I'm back!

As a result of the recent rebel flag debates, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the south and what it means to be a southerner. I grew up in Tennessee and, in fact, my family has been here since the 1700s. As was common for Middle Tennesseans, I had family on both sides of the war. When you think about it, that must have been hard being torn between loving where you live and not wanting to be involved in the war. On one hand, you’d feel a pull towards fighting for your state while on the other hand, you might feel compelled to fight for your beliefs. I have no way of knowing why each of my family members chose the side they did, but I would imagine it was a tough decision for both. For the record, I have not found any evidence that any of my family members owned slaves. I’m not saying with 100% certainty they did not own slaves, but based on where we lived and how little money and land they had, I would be surprised if they did. Anyways, my point is that people in the south still face this decision. Many people are proud of being southern yet also differ in their political and personal beliefs from the majority of southerners. These people, while not racist, often hang onto the rebel flag as a sense of pride and identity. To them, this flag lets everyone know they are proud of being southern. To others, the rebel flag represents oppression, hatred, and racism. So if this flag does represent such horrible things to millions of people, then why don’t you just find something else to show your pride for being southern?

The south is one of the few regions in America that has an almost incomprehensible sense of pride and solidarity. This “southern exceptionalism” is just part of living in the south. It’s been around me my entire life and not until recently have I really given it much thought. To this day, it is not uncommon to hear a southerner say something such as, “You can’t trust him. He’s a yankee.” The general view of anyone not from the south is that they are a yankee and they are rude, snobby, untrustworthy, and generally inferior. The Civil War ended 150 years ago yet we still view non-southerners this way? Don’t you find this absurd? I’ve traveled all over the United States and, without exception, I have found people to be just as kind, trustworthy, and pleasant as any Southerner. I understand that you’re proud of being southern, but don’t you think it’s time we let it go? The south lost the war. Get over it. Judge people not on where they are from, but on who they are.  

East Nashville Weirdness

So in taking a turn from my usual seriousness and politics I'm writing today about an odd experience I had last week. I had been out to a bar and had a few drinks with some friends and decided it was time to head home. On my trek along Gallatin Road home I decided I needed a gatorade and promptly stopped at Inglewood Drive-In Market. I have been into this market on numerous occasions and it's always been a bit sketchy but this particular night took the cake. I'm standing in line to pay and a guy walks in with no shirt on, soiled jeans, prison tattoos and a greasy mop of hair. He's holding a 40oz of bud ice and is so completely fucked up he's spilling it all over the floor. He goes directly to the counter and says, "Hey dude, can I get y'all to turn on the water out back? I need to wash my feet." The guy behind the counter politely says, "You're not washing your fucking feet here. Get the fuck out of my store." The guy looks a little bummed out, but walks out the door. I ask the guy behind the counter what the hell that was all about and he tells me he has no idea who that guy is or why he wants to wash his feet. He says stuff like that happens there every night. So I purchase my beverage and walk out to my car only to have the foot washing fetish guy standing right next to me and he proceeds to ask me, "Hey man, you got any empty beer bottles in your car?" I simply say no and get in my car and leave. As I'm pulling away I see the guy behind the counter come out and start yelling for the guy to leave and the guy starts yelling back. I have no idea how this bizarre event ended, but I can only imagine. Maybe the man behind the counter had a change of heart and decided to let a poor fellow down on his luck wash his feet. Maybe I was a victim of a prank being pulled off by two friends. Who knows.

Oil Update

I heard a bit on the radio today that while America has pretty good records of oil supply and demand; the rest of the world has little data recorded on oil demand and the oil producers tend to lie about their supply/production. Therefore, we literally don't know what the world's oil supply or demand is. Does this seem completely fucked up to anyone else?

Oil, Black Gold, Texas Tea

Ah, yes. Oil. The viscous fossil fuel that's costing each of us thousands per year. We keep hearing that the price of oil is rising because of an increase in demand and a decrease in supply. Is this really true or are we being fucked at the gas pump? I've been doing some research and the answers aren't exactly clear. Here are a few findings of mine:

1. The low value of the American dollar has attributed to our rise in fuel costs.

2. Earnings for oil companies for the 1st quarter of 2008 were up over the first quarter of 2007. As an example, BP's 2008 1st quarter profit had increased 63% over the 1st quarter of 2007.

3. Drilling in ANWAR and stateside would greatly benefit Bush's cronies but likely won't help our situation any. We don't have the refining capacity and haven't built a refinery in this country since 1972.

4. Increased demand from developing countries such as China and India has attributed to the rise in fuel costs. However, oil speculators are an even bigger reason that prices have risen.

Gay Marriage

If you know me, then you know that I am VERY passionate about equal rights for gays and lesbians. I'll fight tooth and nail until gay marriage is available to every gay and lesbian! Below is a bit I wrote about gay marriage a while back and I still like it.

Marriage might be derived from religious roots, however, that does not change the fact that I could go to a courthouse right now (assuming I wasn't already married) and get married without ever stepping foot into any church or having a minister present. To me that constitutes a legal institution. I think any church should have a right to not acknowledge any marriage they want or to deny anyone they want from getting married in/by their church. That is their right. I do not, however, see any reason why a gay marriage cannot be legally recognized. If they were to legalize "civil unions" that included all legal and economic rights that heterosexual married couples have right now, most gays and lesbians would probably be pretty happy. I think it's an insult and it's telling them they're not equals, but it's at least a step in the right direction.

Now, secondly, a lot of Christians I know see marriage as a Christian institution. They claim they are offended that they should have to "recognize" a gay marriage. By that line of logic does that mean those Christians should not be forced to recognize marriages between muslims, atheists, jews, buddhists, hindus, etc.? What if I feel morally offended at recognizing marriages between a woman and some piece of trash that beats her?

Overall, I don't see a fascination with what other people want to do with their lives. I, for one, have my own life and my own worries and if two consenting adults who love each other want to be bonded in matrimony, I have no problems with it. It's really not my business. They are people just like myself and all they want is to be happy and to spend time with the one they love.

Scary Facts

"Of the 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are now dead, he said. By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. More than a decade later, more than half (56 percent) who served in Gulf War I have permanent medical problems. The disability rate for veterans of the world wars of the last century was 5 percent, rising to 10 percent in Vietnam."


http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/du_death_toll.html

Election Time

I don't know about anyone else, but it's only June and I am already sick and tired of election year politics. I am sick of pretty much every aspect of it all, but I am especially sick of hearing about who is more "Christian." I don't care if the man is a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Pagan, Pastafarian, or whatever as long as they don't try to force their reilgion on me. I think a lot of Americans forget that this is a nation founded on religious freedom and tolerance. Another fact that seems to be under debate lately is the "separation of church and state." I've heard numerous conservatives say that there is nowhere in the US Constitution that creates a separation between the two and I disagree. I think the 1st amendment is pretty clear: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In my opinion, if we went ahead and made all laws and decisions based on Christianity, we would would be going against the Constitution. Therefore, the fact that Obama was born a Muslim or is now some super Christian is irrelevant to me.

I also have an entire rant about how I'm not a fan of either McCain or Obama, but I'll save it for next time.