Battling or Accepting the Monkey

In the Washington Post today there are two articles regarding Evolution. The first one deals with the school in Dover, PA that is requiring that students not only learn Evolution but also the theory of Intelligent Design. In my opinion, Intelligent Design is nothing more than Creationism that doesn't use the word "God."

The second Post article deals with the mapping of the Chimp Genome. The Chimpanzee genome is 96% identical to the Human Genome. In doing further mathematical analysis based on evolutionary theory, they found that Darwin was in essence 100% correct. We did evolve from apes through mutations that enabled us to climb to the top of the food chain, have more developed brains and become unique as we are today.

Personally, I accept Evolution. There is too much scientific evidence saying the universe is billions of years old and that animals walked the planet millions of years ago and changed over time for me to accept that God created the world in 7 days. This does not mean however, that I am not a Christian or that I reject my faith. I accept science and I have faith. There is a difference between believing something and having faith in something. I believe in Evolution, I have faith in God. Belief is based on evidence, be it false or true. To have Faith I need no evidence, only that which I feel to know it exists. Okay now that's settled moving on.

In the United States today I understand the call for morality in schools and for the need to prevent the society from going to hell in a hand basket. However, the best way to do that is not to force Judeo-Christian ethics down every students throat. I remember in high school one of the main science teachers, when asked about Evolution would say, "I don't believe in it." And she wouldn't teach it. If a question was asked in her classroom that could have a logical evolution answer she would say, "That's the way God wants it." She was teaching this to high school students, some of which wanted to go on to become doctors, chemists, and a whole range of other science oriented careers. Because of her forcing Judeo-Christian beliefs upon her students, many of them were at a Huge disadvantage when they began college studies.

Evolution needs to be taught in the classroom, Intelligent Design and Creationism need to be taught in Sunday school and by Pastors, not State Licensed Teachers. Last time I checked there is still supposed to be a separation of church and state in the country and freedom of religion. Because teachers are licensed by the state, technically, they shouldn't be allowed to teach religion in any way shape or form. Yes, I know there are Catholic and other religious schools that have religion classes offered, however those classes are usually taught by rabbis and priests, you know religious figures.

Now people argue that Evolution can't be all chance and random mutation. The usual idea is that something had to force the primordial soup to create life and then guide it to create the world today. And with that, as a Christian I agree on the starting it part, not so much the guiding it step by step. I'm big believer in the fact that God likes to mess with our minds because he has a sense of humor. Truth be told, I think God created Evolution. He didn't guide it with his hand necessarily, he just one day went, "Okay, let's see what happens when I press this button." And here we are millions of years later. As a scientist, I think a molecular reaction caused evolution to occur and life as we know it to begin. This disconnect is I think where people become misguided, confused, angry over the Evolution vs. Creationism/ID theory. People don't want to believe that a random happening created our existence. It's too cold and heartless. All people want to feel as though we belong, that we are special, that there is a deeper reason as to why we are at the top of the food chain and control the planet and not other animals. Sadly, I don't think this feeling will ever go away. But we as a society need to learn to accept the two ideas in their separate contexts, less we go back to the Dark Ages and fall behind the rest of the world in science and the ability to take care for our people. Evolution is Science and therefore it's basic principles need to be taught in a classroom to all children. Intelligent Design is a religious idea and must be reserved for Sunday school.

As a person who wants to belong and who also believes in science, I kinda like the God randomly pushing a button theory and making the primordial soup start reacting and after that just sitting back and watching the fireworks and saying "Wow." Much like we do on the 4th of July or when we take a moment to watch the ocean wash away our sand castles. One little thing we do can lead to a chain reaction that creates something good and all we did was press a button or fall down the stairs. I think God did the same thing. That's why I can believe in Evolution and also have Faith.

We Seriously Don't Need This

Okay so I'm reading the Post as I usually do in the morning and I found out that now the FBI, instead of looking for terrorists, stopping violent crime, stopping white collar crime, and thwarting espionage, is now going to be punishing those who engage in obscene acts. Basically they're going after pornography. Not that I'm an avid fan of this type of entertainment, but Real Sex on HBO is fun for the simple fact that you realize you're not a screwed up as you thought and that all people are different and that's okay. Also with this new FBI order handed down by Gonzalez anyone looking for a quick hook-up or "casual encounter" on craigslist is now subject to obscenity, and most likely sex offender charges in certain states (TX comes to mind).

What I found really entertaining were the specific things that the "Porn Squad" of the FBI is supposed to be looking for according to the Washington Post: "Based on a review of past successful cases in a variety of jurisdictions," the memo said, the best odds of conviction come with pornography that "includes bestiality, urination, defecation, as well as sadistic and masochistic behavior."
Okay so basically what this sounds like to me, is unless you're in the missionary position technically you could be engaging in obscene behavior. Granted S&M is regarded as invovling leather, latex, and toys by most people in my generation, but think about the 60 year old that will most likely be assigned to the porn squad. Their view of S&M or obscene behavior could include three-somes, or homosexual sex. Granted the Supreme Court has said anti-sodomy laws are Unconstitutional, but how long until that statute is stripped away?

This new Porn Squad isn't some crazy idea from the White House, although I wish I could say it was. This idea actually came from the Congress, the assholes we put into office, who apparently are also forgetting this cute little thing called freedom of speech and the press. I believe the Supreme Court has allowed Freedom of Speech to go into unspoken actions, as long as you're not hurting anyone else, or as long as you have someone's consent to do something that doesn't put their life in danger. Anyway here's the Congress idiocy regarding this:
"Congress began funding the obscenity initiative in fiscal 2005 and specified that the FBI must devote 10 agents to adult pornography. The bureau decided to create a dedicated squad only in the Washington Field Office. "All other field offices may investigate obscenity cases pursuant to this initiative if resources are available," the directive from headquarters said. "Field offices should not, however, divert resources from higher priority matters, such as public corruption.""The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's top priority remains fighting the war on terrorism," said Justice Department press secretary Brian Roehrkasse. "However, it is not our sole priority. In fact, Congress has directed the department to focus on other priorities, such as obscenity."
At the FBI's field office, spokeswoman Debra Weierman expressed disappointment that some of her colleagues find grist for humor in the new campaign. "The adult obscenity squad . . . stems from an attorney general mandate, funded by Congress," she said. "The personnel assigned to this initiative take the responsibility of this assignment very seriously and are dedicated to the success of this program."

So basically Congress doesn't want non-normal sex on television, the internet, or in stores. Hmm, looks like there are going to be a LOT of Unhappy Staffers and well as certain Members I'm sure.

What I can't seem to grasp regarding this whole situation is why people see pornography in general as a bad thing. Yes, it can give some people ideas, but so can violent movies and I don't really see anyone creating an FBI unit to combat those. Furthermore, what goes one between two consenting adults is not the business of the federal government. Now there are exceptions, terrorism, espionage, you know the things the FBI should be focusing on. In addition to this fact, I can't think of one straight man I know that wouldn't like seeing Jenna Jameson in leather and stilettos carrying a whip. However, according to this new Congressional directive and FBI memo, Jenna is guilty of obscenity for wearing such an outfit and having sex in front of a camera. Several college and high school boys lives will never be the same if this law is strictly enforced.

Basically this division of the FBI is stupid. I could see it making sense if it was combating child pornography, but it's going after consenting adults and an industry that provides millions of dollars in tax revenue primarily to CA and NV. Primarily this law is an invasion of privacy at the most extreme level. Yes, these people may put themselves on camera for the world to see, but it is not the job of the government to legislate anyone's sex lives. When we begin to govern this, and make rules about how to populate the planet and gain enjoyment from our significant others, spouses, lovers, etc, our country is no better than the Inquisition nor governments of Islamic extremists. This is merely one more step down a slippery slope that leads to the complete destruction of the Bill of Rights.

We Have to Get Rid Of That Girlfriend of Yours

In my experience on this planet I have realized that the majority of my friends are boys and that I am one of the guys the majority of the time. Although this is a great life most of the time, it starts to suck when one of my guy friends gets a girlfriend who for some reason decides to not like me, hate me, or decides I'm the person he's cheating on her with. Which I was Once, not gonna lie, but I came clean and apologized. Anyway. I love my guy friends but when they get girlfriends who don't understand me, I hate the tension that develops.
The first type of girlfriend who I'm not a fan of, is the one that feels it necessary to tell me every little detail of their relationship. Not that I haven't heard it already 1, and 2 there are just some things I really don't want to know. Such as, oh your sex life with a guy friend of mine. Him telling me, cool it's his perspective. Girl telling me, creepy. I can relate better since I too am female and there are some things I just really, really don't want to know.
Girl type two, the one who runs a deep analysis on my friendship with her boyfriend. Not that I mind telling you stories from our past, but when every story ends with you saying, "I can't believe you two didn't hook up/aren't together/haven't dated/etc." Or you constantly need to be reminded of yes, he and I did date, but we're over it now. There's a problem. Don't blame your insecurities on me.
The Third type and my favorite, those who hear my name once, or see a picture once, and automatically hate me. I haven't decided if they sense evil or if I ward it off. Anyway, this type annoys me. These are the girls that will look my friends in the face and say "I don't want you to be friends with her." "Why do you talk to her?" "Does she matter more than me?" And I hate to break these little girls' hearts, but He's going to stay friends with me, he talks to me because he is my friend and cares about me, and until he tells you he loves you and MEANS IT, yes he does care about Me more than You.
At one point, with all of my guy friends, I have wanted to tell whoever they're dating, "I've been here longer than you, I'll be here after you, and yes, he does care about me more than you, he just cares about me in a different way." It's just frustrating right now with so many of my guy friends now in relationships and having to hear the bad lies for "I can't see/talk/hang out with you because my girlfriend will get mad." It's bullshit. The one girl who has ANY Right to not want her boyfriend as one of my best friends, is glad we still talk and are still close after all we've been through. Hell, I dated this particular guy for 2 years and he was my first love. His girlfriend has more right than anyone to hate me, yet she doesn't and is glad we get along. So why can't most girlfriends of my boys be like her?
The answer to this question was explained to me by one of my fav. guy friends about 3 years ago. "Most girlfriends we have are intimidated by you because you genuinely care about us and you show that. Because of that we show you how much we care as well and that scares them. They think that there is next to No chance we'll care about her as much as you. And in most cases that's right. But the girls that look past that and see that we care about you a lot, but it's different so she doesn't need to worry, We know they're keepers." This is one of my top five friend compliments of all time.
I love my guy friends and I refuse to change how I treat them, care about them just to please whoever they're dating at that moment. Besides the girls who accept me as a friend of their boy, are the girls the boys usually end up marrying. So guys if your girlfriend acts odd towards, around, about me, or falls into my 3 "bad girlfriend" groups, She's gotta go. We Have To Get Rid of That Girlfriend of Yours. And find you one that's really worthy.

Another Way To Express

Wow for those of you that know me this is yet another blog site for me since I can't seem to keep my thoughts and wanderings to myself. I find that having people, whether they be friend, foe, lover, hater, random person, etc, people have a way of helping you figure out which directions to take by offering their experiences, the experiences of their close ones, and just random advice they pick up along the way.
One of my main reasons for creating this new blog is a way for me to stop having so many random people message me for stupid reasons. Not that sites like myspace and xanga aren't cool, and I have gotten back in touch with some awesome people, and met new awesome people, but the random guy who starts off a conversation with "hey wanna make out?" gets pretty damn annoying. Hopefully this will be a lesson to many of you to NOT ask questions of that nature. Or if you do at least be joking.
As a first blog I feel there should be a mini-introduction. I'm at a crossroads in my life that I'm attempting to not turn into limbo and complacency. I work at a job that teaches me the basics of being a politico, mainly it has taught me legislating is Boring, Campaigning is fun. I have also learned I want to get more education, exactly what I'm still trying to figure out. I love my friends and tell them this often. Friends are the true measure of a person's worth. Coffee and Coca-Cola are how I make it through the day. I like caffiene (sp?). My pet is an neurotic cat named Snoogans, or Hoover depending on who you ask. My goal is to retire to a nice place with a beach. Preferably somewhere in Hawaii, but the Southeastern U.S. has a special place in my heart. I'm a nerd, I love the History Channel and Discovery Channel, National Geographic, etc. I hate reality shows. I love live music. I'm into rock and the alt-country scene. I want to be remembered. Other than that, well, keep reading and you'll find out.