The Right to Choose

The government allotting it's people human rights is what makes it our particular government. We have enormous freedoms with very little fear of repercussions. The gay rights movement reminds me of the various other movements in the past that pushed for equalization. The term human rights brings to mind such issues as women's rights and the equalization of African Americans. These groups were granted equality with a mass protest and I foresee the same for homosexuals. In many instances, looking to past examples serves as an excellent forecast of things to come. There were extremely rough times in the civil rights movement when members were threatened or even killed. These hard times were worth it in the end, as there can no longer be any legal distinction between the races. The same is true for the women's rights movement in that women are now totally legally equal.

As far as people saying that homosexuals are bad role models, it has also been argued that homosexuality is something that a person is born into. I do not believe in either of these theories. Homosexuality is a born in tendency in some cases, but not all. I do not see it as something bad whatsoever. Everyone has their own subtle nuances that make them unique. I believe that many more people are homosexual than have already admitted it. With more and more rights coming to gays, these people will feel more accepted by common community and the true pervasive nature of homosexuality will be disclosed. Once more people are exposed to homosexuals, this image of them being corruptors will melt away, revealing that they are normal people with normal feelings. Once this attitude has been mostly destroyed, homosexuals will truly be accepted.

Not hiring someone due to their sexual preference is a fallacy. Many businesses have no policy or preference, but there are a few who still refuse to hire open gays such as the military. One leading factor to this persecution is religion. Religion has long frowned upon homosexuality, shunning those who are openly gay and frightening others into secrecy. This pressure would cause many people to bottle those feelings up and hide them. Attempting to hide what you feel and holding yourself from something you truly desire may cause psychological damage and produce people that overcompensate for feelings of guilt due to their shunned homosexuality with violence or a lack of reason. The sooner gays are openly accepted the better. It is simply a matter of time until the don't ask; don't tell policy is abolished as unconstitutional and gays are given the rights and respect that they deserve.

Sands In An Hour Glass.

I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 24th, 1985. The hospital I was born in was known for the dungeon it housed leftover from the civil war. I do not know how true this rumor is, but it sounds interesting nonetheless. I was raised by my mother, R'lita Wilson, for nearly four years. She had a substance abuse problem, partaking in several drugs and becoming an unfit person. She decided to give me and my little sister, Rhiannon, up for adoption when I was almost five. My grandmother and grandfather, Katrin Anne and Thomas Edward Brummitt, adopted me and my sister. From that point, I lived in Kathleen, Georgia because Thomas had been transferred from his job at Anchor Glass in Indiana to the plant in Warner Robins. R'lita was never a large figure in my life, preferring to annoy my grandmother with idle threats for "stealing" her child away.

I don't remember too much from my childhood. I know that since we lived out in the middle of nowhere, I played outside alot. I did not have too many friends, seeing as my grandmother was very protective. When I was adopted, Thomas had fallen ill with colon cancer. He died shortly after signing the final paperwork. He was eight days shy of retirement from anchor glass and they still denied him of any benefits. Katrin tried to appeal the company's decision many times, but received the same answer every time. She had been living off of his income and was forced to live only off of social security. She still did an excellent job in supplying me and my sister the essentials and more. She was and still is a real bargain hunter, aggressively seeking the next good deal. I did not grow up with the best of toys, but at least I never wanted for anything.

I attended a preschool in Warner Robins before going to King's Chapel Elementary school. My years here were relatively uneventful. I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, or ADD. Personally, I think this is a mistake, but I really don't concern myself with it, seeing as I excelled in school without putting forth any notable effort. I moved into Perry Middle School which is where I met my best friend, Shane Ray Gunter. He was pretty much the only person I was allowed to visit outside of school. He got me started into a card game called "Magic: The Gathering" which is an extremely popular game published by Wizards f the Coast, the owners of the Dungeons and Dragons game which my mother forbid me from playing. My family was more than slightly religious. These values were forced upon me occasionally, but I chose my own values in the end.

I went to Perry High School and went through it without any real issues. I moved out of Katrin's home my senior year. She was smothering me and began to make accusations of me using drugs. I took offense to this, seeing as I have been clean my entire life, having never even smoked a cigarette. I packed my cloths in a black plastic bag, seeing as I did not own much. I left in the car she gave me for my 16th birthday, which I had rarely used save for driving to and from school. I still speak with Katrin, but I would not live with her again. I lived with a friend of mine for about a year before moving into my own apartment. I worked at Angelina's Garden Style Italian Restaurant at first, attempting to attend college. My main scholarship turned me down after already having accepted me. I was forced to drop from that semester. I tried a few other jobs, but I knew that I had to get into school.

I joined the Air Guard in October of 2005. I felt like I had been backed into a bit of a corner, seeing as it was incredibly hard to get a job with no real prior experience. The Air Force sent me to school for nine months. This period was in many ways both the best and worst time I have had. Being away from your home for the first time is extremely difficult. I was surrounded by people who I did not know and forced to do many things I did not enjoy. In the end, it paid off. I am in school full time and it is all paid for. I mainly surf the internet now. I play World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons alot. I enjoy writing and intend to get my bachelors in English from Macon State before transferring to the University of Georgia.

Euthanasia: A Crime of Compassion

The story of Roswell Gilbert is a sad one. Imagine a 76 year old man who has been happily married to his wife for 51 years. Roswell obviously loved his wife, Emily. They had been together for over half a century, a testament to humanities ability to cherish one another. The connection a couple must share after that long of a time would be unbreakable. The lives of the two would have been as one for such a great amount of time that living without the other must have been absolutely intolerable. Roswell suffered a fate worse than his beloved dying for several years. Emily had began to suffer from osteoporosis, a painful bone disorder, and Alzheimer's disease, a terrible degenerative disease of the mind. Roswell would have been forced to watch his wife slowly disappear. Emily would have been wracked with pain and slowly creeping toward madness.

Emily would have began her spiral by losing her short term memory. This would begin small, as in misplacing her keys or forgetting to feed the cat. She would also begin to feel more sluggish and less spontaneous. Emily would begin to not want to venture away form the house anymore, simply preferring to watch television or participate in some other low-energy activity. Her forgetfulness would then progress until she began to forget names of close friends and familiar objects. Roswell's heart must have been ripped in two when his wife could not remember his name after 51 years of marriage. Emily's symptoms would gradually worsen causing her to forget simple skills such as how to drive, operate a computer or cook. Roswell must have cried many nights, watching his wife disappear into the recesses of her own mind. Alzheimer's patients are known to occasionally burst into violence or become extremely passive, even if these activities are nothing like their original personalities. Perhaps Emily exposed Roswell to a violent side of herself, which he undoubtedly understood as one of the symptoms of her condition, but must have been truly disdained at such an obvious sign of his wife's worsening condition. In the later stages of the disease, Emily must have become incontinent, the muscular deterioration combining with the severity of the osteoporosis to produce a condition in which she was entirely bedridden and riddled with pain and nightmares from the past. After watching his wife's steady descent, Roswell's mind must have been tortured, his heart yearning to help his wife.

Love is the second strongest of human emotions, hate being the strongest. Roswell loved Emily. His decision to end his wife's pain is understandable if you view it from his perspective. The problem is, it was not his decision to make. I understand how Roswell felt, but there should have been some planning on this beforehand. This would be one of the hardest talks anyone would every have to go through, but he should have brought this up to Emily earlier in her condition, while she was still mostly cognitive. The laws are only partially adequate for this situation, seeking to protect the innocent over understanding the unique. I agree that the court was right in punishing Mr. Gilbert. I do, however, think that in cases where one person in a marriage develops this sort of symptom, that if the plug is to be pulled, or euthanasia enacted, there should be a contract drawn up and signed early in the condition while the ailing person is still cognitive. If the person is unable to vouch for themselves, then there is no choice in the matter as to whether they live or not, the default being life. Personally, death terrifies me. I am no coward, being able to take risks when necessary, but I would not elect to have someone end my life under many circumstances. Being a vegetable or mentally incapable are not one of the select few in which I would willingly lay down my right to live. Everyone should be given such a choice, provided they deserve it.

An Empire of Oil

Norman Mailer discusses many topics which support his theory that flag-waving conservatives are pushing for world domination. There is very little evidence in my day to day life of any of these theories, save for one: oil. Amongst the most prevalent reasons for the war spouted by the general public is oil. The cries of "No blood for oil!" are common sights when the television is turned on. Mailer does not address this issue in any great length, citing it as merely a perk of world domination. Mailer quotes Ralph Nader in listing off the statistics of oil usage in America. Nader is quoted as saying "The United States consumes 19.5 million barrels a day, or 26% of daily global oil consumption. . . . The U.S. [has to import] 9.8 million barrels a day, or more than half the oil we consume...." This does not even begin to express exactly how massive an amount of oil that truly is. This oil is used for many things we use everyday such as plastics, lubricants and, the lifeblood of our nation, gasoline. Kerosene, ethane, jet and diesel are a few examples of fuels that are commonly produced from petroleum. Day to day life would be radically different without oil.

In the past several years, gas prices have been steadily on the rise. One may readily attribute this to the rising tensions that have been hyped in the media. It is a common assumption that gas prices have skyrocketed due to the war in Iraq. This is a misconception. According to the United States department of energy, Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of oil in the world, with over 11 million barrels per day, with Iraq producing under 2 million. With such a massive difference, Iraq seems nearly insignificant. These numbers have been relatively stable for years. Why then, do gas prices continue to rise? The answer is a fundamental economic principle: supply and demand. Those that possess the gasoline set the prices. The more we need gasoline, the higher the price we are willing to pay. Perhaps someone is taking advantage of a nation distracted by war and political turmoil in order to profit. Under the guise of Osama burning up our oil reserves whilst blowing up our troops, oil companies can gouge consumers and make a pretty penny off of a nation that blames the inflation on the evils that it's president brings to the surface.

Just because Iraq's oil production is extremely low compared to the top producers does not mean that it's potential for production is as well. Mailer quotes Nader by saying "The surest way for the U.S. to sustain its overwhelming dependence upon oil is to control the sixty-seven percent of the world's proven oil reserves that lie below the sands of the Persian Gulf. Iraq alone has proven reserves of 112.5 billion barrels, or 11% of the world's remaining supply. . . .Only Saudi Arabia has more." Mailer goes on to suggest that once we occupy Iraq, we will also gain a choke hold on Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East. The concept of making such a pervasive commodity such as gasoline cheaper is extremely appealing to Americans. I have no doubt that controlling Iraq would cheapen our gas prices, if only because it could no longer serve as a price-gouging scapegoat.

Norman Mailer and the Anti-Bush Bandwagon

Norman Mailer's book is a self-proclaimed explosive argument about George W. Bush's quest for empire. Included in this book is a speech that Mailer made to the Commonwealth club, a California-based club whose mission is to function as a national forum for political and social issues. During this speech, Mailer brings to light many issues with the government. The majority of these issues are with Bush himself. The most hefty of the accusations Mailer levels upon the president is that Bush seeks world domination.

Norman Mailer implies with no uncertainty that George Walker Bush seeks dominion over the entire world. Mailer offers no proof or examples of a lust for power, his only explanation being a speculation that Bush feels that the country is growing more dissolute. At this point Mailer begins to rant in what can only be seen as a ludicrous fashion. Not a shred of evidence is provided and no legitimate reasons for the behavior he accuses Bush of. I searched for some sort of justification, finding only inane logic and what-if reasoning.

From having read Mailer's book, I am almost incapable of believing that the man is being serious. His ludicrous opinions without any evidence to back them up lead me to believe that he may only be saying these things in order to elicit a shock or attention. In my experience, all it takes nowadays to fit into popular culture is a dislike of Bush. Apparently Mailer has decided that he would like to not only fit in, but to become an icon himself. For years those that dared to shock polite society have gained mass popularity. Bill O'Reilley, Ozzy Osbourne, Howard Stern and Marilyn Manson are but a few people who owe their fame to a career of shocking people with brash decisions and bold actions. I work for the Georgia Air National Guard under the title of SatCom. I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a conference by General Mosely, commander of the Air National Guard. He brought up many issues about the war in Iraq, the conflicts in Iran, the threat China now poses to American satellites and the growing threat in North Korea. These issues are everyday concerns when there is an actual possibility of being involved in the war. According to the general, our goal in Iraq is to establish an Iraqi police force that is capable of maintaining the country by itself. Friends that I have in Security Forces that have been to Iraq have all been on local security missions to secure areas around bases or on guard detail for those bases. A little over half a year ago, I was working at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia with the Army Signal Corps. I spoke to many soldiers, Marines while there. I also spoke to several seamen while at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. From all of these people I received the same sort of stories. We are not working to expand any sort of influence in Iraq. We are working to provide the Iraqi police with the capabilities to defend themselves and secure a stabilized government under Iraqi control, not American. I believe that mistakes have been made in our government, but the blame is not to be lain solely on Bush. The president has many tactical military advisers that provide him with information on every facet of war fighting. There are financial advisers, political analysts, and intelligence specialists that help guide the president. All of these people would need to be corrupt in order to allow the president to make decisions that would lead to world domination. When 9/11 occurred, Bush found himself under tremendous pressure to find an outlet for the public's outrage. I will admit, he may have grasped at an answer, but this was not a solution that he came to all by himself. Mailer is a fool if he honestly thinks that Bush is after world domination.

Love and Lust on the Alligator River

The "Alligator River Story" is full of flawed characters. The character that is least deserving of respect in my opinion is Abigail. She was faced with many choices and yet proved time and again that she had pitiful morals. She was in love with a man that was a good distance away. She could have been patient and waited for the bridge to be rebuilt, seeing as it would only take a few weeks. She also could have driven to see him on her day off of work. Seeing as she had a car, I would assume that she had a telephone. She could have called him and kept in contact that way to pass the time until she could meet him in person. Going to see Sinbad for a ride across the river was an acceptable decision. Showing disgust for his price was another good choice. Abigail then went to her friend Ivan for help, but was turned away. This is when her bad choices began. She chose to have sex with the river boat captain in order to see a man she could have waited to see. She was rejected by this man and she then proceeded to complain to her thug friend. She obviously did not see that what she did was wrong, therefor she only told the perspective that made her look like a victim. She then took joy in the fact that her actions brought about pain to someone that had rejected her. This is why Abigail is ranked 5th in the order of respect for this story.

The riverboat captain, Sinbad, is ranked 4th as far as respect goes for the characters in this story. The man disrespected his position as a captain, his ship and whatever crew he had when he propositioned Abigail in return for a ride across the river. He should have chosen an acceptable form of payment such as money or a favor. He did not force Abigail to accept his terms. She chose this of her own volition. She saw this as her only option apparently. The only person she spoke to was Ivan, who is ranked third amongst the characters in this story. Indifference is a cowardly choice. In past wars, those who would not choose a side were killed. If Ivan had acted, perhaps Abigail would not have much such a foolish choice as accepting Sinbad's offer. Ivan could have helped take steps to help Abigail and Gregory be together. His reasons for indifference are not obvious, therefore one can only guess.

When Gregory rejected Abigail, she turned to Slug with her tale of woe. Slug's reactions are what ranks him as second amongst the characters. Abigail told him her story and he responded out of blind faith. He went off of the details she had given him out of grief and sorrow. He was right to show compassion, but compassion thru violence is nearly an oxymoron. Slug took it upon himself to attack Gregory. Abigail took great pleasure in this, leading me to believe that she manipulated slug. He obviously was far more emotional than rational, but he still outranks the others in his actions.

The character in this story that I most highly respect is Gregory. He loved a woman that turned out to be impatient and unscrupulous. She turned vengeful and vindictive, lashing out at him purposefully manipulating a thug and laughing at Gregory when he was brutally beaten. Gregory had every right to make the decision that he made. Abigail proved to be of terrible moral fiber and he chose to have nothing more to do with her. He could have been slightly more compassionate but his choice was the right one.

Technological Evolution

Technology is our greatest boon. Science is the one unarguable truth. Science is the understanding and mastering of the world around us. Science gives us limitless potential. Our world changes every day due to the process of technological evolution. Our lives are shaped around our machines. Computers, vehicles and telephones are all examples of how technology has changed the way we live. George Gilder, publisher of the Gilder Technology Report (www.gildertech.com) seems very paranoid about the future. He even goes on to quote Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber. This is exactly the sort of paranoia one would expect from someone who feared technology, but to be sited by someone who embraces it? This particular event was described by Bill Joy, Chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems. (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html#1) Joy, overall, seems like he is extremely paranoid. This man has too much time on his hand and appears to have read more Asimov and Bradbury than one should in any one particular seating. Paranoid notions about humanities subservience to machines or proclaiming that 1984 was set forty years too early seem to garner some sort of fad-like respect.

I do see humans as coming to rely completely on machines to the point of not being able to live without them, but this is not in the near future. I would say this would start occuring at least one-hundred years down the line. Humans rely on it now, there is no doubt, but not to the point of being forced to use it to survive. I support a broadening of the spectrum of allowed technological and scientific advances. Advanced robotics will make human life easier. It will take jobs at first, but eventually it will be more of a matter of freeing up human hands. I do believe that human life may reach the "Good Shepard" point that was quoted by Joy. I do not think it will reach Orwell proportions whatsoever, but I can see a world where man will rarely work. A world of science and leisure. But that is too far down the road to accurately time. Humans are too apt to explore.

Space will be our next big goal in technology. It is the most logical jump. I foresee humans colonizing other worlds. The only reason we would do so to begin with would be to further our scientific knowledge. After that, we would colonize simple because we could. Technology has become the new natural course for human evolution. I realize that is an oxymoron, but it is the standard nevertheless. Just picture a world where vehicular technology had been limited to bicycles. Envision a place where it had been decided that the telephone was too impersonal and that we should stick to writing letters. In an invention's early days, it is often difficult to accurately depict what effect it will have or to what degree it will effect humanity. If we set limits on technology, we are limiting our potential.