Greetings, friends and fellow bloggers. Here I am at work on the US Independence Day. And I am thankful for it. A little extra on the pay check is always helpful. So, here is what is on my mind today: Freedom. As a concept and as a totality. As a concept, Freedom is relatively simple. Perhaps at the lowest common denominator, Freedom is the ability to exert one's own free will, to have the political prerogative to have access to multiple opportunities for personal choice. I will not be discussing this, In part because I think this concept is a fallacy. As a totality, Freedom is something altogether different. Freedom cannot be seen isolated, by itself, and expected to have any kind of real meaning other than symbolic. This is true for many, many reasons. The simplest heuristic example is this: does freedom mean that one has a right to intrude upon another's freedom. A burglar cannot enter my home, take my possessions, threaten my family, and then claim, "Well, it's a free country". In its totality, Freedom doesn't belong to one person, it belongs to everyone...or it ultimately belongs to no-one. So Freedom does have its own limits and constraints. And it should, as Freedom should never be a tool of oppression. Recall Orwell from Animal Farm: all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. I think that the best proxy for Freedom, politically speaking, are Civil Rights - protections from the oppression of others. So to have Freedom, one must give up something in return. I do not believe this is the theory of the Social Contract from Hobbs, and later utilitarians such as Mill and Bentham. It is, rather, a simple recognition that 1. Freedom = responsibility and 2. that Freedom comes at its own cost...ad sometimes that pricy is very high.

Memory: Sometime in August of 2003, I am in Qwest Field in Seattle. The occasion is the Summer Sanitarium Tour. It was really one of the best shows I had ever been to. Mudvayne, Deftones, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and Metallica. Except for LB, that was a helleva lineup. Just before Metallica started, I saw a t-shirt that sticks out in my mind. The shirt said: Freedom isn't Free.

Segue: Since that time, every Independence Day that I work...or the day before or after if I have the 4th off...I propose this concept to the kids I work with. What does Freedom mean to you? And, if Freedom isn't Free, then what price are you willing to pay for your definition of Freedom?

Greetings once again, my friends and fellow bloggers. So I am talking with somebody today and she said that it's important to forget about things that make you unhappy. I disagree. Forgetting about something isn't coping, dealing, accepting, or coming-to-terms. When one forgets about an incident, a trauma, a tragedy, or even just something unpleasent, then one keeps the thought or feeling trapped in time. So when one does remember, the negative emotions remain the same. However, things like acceptance and tolerance are often rather sophisticated concepts. So, this metaphore just popped in my mind. And I am so happy with it, that I will use it again.

Only by accepting the bad things can one feel better about them and move on. Ok, Let's say that I have a poisonous snake that I carry with me everywhere I go. Now, if I just forget about the snake, what happens? Sooner or later, it will bite me and I will be poisoned and hurt very badly. If instead of forgetting about the snake, I set the snake down and walked away from it...than I would be much safer in the future. Now, you can't just reach into your pocket and throw the snake down; that is dangerous too. You have to learn to carefully take the snake out and put it down. And when you step away from the snake, then you can be free from it.

So, what do you all think? Does that make sense? Perhaps I can refine it a bit more.

Hello, once again, friends and fellow bloggers. I just read an artical on MSN about how PETA objected to Obama swatting a fly away from his face. Now, let me quote the artical, "...that PETA was pleased with Obama's voting record in the Senate on behalf of animal rights and noted that he has been outspoken against animal abuses. Still, "swatting a fly on TV indicates he's not perfect," Friedrich said, "and we're happy to say that we wish he hadn't." Ok, let me get this straight, you are happy with his voting pattern in the Senate, where it really really matter, on behalf of animal rights. But you're upset that he smacked the fly and said, "Got the little sucker". Now, PETA, check this out, if flies are people too, then I think that the fly is the one to blame. Did not Obama politely ask the fly to leave him alone? It's on tape. He asked nicely. But, no. The Fly was very rude, disrespected Obama's boundaries, and even when given the change to leave peacefully, the fly chose to press the issue. If you ask me, and I know you won't PETA, it was the fly that instigated the situation. It was the fly who was rude and disrespectful, and it was the fly to paid the piper. If flies, are people too, then let them get a job and pay taxes! I have to wonder how many of the PETA people don't freek the hell out when a fly lands on their pricy white-uppermiddle-socioleconomic-status meal. Do they say, "eat up little fly, little brother. Partake in my meal and share your diseases with me?" My money says that they smack the little git. Jesus, PETA, cut the prez some slack and clarify your own priorities.

And that, folks, really grinds my gears...

Greetings one again, friends and fellow bloggers. Ok, here's the deal. I am reading the Trinity Blood manga. I am doing this primary because the Trinity Blood anime is on my top 10 list. The manga isn't nearly as good. But off and on, I am reading the manga. Perhaps because I am stubborn. I don't think the manga is nearly as good as the anime. But for some reason I am sticking with it. It is taken me a long time, primarly becuase the new chapters come out slowly and I am really not that impressed with it. Anyway, as slightly above average the manga is, I have encountered a line that is, at least now and out of context, one of the funniest and favorit lines I am read to date. My previous favorit line was from Kawash!ta Mitzuki's Ichigo 100%: "She touched my face and her hands smelled like meat." And while I still crack-up while I type that. My new favorit is this: "This is the fearsome and powerful Pope's Holy command! Go to the hotel in question and bring back a salmon bagel sandwich!"

Greetings, friends and fellow bloggers. I don't believe that I have yet discussed movies in my blogs. And, having just finished Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, now seems as good a time as any to start. If you fear spoilers, you need not fear reading on. I will say that this movie is Eastwood's best, and despite a number of speghetti westerns from long before I was born, I will say that Eastwood has put out, as an actor and/or director, an number of Grand Slams. Gran Torino tops that list. I can easily say this movie makes my top five list. One a side note, there are now eight movies in my top five list: The Pianist; Saving Private Ryan; the Wall; The Princess Bride; Schindler's List; Gran Torino; Dr Strangelove; and Kingdom of Heaven. Gran Torino has 3 three-dimensional character; Eastwood as Kowalski, Vang as Thao Lor, and Her as Sue Lor. (And while I believe in astro-physics and temporal mechanics, I can't quite bring myself to say four-dimensional characters.) I can't recomend this movie enough. Plot, subtext, storyline, narative, character development, dialogue, and presentation are as profound, striking, and relavent as any movie I have seen since the Pianist. I laughed my ass off during a number of scenes; I cried like a punse a number of times; and I found myself deeply moved on a number of levels: spiritual, redemptive, and acceptant. I have not been reminded of duality so much in a movie since De Niro's Men of Honor or Nicholson's As Good as it Gets. Watch this movie!! Drop what you are doing now, and get your collective butts into the video stores, rent this badboy, and holler - here, privately, on IM. Talk some movie with me.