This morning, on my way to get lowfat Greek yogurt (worthless tree-hugger that I am) and a dozen eggs, I had paused to peruse the flower selection in front of my local grocery store when I saw a man exiting a nearby pharmacy. The black bundle on his right hip was either a pistol or a bulky black cellphone with a detachable clip.
Curious, I watched the lanky and mud-splattered chap enter his dented light-blue Honda crossover, reverse out of his parking spot at high speed, run one stop sign, and then another. I walked out into the road after he had passed, pointing at the stop sign and wagging my finger. The man slammed on the brakes, reversed to my location, and rolled down the passenger window.
"Stop sign," I said, patting the metal octagon affectionately.
"Do you want me to get out of this car and beat the shit out of you?"
I chuckled and said again, Stop sign, with the adrenaline surging in my veins and my knees flexing instinctively into a fighting stance. As I backed away to gain more secure footing, I ascertained that the individual was in fact packing heat.
With a parting, "Fuck you, motherfucker," the individual sped over to the tobacco store, where he most likely found sympathy with the nice and accommodating ladies behind the counter.
This man broke two traffic laws in a parking-lot frequented by slow-moving septuagenarians and families with small children. He was armed with a semi-automatic, nine-millimeter pistol that likely held fourteen rounds, and the sole discernible purpose of his lawlessness and hostility was to satisfy his addiction to nicotine.
I have discussed with a range of individuals the psychological affect of being armed. Furthermore, I have directly experienced the nearly god-like feeling one gets when one knows that there is a cold, hard, death-spitting machine tucked into one's trouserband. While I fully support the right to keep and to bear arms (a Constitutional right), I think that allowing individuals to waltz around in public with pistols on their belts can endanger the general public.
With a firearm on your hip, you feel invincible, powerful, nearly omnipotent, for you are displaying to the world your ability to extinguish life with the twitch of a finger (whereas you would otherwise have to get your hands dirty strangling your opponent to death, to name but one method). Would the aforementioned individual have been so brash and so flippant had he not been strapped? Perhaps he might have been, and perhaps he might not have been, but allowing him to roll around town at ten in the morning in a residential area with a pistol on his belt in no way reduces his tendency to lawless and aggression; if anything, it heightens his clearly twisted sense of self-importance, and allows him to think that his agenda, no matter how trivial, trumps the bodily safety of those around him.
This bedraggled chap might be the exception to the rule, one lone asshole in a community of otherwise law-abiding and sensible armed citizens, but, as we saw with Jared Loughner in Arizona, one individual is all it takes to get the blood flowing in the streets. So, where do we draw the line? I believe rigorous psychological examination should be a prerequisite to firearm ownership, but, since I currently reside in Pennsylvania, a state in which it is more difficult to procure booze than guns, mine is more than likely the minority opinion.
The great travesty I see in this situation is that this individual, because of the Constitutional protection, is allowed to act in the aforementioned way, while individuals pursuing their Happiness (smoking drugs) in the privacy of their own homes, without in any way threatening demonstrably the Safety of those around them, must be in constant fear of having their doors smashed down by armed police officers executing a no-knock raid. Has our republic truly descended to a state in which the public display of weaponry is more important than the liberty to privately pursue one's Happiness?
Woe be unto freedom. The individual has no right to do with his ultimate private property, his body, as he or she deems best fit. The right to bear Arms has superseded the right to individual Liberty. The ability to deal death enjoys a far higher standing in our society than the ability, as a fully emancipated adult, to decide how to elevate the mind. The state of affairs in our country is in shambles, our concept of Justice tarnished beyond recognition.
Woe be unto Lady Liberty, for while she stands tall in New York Harbor clutching the Declaration of Independence with stoic pride, we have allowed: the Torch of Progress to burn out; powerful interests to place limits on our most fundamental principles, among them the pursuit of Happiness.
Speak out. Stand up. Spread freedom.
Ultima Ratio Regum
场黑麦 John Paul Roggenkamp
americanifesto.com | updated Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday
26 May 2011
dollar stores = commie outposts
As of today, 25May2011, millions of Americans are directly supporting the People's Republic of China, America's primary economic competitor and one of the sole remaining bastions of the socialistic worldview. All across our nation, in cities great and small, from the rolling central plains to the rugged western coastline, countless numbers of American citizens contribute directly to the ascending might of the Middle Kingdom.
Dollar stores, which sell products ranging from shower curtains to miniature cast-resin busts of zebras, stand at the forefront of the Chinese invasion of, and inevitable dominance over, the American economy. Purchasing an item that reads, Made In China, directly shuttles funds into the rapidly growing Chinese economy (where most of the consumer items sold in dollar stores are made) rather than into the pockets of native-born producers. In the 1980s, the capitalistic-minded oligarchy that holds the vast majority of the wealth in America saw an opportunity to further boost their profits, destroying the manufacturing economy in this country by paying others to manufacture for us. As hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens lost their manufacturing jobs, they were forced to buy the cheapest products in order to survive; they turned to dollar stores, thus supporting the very people who had taken their jobs in the first place. The capitalistic oligarchy effectively enslaved the American consumer to the whims of foreign nations by shifting production overseas, to free-economic zones that are, in everything but name, slave camps.
Personally, I welcome our soon-to-be Chinese masters, and would like to say, Ni-Hao-Ma (roughly, Greetings, exalted one). As a Son of the American Revolution, my lineage in America runs deep. I, however, am not blindly patriotic, nor am I inextricably tied to our prevailing economic model, top-few capitalism (in fact I find it intrinsically un-American). I am, however, as of this moment personally boycotting dollar stores, not to harm the Chinese economy, but in quiet mourning for our lost manufacturing economy. Join me if you wish, but know that this choice requires sacrificing a little more money for everyday goods.
So, remember - if you aren't buying American products exclusively, don't complain about the downfall of America's manufacturing sector; if you truly consider yourself a patriot, buy American.
All hail the wise and benevolent Central Committee!
场黑麦
Dollar stores, which sell products ranging from shower curtains to miniature cast-resin busts of zebras, stand at the forefront of the Chinese invasion of, and inevitable dominance over, the American economy. Purchasing an item that reads, Made In China, directly shuttles funds into the rapidly growing Chinese economy (where most of the consumer items sold in dollar stores are made) rather than into the pockets of native-born producers. In the 1980s, the capitalistic-minded oligarchy that holds the vast majority of the wealth in America saw an opportunity to further boost their profits, destroying the manufacturing economy in this country by paying others to manufacture for us. As hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens lost their manufacturing jobs, they were forced to buy the cheapest products in order to survive; they turned to dollar stores, thus supporting the very people who had taken their jobs in the first place. The capitalistic oligarchy effectively enslaved the American consumer to the whims of foreign nations by shifting production overseas, to free-economic zones that are, in everything but name, slave camps.
Personally, I welcome our soon-to-be Chinese masters, and would like to say, Ni-Hao-Ma (roughly, Greetings, exalted one). As a Son of the American Revolution, my lineage in America runs deep. I, however, am not blindly patriotic, nor am I inextricably tied to our prevailing economic model, top-few capitalism (in fact I find it intrinsically un-American). I am, however, as of this moment personally boycotting dollar stores, not to harm the Chinese economy, but in quiet mourning for our lost manufacturing economy. Join me if you wish, but know that this choice requires sacrificing a little more money for everyday goods.
So, remember - if you aren't buying American products exclusively, don't complain about the downfall of America's manufacturing sector; if you truly consider yourself a patriot, buy American.
All hail the wise and benevolent Central Committee!
23 May 2011
on slavery as punishment
The thirteenth amendment to the US Constitution reads, Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
By any measure, this amendment does not abolish slavery, turning it rather into an institution of punishment. If my memory serves me correctly, however, few if any convicted criminals have been sentenced recently to slavery or indentured servitude. The use of slavery as a punitive measure would be more useful in some situations, less in others. A petty thief is unlikely to renounce his life of crime after a few hard seasons under the lash, while a corporate officer convicted of fraud and embezzlement, one accustomed to the finest treatment his ill-won gains could afford, might just emerge from his grueling months under the hot summer sun a humble and reformed person. Similarly, a manslaughtering cuckold is unlikely to find redemption in the tall swaying fields of sugarcane (a modern industry in which, even today, slavery is common), while the bankers who were allowed to profit enormously from the sale of dressed up mortgage-backed securities would truly understand the meaning of labor if put to task making self-guided rockets in a cave in southern Germany.
Perhaps is is because so many Americans have enslaved themselves willingly to small-scale capital gain and conspicuous materialism that slavery is not used more frequently as a punitive measure; the slave is already under the yoke, so allowing her to max out her credit cards and providing her with no better outlet at which to express her abounding creativity and endless potential - in her pursuit of food, shelter, and clothing, the Three Fundamental Components of Safety - than a menial, repetitive job ensures that the fruits of her hard labor are not afforded to her, but to the few who sit in the All Seeing Eye atop the pyramid of capitalism. The slave will be in debt until the day she dies, always struggling to make the minimal payment for things she did not truly need and could not truly afford.
If we start using slavery as a punitive measure, we should seek out someone with knowledge of mass-production and streamlining, as Hitler did when he employed Henry Ford in his efforts to make the vast armies of Nazi slaves more efficient.
I abhor slavery. I do not think people should ever be put in chains, but as long as our Constitution states that slavery can be considered as punishment for a crime, we should consider using it to bring the false princes of capitalism down a peg or two. The humble are not just the backbone of civil society, they are akin to gods.
So be it.
JPR
By any measure, this amendment does not abolish slavery, turning it rather into an institution of punishment. If my memory serves me correctly, however, few if any convicted criminals have been sentenced recently to slavery or indentured servitude. The use of slavery as a punitive measure would be more useful in some situations, less in others. A petty thief is unlikely to renounce his life of crime after a few hard seasons under the lash, while a corporate officer convicted of fraud and embezzlement, one accustomed to the finest treatment his ill-won gains could afford, might just emerge from his grueling months under the hot summer sun a humble and reformed person. Similarly, a manslaughtering cuckold is unlikely to find redemption in the tall swaying fields of sugarcane (a modern industry in which, even today, slavery is common), while the bankers who were allowed to profit enormously from the sale of dressed up mortgage-backed securities would truly understand the meaning of labor if put to task making self-guided rockets in a cave in southern Germany.
Perhaps is is because so many Americans have enslaved themselves willingly to small-scale capital gain and conspicuous materialism that slavery is not used more frequently as a punitive measure; the slave is already under the yoke, so allowing her to max out her credit cards and providing her with no better outlet at which to express her abounding creativity and endless potential - in her pursuit of food, shelter, and clothing, the Three Fundamental Components of Safety - than a menial, repetitive job ensures that the fruits of her hard labor are not afforded to her, but to the few who sit in the All Seeing Eye atop the pyramid of capitalism. The slave will be in debt until the day she dies, always struggling to make the minimal payment for things she did not truly need and could not truly afford.
If we start using slavery as a punitive measure, we should seek out someone with knowledge of mass-production and streamlining, as Hitler did when he employed Henry Ford in his efforts to make the vast armies of Nazi slaves more efficient.
I abhor slavery. I do not think people should ever be put in chains, but as long as our Constitution states that slavery can be considered as punishment for a crime, we should consider using it to bring the false princes of capitalism down a peg or two. The humble are not just the backbone of civil society, they are akin to gods.
So be it.
JPR
21 May 2011
Laurel of Godlike American Achievement
The founders of America were influenced primarily by two religions: Christianity and Hellenistic polytheism (they pored over texts written alike by ancient Christians and ancient Greeks, as argued here).
Christianity, however, does not tend to celebrate achievements made by non-Christians, rather hoisting high the deeds of individuals who have sacrificed solely for their cause.
In the ancient Greek world, individuals who in battle displayed the guile, the strategic mind, the cunning of goddess Athena were said to be the embodiment of that god, to be filled with her spirit. I hereby propose the creation of a national body that will determine, via a thorough vetting process, those Americans who in our times are most filled with the spirit of the gods who influenced the founding of this nation.
Great generals will receive the Laurel of the Owl and Shield for displaying the heroic endeavor and battle strategy attributed to goddess Athena.
Great poets and authors will receive the Laurel of the Arrow and Lyre for displaying the poetry and truthfulness attributed to god Apollo.
Great diplomats and merchants will receive the Laurel of the Winged Boot for displaying the diplomacy and cunning wiles attributed to god Hermes.
Great disruptors of society and graffiti artists will receive the Laurel of Helm and Spear for displaying the civil disorder and manly courage attributed to god Ares.
Many other gods exist in the Olympian pantheon, and many more Laurels will be issued.
The concept of the Laurel of Godlike American Achievement will celebrate people from all castes, all groups, all races, and all religions. It will whip the masses into a great churning froth of Happiness by giving them something to which to aspire, such as knowledge of the woodland arts (Artemis), metalworking and sculpture (Hephaestus), and the celebration of eternal youth (Dionysus), aspirations other than those based purely on the accumulation of capital.
Your suggestions are welcome. Your readership is appreciated. Your hope springs eternal.
Ultima Ratio Regum,
Juliet Papa Romeo
Christianity, however, does not tend to celebrate achievements made by non-Christians, rather hoisting high the deeds of individuals who have sacrificed solely for their cause.
In the ancient Greek world, individuals who in battle displayed the guile, the strategic mind, the cunning of goddess Athena were said to be the embodiment of that god, to be filled with her spirit. I hereby propose the creation of a national body that will determine, via a thorough vetting process, those Americans who in our times are most filled with the spirit of the gods who influenced the founding of this nation.
Great generals will receive the Laurel of the Owl and Shield for displaying the heroic endeavor and battle strategy attributed to goddess Athena.
Great poets and authors will receive the Laurel of the Arrow and Lyre for displaying the poetry and truthfulness attributed to god Apollo.
Great diplomats and merchants will receive the Laurel of the Winged Boot for displaying the diplomacy and cunning wiles attributed to god Hermes.
Great disruptors of society and graffiti artists will receive the Laurel of Helm and Spear for displaying the civil disorder and manly courage attributed to god Ares.
Many other gods exist in the Olympian pantheon, and many more Laurels will be issued.
The concept of the Laurel of Godlike American Achievement will celebrate people from all castes, all groups, all races, and all religions. It will whip the masses into a great churning froth of Happiness by giving them something to which to aspire, such as knowledge of the woodland arts (Artemis), metalworking and sculpture (Hephaestus), and the celebration of eternal youth (Dionysus), aspirations other than those based purely on the accumulation of capital.
Your suggestions are welcome. Your readership is appreciated. Your hope springs eternal.
Ultima Ratio Regum,
Juliet Papa Romeo
18 May 2011
17 May 2011
on Safety and Happiness
The Declaration of Independence, to use business parlance, is the mission statement to the Constitution's business plan. Without the Declaration, the Constitution is a merely an outline for civil government. With the Declaration, the Constitution is a malleable, living document whose purpose is to make real the few driving ideas behind the Declaration: that all persons are equal, that together they share the inalienable right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and that their government exists solely to bring about their Safety and their Happiness.
We hear in our legislative bodies and in the press of great battles being waged along moral and idealistic lines, yet seldom do we hear this fundamental question: Will this piece of legislation bring about the Safety and/or the Happiness of the greatest possible majority of the population? Instead, we are told: that the rich will suddenly turn into magnanimous fountains of job-creation if their taxes are lowered further; that the elderly will somehow thrive when forced to purchase their own health-care plans in exceedingly complex markets; that our statue to the goddess of Liberty, she who stands proudly in New York Harbor, is a liar, her flame now extinguished, the promise of our land's vast potential reserved solely for the growing masses of native poor who already huddle here.
We have lost sight of the essence of the American Dream, the idea that each person who here dwells may determine the parameters of his or her Happiness, and that as long as those parameters do not constrict or endanger the parameters set by other people, he or she has the inalienable Right to Pursue that Happiness. Without Safety, however, the parameters of Happiness are largely symbolic, and no attempt to Pursue Happiness can be successful. For this reason, our founding fathers distilled the myriad purposes of government into just two fundamental reasons for government: to effect, i.e. to create, to bring about, to make, the American people Safe and Happy.
Does our current government expend every conceivable effort to make us Safe and Happy? I must applaud the extraordinary efforts of Director Mueller and the reformation of the FBI under his watch. Aside from my personal experience with the wild-eyed agents who targeted me in their desperate search for a scape-goat (see here), I believe the FBI is performing admirably in its efforts to fulfill the first promise of the Declaration - to keep the American people Safe. Furthermore, our police and fire departments (with some exceptions, of course) are also performing their efforts in this regard in admirable fashion.
While the fulfillment of the promise of Safety is widely pursued and well-funded, the fulfillment of the promise of Happiness has been at best neglected, at worst countermanded. We have allowed an economic system (capitalism) to spread in this country, a system that rewards a few for the labor of all, a system that affords a few the capacity to Pursue their Happiness with wild abandon while denying the vast majority of the population the capacity to do the same, a system that reduces every year thousands of hard-working Americans to wage-slaves living one personal disaster away from abject poverty. Rather than allowing each American to consume whichever substances she deems most likely to affect positively her state of mind, her Happiness, we have: outlawed all but the most deadly, and mundane (alcohol and tobacco): routinely incarcerated individuals found to possess any substance other than these mundane and deadly few; funneled vast sums of money into the hands of pharmaceutical corporations that engineer and distribute street drugs under different names; deemed it wise to feed our children synthetic cocaine and synthetic amphetamines to help them succeed in school.
Our government's efforts to live up the Declaration's promise of Safety are commendable, but without equally expansive efforts to bring about the Happiness of all Americans equally, the Safety efforts are for naught. In order for the American citizen to start down the Path to Happiness, three key requirements must be met: food, clothing, and shelter. Should these key requirements be in place, the individual will be able to determine the breadth of his abilities, which will then allow him to determine a way to support himself through the effortless expression of those abilities, otherwise known as Productive Happiness. Our current, capitalistic approach, is one that requires the individual to labor constantly in fields not necessarily optimally balanced against his abilities, thus keeping him from determining the parameters of his Happiness, from living a life of Happiness; capitalism in America therefore violates the second promise of the Declaration.
For many reasons, this is not a desirable state of affairs. A tiny fraction of our population does not have the right to receive the fruits of the labors of a majority of that population. We cannot allow some drugs to be tolerated and others not. We cannot afford to waste the untapped potential of our citizens by providing them with no better place to express their abilities than from behind a convenience-store cash register. We cannot allow millions of American children to suffer daily from food insecurity (see here). We can and we must provide for the Safety and Happiness of all Americans equally.
So, next time you see politicians fighting over whatever piece of legislation is on the table, write or call their offices and ask if the legislation in question brings about the Safety and Happiness of the greatest possible majority of American citizens. Together, we can realign our country with the dual promises of the Declaration of Independence. Together, we can unleash the great untapped potential that simmers within each of us. Together, we can fulfill the promises of Safety and Happiness first to each American equally, and then equally to all mankind.
Ultima Ratio Regum
John Paul Roggenkamp
We hear in our legislative bodies and in the press of great battles being waged along moral and idealistic lines, yet seldom do we hear this fundamental question: Will this piece of legislation bring about the Safety and/or the Happiness of the greatest possible majority of the population? Instead, we are told: that the rich will suddenly turn into magnanimous fountains of job-creation if their taxes are lowered further; that the elderly will somehow thrive when forced to purchase their own health-care plans in exceedingly complex markets; that our statue to the goddess of Liberty, she who stands proudly in New York Harbor, is a liar, her flame now extinguished, the promise of our land's vast potential reserved solely for the growing masses of native poor who already huddle here.
We have lost sight of the essence of the American Dream, the idea that each person who here dwells may determine the parameters of his or her Happiness, and that as long as those parameters do not constrict or endanger the parameters set by other people, he or she has the inalienable Right to Pursue that Happiness. Without Safety, however, the parameters of Happiness are largely symbolic, and no attempt to Pursue Happiness can be successful. For this reason, our founding fathers distilled the myriad purposes of government into just two fundamental reasons for government: to effect, i.e. to create, to bring about, to make, the American people Safe and Happy.
Does our current government expend every conceivable effort to make us Safe and Happy? I must applaud the extraordinary efforts of Director Mueller and the reformation of the FBI under his watch. Aside from my personal experience with the wild-eyed agents who targeted me in their desperate search for a scape-goat (see here), I believe the FBI is performing admirably in its efforts to fulfill the first promise of the Declaration - to keep the American people Safe. Furthermore, our police and fire departments (with some exceptions, of course) are also performing their efforts in this regard in admirable fashion.
While the fulfillment of the promise of Safety is widely pursued and well-funded, the fulfillment of the promise of Happiness has been at best neglected, at worst countermanded. We have allowed an economic system (capitalism) to spread in this country, a system that rewards a few for the labor of all, a system that affords a few the capacity to Pursue their Happiness with wild abandon while denying the vast majority of the population the capacity to do the same, a system that reduces every year thousands of hard-working Americans to wage-slaves living one personal disaster away from abject poverty. Rather than allowing each American to consume whichever substances she deems most likely to affect positively her state of mind, her Happiness, we have: outlawed all but the most deadly, and mundane (alcohol and tobacco): routinely incarcerated individuals found to possess any substance other than these mundane and deadly few; funneled vast sums of money into the hands of pharmaceutical corporations that engineer and distribute street drugs under different names; deemed it wise to feed our children synthetic cocaine and synthetic amphetamines to help them succeed in school.
Our government's efforts to live up the Declaration's promise of Safety are commendable, but without equally expansive efforts to bring about the Happiness of all Americans equally, the Safety efforts are for naught. In order for the American citizen to start down the Path to Happiness, three key requirements must be met: food, clothing, and shelter. Should these key requirements be in place, the individual will be able to determine the breadth of his abilities, which will then allow him to determine a way to support himself through the effortless expression of those abilities, otherwise known as Productive Happiness. Our current, capitalistic approach, is one that requires the individual to labor constantly in fields not necessarily optimally balanced against his abilities, thus keeping him from determining the parameters of his Happiness, from living a life of Happiness; capitalism in America therefore violates the second promise of the Declaration.
For many reasons, this is not a desirable state of affairs. A tiny fraction of our population does not have the right to receive the fruits of the labors of a majority of that population. We cannot allow some drugs to be tolerated and others not. We cannot afford to waste the untapped potential of our citizens by providing them with no better place to express their abilities than from behind a convenience-store cash register. We cannot allow millions of American children to suffer daily from food insecurity (see here). We can and we must provide for the Safety and Happiness of all Americans equally.
So, next time you see politicians fighting over whatever piece of legislation is on the table, write or call their offices and ask if the legislation in question brings about the Safety and Happiness of the greatest possible majority of American citizens. Together, we can realign our country with the dual promises of the Declaration of Independence. Together, we can unleash the great untapped potential that simmers within each of us. Together, we can fulfill the promises of Safety and Happiness first to each American equally, and then equally to all mankind.
Ultima Ratio Regum
John Paul Roggenkamp
14 May 2011
on fishing
The saying goes, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life (or at least until he defaults on the loan that afforded him his fishing gear, at which point you confiscate his boat, rods, and tackle, and his boat and fishing grounds become yours).
It's just that easy.
It's just that easy.
11 May 2011
war on drugs - caffeine
The Momentary Courier of Newsiness
08MAY2011
Des Moines.
In their ongoing efforts to eradicate the distribution of deadly drugs throughout America, federal agents today raided the Sippy House, a coffee shop in a quiet neighborhood of Des Moines. After receiving a tip from an unnamed source concerned that children were being served drugs at the Sippy House, members of the ATF moved in just after the establishment opened at 8:30 am.
"I was walking by on my way to get a bagel," said longtime Des Moines resident Enrique Sanchez, 39, "when I saw armed men clad in black and carrying automatic weapons kicking down the back door to the Sippy House." Agents confirm they have secured large amounts of caffeine in various forms, including finely and coarsely ground coffees, and teas neatly packed in small pouches that, agents said, facilitate the quick and efficient delivery and distribution of this drug. "We have seized all manner of this dangerous substance, including coffee beans coated in chocolate, and chocolate bars laced with caffeine," said Sergeant Allen T. Samuelson III, the commander of the raid, in an interview at the scene. "Caffeine is a drug," Samuelson continued, "and we need to make sure the American people cannot access this or any other drug."
Georgette Bristol-Schmidt, age 11, was waiting to be taken into state custody after her mother, Henrietta, was charged with child endangerment and corruption of a minor for buying a small iced latte that she then handed to her preteen daughter. "I was tired this morning," Georgette said, "so Mommy bought me a coffee. I'm not tired now, and the nice police lady said I'm going to a nice place with nice people."
Similar raids are taking place across the country. The Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms, which is conducting these raids in conjuncture with the Centers for Disease Control and the Drug Enforcement Agency, said in an online statement, "No longer will Americans be exposed to drugs or stimulants of any kind. We are shutting down all caffeine distribution centers, all alcohol distribution centers, all nicotine distribution centers, any and all establishments that make drugs of any form available to the addict. We're just getting warmed up - you ain't seen nothing yet."
The Committee for the Defense of Liberty in America, which according to its website was established, "To guarantee that all Americans, in accordance with the Declaration of Independence, can now and forever more Pursue their Happiness as they see best fit, so long as they are not restricting others from pursuing their Happiness in any way, shape, or form," did not officially respond to the widespread actions of the aforementioned federal agencies.
"I didn't realize caffeine was a drug," Sanchez said. "I guess it's good that our government is protecting us from any and all substances that might cause us harm, or elevate our minds. I, for one, welcome the police state."
James J. Jameson is a reporter for The Momentary Courier of Newsiness
(This non-news article is satirical. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. None of the statements attributed to the various federal agents are intended to be taken as factual statements. This is a joke, in more ways than one.)
08MAY2011
Des Moines.
In their ongoing efforts to eradicate the distribution of deadly drugs throughout America, federal agents today raided the Sippy House, a coffee shop in a quiet neighborhood of Des Moines. After receiving a tip from an unnamed source concerned that children were being served drugs at the Sippy House, members of the ATF moved in just after the establishment opened at 8:30 am.
"I was walking by on my way to get a bagel," said longtime Des Moines resident Enrique Sanchez, 39, "when I saw armed men clad in black and carrying automatic weapons kicking down the back door to the Sippy House." Agents confirm they have secured large amounts of caffeine in various forms, including finely and coarsely ground coffees, and teas neatly packed in small pouches that, agents said, facilitate the quick and efficient delivery and distribution of this drug. "We have seized all manner of this dangerous substance, including coffee beans coated in chocolate, and chocolate bars laced with caffeine," said Sergeant Allen T. Samuelson III, the commander of the raid, in an interview at the scene. "Caffeine is a drug," Samuelson continued, "and we need to make sure the American people cannot access this or any other drug."
Georgette Bristol-Schmidt, age 11, was waiting to be taken into state custody after her mother, Henrietta, was charged with child endangerment and corruption of a minor for buying a small iced latte that she then handed to her preteen daughter. "I was tired this morning," Georgette said, "so Mommy bought me a coffee. I'm not tired now, and the nice police lady said I'm going to a nice place with nice people."
Similar raids are taking place across the country. The Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms, which is conducting these raids in conjuncture with the Centers for Disease Control and the Drug Enforcement Agency, said in an online statement, "No longer will Americans be exposed to drugs or stimulants of any kind. We are shutting down all caffeine distribution centers, all alcohol distribution centers, all nicotine distribution centers, any and all establishments that make drugs of any form available to the addict. We're just getting warmed up - you ain't seen nothing yet."
The Committee for the Defense of Liberty in America, which according to its website was established, "To guarantee that all Americans, in accordance with the Declaration of Independence, can now and forever more Pursue their Happiness as they see best fit, so long as they are not restricting others from pursuing their Happiness in any way, shape, or form," did not officially respond to the widespread actions of the aforementioned federal agencies.
"I didn't realize caffeine was a drug," Sanchez said. "I guess it's good that our government is protecting us from any and all substances that might cause us harm, or elevate our minds. I, for one, welcome the police state."
James J. Jameson is a reporter for The Momentary Courier of Newsiness
(This non-news article is satirical. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. None of the statements attributed to the various federal agents are intended to be taken as factual statements. This is a joke, in more ways than one.)
10 May 2011
on belief
My beliefs, like the beliefs of any person, are complex.
Foremost, I believe in the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, that simple and profound work that exalts humility, frugality, and mercy.
I believe in the perpetual yet fragile nature of Liberty, that state of mind in which the pure deep essence of a person's innermost core bubbles out into the world unfettered and pure.
I believe that goddess Athena visits me at times (when I am exhibiting qualities for which she is the patron goddess), instilling in me superhuman abilities and making me shine with a great, visible light.
I believe that the birds are watching me, keeping an eye on me and reporting my actions to their respective gods, be those gods Wednesday or Athena or any of the other gods that use birds to spy on us.
I apologize when I step on a young bamboo shoot, in the belief that my destructive action might turn the entire grove against me.
When cutting the lawn here, I am in constant anguish, as I can see the tiny beasts, the insects and whatnot, scampering before the whirling blades of death, rushing to escape my descending foot; I weep for their mangled little bodies, for their lifeless husks, and ask for their forgiveness.
I believe that each and every person in this world has the potential to do great things, to change mankind in fantastic and unprecedented ways, although most are too poor (in the developing world) or too lazy (in the developed world) to develop the method for unleashing this potential. (I also believe that capitalism stunts the flowing of true potential, forcing the individual to replace his search for Happiness with the scramble to merely survive.)
I believe that a group of shape-shifting giant space aliens live in the dense foliage of the bamboo grove, that they flee at my approach, that they make a terrible rustling sound when I appear too suddenly and too close by.
I believe that I am an embodiment of Loki, the Norse god of chaos, and that my purpose in life is to disrupt the standard methods and to bring change into the world, for good or ill.
I believe all these things (and many others, such as the Pan-Human-Consciousness and the Ancient Alien Theory), and I believe none of them.
Unlike a member of an established religion, my beliefs are fluid, ever-changing, never set in stone and never shoved in the face of the person I run into at the supermarket. At any moment I may believe in all of the above things or in none, in some part-way and in others fully (although I most always perform the whole practice of apologizing-to-living-things-I-accidentally-trample-or-kill).
My beliefs are absurd, but I know they are absurd, and I cherish them for their absurdity. For the most part (except of course for this blogposting), I keep them to myself. I would never dare to berate another for his or her lack of belief in my beliefs. I would never approach another and ask if he has accepted the Flying Spaghetti Monster as his one and only living and ever-watchful Saviour, nor would I confront another and ask if he has accepted Allah as his one and only true god (mostly because I don't feel like talking to the FBI again and explaining to them, again, that I am not a terrorist).
So, those are my beliefs, although they aren't, really, as I believe in that which cannot be named, that which is inexhaustible, that which has no form, that which has a name so powerful that to say it would be to rend the very fabric of the universe, that which has a form so subtle that it is the form of all things and no things.
And yet, unlike a believer in an established religion, I will (and do) change my beliefs if presented with superior and logical evidence that they are wrong.
My belief-systems are flexible, expanding and contracting with every stroke of the bellows.
My beliefs will never convince me that the actions of another person merit persecution or death (unless said actions involve rape, theft, or murder). My beliefs will never convince me that they are superior to the beliefs of anyone else in the world.
I yearn only to exhibit my beliefs through my actions, never by cornering of someone at the local home-improvement store or by yelling at strangers on a street-corner in Hollywood.
My beliefs are my business; they belong to me alone. I will never kill for my beliefs, nor will I enslave another person, nor will I berate another person for not sharing my beliefs.
So, for all those people who find it necessary to spread vocally the word of their god, stop. Keep it to yourselves, and let the rest of us rational, flexible folk get on with our lives. Your rigid adherence to religious doctrine is sad, at best. Keep your religious observances out of our legislatures, out of our court-rooms, out of our public places. Keep America tolerant; keep her free.
Vote NO on American theocracy.
Ultima Ratio Regum
Juliet Papa Romeo
Foremost, I believe in the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, that simple and profound work that exalts humility, frugality, and mercy.
I believe in the perpetual yet fragile nature of Liberty, that state of mind in which the pure deep essence of a person's innermost core bubbles out into the world unfettered and pure.
I believe that goddess Athena visits me at times (when I am exhibiting qualities for which she is the patron goddess), instilling in me superhuman abilities and making me shine with a great, visible light.
I believe that the birds are watching me, keeping an eye on me and reporting my actions to their respective gods, be those gods Wednesday or Athena or any of the other gods that use birds to spy on us.
I apologize when I step on a young bamboo shoot, in the belief that my destructive action might turn the entire grove against me.
When cutting the lawn here, I am in constant anguish, as I can see the tiny beasts, the insects and whatnot, scampering before the whirling blades of death, rushing to escape my descending foot; I weep for their mangled little bodies, for their lifeless husks, and ask for their forgiveness.
I believe that each and every person in this world has the potential to do great things, to change mankind in fantastic and unprecedented ways, although most are too poor (in the developing world) or too lazy (in the developed world) to develop the method for unleashing this potential. (I also believe that capitalism stunts the flowing of true potential, forcing the individual to replace his search for Happiness with the scramble to merely survive.)
I believe that a group of shape-shifting giant space aliens live in the dense foliage of the bamboo grove, that they flee at my approach, that they make a terrible rustling sound when I appear too suddenly and too close by.
I believe that I am an embodiment of Loki, the Norse god of chaos, and that my purpose in life is to disrupt the standard methods and to bring change into the world, for good or ill.
I believe all these things (and many others, such as the Pan-Human-Consciousness and the Ancient Alien Theory), and I believe none of them.
Unlike a member of an established religion, my beliefs are fluid, ever-changing, never set in stone and never shoved in the face of the person I run into at the supermarket. At any moment I may believe in all of the above things or in none, in some part-way and in others fully (although I most always perform the whole practice of apologizing-to-living-things-I-accidentally-trample-or-kill).
My beliefs are absurd, but I know they are absurd, and I cherish them for their absurdity. For the most part (except of course for this blogposting), I keep them to myself. I would never dare to berate another for his or her lack of belief in my beliefs. I would never approach another and ask if he has accepted the Flying Spaghetti Monster as his one and only living and ever-watchful Saviour, nor would I confront another and ask if he has accepted Allah as his one and only true god (mostly because I don't feel like talking to the FBI again and explaining to them, again, that I am not a terrorist).
So, those are my beliefs, although they aren't, really, as I believe in that which cannot be named, that which is inexhaustible, that which has no form, that which has a name so powerful that to say it would be to rend the very fabric of the universe, that which has a form so subtle that it is the form of all things and no things.
And yet, unlike a believer in an established religion, I will (and do) change my beliefs if presented with superior and logical evidence that they are wrong.
My belief-systems are flexible, expanding and contracting with every stroke of the bellows.
My beliefs will never convince me that the actions of another person merit persecution or death (unless said actions involve rape, theft, or murder). My beliefs will never convince me that they are superior to the beliefs of anyone else in the world.
I yearn only to exhibit my beliefs through my actions, never by cornering of someone at the local home-improvement store or by yelling at strangers on a street-corner in Hollywood.
My beliefs are my business; they belong to me alone. I will never kill for my beliefs, nor will I enslave another person, nor will I berate another person for not sharing my beliefs.
So, for all those people who find it necessary to spread vocally the word of their god, stop. Keep it to yourselves, and let the rest of us rational, flexible folk get on with our lives. Your rigid adherence to religious doctrine is sad, at best. Keep your religious observances out of our legislatures, out of our court-rooms, out of our public places. Keep America tolerant; keep her free.
Vote NO on American theocracy.
Ultima Ratio Regum
Juliet Papa Romeo
09 May 2011
drug-free America
National organizations such as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Above the Influence are established to educate children about drugs, including alcohol, in the hopes that these children will not use drugs. Until the last doctor proscribes the last prescription to Addreall, which is synthesized meth-emphetamine, and until the last child pops his Ritalin, which bears close resemblance to cocaine, our children will not be drug-free.
The positive affect of getting kids hooked on synthetic meth and synthetic coke is that the purity of the drugs they are taking is very high, and the dosages are easily discernible, thus lessening the likelihood that these kids will overdose or be poisoned by the drugs they receive from their parents and from their doctors.
Until the last liquor store closes and the last pack of cigarettes is sold, we will not be free of drugs in America. Until the last parent stops taking the last pill to combat their probably obesity-related illness, we will not be free of drugs in America.
The only way to show our kids that life is livable without drugs is to make all drugs in this country illegal and unobtainable. Otherwise, we are sending our young people mixed messages that they will misinterpret. Far better were it to make all drugs available to all people, educating them on the uses of the drugs and on their potential side-affects, and making them sign a waiver before they receive sufficient quantities of the refined substance they deem most likely to positively affect their Pursuit of Happiness. Far better were it to admit to ourselves and to the world that we all take drugs (be they caffeine, sugar, alcohol, or nicotine), that life in this country without drugs is virtually unimaginable, and that we are a people that love their drugs in many and varied forms.
End the confusion. End the oppression. End the restriction of Liberty.
Legalize all drugs, or ban them all.
Let the people Pursue their Happiness as they see best fit.
Remember the promise of the Declaration of Independence.
Ultima Ratio Regum
John Paul Roggenkamp
The positive affect of getting kids hooked on synthetic meth and synthetic coke is that the purity of the drugs they are taking is very high, and the dosages are easily discernible, thus lessening the likelihood that these kids will overdose or be poisoned by the drugs they receive from their parents and from their doctors.
Until the last liquor store closes and the last pack of cigarettes is sold, we will not be free of drugs in America. Until the last parent stops taking the last pill to combat their probably obesity-related illness, we will not be free of drugs in America.
The only way to show our kids that life is livable without drugs is to make all drugs in this country illegal and unobtainable. Otherwise, we are sending our young people mixed messages that they will misinterpret. Far better were it to make all drugs available to all people, educating them on the uses of the drugs and on their potential side-affects, and making them sign a waiver before they receive sufficient quantities of the refined substance they deem most likely to positively affect their Pursuit of Happiness. Far better were it to admit to ourselves and to the world that we all take drugs (be they caffeine, sugar, alcohol, or nicotine), that life in this country without drugs is virtually unimaginable, and that we are a people that love their drugs in many and varied forms.
End the confusion. End the oppression. End the restriction of Liberty.
Legalize all drugs, or ban them all.
Let the people Pursue their Happiness as they see best fit.
Remember the promise of the Declaration of Independence.
Ultima Ratio Regum
John Paul Roggenkamp
07 May 2011
on rational egoism
Much has been ado of late about the theory of rational egoism championed by Ayn Rand. Politicians have taken up the call, among them Rand Paul, stating clearly their opinions of the Lumpenproletariat, i.e. the growing segment of the American population that has little or no capital; the poor. According to the theory of rational egoism, the poor and the destitute are parasites on society, while the rich are the wise and money-generating hosts on whom these parasites prey.
A small number of people in America have been allowed to amass large amounts of money and property, either by individual effort or through inheritance. Such vast quantities of capital are not necessary to house and to feed and to clothe the families and dependents of this tiny, monied elite. To protect their vast holdings, the monied elite has corrupted our elected officials, using the power inherent to capital to craft legislation favorable to them and theirs, thus becoming a plutocracy. To protect its vast holdings, this plutocracy has convinced the American people, using ingenious methods of propaganda, that the essence of the American Dream is to have capital, to be rich, to claw one's way at all cost into the closed ranks of the plutocracy, when these vast quantities of capital can only be brought into being by the united actions of all members of society, by the combined efforts of all people who labor in America.
The Constitution of the United States of America does not establish a capitalistic system in this country. It does not anywhere mandate that a few hundred families are to receive the fruits of the labor of tens of millions of American citizens. Instead, it states that this country is established to promote the general Welfare, to insure domestic Tranquility, and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity. When the capital that is brought into being by millions of laboring citizens is funneled into the pockets of a few dozen, when whole populations are left to fend for themselves, denied quality schooling and medical care, when millions of Americans pass on to their Posterity not Liberty but enslavement to the ceaseless demands and empty joys of materialism, we can no longer honestly call ourselves the Children of the Constitutional Convention.
America has abandoned the principles set forth in the Constitution. Instead of employing the enormous amount of capital created here every day in the interest of all citizens equally, instead of providing each American woman, child, and man with the basic tools (i.e. food, clothing, shelter) necessary to even consider a method for obtaining Happiness, instead of ensuring that we are and shall always be able to pursue: "Our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it" (J.S. Mill, On Liberty), instead we have allowed a small, selfish group to highjack our most fundamental principles and to convince us that money - dirty, ever-corrupting money - is a more important component of our lives than unadulterated Happiness.
There is a storm coming. We have allowed those at the bottom (the poor) to go hungry for too long, and to grow too envious of those at the top (the rich). We have allowed the rich and the well-connected to escape Justice through presidential pardon and access to prohibitively expensive legal representation. We mock the concept of Welfare; we have reduced it to a pitiful and deplorable concept few self-respecting people care to support. Once the great swelling masses of the poor come to look past the smokescreen of propaganda, our domestic Tranquility will be shattered.
The Randian notion of rational egoism only serves to further obfuscate the true, founding principles of this country - that all Americans are created equal, and that they all have the Right to an equal share of the capital that exists and that is created in this country. We spend billions of dollars preparing for potential future conflicts against foes that do not exist, yet we reduce funding to our educational system, thus ensuring the perpetual mediocrity and persistent under-achievement of our nation's youth. We cut the rates at which the plutocracy is taxed while it wallows in more money that it could possibly need to live comfortably. We hear a president call shopping our patriotic duty, and, instead of denouncing roundly this farce, we dutifully max out our credit cards.
It is easy to blame the politicians for these failures, while We the People alone are solely to blame. We hear from our politicians that the richest few among us should not shoulder their portion of the national burden, and we accept this meekly and without complaint. We listen quietly as powerful forces attempt to elevate one religion (Christianity) over all others, and accept this brazen assault on the concept of religious freedom as inevitable and just.
We, the People, are failing.
We, the People, are watching with disinterest as the forces that guide this country are corrupted and bent to the will of those who have most benefited from our decline into capitalism.
We, the People, cannot afford to allow the greed inherent to rational egoism to further erode our Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We must stand tall, and we must fight.
Otherwise, we will have sacrificed Lady Liberty to the god of Greed on the altar of Consumerism.
This aggression will not stand.
Ultima Ratio Regum,
John Paul Roggenkamp
A small number of people in America have been allowed to amass large amounts of money and property, either by individual effort or through inheritance. Such vast quantities of capital are not necessary to house and to feed and to clothe the families and dependents of this tiny, monied elite. To protect their vast holdings, the monied elite has corrupted our elected officials, using the power inherent to capital to craft legislation favorable to them and theirs, thus becoming a plutocracy. To protect its vast holdings, this plutocracy has convinced the American people, using ingenious methods of propaganda, that the essence of the American Dream is to have capital, to be rich, to claw one's way at all cost into the closed ranks of the plutocracy, when these vast quantities of capital can only be brought into being by the united actions of all members of society, by the combined efforts of all people who labor in America.
The Constitution of the United States of America does not establish a capitalistic system in this country. It does not anywhere mandate that a few hundred families are to receive the fruits of the labor of tens of millions of American citizens. Instead, it states that this country is established to promote the general Welfare, to insure domestic Tranquility, and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity. When the capital that is brought into being by millions of laboring citizens is funneled into the pockets of a few dozen, when whole populations are left to fend for themselves, denied quality schooling and medical care, when millions of Americans pass on to their Posterity not Liberty but enslavement to the ceaseless demands and empty joys of materialism, we can no longer honestly call ourselves the Children of the Constitutional Convention.
America has abandoned the principles set forth in the Constitution. Instead of employing the enormous amount of capital created here every day in the interest of all citizens equally, instead of providing each American woman, child, and man with the basic tools (i.e. food, clothing, shelter) necessary to even consider a method for obtaining Happiness, instead of ensuring that we are and shall always be able to pursue: "Our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it" (J.S. Mill, On Liberty), instead we have allowed a small, selfish group to highjack our most fundamental principles and to convince us that money - dirty, ever-corrupting money - is a more important component of our lives than unadulterated Happiness.
There is a storm coming. We have allowed those at the bottom (the poor) to go hungry for too long, and to grow too envious of those at the top (the rich). We have allowed the rich and the well-connected to escape Justice through presidential pardon and access to prohibitively expensive legal representation. We mock the concept of Welfare; we have reduced it to a pitiful and deplorable concept few self-respecting people care to support. Once the great swelling masses of the poor come to look past the smokescreen of propaganda, our domestic Tranquility will be shattered.
The Randian notion of rational egoism only serves to further obfuscate the true, founding principles of this country - that all Americans are created equal, and that they all have the Right to an equal share of the capital that exists and that is created in this country. We spend billions of dollars preparing for potential future conflicts against foes that do not exist, yet we reduce funding to our educational system, thus ensuring the perpetual mediocrity and persistent under-achievement of our nation's youth. We cut the rates at which the plutocracy is taxed while it wallows in more money that it could possibly need to live comfortably. We hear a president call shopping our patriotic duty, and, instead of denouncing roundly this farce, we dutifully max out our credit cards.
It is easy to blame the politicians for these failures, while We the People alone are solely to blame. We hear from our politicians that the richest few among us should not shoulder their portion of the national burden, and we accept this meekly and without complaint. We listen quietly as powerful forces attempt to elevate one religion (Christianity) over all others, and accept this brazen assault on the concept of religious freedom as inevitable and just.
We, the People, are failing.
We, the People, are watching with disinterest as the forces that guide this country are corrupted and bent to the will of those who have most benefited from our decline into capitalism.
We, the People, cannot afford to allow the greed inherent to rational egoism to further erode our Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We must stand tall, and we must fight.
Otherwise, we will have sacrificed Lady Liberty to the god of Greed on the altar of Consumerism.
This aggression will not stand.
Ultima Ratio Regum,
John Paul Roggenkamp
01 May 2011
on private property
or, On the individual's right to the body, the ultimate and irrefutable private property.
Humans have bodies. Without the body, the human dies. There is no way to separate oneself fully from one's body without killing oneself. Therefore, the body is the only truly private property that man possesses. His house can be destroyed; his land taken from him; his car can crash; his clothes will fade and turn to rags; but, throughout his whole life, his body is always his private property, which by right of irrevocable possession he may affect as he pleases.
If an individual decides to destroy her house, to smash up her car, to tear her clothes to ribbons, i.e. if she decides to do with her external private property as she sees best fit, no government agency will prevent her from altering or destroying her property unless said destruction and alteration should pose a threat to other people.
In the United States of America, the use of external private property does not fall under federal jurisdiction, unless of course said usage poses a threat to others. Yet, the use of the ultimate private property, the body, does. It is illegal to introduce a great number of substances into the body, substances such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin et cetera, substances that can create feelings of euphoria and that expand the capabilities of the human mind. Instead of these entheogens (see here), Americans are allowed by the federal government to introduce into their bodies a number of other substances that excite the mind to a lesser extent, substances such as sugar, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and salt. It is not illegal to consume these substances, although over-usage of same can and very often does lead to addiction, physical disease, and death.
Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine together kill tens of thousands of Americans every year (see here), yet their use is unrestricted, and the federal government does not raid the homes of people using these substances. If police officers suspect that someone is smoking weed, they sometimes conduct, in appalling violation of the Constitutional protections, what are known as a "no-knock warrants" (see here), in which the smoker's property (the door to his home) is destroyed and his peace is violated by the forced entry of heavily armed officers.
Why is this individual's home being raided? To protect him from himself? To protect those who live around him from potential harm? On average, the marijuana smoker is not a violent person; his drug of choice makes him hungry, prone to conversation, and generally happy. The alcoholic is violent, abusive, and unpredictable, and would therefore be the person who is more likely to be a threat to himself and to those around him. But I doubt a single "no-knock-warrant" has been ever issued because someone was witnessed carrying a case of beer into his house.
Americans must be allowed to choose for themselves which substances they want to consume. We are already allowed to buy drugs like alcohol and nicotine, drugs that destroy the body and that cause inestimable harm to individuals and their families. Perhaps the greatest harm ever caused by marijuana is the removal of the smoker from society to a prison cell. Imprisonment leads to criminalization. Imprisonment breaks apart families. Imprisonment forever reduces the individual to life as a second class citizen.
Outlaw all substances or legalize them all. Anything else is hypocritical. Anything else violates the right of the individual to do with her private property as she sees best fit. Anything else violates the essence of the Declaration of Independence, the notion that government is established: "As to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
The incarceration of non-violent drug offenders does not effect, or create, Happiness; it destroys Happiness.
The prohibition on substances other than those deemed acceptable by a majority of the population is un-American. We must have the right to choose how we handle our ultimate private property, our bodies. We have the freedom: to eat too much sugar, too much salt; to drink too much booze; to smoke too many cigarettes.
The freedom to consume these substances is literally killing us. Ergo, any argument claiming that the prohibitions on substances such as marijuana, cocaine, and opium exist to protect us from harm and death are completely invalidated.
Outlaw them all, or legalize them all.
Let the People find Happiness where they may.
Ultima Ratio Regum.
JPR 30APR2011
Humans have bodies. Without the body, the human dies. There is no way to separate oneself fully from one's body without killing oneself. Therefore, the body is the only truly private property that man possesses. His house can be destroyed; his land taken from him; his car can crash; his clothes will fade and turn to rags; but, throughout his whole life, his body is always his private property, which by right of irrevocable possession he may affect as he pleases.
If an individual decides to destroy her house, to smash up her car, to tear her clothes to ribbons, i.e. if she decides to do with her external private property as she sees best fit, no government agency will prevent her from altering or destroying her property unless said destruction and alteration should pose a threat to other people.
In the United States of America, the use of external private property does not fall under federal jurisdiction, unless of course said usage poses a threat to others. Yet, the use of the ultimate private property, the body, does. It is illegal to introduce a great number of substances into the body, substances such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin et cetera, substances that can create feelings of euphoria and that expand the capabilities of the human mind. Instead of these entheogens (see here), Americans are allowed by the federal government to introduce into their bodies a number of other substances that excite the mind to a lesser extent, substances such as sugar, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and salt. It is not illegal to consume these substances, although over-usage of same can and very often does lead to addiction, physical disease, and death.
Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine together kill tens of thousands of Americans every year (see here), yet their use is unrestricted, and the federal government does not raid the homes of people using these substances. If police officers suspect that someone is smoking weed, they sometimes conduct, in appalling violation of the Constitutional protections, what are known as a "no-knock warrants" (see here), in which the smoker's property (the door to his home) is destroyed and his peace is violated by the forced entry of heavily armed officers.
Why is this individual's home being raided? To protect him from himself? To protect those who live around him from potential harm? On average, the marijuana smoker is not a violent person; his drug of choice makes him hungry, prone to conversation, and generally happy. The alcoholic is violent, abusive, and unpredictable, and would therefore be the person who is more likely to be a threat to himself and to those around him. But I doubt a single "no-knock-warrant" has been ever issued because someone was witnessed carrying a case of beer into his house.
Americans must be allowed to choose for themselves which substances they want to consume. We are already allowed to buy drugs like alcohol and nicotine, drugs that destroy the body and that cause inestimable harm to individuals and their families. Perhaps the greatest harm ever caused by marijuana is the removal of the smoker from society to a prison cell. Imprisonment leads to criminalization. Imprisonment breaks apart families. Imprisonment forever reduces the individual to life as a second class citizen.
Outlaw all substances or legalize them all. Anything else is hypocritical. Anything else violates the right of the individual to do with her private property as she sees best fit. Anything else violates the essence of the Declaration of Independence, the notion that government is established: "As to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
The incarceration of non-violent drug offenders does not effect, or create, Happiness; it destroys Happiness.
The prohibition on substances other than those deemed acceptable by a majority of the population is un-American. We must have the right to choose how we handle our ultimate private property, our bodies. We have the freedom: to eat too much sugar, too much salt; to drink too much booze; to smoke too many cigarettes.
The freedom to consume these substances is literally killing us. Ergo, any argument claiming that the prohibitions on substances such as marijuana, cocaine, and opium exist to protect us from harm and death are completely invalidated.
Outlaw them all, or legalize them all.
Let the People find Happiness where they may.
Ultima Ratio Regum.
JPR 30APR2011
20 April 2011
no American theocracy III
"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise." James Madison, 1774;
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson;
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanac;
"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson, 1787;
"And the day will come, when the mystical generation [birth] of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation [birth] of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." Thomas Jefferson, in an 1823 letter to John Adams.
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson;
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanac;
"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson, 1787;
"And the day will come, when the mystical generation [birth] of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation [birth] of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." Thomas Jefferson, in an 1823 letter to John Adams.
The above statements were made by individuals whom we now call our founding fathers. Similar quotes were made by George Washington, Thomas Paine, and Abraham Lincoln. We are not a Christian nation, not founded as one, not designed to become one. Never can we allow religious teaching to highjack our institutions of government. To incorporate religious teaching amongst the laws and constitutions of our land would be to destroy the efforts of our founding fathers to create a nation of equal, rational, free-thinking, and exceptional human beings.
During a recent discussion, my counterpart stated that, The founding fathers were informed by Christianity; they drew from a common value system that was prevalent at the time. While this theory of osmotic Christian indoctrination has some merit, I propose a theory that has perhaps equal merit. In the statements by Thomas Jefferson quoted above, we find two references to ancient Greek notions, namely Reason and Athena (Minerva).
If Christianity informed our founding fathers, and Jefferson foremost among them, then the polytheistic teachings and values of the illustrious authors of Hellenistic antiquity, who wrote such works as The Republic (Plato) and Politics (Aristotle), informed them also. The notion of Reason - the fluid process of thinking and experimentation by which man masters challenge - can be found in the writings of both Plato and Aristotle. The notion of goddess Athena - patroness of art, craft, guile, justice, strength, civilization, and wisdom - can also be found in the writings of these two men of old. Thomas Jefferson, an educated and well-read individual, in his crafting of the Declaration of Independence, drew upon the writings of the ancient political philosophers, and was sure to have been exposed considerably to the polytheistic notions of the time.
And yet, when writing the Declaration, did he make mention of the Hellenistic pantheon? He made no more mention of them than he did of Yahweh, the god of the Christians. If I were to stride into the Chambers of Congress and announce to those assembled that, since Greek deities informed our founding fathers, rites must be performed regularly to placate Poseidon, or choice cuts must be burnt to please Zeus, I would surely be laughed out of the room by all present.
Our Constitution, in the first Amendment, states that no laws shall be passed that restrict the practice of, or that establish officially, any religion. This amendment gives the right to all who here dwell to practice their religion without fear of government repression. In my opinion, a person should be able to decide which god he or she should worship, which religion to practice, and what beliefs, however outlandish and outmoded they may seem to me, to hold. I rejoice in that freedom; I do not wish to see it ever taken from any man or any woman. Efforts currently under way, however: to interfere with a woman's Right to her only true private property, her body, in matters of abortion; to delineate the right to marry according to the religious tract of one specific group; these efforts pose a great risk to the first Amendment, to our Constitution, and to the foundations of this American republic, for they are efforts to subjugate the rule of law to religious teaching.
I applaud those individuals fighting against these assaults on our core principles.
I applaud the judges hearing these cases, and know that they will approach the matter with reasonable thinking, sound logic, and foreknowledge of the dangers inherent to state-mandated religious doctrine.
America, as a country, as a nation, as a concept, can only remain viable if it is founded on reason, justice, and the notion that all persons, regardless of class, creed, or color, can here find fertile grounds on which their dreams and aspirations may grow. If we allow even one snippet of religious code to find its way into our laws: we will have abandoned reason; we will have failed our founding fathers; and we will soon find ourselves in a barren and hostile wasteland rife with intolerance and ruled by fear. This cannot come to pass. We must fight - with patient voice and open mind - for the salvation of our nation.
No American Theocracy.
Ultima Ratio Regum.
John Paul Roggenkamp 20APR2011
15 April 2011
no American theocracy II
America is not a Christian nation. Nor is it Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or Taoist. It is a republic founded on the principles of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We, as a nation, cannot allow one religious group, under any circumstance, to incorporate their beliefs into the laws of our land. In this blog, I am more critical of Christianity than any of the hundreds of other religions currently practiced in the United States.
Someone asked me recently: Why are you so critical of Christianity? No one will defend Christianity, so you are better off taking Islam to task, as that will drum up more controversy.
To this I say: Muslims are not currently attempting to legally define the parameters of marriage according to their religious texts; they are not attempting to legally restrict, according to their religious texts, a woman's inalienable right to do with her body as she sees best fit (such as aborting a fetus); they are not attempting to define the reference in the Declaration of Independence to Nature's God as a reference to the god they consider supreme above all others, Allah.
We hear, in the news, about the dangers of an Islamic caliphate arising in the Middle East. (For one example of this, see here.) Any system of governance that rules according to the code of a specific religion will, by necessity, subjugate those people living under its rule to its own laws; it will stifle freedom of expression; it will, when challenged, resort to barbaric and unreasonable action to silence dissent.
For an example of the horrors of religious rule, look into life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. We in America cannot allow religious doctrine to become the law of the land. We cannot allow our fundamental principles to be made subservient to the beliefs of one specific religion. Our republic, our freedoms, our liberty, our lives, are at risk. American flexibility and inventiveness will suffer under religious rule; ultimately, these characteristics we hold so highly will be extinguished altogether. We owe it to future generations to maintain a country dedicated to the non-religious principles set forth in our founding documents; we cannot allow our republic to be destroyed by religious zealotry.
No to theocracy in America.
Ultima Ratio Regum.
John Paul Roggenkamp
Someone asked me recently: Why are you so critical of Christianity? No one will defend Christianity, so you are better off taking Islam to task, as that will drum up more controversy.
To this I say: Muslims are not currently attempting to legally define the parameters of marriage according to their religious texts; they are not attempting to legally restrict, according to their religious texts, a woman's inalienable right to do with her body as she sees best fit (such as aborting a fetus); they are not attempting to define the reference in the Declaration of Independence to Nature's God as a reference to the god they consider supreme above all others, Allah.
We hear, in the news, about the dangers of an Islamic caliphate arising in the Middle East. (For one example of this, see here.) Any system of governance that rules according to the code of a specific religion will, by necessity, subjugate those people living under its rule to its own laws; it will stifle freedom of expression; it will, when challenged, resort to barbaric and unreasonable action to silence dissent.
For an example of the horrors of religious rule, look into life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. We in America cannot allow religious doctrine to become the law of the land. We cannot allow our fundamental principles to be made subservient to the beliefs of one specific religion. Our republic, our freedoms, our liberty, our lives, are at risk. American flexibility and inventiveness will suffer under religious rule; ultimately, these characteristics we hold so highly will be extinguished altogether. We owe it to future generations to maintain a country dedicated to the non-religious principles set forth in our founding documents; we cannot allow our republic to be destroyed by religious zealotry.
No to theocracy in America.
Ultima Ratio Regum.
John Paul Roggenkamp
12 April 2011
what to do when choked
This scene is found in many films: one individual is choking another, his hands wrapped around his victim's neck. There is a simple and effective way to take control of such a situation. Grab one of your attacker's pinkie fingers, and yank it to the side violently. This move should be done as soon as it is evident that your assailant is attempting to kill you by choking. It is as easy to snap a pinkie finger (I have heard) as to snap a good-sized carrot. Once your assailant's pinkie finger has been broken, he will no longer be able to maintain a firm grip; he will likely go into shock (especially if you grind the broken bones around a bit); he will also become enraged. His rage is his downfall, however, for rage, like fear, is the mind-killer, that state in which one is most susceptible to counter-attack and least likely to maintain composure. This advice is intended solely for use in self-defense. Do not try to solve your troubles through violent action. Remember - you can always remove yourself from the situation. Remember also that most people who fight are slaves to their ego; they cannot divorce themselves from their power of their ego, and will lie, main, and kill to maintain it.
on flat taxation
There is a simple solution to the problem of rich persons and mighty corporations failing to pay their appropriate share of taxes: tax everyone, all persons and all incorporated bodies, at a flat rate. A flat rate of taxation of fifteen (15) percent in America would assure that all citizens and all corporations contribute to the enduring feasibility of our society, our government, and our nation.
Too long have we allowed loopholes to persist that grant those individuals and incorporated bodies who possess the acumen and the audacity necessary for shirking their responsibilities to their nation to shelter their fair share of the cost of civil society through specialized and devious accounting practices. A flat tax rate would ensure the participation of all who here labor in the grand experiment we call the United States of America.
This concept is mere fancy, however, as federal and state governments employ armies of individuals versed in the ever-changing subtleties of our current system. With so many people employed, and so many millions staying in the pockets of those people who have a keen interest in making sure, through lobbying efforts, that the loopholes remain open, this antiquated and arguably unjust system will likely stand the test of time. Time to buy another five thousand square foot mansion on the good part of Long Island. Oh, did I say mansion? I meant to say tax-deductible summer home.
X
Too long have we allowed loopholes to persist that grant those individuals and incorporated bodies who possess the acumen and the audacity necessary for shirking their responsibilities to their nation to shelter their fair share of the cost of civil society through specialized and devious accounting practices. A flat tax rate would ensure the participation of all who here labor in the grand experiment we call the United States of America.
This concept is mere fancy, however, as federal and state governments employ armies of individuals versed in the ever-changing subtleties of our current system. With so many people employed, and so many millions staying in the pockets of those people who have a keen interest in making sure, through lobbying efforts, that the loopholes remain open, this antiquated and arguably unjust system will likely stand the test of time. Time to buy another five thousand square foot mansion on the good part of Long Island. Oh, did I say mansion? I meant to say tax-deductible summer home.
X
10 April 2011
pie and more pie
another slice please, thank you. Just one more. I'll work it off at the gym tomorrow. What's that, dear, I am traveling tomorrow? Thanks, love, I'll work these extra slices off at the hotel gym. What, I'm booked solid for the next two days? No problem, I'll work out in the evening, or in the morning before heading off to my meetings. Oh, wait, there's coffee and doughnuts at the morning meetings, bagels at noontime, and finger sandwiches in the evenings? But I have a stipend for dinner, and if I don't use it, I can't charge large sums to my credit card for later reimbursement, which means I won't be able to get my company to pay for my frequent flyer miles, which means I might actually have to foot the bill for my next trip down to the Caribbean. So, guys, let me take you out to dinner, my treat, but you'll have to pay for your own drinks, and we can't go over four hundred dollars. Yes, miss, I'll have the steak. Sides? Macaroni and cheese aaaaaand... butter beans. Hey, guys, anyone see a gym at our hotel? No? Well, I'll just work these extra pounds off when I get home. Hey, doc, thanks for seeing me. What's that, I have dangerously elevated blood-sugar levels? And my blood pressure is too high? I wonder why - I work out all the time.
X
X
06 April 2011
05 April 2011
no American theocracy - seimthingc
A dangerous effort is under way in the States of America - to bind the concept of marriage, and its societal and legal ramifications, to the code of a specific religion. This effort, if allowed to pass, will abolish the separation of church and state as mandated in the Constitution of our American Republic. This effort is an assault on the sullied concept of Liberty in this country. We cannot afford to further bind our fine nation to the concepts of one religion over the many others that here persist. Just as we would not affix to our most sacred documents (and I mean sacred in the strict sense of the sanctity of our concepts of Liberty and Freedom) the codices of the hundreds of other religions enjoyed by Americans today, we should not shackle ourselves to the strictures of just one set, albeit one more prominent and more widely practiced, of religious rules.
For if these efforts were to succeed in binding the concept of marriage to the code of one specific religion, it would logically follow that Yahweh's clearly stated mandates regarding the murder, in front of the father's house, of new wives found deflowered (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB), would circumvent the forces protecting us from wanton and irrational actions, and our code of laws would become subject to the notion of a blood-thirsty and destructive being with a long and well-documented history of genocide and mass murder (see the Midianites, and the denizens of Jericho, Sodom, and Gomorrah).
John Adams said, and his contemporary Congress unanimously agreed, The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion (see here). These are more than idle words spoken in private, more than a backroom speech made to moneyed sycophants. These words were part of an official declaration made to a sovereign government in the notion of making peace, an attempt to placate the heated ire of another by stating that we as a nation do not, under any circumstance, under the guise of grounded rationality, assume to pass legislation based on the stultifying affects of a code of ethical behavior that does not propose to make us people intrinsically better attuned to the balance of our desires, our excesses, and our deep knowledge of a unifying and perpetual energy, perhaps called Primal Simplicity, at once terrifying and empowering, that lurks among the passions of our lives, but a code that proposes to bind us in strict adherence to the myriad rules of the Christian Bible, one religious book among many.
We are not a nation of one religion. We are a nation founded to establish Justice and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. We do this by guiding our country, through legislative act, executive lunge, and judicial rule, via rational and lively debate, toward the emancipation of Happiness and Security among the People, not through the rule of fear or codex, but through the application of our vast collective potential in service to all people, not a diminishing minority of the fabulously rich.
No American Theocracy.
Ultima Ratio Regum -
John Paul Roggenkamp
P.S. We really gotta start setting up Wardenclyffe Towers. But if we all had free energy, oil company execs and plenty of other folks would get mad heated.
For if these efforts were to succeed in binding the concept of marriage to the code of one specific religion, it would logically follow that Yahweh's clearly stated mandates regarding the murder, in front of the father's house, of new wives found deflowered (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB), would circumvent the forces protecting us from wanton and irrational actions, and our code of laws would become subject to the notion of a blood-thirsty and destructive being with a long and well-documented history of genocide and mass murder (see the Midianites, and the denizens of Jericho, Sodom, and Gomorrah).
John Adams said, and his contemporary Congress unanimously agreed, The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion (see here). These are more than idle words spoken in private, more than a backroom speech made to moneyed sycophants. These words were part of an official declaration made to a sovereign government in the notion of making peace, an attempt to placate the heated ire of another by stating that we as a nation do not, under any circumstance, under the guise of grounded rationality, assume to pass legislation based on the stultifying affects of a code of ethical behavior that does not propose to make us people intrinsically better attuned to the balance of our desires, our excesses, and our deep knowledge of a unifying and perpetual energy, perhaps called Primal Simplicity, at once terrifying and empowering, that lurks among the passions of our lives, but a code that proposes to bind us in strict adherence to the myriad rules of the Christian Bible, one religious book among many.
We are not a nation of one religion. We are a nation founded to establish Justice and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. We do this by guiding our country, through legislative act, executive lunge, and judicial rule, via rational and lively debate, toward the emancipation of Happiness and Security among the People, not through the rule of fear or codex, but through the application of our vast collective potential in service to all people, not a diminishing minority of the fabulously rich.
No American Theocracy.
Ultima Ratio Regum -
John Paul Roggenkamp
P.S. We really gotta start setting up Wardenclyffe Towers. But if we all had free energy, oil company execs and plenty of other folks would get mad heated.
04 April 2011
Wednesday - day of Wotan
Father Odin, Wotan, Wednesday, you who send the crows to this valley to caw and flit about, sheltering me under their watchful gaze, praise be unto thee. I ask you now, Allfather, to give me wise and generous council on the state of things in my land.
The powerful men here have cast laws that restrict the labors of those who here reside, disallowing the sale of your blessed mead and mandating lesser workable hours during a day not your own, on a day sacred to a different, lesser god. This day they call Sunday. According to the word of their god, Yahweh, as recorded in their holy book, called the Bible, anyone working on this day must be put to death (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT), not in self-sacrifice to you, not dangling from the Worldtree with the spears in his side.
In your honor, oh wise Father, I am preparing to petition the powerful men of the state called The Woods of Penn, to banish labor from your day as well, as any labor on the day we have named in your honor, Wednesday, will reduce the ability of these fine people to sacrifice to you in the proper fashion.
Soon, oh great Wanderer, we shall string up the bulls and dogs and sacrifice them in your name, the mead flowing like water, the heavens stained with the soot of the sacrificial fires. There is a document here, called the Constitution, that was written to keep religious observation separate from the affairs of state. Seeing that laws have been already enacted that violate this fundamental principle, laws that forbid the sale of fine mead and good malted barley on the day of a god who is not you, and who therefore is a false and hollow idol, it only follows that on the day named in your honor, Wednesday, oh Allfather, God of War, great cloaked One-Eye, all labors should come to rest in observance of your power and unending glory.
Please grant me the strength to see this effort through. If the crows cease to frequent these dark and fertile soils, I shall know you favor me no longer.
Lusting for the waters of Mimir's well, my eye quaking for sacrifice, my hand recording the valor and glory of past and fallen heroes, I proceed with your tacit blessing.
All hail Odin, the Allfather, great Wednesday!
Ultima Ratio Regum
JPR
The powerful men here have cast laws that restrict the labors of those who here reside, disallowing the sale of your blessed mead and mandating lesser workable hours during a day not your own, on a day sacred to a different, lesser god. This day they call Sunday. According to the word of their god, Yahweh, as recorded in their holy book, called the Bible, anyone working on this day must be put to death (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT), not in self-sacrifice to you, not dangling from the Worldtree with the spears in his side.
In your honor, oh wise Father, I am preparing to petition the powerful men of the state called The Woods of Penn, to banish labor from your day as well, as any labor on the day we have named in your honor, Wednesday, will reduce the ability of these fine people to sacrifice to you in the proper fashion.
Soon, oh great Wanderer, we shall string up the bulls and dogs and sacrifice them in your name, the mead flowing like water, the heavens stained with the soot of the sacrificial fires. There is a document here, called the Constitution, that was written to keep religious observation separate from the affairs of state. Seeing that laws have been already enacted that violate this fundamental principle, laws that forbid the sale of fine mead and good malted barley on the day of a god who is not you, and who therefore is a false and hollow idol, it only follows that on the day named in your honor, Wednesday, oh Allfather, God of War, great cloaked One-Eye, all labors should come to rest in observance of your power and unending glory.
Please grant me the strength to see this effort through. If the crows cease to frequent these dark and fertile soils, I shall know you favor me no longer.
Lusting for the waters of Mimir's well, my eye quaking for sacrifice, my hand recording the valor and glory of past and fallen heroes, I proceed with your tacit blessing.
All hail Odin, the Allfather, great Wednesday!
Ultima Ratio Regum
JPR
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