Author: Hoplite0352 (Page 4 of 27)

The Truth Will Set You … Adrift?

May 16, 2013 / Hoplite0352

Ah, if we were all more honest. What a wonderful world it would be.

I really don’t like www.change.org. Surprise! Some time ago I made the mistake of actually signing one of their petitions. I think it was for allowing openly gay scouts. I’ve consistently made the mistake of not allowing myself to pick sides of the left-right spectrum. The end result is often that I end up empowering those that seek to disempower me and my views. Sometimes I wonder if I qualify as a useful idiot. For example, I support gay rights. The end result is that I more often than not am empowering statist leftists (as the gay community votes overwhelmingly democrat). This hurts private property rights, gun rights, etc.

Presently, it has affected me with all the petition requests I get from www.change.org. The current whipping boy is the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch. His crime? Honesty and good business sense. In 2006 Peter Jeffries was quoted as saying during an interview, “We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

Banish the thought! The CEO thinks it’s good for business to make your brand seem exclusive, and that wearing their clothes makes you cooler and more desirable?! Monster! Jeffries’s principal mistake was admitting it. Rolex doesn’t want its watches on the wrists of the poor. But that’s okay — they don’t admit it. Beer commercials don’t have ugly girls in them — they just don’t acknowledge it. Beautiful angry liberals won’t actually date an ugly person, but so long as they don’t own it out loud, they can maintain that moral high ground and bite their thumb at Abercrombie and Fitch.

Why do I care? Well, I hate injustice in all forms. I hate the fact that people must hide their true selves. It prevents us all from reaching our potential levels of happiness. It prevents growth. It prevents us from developing fuller, healthier, relationships.

And, well, it scares me for my business. I’m exceptionally open about my beliefs on this blog, yet I’m a lawyer. I’m afraid that I will lose business. Because I support gay rights, drug legalization, and don’t much care for religion, I will lose conservative clients. Because I support property rights, don’t desire to eat the rich, and support gun rights, I will lose liberal clients. Because I’m openly anti-government I may be perceived as unprofessional in the legal community.

That bothers me, because each of us are radicals behind closed doors. Assuming that it’s bad for business, why do I blog so openly? Well, 2 reasons: To a lesser extent, I hope my honesty will be appreciated by clients (or perhaps someday, voters). But mostly, because more than acceptance, more than money, I seek freedom. Heck, that’s why I want money — to help secure my liberty.

I often carry in my mind of a quote by Jules Renard, “The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse.” I feel bad because until I verified the author I thought it belonged to my man Emerson. Being truly yourself is but an extension of this quote. I seek freedom, and when you’re hiding your thoughts, you set your own shackles. I’m not going to do it. I’d rather deliver pizzas as a free man than be a lawyer in a gilded cage.

As for Jeffries, well, he’s twice as free a man as those protesting him.

Oh yeah, and Abercrombie and Fitch clothes suck, with their prepubescent looking shaved chest boys. Gross.

Spring is perfect for country music. I dunno though, this video only has cute girls. But I’m sure it’s just an accident. They didn’t say they only want pretty girls in their videos.

All Anyone Needs to Know About Government

May 13, 2013 / Hoplite0352

Women (I’m a Fan)

May 12, 2013 / Hoplite0352

If there’s one thing I find obnoxious, it’s women talking about body image. Not so much because their complaints aren’t true, but because they generally come in a form like this:

I think you’ll be able to find a connection between a person’s physical sloth and their mental sloth, such as the inability to end a question with a question mark. Regardless, the answer to the question is NEVER. But, the woman who generally asks this question is someone that generally looks like Honey Boo Boo’s Mom. In other words, the woman that asks this question looks NOTHING like the women on the bottom row.

Now, any time a woman complains about body image, there’s always another woman (this woman however has a penis and is just a whiny man) who complains that men have body image issues as well. True, but let’s be fair: women are generally much more less shallow about a man’s appearance than the other way around. Now before you think I’m patting women on the back, fear not. Women generally are less shallow about looks than men, but men do not care AT ALL about how much money a woman makes, whereas, well, you get the picture.

Now, women often complain about the fact that it’s impossible to reach the ideal. Well, consider that if you can never reach the ideal, what of the man who will never be able to GET the ideal looking girl. Two sides, same coin.

What’s the point of this post? I felt like I should say something instead of just randomly relinking the best article on body image I’ve ever read. I have printed this blog post out to give to my daughter when she gets older. The short title is Strong is the New Skinny.

This post hits the nail on the head. I’m not going to sit here and claim that looks aren’t important in a woman for attraction purposes.

However, while looks are important, attitude is more so. And the side effect is that through working out and/or healthy living, not only does a person (woman or man) become more healthy, and thus more attractive, but they develop a sense of self-confidence and self-ownership. If you make the mistake of reading the comments you’ll find a handful of men knocking her attitude or saying “she looks like a man”. I think they’re insane. Only a weak man seeks a submissive woman. As for me, I seek the person that takes the hard route, whether as a friend or in a relationship. A relationship is a team effort. Who wants weakness in their team?

How They See Us (The Sheepdog v.2.0)

May 8, 2013 / Hoplite0352

From the website of the Rosenberg, Texas Police Department:

The Rosenberg Police Department is a progressive department serving a rapidly growing city. The Department prides itself on hiring and training the most elite Officers and personnel. The Officers of the Rosenberg Police Department are dedicated to the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, excellence and pledge to continue to strive to enhance the quality of life for the citizens they serve.

Yet on their Facebook:

Link: here

So the Rosenberg Police Department’s “elite officers and personnel” view you, the cat, no threat to these ~20 dogs, as a treat. They’re eyeing you and just itching for an excuse to snap you up. They then pat themselves on the back for having the “discipline” to wait until you, dangerous Mr. Kitty slip up.

But consider that this doesn’t say, “Just waiting for you to break the law” (thus making a morally justified arrest) No, it says, “Just waiting for probable cause”. The distinction is fine, but substantial in its implications. Probable cause gives them the ability to mess with you, guilty of a crime or not. With probable cause, an officer can make an arrest. With probable cause, an officer can secure a search warrant.

This takes me back to the well-known sheep, wolf, sheepdog analogy made popular by LTC Dave Grossman, author of On Killing. In the event you don’t wish to take the time to read it I’ll summarize: Sheep are the pure and innocent good guys, heads in the clouds. Us. Wolves are your bad guys who love to snap up a sheep for dinner. But ah, then there are the heroic sheepdogs. These are your cops/military/etc. They keep the wolf at bay, all the while being unappreciated and misunderstood by the sheep, for he looks like a wolf and is not afraid to use violence.

I like Grossman. I think On Killing was an excellent book. I don’t agree with many of his conclusions, but he’s a great thinker nonetheless and I respect him. But I don’t think he took the analogy far enough. What do we do with sheep? We herd them. We group them together into an unthinking mob ready to move to the whim of their betters. A wolf occasionally sneaks in and eats one. But we herd them to the same purpose. But instead of one, we intend to eat them all. But just as important to the analogy, what does a sheepdog do when a sheep decides to leave the herd? They nip at their heels. They bark. They put you back in that herd.

As a side note, remember who it was sitting behind the president calling for gun control. Cops. Sheepdogs. Who suggested a limit on assault rifles? Moscow Police Chief David Duke. Deprived of arms, you NEED your sheepdog. And the sheepdogs know this.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather the ability to occasionally leave the herd, sufficiently armed in a world that if a wolf bares his fangs, I’m able to protect myself. The alternative is to be that kitty in the meme, with both wolves and sheepdogs looking at you like a snack, all the while stuck in the herd.

Freedom is Not Free

May 6, 2013 / Hoplite0352

Gun Protestors Plan to March, Armed, on Washington D.C.

Once again, the Marines lead the way on belligerent defiance of government tyrants. Adam Kokesh, Marine Corporal, who I actually think is occasionally too libertarian for my tastes, is spearheading this event. I may not agree with him in all things, but he is absolutely a voice for good.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I believe the bulk of those that like to toss out the “Freedom isn’t free” line need to spend less time directing that term at the sacrifices of our military, and more time at those brave civilians (such as those that show up at this event), who stand against tyranny. I don’t want to take away from the sacrifice of the military. But, when we canonize our military and behave as if they are the only ones keeping tyrants at bay, it’s much easier to overlook our duty as civilians to do the same right here, right now.

When you get the chance, listen to his podcast, Adam vs. The Man.

As a side note, while I don’t recommend reading comments for these things, those in the above article are very telling and provide a chilling vision of why we may well be headed down the road toward civil war. I have seen an exceptional amount of hate coming from conservatives in my life, but those commenters on www.thinkprogress.org surely take the cake.

On God (The Learned Sergeant’s Unified Theory of Purpose)

May 4, 2013 / Hoplite0352

This is Part the First of a multipart series.

Take 3 minutes and watch this video by Neil deGrasse Tyson:

Now, to me, that video is horrifying. The religious often say that God works in mysterious ways. As per the video, do we not seem mighty to a dog? Do our ways not seem mysterious? Often when a dog does our will, we are kind, yet when they piss on the carpet we are not. What sense does this make to a dog? They pee everywhere by instinct.

Mr. Tyson is right. There are aliens. Do the math people. One of those may well be our creator. Maybe not. But we are left with a choice. Improve, become as gods, or rely on the mysterious whims of our creator whom we don’t even know well enough to truly know how to placate him. Even denying that little green men exist, could a basic Christian god not be deemed an alien?

But here is the rub: we CAN improve to surpass god. Consider those aliens that dwarf us in intelligence. They, and even the traditional Christian god, inhabit our universe. He/they are subject to the same rules of physics as ourselves. They are made of star stuff, just as ourselves. Therefore, we come back to the choice: become gods or survive on god’s mercy.

We may be that 1.5% off of our creator. He may be 1.5% off his creator. But then again, maybe not. Even with the expanse of new life and variable rates of civilizational and technological growth, there is a finite number of intergalactic species. If there is a finite number, there is a #1, most powerful species. Regardless of how far behind in that race we may be, we have no other choice than to become #1 if we wish to guarantee the survival of our species.

How do we improve? Science. We can improve our biology. We can improve our diets. We can create machines. We can improve our culture. We can also just get plain lucky. This is but the tip of the iceberg. I know only that we mustn’t stagnate. To stagnate is to die.

We absolutely can improve. Today we are smarter and stronger than we were 100 years ago. We are also fatter and in many ways weaker, but that’s a different post. This week I read an article in Gizmodo that we have invented a particle that we can inject to oxygenize our blood, allowing us to live without breathing for 15-30 minutes. Such technology will only improve. Paging Aqua Man!

Let us assume we haven’t been visited. I don’t think we have, but I certainly can’t back that up. If you believe in a Christian god then you cannot claim we haven’t been visited, at least by him. Regardless, even assuming we will be safe on Earth, we cannot stay here. Some day we will have to reach across the stars. All the recycling and renewable energy sources will not keep Earth tenable. The Sun will expand, and eventually swallow us before dying out. We have to leave. Over a long enough time period, unless we truly are the top species in the universe, and the odds of that are laughably small, then we will meet god. We will meet other species far more advanced than us. We damn well better be prepared.

To survive we must surpass god. That probably isn’t going to happen without a fight. How did the Christian god care for our attempts to meet him? He didn’t much like it. He scattered us. Kept us weak. He prevented us from ever being able to challenge him. There is no security in that friends. I for one can find no comfort in the ability of another to destroy me at his whim. Become as gods, or rely on the mercy of my betters. I’ve made my choice.

Stand by for Part the Second: On Culture

Why You Need a Lawyer

May 3, 2013 / Hoplite0352

New Page up: Why You Need a Lawyer

Fun Facts

April 30, 2013 / Hoplite0352

I headbang to unusual music. Seriously though, listen to Bernadette, and tell me that the Four Tops don’t do this to your soul.

Also, note that apparently the “White Man’s Overbite” is nothing of the sort. I don’t feel so bad that I do it now. I mean, nothing in the history of our fine republic is cooler than Motown.

Better Men

April 27, 2013 / Hoplite0352

…We should all be thankful for better men. How do you identify them? They don’t listen to us mere mortals. I miss you friend. And maybe I’ll take this reminder to stop being such a bad friend, and actually hunt down those I care about. Semper Fidelis.

Shameless Self Promotion

April 24, 2013 / Hoplite0352

I’d like to give a special thanks to the Palouse Liberty Project and Jeff Williams for giving me the opportunity to speak this past week. I’m indebted to you for giving me a forum to do that which makes me most happy: being belligerent.

Also present were Jeff Williams, Shawn Cernik, Grasham Bouma, and Larry Cernik.

Now, when I went back and watched this I initially thought maybe I went too far in a public forum (you should hear me in private), but consider that on that day, quite likely at the same time myself and the other speakers were up there, this was happening: