Uneasiness and Paranoia

Normally, I don't get on the conspiracy theory bandwagon. I don't believe people are abducted by aliens. I don't believe Freemasons or Reptile People, or any other organisation controls the world. I don't believe in FEMA Death Camps. I certainly don't believe that the Boogeyman is out to get me.

However, several stories have come to my attention, and have sent chills down my spine. The earliest was posted on September 30, 2011 and told the tale of Anwar al-Awlaki, a man who spread fervent propaganda for Al-Qaida on YouTube. Awlaki was killed by a US unmanned drone and needless to say, his irrational messages of hate and violence were snuffed out for good.

There is still one interesting feature in this strange saga of a preacher gone bad. Awlaki held a dual Yemen-American citizenship. Awlaki was an evil man working for an evil and irrational organization. However, he was also US Citzen, who was killed by the US Government with no chance for due process or justice that is supposedly something that all citizens can feel safe with. It is safe to say that Awlaki's death was illegal and the proper course of action would have been to put him on trial for the deeds that he had committed. A lawsuit was filed specifically naming our President, CIA Director, and Secretary of Defence over this illegal killing, but was dismissed.

Now here's where things get really sketchy. In our very own Senate, they have passed a bill titled, National Defence Authorization Act. This bill, if passed into law will make the entire United States a "battleground" which will allow the US Military to arrest, interrogate, and even execute US Citizens, without trial, if they are suspected of being affiliated with Al-Qaida.

You may be saying to yourself, "I'm not in anyway affiliated with Al-Qaida so I have nothing to worry about." I implore you to reconsider that notion and worry a little bit. If the bill is passed, maybe it will be comfortable for us upstanding citizens for a little while. Then let's say hypothetically that the government amends the law, changes it around to say "Any suspected terrorist." or "Any suspected revolutionary." or "Any suspected person who asks too many questions."

That's what it boils down to. Definitions. The people who pass this law get to define what a terrorist is. Is it Al-Qaidia? Or is it the people with picket signs? It can all change in the blink of an eye, and one day perhaps it'll be you or me getting hunted down by a unmanned drone without a trace of justice or due process. All because we stood up against this tyrannical bill.


Sources:
http://newsvoice.se/2011/12/02/us-senate-declares-the-entire-usa-to-be-a-battleground/
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/awlaki-dead-yemen/
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.1867:

"Well then what's the point of living?"

Being an Atheist, you can get bombarded with a lot of questions. Be it from family members that disapprove of your lack of faith, or from your more religious friends, they all seem to have questions locked and loaded at you.

One of the biggest questions I and countless of other Atheists get asked is, "If their is no God , what is the point of living?"

I respectfully answer the question in the following way:

14 Billion years ago, our Universe was formed. Around 4.5 Billion years ago, the Solar System we call home formed along with our home planet Earth. One billion years later, life began to form and evolve. We Humans came to be roughly 600,000 years ago, and our minds fully developed about 50,000 years ago.

Humanity has been on this planet, in this solar system, in this galaxy, in this universe for a fraction of a second. In this short time our impact on this planet has been large and we have triumphed and done great evil, we have showed compassion and hatred, we have come together and split apart, but most importantly, we lived.

Life is such a precious and short thing that it becomes its own meaning. The meaning of life is to live it. Our short lives should not be spent doing good deeds (Or in some cases killing ourselves) in hope of reward from a Deity, nor should we live in fear of our bad deeds from that same Deity. If good deeds are to be done, let's do them for the sake of helping our fellow Humans.

If we all learned to get out of our comfort zone and just consider that maybe there is no life after this one, no Mulligan, no do over, we would learn to truly savour our short time here and perhaps come closer to unification.

In short, The meaning of life is to live it.

Please, Smoke.

(This article was written by me and taken directly from the November, 2011 issue of the WBHS Paw Print.)

Dribbling all over yourself is usually the habit of a toddler. I say usually because there are those at school who partake in the dastardly habit of dipping, who have the oral tendencies of a infant who has yet to master the art of eating spaghetti.

Slapping the "dippers" on the hand and telling them over and over to stop their wicked ways is about as futile as making Amy Winehouse say "Yes, yes, yes." to rehab (too soon?)

Since there is no way to make them stop for medical reasons, let's make them stop so that we may live free from that oppressive tobacco muck that spews forth from their mouths.

You may be saying in a snarky tone, "Easier said that done." or "They're so hooked on the nicotine that they can't stop." I say to those people, you are right. My objective isn't to get the nicotine junkies off their smack, it's to get them to nurse their cravings in a more elegant and fashionable way.

The solution is simple, let them smoke. Smoking is dipping's swanky cousin. Sure it will end up killing you, but hey, dippers don't care. If they smoke, they can let their jaw rot away in style. More importantly, it gets rid of that sludge that they have to constantly spit out when they dip.

Let's bring back cigarette dispensing machines, let's set up Parisian style cafe tables outside the school so that they enjoy a cigarette in the warmth of the sun.

Remember, there is no cost too great in getting rid of the waste products from dipping; it must be eradicated at all costs.

My Intentions

With the recent popularity of my article in my local school paper, "Please Smoke", I figured I might as well make a blog for writings in the same vein as that surprisingly popular article. Since newspaper can be rather restrictive on what you can and can't say, I intend to use this blog to break free from those confines and post articles about many subjects, some of which may be condemned for being to risqué by the fat cats and the bourgeoisie.

I'm going to upload my "Please Smoke" article later today so anybody who missed it the first go around can read it now and in turn they can begin to gently fondle my ego.