Testing..

Testing... testing. I've been gone for a while. I'm back now. Buckle up.

Goth is DEAD

Get over it. Move on. Get a fucking life. Goth has been usurped by 13 year old middle class American mall rats. It's over already. It's in the movies. It's on tv. It's done. Once it's on tv it's fucking over. Deal with it. If you really want to be on the cutting edge then find something else to do. I don't know. Pierce your brain. Cut your balls off. Yeah, that's it. The next big movement on the bleeding edge of being different isn't going to be piercings or tattoos. It's going to be turning yourself into castrati. Look it up yourself. And don't sue me because you're a big enough moron to cut your balls off just because you read it here. I have no responsibility for your stupidity. It's just evolution in action.

Terri Shiavo meets the President

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is out. Congress rushes into emergency session to draft a bill to get the case in front of yet one more judge. President Bush cuts short a weekend in Texas and rushes back to the oval office to await the bill so he can sign it into law. The federal court judge says no. The tube is still out.

What does all of this show the American people? Congress as a collective whole is in a persistant vegetative state. We have serious issues to deal with in this country that need to be dealt with. They can't get together on those issues, but this is something they can agree on. The Terri Shiavo case doesn't require a real decision. It's a win/win situation for them and the President. They don't really have to make a decision about whether she lives or dies. They get to pass the buck on that one. They just get to look go for being so compassionate, Republicans and Democrates both.

Of course it seems to be backfiring. The people who think Shiavo should be allowed to die are angry because they don't think Congress and the President should have gotten involved in the first place. And now that the ferderal judge has said no, the people who want the tube put back in want to know why congress didn't do more.

As I said, a persistant vegetative state.

Fight or Flight

The fight or flight response is hardwired into primates. Even us.

When St. James Davis and his wife, LaDonna, were attacked by chimps that had gotten free from their cages it was a fight or flight situation. I'm sure you heard about this. It was the story of the day a few weeks back. The Davises were that the animal sanctuary to visit a chimp that they had rescued from poachers in Africa and brought back to their home in the 1960's. It was a birthday party for the chimp, named Moe.

Two young adult male chimps got loose. The Davises were surprised by the chimps and made the mistake of making contact with them and the fight was on. LaDonna Davis was attacked first. St. James Davis had a choice. Fight or flight. He grabbed his wife, shoved her behind a table and took the brunt of the attack. The result, he lost a lot of his face and an eye. One foot was severed, all of his fingers were chewed off and his testicles were torn off. The attack only stopped when the chimps were shot and killed. Did he make a noble sacrifice or did his amygdala kick in and turn on his fight response? Protect your mate at any cost. We may never know.

Two weeks after the attack, the most recent update I could find, he is still unconscious and his condition is still a minute to minute thing. He's had several surgeries to reattached his nose and lips and left eye. His wife sits by his bed everyday whispering encouragement to him. I don't know if I'd want to live after that. St.James Davis is 62 years old and has lived a full life by any standard. He traveled the world. He was a NASCAR driver. He was a humanitarian. Now he's a eunuch with no fingers and probably not much of a face. Perhaps he has the spirit and will to overcome that. I don't know that I could. I do know one thing. If it's determined that the chimps escaped because a handler at the sanctuary left the cage open, that person should be dropped down a deep whole and left there for the rest of his life.

What's the point?

That's the question isn't it. Why do a blog? It's not likely that many people (or mutants for that matter) will read it. So why do it at all? To clear my head and look at what's roiling around in there. To get it out in the open. I'm going to use this space to examine my thoughts and beliefs and how they fit into the modern world. I'll write every day, even if it's a simple observation of something I've seen or read. Sometimes I'll pull out a memory and and turn it over to try to discover it's shape. And sometimes I'll just let some stupid shit have it right between the eyes. These entries are mostly for me, but I welcome discussion. If you have a thought about something I've written here, comment. Discussion is always welcome, even if I dont agree with you.