From the mouth of the ass himself…

“America is a free society which limits the role of government in the lives of our citizens. In this country, people are free to choose how they live their lives.” (George W. Bush, June 5th 2006)

Wow, thanks for that! Maybe I’m missing something when you insert that statement in a press conference regarding an amendment to ban same sex marriage. I couldn’t have less respect for the man than I do now.

• George W. Bush,
• Homophobes,
• Those that can’t see the difference between rights and religion,
• Anyone for a federal ban on same sex marriages

Subject: Get a clue!

The time is coming. One day, I can only hope the day comes soon, the argument will be over. Same sex marriages will no longer be the hot topic but just another marriage. Get with the program. African Americans are no longer slaves, they no longer have to sit at the back of the bus, and no one cares what drinking fountain you drink from. On that note women also have the right to vote. Who knew! The parallels between these movements throughout history is almost uncanny. Just as we look back today and think it was silly that people actually faught against the end of slavery, that people argued for segregation in schools, and that people didn’t think women should have the right to vote, we will soon look back and realize that same sex marriage is not the end of the world. Get over it!

John

Some may already know my plan to clean up the stupidity that rages in the world today. If you don’t continue reading! Here we go!

The solution is simply a giant catapult. Much like the one shown below, except bigger, shinier, and much more real. Anyway, the idea here is to build such a catapult in order to launch those that lack even a small glimmer of common sense. I’ll first describe the image below and then I’ll develop a quick and easy way to determine just who should get in line for a one way ticket to nowhere.

1. This of course is the moon. More on that later.
2. Don’t look at this as a giant boulder, it holds people!
3. THE Catapult
4. People burning up in the atmosphere. More on that too.
5. Stupid people by the hundreds!

Ok, so right now you probably think I’m some sick freak who just wants to off a bunch of people by catapulting them into the upper atmosphere. Maybe you’re right on the catapulting part but here me out as to why this isn’t such a sick idea!

I don’t know about you but rarely a day goes by without me hearing about something so stupid that I just want to gouge my ears or eyes out depending on which method was used to obtain said information. It’s quite obvious to me, and hopefully it will be to you as well, that the people given a one way ticket will deserve such ride and will probably leave the world in a much better state. So let’s get to the list of eligible travellers!

• Anyone unable to accept responsibility for their own injury. Follow directions and use some common sense once in a while and all will be well. (ex. Guy listens to iPod too loud, sues Apple.)
• Anyone who is FOR an amendment/law/etc banning gay marriage. (Ignorance.)
• Anyone who is AGAINST a public smoking ban. (Can you say public health?)
• George W. Bush. (There are far too many reasons to list.)
• Anyone that destroys public and private property for fun (Cubs/Sox rioters, graffiti artists, other vandals.)
• Drivers that remain in the left or rightmost lane which has been scheduled to end for more than a mile. (Way to backup traffic.)
• Pretty much anyone that demonstrates a repeated lack of common sense.  ‘Nough said!

John

It’s that time of the year again.  Yup, the State of the Union is about to begin.

Back in middle school and high school I used to hate watching the State of the Union because it inevitebly cut off some show I wanted to watch.  Now, sitting here still amazed about how the 2004 elections panned out, I hate it for a different reason.  Tonight our douche bag president will make an even bigger fool out of himself and our nation.  Oy!

John

This entry is a short follow up to the last. Read that one before reading this!
The first point I must clarify is in regards to the CDC website I quoted. Neil stated that he believed that these stats were skewed in order to persuade the reader that drinking is bad. The facts merely illustrate the problems resulting from drinking. Although the website points out only the negative aspects of drinking, I believe you would be hard pressed to find a credible source providing statistics that illustrate the opposite.

Now to clarify my argument and why I chose the statistics I chose.

One point I wanted to make but now realize that I forgot to include is the following. Drinking and smoking involve inherent risks. The reason I chose these two activities is because they are completely avoidable. As a non-drinker I have nearly eliminated my chances of dieing from chronic liver disease, cancers related to oral-pharyngeal, esophagus (squamous cell type), prostate, and liver. As a non-smoker I have nearly eliminated my chances of dieing from lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and stroke. The statistics Neil referenced include data that includes all deaths by heart disease, stroke, cancer, etc. Many times these diseases are unavoidable and may be due to genetics or environment. Again, I chose drinking and smoking because they are completely avoidable risks and yet the death rates attributed to them are extremely significant.

The point I was trying to make by relating meth to drinking and smoking is that the bottom line of both looks the same. Just as not everyone is about to drink and drive, endangering the lives of those around him, not everyone who snorts meth, smokes pot, etc is going to get on the road and drive. A point that Lisa Madigan makes on her website regarding “The Evils of Meth” shows how driving under the influence of meth saps resources:

• Persons driving under the influence of meth cause traffic accidents, imposing costs on insurance companies and – ultimately – their customers, as well as police departments, fire departments, emergency rooms, and other medical providers. (IAG)

With alcohol-related traffice accidents making up 41% of all traffic accidents it’s easy to see that driving while under the influence of alcohol saps the same resources that driving under the influence of meth does. As a result we pay higher taxes and insurance premiums.

Regardless of the fact that alcohol may be a legal drug and meth may not be, the point is that driving after consuming either endangers innocent people and costs everyone money. Other statistics found on the CDC alcohol website illustrate the problems alcohol can create when children are introduced.

• From 1997 through 2002, 2,355 children died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes; 1,588 (68%) of these children were riding with a drinking driver (CDC, MMWR, 2004).

Lisa Madigan argues that meth problems in Illinois endanger the lives of children as well. My question is, why is one drug looked at in our society as unacceptable because it can endanger innocent people and children while alcohol, which is completely legal at 21 and causes the same harm, is prefectly acceptable? I am in no way saying that we should not try to rid Illinois of those producing and consuming meth, but if we are to frown upon the problems brought on by meth, why aren’t we taking the same attitude towards alcohol?

Finally I will relate smoking and it’s problems to some of the problems Lisa Madigan outlines in her fight against meth. As mentioned earlier Madigan’s website states that problems related to the consumption of meth sap resources from insurance companies (their customers) and other medical providers. The same can be said of the 400,000 or so people that die each year from diseases caused by smoking. Although I cannot provide a link to hard facts on this I think that it is easy to believe, given the facts on health insurance from the 2002 census (page 4), that there were quite a few people being treated for diseases attributed to smoking on Medicaid. This saps away resources that other individuals who chose not to smoke who are also on Medicaid. We can take this one step further and look at health care in general. Just as I really would rather not pay to treat someone that destroyed their body using meth, I really would rather not have to pay higher insurance premiums in order to spend money on those that deliberately chose to smoke their entire lives. Again why are we only concerned with meth sapping away medical resources when it is quite clear given 400,000 deaths a year that smoking is doing exactly the same thing? The same attitude should be applied here as well.

Hopefully that clarifies just a bit more.

John

Note: If the links above break please let me know at news at rayray dot org. Thanks!

As some who know me may already know, I’m rather disturbed by the fact that I now have to log all of my cold medicine purchases. In the state of Illinois any medicine containing pseudoephedrine (PSE), basically the stuff that makes good cold medicine good, must be stored behind the counter. You must be 18 or older to purchase these products and it’s necessary to produce a state issued ID from which the pharmacist will copy your name and address. This information as well as the product sold and the total amount of PSE contained in that product is stored in a log book which you must sign before making your purchase. I’ll let you read the rest of the details of the law yourself.

Anyway, this means the following. You will no longer be able to purchase a full box of these products in convenience stores, only the little “trial” sized packages. It is also important that you purchase your cold medicine during normal business hours unless you can find a 24 pharmacist. Furthermore at some pharmacies your order will be processed in line with every other perscription. This means that you may not be able to get in and out quickly if others are waiting for their perscriptions to be filled. This has all the makings for a very disgruntled customer who merely wants a bit of cold relief. Thanks Lisa Madigan!

My Point of View

The proponants of this law argue that the production of meth has several serious side effects. Chemicals used in the production as well as the means that producers will take can lead to rather dangerous situations. Explosions due to the ignition of gas by-products often cause the most damage. I wouldn’t be too pleased with my neighbor if he blew up the apartment complex while trying to cook up some meth. It’s understandable that exposure to these chemicals and situations would be dangerous to first responders, police, and other innocent people in the vicinity. Exposing a child to meth, or any drug for that matter, is also a concern. The problem with Illinois’, and surrounding states that passed similar laws prior to ours, solution to this problem is that it treats everyone in the state as a criminal. Citizens under the age of 18 aren’t even allowed to purchase products containing PSE. Everyone else is required to sign a log book. Not a digital log book, no linked database across the state. Merely a piece of paper in a 3-ring binder. Now I’m not really sure how many Tylenol Cold tablets it takes to produce enough meth to make a profit, but it seems to me that it really wouldn’t be that hard to just drive to each pharmacy in Bloomington/Normal purchasing the maximum amount allowed under the law. Worried about getting caught anyway? I know for a fact that getting a fake really isn’t that hard. If you can fake being 21 why not fake being 18 and purchase all the cold medicine you want.

Seems to me that stricter penalties for activities such as these would be just as effective if not more so. I fully believe that we are too nice to criminals. The risk in cooking up meth just isn’t high enough to convince people to stop doing it. For that matter the risk of being found guilty of many crimes just isn’t high enough. People really need to learn that there are severe consequences for stupid behavior. I’d like to think that the number of DUI’s would drop drastically if people were worried that they might lose their drivers license for the rest of their lives. That exposing innocent people to the dangers of meth production by setting up shop in an apartment complex or townhouse could mean your life. There has to be a point at which people start to think that their actions might not be the brightest.

And more ranting…

Here’s where the politics comes in! Understandably, meth production and distribution cause many problems in the world today. Tax money pays for cleanup of sites used to cook meth, the adoption and child care of children involved, law enforcement, prison time, and any medical attention needed once placed in jail. These costs are passed on to us. We pay higher taxes as well as higher insurance premiums due to medical and liability claims made due to meth producers and addicts.

There are several other players in this game that cause just as much, if not more damage, and have the same power to increase our insurance and tax rates. I’m speaking of course of cigarettes and alcohol. Here are some stats:

• Each year, more than 400,000 Americans die from cigarette smoking. In fact, one in every five deaths in the United States is smoking related. (CDC)
• In 2000, there were approximately 85,000 deaths attributable to either excessive or risky drinking in the U.S., making alcohol the third leading actual cause of death (Mokdad, 2004). (CDC)
• In 2002, 17,419 people in the United States died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, accounting for 41% of all traffic-related deaths (NHTSA, 2003). (CDC)

I am certain that these factors place an added strain on insurance premiums (medical and auto) as well as an additional burden on law enforcement officials and the judicial system. Guess who’s paying for those? That’s right I am. Do I smoke? Do I drink and drive? The answer is NO! Lisa Madigan will tell you that the new meth law aims to relieve some of the stress on these areas due to meth production and distribution. Tell me Lisa, when will people have to start signing a log book to purchase cigarettes and alcohol!

John

Note: If the links above break please let me know at news at rayray dot org. Thanks!

The Edge Foundation is a group of thinkers who’s mandate is to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society. Each year they pose a question and allow great thinkers from around the world to submit their thoughts. This years question was simply, “What is your dangerous idea?”. Although I’ve yet to read every single one, there are over 72,500 words making up all of the entries, there was at least one that I agreed with.

A Marriage Option for All - David G. Myers

I can only hope that Myers is right when he states the following:

More and more young adults — tomorrow’s likely majority, given generational succession — are coming to understand this evidence, and to support what in the future will not seem so dangerous: a marriage option for all.

It would be no suprise to me if the generation currently in power sees that the idea of a marriage option for all remains a dangerous idea. As sad as it is, it will truly take time and a shift in power from one generation to the next to show the world that this idea isn’t so dangerous.

For more dangerous ideas visit the main page linked below.

The World Question Center 2006

John

Note: If the link above breaks please let me know at news at rayray dot org. Thanks!

The topic of today’s discussion is ignorance with just a touch of disrespect. OK so there’s a bit of sarcasm in there but you’ll know what I mean shortly. In order to get there first it’s important that you read the following news article:

Anti-gay church protests at soldiers’ funerals

Just when I thought I couldn’t absolutely hate ignorant people any more than I already do, I read that. To put it bluntly people that do this deserve 0 respect as a human being and should be looked upon as just another example of the scum that inhabits this country. It angers me that there are actually people out there that have the propensity to do this.

Not only are these people filled with hatred for a group of people that are simply demanding equal rights, but they’re also ignorant enough to blame the death of these men on the idea that THEIR god is punishing the United States for harboring them.

This is absolutely ludicrous!

Don’t even get me started on the fact these people are trying to force these beliefs down the throats of others. The part that gets me here is that they are protesting at someones funeral! They essentially desicrated these men and their families.

Keep your ignorance and disrespect to yourself!

John

Note: If the link above breaks please let me know at news at rayray dot org. Thanks!