This comes on a somber note. Today I attended a funeral for my mothers' cousins' husband. He was a great man from what I remember of him and the times I spent with him especially when our families frequently went camping when I was a kid. I have many great memories of all those trips and he was a big part of that.
This also helped me come to the ideas surrounding my death whenever it comes. There isn't much I want for my funeral, but there are many things I don't. I was raised catholic, but at a very young age I became aware that "GOD" was not going to play a role in my life and to date that thought still stands. I don't, no matter what and under any circumstance want a religious funeral. I do not want to have a wake. There is something about a wake that just creeps me out a little. It's not the reality of seeing the body of a loved one as much as it seems they're just gonna wake up and yell,"boo!". Many people think that this helps with the grieving process. In my opinion death is sad enough and that looking at the person hours on end is just a reminder of sad you really are.
The other thing I don't want is a casket. They're an over priced box that only gets admired by the dirt it shares for eternity. But Im still on the fence about cremation because not knowing anything about death I have thoughts that there is a possibility that you can still feel pain and fire burns. It may be a crazy thought, but there are tons of crazy thoughts pertaining to death. Also while on the subject of cremation, I do not want my remains put in an urn. I'd rather go out in Theodore Donald 'Donny' Kerabatsos style. Just pack me in Folgers coffee can and throw me off the top of Bluffs Head.
So in closing I guess the point I want to get across is that I don't want a my family and friends spending the day in mourning, but in a day of celebration. Not just a celebration of my life, but a celebration of theirs and togetherness. The one positive note in death and funeral services is bringing many people together who maybe haven't seen each other in many, many years.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
the 1st Amendment
The 1st amendment as stated in the Bill Of Rights.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
I am writing this as an experiment for myself and to the doubt of a certain someone who has to write this for a college course. She, lets call her Merissa, was given the task of writing a 5 page report or debate, I'm not sure exactly because she didn't really divulge too much info, on the 1st amendment. This is for a journalism class she is taking. I have no idea what exactly she has to write about, but I'm going to give it a go and do some research on the topic of the 1st amendment and how it affects me and things that interest me. I'm not sure if I got 5 pages in me and I am in no way a journalist so if your interested in reading this please bare with me.
The first thing that pops into my head when I hear "1st Amendment" is freedom of speech. This is only one American right depicted in the first Amendment. The others are freedom of religion, press, assembly and petition. All of which are the basis of our American rights, they're the 1st. This amendment is debated across the board amongst many people in regards to such matters as rap music(Ice-T), porno(Jenna Jameson), burning the flag(Americant's)and hate speech(KKK). These things don't concern me, personally, as I don't rap, don't do porno, don't burn the flag and don't partake in hate speech. But as long as people aren't getting hurt then most of these topics I look at like being a radio, if I don't want to hear or see it I will just switch it off.
Without this amendment government can implement their own religion or in other words nationalize a religion. Could you imagine some radical religious kookadoo forcing religion upon all of America. Sounds like some crazy middle eastern country. For one that would drive me nuts because I don't believe in religion and two, religion is the root of all evil concerning wars, and money.(Couldn't think that, yet write that without the 1st).
What of the Rastafarian's? Does smoking marijuana fall under the 1st amendment for Rastafarian's. Its use is written in the Bible in Psalms 104:14, "He causeth the grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of man". Rastafarian's use marijuana as a practice in their religious beliefs yet they get arrested and persecuted for using it in America because marijuana is against the law. So which holds cloat here the First Amendment or a law made in the 1920's? I would think the First Amendment,but the courts would disagree. The Rastafarian's should unite and in First Amendment fashion petition for the right to smoke marijuana ceremonially.
The First Amendment stood on the forefront of what gave African Americans equal rights. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to assemble and protest against the government and fight for human rights. The 60's were a time for protest. There were protests against the war, civil rights issues. These protests made a difference in those crazy times. It united mass groups of people to stand and fight for what was right and to be heard against a government that needed a good kick in the ass. I bring up the 60's for the simple reason of what is going on now in America in 2008. The Bush Administration has run the country into the ground and beyond, but we're not standing up for our rights we're not assembling in protest, the fight is not in us for some reason. What is it that our parents held within them to stand up and say enough is enough? It's as if we're just sitting around watching a news channel waiting to hear that the administration who put us in this ridiculous debt has miraculously got us out. Well I got news for you the debt keeps growing and now with the election coming up in a couple weeks we're just gonna shift blame. That's how we deal with things in this day in age. There is no fight in us even now that most of us have grasped the reality of our collapsing economy and our hugely growing debt turned out by this war, we're just looking to the two presidential candidates for the answer.
Let me shift gears and speak of freedom of the press. This gives freedom to journalists and future journalists like Merissa. This gives them freedom to write about anything they'd like and not be persecuted by the law. This lets the public see and hear of everything that's going on in our country. We are so lucky to have this freedom and in my opinion its a luxury. Not all countries have this to protect journalists and even if they do their governments are so corrupt, not to say that ours isn't, that the murders of journalists go unsolved and in some cases unreported. A major issue and example of this is Mexico. There is such a problem of this that Mexico is becoming one of the most dangerous countries for journalists surpassing nearing Columbia. See story here.
Now this brings me to freedom of speech/expression. The ESSENCE of which this country is able to progress, learn, teach, act, pursue, grow, heal and rebound. I believe in freedom of speech not only as an American right, but a human right. There is really no control over what the brain is capable of coming up with, there are so many new thoughts in so many people and to have the freedom of speech and expression gives us the opportunities to make life in our country a better place. Sure there are incredible negatives that our country has gone through and is going through, but lets focus on the positive.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
I am writing this as an experiment for myself and to the doubt of a certain someone who has to write this for a college course. She, lets call her Merissa, was given the task of writing a 5 page report or debate, I'm not sure exactly because she didn't really divulge too much info, on the 1st amendment. This is for a journalism class she is taking. I have no idea what exactly she has to write about, but I'm going to give it a go and do some research on the topic of the 1st amendment and how it affects me and things that interest me. I'm not sure if I got 5 pages in me and I am in no way a journalist so if your interested in reading this please bare with me.
The first thing that pops into my head when I hear "1st Amendment" is freedom of speech. This is only one American right depicted in the first Amendment. The others are freedom of religion, press, assembly and petition. All of which are the basis of our American rights, they're the 1st. This amendment is debated across the board amongst many people in regards to such matters as rap music(Ice-T), porno(Jenna Jameson), burning the flag(Americant's)and hate speech(KKK). These things don't concern me, personally, as I don't rap, don't do porno, don't burn the flag and don't partake in hate speech. But as long as people aren't getting hurt then most of these topics I look at like being a radio, if I don't want to hear or see it I will just switch it off.
Without this amendment government can implement their own religion or in other words nationalize a religion. Could you imagine some radical religious kookadoo forcing religion upon all of America. Sounds like some crazy middle eastern country. For one that would drive me nuts because I don't believe in religion and two, religion is the root of all evil concerning wars, and money.(Couldn't think that, yet write that without the 1st).
What of the Rastafarian's? Does smoking marijuana fall under the 1st amendment for Rastafarian's. Its use is written in the Bible in Psalms 104:14, "He causeth the grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of man". Rastafarian's use marijuana as a practice in their religious beliefs yet they get arrested and persecuted for using it in America because marijuana is against the law. So which holds cloat here the First Amendment or a law made in the 1920's? I would think the First Amendment,but the courts would disagree. The Rastafarian's should unite and in First Amendment fashion petition for the right to smoke marijuana ceremonially.
The First Amendment stood on the forefront of what gave African Americans equal rights. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to assemble and protest against the government and fight for human rights. The 60's were a time for protest. There were protests against the war, civil rights issues. These protests made a difference in those crazy times. It united mass groups of people to stand and fight for what was right and to be heard against a government that needed a good kick in the ass. I bring up the 60's for the simple reason of what is going on now in America in 2008. The Bush Administration has run the country into the ground and beyond, but we're not standing up for our rights we're not assembling in protest, the fight is not in us for some reason. What is it that our parents held within them to stand up and say enough is enough? It's as if we're just sitting around watching a news channel waiting to hear that the administration who put us in this ridiculous debt has miraculously got us out. Well I got news for you the debt keeps growing and now with the election coming up in a couple weeks we're just gonna shift blame. That's how we deal with things in this day in age. There is no fight in us even now that most of us have grasped the reality of our collapsing economy and our hugely growing debt turned out by this war, we're just looking to the two presidential candidates for the answer.
Let me shift gears and speak of freedom of the press. This gives freedom to journalists and future journalists like Merissa. This gives them freedom to write about anything they'd like and not be persecuted by the law. This lets the public see and hear of everything that's going on in our country. We are so lucky to have this freedom and in my opinion its a luxury. Not all countries have this to protect journalists and even if they do their governments are so corrupt, not to say that ours isn't, that the murders of journalists go unsolved and in some cases unreported. A major issue and example of this is Mexico. There is such a problem of this that Mexico is becoming one of the most dangerous countries for journalists surpassing nearing Columbia. See story here.
Now this brings me to freedom of speech/expression. The ESSENCE of which this country is able to progress, learn, teach, act, pursue, grow, heal and rebound. I believe in freedom of speech not only as an American right, but a human right. There is really no control over what the brain is capable of coming up with, there are so many new thoughts in so many people and to have the freedom of speech and expression gives us the opportunities to make life in our country a better place. Sure there are incredible negatives that our country has gone through and is going through, but lets focus on the positive.
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