OK- let me start by saying to anybody reading this-if you haven't ever checked out Reddit, click that link and go do it. If you've got a bunch of free time and you want to know the reality of the Internet and the world around you, start exploring.\
Now-the topic of my blog today. I've been spending a lot of time on a few particular sub-Reddits, /r/creepy, and /r/LetsNotMeet, the first of which is a collection of usually 100%true stories from people about creepy things happening to them. I don't want to give anything away, because it's very much worth your time to check it out yourself, but I will say it's astounding how many people discover that somebody has snuck into their house and been living on their attic/basement. Absolutely mind-blowing. /r/LetsNotMeet is similar, but revolves only around 100% true stories of people having run-ins with shady people or people who turn out to be shady people; rapists, pedophiles, serial killers, etc. So this paragraph is part one of my rant and me promoting Reddit. Check it out. It's not just creepy stuff on there either. They have sub-Reddits for just about every single topic you could want to talk about or be interested in.
The second part of what I wanted to blog about stems from a conversation I had with my old lady and a friend of ours while we were painting today. We got on the discussion of addressing crimes and properly punishing people for crimes. This story got brought up, about a 22-year old cheerleading coach in Shelbyville having "inappropriate relations" with a 17-year old and the debate began as to whether or not this was inappropriate. Notice I said inappropriate, NOT illegal. I'm not arguing the legality of the crime, only my opinion on it. The woman was convicted of Child Seduction, a class D felony. According to the article, "Crafton will be on probation for approximately a year and a half, she will serve 25 hours of community service, and pay court fees among other court-ordered requirements." Also, she will not have to register as a sex offender. Now, the question, and inspiration for this blog, is this appropriate? And here's what I say-while I understand that, as he was a student, it makes her an authority figure which makes it inappropriate, I say if they were both willing participants, then who the fuck cares? I think that the age restrictions we put on things are so arbitrary. If the BJ had taken place just a year later, it wouldn't have been a problem for anybody. Take the drinking age-21. Here's what I say-I did almost all of my drinking before I was 21 and I'm fine. I never got arrested for it, never got in any trouble, and was smart about it. I think some people are mentally, emotionally, and physically ready to drink at 18, and some aren't ready until 30. It's so arbitrary. And the problem is, we try to have a cookie-cutter, black-and-white world where we say "this is right, and this is wrong", and we don't take individual cases into account. That's the problem. We try to lump people into categories based on their actions and not find out the actual causes that led to them or the cases themselves. And the same goes for the incident I mentioned above. Some people are ready to enter into having sex at 17 or even earlier, (I was), and some aren't ever really ready for it. So to say that at "this age", you're ready for it, go ahead, and jump in, is fundamentally wrong. And I think the only person that knows when they're ready is that person themselves. I think, like I said, you have to talk to the two people that were involved. Is he okay with what happened? Is she okay with what happened? Okay, then who's getting hurt? Where exactly is the crime? Maybe it's not socially acceptable, but there are many things that aren't socially acceptable, and they're not crimes at all. Now, if either of the participants had stated that they weren't okay with what happened, then I think you've got a crime and it needs to be handled.
Unfortunately, the solution for the black-and-white, right-or-wrong mentality isn't simple at all. The problem is that we try to maintain a tribe of 300 million people. Humans aren't meant for that. We're biologically meant to live in tribes of about 150. (See Dunbar's number) With 150 people, everybody knows everybody and everybody is held accountable for their actions by the other 149 people. At 300 million people, we just do not have the capacity, even with groups such as police, Congress, Supreme Court, etc., to hold people accountable. We HAVE to put people into categories because that's the only way we can handle that many people. It's not possible to address 300 million people's actions on an individual level. So the only solution is less people. (Which is a theory I subscribe to, but I don't want to seem too sadistic.) But that is the only way we can properly address people's actions and truly understand why people do the things they do. In a group of 150 people, you can't be a dirtbag. You just can't. In 150 people, everybody has to pull their weight and contribute to the survival and well-being of the group. If you're a dirtbag and you don't contribute, you're not gonna last in that group. And that's how humans are biologically meant to live. It's believed that part of the blame for different mental illnesses and horrible crimes can be placed on the fact that we have to live in such huge groups. There have been rat population density studies (see Behavioral Sink) where rats that have been placed in cages with too many other rats have shown signs of mental illness. According to the study, "Among the males the behavior disturbances ranged from sexual deviation to cannibalism and from frenetic overactivity to a pathological withdrawal from which individuals would emerge to eat, drink and move about only when other members of the community were asleep." The same behaviors can be observed in humans who live in too large of groups. So there's the problem, there's the solution. Potentially, anyway.
That's all I got. Hope you enjoy. It takes 492 seconds for sunlight to reach the Earth.
Follow me on Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And download and follow my podcast: Bryan On A Wire
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Relax-I didn't forget about you.
After many days of anticipation, I'm sure the one or two of you that have actually read one of these things will be relieved to read this. So relax and take the gun out of your mouth because I'm about to start.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about this time and even at this point I'm just typing stuff out to delay and delay the point where I actually have to decide. And the inspiration strikes!
Why exactly, in the year 2014, is weed still illegal anywhere? For those that don't know the history of weed and it's criminal status, I'll share the history with you. In the early days of America, not only was it totally legal to grow, but states were required by law to grow a certain amount. One of the early drafts of the Declaration of Independence was actually written on hemp. George Washington wrote in a journal entry about separating the male and female parts of the plant-“Began to separate the Male from the Female hemp … rather too late.”-which is something you would do solely for the purpose of smoking cannabis. Tales even tell that Washington and Thomas Jefferson traded seeds. Fast forward to January 1st, 1937-cannabis-or marijuana, the term was first coined at this time-is made illegal by the Marijuana Tax Act. And why? William Randolph Hearst (the name should ring a bell) ran several newspaper organizations, which were printed on tree pulp; just regular paper. However, because hemp was a stronger and better paper substitute, it was competition for the wealthy and powerful Hearst. The only problem was, it was very hard to produce the hemp and took a long time. Around 1935, however, a machine called the decorticator was introduced which made hemp production much easier and cheaper. Obviously, this caused a problem for Hearst. So he and Harry Anslinger, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, began printing stories in Hearst's papers that literally claimed that black were smoking marijuana and raping white women. Obviously there was little substance to these claims. Also, the Du Pont family (yes THAT Du Pont) had recently invented nylon, a material which also faced stiff competition from the arguably better hemp material. Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, and the richest man in America at the time, was a huge investor in nylon. See where this is going? With the wealth and power that this group held, as well as the trumped-up stories in Hearst's papers, they managed to get cannabis criminalized with the Marijuana Tax Act. (It was still legal only for medicine and research, but was heavily taxed.) This lasted until Leary v. United States in 1969, which led to the Controlled Substances Act, which repealed the Marijuana Tax Act and made marijuana an illegal, Schedule I drug.
Still with me?
And now, it's 2014, and despite widespread knowledge of the bullshit that made it illegal, marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and in 30 states at the time of this writing. All this despite evidence showing the medicinal benefits of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active chemical and marijuana and what produces the "high".
The medical benefits are way too many to list, but THC may realistically be the closest to a "cure all" medicine that there's ever been. I want to talk about the recreational benefits. And I want to get this point out-who the fuck cares? I say as long as you're not hurting anybody, why the fuck should it matter what you do to your own body? Cigarettes and alcohol are 100% legal to consume as long as you're of age, and they're waaaaaaay more harmful than marijuana. Hundreds of thousands of people die from either cigarettes or alcohol every year. Total marijuana deaths from the beginning of time is zero. Now, as for actual recreational benefits, someone I know who isn't me speaks very fondly of recreational use. This person was in the military and when he got out, was very depressed, even suicidal. He started smoking and found that the mindstate that it induced helped him to cope. He says that it helped him to put things into perspective and look at every aspect of his life objectively, and make changes that were necessary. It helped him see that there were parts of his life that were holding him back from being happy and that he needed to cut those things out of life. He says that smoking helps him to enjoy things again, be it food, music, or people. He says that if it weren't for marijuana, he probably would've killed himself long ago. These are things that he can't say about cigarettes or alcohol. And still, in the state that he lives, marijuana is illegal.
And what is the argument against legalization in 2014? The "gateway drug" argument. This is the only argument that so many right-wing politicians latch onto. Is there substance? Let's examine. The argument is that smoking marijuana leads to experimentation with cocaine, and then meth, and then pretty soon you're melting spoons and shoving dirty syringes into your arm. Pretty solid. However, in my opinion and that of real educated people, the real gateway is bullshit. What happens is these bullshit drug resistance classes tell kids that all drugs are bad, top to bottom. And the kids buy it because what do they know? Then they smoke weed for the first time and they have a wonderful time. They laugh and joke with their friends, food tastes like it never has before, they watch a movie and laugh like they never have before, they have sex and enjoy it like they never have before, and they start to think,Well, they told me that weed was bad, yet here I am, having a wonderful time. It's obviously not bad. So they obviously lied, which means they probably lied about cocaine. And meth. And heroin. It seems to me like that's the real gateway. It seems to me that we need real drug education, shit that's applicable in 2014. The truth. Weed is not bad for you. You're not gonna die, you're not gonna go crazy, but you might get a little hungry. And forgetful. But let's be honest-those are memories you didn't need anyway. But what about paranoia? It's a common complaint with weed, and one that someone I know can substantiate. But he says it's just reality. It's reality hitting you and it can make you feel a little bit off. It's the knowledge that you have some issues or problems that you haven't dealt with. This person I know has dealt with his demons and is very comfortable in where he's at in his life and he never experiences any paranoia.
Alrightey-I still probably have plenty to say about marijuana, but this one's probably gone long enough. I love to rant, and you know this, but if you're reading this, you probably haven't even made it this far to be honest. So that's all I got. 20% of tuxedo rentals take place in May.
Follow me in Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And download and follow my podcast (still waiting to do another one): Bryan On A Wire
I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about this time and even at this point I'm just typing stuff out to delay and delay the point where I actually have to decide. And the inspiration strikes!
Why exactly, in the year 2014, is weed still illegal anywhere? For those that don't know the history of weed and it's criminal status, I'll share the history with you. In the early days of America, not only was it totally legal to grow, but states were required by law to grow a certain amount. One of the early drafts of the Declaration of Independence was actually written on hemp. George Washington wrote in a journal entry about separating the male and female parts of the plant-“Began to separate the Male from the Female hemp … rather too late.”-which is something you would do solely for the purpose of smoking cannabis. Tales even tell that Washington and Thomas Jefferson traded seeds. Fast forward to January 1st, 1937-cannabis-or marijuana, the term was first coined at this time-is made illegal by the Marijuana Tax Act. And why? William Randolph Hearst (the name should ring a bell) ran several newspaper organizations, which were printed on tree pulp; just regular paper. However, because hemp was a stronger and better paper substitute, it was competition for the wealthy and powerful Hearst. The only problem was, it was very hard to produce the hemp and took a long time. Around 1935, however, a machine called the decorticator was introduced which made hemp production much easier and cheaper. Obviously, this caused a problem for Hearst. So he and Harry Anslinger, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, began printing stories in Hearst's papers that literally claimed that black were smoking marijuana and raping white women. Obviously there was little substance to these claims. Also, the Du Pont family (yes THAT Du Pont) had recently invented nylon, a material which also faced stiff competition from the arguably better hemp material. Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, and the richest man in America at the time, was a huge investor in nylon. See where this is going? With the wealth and power that this group held, as well as the trumped-up stories in Hearst's papers, they managed to get cannabis criminalized with the Marijuana Tax Act. (It was still legal only for medicine and research, but was heavily taxed.) This lasted until Leary v. United States in 1969, which led to the Controlled Substances Act, which repealed the Marijuana Tax Act and made marijuana an illegal, Schedule I drug.
Still with me?
And now, it's 2014, and despite widespread knowledge of the bullshit that made it illegal, marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and in 30 states at the time of this writing. All this despite evidence showing the medicinal benefits of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active chemical and marijuana and what produces the "high".
The medical benefits are way too many to list, but THC may realistically be the closest to a "cure all" medicine that there's ever been. I want to talk about the recreational benefits. And I want to get this point out-who the fuck cares? I say as long as you're not hurting anybody, why the fuck should it matter what you do to your own body? Cigarettes and alcohol are 100% legal to consume as long as you're of age, and they're waaaaaaay more harmful than marijuana. Hundreds of thousands of people die from either cigarettes or alcohol every year. Total marijuana deaths from the beginning of time is zero. Now, as for actual recreational benefits, someone I know who isn't me speaks very fondly of recreational use. This person was in the military and when he got out, was very depressed, even suicidal. He started smoking and found that the mindstate that it induced helped him to cope. He says that it helped him to put things into perspective and look at every aspect of his life objectively, and make changes that were necessary. It helped him see that there were parts of his life that were holding him back from being happy and that he needed to cut those things out of life. He says that smoking helps him to enjoy things again, be it food, music, or people. He says that if it weren't for marijuana, he probably would've killed himself long ago. These are things that he can't say about cigarettes or alcohol. And still, in the state that he lives, marijuana is illegal.
And what is the argument against legalization in 2014? The "gateway drug" argument. This is the only argument that so many right-wing politicians latch onto. Is there substance? Let's examine. The argument is that smoking marijuana leads to experimentation with cocaine, and then meth, and then pretty soon you're melting spoons and shoving dirty syringes into your arm. Pretty solid. However, in my opinion and that of real educated people, the real gateway is bullshit. What happens is these bullshit drug resistance classes tell kids that all drugs are bad, top to bottom. And the kids buy it because what do they know? Then they smoke weed for the first time and they have a wonderful time. They laugh and joke with their friends, food tastes like it never has before, they watch a movie and laugh like they never have before, they have sex and enjoy it like they never have before, and they start to think,Well, they told me that weed was bad, yet here I am, having a wonderful time. It's obviously not bad. So they obviously lied, which means they probably lied about cocaine. And meth. And heroin. It seems to me like that's the real gateway. It seems to me that we need real drug education, shit that's applicable in 2014. The truth. Weed is not bad for you. You're not gonna die, you're not gonna go crazy, but you might get a little hungry. And forgetful. But let's be honest-those are memories you didn't need anyway. But what about paranoia? It's a common complaint with weed, and one that someone I know can substantiate. But he says it's just reality. It's reality hitting you and it can make you feel a little bit off. It's the knowledge that you have some issues or problems that you haven't dealt with. This person I know has dealt with his demons and is very comfortable in where he's at in his life and he never experiences any paranoia.
Alrightey-I still probably have plenty to say about marijuana, but this one's probably gone long enough. I love to rant, and you know this, but if you're reading this, you probably haven't even made it this far to be honest. So that's all I got. 20% of tuxedo rentals take place in May.
Follow me in Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And download and follow my podcast (still waiting to do another one): Bryan On A Wire
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Hello world of blogging! While I've considered a blog for a long time, this is my first time actually writing one. So bear with me. A little about me-I'm Bryan, I'm 23, and I'm from Indiana. Oh and I have a podcast that anybody reading this should listen to and download. And follow. I'll post the link at the bottom. Don't let me forget!
I'm not sure what the best way to start this is, so I'll just rant about Duck Dynasty, because that's what's on TV right now. Here's the deal-there's a part of me that wants to dislike Duck Dynasty, 1., because it's the same sort of show like Jersey Shore or any other number of reality shows, that's made for simple-minded people and meant as a distraction from REAL LIFE, and 2., because I disagree with their religious views. However, it's funny! There are a LOT of moments and horrible jokes that are obviously poorly scripted, and it's sort of insulting, but there are a few characters that can be legitly funny, and seem authentic. Plus, while I don't align with any religions, I really don't have a problem with somebody that chooses to. I fancy myself an open-minded person, and I figure as long as you're a nice person, I could give a shit less what God you pray or don't pray to. And they seem to be nice people that follow the best parts of Christianity, and that's a good thing to see. But-BUT-you can't say gays shouldn't be able to get married. In 2014, you can't. It just makes you seem like a clueless idiot and presents the worst parts of your religion.
Please don't think that because I choose to blog about Duck Dynasty on my FIRST ACTUAL BLOG, that's the sort of entertainment I subscribe to. I like to think my taste in TV entertainment is actually pretty good. And luckily, the "Reality Show" phase seems to be giving way to a re-emergence of really good TV. The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Mad Men (which I haven't seen yet but I hear good things about), Game of Thrones (same as Mad Men)...there's a lot of thought-provoking, well-made TV shows that you can watch and actually feel like you gained something. It really is a good time to be a fan of TV shows.
And the emergence of Podcasts (Did I mention mine? Please follow.) has brought another amazing form of entertainment to the table. Thanks to the Internets, a 23 year old kid in Indiana who thinks about things in weird ways can hear from people all over the world who think the same way. The problem is, if you're from a place that doesn't have a lot of deep thinkers, you never get exposed to a lot of other people that think the way you do. But now you can. And you can share thoughts and evolve mentally with other people. It's amazing! If you're not using the Internet to share and gain ideas from the people who really investigate issues, you're really wasting it. Not to say there's anything wrong with hours and hours on YouTube or playing games, because I sure as hell do my share of both of those. I just think that there's a whole lot that you can gain as a human from the Internet if you use it correctly.
That's my rant for today. Thank you Duck Dynasty. Jimmy Carter is the first U.S. President to be born in a hospital.
Follow me on Twitter for infrequent retweets and dull thoughts: @BryanOnAWire
Download or listen and follow my podcast on Podomatic: Bryan On A Wire
I'm not sure what the best way to start this is, so I'll just rant about Duck Dynasty, because that's what's on TV right now. Here's the deal-there's a part of me that wants to dislike Duck Dynasty, 1., because it's the same sort of show like Jersey Shore or any other number of reality shows, that's made for simple-minded people and meant as a distraction from REAL LIFE, and 2., because I disagree with their religious views. However, it's funny! There are a LOT of moments and horrible jokes that are obviously poorly scripted, and it's sort of insulting, but there are a few characters that can be legitly funny, and seem authentic. Plus, while I don't align with any religions, I really don't have a problem with somebody that chooses to. I fancy myself an open-minded person, and I figure as long as you're a nice person, I could give a shit less what God you pray or don't pray to. And they seem to be nice people that follow the best parts of Christianity, and that's a good thing to see. But-BUT-you can't say gays shouldn't be able to get married. In 2014, you can't. It just makes you seem like a clueless idiot and presents the worst parts of your religion.
Please don't think that because I choose to blog about Duck Dynasty on my FIRST ACTUAL BLOG, that's the sort of entertainment I subscribe to. I like to think my taste in TV entertainment is actually pretty good. And luckily, the "Reality Show" phase seems to be giving way to a re-emergence of really good TV. The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Mad Men (which I haven't seen yet but I hear good things about), Game of Thrones (same as Mad Men)...there's a lot of thought-provoking, well-made TV shows that you can watch and actually feel like you gained something. It really is a good time to be a fan of TV shows.
And the emergence of Podcasts (Did I mention mine? Please follow.) has brought another amazing form of entertainment to the table. Thanks to the Internets, a 23 year old kid in Indiana who thinks about things in weird ways can hear from people all over the world who think the same way. The problem is, if you're from a place that doesn't have a lot of deep thinkers, you never get exposed to a lot of other people that think the way you do. But now you can. And you can share thoughts and evolve mentally with other people. It's amazing! If you're not using the Internet to share and gain ideas from the people who really investigate issues, you're really wasting it. Not to say there's anything wrong with hours and hours on YouTube or playing games, because I sure as hell do my share of both of those. I just think that there's a whole lot that you can gain as a human from the Internet if you use it correctly.
That's my rant for today. Thank you Duck Dynasty. Jimmy Carter is the first U.S. President to be born in a hospital.
Follow me on Twitter for infrequent retweets and dull thoughts: @BryanOnAWire
Download or listen and follow my podcast on Podomatic: Bryan On A Wire
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