Author: Aino Terran

Get Out The Vote!

This message is for every American eighteen and older (or who will be by November). If you do not have a driver’s license or a state issued photo id, get one.

If you are not registered to vote in your state, go register.

If you have neighbors that might have trouble getting registered (transportation issues, handy cap, time constraints, etc) or getting above mentioned id cards, do what you can to help them.

This is your civic duty if you are an American citizen.

A number of states are passing laws to make the process of getting registered to vote more complex. Those laws will likely all pass through the state legislatures. It will be hard to prove any of those laws unconstitutional, given that most states already require all employment age citizens to carry ID and have for over a century.

We know this is happening, and we know how to counteract it (follow the above instructions). Make sure you are eligible to vote in the general elections and in your cities’ elections. Make sure your neighbors are as well. I don’t care if you are Democrat, Republican, Green, Constitutionalist, Libertarian, or whatever. Get out and vote. Get out and make sure your neighbors are able to vote. You can’t force anyone to the polls, but you can do your damnedest to make sure they are able.

In the current political environment, the best hope for saving democracy and the democratic republic as a system of governance is to make sure you do your part by educating yourself on the issues and voting.

An Environmental Rant

About twenty years ago, the powerful nations of the world got together and talked about the environment.  They all agreed that we had to do something, and promised that they would, and then they went home and forgot.

Twenty years later they got together again to talk about the same subject.  At least this time they were more honest.  They walked away from the talks saying “We need to do something, but we don’t really feel like it.”

There are scientists that say that we have a 50% chance of surviving the next ninety years.  I am talking the Human species, not an individual person such as you or me.  A 50% chance that the youngest human beings on the planet now may see it’s slow painful death, and know that we, the generations that came before, couldn’t be bothered to stop it because thinking about it was inconvenient.

This may sound a bit out there.  It may sound a bit psychotic.  It may sound like it was some conspiracy theory that just came out of the blue.  However, scientists have been screaming this at the top of their lungs for almost a century.  People with more funds have made sure that we were too distracted to listen.

Any time people talk about how to fix it, big industry screams “It will destroy the economy.  Jobs will be lost,” while totally ignoring the fact that creating the infrastructure to generate power without fossil fuels will generate millions of jobs, most of which will never go away.  Equipment once installed must be maintained, updated, repaired, and replaced.  The best part is that these are jobs that cannot be sent overseas.

A sea change is coming.  It is only a matter of time.  The human species will at some point see what is coming and change paths.  I just hope it is not too late.

There are corporations that see the change coming and are starting to spread out their resources to non-fossil  fuel based energy sources.  Exxon is investing majorly into green energy.  They are spending a lot on solar and wind.  They are still however spending massive amounts of money on oil and coal.  They are still spending massive amounts of money on politics, protecting their “right” to rape and pillage the environment that they never intend to be held accountable for.

Something needs to change, and it needs to change soon.  People need to acknowledge that there is a problem and that we already have possible solutions.  Further more they need to stop using the EXCUSE that multiple green energy only companies have gone under.  The US Spends hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing the oil industry, which is so profitable that even without those subsidies they are literally making more than any other industry in the world ever has, but at the same time they throw a few million at green energy and say “Well, I guess they didn’t make it.”

When You Ride The Wind

When you embrace the wind, the wind embraces you.  When you follow the path of the wind, the Mother guides you with a gentle but firm hand.

Those who follow the path of wind do not pray for answer, for the answers are given freely.  Instead they pray first for a new set of answers, gentler easier answers, and then ultimately they pray for the courage to accept what fate has given them.

When you ride the wind is your guide, fire walks beside you, earth holds you up, and water embraces you.  You travel always the middle path, on the edge between joy and fury.

You know the truth, the path opens before you.  You at times pray for it to be otherwise, but in the end, you must walk through the flames.

You must trust the Mother and take that first step.  There are no excuses when you know the truth, seek courage and move forward.

More Alike Than Different

I just posted this to facebook a few minutes ago. I figured it was long enough, and an important enough statement that it should be put here as well for those who don’t like to waid through the mess that is their facebook wall.

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I know that I have people following me that are both Occupy and Tea Party. I see what you guys are all posting, and most days it is the exact same stuff. I know there is a lot that the two sides do not agree on, but there is a lot that you do.

I know that both sides love their country.

I know that both sides would do ANYTHING to protect our constitution.

I know that both sides are tired of the role that money is playing in politics.

I see only one MAJOR problem with the above statements. It should not be “both sides.” The two groups need to get over their minor differences and work together based on the major things they have in common. The whole “right wing, left wing” illusion is nonsense. It thrives and survives because the people in power spend a LOT of money to keep it in the public eye.

Stop looking at eachother as “conservatives” and “liberals,” and start looking at eachother as “Fellow Americans.”

The problem, a long time ago, stopped being “the left” vs “the right.” In fact, the more I look at history, the more I doubt it wever was. The problem is that the rich wish to be powerful, and they have the money to make it happen. The rich spend that money to increase their power.

For those who think of themselves as “someday rich,” capitalism in its current form is a zero sum game. The guys that are rich now are going to do everything they can to stay that way. The game is rigged. The only way to unrig it, is for all of us to work together.

Some Messages are Better Left Half Finished

 

soldierspraying

 

This started out as a response to a facebook post, but then exploded into a thing of its own.

I have to say that this is a message that would be best served by posting only the first half of the words. I know that what I am about to say may not be popular, but as a military person who works to protect the Constitution, and the freedoms it provides, it becomes harder and harder for me not to speak up when people say things that are mean and angry and attribute it to the Constitution.

First off, I have never met a person that wanted to stop everyone from praying. There are those who want to see prayer and religion removed from a position of authority in public (i.e. governmental) situations, but they generally are ok with the idea of you praying at home. They are not anti-prayer, they are simply in favor of freedom of religion.

As for “Let’s take our country back,” back from who? People of Christian faith are the vast majority of lawmakers. They are the ones who have the most sway over the laws.

More importantly, saying “Let’s take our country back,” in this context is implying that you are more American than the next guy. It is saying that if someone disagrees with you they are obviously dangerous and radical. It is saying that somehow the country has been invaded and must be liberated.

As for “In God We Trust,” that is a very sound concept for families and groups that are Christian, or follow some other singular deity. It is not however part of the Constitution. It was added to our currency in response to the “Red Scare,” because the communist leaders of the day had some very unhealthy ideas about religion and those in power wanted to prove that America was not a communist country. The same goes for “Under God,” in the pledge of allegiance. “Under God” as added sixty two years after the pledge was written (Not only that, but according to WikiPedia, the guy that wrote the Pledge was a Christian Socialist).

We are a nation that has many Christians. They are by most accounts the vast majority of the people in our country. We are also a nation that was made great in part because we encourage diversity. When people make the claim that “Liberals are trying to take God out of government,” Well… To be honest, they are. But that is because God does not belong in government. Our founding fathers fled England for that very reason. This Nation was founded primarily for that reason. Yes, we are a nation of Christians, but we are not a Christian Nation. Yes, our laws often (but not always) match up with Christian morality, but that is because in most cases Christian morality matches Jewish Morality, matches Muslim morality, matches Pagan morality, and matches Buddhist morality. Certain things are right and wrong, and most people of most faiths agree with that.

The Church has a strong role in our country, and that role is to provide faith and support and compassion to their flocks. When the Church gets involved in government though, it generally does more harm than good. Many people who are Atheists today left the church because of the church’s public and legislative behavior. If you want to push anyone out of government, it should be the people who are CLAIMING to be Christian’s, and then pushing a hate filled agenda with all the passion and grace of a feral animal. Christians should not be uniting to “Take Back Our Country,” they should be uniting to take back their name from the bigots that present themselves to the world as representing the church and all that it means to be Christian.

As for the military, we do fight for your right to be Christian. We also fight for your neighbor’s right to be a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, an Atheist, or whatever he wants to be.

We are also sworn to protect the Constitution, and I cannot stand by and let people defame it with their anger and hate. If you love God, you can say so. If you love the Constitution, you can say so. If you hate your neighbor, well… You can say that too. Please though, do not spout hate, and then claim it is you defending the Constitution our country or what it means to be American.

I mean, you can say those things. You do have freedom of speech, I would just rather you not lie to yourself or the world about what the Constitution says.

I would rather you not spread hate and bigotry at all, but if you choose too, please keep it away from the constitution, and please keep God/gods out of it.

Labels, the Current System, and Third Party Votes

I have noticed that a lot of people are not educated on just what the words “socialist,” “socialism,” and “socialistic” mean.

You can talk about their views and political ideas. You can go item by item. Every response matches up with the concepts and ideals of socialism. Ask them if they are socialist though, and their reaction varies from simple denial, to violent rage.

It is no wonder the liberals of the country have trouble electing officials that represent what they believe. They don’t even know what the normal label is for their views.

All it takes is for a republican to scream socialist, and the candidate is suddenly outcast and a pariah.

And for those candidates that liberals do get into office, they are educated and do know what words mean. The message to them is loud and clear “be as liberal as you dare, but socialism will get you voted out or worse.”

The result is that the mainstream “left wing” of American politics is way to the right of most countries center line. It is to the right of most countries right wing.

People need to learn what words mean. They need to learn how to call what they believe. They need to learn how to speak up and voice their views to their politicians. They need to remember that their vote does have power, and they must act as a united people to insure that the politicians in charge remember this.

A European friend of mine recently said “You guys have the government you deserve,” and he is right. We voted them all in, Republican and Democrat. Worse than that, we show ever indication that as long as they maintain the status quo, we will continue to vote for them. I say that needs to change.

If you are a far right winger, vote libertarian not republican. If you are a far left winger, vote green party. If you are a constitutionalist, vote Constitutional Party. I say start now with the upcoming elections in September.

Voting for a third party candidate is NOT throwing your vote away. It sends a message to the election officials that these people are potentially electable in future elections. It also sends a message to whichever candidate wins. It tells them that if they do just maintain the status quo, it may not work out for them.

I see that what was intended to be a one or two paragraph comment turned into a full on rant. I will leave it here. Take it as you will.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Cheese

I have been thinking lately a lot about how I eat. More specifically, I am considering trying to go vegan for a few months. If nothing else, it would confirm a very strong suspicion.

I am not currently vegan, but I have gone a month or two on a vegan diet from time to time for various reasons, and this blog post is about where I stand now.

You hear people talk about the effects of a vegan diet all the time. You hear about them saying how healthy it is and how good you feel. What you don’t hear about so often is people who have gone vegan long enough to start to notice a difference, and then gone back. In some ways the term backslidden seems appropriate, but might be off putting to people who see the phrase as having a more religious connotation.

First of all, I never really used to think so much about how my body felt until I started to think about and change what I ate. I was always more in tune with my body than most people, but not quite like I was when I was focusing a bit on what I was eating.

During the times that I was living as a vegan (mostly for selfish reasons at the time), I noticed a few things.

1) Your body really does start to feel better when you live off of fruits and vegetables. A good balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, and grains provides all the major dietary requirements and then some. They are full of energy and quite often are easier to digest than heavy meats.

2) When you eat healthier, you get to know your body better. You get to feel what it needs. Yes, your body will tell you what you are hungry for, and the more different things you eat the more likely it is that your brain will associate the body’s request with a specific food item.

3) I really really do like the taste of vegetables.

Now, to move on. Quite often, when I have fallen off the wagon, it has been because of something involving cheese. As I said, my reasons for going vegan were usually short term and somewhat selfish. Because of this it wasn’t so hard to pick up that burrito, or that slice of pizza, or a grilled cheese sandwich, and not look back.

Lately I have been thinking about other reasons to go vegan. One big one is the health benefits, the rest are a little less selfish. There are a lot of reasons to go vegan, and only a few real reasons that one might not. That is for another blog post though. The point here is to describe my experiences in a way that may make sense to others. If it makes sense to the people around me, then maybe they will help me stay away from cheese related products and places. 😛

As I said, when I went vegan for a while, there was a definite energy boost. My body felt healthier, more stable, cleaner. I was more in tune with my system. Most of the aches and pains associated with human life were gone.

Afterwards, when I started eating cheese and then meat again, there was a stark noticeable difference at first. After getting away from meat and dairy for a while, your body doesn’t always like the reintroduction.

After a few weeks though, my body started to get comfortable again with the situation. Something wasn’t quite right though, so I started watching my body and what it did.

Again, I needed to lose some weight, and wanted to do it safely so I went vegan again for about a month and a half. I lost the weight, and I had the energy boost that I had experienced before, and was overall more comfortable in my skin. Then came the cheese.

Looking back over the last handful of years, I have realized something. When we say we feel healthy as meat eaters, and that we are comfortable in our bodies as meat eaters (especially those who claim to be carnivores), quite often it is because we have no point of reference.

The times when I feel “comfortable” after eating meat again for a few weeks are not quite the same as actually being comfortable. It is the body adapting to the given situation. Human bodies are good at that.

I suspect that is why I feel “ok,” but not quite the same. Before my experiments with veganism, I really had no frame of reference. I had always had mild reactions to dairy (especially milk). I had always felt sleepy after eating a meal with a lot of meat. I had always felt just… Well, normal. Or at least, it was what I thought was normal.

So, to confirm this suspicion, I plan to try again soon. I have so many reasons to give it a go, and only one reason not to.

Yes, I do like cheese. I like it rather a lot, but that is not a valid reason. The only real reason is the matter of vitamin B12. It is the one vitamin that is hard to find in plant matter. It is more of a mineral really. It is a form of cobalt that the body uses for a lot of different processes.

Even that is not a valid reason at the moment though. The body requires a very minute amount of the substance, and there are many foods that are enriched with it. So, basically, modern science makes up for the one evolutionary glitch that makes meat somewhat necessary.

When I get to San Diego in a few months, I will have more control for a while over the groceries I buy. If I can stay away from Taco Bell, then I should be able to eat a vegan diet fairly effectively. I will try to post from time to time to keep people up to date on the results.

Oh, and for the record, raw grains tend to be a lot tastier to me than meat any day. 😛

Words Have Meaning

I know that most people don’t care about language, or even about cultural minorities for that matter, but it really pisses me off when I go onto a web forum and people are having a conversation about hackers and hacker culture, and then someone breaks in and starts trolling by using the HOLLYWOOD definition of hacker.

The word hacker has been in use a heck of a long time. It was imported into the computer science community somewhere in the 1950’s (yes, the word was already old 60 years ago). Somewhere during the 1980’s and 1990’s, Hollywood started making “Hacker” movies, and that is where many people get their meaning of the word.

If no one persisted in using the traditional meaning, then there would be no argument. However, Hackers still exist and have a thriving culture. That culture is quite often under attack by people who don’t even realize they are attacking it.

Words have meaning. When those words are actively being used, it is not good to warp the meaning (especially to something so exactly opposite). It is not good to target a subculture you know nothing about.

It is not fair that people are losing jobs, and in some cases ending up on terrorist watch lists and coming under legal scrutiny, just because their culture has been twisted to the extreme in the media.

When I got halfway through writing this, I almost stopped and deleted half of it because I was like “Wow, this sounds like I am comparing it to racism or religious discrimination…” But before I could hit delete, I realized that is actually a very apt comparison.

A subculture of people who have existed for a very long time are being maligned and their public image is being warped by the media. It is taking place to the extent that people are hurt socially and financially by the image that the media portrays. People lose jobs because their bosses find out that they are a “Hacker,” but they have no clue what that means.

People are passed over for promotions that they deserve, simply because the next person in line has never been labeled a Hacker, but they have.

People get subjected to police harassment and their equipment stolen (I think the official term is confiscated) because they are suspected of being up to no good when no crime has been committed.

All because Hollywood decided to take our words and twist their meanings.

Our modern world was put together by Hackers. Hackers created the software you are using to read this page. Hackers created the software that the web server is using to display this page. Hackers created the foundations for the software is running your computer.

What about the technology that holds together the internet? Hackers did that too.

The tech that runs your favorite video games? Yeap, that was hackers too.

Hackers are not criminals. They are people who like to play with things and create things and learn about things. Hacker culture believes in learning, and sharing what you learn. It believes in community and unity.

The “everyone for themselves, win at all costs, damn the consequences, damn the law,” image that you see in Hollywood Movies is just that: A movie.

I would love to find a way to educate people. I would love to find a way to get people to use words the way they were intended. I know though that I do not have near the cultural influence that a movie start or a film director has. For now, I will have to content myself with an occasional rant on the subject. I will have to content myself with educating the people around me on the subject.

After all, just because you can’t do everything, there is no excuse for doing nothing.

A Different Stance on Christianity

This was originally written as a message board posting, so if you are a Citizen Radio fan, you may have already seen it.

Regardless of what the following may look like, it is not intended as a direct attack on any particular group, but rather something to think about. For this reason, I ask that even if the first part is offensive, keep reading.

My own faith at the moment is in an interesting place perhaps, but I took a long time to get where I am.

My statement, simply put, is this: Modern Christianity’s approach to God is blasphemy against man, and sacrilege against God.

Christians believe that the book of Genesis is the depiction of the creation of the world. Some see it as a literal history, and others see it as more of a symbolic description of a truly massive event. Either way, it is a matter of faith, and happened so long ago that there is not much you can do to prove to most one way or the other. At this point, even the big bang theory is a matter of faith (even if it is more soundly founded in science).

The book of Genesis also goes into one very important detail other than how. It explains “Why?” Most Christians don’t think so much about this detail, and most churches seem to prefer it that way.

If you believe the Book of Genesis, then man was created not to worship, but to fellowship. The “Blind Sheep” concept of worship taught by the church of today (The one that has led to so many atrocities over the centuries) is entirely incompatible with what the ideas presented in Genesis.

It is better that you live as if there was no God at all, than to live as if you were simply an unquestioning servant. When you go before the maker, you should be able to stand toe to toe and say to him/her

“What you have created is Beautiful.”

“What I have created is Beautiful.”

And perhaps most importantly…

“Dude, you know… Some of that shit was real fucked up.”

I am not currently a Christian. I followed that path for a while, but I wandered off of it when it was no longer compatible with my view of the universe and the creator that may or may not be.

I do believe however, that if the God described in Genesis (and most books attributed to Moses for that matter) does exist, then he will not see my decisions as a crime.

I think though, that if he does exist, the modern church is fucked.

Display Your License Proudly

When a developer is creating a library, or any other software package, that they want others to use it is absolutely vital that they choose a license for the project that will allow their target audience to use it.

It is just as important that the licensing information is included among the files that are downloaded when someone gets a copy of the library.

Most people remember these steps, but they are occasionally forgotten.

What is JUST AS IMPORTANT however, is to find some way to inform people who are downloading your code from a website or some other source of what the license is before they download it.

If I don’t know the licensing terms of your code, I am most likely just not going to download it. If I am working on a project, and I am looking for a library to make it easier, then I am looking for libraries that are released under compatible licenses. If the license is incompatible, then the code isn’t worth much to me at the time. It is a waist of my time and your bandwidth for me to download a library I can’t use.

This is especially sad when the developer has taken the time to create a beautiful website with a lot of description of what the program is, and does, but then they forget one of the most important pieces of information.

Please, if your code is licensed as GPL, say so on the site. If your code is BSD licensed, say so someplace on the site. Whatever license you use, display it proudly. If you are using a git repo, and it is set up to be web viewable, this is perfect. You can include it in the README file that your git repo software most likely wants to display to the web anyway.

If you are just offering tarballs/zips. then just include it on the download page.

To be honest, there are two common practices that I have seen most often on websites for successful projects. That is to either include the licensing information on the About page, or to just have a page that specifically addresses licensing issues. In either case, these would be included in the navigation bar/pain/whatever on the website.

Once you have already done all the work of making the code worthy of public display, you owe it to the project to take the last few steps needed to encourage adoption.