Truly Awful

My friend Brett and I have started a new website to celebrate, and hopefuly get rid of some of the truly awful things we've given each other in the past few years.
Check it out, www.TrulyAwfulStuff.com.
And be our MySpace pal at myspace.com/trulyawful

Blue

Having another of those "How the hell did I end up here?" kinda days.
Being dependent on my job for healthcare is still hard for me to deal with. I feel less free to take risks now that I need prescriptions medicines to keep me healthy, not they work all that well. Sometimes I feel like saying, hey, pull my freakin' colon out, keep it, and be done with it. But I guess it would be pretty naive to think that you just walk away from a colonectomy and never look back. In fact I'm sure there's all manner of drugs after such an operation. (Oh, and for those of you close to me, don't worry. I'm just being a drama queen, I'm nowhere near the surgery stage in my illness. I promise.)

I never did get to Europe. I hardly ever go camping or road tripping any more. I guess these are the things bumming me out at the moment. Feeling like I have settled into a boring and predictable routine with a non rewarding job and weekends around the house, which isn't even a house but a little apartment.

And of course there's an easy solution. I think I'll see about helping out at The Horse Cow this weekend or next and maybe camp out by the river while I do it. Yeah, that's what I'll do, and I'll quit whining on my blog then, yes I will.

Win a debate the Sucks' way

I've been observing this Atheism Sucks character in his natural environment, on myspace.
I'm like a birdwatcher. I've compiled my field notes and condensed them down to the key observations. What I present here is a guide to Sucks Fighting Style. Not as effective as Drunken Monkey but better than Buttered Penguin.

1) Lots of insults and name calling. Some good ones are baldspot, skank and nincompoop. If you can find a physical attribute that you think your opponent may be insecure about be sure to capitilize on it. Another effective approach is name calling: If you have a young women wearing anything more revealing than a burka. Calling her a slut or a tramp is a time honored and still often effective approach.

2) Ask questions that make no sense and when the person your debating asks for clarification refuse. Announce yourself superior.

3) Set your blog comments to appear by your approval so you can pick and choose which you let through. THIS ONE'S VERY IMPORTANT.

4) Try to find personal information on the person you want to tear apart. Present in a ridiculously biased manner. For instance, "With the help of his devoted girlfriend, Sapient has built a strong following that is gaining momentum from his basement!" becomes a slanderous attack on this freeloading loser who lives in his mom's basement.

5) Refuse to debate the chief subject of your attacks on his forum, saying he doesn't debate on fair grounds, but still present every debate he is in, where he of course has an unfair advantage, as an example of him losing.

6) Scour the internet for any examples of people holding the differing viewpoint who don't seem smart to you. Especially nice if you can find a young girl. Ridicule them and hold them up as an example of this viewpoint.

7) When your immature behavior and innabillity to even draw much of an audience to begin with leads the subject of your hatred, er, sorry I mean the subject of your intense God inspired love to refuse to be bothered with you announce that he is afraid of you. The more he doesn't notice you or ignores you completely the more he is afraid of you, even as he debates scholars who you admire. Scholars who of course make a fool out of him, see #5.

So, I'm done with Sucks' blog, but I dont' regret my time there. I actually got turned onto some theists who are much more civil than he is who I am enjoying interacting with very much.

Witness my Hatred and Bitterness

A Myspace exchange:

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Keith Lowell Jensen
Date: Mar 9, 2007 11:51 PM

I'd ask you not to leave prayers and religious writings on my page unless you're comfortable with me leaving my Atheist writings on yours. If you leave such comments again I will assume that it's you giving me permission to post such.
Thanks. Peace,
KLJ

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Omitted out of respect for privacy
Date: Mar 10, 2007 7:33 AM


If you don't like it, you can always delete me as a friend.

Thank you,

(And they signed their nom de plume here)

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Keith Lowell Jensen
Date: Mar 10, 2007 9:08 AM

Well, like I said, I will have to assume that it's an invitation for me to behave in kind. If that's okay with you than by all means, have at it.
Sincerely,
Keith


----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Omitted out of respect for privacy
Date: Mar 10, 2007 9:27 AM


Keith, I am not afraid of you and your aethiest writings. When you stand before God on judgement day, you will have to answer for each and everyone of them. Why you have decided to deny your maker and creator is beyond me. Why you have decided to display such feelings of hatred and bitterness to a believer in Christ says a lot about your own heart.

Either way Keith, regardless of what you believe, there is a God who loves you, who created you, and who sent his one and only perfect son, Jesus Christ, clothed in man's flesh, to die on a cross for you. Your sin put him there. He was (is) perfect in every way shape and form, and when he died, it was your face that he saw. He did this for you. He is offering you a gift of grace, of complete forgiveness of your sins, and all you have to do is ask him for it.

I sincerely hope you find your way to him, and in all sincerity, I will keep you in my prayers.

In His Love,
Their name went here


And my final reply which recieved no response other than them cancelling me as their friend:

Where have I shown you bitterness or hatred?
I certainly don't feel these things.

All my correspondence with you can be read by scrolling down. Please show me where I've been bitter or hateful so I can avoid coming across that way in the future.

I simply wanted to make sure we understood each other. I will welcome you expressing your beliefs on my site only if I'm given equal courtesy on yours. That's fair isn't it?

As for your curiosity about why I deny my maker and such, my Hindu and Muslim friends wonder the same about you. I love them despite our differences in belief and believe me, please, I bear you no ill will either.

Peace,
KLJ

PS: If you really do want an detailed explanation of why I am not a Christian let me know. I'd be happy to write it up.


I thought it was a strange little exchange. And before anybody freaks out on me, I'm not judging all Christians here. This is just one exchange with one looney, that is all. One looney with a seriously strong need to feel like a martyr.

The Vegetarian Discussion

Okay, first things first, I'm not preaching at ya here. I was vegan for 15 years, and for 15 years I wanted people to understand that I'm not one "those vegans." You know, the preachy, you can't eat meat in front of 'em type. Not me. I'll even let you cook a burger on my BBQ grill, just leave half the grill for me and my grilled veggies.

Now, I'm eating fish and eggs but still no dairy or other meat. A medical diet I was on eliminated all of my vegan protein sources and so, my new diet. I'm now a Keith-an. No, I don't eat Keiths.

A regular commenter here at RockAss.net, Crowliosis suggested we have it out on the vegan discussion. Unlike a certain Mr. Sucks, Crow is fun to disagree with. He's smart and respectful and knows how to do more than sling accusations and insults.

So, here goes, in two parts, my argument for veganism.

1)Ethics

• I will not argue that it is unethical for one animal to eat another. It's what animals due. Going extinct is also what many animals due. Our intelligence is hopefully a useful trait that can give us an advantage over less intelligent animals, meaning we can make decisions to our advantage. I'm arguing against the idea that eating meat is right because it's natural. I'll go further, we don't really like being natural all that much. Rape it can be argued is natural, as is having way too many babies.Speaking of too many babies, there are over six billion people on the planet. This makes eating meat an environmentally disastrous decision as it is a most inefficient use of resources. Rainforests are cleared for cattle grazing, and any one whose traversed California on highway 99 has seen way too many cows crowded together on too small a plot of land. Then there's the horrors of pig-shit, way too much of it and nowhere to put it.
  
  
• Feeding so many people also means more efficient ways of raising the animals. One does not need to be opposed to the killing part of meat to be disgusted by the way they are treated prior to the killing. Factory farms would give even your staunchest meat lover a nightmare. Yes, you can get meat from smaller farms. It's not practical for feeding such a big population but if you must eat the stuff, it's the way to go.
  
  
• So where does dairy fit in? It's just as bad or worse environmentally, and from the cruelty angle, I'd rather be a meat cow who at least has the relief of death at a comparatively young age than a milk cow.
  

To summarize, crowded planet means more efficient diets needed to benefit already strained environment and to avoid inhumane methods of producing great quantities of meat and dairy.

2) Nutrition.

This is where I could use more learning, and perhaps I'll get some if we get a good discussion going here.

• What I do know is that the calcium argument doesn't hold water. Milk's not that great a source, we get plenty from Spinach and other green and especially leafy green veggies. Plus without enough magnesium a-lot of the calcium goes right through, or worse it gets deposited where it's neither needed or wanted. The western diet is thought by some to be too high in calcium and there are studies suggesting that Asian women having easier menstrual cycles and some other advantages maybe related to their much lower consumption of dairy.
  
  
• Protein. Again, there are plenty of sources of protein other than meat. Beans, lentils, legumes, wheat, nuts, etc. And again, the American diet is crazy high in fatty proteins. Yes, I'll admit that it's crazy high in Carbs too, but it's easier to be a low carb vegan than you may think.
  
  
• B complex vitamins. There's still a-lot debate on this one. Some argue that you can't get it without eating animals, others suggest that you can get it by eating what those animals eat, ie raw green foods. I think the more live vegetables and fruit in your diet the better.
  

There are cultures who've eaten vegetarian and vegan diets for centuries and others who are close. It's proven to be nutritionally sufficient to maintain health.

So that's my argument so far.

And just for fun, what would I eat first if I had too. Already answered a bit by what I am eating. This list takes ethics and nutrition into account.

1. Fish, not farmed and caught using hooks not net and only species that are still found in abundance.
2. Eggs, from cage free well fed chickens, cause you eat what they eat.
3. Beef.
4. Dairy. I think it's bad stuff for grown up animals. No other animal consumes milk except in it's infancy from it's mother, oh and raccoons but only if we hold the cows still for 'em.
5. Pigs. Pig shit is seriously a big problem and pork, way not healthy. Sorry Jones, if you read this far.
   

And one last though. Ted Nugent is so not my enemy on this one. We both have a common enemy in fact, factory farming. He says you shouldn't eat if you ain't willing to kill it and I agree. Of course ALL of us hunting would be a disaster but my guess is people would eat a whole lot less beef.

To comment without registering, just hit comment and then select anonymous. You can then enter your name if you wish and you don't have to register.

Vermillion Lies and More

I'm exhausted. Up late doing homework and cramming for a test. I've got to learn not to put things off until the last minute, but if it aint happened yet, well...

Friday I read some poems and stories and even a couple of dreams at a Bukowski tribute. It was cool. Very different from doing comedy. And about 70 people showed up, to see poetry in a bar on a Friday night. That's pretty cool. The bar was the speak easy lounge, below Cafe New Orleans in Old Sac. It used to be The Union and i worked there as a waitor. It was neat to be back. I got on stage and said "I used to wait tables here."

"And now you're reading poetry, that's a step down." a guy heckled from the audience.

I felt like saying, "Thanks for telling my opening joke asshole, now you wanna come up and read my fucking poems?" but instead I just laughed at his dumb joke that was supposed to be my dumb joke, knowing I would have told it better and I went on with my reading. I was well received and when I mentioned my website someone shouted out Ritalin, which was cool. A reader! (Dear reader, I'll get back to Ritalin soon, I promise.)

Saturday, by strange coincidence Bryna took me to the same bar to see Vermillion Lies. They're awesome. Two sisters doing vaudeville type stuff with a little pinch of burlesque. It occured to me that I'd gotten quite old when two very pretty sisters in sexy outfits evoke the thought, "Rad. They're parents must be so tickled at this." But it's true. I'd be so proud if I had daughters traveling around together making music and doing it so uniquely and so well. Hey, they're on tour, go check 'em out, or if they're not getting near you, buy their CD to help support them. They deserve it. Their myspace page is www.myspace.com/vermillionlies

Megen's Law

I'm against it.

What?!!! (sound of screeching tires, needle pulled off record, baby crying) Did I just say that I hate America, love kicking puppies and want to have sex with your grandma?

Why would I be opposed to this wonderful law that lets us all know where the child molesters are?

Let me see if I can explain it. I feel like we shouldn't let these guys out at all if we have so little faith that they're recuperated. The recidivism rates are very high, so what should we do about it? Stop letting them out so soon. If you let someone out but you make sure the whole world knows that they're a kid fucker you seriously decrease their chance of making it. Decrease their chance of making it and you increase the chance of them committing the crime again.

Prisoners who have trouble adjusting to the outside world often commit the same crime that got them locked up to begin with in order to go back. I'm not saying they'd do this heinous thing just to get back in, but they'd be less likely to fight the urges if getting caught meant going back to prison and going back to prison didn't sound so bad when they can't get a job, their neighbors hate them and want them dead, and all this is compounded by the emotional turmoil all ex-cons go through.

So, if you can't let them out with a chance at of rejoining society, don't let 'em out at all. Maybe someday we'll get to understand them, and we can rehabilitate, until then keep the baby fuckers.

And one only sort of related thoughts: There is no victim that tugs at our heart strings more than a kid whose been abused by an adult, until that kid grows up and becomes that adult and then there is no one who inspires more hatred.

Hot Little Nymphos revisited

A while back I put up a post on my jobs blog about an interesting "job offer" my friend Amber recieved.
The comments continue to come in and are pretty interesting and creepy.
See for yourself by clicking here.

Random bits

Well, first off a bit of news. My appearance on Infidel Guy's radio show has been postponed. I will let you know the rescheduled dates when they become available.

Too young to quit smoking
My friend Ashley tried to buy the patch, the nicotine patch to help him quit smoking. The woman at the counter told him she couldn't sell it to him as he is under 27 years of age. He explained to her that this made no sense but she told him that the computer said he had to be at least 27 years of age. He bought a pack of smokes instead.

Making a Baby
I was walking down K Street today and a young woman passed me, talking on her cell phone. I overheard;
"Yeah, we s'pose to get a room so's we can make a baby, but I'm like, fuck no, he gonna have to make it hisself."

What's so funny about peace love and understanding?
I walked further and a conservative looking woman passed me. Her sweatshirt betrayed no irony whatsoever. It featured a graphic depicting the outline of the continental United States filled in with camouflage and the words "Peace Through Strength."

The sexless masses yearning to be free (but not too free)
It occurred to me that the most conservative couples I know are also the most androgynous. I don't mean this in a bad way at all; I just happened to notice couples that look a-lot alike. Jeans, t-shirts or sweatshirts often featuring the names of city's they've presumably been to, round faces and bodies, short hair, no make up. In a weird sort of way they're very progressive without knowing it.

A Country Song I Wrote

My TV

Well I finally found a way
To cope with the pain
That you left in my heart dear
The day you boarded that train

Well I sat right down here
In front of my TV
I've been here ever since
You took your love from me

On PBS
There's a travellin' man
And he takes me touring
To foreign lands

He don't talk about love no
He knows not of loss
He just talks hotel, motel
And how much it will cost

And My TV
Will not leave me
So to my TV
Faithful will I be

Well I home shopped
I bought some great things
A fancy bird watchers clock
Every hour a new bird sings

I watch the Chinese news
Spanish soap operas too
I don't understand them
But they never mention you

I got my couch
all to myself
I don't share my popcorn
With no one else

I got my black box
my remote control too
I got so many channels
I Got No Room For You

And My TV
Will Not Leave Me
So To My TV
Faithful will I be

If ya click here you can hear a very rough recording made about five minutes after St Simon and I finished writing the music. That's Simon singing. Sid's going to sing this in the next ICBINC show I'll video it and get a youtube up.