I know i'm a bit late, but considering the state of some people a few days ago, I thought I'd tell you a little about National Smoke a Joint Day, and my thoughts on the topic of marijuana.
420. No, it's not the police code for a pot violation, nor is april 20th the best day to plant cannibas. The saying "420" has actually been traced back to 1971 and a group of 4 friends who called themselves "the Waldos."
The Waldos were just the classic group of close friends who got along with everybody. And they smoked pot! Every day after their respective sports' practices they would meet at 4:20pm and enjoy a doobie or three while in the company of good friends, and bright ideas. It's said they would go to a certain hillside where it was rumored that cannibas was growing, and search for the plant. Sounds like a gay (old) time. Their story was picked up by a magazine editor and the rest is history! The moral of this story? You can make an impact on the world by doing what is it you love to do! Even if that thing is smoking pot.
You may be asking, "what is this guy smoking? Marijuana is BAD," and it's well within your rights to think so. But let me let you in on a little secret: You're wrong!
The problem? Marijuana is illegal. This is due to a certain chain of events that occured in the 20s and 30s between industry and the US government. The hemp industry was just getting started at that time and it showed huge potential for paper products, pharmaceuticals, and even fuel. Sadly, a smear campaign was run against marijuana to keep the hemp industry from overtaking the forestry and pharmaceutical companies. The government supported this campaign because they needed to create jobs for the recently unemployed alcohol prohibitioners. They needed to find something for them to do, and that something, was to wage a war against marijuana. What a waste of millions of dollars a year of our taxes (which, by the way, continues to this day)! Little was known about the plant at that time so the facts about it were open for manipulation with nearly no opposition from the side of science and reason. Due to lack of funds, the hemp industry was unable to fight against the lies that were being fed to the nation.
This campaign's propaganda scared the shit out of everyone in the country, and there was no-one to reign it in and call the bluff. The propaganda that was used in this campaign still lives today, and it's sad. The perception of harm associated with marijuana is fueled by misinformation and fear. Most people are misinformed, including many people who hold public office, and they don't take marijuana seriously because of their ignorance. A contributing factor to this ignorance is the general lack of powerful representatives and supporters for the legalization of marijuana. I think this is because people are afraid to stand up for it. It's seen as evil, dangerous, and corrupting by the public. The same has been said of alcohol, but last time I checked there still hasn't been a single death related to marijuana abuse. Compared to the estimated 75,000 deaths a year that are linked to alcohol abuse.
The cannibas plant is not only nearly harmless to the body, but it's also quite uselful in the treatment of many human ailments: Cancers, glaucoma, chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, muscle spasms, crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis and inflamation in the brain are just a few examples of human suffering that marijuana has been proven to help with.
So what can we do? We can educate ourselves and the people around us. We need to let the government know that we want to make a change for the betterment of mankind by making marijuana legal and regulating it intelligently. The state of california has come the furthest so far in this endeavor. They are reported to have collected between 50 and 100 million dollars a year in marijuana tax revenue (although chacha.com says $3 billion. I'm not sure where to get exact numbers on this type of thing? If anyone has info please comment!) Imagine if the federal government were to sieze this opportunity! Maybe then government workers and their families wouldn't have to worry about a government shutdown that could leave them unable to feed their children. Educate yourselves people! Don't just take my word on this stuff. Mpp.org is one of the best sites I've been able to find with information on marijuana laws and also what we, the people, can do to move them forward in a positive way. This site and many others like it can help you find all the information you need to take an educated stand on the issue of the legalization of this very useful plant.
Oh, and happy 4:20.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
5 Alone
Moving forward, always forward.
Beneath the passion of rose petals are brambles who would see me fall.
The cottage door beckons me, but the distance will not close.
Panic sets as the idea is conceived.
The garden is closing in, suffocating my senses with it's seductive elegance.
I search for the sun, but all that remains are it's fleeting rays.
My step finds a knot, and I am falling.
The ground's dense energy finds my face and welcomes it.
The soil is wet and sweet.
Will I never find my way? If I could just reach the cottage.
I rise to find the door right here. Odd, I could have sworn, who cares Im here!
Rad-it rad-it dat, rat tat. I don't wait for an answer.
A rush of hope overwhelms me as I swing the door open,
But a sorry sight awaits.
The floor is broken.
The once quaint furniture, is rubble.
A child's fleeting laughter can almost be heard against the haunting voices of minds long gone.
What's this? Buzz? It's from the floor. Though I am scared I must know.
The edge is violent, splinters point in every direction.
Beyond, is a sea of honey.
It's giant keepers face me.
The sound escalates and numbs my body.
I scream, but no sound can be made.
The army advances toward me.
I turn to leave, but where is the door?
What will I do? They are all around me know.
They cannot wait any longer, they must have me.
I wake.
And hit snooze.
Beneath the passion of rose petals are brambles who would see me fall.
The cottage door beckons me, but the distance will not close.
Panic sets as the idea is conceived.
The garden is closing in, suffocating my senses with it's seductive elegance.
I search for the sun, but all that remains are it's fleeting rays.
My step finds a knot, and I am falling.
The ground's dense energy finds my face and welcomes it.
The soil is wet and sweet.
Will I never find my way? If I could just reach the cottage.
I rise to find the door right here. Odd, I could have sworn, who cares Im here!
Rad-it rad-it dat, rat tat. I don't wait for an answer.
A rush of hope overwhelms me as I swing the door open,
But a sorry sight awaits.
The floor is broken.
The once quaint furniture, is rubble.
A child's fleeting laughter can almost be heard against the haunting voices of minds long gone.
What's this? Buzz? It's from the floor. Though I am scared I must know.
The edge is violent, splinters point in every direction.
Beyond, is a sea of honey.
It's giant keepers face me.
The sound escalates and numbs my body.
I scream, but no sound can be made.
The army advances toward me.
I turn to leave, but where is the door?
What will I do? They are all around me know.
They cannot wait any longer, they must have me.
I wake.
And hit snooze.
Monday, April 18, 2011
3 What choice
The comfort is fleeting.
Flowing to gravity's constitution.
This must end, for the press of the choice is ever present.
The choice itself is dissuading, but must be.
The realm of comfort is left through a pane of cold glass.
The chill of freedom, of which I am not yet aware.
The choice is doubted.
Scrutinizing the options til exhaustion takes hold.
Suddenly, the choice is felt, and remembered for why it was made.
I know what I have to do.
The choice to leave that darkness was not made in vain.
Now there is no choice, there is only truth.
Flowing to gravity's constitution.
This must end, for the press of the choice is ever present.
The choice itself is dissuading, but must be.
The realm of comfort is left through a pane of cold glass.
The chill of freedom, of which I am not yet aware.
The choice is doubted.
Scrutinizing the options til exhaustion takes hold.
Suddenly, the choice is felt, and remembered for why it was made.
I know what I have to do.
The choice to leave that darkness was not made in vain.
Now there is no choice, there is only truth.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
2 Cornerstone Bible Church
I am what humans call an atheist. I don't think that any religion or superstitious belief accurately describes the true workings of our universe to an acceptable degree. My friend is a christian and he's invited me to his church a few times. He invited, invote,? me to go with him this week because he was part of the program. He sang a beautiful song written from the point of view of one of the thieves crucified next to Jesus. I'll talk about it later in this blog post. Anyways I took some interesting notes throughout the service and I wanted to share them so, here they are.
During the opening songs and prayers I started thinking about the Matrix Reloaded character The Merovingian. He talks about the idea of purpose by asking "why?" Here were my thoughts on that.
Why. A mysterious why is very powerful because it is unknown. It can inspire fear, love, hate. It's romantic. I think the mammilian part of the brain is a big part of what encourages the survival of religion. From what I've read this area of the brain is responsible for our deep felt feelings. Compared to our most recently evolved frontal lobe which is able to work out and make sense of complex observations in a more efficient way than we've been able to do before.
Certain ideologies have alot of appeal to human beings. I think humans are drawn to churches and religion because of our ancestors' pack mentality. It feels good to be surrounded by people of like mind. Most of the time it makes it easier to survive in this sometimes hostile environment called earth. Not only the survival of the group, but also their ideology.
Jesus Christ's story could be looked at as a metaphor for human self consciousness. Even if the creators of the story didn't intend this interpretation, I think it is an intriguing one.
The service begins...
During the sermon, alot of thoughts raced through my mind. What I say here is not going to be all the preacher said or even the ideas he was trying to express. This is going to be what I was thinking during the sermon. Many of these thoughts had their source in the sermon, but many didn't.
Some beautiful song lyrics (modified from personal to ideological or phylisophical): "Righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Justice flows like the ocean's tide." Righteousness is always changing, very slowly, and hardly noticable. Justice is based off of and flows from righteousness. Rivers flow from mountains. A good way to find out what righteousness is in one's mind is to look at what justices one carries out and holds to. Working backwards through space-time by studying the effects to find the cause. That, I believe, is a wonderful and beautiful human effort.
Another song:"He grew the tree which he knew would be for the old rugged cross." Chilling, hauntingly beautiful lyrics. Ultimate and deliberate irony.
Luke 19:28-44
Sieze every moment.
Add in: Yes man is a great movie. I'd like to see if there's any real literature about the concept of yes.
These verses illustrate the idea of an inumberable amount of options for each speciman of time. Do not let yourself be smote down, even your children hedged before enlightenment.
Romans 3:9-18
carnal sins are illustrated to be those of the weak.
Romans 8:7-8
Personal carnal mindedness is enmity. Exra. Pastor's Interpretation: Fist toward God. I think most matured thinkers would not raise a fist for the reasons most believers think they would. Rather, they might raise their fists against the support for the lack of informative, observable evidence for the truth of religious beliefs.
Exodus 32
Possibly the most popular piece of Biblical scripture. The Hebrews at the foot of the mount watch moses ascend the mountain side. Once he's out of sight they have a rave. Sidenote: Some believe this is where the first glowstick was ever broken. Golden calf, all that shinaniganian stuff you need for a proper festivus. This story is pure sex on paper. By that I mean it's damn good poetry. "The truth will always remain"
John 8:21-58
The truth will remain. Our complexity is a manifestation of truth. The truth shall set you free. Verse 59- Took up stones against him. His sermon comes back to truth. How can one know truth? They must observe it. The enemy within is the monkey mind. The enemy to the furry lil mammals.
Isaiah 52-53
Jesus is mangled by us, and the only way to heal Jesus is through him. Here Jesus is a metaphor for observed or unobserved knowledge. The Unobserved compells the Observable. I'd like to see what sort of research has been done into the likelyness of the 5 trials of Jesus being true history.
It would be interesting to study the evolution of the mind.
Luke 23
I'd like to write a poem from the thief's point of view:
I am.
I am crushed.
Beneath my lungs, I am.
A forced stretch allows breath's manifestation.
I observe,
Who is this? I snear,
But when the thunder rolls I know.
This is the one
The one of fare and riches,
The one of deceit and corruption,
The one of passion and hate,
The one of myth.
The one of romance.
This is the one to save us all!
This is the one to save me.
I am broken and he is all.
We are.
He says to me,
Fear no more your mind is mine,
And for you now,
My kingdom thine.
Wow I've gotta do poetry more often! I love that. Wow. I really enjoy writing. I can see now how the Bible could be used for literary teaching.
The closing song was a classic: "Jesus loves me, This I know" (for the Bible tells me so). This song circles back to the acountability and observability of the Bible. There simply isn't sufficient, elegant evidence to support a fine feathered, potent, rational belief in the mythologies of any religion. Let alone Christianity.
So those are all the thoughts I was able to capture on paper during church today. I'm actually pretty intrigued by some of the ideas that seem to be begging me to explore them.
stay with me,
Travis Allred
During the opening songs and prayers I started thinking about the Matrix Reloaded character The Merovingian. He talks about the idea of purpose by asking "why?" Here were my thoughts on that.
Why. A mysterious why is very powerful because it is unknown. It can inspire fear, love, hate. It's romantic. I think the mammilian part of the brain is a big part of what encourages the survival of religion. From what I've read this area of the brain is responsible for our deep felt feelings. Compared to our most recently evolved frontal lobe which is able to work out and make sense of complex observations in a more efficient way than we've been able to do before.
Certain ideologies have alot of appeal to human beings. I think humans are drawn to churches and religion because of our ancestors' pack mentality. It feels good to be surrounded by people of like mind. Most of the time it makes it easier to survive in this sometimes hostile environment called earth. Not only the survival of the group, but also their ideology.
Jesus Christ's story could be looked at as a metaphor for human self consciousness. Even if the creators of the story didn't intend this interpretation, I think it is an intriguing one.
The service begins...
During the sermon, alot of thoughts raced through my mind. What I say here is not going to be all the preacher said or even the ideas he was trying to express. This is going to be what I was thinking during the sermon. Many of these thoughts had their source in the sermon, but many didn't.
Some beautiful song lyrics (modified from personal to ideological or phylisophical): "Righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Justice flows like the ocean's tide." Righteousness is always changing, very slowly, and hardly noticable. Justice is based off of and flows from righteousness. Rivers flow from mountains. A good way to find out what righteousness is in one's mind is to look at what justices one carries out and holds to. Working backwards through space-time by studying the effects to find the cause. That, I believe, is a wonderful and beautiful human effort.
Another song:"He grew the tree which he knew would be for the old rugged cross." Chilling, hauntingly beautiful lyrics. Ultimate and deliberate irony.
Luke 19:28-44
Sieze every moment.
Add in: Yes man is a great movie. I'd like to see if there's any real literature about the concept of yes.
These verses illustrate the idea of an inumberable amount of options for each speciman of time. Do not let yourself be smote down, even your children hedged before enlightenment.
Romans 3:9-18
carnal sins are illustrated to be those of the weak.
Romans 8:7-8
Personal carnal mindedness is enmity. Exra. Pastor's Interpretation: Fist toward God. I think most matured thinkers would not raise a fist for the reasons most believers think they would. Rather, they might raise their fists against the support for the lack of informative, observable evidence for the truth of religious beliefs.
Exodus 32
Possibly the most popular piece of Biblical scripture. The Hebrews at the foot of the mount watch moses ascend the mountain side. Once he's out of sight they have a rave. Sidenote: Some believe this is where the first glowstick was ever broken. Golden calf, all that shinaniganian stuff you need for a proper festivus. This story is pure sex on paper. By that I mean it's damn good poetry. "The truth will always remain"
John 8:21-58
The truth will remain. Our complexity is a manifestation of truth. The truth shall set you free. Verse 59- Took up stones against him. His sermon comes back to truth. How can one know truth? They must observe it. The enemy within is the monkey mind. The enemy to the furry lil mammals.
Isaiah 52-53
Jesus is mangled by us, and the only way to heal Jesus is through him. Here Jesus is a metaphor for observed or unobserved knowledge. The Unobserved compells the Observable. I'd like to see what sort of research has been done into the likelyness of the 5 trials of Jesus being true history.
It would be interesting to study the evolution of the mind.
Luke 23
I'd like to write a poem from the thief's point of view:
I am.
I am crushed.
Beneath my lungs, I am.
A forced stretch allows breath's manifestation.
I observe,
Who is this? I snear,
But when the thunder rolls I know.
This is the one
The one of fare and riches,
The one of deceit and corruption,
The one of passion and hate,
The one of myth.
The one of romance.
This is the one to save us all!
This is the one to save me.
I am broken and he is all.
We are.
He says to me,
Fear no more your mind is mine,
And for you now,
My kingdom thine.
Wow I've gotta do poetry more often! I love that. Wow. I really enjoy writing. I can see now how the Bible could be used for literary teaching.
The closing song was a classic: "Jesus loves me, This I know" (for the Bible tells me so). This song circles back to the acountability and observability of the Bible. There simply isn't sufficient, elegant evidence to support a fine feathered, potent, rational belief in the mythologies of any religion. Let alone Christianity.
So those are all the thoughts I was able to capture on paper during church today. I'm actually pretty intrigued by some of the ideas that seem to be begging me to explore them.
stay with me,
Travis Allred
1 A piece of my Mind
Let's type it
* I've edited this post because When I first wrote it I think I did the material a mis-service because it was too spastic and not very thoroughly explored.
This is my first let's type it. I am constantly thinking an insane amount crazy thoughts. I'm goin to try to capture them here because I think that a thought wasted is a, well, waste. I'll do my best to take down as many thoughts as i can and share them with the world. This is going to be an ever evolving blog. This is, of course, because my mind is constantly evolving and since this is, in a sense, an external hard drive for my thoughts it makes sense that I might sometimes contradict myself.
That's something about the social culture we live in today that bugs me. People are afraid to change their mind for fear of being called a hypocrit or an abandoner. I was recently accused of this by a christian friend of mine on facebook. I might post our conversation in another post. Just so you know, my "V"key is missing and so spelling anything with a v in it is a bitch.
So I'm watching Matrix revolutions, i'm about 2 minutes into the movie and I am already blown away. The intro sequence is the very same kind of thought pattern I follow when i think in awe about the complexities of our existence. -This Notepad application is trippy, it never goes to the next line unless you hit the
key. <---HaHa. Anyways back to the kitchen for some snacks then we'll continue the movie. I need to clip my nails because I feel like a fatass (emphasis on ass) african woman workin at a DMV somewhere in another dimension relative to ours who puts a client on hold to talk to her sister lafonda on the other line.
I'd like to be as candid as possible with my thoughts on this blog. I think if more people were more candid than they are about their thoughts, we, the human race would move forward even faster than we are right now.
Resume film.
Observance is salvation. The humans outside their matrix are always in another's matrix.
When they talk to the oracle in R3volutions the oracle is describing the death of the previous actor through poetry(I haven't done any research into this but it would be interesting if it were true.) It's beautiful. Poetry is wonderful art.
The Marovingian is a fascinating character. I might change my gamertag to it.
Love is just a word, what matters is the connection it implies.
We are, through inumberable sets.
"It is always best to ask."
"It is interesting to see that the pattern of love so closely shadows the pattern of insanity." -the Marovingian. They made the oracle an update! That's cool. She evolves with the matrix.
It would be cool to design a program that observes and creates according to those observations. I guess we already do that with our modern programs. In this video they talk for a few moments about the idea of our existence being a simulation created by another's existence. http://www.jewishtvnetwork.com/?bcpid=533363107&bctid=802338105001 Quite fascinating. Perhaps I'll go into more detail about my thoughts on this video in another post. Our purpose is to explain why. Even why we think the way we do about why.
Think of the way energy spreads. Agent Smith is an amazing anomoly. People think so much differently from each other. We need to become as one with all. Like Agent Smith does. He's able to copy himself exactly and infinite amount of times. But then again, the richness of life is gone if there is no other opinion to compell it. The purpose of time is to be a sort of canvas to spread code.
"Hope is an indulgence i don't have time for." -I only have time for wonder.
The conversation between the sisters in law, is beautiful, gripping, powerful.
Not impossible, inevitable. <---that's the ticket!
So anyways this was my first blog post ever. Sorry I jump around alot but as I said my purpose for this blog is to express what I think of candidly. I feel I must clear up that what I think of should not be confused with my beliefs of what is right or wrong, good or bad. Just because someone thinks of someone dying doesn't mean they want them to die. You feel me?
I also want those who read this to know that I know that I don't know very much about anything, and that I strive to learn more about the universe of which I am part of whenever I can. My mind will always be evolving because I am open to anything as long as there is sufficient compelling evidence for it. If you want to join in conversation feel free and don't ever hesitate to.
til next time,
Travis Allred
* I've edited this post because When I first wrote it I think I did the material a mis-service because it was too spastic and not very thoroughly explored.
This is my first let's type it. I am constantly thinking an insane amount crazy thoughts. I'm goin to try to capture them here because I think that a thought wasted is a, well, waste. I'll do my best to take down as many thoughts as i can and share them with the world. This is going to be an ever evolving blog. This is, of course, because my mind is constantly evolving and since this is, in a sense, an external hard drive for my thoughts it makes sense that I might sometimes contradict myself.
That's something about the social culture we live in today that bugs me. People are afraid to change their mind for fear of being called a hypocrit or an abandoner. I was recently accused of this by a christian friend of mine on facebook. I might post our conversation in another post. Just so you know, my "V"key is missing and so spelling anything with a v in it is a bitch.
So I'm watching Matrix revolutions, i'm about 2 minutes into the movie and I am already blown away. The intro sequence is the very same kind of thought pattern I follow when i think in awe about the complexities of our existence. -This Notepad application is trippy, it never goes to the next line unless you hit the
key. <---HaHa. Anyways back to the kitchen for some snacks then we'll continue the movie. I need to clip my nails because I feel like a fatass (emphasis on ass) african woman workin at a DMV somewhere in another dimension relative to ours who puts a client on hold to talk to her sister lafonda on the other line.
I'd like to be as candid as possible with my thoughts on this blog. I think if more people were more candid than they are about their thoughts, we, the human race would move forward even faster than we are right now.
Resume film.
Observance is salvation. The humans outside their matrix are always in another's matrix.
When they talk to the oracle in R3volutions the oracle is describing the death of the previous actor through poetry(I haven't done any research into this but it would be interesting if it were true.) It's beautiful. Poetry is wonderful art.
The Marovingian is a fascinating character. I might change my gamertag to it.
Love is just a word, what matters is the connection it implies.
We are, through inumberable sets.
"It is always best to ask."
"It is interesting to see that the pattern of love so closely shadows the pattern of insanity." -the Marovingian. They made the oracle an update! That's cool. She evolves with the matrix.
It would be cool to design a program that observes and creates according to those observations. I guess we already do that with our modern programs. In this video they talk for a few moments about the idea of our existence being a simulation created by another's existence. http://www.jewishtvnetwork.com/?bcpid=533363107&bctid=802338105001 Quite fascinating. Perhaps I'll go into more detail about my thoughts on this video in another post. Our purpose is to explain why. Even why we think the way we do about why.
Think of the way energy spreads. Agent Smith is an amazing anomoly. People think so much differently from each other. We need to become as one with all. Like Agent Smith does. He's able to copy himself exactly and infinite amount of times. But then again, the richness of life is gone if there is no other opinion to compell it. The purpose of time is to be a sort of canvas to spread code.
"Hope is an indulgence i don't have time for." -I only have time for wonder.
The conversation between the sisters in law, is beautiful, gripping, powerful.
Not impossible, inevitable. <---that's the ticket!
So anyways this was my first blog post ever. Sorry I jump around alot but as I said my purpose for this blog is to express what I think of candidly. I feel I must clear up that what I think of should not be confused with my beliefs of what is right or wrong, good or bad. Just because someone thinks of someone dying doesn't mean they want them to die. You feel me?
I also want those who read this to know that I know that I don't know very much about anything, and that I strive to learn more about the universe of which I am part of whenever I can. My mind will always be evolving because I am open to anything as long as there is sufficient compelling evidence for it. If you want to join in conversation feel free and don't ever hesitate to.
til next time,
Travis Allred
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)