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Mater memento mori
There are times in my life when I openly ponder what the point is. I ask the question in the most sincere manner possible: why do we exist?
Of course there are a ridiculous number of answers to that question and it seems to matter greatly on the person doing the answering. If that person identifies himself, or herself as being religious, ( Read more... ) -
Manifestations of Hate
In some ways the South (Southeastern United States for non-Americans) has come a long ways since the days of Governor Wallace proclaiming the infinite existence of segregation. Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul, a self-proclaimed Libertarian as is his father, former presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas, claimed that he was often moved by the ( Read more... ) -
The Beast
They say it was created by man,
or by a god, or by his own hands,
I know not what built this beast,
but that it exists, is not in question.
Upon avarice and exploitation,
upon corruption and indignation,
does the gaping maw feast!
Rotting flesh of privation
discolor his rotting teeth.
Another stomach he adds
for every war and famine
created to ( Read more... ) -
Unwrite
I used to write nearly everyday. I wrote poetry, essays, short stories. Some of it was worthwhile, some of it sophomoric attempts to live up to my favorite authors. I intended to sit down tonight and write something along those same lines. Ideally I was hoping for something using irony and cynicism (the two literary devices that dominate my ( Read more... ) -
The Drama of Ordinary Life
The day of 25 April 2010 came and went for most people as any other Sunday comes and goes. In London, at Charing Cross Hospital, an eighty-two year-old author from Nottingham passed away without a great deal of uproar. To be fair, 82 is a fine old age and though he was a prolific writer until his death, his most famous works had been written in ( Read more... ) -
The Rapidity of Transmogrification
A play in a single Act.
A man stands by a tree, looking confused at the world around him. The tree does not look confused, but wise as trees go.
Man: How many times have I come here to lay it all on the line? To unload my burdens of this life, to remove the heavy weights...
Tree: Do shut up and get on with it.
Man: Right.
Tree: And you won't urinate on ( Read more... ) -
The Hitler Affliction
Being both German and American can leave one searching for an identity. At least this has been true in my case.
I was infatuated with history at a young age. It did not take me long, once I entered into a more critical and seasoned study of history, to realize that American history tended to be viewed in a sophomoric, almost naive manner. German ( Read more... ) -
Dogmatic Slumber
There are times in life that one awakens to the world around oneself, more vividly, more cognizant than before ( Read more... ) -
Christian Socialism
The New Testament is replete with evidence of a communal view of Christianity. Acts 2:44-45 states that:
44 And all they that believed were together and had all things common. 45 Their possessions and goods they sold and divided them to all, according as every one had need.
From which Karl Marx drew his famous quote: from each according to their ( Read more... ) -
The Modern Helots
The enthusiasm for property rights has been a perpetual concern since ancient times. The Spartans, after subjugating the more numerous Helots, created their entire infamous war machine primarily as a response to the increased property to control. The dispossessed Helots lost all of their rights and could even be killed by a Spartan, with no ( Read more... )