Modern Puritan

Puritans. The more strict and "pure" denomination of the Christian faith. It has brought about some horrors of the world, such as the Salem witch trials. Since then, they have kept quiet so to speak and the world has progressed far past that restrictive and oppressive/suppressive state. Minus the 1900s, that was a pretty bad time to live just about anywhere. At any rate, there are only pockets of the restrictiveness that Puritans exhibited that still remain. There is the gay marriage ban that exists in Russia. Even though many have said something against it, as of now Putin hasn't changed his mind. There is North Korea and being cut off from the rest of the world (no internet, no phones, human rights being ignored, etc). And Kim's obsession with nuclear power. Just a tiny obsession, but just enough that the UN has to crack down on him and he recedes into his country, taking the country with him. Speaking  of UN crack downs, Syria!!!!!!!!! Syria has been fairly (relative term, don't shoot me!) oppressed and then started fighting back. And we know what happened and stuff, but the point is that something was too strict on them, and they said no more. And we have the conservative side of the Islamic faith that requires women to show absolutely no skin. So we have modern Puritans, but not in the literal since. And strangely, most if not all of this is not inside America. America does a lot of things bad nowadays, but we are the champions of freedom. Even though we have NSA spying but that's beside the point.
                                                           Modern Puritans

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

The Crucible is a play/movie that sheds more light on the Salem witch trials. With a fictitious spin for entertainment of course. But at the center of this play is Abigail and John Proctor. And when accounting for the lechery that occurred between them, these 2 characters entrance you to finish the story no matter what. But at the end of the day, John isn't with Abby, Abby gets angry, Abby gets revenge, the revenge goes horribly wrong and Proctor ends up a "convicted" witch. You go a step further, and Proctor is hung for not admitting. Truth be told I honor and admire his determination to not confess to a lie. Even if it means his untimely end. He is not a witch, everyone knows it, but these things happened in Salem and they panicked. John Proctor didn't die a stooge, he died a martyr. He died for what he believed to be right. He made mistakes in his life, yes but that's what makes us human. What makes him redeemed is trying to fix the mistake he made, even if it puts himself in danger (which as we can see it did). If John Proctor actually existed and this is an accurate portrayal of what happened, then I salute you in heaven John. You represent the human capacity for conviction.

Arrivals...There Goes the Neighborhood

The neighborhood is gone in 2 scenarios. If it's raided by crazy people, or it is nuked by somebody. In the case of the Americas, it may have been both. "Now, let me be clear..." When I say nuked, I refer to the diseases that spread through and wiped the majority out. And when I say raided by crazy people, it's pretty simple to understand. These explorers were not rational thinkers in the traditional sense, they came through, traded then killed the Natives, and took all land. They were crazy, sure they had their moments when they were smart, but for the most part they were crazy. Just like paranoid drug dealers. It's the only logical explanation, at least to me. Then again, there were explorers that were nice to the Natives, but they were unintentionally killed off by European diseases. Can't stop disease or nukes (unless you're America ['Murica]) That is why nowadays when people move in/out, they tell the neighbors beforehand so that they're prepared. So that if it's raided, the neighbors are prepared and can do something about it. If they are nuked...at least they knew beforehand. That way, when the neighborhood goes, you can step in front of it and say "STOP!"