The Ramblings of the Titanium Don

Privacy

Privacy has become a major topic of conversation recently. More specifically, violations of privacy have been all over the media.  And the outrage is vocal and impressive. However, the blame, which everyone is trying to ascribe, really comes down to one place. Ourselves. After the events of 9/11/01, Americans allowed the government to take unprecedented actions in direct violation of our constitutional rights to “protect” us from terrorism.  And, this should come as no surprise, the US government extended and

Do not let them win

Do not let them win. Who are they?  They are the people who are against us.  They are the people who are working all the time to do whatever they can to change how we live, and more – to have us live in fear. This is not just about the horrid people who would set off bombs in public and murder innocents.  This is about the world in which we live, and our increasing willingness to sacrifice how we

Our society and attitudes about rape

Rapists are never the victim. Shame on anyone who believes otherwise.  Anyone who committed an act of rape and was found guilty is a criminal.  Period. Rape has very little to do with sex.  Rape is about power.  Dominance.  Aggression. Anyone who is a victim of rape should receive care, should receive sympathy and assistance.  They should not receive scorn, derision, or shaming. I am astounded that our society today leans towards explaining away a terrible crime, focusing on a

21st Century Civil Rights – Taking a Stand

I am taking a stand for equal rights for homosexuals, bisexuals, transgendered, – everyone, really. The topic of rights for the non-hetero population of the world has come up again and again.  Whether the topic is adoption, marriage, or general discrimination issues, this is the civil rights movement of the 21st century. In the interest of full disclosure – I am a never married, heterosexual male.  In college I majored in theatre, so of course I was privy to pretty much

Taking a stand

No offense, ladies, but this is a letter specifically to the rest of the members of my gender (but feel free to read on). Gentlemen, We need to take a stand.  It is time to stop letting a minority make the rest of us look like fools and idiots.  It is time to be heard. I am writing about these men who are working so hard to limit the rights of women.  I am talking about these crazy politicians and

A different perspective on the issue of guns

There is no short term solution to this problem.  Let’s just start right there. You cannot take away all the guns.  Period.  And for all of you thinking this is what will happen – IT WILL NOT.  Period.  It may become harder to acquire guns, but no one will be coming into your home to take yours away.  Let’s just start there. And just because the government will likely make it harder to get guns – let’s be real.  If

Being FOR the things you want in the world

Be FOR, not AGAINST, the things you want. I have observed that in the United States, we always seem to be on the defensive against things.  We are against drugs, against guns, against drunk driving, against hunger, against war, against against against. Why is this important?  Because consciousness creates reality.  Ergo, what you focus on is what you get. What does “against” mean, anyhow?  Dictionary.com defines it thus: a·gainst [uh-genst, uh-geynst]  (preposition) 1. in opposition to; contrary to; adverse or

Hate is never the answer

Hatred is a wasteful, ugly, primordial, and frankly useless emotion.  To quote Yoda – “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Hate is defined, according to dictionary.com as thus: hate  verb (used with object) 1. to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry. 2.to be unwilling; dislike: I hate to do it. verb (used without object) 3. to feel intense dislike, or extreme aversion or hostility. noun 4. intense dislike; extreme aversion or hostility. 5.the object of extreme aversion or hostility. Why do I bring this up?  Because a lot of people are currently feeling sadness, and sympathy following the recent tragedy in CT.  People are currently grieving.  But the next step will

A post-election open letter to the US Congress

Dear United States Congresspeople, Now that the election is over, how about actually doing the will of the people, instead of the will of the business entities that may be funding your future campaigns? No filibusters.  No obstructions.  No policy statements from one party specifically to disrupt the other.  How about doing some lawmaking?  And not just deregulating the businesses promising to fund your next election – actual, factual lawmaking. Try some of these on for size: Taxation.  How about

What happened to Truth?

When did it become ok to lie? When did we stop caring about the truth, and accept lies? When did we stop questioning what was really happening, and accept lies without a second thought? It is to the point where I daresay it is an epidemic.  Worse than any disease, worse than any threat of war…lies have become perfectly acceptable in the reporting of the news, in political discourse, our schools, our workplaces…everywhere. Lies of every size, shape and color