Missed Opportunity

I feel awful right now. I don't mean to rant, but I know nobody looks at this thing, so I feel justified. When I was younger I was offered to participate in the "Make a Wish" program b/c I'm a childhood cancer survivor. At the time I couldn't think of something I particularly wanted, and I kind of adopted the attitude that someone who was in more need than myself should "get my wish." Of course it is only now that I'm twenty, and as informed by the lady at the foundation that I'm too old to get anything from them, by two years... and I don't care if this sounds whiny, but it makes me feel bad, especially b/c what I want to do is to use my wish to help other children anyway. I'm a writer, and I want to be a filmmaker. I write mostly for middle grade children, and my stories involve a lot of my own life experiences (indirectly as I write fantasy), but they contain lessons I learned specifically as a childhood cancer survivor, and I really think other children who go through such experiences, even other adults who go through this sort of thing could really benefit from what I have to say. Unfortunately nobody wants to publish an author with no agent, and I've tried everything I can think of to try to promote my book on my own. It makes me feel bad that they can't/won't help me, and it's because I didn't act sooner I guess. I've missed so many things in my life because of what I've gone through. I thought they could help me just a little, but I was wrong. And I just felt I had to get this out to somebody, to the universe I guess... I asked for help from the people at the hospital back when I was 17/18, when I could have still gotten a "Make a Wish," but I guess I didn't try hard enough, and now it's too late.

BEST MOVIE EVER!!!

I know it has been a LONG time since I wrote about movies on here, but there is one that I saw a few months ago that I give major credit to for helping me recover from a life or death situation regarding my physical and mental health. I'm not really exaggerating here, much.

Back around my birthday, at the end of May, I got terribly sick with some very mysterious illness. I was so sick I had to come home from school to be in L.A. and I eventually ended up in the E.R. b/c I got so dehydrated that I needed to get fluids pumped into my veins. Not a fun experience... even for someone as seasoned as I in the field of getting sick. I'm a childhood cancer survivor, and... I don't want to go into detail... this is supposed to be about this great movie... anyway... point is I was afraid I was going to die, for the second time in my life...

So... long story short the E.R. fixed me up, and I felt so much better, better than I had in years in fact, and that night I watched this amazing film with my family. To preface a little more, my mom had rented it for my brother as he was about to go off to college for engineering, and the movie centers around 3 Indian engineering students ( yes it's an Indian movie w/subtitles... but sometimes they speak English too)

Anyway, we popped in this movie "3 Idiots," and by the end of it I had had an epiphany... I was struggling b/c I had abandoned my life's passion. I hated school in SB, and I then knew if I didn't immediately drop out, it would kill me. So I did, and now I'm at Antioch University, healthy, and happy.

So to sum up the film, besides being about engineering, it is really about friendship, life, and enlightenment. The basics are a group of 3 young men who become friends at an Engineering College in India. One is there in hopes of supporting his family, one is there b/c his parents think he will be happy with the life/money being an engineer will bring, but his real passion is photography, and one is a genius who loves engineering, and is both more and less than he appears to be. The movie starts on the journey of the two friends, and this one other odd and pretentious former student going off in search of the "genius" character as after having graduated, they have completely lost contact w/him. The movie then flashes back to when these characters were in school, and tells how they got to know each other, and why the "genius" "Rancho" is so important to the 3 searchers.
The film is both heartbreaking in places, and truly exalting in others. It is the perfect blend of drama, humor, and a touch of romance. I think everybody will be able to get the message, and yet it doesn't beat you over the head with it. It is a wonderful and unique movie, the best I've seen in a very long time. And the title... "3 Idiots" ... also has awesome songs!!! It is available from Netflix. :)

So if you're in the mood for a moving film, I suggest this one.

Money and Freedom of Speech

Is the right to buy politicians/representatives guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?
Honestly, I don't know. The way we act in America we seem to agree that this right is protected. This is what it says in Wikipedia under First Amendment/Campaign Finance:

In Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of some parts, while declaring other parts unconstitutional, of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and related laws. These laws restricted the monetary contributions that may be made to political campaigns and expenditure by candidates. The Court concluded that limits on campaign contributions "serve[d] the basic governmental interest in safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process without directly impinging upon the rights of individual citizens and candidates to engage in political debate and discussion."^[32] However, the Court overturned the spending limits, which it found imposed "substantial restraints on the quantity of political speech."^[33]

Further rules on campaign finance were scrutinized by the Court when it determined McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003). The case centered on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, a federal law that imposed new restrictions on campaign financing. The Supreme Court upheld provisions which barred the raising of soft money by national parties and the use of soft money by private organizations to fund certain advertisements related to elections. However, the Court struck down the "choice of expenditure" rule, which required that parties could either make coordinated expenditures for all its candidates, or permit candidates to spend independently, but not both, which they agreed "placed an unconstitutional burden on the parties' right to make unlimited independent expenditures."^[34] The Supreme Court also ruled that the provision preventing minors from making political contributions was unconstitutional, relying on Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.

In Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.S. 449 (2007), the Supreme Court sustained an "as applied" challenge to provisions of the 2002 law dealing with advertising shortly before a primary, caucus, or an election.

In Davis v. Federal Election Commission, 554 U.S. 724 (2008), the Supreme Court declared the "Millionaire's Amendment" provisions of the BCRA to be unconstitutional. The Court held that easing BCRA restrictions for an opponent of a self-financing candidate spending at least $350,000 of his own money violated the freedom of speech of the self-financing candidate.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. ___ (2010), the Court ruled that the BCRA's federal restrictions on electoral advocacy by corporations or unions were unconstitutional for violating the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The Court overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652 (1990), which had upheld a state law that prohibited corporations from using treasury funds to support or oppose candidates in elections did not violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments. The Court also overruled the portion of McConnell that upheld such restrictions under the BCRA.^[35]

So yes, I guess the Supreme Court upholds that Freedom of Speech equates to Freedom of spending. So that means we as citizens of the United States ARE NOT PROTECTED FROM THE OLIGARCHICAL TENDENCIES of those wealthy enough to buy off politicians. Maybe we need to write a new pledge for candidates, "I hereby pledge that I will uphold my duty in equal portion to the individual citizens who elected me, and will not confer any preferential treatment upon those who gave more money, time, or other resources to aid my campaign. I pledge my duty only to those votes, and to those voters in equal portion to uphold the opinions and political stances of the reasonable voting majority."

I would like to bring back some of the Founding Fathers and see what they think of the slow disintegration of their democratic system. Yeah... you can't ban things, but you can EXPOSE THEM... and that is what I suggest we do. What is the real block towards having open, honest government? That is my question. 

There's no such thing as Justice

I can't understand why everyone is so upset about the verdict of the recent Casey Anthony trial. How do all these people know what was really going on? Why are they so angry about it? Does it affect them personally?

It's horribly upsetting and a real tragedy in my mind that people are so cruel. Hasn't this woman been through enough? She doesn't need prison, not our kind of prison, anyway... SHE NEEDS HELP!!!

People only commit crimes for one reason; to get attention. People crave attention almost more than anything else and people who are forced into desperate situations, or at least desperate within their own minds, have the capacity to commit a crime in order to get attention, and boy does our "justice" system give it to them! Look at all the attention this case is getting, in fact, I'm giving it more attention as I'm writing this.

Why is our society so obsessed with this vague idea of justice... I don't think it's justice at all... it's COMMUNALLY VALIDATED REVENGE... that's not JUST at all... we're a bunch of monsters to condone this system. We have to fess up that our system for dealing with criminals IS NOT KIND OR JUST.

I love the system they have in the land of OZ... of course this only works in most of "our" cases b/c of course our laws aren't perfect, like the laws the wonderful Ozma sets down. However, the attitude is totally applicable.

Take the young boy named Ojo who illegally picked a 7-leafed clover. He did so in order to save his uncle/caretaker from being a stone statue forever. The reason this act was illegal in the first place was to prevent magic from being done by those who would use it for mischief, or in other words: in order to prevent just such accidents from occurring.
Once discovered, Ojo is taken to prison, where he is treated kindly, and with remorse for his desperate condition. Ozma herself offers to do all in her power to save Ojo's uncle. Ojo is stunned by the kindness showed to him, and of course he meant no harm. In his mind it was the right thing to try to save his loving uncle. Wouldn't we do the same?

What if we could be a little more kind in our system? Wouldn't we be a better nation, a better world, if we took a little more time to listen to others, and stop being so accusative?

I AM NOT SAYING that we should have anarchy. On the contrary, I am saying we need a system for helping people in desperate situations. But shamefully, throwing people in prison makes a lot of money. If only we could be less obsessive, we'd save the real things we do have, without needlessly destroying them in haste and anger. Money means nothing without the things it buys, and greed is a fool's route to destruction.

Now you might say, WELL OJO WASN'T A MURDERER... that's fair I suppose, but the principle is the same. Would a rational person commit murder? Would you murder someone? Would you kill someone unless you were in a desperate situation? What if you thought you were in a desperate situation?

Even people who on the surface seem totally horrifying in their actions have either rationalized those actions to themselves, and/or are in serious psychological distress.

There is a difference between putting someone in a corner and teaching them that they can't always get what they want, and that they need to consider the feelings of others, and building a culture based on later breaking the essential code of considering the feelings of others as soon as someone starts to act out.

We are constantly lead to believe our world is in horrible distress all the time, and almost all the news we see is about wars, or murders, or other acts of violence. The world is not as bleak a place as it may seem on the news. To paraphrase John Lennon, peace is here if you want it, and so is kindness.

Money is "Worthless"

Money is worthless. Well actually it's not worthless. However, its worth seems to be greatly misunderstood.

First of all; Money is DEBT. If you have a dollar in your pocket that means you also have a tiny bit of debt. Money is an IOU. It has NO inherent value except the value of the paper it was printed upon. The "value" of money depends ENTIRELY on the system surrounding it. That isn't to say we should all go out and buy a bunch of gold... that's also ridiculous. Furthermore, the SYSTEM in the U.S.A. is constructed so that the Government will ALWAYS be in DEBT. To whom do we owe this money? The Federal Bank that prints the money is the answer to that question. We PAY them to print money, and so WE WILL ALWAYS OWE THEM MONEY!!! It is not an equal exchange system. It COSTS MONEY to PRINT MONEY, and so each time we print money, money is LOST to the Federal Bank. For a long time in this country we did not have this system, and in fact most of our beloved "Founding Fathers" railed against it and decried that such a system would kill the nation.
This is a little bit false too, and it is because of "Might Makes Right." The ACTUAL value is the value of material objects, the value of the strength of human individuals, the value of physical objects like food, water, land, etc. And yet we often constantly obsess over possessing more money? Are we completely insane? We are destroying the material world around us in the name of clinging to an imaginary, and furthermore destructive thing. We ignore and abandon preserving what we NEED to survive; clean air, clean water, wholesome food, harmony with other beings, human and all other. Why do we do this? Our greed isn't even really greed. We are greedy for a fantasy? Do these multi-millionaires actually EAT MONEY? I don't think so...

Money is nothing more and nothing less than a system of organization that allows for distribution of limited resources. Other species seem to find equilibrium through different means, like the predator-prey cycle. We as human beings seem to have no natural predators, except ourselves perhaps, so WE ourselves are the predators. That said, we will, if we don't use moderation, eventually deplete our resources to a point that is no longer sustainable, and the Earth doesn't care how much money you have. WE ARE ONLY AS VALUABLE as the water, carbon, and other natural elements in our bodies, and ALL HUMANS have this in common. And that is why it doesn't matter if you have a million dollars, a billion dollars, or just one dollar.

So why should some people feel the need to accumulate SO MANY THINGS, so many unused, wasted things? Does anybody really need more than one house?
We're afraid. That's what I think. We are afraid that if we don't hoard for ourselves and insulate ourselves with money, and stuff, and weapons, etc. then everything we have will be taken from us. When we think that because we are full of greed, and hate, and misunderstanding that the world is out to get us, we're wrong. WE ARE OUT TO GET US, and no one else. We CAN change if that is what we really want. NO ONE IS STOPPING US EXCEPT OURSELVES.

So don't be afraid. Fear is what drives you crazy.

PAC Man

This is a little song I wrote about Political Action Committees, also known as PACs... inspired by the song Pacman by Weird Al Yankovic, a parody of Tax Man by The Beatles:

Here are the "new" lyrics for the song I call PAC man, to the tune of Tax Man by The Beatles:

I used to be a freedom freak

Back then no one would call me meek

But now it's PAC Man

Yeah it's the PAC Man

I’m so confused by all those laws

Maybe that’s the system flaw?

They call it PAC Man

Yeah it's the PAC Man

At the White House, they say I'm a jerk

I can scream all day and still not get work

Lost my job to some-one overseas

But I’ll still fight hard for monopolies!

PAC man [music from Pacman "intermission"]

Well it's the PAC Man

Yeah it's the PAC Man

Well it takes a lot of cash to play

So they’re taking my house today

We’re playin' PAC Man

Yeah it's the PAC-Ma-an

Hey mom, I won't be back tonight

(PACman)

At the Motel 6 I’ll be all right

 (PACman)

Playin’ PAC Man

Yeah it's the PAC Man

And you're playing with no one but me

PAC Man

Road to Nowhere?

Last night on the news they talked about this road that is being planned/built in Africa that is supposed to cut clear across the serengeti, the valuable and unique habititat of some of our favorite fellow species, including; lions, elephants, giraffes, zebra, cheetahs, gazelle, wildebeast, etc.
The reason for this road is to transport materials from a mine in Tanzania, materials that will be used to make cell phones. Do we really think it is worth it to sacrifice this beautiful place, and all its wonderful creatures for cell phones?! Isn't that kinda greedy and heartless? Even if it isn't, I think there are two much better options. I'll try to explain.

1. BUILD A FREAKING AIRPORT IN TANZANIA!!!!! Is building a huge/long road really better/more cost effective than building an airport? Have they tried this? Even thought of it? I don't know... if start-up money is an issue maybe they could elicit donations? Anyway... I think this would solve the problem nicely.

2. Build an "eco-road." This would be a more expensive option, but could be really cool if done right. For all of you who have been to Sea World you know about the shark encounter, and the penguin exhibit. Think of those as proto- "eco-roads." What I think is instead of a road they could build sort of a giant tunnel that would look on the outside just like a kind of linear hill across the serengeti. They could plant the top with native flora (yes this works with animals, they already have them), and my idea (I don't know if this would work...) but perhaps they could put in a kind of see-through material in certain spots, like little windows. That way tourists could pay to drive through the "eco-road" and get to see all the animals in their natural habitats from the comfort of their own vehicles, and perfectly safe for both animals and people. Expensive, yeah... do-able, maybe... cool DEFINITELY...

Well, I personally think the people who decided to build this road are a bunch of total jerks and morons, but seriously... AN AIRPORT!!! AT LEAST!!!

So... instead of killing the environment and the tourist trade with a stupid and lazy road... why not build something good and constructive, like an airport, or an "eco-road." That's my idea. :)