Eric P. Metze
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Lawless, Godless Heathens!
I had a couple family members make (what I believe) are huge mistakes by assuming that without religion one cannot have law. They acted like the only place people learn rules is from religious entities. I wonder if they realized that most of the rules they’re talking about were taught to them by society, and…
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Last Testament
I don’t remember what the assignment was here, but I know I wrote it for a class. It could’ve been a really vague assignment like “write a 1500 word story with first-person dialogue.” I really don’t know. All I do know is that it was inspired by events going on at the time. 9/11 occurred…
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Can’t Prove or Disprove It
Saying that you can’t prove or disprove the existence of God has been the cop-out for the God debate for as long as I’ve been aware of it. Atheists, Christians, and primarily agnostics use this idea when it all comes down to agreeing to disagree. For the longest time, I was accepting of the idea…
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America: The Rich, Fat Uncle
A good friend and I were discussing Thanksgiving and I started to think about how it must look to other countries for us to have a holiday where we stuff ourselves full of food and roll around on the couch watching football. You know, I can’t believe Americans even publicize Thanksgiving. It should be like…
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Absence
This short story focuses on the experiences of one man that finds himself unwilling to deal with the rest of humanity and his decision to leave society. After a time, strange things begin to happen in the skies above him, and he eventually finds himself wanting to reconnect with the people he had once abandoned.…
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The Evolution of the Signal
We are able to consume a lot of information, and there is a lot to be consumed, so those who present it must be aware of how it is organized.
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You’ll Never Convince Them
During all of these religious and political discussions, I keep hearing from people who try to tell me to lay off because it seems like I’m trying to talk someone into something. I keep hearing people say, “You’re never going to convince them.” I wish people would stop telling me that for one simple reason:…
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WHAT IF there was no God?
I have been raised to believe in God, and I have always felt a presence, though my definition of the source of that feeling has changed over time. But, throughout that time, I truly believed in a higher power of some kind, continually watching over me. I simply couldn’t think of the world without a…
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Love as a Drug
Today I was thinking about how drugs affect the mind, and I stumbled upon an analogy. What do drugs do? In other words, how do they work on us? Well, they are simply chemicals that get in our bodies and our brains that disrupt or otherwise alter the usual flow of neural activity. We like…
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Americans Can Be Too Egocentric
When the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a farm in Pennsylvania were attacked, most Americans saw it as an attack on America itself. Sure, it all happened on American soil and killed many Americans, but the truth is that it wasn’t a direct attack on America alone. People tend to forget that the buildings…
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Iraq Teaches Us to Think Long-Term
One of the things that bother me about some people is their refusal to look at things in the long-term, or the Grand Scheme of Things. I’ve observed that many conservatives fall into this category, and I believe this is due to a predilection to maintain tradition. This can be a good thing, but it…
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Animal Instincts
I’m sitting here with my giant golden retriever puppy (Buddy), my fairly young cat (Sasha) and her less-than-a-month-old kitten (Spot). The mama cat sat down beside me, right in front of where the golden retriever was sleeping. The kitten, smaller than the dog’s snout, crawled to nuzzle up to mama, and had to rub by…
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Eldery Drivers (and my 15 seconds of fame)
I just got my 15 seconds of fame! Earlier today I was watching CNN Headline News and I heard about the old man in California that ran through a crowded market. Then they asked, “Should the elderly be required to take yearly driving tests?” I couldn’t help but reply. Well, about an hour later I…
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Abortion
Everyone who ever debates abortion should read this first. I first read the following article in Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan. It was co-written by Carl and his wife Ann Druyan in the mid-90’s, but the arguments they detail here are still highly relevant. It is far more honest and comprehensive than anything I’ve…
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Saddamn, What a Moron
President Bush, in reference to Saddam Hussein, recently said, “It would be foolhardy to wait for him to attack us before we acted.” Besides that quote being fundamentally flawed (which I won’t get into for fear of being accused of “acting intellectual”), let’s just assume that Saddam is the evil son-of-a-goat that we keep hearing…
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My Statement of Aesthetics
Initially, I took my first poetry class because I thought that poetry and prose were two completely different things, and I needed to explore my poetic side. But as the semester progressed I quickly discovered that they are imperatively inseparable. Poetry keeps prose fresh, healthy, and beautiful. I have compared some of my prose from…
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Trinity
In a time before Ground Zero meant something else, After our cousins Einstein, Teller, and Oppenheimer, In an empty desert guarded by squat mountains, Humanity took its first step into another age With the detonation of a bomb named Trinity. We viewed the Opening from miles away, As creatures with fragile bodies must do. Even…
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KTXT: Lubbock’s Only Propaganda Alternative
I grew up in this area, so I was around when KTXT became “Lubbock’s only alternative.” And, I’m old enough to remember the “this is your brain on drugs” commercials on TV. I agree that there are bad drugs out there that can harm people, but I also believe there are good drugs that can…
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Circle
infinite sides and points generated within Euclidian geometry framework, expressing natural beauty, finite in design yet infinite in possibilities, creating completely unlimited sides and angles and points complex actions are condensed into simple equations, as the pie are squared, bringing all points together
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Dog Spiel
In our schools and public places The meme of submission minus reason perpetuates, Replicates like bacteria in our sweet minds. We live, some learn, and work ourselves to death, But that was why we were created, wasn’t it? So much needless and mindless discussion, Of things that do and can change nothing. Philosophists invent discussions,…
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The Gospel
God, protect me from your people, With closed minds and blind third eyes. Misinformation and half-truths Are barely discernable from the lies. I’ve felt your presence and your power, My biology is impossible to deny. But I do not fear to think these thoughts, I’d rather know uncomfortable truths than reassuring lies. I appreciate all…
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Out of Palce
I was not in my right mind, I think. While on vacation in Constantinople, I thought I found a nice local café Where I could snuggle up with a dry martini. I thought I’d found a cozy place, But discovered my mistake too late. I sat down at a round table, with only one chair,…
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Cosmos XI. The Persistence of Memory
Information is important to Life, and Earth is positively rippling with both. Quasi-intelligent beings that never see the light of day live on inside us, While mindless molecular machines copy our biological biography With the guided precision of a skilled craftsman. All living creatures store libraries of information in their genes, But many beings are…
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Cosmos VIII. Travels in Space and Time
Before the Sun rose and set in the sky of Earth, A giant blue-green rock spun lazily around its star. Then a being, mostly calling itself Man, Gave names to these gods of the ground and sky. Our solitary sun floats with its family of planets. A grain of sand in a beach too massive…
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Cosmos XII. Encyclopaedia Galactica
Ethereal lights in the sky, unexplainable phenomena, And alleged astronauts older than any nation Lead many to believe we’re inundated with uninvited guests. Though I wish it were so, it probably just isn’t true. It could be that we have not been discovered, And our xenophobia causes us to see lights in the sky. Besides,…
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Hey Babe
I’ll read this note aloud to you now, So you can laugh at me later. It won’t take long, so don’t interrupt, In fact, it’s halfway over. Come cruise with me onboard the Eclipse, And bake the bread of knowledge. I learned today of the coelacanth, Heresy, it seems, is taught in college.
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A Sudden Waste of Time
After breakfast, in my silly slippers and cotton pajamas, I shuffled out into the cold of morning to retrieve my mail. Among the coupons I’ll never use and advertisements I’ll never read, Was a letter with a smiley face where the return address should have been. Starting to shiver slightly, I opened it, And though…
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Introinspection
I find a nice park bench to rest for a moment, While the ambience of the city roars all around me. Here in the shade, near a busy playground, My mind goes idle, and I open my treat. The soft brown cube disappears in my mouth: The warm, buttery sweetness of creamy, melted caramel. My…
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The River of Entropy
I imagine the Cosmos, infinite and remote. I reflect on our sun, the perfect planetary host. I consider our world, the pale blue home of the Earthlings, I think of this forest, and of this path I tread. Intentionally lost among Appalachian giants, I wander a chaotic, forkful path. Willfully losing myself in the grandeur,…
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While Watching the News
One sock, two sock, Red sock, blue sock. What the hell? That’s not a pair. Shorts, shirts, pants and underwear. After work on my neighbor’s Sabbath Is my time to unwind and relax my mind. I stretch and I fold, I smooth and I sort, I bring order to the bedlam. The only thing…to interrupt…
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Aisha
Today in the park, I watched the denizens of my town, Going about their business, about their day. I noticed a massive woman scolds her minuscule daughter. Her voice was firm and serious, but clearly full of love. Then later, a man with gold chains barked at his wife, And her posture alluded to unknown…
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Where’s the Band?
Every year, tens of thousands of hard working students, teachers, and volunteers put forth a tremendous amount of energy to provide entertainment for half-time shows around the nation. Is this why they do it? To make sure those who aren’t going to the snack bar don’t get bored? Well, if you know any of these…
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Nature vs. Nurture
To make it perfectly clear, this is an analogy, as I do not have enough evidence to prove otherwise. We are born, and according to our DNA, in there is how we would respond to every question that could ever be asked or every event that could come before us. Whether or not it is…
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sickle and sword
i have an endless number of names throughout the ages whatever my nom de plume, i am the author of insanity inside the minds throughout all of time and space and now i will vindicate the credenda of sages bringing forth a deadly agent, bred by humanity weed out the weak willed, and restart the…
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Top 10 Good Things about 9/11
10. We are cracking down on terrorism. With the horrors of terrorism reaching so vast an audience, the world’s new focus on defeating terrorism may one day save us from each other and ourselves. 9. The odds are in our favor. The chance of anyone dying today (or any other day) is always the same.…
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The Community
Here on our island in the middle of the Sea, My ninety-nine siblings and I live as kin. We are raised together as a family Taught only of love, and rarely of sin. We all have one Father and no mother But we know we were made from one. He is the creator of this…
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Skywatcher
We ride this world, an island of the cosmos Which falls forever towards our sun. We’re perched on the cosmic beach Poised to hold on to one. The jet-black dome is alive with light Ancient energy illuminates the night. The sky is worthy of Heaven, Graced by the upstart Sisters of Seven, With the Hunter,…
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Grammer
Speaking English is not hard Though one could hardly tell. Just walk this nation, from coast to coast And you’ll experience linguist’s Hell. In one place, a metaphor Would make but perfect sense. But then there’s the misunderstanding That makes the mood too tense. When in Rome, speak like Texans It’s possible to start a…
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Waiting to Pounce
The hunter crouches beside a desolate road Watching as the entourage drives by. He fixates on one vehicle in particular, A pair of diplomat flags demand his attention. The beast’s flat olive armor reflects Nothing, as though the light is being sucked back in. A true social evil rides comfortably inside, Rings inside rings form…