Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Arguing with a conservative

current song: Why am I so tired? - smashing pumpkins



Ever tried to argue with a conservative, or any one of the other equally dangerous sub-categorized zealots? You are never able to win. You can't win, it's impossible because they won't listen to you. They will hear you but they won't actually listen to you. I've been in this situation many times and eventually gave up the whole notion of even trying t carry on an intelligent conversation with one. It's not possible. They are always right. Not literally, but they always think that they are right and anxiously wait for you to finish so that they can talk. One time I was talking to one of these scary people and could really not even get a word in edgewise. I was told that our current president george w bush was actually very intelligent. That's right, the word intelligent was used , not smart, but 'intelligent'. I found it funny because not only can the man not speak proper English, he doesn't know what most of the shit that comes out of his mouth even means. He's a shit-talker. Good examples of crimes he has committed against the English language are:
  • "The great thing about America is everybody should vote."
    —Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000
  • "They misunderestimated me."—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
  • "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."—LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
  • "Quotas are bad for America. It's not the way America is all about."
I'm tired so I am going to sleep now.

freight 'o the day


Monday, March 13, 2006

current song: push- zombie nation
Apparently there are certain cities and jurisdictions here in america that have considered putting a blanket ban on pit bulls. The topic of animals is one subject that i do not shy away from. i am very passionate about a few things and animal rights is one of them.

As a person who lives with a pit bull, I could not believe the stupidity and ignorance of the idea of banning pit bulls from the city. I reside in Anytown, USA and yes, pit bulls can be a problem, like any other dog. Why can they be a problem? Because of the pieces of trash that abuse them, thus making them react in an adverse way. Those are the people (actually they are garbage, not people) that should be banned. Those morons that give pits a bad name probably don't deserve to live, in all actuality. I try to be an ethical person and such, but the only thing that banning pit bulls will prove is that the one(s) who are responsible for this ordinance are completely missing the point and are, dare I say, ignorant and foolish. Why have stiffer penalties not been established and handed out instead? Banning a certain breed of dog is much like banning a race or an ethnicity. It makes no sense and is just a 'quick fix', a weak, foolish and 'easy way out', completely overlooking the real issue, that being that the owners are responsible for turning these dogs into monsters. American Pit Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers were originally bred as fighting dogs but this was outlawed over a century ago so the idea that pit bulls are these monsters is unfounded in the present day. That's a misconception that I suppose the media has perpetrated and apparently people take it at face value.

Most of the people who own pits are not the ones who give them a bad name, but there are those few who do and that is why this has been a problem. If need be, the city should investigate these 'dog attacks' and then take them on a case-by-case basis instead of issuing a blanket ban. I am not saying that these dog attacks do not happen nor am I making light of them. I offer my condolence to anyone who has been attacked and/or killed by dogs. However, the fact remains that some of the attacks, more than likely, were provoked in some way or another. It still does not make it right or OK that these attacks occurred, but there should be investigations into these attacks, checking out all the pertinent information. Who the dog belongs to, an investigation of where these people live and if they have any criminal record, what kind of crowd they associate themselves with, etc. Other questions, which I'm sure are routinely asked should be, "Why did the dog attack?", " Was there provocation of any kind?" Also, children need to be taught to respect animals, most importantly these dogs because, unfortunately sometimes they are abused and will attack because of the way they were treated, thus bringing us back to the reason I am writing this. Unfortunately the majority of these attacks occur because these dogs were abused. I don’t tolerate the excuse of "Well, they are trained to attack." When someone 'trains' a dog to attack, that's called abuse. 'Training' is when a dog is taught to behave.

Much stiffer penalties should be imposed for dog fighting. Not only is it sick, cruel and unfair to the dogs but it creates a public problem and is dangerous. What if these dogs got out into the general public? What would happen? That's right, they would attack more than likely. It should also be a glaring warning sign that the people who engage in dog fighting show signs of sociopathy.

I have said my piece and have let it be known that I feel very strongly on this matter, hopefully this will bring to light a few things and perhaps make some think twice and, the ultimate though rather lofty goal, is to change legislation for the better. These dogs, as well as all dogs and animals deserve to be treated with respect. They should be shown the same respect that people are shown. We tend to have this elitist attitude that somehow we (humans) are above all other living things. My simple refutation to that big-headed idea is, put simply,’ bullshit'.

Freight 'o the day


Sunday, March 12, 2006

God made me late for work

this is the first post.
current song:youth of america- the melvins
it was nice as hell today so I decided I was going to do some benching down by the river before I had to go to work. There's nothing like being out in the nice weather near the train tracks with my camera checking out the graffiti on the freights. I was hoping to meet up with a friend of mine but our paths never crossed. That's probably all for the better though because then I would have had to hang up my 'fun' jacket and put on my 'work' jacket and make my way to work leaving behind the great weather for the sterile insides of a building with few windows. As I was making my way to my car a man, looking a lot like a younger Fidel Castro, approached me and asked me if I went to college. After about a minute or so of talking he made it clear to me that God was going to have something to do with this conversation. My hopes of some nice philosophical conversation were dashed when he began to say that he was not going to bring religion in this yet he continued to push it, albeit in a poorly attempted covert way, on me. By this time I was anxious to look at my cell phone to check the time but I didn't have to because he watch caught my eye. "Shit!", I thought. "It's 4:20 already." I had to be at work at 5 and I always left at around 4:30. This was beginning to be a waste of my time. To make a long story short, I ended up praying with him because otherwise I would have had to stay around and listen to how I was wrong in assuming that the possibility of a higher being could not be proven or disproved; in his mind not only did a higher being, God as he called it, exist, but he could prove it to me. He told me this and I was a little interested in just how he could prove it to me, but I had to get to work. He said "I know that God exists, without a shadow of a doubt and I could literally show you but we don't have time for that right now, because you need to get to work." That was convenient. I guess I am going to hell. I was about 15 minutes late. Thanks God. ;]