You are browsing the archive for 2011 November 11.

Avatar of MatthewCCox

by MatthewCCox

What Must Be Shattered

November 11, 2011 in United States

I recently read this article online. It summarizes many of the issues we have discussed on this website so I decided to reprint it. I was unable to find the source so I apologize for not providing that. If you know the source, please send me an email and I’ll edit the article.

I want change. However, the more things “change” the more they stay the same. If we are to survive, we must experience a real, authentic, PERMANENT change, starting with the individual, whose thoughts, words, and deeds reflect into society and change all of humanity. Societal change will not happen before individuals change INTERNALLY. Professions of, “I believe, I am born again, or I am Saved” do nothing.

  1. ShatteredWe must shatter the Left/Right paradigm by dispelling any doubt that the Democrats and Republicans are one party that has successfully played the good cop/bad cop routine on America for years. One party runs as far towards tyranny as the people will allow, only to “hand the baton off” at each election so the other party may continue to run.
  2. We must shatter the paradigm that the Constitution is relevant. The President can unilaterally target a US citizen for assassination with no judicial review, no legislative oversight, and no administrative appeal to 5th and 14th Amendment Protections.
  3. We must shatter the paradigm that we have a functional court-justice-legal system.
  4. We must shatter the paradigm that the “Republic” can be saved-salvaged-restored. There never was a republic, so there’s nothing to save, nor is it ours to save. In fact, no private person has a right to complain by suit in court on the ground of a breach of the Constitution. The Constitution, it is true, is a compact, but a private person is not a party to it. The States are the parties to it. And they may complain. If they do, they are entitled to redress.
  5. We must shatter the notion that we have or have ever had a government in this country. The UNITED STATES CODE legal definition of the UNITED STATES is “A Federal Corporation.”
  6. We must shatter the paradigm that if we can just get rid of the bad guy, even if we have to use violence, everything is going to be good. One just becomes the polar opposite of what they resist to the degree they resist. Being consumed with hatred and using violence against someone trying to take your freedom is the mirror of that someone using violence to impose themselves upon you. They seek to impose the state upon you, while you seek to impose your right of self-determination, autonomy, sovereignty, and freewill upon them. There’s no victory in opposition, only in synthesis, and overcoming illusory duality.

Darkness is not dissolved with blows or with atheism, but rather by bringing about the light. Neither is error dissolved by fighting it face to face, but rather by disseminating the truth without having to attack the error. However far the truth advances, in that same measure error will have to retreat. One does not have to resist what is negative, but instead one has to unconditionally practice the positive and teach its advantages by practicing. By attacking the error, we will provoke the hatred of those who err.

All the political changes are useless if we have not comprehended our internal poverty. The political system can change again and again, the social systems can be altered again and again, but if we have not comprehended profoundly the inner nature of our internal poverty, the individual will always create new means and ways to attain personal satisfaction at the expense of others’ peace.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

Tags: , , Comments Off

Avatar of MatthewCCox

by MatthewCCox

An Open Letter to Frank Beamer, Head Football Coach at Virginia Tech

November 11, 2011 in Leisure

Dear Coach Beamer,

I have a word of advice for you.

Retire.

Frank Beamer Virginia TechDon’t get me wrong. I really appreciate the work you have done building a storied football tradition at Virginia Tech. You have been there more than twenty-five years. You have won at least eight games for the past fourteen years. (That’s currently the longest streak in major college football.) You have given all of southwest Virginia something to cheer about on fall Saturday afternoons for a long time.

We are grateful.

Please retire.

It has been a good run. I remember when things weren’t so good in Blacksburg on fall Saturdays. I have been a Virginia Tech fan since an October day in 1971 when, as a ten-year old, a friend’s father gave us tickets.

I sat on the 45-yard line in Lane Stadium and watched Don Strock start the game, like he did every game, with a downfield bomb. On this Saturday afternoon, against William and Mary, the pass was intercepted. It didn’t matter. Strock would eventually lead the nation in total offense and have a career holding the clipboard for the Miami Dolphins. I always looked for him on that sideline and fondly remembered when I saw him play in Blacksburg.

The Hokies were called the Fighting Gobblers then. The south end zone, that now seats tens of thousands, was a grass field where a couple of cadets fired a cannon every time Virginia Tech scored.

That Saturday afternoon was cloudy. I remember the smell of cigars and brandy. My parents tolerated the weather, the game, and the atmosphere. (Mom spent the second half sitting in the car.) I loved it.

I didn’t go to school at Virginia Tech. The music program wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, so I went to East Carolina. I’m grateful the two schools play each other in football most seasons. That game was the excuse I used to get cable television years ago.

Again, I beg you to retire.

You have done a wonderful job of making Virginia Tech football relevant. Even though I live 2000 miles away from VPI – I’m sure you remember when Tech was called that – I watch the games every chance I get. I love explaining to my fellow New Mexicans what a Hokie is and the tradition of the lunch pail. It is reassuring to know I can watch your team play a bowl game every holiday season.

However, at some point, you will need to step aside for a new coach. The time is coming. You know it is.

Soon, someone somewhere will decide it is time. They will look at the longest tenured coach in major college football. They will see you have become an icon. They will think you are too big for the school. They will target you.

In fact, I bet someone has already put together a file. It may be an isolated incident that happened more than a dozen years ago with one of your former staff members or players.

When the time is right, they’ll release the details to the authorities and the media. There will be an indictment, maybe in the courts, definitely in the media.

The public will demand the resignation of the coach, the athletic director, and the university president. They will blindly think this solves the problem that you had little or nothing to do with and they will not be content until you leave.

Save us the heartache. Please retire before that happens.

Tags: , , 2 Comments »