John Hattaway

I’ve made no bones about what I think in relation to hunting. I think hunting, in general, is an abhorrent activity and for the majority of people who hunt, it is done as a sport with the intent to kill and not to feed and as a result, is an activity that (in my opinion) should be reserved for necessity and not for posterity. One of my favorite TV shows (Sports Night, only available on DVD) has an episode where Jeremy “gets the call” and is sent to produce a segment with a hunter out shooting big game. Other than the overtly political statements made in the show, Jeremy describes a rather romantic view of Native Americans and their reverence for the animals they hunted and killed for food and fur. The meat was used to eat and the fur was used to cloth and protect. In the romantic view of the show, every element of the animal was used and the Native Americans gave thanks to the God’s in the hopes that they would eat through the winter and that the God’s would be kind to them for a few months. I don’t believe in an overtly religious or romantic view of hunting either.

What I do believe is that animals are on the earth for a purpose. There are biological necessities that an abundance of animals are meant to answer. Some are to feed other animals, other animals exist to keep herd levels low. Most animals on the planet refuse to be domesticated. People have been trying to domesticate elk and deer for as long as people have hunted them (controllable herds are easier to handle than wild herds). However, deer, elk, moose, and others animal herds have refused to be domesticated for a variety of reasons and as a result we end up with sheep and cows.

Religiously, Adam (first man) was given dominion over the beasts of the field or over all animals. Throughout history, the idea (or notion) of Adam (representing humanity) being the dominant species on the planet has led to arguments about what Adam is meant to do in relation to the animal. In some instances, there have been complete eradication of species (ever hear of the dodo???); and at other instances, we have over protected species that are distinct not because of genetic differences but because they exist in a specific area separated by land mass or water mass. As a result of this, there is an on-going dialogue about what the nature of Adam’s responsibility with animals is.

Some people believe that animals (in this context cows) are equal to human beings. As a result, if you have a cow and want to kill it, then you are committing murder because killing a cow is like killing a human being. This applies human principles and ideology to an animal that cannot express more than needs and wants. If a cow is hungry it moos and gets food. If it wants out of its pen it makes different noises, noses at the barriers, and left alone, will force itself out of whatever pen you have it in. Animals do not have the necessary or functional capacity to express more than want of food, want of sex, or want of freedom and cannot tell someone else (to include other animals) why it believes or what it believes or how it believes or even, for that matter, form a belief.

People, though, have a tendency to take animals, especially comfort pets, and apply more personality or ability or thought process than actually exists. I don’t disagree that animals can’t express love and affection, but in allowing for the expression this implies that the feelings or expressions are base and do not require higher thought or construction of relationship. Spend enough time with anyone or anything and you will form an attachment and that attachment will instinctively be described as love. Love is more complex than that and I believe that we often apply an attachment to an animal that doesn’t belong.

As a result, I believe that we love animals and that animals respond to that love, and that we often assume that in respond (or the animals response) is love, but that animals do not actually recognize love; at least, not in the way we recognize love.

Animals cannot legally defend themselves. They cannot build buildings. They don’t create technology and they cannot communicate adaquately. As a result, the only reason that animals have rights is because people give them rights. And as Adam, I do believe it is our responsibility to make sure that the wonton destruction of anything is curbed or (in some cases) completely curtailed. I do not believe that killing animals for food is wrong.

Killing animals simply because they exist is wrong.

The outcome of these thoughts is witnessing the butchering process of a series of bulls. The day started (for me) at 4:45 a.m. when I drove to campus, parked in a “Y” lot and hiked up to where the professor of the class and I parked the vans we would be driving. I got in mine, started it, and then pulled it to the curb and started letting people on board. By 5:40 a.m. we were on the road to Spanish Fork, UT where the LDS church owns and operates a slaughter house. It is visible from the Interstate and is also a non-descript building that doesn’t suggest slaughterhouse or anything else, but would fit comfortably in an industrial neighborhood.

We walked into the building. Inside we were ushered into a room and told to put on white jackets and hair nets. No one looks good in a hair net, just so you know. After that we walked through a couple of doors into one of the coldest buildings of my life. As we walked through we were taken past a line of butchers who were cutting up the outcome of the end of the slaughterhouse we’d come to see… the sides of beef.

Once we got to the Killing Room Floor, the butchers had already killed one of the bulls and it was hanging by one of its rear hoofs from the ceiling. As we stood there I looked into the face of this dead animal, blood dripping into a grate on the floor, and two (slightly overweight) men with knives and sharpeners beginning to cut into the hide of the animal. The first cut (other than to drain the blood) is straight up the stomach from neck to tail. From there, the butchers work on removing the hide from the animal. This is completed when the animal is moved a few feet down to a roller with chains that attach to the hide of the animal and slowly (as the butchers run knives to continue loosening the hide from the meet) roll onto the roller. Before all of this happens, they use pneumatic saws and pneumatic cutting scissors to cut parts of the cow off (to include the hooves.

As soon as the head and hide are off the animal, one of the butchers uses a band saw to (literally) cut the remaining animal in half. This is where we get sides of been and, in a matter of days, where the butchers cutting the rips and various cuts of beef into their component parts, will eventually get the animal. After the animal is cut in two, the sides are weighed and you get the after-slaughter weight of the animal. This weight is about 60% less than the starting weight of the animal. When the sides are weighed one side and then the other goes through a shower of citric acid that is meant to kill off bacteria. From here the two sides are moved into a freezer room where they will sit for a couple of days. From there various cuts are taken from the sides.

What impressed me about the process is that nothing on a cow is wasted. The hide is literally turned into leather or other products. The bones are ground down and used for dog treats and other things. Even the blood is and can be used for fertilizer. Every part gets used.

When we were done looking at the various butchering and slaughtering operations, our guide took us over to where beef is ground and packaged as well as where hotdogs and baloney is produced and then packaged. This was (for me) the worst part of the entire trip as this part of the building smelled like hotdogs and as a result, when we left, the entire group smelled like hotdogs. Even though the hotdog process was rather interesting (the hotdogs have to be removed from casings before being packaged which happens in a machine that shoots the hotdogs and shoots them into a container like a shotgun). What we learned was that hotdogs have to be cooked for 170-ish seconds at 148 degrees Fahrenheit.

I went into this expecting to feel sad or bad or upset or even sick at the prospect of these animals being killed and then cut into pieces. Admittedly, when I looked at the first bull I thought I should be sad. And I was. But then I started to think about the process. Specifically, that I have no problem eating hamburgers or steaks or other animal byproducts. As that thought occurred to me, what I watched was not the slaughtering of an animal that was meant to feed. The outcome was that everything that started came out of a living animal would end up somewhere else and would be used. Death in this case results in life somewhere else. The bulls all died to preserve and promote life. Their lives were not wasted.

Religiously, Adam was given dominion over the beasts of the field. This means that he was given a stewardship. As the offspring of Adam are the stewards of the animals, it is our responsibility to ensure that we are not needlessly destroying the very creatures we are stewards of.

There are people and groups that would kill just for the sake of killing things. There are other peope who would stop the killing and force everyone else to move to a vegan diet.

Finding a middle ground is essential for the preservation of life and it is also essential that we legislate standards for the ethical treatment of all animals. In the context of animals for slaughter, their lives before death should be humane. What I witnessed from the initial killing of the animals (because they were bulls and have thick skulls shotguns are used) through the gutting, skinning, and butchering process was exactly what was necessary and nothing more.

Erin shared with me a website: http://www.themeatrix.com/. This is a parody of The Matrix but exposing the meat industry for what it is. This is shared to show you that, in some instances (not all) the inhumane treatment of animals can exist. The Meatrix is one view of the industry and I believe it is a bad one. My father worked for the USDA in the OIG and investigated companies and people who committed crimes. He has seen the seedy underbelly.

The long and short of it, for me, was that the experience was positive. No. I wouldn’t want to work in the industry killing and cutting up cattle; and no, I am not going to stop eating meat or beef. Hopefully the class will decide, pretty universally, that they want to go to the feed lots in a week or two. The process of cattle production starts in the fields and pastures and with cattle drives and herds and moves to feed lots before ending at the slaughter house (for meat cows). I can’t wait to see the preceding step in the process.

Real Heroes Fly

I think I’m tired of defending why I will vote for Barrack Obama. It doesn’t need defense. Sure, I am open about the decision and on occasion I will outline some of the reasons I think he is a better candidate than John McCain. Truth told, if we drop this argument down to a separation between the lesser of two evils, I believe (and yes, the connotation of belief as a religious element is intentional) that Obama is the lesser of the two evils and that John McCain is the greater of the two evils. Do I actually like either candidate? No. Nor do I think we are better off in the long run having one over the other. However, I am going in a different direction in my opinion than outlining why Obama is better than McCain.

Late at night a couple of times a week I’ve taken to driving codename: CAMPER around. There are two reasons behind this. First, he sleeps. Second, Erin sleeps. And since I need Erin to sleep so she can feel as though she has the ability to take care of codename: CAMPER, it is appropriate and necessary for me to make sure that the urgency Erin feels with codename: CAMPER is crying is removed. He falls asleep relatively quickly when in the car and I get to drive all over the place. Since I like driving and I don’t necessarily get to do it as often as I like, or for the kinds of distances I enjoy, this is a win-win: Erin gets rest and I get to feel as though I am psuedo road tripping. With that said, this is where I started to think about this and this is not an element to the argument.

John McCain is a bad choice as president. He has repeatedly shown that he makes rash and poor decisions. When it came time to decide on his running mate, instead of picking someone with any experience he decided on someone he could market as a “maverick” and who has no experience. What he did was choose someone that had no experience, brought net-zero to his ticket, and is anything but a maverick. In fact, McCain marketing himself as a “maverick” is a rather large joke as his record in Washington D.C. is pretty much what one would expect of a politician who represents his constituents in a relatively liberal state with a history (since McCain) of voting for the Democratic party. You could say that Representative Jim Matheson, Democrat, is a maverick because he rightly represents his conservative leaning constituents and votes (often) with the Republican party or the conservative line.

To sell oneself as a beacon of change or as a man who bucks the system, you actually have to buck the system. John McCain works perfectly within the system. He does just enough to stand out from his party. But he does not stand out sufficiently or in ways that indicate he is actually a maverick and working against his party and constituents. McCain is definitely not the poster child of the Republican Party, but he’s not been a defector (even though there has been serious talk about the possibility of his leaving the party) and has remained pretty steadfast within the party.

One problem that has never been addressed, for me, is the notion of advertising. Obama doesn’t hide who or what he is. I like that. I don’t necessarily like much of the Obama platform; but when compared against McCain, the notion of Truth in Advertising is important to me. When McCain speaks, whenever he has spoken, I don’t feel as though what is being shared is on the level. In my opinion, McCain shared what he thinks people want to hear and little else. The only time he has spoken when I didn’t immediately feel that the B.S. was piling up was when he spoke (Republican National Convention) about his military experience. There he was honest.

McCain’s honesty isn’t the only element at play. I don’t like the policy he promotes. While listening to an NPR interview with one of McCain’s policy advisers, the adviser stated that McCain’s policies are the current White House policy. That means that if you like what the current president is doing, and you want a continuation of the current foreign, military, economic, energy, and domestic policies then you should vote for McCain. With that said, Wiley, writer and illustrator of Non Sequitur, had this comic strip (October 6, 2008):

Party of Change

This illustrates one of my problems with McCain. He represents the current party and he is trying to represent the candidate that will mark change for the country. My problem is that if McCain’s policy book is the same policy book as the current President Bush (G.W.) and he claims he is the candidate for change, what are we really supposed to expect? Can we expect a different economic policy? A different foreign policy? A different any policy? These are trick questions because he’s already on record as using the current president and administrations policies as his own.

Either McCain is going to change things, and if so he will have proposed policies that will lead to change; or he is a part of the current administration and establishment. Since he has twenty-some years of experience in the senate, and he’s not making up any new policy, one cannot expect to have change from someone who has solidly established himself as for the current president and the current policies including the current war policy.

One of my chief complaints against G.W. is his war policy. The United States should never have gone into Iraq. We should’ve focused on Afghanistan and finding Osama bin Laden. Instead, G.W. found and made up excuses to attack Iraq. The country and the world was fed a pile of lies outlining why we should return to Iraq. As a result, what started (and allegedly ended) in 1991 was restarted in 2003 and is still going on. At this point, in my opinion, the Iraq War is a complete failure and it does not matter what surges or increased troop fighting and security is established because there is not sufficient evidence that it is independent of an Iraq ready to move beyond war. More, G.W. insists that the United States could have a never-ending presence in Iraq and McCain has echoed that.

If I am opposed to one of the defining wars of my lifetime, and the choice in candidates states that I pick between the candidate that is going to maintain the current policy and a candidate that is serious about bringing the troops home, what choice do I have? Especially if the Iraq War is a major issue for me.

Because McCain walks the walk and talks the talk of the current administration, I cannot in good conscience vote for him because he does not represent what I believe.

Along with policy, age is an issue. I think that we, as a nation, are focusing to much on the wrong candidate when it comes to age. McCain, if elected, would be the oldest man to swear the oath of office. Because statistics are not in his favor, especially factoring in anger issues and war related injuries (I heard today that almost every bone in his body has been broken), we cannot expect that McCain will last even the first four years of office let alone up to eight years. Because his running mate is Sarah Palin and because she, effectively, has zero experience at the national level and next to zero experience as an administrator that is sufficient to even begin an argument about how she is prepared or ready or should even be trusted as a potential president, we have to expect that either Sarah Palin or a replacement will be the president and since I do not trust Sarah Palin and I believe, based on interviews, her use of the Bridge to Nowhere as an example of how’s she bucked the system, and, pretty much, the lack of independent or prepared media interaction, I do not trust that she would, in effect, be a better president than Obama. In fact, of all the individuals who’ve thrown their hat into the presidential ring (to include Hillary Clinton), I think Palin is the worst possible person for the job, and I don’t have a positive opinion of any candidate (and yes, Mitt, that includes you). More, since McCain attacks Obama’s age we cannot trust his opinion of Obama based off of his equally unreliable opinion that Sarah Palin is a good choice to replace him.

However, the case for age actually should work against McCain. His experience in Washington D.C. is not a sufficient factor to indicate (at least to me) that he is prepared for the office. The well-documented anger problem he has suggests that he would be a poor administrator along the lines of Richard Nixon (who also had anger problems) and I would not vote for Nixon (even if he was alive and could run for president again). What makes McCain’s age a bigger factor, though, is less health problems (those are important), but more the theory that the requirement for president requires an individual who is flexible enough to be able to handle stress, changes, dealing with international leaders, and a whole host of other problems and issues and responsibilities. I don’t know a lot about McCain’s personal life, but I do know that with anger issues and other problems as well as age and his health, McCain is not a flexible person and by extension not a flexible leader.

We know now that Ronald Reagan was a rather absent minded president. He allowed a lot of people to make decisions around him and asked for abbreviated reports (one page) about the proposals. There is evidence that because of his age and past he literally didn’t hear a lot of what was going on. This would’ve affected his ability to lead and probably led to other people making decisions in his name. I know that McCain is not Reagan and he’s not Nixon, but he does have similarities to both. Because Reagan was an actor he could put on the appearance of someone who cared and he did it well. His being on camera and his being in the public eye led to being a beloved president. As for Nixon, he was popular (a lot like G.W.) but lost that when he failed to do what he said he would do. The outcome is that he is one of the more notorious presidents.

I ask: Does it make sense to vote for someone who embodies, publicly, all of the negative qualities of the past fifty years?

My answer is, “No.”

Age is a factor. There are reasons why we don’t elect men who are McCain’s age to be president. There is also a reason why the Constitution states that you cannot be president under age 35. Guess what? We know, instinctively, that people under a certain age and people over a certain age are less capable of doing a job. Yes, there are age ranges that, when mapped, CEO’s, governors, and presidents (realizing there will be outliers), governors and religious leaders are generally between their mid-30’s and topping out somewhere in their mid-60’s (and younger). Yes, there are examples of older and younger individuals, but the rule states that in order to be the most effective you can neither be too young or too old. Experience plays a part in this and helps describe where that range should fall. McCain falls outside of the range and as a result of that, if elected, will prove to be a very poor and costly choice as president. Plus, there are reasons why, traditionally, the retirement age is about 65.

Along with age, McCain has suggested that if he becomes president he will try to appropriate an additional $300 billion to purchase bad mortgages and will renegotiate the price of the mortgage at the current value and for a fixed interest rate. He has stated that until the housing market has been fixed we cannot expect the economy to get better and that the cost of houses needs to be stabilized. Unfortunately, McCain and Obama are almost in the same corner (they both voted for the $700 billion bailout) and neither, to include professionals, believe that housing prices should decrease. What makes this important is that housing prices, in general, have gone through serious inflation. Inflation is the process where the purchasing price of an item grows quicker than the actual value of that item. Inflation is an economic principle that allows for the appreciation of value, over lifetime ownership, to be greater than when it was purchased. The reason why this is important for a potential president is that the housing market has experienced rapid inflation and the costs of houses have far outpaced the ability for people to comfortably purchase them. Part of the reason this has happened is because the credit financiers created the subprime mortgage that, in turn, is the cause of the credit problem and the reason the governments in the world have had to bail out banks as well as taking over assets and changing the FDIC minimum insurance rates. The result is that we have experienced a period of growth that outstretched individuals abilities to pay for that growth, the credit economy that professionals claim is essential to the health of the American economy also means that when jobs are lost the ability to repay credit falls and as a result of that people default and the credit economy collapses.

The reason this is important is that to artificially keep housing prices where they are and to essentially give people tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars on the purchase price of their home is irresponsible. More, this form of bailout will result in higher interest rates overall and will make it harder for responsible individuals to get a loan for the mortgage. As a result of all of this, McCain has a shortsighted view of what will fix the economy and forshorten a recession. Truth told, there is little to nothing that can be done to stop the wonton sell off of stocks and the pushing down of housing prices. McCain cannot stop the resetting of housing prices to a reasonable level. It is going to happen. The only immediate outcome will be a short term windfall for those who essentially had their houses re-handed to them. The long-term effect will be a greater than average foreclosure rate and all that will actually happen is that McCain will delay the process and not stop the process. Regardless of what the government does, the outcome is that the markets are going to reset to lower levels. Costs are going to become more reasonable. And the inflation that has been happening for a bunch of years will result in lower house prices with a lot of people losing money and owing more than their house is worth.

Since I am opposed to the financial bailout, and would like to see each person who has voted for it removed from office (and I believe in the next three election cycles you will see a massive turnover in both Houses of Congress), McCain suggesting that he can fix the problem by throwing more money it at is foolish, dangerous, and plain stupid. The reason people make fun of him for not using a computer has nothing to do with the story his campaign is now telling people (McCain had almost all of his bones broken and as a result cannot lift his arms very far over his shoulders that, somehow, means he cannot at a regular desk or table (that does not require his arms to be above his shoulders) cannot use a computer… something doesn’t follow here) and everything to do with his lack of ability to relate to the people whose votes he is trying to woo.

I liked Reagan. I still do. He could relate. I think that Bill Clinton made politics, at least for a while, interesting, though I would never vote for him or Hillary. He related. I think that every successful politician has promoted himself in a way that allows the public to, in some way, relate to him. Even the very wealthy presidents have successfully accomplished this. McCain, married a wealthy woman, suggested that wealth did not start until earning at least $5 million a year. This is out of touch and no matter how his team spins him, he remains out of touch.

The reason I will not vote for McCain is because he does not represent anything that I like or want to see happen in this country. He doesn’t even pretend to. As a result, I can try and defend every little red flag or warning sign that pops up about Obama and makes people a little stressed about him or I can merely state that I believe that between the two candidates Obama represents more of where I think this country should go and is in a better age and experience position than McCain with more flexibility to handle the job. I think that when you look at the candidates, their positions, and compare it to what you want to see with this country, where you want it to go, and what is important picking the candidate either by closest political ideological comparison (that requires actually reviewing platforms and not just trusting that a party indicates a candidates platform) or by seeing which candidate doesn’t match what you believe (again requires review).

In this context, John McCain does not even closely mirror my beliefs and as a result I would be foolish to vote for the man.

Real Heroes Fly

If you were intending to land at In Order to Write and found the URL reading http://www.johnhattaway.com/ then you are where you want and need to be. I have moved all of the IOTW posts over here (bringing my total number of posts well over 1000). This was rather easy… and took some back-end category manipulation. One of these days I will find a way to create a page that allows me to do category only posts. But then, I may still have to convince a friend to work through the process for me.

Regardless, all of the posts and most of the structure from IOTW has been moved to johnhattaway.com. Welcome. I will try to update more on writing and reading and book reviews. Granted, this will fall around my reading for class, but that is what makes all of this fun.

Real Heroes Fly

For those who have ever lived in Utah over the past several years will undoubtedly recognize the name Dell Schanze a.k.a. Super Dell. The once owner and proprietor of the computer store chain Totally Awesome Computers. What makes him recognizable is not that he owned a local chain of computer stores (sold to one of his friends), but rather the absolutely obnoxious commercials that he produced and paid for that were shown (nearly) around the clock and the infomercial her produced and paid to be played late at night that outlined his personal beliefs and the experiences that led to those beliefs. In truth, I believe (from what I’ve heard from people who grew up with Dell Schanze) that he was raised LDS, but that does not mean he is practicing the religion now

What makes Dell Schanze interesting is that he started the chain of stores, grew them all over the greater Salt Lake City-Provo-Ogden areas, and possibly farther, and then started other companies to include a firing range and gun shop (Totally Awesome Firing Range; Totally Awesome Guns) as well as a paraglide company (Totally Awesome Paragliders) and more. The problem didn’t come in his success, but it did come as a result of his success. He was arrested, charged, tried, and convicted on charges related to illegal possesssion and use of firearms. As a result of his conviction, he sold off his businesses and then went to jail. What this meant for Utah was that we were saved (for a period of time) from the inane rantings and ramblings of Super Dell. Yay!

The unfortunate side to Dell Schanze is that he got out of jail and was hired (or bought into) one of these title loan companies and started doing his stupidity on the air once again. Back in the day I wrote to most of the television stations in the area that carried his commercials (written letter, not email) and informed them that whenever they ran his commercials they were losing viewership. This is something they already knew, but as Dell Schanze was paying them to run the commercials and they were not willing to allow that income to go away, I was effectively told that they were aware of what was happening but didn’t feel that it was worth their time to worry about. On the flip side, Dell Schanzee leaving the public eye was probably a blessing to television viewers and was probably a life saving move for his neighbors and people in general. Dell Schanze went to jail for illegal gun possession and use in an altercation after driving at excessive speeds through a residential neighborhood.

So, all of this to build to what I saw yesterday. There was the state magazine on candidates for different offices up for grabs in the next election. Dell Schanze is running for governor of the state. In his statement (100 words or less) he tells the state that he is the only non-socialist candidate and that we are required to vote for him or else suffer the wrath of God. On his website (http://www.totallyawesome.com/) he states:

SUPERDELL, Utah’s ONLY Christian Candidate.

I am pretty certain that Dell Schanzee is not the only Christian candidate. More, I am pretty certain that under almost any definition of Christian he does not qualify. And I am even more certain that when we look at Christian (e.g. followers of Christ) that his life does not sufficiently support the idea or notion that he lives a Christ oriented, centered, or a disciples life. In fact, I can go so far as to say, “Dell Schanze, I don’t believe it when you speak about faith or religion.”

What he is doing, and what makes this really interesting, is that he is applying a Christian ethos to a public election. Now, I don’t think Dell Schanze has a prayer in hell of being elected to county dog poop collector. However, the fact that he decided to run, that he was put on the Libertarian ticket here in Utah. Granted, one of the purposes of a political party is to get recognition. The issue is that people vote a party platform rather frequently and ignore individuals. There are some exceptions, but often the exception is a part of a national party. In the sense of Libertarian, Dell Schanze doesn’t have a prayer, nor does that party.

And yet, he still promotes himself as the only person a truly Christian individual can vote for. What this tells me is that he is not mentally stable. I would be no less surprised to hear him tell the world that he was commanded by God to kill goats, sacrifice his children, and all in the name of Christian virtue.

The outcome of this will not be good for the State of Utah. We can’t stop people from running for office so long as they meet the minimum requirements. However, the idea that Dell Schanze is allowed to run and obfuscate the process makes me wonder if the State of Utah isn’t in need of doing more to filter on the front end of filing (to run) to run for public office. In short, I think that this is bad for the politics here in Utah which are currently in a state that desperately needs more people willing to actually vote their minds rather than what they think the church wants them to vote (e.g. a better distribution of Democrat and Republican). However, I am not in charge, I will be moving at the end of the year, and even though politics interests me I will probably never run for public office.

Real Heroes Fly

Sometimes I come across something and I say to myself, “I don’t believe that.” This happens somewhat frequently, actually, and in the end I am often proved right (if proven anything at all). My reasons for being wary of or not trusting someone are not always logical and they often seem odd at the time. The people I don’t like and/or trust don’t always make sense to me. And yet, I also have a tendency to follow those instincts. Of course, the times when I haven’t followed them I regretted it, a lot; and so, the outcome is that when I think or feel something is completely bogus and not bubbly making I tend to just not think about the individual. It’s not too hard.

And then there are instances where I find something that I am far enough removed about, and I think it is a complete frabrication, that proves to be far too interesting to just disregard. Take Hannah Upp as an example.

The thing about Hannah Upp is that she disappeared from home. Didn’t take any identification or her wallet. Showed up at a series of gyms she is a member of and talked her way into the gym to take a shower, though reports indicate that she didn’t change her clothes. And also showed up in a an Apple Store in Manhattan to check her email. Finally, she was seen near a ferry and ended up jumping overboard (presumably) before being rescued by ferry boat workers and taken to a hospital.

Since a manhunt had been going on, the police were interested. She declined to speak to them. The police and (presumably) the D.A.’s office decided not to pursue the case and that no further investigation needed to happen. Hannah Upp was allowed to go home and resume her life.

On Facebook, a few days ago, she announced that she was suffering from Dissociative Fugue. This is a disorder where, ostensibly, an individual forgets who they are or what they are doing and tend to run away. I would say that Hannah Upp has conveniently found a reason for her disappearing for a couple of weeks, but I don’t think it’s the real reason. In fact, I think that she is lying through her teeth and added that as a reason in Facebook more to assuage her family and friends and to give them a reason than as an actual reason.

Why do I think this is a convenient lie? Because it is. I have two beliefs when it comes to psychology or psychoanalysis. First, a psychologist or psychiatrist requires the honest and real participation of the patient in order to offer a good and complete diagnosis; and the psychologist or psychiatrist also requires an accurate and true understanding of the patients circumstances, family, and environment to properly understand a lying or uncooperative patient. The outcome is not that people always knowingly lie, but that they are self-interested and as a result are not always forthcoming. In fact, people lie because they either don’t want to share and feel it is necessary to protect something, or because they don’t feel that some information is pertinent to the diagnosis.

What I think is odd here is that Hannah Upp decided to use the exact diagnoses that allowed her to tell the public, “I can’t talk about what happened because I don’t remember what happened.” And she’s not going to be an honest participant in the process.

Here’s why I think she is lying: Hannah Upp is lying because she checked her email, went to the gym (to shower) and showed her face in places she was familiar with in order to check on things she was interested in and (for some reason) felt could not be left alone for a period of time and she jumped overboard from a ferry boat trying to elude being found.

The question (and, interestingly, the reason this interests me) is why does she feel like she needs to lie AND why she felt like she needed to disappear? The answer to the first, I think, is directly tied to the answer to the second. The answer to the second will, most likely, have something to do with choices in her life. Chances are, it has something to do with her teaching and, quite possibly, her students. At this point, I am only guessing and since I am guessing I would go so far as to say that Hannah Upp was running from something or running to something.

One of the things one gets to know about certain age groups is that for the 18 to 24 age group (emerging adulthood), this is the group that is the most malleable, the most easily swayed, the most likely to commit a crime and more. This is when kids start making decisions that have real and lasting consequences that can affect more than just themselves. This is when people join the military. When they can vote. When they go to college. And when they start working. In all of these areas, take someone between 18 and 24 and you can convince them to do things that, within their normal group of friends or even religious group, they normally wouldn’t do. Interestingly, religious constraints aren’t as large a factor as one might think.

So? What happened with Hannah Upp? Well, Hannah Upp knows and so does at least one other person. Was she in love and chasing after a boyfriend? Maybe. Was she in trouble and needed to run away from something she’d done or been a part of? Maybe.

The only thing she was not was suffering from Dissociative Fugue. Time may tell us what actually happened with her. I have a Google Alerts going just to let me know what changes. In the end, though, I think she will tell her family, eventually; and the world will never really know what happened.

Real Heroes Fly

O.J. Simpson has been back in the press for the last several months. This time was a trial where he’d been charged with armed robbery. The robbery in question was the result of Simpson claiming the dealers had stolen merchandise from him and were now trying to “move it”. One reason Simpson was caught was because the Las Vegas Police Department was also investigating the dealers. As a result of Simpson’s attempted robbery the Las Vegas he was arrested, tried, and now convicted on all 12 counts.

This is a waste of my and your and everyone elses time. At what point do we allow has-beens to disapear from the public eye and just disapear. He was not interesting during his murder trial that he was acquited of; and he is no more interesting now. I think that we are far too interested in people who don’t deserve a second glance let alone the amount of press and attention that news outlets seem to want to give him.

And to answer those persistent questions: Yes, I think he was guilty of killing his wife and friend. Yes, I think he deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail. Yes, I think he is guilty of committing repeated crimes under the impression he lives above the law. And yes, I am happy his being convicted will keep him off the streets. O.J. is a reprehensible individual with little or nothing redeaming about him.

So, my message to the news outlets in the world: LET O.J. DISAPPEAR!

Real Heroes Fly

I’ve been working through some ideas on another post. This is something that I will post at some point between now and whenever I decide it is done. The reason for that is… I don’t really know. What I do know is that I am working through an idea that is relatively long and will probably only get longer. I might post it as a page. I may definitely create a required login for people to get to it (been wanting to limit access to various parts of the site for a while) with a required username and password (you can thank codename: CAMPER) that would also require individuals to create usernames and passwords and all to gain access to different materials. This should prove to be fun as I will also probably just (at least at first) allow people to create a username/password to access whatever. At some point in the future I will (most likely) limit access a la other people who have websites that have limited access. At present, this will not be page or post specific as I’ve not really cared for instances where I’ve seen that in other websites using similar or the same software.

What all of this boils down to (or distills as I’ve enjoyed using that when people ask what codename: CAMPER’s first name means or comes from) is that I think I am planning on moving this site in a slightly different direction. One of the elements that exist with this is that of the (nearly) 1000 posts and the definitely more than 1000 posts after I incorporate In Order to Write into this site. This is exciting since I also need to go through the original seven hundred or so entry’s and re-order the categories and links and stuff and other odds-n-ends and things that ultimately arrives at a streamlining of the website (me thinks and hopes).

Grand plans.

Grand plans that I may avoid as I have a tendency to not want to re-read my rantings and especially since what I’ve been doing for more than four years is writing rather long and (relatively) intricate entries on everything from movies to books to people to age to … everything. Yes. Everything. Okay, not everything. I seem to follow some rather interesting patterns. Honestly, I like the idea of having everything in the arsenal all in one place. One outcome is that I am interested in making sure this site is a bit more streamlined and accessible and more. Not sure what the more is, yet; but it’s still there.

And you know what, it will all prove to be fun. No. Not for you, for me.

Real Heroes Fly

I am copying this from an email Rebecca (sister) sent me after getting it from Keith (brother-in-law):

Keith sent this to me, and I second his thoughts and wanted to pass it along verbatim.
Please read and take action! I believe even an email will make a difference!

-Rebecca

PS I have sent 2 of my 3, the House of Rep’s site is down and I WILL BE CHECKING TILL I EMAIL THEM MY THOUGHTS!
____________________________________________________________________________

First of all, I am absolutely opposed to the government going even further into debt in order to bailout greedy mortgage lending companies and our fellow Americans that make poor money decisions.  The whole bailout/rescue plan smacks of welfare and only serves to reinforce the same bad behavior/decisions that got the country into this situation in the first place.  This is America, home of the world’s largest and most productive economy!  It didn’t get that way because of government bailouts, but rather as a result of the ingenuity of hardworking Americans.  There is no reason that we can’t come up with a better way.
So I didn’t come up with this idea, but found it out on the internet and think that it is a valid alternative to the bad plan that is being considered by Congress.

1. Email your congressional representatives (if you forgot, or slept through, your high school civics class - every American has three: 2 Senators and 1 Representative).  Follow this link to send them an email: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml.  Tell them that if they vote for this bailout, you will vote against them during the next election.  This worked to stop the bailout plan yesterday and it can work again.
2. After you put your congressional representatives on notice, share with them the pdf document at the end of this post (hint: it is titled: The Common Sense Fix).  It outlines an alternative plan which many economists believe will actually work (Wouldn’t that be a novel concept, listen to an economist that knows something about the economy as opposed to a senator or congressman who only knows how to get elected).  This step is important because if you are not part of the solution you tend to be part of the problem.
3. Send this email, or one like it, to as many people as you know and ask them to contact their congressional representatives, put them on notice, and share with them this alternative plan.
4. Once you have done this, pray that your congressional representatives will be inspired to make the right choice.  ‘Pray for them to resist a spirit of FEAR and to embrace WISDOM. Even if you don’t like them or agree with them, pray for them and tell them you are praying for them. There is a spirit over this problem that must be broken. Also, most of the media personalities are afraid as well and that is affecting their reporting. Pray for fear to be removed from them; they are making this worse.’
   -Dave Ramsey

Just my opinion,
Keith

The Common Sense Fix

Real Heroes Fly