J. Ojanpera

If you have ever been asked what the rabble is, you would probably think of a certain group, or maybe a section of the society you live in; apart from yourself. Depending on the heights, or the perceived heights of your place in society, the rabble could be everyone who makes less money than you. If you are a puritan, you may believe that everyone with a lower moral standard belongs to the rabble. If you have drowned in religion, you may believe that the sinners are rabble. If you are a cop, you may think all civilians to be rabble. Whatever the case, this moniker can easily be defined relative to our individual worldview. This is not a vocabulary lesson. This is a case of another idea that has been warped and distorted by tax brackets and materialism. We have been divided -intentionally in some cases- along irrelevant political lines, religious ideas, posessions, race, sexual orientation, illnesses, and so many more. This is sad. We have allowed politics and advertisers to split us...

There has been a wave of -mostly unqualified- advice blogs in the writing world lately, and it has inspired me to do the same. My qualifications consist of an eighteen year relationship with a wonderful woman, sixteen of those married. No certificates, just raw life experience. We also threw four daughters into the mix, which makes success possible against all odds. We are equally imperfect. We haven't used magic to date because we have found ways to keep the magic between us alive all this time. In true advice form, I have compiled a list of pointers that just might help. I am assuming that both partners care for, and desire a better relationship. 1. The give-give cycle. The man who married us taught us this principle. He told us that it is impossible to out-give each other, and if we are always giving to the other, neither of us should be left wanting. This is difficult sometimes due to life, but it works. It takes practice and patience. 2. Accept the seasons, and know that yo...

As we prepare ourselves to "March Against Monsanto" on Saturday, May 25, we are being given explicit -unfortunately necessary- information about the atmosphere that should be present. The organizers in my city have communicated so well, that I went to sleep last night thinking about a militant policeman threatening me to act right. That in itself was violent. I got to thinking about other events around the country that might not have communicated this point well enough. It happens all the time; it only takes one asshole not getting the memo, and boom, a riot is born. You might be thinking, "No, there is no way some anarchist is going to disrupt our peaceful day in the square! "  I hope not, but to ensure this doesn't happen, I used my insomnia to come up with some suggestions for a peaceful day. Hopefully I can cover anything the organizers left out. 1. Leave your Guy Fawkes mask in your backpack/fanny pack. Sure these masks are cool -if you're into hidin...

Every time I read a news story, I have to activate my "political agenda filters" to make sure I get the information and not the ridiculous spin from the source. This is not a new phenomenon.  I like to think that most journalists try really hard to make their work great, but the corporations they work for -the people who are sleeping with this party or that party- have lost the point of disseminating information and exchanged facts for political agendas. It seems to be a giant ass-kiss, and we are left to sort through it. Hopefully someone is sorting through it. The truth is that Americans have taken passive reading to the stratosphere, and just want to be entertained. Southpark is a great example of this. It is more informational to watch an episode of a raunchy cartoon than it is to sit down and read a well thought political report. That's what America has been begging for; please make it easy. Unfortunately, some things cannot be dumbed down enough to reach the passiv...

On April 19, 2013 I wrote my U.S. Representative, Jo Bonner (R) a letter containing questions about CISPA (H.R. 624). I generally expect to recieve a form letter in return for my thoughts, but this time I got something a little better. I read over the bill after it had flown through the House, and while it was still on a few American minds. My questions were based on the following: Page 10 - line 5-24 "Federal Government in accordance with subsection (b)- (A) for cyber security purposes; (B) for the investigation and prosecution of cyber security crimes (C) for the protection of individuals from the danger of death or serious bodily harm and the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving such danger of death or serious bodily harm; (D) for the protection of minors from child pornography, any risk of sexual exploitation, and serious threats to the physical safety of minors, including kidnapping and trafficking and the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving c...

I love the feeling of having found the truth. After I have applied all the tools of relativity, rationale, and existing collective knowledge I can usually confirm or deny most subjects. There are obviously matters of emotion and spirituality that are immune to rational discourse, so I am setting those aside. Hopefully we all learned the basic steps of The Scientific Method in grade school. These steps can be applied to almost any subject in question. It is simple and thorough at the same time, and I strongly recommend committing it to memory. I won't repeat the news here. I won't repeat the underground news here. If there is any question in your mind as to what either source is feeding you, then I suggest you make time (one hour per week) to catch up on two basic facts. The first: All media is a failed attempt at finding truth. The second: They are attempting to create the largest group of believers for nothing more than marketing. This brings us back to relativity. All of...