Freedom

I just read this article. Basically, a man was sentenced to jail in Britain for, among other things, posting racist messages to a web site. I'm just touching base, really, but...this is still not a crime in America, right? Also interesting were the actual sentences. Hate speech on the 'Net: 2 years, 8 months. Possessing kiddie porn: 6 months. Also interesting were attempts at rationalization. From the article: "During police interviews, Martin admitted posting the messages but insisted he was not racist. He told the officers he had intended to stir up an argument on the website but did not believe in what he had written." To me, this stirs up facets of that old debate between intention and consequence. It's kind of like saying, "I wasn't really angry at that guy, I just punched him to start a fight." It's still battery, even if your anger was fake.

Anyway. I'm just kind of all over the place on this one. I guess it jumped out at me because lately, for the second time, I've been pondering the possibility of fleeing America. This article just reminded me, though, that despite the bullshit that has been going on here, I guess there are still one or two reasons why we're the most free country. Kinda. Sorta. A little. Well...nobody's perfect. :)

The rest of life

So I've been thinking that I should babble less when I have nothing but these super-mundane updates to blog about. That way it'll make it easier to skip the post. :) Here's the reveiw:

Momz returned to town safely, was not horribly disturbed by the state of the property, and is returning to something of a semblance of normalcy back in familiar surroundings and circumstance, so...that's good. (We're also heading out later this afternoon for our second joint poker session since she's been back; I guess she's good and hooked. ;) ) As expected, I'm going through a transitional phase finding a new rhythm for my day-to-day living, but that part's going fine, so...yay.

I have, at long last, dropped off my super-fun license application jobby with the State Agency of Poking Into My Damn Business so that, hopefully, I will one day be certified trustworthy enough to work at a casino and handle cards and money and stuff. I have to go back there next week to get fingerprinted, but by far the most aggravating part of the process, the paperwork, is done and submitted. In other words: I've done my part; now it's up to the bureaucrats. (And to my cohorts, know this: I am soon to be, as they say, In The System. That means I am now a gigantic liability in the execution of any Perfect Crimes. Let it be known.) I sort of stepped up the timetable on this licensing thing, because I think I'm going to have the opportunity to shoot for a job sooner rather than later. I won't go into details just yet, but I might be able to get something going in a matter of weeks, rather than a matter of months. It is not a dealer gig, but it does require a license. What it mostly is, is money in my pocket, which is becoming a greater concern for me than, you know...waiting for the perfect job. ;) Or the lottery. Or for my gigolo career to take off. In any case...more on that later.

Otherwise, things are mosying along. School (though I'd much prefer to call it "training") is going well; two weeks down, two more to go for the Poker leg. Oh...I guess that's the other thing. If I grab a job soon-ish, I may have to delay further legs. This delay comes at the exchange of actually being able to pay for them, so...that's good. Now that Momz is back, I'm freed up to spend more time in the cardrooms, which is also good. Although, lately, it has also been costly, which isn't exactly in line with my new money-conserving ways, but...you know. You wanna make a postitive expectation omelette, you gotta break a few variance eggs. I can't say I've been up to much else. My online time has been severely curtailed, also as expected. I try to grab a bit of time each day to catch up on reading things, but I don't have a lot of time for posting. Which is just as well, since I don't have that much to post about. :)

Yeah, this is me trying not to babble. :) Okay, that's it for now. Peace out, everybody. Smell ya later!

End of the World

Did I mention I'm taking advantage of my free time this morning to camp on the library's wireless and try to clean out my queue a little bit? Well, I am. With that in mind, please enjoy this amazing work of art in a Flash animation medium. Ladies, gentlemen, I give you End of the World.