PREFACE
Ah yes, the Fourth of July. Celebrating our country's birthday...during a pandemic. All public gatherings cancelled, meaning all the big fireworks displays are cancelled. Meaning what are the people going to do to show their patriotism and salute America's birthday and independence from a ruling country that didn't represent our needs and wants??? Let's blow stuff up!
STORY
The Fourth of July has always been a terrible night for my sister. I've been living with her for 6 years now and even when I was living elsewhere, I would come and keep her company. She has horses. Horses tend to panic or are very stressed by the loud booming and exploding of fireworks. We live in a livestock area. An area that was founded on horse ownership and 1-acre minimum homesteading. As the 'city' encroached on the wide-open land, and the 'city dwellers' moved out of the city and into our spaces, they brought what they were running away from. They think that now that they have all this land, they can do whatever they want. But we have laws out here too. Dogs have to be on leashes. You can't plant things in the swale (the area from the road to where the sidewalk would be if there was one...also called easement). There are established trails for horses, pedestrians, and bicycles. ATVs, Gator carts, and golf carts are not allowed on these trails. Nor are they street legal. But that doesn't stop 'them' from using the trails illegally!
The mayor of our big/little town lost her horse a few years back due to a heart attack during 4th/July fireworks. She has worked hard to minimize who can shoot them off. But this year, due to COVID-19 and cancellations of firework displays, everybody thought they could have their own display! Even the GOVERNOR waived the ban on fireworks for Florida! The signs posted this year were watered down in language so that nobody paid attention to them. NO FIREWORKS WITHIN 1000 FEET OF LIVESTOCK! The fireworks started even before dark (8:30 pm) and didn't stop until 1 AM! Two of our horses were frantic during the booming and crashing and popping. Neighbors shot off illegal fireworks, the kind that go high in the air...we call mortars...and explode with a loud BOOM! All we could do was watch as the two horses ran around the ring, bucking, snorting, and in general distress. Not to mention the stress it puts on countless dogs, traumatized cats, and PTSD Veterans. 4 horses in our neighborhood died on the night of the 4th of July.
Poor Danny Boy was exhausted by 1 am and he laid down in the ring. My sister checked on him throughout the night to make sure he was still alive. The third horse is over 30 years old and didn't seem to react to it all, but she's always been very steady about it. Maybe she just can't hear it as well. Danny Boy is very young, 13 or so. His heart could have burst from all the stress. This is only the second 4th/July he's gone through down here. He's from Ohio country living. Last year was his first year, but with all the effort of our Mayor, the fireworks were very mild and didn't stress him out. But last year, the people had central places to gather and watch them. They didn't feel it necessary to blow stuff up in their yards.
CONCLUSION
Everyone has rights. The rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. You have the right to swing your arms if you want to, but when your arm comes in contact with the next person's nose...that's where your rights end. Other people have the right to their rights. Everyone needs to respect the rights of others, even when you have to modify your perception of your rights. We do not live in closed boxes. Or defined spaces. You can draw a property line in the sand, but that does not stop air, wind, smells, voices, or freedom. We ALL need to be better neighbors. Better neighbors in our communities, in our cities, counties, states, and in the World. Everyone is connected, despite lines drawn in the sand. Love One Another.
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Monday, June 17, 2019
4 DAYS 'TIL SUMMER!
PREFACE
Summer in south Florida started in March! Truth be told, we've had a few days this spring that were quite nice. Below 70 degrees even. But when you're 8 inches from the sun, SUMMER is half the year.
STORY
Having lived most of my life in south Florida, I'm not surprised that it is over 80 degrees on April 2nd. But when it gets to be June, it's over 90 degrees every day! And that is just the thermometer reading, not factoring in the humidity over 80% most days and lack of cloud cover (read as "sun beating down relentlessly"). I remember half a dozen days in the summer being over 100! when I was a kid. I remember downtown flooding "because it's near impossible to drain sea level" and more than 2 days of straight rain causes flooding. There's no place for water to go 'down' when you're at sea level!
What is surprising to me is to look at the rest of the country and their weather. My son lives in Madison, WI and today it was 74 degrees there. My nephew lives in San Francisco, CA and it was 70. There are other places to live besides here! The only problem is that THEY have their extremes too. Where I can't live is a place where it gets colder than freezing (32 degrees F), or I can't see the sky most of the year (gray, cloud covered, low hanging sky is SO DEPRESSING!), nor a place that has lots of tornadoes. I need to be close to water (even if it's not the ocean, which is preferred). Now that the sea level is rising, HERE is not a good place to live.
CONCLUSION
We've been looking at Georgia and South Carolina for places to live. It's hard for my sister because she's got so much history here (50 years in the same house, this year). She has connections to the community. (And she HATES change.) I'm not so rooted.
I have lived with my sister for the past 5 years. I know that due to my income and PTSD, that I'm not likely to move out and get my own place. Where ever she decides will be a good place for her, will be fine with me. I can eBay from anywhere. I'm retired, so no job to sever myself from. My friends have moved away or I moved away from them. Most of my friends are now online, more than in person. I can live anywhere. I would just like to live somewhere that it doesn't feel like I just walked into HELL's front door when I walk out my front door!
Summer in south Florida started in March! Truth be told, we've had a few days this spring that were quite nice. Below 70 degrees even. But when you're 8 inches from the sun, SUMMER is half the year.
STORY
Having lived most of my life in south Florida, I'm not surprised that it is over 80 degrees on April 2nd. But when it gets to be June, it's over 90 degrees every day! And that is just the thermometer reading, not factoring in the humidity over 80% most days and lack of cloud cover (read as "sun beating down relentlessly"). I remember half a dozen days in the summer being over 100! when I was a kid. I remember downtown flooding "because it's near impossible to drain sea level" and more than 2 days of straight rain causes flooding. There's no place for water to go 'down' when you're at sea level!
What is surprising to me is to look at the rest of the country and their weather. My son lives in Madison, WI and today it was 74 degrees there. My nephew lives in San Francisco, CA and it was 70. There are other places to live besides here! The only problem is that THEY have their extremes too. Where I can't live is a place where it gets colder than freezing (32 degrees F), or I can't see the sky most of the year (gray, cloud covered, low hanging sky is SO DEPRESSING!), nor a place that has lots of tornadoes. I need to be close to water (even if it's not the ocean, which is preferred). Now that the sea level is rising, HERE is not a good place to live.
CONCLUSION
We've been looking at Georgia and South Carolina for places to live. It's hard for my sister because she's got so much history here (50 years in the same house, this year). She has connections to the community. (And she HATES change.) I'm not so rooted.
I have lived with my sister for the past 5 years. I know that due to my income and PTSD, that I'm not likely to move out and get my own place. Where ever she decides will be a good place for her, will be fine with me. I can eBay from anywhere. I'm retired, so no job to sever myself from. My friends have moved away or I moved away from them. Most of my friends are now online, more than in person. I can live anywhere. I would just like to live somewhere that it doesn't feel like I just walked into HELL's front door when I walk out my front door!
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
AND THE RECOUNT GOES ON
PREFACE
I can't imagine the stress level at the County Elections office. There are protesters, Florida officials, and observers from both political parties vying for "their right to see every ballot counted" and to give opinions over ANY available media. #45 is leading the pack in misinformation and misdirection. There are not enough people to do this monumental job, but they persevere despite accusations that are hurled at them everyday this is not resolved.
STORY
The people doing the recounting are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get these ballots recounted, AND validate mail-in absentee ballots and PROVISIONAL ballots cast on election day. These are VOLUNTEERS! doing all this additional work. Would you volunteer to be stuck in a room, feeding page after page of ballots into a machine? only to end up losing all of them because the machine overheated!! These machines are made to work one or two days, every two years, for 12 hours. It's like running a Hyundai in the INDY 500! Somewhere around lap 300, it's gonna breakdown.
So Brenda Snipes has announced that the recount of cast ballots (and initial count of absentee ballots) will be done by 3 p.m. Thursday. So what then? If the count is still within the parameters of a "very close" race between the governor's race and the senator's race (and the AG, for that matter), it will trigger a MANUAL HAND COUNT of all acceptable ballots.
Acceptable Ballots. That is something that is VERY controversial as there has been advantages put in place by Republicans (specifically Rick Scott) that may be enough to tip in their favor. Florida has an "EXACT SIGNATURE MATCH" law in regards to absentee ballots. As I stated in my previous posts, your signature changes naturally over the years. Some parts of it always stay the same, but those parts are NOT ALL THE SAME PARTS for everyone. As a pollworker, I had to validate the signature on the voter's ID matching it to the signature they signed on the signature-pad on election day. As the voter, you can't see how your signature appears as you sign. The "pen" is not a regular pen. The area you are signing is not a familiar signing surface. So we look for similar "parts" of the signature to match, but NOT AN EXACT MATCH!
Your signature may have become MORE illegible/scribbled as you've aged, or you may have purposefully or unintentionally changed it; by leaving off the dot over an 'I', or making the final mark sweep up for Feng Shui, or illness has your hand shaking, or your eyesight is failing, or you stopped using your middle name/initial, etc.... There may be many reasons that your signature has changed since you last signed a Voter's Registration form, THE OFFICIAL SIGNATURE to which the Dept of Elections is comparing your mail-in ballot. MANY signatures will fail! so your vote won't count! Military service personnel, citizens traveling for pleasure, and officials/businesspersons out of the country on business, may have any/all absentee ballots disapproved because their signature does not match EXACTLY to the signature the Dept of Elections has on file. The could be 10s of 1000s, enough to sway the election to either candidate.
CONCLUSION
Before you believe what you read in social media or the news, think about all those people working day and night to ensure the freedom of every vote to being counted. The United States is not a dictatorship. It is not a Communist regime. It does not have a puppet government. The United States is a republic, of the people, for the people, and by the people. They are human beings, doing a thankless job, to insure a right and just election. Neither party will be happy with the outcome, if it goes against them. I would like to see it come down to a runoff. Take it to the people one, more, time! (NOTE: I'd like to know how Dade county finished their recount. What was overlooked, or invalidated as a matter of course?)
I can't imagine the stress level at the County Elections office. There are protesters, Florida officials, and observers from both political parties vying for "their right to see every ballot counted" and to give opinions over ANY available media. #45 is leading the pack in misinformation and misdirection. There are not enough people to do this monumental job, but they persevere despite accusations that are hurled at them everyday this is not resolved.
STORY
The people doing the recounting are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get these ballots recounted, AND validate mail-in absentee ballots and PROVISIONAL ballots cast on election day. These are VOLUNTEERS! doing all this additional work. Would you volunteer to be stuck in a room, feeding page after page of ballots into a machine? only to end up losing all of them because the machine overheated!! These machines are made to work one or two days, every two years, for 12 hours. It's like running a Hyundai in the INDY 500! Somewhere around lap 300, it's gonna breakdown.
So Brenda Snipes has announced that the recount of cast ballots (and initial count of absentee ballots) will be done by 3 p.m. Thursday. So what then? If the count is still within the parameters of a "very close" race between the governor's race and the senator's race (and the AG, for that matter), it will trigger a MANUAL HAND COUNT of all acceptable ballots.
Acceptable Ballots. That is something that is VERY controversial as there has been advantages put in place by Republicans (specifically Rick Scott) that may be enough to tip in their favor. Florida has an "EXACT SIGNATURE MATCH" law in regards to absentee ballots. As I stated in my previous posts, your signature changes naturally over the years. Some parts of it always stay the same, but those parts are NOT ALL THE SAME PARTS for everyone. As a pollworker, I had to validate the signature on the voter's ID matching it to the signature they signed on the signature-pad on election day. As the voter, you can't see how your signature appears as you sign. The "pen" is not a regular pen. The area you are signing is not a familiar signing surface. So we look for similar "parts" of the signature to match, but NOT AN EXACT MATCH!
Your signature may have become MORE illegible/scribbled as you've aged, or you may have purposefully or unintentionally changed it; by leaving off the dot over an 'I', or making the final mark sweep up for Feng Shui, or illness has your hand shaking, or your eyesight is failing, or you stopped using your middle name/initial, etc.... There may be many reasons that your signature has changed since you last signed a Voter's Registration form, THE OFFICIAL SIGNATURE to which the Dept of Elections is comparing your mail-in ballot. MANY signatures will fail! so your vote won't count! Military service personnel, citizens traveling for pleasure, and officials/businesspersons out of the country on business, may have any/all absentee ballots disapproved because their signature does not match EXACTLY to the signature the Dept of Elections has on file. The could be 10s of 1000s, enough to sway the election to either candidate.
CONCLUSION
Before you believe what you read in social media or the news, think about all those people working day and night to ensure the freedom of every vote to being counted. The United States is not a dictatorship. It is not a Communist regime. It does not have a puppet government. The United States is a republic, of the people, for the people, and by the people. They are human beings, doing a thankless job, to insure a right and just election. Neither party will be happy with the outcome, if it goes against them. I would like to see it come down to a runoff. Take it to the people one, more, time! (NOTE: I'd like to know how Dade county finished their recount. What was overlooked, or invalidated as a matter of course?)
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
PREFACE
With spring comes renewal. Grass becomes green again, budding leaves and flowers everywhere, and change is in the air. My life is going through a big change and I don't have a clue how it will all turn out!
STORY
My landlord's house was sold at foreclosure auction on January 22nd. I have been getting letters all about it as the "unknown tenant" but with my name right next to that. So "unknown" but named...lol. Fannie Mae bought the house at auction, and is the agency that guaranteed the original "underwater" mortgage. Funny how things work.
It has been very traumatic to have to move again, and in with family again after 5 years of being on my own in a beautiful town and neighborhood. In central Florida, 2 hours from anywhere I would want to go (but didn't, except to visit family...where I'm moving back to!). I'm under a monumental amount of stress right now, and I broke down into uncontrollable crying today, just to slow me down some more.
I am asking myself what decisions did I make to get me here? Was I using good judgement when I signed up for a graduate level class in November and then continued to pursue that decision until I became $1000 in debt to family friend and 3 weeks away from the end of semester, still not knowing if I can pass this course or not. And when I do pass the class, it won't count for anything if I'm not accepted into the MFA program to complete my degree (of which I have 40/60 credits). It's all hanging in limbo, just like me.
Moving back in with my family entails the loss of freedom. No more walking around naked in the morning or sleeping that way at night. No friends allowed over. My cat isn't allowed anywhere there is carpet, so just my room and the enclosed porch. None of my furniture (my bed!) is allowed in except maybe my computer desk. And if I don't pass my class, I'll have to leave...move again!
I am grateful that I have somewhere to go, even if for only a month or two.
CONCLUSION
I must re-examine what I am manifesting if this is where I am right now. I don't want to be at this point, with these decisions and pressure, moving back to where I gladly left 5 years ago. I don't want to be "let go" from another college teaching job after 3 years because I don't have my MFA! I just wish I knew what to do, what to decide. I will meditate (which I have been doing more and more lately) and ask again, and again, and again, until I get a clear answer. My life seems to be nothing but change and renewal. Happy Spring!
With spring comes renewal. Grass becomes green again, budding leaves and flowers everywhere, and change is in the air. My life is going through a big change and I don't have a clue how it will all turn out!
STORY
My landlord's house was sold at foreclosure auction on January 22nd. I have been getting letters all about it as the "unknown tenant" but with my name right next to that. So "unknown" but named...lol. Fannie Mae bought the house at auction, and is the agency that guaranteed the original "underwater" mortgage. Funny how things work.
It has been very traumatic to have to move again, and in with family again after 5 years of being on my own in a beautiful town and neighborhood. In central Florida, 2 hours from anywhere I would want to go (but didn't, except to visit family...where I'm moving back to!). I'm under a monumental amount of stress right now, and I broke down into uncontrollable crying today, just to slow me down some more.
I am asking myself what decisions did I make to get me here? Was I using good judgement when I signed up for a graduate level class in November and then continued to pursue that decision until I became $1000 in debt to family friend and 3 weeks away from the end of semester, still not knowing if I can pass this course or not. And when I do pass the class, it won't count for anything if I'm not accepted into the MFA program to complete my degree (of which I have 40/60 credits). It's all hanging in limbo, just like me.
Moving back in with my family entails the loss of freedom. No more walking around naked in the morning or sleeping that way at night. No friends allowed over. My cat isn't allowed anywhere there is carpet, so just my room and the enclosed porch. None of my furniture (my bed!) is allowed in except maybe my computer desk. And if I don't pass my class, I'll have to leave...move again!
I am grateful that I have somewhere to go, even if for only a month or two.
CONCLUSION
I must re-examine what I am manifesting if this is where I am right now. I don't want to be at this point, with these decisions and pressure, moving back to where I gladly left 5 years ago. I don't want to be "let go" from another college teaching job after 3 years because I don't have my MFA! I just wish I knew what to do, what to decide. I will meditate (which I have been doing more and more lately) and ask again, and again, and again, until I get a clear answer. My life seems to be nothing but change and renewal. Happy Spring!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
AND POP! GOES THE POWER SUPPLY!
PREFACE
Waiting until the last minute to finalize my term paper resulted in the inevitable...the power supply on my computer popped, fizzled, and died before I could save, print, or review the final rough draft. I have only myself to blame.
STORY
It was the last week of my current semester and my term paper was due on Friday, June 18th (by midnight Central Time). I had been working on it feverishly since Wednesday to get all the references re-read and placed appropriately. Added the Title page, the Abstract, the Bibliography, and had expanded the three pages I had from the Outline...to ten pages with citations/quotes. I was all ready to print out the rough draft to read it over and make any corrections or notes and then it happened...!! a loud POP! and the computer shut off...the faint smell of "electric fire" and I quickly pulled the CPU out from the wall and disconnected all the plugs from the back. Oh Shit!!
No! NO! NO!!...not now! Oh, shit...I hadn't saved any changes to my USB drive (flash drive...thumb drive...jump drive...whatever slang name you call it)...I hadn't backed up my term paper since it was an outline. Three days work...gone. No computer. No laptop either. 2AM in the morning...already an hour late in submitting the work. What to do?
Saturday, there was an open lab in my classroom (where I teach, 30 miles away) from 10AM-5PM. So I got some sleep and arrived at 3:30PM to email my professor what happened and beg for an extension. Then I got busy re-writing my term paper. I stayed on campus, in my classroom/lab until after midnight, Sunday AM. Drove home, stopping at the IHOP halfway to have SOMETHING to eat...I was starving after 9 hours in the computer lab. I got home at 3AM Sunday morning and slept until noon. I called a guy I found on Craigslist who deals in used laptops and made a deal for a Powerbook for $400...drove back to Port St. Lucie (35 miles) and picked it up Sunday evening. Now for the long process of setting up a new computer.
CONCLUSION
Things do work out as long as you don't freak out too much. I relaxed and went with the flow. My professor allowed me until the end of day on Monday to submit the paper. I spent most of Sunday night/Monday morning re-reading and re-writing until I finally got the paper put back together and submitted early Tuesday morning (approx. 2 AM). It wasn't as good as the first paper I wrote but it would have to do.
Tuesday was my "final exam" for the class I was teaching. I brought food & drinks for my students and we reviewed the final projects and printed some...until I realized one of the inks was out and then the paper ran out(!). Oh, well...some students could come back and reprint or I would send them their print if they wanted. Summer terms are not as accessible as other terms. Everybody enjoyed themselves. I had students that stuck around for an hour after the class was over. Most would have been gone the first hour in any other class. That's what I love about teaching art...so much more fun...friendlier...more relaxed, less academic pressure. I love it!
Waiting until the last minute to finalize my term paper resulted in the inevitable...the power supply on my computer popped, fizzled, and died before I could save, print, or review the final rough draft. I have only myself to blame.
STORY
It was the last week of my current semester and my term paper was due on Friday, June 18th (by midnight Central Time). I had been working on it feverishly since Wednesday to get all the references re-read and placed appropriately. Added the Title page, the Abstract, the Bibliography, and had expanded the three pages I had from the Outline...to ten pages with citations/quotes. I was all ready to print out the rough draft to read it over and make any corrections or notes and then it happened...!! a loud POP! and the computer shut off...the faint smell of "electric fire" and I quickly pulled the CPU out from the wall and disconnected all the plugs from the back. Oh Shit!!
No! NO! NO!!...not now! Oh, shit...I hadn't saved any changes to my USB drive (flash drive...thumb drive...jump drive...whatever slang name you call it)...I hadn't backed up my term paper since it was an outline. Three days work...gone. No computer. No laptop either. 2AM in the morning...already an hour late in submitting the work. What to do?
Saturday, there was an open lab in my classroom (where I teach, 30 miles away) from 10AM-5PM. So I got some sleep and arrived at 3:30PM to email my professor what happened and beg for an extension. Then I got busy re-writing my term paper. I stayed on campus, in my classroom/lab until after midnight, Sunday AM. Drove home, stopping at the IHOP halfway to have SOMETHING to eat...I was starving after 9 hours in the computer lab. I got home at 3AM Sunday morning and slept until noon. I called a guy I found on Craigslist who deals in used laptops and made a deal for a Powerbook for $400...drove back to Port St. Lucie (35 miles) and picked it up Sunday evening. Now for the long process of setting up a new computer.
CONCLUSION
Things do work out as long as you don't freak out too much. I relaxed and went with the flow. My professor allowed me until the end of day on Monday to submit the paper. I spent most of Sunday night/Monday morning re-reading and re-writing until I finally got the paper put back together and submitted early Tuesday morning (approx. 2 AM). It wasn't as good as the first paper I wrote but it would have to do.
Tuesday was my "final exam" for the class I was teaching. I brought food & drinks for my students and we reviewed the final projects and printed some...until I realized one of the inks was out and then the paper ran out(!). Oh, well...some students could come back and reprint or I would send them their print if they wanted. Summer terms are not as accessible as other terms. Everybody enjoyed themselves. I had students that stuck around for an hour after the class was over. Most would have been gone the first hour in any other class. That's what I love about teaching art...so much more fun...friendlier...more relaxed, less academic pressure. I love it!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
DEAD SOLDIER PICTURES
While going through the 600 bulletins on the Bulletin Board (BB) at Tagged.com (an online community) early this morning, I came across a notice to report and ban a member because "he's a sick f**k" and to look at his profile was "not for the faint of heart." Considering myself quite stoic and strong-willed, I clicked on the link in the bulletin to see what was so controversial.
This member has posted a picture of a dead (and mutilated) soldier as his profile picture. He has also posted many more graphic images of mutilation and acts of war. These are ugly and profound. I am conflicted in how I feel about his right to express his opinion in a public forum and the sensitivity of exposing the public to such graphic images without a warning (other than the person who posted the link on the BB). I expressed this conflict in my statement of the day: "Lark the Shark (Mafia Wars) is conflicted over the outrage on the BB. A member has posted pics of the horror of war. Free speech is what our troops are fighting for over there."
I prepared myself for a flood of venom directed towards me, but so far I've only gotten this email conversation, much to my pleasant surprise:
-----------------------
K: I think there is a diff between freedom of speech and disrespect. The pics he has on there are horrible. I understand freedom of speech, but I just really have a problem just plastering pics of a dead soldier.
Mass public opinion will ban him from the sight. Those that rally the support will fight him until he gives up and goes somewhere else to express his opinion (or cause outrage). And it is my opinion that the US government disrespects us in not giving us the truth. With the media's support, we are manipulated and lied to all the time. I saw it and now I choose not to ever look at his profile again. Not to give him validation. Not to engage him. All that does is fuel his need for attention and controversy. He does have the right to express his opinion on a public forum, no matter how much I object. I certainly don't want to see his pictures. I'm a visual artist and anything I SEE is in my brain forever. But there is no denying that while I object to war, I can still support our troops being over there and doing whatever it takes to secure our freedoms here. There are always atrocities in war. No one escapes blame. But our country is based on the freedom to disagree, to have an opinion opposite of the popular, and to demand accountability (whether we get it or not). There should be some kind of a warning, if he invites someone to his site. This should be put in place by the site managers. When you get to his page, it should say that there is graphic material, just as it should say for some of the profiles that have pornographic images in their comments and tags. But someone performing a sexual act is not filtered any more than the picture of the dead soldier. I am in conflict.
Lark
----------------------
K: You make some very good points. I wish I hadn't seen what I did. I keep seeing it over and over in my head. I am purely disgusted by it. but you are right. He has the right but I still clicked report profile. Thank you for sharing your views on this. You helped me see this in a diff light.
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Thank you for being an intelligent, open-minded person. I am sometimes afraid to take a stand because of all the extremists out there. It's scary to have an opinion that doesn't march with the crowd. We don't want to see the ugly side of life, the cruel, the grotesque...if war is softened and presented as righteous...when will it ever stop? Have you ever seen the pictures from the Nazi concentration camps? I was in 8th grade when I saw a documentary on it. THOSE images are still in my head, just as if I saw them today. Just because I don't want to look at it, doesn't mean it's not there.
Lark
---------------
K: That is very true. We as a society have become very desensitized and it's sad. I don't want to become callous to the horrors that happen. But I also don't want to just turn my cheek at it either. Activisim is something I feel very strongly about, I just have never taken a political stand. It's always been for the animals.
I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
Thank you!
This member has posted a picture of a dead (and mutilated) soldier as his profile picture. He has also posted many more graphic images of mutilation and acts of war. These are ugly and profound. I am conflicted in how I feel about his right to express his opinion in a public forum and the sensitivity of exposing the public to such graphic images without a warning (other than the person who posted the link on the BB). I expressed this conflict in my statement of the day: "Lark the Shark (Mafia Wars) is conflicted over the outrage on the BB. A member has posted pics of the horror of war. Free speech is what our troops are fighting for over there."
I prepared myself for a flood of venom directed towards me, but so far I've only gotten this email conversation, much to my pleasant surprise:
-----------------------
K: I think there is a diff between freedom of speech and disrespect. The pics he has on there are horrible. I understand freedom of speech, but I just really have a problem just plastering pics of a dead soldier.
Mass public opinion will ban him from the sight. Those that rally the support will fight him until he gives up and goes somewhere else to express his opinion (or cause outrage). And it is my opinion that the US government disrespects us in not giving us the truth. With the media's support, we are manipulated and lied to all the time. I saw it and now I choose not to ever look at his profile again. Not to give him validation. Not to engage him. All that does is fuel his need for attention and controversy. He does have the right to express his opinion on a public forum, no matter how much I object. I certainly don't want to see his pictures. I'm a visual artist and anything I SEE is in my brain forever. But there is no denying that while I object to war, I can still support our troops being over there and doing whatever it takes to secure our freedoms here. There are always atrocities in war. No one escapes blame. But our country is based on the freedom to disagree, to have an opinion opposite of the popular, and to demand accountability (whether we get it or not). There should be some kind of a warning, if he invites someone to his site. This should be put in place by the site managers. When you get to his page, it should say that there is graphic material, just as it should say for some of the profiles that have pornographic images in their comments and tags. But someone performing a sexual act is not filtered any more than the picture of the dead soldier. I am in conflict.
Lark
----------------------
K: You make some very good points. I wish I hadn't seen what I did. I keep seeing it over and over in my head. I am purely disgusted by it. but you are right. He has the right but I still clicked report profile. Thank you for sharing your views on this. You helped me see this in a diff light.
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Thank you for being an intelligent, open-minded person. I am sometimes afraid to take a stand because of all the extremists out there. It's scary to have an opinion that doesn't march with the crowd. We don't want to see the ugly side of life, the cruel, the grotesque...if war is softened and presented as righteous...when will it ever stop? Have you ever seen the pictures from the Nazi concentration camps? I was in 8th grade when I saw a documentary on it. THOSE images are still in my head, just as if I saw them today. Just because I don't want to look at it, doesn't mean it's not there.
Lark
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K: That is very true. We as a society have become very desensitized and it's sad. I don't want to become callous to the horrors that happen. But I also don't want to just turn my cheek at it either. Activisim is something I feel very strongly about, I just have never taken a political stand. It's always been for the animals.
I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
Thank you!
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