This made the print edition of the Eureka Reporter yesteday but not online for some reason so I thought I’d post it:

Symptoms

Hopelessly trying to avoid recent headlines surrounding the Duke Lacrosse incident and doing my best not to dwell on the issue I finally succumbed and asked myself a few questions in order to process, and hopefully forget about the depravity of the young men involved. Like many people I asked how someone could do what has been alleged. What would cause a man to treat a woman in this way? How could someone be so full of lust?

I recently asked myself similar questions after watching a Dateline special on NBC several weeks ago. The special focused on minors that had been solicited online for sex, with the majority of the footage coming from inside a house that Dateline had set up in cooperation with local law enforcement. Through the course of the show, dozens of men from all walks of life showed up to have a sexual encounter with someone they thought was a minor. I was astounded at the type of men who showed up: teachers, law enforcement, fathers, and husbands. How could this many men show up to have an anonymous sexual encounter with a teenager?

Sex crimes are increasing, even in our own small community. These crimes are only symptoms of something that has the potential to destroy lives and absolutely crush the concept of trust in our society. This statement may sound a bit exaggerated, but it’s very true.

How can someone you think you know, molest or rape? The answer is that they have a secret addiction to something that has perverted their mind so much that things aren’t as they should be anymore. Most guys already know what I’m talking about – Pornography. In the last 10 years access to pornography has gone from a physical act of walking into a store and buying it to nothing more than a click of a mouse. Now all you have to do is open your e-mail inbox. Log on. Say you’re 18 and older – it’s as easy as that, even easier really.

Serial killer Ted Bundy admitted some years ago that the beginning of his depravity started with pornography. Pornography has taken a wonderful, emotional, private, and powerful act like sex and made it marketable and twisted…very twisted. In the world of pornography women (and men for that matter) become little more than an object, a commodity. Nearly every depraved sex crime is acted out hundreds of times online before it happens in real life. The most searched for content on the internet is “Adult” in nature. So how can you blame the 20 year old kid whose only sexual interaction has been modeled for him online in the most unnatural way? Why should it be a surprise that a man would want to have sex with someone he doesn’t know when he’s done it online for years?

As long as virulent images and fantasies continue to be played out online, the lines between the real world and the cyber world will become less and less blurred. People you thought you knew will be caught doing acts that you would never have imagined. The reality is that they had been committing them over and over in cyber space. This is a major issue and if it goes unchecked, the symptoms of it will continue to dominate our news headlines.

The odds are pretty good that nearly every man that’s reading this right now who has an internet connection knows exactly what I’m talking about. The only way to overcome this addiction like any other is to seek help. Find a friend and ask for accountability, chances are he’s struggled with the same thing. Unless a light is shown on the darkness of the porn industry sex crimes will become a hallmark of our society.

Jess and I went in for the first appointment with the Midwife today and got our first glimpse of little Fouche. The wee baby was moving around like crazy and seeing it definitely makes the whole things seem more real now. In the pic below the yellow arrow points to the feet and the green arrow points to the umbilical cord which is attached to the placenta above. There’s a good chance that we’ll know the sex in 9 weeks or so.

Mommy is doing well and is definitely eating and sleeping more. Daddy is trying to be supportive by eating and sleeping more as well.

Have a dope-a-licious weekend!

If you haven’t checked out Criss Angel, the dude is wierd. He’s a gothic magician that has a show on A&E where he pulls off some pretty cool stunts and slight of hand type stuff. I used to be fascinated by David Blaine but recently he just does lame endurance stunts, like his upcoming live underwater in a human aquarium thing.

Well it’s 11:38pm and I’m getting ready to head to bed but thought I’d throw down some thoughts on this here internet before my head finds the pillow.

I had a dream the other night that I got a tattoo. It was of a gecko and a japanese character, probably two of the cheesiest things to get and I wasn’t stoked, although a part of me woke up wanting to get a tattoo. If you know me it was a big enough deal to have my ears pierced because I’m a straight up chicken when it comes to anything surgical. So I have never had a desire to get a tat. It’s interesting how strong emotions in dreams can be that when you wake up they stick with you, sometimes through the day even.

I haven’t talked much about this but my brother Matt is in a scary place in his life right now. He’s bascially cut himself off from family and we’re all pretty sure he’s doing meth. The place he’s staying at is pretty much full of meth users and it’s a scary scene. If you think about it pray for him. It’s killing my parents (and all of us really) to see him doing this but there’s nothing anyone can do right now to reach him. It’s gotta be God breaking through.

And lastly, if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus…why? I could write a ton on this but I won’t.
I will however throw down a few facts really quick before I hit the pillow:
Following Jesus doesn’t =
1. Becoming a homogenized Christian
2. Being a Republican (or supporting all things Bush)
3. Giving up things you love to do
4. Spitting at gays and punching Pro-Choice people
5. Your troubles melting away like butter
…and so many other misconceptions.

I’ll write soon about what it does mean if you’re intersted or you can ask.

One of the top ten childhood Nintendo games growing up was RBI Baseball. Compared to today’s games it’s totally cheesey and a bit racist. How is it racist? Every single player is white, even ones that should have been black or hispanic. But I digress…

This dude from So-Cal used RBI Basball along with the actual audio from the 1986 Mets - Red Sox game to reenact it. What came out was truly incredible!

Click here to watch.

This last weekend Jess and I made our first big purchase since we’ve been married - a new vehicle. It’s the first time I’ve looked at an odometer and seen single digit miles. We’re stoked, in debt, and waiting for baby Fouche to arrive so “it” can sit in the back seat.

I wrote an opinon piece for a local paper which went into print today. If you’re from out of the area it won’t mean that much, but it may give you a glimpse into some of the issues in our area.

Check it here.

This one caught my eye since Jess and I are reading up on having a baby.

Somehow L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer and creator of Scientology came up with the theology that when a baby is born it’s mother should have no communication with it for a week so that it doesn’t attribute the horrific event of being born with it’s mother.

If this is true it could explain why every time I see my Mom I feel a need to gasp for air and clutch at my belly button.

“Yeah Honey, I’m excited to have L. Ron Hubbards baby too.”

Jay Leno recently aired a special segment on our beloved minor league ball team the Humboldt Crabs.
Click here and check out the video.