(Crossposted from the American Constitution Society :: Columbia Law School and www.sauntering.blogspot.com)

Although I do not agree with people who find a right to privately own firearms in the 2^nd Amendment to the Constitution, I see their point. This amendment — along with a Congressional Commerce Power limited only by prudence and a 9^th Amendment that either does nothing or everything — represents some of the most ambiguous, sloppy drafting in the entire Constitution. Although I don't think you have the constitutional right to buy one gun per month (a limit Virginia has placed on individual gun ownership), I see how people can seize upon the 2^nd Amendment's sloppy drafting to claim that they do have such a right.

On the other hand, the people whom I do not understand are those people who ignore the historical accident of the 2^nd Amendment and attempt to argue from first principles that a universally armed society is preferable to a less-than-fully-armed one.

When Kathryn Lopez, conservative blogger at The Corner on National Review Online, says:

If you want domestic tranquillity, an armed and responsible citizenry ready and able to protect life and property is not a bad way to start.

...she is calling for a type of Wild West society that has been rejected by the rest of the developed world.

Argue from the Constitution that you have a 2^nd Amendment right to private gun ownership and I'll begrudgingly admit that you have a textual leg to stand on. Argue from first principles that the best society is one where we're all armed and I'll remind you that you stand in sharp disagreement with the rest of the developed world.

Update (4/19): My brother-in-law & sister-in-law (...once removed? What do you call the person who married your brother-in-law?) are living in France for several months, and here's Ilia's take on the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

The most telling passage:

In reading the French newspapers concerning the tragedy I noticed that they kept using the English terms "mass murder" and "school shootings" in lieu of using a similar phrase in French. Is it that they simply don't have the words for such atrocities, or are they so common in the US as to be better known around the world by their English names?

Ooh Baby, Baby, It's a Toxic Word

Alas, I return to the keyboard. It has been dusted off and I am ready to write. Life has been increasingly busy and my efforts have been directed toward my work at the Law Firm and establishing my new consulting business. Once you read through this blog you will understand why it took me two weeks to get it posted. There is a lot of information to be considered.

It was almost by accident that I stumbled upon what is now of great interest of mine. All over this country there are locations saturated by toxic substances. Such substances have been either dumped, leaked, "forgotten about" or otherwise mysteriously placed at these sites. It is invariably the case that these locations and the substances thereby rendering them hazardous and in many cases fatal were put in their current place by the same corporations that built your car, donated to your local YMCA, manufactured the materials that build your house and give your house the energy it needs to satisfy yourself and those who reside there with you. Additionally these are the corporations that stabilize your local, state and national economy. All such elements are indeed of value to a society but the question that lingers is clear. At what cost are the said elements of value arrived at?

The purpose of this blog posting is not dive head long into the wealth of information and studies of morbidity with regards to the cause and effect relationship between those whom have suffered at the hands of the the individuals and corporations within the asbestos industry. However, a statement of impact should be recognized.

Asbestos related diseases including Asbestosis, Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma kill ten-thousand people a year and recent data that has been disclosed by the Environmental Protection Agencies of both the state and federal authority indicates that because the relationship between Asbestos exposure and the onset of Asbestos related diseases, 10,000 deaths a year is low end estimate.


The industrial chemicals that are used by manufacturing plants are by no stretch of the imagination safe. In many cases the solvents used by tanneries, chemical engineering plants, military engineers, warship builders, automobile manufactures and even companies that provide canned food and crayons have a profile of toxic substances that lists longer than the grocery list of a small Mormon community. Evidencing this is, are what the EPA calls "Superfund" sites. Superfund sites are the nation's worst toxic waste sites: 1,305 are scheduled for cleanup on the National Priorities List (NPL). About 11 million people in the U.S., including 3-4 million children, live within 1 mile of a federal Superfund site and confront potential public health risks. Scorecard profiles the risks these sites pose to public health and the environment. Scorecard ranks sites by how high they scored in EPA's Hazard Ranking System, and states and counties by number of Superfund sites.


The EPA claims to be impartial however, after scrutinizing which of these Superfund sites are associated with major corporations, one will start to see that the system which was set in place by the EPA for purposes of being in compliance with legislation that was passed in the early part of 20th century and more recently the Superfund Act of 1986. It seems that compliance with the Superfund Act and other relevant legislation has brought on more of a problem recognizing system opposed to a problem solving system. Many of the Superfund sites have been labled dilapidated for some twenty years now. Further, many have been consequential to the communities around them. Pregnant women and children most commonly the victims of exposure. One famous and mortifying case can be found in Ringwood New Jersey where Ford Automotive Company dumped toxic solvents and paint that were laced with but not toxicity is not limited to trichlorethelene (TCE) , Xylene, Benzene and Benzene derivatives and Lead. Other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) have been detected and found to dramatically exceed levels that can be rendered safe. Women and children have been plagued with Leukemia and other malignant and non-malignant diseases that have been causally linked with exposure to heavy metals and solvents. For more PLEASE go to http://www.toxiclegacy.com/

Another case, which inspired Johnathan Harr to write the Non-fiction book A Civil Action can be found in a small town outside Boston called Woburn. Extremely high incidence illness and childhood death due to Leukemia was exposed and shown to be the result of the massive dumping and burial of drums full of TCE (trichloralethylene) and Tetrachloroethylene or otherwise known as PERC by Beatrice Chemicals, J.J. Riley Tannery and the bankrupt Asbestos defendant, as well as historically sketchy W.R. Grace. These two incidents should not be taken lightly and should not be considered isolated events. 1,305 locations have been labled Superfund sites however, the potential for toxic exposure to the same and other fatal substances remains inflated.

The California East Bay portion of the SF Bay Area has three sites that have been determined by the EPA as National Priority Cleanup sites. Essentially, to qualify for this status under the EPA a site has to be EXTREMELY TOXIC. Both water and air test samples has to have a toxicity factor that can be understood as lethal when exposed to small amounts. I grew up in and around these areas and I have listed below a detailed summary of what the EPA has found and where the locations are. Please inquire further should you misunderstand the chemistry or any substance(s) I hope to be posting a summary on basic Chemistry as it relates to being exposed to hazardous substances in both the organic and inorganic states.



Alameda County, Oakland California AMCO Superfund Site
Site Name:
AMCO CHEMICAL

EPA ID:
CA0001576081

Address:
1414 THIRD STOAKLAND, CA 94617
Site Ownership:
Unknown
Category of Site:

No data
Date of Final Listing on the NPL:
September 29, 2003


Conditions at Proposal (April 30, 2003): The AMCO Chemical site (AMCO) is part of a 0.83-acre property at 1414 Third Street in a mixed residential and light industrial area of Oakland, California. The property is bordered on the north by a vacant lot, on the west by residences, on the east by Nelson Mandela Parkway, and on the south by Third Street. A recently constructed elevated portion of the Interstate-880 (I-880) freeway is located immediately across Third Street from the property. The property (at 1401 Third Street) was historically occupied by Bobo's Junkyard. From the 1960s to 1989, the AMCO site was occupied by AMCO Chemical Company. AMCO operated a chemical distribution facility that included a warehouse, railroad spur, above-ground tanks, underground tanks, and drums used to transfer and store raw materials. In July 1988, the Oakland Fire Department observed "leaking/rotting drums" on the property. A subsequent emergency response investigation by Alameda County and the U.S. Coast Guard revealed greater than 100 full and empty 5- and 55-gallon weathered drums in an open area behind AMCO Chemical's main building. Stenciled labels on the drums indicated that the contents included acetone; 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA); methyl ethyl ketone; and dry-cleaning solvent. From 1989 to November 1998, DC Metals operated a scrap metal yard on the site. Cable Moore, Inc., currently uses the site for cable storage. Structures remaining on site include an office building, warehouse, and two small storage buildings.

In June 1995, a construction crew noted odors at the intersection of Third Street and Nelson Mandela Parkway, while excavating a trench needed to relocate an underground electrical line in preparation for a freeway project. Subsequent subsurface investigation by California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), DC Metals, and EPA revealed the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including vinyl chloride in soil, soil gas, and shallow ground water at the AMCO site, beneath Third Street, and at the 1401 Third Street property (former Bobo's Junkyard). On December 5, 1996, the EPA Emergency Response Office initiated a removal action at the AMCO site that involved the construction of a ground water and soil vapor extraction (SVE) treatment system. The EPA treatment system collection trench was excavated from December 5 through December 20, 1996. By December 23, 1996, the trench had been lined with a silt curtain, filled with gravel, and covered with a tarp. Cement was poured to permanently cover the trench on January 8, 1997. The treatment system operated from January 1997 through July 1998 and extracted approximately 7,000 pounds of VOCs, approximately 40 pounds of which were vinyl chloride. Operation of the system ceased in July 1998, due to community concern over the potential for a release of dioxins from the thermal oxidation unit. On December 5 and 14, 1996, during construction of the treatment system collection trench, the EPA On-Scene Coordinator observed shimmering vapors emanating from the open trench. SUMMA (tm) canister sampling indicated the presence of vinyl chloride; methylene chloride; 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA); and trichloroethene (TCE) in the immediate area of the trench. In addition, one SUMMA canister sample collected from in front of a residence adjacent to the site contained TCE. The EPA conducted several sampling events on and adjacent to the AMCO site between 1997 and 2000. VOCs continued to be detected in soil, soil gas, and ground water on site. In September 1999, SUMMA canister samples were collected from the crawl spaces of three residences located adjacent to the site. Vinyl chloride was detected in the three crawl spaces at 0.02 to 0.045 parts per billion by volume (ppbv). There are 626 people living within a quarter of a mile of the source. There are also approximately three workers on site. Status (September 2003): EPA is considering various alternatives for this site.



Detected Hazards
Contaminants Detected Profile
GroundWater --- YES
SurfaceWater --- YES
Air --- YES
Soil --- YES
Other

1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE
1,1-DICHLOROETHANE
1,2,3-TRICHLOROBENZENE
1,2,4-TRICHLOROBENZENE
1,2,4-TRIMETHYLBENZENE
1,2-DICHLOROBENZENE
1,2-DICHLOROETHANE
1,3-DICHLOROBENZENE
1,4-DICHLOROBENZENE
1-ISOPROPYL-4-METHYLBENZENE
2-PHENYLBUTANE
CHLOROBENZENE
CHLOROETHANE
CIS-1,2-DICHLOROETHYLENE
CUMENE
DICHLOROMETHANE
MESITYLENE
METHYL ISOBUTYL KETONE
N-PROPYLBENZENE
NAPHTHALENE
TETRACHLOROETHYLENE
TRICHLOROETHYLENE
VINYL CHLORIDE



Alameda Naval Air Station (this should not be a surprise almost all former Naval stations are full of toxic hazards)
Site Name: ALAMEDA NAVAL AIR STATION
EPA ID: CA2170023236
Address:
W END CITY OF ALAMEDA, ALAMEDA, CA 94501
Other Names:
NAVAL AIR STATION ALAMEDA
Site Ownership:
Federally Owned
Category of Site:
No data
Date of Final Listing on the NPL:
July 22, 1999

Conditions at Proposal (May 10, 1999): Alameda Naval Air Station's mission was to maintain and operate facilities and provide support services for fleet aviation activities of the U.S. Navy. Historically, the site was occupied by BORAX processing plan t, an OIL refinery, and an airport for the city of Alameda. In 1 930, the site was purchased by the U.S. Army. In 1936, the U.S. Navy acquired the site and in 1940, the site was officially commissioned. Currently, the site covers approximately 1,600 acres of dry land and 1,000 acres of submerged land on the island of Alameda, California. The eastern portion of the site is devoted to office space, residential housing, and industrial facilities. Run ways and support facilities occupy the western part of the site. The facility was closed by the Navy in 1997. The U.S. Navy's Initial Assessment Study identified 12 potential hazardous waste sources at Alameda Naval Air Station (NAS), four of which were ultimately recommended for further investigation. However, the California Environmental Protection Agency, department of Toxic Substances Control (formerly known as the California Department of Health Services, Toxic Substances Control Division), identified 16 additional sources at the site in a Remedial Action Order to the U.S. Navy. Subsequently five more sources w ere also identified. Consequently, remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) activities are being conducted at 25 areas on site, including the West Beach Landfill. The West Beach Landfill occupies approximately 110 acres in the southwestern corner of the site. Approximately seventeen of these acres are now marshland. The West Beach Landfill is bordered to the west and south by the San Francisco Bay, and to the north and east by runways.

Materials reportedly disposed of in the northeast portion of the West Beach Landfill include polychlorinated BIPHENYL (PCB)-contaminated transformer oils, PCB-contaminated TAC rags, and carbonless paper containing PCBS. The southwest p ortion of the landfill was used for the disposal of PCB-contaminated dredge spoils, which for the most part came from Alameda Nava l Air Station's pier areas, turning basin, and entrance channel. Analytical results of samples collected from the southwest porti on of the landfill indicated the presence of PCBS up to 483.9 MIC rograms per kilogram. Approximately 17 acres of marsh cover most of the southwest portion of the West Beach Landfill. Results of a preliminary wet land delineation study identified wetland hydrology, hydric soils , and hydrophytic vegetation (as outlined in the 1987 Corps of Engineer Wetland Delineation Manual) in the West Beach Landfill marsh. The West Beach Landfill marsh is dominated by pickle weed, an obligate wetland species. Property which has been identified as uncontaminated at Alameda NAS by the Navy pursuant to CERCLA Section 120(h)(4)(a), which has received regulatory agency concurrence pursuant to 120(h)(4 )(b), is not part of the NPL site. Parcel Numbers 39, 60, 63, 93, 101, and 194 were identified and concurred on as uncontaminated, and therefore, are not part of the Alameda NAS NPL site. If additional uncontaminated property at Alameda NAS is identified in the future and receives appropriate regulatory agency concurrence, it will not be considered part of the NPL site. By definition, the NPL site consists of locations where releases of hazardous substances have occurred.

If information becomes available indica ting that parcels previously thought to be uncontaminated are in fact impacted by hazardous substances, these releases will be considered part of the NPL site. The NAS Alameda NPL listing is not intended to include the subsurface soil contamination layer known as the former marsh crust and sub tidal area. This 1 to 2 foot thick layer of soil contaminated with POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHS) is buried an average depth of 8 to 15 feet below ground surface throughout most of the facility. Currently, a feasibility study has been drafted for the former marsh crust and sub tidal area, and EPA anticipates that an institutional control will be implemented to address this issue towards the end of 1999. Before the Navy can transfer portions of the base property that are otherwise clean, it must satisfy CERCLA 120(h) requirements for closing military bases. Any other hazardous substance releases from the facility are included in this NPL listing. Status (July 1999): EPA is considering various alternatives for this site. [The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was scored. The description ma y change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991 or subsequent FR notices.]

Contaminants Detected Profile

GroundWater
SurfaceWater --YES

POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
Don't be fooled by there only being one contaminant detected. Substances such a PCBs are EXTREMELEY dangerous when detected in surface water.
Lawrence Livermore Lab (don't be suprised to see the state of affairs here is BAD, this site is owned by Uncle Sam)


Site Name:
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY (USDOE)
EPA ID:
CA2890012584
Address:
7000 EAST AVELIVERMORE, CA 94550
Other Names:
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LAB (USDOE)
Site Ownership:
Federally Owned
Category of Site:
Federal Facility
Date of Final Listing on the NPL:
July 22, 1987

California Conditions at proposal (October 15, 1984): Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) covers about l square mile and is situated about 3 miles east of the densely populated city of Livermore, Alameda County, California. It was first used in the 1940s as a Naval Air Station. In 1952, it was transferred to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and established as a nuclear weapons and magnetic fusion energy research facility. It is now operated by the University of California for the owner, the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE). Throughout its history, hazardous materials have been used, stored, and disposed of on the property. Solvents, PETROLEUM, and other organic chemicals used on-site have been found in the soils and ground water both on-site and off-site. Sources of discharge of hazardous materials into the ground water at the site include two known landfills where solvents and other chemicals were disposed of, as well as outdoor storage facilities, underground tanks, and pipelines. In September 1984, the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) issued an Order for Compliance to LLNL to provide alternative water supplies to residents west of the facility whose wells had been contaminated by hazardous substances from LLNL. The order also directed LLNL to conduct a ground water investigation. Status (July 22, 1987): In November 1985, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (CRWQCB) issued an order directing LLNL to investigate and clean up the on-and off-site contamination. In response, LLNL has been investigating the source and the vertical and lateral extent of the contamination of soil and ground water. In 1986, a plume of ground water contaminated with VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, primarily TETRACHLOROETHYLENE, was found to have migrated 3,600 feet west of LLNL. LLNL (with oversight from EPA, CRWQCB, and CDHS) is continuing to investigate the extent of soil and ground water contamination at the facility. To date, LLNL has installed over 160 monitoring wells.

EPA is currently negotiating an Interagency Agreement with USDOE and LLNL to cover cleanup activities under CERCLA Section 120. LLNL has applied for permits under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for an incinerator and for a new treatment and storage facility. To date, no other RCRA units have been identified requiring closure or corrective action. Within the boundaries of this Federal facility, there are areas subject to the RCRA Subtitle C corrective action authorities. However, no such areas were included in scoring this specific site. Therefore, this Federal facility site is being placed on the Federal section of the NPL under the NPL/RCRA policy announced on September 8, 1983 (48 FR 40662).

SPECIAL TO THIS SITE THE EPA TELLS US THE FOLLOWING FUN FACT

Both on- and off-site groundwater are contaminated with VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCS) and CHROMIUM. Fuel HYDROCARBONS including BENZENE and ETHYLENE DIBROMIDE, the heavy metal LEAD, and TRITIUM appear only in wells on site. Soil excavated from the site was contaminated with solvents, radioactive wastes, HEAVY METALS, POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS), and fuel HYDROCARBONS. Soils remaining on site contain VOCS, TRITIUM, PCBS, fuel HYDROCARBONS, and inorganic substances. People may face a health threat if they ingest or come in direct contact with contaminated water or soil.

Groundwater and Drinking Water
Were drinking water wells shut down due to contamination?
Yes
Population served by the wells now shut down:
101 - 500
Are drinking water wells potentially threatened?
Yes
Population served by the threatened wells:
10,001 - 100,000
Aquifer discharges into:
A drinking water aquifer

Surface water
Population served by water wells in the aquifer:
10,001 - 100,000Contaminants Detected Profile
Contaminants Detected

GroundWater --Yes
SurfaceWater -- Yes
Air --- Likely
Soil --- Yes
Other ---- STUDIES AND ASSESMENTS STILL PENDING
CHLOROFORM
TETRACHLOROETHYLENE
TRICHLOROETHYLENE
-----------------------------
BJM -- Unedited 5/27/2007

There is Dust all over me, I have sat here too long.

I am the symbol of a generation lost in its own translation of "identity." I like the author below develop my internal angst from the spoiled connections and exploited powers that have given rise to the condition of normality. I write because people won't listen, I yell because I cannot be herd and I weep because people cannot or will not notice. You laugh because I weep, you speak because you cannot hear, you yell because you cannot understand. If people can rise up to overcome that which they have been conditioned to accept as proper, functioning and irreprehensible then I wish they would. I am fatigued by the mistranslated four syllable words that end in "ism"... What are you today, what were you yesterday and what will you become. What is the extent to which you claim to be normal and why do you point the finger at the cronies when the encrypted bar code on the back of your neck reads USA when it is scanned. The broken, disconnected, disenfranchised do exists. Claim you are A free thinking individual but consciously be aware the extent of your thinking only fits within the frame of a doorway. Stand in front of the door that has a chromium sign on it that reads do not enter. You notice the door is locked. Not only shouldn't you enter but you have sacrificed your ability to so. Turn the other cheek and fascinate yourself with meaningless delusions and non existent realities that repetitively revolved around your existence. When the realm you call your universe is your own self-edifying thoughts, what are you part of the sample or the population. Can you read this and not be offended or pass judgment about the author(s). Are you of the man cow existence branded, bar coded and distributed? Do you sit in chair and rock back and fourth and wish you were less contrite.

Chapter I. Page I. Paragraph I. Paraphrased

I AM A SICK MAN.... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don't consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors. Besides, I am extremely superstitious, sufficiently so to respect medicine, anyway (I am well-educated enough not to be superstitious, but I am superstitious). No, I refuse to consult a doctor from spite. That you probably will not understand. Well, I understand it, though. Of course, I can't explain who it is precisely that I am mortifying in this case by my spite: I am perfectly well aware that I cannot "pay out" the doctors by not consulting them; I know better than anyone that by all this I am only injuring myself and no one else. But still, if I don't consult a doctor it is from spite. My liver is bad, well -- let it get worse!

I have been doing this for years.

I used to be in the government service, but am no longer. I was a spiteful official. I was rude and took pleasure in being so. I did not take bribes, you see, so I was bound to find a recompense in that, at least. (A poor jest, but I will not scratch it out. I wrote it thinking it would sound very witty; but now that I have seen myself that I only wanted to show off in a despicable way, I will not scratch it out on purpose!)
When petitioners used to come for information to the table at which I sat, I used to grind my teeth at them, and felt intense enjoyment when I succeeded in making anybody unhappy. I almost did succeed. For the most part they were all timid people -- of course, they were petitioners. But of the uppish ones there was one officer in particular I could not endure. He simply would not be humble, and clanked his sword in a disgusting way. I carried on a feud with him for eighteen months over that sword. At last I got the better of him. He left off clanking it. That happened in my youth, though.
But do you know, gentlemen, what was the chief point about my spite? Why, the whole point, the real sting of it lay in the fact that continually, even in the moment of the acutest spleen, I was inwardly conscious with shame that I was not only not a spiteful but not even an embittered man, that I was simply scaring sparrows at random and amusing myself by it. I might foam at the mouth, but bring me a doll to play with, give me a cup of tea with sugar in it, and maybe I should be appeased. I might even be genuinely touched, though probably I should grind my teeth at myself after-wards and lie awake at night with shame for months after. That was my way.
I was lying when I said just now that I was a spiteful official. I was lying from spite. I was simply amusing myself with the petitioners and with the officer, and in reality I never could become spiteful. I was conscious every moment in myself of many, very many elements absolutely opposite to that. I felt them positively swarming in me, these opposite elements. I knew that they had been swarming in me all my life and craving some outlet from me, but I would not let them, would not let them, purposely would not let them come out. They tormented me till I was ashamed: they drove me to convulsions and -- sickened me, at last, how they sickened me! Now, are not you fancying, gentlemen, that I am expressing remorse for something now, that I am asking your forgiveness for something? I am sure you are fancying that ... However, I assure you I do not care if you are....

Coming Down in the Rain

Flipped into the wind

Like the ashes of her cigarette
He got scattered thrown on the breeze
As he tried to forget
He lost all his heat
And his heart never will be the same
He got lighter than air
But he'll only come down in the rain

Strung out and hung out to dry

Laughin' under the line
It's not such a dignified place
But he really don't mind
He says with his feet on the ground
He'd have nothin' to say
Claims he likes it up there
And he'll only come down in the rain

Comin' down in the rain

Washin' outta the sky
Loaded down with the pain
There just ain't no way to fly
You can read him as clear
As the wall where he once wrote his name
It was right next to hers
But it'll only come down in the rain

Burnin' himself out on a limb
Like a leaf in the fall
He blazed for awhile
Now he's feelin' all dried up and small
The colors all gone
Disappeared
Near as quick as they came
He says he can't stay up here
But, he'll only come down in the rain

You can read him as clear as the wall
Where he once wrote his name
It was right next to hers
But he'll only come down in the rain

Way to Go Einstein

"God... Seperated the light from the darkness." Genisis 1:3 NIV
A university professor challenged his class by asking "Did God create everything?" A student raised his hand and said "Yes" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then he created evil too. And since our works define who we are then God is evil. The class became silent. Suddenly, another student raised his hand and asked, "Professor, does darkness exist? The responded "Yes." The student replied, "No sir, darkness does not exists. Darkness is just the absence of light. Light, we can study but not darkness in fact we can use Newton's prism to break the white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. But you cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present" Then the young man asked, "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course." To this, the student replied, "No, evil does not exists, sir, or least it does not exist unto itself. It is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness, a word that man has created to describe the absence of light. God did not created evil. It is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. Evil is like the cold that comes when there is not heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light" The professor in contemplation, sat down. This young student would go on later to bring the world to a whole new concept and understanding of itself with his theory special and general relativity. One may suggest that after the professor sat down he said "Way to go Eistein" and the term seems to have stuck ever since.
Posted by Mr. Ben at 5:36 AM

In the end


All will be settled
All will be said
All will be thought
All will be resting
All will be blessed
All will be scary
All will be new
All will be unencumbered
All will be still
All will be loved

In the end
Their will be tears
Their will be pain
Their will be fears
Their will be cessation
Their will be prospects
Their will be hope
Their will be reasons
Their will be freedom
Their will be new path ways to traverse
Their will be silence
Their will be noise
Their will be regret
Their will be stillness
Their will be Love

In the end
I will laugh
I will cry
I will be carried
I will be scared
I will be scarred
I will recover
I will be better
I will be strong
I will have Faith
I will be still
I will be loved


In the end
We will search
We will find
We will be settled
We will be silent
We will teach
we will be re-energized
we will be scared
We will be sad
We will lie down
We will rise
We will be still
We will be Loved

In the end
They will have joy
They will have closure
They will not resent
They will remember
They will have treasures
They will have each other
They will carry on separately
They will listen
They will pray
They will be still
They will be loved

In the end
You will be thankful
You will be tired
You will need rest
You will be excited
You will be confused
You will be different
You will be distant
You will be still
You will be Loved

In the end
Gray clouds will scatter and show the blue sky
Night will become calm
Day will be agreeable
Withering roses will once again bloom
unknowingness will be understanding
Futures will be unknown
Silence will settle
New bridges will be built
The swamp will no longer be murky
Aggetation will be stillness
Love will be pristine

In the End
There will be you
There will be me
We will be still
We will be Loved
We will be Loved
We will be Loved

In the End

BJM

5/4/2007

My Totally Rad Lyrics

Eddie Money's classic song about having nightmares and being taken home by a stranger called Take Me Home Tonight, can and will make you a better person if you sing it with others while inside a garage. Personally, I am particularly inspired by the line "Let's find the key and turn this engine on." So, I decided to write the following lyrics...


Ooh you are spicy
Like picante chili
I can feel my mouth burn
When you are on your way
Get in my hybrid S-U-V (whispered in the background by the best singers in Tahiti
Hold on tight cause your riding with Meeeeeeeeeeeeeee -- Oh oh yea, un-huh

Chorus
Lets make some energy
To run this car
Take it to the limits honey
lets go too far
Oooh yea!

The cement melts when you walk by
Come a little closer baby and you'll see
I am all the man you want I am all the man you need
I can feel you baby when I grind my teeth
Get in baby, let make some energy ooh uh uh yea, turn it up
(in the background, spicy like chili)

solo
Chorus
End