Random Reflections Pt6

16.A meditation on rights and privileges.Rights are something you’re born with. They are inalienable. You have them from the moment you have brain waves until the moment your soul leaves your body. They can be restricted, but they can’t be taken away. I have the inalienable, God/Nature/Other given right to do whatever I want, as long as I don’t hurt anyone. You can restrict that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have that right.

Privileges, by their very definition, can be given and taken. I have the privilege to stay out until certain times of the night. That privilege is granted by my parents, who “rule” the household I live in. That privilege can be revoked.Rights and privileges are not the same thing. Rights cannot be taken from you, they can only be oppressed. Privileges can be granted and revoked at whim.

EVERY human being on the entire planet has the right to free speech, a jury trial, keep and bear arms, be safe from unreasonable search and seizure. Those are RIGHTS. They cannot be taken from you, they can only be oppressed. Either they apply to every man, woman, and child, or they apply to no one, and not being tortured when convenient is a privilege that can be revoked. Yes, this is America-centric. Our founding fathers described and enumerated in the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution what HUMAN rights were. Rights aren’t divisible into “American” and “Other” categories. They apply to every member of the human race.

People don’t understand the difference between rights and privileges any more, and that’s one of the reasons we have the problems we do.

17.Country music is straying from its “my wife left me, I’ll drink some beer and kick my dog” stereotype. I’m noticing a lot more pop and rock type country songs these days than I used to. Sure, there’ll always be the Garth Brooks and Toby Keiths of the genre, but I’m seeing a lot of pop-rock music coming out of the country charts. Meanwhile, rock seems to be splitting from its excess-and-grunge days. Seems to be going in one of two directions – either zany punk-type rock or dark, death and gloom oriented music with a standard rock edge. Obviously this is the stuff that’s selling, but I’d hate to see rock undergo the transformation rap did way back when. They went from really voice-oriented standard rock fare to oily, mumbled tales of crime.

18.Paramount fired Tom Cruise. This is what happens when you go flat barking bugnuts. All the attention surrounding him recently has been the result of his personality, (or change in personality) rather than his talent. This guy is one of the greatest actors in Hollywood right now, and he’s currently unemployed (though not destitute) simply because he made (whether consciously or not) his image his job, instead of acting.

People who capitalize on their image rather than talent irritate me. Are we to think that some music exec actually found Paris Hilton to be a good singer, and didn’t just greenlight her album because she’s popular? Show of hands here folks, who’s heard her music and thinks she’s going to spend the next 30 years singing? Or acting? Can anyone honestly see her, on-stage, at age 50? Of course not. She’s spent the last 5 or so years promoting her vacuous personality rather than any talent she might possess, and all this does is show the American people are stupid for making her popular and she’s got fantastic marketing skills.

That’s what’s wrong with the entertainment industry right now – there are too few people who have the skill and stick-to-it-iveness to remain in the game for the long haul. If they’re not committed to doing it until at least 50, they’re not worth the time or money.

19. (REPOSTED) If ANYONE voted for any kind of restrictions on free speech they are a traitor. If ANYONE voted for any restrictions on the manufacture, import, availability, or ability to carry any kind of weapon anywhere, they are a traitor. If ANYONE voted to hold anyone in this country in prison without bail, notification of the charges against them, without access to an attorney, without medical care, without notification of the public or even their relatives, they are a traitor. If ANYONE voted to establish special courts for the prosecution of a "special class" of crimes, not under the supervision of the US justice system, they are a traitor. If ANYONE voted to restrict the movement of individuals through this country, they are a traitor.

ANYONE who authorizes or voted for the spending of money on anything not listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is a criminal. ANYONE who voted or authorized the use of military force prior to a declaration of war by Congress is a criminal. ANYONE who authorizes or voted for the funding of an army for more than 2 years is a criminal. ANYONE who authorizes or voted for a federal tax other than a capitation tax is a criminal.

These are incontrovertible facts. Any public official who cast a vote (or supported through financing or legislation) as described in the first paragraph at any time is in clear violation of the Bill Of Rights, and as such is a traitor. Any public official who cast a vote (or supported through financing or legislation) as described in the second paragraph at any time is in clear violation of the Constitution, and is a felon.

20. It makes no sense to restrict possession of anything. Those you would mistrust with something are just as bad without it being illegal. Prohibition or laws regarding the prevention of anything make as much sense as trying to cut down on drunk driving by restricting the sale of alcohol to teetotalers. Or cutting down on speeding by lowering the speed limit. This is a fundamental truth of life that no one seems to get – Bad People are still going to be Bad, no matter how much you control Good People. The laws are written for the bad, the good already carry the law in their hearts. Anything beyond natural law is a restriction of essential, rightful liberty.