Year's End.

2016 has seemed like a long year! It didn't have Shingles and MRSA like 2015, but it wasn't quite a cakewalk either. We lost my stepdaughter, Jessica, but gained my granddaughter, Rhiannon. She isn't a replacement, but she is a gift. Health issues seem to have a lot of my life on hold, but I've still managed to get out and meet new people and make some pretty decent friends. The Packers have come back nicely after their own health issues and injuries. Big surgery, #37, coming up in late January and with any luck, I'll have more success this time and can move forward. My social life, mental well-being, and finances would all like a break. I'm so freaking glad we only have presidential elections every four years! I will continue to try to stand for our veterans, repealing cannabis prohibition and ending the War on Drugs, and defend all of our rights which are only protected by our second amendment rights, to hold our elected officials accountable, to embrace my friends & family, libertarianism, freedom, an open mind, and the opportunities we still have in this great country. We don't need government to fix it; it's ours, not theirs. We are promised nothing in this life and that is what it owes us. It's easy to let it slip by. I rewatched The Bucket List last night with my then visiting mother. It's a great movie and strong reminder that we are here to live, not just toil, age, and die. Instead of New Year's resolutions, make a bucket list and live like your life was temporary and fleeting. Have a glorious and wonderful new year. It is ours for the taking! Maybe 2017 will be the year I see double digit followers on my blog! kowulz.blogspot.com (ACunningLinguist.com)

Weren't You A Bears Fan?

I still hear it from my friends back home in Chicagoland. "Traitor!", "Blasphemer!", "Fair weather fan!". I grew up there (and Detroit) and lived across the street from Chicago Bears Cornerback, Virgil Ivers for a few years while I was in high school. Through him, I had the pleasure of meeting Walter Payton, Noah Jackson, and Alan Page. Back then professional athletes were still role models and all four were friendly and likable. After I got out of the Navy, I met Mike Singletary and he was a giant Teddy Bear. So even though I wasn't a football fan, I became a Bears fan.

About four years ago I started to pay attention to NFL games and discovered that football was indeed Battle Chess; far more than brute force, speed, and a quarterback with a cannon arm. After a year and a half of watching the Bears sabotage themselves, trade and release their best players, hire crappy coaches, and give up in the first quarter, I'd had enough. I don't get paid to be a fan and loyalty is a two-way street. 

Going down with the ship isn't a suicide pact. It's an archaic Naval tradition based on honor and honorable men. I bet they didn't come up with it themselves. Most likely the ship owners said you'll wish you were dead if you sink or ship and come back without it. We anthropomorphize ships, just like we do football teams. I'm not indentured to the Dutch East India Trading Company and I'm not willing to drown trying to raise a ship intent on sinking itself.
Unquestionable team loyalty is called statism. One group of folks who loved their uniforms and masters were called Nazis. They sucked the fun out of everything for everyone. They didn't get paid well to be fans either.

Blind loyalty to a place or country is called Nationalism. Everyone knows that just because you were born in Cleveland doesn't mean they have the best football team. Maybe once (maybe), but not today. Do you want to love football or the past? Do you think most of the Chicago Bears are from the Chicago Area?
Aaron Rodgers brought the game back to life for me. He is not only an amazingly skilled athlete, but a leader and a man of character. Watching him quarterback is a joy. He never quits, doesn't have major hissy fits, and doesn't blame everyone else. When the Bears cut their two best remaining players, running back, Matt Forte, and kicker, Robbie Gould, my emotional attachment ended.

I choose to love the game. I have a primary team I root for. I like other teams and players and sometimes two teams I like a lot play each other. I root for both of them and cheer when a great play is made by either side. I have hats for a half dozen teams that I like.

It's not that I am disloyal, I'm very much the opposite. I'm not a martyr, nor am I brain dead. My objective as a football fan is to enjoy the game. Team owners, coaches, and managers affect the game as much as the players. When they don't care, I cut my losses.
Would you rehire a plumber, year after year, who flooded your house with excrement and urine every time he was called?

The 1985 Chicago Bears will always be "my" team. Today I find a team that helps me to enjoy the game whether they are an underdog or Superbowl Champions. If they play with heart, I will cheer them on.

Rock Cowles
December 21, 2016

#NFL #GoPackGo #BearDown #GreenBayPackers #ChicagoBears #AaronRodgers #JJWatt #WalterPayton #MatthewStafford #OdellBeckhamJr #JoeFlacco 

People Need People

It's okay to not be okay. Tell someone you're not okay, feeling blue, lonely, lost, overwhelmed, or struggling. Really. Don't give your problems permanence.

Everyone says: "If you need anything, don't hesitate, I'll be there for you". Many of us mean it. I refuse to waste my limited time here on earth with relationships of convenience. If you are my friend here it's because you matter to me. I don't look for perfect people, instead, I value honesty, integrity, loyalty, and accountability.

I've heard people say, "Nobody looks like I feel." Chuck Chamberlain's response was that's because you're comparing their armor to your raw meat. Find people you feel safe being vulnerable with and let them in. Don't get bit by the same dog twice.

I try to do what I can for people. Sometimes that's just listening or being a sounding board or offering a friendly verbal kick in the ass.

People tend to be a lot more fragile around the holidays. We have a controversial new president taking office in January and plenty of folks across the board are freaked out and afraid. Be there for people. Don't wait for people to ask for help or to wait too long, volunteer.

Try to call at least one friend a day that you don't talk to regularly. The life you help save may be your own.

May is Mental Illness Awareness Month, but we need people year round. Please check on your friends!

How are you really doing?

Feel free to share elsewhere.

#peopleneedpeople #suicide #help #reachout #handup

Ending The War on Drugs and the Thirteenth Amendment

If you follow me on social media or know me in real life, you can't help but be very aware that I am a passionate and vocal advocate for repealing drug prohibition and ending America's failed War on Drugs. If you know me well at all, you know that I am a former police officer and this might seem to be a bit of a conflict of interest. Not so. When I took my oaths to be a police officer, a sailor, and a soldier, they were not to a particular law or set of laws, but to support and defend the US Constitution. it read;

"I, (state name of enlistee), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me.(God is optional here)"

What does this have to do with Cannabis and other drugs? The War on Drugs is not a war on chemicals or morality, but a war on freedom and the American People. In America, we become legal, consenting adults at the age of eighteen. We then have legal self-ownership. We have the right to make our own choices and to live with our successes and failures. Our nation is infested and overwhelmed with unconstitutional laws that are stripping us of our autonomy and reverting us to the status of wards of the state. On the one hand is Big Brother, watching over us and doing our thinking for us because we can't make intelligent, mature decisions for ourselves. On the other hand, is the Nanny State, providing all of our basic needs at someone else's expense, and making sure we don't harm ourselves.

The War on Drugs is destroying the fabric of America. It is statist government run rampant. It comes down to one thing; Self-ownership. The complete repeal of prohibition and an end to the War on Drugs. I think every time someone gets giddy because they have "allowed" limited medical marijuana or decriminalized simple possession making it "just" a civil offense with a fine rather than a misdemeanor or felony, we reaffirm that they had a right to tell us what to do with our bodies in the first place and they dig in harder about allowing more. 

California's recent legalization was not popular with a lot of advocates because it greatly limits manufacturing and other options leaving a lot of control in the hands of government and big business squeezing out small businesses and individual rights.

We are adults and we should never permit our government to treat us as anything less.

I do not currently indulge in the use of cannabis and haven't for years. I am one of many people who would greatly benefit from it in a lot of aspects. I have arthritis, fibromyalgia, nerve damage, heart disease, healing problems, neuropathy, sleep apnea, insomnia, and mild depression. Most of my medical care is through the VA. Everything they prescribe has severe side effects. Cannabis has no dangerous side effects and there has never been a documented fatality from cannabis usage alone.

People drown in bath tubs, and drink bleach, antifreeze, and drain cleaner. They choke to death on pen caps and yet we don't ask the government to ban them to protect us from ourselves.

They say consensual crimes are victimless. That is false. Because these activities between consenting adults have been made illegal, everyone pays. The laws do far more damage than the acts themselves. We turn people who hurt no one into career criminals when their record keeps them from gainful employment. Their spouses and children become dependent on a broken system when they are no longer there to provide for them. We create enormous profits that finance organized crime and turn neighborhoods into war zones. Problem users find difficulty getting help because of the stigma and legalities. Our prisons overflow with non-violent offenders with mandatory minimum sentences while dangerous violent offenders are turned loose. Our law enforcement is corrupted, militarized, and develop a Them vs. Us mentality. Racial discrimination runs rampant. Politicians are paid off by Big Pharma, Big Timber, Big Oil, Big Cotton, the private prison industry, and other special interest groups, and America loses. America loses. This is unacceptable.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It's about time we enforced it, rather than turning everything into a crime.

I am proud to be a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and urge you to check them out and support their efforts.
www.LEAP.cc

Repeal Cannabis Prohibition

Castrated Nation

America has gotten soft. Castration, as well as self-castration, will do that. I am reminded of Hugh Farnham's son, Duke, in Robert A Heinlein's insightful novel, Farham's Freehold. A great read.

I don't want to be castrated by political correctness or the Thought Police. I don't want to be defanged by Big Brother or the Nanny State for thinking for myself. I served my country in the Navy and the Army as well as as a police officer. I still serve and protect. I am still under oath to protect the United States Constitution and our country from all enemies both foreign and domestic. I'm the last of the Baby Boomers. We were taught to be independent, to question authority, to think for ourselves, to stand up for the righteous underdog, to do the right thing even when no one is watching, to be proud of who we are as individuals and Americans, and to have a strong work ethic. TANSTAAFL. Much of that seems lacking in many of today's entitled, highly sensitive youth. We, as a people and as a nation, will not survive if we do not reclaim it soon! Sky Daddy might hand out Participation awards, but Real Life rarely does.

Many of the misguided liberal denizens of Academia have always tried to make the warrior class seem like mindless heathens. History is full of warrior scholars and those too afraid to get out from behind closed doors will always fear and demean them. The old military adage, "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way." comes to mind. If you choose to castrate yourselves and bleed to death on the side of the road, you have only yourselves to blame. I face my fears head on, with intelligence, courage, and conviction. If that makes me a monster, so be it.

If you are reading this and still clueless what I am rambling on about then read Ayn Rand's Anthem. It doesn't come with a free spine, but it helps. I am a Libertarian. It is not a party to me. It is the philosophy that a people with minimal government and maximum freedom has the most opportunity to excel in Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We are not guaranteed happiness. Life has risks. Without it there is no gain, no progress, and little meaning. "Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff." It should be simple. No Safe Places, Time Outs, or Stress Cards required. Is Donald Trump my first choice for president? No, far from it. Is he the end of the world as we know it? No. Our government is not set up that way. Quit caving to the fearmongers. Exercise your Constitutional rights, especially the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as it protects all of the others. Nobody is coming to save us. Take responsibility for yourself and your choices. Nut up.

The Battle of the Pyrotechnic Rectums

This election's presidential campaigns have probably had the most muckraking in recorded history. Both the Republican and Democratic candidates have accused the other of umpteen crimes and character flaws. Mainstream America seems to see them both as deeply flawed, despicable, detestable caricatures from some B rated Reality show. The truth is, one of them will probably be elected because the media is privately owned, corrupted, and biased to the core and they have shut third party candidates out so extensively that those people not involved with politics would be hard pressed to name them, no less share their achievements and track records.

Libertarian candidate, former two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson was shut out of all three debates, yet didn't feel the need to make horrible allegations and fling shit in every direction possible with no concern for the repercussions. He has a phenomenal track record as a governor, a businessman, and a world class athlete. The worst I have heard about him is he blanked when asked about Aleppo and he has been involved in the LEGAL cannabis trade as well as an advocate for cannabis.

Trump and Clinton, on the other hand, have proven themselves to be petty, bitter, vindictive, self-righteous, conniving, vicious, blowhard scumbags that you wouldn't want collecting your trash or anywhere near where you live. The damage that has been done to both of their reputations is indelible and worldwide. The light's have been turned on to expose giant glistening cockroaches invading our homes. What sensible American or foreign power could ever trust either of them? How the Hell could America elect either one of them when they should be being run out of the country on a rail? Neither can be an effective leader after this campaign. Neither will ever be considered truthful or trustworthy.

Is this how deep our corruption and apathy run? It's like voting for AIDS because you hate cancer. America is being guided in the wrong direction. It's not too late to take the road less traveled and rip the reins of power from the professional politicians who have done nothing but lie to the people.

Please, please, please set the party loyalty, propaganda, and prejudice aside and invest a little time looking into Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party. I thank you. America will thank you. You'll thank yourself. You know your party is far from perfect, see what Johnson's might do for all of us.

www.JohnsonWeld2016.com

Take The World's Smallest Political Quiz.

Misconduct In Office & Ethics Violations

I sent the following letter in an e-mail to ALL of my State and local legislators. I hope you, too, will take the time to write something similar. It is far past time for these elected officials to be held accountable for their actions, not just at the polling stations, but each and every day. Misconduct in office and ethics violations are the least of it. Will no one hold Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) and other elected "officials" accountable for violating their oath to the Constitution, spreading lies, and other propaganda? Mr. McGovern made the statement, in congress today, that we need background checks to keep people from buying firearms online without them. You cannot buy a firearm online without having it shipped to a licensed FFL dealer who does a background check before delivering it. Mr. McGovern said we need to keep people on the No Fly List from buying firearms. That would be a violation of the Second Amendment and Due Process as one does not need to be charged with or convicted of any crime to be put on the No Fly List. Does Mr. McGovern have no respect for our judicial system? If these officials break their oath to support and defend the United States Constitution one time, they should be impeached and charged with treason. Yes, it is that simple. If they don't know or abide by the Constitution, they have no business holding any government office or representing any American citizen. Police officers and members of our military die defending that oath every day. Sincerely, Dave Cowles (representing We The People who serve and have served, who vote, who pay taxes, and who see being an American as a privilege and a duty) #gunrights #NRA #guncontrol #Oathkeepers #veterans #III #Threepers

They Leaned In

They leaned in. (Shared)

With six seconds to live, they didn't run, they didn't hide. They stood their ground, and leaned in.

Almost 8 years ago, two Marines from two different walks of life who had literally just met were told to stand guard in front of their outpost's entry control point in Ramadi, Iraq.

Minutes later, they were staring down a big blue truck packed with explosives. In spite of this particular shred of hell bearing down on them, they stood their ground.
They leaned in.

Corporal Jonathan Yale, and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter. These two brave men lost their lives valiantly defending their post in Iraq, on 22APR2008.

I have read the story many times, and I understand it was powerfully retold by Marine Lt. Gen. John Kelly's to a packed house in 2010. 

Just four days following the death of his own son in combat, Kelly eulogized two other sons, in an unforgettable manner.

From Kelly's speech:
Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 “The Walking Dead,” and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other just starting its seven-month combat tour.

Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines.

The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda. Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island.

They were from two completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other, or understood that multiple America’s exist simultaneously depending on one’s race, education level, economic status, and where you might have been born. But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.

The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like: “Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass.” “You clear?” I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: “Yes Sergeant,” with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, “No kidding sweetheart, we know what we’re doing.” They then relieved two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of Ramadi, al Anbar, Iraq.

A few minutes later a large blue truck turned down the alley way—perhaps 60-70 yards in length—and sped its way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls. The truck stopped just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed. A mosque 100 yards away collapsed. The truck’s engine came to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it stopped.

Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000 pounds of explosives. Two died, and because these two young infantrymen didn’t have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms.

When I read the situation report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as different. Marines dying or being seriously wounded is commonplace in combat. We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what the mission takes. But this just seemed different.

The regimental commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported that there were no American witnesses to the event—just Iraqi police. I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I’d have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi statements. If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the signature of a general officer.

I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom told the same story. The blue truck turned down into the alley and immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine. They all said, “We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines began firing.” The Iraqi police then related that some of them also fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion.
All survived. Many were injured … some seriously. One of the Iraqis elaborated and with tears welling up said, “They’d run like any normal man would to save his life.”

What he didn’t know until then, he said, and what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not normal. Choking past the emotion he said, “Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did.”

“No sane man.”

“They saved us all.”

What we didn’t know at the time, and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the suicide attack. It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it. It took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it detonated.

You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives. Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley. Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: “ … let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass.”

The two Marines had about five seconds left to live. It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were—some running right past the Marines. They had three seconds left to live.
For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines’ weapons firing non-stop…the truck’s windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the son-of-a-bitch who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers—American and Iraqi—bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground. If they had been aware, they would have know they were safe … because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber.

The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left to live.

The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God.

Six seconds.

Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty … into eternity. That is the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight—for you.

THEY LEANED IN.

This is the caliber of men and women that serve our great country, out of dedication and commitment to something greater than themselves. These are the people The Battle Buddy Foundation works to serve after they return home from combat. Forged from the same commitment to our brothers and sisters in arms, TBBF was founded by veterans to serve veterans.

With an average of 22 veteran suicides daily, we cannot afford to stand idly by while we lose such valuable individuals in our communities and families.
Stand with us, and 'Lean In' alongside us at The Battle Buddy Foundation as we work to serve our nation's heroes.

www.tbbf.org

SEMPER FIDELIS

Ignosticism - Eyes Wide Open

"Lighthouses are more useful than Churches." - Benjamin Franklin

Religion is a safe haven that promises us that our suffering and good behavior are not for naught; that it will be better than we ever could have believed if we just believe and don't rock the boat. The Scientific Method doesn't change, it allows and embraces progress and truth.The rules are steadfast and eternal. One of the appeals of Ignosticism is the freedom from labeling and categorizing everything. Go with the flow for a while, quit trying to control the uncontrollable, and experience the freedom it brings you.

This might help.

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2014/06/five-simple-rules-of-science-from-neil-degrasse-tyson.html Embrace Ignosticism. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

Death by Social Media

Repeat something enough and people will swear it is truth. Continue to repeat it and they will believe it happened to them.

Good old Joe Stalin said, "It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Today we are played by the Main Stream Media, Political advocates, advertising agencies, race baiters, religious zealots, and special interest groups of every stripe, shape, size, and color. We are subjected to so false knowledge and statistics at an alarming rate and constantly battered with unvalidated information and opinions masquerading as facts.

From coast to coast and around the world hatred is being fueled by lies and propaganda under that guise of statistics. Claim an official source and people's brains shut down. Most of these are blatantly false, but very few of us bother to do fact checks before reacting to them and sharing them, especially under the false anonymity of social media. It is an epidemic that is tearing America apart at the racial, religious, and political seams. Call out anyone who arrogantly spouts out questionable statistics. Ask for the source and then verify it yourself through multiple venues. Go beyond the Main Stream Media and your favorite blog or podcast. Think for yourself while you are still allowed too! Edward Bulwer-Lytton knew what he was talking about when he said that the pen was mightier than the sword. Get people riled up with propaganda and they will raise arms. The true believers kill police officers and civilians in America, France, are firm convinced that they are acting out of righteousness rather than hatred because they drank the Kool-aid (Google it if you must). Refrain from commenting on or sharing unwatched videos, articles, or posts because you like the title or it might support your beliefs. Plato said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Look inward and challenge and investigate you believe. Break free of cognitive dissonance and your biased upbringing and find out what really matters to you before offering any opinion to others. Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean it's a good one. We must recreate ourselves as individuals before we can fix cultures, societies, nations, or the world. No more Kool-Aid. Gordon A. Eadie said that if you don't stand for something then you will fall for anything. The tough part is being clear on that something. Conviction alone doesn't equal justice. Probity is defined as "integrity and uprighteousness". Embrace it. Be right before being heard. Let the healing begin with me.

#stopthehate #stopthelies #stopthebias #defyMSM

Bothered by BLM

I'm bothered greatly by Black Lives Matter. Once you isolate a group or class from everyone else it can no longer be about equality, it's about exception. White Pride, Black Pride, Gay Pride. What's to be proud of? None of us did anything to be born White, Black, Gay, intelligent, athletic, artistic, etc.

It's too often about having one's way all of the time and not having any repercussions. With rare exceptions, BLM's martyrs were all men with violent criminal histories who were faced with the choice of following the law and cooperating with police or not. Choosing to believe they were the exception, not their race, lead to their demise.

Life exposes all of us to the differences between right and wrong. It's very simple; Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff. Yes, there is inequality between some Blacks and some Whites, but the same can be said among Whites and other Whites and Blacks and other Blacks. That is Life, not which lives matter.

As a rebellious young man I chose nonconformity and noncompliance as a way to express myself and to stand out as being unique (like all of the other nonconformists). These were choices like tattoos, piercings, partying, and clothing statements. I paid for them and still pay for some. My choices, my doing.

Heinlein said, “I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” It actually goes much deeper than that, I am responsible in every way for every choice I make even within a world in flux.

The Human Race

Mankind wants more than companionship or friendship, It wants fellowship; to belong to something greater than itself. Sometimes this manifests itself as a cause, but usually, it is seen as membership. Economic class, gender, age, race, religion, lack of religion, profession, politics, education, sexuality, height, weight, favorite sports franchise, IQ, school, neighborhood, special interests, hobbies, etc. In the process, we forget that first and foremost we were all members of The Human Race. We then tend to seek out differences rather than similarities and isolate ourselves to the extent that we often don't feel like we don't belong anywhere. We all have more in common than we do that separates us.

What would happen if instead of looking for what sets us apart, we sought out what we have in common?

Tell me, what would life be like if we all just tried to be the best thing that ever happened to each other?


#StopTheHate #WalkInLove #EndRacism #StopTheViolence

Obama, Dallas, Guns, and The War On Drugs

I just watched President Obama's speech at the Interfaith (?) Memorial Service in Dallas. He is an exceptional speaker. Very slick. I thought he did a great job and for the most part said all of the right things. He did say that "we" are flooding poor communities with thousands of guns and making it easier for children to get their hands on Glocks than computers or books. I took issue with that.

The guns going into those communities are there because of crime. Because people are afraid and because people steal them. The War on Drugs is a HUGE part of that. It turns communities, especially poor ones, into war zones. We spend more money fighting it than we do on education! If we repealed drug prohibition and used the money to focus on treatment and education then those communities would have a great chance of bettering themselves.

Want to make a difference and leave a lasting positive legacy, President Obama? Quit harping about gun control that doesn't work and can't work, and repeal drug prohibition. One doesn't work, the other one does.

I wonder how much trouble the two police officers who were sitting behind BHO during his speech and falling asleep are going to be in.

Black On Blue And Vice Versa

Racism and distrust of law enforcement are epidemic in America today. The Main Stream Media (MSM) has us all getting in the habit of seeing generalizations instead of individuals. We are all becoming experts at "racial profiling" whether dealing with Black or Blue people. It's a crying shame. Innocent until proven guilty and beyond a reasonable doubt are hardly ever heard. They no longer report the news so much as create it. 

I was pulled over over thirty times in eleven months after I got out of the Navy because I looked like an outlaw biker and drove an old beater ex-police car. I was given one written warning, no tickets, and illegally searched without my consent or probable cause numerous times. I wanted to prove to myself that you could be an honest, decent cop so I started occasionally filling out applications for police officer jobs.

Fast forward ten years and I've been out of the police academy three months and pull over an SUV that just blew through a stop sign without even slowing down. The driver gets out of the vehicle and it's a black man that I enjoyed working with for two years at my previous job and considered a friend. We were both hard competent workers who knew how to get the job done and have fun doing it. He was so frightened at being pulled over that he wet his pants standing on the side of the road. I told him to go home and change. It had a profound effect on me. I was aware of the racism in that small southern town but have always been pretty color blind. I crossed the race line and the blue line several times and went through three departments in five years because I refused to look the other way. Cops like me are liabilities. We lose lawsuits for the departments/governments we work for when we tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I worked with a lot of good cops, but most "crusaders" like myself don't last long in most departments. Being a cop doesn't make one racist any more than being Black makes one a criminal.

I saved many lives as a police officer, getting people out of bad situations, offering first aid, running into burning buildings to get people out (while wearing polyester!), intervening when other police officers overreacted and escalated bad situations, and several times by not pulling the trigger when I would have been completely justified morally and legally, but kept my head and my cool under dire circumstances. Many of those people were black. Despite that and my reputation for fairness, guilty people loved playing the race card when they didn't like being caught. Many were taught at a young age that cops are racist and to accuse them of it on a frequent, heartbreaking basis.

The MSM sensationalizes it every time a person of color is killed by the police but ignore the facts and the constant black on black crime in liberal cesspools like Chicago, DC, and Baltimore. It's misdirection, very biased, poor reporting, and very inflammatory. They should be held liable for inciting riots. Just like the first amendment doesn't protect someone who shouts FIRE in a crowded theater it should protect freedom of the press when it spreads hate by blowing things out of proportion before all of the facts are in.

I don't care what color, creed, religion, nationality, or gender preference you are or what you do for a living, but please stop the hate. Think for yourself even if it leaves you standing by yourself.

#stopthehate, #alllivesmatter, #blueline, #racism, #brutality, #police, #MSM, #mainstreammedia, #truth, #love, #think

Shall Not Be Infringed

Following the tragic shooting in Orlando there has been a media frenzy and all sorts of demands for gun control. This in itself is another tragedy. No gun caused this massacre, but rather religious intolerance, prejudice, gun control, gun free zones, and mental illness. Robert A, Heinlein said, "An armed society is a polite society." There is no place you can go like a packed gun show and be bumped or brushed less and be apologized to more. It is not an attitude of fear at all, but one of respect. The patrons at a gun show aren't the type of people who run their mouths and expect someone else to come to their rescue and do their dirty work. Society could do a lot worse than modeling their free enterprise model. I have spent thousands of dollars at my local Academy Sports. They now say that "out of respect" they are taking all of thier modern sporting rifles off their web site and will no longer display them in their stores. You can still buy them if you know what you want and ask for it, like a dirty magazine behind the counter! This is a huge betrayal to all of their shoppers, especially those who realize that the Second Amendment protects all others. I'm still furious at how they caved. They're like Vegans with manly beards. I am posting the paragraph below of my post on firearms' manufacturers pages, groups, and sites across social media as well as other vendors whose product lines they carry. I believe we need to stand unite and let the free market know that it depends upon all of us protecting our rights. Please feel free to do the same or post your own version. Shout outs to Daniel Defense for being the first to publicly do so.

In light of Academy Sports and Outdoors decision to remove all Modern Sporting Rifles from display, showing moral cowardice, bowing to political correctness, disregarding America's Second Amendment rights, and giving credit to the whole killer assault rifle frenzy of rabid fear and ignorance, will you be doing as Daniel Defense did and pulling all of your products from their stores and website?
You can send complaints to Academy Sports' Corporate Communications team. Elise Hasbrook can be reached at (281) 944-6041 or elise.hasbrook@academy.com Some suggestions when contacting her; 1. Be polite but clear and firm. 2. Mention specific stores that you will no longer patronize. 3. Mention that you will recommend against shopping at Academy. 4. Give them a way out: state something they can do to restore trust, such as a public apology and immediate reversal of the policy. (Give them a reason to *change* their current behavior–and to act better in the future.) 5. Again: be polite, clear, and firm.
We are in a war against tyranny and corruption. Our nation, our way of life, and our very freedom hang in the balance. This is not the time to vote for a lesser evil, but to vote our conscience while we still can. We have more than two choices, and despite the Main Stream Media's false claims, it matters. We must take a stand at the voting booths and the free market. "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin
Take The World's Smallest Political Quiz here: www.theadvocates.org/quiz/quiz.php and if you find you are more Libertarian than you think, visit The Libertarian Party at www.LP.org and learn about their presidential nominee, Governor Gary Johnson at www.GaryJohnson2016.com

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Antisocial Media

(Artist unknown)

America is in turmoil. Those of us, this includes you, who spend any time at all online are constantly besieged by extreme opinions fueled by hatred, political agendas, religious prejudice, and blatant stupidity. Repeating anything over an over does not suddenly make it true.

Facebook is no longer primarily a place to stay in touch with family and friends and find others who share our interests and passions. It is now a platform, a soapbox, a showcase, and a never ending vehicle of escapism and narcissism.

By making the world a smaller place, the internet has also made it a much much more crowded one. We now know more about people than we ever wanted; the good, the bad, and the hideously ugly.

I think that social media gives us information overload as well as dumbing us down to little more than popular soundbites repeated with religious fervor as if it were gospel from the mouth of God.

Glenn Beck wrote a book about the Overton Window or Window of Discourse. It is the range of ideas the public will accept. It is used by media pundits. It is manipulated by making either gradual changes or having something spectacularly bad happen where we then tend to agree that something significant needs to be done and we accept legislation that in normal circumstances would never be acceptable on any level. Similarly we find our beliefs manipulated where we will be PC and accept a small change if we can get around the big change and forget that the little things add up until we are living in a different world.

Because of all of the extreme drama spread online, we find ourselves rubbernecking armchair quarterbacks, patriots, religious zealots, etc. We stay glued to our computers, smart phones, tablets, iPads, etc waiting for the next big event and thoroughly ignoring the reality around us, our communities, and often those we love.

It's time we stepped up and back and rejected the narcotic allure of the information highway and resumed living our lives as freely, as sanely, and as independently as our parents and grandparents. Far more of us are grossly addicted to technology primarily the internet than have ever been addicted to any drug or substance. Like any addiction it enslaves us. No, goddammit, you should not start an online online recovery group!

Shut off your computer, limit your smart phone usage to certain tasks or time limits or get a flip phone, get off your highly likely morbidly obese behind, go outside, and see who lives next door to you and invite them to go for a walk.

Show your dog what a tennis ball is and teach it to do more than lay on the couch.

Stop confusing soundbites with knowledge and read a real book. No, not Harry Potter And The Braindead Couch Potato.

The internet is like looking at life through a stained glass window, you will never see it as it actually is if that is your only view.

http://www.venganza.org
#facebook #Twitter #LinkedIn #Reddit #Tumblr #kowulz

Medical Marijuana and Our Trusted Servants

Did you know that Cannabis/Marijuana is a Schedule 1 Narcotic, meaning it is dangerous with no medical value? The same government that tells us that and has a quarter of its 2.3 million prison inmates in there for marijuana also has no less than thirteen patents on marijuana for medical use! WTF!? 

Please share this everywhere you can and during this election year ask your senators and congresspeople, "WTF!?".

http://marijuanapatents.blogspot.com

Recommended Reading:

Marijuana Gateway to Health by by Clint Werner

The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis by Julie Holland M.D.

Stoned: A Doctor's Case for Medical Marijuana by David Casarett M.D.

Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society by Peter McWilliams

The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy by Jack Herer and Leslie Cabarga Vote Libertarian

Quotes from the mind of Rock Cowles

Quotes from the mind of Rock Cowles


“I’m not perfect. I put my pants on three legs at a time just like any other guy.” - Rock Cowles

"Youth: Time spent flip flopping between being lonely and wanting to be left alone." - Rock Cowles

"A cunning linguist puts his money where his mouth is." - Rock Cowles

"Last year the vet told me my dog was getting old and I should put her down so I started calling her "Fat Ass"." - Rock Cowles

"If there is no God wouldn't you want to know? If you wore a big heavy parachute 24/7 for years in case you ever had to jump out of a plane and then one day someone had you open it and look inside and you found out it wasn't a parachute after all, but a backpack full of comic books, would you be glad you hadn't waited until you jumped out of a plane to find out and happy to know the truth and stay away from planes as much as possible?" - Rock Cowles

"I like the way your smile takes up your whole face." - Rock Cowles

"Life is short, don't settle." - Rock Cowles

"The world is not cruel so much as indifferent." - Rock Cowles

"On a scale of one to ten, you suck monkey balls." - Rock Cowles

"Why the hell would I try to get in your pants when it looks like you could barely get them past your hips?" - Rock Cowles

"FSM knows I've poked enough bears with sticks and it seems the older I get, the shorter my stick and the quicker the bears see me coming. I just have less tolerance for bullshit and a lot less need for approval." - Rock Cowles

"I hate it when there is nothing on the Internet..." - Rock Cowles.

"You don't love people because of who they are or what might happen if you don’t. You love them because of who you are." - Rock Cowles


"I wouldn't recommend investing a lot of time worrying about a guy who's plans for world domination involved chicken suits and making people laugh so hard that pee comes out of their noses, but when there is a guy who smiles all the time, says he's your friend, and wants to keep you safe by taking away your teeth and claws, I'd watch that son of a bitch 24/7 with a 45 in each hand and as many friends at my back as possible." - Rock Cowles

"I assure you I only have the breast attentions." - Rock Cowles

"Inside every fat person is a thin person struggling to get out. Sometimes as many as two or three." - Rock Cowles

"I liked what we had, I just didn't like having it with you." - Rock Cowles

"Religion is indeed the opiate of the masses. Except for Islam, its more like Crystal Meth." - Rock Cowles

"No good deed goes unpunished." - Rock Cowles

"I didn't make you look fat, not pushing yourself away from the table made you look fat." - Rock Cowles, Caricaturist.

"If you can't afford to give something away, you don't own it, it owns you. If you can't afford to sell it, its probably an important organ." - Rock Cowles

"Don't swallow the blue suppository." - Rock Cowles

"I have found that most single women want neither perfection nor honesty, but both. If you remove all of the possible unknowns from a potential partner, you end up with a corpse." - Rock Cowles

"When we were young and foolish people said we had a death wish. If we live to be old and tired, we realize we had a life wish; and miss it often." - Rock Cowles

"So apparently, 'I didn't even know you had a birthday.' is not a valid excuse for missing one. " - Rock Cowles

"Irony is getting a paper cut from a Band-Aid wrapper." - Rock Cowles

"When your children are young you want to protect them from the world. When they're teenagers, you want to protect them from themselves." - Rock Cowles

"The secret to finding happiness isn't a matter of where you look, but how." - Rock Cowles

“Banning guns, drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, political incorrectness, and gay marriage hasn’t worked. We should ban Life. So long as even one of us lives, none will ever be safe.” - Rock Cowles

"Help me, Mr. Wizard! I don't want to be an amateur gynecologist anymore!" - Rock Cowles channeling Tooter the Turtle

"Do Atheists believe in Devils' Advocates?" - Rock Cowles

"Friends don't let friends be Chicago Bears Fans... EVER! (I don't care how much paint your mother huffed during her pregnancy!)" - Rock Cowles

"If a famous liberal politician received a fatal swirly, would the rest of them try to ban indoor plumbing or opposable thumbs first?" - Rock Cowles

"Your paranoia is out to get you." - Rock Cowles

"I know enough to know that I don't know what I don't know." - Rock Cowles

"True Prophesy: Shits Gonna Happen." - Rock Cowles

"Being soft hearted often looks agonizingly similar to being soft headed." - Rock Cowles

"No greater invention was ever devised for creating the delusion of productivity than the personal computer, except for religion." - Rock Cowles

"Instant gratification isn't worth the wait." - Rock Cowles

Why is it easier for some people to believe their ancestors were a clump of mud and a cannibalized body part, than apes? - Rock Cowles

"If it looks too good to be true its usually me!" - Rock Cowles

"Moderate is eunuch for wishy washy. True moderates don't have opinions and shouldn't be taking polls." - Rock Cowles

I'm not really a Christian, I just play one at church. (True Things Nobody Says: Rock Cowles)

"Never, ever, ever call a lady cop "Fatboy"." - Rock Cowles

"I've never claimed there is no god. I've simply stated I don't believe in one. The burden of proof is on those who postulate that there is a god while presenting no evidence." - Rock Cowles

"I am grateful for the friends in my life and the life in my friends." - Rock Cowles

"If I tell you that you're a douchebag, then we'll both know." - Rock Cowles

"My daughter is afraid of clowns so I tried starting Coulrophobics Anonymous a few years ago. It didn't go over very well. I guess the balloon animals weren't such a good idea." - Rock Cowles

"People treat you exactly the way you teach them to." -Rock Cowles

"I haven't killed anyone all day. Gimme a cookie. Now." - Rock Cowles


"I don't tolerate stupidity well although I am more than capable of it myself. Wait, what?"
 - Rock Cowles

"I tried Viagra and all it did was make me taller." - Rock Cowles

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't push him in." - Rock Cowles

"Thinking outside of the box is great, unless you happen to be a cat." - Rock Cowles

"It's all about the ride. If I can enjoy myself, bring some degree of happiness to others, and leave things a little better than when I got here, it wasn't a wasted trip." - Rock Cowles

"You get your cards, place your bets, and play the best game you can. The House always wins." - Rock Cowles

"Gun control advocates aren't all a bunch of pinheaded simpletons. They've just been gullibly deceived into believing that shooting the messenger solves the problem. Which still takes guns... maybe I'm giving them too much credit." - Rock Cowles

"We cease to exist every time we go to sleep. That break in awareness includes self-awareness. If you aren't there, you won't know what you are missing." - Rock Cowles

"Its so easy to read into why people do things, to make assumptions, jump to conclusions, and to reduce people to the sum of their actions and behaviors, the people themselves lost forever. What tragedy." - Rock Cowles

"I don't understand half of what you say and the other half doesn't make sense." - Rock Cowles

"My perfect girlfriend won't have a gag reflex. Zero. None. Nada. Not because I scare horses, but because these days I'm just not that pretty naked." - Rock Cowles

"Mensa taught me that intelligence is a gift, not a promise. Its a tool, like natural athleticism, that can waste away or be lost in an instant. That having it was not as important as what is done with it." - Rock Cowles

“It is not circumstances, but attitude that dictates the quality of one’s life.” - Rock Cowles

"If you play with zombies, expect to get bit." - Rock Cowles

"If it wasn't for me, I wouldn't have anybody." - Rock Cowles

"My New Year's resolution this New Year was not to make any New Year's resolutions. I already blew it." - Rock Cowles

Religion: "A friend of a friend's brother's ex-girlfriend's dad's former classmate's boss's mother-in-law's co-worker's milkman's pen pal's, medicine man's babysitter's dog said..." and that settles it! - Rock Cowles

"I have no clue what Plato was talking about when he said that the unexamined wife was not worth leaving. I don't even know whose wife he was talking about." - Rock Cowles

God: "Hey, Rock! It's me, God!"

Rock: "God?" How do I know you're really God?"

God: "I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you."

Rock: "Never mind."

"You are more than just your dress size, but hopefully not too much more." - Rock Cowles

"Good things come to those who wait in ambush." - Rock Cowles

"Just because we are intelligent doesn't mean we have to act like it!" - Rock Cowles

"You never REALLY know anyone, just your perceptions and opinions of them." - Rock Cowles.

"The concept of "throwing away votes" is a lie. It only becomes true if you get enough people to believe it and be afraid they will do it." - Rock Cowles

"Beyond a certain point the endeavor of waiting to die becomes so unbearable that one must either become proactive or resume going about the busyness of living." - Rock Cowles

"Age is just a number... or three... or both." - Rock Cowles

" 'Singularly offensive'. What a great phrase. That is it's a great phrase if you're an uptight, narcissistic, spoiled, ignorant, pseudo-intellectual, chickenshit, asshat with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Fuck Political Correctness with a rusty chainsaw and a sack full of heads on a Sunday morning. Another day in the bell tower, dammit." - Rock Cowles

"Pacifism only works for the protected." - Rock Cowles

"I antagonize almost everyone I meet. I think it's a mirth defect." - Rock Cowles

“Speak to inform, educate, entertain, and inspire, but first and foremost always speak the truth.” - Rock Cowles

"I think there is conspiracy going to prove that conspiracies exist!" - Rock Cowles

"I'm fluffy and I'm not as pretty naked as I once was. Duh, it's called life without good
genes, proper diet, regular exercise, and plastic surgery." - Rock Cowles

"I'm enough of an independent loner, that staying in a group's good graces is not always my first priority. I'm not a big fan of majority rules. We call that a mob. Sorry, TJ, all men are not created equal, even if they should be afforded equal ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ freedoms." - Rock Cowles

"I hate the whole Liberal mindset. It makes me nauseous and fearful for my child. I have nightmares about her being trampled by panicked Sheeple when reality becomes real!" - Rock Cowles

"I prefer popcorn over cop porn." - Rock Cowles

"The biggest benefit of being highly intelligent that I've found is that when you look at other people like they're stupid you're usually right." - Rock Cowles

"I believe in GOD. (GOD = Getting Over Dogma)." - Rock Cowles

"How come nobody ever talks about getting the long end of the stick? How can you even tell which end is which?" - Rock Cowles

"Airborne pack their own chutes no matter who they pray to." - Rock Cowles

"Is it just my imagination or are there a lot of Psychotic people in here?" - Rock Cowles

"If it shuffles like a zombie, stinks like a zombie, and moans like a zombie, make sure it isn't your mom, then shoot it in the f***ing head." - Rock Cowles

"I'd have more money than Bill Gates if I could invent a snooze button for bladders." - Rock Cowles

"If hindsight is 20/20 why do we keep making the same mistakes and expecting different results?" - Rock Cowles

"You have a certain quality  that is nearly irresistible.  I think it's called "Spank Appeal"." - Rock Cowles

"Having another birthday year after year is getting old." - Rock Cowles

“If I ever meet C.S. Lewis ”in person“ I will either apologize to him or punch him in the head, depending on where we meet.” - Rock Cowles

"I hate politics. It often seems like an exercise in futility and I'd like to say screw it and let it be someone else's problem. Unfortunately, that someone would most likely be my child and her children. I've seen what not talking about politics has done to the country I love. We cannot remain silent if we want to remain free." - Rock Cowles

"I think outside the box because I was never in it." - Rock Cowles

"I've never belonged to any group that didn't have at least one member who wasn't a total dick." - Rock Cowles (Hey! Wait a minute!)

""I don't believe" is a statement for me, not a stand. Ignosticism reminds me how much I don't know. It doesn't mean I can't shred specific religions fairly handily. I've just matured to the point that I don't feel the need to. Nothing left to prove or disprove." - Rock Cowles

"Religion is a universal security blanket for a lot of people, especially children. It gives them a sense of security, albeit, I am relatively certain, a false one. It can cost them their freedom, self-respect, sanity, and individuality. Teach children to respect life, themselves, and others; to be self-reliant, to use their intelligence to draw their own conclusions, to plan for the future, but to live in today." - Rock Cowles

"I could say I don't like dating, but it's more like, I backed over this glass slipper with my car and somebody owes me a tire!" - Rock Cowles

"The first part of preparedness is awareness. Without it, you are toast." - Rock Cowles

"You cannot have humility without generosity and gratitude. Nor can you have generosity and gratitude without empathy. Therefore, you can't have humility without empathy." - Rock Cowles

"Music is the timeline of my life. It reminds me of where I have been, who I was with, what I was doing, and when, as well as what was going on in the world around me." - Rock Cowles

"I detest politics. Unfortunately, I detest most politicians even more." - Rock Cowles

"Dear Single Internet Women, you DO NOT have an "average build" if your birthday suit looks like a snowmobile suit!" - Rock Cowles

"I appreciate nature and I do think we are all connected. What we do to each other and our planet affects us all. If I had to create my own religion it would have only one premise; Don't shit where you eat." - Rock Cowles

"Christianity is like over planning an expensive, elaborate, invitation only, surprise party for a friend of a friend of a friend who doesn't exist." - Rock Cowles

"The modern day Neanderthal shut-in sits in front of his computer; fearful, ignorant, judgmental, and uncomprehending. A day in the sun is as foreign as kissing a girl or having principles to stand behind." - Rock Cowles

"The best smiles come easily and often and don't include drool unless there is a tail wagging behind them." - Rock Cowles

"I'd like to see atheism represented not only as an intelligent choice, but common sense. It shouldn't take years of study to not believe in things that there is no proof of." - Rock Cowles

"May you be reincarnated as a cat in a dog park." - Rock Cowles

"Sleep, like sanity, seems to elude me when I need it most." - Rock Cowles

"Do you know how many great writers, musicians, artists, scientists, inventors, theologians, and statesmen have died poor? All of them! You can't take it with you, no way, no how! Enjoy what you have while you have it. Whoever is a slave to the mighty buck is a slave to stupidity." - Rock Cowles

""Pre-owned" is the equivalent of "former virgin beauty queen". "New" and "once new" are far from synonymous. Ask any gynecologist." - Rock Cowles

"I have faith in the law of averages. Every day that I can remember, I awoke. I have little reason to believe that today will be different, but as each day passes, the odds increase that it will not happen this day. I can cling to that faith as much as my little heart desires, but eventually, it will bite me in the ass, and bite hard." - Rock Cowles

"If you don't keep your pants on, who will?" - Rock Cowles

"I'm a Sit Down Stand Up Comedian, whatever the hell that is. Maybe a writer with a short attention span and one broken crayon." - Rock Cowles

"I have a T-shirt that says, "Plays Well With Self." It suits me (or at least the top half)." - Rock Cowles

"Without liberty, there is no opportunity for equality." - Rock Cowles

""Sin" is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark". If we are born sinners, and God created us that way, didn't He miss the mark and therefore sin?" - Rock Cowles

"There is more evidence to support the possibility that there could be a crack smoking Velociraptor in a pink tutu playing the ukelele in my kitchen than there is that there is a god. Personally, I think the Velociraptor would be the less ridiculous of the two." - Rock Cowles

"Getting proper change back at McDonalds: It's not rocket science, but it might as well be." - Rock Cowles

"How can I tell if someone is pretty on the inside without looking in all of her orifices?" - Rock Cowles

"Facebook: more verbicidal maniacs than you can shake a faggot at." - Rock Cowles

"One of the great things about having your own invisible god is you can make him/her/it as big and grand as your little heart desires, and unless he/she/it is crashing into furniture and shit, who is to say different?" - Rock Cowles

"What's the most interesting thing about me? It's a toss up between my frolicking, unconventional, and twisted mind and the way I use a chainsaw to paint Lima Beans purple with my toes in my sleep while driving. What about you?" - Rock Cowles

"It's not my job to shove enlightenment up people's asses, but some days I get stuck volunteering to do it." - Rock Cowles

"Happiness in relationships is often a balancing act. You can't always just go after eye candy, follow your pants, or get tugged everywhere by your heartstrings. Sometimes it's hard remembering that you are complete all by yourself. Relationships are enhancements. They make you more of who you are, so you want to take the time to find the people who bring out the good in you. Don't quit, just take your time, be patient, be good to and trust yourself." - Rock Cowles

"Welfare sucks, literally." - Rock Cowles

"For some men honor is more than a word, more than a way of life, it is more important than life. The ones who are truly honorable are always honorable. They are not volatile. They make the best friends and the worst enemies for they know that once lost, honor, like virginity, can never be regained." - Rock Cowles

"Being happy with your obesity is about as intelligent as being happy with your seat on the railroad tracks. It might work for a brief while, but its not recommended." - Rock Cowles

"I think Liberals may tend to be more people-oriented, whereas Conservatives are more task oriented. It makes Liberals look softheaded to Conservatives and Conservatives hardhearted to Liberals. I'm a Libertarian for the most part. I guess we're just assholes. Practical, critical thinking assholes who ask evil selfish questions like "Why are we being punished for something someone else did or might possibly do?", "Who is supposed to pay for this?" and "What about my children and their future?"" - Rock Cowles

""Fixed income" is my new least favorite oxymoron..." - Rock Cowles

"Is Dr. Atkins the Anti-Pasta?" - Rock Cowles

"Is it Armageddon yet or did I miss it?" - Rock Cowles

"I now have a new reason for living. It is my life's goal to make my girlfriend laugh so hard that she pees out of her nose!" - Rock Cowles

“Just Because I’m Arrogant Doesn’t Mean That I’m Not Better Than You!” - Rock Cowles

“When all else fails, go back to bed. Repeat as necessary.” - Rock Cowles

"It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if everyone walked a mile in my shoes. There'd be like arms and legs, peckers and boobs sticking out everywhere, and I think I'd need to burn the shoes afterward." - Rock Cowles

"I take not taking life too seriously very seriously." - Rock Cowles

"Do Mega-Churches have Mega-Pastors?" - Rock Cowles

"I've been a Mensan over twenty years, yet I don't, as a rule, go through my day thinking I am smarter than the majority of people I come in contact with. As a matter of fact, I tend to be amazed by the depths of human stupidity on a near daily basis, including, sometimes, my own." - Rock Cowles

“Having another birthday, year after year, is getting old.” - Rock Cowles

"I prefer "open minds" over "like minds". Its part of that whole "think for yourself" thingy that I try to subscribe to." - Rock Cowles

"Money may talk, but Debt screams like a horde of syphilitic banshees!" - Rock Cowles

“I have no more fear of death than I do of going to sleep. I have no psychotic, PMSing, invisible tyrant in the sky trying to fry me with a magnifying glass just for showing up.

I know the rules and have a clear conscience.  I'm an atheist." - Rock Cowles

"I unintentionally slaughter sacred cows in public venues and speak my mind even when I have lost it. I often open my mouth just to change feet." - Rock Cowles

"If you have lived your life in such a way that no one has ever found you obnoxious then you have my condolences for you have never really lived." - Rock Cowles

"Just because you have a Twitter account doesn't mean you should have a Twitter account. - Rock Cowles

"I overthink everything except for maybe when..." - Rock Cowles

"As I age, the filters between my mind and my mouth get used less and less and the unsuspecting world gets to experience more and more of what is uniquely me... the hard way." - Rock Cowles

"My singing is inspirational. When I sing, the people around me sing louder." - Rock Cowles

"To be is to create. To create is to be." - Rock Cowles

"There are two things in life more important than a good education; Health and Integrity, neither of which can easily be replaced." - Rock Cowles

"Sometimes sad just is." - Rock Cowles

"Government Education is an oxymoron. It is indoctrination. Lay still, little sheep, or The Wolf will get you." - Rock Cowles

"Personal responsibility for one's own thoughts and emotions requires great courage, but is the only path to true freedom." - Rock Cowles

"Religion is as harmless as a toddler with a handgun." - Rock Cowles

"When a friend dies, they take a part of you with them and leave a little of themselves behind." - Rock Cowles

"Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. Not that I have much left to prove." - Rock Cowles

"A real education is not just eclectic, it defines it." - Rock Cowles

"Someone once busted on me for liking one of my own posts. Why the hell would I have posted it in the first place if I didn't like it? It's like giving a writer shit, instead of credit, for quoting themselves. Everyone quotes themselves. Writers are just a bit more formal and hopefully articulate about it. It's how they make a living. Artists sign their work. It's how they get known and how they get paid. Give credit where credit is due. Respect copyrights." - Rock Cowles

"I'm a libertarian, not a liberal. That makes me pro get the fuck out of my face, not pro-poor baby." - Rock Cowles

"Live wrong and posture." - Rock Cowles

"An atheist is merely someone who doesn't believe in god/s. Atheism matters to me because I see what religion does to people, individually and collectively. I'm horrified and appalled by what people and societies do in the name of their god/s or religion. I want to do my part to stop it. I'm not out to deconvert anyone. I want them to start thinking boldly, to question everything,  to learn to recognize truth, and deconvert themselves." - Rock Cowles

"Character matters most. It will outlast physical beauty, athleticism, intelligence, and since you can't take it with you, prosperity." - Rock Cowles

" If women were created from ribs then why do they taste like fish?" - Rock Cowles

"You'll make more friends with a blunt rock than with a kind word. Or not." - Rock Cowles