Life has been very busy lately and I really haven't had much time to update you on things. First lets talk about some news!
First, I would like to relate a story to you about a certain consequence that came about due to the ban put in affect by President Obama against the use of torture at places like Guantanamo Bay to obtain information (holy cow that sentence is long and really confusing, but I'm not changing it). Essentially what has happened is PETA is looking to find a way to make this ban apply to animals. I quote: "Thousands of live animals are shot, stabbed, dismembered, burned, and poisoned every year in Department of Defense (DoD) training exercises designed to train medics and infantry in how to treat various human battlefield injuries. PETA is asking President Obama to issue an executive order requiring the DoD to replace animals with non-animal methods. These methods are readily available and already in use at several military installations. The non-animal methods include rotations in military trauma hospitals and the use of the DoD's own Combat Trauma Patient Simulator." Now, I understand that it is sort of inhumane to do these kinds of things to animals, but I must say that this is sort of a stretch. Most of the "testing" done on "live animals" in a military setting is actually done on dead pigs. They simulate human flesh very, very realistically. Anyway, that's not really the point. While it still remains true that there are animals used in military tests and they do usually die in somewhat cruel and unusual ways, but it is my personal opinion that its better for these tests to be done on animals than on humans. I mean, how would you feel if the US military was actively testing new weapons, such as, say...automatic grenade launchers, on humans? I think that's even more inhumane. PETA really wants you to write about to your congressman about how bad it is that goats and pigs are stabbed and monkeys are poisoned instead of humans in a polite, short, prewritten e-mail. If you feel like you would like to do that, please click here.
Next, I'd like to address a religious issue. It seems that a man in England has recently become dissatisfied with his baptism. John Hunt is a 56 year old resident of Croydon. He stopped believing in God at age 11 and stopped going to church. Now the atheist has asked the church to basically un-do his baptism on the grounds that the ceremony was not contestable by him in his infantile state, and he wants that pesky baptism thing off his chest. The church said that a baptism can't really be deleted because its a part of history...but the National Secular Society (NSS) shot back with a "de-baptism" certificate. It reads: "I reject all its creeds and other such superstitions in particular the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed of original sin." This form has now made it's round, and a lot of people have managed to get ahold of one...what a trend. More here.
Another amusing story I found involves a library in the Schaumburg Township District in Chicago. They are putting a ban on offensive odors. It's probably the most transparent attempt to eliminate homeless people from an establishment I've ever seen. Basically, it seems that there have been some people there that smell so badly that it has induced vomiting. I really doubt this fact, but anyway, the library is adding to its list of policies an ordinance on odor. I'd call that discrimination, especially in a public space, but hey, that's just me. More here.
My last news tid-bit involves the Finch Arboretum in Spokane, Washington. It seems that the place has recently been overrun by ground squirrels. The squirrels are known to dig tunnels that innocent folks can step into and fall down, as well as eat or damage tree roots. In response to this rising problem, the agency has brought in the big guns. A special machine called the Rodenator Pro is going to be used to "detonate" the squirrels. The Rodenator Pro works like this: it pumps the tunnels full of oxygen and propane and then sends in an electrical shock, igniting the gasses and killing the rodents. The residents living near the arboretum have been warned not to be alarmed if they hear sounds similar to gunshots or experience minor shaking or vibrations in or around their property. The company that makes and distributes the Rodenator is based out of Midvale, Ohio and claims on it's website that their product will take care of even the most serious problems, including but not limited to "Sabertoothed Gophers." You can find more here.
As for my personal news, I would like to recap my birthday events. As I recently mentioned, all of my friends up here threw me a little surprise party that even included a cake! It was a good time. Thank you all again! I also forgot to mention last time that while in Fort Collins, my Aunt Julie (who I call "aunt" here, but in reality she's my cousin) made me a batch of down-right fabulous cookies! I've eaten them all up by now, but they were wonderful down to the last bite.
As the week went on, I received quite a few birthday cards from the family. I decided to share them with you.
This first one, although a little odd was very funny. It came from my uncle Aaron and aunt Christina and their kids Samantha and Zoe. The gift that came with it was very very cool too, but I'm gonna come back to that in a later post. You'll see why.
This next one actually came with the aforementioned cookies, and is related to a previous post about my heritage. :) (please forgive me for the excess white space, the scanner was finicky...this is one of those cards that makes noise (toilet flushing), so the speaker got in the way a bit and didn't allow for smooth scanning)
This one came from my grandparents on my mom's side, Grandpa Harvey and Grandma Margy. :)
This one came from my other grandparents, Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Red. I love the Mercedes reference. :)
This one came from my Aunt Emily. :D
This one came from Emily's sister, Sheri, and her husband Jason, and their daughter Sarah. :) This one plays very serene music with chirpy birds.
This last one came from my parents. I love it. :)
Anyway, now that I've shared all those with you, this is the rest of my week....
Friday, I headed up to Denver to see my best buddy, Chance, and his girlfriend, Ginny, as well as a couple of other friends, Carolyn and Kelsey. Ginny baked me another cake, which was AWESOME! I think this is the only birthday that I've actually had two cakes. I was stoked. Needless to say, we had a good time. Thank you again Ginny for your hospitality. You are a wonderful girl, and I'm super duper excited Chance found you.
Saturday morning, well actually afternoon I guess, I caught I-25 up to Fort Collins to see some more friends. I had the opportunity to see my friends Cameron, Maddy, and Mike on campus at CSU, and we had an awesome time. After I left there, I headed over to my friend Alaina's house and got to meet her roommate, who she just happened to be having a dance party with in the kitchen. It was a fun time. We watched Fight Club and had wonderful angel food cake. So...here's a shout out to Alaina: THANK YOU SO MUCH! She even let me use her Wall-E pillow! I was super excited. :)
The following day was of course Easter! I went and saw some family, namely Aunt Julie, her husband, Scott and my little cousin Jake. We headed over to my cousin Mara's house and hung out and had lunch with more family and friends. More thanks goes to all my family, but especially to Julie and Scott, who I've really taken a liking to. Julie and I hadn't seen each other, at least not really, for a number of years, and I hadn't seen Scott in over 13. Its been really good to get to know them a little bit, and I hope to see them a lot more over the next few years.
After the Easter festivities, I headed back to Boulder. Yay for school!
Anyway, I think you all are up to speed by now.
There's only one thing left to do.
I have a really good friend out there, who also just happens to be my cousin. Her name is Sheridan, and she's Julie's daughter. I've recently had the privilege to get to know her as well, but it's just a wee-bit different: she lives in Tennessee. We got back in touch after about 7 years through good ol' Facebook, and now I don't go a day without talking to her. Right now she's going through that rough but wonderful time in life called "Graduation." She's all stressed about the ceremony, the family, and about college. Well, having lived through it, I'd like to dedicate this song to you Sheridan.
Three Little Birds - Bob Marley & The Wailers
Just remember: One foot in front of the other. Breathe...it's condusive to living. You're gonna come out of it just fine.
With that said, I think I'm gonna go to bed.
Goodnight,
-Brad
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