Monthly ArchiveApril 2007
Colorado & South Dakota 19 Apr 2007 04:02 pm
VT to RC
So I was watching the idiot box the other night round about the 9 0′clock hour when I caught a chunk of some news aired by the local Fox affliate. They were reporting on the shootings at Virginia Tech that had taken place the day prior. A student named Cho Seung-Hui killed a total of 32 people in the shootings and a single motive has yet to surface. In video footage he sent to NBC he denounces rich students with Mercedes cars and money.
All your debaucheries weren’t enough,” he said. “I didn’t have to do this. I could’ve left. I could’ve fled. But no. I will no longer run.
The conflict between his parents Christian beliefs and his own Hindu beliefs has also been cited as cause. Some people want to blame violent films and video games (it’s too soon for an Asian/Video Game joke, but trust me they’re coming…) and still others blamed it on the hippies (read the comments on that link, they’re hilarious). All the while the world is looking at America and wondering if our fascination with guns may now finally be over. How many masacres, the majority of which seem to be be at schools of all places, are we going to endure to “protect” our right to bear arms? From the opposite side of the fence gun clubs are blaming Virginia Tech’s no-gun policy of preventing students from being able to defend themselves. Stating that murderous sociopaths aren’t swayed by any sort of gun-ban and that if they’re bent on killing they’re goign to attempt to do just that. Should students have to, or need to defend themselves? Should any citizen? Do our gun laws that allow upstanding citizens to acquire and own guns only weaken the laws that are intended to stop would-be killers?
It would seem though that this is just another massacre. I’m sure that VT will step up campus security, but like Columbine, Unniversity of Texas, and all the others nothing major will change in terms of how we deal with this shit as a country. Perhaps I’m just as desensitized as the rest though. No, in fact, I’m sure I am. I see terrible things on the news all the time about people and places all around me and I barely bat an eye most times. So long as it doesn’t impact me or any of the people directly around me and connected to me I’ll probably remain indifferent. I don’t think I’m the exception though, but rather that I’m more the norm. Empathy rarely spreads wider than one’s immediate circle and seemingly never nation wide or globally for that matter. Ala Global Warming… they even put Global in the title just to let you know that everyones affected… but it doesn’t matter.
I digress… So I’m sitting there watching the news and they’re talking about the backlash that the Virginia Tech shootings had across local schools. They cut to a scene outside a Colorado Springs high school and began speaking about how a shooting threat there had closed the school for the day. They then cut to a docile scene outside of a Boulder high school where similarily a bomb threat had caused the school to shut down as well. Mind you these were all fairly tranquil pictures of the front of the schools and/or their lush green court yards and surroundings, all quiet and calm, from the same state that brought you Columbine. They then cut to good ol’ Rapid City where a bomb threat had also been called in only this time they had some footage which was jammed packed full of action! One team of three S.W.A.T. members moved in one direction with semi-automatic rifles clutched in their glove covered hands while another team of two crawled along the ground in a prone position and nestled their right eyes up to the scopes of twin sniper rifles. It then showed several police officers with guns drawn being led by a german shepard approaching one of the entrances to the high school… which from every angle they showed looked like Central. Another state trooper was shown carrying a shot gun pointed straight down in military fashion inching his way towards the campus. They finished off the piece with a few sensationalist comments and a wide angle shot of the whole scene.
At this point I could tie a nice bow on this and talk about how kids are just as desenstized as ever to the point where a national tragedy becomes the promise of a day off school. How it’s easy for some punk teenager to play on the oversensitive emotions in the wake of a tragedy by calling in a false bomb threat and hitting the mall for the remainder of the evening. But hell, we had 3 threats within a week of the Columbine tradegy at Stevens alone, so I can’t say that it’s gotten any worse, just more of the same. Instead I’ll just end this post with pointing out that Rapid will always be my favorite police-state nestled securely within the conservative gun-loving midwest… and is still home to a bunch of punk kids.
-Matt
Videos 17 Apr 2007 12:29 am
Clips
Grithiffths Games Megamart
David Blaine 1
David Blaine 2
More action packed action after the jump!
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Strange 07 Apr 2007 12:16 am
Scientolinuts
So about a year or so ago I spent the better part of the day researching Scientology, it’s practices, beliefs, and organization… and I got mad–or maybe I got a little spun-up would be more accurate. While most folks know that certain celebrities are Scientologists and that Scientology in general has been referred to as a cult or an obscure religion of sorts, alot of people don’t know about the groups founding and some of the lives they’ve ruined.
So in this wasted day where I studied these nutjobs I came to learn that it was founded by L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer and novelist. Ron has written over 260 books in his time, the vast majority of which were pure fiction; intentionally that is, for even the books he published as non-fiction were mostly fictional in nature.
Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way to do it would be to start his own religion.
- L. Ron Hubbard
So Ron did just that, he wrote a book called Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950 that was to become Scientology’s bible of sorts. The title is pretty much laughable as the entire book is devoid of any actual scientific theory, it’s full of cultural bias, and it’s written just as Hubbard wrote many of his other books… from his imagination; no research, no evidence, just another science fiction tale. Alas, Ron got his wish and spun this book into a bona fide religion, tax deductions and all.
If memory serves me correctly Scientologists actually believe that that all of our earthly worries, stresses, and problems in general are caused by thetans (which are deceased souls of criminal aliens trapped on earth that enter your body at birth) that can only be exercised out of your body by guess who? Scientologists will offer people audits where they wave a wand hooked to a device with a meter that can supposedly measure the amount of these thetans that are trapped in your body. Then they can suggest future sessions where they can rid your body of said thetans… except now you gotta pay sucka. Depending how much income you have determines just how much you gotta pay, but needless to say the church won’t stop until it’s got every last dime. Paying is actually the only way to advance within the church, and if you can’t pay then you get to work slave labor for a what they call the Sea Org. People have been killed and much worse once they’re working for this organization. They induce various methods of brainwashing throughout the whole process and implement documented mental and physical torture on those who do fall out of line.
Once you advance high enough within the ranks though you get to learn the big secret about how the thetans got to earth in the first place. From what I recall this intergalactic space traveler known as Xenu was put to the task of finding a home for all these alien criminals in the overcrowded space prisons. Before mankind’s time he brought all these prisioners to earth and trapped them on the planet by some sort of mind control or something. Then he placed hydrogen bombs on all the Earth’s volcanos and other key geographic point. Once they were setup Xenu detonated all of them at once; killing all the criminal aliens and forever trapping their souls on Earth. Their souls wander the planet as thetans and enter a person’s body at birth.
When I started writing this post I wasn’t really intending to launch into any sort of details about Scientology as there are much better references out there on the web. I’ll try and link a few below. I started this post because I was at the Westminster Mall the other day and some Scientologist recruiters, probably working for the Sea Org no less, had a friggin’ booth set up in one of the hallways. Nothing on the booth said Scientology however. Instead it was blown up image of the front cover of Dianetics and they were offering free “stress tests”. Undoubtedly every person that sat down for the “stress test” (which were actually Scientology audits) was found to have a high level of stress, which as we all know is caused by thetans and will ultimately need immediate Scientology intervention. It’s sick. It’s sick that our government granted them a religious tax code. It’s sick that they’re allowed to operate unaccountable for their actions and I got kinda pissy when I saw them setup at a damn mall. Scientology has killed hundreds of people and robbed countless more of every dime they’ve ever possessed. They take people off their medications, they’ve emptied bank accounts and robbed all the assets of their brainwashed members only to kick them out on the streets. They’re building a huge compound-like mini town in Clearwater Florida and are spreading alot of their hard stolen money over lawyers and mingling with the stars. It’s the largest publically accepted cult in America.
They’re a dangerous organization and now they’re recruiting in malls.
Read more here:
-Matt