Tag: society

The Lion, the Switch, and the Unborn

On By kingsjesterIn Uncategorized2 Comments

thA2LI80LPThe 24-Hour News Cycle has gone off the rails, once again, purposefully diverting society’s attention.

The New York Times reports that

An American dentist who admitted that he killed a well-known lion this month in Zimbabwe and planned to mount the head kept his office closed on Wednesday as the furor about the hunt turned vitriolic and, at times, threatening.

Dr. Walter J. Palmer’s neatly groomed property near Minneapolis, adjacent to a preschool, has turned from a dentist’s office to a memorial to the lion, called Cecil, with red roses and more than a dozen stuffed animals laid outside the locked front door.

There was no answer to repeated knocks and doorbell rings at his large, stucco house in an affluent neighborhood. And his neighbors would not talk.

In an email distributed Tuesday night to his patients, Dr. Palmer said “media interest” had disrupted his practice and had caused people to overwhelm his staff with comments and phone calls. Patients seeking help were being referred to other offices for the time being.

In the hours after Dr. Palmer apologized for the shooting, saying he had killed the lion under the impression that the hunt was legal, he has gone from a dentist and longtime hunting enthusiast to the villain at the center of a virtual firestorm over the ethics of big-game trophy hunting.

The Godfather of Conservative Talk Radio, Rush Limbaugh, made an excellent point about this story on his program, yesterday.

I have a simple question.  I understand. I love Cecil the lion.  I understand it. I understand crying. I myself was ravaged with sadness when I heard about the death of Cecil the lion.  You know why?  Because, even when talking about a lion, it was in a game preserve. It wasn’t a pet, and you’re never gonna make a pet out of a predator beast. But it still is the essence of innocence, and it wouldn’t do anything to us if we didn’t threaten it first. It is just senseless for somebody to shoot it.  I don’t care whether he was a dentist from Minnesota or a terrorist from ISIS, it is senseless to be let onto a game preserve — “preserve,” protection — with a bow and arrow and think you are engaging in sport while you kill a lion.  It’s just senseless.  And I understand the sadness.

People have an attachment to animals that is inexplicable.  What I don’t understand… Now, Jimmy Kimmel broke down almost in tears last night on his program, and the very same people will express sadness, tears, shock, dismay over the death of Cecil.

I love cats, too, and I think Cecil is a great name for a lion.  In fact, if I ever get another cat I’m gonna name it Cecil in honor of this one.  My own cat was disappointed when she found out Cecil was killed.  All animals are worried about this.  Understand that.  But how in the world can you get teary-eyed and misty-eyed and sad over Cecil and, at the same time, participate in burying what’s happening at Planned Parenthood?  Can somebody explain that to me? (interruption) What do you mean, “Well”?

What do you mean, “Well”?  Is this too controversial a question?  What do you mean,  “Well”?  Is this somewhere I shouldn’t venture?  I do know how the animal people are.  But I know that most animal people have the same attitude toward human beings. Look, I understand the difference.  Human beings, adult human beings, are not the essence of innocence.  But babies in the womb are.  Babies in the womb are more innocent than any animal is.  But to a lot of people, that would be an argumentative statement.

I understand that, but a baby in the womb? I mean, you can’t get a more pure definition of innocence.  Now, I understand there’s a picture of Cecil the lion as he’s alive and sitting there with his harem and looking like a lion, looking like the king of the jungle. He’s sitting there and he’s just enjoying life, everything is fine and dandy, you see that picture and you hear the news that some reprobate with a bow and arrow was let in there for 50 grand, and to claim it was hunting?

There’s no hunting.

That wasn’t any sport in this.

Cecil had no idea.  It was at night.  Cecil had no idea.  He’s in a game preserve.  I understand all that.  And there aren’t any pictures of the baby chop shop operation.  I understand that.  And we are a photo- and image-driven society, but nevertheless, it’s a matter of I don’t know curiosity, concern, that so much emotion can be dredged up — and justifiably.  I mean, I’m with you on this death of Cecil business.  But I’m also just, if not more sickened by what Planned Parenthood’s doing.

I tell you, Planned Parenthood’s hired this PR firm called SKDKnickerbocker or some such thing and their job is single purpose, bury the story.  They are harassing Drive-By Media, to the extent that necessary to get them to ignore the story.  For example, Politico ran just a little bitty blurb about this and how it just makes a lot of people uncomfortable and this SKDKnickerbocker bunch just jumped on ’em, and Politico retracted or deleted it from their Web page or did something.

That’s what they’re trying to do is get this story buried.  They’re not even gonna try to argue the story.  They’re not even gonna try to say we all misunderstand it.  They’re not even gonna try to say, “There’s great medical research to be had here.”  They’re not gonna say, “It’s just a clump of cells.”  They’re not even gonna try to say, “It’s an unviable tissue.”  They’re just gonna lean on their buddies in the Drive-By to suppress the story.

There are a couple of Psychological Devices on display here.

1.  Deflection – The Main Stream Media, in all their underhanded glory, have purposefully pushed the story of Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion…oh, wait, that was the lion on “Daktari”, the 60s television show…I mean “Cecil”, the Lion King of Zimbabwe.

As Rush said, the story tugs on the heartstrings and makes you feel sorrow for ol’ Cecil.

The MSM was, no doubt, searching desperately for something…anything…to take the story about the Second Coming of the Third Reich, a.k.a., the selling of aborted baby body parts by Planned Parenthood, off of the front page of newspapers and to bump it from the first story of the nightly news.

They found it.

And, it worked, at least for a moment, thanks to a second Psychological Device…

2.  Diversion (The “Squirrel!” Factor) – We live in a rapidly-changing world, full of momentary distractions. If you don’t maintain your focus on what is important, just like the dog in the movie, “Up!”, you will continuously be distracted by things of little or no consequence.

While the killing of Cecil the Lion was brutal in nature, it in no way whatsoever, overshadows the irrefutable fact that Planned Parenthood, an American Taxpayer-funded Organization, has been caught selling the body parts of aborted babies, like the ghouls in Victorian England once did, digging up cadavers and selling them to Medical Schools.

Actually, the parallels are quite remarkable between Victorian Society and Modern American Society.

Those living in Victorian England considered themselves to be “enlightened” and quite “civilized”.

So do Modern American Liberals.

During the Victorian Era, a certain class of intellectuals believed that Religious Faith “constricted” and “limited” science.

So do Modern American Liberals.

Ghouls…Planned Parenthood

Soulless Victorian “Men of Science”…Soulless Modern American Liberals

Enlightenment, indeed.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Rocky Mountain High, Colorado: No Man is an Island

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

The huge smoke cloud obamamacdaddyAmericans are viewing in the Western Horizon is coming from the state of Colorado.

Time.com reports that

A few days into the experiment, the new world of legal recreational marijuana sales in Colorado appears to be a big success—so much so that pot shops are finding it impossible to keep up with demand.

According to the Denver Post, at least 37 stores in Colorado were licensed to sell recreational pot to anyone 21 or over as of New Year’s Day. The Associated Press and others reported long lines outside Denver pot shops, with some eager customers forced to wait three to five hours before getting a chance to go inside, step up to the counter, and make a purchase.

Prices have been steep—in some cases, stores were charging $50 or even $70 for one-eighth of an ounce of pot that cost medical marijuana users just $25 the day before—and taxes add on an extra 20% or so. Even so, sales have been brisk.

The two operational pot shops in Pueblo collectively sold $87,000 of marijuana on January 1, per the Pueblo Chieftain, and store owners say that if demand persists anywhere near the current high, they’ll be sold out in the very near future. Likewise, Toni Fox, owner of the 3D Cannabis Center in Denver, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that a sellout is imminent. “We are going to run out,” she said on Thursday, day 2 of legal recreational marijuana sales. “It’s insane. This weekend will be just as crazy. If there is a mad rush, we’ll be out by Monday.”

Another Associated Press story noted that some shops had to close early on Wednesday because they’d didn’t have enough marijuana on hand to oblige customers.

For more than a month, many have speculated that Colorado pot shops would not be able to meet demand due to the limited number of stores open in the state, as well as tough regulations regarding how marijuana is grown and distributed at the wholesale level. Of course, strong demand—especially from “smokebirds,” a.k.a. out-of-state tourists visiting Colorado for legal marijuana purchases—also plays a big role. By most accounts, since January 1 more than half of pot sales have gone to non-Coloradans.

Prices in legal pot shops have already risen to upwards of $400 an ounce. Once you factor in taxes, as well as the fact that it looks like shops may periodically be sold out for a while, and some are saying the situation is one that could push pot enthusiasts back to buying marijuana on the black market. “People will get real tired of paying the taxes real fast,” one street dealer in Pueblo named Tracy told the Chieftain. “When you can buy an ounce from me for $225 to $300, the state adds as much as $90 just for the tax.”

“So, choomers in Colorado are getting “Rocky Mountain High”, KJ. So what? Their actions do not affect anyone else!”

Let’s examine this harmless wonder drug, shall we?

What exactly do we know about marijuana and it’s effects?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentrating, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that, in chronic users, marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research into the effects of long-term cannabis use on the structure of the brain has yielded inconsistent results. It may be that the effects are too subtle for reliable detection by current techniques. A similar challenge arises in studies of the effects of chronic marijuana use on brain function. Brain imaging studies in chronic users tend to show some consistent alterations, but their connection to impaired cognitive functioning is far from clear. This uncertainty may stem from confounding factors such as other drug use, residual drug effects, or withdrawal symptoms in long-term chronic users.

Addictive Potential

Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite the known harmful effects upon functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Estimates from research suggest that about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana; this number increases among those who start young (to about 17 percent) and among daily users (25-50 percent).

Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report withdrawal symptoms including: irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which can make it difficult to remain abstinent. These symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2-3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.

Marijuana and Mental Health

A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be an important risk factor, where early use is a marker of increased vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or reflects an attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence.

Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses – including addiction – stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. Currently, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders. High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.

About a year ago, I was watching the local news when they announced that a fellow I graduated high school with, had escaped from custody, after trying to commit suicide, because the authorities were about to commit him to the looney bin for long-term treatment.

Even back in ’76, this guy had hung out outside the school building in what was affectionately called “the smoke hall”. And, of course, it was well known that he liked to smoke pot.

Even as I type this, I hear thousands of potheads, young and old (picture Tommy Chong), yelling at their monitors, and, among the words I can repeat, are words describing me as a clueless out-of-touch Bible-thumping old man, who doesn’t know what the He@@ he is talking about.

They’re screaming that pot is harmless, non-addictive, and safer than alcohol.

And, they also probably voted for Ron Paul.

…so, their judgement is questionable.

What matters to me, is the fact that no man is an island. No man stands alone. (Hey. That could be a nifty song title. But…I digress.)

And, people struck and killed by a stoned driver, are just as dead as those killed by a drunk driver.

So, stop eating your Cheetos, slackers, and listen tight: Your actions affect others. You are responsible to others. You are not alone in this world.

So, get up out of your bean bag, turn off the TV, move out of Mom’s Basement, and get a job.

Useless, clueless, and stoned is no way to go through life, son.

…Unless, of course, you’re the president.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Catch a Falling Star: It’s Not the Years…It’s the Miley-age.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Miley CyrusWhat is it about a train wreck that captures our attention? It is the sight of something that was once sleek and beautiful, now a twisted pile of debris, that holds our gaze? Or, perhaps it’s the memory itself, that we see among the carnage.

Ever since the days of Fatty Arbuckle, our nation has held a fascination with the spectacle of a rising star being brought back down to Earth by their own reckless behavior.

Another example, before some of you were born, is the late, great Judy Garland. This wonderful entertainer could sing, dance, and act. She was remarkable, and an American Favorite from the moment she put on those ruby red slippers and followed the yellow brick road, until she left us much too soon, passing away in 1969, of a drug overdose, a victim of her own demons.

It is rather ironic, the Ms. Garland starred as the young ingenue, Esther Blodgett, in the 1954 classic movie, “A Star is Born”, with the great James Mason.

The movie is about a movie star who helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Judy Garland was an amazing performer.

I can see and hear her now, in a black dress, on a nightclub stage, with her short black hair, and those huge, expressive eyes, singing

Forget your troubles, c’mon get happy. Get ready for the Judgement day.

Sadly, there have been too many talented women, who have fallen victim to their demons.

I’m afraid, dear friends, that we are watching another talented young woman begin her own downward spiral right before our eyes: Miley Cyrus.

America first became aware of Ms. Cyrus, as a fresh-face teeny-bopper in the Disney Channel program, Hannah Montana.

Boys and girls all over the world tuned in to watch the adventures of a normal American Girl, who led a double-life as the teenage singing sensation, Hannah Montana.

Her real-life Dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, of “Achy Breaky Heart” fame, played her Dad in the series, and also wrote the songs she sang.

Her fresh-faced innocence  shown through the glitz and glamour of her weekly TV series, to the extent that the entire country fell in love with her. Soon, Walmarts from coast to coast were carrying Hannah Montana lunch boxes, t-shirts,  school supplies, and everything else you could think of.

Once  the series was over, as she tried to grow into young adulthood, things looked strained, at best.

Even though she was growing into a beautiful young woman, Miley was still, in the eyes of America, Hannah Montana.

In the meantime, Miley Cyrus was **ahem** exploring her own sexuality **ahem**…and decided that the public needed to explore it, too.

Beginning with a pole dance at the Nickelodeon Awards, Miley let the whole world know that she did not embarrass easily, even if we were all embarrassed for her.

During this past year,Miley, with her barely-dressed appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards with Robin Thicke, during which she “twerked”, (which is a pleasant way of saying that she had “clothed sex” on stage) and then, in a music video, where she appeared, riding naked on top of a wrecking ball, and licking a sledge hammer, continued her descent into the all – consuming darkness.

Annie Lennox, of the 1980s MTV Sensation, the Eurythmics, recently wrote the following on her Facebook page;

I have to say that I’m disturbed and dismayed by the recent spate of overtly sexualised performances and videos. You know the ones I’m talking about. It seems obvious that certain record companies are peddling highly styled pornography with musical accompaniment. As if the tidal wave of sexualised imagery wasn’t already bombarding impressionable young girls enough..I believe in freedom of speech and expression, but the market forces don’t give a toss about the notion of boundaries. As long as there’s booty to make money out of, it will be bought and sold. It’s depressing to see how these performers are so eager to push this new level of low.Their assumption seems to be that misogyny- utilised and displayed through oneself is totally fine, as long as you are the one creating it. As if it’s all justified by how many millions of dollars and U tube hits you get from behaving like pimp and prostitute at the same time. It’s a glorified and monetized form of self harm.

Ms. Lennox is right. However, she did not take it far enough.

The young American girls, who idolized Hanna Montana, are now young adults,  watching Miley Cyrus’ musical hootchie-coochie show, believing that it is perfectly acceptable to act like a dog in heat in public.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Ephesians 6:12. which warns us

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Young folks have a lot to deal with, growing up nowadays. I realize that. And, Ms. Cyrus has had more pressure on her than most.

However, as the Bible also tells us 

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6 ESV)

 By his own admission, Billy Ray Cyrus, as Miley was growing up, and even now, as a young adult, pictures himself as a “bud”, instead of a father.

Perhaps, her hedonistic behavior is simply a cry for attention, combined with an attempt to be “MTV-Cool” and relevant, in a desperate attempt to re-live the celebrity status she held as Hannah Montana.

Hopefully, the same forces who, in the past, have caused the lives of other talented entertainers, like Ms. Cyrus, to end in a “train wreck”, will not succeed in hers.

She has the Power, living within her, to avoid this. All she has to do…is ask.

Until He Comes,

KJ