essays

Why You Should Sleep Until Noon During Black Fly Season

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Black flies — there really is only one solution to them: don’t be hanging out until they are gone for the night. That means waiting for darkness to come over the land. Then the party can get started.

Getting Eaten Alive By Black Flies

Black flies aren’t out all night. So that’s the best time to up and own doing things. Like cooking dinner, drinking beer, and hanging out by the campfire. There is nothing wrong with staying up all night during black fly season, because the days really aren’t that wonderful, if you don’t like getting eaten alive.

Campfire

Granted, in the darkness, you are somewhat restricted in what you can do. But bring a flashlight, and hell, maybe a bunch of Christmas lights, party lights, and big bright 100-watt equivalent florescent lights, and pretend it’s day light. It’s also cooler, and generally much nicer in then in the day time.

Waking Up Deligted to See the Sun

During black fly season, the whole purpose of the day is to be sleeping, and recovering from the hang overs of the previous night.

Our Low National Saving Rate

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One of the most concerning news stories of recent weeks is our low national savings rate. Last year it was a negative 1.6%. The previous year it was negative 1%. This year’s rate is the lowest in over 70 years.

For most Americans, that’s just another financial figure that goes in one ear and out the other. For some it’s not surprising, as they know first hand the impact of our mounting debt on their finances. They know what it feels like to be beholden to the bank.

Yet, for those who have a real understanding of this figure it’s pretty scary. It means we are spending more then we have money coming in. And a lot of that debt is not going to things that are improving us or building our country. It’s one thing to be borrowing money to get an education or buy an house or pickup truck, it’s another to buying more toys then you really need.

There is a lot of evidence that we are buying more toys then we need. We are too often sold consumerism and become blind to our own means or the costs of our consumption. Indeed, the personal financial transaction is minor compared to all the stuff we are amassing as individuals.

Roadway

All those material possessions had to come from somewhere. They involved the exploitation of some material whether close or far away from us. They may have or may not have brought money into the local community. More likely then not, these days, they didn’t. And then they have to go somewhere.

There is no problem with making investments into the future. Likewise, there is no problem with purchasing material goods. But we need to be reasonable at what we buy and realize that there is only so much we really need. We need to focus more on ourselves and our communities, and stop buying things.

What Does Courage Mean Today?

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I have often been quoted that to be brave does not mean you are stupid. That means that you should not take unnecessary risks, but fight for what is right. When there is a cause worth fighting, you must be willing to your life on the line. Freedom demands nothing less then full courage in our fight for it. To be courageous means that you fight for what is right.

Religion often talks about courage. In Christian churches during the season of Lent we talk about the story of Jesus who fought for his beliefs and ultimately was crucified by the Romans for his religion. We talk about how his suffering not only cleaned us from sin, but how our own suffering often makes us stronger as individuals. To quote Romans 5:1-5:7:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; in perseverance, character; in character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right, when we where still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

End of the Day

These words from the bible represent what courage should mean today. It should be about fighting for what is right, regardless if we can win or not. We must believe in what is right, and use peaceful political change to obtain those means. Sometimes it’s not easy or will not happen over night, but regardless it will create greater perseverance in us as individuals. As the bible states: in perseverance, character is created, and in character we get hope for a better tomorrow.

It is so important to have courage and speak against social injustice. It might mean you end up being crucified at the end of the day, but it also may mean you gain more character and hope for a better world around us. Real courage is about taking a stand, fighting for what is right, regardless of the real personal cost. Any cost ultimately is off set by gains in character. Remember, that these costs are real and that when you decide to fight that the issue must be real and substantive, and that you are not just being stupid. A courageous person will be respected by others and loved by himself forever.

Suburbia – Greatest Threat to the Environment

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When people think about what things cause harm to the environment they think of many things. They think of tall smokestacks pushing out sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides, rusty metal drums leaking orange liquid, or the endless repetition of housing in suburban development.

Most do not think about attitudes and cultures that insulate people from the natural world. Yet, that might just be the biggest threat. Consumption without context, a lack of understanding of pollution, a distant natural world, and apathy all lead up to some serious environmental degradation.

Suburbia is grounded in consumption, often without context. They go to the mall and grocery store and buy things. The trash man comes by on Wednesday and takes away what they dont want. The people there have no idea where things came from, what technologies are behind it, and what the real costs of their actions are.

The landfill is well hidden from view. The methane from the dump and the landfill can not be smelled to the user. The factory in India spewing out toxic chemicals simply does not exist. Pollution does exist in suburbia from car emissions, phenalates from vinyl, and lawn pesticides, but it takes a different context from reality.

People in suburbia drive to work in an air conditioned sport-utility vehicle. They live and work in air conditioned vehicles that seal out natural air. Nature is little more then a place for camping. It certainly is not a place for living or making a life out of. If nature is anything in such a world it is always thoroughly controlled and regulated.

Life is suburbia is good, maybe too good. It breeds contempt and apathy. When life is so good, why challenge our status quo to protect some abstract environment so far away? Suburbs are non-political except for the occasional fight over grandpas fence, or parking. Real issues seem not ever to rise to interest.

Divided Government

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  • Different parties represent different segments of the population — differences in region, population density, gender, race, occupation
  • Increases compromise on legislation, ensuring a variety of viewpoints are represented in final law.
  • Stops or at least modifies bad laws that would screw one segment of the population to appease another segment of population’s ideological beliefs.
  • Increases constitutional protections by allowing one party to raise constitutional questions related to their ideological beliefs.
  • Allows one party to investigate the other party, increasing honesty in government.

… it’s really not clear that it’s a bad thing.

US Capitol