theunrulyone.com

Just wrote another article at helium.com. This one deals with why I think NASCAR and auto-racing in general should be banned.

Check it out.

Tags: blogging, helium.com, NASCAR

So the San Jose Sharks are in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They are facing off against the dreaded Calgary Flames, and right now the Flames lead the series 2-1. I find this disheartening considering that the Sharks held a 3-o lead in game three, and they gained that lead within the first three minutes of the first period.

As a Sharks fan, this was great to watch. But Calgary was too much for San Jose on this night. San Jose got a penalty and Calgary scored on the ensuing power play. They never looked back from there, and the Sharks never could quite regain their composure.

I must congratulate the Flames for coming back and beating the Sharks. I do not like it, it does nothing but sadden me and feed my hatred for the Flames. Right now, I am too down by this to be truly angry. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Some Sharks fans may tell you that the Flames should have got the penalty because  Flame player Dion Phaneuf threw an elbow into Patrick Marleau’s face, making his nose bleed and kicking off a bit of a ruckus on the ice. When it was settled, there was blood on the ice and a Shark in the penalty box, and while it is true that  Phaneuf did elbow Marleau, and should have gotten a penalty, that does not change the fact that the Sharks got a little too comfortable with their lead and it was the Sharks that allowed the Flames back into the game, not the referees.

So now once again the Sharks have to prove themselves to themselves (and by extension to their fans) , come back and face adversity in Game Four, and take the series back to San Jose tied up 2-2. The tragedy of Game Three will not be easily forgotten, but that is exactly what the Sharks have to do. They have to leave those demons in the past, get out there and win on the road, which is something they did all regular season. They did, after all, have the best road record in the league.

Tags: news, San Jose Sharks, Sports, Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Oklahoma State House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow certain people to carry concealed firearms on college campuses in the state, despite the recent shootings at college campuses. The people allowed to carry the firearms would include active-duty military, National Guard, and reserve personnel, honorably discharged veterans and others with firearms training certified by the Council on Law Enforcement Education who hold a state concealed weapons license to carry guns on college and university campuses.

The argument for the bill, which faces ratification in the State Senate later this month, went something like this: Campuses and Universities will be safer because the guns will be in the hands of law abiding citizens. This statement may be true, after all if people carry legally concealed weapons they are obeying the law, and are therefore law-abiding citizens, but it is still a ridiculous defense for a bill of this kind.

I do not want to sound like a liberal alarmist, and I do recognize that Oklahoma has over 60,000 residents who are legally allowed to carry concealed weapons, but I think allowing firearms on campuses is a bad idea. The rationale behind it, aside from the fact that law abiding folks would be the only ones with concealed weapons, and that someone with a gun would be better suited to deal with a gunman than someone without a gun (and yes, that is true too. It is pretty hard to shoot back at someone with your pen or pencil, I think MacGuyver is the only one who could do that) but the very thought of a possible shoot out in our school frightens me. Now, I would probably be glad if I was in a classroom being terrorized by a gunman and someone shot him, but that does not change the fact that I think this is a bad idea. More guns equal more bullets, which equals the greater chance for someone to take a stray bullet.

The one thing about the bill that did make sense was that anyone carrying a concealed firearm onto campus had to inform the campus in writing of their intention to do so. That is smart policy, and should at least allow campuses to know who is carrying a gun on their grounds, but what if someone decides that he does not want to take the trouble of telling anyone he’s bringing a gun to campus because he wants to shoot some people? I guess he’ll end up getting shot by someone with a gun who took the time to write the campus.

Pretty soon, people are going to be able to bring guns anywhere–church, work, the ball game, our shrinks office–on the pretext that we need them to defend ourselves against those with guns. It’s like the Second Amendment had grown ten sizes too large and is now being applied in places where it has no business being.

I love America.

Tags: Gun Control, guns in school, Oklahoma, school shootings

Lifesong is now offering an apprentice program. Click here for details.

Also, the edge  is fast approaching, have you written your essays yet? Oh, and if you don’t like writing you can always just sign up for the class. You will not have to write anything except the check, and that’s not too hard is it.

Also check out the Dune Dog Dispatch  to see pictures of a Customized Camp Mark Wienert Jr, recently held.

Tags: Bear Grylls, Mark Wienert Jr, The Edge, wilderness survival

At a press conference on Wed March 12, Barack Obama said that he was tired of the “race” issue in the presidential campaign, and does not think that he is overly reliant on black voters. He said that while some of the media keeps trying make this a “race” race, and questioning his ability to get votes from other demographics such as Whites and Latinos, the majority of the American people will be too concerned about the issues and troubles America faces to care about race (his or his voters’), and that they will vote on the candidate best suited to address the issues and concerns of Americans today.

He also said that his campaigned had already proven that it can win the votes of “white blue-collar workers,” by citing his victories in  Wisconsin and Virginia. Obama was also bothered by the fact that people will not let this issue rest, and that he shouldn’t have to prove himself to the media at every primary. And he is right about that in a sense; the only people Barack Obama has to prove himself to is the American voter. Of course, the media is part of the voting public, so there is that.

I agree that race should not be an issue in this campaign. Just like I do not think that gender should have anything to do with it as far as Hillary Clinton is concerned. And, it would be great if the American voter could see past race and gender and look at the issues like Obama asks. I fear, however, that America is not yet far enough along to see past things like race and gender.

The fact is there are white men out there who will not vote for Obama because of the color of his skin. Just like there are women out there who will not vote for Hilary because she is a woman, and therefor, can not be a good leader. And yes, I know I used the word woman here because believe me, there are plenty of sexist women out there who think that only a man can handle the pressures of the Office of the President. Horrific, I know, but true nonetheless.

I commend Obama for wanting to make the campaign about something important: the issues, even if I think he is a bit naive in thinking that race is not an issue. It should not be, but now is the time to develop strategies on how to deal with the race issue because I just know that the Republican Election Machine is going to do whatever it takes to retain the Presidency, including putting the focus on the race/gender of their opponent, rather debating the issues and policies.

Both Obama and Hilary need to develop some tougher skin (not in preparation for being President) but to get ready for the upcoming “swiftboat” attempts.

Tags: Barack Obama, commentary, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, news, Presidential Election, rants

Recently, Saturday Night Live aired an episode that mocked the media’s treatment of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama when compared to its treatment of Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. This echoed complaints from the Clinton camp that the media is soft on Obama but tough on Hillary.

What follows is awesome for so many reasons, but I really enjoy it for the “political satire makes a difference” angle–whether or not it tuns out to mean anything.

After the sketch aired on SNL, the mass media, including such companies as CNN and CBS decided to question their handling of the Obama campaign. This led to the decision that they had been “soft-balling” Obama, and that they would start to ask the tough questions.

I smiled when I heard about this, and my heart went pitter-patter. I am not an Obama hater, and I have not really been watching the debates so I cannot say that the media has been softer on Obama than it has on Clinton, but I was glad to see art doing its job. When SNL did the sketch (which I also have not seen) someone took notice, and from there news departments vouched to “Get tough on Obama.” I do not know if they have gotten tougher on Obama, but it was nice to see that social satire and commentary can still be relevant and have a positive affect on the world around it.

And, I would like to know a little more about Obama. He appeals to me because he seems new and fresh–the hip new kid at school or work–but I do not really know a lot about him. I do not need to know all of his dirty little secrets, but I am sure he has some skeletons in his closet–we all do–and I would at least like to get a glimpse of that just so I can know who my candidate is.

Still, it warms my hear to see “freedom of expression” work, especially since it seems that the American public has allowed itself to cower in silent fear. The tragedy of September 11th will always be a part of this nation’s history, as will the embarrassment of what we let the government get away with because of our silence, so it is nice to see that maybe we are starting to remember what it is like to have a conversation with our media and our leaders.

I know a SNL skit will not lead to revolution; nor am I naive enough to think that it will really make a difference in how the media treats Obama, but I am glad to hear our collective public voice, tentative as it may be.  I also know this is an election year, so interest in politics is nearing its four year spike, but it will rapidly decline once the election is over, which creates the possibility of the American public to being silenced again. For now, though, I will take a silly SNL skit that gets some sort of dialog going on over silence any day.

Tags: Barack Obama, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, news, Politics, satire, SNL

I hate memoirs. I really do. I think they are silly and ultimately worthless. For those of you who do not know, a memoir is a piece of autobiographical writing, but unlike a traditional autobiography, it focuses on a certain point in the author’s life, rather than their entire life. Memoirs are written by people who have lived lives. Maybe these lives are spectacular, but I still think it is silly that someone can write their memoir in their twenties, be recognized as living a difficult/unbelievable/unusual life, and make money off of it.

Who is this seventeen year old to write a book about coping with Tourette’s Syndrome? Not that I am making light of his condition, nor am I saying that he does not have anything worthwhile to say about his condition–he has lived with it for seventeen years or so, and I am sure he has something to say about it.

And, this seventeen year old is not the reason for this rant against memoirs. No, the reason for this is that yet another memoir has been found to be false. That’s right folks, first it was that dude that duped Oprah, one or two others that I cannot remember at the moment, and now this: Margaret B. Jones’ “Love and Consequences” is a fake.

The book is a false account of the author’s life as a foster child, who sold drugs and ran guns for the Los Angeles gang the Bloods. That would be quite a life, if it wasn’t just a pack of lies made up to be facts. I swear I do not know why people have to lie under false pretenses. If she had written the book as a piece of fiction, maybe it would not have sold quite as well (memoirs are the new thing, after all, despite scandals like this and the Oprah guy), but it still would have sold, and at least then people would have known what they were getting into when they picked that book up at one of the five local Barnes and Noble.

But no, this woman had to lie about her life, and beyond. See, it was not enough that she lied about being a foster kid, or about running guns and drugs in her preteen years, but she also lied about her name. This woman’s name is not Margaret B. Jones. It is, in fact, Margaret Seltzer.

I just do not see why she did not just write a novel. That is what she ended up writing anyway, and she could have saved herself and her publisher some embarrassment. But no, she had to go be fashionable and write a ‘memoir,’ and now the publisher has recalled the book and offered a complete refund to anyone who bought it. They have also canceled the author’s book tour which was set to start Monday.

Tags: , Lies, literature, memoirs, news, weird news

I wanted to remind folks that Lifesong Wilderness Adventures is still holding their essay contest for The Edge , a program based on Lifesong owner Mark Wienert’s experience as a survival consultant on the television show Man VS. Wild with Bear Gryls.

From what I hear, the essays are pouring in, and the deadline is April 1st, so get your thinking caps on, head on over to Lifesong to see the terms and conditions, and get to writing. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. After all, the world is headed for a global conflict. Would it not be a good idea to be prepared for this and gain the knowledge you will need to survive in a world gone to war?

Seriously, though, if you have any interest in nature, you should check it out.

Tags: Bear Grylls, Lifesong Adventures, Mark Wienert, The Edge, wilderness survival

The U.N. passed a third round of sanctions against Iran earlier this week in hopes that Iran would stop its uranium enrichment program. In response Iran called the sanctions laughable and said that it would continue its program, which it insists is only to develop uranium for a nuclear power plant.

Obviously the world disagrees and thinks that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb. This thought, of course, scares the hell out of me, but I also have to find myself asking: What is the big deal? Sure, Iran is a terrorist state, and the idea of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in the hands of a so called rogue state is not a good one. But then I think about America’s stockpile of nuclear weapons and I am just as afraid. Not that we will use anther one–I don’t believe anyone will intentionally set off another nuke (call me naive if you want to)–but just that we have them. They make a good deterrent, and that is about it.

I would like it if we could destroy every nuke on the planet, lose the technology for it, and go about killing each other the old fashioned way: with guns and bombs that destroy city blocks, not cities themselves.

But I digress. I do that sometimes, don’t worry about it.

It seems like the West and Iran are engaged in an escalating war of words. Now believe me, word wars are my favorite kind, but the problem with them is that have the propensity to come to blows, and the longer the rhetoric and stances remain aggressive, the harder it will be for either side to back down. When that happens, it will come to blows, and the whole world will suffer.

I seem to be on a total world war kick tonight, but I cannot help it that there were at least four stories about wars and potential wars in the news today. All of this cannot be a coincidence. It has to mean something, and if it does not come to anything it will still have meaning to us as it will be an example of how to avoid fighting your global neighbor.

That would be great, if we could work something out that did not involve violence, or starving the citizens of a country with which we disagree. I mean, this policy of sanctions against those we dislike is preposterous. I understand the reasoning behind it, but it is cruel and stupid–much like most of the world’s leaders must have been when they were younger–and amounts only to common citizens suffering.

Think about it for a moment: if a country imposed sanctions on the United States of America, do you think that the government would be the ones most affected by it? If you answered yes, I am sorry about the cruel and stupid comment made earlier. I did not mean to offend you.

The real answer of course is that the American citizen would bear the brunt of the sanction while the government continued to sleep with big business in the form of those multi-billion citizens: the corporations. Ah yes, a company that is also a citizen. Thank you, America for inventing new ways to abuse an already abuse welcoming system, I’m sure that the world will embrace this contribution once it sees how well it has worked for us here in the old U.S. of A.

I did it again, I am sorry. I will try to stay on task from here on out.

My point is that I do not want Iran or anyone else to have nuclear weapons, and the thought that countries do have them scares me so much that sometimes I have to sleep with the light on. I know this will not keep me safe from the bombs, but it offers me comfort nonetheless.

Sanctions do not work as intended. They punish the citizenry, which is unfair because most of the countries who have sanctions imposed upon them are ruled by crazy dictators who are not only cruel and stupid, but they enjoyed killing small animals as children. This is an unavoidable effect of sanctions, and it is also inhumane. There has to be a better way to resolve this, but that solution most likely will not be reached because both sides are using aggressive rhetoric and do not really seem to be seeking a truly diplomatic solution.

With all of this in mind I have to say that right now, war with Iran, at some point in the next twenty years or so, is a forgone conclusion. I do not say this to say I told you so, nor to make light of a such a disastrous circumstance, but to simply inform you that I am thinking about stuff like this because someone has to.

Tags: , Iran, United Nations, war on terror, World War Three

I do not mean to be a fearmonger, but there is military activity in South America, and war looks possible. Venezuelan and Ecuadorian forces are massing where their countries border Colombia. The troop build up is in response to an attack by Colombian military forces on a rebel camp just over a mile beyond the Colombia/Ecuador border.

In response to the attack, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez contacted Ecuadorian leaders and called for them to respond with a combined greater military presence at the military, and let the U.S. puppet that is Colombia know that Venezuela and Ecuador will not be bullied. They now have about 12,400 troops at the border, 9,000 of which belong to Venezuela.

And for now that’s what the stand off looks like, just a bunch of saber rattling and rhetoric.  Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said that “Colombia was not one to go to war with its neighbors,” but he did accuse Chavez of genocide and demanded the communistic leader be charged with crimes against humanity. Chavez of course denied the charges of genocide, and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of trying Chavez was “laughable.”

President Bush described Chavez as being provocative, and several other countries condemned Colombia’s raid, and agreed that it should not have entered Ecuador to pursue the rebels.  Trade between Ecuador and Colombia went on as usual, even after the military buildup, so it looks like no big calamity will come of this.

Still, this scares me. The Mid-East is in a state of disarray, and always one haywire bullet away from all out war, and now we have to worry about the neighbors to the south possibly starting something. If that happened, I do not think it would be long before we saw American forces, or at least American security forces like Blackwater and others (only this time not hired officially by the American government–and by extension the American citizen) pop up in South America and fighting in whatever conflict may be happening.

It seems to me that the world is ever slowly marching toward another world war. I know that may sound ridiculous, and I truly hope it is, but with all the carnage in the world at the moment I have to think that it really is not all that far fetched. I mean Iraq, Turkey vs the PKK in Northern Iraq, Hama vs Isreal, the South American situation, Afghanistan, Darfur, and dozens of other horrible conflicts throughout the world.

And like a wet rock thrown on an open flame there comes the inevitable explosion, and unless humanity can figure some way to get along with each other a little bit better than we are now, we are going to explode and there will be very little–if anything–left of the human race.

Tags: Colombian border, current events, news, terrorism, war