GangstaFeelsGood's New Writeups

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (idea)

2002-07-23T14:31:17Z

Enacted in 1786, this statute was penned by Thomas Jefferson. What is truly interesting in this text is that it sheds a little light on the intentions behind the statements in the First Amendment. The statements therein are merely:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

The Virginia statute expands on the ideas of free excercise. Interestingly enough, it does not address establishment whatsoever. This is a shame, because the establishment clause has the most debate and confusion about it. Some enlightenment there would be nice. And oh yeah, notice all the references to God.

The text is as follows:

Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and

…

Americans: Terrorist bullies? (idea)

2002-03-22T20:19:33Z

When I wrote this column in October of 1998, Americans were riding high on moral superiority, after several military actions across the globe. Now, three and a half years later, the irony is hard to miss. It almost frightens me.

Originally published in the Diamondback, the University of Maryland, College Park's daily newspaper, I came across it again when doing a random search for my name on Google.

Disclaimer: Before you pass judgement on the content, please make sure you read through the entire thing and remember that I am proud to be an American. Also note that I'm not the right-wing zealot this column makes me sound like. Some of it I agree with, some I don't. That and watch out for some explanatory pipelinks. I urge you to /msg me with comments, thoughts and even hate mail.

Over the past few years, Americans have become increasingly conscious of a threat from the unseen. Terrorism has become a a constant fear for many citizens, both at…

The Langley Schools Music Project (thing)

2002-02-11T04:07:51Z

The full title of this recording is The Langley Schools Music Project: "Innocence and Despair", but this node title is how the album is referred to by everyone, including those that produced it.

By now, you have probably heard of this album, quickly becoming a word of mouth hit around the world. My local crappy paper, The Trenton Times, even reviewed it this week. The album was recorded on a 2-track between 1976 and 1977 at Wix-Brown Elementary School in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Featuring 60+ elementary school students singing popular songs of the 1960's and 1970's, the album contains interesting, ahem, renditions of songs by the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, and David Bowie to name a few.

Arranged, directed, and recorded by Hans Fenger, a music teacher at the rural elementary school, the album feature children playing almost all of the instruments and even a couple haunting solos (Desperado creeps me the hell out). Fenger, a…

All media are biased (idea)

2002-02-08T17:34:46Z

So when I read this, it struck a chord, and reminded me of a column I wrote a few years ago for the Diamondback, the independent student newspaper at the University of Maryland. So here it is.

Every day, we are bombarded with news from television, newspapers, magazines and the like, all telling us what they profess "the truth". But, can we trust them?

Despite what we all would like to think, the news media do not necessarily present the truth. In fact, most news sources have some sort of bias.

Everyone has heard about the "liberal bias" of the media, and while this is only partly true, it does hold some merit. No news source is entirely without pressure to lean in one direction, whether it is pressure from advertisers, owners or other sources.

Take a look at the two major papers in the Washington, D.C. area, The Washington Post and The Washington Times. Pick any day of the week, and find the…

The Rejection Line (thing)

2002-02-07T21:59:18Z

You and your friends have spent a fun night out at your local bar, getting rowdy and generally having a blast. Several of the bars other patrons have joined your group, and by the end, you seem to have a hanger on. They look at you with puppy dog eyes, and you know what is coming.

Can I get your number?

Now, you arent looking for anything, or maybe this person is a freak, but for whatever reason, you don't particularly feel like giving out your golden digits. What do you do?

Simple. Tell them your number is 212-479-7990.

Once dialed (and once they get past the busy signal), your numerical recipient will be greeted by The official New York Rejection Line!

So what does your caller hear? First they are told that they have been rejected. Then they are given 3 options:

Press 1 to "talk" to their comfort specialist.
Press 2 to hear a sad poem
Press 3 to cling to the unreasonable hope that a relationship is still possible.

…

World Economic Forum (thing)

2002-01-29T14:26:19Z

The World Economic Forum will be holding its annual meeting in New York City in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel at 301 Park Avenue (between 49th and 50th st.) from Thursday, January 31, 2002 until Monday, February 4, 2002. For more information about the meeting itself, you can go to:

http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Annual+Meeting+2002

The six themes of the conference are:

You can come to your own conclusions about whether you support or despise the aims and outcomes of the forum. Whether you support globalization, or against it, this meeting should spark some interest for you. What is truly interesting about this meeting to me, however, are…