This seems like a point where Kurt was breaking under a high amount of pressure, and baggage from the past.

These interviews aren’t real pretty, nor is the language very clean.  Be aware.

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) PostsHistory of marijuana and why it’s illegal video series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C04z1Si4oQg Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdbX1VNCcxg Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iicaJ-InZx0 Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPU-hbi97XA Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9767S2nyY3Q Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBIvWwA3Qjs Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exUGmKSHpDg Part 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riGERy4Kv2E Part 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENv1flGllBQ Part 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgUABENROKk Part 10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arBysLr_GTk Part 11
I really like the part of Marc Emery, and that is a real time sensitive [...]

Giving Soul Fires

You’ve made me laugh
You’ve made me cry
And kept me warm, by making me dry
You my friend have a heart of gold
A heart that I once had but then sold

I thought that I was being quiet bold, being so bitter and cold
But slowly I realized; I sold my only soul
Love is what I truely sought

Even with these words that I speak
My life still feels dim and meek
So now I will give and give
Until my once small heart is soon big
And then may I have a true reason to live

Copyright Ryan Richard Thompson 1999-2008

A poem that I wrote for two friends.

http://www.poetry.com/dotnet/P4288015/999/2/display.aspx

This is an interesting study on Ireland politics, pre-government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1hBgcyEL-A

Thanks to:
http://www.youtube.com/MarketAnarchy
http://www.youtube.com/user/confederalsocialist

More of the same….

See Page 3 of this issue:
http://mises.org/journals/jls/1_2/1_2_1.pdf

http://mises.org/journals/lf/1971/1971_04.pdf

Image via Wikipedia

It’s so awesome to have these recordings. I’d hug Kurt if I could meet up with him!  I totally connect…  If you’ve ever read my biography, you’d know why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZKr1BVMPi4

Too bad one more had to go so early…

Just a video with some not-so-random thoughts.  In a sort of random order.

I’ve been dealing with all three of these subjects recently.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) PostsThis is some commentary on the recent election concerning proposition 8, and marijuana decriminalization.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZoscFM97O8

Click here to view the embedded video. 

Justin Thompson 1986 to 2002

This study that was done by BYU some years back is hot topic.  Mormons often boast of Utah’s clean-living, low alcohol usage and large families, and while some of that is true there is also a reality that has become an epidemic in Utah with depression, and teen suicide.

Since these reports started coming out, BYU did a study on suicide related to religious orientation vs. non-religious.  The study indicates that those with a high level of church activity are less likely to commit suicide.  However, even in this skewed study from BYU, LDS with high religious activity are not less likely to commit suicide than other predominate religions with the same level of comitment.

The overall point that I was making is that I don’t believe it is Mormons in Utah who are the ones at the most risk.  It seems to me that the ones at the most risk are gays, people of color and certainly non-Mormons or ex-Mormons in Utah.

With the LDS church supporting forms of prohibition, a unique 3.2% alcohol limit in stores, support for such things as proposition 8, and a number of other political and social injustices based on strict LDS morality doctrines..  I believe that when the LDS force these issues on other people, who are not of a like mind.  Or when they shut out and marginalize dissidents..  THAT is the real issue with suicide and depression in Utah.

I believe also that Utah women are expected to endure a lot as a result of their religion too.  This is something that was spoken about at length via an article at CBSnews, by Dr. Curt Canning who is the head of the Utah Psychiatric Association.

After losing my brother to depression in Utah in 2002, I have been increasingly interested in this Utah phenominon.

Enjoy the video…

Image via Wikipedia

I am fascinated by how the LDS church is so supportive of the Proposition 8 which denies certain people the ability to marry.

The LDS are the same group that for years fought for their right to have “Celestial Marriage“, (aka plural marriage), and after about 60 years of fighting the government to allow them to keep this religious institution a part of their religion..  They lost.

So now what, they want to deny other people in their marrital pursuits?!

Here is a video on the subject of Mormon Celestial marriage as defined in D&C Section 132.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdB2SWsBiIc

Pre-1990 temple ceremony (Mormon), mocks Christian ministers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28LvDaDqPTw

The core of this matter.  The reason for protesting the LDS doctrine…

With the topic of pre-mature deaths, depression, and Utah teen suicide my heart is heavy for the ones that I’ve loved and lost.

I can count 14 people who were close friends of mine in Utah who have passed away in the last 10 years.
These are people whom I have stayed the night at their house, went to school with, and partied with as teenagers.   But this is just a drop in the bucket!  Utah has an epidemic with depression and teen suicide!

When I think about my death.  The after-life.  The legacy that I leave behind.  I hope very deeply that my family won’t be the family that tries to cover up the facts of my life, or the facts of my death.

Recently my friend Katie passed away, and her parents wrote a lovely obituary that also revealed the details of Katie’s struggle with drug abuse, which is what eventually was the cause of her death.

Out of all 14 of those people that I can recount that have died a premature death, this obituary is the only obituary that was honest, and that respected the wishes of the deceased.

Instead of some cryptic wording like “Katie left this life early to be with her heavenly father,” or something that is vague, and untrue to the person’s wishes who just died, these parents stated clearly that “this is what Katie would have wanted” and they went into the details of Katie’s life and death.

That is what I want.  I don’t want my life to be in vain.  I don’t want to lose my voice after I pass away.
On my drivers license it says that I am an organ donor.  I deliberately elected that choice, so that my life is useful to someone else someday.

I have started many websites.  Mostly because when I have tried to talk about Utah’s issue with depression, I get censored.  So I preserve my thoughts and my experiences by posting written posts on these message boards, and videos on YouTube and on other social networking sites.

In the early days I joined a few msn groups, because I was working for MSN, and being in their social networking sites was allowed during break and such.  So I started asking questions about Jesus, as I had just found a personal relationship with him, and I was curious about the faith of my fathers.

After a few years, my brother passed away and I returned to a topic that I had wrote about many times before.  “Depression in Utah”..  After posting much information on the subject, and calling attention to the problems in Utah.  I got banned, time and time again.  And not just banned, but my posts all got deleted about this subject over and over.

So now MSN groups is going away.  MSN is closing down that business…  But my sites are still going strong.

See them here:

www.behindzioncurtain.com
www.utahpirateradio.com
www.youtube.com/utahpirateradio
www.youtube.com/slu2com

And I have a handful of other miscellaneous blogs and websites.  These are just the main sites.

I have also made plans for these sites to remain active and open long after I pass away.

Thanks for listening/reading/watching

Sincerely,

Ryan

This is a second video that I did today on the issue of Spiritual Depression in Utah.

This relates my personal experiences with this epidemic, and sharing it helps me.

I’ve lost 14 people that were close to me to depression in Utah, either overdosing on prescription medication or sucide. It seems like Utah and Utah’s LDS want to keep this issue quiet.

I want to draw attention to this issue so that it can be properly addressed.

References:

Deadly taboo: Youth suicide an epidemic that many in Utah prefer to ignore - Deseret News

Un-happy in Utah - CBS news

Utah the most depressed state in the country - ABC news

My attempt to un-censor this conversation.

So I have been talking about this topic which is very dear to me on some LDS and Utah based message boards.

One of these message boards that I have been posting on has a group of people that I have been chatting with off and on since 2001.

When my brother died in 2002 I started BehindZionCurtain.com and that was a place that I used to talk about “spiritual depression” and Utah’s enormous issue with teen suicide, and overly depressed culture.

For 2 years before this, I was on the original message board that we called the “Believe” board.  I didn’t have any problems with anyone banning me.  There was a bit of censorship when things about Joseph Smith were revealed, such as his many sexual partners and wives.  But other than a little censorship, the conversations were often productive and civil.

But after the topic of suicide and depression in Utah came up, the conversations got more and more hostile.  Eventually in 2002, 2003, and 2004 I was banned and heavily censored.  So were several others on this message board for varies reasons.

Well, after a couple of uncomfortable personal meetings with some of these folks, and also after several wonderful personal encounters…  I was invited to be a assistant manager on this “Believe board” but the current manager of the message board which happens to be an LDS man.

I refused the offer in protest of the unfair rules, and direct slant against non-LDS groups.  The reason for my protest is originally when a guy named Glenn (The Sheriff) managed the message board, he was a man who also was a former-Mormon.  And though it would seem as though the bias leaned toward non-LDS ideals, that was not the case.  This man kept the balance very fair, and even chastised me and others for being a bit too passionate about some topics.   But when Glenn got tired of all of the complaining on the message board, he handed the board over to a new guy Mike (Megus) who is a very dedicated Mormon.

This is where censorship towards non-Mormons got out of control, and their restrictions and stated rules got stricter.  Free speech became a memory on that board.  I got banned only 3 weeks after turning down the the assistant management role there.

I would have taken it if I thought that I would not be expected to censor others for what I think was perfectly productive conversation.  I didn’t want to be in a role that I couldn’t serve properly.  And I didn’t want to manage something that I didn’t believe in.

When the assistant management role was given to me by the previous manager, for the purpose of working on technical aspects of the site.  I accepted, and I returned the role when I was done improving the site.
I had no interest in micro-managing people anyway..

So for years I would come back, and get banned if they found out it was me.  I would join and get kicked..  The cycle continued until I got hooked up on YouTube, and other social networking sites.

Then I found a message board called “Mormon Chat”.  Which had some of the same people that I used to know from the other place on there.  So I joined it, and for a few month I just watched email come into my box, and I didn’t participate much.

But recently I found out that the groups.msn.com is closing in February.  So I made a finally plea about bringing awareness to suicide in Utah.

I had made comments in other areas, and none of those areas brought any critisism.

But when the suicide and depression topic was brought in, it was only a few days until I was banned and about 20 of my posts censored.

The funny part about it, was that the guy responsible or at least partially responsible.  Made a comment after I had a bunch of my posts censored “Ryan has left the building.  Like a rat he scurried away”.  Or something like that.  You’ll see it in the video.

Funny thing about this, is that I did not scurry anywhere and I had two Windows open to show the posts that I made AFTER he said that I “scurried away”..  And to show them after they were deleted.  Which shows not only was a censored.  But also that this guy totally lied about what happened.

Here is that video:

And this is something that I made for him four years ago.  It was a little cartoon that illustrated how this guy critises everyone and everything that doesn’t agree with his particular theology.  Including Mormons.

I reposted this for him, when he was taking shots at me this week.  And I think that’s why he was so excited to make decietful and snyde statements about me AFTER I was banned and couldn’t respond.

This is a good laugh if nothing else.

http://behindzioncurtain.com/modules/mylinks/singlelink.php?cid=4&lid=42

Nothing personal, just an observation.  But this guy doesn’t like how he was portrayed in my cartoon.  It’s a real sore spot for him.  =)

References that I used in this video:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/03/eveningnews/main510918.shtml

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/Story?id=4403731&page=1

(more videos on “Utah’s Spiritual Depression” to come)

This is me driving to 7-Eleven in my truck, talkin politics at 2am. 

 I fully support the National Initiative proposal.  www.ni4d.org

Ralph Nader on the National Initiative

Click here to view the embedded video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtCZpVPz8VE