War On Tolerance

Topic: State Of The Union
Below, The Indy Voice has layed out some statistics for your perusal. Draw your own conclusions but let me just say that if you want to re-direct the energy and attention of the arguments that we should be having in this country, here is one of the places that liberals can start.

* The US accounts for just 5 percent of the global population, 25 percent of the world's prisoners are in American prisons and jails.

* The U.S. has both the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, including China and Russia.

* The U.S. incarcerates people at a rate more than 15 times that of Japan, and its prison population is more than eight times that of Italy, France, the UK, Spain, and Australia combined.

* "The United States now imprisons more people than any other country in the world - perhaps half a million more than Communist China."
Atlantic Monthly "The Prison-Industrial Complex," December 1998

* America's 1.2 million nonviolent prisoners is five times the number of people held in India's entire prison system, even though India is a country with roughly four times our population.

* The vast majority of countries have abandoned capital punishment, the US has carried out more than 700 executions over the last quarter-century.

* A recent report from the University of Michigan estimated the number of innocent persons in prison for all offenses to likely number in the thousands.

Effects On Voting

* There are nearly four million persons currently or permanently disenfranchised as a result of laws that take away the voting rights of felons and ex-felons.

* No other democracy besides the US. disenfranchises convicted offenders for life. Many democratic nations, including Denmark, France, Israel and Poland, permit prisoners to vote as well.

* Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of the disenfranchised are not in prison but are on probation, on parole or have completed their sentences.

* 1.4 million African American men -- 13 percent of the adult African American male population -- have lost the right to-vote, a rate of disenfranchisement that is seven times the national average. By comparison, in the 1996 general election 4.6 million African American men voted.

* In Florida one in three African American men has permanently lost the right to vote.

* In five states lowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming one in four black men (24% to 28%) have permanently lost the right to vote.

Effects On The Labor Market

* "Our incarceration rate plays such a distorting role in the labor market, one study found that the U.S. unemployment rate would be 2% higher if prisoners and jail inmates were counted."
-- Justice Policy Institute "The Punishing Decade," December 1999

Defining Criminality

* "Working class addiction to crack (cocaine) is a crime. But, middle- and upper-class addiction to drugs or alcohol is a disease. "
Sabina Virgo - Criminal Injustice

Disgusting Stats

From an article on U.S. Prisons

* America's nonviolent prisoner population is three times the prisoner populations of all of the countries in the European Union.

* Over the past 20 years, the nonviolent prisoner population has increased at a rate much faster than the violent prisoner population, and that 77% of the people entering prisons and jails were sentenced for nonviolent offenses.

* America is spending more building prisons ($2.6 billion) than universities ($2.5 billion). Overall, the combined expenditures for America's prisons and jails has increased from $5 billion in 1978 to $31 billion in 1997.

i.e. "From 1984 to 1994, built 21 prisons, and only one state university...the prison system realized a 209% increase in funding, compared to a 15% increase in state university funding."
The Justice Policy Institute (1996)

*** The $24 billion spent last year by federal, state and local units of government to incarcerate 1.2 million nonviolent offenders was almost 50% larger than the entire federal welfare budget ($16.6 billion) which provides income supports for 8.5 million people, and represents six times what the federal government will spend on child care for 1.25 million children. ***

There are approximately 8.75 million people that are presently incarcerated throughout the entire world...

As of today, there are an estimated people in U.S. prisons and jails.
(Source: Prisonsucks.com: Research on the crime control industry.)

It's A Big World

Topic: Misc.

I gotta tell you that today I'm rather pissed off. I am in the process of finishing Bill Bryson's Notes From A Big Country and nothing could be more appropriate and dismally sad than what I've witnessed today. If you are still not aware (because you live in a completely nationalistic and small minded country) 8600 people died today in one fell-swoop in Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. Yes, that number is not a typo, 8600 (eight-thousand, six-hundred) people are dead today from a massive earthquake that triggered tidal waves. Who cares? It's not like they're white or American? (Not that we would care if they weren't white AND American)

Just to clarify, it is just 5 days from 2005. September 11th, 2001 was close to 4 years ago. You cannot turn on any program anywhere within the United States and not hear a reference to this tragic day. ("Never Forget", they won't let you forget). The official body count for that day was 2948 and we haven't heard the end of it, nor is there an end in sight.

I turn on the computer today to find BBC reporting that thousands have died. Not thinking, I turned on CNN followed by MSNBC and then FOX News and I wasn't even shocked to find that not one of these so-called "news" stations wasn't even reporting the fact that 8600 people have died in a calamitous natural disaster. The reason why I wasn't shocked is because this has happened many times before. The last major time it happened was when 30,000 (yes that is thirty-thousand) people died in Bam, Iran from an earthquake. It may be if "it bleeds it leads" but it should be added "only if those bleeding are located in the continental United States" but that's not that as cool sounding.

I want you to think about 8600 PEOPLE. 8600 people is 5652 more people than died on 9/11, 8432 more peoople than died in the Oklahoma city bombing and 8599 more than when Ronald Reagan died and I think coverage of his funeral is still running. What the hell is wrong with this country that we don't recognize that there is an entire world outside our borders? In fact, a large majority of the worlds population is not in this country.

8600 people died today in a horrible event and your news services are reporting blurbs of it followed by news about Paris Hilton. There is something wrong with this. The reporting of the events of 9/11 continue 4 years after they happened and ONLY 2948 people were killed. Today 8600 people died and it's small blurb that will probably remain that way for maybe a week.

Anyway, I have to go, CNN is discussing a topic that could quite possibly destroy our entire way of life, same-sex marriage.

Did I mention that 8600 people died today?

P.S. In writing this little diddy and performing a spell check (which I obviously rarely do) apparently the spell-checker software is also nationalistic and small minded. The spell checker reported that I had spelled the "Sri" and "Lanka" parts of "Sri Lanka" but that I had also mispelled MSNBC which should be MS NBC. There is definitely something wrong here.

Follow The Leader

Topic: Misc.
To lead people, walk beside them ...
As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence.
The next best, the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear;
and the next, the people hate ...
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
"We did it ourselves!"
- Lao-Tzu

---

I've just about had it with all the talk surrounding this past election. Look, I'm sorry that people were disenfranchised in Ohio but concentrating on and putting so many resources into the problems there is like the Republican perpetuated myth of people cheating the welfare system. Do people steal from the welfare system? You bet they do, but directors of corporations have stolen a hell of lot of money from people and no one is calling for the dissolution of the corporation. The welfare system effects you financially less than 1 flush of your toilet bowl per year and that's about the same effect that the "irregularities" in Ohio have had on the overall election.

The election is over. The person you voted for lost. Republicans did cheat, that's what they do and they do it well. They are the party of the belief that the means justify the ends. That's just another fact of life that your gonna have to get over. Suit up and get back on your pony because now we're going to battle and it's not just in Ohio. You can either mount up and move on or become what the conservatives have been calling you: "vacillating" or in the language of the common man "pussies".

The first step in the process of "mounting up" for battle is too be honest with yourself. Look inside, find the shortcomings and work towards remediating them. I have and what I've found I don't like. Honestly, John Kerry was not my first choice for a Presidential candidate. For me, he was a compromise that I'm never going to make again. I don't doubt for one second that John Kerry is a good man but he received my vote because I thought him to be the most elect-able alternative to Bush. That will not happen again.

Forget all that you think you know about this past election. It's all bullshit. Come on, do you really think that morals aren't a factor in elections? Who says to them self "you know this candidate of ours is just so morally deficient but I don't care, I'm going to vote for him anyway because he's going to get the much needed tax code reform passed"? Morals are always a factor in elections and yes they are tied in most people's minds to their religious beliefs. Big surprise there, huh? People don't vote for leaders strictly for their moral positions or their ideas, they vote for the person. Do you want to know what George W. Bush offers people that John Kerry doesn't? CERTAINTY. Yes, you heard right.

For most of you reading this you are going to have a hard time believing what follows. George W. Bush has vision, he has morals, he's decisive and strong and while you may not agree with everything he has to say, you should know that when he's faced with a problem and because he embodies these characteristics, he won't back down and he's going to do the right thing. No, The Indy Voice has not lost all his marbles. This is what people believe. These characteristics are the reason why George W. Bush won the election and they are shared by all leaders.

Look it doesn't matter what YOU think the reality of the personal characteristic qualities of Bush are. The reality for 61,000,000 people is that they PERCEIVE it to be reality. The real story of this election, that has yet to be told, is that it was decided SOLELY based upon the perceived qualities of leadership. Plain and simply, the majority judged Bush as being a more capable leader. That doesn't mean he is a capable leader, strong, decisive or moral. It just means that people perceive him that way.

Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Hussein, Qaddafi, Khan, Il, and Mao Zedong are all extremists that had the backing of the people. They were not moral people. They gained their power to rule from the consent of those that they were ruling. Any of these people could have been stopped at any stage on their rise to power by the opposition of the people. People followed them because they lead. You cannot run an opposition party and expect it to be successful by just opposing, line by line or issue for issue, what the other party's guy is pushing. You need to give people something to believe in. They don't have to agree with everything your saying and in the case of those above, the message doesn't even have to be one of sanity, but people need to believe that you have some kind of grand vision or direction.

The Democratic Party lost not because it went too far left but because it failed to go far enough. There is no certainty in the middle. Leaders aren't borne of compromise. George W. Bush doesn't try to hide the fact that he is a conservative Republican. Kerry tried to run from the label of "liberal". Bush wasn't elected because he has compromised or moved to the middle. In fact people voted for him because he wouldn't compromise.

People that voted for Bush believed he has vision. 61,000,000 people didn't vote for John Kerry because they perceived, accurately or not, that he had no direction. It wasn't November 2nd when John Kerry lost the election. It was when Kerry allowed commercials to paint him as a flip-flopper that the fight was lost. The made up lies of the Swift Boat Veterans had nothing to do with it. A well-run campaign headed by a resolute leader would have looked at that incident as an opportunity to show the ferocity and strength of a decorated combat veteran. The Kerry campaign hoped it would just go away. Leaders stand up for what they believe in, for what is right, and they are willing to indefinitely fight for what moves them. This is how you get people to walk beside you. Kerry didn't embody the characteristics of a leader and the only reason why he came as close as he did to the Presidency was because he was opposing the worst President in the history of the United States. But then again, that's just my perception.

22 More Reasons

Topic: Iraq

22 More People Die Needlessly For A Failed Policy Based On Lies, Ignorance, Incompetence, Mediocrity And Hubris

You know what I want for Christmas?

Americans to wake up.

Merry Christmas.

Origins Of Christmas

Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

This is the original pre-emptive strike at the ignorance that may spew from the unending faucet of misinformation such as those self-important ding-a-lings like Bill O'Reilly, et al.

Christmas is not under attack by liberals, it's under attack by those trying to force it into the halls of government and commerce with disinformation and ignorance. (And by the way O'Reilly, Jesus wasn't a philosopher.) Additionally, there is so much misinformation and incomplete understanding of the origins of Christmas and it's traditions that The Indy Voice believes that it requires some clarification.

Christmas, which is the modern term which comes to us from the late Olde English cristes masse, or "Christ's mass", is celebrated all over the world by both Christians and non-Christians. It is usually celebrated on December 25th, but some celebrate it on January 7th. Some people, such as fundamentalists Christians, believe that Christmas should be celebrated without the heathen accompaniments, such as a tree decorated with lights. Some devout Christians DO NOT celebrate "Christmas".

In ancient Babylon "The Feast of Isis" was celebrated on December 25th and it involved partying, feasting and gift giving; this is more than just a coincedence. Additionally, the Christmas tree tradition, originally called "Paradeisbaum" or paradise trees, dates back to Western Germany in the 16th century. Trees were brought into homes to celebrate the annual "Feast of Adam and Eve" on December 24th. The Christmas tree tradition was brought to America in the 1700's by German citizens but it did not become popular until the 1850's when President Franklin Pierce arranged to have the first Christmas tree in the White House. It was not until 1923 that President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn. This ceremony doesn't break the wall of separation between church and state because the act of lighting a "Christmas tree" is entirely pagan in nature even though those doing the lighting are most likely unaware of this.

The Christmas holiday is under attack by the likes of Macy's, not because they will no longer wish their customers a "Merry Christmas" but because they have infiltrated this religious holiday by convincing people that they MUST exchange goods as a show of faith. There is nothing anywhere in the bible that calls for this, yet many secular and non-secular Christians and non-Christians believe that gift-giving is a Christmas imperative. The fact is that all of the Christmas traditions including the Christmas tree, the Christmas ham, the Yule Log, holly, mistletoe, Santa Claus and the giving of presents come directly from pagan traditions.

As to the artificial problem of wishing people a "Merry Christmas" after a purchase of goods, this stems from the belief that "Christ is the reason for the season". He's not. Man is the reason for the season. December 25th (or January 7th) and all the things that go along with the modern day, pagan adopted and man-made traditions, are the reason for the season. In addition to Christmas, Ramadan, Chanukah and Kwanzaa are all being celebrated around the same time this season. Should merchants qualify their customers religious beliefs to make sure that they don't offend? Should merchants wish Jews a Yummy Yom Kippur on the 10th day of Tishri, the Babis a Happy New Year on March 21st, the Jains a Merry Mahavira-mas on April 3rd, and Buddhist a dazzling Dharma day on August 31st? What about the dozens and dozens of holidays, from the dozens of different religions that are celebrated by citizens of this country all year long? How do we address them? Should they be offended when their religious holiday isn't acknowledged by the local purveyor of gifts?(Index of Major Religious Holidays)

Understanding the secular and non-secular origins of Christmas and its relationship to government should make it clear that Christmas should NEVER be entangled with government and self-serving corporations (and TV show commentators). Both are equally capable of destroying a perfectly good religious celebration.

Book Review: Where The Right Went Wrong

Topic: Misc.
I have just finished the book "Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency" by Patrick J. Buchanan, and I must say that every person who calls them self a "conservative" needs to read this book. While Buchanan is certainly a flawed man with many a flawed philosophy (the nature of being human), such as the widely held conservative belief about "activist" judges, states rights, civil rights, Reagan worship, and governmental intervention inspired by one form of Christianity in the lives of citizens, especially abortion and homosexuality, his thoughts on the Bush presidency, Iraq, illegal immigration, free markets, China and Israel raise interesting points.

Now you may be asking yourself at this point why a self-confessed liberal would 1- be reading a book by Pat Buchanan a self-confessed conservative, and 2- agree with anything he has to say. My answer to you is that if you are asking the question you are a not a liberal and don't understand the makeup of a liberal. Liberals are broad-minded people who seek the truth wherever it may lie and without regard for the messenger. It is only the message that concerns a true liberal. If you understand this then you are a lot closer to being liberal then you previously thought. But I digress.

There are flashes of brilliance in Buchanan's book. There are moments of lucidity that aren't clouded with dogma or preconceived unwise conventional conservative wisdom, that are at times lost by extremely close-minded and not well thought out propositions. What comes across loud and clear continually throughout the book is, what this writer has been self-aware about continually being guilty of: condemning those with different viewpoints as indifferent and heartless people who do not care for the ideals and values that this country was founded upon. However, it is clear that these aspersions are completely wrong characterizations of people who truly care about others and their country and all of us should never forget this (that doesn't mean that we can't make fun of one another!).

The most important and prophetic thoughts contained within this book are those concerning neoconservatives. Buchanan describes the reality of the battle that is taking place for the heart of the Republican party and how that battle can possibly lead to the destruction of the United States of America as we know it. As many of you reading this are already aware, it's happening as we speak. Anyone calling them self a republican, a conservative, or anyone just wanting to understand how important the outcome of this war within the party is for the soul of America should read this book.

Lie Girls, Sugar Mommies And Irony

Topic: Hopefully Humorous
I cant' take credit for finding this hysterical website. Whilst perusing Quantam Moronics, which is a interesting blog run by a cool guy name Barry, I came across this link: Lie Girls.

On a more serious note The Indy Voice has reached the epitome of blog greatness on Google. Apparently anyone searching for "Sites for Sugar Mommies in Nigeria" finds us listed as the 4th most important resource on the topic, take a look: Google: "Sites For Sugar Mommies In Nigeria". I just hope they're liberal sugar mommies.

---

I was (unfortunately, sometimes it just happens) watching some coverage of the Scott Peterson trial and a woman who apparently doesn't understand irony was speaking about the death sentence. She said something like "this verdict will send a message to everyone in the United States that this type of thing will not be tolerated". I thought that was just about one of the funniest things I've ever heard. State law in California doesn't apply to anyone but those people living in California, so if you live in Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin you wouldn't be "deterred" by this decision if you were so inclined to kill your wife because these states do not have the death penalty. But the irony of her statement was that she was commenting about a man receiving the death penalty for killing his wife in a state where the law already existed and if he was convicted, which we all know he was, he would be sentenced to die at the hands of the state. Ironically, the death penalty wasn't a deterrent.

In case you can't read it, it says:

Modern Folktales

The Capital Punishment Fairy

...WITH JUST A WAVE OF THE CYANIDE WAND JUSTICE IS SERVED, THE WRONGED ARE MADE WHOLE, EVILDOERS THROUGHOUT THE LAND TAKE HEED AND VILLAINY CEASES!

... WITH JUST A WAVE OF THE CYANIDE WAND A LIFE IS TAKEN IN ORDER TO TEACH US THAT NO LIFE MUST EVER BE TAKEN!

... WITH JUST A WAVE OF THE CYANIDE WAND WE ARE ABSOLVED OF THE DEED DONE IN THE NAME OF US ALL!

...IT'S MAGIC!

So Much For Global Warming

Topic: Satire
It's that time of year again and it's inevitable that you're going to hear one of your misinformed conservative friends say something like:

"So much for global warming!"

They usually say this in the middle of a massive record-breaking blizzard. They say this not because they are a meteorological genius who understands the intricacies of modern climatological science but rather because they believe the term implies that there is a liberal tree hugging conspiracy to convince unsuspecting conservatives that Earth is indeed, warming. They are, in a way, correct about the conspiracy that lingers around global warming.

The theory of global warming is controversial in much the same way that the theory of evolution is controversial. They are both theories, just like you are a theory, but the preponderance of evidence points to the very real possibility that global warming is presently taking place. However, there is some level of doubt, about the same level of doubt about the earth being round.

Global warming is real. Human beings cause it and it is affecting this planet in concrete ways. Basically, the theory goes that humans are contributing to the effects of global warming by producing substances that increase the "greenhouse effect". Yes, that does mean things are getting warmer but it doesn't mean that if you live in the North Pole you should break out Pina Coladas and beach chairs. What it does mean is that water is ice at 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit and at 1 degree Celsius or 33 degrees Fahrenheit it's water again. The point is that the raising of global temperatures by 1 degree will have tremendous effects on all the water that is presently ice on the planet Earth.

A couple of years ago at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, part of NASA) a couple of scientist theorized that if you wanted to create conditions on Mars much like on Earth (terraforming), all you would need to do is ship a couple of Earth's factories to Mars and start pumping out greenhouse gases. The gases would build up in the atmosphere, warm the planet, melt the ice caps, create liquid water, and whippee, we'll have another planet to rape at will. This process may sound familiar to you; it's the same process we've used on Earth to warm the planet. The problem that occurs when you have a planet that has a majority of its surface filled with moving water and suddenly large state size and nation size chunks of freezing water fall into it, well, shit happens. More specifically, the "shit" that happens are things like droughts, floods, extremely powerful storms, temperature swings and basically meteorological chaos. The bad news is we're getting there. The good news is that we may be able to do something about it.

The first step is to admit that we have a problem. Something like "Hello, I'm Earth and I have a gas problem".

Anyway, the next time one of your Rush Limbaugh listening, Sean Hannity spouting, Ann Coulter lusting, willfully ignorant and shamefully indifferent conservative friends say something like "so much for global warming" you can grab your rain coat, your winter jacket, your life vest, your swim trunks and a pair of goulashes, and smirk to yourself because now you know what's coming.

P.S. Warning: beware of doing internet searches related to "global warming" because you'll find many a suspect special interest group trying to dispel the "myth of global warming". Be careful where you get your facts from.

Think about it for a second, do you want your information from Ph.D Smith, the scientist who has nothing to gain by you believing in global warming or by the national consumer rights group who's a tad bit more concerned and more knowledgeable about commerce than they are with science.

We're Only Human

Topic: Iraq
Just in case any of you forgot: High Bandwidth: They're Just People Too

Low Bandwidth: They're Just People Too

The United States government (under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush) aided and abetted Saddam Hussein's cold blooded murder of human beings: U.S. Helped Iraq Get Chemical, Biological Weapons.

I ask you to think about that for a minute. Our government, our Presidents, with full and lucid knowledge of the consequences, supported the killing of innocent civilians like you and I, with the nastiest weapons the human race has ever devised. You may not believe it but it is easily verifiable. Doesn't that make you want to question your so-called leaders more thoroughly? Start with "who are we arming now to kill innocent people" and "are we presently guilty of the crimes that we are trying to prevent?"

Digression: Let me tell you why we live in the greatest country on earth. It's not because of our freedoms, it's because of our access to resources. There are numerous countries who have freedoms just like ours (some even have more freedom if you don't fall into the white, Christian mold). Go into any supermarket and you'll see exactly what I mean. You can literally get any type of food from any part of the world in your local supermarket, inexpensively. That's the difference between our country and the dozens of other free and democratic nations. When people come to this country they come here for our economy, not our freedoms. They want a job, not a vote.

There has not been a single case of any European immigrating to this country within the past 50 years because they seek free speech or other freedom. Hell, citizens of certain European nations can say that they don't like something about their government or make a statement about how they admire another system of government and no one will use an ill-thought- out cliche like "love it or leave it" or question your patriotism or your morality. Some citizens of foreign nations even understand and appreciate their freedoms better than we do. Citizens from other democratic countries come here for the strength of our economy, not for the freedoms that they already have.

At no other time in the history of the human race has a people had access to such vast amounts of information. Libraries, book stores, the internet and even cable television are ubiquitous in this country. These resources provide almost infinite educational oppurtunities. The irony is that people use these resources less for education and more for recreation or even worse, to reinforce their opinions and preconceived notions. I ask you to go out and read a book, turn on a television program or check out a website that either completely goes against everything you believe or something that you know nothing about. See where it takes you. You may just learn something or even better, change. What's the danger?

P.S. "The Independent Voice" has been shortened to "The Indy Voice" and has had a makeover. You can now access your favorite blog by going to www.TheIndyVoice.com.

Take a look at the new "Only In America" shop, and support independent thought.

Faces Of Reality

Topic: Iraq
Warning: You DON'T have to view this if you didn't vote for George W. Bush. If you did sanction war atrocities by voting for Bush you are going to be seeing these images over and over again as you burn in eternal flame.

There was some negative reaction to the cartoon above after it was posted in the Tacoma News Tribune. What's the problem, it's just a cartoon?!

This is what soldiers caskets really look like:

For those of you that voted for George W. Bush and aided and abetted the killing and maiming of over 100,000 Iraqis and the thousands of American dead and wounded:

THIS BLOOD IS NOW ON YOUR HANDS!!!

It's time that you face the reality of your actions and your decisions. What Saddam Hussein did to people in his country was atrocious but there is NO separation between what he did and what you are now doing. The results are the same. Innocent people are suffering, they're dying, they're being maimed, wounded, they're losing their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and entire branches of their family trees.

AND IT IS ONLY GETTING WORSE!!!

It's time that you took responsibility for YOUR actions.

Almost every religion teaches that there is a fiery hell that is beyond this realm. The blood of the dead and wounded is on your hands, and you are, in one way or another, going to have to face the cosmic consequences of your actions. Hell exists in more than just a conflict on this planet. It's eternal. It's infinite. It is a universal reality. And it is going to be your fate if you do not do something to reverse your karma. This is NOT religious hocus pocus. This is the law of the universe as we already know it. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The pendulum has yet to swing the other way. You better watch out when it does.

This is the direct consequence of your ignorance, indifference and apathy:

The wonderful thing about karma is that it is not too late to do something about it. As long as blood flows in your veins you can reverse the eternal consequences of your actions.

You can choose to face reality as it is. You can recognize that your actions have REAL consequences to other human beings. You can learn that violence is never the answer, that it doesn't solve problems, that it only creates more. You can pull your head out of your ass, turn off the reality program, stop giving a shit about the fate of Kobe Bryant or Scott Peterson, get involved, tune in to life, cultivate compassion within your being, and get to intimately know those human beings who you believe are your problem.