Charlotte Disturber

Articles like this (you may need to register, and that's what bugmenot.com is for) gripe my butt. It talks about a new bill before the NC state legislature that would create a commission to study the effects of carbon dioxide and its effect on the environment. Now why would that bug me? Because this bill is such a huge waste of the taxpayer's money. It's been compromised to death. It's not there to say "hey, our environment is in trouble" but rather, "let's look to see whether this is a problem."

And I have a problem with this, because I think by now we can all admit that while global warming may be just a natural cycle in the constant change of the world, it may not be, and humans are doing plenty of other things to mess up the environment. For the sake of argument, let's say that carbon dioxide isn't causing global warming, but it seems that it along with the other pollutants usually expelled by fossil fuel burning plants and engines are just plain bad, causing increased acid rain, smog, and even negatively affecting our health. Let's make it stop. There have been enough studies on the subject. It's safe to say it's bad, mmkay.

Compromised to Death, that's what’s happened to this bill. So we may find that yes, humans and their use of technology may have a somewhat detrimental effect on this planet, which may result in events which we will find are even more detrimental to ourselves. Like that last sentence made sense, what are we going to do about it? According to this bill, nothing. Oh, a few recommendations will be made, but nothing will be done about it. So really, what's the point? Why waste money trying to figure out to see if a problem already exists when there have been plenty of studies already done on the subject.

It gets even better. Rolf Blizzard the vice president of governmental affairs for the NC Citizens for Business and Industry had this key nugget to add, "Our membership is of the very strong opinion that just doing something in the state of North Carolina is not going to correct anything." Great attitude. This state is only a few hundred square miles and 8 million people, changing the way that 8 million people and the way they conducted business wouldn't change a thing. Blizzard, you're names cool, but you sound like a moron with that quote. We shouldn't even try to do anything, because it might not make a difference. I'll have to remember that one next time I walk past some trash and decide to not pick it up, because it's not going to make a difference anyway.

And I'm spent. Read the article, I have more to add, but this level of useless stupidity has me ticked off. Who says dictatorship is a bad idea?

Fireworks On the Fourth.

Yeah, so technically it's after the 4th of July right now. Today I felt remarkably apathetic. About the holiday, this country, even what Independence day represents. I can't name the reason for what I'm feeling, but that's the way it is.

Today is supposed to be special; we sit back, take a day off, do yard work, have barbecues and reflect on the founding of this country. While it wasn't really the founding, it was more like just separating ourselves from England. I'm no historian, but I wonder if the founders really knew what they were going to do next. After all, it took until 1787 to get the Constitution and the rough outline of the government as we know it today. Did life drastically change for the vast majority of the people in the colonies at that time? Did they realize what they were getting themselves into? Did the common citizen really grasp the self-evident rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? They were self-evident right? But what truly revolutionary ideas they were to bring on the Revolutionary war. But it really wasn't total freedom for everyone, it was just the beginning and we're still fighting for freedom to this day.

So on this day I wondered what those words on the paper meant, and if America has finally reached the ideals that the founders laid out in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. And sadly, I don't think we've yet reached our true potential. We've gotten close, and the progress that this country has made in 229 years has been astounding, but I'm convinced that we can make it better for all people who may be different colors or have different ideas and beliefs.

Tonight as everyone went to watch or set off their own fireworks, I sat at home feeling unpatriotic and hearing the sounds of cracks and booms through the walls and windows. It sounded like gunfire (and kind of like Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner - kindof) and I thought of all the men and women over seas that are fighting right now. Say what you will, I know I'm rather cynical and I'm not the only one, but many of our soldiers believe they're fighting for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm not going to say it doesn't matter why or under what circumstances we went to war, but I'm going to say that in this case now it's rather pointless to argue. We're there. It's almost as if the President was like the founders, he had a goal, he wanted freedom from fear created by two tyrannical governments, and he bumbled into the current situation with seemingly little realization of what comes next.

Now it's time to be like the boy scouts and leave those two countries better than we found them. And it might not seem like it, but we are and can make a lasting difference in the lives of those citizens. And it's the men and women of our Armed Services that are doing this. It's a big job, an important job, but a job that must be done. And we can do it. A democracy can exist in the Middle East. There is nothing holding it back. They’re just people, not much different from us. And it's up to us to ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.

I woke up feeling unpatriotic, and I will go to sleep believing that this country is great, but can be greater still.

That's my rant of the day, it's not perfect, but few things are, and Hicks is right, it's just a ride. *Bang* *Bang* *Boom*

Genius.

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. It goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey – don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride ..." And we ... kill those people. Ha ha, "Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. Jesus murdered; Martin Luther King murdered; Malcolm X murdered; Gandhi murdered; John Lennon murdered; Reagan ... wounded. But it doesn't matter because: It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love.

The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you've been great."

Sound effect of three shots, Hicks pretends to fall down dead, lights go down.

-Bill Hicks
(Revelations)