Free Will

I am both Writing Knights Press and BingeTV on this thread.

derp stick Free will isn't as wholly a benevolent entity as you might perceive it. Think of it this way (no esoteric talk about religion or god, I promise). 
Over millions of years the human animal has been developing inch by metaphorical inch toward who you are today. Generation upon generation has been learning from mistakes and passing those lessons onto their offspring, slightly altering DNA to make offspring that should be stronger than the generation before them. The idea was to make the Human animal better able to survive in the world. Evolution is intended to make this as efficient as possible, because before the last... 10,000-20,000 years or so we haven't been the top of the food chain even with our huge computer like brains. 
So a lot of our bodily functions, heart beat, breathing, sweating, even allergies (fucking things) have developed to happen involuntarily to help us survive. And they do a pretty good job. The most important thing that developed was our will to survive, our need to keep living. Read about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to get more background. This will to survive will make us run away from a fire, or someone shooting a gun, or from something that we know will hurt us. The will to survive will remind us of the days when our ancestors were getting chased by a lion or pack of wolves, or to not kill ourselves. 
Humans also developed a consciousness that can transcend this will to survive (some animals anecdotally have been reported to also commit suicide, but we're talking about YOU here). Human beings can fully commit to the act of ending their own life. This is in direct opposition to their will to survive. So in this act, killing yourself IS exercising your free will. 
BUT 
That is not the only way you can exercise your free will. Referring back to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, there is a slim to none likelihood you'll ever be faced with the prospect of starving to death when someone else could eat, so let's skip up one run to Safety. Let's say a friend of yours is being beaten up by someone else. Stepping in and putting yourself in harm's way is acting upon free will. 
One step up the ladder, social belonging. Let's say, a huge group of people are going to a Justin Bieber concert and you want to be accepted by those people, but you don't want to see Justin Bieber. If you don't go see Justin Bieber, you'll get made fun of and you won't "belong." Not going to see Justin Bieber is exercising your free will. 
Under Esteem, let's say you are trying to impress someone you really respect. You try and you try, but for some reason they don't respect you. A situation arises where you can earn their respect and grow your self esteem, but the thing you have to do goes against your principles. Exercising your free will in this respect is to not do the thing that goes against your principles. 
There are more examples that could be given, but this is already the longest Youtube comment I've ever made, so let's just leave it there for now. 
TL:DR, Yes, there is free will, but it isn't what you think it is. No, don't kill yourself.

Review: Catalyst by Wayne A. Bibbs

Buy it today!

First thing to say, this is the first book I’ve read in one sitting for a long time. This includes poetry books. The book was compelling enough that I read it straight through over the course of three hours. I found some parts of the book were funny, some parts of the book were sweet.

The basics: Mark Layton is an everyman with Sherlockian deductive powers. He seems shy and withdrawn at the beginning, but for some reason gains the kind of courage and self assurance necessary to talk to the girl of his dreams, Alicia.

Essentially, this is a superhero story without being a superhero story. Mark has the power to melt fat and tighten skin of anyone. He charges money for the service at first, but in benevolence, he makes the trek to Wisconsin to melt a 900 lb man for free so he can live a better life.  This is just one example of Mark’s superhero incorruptibility, another is the second person he melts (after his now wife, Alicia), Sheila, becomes obsessed with him.

Mark takes on almost a martyr quality and the audience is intended to follow along with him, in his shoes, possibly portraying the best possible outcome on purpose to give the audience a bit of hope in their lives, that beauty is deeper than skin.

Enjoy!

How NOT to Submit to a Press: Arrogance (NSFW language)

Despite the nature of the following, I try, as an editor, to not be petty.  Consider these entries in the vein in which they are presented as an independent book publisher who is seeking clarity in entries sent in for consideration of publication.  I will NEVER use a name or contact information in these entries. They offer a dual opportunity for me to vent about things that annoy me hopefully in an entertaining way and give our potential submitters knowledge on...

“How NOT to Submit to a Press”

            Don’t you just hate it when you deal with someone who has utterly disrespected you, and yet you don’t really have time to deal with them right away, but you still want to so you write a poem, flaying them, and you share it with people for humorous effect, but you still want to share it in a more determinant way.  Then you come across an equally ignorant foe who finally spurs you to the point of actually needing to write about the fools you come across so you can finally write about that person.  Then in doing some recognizance work you realize the first ignorant foe died over a year before.

            Yeah, that’s what this one is about.

            I guess we poets are always more inspired by death.

            The first entry of this series deals with Arrogance.

            Most presses I reckon love an author with confidence.  But Arrogance to the point of disrespect is something that I don’t know anyone who will put up with.

            The following poem is almost direct word for word transcript from an email conversation with someone who submitted with Arrogance in mind.

Re: Chapbook Submission 02/14

From: chrismucklehoney@leastmisinformedpossiblyoverconfident.com

Address: 51 Michael Hunt Drive

Los Huevos, California

31 page submission attached.

From: writingknights@leasthesinterested.com

Please review our submission guidelines. We only ask for 10 pages as a sample. Here is the URL: main.writingknights.com/submissions.html

The Writing Knights Team

From: chrismucklehoney@sarcasticdickhead.com

            Writing Knights Team,

            Review this.

            CM

No attachment

From: writingknights@themomentiamperplexed.com

            Dear Chris,

            I can’t tell if you are being foul or just forgot the attachment.

            Please clarify,

            Thanks!

            WK

From: chrismucklehoney@thispointiamstillharmless.com

            I can pretty well tell you’re foolish, but please try.

            CM

From: writingknights@thebeliefwearedone.com

            Thank you for the clarification.

From: chrismucklehoney@thebeliefthattalkinglikearockstarwillgetyouanywherewithAzFuckingJohnson.com

            You mean, thank you for the manuscript and you’re welcome.

From: writingknights@thepointofsettingthisfellowstraight.com

            Nope.  There is a protocol you must follow before we can discuss.

            ;)

            WK

From: chrismucklehoney@temptingtosavefacethroughinsultinganestablishment.com

            Fuck your protocol and fuck you little winky face!

From: writingknights@temptingtokillhimwithkindness.com

            I hope your day/night gets better and whatever is causing you discomfort abates.

            WK

From: chrismucklehoney@lastthetruedoucheemerges.com

            Cunt!

From: writingknights@temptingtofoilhisangerwithmyfeelingsofthewordcunt.com

            Thank you! That’s the highest form of compliment!

From: chrismucklehoney@thispointisapparentlyamisogynist.com

            In Idiotsville.

From: writingknights@mybestretortinthepastsixmonths.com

            You can rent my guest room.

From: chrismucklehoney@stickingtosomethingagainstallodds.com

            Cunt!

From: writingknights@temptingnottofeedthistroll.com

            You said that.

From: chrismucklehoney@leastiamconsistent.com

            Cunt!

From: writingknights@mittedlynotthebestthingtosaytoendthisconversation.com

            If your poetry is as repetitive as your insults, there is no way I can publish you.

From: chrismucklehoney@leastiamconsistent.com

            Cunt!

From: writingknights@lastiamtootiredtocontinuethisjoustsoiconcedethepowerofthewordcunt.com

            It seems a shame you put so much time and effort into your submission.

            Anyway, I’m gonna hit the sack. 

I wish you good luck on all your future endeavors.

            WK

From: chrismucklehoney@leastigetthelastword-mantheseeditorsaresostupidiftheythinkiamgoingtopaythemanyrespectinordertogetthemtopublishme-respectisforchumps-buttheybetterrespectme-yeah.com

            Cunt!

From: writingknights@mybesttryingnottoreturnthispersonsnegativity-tryingtobethebiggerperson-reallyquestionhowthehellheevergotpublishedwiththatattitude-wouldneverpublishsomeonewhodisregardedtheprocess-willwarneverypressiknowaboutthisguy.com

            You know?  You aren’t even worth my time.

Discard Draft

            Rest In Peace - Arrogant Writers.

Against Xenophobia -- Sword Points

I understand that humans are a tribal sort. We started with small, insular bands and the world was dangerous and we had to fight for every scrap of everything, whether it was food, or water or a place to pitch our teepee or hut.

Back in the days of old when we couldn't trust other humans to not try to kill us in our sleep because we didn't know better, I understand that kind of xenophobia. Whiter skinned folks don't know that the browner skinned folks don't really want to hurt them. The ape brain in all of us mistrusts people who don't look like they could be part of the same tribe as us.

That's why Sapiens fucked/killed Neanderthals out of existence. They looked just different enough that they seemed threatening.  That's why white cops kill black people, because they look different enough that they seem threatening.  In the ape brains of the white cops, the ancestral memories see the darker skin and sometimes larger bodies and think, "This guy is going to attack me and steal my food/water/mate/etc" even though that is far from the truth.  It's a reaction born of millions of generations of having to fight tooth and nail, spear and knife, arrow and sword, gun and bigger gun with multiple other supposedly civilized societies.

There's a word... civilized... we are supposed to be civilized. Civilization: the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced. Think about this for a second.  We are supposedly at our highest evolutionary potential. We have access to unlimited energy in the sun (example, we could cover the Sahara desert in solar panels and it would generate enough power for the ENTIRE WORLD). We have tools that can make our oceans drinkable so we have nearly unlimited potential of water. We have land enough to live on for everyone despite people crowding in cities.

Humans have won. Aside from a few mishaps, we don't die from animal attacks anymore. We have people who know what plants we can eat and what plants we shouldn't. We know what kinds of plants to cultivate that can feed us.

The only thing we have left to fear is each other.  To borrow a snippet from Frank Herbert's Dune, "Fear is the mind killer."

We are part of a civilized world. We have the luxury to stop, take a deep breath and look at where we are. We are in the Goldilocks zone of life.

We don't need to subjugate anything, too many men feel the need to subjugate women because women literally produce life from their bodies and evolution wants us to make as many babies as we can before we keel over.

We don't need to kill anything.  I'm not vegan, but I know that the world could go vegan tomorrow and nothing would change. We have clothes made of synthetic and naturally harvested materials, we have meat that could be grown in labs without the slaughter of any animals.

We don't need to take anything, the world gives us everything we could ever need.

We don't need to own anything, many native cultures existed without the perception of ownership, interlopers told them things and people and places belonged to someone.

We could just live.

There are people on the planet, who all they want to do is cure diseases. They love doing this.

People exist who love to build buildings and create structures.

People exist who want to entertain others and bring joy to their days.

People exist who want to feed others. 

Some people love numbers. Some people love letters.

Some people love talking with others about their problems.

Every job that is necessary for human existence has people who want to do it more than anything in the world. Some jobs might seem more important than others, but everyone's time is worth the same amount.

What I'm trying to get at here is, if we throw away all of our preconceptions of tribalism (nationalism), xenophobia, homophobia, racism, sexism, we can do great things.

It won't be easy to do, there are a lot of ancestral scars that we can see in our DNA. There are things we can't just forget and we should never forget them. We need to embrace these scars on a global societal level, wear them like badges as reminders of what NOT to do in the future.

Maybe someday people will realize that life will be a whole lot better if we work together instead of against one another.

---

Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst by day and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press.

"Academic" VS "SLAM" VS "Underground"

"I am not a fan of when people judge poetry they judge it by merits of a different poetic style. You can't judge most paintings by their lyrical content. You can't judge most music by its brush strokes.

"That isn't to say there aren't some similarities between Slam, Academic, Underground etc (they are all poetry after all), but the intent is usually different.

"I think the only thing one can significantly judge ALL poetry on is how you "feel" about the piece." -- Azriel Johnson

---

To this a former professor replied:

"What are "slam," "academic," and "underground" poems...how are you defining these terms? I'm going to make the argument that there are some craft techniques that are universal to all of these styles of poetry, or make all of these styles of poetry stronger or weaker through their use or lack thereof."

I hate defining these terms because I don't see them like others do. If I were to define them (and by define, I mean how I perceive others' perceptions) I would do so thus:
          Please note nothing I say in these definitions is all inclusive. For example, I will say academic poets sound flat when performed, but this is not always true. These "definitions" as I write them are nebulous and purely of my own invention, which at best, makes them just as flawed as the writer.

"Academic" poetry is technically the most sound, more focused on meter, rhyme, or forms. When it is performed it sounds flat. This is likely because the reader is more concerned with the precise reading of the work instead of the emotional content found therein.

"SLAM" poetry is less technically sound, than "academic" poetry. The focus comes more in the rhythm of the piece as it is most certainly going to be read out loud. As it is read out loud there will be less focus on the conciseness of the words and more so with the emotional content behind them. 

"Underground" poetry is least focused on the structure of the words and more focus on how they sound or what thoughts/feelings they evoke. This is poetry associated with breaking rules or establishing new rules. There may be form play here, but it is more likely to be newly invented forms by the author.

The problem with establishing definitions is that no one's definition will be exactly like anyone else's. Instead of taking each poem at its own merits they are compared to other styles, forms, and/or writers. This comparison isn't inherently bad, but it becomes detrimental to poetry when the comparison becomes "THE gospel truth" and no other expression is sufficient unless they conform to the tenets set.

A Billy Collins poem isn't going to read like a Saul Williams poem isn't going to read like an exemplary local poet whom no one outside of their city has heard of. This doesn't mean any one else's poetry is going to be better or worse, just different. The feelings evoked by a piece are subjective, it is highly unlikely everyone is going to feel exactly the same way about a piece, but when people get trapped in their cycle of what is "good" and "bad" without considering something outside their sphere of taste poetry suffers.

I don't have a problem with reviewers. I think reviewers are necessary, but poets who receive a bad review should only take it as far as "this is one person's opinion, what does someone else think?" If a poem affects one person for better or worse then the poem is good. Even if it is bad.

---

*Note* Originally posted on the now defunct WKRoundtable.blogspot.com 04/22/13

---

Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Balance of Running a Press VS Being Prolific

I enjoy making books, chapbooks, anthologies, fourplays.
I enjoy putting together events.
I enjoy seeing the faces of people as they perform.
I enjoy their faces as they see their books.
Or when I tell them they are nominated for PushCart.

But I also enjoy working on my own projects.

You might think that these two things are not mutually exclusive. And you're right. If you keep a balance of your time and lifely duties.

What I'm getting to is, I have to wrangle my Writing Knights commitments a bit. There are certain projects I have to finish and get a hold of and slate out.

For instance, the WKTV project. I totally want to keep doing that. It's fun to put together the videos from the best of the performances we do, but I can't let myself get too wrapped up in it. I have some chapbooks and full lengths on the horizon I'm really excited about.

I also have the third novel "The Black God" in the Dragon's Bane series to finish writing. I have to get with my editor about the story line of "Rust & Blood" and get R&B out by August.

I'd like to start sending some of my stuff out to different presses around the country, just to see what I can get published.

Subs for the Grand Tournament open in March.  Stark Knights happens in April.

I've been having less enthusiasm about Stark Knights lately.  My original goal was to try to get a show in each of the municipalities in Stark County, but I was exploring a couple of the boroughs and there is literally fuck all in terms of places we could even do poetry in some places.  I'm thinking this year we will get what we can get and make it work.  Next year we might pare it down a bit.

I'd like to start a regular monthly feature in Alliance.  I found an awesome place in Canal Fulton that would be great for a monthly reading.  I would like to do a monthly reading at the Little Art Gallery. I want to slap the WK: Stark banner on them and train a new person(s) to host them to put some depth in the WK: Stark team. Like Poetry Superheroes! ;)

But I'm making plans for now.  I have a list of authors waiting in the wings to produce some books, chapbooks and fourplays.  I've got a couple anthologies waiting.  I've got a shitton of 2nd Editions waiting to see new life.

I'm thinking starting in March, I'll have one new release, be it chapbook, book, anthology or a group of fourplays and one 2nd edition.  I don't know who is coming out when, I'll need to figure that out. After the 2nd editions run out, I'll probably just pare down to one release per month.

I've already cut down the WK events to the Monday Open Mic and one of those Mondays being a feature (I'm making an exception for February since the 29th is on a Monday).

There is so much going on... I need to know the limits of my sanity and go just beyond them.


*Note* Originally published in "Staving Away the Sadness" (PublishAmerica, 2004) Originally posted on the now defunct AzrielJohnsonAuthor.blogspot.com 04/12/06

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst and a serial writer by night. He runs a small, not money losing publishing press and a weekly open mic with monthly features called Writing Knights Press and Writing Knights: Stark.

Water = Jail Time

I'm a fan of good police work. I respect police who do their job for the continued safety of our communities. But there are some real morons carrying badges and shouting commands at innocent people. For example: a sorority girl at the University of Virginia went to her local convenience store and bought some cookie dough, ice cream and La Croix water. She made her way to her car and suddenly she is accosted by a number of unidentified persons waving guns and badges at her.

These persons were supposed police officers. In their infinite wisdom they jumped on the hood of her car, tried to break her windows and yelled at her to stop the car and get out. 

Without proper identification, in presumably a poorly lit parking lot, the girl did exactly what she should have. She tried to get out of there. She grazed a couple of the "cops" on her way out and immediately called 911 to report the incident. She was soon pulled over and arrested for three felonies.

Thankfully when she explained her story to the prosecutors the charges were dropped. The girl had just come from a "Take Back the Night" vigil so she was probably a bit more jumpy than she might normally have been, but that does not excuse the police officers for doing what they did, when they did it.

Police officers should NEVER draw guns on anyone who has not shown a proclivity of violence. Most law abiding citizens will abide the law if it is shown to them properly in a calm manner. If they had approached her just outside the store (identified themselves by badge number and name) calmly asking to see the contents of her bag, she probably would have complied, even though she is under no legal obligation to do so.

There are suggestions of a "Cop College" where proper instruction can be given and a finer toothed comb can be run through the police academy process. Police officers should be strong. If that person was carrying nuclear weapons they should be toss to the ground and handcuffed and be scared witless. But this is alcohol purchased by a minor at most offensive. Give the girl a ticket if she has alcohol and make her call someone else to drive and make the store refund her money. Then prosecute the store for not checking her ID.

THAT'S IT! 

This is NOT a violent offense. The girl was defending herself against potential attackers and in this world where the rape statistics are not going down, no one can blame the victim here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you think? Did she do the right thing? Should she have handled it better? Discuss!

Anonymous Avenges

I am a supporter of what the organization known as Anonymous is trying to prove. They want to show people how to take back their lives from oppression. Oppression certainly is everywhere. This is especially true in the case of Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz. Swartz killed himself likely due to the pressure being placed on him from several governmental sources.


Swartz was accused of illegally downloading millions of documents and posting them online.

I am not saying that what Swartz did was right. I'm not a supporter of plagiarism, but the free sharing of information is something I'm in support of.

I don't like the idea of fear, but if there must be fear people should not live in fear of government, government should fear the people. The government is here to help us, not clean us out financially, mentally, emotionally, and that is what happened to Aaron Swartz. I hope Anonymous keeps doing what they are doing. I hope other people start taking notice. I hope the world can come to some sort of balance again, in my lifetime.

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/hackers-take-over-judicial-website-after-activists-suicide

Neanderthal Mom

George Church is probably one of the foremost experts in Neanderthal genetics. Such an expert is he, that he was the subject of multiple tabloid newspaper articles concerning the idea of seeking a surrogate "Neanderthal Mom."

If you'll remember a few years ago when Dolly the sheep was cloned, scientists used a sheep to implant the cloned DNA into and Dolly was brought to term. This is similar to the idea these tabloids say Church had. Church however denied this and added that the public needs more "scientific literacy" to discern fact from fiction.

Church was merely theorizing on what would be necessary to bring a Neanderthal child into the world. Church is not looking for a willing female human to implant a potential embryo into, but he does appreciate the attention it has drawn to science. 

It would be interesting to see this kind of experiment, but I'm not sure the world is ready for the Neanderthal to return. There are a plethora of questions surrounding even the idea of cloning a Neanderthal: Would they be treated as beings or test subjects; how many would be created; what would be done with them after the experiment was over. The Neanderthal has been extinct for 30,000 years (though by looking at some people you'd never know they missed a beat). 

I would be first on line to see the first Neanderthal baby, considering how much theorizing I've done on the evolution of our species, but this simply should not happen. At least not yet. Things would go wrong, the Neanderthal would somehow be exploited. We as a species are not ready to deal with our old rivals. It would end badly.

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/supposed-neanderthal-cloning-lights-up-the-blogosphere

Annoyance in Babysitting

Administrators who have far too much time on their hands have recently decreed that a good neighbor is not a fit caretaker for the neighborhood children. Lisa Snyder of Irving Township, Michigan, recently received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services ordering her to stop watching her neighbors’ children. If she didn’t she would be violating a law aimed at unlicensed day-care centers.

There is a law on the books of Michigan that says no one shall watch other people’s children for over four weeks in a calendar year. My question is, whoever made this law, why didn’t they include a clause to exempt people who aren’t receiving payment for this care? A woman watching her neighbor’s kids is not trying to make money from it, she’s trying to help her neighbors and probably is receiving the same kind of help from her neighbors when she needs it.

I’m not too much of a fan of government involvement in personal matters anyway. Licensed or unlicensed, who cares. If the kids are safe that’s all that matters. Government doesn’t need to worry itself with things like this. People need to worry about this kind of stuff. If they trust someone to watch their kids, whether they have a license or not they should be allowed to do it. The last thing anyone needs is mommy-daddy government breathing down our necks.

I realize though that there are people who don’t feel the same way as I do, so for those people licensing works and I won’t criticize their choice too much. But exceptions should be made for people like Mrs. Snyder. Being a good neighbor should never be a crime.

Discussion: What do you think she should do? Should she keep going and be careful who knows what she's doing or cease and desist?

Cited: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_re_us/us_baby_sitter_backlash_mich

Neanderthal Art

It seems the Neanderthals are getting more and more interesting. According to a new method of carbon dating there are cave paintings which predate any previous determination archaeologists may have had before. More and more evidence is lending itself to the idea that Neanderthals were not “dumb” and may in fact have been more culturally advanced than the interloping Homo sapiens that came up from Africa and the Near East.

Depictions of Horses with hand prints as well as circular designs cover the wall where the new carbon dating process was done. This process uses uranium testing to determine the age of the calcite over the painting instead of the paint itself. This helps scientists ensure that the integrity of the paint remains intact. The ages of the paintings have been shown to be as early as 45,000 years ago and Homo sapiens didn’t make it up into what we call Europe until about 40,000 years ago.

The hand prints on the markings are hypothesized to be signatures of a sort and the scientists involved are excited to remove once and for all the stereotype of Neanderthals being less intelligent than Homo sapiens. More and more evidence is gathered about the Neanderthal way of life, such as the possible existence of musical instruments or adornments for cultural significance in societies. It is likely that Homo sapiens adopted the idea of adornments and art from the Neanderthals according to these new findings.

Discussion: What are your thoughts on Neanderthals and their relation to early Homo sapiens?

Reference: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/14/12211397-new-dating-method-shows-cave-art-is-older-did-neanderthals-do-it?lite

Commencement Speaker Tells Class "You Are Not Special"

My high hopes were justified when I heard of a high school commencement speech that, “tells it like it is” and “really speaks the truth about life.” With the lines, “You are not special” my first thought was “You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.”
You know, the Fight Club commencement speech. While this was essentially what the speaker, David McCullough Jr., said, he did not say it with such disregard for order and government as Tyler Durden. I am okay with that. We do not always need Tyler Durden to tell us that we have to live a life worth remembering for it to mean anything. McCullough hits the nail on the head in the speech decrying the overuse of trophies and accolades to make everyone feel better instead of teaching students to feel better on their own without validation from others.

This was quite possibly one of the best speeches I have heard, period. McCullough peppered the speech with humor and sarcasm towards social media. He touched both young and old with his words. The speech was pretty short (12 minutes in all) and McCullough made his points fast and efficiently. He shows proof of why the students are not special (37,000 valedictorians, 37,000 class presidents, over 2 million pairs of Uggs) and reminds the students that even if they are one in a million, in a world population of 6.8 billion that still means there are 7,000 copies of each person.

In an interview later, McCullough even admits he’s guilty of some of the things he spoke out against. In the end McCullough reminds everyone that even though no one is special, everyone has their own spark of Zeus and if we do what we do for no other reason than we love to do it, we truly live a special life.

Kudos!

Discussion: What do you think of the speech? Do you support what he said? Why or Why not?

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/high-school-graduation-speaker-tells-students-not-special-145709954.html

Frances Cobain as Fiddle Tim

When I heard Frances Cobain was featured at an art show, I was both excited and skeptical. Certainly, she is the daughter of my favorite musician of all time. This gives her genetic predisposition towards art, but it does not make her an artist. This happened when she was 17 (she turned 18 on August 18 of 2010). How many 17 year olds get featured in art galleries, EVER let alone when they have famous relatives? Granted, having Courtney Love as a mother and the name of a long dead rocker gives her clout. To her credit, she chose the pseudonym Fiddle Tim to present under so as to avoid the inevitable criticism.

I am not an artist in the drawing sense, so I am not sure how much my opinion means, but I will say I have seen much better work from artists who were 17 when I was. This does not mean Cobain does not have any talent. It just means others have been better. I think she is just starting out, trying to find a name for herself. It seems she is just starting to carve her place in the art world. Having a show at such a young age is a good way to do that.

Of the eight pieces that were showcased (if there were more I cannot find them), I have to say I liked the title piece the best. The details were very well drawn. You can find the pieces on the first reference I provide.

Over all the art seemed very much like internet animations I have seen, with misshapen and grotesque images. However, my punk rock aesthetic thinks they are possibly a bit too polished to call punk. If she is not going for punk she could have fooled me by showcasing a punk anti-hero. But who am I to judge?

Anyway, I think she should keep up with her art and continue improving and hopefully she will have something that the ‘real’ art critics will accept as something new and different and worthwhile.

Discussion: Have you seen the art? What do you think? Does she have a future in Creativity?

Reference: http://www.laluzdejesus.com/shows/2010/Fiddle-Tim/Fiddle-Tim2010.htm
Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/review-frances-bean-cobai_b_635942.html

Pentagon Cyber Warriors

Like the script of a horrendously bad (or groundbreaking) science fiction movie, the Pentagon is developing cyber weapons to wage war against government attackers in cyber space.

There is little doubt that there are terrors that can affect the country just as definitively as a nuclear bomb could. Hackers sponsored by enemy governments can slip through defenses and attempt to disable our defenses in battle, or worse yet, cripple us financially (not that we aren’t doing that enough on our own).

I would hate to say that we are on the defensive end of these technologies, but it seems that way from the article. We are going to have to start enlisting the help of our super hackers, and I KNOW we have them in America. As much as I am frustrated with the United States lately, I do appreciate that we have some of the best technological capabilities in the world. Japan might make the products, but we innovate their usage. It’s time that the government realizes this and stops penalizing the hackers for being creative and enlists them to guard our cyberspace.

I am quite certain our hackers could develop some offensive capabilities for the government and quite possibly could locate and disable the attackers that are threatening us. I’m severely against warfare in general, but I am in favor of having the capability to defend ourselves and land decisive blows when necessary.

I would do something similar to what the government did in the 70’s when relating to Psychic Spies, find the hackers we have on our shores, and use them for their expertise. The difference with hackers is that they would need to know that if they were doing any of the attacking punishment would be taken. I am definitely not in favor of giving a free pass to be god of the internet and the finances just because they are helping. I am sure there are ways to make this unnecessary that do not involve threatening the hacker’s family or friends.

Discussion: Will you write your local congressman and ask them to support finding our cyberspace warriors? Why or Why not?

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100203/us_time/08599195767900;_ylt=AnHLLqQEFBMfvPm9RNE.hTJbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTM1YmcwOHQ4BGFzc2V0A3RpbWUvMjAxMDAyMDMvMDg1OTkxOTU3Njc5MDAEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM2BHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdXNoYXJkYXR3b3Jr