NFL says "see a shrink!"

In a surprising new policy change, the NFL has set in place a new rule saying that people who are thrown out of the football stadium for disorderly conduct have to take a 4 hour survey in order to get into any NFL game for the rest of the season.
If the individual chooses to come to a game before taking the survey, he or she could be arrested for trespassing.

The survey costs $75, and at the conclusion, the person taking the survey/test has to complete an exit exam which has to be passed with a score of 70% or higher.

Photos and information on the individuals who refuse to take the survey are sent to the stadiums in question, and if they try to attend a game, they face arrest and possibly jail time.

Evidentially the theory is that if unruly behavior is treated with harsh intolerance, people will think twice before throwing that beer bottle at the referee.

I have mixed opinions about this new rule, but at the very least, it's entertaining.

Link: Photo Source

This, our world in shades of grey...

Through time, I have become increasingly aware of the fact that we live in a world that is almost free of absolutes. The absolute black and white, and right and wrong regions of our existence are exceedingly small indeed. Every rule has an exception, and every exception possesses an exception of its own. I'm not saying that there are no absolute wrongs or rights in life, I'm just stating that when life is broken down objectively, the lines begin to blur.

A murderer is wrong, no doubt about it...right?
But when it comes down to each situation, no one can actually testify to what was happening at that very moment, in that exact situation...except for the man or woman breathing that moment's air. Even two people who are experiencing the same thing can not testify to the other person's experience in every single aspect. We are individuals, plain and simple.

At the very most, all we can really say about murder is that it is illegal. That statement is true, but saying that murder is wrong is too ambiguous. That sentence implies an absolute, and murder can not be considered wrong in every single instance.
This is an obvious example, but would murdering Adolf Hitler have been wrong? It's still murder, taking another human's life, but he was a tyrant who preformed mass genocide.

This problem, of how hazy the lines between right and wrong really are, is why it is illogical to judge other people's actions, opinions, and life choices. Let's assume, just for a moment, that judging someone isn't rude and petty. The truth is that judging someone is impossible. No human being can correctly testify to any other human being's experience of any situation.

That is the essence of passing a judgement on someone else, after all; saying that you're viewpoint, opinion, point of view, life choice, or action is right, and theirs is wrong.

However, despite all of this, the judicial system in America is extremely important. It is very necessary to be able to pass judgment on someone who has acted outside of the law. Without this power, criminals would have no accountability for their actions. But the complexity of the judicial system itself testifies to how difficult it really is to put the label "right" or "wrong" on someone's actions.

I often find it difficult to stand silently by when I hear casual statements that generalize people into absolute categories without even contemplating how absurd it is to do so.
For example, the other day I heard this statement,
"People who use profanity have limited vocabularies."
This sentence implies that every single person who has ever used profanity has a limited vocabulary. This is obviously impossible to say. In order to correctly make this statement, one would have to give a vocabulary test to every single person who has ever uttered a cuss word.
This absurdity is obvious to me, but maybe I'm the only one who immediately hears these things in every conversation I have.

Now, that's not saying that I never pass judgements on others. Another truth in life is the ever present hypocrisy we encounter every day. Often, though, my judgements are even more petty than those made by others. It is my nature to acknowledge the logic in other people's actions, opinions, life choices, and viewpoints, so often my judgements are made out of a personal dislike for the individual.
Because of this, I will be bashing the person I dislike, but even though I desperately want to hate them, I have to respect their viewpoints. It's kind of like I have to separate the person from their situation; bash the person, but remain objective about the situation. Over-objectivity makes hating people complicated.

In the end, I very much like how unclear the world really is.

It gives us complexity, and it gives each person the benefit of a unique situation. It is the gift of individuality; the privilege of being separate from the general population and handed a blank slate on which to draw a life that is different from every other life that has ever been lived.
That is truly a priceless gift indeed. Preserve that gift with everything you have, and never steal it from anyone else.


On that note, I wrote a poem about this very thing; how absolutes are small, hazy, and ever changing.

Shades of grey

No blacks or whites, no wrongs or rights,
I stand under a sunset of grey.
I smile and chastise the thought of embracing any other sky.

With life wrapped in spheres of absolutes,
Philosophy would die.
Men with no fire of will, no pointed opinions,
No illogical prejudices;
The echoing screech of robots asexually filling the planet with
Robotic clones and more passionless life.

Tear it down off the wall,
This thought,
Crumple it,
Toss it away.

Dance with me joyfully,
Saluting the shades of grey that fill our skies with heartbeats.
Embrace the hazy edges of our confusing world!

Rejoice in the ambiguous nature of personality,
The missing clarity in love and death.

I raise my eyes to the birds,
The planes gulped up by the clouds,
Stunning!

What perfect imperfection, this, our world in shades of grey.

The Jaffa Invasion

I saw him right away.
I was standing in a small room with windows in the wall and door. Through the door I could see a hallway that went for a ways to the left and then turned right. Directly across from the room where I was standing, there was another door with a window in it. This one looked into a much bigger room where a surgery was happening.
Probably just a spay or something, I've seen so many surgeries that it doesn't really matter.
He was wearing a brown sleeveless shirt and ragged work pants. Heavy work boots covered his feet and seemed to weigh them down.
He was a Goa'uld.

I shrank back from the door, trying to make myself small. The next little bit was a blur, but soon I found myself being chased down the hall, Goa'uld on my heels. I turned around because I couldn't outrun him and I knew my only hope was to fight him.
He threw me to the floor, and I thought to myself, "I need a gun!"
Like magic, a pistol appeared in my hands and I began shooting him. Soon I was able to wrestle free from him and run away.

After what seemed like hours, I was at the church where I went as a kid. The Goa'uld were everywhere! There was a mothership hovering over the gym, and myself and a few others were fighting the Jaffa. I decided my best bet was to hide and then come out when they had left. I was running behind the gym, heading for the corner of the building. I looked behind me and I saw a toxic green colored rain coming towered me. I knew the mothership above me was dropping acid in an attempt to stop me. I also knew that if I could just get to the the corner of the building I would be okay. The door to go inside was around the corner, and the Jaffa hadn't invade the gym yet. I tried to run faster, but it seemed like I was slowing down. There was just a few more feet to go, but by this point I was running so slowly I was actually using the wall to PULL myself along!
The green rain was creeping up behind me, I glanced back and saw the grass dying where the rain was hitting it only a few feet behind me. I pulled with all my might, moving my muscles as fast as I could, inching along at a snails pace.
I stretched out my arm as far as I could and grasped the edge of the building. I pulled myself past the corner just a moment after the rain hit me.
In the safety past the corner of the building, I rubbed the rain off of my skin the best that I could. It burned and my skin blistered under its harsh touch

I didn't have time to nurse my wounds though, I needed to get inside and find somewhere to hide.

Once inside the gym, I crept my way to the kitchen. I contemplated hiding in one of the ovens, but I decided that if I hid there, there was a chance one of the Jaffa would lock me inside and cook me.
While I was searching for somewhere to hide, I saw my mom and brother run out one of the side doors. I followed them, and saw, way down on the church's parking lot, a van with all of it's doors open.
The thought occurred to me that I could just...leave.

I ran out to the van with mom and my brother, Nathan. We all got in, and started out on the road towards home. I thought we were all clear, but then I looked behind us, and saw the mothership turn onto the road behind us. It was gaining fast and I knew we couldn't outrun it.

At this point, I decide that the leaving-in-the-van-thing was a bad idea, and so I undid it.

I appeared back in the gym, as if it had never happened. Now there was a group of ten or so people gathered there. They were all people that I went to school with. I joined them, and we stealthily made our way down through the church until we reached the fireside room.

Evidentially this group of people had found a secret hiding place and were going to wait out the Goa'uld invasion Ann Frank style.
One by one, we climbed up a ladder into a floored space above the ceiling. Here, I watched the Jaffa troops assemble and raid the church and surrounding homes.

Then, I woke up...

I've been watching a TON of Stargate. I've seen the Knox revive their dead, Apophis enslave the Jaffa, and SG-1 saving the world time after time.
I've been watching Stargate so much, in fact, that I've begun to dream about it.
Now my level of obsession would be categorized as moderate. I am definitely capable of having conversations that don't involve Stargate. I don't shirk schoolwork to watch the next episode, but I am pretty consumed.

The woman portrayed in the picture at the bottom of this post is at the other end of the spectrum. She has spent several thousand dollars buying props from the show, including the full-sized Stargate she's standing by.
The next picture is a guy who got stargate address symbols tattooed on his arm.

So although I may be pretty obsessed with Stargate, these people make my obsession seem obsolete.

(note to others with obsessions:
If you have a geeky obsession like mine, it's always nice to find the lunatics who are in fan clubs and such. Then, when someone comments on how weirdly obsessed you are, you can pull out your picture of the crazy Stargate chick and point out how obviously normal you are)

In reality, everyone has something they really love. My brother is obsessed with Geocaching. (if you don't know what that is, just Google it) He's found over 6,000 of them.
My obsession is Stargate.

My theory is that without things to be passionate about, people would be no different than computers. It's built into our bones, flowing through our blood; humans are creatures of passion, and what a truly wonderful thing it is indeed!

Link: Photo source

Link: Photo Source

When the time is right...

I've seen the suffering.

Danny is too weak to lift his head for water. He trembles, laying on his side, IV tubes snaking around him like chains. Blind, deaf, and scared, he is living out his last days. Each breath he takes is short, irregular, and possibly his last. But for whatever reason, his lungs are stubborn, and he breaths on and on.
Twice a week he comes in to get fluid drained from his abdomen. Four times a day he takes three pills, medicine that is keeping him alive. He can't walk anymore, he eats mush because he can't chew solid food.
Danny has been in this condition for three years. Euthanasia would be merciful for Danny, but his owners are against any such intervention.

Danny is a Golden Retriever.

I work at a vet, and Danny comes in all the time. At this point he is living artificially. Without even one of his medications, he would die.
Myself and every one of my co-workers will be relieved when he passes away. He isn't living, he doesn't even know what's going on anymore.

It is in these situations when I truly hate the hardcore anti-euthanasia activists of this world. I just want to shake Danny's owners and say, "Look at how your dog is suffering!"

Unlike human medicine, animal medical procedures largely accept euthanasia. This is partly because animal medicine is not as advanced as human medicine. There is so much to be said about the quality of life that older pets experience. Up to a certain point, senior pets can live very happily. They might need some medication, more naps, but that can be said for seniors of any species. However, when a pet's health has deteriorated to the point where Danny's health has been for ages, there's no reason to drag it out for years and let the animal suffer.

Here's where I switch over to euthanasia for people. If it's humane to put down an animal when they're dying or suffering, why is it not logical to allow the same thing for people?

I, for one, have always said that when it's time for me to pack up to go to a nursing home I'm going to pack two things, a bullet and a gun. As far as I'm concerned as soon as I have to get someone else to wipe my butt, life has officially ended.

On a medical note though, if someone is dying of a terminal illness or is living with a painful medical disorder, they should have the right to choose to die with a little dignity.

Now, there's a right and a wrong way to approach this. I'm not claiming to know the correct method of introducing human euthanasia into today's society or even the guidelines for doing so. I'm just saying that when it comes time, my dog will have the benefit of a humane and dignified death.
I only hope that when my time comes I have the same option.

Link: Photo Source

Splitting Hairs

How can my assessment of a dead poets's intended meaning for his poem be less accurate than your assessment?
Our assessments are both just guesses. After all, I've never talked with Robert Frost over tea about hidden meanings in his poetry, and neither have you!
It's silly to assume that anyone can completely understand what an author was feeling or thinking at the time when he was writing a poem or book.

I'm currently having a small problem with my American Literature professor. The problem is that I hate her. The other problem is that professors are less likely to give me an A if I express my hatred for them. Especially this professor.

I'm not in the habit of professor bashing. I find that complaining about a professor's habits and methods just wastes time. Instead, I learn to accommodate for different teaching methods or lack thereof. The likelihood of getting an A is less dependent on the class or professor, and more dependent on how badly you want it. Or in my case, how pigheaded and stubborn I am.

However, with all of this in mind, my American Literature professor is AWEFUL! She is one of those professors who believes that her class is the single most important class that any student will ever take. She publicly humiliates students who answer questions incorrectly.
Evidently no one ever taught her that saying, "Duhh!! Do you have ANY intelligence at all?" is mean. And she takes it personally if students are silent after she asks a question.
Who can blame them for their silence? If they answer wrong, they'll get belittled!

Anyway, my most recent pet peeve has to do with poetry. I love poetry! I enjoy reading it, letting it soak in, discussing it, the whole bit.
Apparently though, Ms. American Literature is the reincarnation of every single poet that ever lived. So even though we are speculating about the poet's inspirations and motives, somehow it's still okay for her to taunt me in class about how wrong my speculations are....

Well, I guess I'm done ranting for tonight.

Extra-Terrestrial Vacation

Who knew that someday it would be possible for an American citizen to go on a vacation.......to outer space?
Today, that day has come.

Thanks to our modern technology, Ashton Kutcher has declared his imminent vacation to space. Soon the shallow sphere around our tiny planet will be graced with a different type of star.

And what is the price tag for this vacation?

For $200,000 dollars, Ashton will experience weightlessness, eat fun freeze-dried food, and see entire continents at once.

Maybe someday that space vacation will be accessible to those not making millions, but until then, I only hope Ashton has a great time.......and takes pictures.

Link: Photo Source

Link: Photo Source

Self-Evaluation

I've been doing some personality tests recently. I think personalities are interesting, and I often find myself analyzing people's reactions and values. Anyway, I've done some tests on my own personality, and I've decided to share some of the results.

Test 1:
I am...
More introverted than extroverted
Interested in the unknown
Tend to have strong principles, detached relationships, and objective viewpoints.

Test 2: (handwriting analysis)
I pasted these results directly, and throughout the report I am putting my own comments on the analysis in brackets. [ ]

Report

You are straightforward in your approach and know your mind basically. You can handle any situation with your poise and maturity.    [Mostly true: I don't know about "any situation". Sometimes I have to take five and come back.]           You are an independent person with fine disposition and no prejudices. Negatively, however, upright writing signifies self-centeredness and rigidity. Your head rules over your heart. [Mostly true: I definitely have prejudices. The head over heart thing is true though.] You are an easygoing kind of person, but that does not mean that you are least concerned. You seek recreation and work on equal scales. [True] You maintain stability while handling money. [True] You are cautious, such that you think several times before taking an action or starting a new venture. [True] You want the world to see the best of you. And hence you try to project the same. [True] You work with the most-favourable pace and hence, do not have to conciliate between the quality and speed. [True] You are a dependable and trustworthy person. [True] You maintain balance between your capability and ambition which helps you to shun difficulties in achieving your goal. [True] You handle criticism with your cool temperament and dignity. [Mostly true: It depends on who it's from and what it's about. It varies] You have reasonable keenness in the task you undertake. [True] You like to be in the limelight and center of attraction in the crowd. [False: The center of attention makes me nervous in almost every situation.] You are least concerned about gratifying the world and rather look forward to your own contentment through the completion of your task. [True] You believe in exacting and being accurate. [True: Do it right or don't do it at all.] You are an extrovert and hence, like to socialize with the people. [False: I am fairly introverted. I do well in social situations, I'm not socially awkward, but I prefer time alone.] You use your agile hands very often and are nimble in doing mechanical work. [True] You believe in living life to the fullest and consider amusement and bliss as very important. [Mostly true: I am also very goal and future oriented. Everything in moderation.] You have an excellent strength of mind and also much desirable fortitude. You put in all your determination to complete your work. [Mostly true: I've given up a few times, but never permanently.] You are flexible and practical which works to your advantage. The balance outlook of yours helps you adapt yourself according to the crowd. [True]

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Anyway, these quizzes were fun and fairly accurate. I might add to this post if I do any more in the future.