Category: general

Death should never be a punishment for crime …

The death penalty, capital punishment, execution or whatever you want to call it may seem theoretically fair; a person’s life is ended for doing something morally reprehensible; but as a real-world practice, I’m totally against it for two reasons.

The first has to do with how flawed our justice systems are, which result in people being convicted of crimes they never committed. How often that occurs is beside the point. The point is it happens and, as far as I’m concerned, once is too often.

As bad as it is for an innocent person to spend time in prison, there’s a chance they’ll eventually be set free. Killing them kills that possibility. What s shame it would be for the real criminal to confess after the convicted is already dead.

My second reason is because morality is subjective. That means what’s wrong to you may not be wrong to me. Even when the person facing death is guilty of the crime, who’s to say it was bad enough to be killed for? Who’s to say it was bad at all?

There are plenty of crimes around the world I consider ridiculous like adultery because they don’t necessarily harm anyone or have any negative consequences. Yet because of other people’s moral opinions, they can have you killed.

I realize my argument goes against any moral punishment, not just death, but the point is that there’s time for change. Many laws of the past are now considered absurd. Who’s to say the ones we have now won’t be “absurd” in the future?

If anything, death should be a choice. Some people, both guilty and innocent of the crimes they’re convicted of, would rather die than spend the rest of their lives in prison. That’s fine because the person isn’t really dying against their will.

If the person chooses to live, they should be allowed to; no matter how bad the crime is in anyone’s opinion. The government shouldn’t end a person’s life as a punishment for crime, not without facing the same fate for the wrong they’ve done.

I still don’t know whether or not Rihanna deserved to get beat by Chris Brown …

I’ve never been a fan of his. I’ve never really listened to his songs and don’t know a lot about him in general. The only way in which he’s ever really made a significant impact on my attention span, in fact, aside from reading about him being a fellow pre-death Michael Jackson fan, which gives him positive points in my mind; is from that controversial fight he and Rihanna had in February of 2009. That’s perhaps what he’s known most for these days. I made a video about it not long after it happened. I even got into a minor debate with a girl about it at a bookstore.

The girl brought it up. She made a comment to me about it, scorning Chris Brown while apparently expecting me to agree. I didn’t. I told her I didn’t know who was to blame, him or Rihanna, because I didn’t know who started it, which set her off into a mini tirade about how guys shouldn’t hit girls even if girls hit them first. I told her how ridiculous and sexist that was before asking what made girls off-limits. She said something about them being physically weaker, so I asked if that logic should allow me to get away with punching Mike Tyson in the face for no good reason.

Our exchange lasted for maybe a minute, but she was adamant in her opinion. From what I see on the internet; the comments people make about Chris Brown to this day; it seems to represent the majority of society, but society is stupid in a lot of ways, so it doesn’t surprise me. All it does is make me want to defend Chris Brown whenever someone brings it up to me. Gender means nothing to me when it comes to fighting, but he’s wrong if he hit her for no good reason. The point is that it’s three years later and I still don’t know whether or not he had a good reason.

I don’t think either has explained to the public exactly what happened, so, for all I know, the rumor could be true that she got mad and hit him first, which would mean she probably deserved every bruise he put on her face. If a girl decided to attack me for no good reason, I’d beat her too and I’d advise any guy to respond the same way. It’s a matter of defending yourself but also not letting the girl get away with it just as you wouldn’t let a guy, other than perhaps Mike Tyson. Public scorn is, if you even care about what society thinks of you, just an unfortunate consequence.

my school field trips

Some of my most cherished memories are being at school as a kid and some of the most cherished among them are the field trips. It was a rare occurrence. I remember only one trip in high school and one in middle school, but I went on a few in elementary. I don’t know how many, but I remember boarding the yellow bus with my packed lunch; sort of flat and somewhat soggy but delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches come to mind; on at least a few occasions.

They were experiences I liked at the time but hold much more dear in retrospect. Memories are sparse, but the best of them include a trip to The Detroit Science Center; I remember us watching an Imax feature; an Alice In Wonderland stage play; I remember our teacher wondering how they were going to make Alice fall down the rabbit hole; and the city of Lansing. Michael Bell peed his pants during the Lansing trip but was so well liked that nobody made fun of him.

We may have also went to Belle Isle, The Detroit Zoo and other places. I can’t remember. I do remember going to The Detroit Institute Of Arts probably the same day we went to the Science Center. I think that’s when we had a cute light-skinned girl; an older girl in her teens or twenties; helping us. I made a small puddle of paint on construction paper, or whatever it was they gave us to paint on, and she told me it would “never” dry. I figured it eventually would.

It was also during an elementary school field trip, on the bus in those green cushy seats, that I got a glimpse of Ebony’s tits… or nipples. They hadn’t yet developed into full tits. We were sitting in opposite aisles toward the front of the bus. She was leaning over with a tank top on. When I looked up into the driver’s rear-view mirror, there they were. I took advantage of the situation by looking up a few times but restrained myself from staring for fear of getting caught.

I don’t think I can count our fifth grade senior trip to Boblo Island since it hardly falls under the definition of a “field” trip. It was more for fun than education, but Miss Stewart’s middle school science trip, which took all or most of our class, including my best friend Derrel, was quite literally a blast. We launched rockets that day. My one high school field trip of sorts; the time Miss Sanneh took us to see Bring In Da Noise Bring In Da Funk; was also a fun experience.

the time I was falsely accused of “freaking” a girl in elementary school

I was in elementary school; fifth grade. To “freak” someone back then meant to pin them against a wall or fence and dry-hump them by rubbing your fully-clothed body against theirs. I remember a female teacher asking another what the term meant during the aftermath of this very incident. It’s something the boys would do to the girls, especially during outside recess when we kids were less restricted. Some of the girls liked it, I guess depending on who the boy was or who was watching, but it seems most didn’t. That’s where me being falsely accused of what is essentially a sex crime comes into play.

This one girl was gang-freaked by a group of boys during recess one day. At least that’s what she alleged. I don’t know if she said whether the boys took turns or did it all at once, but she was apparently upset about it; I remember her crying; and I was named as one of the assailants. I don’t even remember being around during the attack. I don’t even know if it was her who initially accused me. One of the other kids could’ve mentioned my name. In either case, there I was; on the chopping block with at least three other boys; facing big trouble in the form of the school notifying our parents, getting suspended or worse.

Lucky for us it never went that far because our homeroom teacher; Miss Daniels; didn’t take it as seriously as she could have. There was tension in the air; people talking and whispering about it; but she kept her cool. That’s one thing I liked about her. She was cool. She did punish us in her own way though; it was later that same day, I’m almost sure; by calling us alleged freakers to the front of the class one by one and smacking each of us on the hand with a ruler or some other wooden object. It stung like heck, but I didn’t really mind. Nor did I protest my innocence. I was just glad I wasn’t getting in real trouble for it.

question : Are Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street gay?

I don’t know whether or not they’re gay, but I don’t think they are. I certainly haven’t come across any evidence to suggest it. There have been rumors about them being gay or at least romantically involved with each other, but even Sesame Street officials have denied it.

Since they’re fictional characters, the only people who would know are the people who create/control them, but I think most of the speculation comes from gay people pushing agendas and stupid people who don’t think two guys can share a bedroom without being gay.

A lot of girls lie about being raped …

And that can be okay. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with lying. But when she’s lying to the police about you, that could be a problem for you; a major one that, aside from ruining your social life, could put you in prison and keep you there for a long time. And it doesn’t take a bit of evidence to convict you. Forget “reasonable” doubt. All it takes is a jury of sympathetic fools who, for reasons that would probably have more to do with sexism than anything else, believe her.

Enter the invention of audio and video recorders; devices that can save your life, or at least your freedom, if you use them to secretly record every time you have sex with a girl. But that isn’t always practical or even possible. So the next best thing is to come as close as possible, which means recording as often as you can or whenever you have sex with a girl you don’t really know. This especially goes for guys with a lot of money because guys with a lot of money are the most likely victims.

If she finds out about the video, all she has to do is say she had consensual sex with you in the past and was raped by you sometime after the video was made. Video time and date stamps can be altered, after all. She’d have a weaker case, yes, but it could still result in a “guilty” verdict from a gullible jury. So what you, or your lawyer, have to do is get her to say, on official court record, that she’s never had consensual sex with you. Revealing the video after that should save you.

The charges should be immediately dropped and the tables should turn. She should now be facing a criminal charge and a lengthy prison sentence for making such a serious false allegation. The sad thing is that she probably won’t. She might get, as they say, a slap on the wrist, but you can bet the flawed criminal court system in this stupid sexist society of ours won’t go after her nearly hard as they went after you; simply because she’s a girl and you’re a guy. That’s just the way it is.
 

william welker :

the worst part about it, they’re doing it for attention, the money or to get him in trouble!

caviar_diva :

and really not cool! Lost my virginity to rapists at 19–never a light subject me! Didn’t wear ANY sexy clothes.

question : How often do you get bored?

I never get bored at home, especially with access to the internet, and rarely get bored anywhere else. There’s always something interesting to do or think about. Even working a boring job, there only because I’m being paid, I could make future plans or ponder the past to keep my mind engaged.

There’s only so much one can think about or do with limited resources before it starts to get repetitive and uninteresting, of course, so I think I’d get bored more often if I were limited for a long time like serving a prison sentence or being trapped on a desert island like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.
 

Margo Pellegrino :

I’m never bored either. Even if I were stuck on a desert island. I’d be swimming.

People who commit suicide because they’re being bullied only have themselves to blame …

If a person decides to kill himself or herself because they’re being bullied, it’s that person’s fault; no one else’s. If it’s a kid, maybe some blame can be placed on the parents or guardians if the kid wasn’t taught to consider less drastic options, but it still comes down to the kid. Even if it’s a young kid who doesn’t really understand the concepts of suicide and death, you can’t really blame anyone else.

Why not? Because bullying doesn’t cause suicide; no more than it causes homicide. Both have to do with personal choice. Even if a bully walks up and punches me in the face because he thinks I’m gay and I respond by shooting him in the head with a gun, it was my decision to shoot him in the head with a gun. I could’ve punched him back, told him I’m not gay or simply walked away.

It’s the same with suicide. If instead of walking away, telling him I’m not gay, punching him back or killing him, I decide to kill myself, that’s my choice. An outside “cause” would eliminate choice, but having that choice eliminates a “cause”. Since I had the choice not to kill myself, the bully didn’t cause me to do it. All the bully caused me to do was perhaps fall back from the physical impact of the punch.

A lot of bully suicide cases aren’t even physical. A lot of them, particularly the “cyber” ones, are purely psychological, which puts even less blame on the bully. In a sense, it goes back to Sticks And Stones; an old proverb that happens to be true for everyone, all bully victims included. Being hurt to the point of suicide simply means the victim was psychologically or emotionally fragile.

I was bullied. It was never drastic, but I was certainly bullied at times. Eddie McGowan pushed me down in elementary school. I hated moments like that, but they were a part of growing up in the real world. If it had gotten worse, like others joining in and taking my abuse to “the internet”, I would’ve weighed my options. Even at that age, suicide would’ve been on the very bottom of the list.

That’s because I’m not fragile. Other people obviously are. There lies the problem and, yes, the “cause” of their deaths. So shut-up, society, with all the political agenda nonsense, trying to charge bullies with murder and such. You should be strengthening the minds of their victims to let them know that, when it comes to finding a solution to the problem, suicide probably isn’t the best option.

a dream I had about playing Night Of The Living Dead

I was playing Night Of The Living Dead with a friend. It was a role playing game in the sense that we were talking to each other on the phone, imagining that we were in a house together; the house I grew-up in, I think; being attacked by killer zombies from the outside.

It was nighttime and there didn’t seem to be any lights on in the house. Perhaps the only sources of light were the street lamps shining in thru the unboarded windows. And the darkness made it all the more scary, which made the experience all the more realistic and fun.

2012 February 03