

Long time passing

Even those having fun.

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the protesters gone?

Long time passing.

To the dungeon they are drawn.

When will they ever learn?

What of our jails so overflowing,

Long time passing.

With weed smokers and protesters outlawing.

When will they ever learn?

Fighting city hall is not worth withstanding.

Long time passing.

Our Government leaders think they are too outstanding.

When will they ever learn?

Few good laws are they passing.

However, after all is said and done, with all her scars and faults, there is still only one country where I want to live. Right here in the good old U.S.of A.

OVERPOPULATION

Is overpopulation a real threat or only a Myth?

Do we need to worry about overpopulation?

That's a resounding yes, overpopulation is real in some areas now, and is a real possibility in other areas, whether or not some think otherwise, and if we do not do something soon, it may have disastrous effects on human society worldwide.

While our population rate of increase reached its peak around 1963 at 2.2%, it has steadily declines to 1.1% in 2009, yet our total numbers have and continue to increase. In 1804, we reached the 1 billion mark. It took us 123 years to reach 2 billion. Now it takes us only 12 years to gain another billion. Yet some nations are declining in numbers: Russia, France, Germany, Poland and Italy are offering incentives to their people to propagate. While China once had a freeze on their citizen's reproduction, their population has now leveled off and they discontinued it. Other countries have exceeded their maximum and are enduring a period of famine

What's ahead

If we continue unchecked indulging in our favorite pastime activity we will, somewhere down the line, produce more people than we are able to feed, especially here in the US where we are used to stuffing our gullets with much more food than is required to sustain us. Depending on whom you talk to, number crunchers estimate world population will soon double again somewhere between 2030 and 2050. We live longer and healthier, we drive safer, we continue eliminating things that used to take our lives.

As intelligent as we are, we are still prone to letting things go until it's too late. It is possible our neglect will cause the meltdown of our ecosystem. Once that happens, Mother Nature will spend a couple hundred thousand years recuperating.

Remember when Australia exploded with an abundance of rabbits. Think of Earth in that situation and us being the rabbits. Of course, this abundance of rabbits was because they went unchecked and there were no predators. The little fur balls threatened the food supply for all other creatures in that area. It's a good example of overpopulation of a species and how it threatens all life. I remember watching scenes of people wielding clubs as they randomly clubbed rabbits to death. It reminded me of how men used to hunt seals and nearly eradicated them. Who is going to put the club to us?

Would the overpopulation of our species ultimately escalate to a point where we had to use such drastic measures? It's conceivable. There are places on earth now where babies and young children are starving to death as their parents sit by frustrated and helpless. We see it on TV every day as we sit at the dinner table stuffing our faces and shaking our disbelieving heads too. It's not happening in our backyard where our chubby children inhale grease-stuffed burgers and oil soaked fries while washing it down with sugar laden drinks. We need to wake up and see what is before our eyes. If we don't do something soon, nature will ultimately take care of it for us. Take warning; don't tempt Mother Nature, she is a ruthless wench. We too, are a ruthless species. Because we are the dominate life forms, we feel it is our right to treat everything, including the planet that sustains us, however we please. Will seldom learn from our mistakes?

Things that exasperate overpopulation

I have mentioned one above. Our religious brethren intervene in the way of live of others. As missionaries, they go into indigenous tribes who have happily survived for centuries in their way of life by living off what the land provides. These foreigners come along bearing gifts and a new way of life. The invaders assure these childlike people if they accept this new God and follow his ways, He will provide for them. The missionaries convince them that they have been living an evil life and need true spiritual guidance. The only true god is this new god, who says it is evil to use any type of birth control or contraception. Sex is only for producing offspring. And then they give a goodbye and farewell, and tell them not to worry, God will provide for them if they practice His ways."

These poor people still wait for God's assistance while they slip deeper into oblivion. Their children melt away and disease runs rampant

Of course, we know this does not work. Few believers in this ritual seldom follow it, and those who do have large families. Thus, they exacerbate the condition. Others protest in front of abortion clinics claiming taking a fetus is murder, yet they blow up clinics, kill doctors and advocate death for women who want to rid their bodies of an unwanted malignant growth. This is all in the name of their God. When does my god get to enter the picture?

Some believe overpopulation is not now nor never will be a problem. They say it's a hoax created to authenticate abortion and the use of birth control. They believe a lack of virtue is at fault.

What about other peoples' Gods, they too, believe their Gods' ways are the only right ways. It seems to me that maybe these different Gods are using his/her/its followers to wage wars against each other. Maybe it is their way of keeping check on overpopulation along with natural disasters, famine, plagues etc. After all, according to some, their god knows all that has happened and all that will happen and he is never changing, more befuddling aspects.

Why did these Gods populate this planet with humans to begin with if they already know the outcome? This seems illogical if these believers think their Gods are taking care of them, seeing to their needs and providing for their welfare. Then, maybe their Gods are not working together for the wellbeing of the population as a whole. I think they should have a board meeting to iron out some of their differences. Maybe what they know is going to happen is not going to happen the way they know it is going to happen. Right, it confuses me too.

What's the solution?

We need to stop breeding like rabbits!

We need to set aside some of our concepts of what constitutes a suitable program of birth control. The sooner we begin the better we will fair.

We know we cannot depend on those few blind faith followers who believe in illogical concepts that will surely if left unchecked, bring about an overpopulated world. That leaves only us heathen, backsliding nonbelievers to set guidelines to curb this eventual problem. Sometime in the not so distance future, there will come a time when Mother Earth can no longer feed all her children; just as it is now in some places. Left unchecked, it will spread like a wild fire.

At this time, we have only this world to exist. Maybe later someone's god will bring another world into our vision. I know some anxiously await the apocalypse. However, others of us are not so anxious and would rather live out our time here on Earth.

Maybe we can ship all those hard shell believers somewhere they can practice their beliefs without causing harm to others, and let their God provide for them. I think this has happened in the past and we are the result.

We are all in this together no matter what our beliefs. Some need to practice what they preach, stop being so greedy and share. I don't mean give what is yours to someone else. I mean let us live our beliefs too.

Maybe someday we will pilgrimage to another world to begin anew. No matter where that is, I'm sure we will be face problems, new ones and old ones There will always be differences in groups, large or small. It's human nature. It would make for a bland existence if everyone thought and acted alike. Ask any science fiction writer.

Have a pleasant day.

Do Miracle Exist

Do you believe in miracles?

The human brain is an amazing organ and capable of producing miraculous feats. It is, in my opinion, a true god, more worthy than the gods our ancestors created eons ago. In reality, it should get credit for all perceived miracles and miraculous happenings instead of the conjured up gods.

Deceptive eyes and ears.

It is the same with your eyes and ears. They trick your brain into believing you saw something other than what it was. Who of us, at one time or another, has looked at something and saw it as something other than what it was.

Remember; back when you were a kid walking home late at night. Depending on your phobias, shadows become hungry bears, rapist or murderers lurking in bushes, behind trees or in dark alleys. You may hear someone say something other than what he or she actually said. Later, scratching your head, you may reason these things out knowing their true meaning, or maybe not. Maybe your parents raised you with the truth that the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause were mythical characters, and that bares and murderers were more scared of you than you were of them. Sensing your fear intensified their need to complete their objective.

Hypnosis

Some years ago, back when Moby Dick was a sardine, I had an overwhelming desire to learn the mysteries of hypnoses. I studied it, and learned a state of hypnoses can be self-induced, or people can laps into a hypnotic state without realizing it. One is capable of doing amazing things while in or out of a state of hypnoses. Whether you or someone else manipulates the brain, it makes little difference. One's brain evaluates actual events and perceived events equally. For instance, you can convince your brain/yourself that a part of your body has no feeling. Thus, one can have an operation without administering anesthetics. You trick your brain into believing your body part has no feeling. Have you ever watched someone punch needles through parts of their body? Either they were born without the ability to feel pain, or they had the knack to numb their body parts.

Through hypnoses, whether self induced or guided by another, one can perform many seemingly unbelievable things. I have experimented on myself enough to convince me this was possible. However, like my religious beliefs, I never had enough faith to go further.

Have faith.

In most cases, one must have faith or belief to go into a hypnotic trance/sleep/feel the spirit. A willing subject/Christian/believer and a practiced hypnotist/preacher/healer can put one into a trance with a snap of the finger or the putting on of a hand. Upon awakening, the subject will believe what the hypnotist, etc, suggested to them before or during their trance. This works without salting the audience with willing actors. The important thing is one must have faith, whether religious oriented or otherwise. Besides, in a crowd, there are always those who are good at putting on a show or having a desire to be in the limelight, and there are some of us, who came to watch the show/miracle.

Some examples

I knew a doctor once who had dental work done without having the dentist poke needles into his jaw. He had the ability to numb any part of his body at any time.

How many times have you discovered a cut or scrape on yourself and suddenly felt pain wondering why you had not noticed it before. You telegraphed to your brain that you had a booboo and you realized you needed to feel pain.

Once while sawing a board on my table saw, the board slipped and kicked back. It was not the first time I experienced this. I felt the kickback and repositioned the board glad that I had observed safety procedures of not standing behind the board. I started to finish the cut. Several seconds elapsed before I realized the cause of the kickback.

I noted blood smeared on the board dripping from my left thumb split open up to the knuckle. Then, I realized I should be feeling pain, and I did. It streaked from my numbed thumb all the way up to my arm and down my spine. I nearly passed out until I realized I was alone. My body knew something happened to it and delivered a shot of adrenalin. When my eyes delivered the fact to my brain, it said, "Feel this, sucker."

I have witnessed enough and experienced enough to convince myself, what Believers call miracles is nothing more than their minds working overtime. They sit in church mesmerized by the sermon giver and are lulled into a state of euphoric numbness. I had experienced this myself more than a few times back when I was a member of a congregation. For many, once away from church, they forget. I have been backsliding for over 47 years and I think I have finally found the real light.

Placebo medications have proven many times over that they heal one's ailments just as quickly and thoroughly as the real thing. Doctors give insistent-patients sugar pills to heal there perceived ailments. Whether good, bad or indifferent, many follow their leaders' suggestions and take a stroll down the primrose path. Are all these things miracles? I believe they are, but they are not divine related.

There have been accounts of people who died because they thought a poisonous snake had bitten them, when in actuality, a non-poisonous snake had bitten them, or, in some cases, nothing bit them at all. They merely thought a deadly snake lurked somewhere nearby and when a thorn pricked them; they assumed it was a snake and died of fright. Read HERE and HERE

How many times had someone pronounced dead come back to life? Maybe, they overheard the doctor or someone else pronounce them dead, or for some reason known to them only, they fell into a trance, later when reality hit them they returned to the living. Watch this, HERE  How many times has someone discovered this? How many times has it gone unnoticed? Here is a long but interesting article on dead and buried coming back to life.

No, I do not believe in miracles. They are cute and mostly not harmful, so what the hey? Let the believers have their beliefs. I have my own and I think mine are better. It's my right.

Some Rants Ramblings and Observations

A niche for everyone and everyone in a niche

It seems everyone desires a unique classification or niche, something one can snuggle into and say, "This fits me just right, and makes me different from everyone else."Nowhere else is this more true than in religion, where even a sub denomination of a sub denomination and on and on, is not specific enough for some, so they form another group and another and yet another. It never ends. Maybe this is because each of us is a unique being. This difference is recognizable even in identical twins. What mother cannot identify one twin from the other? It's a matter of familiarity

This concept is now running rampant within the ranks of nonbelievers. It's not good enough to say "I'm an atheist or an agnostic." One must know to what degree and just how one does not believe. Are you a strong, medium or week atheist? Why do you not believe in God, Allah, Yahweh or any of the other names for the true god? Are you absolutely certain, somewhat certain or just not sure there is a god. Soon there will be as many nonbeliever sects as there are believer sects.

My god is the only god, your god sucks

The Bible says there is only one god. Any good believer will tell you there is only one god, God who created everything: the Earth and everything on it, the whole universe. My God, how can this be? Each sect claims his or her god did all this. The claim is, God dictated the Bible. Which one?

From the beginning, Man has never been satisfied with one god. We now have so many versions, it is difficult to count them, and we continue to dream up new ones. Does each of these gods provide a hereafter for their followers? This is for those who believe in a hereafter: not all believers believe this. Can you believe that? This is the reason Man invented gods. Man needed a place to retire for the rest of eternity. This is something else not everyone can agree with.

What about Hell

Is there such a place? The opposite place, you know, that hot spot where all nonbelievers and evil trash go to serve their master, i.e., the red guy, with horns and a tail. Never could understand the tail part. Maybe it represents another line of Man's evolution where the primitive tail never devolved. Not everyone can agree what hell is and what happens there. This all is one big hell-of-a mess.

Those who believe cannot believe why those who do not believe the same as they believe. Then, what happens to the reincarnated and those who believe in a god but do not believe in an afterlife? Does each god provide their chosen people with a planet, galaxy, universe or haven of their own?

If one is comfortable in one's beliefs or lack of them, does it make any difference to what degree one carries this? One either believes or does not believe. If there is only one god, and most think there is, does it not make sense he would want everyone to worship him in the same way. Those thinking different are not quite right in the head, I think.

A Victorious Victory

The other day a couple men knocked on my door and handed me a brochure. They smiled their pleasant smiles while I glanced at it, fanned the pages to verify that it was what I thought it was. I smiled and handed it back.

"You might want to give this to someone who may be interested and benefit from it." Their jubilant smiles faded into smirks of doubt. "I'm an atheist." Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

One quickly recovered "Well, what are you going to do when you die?" he said as a satisfied look filled his face.

"I'm going to rot like all other living things do," I replied. "He started to speak. I quickly stopped him with a raised hand. "We can stand here and argue until the cows come home and neither one of us will gain any ground."

They turned away and I watched them stroll back down my driveway. They gave me one more disbelieving look. I gave myself an atta-boy and turned back into the house.

I used to patiently stand and listen to these people make their spiel on their ideas on religion. Sometimes I even stated my views or objections. I soon learned this only incited them to longer ramblings about something of which I had no interest in. Then I began accepting their literature, quickly thanked them and shut the door before they began their practiced sermon. Later, I quit answering the door and they left their literature hanging on my doorknob.

When my vision finally cleared and I became convinced God was merely a concept created by our ancient ancestors that snowballed into what it is today, i.e. , a god created in the image of man and shredded into so many pieces the end result lacked any semblance to its original concept. I declared myself an Atheist.

Over the ages, I have endured the many religious zelots who darkened my doorstep. The cowards came in pairs to intimidate and batter me with carefully selected Bible quotes. Being the peaceful guy I am, I silently stood while they vented their beliefs on me. I seldom commented because I learned early on not to resist too much, otherwise, they would rant on until dark thirty.

Then I thought, what gives these inconsiderate religious fanatics the right to disturb my quietude and stuff their beliefs down my throat? It is disrespectful. Oh, I know, the Bible tells them this is what they should do. Not in my Bible! So what the hay, I thought. I'll do a little stuffing right back. I'll let them know right off, what I was and where I stood. This last time was my first attempt. I did what I said above, gained a quick satisfying victory and sent them scurrying down the road with hopes they would never darken my doorstep again. It has been a quiet and peaceful two weeks.

Christians get out of jail free in Bay Minette, Alabama. see HERE and HERE

Reflections on Nine Eleven

Do we need reminded?

Personally, I’m glad the annual 9/11 celebration is over. I don’t know how many more of these regurgitated happenings of that day I can endure. Why must we continually pick at our scabs and put these unpleasant happenings behind us? Let our wounds heal! Surely there must be other more urgent happenings we need to address. There is no doubt, in most people's minds anyway, it was a tragic event, and it scarred, not only our hearts and minds, but, it left a searing mark on our homeland that we patched up and made a memorial of it. A new structure, bigger better, stronger and more beautiful, nears completion next to the old site. One wonders how long it will be before other sicko lunatics will test its ability to ward off attacks. Anything man can build, others will find ways to destroy it.

So, 3,000 people lost their lives that day. Is that really so significant? Especially, when there are so many other deaths each day that, if we put our mind to it, we could reduce them considerately. Instead, we fight a war that, even after we have won, we continue doing what we do best, i.e., killing, maiming and destroying. Our great nation is on the verge of collapse and we continue sending our young men and women to foreign soils to fight someone else's battle.

I believe we have gotten our revenge. Let the world get back to normal, whatever that is.
Think of what we could have accomplished if we had invested some of what we shelled out supporting our war efforts over the last decade in helping, not only our country’s starving people, but the world’s starving masses, especially the children.

Over 46 thousand people are killed in car crashes each year in the U.S. alone: 443, thousand Americans die prematurely each year from smoking or being exposed to the smoke of other’s. We are improving, but, we have a long way to go. Well over a million Iraqis have been killed since 9/11, most of them civilians: 8,800 Americans have been killed which includes the 3,000 killed in the 9/11 incident: over 42.5 thousand of our young men and women have been wounded, not to mention the ones who came home with less of a mind than they left with.

Haven’t we all suffered enough yet? Do we have to be so blatantly reminded each year with videos repeatedly popping up on the boob tube? Interviews, old and updated, and new ones of children who were mere babies back then? I know more about their lives than I do about my own children's. How many times must one view those airplanes crashing and the buildings collapsing? One must turn it off or take a long walk to get away from it.

The two evil individuals responsible for this whole mess have been caught and put to death. I believe our elite Seals could have done this long ago and saved us lots of grief and money. Let’s put this puppy to bed and make ready for another day. Rest assured it will come. It seems humanity cannot function in peace for too long. If there is a god out there, in my view, it surely does not have our best interest in mind.

Will someone please wake me when it’s over? I think next year at this time I’m going to go camping out in the wilderness for a couple weeks, and hope there are no clowns round operating their portable TVs.