BUY THE BOOK OR PUT IT DOWN

I am so sick of people in bookstores who are too cheap to actually buy the book, so they stand against the rack, carefully reading every character, every nuance, every word, in the book while their whole body blocks the rack so others can't get to the books on the rack. When they finish the book, it is bent all to hell and no longer desirable.

This is what we call "stealing." You're reading a book without any intention of buying it, and you're preventing others from looking at what is on the rack.

Buy the freekin' book or put it down. It's that easy.

Powered by Qumana

Okay, enough adulation

Reverend Falwell is gone and I can't hold my peace anymore. Listening to neocons crow about liberals making light of Falwell's death is sickening, especially given the fact that Falwell and Pat Robertson didn't mind making a political statement against all kinds of progressive causes two days after September 11th. I'm tired of the self-righteous hypocrisy.

Look, I'm not saying the Bible is a piece of trash--it's not--but to sit here and get all apoplectic over gays violating the book of Leviticus and overlooking the fact that shellfish, fabric blends and milk and meat are ALSO forbidden in that same book. Ask a Falwellite about that, and they either change the subject or scream "Moral Relativism." How can it be Moral Relativism when a progressive does it and just holding people to consistent standards when a neocon does it? Can someone explain this to me without calling me a Godless liberal or crowing that "the Christian white male is the only group it's still okay to make fun of?"

Speaking of inconsistency, let's talk about evolution for a minute. I hear the biggest argument is that Evolution violates a law of Thermodynamics, which clearly states that you can't have order out of chaos without some kind of force making it so. That refutes the Big Bang theory. Fair enough.

So, in all your work in Chemistry, did you ever take Physics? One of the most basic tenets of Physics is that an object sitting still tends to stay so unless acted on by an external Force. Well, how the HELL did God make it happen then? If he's a spirit, how did he manage to create things without causing some kind of physical force?

Think about it.

Powered by Qumana

Sure, just ignore Reverend Niemoller

I have heard the same argument over and over again about "if you don't have anything to hide, why don't you like the Patriot Act?"

What ticks me off first is that a lot of these same people saying this consider gun registration a slippery slope to total confiscation. Hey, if you don't plan on using your guns for drugs and crime, what's your beef about registration? If you get gun education, that's just carte blanche for taking a fully automatic weapon to a crowded mall...eh, I digress.

Reverend Martin Niemoller lived during World War II and warned about the Nazis. He said, to paraphrase, that they came for less popular groups and he didn't speak up for them because he wasn't one of them, but by the time the Nazis got to him, no one was left to speak up for him.

Remember that. To take his famous poem and modify it for modern times

First they came for the Islamic Jihadists
and I didn't speak up because I was a Christian
Then they came for the Muslims
and I didn't speak up because I was a Christian
Then they came for the homosexuals
and I didn't speak up because I thought homosexuality was a mortal sin
Then they came for the liberals
and I didn't speak up because I was a conservative
But then they came for me
and no one was left to speak up

HEAD THE WORDS OF MARTIN NIEMOLLER.

I'll speak up for you.

Powered by Qumana

RIP, Jerry Falwell--and a pox on those who are sitting there, gloating

I

heard on the news about Reverend Jerry Falwell's sudden death.

Let me say first I never liked him. He was the antithesis of all that is Christianity, especially when he blamed secular causes for 9/11.

But, you know what? Right now that doesn't matter. I went on a blog on MSNBC's website and was appalled at all the people ready to dance (among other things) on his grave. I was glad to see it get axed and quick. Unless we're talking about Saddam Hussein or Adolf Hitler (and, let's be honest, he was nothing like those people), it is sacrilegeous to dance on someone's grave, especially when that person has just died.

I don't want to hear excuses about it, either. Follow your own advice here. You wanted Rev. Falwell to consider your opinion? Would you have wanted Falwell to dance on your grave if you lived a life antithetical to, say, Leviticus? Then take the high road for once and at least show some compassion for his family. To do otherwise is just going to fan the flames of religious division, whereas his closest followers can simply say "Well, there's that TOLERANT Secular movement up to no good again." Trust me, you won't be making your case at all.

Powered by Qumana

The Sad State of Music
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Music

Wow. That's all I can say...and I don't mean that in a good way.

They say that the C in rap is silent. My addendum is that it is unfortunate that the rest of it isn't.

Rap music started out as a new form of artistic expression. RunDMC with their "You Be Illin," for instance, was funny. Especially the guy who walked in to a KFC, put down a quarter, then ordered a Big Mac with a small fries. It had a beat, it had rhythm, and it was often good, clean music.

Fast forward two decades. Now you have every Tom, pric- er, Dick and Harry putting out obnoxious hip-hop rap music. Don Imus looks like a saint by comparison to this stuff they pass off as music. 50 cent's "Candy Shop", a tune called "Shake Your Money Maker", etc. All of them involve drugs, sex, crime, adult language and often misogyny and racist words (don't tell me the N-word is any different used by a black than a non-black...you're just kidding yourself).

Hey, I can do that, too. (starts banging hand on table nearby and doing a "rap")

Rap, guns, drugs, language

foul language, dirty words

aabbaabbabbbbabbubbubahmy words are so stupid

I'm gonna play them all night long

Gonna play them all night long

Gonna play them all night long

Gonna (square wave synthesizer in the background)

Pkkpkkpkkkp WORD!! YEAH!!! DIRTY DANCE TIL YOU CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE YOU (BAD WORD)

Hey, I have enough to cut an album.

Unfortunately, it's not just rap, either. All kinds of music today are nothing but synthesizers replacing real instruments entirely, guitars playing nothing but power chords (two distinctive notes do not make a chord), loud thumping bass. I think I need to invest in Beltone (hearing aid manufacturers), because today's youth will need their services early on.

What happened to the days of hard rock and metal, where you used actual chords, ones that have more than two distinct notes in them? Groups like Soundgarden and Metallica? Medium rock groups like Live? Soft rock groups like Seals and Crofts or Chicago?

That's not to say there aren't good groups out there, but they're a minority these days. Local groups tend to emphasize actual music, actual instruments. Such groups as Red Clay Ramblers and Holy Ghost Tent Revival from NC, for instance, actually SING for a change.

Welcome to my Blog

Hello, I am Brent White and welcome to my blog. Everyone has a blog so what makes mine different?

Well, okay, nothing makes my blog different. I'm just a fence-sitting, roadgeeking, anime-loving, IT guy who likes to make his views known.

Anyways, here goes...