An Open Mind

I'm sure we've discussed this before, but we never get tired of those old classics, do we. There are very few things in this world of which we can be absolutely certain, but uncertainty makes people uncomfortable, so they try to convince themselves that they are certain. I like to think that I've progressed beyond that point but, of course, I'm not absolutely certain of that. I have opinions, but they aren't engraved in stone. I try to keep an open mind about most things, but there are times when an action is required, like voting, and I have to make up my mind one way or the other. Since I've been on the internet, I have come to lose faith in what people call "facts". One guy says one thing, another guy says the opposite, and they both claim their statements are facts, and that the other guy's statement is just an opinion. Maybe one is right, maybe the other is right, maybe they're both wrong, or maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. I am an objective realist, I believe that objective reality exists but, of course, I'm not absolutely certain of that either. The only way we can observe that reality is through our perception, and reality is defined as that which exists independent of perception, so there you go.

A long time ago I was involved in an online fantasy game in which we all made up fictitious countries, and mine was The Republic of Beaglesonia. The game didn't last long, but I kept the Republic of Beaglesonia in my repertoire because I liked the sound of it. In my conversations with you, we decided that you can't really call something a republic if it has only one citizen, so we changed it to The Freehold of Beaglesonia. It doesn't really matter, since it's all just bull shit anyway.

I don't remember which states the news people said had recently tightened up their gun laws. Maybe it wasn't states, maybe it was municipalities. Whatever! I have heard people claim on the internet that murder rates have gone down in the states that have passed concealed carry laws, but I don't know if that's true or not. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that gun violence in Michigan has not gone up dramatically, which is what the antis said would happen if the law was passed. I think that most people who have guns keep them to themselves, at least in my neighborhood.

My hypothetical wife and I watch movies at home, and also old sitcoms on DVD. We haven't rented any in a long time, we just buy the ones we want. Like I said, we never get tired of those old classics. Maybe that's because we are a couple of old classics ourselves. We don't like most of the modern offerings, most of them are either too disturbing for our taste, or just plain stupid. I haven't seen the show that you mentioned about the old folkey days.

When we were kids, most of the cowboy shows were targeted for the younger audience. Then, I believe it was in the 60s, they started coming put with what were called "adult westerns". They weren't anything like what they call "adult entertainment" today, so I made that little joke about pornography. Truth be known, I don't watch that crap anymore either.

Speaking of the Wild West, I picked this one up on the internet a few years ago. The guy who posted it lives in California, so he ought to know: "When California first became a state, most of the people who lived in it were Mexicans, the state didn't have any money, the people didn't have any electricity, and there were gun fights in the streets. So it was pretty much the same as it is today, except the women had real boobs and the men didn't hold hands in public." I believe it was the same guy who also said: "We have four seasons in California: The fire season, the mudslide season, the earthquake season, and the riot season."

Have a nice weekend.