A moment of silence for a lifetime of laughter

Actor/Comedian Don Knotts passed away Friday night at the age of 81.

I am homeless, therefore I am a terrorist...

So, I intended to open an account with Citibank here in Texas because it is the only American bank that is rather prolific in Japan...

Easy enough, right?

Well, it turns out that because of the Patriot act, I need to have proof that I live with my father... a bill, or something that comes from an official agency...

Which, of course, I don't have...

I tried using my Colorado address, but since I don't really live there anymore, that would be fraud... They won't let me do it... rather, they will let me do it, but during the reference check process (Also required by the Patriot Act), it will prove that I am no longer in Colorado, and I'll be hauled off to... well... wherever they haul off people who commit fraud and all in violation of the Patriot act...

Of course, the next time I have a permanent address, it will be in Japan...

...but then I can't open a domestic bank account, as I won't be living in America...

Now... here is probably what I'm going to have to do; I'm going to have to head over to the Texas Department of Public Safety and get a Texas ID card... which -Apparently- isn't subject to the restrictions of the Patriot Act...

But, at least it's not going to be fraud, or a terrorist act...

Of course, a terrorist could theoretically pay $50 and get a Texas ID card as well...

...Here he goes again

Our president, in another wonderful speech, not only reminds the American people that we need to stay vigilantly scared, but also promises to spend $75 million to spread democracy in Iran.

He is really just seriously clueless...

I love the idea of spreading democracy in Iran, Actually, it's a great idea. The problem is; Some brilliant spin-artist over there, around about the time that we invaded Iraq, said that Democracy is Christianity... and thus the Muslim population are misinterperating this as a holy attack on their countries...

So, in other words, Bush has brought Christianity to Iraq, and wants to do so to Iran...

At least this is what the people of these countries are hearing...

Where would we be if someone said "It is our goal to spread Satanism to America. We already did it to Mexico... America should be easy."

Now, what we hear here in America (And Canada) Is not what they hear over there and vice-versa. I can't believe that Bush is simply (Apparently) disregarding their fear and putting forth this strong stance...

Fear is a very powerful motivator, Bush is using it right now to motivate the American people... the problem is that he is not doing anything to asuage the fears on the other side of this issue, thus allowing fear to control both sides of this issue...

And when both sides of an argument are controlled by fear, someone will inevitably throw a punch.

When countries throw punches, a lot of people die...

Staging...

Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, theorized that if you take a rocket and add another rocket underneath it, you could double it's range... if you added yet another rocket, you could triple it's range. This is called "Staging". The greatest example of staging is the absolutely beautiful Saturn V launch vehicle used to take the Apollo program to the moon.

When a stage's fuel is expended, it is ejected and the rocket's paths diverge... usually the stage that is ejected is left to slowly lose its orbital dynamic and fall back into the atmosphere. This rocket has served its purpose, and will now be nothing more than a memory, just part of the history that makes up that launch.

I feel that my life has just "Staged", just a scant few days ago I watched as the Colorado mountains receded in the early morning light. I saw them vanish over the horizon, leaving behind so much of my life.

The feeling is awful.

I left behind my friends and my cats. All of whom are in great hands, and none of whom are likely to forget me anytime soon. I won't lose them and they won't lose me.

But my life as it was--From the watching of Battlestar on Friday nights to the Comic Book Meeting, to the playing of Heroscape- is forever ejected, destined to burn itself up in the atmosphere. I may do any of those things again, but that will be in a completely new stage. This one is gone... drifting farther from me as I am boosted into an ever-higher orbit.

All of it was important -vital even- to my life and who I am... but it's done, it propelled me into my current orbit, where I can now fly...
...and I can see from here that my new orbit is huge, wonderful and very, very terrifying.