J. Ojanpera

Balance seems an unachievable goal most of the time. There are so many things that pull us away from our various techniques to stay balanced. It is possible for me, but balance is fleeting. It feels more like a tight rope walk with a stiff cross wind. I have four daughters, a wife, a dog, a cat, and a rabbit. All of them need me to some degree every day. (the rabbit is sweet, but my least favorite because I am the "only one" that can clean her cage) I love my job very much, but it is demanding, and overwhelming at times. My best shot at balance comes in the wee hours of the morning; the time that I would rather be sleeping. For some reason, probably my age and imbalance, I wake up between three and four. I decided last night that I would stay up, and perhaps find that place inside where peace and balance can be found. If Spring ever comes, I will most likely stay outside with my dog, Loki. We are the only male specemins, so we're pretty tight. I think this will be the be...

Who will be to blame for the next big terror attack? I have a guess: anyone, with the exception of who actually orchestrated it. The history of the US is rife with credible examples of intentional war-making efforts. Perhaps the worst in recent memory is 9/11. The conspiracy theorists can't be wrong every time. Scientists who specialize in explosives, proffesionals in building demolition, and the "coincidental" military scenarios that mirrored exactly what happened that day cannot all be wrong. There is such a thing as odds, and when you have a government that is bent on world domination, coupled with undeniable evidence against them, the odds have to at least be even. Let's say that 50% of all wars America has fought were legit, and the other half were intentionally fostered in using "terrorist" attacks. When I was in school, 50% was a fail. The sad part is that I was being far too generous giving them only 50% culpability. The term "false flag attack...

Education is important. It can make or break a society. There is evidence all over the world that when there is no form of organized education, the people are generally less advanced. It doesn't make them less intelligent, only unaware of things beyond their isolated culture. I am not a proponent of spreading democracy as a means for educating people. This notion has failed repeatedly, and usually turns out worse. People need to be taught where they are to help them better understand their own culture. Americans are fortunate to have every resource available to mankind at their disposal, and also for free. We have the freedom to educate ourselves indefinitely, even after we complete the free teaching. There comes a point where education has to be applied. No matter how far you go, no matter what degrees you posess, it has to equal something unique and real. There has to be a time when we learn everything we can from our teachers, and become teachers ourselves. Whether you are teac...

Revolution is generally thought of as a vehicle for violent change. The term is applied correctly most of the time; especially when there is an actual revolution going on. The kind where despots are un-seated, regimes are replaced and a new group takes the reigns. There have been plenty of examples of this type of revolution for us to look at. There are a handful of groups that wish this on America. I am not the biggest fan of the way our government works -or doesn't- and I don't appreciate how tiny each of our voices are. Money, and a convoluted system of capitalism have obviously rendered them useless, and us subserviant. I have a feeling that we will be invaded by a foreign enemy before we experience a homegrown revolution. If you move past the anger of how ridiculous it all is, you might see that we are in no place to tell our government what to do. Though we posess the right to bear arms, we are disallowed equal arms. I can't afford an Apache, much less a fleet of the...

I often wonder why tattoos have become so popular. Everywhere I go, I see these permanent markings on people. The art itself is as old as humanity, but in the beginning there was a reason. Ancient tribal peoples used tattooing as a visible symbol of rank, or as a sign of what tribe you belonged to. Today, it is generally assigned to prison inmates for the same basic reasons, only they add religious affiliation and possibly time served to date. Why are everyday people getting them? I do not know. Tattoos hurt. The average tattoo gun runs at around 500 rpm's. You think that would equal 500 needle punctures per minute, right? Wrong. The needles used in a tattoo gun vary from one, up to thirteen. The average artist uses seven needles, as it is good for both lining, and shading. My math says that a one hour long tattoo, using seven needles, equals 210,000 individual punctures. Why would you do that to your skin? My record is four and a half hours in one sitting. That equals 945,000 ne...

Spring is almost here. Winter never puts up much of a fight in the Deep South. It yields like a car to a train. Spring represents new life. Some of us get married, some of us dig in the earth. If only we could keep a Spring mentality, even in the darkest of Winters, we might be able to stay commited. If for nothing else; we might remember the vows we swore at the fiery beginnings of our weddings, or the promises we make and fully intend to keep. The truth is that seasons do change, and so do our memories. I have been reminded about certain parts of our vows through the years (always gently), and when I hear it I get a sense of relief for the beauty of what we vowed to each other. In our case, the relationship was already built to the point of the vows being more of a confirmation than a beginning. We have attempted to shape our relationship around those words, and for the most part it has served us well. It has been far from perfect, but we vowed to work it out no matter what we ...

Karma, and the way it works can only be defined through speculation or in hind-sight. It goes by many different names and phrases, but it is best summed up with one word. Karma is an organism that pays us back for the way we played the hand we were dealt. Like God, karma is sovreign and indiscriminate. It's judgements can be instant, or they can take a lifetime. Like it or not; it always comes back around. Carnival Cruise Lines has had some issues of late. First it was the Triumph. It broke down somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, and had to be towed to Mobile port, in the humble city of Mobile, Al. The ship was able to be towed here because we have a $29 million cruise terminal. This cruise terminal was built around the promise of a cruise line taking up residence in our city. The problem with this situation began when the great leaders of our city decided to go the "Field of Dreams" route by building this terminal with nothing more than a hand shake with Carnival. They st...