ZombieNationArmy
Stand United. Kneel Divided.
The war on drugs. What a joke. Its funny that so many people are afraid to talk about it because they feel they are going to be stigmatized for calling out the political bullshit. Like if you somehow point it out, your a drug dealer, or user. A junkie roaming the streets. That is what you see on the TV.
The fact is nearly everyone is on, has used or been exposed to drugs of some kind during their lives. The interesting thing about our nation, is we allow people elected on the campaign contributions of corporate pharmaceutical entities to pick and choose which drugs we are allowed to put into our own body. They assume that we need protection from ourselves. Excuse me? I was born unto this Earth under one creator, or one creation. That liberty is to be limited by the scope of what a simple man said is right or wrong from his perspective?
I dont think so. I think every human has every right to put anything they want into their body and do whatever they want to their body. From a pill to a bullet. I cannot get on board with the ideal that I am given life and governed on how to live it. Why should we have social programs at all? Should not family values reign supreme? There is a reason for all of this of course. The powers in control of corporate interests would have you believe that they, using the arm of the government get to decide what is appropriate for “the masses”. People like to pretend that its not true, when in fact they know it is, but they spend the majority of their lives bitching about what they see on the news, and watching sports instead of participating in them; Watching others take action while they take no action. Its the great trick the media played since media inception into politics… take your eyes off the office, and focus on what they would have you believe are the “true evils”. Because the most easily controllable medium, is one that is scared of everything and anything you say to be true. Including drugs.
There are drugs the FDA has approved, that taken in dosages too high will kill you. Fast. Have killed many a famous star, and many a non famous innocent child. Most of the drugs I see on the television paint a very beautiful picture of what life would be like with the benefit of this drug, then silently, quickly and gently remind you that there is also a chance you will shit out your intestines and suffer liver failure. While other drugs are demonized that literally have no possibility of being overdosed to a fatal point. Others more dangerous to our well being and collective thought process are being “pushed” to us through the television. Interesting hmmm?
I think so. I think its interesting that we are told to take the drugs they prescribe, when they want us to take them and we really do not know anything about them, where they come from or what bad things happened as a result of their testing. Beyond that we will use the guise of medical professionals to unquestionably feed our children pills based on symptoms of diagnosis that even an FDA panel could not determine after recommending taking to market. But the things that we are allowed to make ourselves we are not allowed. I have never taken any hard drugs in my life. I have never smoked cigarettes and have limited alcohol to a minimum with the occasional underestimation of my ability to hold liquor. I am kind of a lightweight, but I do not mind a drink now and then. That being said, alcohol can easily be perceived as a true scurge of society. In my personal experience alcohol results in more violence than it does constructive behavior. It lowers ones inhibitions but also allows the ego an easy and often disasterous opportunity to expose weakness in an individual’s mind where their own personal delusions become clouded within the social expectation of acceptable behavior. Still, I would be opposed to prohibiting alcohol, first because its not my place to tell you how to live provided your not hurting me or anyone else, and second because we already proved in the 30′s that prohibition of alcohol only led to higher involvement in organized crimes, prison rates and violence.
By taking a very quick glance at the stats from the CDC you find that alcohol kills more people than prescription and illicit drugs. Cigarettes? Kills more than any other force in our country. By a very long mile. Four times the miles. Tobacco farmers are not keen on letting go of an industry that helped shape our nations early history, even though it is by far our greatest threat to life. But they are legal. And taxed. And typically result in a slow and sometimes agonizing death. Much like the prolonged suffering of some of my own family. But cigarettes are good to go for the average American. Nicotine more addictive than crack, still legal. No FDA intervention there? Hmmm, sounds like someone may be picking and choosing their battles, and when they do the winner is decided by the highest election campaign contributions.
Lets not forget a surging and epic danger to the national security of the United States, obesity. Now the number two killer, dont even get me started on corporate food entities like corporate farming industries that have decimated small communities and sent everyone herding to the cities in much the same way their livestock used to. Or the disgusting and deplorable meat industry that routinely washes their meat with ammonia to keep it “safe” Little does the average American know that that common fast food patty could include the meat parts of hundreds of animals. Wonder why other countries refuse to buy American meat? To quote Ace Ventura ”Geeeeeee let me think…..” But that is another issue all together worthy of its own post.
More ironic and perhaps idiotic is making growing Hemp a criminal behavior. Hemp is used by all industrial nations with the exception of ours. It has thousands of uses in rope making, clothing and many common products spanning many an applicable in American industry. It is hearty, grows thick and is almost a no brainer. Yet, it is illegal to grow. Not illegal to have mind y0u, I have a whole sale Hemp distributor for our t-shirts and they get all their fabric from Canada, not because we could not do it better, but because we are not allowed to try. Never mind that the U.S. Government sung the praises for Hemp during WWII, but after the war criminalized it again to further push their war machine and crush the anti-war/peace movement. Why? Because its in the same family as an illegal drug. Thats the irony, you can have hemp. Just dont dare grow it, because it “looks like” a narcotic. That is like outlawing Maples because in my ignorance I may call it an oak. I am sure the deeply imbedded cotton industry would not want another major textile coming on to market, not considering the same industry used slave labor to make themselves filthy rich in the past. Not generalizing, I am just sayin.
The “club” of corporations and entities that control the entire world do so by using their financial prosperity, to make absolutely sure without a reasonable doubt, to keep that prosperity. To not give it up, and to not give up power to the “commoners”. Your a worker. If your like me your a worker. And many out there do not work. Even fewer skip work and allow someone else to do it, while you pursue interests of keeping control in your life, they focus on keeping control OF your life . Its not about protecting the common good, its about controlling the perception of everyone. But the hemp industry or lack their of does not hurt people, unless your counting American farmers (who needs them with Corporate farming corporations anyways?).
So what does it hurt? It hurts the American taxpayer because they spend billions a year incarcerating people for victim-less crimes where they made a decision about their own body and life. It hurts people forced or lured into the illegal drug trade as a way to make ends meet or simply under the guise of easy money, resulting in thousands of violent crimes and atrocities over its self inflated value. When you make something illegal, people will still find a way to attain it. They will pay higher prices, the higher the prices the more people are willing to risk for it. Without a policing in this underground landscape lawlessness runs rampant and people are in directly more danger than they would be if it was controlled or just flat our decriminalized. The victims, would then be those who chose their fate, and as a free people we cannot dictate control over others lives or their children’s lives. We have to entrust in a system of natural selection, which seems somewhat harsh, but less so in comparison to the realities of social control and engineering. It hurts those normal tax paying citizens who are “rehabilitated” with violent offenders and true prospects for logical incarceration. It hurts plenty of people, how many does it save? Nobody knows, but what we do know is that we have gained no ground, and drugs are still just as prevalent if not more so than they would be if they were readily accessible. We do not really know, because in my lifetime I have not known a country were there was limitless freedom, governed only by your acceptance to not hurt others. I cannot help but laugh when the government links terrorism or some big global threat to peace by using their connection to drugs as a commentary of how “those bad people are trying to erode our freedoms” Ironically, these same terrorist are only trading in drugs BECAUSE they are illegal and produce more capital for their agenda. In this way, the government by having a prohibition policy, alongside our deplorable diplomacy in the last few administrations has done NOTHING but put the American public in danger. The 9/11 terrorist group was portrayed in the media as people who wanted to effect our freedoms. Images of patriotism were broadcast across every channel, and all the American’s banded together against the great evil who wanted to take our freedoms away. A perfect opportunity for American’s terrorized by the images on the television to make any decision out of emotion rather than logic. A perfect chance, for our government to step forward and proclaim to the entire world: These terrorists tried to take our freedoms away, but instead WE WILL DO IT OURSELVES with the Patriot Act. We then elected a feel good president who has all but broken every single promise he had made on the campaign trail. But I guess now that he is president, we can go back to blindly following our elected leader. How about some accountability America? Our leaders are lieing to us, and even though we know it, and they know we know it, most average Americans know little of history and would rather watch Jersey Shore, or Survivor before fighting for liberty and freedom. If you hang a flag, you should be ashamed for not taking action.JFK said it best, and if I need to quote it, you need to check your history and put the puzzle together. But JFK knew about the dangers of special interests, and he paid for it with his life. As did many other’s who spoke about the curiously non violent prospect of peace.
There are active drug opponents that will continue to validate it from a cost perspective, the hardest thing for people to do is say “My bad”. Nobody wants to know that years of rediculously violent neighborhoods were made more violent because of federal drug prohibition. The government claimed they were helping the people of inner cities by prohibiting certain drugs, but what actually happened is many under privelaged, under supervised youth turned to it as a natural way to make quick money with a dieing job market. Only downside to this new job? You either go to jail, and make someone else money (By using our money) or you make enough money to become a target for someone who wants some of it, and is willing to end your simple forgettable little life because of it. The government would not and could not perceptibly say “We made a mistake, the war on drugs did not work and we need to try a different approach” That would be a lot of answering to do for the inmate population, but it may set off a new chapter in positive thinking for peoples who’s last job was a felony. At least there is enough tax free hazard pay to justify it for the desperate who need it. What a neat trick.
Many drug opponents would also say that drug addictions would increase, but never seem to identify the other addictions we suffer from, including prescription medication, gambling among many others. I suspect that we would have no problem paying for any kind of drug treatment programs, gambling addiction programs or quit smoking programs with the billions of dollars in law enforcement that would be saved to utilize for these programs. And the side effect? Our police through higher funding and training could more accurately police real issues of concern like, assault, rape, murder and pedophilia. Acts that require true punishment. Acts against someone else’s human rights. An act made for my individual rights is made in honor to those rights, not in opposition to those rights. Should I do harm to others and violate those rights I deserve to be punished. When I recognize and celebrate those rights, I should be afforded any punishment to be that of consequences for my own action. No ill consequence to myself or others, no justifiably punishable act.
What is the benefit of pushing a market underground, to a place that most cant readily see? Many more dangers than allowing everyone to see for themselves. I find it interesting and ironic that our government is telling what people can put inside their own body, and tells them what drugs are legal and when they can take them. I find it even more ironic still that the government has a federal agency in control of deciding what is good for you and nobody sees this as an attack on personal liberties. We can pay 300 dollars for a pill when we are 70 and barely have enough food to live, but we are not legally able take any of the illegal drugs, why? Because they are so BAD that they kill exactly HALF of the people killed under prescription drug overdoses. Which is the greater evil when it comes to saving lives? A teenager taking a drag or a baby swallowing some pills? The war on drugs is a sham, is proven a sham by its complete and total failure of making any progress in coming close to controlling the drug trade since the Reagan administration. In fact if its done anything its made it even more effective of a machine, and furthers the likelihood that because of its prohibition undereducated and under trained law enforcement could fall to the influence of corruption as has been so evident in the past. As much as they try to limit it, people will try harder to get it. They will pay more for it, and it will drive the price of drugs to levels that people are work killing each other over. If they do not, many of these non violent “criminals” who have committed no ill act of harm upon others, is serving time with rapists and murders.
Prison is a BUSINESS now people. Private prisons are popping up all over the country in the last 25 years. Why would private prisons making HUGE amounts of money want their political pull to go to decriminalizing drugs? Well, they might go out of business : ) and as long as they can keep building prisons, and writing more laws, they can keep justifying the reasoning to slowly institutionalize life for more and more people. Its pretty terrifying actually, that the government has fingers in every facet of modern life from paying the ever groing range of taxes our forefathers where trying to avoid, to reaching into our schools and telling us what we are allowed to teach our children. Conflict will destroy us all. Unity is the only way to live sensibly inside of an increasingly crowded rat cage. And as soon as we can, as a world we need to come together to find out the greater questions, like the most obvious one I think of; Why are we not working together at this point in our history, to find out what exists beyond our levels of understanding. We need to find a way off of this rock. As of now, as a civilization we are wasting our resources, wasting our time and wasting the gift of intelligence.
There used to be a great public service announcement with the popular tagline “This is your brain……..this is your brain on drugs.” where the host would show you an raw egg before frying it on a frying pan. Little did we know….the egg? Full of Salmonella. Getting fried? Maybe just saves our future children’s lives. Think beyond yourself and demand action be taken. Enough bloodshed and corruption has been counted upon for too long. Its time to free the people and slow the accension of the corporate prison planet we are headed towards. Its not just our lives, its the lives of those who come after us that depend upon it. Want to ensure a rich afterlife? Enjoyed beyond life by both the religious and non religious, a true lasting legacy? Stand up for individual rights, and take control of our country once again. Vote for Ron Paul, or wait to be caught completely unprepared for the consequences of indifference. Every empire falls, and history tells us its those that fall, that count out the perseverance of the human spirit and the rights all beings of this planet are entitled to.
I was thinking today. Isnt it interesting, that we know how to eat healthy, but choose not to. We are told it doesnt taste as good as bad food, when in fact it does and often tastes better. We know how to work out, and for all the people that say they dont I would argue that with as much time as they spend on Facebook, if they were to take half of it and invest in personal research, they could likely have the knowledge of a personal trainer in a short amount of time. And our minds. After huge and ongoing technological strides we are now eliminating the picture telling of voice inflection and non verbal communication with text, email etc. Things are de-evolving. People are getting more inferior by the year, instead of superior by the minute.
I feel the goal of human evolution is advancement. I also feel that we are not even close to where we could be, because forces at work change the perspective. We should be get stronger. With technology, learning and communication everyone should have the ability to get into shape. With communication and information sharing we should have minds of flurishing with strength of granity. Forward thinking and advanced minds. Its 2011, and I honestly cant believe the world has not found a way to demand a peaceful existence. Why is it all these politicians that world world elects hell bent on killing each others innocents? We all know that we are little ants sitting on a little log. You would think we would be as a world looking as to why instead of fighting over every border, we could maybe look into the origins of our own existence. See what this riddle was all about. Quit trying to kill each other over lines our fathers drew before they knew what lines even meant.
I think a species can only be judged most critically by the animals it has superiority over. This is not a new idea either, but a more commonly forgotten one as I age. It doesnt take long to see, that in many cases humans are our own best friends, but if the animal world could talk, it would tell a different story. They may not say they were smarter. They may not say they could problem solve better. But they would be better. Because only humans know, inflict and come to expect true cruelty to lesser lifeforms. Isnt it ironic and a sound proof of our own arrogance when we ghasp and the invading alien movies where we are treated exactly the same way. Is that moral standing? Is that ethics, to have infliction of pain and suffering justified because of your superior intelligence? Does it not seem obvious to anyone else that if we were so superior we could exist without cruelty and the need to take lives? Should we have evolved passed this?
“That iiiis a tasty burger” Sure it is. They taste great. Steak. Burgers. Hot Dogs. Yummy and you wont convince me otherwise. What I will say is this. How can I store 15,000 songs on my telephone but I cant get the food industry to make an alternative to meat that tastes just as good? We can grow cells in a lab, but we would wrather put our money into gutting hogs at the slaughterhouse. I guess I just dont get it. I have had some meat substitutes. Many of the alternatives are starting to taste indistinguishable from their authentic counterpars. Yet, I have to think that all this has been done to this point with minimal funding in comparison to the multi millions and billions of dollars the meat industry makes. Simply put, the meat industry is enormously large. Much like the corporate farming sindacytes that stifled the family farm over the last 30 years, the meat industries profit, allow them to keep their position of power and ultimately a controlled holocaust of animal mistreatment and misuse.
We are supposed to be using technology in the ever growing future to our advantage. This would include making it easier for us to be stronger, healthier and more mentally stable. Instead we have a generation of increasingly inactive, unconfident, sick mentally unbalance individuals, gorging on food of little nutrional content, even though technology with the click of a mouse could tell you how to do exactly the opposite. We are sticking burgers down our kids throats for 99 cents a piece, even though 99 cents of fruits and veggies, would probably keep them healthier and less hungry than their nutrionally devoid counterparts. And to think, what a world it is and what a statement it makes, when meet becomes cheaper than something you can grow in your own back yard. Thats really saying something. Its saying the American public at least, is so ignorant, they base all value on a form of currency that is backed, by absolutely nothing tangible. I find it amazingly ironic at times, that we can fly a man to the moon, maintain the internet, track someone from the palm of your hand. Yet, we have not found a way, to stop slaughtering animals for food. This is all of course, backed by political and media based ad campaigns and contributions. Nothing new. Always disturbingly unnoticed.
Its a great system. Feed the people just enough crap to keep them fat, miserable and less likely to fight back. Less likely to have the confidence to say enough is enough. The world would change, if the world changed what it ate. America sets the standard for countries who love an expendable populace to use in their war campaigns. Campaigns complete a long bloody circle of corporate greed and elite control over our political influence. Humans truly are a parasite. A virus. The parallel has been drawn before and nearly undeniable. We use, consume and ultimately rape our world. We are educated, but we are not better. We are smarter, but we are no more good than we ever were. In fact, one could say easily that we are worse, because we no better. We have been down this path, and this path should have taken us so much further than we have come. We have everything we know, to make good decisions and tell the world, its time to relax, its time to get along, and its time to take responsibility for the great power and responsibility that IS intelligence.
Humans are not the priority, though their self awareness and ego would lend them to believe they would always live forever. Its a hard pill to swallow, that while smart, and intelligent your still flawed and no better than any other animal from the scurrying cocaroach, to the bird in the sky. To be intelligent, and to be cruel in the face of that intelligence is the greatest true evil. We are not the priority. We are the minorty. And we are trying to take over the entire world, instead of understand it. A true spit in the face of a wonderful gift. Go to Google Video and watch “Earthlings”. I dare you to watch this documentary in full and feel the same way about being a human being. If you stop, to avoid making a change you will have to decide if you just dont care, or if your to much of a coward to take action. Either course of action, would only be considered historically human. A term that has not really done much to help who we are, or what we are. Perhaps, until we transcend human nature, and welcome a new age we can let go of the name “human” and go with a title representing a better and more pure spiritual being. Or maybe the better and more pure spiritual being is one that does not define the justification of suffering of any kind. This would be a being with no name, but a higher purpose.
Me and the kids stopped at Jimmy Johns today. It was hot and we wanted something clean and relatively healthy so we swung into Jimmy Johns. When we stopped we decided we would get one large sub and split it three ways. I took the smallest, the daughter took the largest and my son the middle. I looked at the smallest piece I was alloted and felt our experiment would end in disaster. I was hungry. I hadnt eaten in some time and after a long weekend I needed some help. So with quite a bit of uncertainy I started eating my miniscule piece of the sub with one thought in mind; Identify not when I am full, but identify when I am no longer hungry. I slowly chewed, and processed the food. After my small third of a portion I was not by any means full, but I was noticably no longer hungry. That made me think, in America how many calories are consumed that dont need to be? How many extra calories are taken in other countries? Its not suprise that we have such a huge obesity problem in America, when considering the abundance of food, cheap and devoid of nutrition. We dont need nearly the amount of calories that we eat, yet still we eat them. We eat well passed “no longer hungry” and aim to satisfy our predatory survival instinct to consume in bulk and outlast starvation. The more I observe silently the more I realize everyone is selling to our instincts. Food for our drive to consume and get fat. Sex to satisfy our instinctive desire to reproduce. Nearly everything is based on an instinctive urge or as a stroking of the ego.
Its interesting to me how unaware most of America is about how powerful the food industry is in our country and the world. Not more than 50-60 years ago many people had at least some ideal how to grow their own food. Today nearly no one knoww how to provide food outside of the supermarket. What happens when a world food shortage takes place and the major shortage of something like corn eliminates its supply for 1 year? Thats a lot less food, especially considering corn in like something like 90% of all products in our grocery stores. Fast food is a perfect example of the food markets directed at making people fat and stupid. The fast food market while having “healthy alternatives” to some things, generally makes it’s bank from crap food. Cheaply produced, low nutritional contents and maximum caloric food going to the dollar menu. A menu that is cheap enough for alot of Americans to feed. Ignorant Americans. Americans just trying to survive. Americans perhaps unaware that this food will make you hungrier as you are not geting the vital nutrients you sould be getting of a meal of that size, so your enticed to eat more, when you could get away with much longer if you were powered by the planet.
Check out the documentaries Food Inc. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, FoodMatters and Ingredients. Learn about one of the most important matters possible. What you put inside your body. It doesnt get more personally important than that.
— E. G.
This is my first attempt at writing on this site, so please feel free to leave comments/criticism if you feel I need to add or leave anything out. Part of my mission in life is to get people thinking about their lives and the things going on around us that too many people are too afraid to speak of in fear of being criticized, laughed at, or looked at different. Well let me tell you something, one thing I have learned at a young age that I have always kept with me and I will until the day I die, is FTW and do your own thing. Don’t just accept anything and everything anyone tells you, including those on this website. Take the information presented to you, analyze it from all different angles, refute the facts, and it will eventually make sense, that is if you take the time to do so. Question anything and everything you see, hear, and learn. Once an individual begins to question the things going on around them, and starts to seek the answers to the hard questions that too many turn from, it leads to a better understanding of how this world we live in works, a better understanding in this life, and overall will help you grow into a better human being, physically, mentally, and spiritually. My only goal in life is to at least plant the seed of knowledge & wisdom in someones head and hope that it grows and they too can bear good fruits in their lives and spread their seeds of knowledge & wisdom to others, even if it means being an outcast of society or losing certain individuals as friends, as long I can make a difference in at least one life, that is all that matters!
How many of you can honestly say you are happy with what you are doing with your life as of this very moment that I am typing this question? Too many people are distracted with daily grind of a 9-5 job, making minimum wages for some fat cat that, for lack of better terms, owns you and all the hard, painful work you do makes them even more powerful . The quality of life for Americans is dropping as we are faced with the many fear tactics pushed and peddled to us through the media, social issues, and that bastard big brother of ours. We care about pointless issues that don’t pertain to life what so ever, the latest gossip, trends, who’s who in the entertainment world, enslaving the day away, wishing you could be out doing what you really want to be doing, falling away and wasting the talents & gifts the good Lord has blessed all of us with. People know more about their favorite celebrities, athletes, actors, politicians etc, than they do about things in their own lives. Not only that, but the education system is a tool for “Them” to manipulate and mold the masses at an early age. Get us thinking and conforming to their agenda whether we are aware of it or not! From when we’re young in grade school through a majority of our lives. We are constantly being told what to believe in, how to dress, act, and look like. Society’s “norms” keep us in a cloudy mindset of ignorance, forcing those with weak minds into living in a false reality because the “system” gave molded that reality for you.We are constantly flooded with ads, entertainment, and just straight up distractions from the real issues and things going on as this very moment I am typing this and you are reading this. We begin to consciously and unconsciously give into what we are fed. Everything on TV is constantly selling something for us to adopt and before you know it, you’re dancing to the same beat, and singing to the same tune as everyone else. You think you’re an individual and truly free, but you’re really not, you’re a product of the system. Live a negative lifestyle, reap negative outcomes, live a healthy positive lifestyle, reap positive benefits, it’s pretty simple. We are a product of our environment and the black cloud of ignorance, the system, is blanketing our society, and that is very, very bad for our rights, freedoms, and ultimately our lives.
The only way we can break from this dark sleep of ignorance, is to wake up and as I said before, question everything! and eventually strive to not partake in societies ills. It’s hard, because too many people care about what others view and think about them. The resources to gain knowledge, wisdom and understanding this life, is too hard because it involves dedication and time to actually do the research, do the reading, do the further digging. In a fast pace world where everything is too damn convenient, also creates a new breed of laziness, apathetic, and complacent minds. Too many people are afraid to stand out and be different, too complacent to take the path less traveled and be a leader. This is a result of the culture creators, the select few wealthy individuals, families, and secret groups. The ones who make our laws, own the media and spend billions on propaganda to keep us, the general public, the sheeple, the masses, ignorant. “They” own the means of almost every aspect of our lives.
Now who the hell am I to state these crazy theories and go on such a rant? To give you a brief background on who I am and why I do the things I do, is to back up my words, my writings, and my message. So you know how I know what I know and why I speak of the things I speak of. In my short 22 years of life, I have been very blessed and privileged to have a very loving, honorable, hard working family of immigrants who have allowed me to experience the things I’ve experienced and seen in my life. I grew up in a small town of less than 1100 people. Our family immigrated to the town of Wayland, IA from Laos in 1982, 7 years before I was born, where I grew up wrestling, running track, and found mixed martial arts when I was 15. I was very involved with my community, youth group, and sports. At a young age I was also huge into skateboarding, I traveled all over the place to skate parks, spent a lot of time out on the streets, and met a lot of different types of people along the way. Growing up with a single factory worker mom who took care of myself and my two very old school, first generation grandparents who also helped raise me, which was definitely an experience in itself. My grandparents barely spoke English, but the stories, culture, and wisdom passed down from my grandparents I will always remember and take to my grave. I have had to deal with things the average American family takes for granted or have never even heard of at. I learned many valuable lessons that may not have fully made sense at the time, but as I look back, it all makes sense now. I grew up in a tight knit family of 13 grandchildren, myself being the oldest and the leader. I learned a lot of values at an early age from my aunts, uncles, mom, grandparents and the many old heads at the big Asian gatherings. Growing up, the odds were already stacked against me, single mom, living with grandparents with no “father figure”, “Asian” in a predominantly white community, but fortunately, for the most part were very accepting and took very great care of our family and myself, but everywhere you go, there are still those ignorant ones out there who just love to criticize. I went to many underground punk/hardcore/hip hop shows chanting along to the words of anarchy, unity, resistance, and indulging in that underground scene and the message/lifestyle that came with it. I even played a few shows in a local hardcore band (Fight Of Our Lives) when I was about 16 & 17. I got to travel all over the US, and even spent some time in London, Barcelona, and Paris. Got to see and experience different cultures, and met a lot of people from many backgrounds of life.
Now I am not here to brag or boast about my life in any way what so ever. I am simply shedding light on some background into my life experiences, so you, the reader, have a better idea of where I come from so the things that I say from here on out, hopefully, will makes some sense to you. One thing I have learned through my adventures is that people are different everywhere you go, but we all share one thing in common, we all go through different struggles in life, make different types of sacrifices, and even suffer in many ways, but the simple fact that we are alive, at this very moment in time and this very moment of breath you are taking is such a huge miracle in itself, but it’s one of those little things many of us take for granted. I believe we are on this earth to live together, learn from each other, and grow together. Learn from each others experiences through conversation, fellowship, and actually taking time to sit down and try to understand the world we live in because there are also those out there with resources, money, and much power, who have proven time and time again, that will go to lengths beyond comprehension to suppress and keep us from figuring out the truth and keep us in a matrix like, slave state mentality.
The path less traveled is definitely the path with the most benefits and room for growth as a human being.
Be as lions among wolves who disguise themselves in sheep’s clothing, leading the masses/sheep astray and eventually to the slaughter. Be as Lions and devour these wolves through knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in this life…Physically, Mentally, Spiritually.
I’d also like to end with this, ALWAYS remember just because everyone else is doing “it”, talking about “it”, acting like “it”, infatuated by “it”, living “it”, dressing like “it”, and straight up say “it” is the way, doesn’t mean that “it” is for you! Question anything and everything anyone has to say, even myself! Question the words, message, and issues that so many truth seekers & “truthers” alike are trying to say. Turn off your TV’s and READ! Tune Inward & Tune Out! Dedicate the time to seek the truth, knowledge, wisdom and understanding in ALL aspects of life whatever path you may be on and eventually, you will begin to connect the dots. Once you connect the dots, it begins to paint a picture in the confines of your mind…each knowledge, each piece of wisdom being a part of the bigger picture..always strive to paint the bigger picture!
Once we as individuals wake up from the world, NEVER STOP seeking, There is ALWAYS more out there to know and learn, but once we begin on this journey, it’s up to US to spread wisdom. Infect the masses with truth and set them free! Plant the seed of wisdom in others and pray that it grows, even if no one listens, or just you affect at one person, the fact that you tried should is enough and if they listen, keep giving them something to listen to! I mean all we can do is plant the seed and hope that it grows, If people think you’re crazy, weird, dumb, who cares? Why should you let another imperfect human being’s judgment and opinions affect you if you truly know yourself?
Now, I ask, who will join me on this never ending quest to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually? The good type of P.M.S!
Do you have what it takes?
Are you utilizing the gifts you have to your advantage or are you simply wasting it all away?
The worst thing you could ever do with your life is waste your talents.
Your talents and gifts could be something that someday pay your bills and provide for you your family, your friends and maybe one day you can make real change!
Equip yourself with the necessary knowledge to filter through the contradictions and lies put forth to us on a daily basis. A fallacy can be defined as a statement that is deceptive, misleading, and/or gives a false notion. Fallacies can be seen virtually everywhere in our media saturated world. They are used by people such as advertisers and politicians in order to persuade us to think and behave in certain ways. Chances are good that you are familiar with some of the most commonly used fallacies. I feel that the first step towards seeing through the lies of the media is to educate ourselves about the methods they use to manipulate our minds. Become aware of how we are being manipulated so that we can become a society of critical thinkers. Only then will we have true freedom.
This video is quite lengthy, but the authors do a fantastic job of defining each of the most common fallacies while providing examples. If this information is new to you, then I think it may cause you to view our culture in a dramatically different way.
Categories: mulitimedia strong-body-strong-mind
This video sheds light on the epidemic of obesity in America. We are living in the most overfed and undernourished society in the history of the world. This problem continues to worsen as obesity is the cause of various preventable chronic health diseases. All while pharmaceutical companies smile and rake in record profits. There isn’t too much money to be made in the prevention industry, but reacting to the sick is big business in America.
Categories: strong-body-strong-mind
http:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhE4dIEcyY4&feature=related
This guy has some of the most amazing strength I have ever seen. Some of his movements almost seem to defy the laws of physics. I am sure much of his success can be contributed to genetics, but it’s also very apparent that he has worked very hard to build a unique type of strength. In my opinion, his unusual form of strength is more impressive than that of power lifters and bodybuilders. Much of the ZNA’s own physical training has been inspired by Hannibal.
Categories: strong-body-strong-mind
This is one of my favorite pieces of writing that illustrates the importance of a strong body to aid in developing a strong mind. I was reminded of this story by ZNA supporter Randy Mclane who has been an avid follower of all things Zombie throughout the years. Recently Randy himself has began putting himself through his own transformation and reinventing himself again. After showing him this story years ago, he just reminded me how good it was. Always good to refresh moving pieces. Thanks Randy! —- E. G.
The Iron
By Henry Rollins
I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.
Completely.
When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me “garbage can” and telling me I’d be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn’t run home crying, wondering why.
I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.
I hated myself all the time.
As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn’t going to get pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you’ll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn’t think much of them either.
Then came Mr. Pepperman, my advisor. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn’t even drag them to my mom’s car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.
Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.’s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn’t looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn’t want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in.
Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn’t know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.
Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn’t say shit to me.
It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.
It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can’t be as bad as that workout.
I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.
I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone’s shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr.Pepperman.
Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.
Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body.
Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn’t see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.
I prefer to work out alone.
It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you’re not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole.
I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.
Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.
The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.
The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.
Categories: strong-body-strong-mind