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I've been in a little box for the last month or so, engaged in all sort of frivolity in a myriad of different online roleplaying games. "Anarchy Online", "Guild Wars" and "City of Heroes" have stolen my soul, and refuse to give it back.

Regardless, I was able to pull my brain out of the computer long enough to watch a little news lately, just long enough it seems to be inundated by news of Terri Schiavo's death this morning.

"Great, she's dead. Good for her," I thought. That was a sucky way to die, but at least she's not locked in that shell any longer, if she really was at all. Personally, I don't give a fuck about the debate regarding how 'aware' she really was for the last 15 years, but I understand a lot of other people have made it a goddamn business, debating this topic.

I understand Congress has little else to do, now that Bush & Co. runs the world with a Fist of Stupidity, but they actually took the time to involve themselves in this? Not to mention the fucking Supreme Court looked at the case not once but twice?

I'm sure that I'm preaching to the choir on this, but what the fuck is the Federal Government doing intruding on what is by definition a State-issue? Sure, Michael Schiavo was a complete fucktard, and I'm sure he just wanted to off his wife, so he could spend her cash and marry his longtime girlfriend.

Unfortunately, being a complete dick does not vacate your marital rights, and thus this whole issue should have been resolved years ago. Instead, Terri's family were given special privledge to continue this battle up to the Supreme Court (again), and in my opinion only managed to prolong her suffering. Maybe they did it for the right reasons, or maybe they just wanted to get control of her money. Who knows?

The point is, I go to watch some news today (for the first time in probably months), and all I see is Terri Schiavo and/or Michael Jackson. Fox News actually had a helicopter showing the coroner's van delivering her body to the morgue, as though this were some freaking 100+ mph police-chase!

The media is really pissing me off, in regards to this. Don't they have anything better to do, than report on this woman's death (who probably lived 14.5 years longer than she should have in the first place)? I'm sure there are many Bushie abuses of power that are just waiting to be exposed, but that would be asking too much of our media, wouldn't it? They are all about 'entertainment' and bootlicking now, not real reporting.

In closing, let me point out some entertainment venues which might serve you better than watching the tripe that calls itself TV today:

1) Go to the resting places of the Founding Fathers, and watch their tombs shake as they spin in their collective graves.

2) Go find a sock-puppet and... well... you get the idea. It would certainly be more newsworthy than anything the cable news networks spew out anymore!

As for me, I'm going back to my MMORPGs. They're a damn sight more interesting than the world I actually live in!

"Who the FUCK steals individual Christmas lights?!?," I exclaimed, as my lovely wife stood beside me, looking befuddled. "It isn't like they were doing anything to anyone!... except for being festive and shit!"

I was standing on my front lawn, examining a strip of large-bulb holiday lights attached to my porch. This particular string of lights had until recently been fully manned by colorful bulbs, but now was missing seven of them. Why? Who fucking knows. The point is I was pissed.

No, not pissed. Violently Pissed. Punch-some-stupid-motherfucker-right-in-the-face-for-screwing-with-my-lights Pissed. My wife took the dog inside, shaking her head.

Now as I've stated here previously, I'm prefer to blend into the crowd, to not let myself get noticed for being a Freak by the Norms that surround me. To that end, I decorated our new house with Christmas lights, just like most everyone else on our block... even though I'm a freaking Wiccan, for Gods' sakes!

Was anyone else's house targeted for this bulb-theft? Nope... Just mine, Baby! That of course only served to fuel my rage.

So, as I said, I was fairly upset about this at the time. Hell, it was just a day or so after Christmas, and here I am having to take down this strand of lights, to avoid shorting out the whole system of lights when it rained next. That was something that I simply could not allow!

I grumbled and groaned as I took that strand down, promising myself that this would be the last time I decorated our house for any holiday, not just for Christmas.

"Fuck these ungrateful bastards!," I uttered to myself. "They can go 'Trick-or-Treat' somewhere fucking else next year!"

A few hours later, as I sat watching yet another rerun of "Law & Order" (RIP Jerry Orbach), it hit me: I had been Jaked. Probably inadvertantly, but Jaked just the same.

This simple kids' prank became a Jake upon my reaction to discovering the loss of bulbs. It rose to the level of a Fucking Great Jake when I lost my cool over seven stupid pieces of colored fucking glass, meant to celebrate a holiday that isn't even mine!

Methinks I spend too much time with Norms, and not enough screwing with their minds. Perhaps I should strap a huge dildo to an inflatable Santa, then display it prominently on my lawn next Belthane?

Why the fuck not. My house is fully insured, anyway.

Given my rather abrupt reacquaintence with this forum, it seems that I neglected to properly introduce myself, let alone make my general opinions known. Having no recent collection of my past thoughts to read, I suppose I should restate the generalities here, for your reference.

Hi, I'm Shecky, and I'm a complete prick. I'm 36, I live where medical marijuana is 'legal' but gay marriage is banned in our State Constitution, and I work for one of the largest health-care providers in the country. In Security. Master access to damn near everything.

In general, I pay my taxes, go to work every day, and my mortgage payment is always early. I'm mostly considered to be the Nice Guy Next Door, the kind of guy who would never think of doing anything out of sorts.

Heh.

Politically, I'd say I'm a Socialist Libertarian. In other words, I believe the Government should be here to provide a basic level of existence to all of its citizens (Food, Healthcare, Education, Housing, and Protection from Violent Lawlessness, Corruption and Foreign Invaders), and otherwise leave us the fuck alone. If you want more than basic living, go get yourself a job and raise your standard of living. If not, that's cool too.

... and that's all I'll say on Politics, since that isn't the focus of this thread.

What pisses me off? Apathy, Stupidity and Intolerance (as funny as that might seem). Is that hypocritical? Yep. Next question...

When I first started frequenting these forums, I was admittedly a knuckle-dragging, FOX News watching, Pro-War dumbass. But I read, I learned, and I changed. Perhaps other such dumbasses will wander by these forums and be similarily affected? Probably not, but it's worth hoping for. Thus my annoyance at extreme fluff, even though I understand where it is coming from.

Religiously, I'm one of those poor, deluded Wiccans. Gardnarian by training, Eclectic (to the point of being called Discordian, if that's even possible) by practice. I routinely piss off my High Priestess by questioning our basic tenets, so much so that I'm usually not welcome in circle anymore. As far as I'm concerned, if you take your religious beliefs as the "be all, end all" of your existence, then you've smoked too much Crack, my friend.

Eat a Hotdog and re-examine your damn life.

Now then, I'm not here to challenge you, as far as I'm concerned. I do realize that I have set the 'bar' for my posts rather high (as was pointed out elsewhere). I doubt I'll live up to those expectations. But I will continue to speak my mind, and tweak those who I feel need tweaking as necessary.

Does that mean I think I'm superior to any of you? No. I fully expect all of you to do the same, as you see fit. Hell, I welcome it.

Fire away.

[what the fuck is wrong with you people?!?]

I guess it serves me right.

I went away from these forums a while ago, to attend to some personal business. When I return, what do I find? Everything has changed. Being a forum based primarily around Eris and the Principia, I don't mind that at all. Change is, after all, good.

What dismays me is that I don't recognize anyone actively posting herein any longer. Reverend Roger appears to still haunt these forums from time to time, as does Bella and Z3, but other than that, I really don't see anyone I know from the "Good Old Days".

You people are making me feel old, damnit! I feel like I should be swinging my cane at you damn kids, as you speed away on your Razor scooters (or whatever the fuck it is you damn kids ride anymore)!

Maybe it's just me, but this place feels different, and not in a good way. What is missing is the fucking outrage at the System that we used to see here. Okay, maybe most of the people around here then were only bitching to hear themselves bitch (myself included, lest Roger skewer me on a pike for that comment), but there was a geniuneness that I don't see here anymore.

Not to cast aspursions upon you folks, since I don't really know any of you, but what the fuck is wrong with you people?!?

Where is your outrage? From what I can see, these forums have become a place where people hang out and pretend to be Anarchists, because it makes them feel somehow cooler than the other fucktards in their little world.

Maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe I have missed much in my time away. Perhaps there are people genuinely concerned about the shithole our world has become, and might just be willing to do something drastic to win our world back from the Greyfaces (for lack of a better term). I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

But make no mistake, kids. Shecky's back, and he's just a tad miffed.

My nephew Levi is a wonderful kid. He graduated from high school just this last June, and has spent this first summer of 'freedom' building a new computer and hanging out with his girlfriend. levi and I have also spent some time chatting, mostly about life in general, but sometimes about the serious threats we face today.

Like many kids nowadays, Levi despises the Bushies. He hates the war, the fact that we've lost crucial freedoms to the Patriot Act, and plans on voting for Kerry this year. He hopes that Kerry will pull the troops out of the Middle East, and do something to fix the economy (perhaps helping his family pull themselves out of poverty). Since he just turned 18, it will be the very first time he's getting to vote.

Unfortunately, Levi will be casting his very first ballot as an absentee voter, from some military base. He signed up for the Army at the start of his senior year in high school, since it was the only way he could get money for college. Despite his hatred of this stupid conflict, and the freaks behind it all, he still chose to sign on that damn dotted line.

The Recruiter assured Levi that his chosen duty would keep him far, far away from the war. So, what is the duty Levi signed up to be, which will keep him safe and sound (according to the ever-honest Recruiter)?

Combat Engineer. I shit you not.

So now Levi spends his last remaining summer days with his friends, and hopes he will return to see them someday soon. He ships out at the end of August for boot camp, then is scheduled to be sent to Germany for advanced training. Beyond that, Iraq, Afghanistan... who knows?

You may be asking yourself, "Just what the fuck does this have to do with me?" Very little, actually. Levi is just one of many young men being duped into joining the Military, on the hope that they will live long enough to make use of the benefits bestowed by the "G.I. Bill".

For his part, Levi has already prepared a short 'Last Will & Testament", just in case he does not return. Everything goes to his mom. I'm doubt she'll find comfort in that, if the day comes when somber men in uniforms knock on her door.