Welcome to Fine Print Press. For those of you who don't know me, which is all of you, I am The Owner. Fine Print Press is a place to express your opinions on everything. If you have an idea, please feel free to send it to us and perhaps we'll put out an article about it.

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What is it with the world? Is there something about it and the people here that draws hate to all who dwell among the earth? We live in a fear-based world where anyone who's different or misunderstood is seen as the bad guy, the enemy. Over the past few weeks I have encountered countless people who are against things that can do nothing to hurt them. Things that can do nothing to offend them, much less become a threat. They're against these because they're scared. "Oh no! Something different! Get away!" This particular case was with sexual orientation.
   By believing that gays are bad, you are reversing a process many great people have given their lives for. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest known people who spent their entire lives fighting for the equal rights that all humans have. That is a Constitutional right. It is stated word for word that all people are equal. If all people are equal, why can't all people get married?
   Why can't gay couples get married? It is illegal in Colorado, as well as most states, to get married to a person of the same gender. Why? Why the hell can't you?
   Don't say that it's against your religion. Don't say that God made you to have babies, because there have been homosexual people as long as there have been heterosexual people. Besides, they're already gay, therefore they've already "betrayed" your religion, as you might say it, so who should stop them from getting married? You don't have to go out of your way to have contact with gay people.
   They're just as human as you are, if not more so, because they have to put up with what bigotry puts them through, and yet they still have not done anything to all of the 89% of the population that is heterosexual, the 89% of the world population that is discriminating against them for the wrong reasons. They haven't killed any of us, not even threatened us, while stories are constantly being published about hate crimes being commited against gays and lesbians.
   Why else could it be wrong? How is it wrong? I have heard someone say that it goes against instinct. It works against everything that humans have been working for for millions of years. People think that being gay is a disease, a disorder. There's even a group of people who call themselves healers, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition, or DSM IV-TR.
   Now, I ask you, did black people choose to be black? Did the fetus in the womb say to itself, "You know, I think I'd like to be an African-American," wiggle its nose and then all of a sudden, it's skin was black? No! Just the same way that homosexuals didn't choose to be gay.
   As for the instinct argument, why do you care if people are falling in love and no children are coming out of it? If anything, that's a good thing. If anything², it's helping the looming population growth rate which happens to be jettisoning skyward at a frighteningly speedy rate. We seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping the species going, even though many gay couples don't have children.
   Many homosexual couples adopt children, saving a child who would have otherwise been discarded and raised their whole life in an orphanage, while other hetero couples don't have children either. Are they bad because they're not doing what God told them to do? Are they bad because they won't have babies? No, you say, they're not, because they're not gay. I don't see what the difference is.

They're exactly the same.

Now, I can't change who you are if you're against being homosexual. I can't do anything to make you stop discriminating against them. All I can do is explain to you that you're wrong. All I can do is ask questions and see if you can actually answer them truthfully and use those answers to support your theory. All I can do is give this small article to a small newspaper of a small website, and hope that maybe I did change someone, and maybe that person will change another person.

Though my advice is meant to help you, my comments should not be taken too seriously. Please consider your own opinions before following this.


I've been in several relationships, but all the girls I've dated have a deep feminist streak. After we break up, I'll get emotional abuse from them and all their friends, except for the few that understand. Even though I've gone out of my way to try to avoid accidentally damaging their feelings, they'll post offensive messages on the internet calling me a bastard, cheater and many more things. So far, I haven't responded by using their tactics. How can I get the point across to them that while I don't believe in male dominance over women, I don't believe that means they can walk all over me when I can't do anything in return?

-Wit's End in Boulder, Colorado


I really must commend you for not sinking to their level, but in all honesty, you choose sucky girlfriends. The fact that they'll treat you like dirt after you go out with them, and possibly while you go out with them, doesn't speak highly of them, and it simply says that they're unworthy of your attention. I would tell you to ignore it, but we all know that that just won't work. If you don't mind causing a bit of a ruckus, confront the girl(s). Tell them how you feel and that what they're doing just isn't right and that they should be ashamed of themselves, or tell their friends. It's certainly effective and I know I'd listen. If you're the type who can't stand confrontation, send them a note or an email telling them that, or call their parents. Do not, however, under any circumstances stoop to their level. If you do, then you have gone below them, for you are returning their cruelty.
Chances are, these girls are insecure as it is, and the only reason their doing this is to make themselves feel more confident. Suggest to them joining a sport, or getting professional (psychological) help. Don't worry, not all girls are bad, and some girls would enjoy having a boyfriend as special as you.

   - Allya Sercie

I was at high school the other day and I had to ask myself, what in God's green earth am I doing here? Because, of course, I really have no idea.
   So I started to think. Everyone else here is here to get attention. If you aren't in control or the life of the party, you're forgotten. But this makes no sense. We do this because we don't know who we ourselves are, and yet we want everyone else to know exactly who we are.
   Are we looking for love? Because this isn't the way to get it at all. Love is given out, not taken. If we really want to be loved and paid attention to, instead of being self-centered, what we really need to do is respect and notice OTHER people. Then everyone would be noticed and people wouldn't get left out and most importantly, no one would be stabbing each other in the back just so we can get noticed. We would stop looking at what is wrong with other people and why we are so important that everybody else is wrong. Maybe you want attention but you don't things like that. Fine. But I am writing this because I am angry. How is it that we were more mature in middle school? Why is it that if I through a party that I would be the one who was ignored? It's because so many think about only themselves! And no one's going to really respect them like human being until they stop. Because just a few people can make everyone else feel like high school is hell. That's why I still have no idea what I'm doing there. There is just no reason to treat people as your own social status bar.

   "Be mindful that happiness is not based on possessions, power, or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect."

     -Anonymous

As the music industry begins a long and hard legal battle against file sharers and music piraters, us teenage music lovers are jammed in the middle between big-name corporations and adult naysayers admonishing us for total disregard for copyright procedures. Even though high-profile crackers and hackers are mostly responsible for thousands of song uploads, we're bearing the load of their violations. But how can we avoid being victimized by these radical anti-download loudmouths?
   The answer is as simple as it is difficult: don't download the files. That's it, just don't keep making more evidence for lawyers to nail you with. Be active against downloading, say it loud and proud, I don't download. Buy the CDs you're looking at now, and if you really want them, they'll still feel worth your money even several months later, when you finally have the cash.
   Too difficult to find affordable prices anymore? Believe it or not, local and specialty music stores will have the best prices of any place you'll imagine. Used CDs are another way to go, supposing there are no new CDs at good prices. Despite rumors and general uneasiness, sound quality is rarely, if ever, affected by minute scratches on the disc surface. Used is just as fine as new in terms of physical and audible reality, even if not in aesthetics.
   Please understand I'm not condemning downloading, nor am I trying to threaten you into submission. It's just that speaking from personal experience, connecting with local musicians and retailers has been a much more rewarding sensation than sitting stolidly by a computer staring blankly at a screen waiting for music to download. So if you're tired of legal threats and social and economic backlash that comes from admitting downloading, try to get out and look about for music you're really avid about. Chances are you'll find/things are all fine/when you're not waiting in time/for music/stuck stuck stuck in your mind.