Clergyman, n. A man who undertakes the management of our spiritual affairs as a method of bettering his temporal ones. ~ Ambrose Bierce Is it a sporting event or the Academy Awards? Perhaps a little of both with a touch of a presidential race and American Idol thrown in. Whatever the case, picking the next…
Sexual repression, legislating morality, and censorship; pillars of the sanctimonious do-gooders who have given us laws against oral and anal sex, prohibition of alcohol and the war on drugs, and the muzzling of artists and songs such as Garth Brooks’ The Thunder Rolls music video, Madonna’s Justify My Love, Sinead O’Connor from SNL for criticizing…
Recently, some grassroots Tennesseans began organizing a Medical Cannabis & Industrial Hemp Awareness Day for Tuesday, March 5th. An event has been created on facebook, hosted by Aaron Elijah Colyer. The description for the event reads as follows: “Tennesseans for Medical Cannabis NOW and TN NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) will be meeting up at…
Busybully: One who officiously seeks out people over whom and situations in which to employ coercive leverage, such as state power/government authority, as a self-appointed absolute arbiter of some idea of justice and/or equality, etc. (belligerent agitator, bellicose instigator, truculent authoritarian, domineering meddler, pious intruder, autocratic butt-in, know-it-all crusader, nosy nazi) i.e. The neo-conservative religious…
Several years ago my friend Diane handed me a book, saying, “I know you’re a fan of Henry Rollins, and I thought you might like this.” Little did she know how much I needed to read that book and I am quite sure, as dramatic as it may sound, she had no idea it would…
“Fool me once… Shame on you… fool me twice, ya can’t get fooled again”. ~George W Bush Lately, I am hearing everyone complain about the government—mainly about Barack Obama, to be more specific. And while I agree with the anger and points they make, I hear very little about what they would do differently. Now,…
by Cynthia Cone When I tell people I spent two years in a New York State prison, the reaction is usually the same: disbelief. I certainly don’t “look” like a convicted felon, and I most definitely don’t carry myself like one. But the cold hard truth is, I am one. For better or worse, till…
“What in the Wide World of Sports is a-goin’ on here?” ~ Taggart in Blazing Saddles Our sports update begins with a story from the “Here’s A Shovel To Help Dig Your Hole” Department at Chaos Section. Manti Te’o, the Notre Dame linebacker scammed by an on-line girlfriend who died then came back to life,…
A Key Notion in Both PTSD Recovery and Citizen Activism You know you should be asleep. The more you stress over it, the more difficult it becomes to go to sleep. All the proper sleep hygiene techniques have been applied. The windows are totally blacked out and the gentle hum of a fan is all…
Good luck trying to evade the heated arguments and hyperbole spewing from the current gun hysteria—and I’m talking about hysterical zealots from both sides of the gun control debate. While it can’t be argued that guns make more efficient assault weapons than do knives, baseball bats or sausages, the person who applies a Louisville Slugger…
“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.” ~Heywood Broun A great hoax was perpetrated this week in the world of college football. Shortly after pledging his allegiance to the University of Oregon, head football coach Chip Kelly did an about-face and decided to make his way to the NFL ranks as the gridiron chief…
“It’s just a ride” – Bill Hicks Throughout history, many species on this planet have instinctively sought a “leader” or someone who can bring a sense of security to them. Humans however, take this a step further. We not only seek those we see in physical form in our daily lives (i.e., charismatic co-worker or schoolmate, a…
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…..” – Amendment IV, U.S. Constitution “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” – Amendment IX, U.S. Constitution…
“Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.” ~G.K. Chesterton Around the same time of the morning on January 1 that the US Senate passed its bill to avoid the much-ballyhooed fiscal cliff, I was observing a pretty momentous anniversary. Granted, I was fast asleep during the historic event, my…
the chaos section 