Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Benjamin Stewart Brown's LiveJournal:

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Friday, April 10th, 2009
2:39 am	Pirates! Rally the ninja's! We must kill them all! That being said, I have been following closely the drama on the high seas in the India ocean. Supposedly the first attack against a U.S.-flagged vessel off Africa since the days of the Barbary pirates more than 200 years ago. As you might of known, they didn't keep the ship for very long and are now effectively trapped in a lifeboat with the USS Bainbridge close by as the ship they pirated goes to port. Unfortunately they do have some leverage, the capture of the captain of the vessel. The pirates of course are said to be sending reinforcements, but the US is also doing as much. Quotes from the apparent pirate leader and the US military leader. Evil pirate leader! "We are planning to reinforce our colleagues who told us that a navy ship was closing in on them and I hope the matter will soon be solved," a man AFP named as Abdi Garad said by phone from the Somali pirate lair of Eyl. That one guy! Gen Petraeus said the additional US forces would "ensure that we have all the capability that might be needed over the course of the coming days". By the way, just an interesting fact about USS Bainbridge, its named after William Bainbridge, the 5th vessel to be named such. William Bainbridge if your not aware, was commander of the USS Constitution. Notable for his victory over HMS Java during the War of 1812. Much earlier though he was in command of the USS Philadelphia which was captured during first Barbary war, the ship was later set ablaze by Stephen Decatur in a daring night raid in Tripoli harbor (to keep it from being used against the US Navy). Not that I'm sure why they need two more ships. One destroyed along with regular P-3 Orions from NAS Bahrain should be plenty against a few pirates and any potential reinforcements. Ah well, its interesting at least. Edit: Captain is safe, three of four pirates dead! Hurray! Ironically it turns out the name of the Tugboat that was taken by pirates recently was named the Buccaneer. >.> (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
8:52 pm	Ship of Fools The human race is a race of fools, imperfect. Selfish more than anything, even I can be accused of such. A select few of us seem to have intelligence though, and even fewer the ability to use that intelligence to perceive wisdom from knowledge. I try to be as reasonable as possible, thus the name "Logic_Man". *shrugs* Not that I'm saying I'm perfect, but my point is that I am uncertain of the future of the human race. I mean is this really the best we can do? Going in circles? As that seems to be what we're doing. When your young you can guarantee to be idealistic, immature, and think you are somehow better. When you are old you become bitter and paranoid. Both groups less interested in the facts then what they believe to be true. The last thing I want to do is close my mind to the truth, I may be less than perfect and stupid in my understanding but that has to be better than giving up out of weariness? Or is it inevitable that eventually we all give in? Anyway my point is, is this really all we have? one step forward, two steps backwards? Or at least that seems to be the way it is. Of course someone said that I'm probably insane if I expect the human race to at least try to be reasonable. That being said, our progress as a species where it really counts is depressing. Leaps in technology have been made for sure, but socially we're still the same. Striving for what is best for ourselves, sometimes greedily without thinking of the consequences or others. Succeed at any cost! Do I have the answers? No, I'm just another fool like everyone else. ^.^ Though I do wonder about the path forth which seems beyond my primitive thinking. How as a species do we move forward, what new thought is there? Or have we been over it all before? Round and round we go, forever and ever and ever? Current Mood: contemplative (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
5:40 am	Nightmare I have my share of nightmares, but this one hasn't fled my mind after waking. Basically I was a time traveling dude, not quiet sure how I did, it shifting into and out of time by will when I get stuck somewhere in Mexico. Of course I don't know this at the time, I just know I'm stuck in a dark room. Confused as I hear someone shouting spanish in the other room and then gunfire. Of course being a sensible coward I find somewhere to hide, just as one of the gun men enter the room. I ambush him, we struggle as we grapple at each other into an effective stalemate and I try to explain to him that I don't belong here, that I'm a time traveler and will be on my way if he simply gives me a chance. So apparently this dude isn't so bad, and apparently he understands English as I slept through Spanish class last I remember. Anyway he steps back, not quiet believing me but just then one of his less sympathetic friends burst in the room. Another dude followed by a young lady, they're all carrying guns and shouting in Spanish as they enter the room. Anyway what follows is me being lead down the hall, getting a look around and seeing I guess college students all dead and all my fellow Americans. >.> Okay this is where it gets fuzzy, well it gets fuzzy before then too as despite being a time traveling dude I think I got there by a plane crash now that I think about it. Okay so dreams don't have to make sense. ^.^ Anyway, somehow I get away, and as for what the building looks like it looks like about a five story apartment complex. So I take the elevator, fleeing my captures who are intent on killing me and all the way to the main road which is busy. Cars whizzing by, let me tell you a bit about the geography of my dream. The building is right next to a busy intersection. The road along the building the busy one even though it doesn't lead anywhere, as there is another road which it intersects which is along a river. So not realistically any reason for the road to be THAT busy but it is as I go darting into traffic as my captures close in on me and that's about the time I wake up. The END. As to why I had this nightmare in the first place, well Mexico has been in the news lately because of the drug war. So its certainly violent enough, though college students sound like the drug cartels bread and butter honestly. So maybe they're an angry group that blames Americans for the state of Mexico. Anyway, there was also a sort of shooting rampage recently though that was in New York. As for the college students, Colbert was insisting we should send young men and women to Mexico, and then showed pictures of college students who spend their spring break there. So there you go, a little peak inside my head. ^.^ Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
10:07 pm	Stupid & Fat It disturbs me that that intelligence isn't valued anymore, indeed we live in a society that openly embraces stupidity. Cable TV is a perfect example, its a mind numbing waste of time if there was ever one. Then you have our media, which takes the time to comment on celebrities and reality TV shows such as American Idol. Whats worse is we don't expect anything but idiocy, from each other, our leaders or even ourselves. Higher beings indeed. >.> (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
3:13 am	Horse or Fighter Jet? Its a simple question, which would you rather have and why? If possible, please leave a comment below on your answer, and reason why. ^.^ Horse OR Fighter Jet? Horse Fighter Jet (View Results) Create a MySpace Poll (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, January 9th, 2009
7:49 am	Naranja, Florida "Census-designated place", which basically means I'm not quite in Homestead and not quite in Miami. Just somewhere in-between. I think. O.o Then again it may still be Homestead, not that I'm able to use Homestead as my address. Its Naranja, so here I am in South Florida one way or another. Its usually warm here, sweltering even, today its in the 50's. 54 degrees at writing this, and its eight o'clock. Not not really that cold, but not warm enough to be comfortable either. Like an idiot I assumed there would be other blankets here, or that my thin blanket would be enough. It isn't, and putting on my jacket doesn't help either. As it just makes me hot. So yeah, an uncomfortable day, fun fun. Not that I know what I'm going to do down here, not that I have anything against Miami-Dade county, but I am a minority here. Not so much being white, as race has nothing to do with it. Language does, and I slept through Spanish class in high school. So yes, I have no idea where I go from here. What I do know is that I just gave up RW, mostly because I realized that I can't hide on the internet forever. Its just that to be quite honest and frank, I've never quite had a life for myself. Oh I've worked, had work-friends at least but that isn't living that's working. Yes, work is an important part of life but it isn't everything either. So I think collage would be a good start, kinda place I'd meet people my own age (granted I am late to the party). We'll see. Anyway maybe one day I can have some kind of stable social life that doesn't just include my family, not that I'm complaining and I know its been my own damn fault thus far but ah well. So today I guess I'm just going to listen to music all day and try to avoid the internet for a day, then maybe a week, etc. Hopefully I can starve off my need and addiction by filling a useless journal that nobody reads with my thoughts. ^.^ Current Mood: apathetic Current Music: Dire Straits - Once Upon A Time In The West (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
1:29 am	The Holidays I can't say I realized how brutal the holidays would be, I thought I'd be all right with it but even though I'm social inapt at best I for some reason need the people to not feel so empty. As it really isn't the loneliness so much, its the emptiness. What's the quote, no man is an island? Granted I'm sure I've butchered it, and I could google it but I'm lazy. >.> Anyway, my point is there is more to life than material things and while we may know these things, the holidays compact that point and make it unbearable. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
10:00 pm	Life Is Struggle   Life is a struggle, okay I got that and I can even accept that. What I've never understood is why the majority of us do it alone. Struggle that is.  We cheat, lie, and hurt each other readily instead of working together.  Why is this? Why the hell does the human race have to be so unreasonable? What's with that? Why do we keep banging our head into the wall over and over despite knowing futility and stupidity of it? Why is it easier to compete against each other instead of come together as a family, a community, a city, a country or even a world? (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
9:45 pm	You Ever Wonder? Why is it that humanity can't come together? I mean seriously, we all have similar needs/wants and even as a nation its hard for us to come together. Hell even as a family! What the hell is wrong with us as a species that we can't come together as one and become stronger for it? (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
1:13 am	TV & The Olympics I'm looking forward to August honestly, if only because there will be something good to watch on TV for once. It isn't that I don't support the writers strike because honesty at least it stopped me from watching too much tv (Then again, watching tv shows/movies online is what I did instead). The strike also affirmed my hate for reality tv, basically reality TV is an army of mindsucking zombies and my goal in life is to hack all those bastards to death to save the human race. Or at least that's how much I hate reality tv, it must DIE! DIE DAMN YOU EVIL HELLSPAWN! Anyway, I expect a strong showing in ratings for the Olympics, maybe (depends how much Americans love reality/repeats vs live and very real competition between nations. Though I think the other networks will resort to movies to fight back). Speaking of sports, fall is also time for football and I am so ready to see how far the Jaguars go this season. In reality I know my team has some very tough chances in going all the way. If only because the AFC has some of the toughest teams in the NFL. Patriots, Colts, but mainly the Colts are standing in our way and if we can't beat them there is no way we're going to a superbowl. That being said, the Jaguars are at least in the top ten at the moment (Of course then again, last year means nothing really, its all about what you can prove this year after all). Anyway, looking forward to a few shows. Scrubs (They're back! Going to ABC too, didn't see that coming), Life, Chuck, Reaper, Dexter, Pushing Dasies, and that's really it. Unless of course there is something worth watching, maybe Dollhouse (Its Joss Whedon so in all probablility it must be good). Hopefully I'll learn how to not waste all my time watching TV though, but balancing life is kinda hard and the temptation to escape is always there. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
5:32 pm	The World's Favorite Past-time: Complaining People love to complain, whether they've got a legitimate reason or not. Hell, even I've done it and I'm sure you've even done it. Its one of the one things we all do despite our nationality, race, creed, etc. The root reason we all complain is the root reason of wanting not to take responsibility for their actions. Its easier to blame government, easier to blame black people, white people, whatever people. Even if there really is no underlining conspiracy and the main fact of the matter is that race is just color and ultimately an unimportant matter because we're all of the same species. O.o I mean technically, it'll be possible in the future for their to be green people or even blue people. Of course I'm not saying such a thing would be safe for that matter or how exactly it would be done but it is technically possible and should underline just how meaningless it is to separate ourselves by color. Its absurd really, and yet some of the people who still push for color segregation are the same people who pushed for the justice that they rightly deserve. I mean after all the longer we see ourselves as a separate people the longer there is going to be adversity. Now, I'm not suggesting people shouldn't keep their culture but race it self should be a non-issue in 2008 to a population of rational human beings. Yet it isn't, the most glaring example of this is Barack Obama. His mother was white, he's biracial and yet somehow he's considered more black than white. O.o Nor were his black ancestors slaves in America's past to anyone's knowledge. Why that should even matter I don't know, but in the US slavery very much ties in to what it means to be black. Does that make any sense? Probably not, because after all they're have been white slaves in American history too not to mention other injustices with the Asian & Native Americans that comes rather close. Yet somehow white people must continue to feel gulity for inslaving black Americans sometime in the distant past even if those White Americans took no part in the slavery and even though a large amount of black Americans have no ancestors who were held as slaves in America at the least. Not to mention the fact that by that reasoning there should also be a black guilt, because such people in Africa openly encouraged the slave trade and even thrived on it. Anyway, what does the complex social issues of people have to do with complaining? I dunno, I admit that I went off topic. I just think that there comes a point where certain people will continue to complain and ralley against such issues as racism or women's equality simply because of the power that is there. Again I'm not saying there aren't legitimate grievances out there, I'm just saying that there also a lot of ill-legitimate grievances under the guise of those that are legitimate. (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 26th, 2008
10:38 am	Unable To Escape I'm having a hard time escaping these days, oh I could turn on the TV and let my mind melt away but my usual methods of escaping require some interaction even if only by imagining. IE: Books, video games, my favorite forms of escaping. Movies are nice too, but they're not very interactive as yet (They will be in the future, I bet you a zillion bucks they will). Anyway, what's wrong with me? Does one eventually turn into a funsucking dull adult whether one wants to or not? Or do I just need to mix it up and do more living than actual escaping? Currently paying bills, doing chores is about as much living as I do. Not to mention the lack of the social life. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
2:14 pm	The Moon & Beyond Eventually humanity will have to leave this planet we call Earth, its not a matter of when but if. I mean sure, in all likely-hood it'll be a few million years at best. That's a long time from now, and considering we're a species that can hardly look past our own generation that could be a problem. I mean after all, why the hell should we care about space travel if we're not going to reap the benefits here and now eh? Or at least that's how the majority feels, because after all humans are very selfish creatures. Anyway the point is, manned spaceflight flight needs to be continued if only to keep the dream alive. Sure there aren't enough scientific reason for manned spaceflight to be worth it, but that isn't the full picture is it? There are always going to be problems here on earth, ALWAYS, utopia wouldn't be on the horizon if we stopped space travel. On the other hand, your talking about manned spaceflight which will eventually lead to us leaving earth and eventually our solar system. Of course the pessimist among us would claim that there isn't any point anyway, because we'll make our species extinct before nature even gets its chance. What with the problem of being unable to get along as a species. That being said its a bit of conundrum after all the thing that insures we actually do these things like put men on the moon is conflict between factions of the human race. Competition, even nuclear Competition can and does so much more for our development as a species than international corporation. Yet its also the thing that may lead to our demise as a species early. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 14th, 2008
10:36 pm	Crazy Kids Remember people, if you bother to have children, you know watch them! Or put 'em on a leash. http://www.xanga.com/lucubrate/541559140/kids-stuck-in-toy-crane-machines.html (Comment on this)
Friday, June 20th, 2008
10:35 am	The Clash Between Religion & Science I come from a very religious family, and while we are not always big church goers we've always had a belief in "god". Then of course I grew up, does that mean I rejected "god"? Not necessarily, it does mean I have for the most part rejected the idea of embracing one religion. Now, you would think that the two would go hand in hand but not necessarily. After all "god" is the being who created us apparently, while religion is a bunch of rules on how to worship him/her/it. So yes, I believe in "god". Half of the reason why is because I honestly believe there is a god, and half is because there is absolutely no way to prove or disprove god. Will that change in the future, I dunno, I'll need more data. I would think though that if there is a "god" that he would want me to use my brain to the best of my ability instead of just believing in him/her/it because I should be a sheep. Anyway, what do I have against religion? The problem is, all those rules were written by men (maybe some women? Heh, probably not). Anyway, they were written by us human and if you can agree on anything its that we have a tendency to get things wrong most of the time. Just flipping through the bible or any "holy" book will tell you as much. Here's a good example, homosexuality is considered a "no-no" in our interpretation of it through the bible. While any modern doctor/scientist will tell you that there is a good chance homosexuality is caused by your brain getting re-wired from what is considered "normal". While the evidence is not exactly concrete as of yet there are similar examples that give at best the possibility of this being true. The best examples I can think of are autism for proof of brains being rewired, and when people are born with both sexes. It's little things like that, and the religious establishment believing firmly in them against what we can say through science that turns me off of religion (among other things). The next example I can think of is the belief that the earth is only several thousand years old. Now, I don't think this one is as widespread but still it is another inconsistent view held by those of religion against science. Anyway, needless to say religion and science are at war with each other. Religion is going to eventually loose. I don't see that as a bad thing though, where is a written that our understand is complete? Why does the bible have to be complete truth? Why can't it be an evolution of understanding? :P Most of the people who wrote the bible for example could hardly imagine the world we live in today. Airplanes, spacecraft, robots, etc. I mean seriously, where are the religious sects to damn the scientist for making soulless demons? So if they couldn't know any of that, how exactly are they suppose to be infallible? Does that mean religion and war are always going to be at war, yes and no. Yes if they refuse to believe that our understanding is ever changing. No, if they can admit that even they don't really know squat when it comes down to it. P.S. One other thing, I'm annoyed by the lack of belief in science as if believing in science will somehow invalidate your belief in God. Example: My mum, told me that there is no way scientist know in reality the age of the earth etc. When the beauty of science is what you can prove or disprove, and even when you can't exactly prove it you still have a pretty damn good idea its true. Take gravity for example, its still a theory, does that mean I don't believe in it? Nope. Anyway that's my little rant, hopefully it made sense. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
2:18 pm	Remake Crazy Hollywood has gone crazy, there is no doubt about it now. The number of remakes are on the increase, even though there is no shortage of original work out there. Here is a list. Robocop Tron The Dirty Dozen Short Circuit The Warriors The Clash of the Titans Dune Westworld The Thing The Evil Dead The Birds A Nightmare on Elm Street Conan The Barbarian Red Sonja Escape From New York Logan's Run The Last Starfighter The Shadow (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
1:36 pm	Iron Man I just watched Iron Man for the third time, and while its still an entertaining movie there are two major plot holes that have bugged me since watching the movie. The two major ones are really bad. 1: Why do the terrorist need Tony Stark to build the missile system if Tony Stark's Partner is just going to give them to him anyway? 2: Why does Pepper have to go to Tony Stark's office to hack into a computer? Oh, I know the obvious reason, they're plot devices surrounding these two points. For 1: You need to see the partner has a good guy. 2: Pepper needs to hook up with Mr. Shield Man. So no, not the greatest superhero movie ever. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 14th, 2008
9:43 pm	Oreo Well, Oreo is dead, and not to be mean but it was his fault. He went into an area that was clearly the dogs territory, and in that sense Rex wasn't really to fault. His job is to make sure the yard is clear of intruders, especially other animals. Anyway, its not like I didn't see this coming. When you let a cat out, to roam free, chances are he/she is going to end up dead eventually. Its only a matter of time, and I rather Oreo have lived a full life doing whatever he wanted than couped up in a house for the rest of his life. He made a mistake, one that cost him his life but in the end he was able to die in peace for the short time that that was. That is life, and for crying out loud I wish everyone would stop asking if I was alright. I'm fine, shit happens and no amount of moaning and groaning is going to change that. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
4:35 pm	The Bullshit of Driving Gas has now averaged out to be four dollars nation wide, in Jacksonville you can still find some stations with gas at 3.89 but that's about as cheap as you get. Hah! Kinda funny, thinking of three dollar gas as cheap! Anyway, I'm not a driver so why exactly am I complaining? I complain on behalf of all the morons who crucify SUV drivers and all the morons who stick to the old false idea's about the SUV and the excuses their drivers throw out. First, let me state that it's bull that non-SUV drivers are using SUV drivers as a sort of scapegoat. Not really surprising, but BS none-the-less. When there is clearly a much bigger problem than who drives what. Take for instant the carpool lane, how many people do you see using it besides buses etc? Its usually very empty, and if that implies that the millions of drivers on the road are without passengers well there is your problem. Driving is much more for Americans than many others, it isn't just getting from point A to point B. Its independence, and clinging to that life-style is as much of the reason our supply for gas isn't going to down enough. Indeed, we consume more than any other nation on the earth and part of that is because we choose to drive even when we don't necessarily need to. Its our life-style ultimately that is killing us on energy prices, we refuse to yield even as the world wants to use gas as American as we do. Which brings us back to the SUV, which we make into a scapegoat because we'd rather not face that truth until we need to. So the real key to getting foreign oil off our back is driving smarter, and driving less often. Two things that involve major change when it comes to our way of life. Of course car manufactures also have to be smart too, making more energy efficient cars so they can keep afloat. Now, I'm not saying its going to solve our problems completely but its the only thing that will really work in the short-term. Alternative fuels, lets face it, on a massive scale simply wont work just yet. Gas is simply the better fuel when it comes to the massive scale we're talking about that is the population of the United States. Okay, now that we've got that out of the way. Back to the SUV, and its myths! 1: SUV's are safer, so we have to drive it! FALSE: That is total BS. 2: SUV's are the only vehicle to fit say two adults and four children. FALSE: My family is a total of six, and we've never owned an SUV in our lives. What did we have to get us all around when we were young? A Vista Cruiser, third generation. So spare me the BS that you don't have choices. Anyway, I was annoyed, so here is this post. There will always be a choices, the smarter we make them as a nation the sooner we face this problem correctly. It'll take giving up much, but gaining much at the same time. If we're willing anyway. Think of it this way, we're better together than apart and as a nation we only seem to be more and more divided. (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 8th, 2008
11:14 pm	Stupid Is as Stupid Does I'm rather annoyed at the moment, why am I annoyed? I'm annoyed because so called "intelligent" people think stupidity is genetic. I'm sure you've heard of the Darwin Awards, they thank people ever year for removing themselves from the gene pool as if somehow their genes are tainted with stupidity. No, it couldn't be that humans have something called free will or that your environment determines your upbringing (more than your genes). What's really disturbing is that so many people believe it. It mean its the same flawed idea that the Nazi's put forth, murdering Jews, gypsies, and the mentally/physically disabled to purge themselves of people who would taint the gene pool. In school we're taught that what Hitler did was horrible, and yet despite this his basic idea lives on and is widely accepted in the 21st century. Except, now they leave it up to the individuals to remove themselves. Then they are glad that such people have removed themselves from the gene pool, they're happy that someone died! Not to mention disappointed when they don't die. WTF is wrong with people? (Comment on this)