“Disposable Income.” What a perverted misnomer. Does no one think before coining a phrase and then unleashing it into American vernacular? Not only is it not what it says it is, apparently the people that use it are unable to agree to what it should mean. I’m not going to go into technical definitions. I’ll be certain to fall comatose at the keyboard and bruise myself. My point is that the term is a slippery little bastard that will inevitably be used against you in some form of legal plunder.
Let’s say you are involved in a severe car accident and an ambulance picks you up and takes you to a hospital. Then, while attempting to recover, you get the ambulance bill for, say, $4000. (It was just a little jaunt down the highway that should have cost maybe $1000 if you were feeling generous; but they, like every other medical “caregiver” get to make up the bills as they go along because you are in no shape to argue. Lucky them, you are in pain or unconscious. And woe unto you if they took you via helicopter.) So, you get this inflated monstrosity of a bill along with about 30 others because everybody wants to profit from your misfortune as much as possible. Let’s say you earn an average American salary which is around $46,000 per year. And let’s say you have a spouse and children. It’s going to be damn difficult to pay all 31-ish medical debts at the same time. You can call them and ask for patience. Some will work with you and some won’t. You can write to them but unfortunately the literacy rate has fallen so dramatically many won’t know what a letter is much less what it means. (I kid you not.) While you’re attempting to sort invoices out and pay the debts to your best ability, lo and behold, the lawyer enters the scene, sues you, wins, blights your credit score (shame on you for getting in an accident), then garnishes your wages based upon … “disposable income.”
They can (and will) take 25% of your “disposable income.” At face value a logical person might think disposable income is what is available after you’ve paid not only your taxes, but your mortgage/rent, utilities, food, etc. One might think that disposable income is what is left over after necessities have been paid and can be disposed of at one’s own discretion to eat at a restaurant or go to a movie or buy a CD. No. That would be logical. We are dealing with immoral opportunists here. For debt collection purposes “disposable income” is your entire net pay.
Let’s say from your income of $46k/year you bring home $3000 per month for your family of four to live on. (This is a national embarrassment already.) Even without any car, credit card, or student loan debt your bills, groceries, and gas alone will run a conservative $2500 depending upon your location, etc. This doesn’t begin to address the other medical debts waiting in the wings (probably preparing to sue you as well). Once they take 25 percent of your net pay you will be left with about $2250 per month. They’ve put you in a corner. Decisions must be made. Do you not pay the rent or mortgage and become homeless? Do you not pay the car insurance or put gas in the car and lose your employment? Do you not pay gas, phone, electricity, water, or heating bills? What’s left? Food and possibly medications. What’s it going to feel like when you look your family in the eyes and tell them your food budget has been cut 40 PERCENT for several months? Garnishment in situations like this literally takes food from children. (Of course with an income of $46k/year you can’t get food stamps so fuck you and yours.)
Nice system we’ve got, eh? And quite the career path that the debt collectors and their lawyers have chosen. I wonder if, as children, they aspired to be evil and prey on the pain and misfortune of others or they just fell into it by default – unable to earn an honest, respectable living and quite happy that legal doesn’t mean right.
I take great comfort in the universal law that you reap what you sow. It makes me very, very happy … gleeful in fact because I’ve never seen this law violated. I could write a book. (Maybe I will.)
To all you people (and corporations, governments and whatever entity you fester within) who prey on the innocent, do know that the money taken from them will rot your soul and eat your flesh so when your tragedy arrives remember that you planted the seeds for it yourself and I’ve rejoiced at your reaping. It might not be today or tomorrow. It might be decades from now but your crop of misery will indeed come in fruitful and multiplied. While blessings will rain in abundance on those who have sowed love, compassion, peace and beauty. It’s already a done deal.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
"School First," chants wild-eyed Stepford Mom
My kids occasionally like to watch “Wife Swap” or “Trading Spouses” just to see how illogical and bizarre (they would say crazy) people are. Obviously since these shows are attempting to be entertaining they choose women from families with lifestyles that are in stark contrast to one another. Often they will trade/swap a creative or quirky wife with a very traditional, conservative wife; or trade a wealthy, materialistic, spoiled wife with one who is poorer, physically hard-working, and lacking luxuries. What fun. My children and I usually think that both women are quite on the fringe of going round the bend. However, the show does illustrate that people seem to make decisions based upon tradition and emotion and then fail to revisit those decisions unless forced to do so. That’s all fine and dandy unless you have children.
During almost every show at least one mom (guess which) goes on a tangent about how school must always come first before any other interest. Women also love to lay down the law as far as chores and housework go. During their rant they never actually back up their opinion with reasoning. Maybe an hour is just not enough time to make sense.
What should come first in a child’s life?
When my mom was growing up (in the 50’s) her parents insisted that chores come first. She had to do chores before school in the morning and before homework in the afternoon. (They didn’t have a TV.) She also had an enforced bedtime. Often, this meant she didn’t have enough time to do homework which in turn means she didn’t do too well in school. I’ve never understood how my grandparents, who were both intelligent and literary types, could put chores before education. It’s almost as though learning were a luxury and they sent their children to school because it was a requirement. It seems they had a Little-House-on-the-Prairie point of view.
What this translated into was a woman who’s greatest talent, her most marketable skill, was cleaning a house. Appearance became her priority. Not exactly a lofty goal. Sure, it made for an exemplary housewife and that’s all fine and dandy until her husband left her unwell at mid-life. Can we define “destitute?”
Then you have women who tell children that school always comes first before any other interest or skill. Some children have strong talents and passions for subjects such as art, music, theater, dance, a sport, cooking, gardening, astronomy etc., etc. Yet they will be told “school first” before allowing the child time to pursue their gifts. Why? Without being emotional or just regurgitating the SOS you’ve heard all your life, ask yourself “What is the purpose of school?” Is it to make good grades? Is it to keep a child occupied while mom and dad are working? Is it a place where kids are indoctrinated day after day for 12+ years to be “good” citizens? Is it a place to learn; and, if so, learn what? How to survive the social labyrinth? Algebra? The works of Shakespeare? These are extremely important questions. It seems the only people asking these questions are the people who have a financial interest in the answers. Parents seem too pre-occupied with the mortgage and far too trusting of the entrenched education system which they themselves were subject to.
Parents’ definitive responsibility is to raise their children with love and care to be independent adults. That’s it. That’s the job. School is a tool. Parents can use it to their children’s benefit and/or the system will use it to its benefit. What does your child need to know to be an independent adult? We could probably all agree that every person needs to be able to read and write. (We’re in trouble already.) Every person needs to be able to do basic business math. (Easy stuff with calculators and computers.) Every person should know basic world geography and have at least overview knowledge of world history. Every American should know what the Constitution says so that we all know how the government is SUPPOSED to work. Every person should have a general understanding of biology, health, and ecology. Every person should be able to do self-directed research. These are all basics. These things don’t take eight hours a day, nine months per year for 12+ years to learn. The basics, if done right, are a part-time, temporary gig. It's a foundation not a house.
To be independent adults children must discover and hone their talents in their fields of interests. This is the crescendo and climax of childhood. It is the purpose for which they were born. It is more important for a musician to practice their instrument than to learn algebra. It is more important for an aspiring chef to cook than to study Shakespeare. It is more important for a future chemist to study chemistry and experiment than to play basketball in gym class.
This life passes in a flash. School is not first. Chores are not first. The children themselves and the gifts they carry are first. Otherwise, all is lost.
During almost every show at least one mom (guess which) goes on a tangent about how school must always come first before any other interest. Women also love to lay down the law as far as chores and housework go. During their rant they never actually back up their opinion with reasoning. Maybe an hour is just not enough time to make sense.
What should come first in a child’s life?
When my mom was growing up (in the 50’s) her parents insisted that chores come first. She had to do chores before school in the morning and before homework in the afternoon. (They didn’t have a TV.) She also had an enforced bedtime. Often, this meant she didn’t have enough time to do homework which in turn means she didn’t do too well in school. I’ve never understood how my grandparents, who were both intelligent and literary types, could put chores before education. It’s almost as though learning were a luxury and they sent their children to school because it was a requirement. It seems they had a Little-House-on-the-Prairie point of view.
What this translated into was a woman who’s greatest talent, her most marketable skill, was cleaning a house. Appearance became her priority. Not exactly a lofty goal. Sure, it made for an exemplary housewife and that’s all fine and dandy until her husband left her unwell at mid-life. Can we define “destitute?”
Then you have women who tell children that school always comes first before any other interest or skill. Some children have strong talents and passions for subjects such as art, music, theater, dance, a sport, cooking, gardening, astronomy etc., etc. Yet they will be told “school first” before allowing the child time to pursue their gifts. Why? Without being emotional or just regurgitating the SOS you’ve heard all your life, ask yourself “What is the purpose of school?” Is it to make good grades? Is it to keep a child occupied while mom and dad are working? Is it a place where kids are indoctrinated day after day for 12+ years to be “good” citizens? Is it a place to learn; and, if so, learn what? How to survive the social labyrinth? Algebra? The works of Shakespeare? These are extremely important questions. It seems the only people asking these questions are the people who have a financial interest in the answers. Parents seem too pre-occupied with the mortgage and far too trusting of the entrenched education system which they themselves were subject to.
Parents’ definitive responsibility is to raise their children with love and care to be independent adults. That’s it. That’s the job. School is a tool. Parents can use it to their children’s benefit and/or the system will use it to its benefit. What does your child need to know to be an independent adult? We could probably all agree that every person needs to be able to read and write. (We’re in trouble already.) Every person needs to be able to do basic business math. (Easy stuff with calculators and computers.) Every person should know basic world geography and have at least overview knowledge of world history. Every American should know what the Constitution says so that we all know how the government is SUPPOSED to work. Every person should have a general understanding of biology, health, and ecology. Every person should be able to do self-directed research. These are all basics. These things don’t take eight hours a day, nine months per year for 12+ years to learn. The basics, if done right, are a part-time, temporary gig. It's a foundation not a house.
To be independent adults children must discover and hone their talents in their fields of interests. This is the crescendo and climax of childhood. It is the purpose for which they were born. It is more important for a musician to practice their instrument than to learn algebra. It is more important for an aspiring chef to cook than to study Shakespeare. It is more important for a future chemist to study chemistry and experiment than to play basketball in gym class.
This life passes in a flash. School is not first. Chores are not first. The children themselves and the gifts they carry are first. Otherwise, all is lost.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Say... That’s a Nice Paper Sword You’ve Got There
If you read comments posted on forums regarding government (and basically the state of the world) you often see people state things like “We have the right to do ______ from document _______ section ______ paragraph ______.” These are usually the same people who consider the Democrat vs. Republican hydra a choice. Don't giggle. I'm serious. The people who write these things actually seem to believe them. Droves and herds and multitudes of people actually believe these things. They believe this because they were taught to believe them, conditioned to believe them without question. Look at it. The very “entity” that drafts these words doesn’t abide by them. The only power those documents have is the belief that the common people have in them.
The Constitution of the United States is brilliant – a work of genius. It’s a must read and it’s brief (which, in part, is why it’s so brilliant). Now the problem is that the “Powers That Be” NEVER play by the rules and this includes the Constitution. Right from the get-go the Declaration of Independence stated the reality of “all men are created equal.” I mean, really, if you need someone to tell you that then you already are a lost cause. Even the founders stated that it was self-evident. Yet the only people treated as equals were white, male land-owners. We all know that right? The heart of the beast never changed, only the paper clothing.
The powers that you believe are yours because they are written down somewhere are not real. Just as you can do research and spend time writing a business plan detailing your trajectory to success. Do pages of line graphs and positive statistics equal success? Or is it really nothing more than wishful thinking on paper?
People don’t really change. Have you noticed? It takes Herculean effort and a blessing from God to change even the smallest things about ourselves. If you are born with a short temper chances are very high that you will have to work hard to keep it under control all of your life. If you are a naturally untidy person you will have to put in much more effort to keep a somewhat organized house, car, or work area. If you tend to gain weight easily then you will have to work harder than average all of your life to keep your weight down. It’s just the way it is. Nations are the same. We can see with our own eyes what the United States did to the Native Americans. The U.S. wrote many treaties with the Native Americans and broke them with such consistency it seemed a sport. The U.S. government doesn’t give a damn about what it’s agreed to on paper. It wants land, resources, money, power and control. And it takes what it wants. Don’t delude yourself about that. If it wants your house, it will take it. If it wants your money, it will take it. If it wants Iraq’s oil, it will take it. If it wants Afghanistan’s heroin/opium supply, it will take it. It always has. But just to appease the masses it tells us from birth that this is a free country… the best country in the world… freedom isn’t free… we have the best medical system in the world... blah, blah, propaganda, blah. I mean really. Do we not have eyes to see? Can we not put two and two together?
The U.S. Government disregards the Constitution. Many in government don’t even know what the Constitution states. So, if we the people agree to and believe the Constitution contains the principles upon which our nation should exist then we have a job to do. Unfortunately this requires an educated and thinking populace. How’s that U.S. public education system working out for us, eh? Well, it’s working just as it was designed to work.
Wars are not created by the average citizen of Earth. If we all lived by the Golden Rule we could get along in peace. But war is more profitable to the Powers That Be. They have big guns but they’re not too bright. We all watched the towers fall with demolition precision and they thought we wouldn't notice. What’s pathetic is that although people did notice a large percentage didn’t question it. I guess they couldn’t put two and two together. Dumb confounds Dumber.
Over 2700 people died in the WTC that day. Everybody freaked out. Meanwhile over a quarter of a million people die each year in the U.S. as a direct result of our shoddy Best-in-the-World medical system and no one bats a lash. TV commercials alternate between fake food, drugs, and law suits against drug companies. Follow the money. You eat Franken food (no nourishment for you but big bucks for Big Agra), you get sick (big bucks for Medical and insurance companies), you take drugs (big bucks for Big Pharma), you go from bad to worse (hardship for you and your family), and then the lawyers want to “help” (big bucks for the ambulance and hearse chasers). Is anyone actually helping you? Does anyone with any influence or power actually have your best interest in mind? Do you really want the same government that allowed slavery, that robbed from and murdered Native Americans en masse, that wages war for profit to be in charge of your “health” care? There are quicker methods of suicide.
That’s a nice paper sword you’ve got there. Be careful not to get a paper cut as you go about your serfdom.
The Constitution of the United States is brilliant – a work of genius. It’s a must read and it’s brief (which, in part, is why it’s so brilliant). Now the problem is that the “Powers That Be” NEVER play by the rules and this includes the Constitution. Right from the get-go the Declaration of Independence stated the reality of “all men are created equal.” I mean, really, if you need someone to tell you that then you already are a lost cause. Even the founders stated that it was self-evident. Yet the only people treated as equals were white, male land-owners. We all know that right? The heart of the beast never changed, only the paper clothing.
The powers that you believe are yours because they are written down somewhere are not real. Just as you can do research and spend time writing a business plan detailing your trajectory to success. Do pages of line graphs and positive statistics equal success? Or is it really nothing more than wishful thinking on paper?
People don’t really change. Have you noticed? It takes Herculean effort and a blessing from God to change even the smallest things about ourselves. If you are born with a short temper chances are very high that you will have to work hard to keep it under control all of your life. If you are a naturally untidy person you will have to put in much more effort to keep a somewhat organized house, car, or work area. If you tend to gain weight easily then you will have to work harder than average all of your life to keep your weight down. It’s just the way it is. Nations are the same. We can see with our own eyes what the United States did to the Native Americans. The U.S. wrote many treaties with the Native Americans and broke them with such consistency it seemed a sport. The U.S. government doesn’t give a damn about what it’s agreed to on paper. It wants land, resources, money, power and control. And it takes what it wants. Don’t delude yourself about that. If it wants your house, it will take it. If it wants your money, it will take it. If it wants Iraq’s oil, it will take it. If it wants Afghanistan’s heroin/opium supply, it will take it. It always has. But just to appease the masses it tells us from birth that this is a free country… the best country in the world… freedom isn’t free… we have the best medical system in the world... blah, blah, propaganda, blah. I mean really. Do we not have eyes to see? Can we not put two and two together?
The U.S. Government disregards the Constitution. Many in government don’t even know what the Constitution states. So, if we the people agree to and believe the Constitution contains the principles upon which our nation should exist then we have a job to do. Unfortunately this requires an educated and thinking populace. How’s that U.S. public education system working out for us, eh? Well, it’s working just as it was designed to work.
Wars are not created by the average citizen of Earth. If we all lived by the Golden Rule we could get along in peace. But war is more profitable to the Powers That Be. They have big guns but they’re not too bright. We all watched the towers fall with demolition precision and they thought we wouldn't notice. What’s pathetic is that although people did notice a large percentage didn’t question it. I guess they couldn’t put two and two together. Dumb confounds Dumber.
Over 2700 people died in the WTC that day. Everybody freaked out. Meanwhile over a quarter of a million people die each year in the U.S. as a direct result of our shoddy Best-in-the-World medical system and no one bats a lash. TV commercials alternate between fake food, drugs, and law suits against drug companies. Follow the money. You eat Franken food (no nourishment for you but big bucks for Big Agra), you get sick (big bucks for Medical and insurance companies), you take drugs (big bucks for Big Pharma), you go from bad to worse (hardship for you and your family), and then the lawyers want to “help” (big bucks for the ambulance and hearse chasers). Is anyone actually helping you? Does anyone with any influence or power actually have your best interest in mind? Do you really want the same government that allowed slavery, that robbed from and murdered Native Americans en masse, that wages war for profit to be in charge of your “health” care? There are quicker methods of suicide.
That’s a nice paper sword you’ve got there. Be careful not to get a paper cut as you go about your serfdom.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
History is a giant fractal of human stupidity
I often hear people complain in dismay about the state of the world today as though today was so much worse than in the past. Either these people don’t know rudimentary history or they’ve been shielded from reality. Our fictional horror flicks are nothing compared to the carnage found in history. People have devised ways of torture and murder that will make you vomit. It’s enough to make you ashamed of your species. I once heard an atheist say he thinks people are basically good. No. Humans are basically evil. History is our report card. It is drenched in blood and gore and there is simply no way to rationalize it.
Even from an overview standpoint, recorded history reveals a perpetual state of violence. Sometimes we call it war. Sometimes we call it raids. Sometimes people call it domestic abuse. When we’re involved we use terms like military engagement or conflict or the extermination of manifest destiny. We can’t study war without the lens of propaganda.
I can only surmise that something is inherently wrong with humans. What possesses a person to look at their neighbor (whether village or nation) and think “yea, I’m going to go over there, kill the man, rape the woman and take the kids, house, land and any other resources for myself?” What kind of person even considers such a thing? Apparently the majority from around the globe. It’s bad enough that this has been the norm for thousands of years but it continues to this very day. Are we diseased in our souls?
People talk and write about “great” civilizations. What determines the greatness of a civilization? Is it really their architecture and engineering and size or scope of their empire? Or is it their compassion? Is the Roman Coliseum impressive because of its engineering or a disgrace because of the barbarism that occurred within? Is a military “genius” still a genius if his military campaign was to conquer? Are civilizations really great when they are built via slavery, oppressive taxes and military domination? Is winning at all costs truly victory? Does this describe only historical empires and other nations or the U.S. as well? You know we’re busted.
Humans tend to have this universal psychosis that whatever group they’re born into is somehow superior to others, deliberately ignoring the fact that they could have been born at any time and place into any group because it’s not something anyone can control. Isn’t that just self-evident? How can there be racism, or sexism, or ultra nationalism? How can a country founded on the belief of inalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have treated the Native Americans as they did (and still do), build itself on the back of slavery and indentured servitude, not give women the right to vote until the 20th century, and have millions of abortions performed on demand? Anyone who claims to respect the Bible should remember Numbers 35:33 "… bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” Sounds like a general rule to me. But, of course, the last thing most people really want to hear is that they are guilty of atrocious behavior and accountable to their Creator who can destroy their soul. Nope, don’t want to think about that. Many self-proclaimed religious people in the U.S. don’t want to even give up the SUV to save a polar bear.
I think property taxes should be greatly reduced but I do think that a percentage of those taxes nationwide should go to Native Americans. I think every Native American with the desire and intellect to do so should have full scholarship to any public university they choose. We owe them. We owe them big time. We took their homes and their livelihoods. Many live in destitution because we took what was theirs. As far as possible public lands should be given back to the tribes to which they traditionally belonged at the time of conquest. (Yes, conquest.) I’ve actually heard supposedly intelligent people say that the Native Americans weren’t “doing” anything with the land so somehow that makes it ok for us to cheat them out of it or that the coast to coast subjection and dominion was inevitable. How would people like it if the Chinese came over and said they didn’t agree with what we were doing with the land and began genocide? It’s not like we aren’t outnumbered or anything, right?
We excuse our own behavior. We elevate hypocrisy to stratospheric heights. We need to decide what our values are and stand by them. No, we don’t like that. We are a nation that developed atomic weapons, used them (the testing at the Bikini islands remains a national sin) and entered a nuclear arms race with another Superpower but we think we have some moral right to prohibit other nations from doing the same. Do we think we are “good enough” to be responsible with nuclear weapons but no one else is? The U.S. did the same thing when Native Americans were prohibited from owning guns. Do we really believe that we are so superior that the rest of the world requires our supervision? We can’t even balance a budget. Isn’t that a basic level of responsibility? Isn’t that what is expected of every child given an allowance? People profit from war and debt and death and therefore it continues.
Any “vanilla” person who thinks slavery doesn’t still strongly affect race relations to this day has their head up their ass. Virtually every “white” person said Obama’s election had nothing to do with race while the “black” people obviously saw the opposite. And they STILL don’t get it. The same thing goes for those who think the war in Iraq isn’t over oil. We’re running low on fuel so we’ve got to take someone else’s because that’s the way of the world. History is a stuck record and we’re apparently too stupid to see it. What happened to every major world power in history that had diminishing resources, ballooning debt and military overreach? They fell. Hard.
When it comes to abortion it’s not really about whether or not it is legal or illegal although that is a basal moral temperature of our culture (we’re on life support). The real problem is why are there millions of unwanted pregnancies in the first place and why are there millions of women who are willing to kill their babies? They’ll do it whether it is legal or not. Is an orgasm worth killing for? That’s the root question but no one wants to face it because we don’t like the answer. But we will face it one way or another. The message that abortion on demand sends is that people are disposable if they get in your way. Doesn’t anyone notice that school shootings became more common once the Roe vs. Wade generation’s youngest children started to reach high school age? The same message is reflected in youth suicide. Death is perceived as an answer. According to history it always has been. Can’t we embrace life and birth control? Can’t we learn the difference between self-defense and aggression? Can’t we respect others as much as we respect ourselves? Is it really not humanly possible or is it just that the people who can often end up as fodder for those who can’t?
Even from an overview standpoint, recorded history reveals a perpetual state of violence. Sometimes we call it war. Sometimes we call it raids. Sometimes people call it domestic abuse. When we’re involved we use terms like military engagement or conflict or the extermination of manifest destiny. We can’t study war without the lens of propaganda.
I can only surmise that something is inherently wrong with humans. What possesses a person to look at their neighbor (whether village or nation) and think “yea, I’m going to go over there, kill the man, rape the woman and take the kids, house, land and any other resources for myself?” What kind of person even considers such a thing? Apparently the majority from around the globe. It’s bad enough that this has been the norm for thousands of years but it continues to this very day. Are we diseased in our souls?
People talk and write about “great” civilizations. What determines the greatness of a civilization? Is it really their architecture and engineering and size or scope of their empire? Or is it their compassion? Is the Roman Coliseum impressive because of its engineering or a disgrace because of the barbarism that occurred within? Is a military “genius” still a genius if his military campaign was to conquer? Are civilizations really great when they are built via slavery, oppressive taxes and military domination? Is winning at all costs truly victory? Does this describe only historical empires and other nations or the U.S. as well? You know we’re busted.
Humans tend to have this universal psychosis that whatever group they’re born into is somehow superior to others, deliberately ignoring the fact that they could have been born at any time and place into any group because it’s not something anyone can control. Isn’t that just self-evident? How can there be racism, or sexism, or ultra nationalism? How can a country founded on the belief of inalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have treated the Native Americans as they did (and still do), build itself on the back of slavery and indentured servitude, not give women the right to vote until the 20th century, and have millions of abortions performed on demand? Anyone who claims to respect the Bible should remember Numbers 35:33 "… bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” Sounds like a general rule to me. But, of course, the last thing most people really want to hear is that they are guilty of atrocious behavior and accountable to their Creator who can destroy their soul. Nope, don’t want to think about that. Many self-proclaimed religious people in the U.S. don’t want to even give up the SUV to save a polar bear.
I think property taxes should be greatly reduced but I do think that a percentage of those taxes nationwide should go to Native Americans. I think every Native American with the desire and intellect to do so should have full scholarship to any public university they choose. We owe them. We owe them big time. We took their homes and their livelihoods. Many live in destitution because we took what was theirs. As far as possible public lands should be given back to the tribes to which they traditionally belonged at the time of conquest. (Yes, conquest.) I’ve actually heard supposedly intelligent people say that the Native Americans weren’t “doing” anything with the land so somehow that makes it ok for us to cheat them out of it or that the coast to coast subjection and dominion was inevitable. How would people like it if the Chinese came over and said they didn’t agree with what we were doing with the land and began genocide? It’s not like we aren’t outnumbered or anything, right?
We excuse our own behavior. We elevate hypocrisy to stratospheric heights. We need to decide what our values are and stand by them. No, we don’t like that. We are a nation that developed atomic weapons, used them (the testing at the Bikini islands remains a national sin) and entered a nuclear arms race with another Superpower but we think we have some moral right to prohibit other nations from doing the same. Do we think we are “good enough” to be responsible with nuclear weapons but no one else is? The U.S. did the same thing when Native Americans were prohibited from owning guns. Do we really believe that we are so superior that the rest of the world requires our supervision? We can’t even balance a budget. Isn’t that a basic level of responsibility? Isn’t that what is expected of every child given an allowance? People profit from war and debt and death and therefore it continues.
Any “vanilla” person who thinks slavery doesn’t still strongly affect race relations to this day has their head up their ass. Virtually every “white” person said Obama’s election had nothing to do with race while the “black” people obviously saw the opposite. And they STILL don’t get it. The same thing goes for those who think the war in Iraq isn’t over oil. We’re running low on fuel so we’ve got to take someone else’s because that’s the way of the world. History is a stuck record and we’re apparently too stupid to see it. What happened to every major world power in history that had diminishing resources, ballooning debt and military overreach? They fell. Hard.
When it comes to abortion it’s not really about whether or not it is legal or illegal although that is a basal moral temperature of our culture (we’re on life support). The real problem is why are there millions of unwanted pregnancies in the first place and why are there millions of women who are willing to kill their babies? They’ll do it whether it is legal or not. Is an orgasm worth killing for? That’s the root question but no one wants to face it because we don’t like the answer. But we will face it one way or another. The message that abortion on demand sends is that people are disposable if they get in your way. Doesn’t anyone notice that school shootings became more common once the Roe vs. Wade generation’s youngest children started to reach high school age? The same message is reflected in youth suicide. Death is perceived as an answer. According to history it always has been. Can’t we embrace life and birth control? Can’t we learn the difference between self-defense and aggression? Can’t we respect others as much as we respect ourselves? Is it really not humanly possible or is it just that the people who can often end up as fodder for those who can’t?
Monday, January 25, 2010
If you have to ask Stacy and Clinton you’ll never know
I was researching schools and came across a charter school’s dress code. Apparently their dress code is precious to them – they ranted on about it more than academics. It goes a little something like this:
“Hair must be clean, neat and styled traditionally. Only natural colors are allowed. No unusual or radical hairstyles. Boy’s hair should not touch the shoulder or hang in the eyes. No facial hair is allowed. No more than two necklaces may be worn at one time. No more than two bracelets may be worn on each wrist (for girls). (One bracelet per wrist for boys.) No more than two rings may be worn on each hand (for girls). (One ring per hand for boys.) Earrings will be limited to two per ear and must not be oversized (for girls). (Boys could not wear earrings.) Makeup must look natural (girls only). Black, brown, or dark blue nail polish and lipstick are not acceptable. No tank tops.Hooded sweatshirts may be worn to school (as an outer garment), but not in school. The cuff of the pants may not touch the ground, but must touch the top of the shoe. Shirts must have collars. Tailored dress shirts must be tucked in. No writing on shoes. Shoelaces must match.”
Do you think they police belly button lint or halitosis? There’s your visual on the dress code of the sheeple. Only someone willing to sell their soul could agree to such a wing clipping. “If you can't get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?” – General George S. Patton.
Dress codes have nothing to do with learning. Dress codes are about control and conformity. It states “whatever you do… don’t think for yourself.” Dress codes are yet one more common practice that gives the finger to the Golden Rule.
“The Fashion Police” is a show where beautiful people with (often) beautiful clothes are critiqued by people who are not. How does that work? Can’t Joan Rivers find a better outlet for her acerbic wit? There’s plenty in this world that needs some criticism. Joan is talented and looks pretty (artificially) good until she opens her mouth on that show and then suddenly she looks like a bitter old crone. No plastic surgery can fix that.
It’s like the show “What Not to Wear.” You can watch two shows and you’ve seen it all. You can check that off your list. It’s the same shit over and over. The only thing that changes is the mannequin. The “after” pictures all say “Even though I said at the beginning of the show I want to be different and express myself, I’m more comfortable dressing like everyone else. I do what I’m told because otherwise I couldn’t be on TV.” I think they’ve been brainwashed by $5,000 and two fashion slaves. I haven’t seen anything original in fashion for over 20 years (at least). The fashion industry is a dog chasing its own tail and they think we don’t know. Their “seasons” are about as surprising as nature’s seasons. It’s like a twenty-something criticizing some out-of-favor fashion from the 80s when she’s standing there looking like a Marsha Brady clone.
Ok, here’s my wake-the-hell-up speech to Stacy and Clinton:
* Most floral prints look like bed sheets. No one wants to look like a walking mattress.
* Flip flops are not half as ugly as most of those pointy pumps you tell just about every woman is flattering.
* Most people’s flannel Wal-Mart pajamas are better looking than the majority of the things you two wear. (Especially Clinton – sorry dude, but argyle sweater vests are for girls.) As long as people are covered, clean and comfy who gives a shit if they wear their pajamas out in public? They’re just clothes. Is your underwire push-up bra and butt-floss thongs bothering you so much that you just can’t stand to see someone comfortable in public? A fit body looks good in almost anything. An un-fit body doesn’t look good in anything. I don’t care how much money you wrap it in.
* Small fitted jackets look good only on very small/thin people (like elementary kids). Stop putting women in them. They look like they stuffed themselves into something they outgrew 30 years ago.
* Princess cuts are cute on toddlers and pregnant women. No one else. No, it’s not sexy.
* If “everybody” is wearing a particular style then it’s not cool. So all those people on your show striving (usually unsuccessfully) to look cool obviously fail miserably when you put them in the same flavor crapola you put the last 50 people in.
Here’s some basic, universal fashion sense: If a body part is not beautiful – cover it up. If it jiggles cover it up. Men, unless you are ripped, hot, and lean (like Duff [http://www.myspace.com/duffsmckagan]) then don’t say a word about a woman needing to lose weight. Some of you guys run around with your “awnings” and have the nerve to talk about a woman’s cellulite. I don’t think so. Go critique your convex self in the three-way. And what is it about our culture that thinks women should show off their bodies while men are covered and generally comfortable? Women, take a hint – no tits and ass revelation at work unless you are willing to do the boss and then we’re all clear on that. Women aren’t considered well dressed unless they are showing off their bodies. (If they are beautiful that’s inspirational and you go girl, but most are not.) Bulges, bulges everywhere waving at us through fitted fabrics! It’s one thing to have them, it’s another thing to let us all in on your little muffin-top secret. I don’t want to see cleavage. I have my own, thank you. I’m not impressed with yours. If you don’t have visible quads then you don’t have nice legs … cover them up. And women with their sky high, pointy, screw-me pumps. Geez! Really? Save it for a special occasion like an awards ceremony or a pole dance on Valentine’s Day. They’re the modern equivalent of corsets … except corsets look better. Why are women willing to be in pain half the day in an attempt to look attractive but your average guy would scoff at the very idea? If you want to be in pain to look good channel that effort into something that works. (It requires sweating and persistent self-denial.)
Men’s suits: How is it that men get away with wearing something that literally has been around for centuries and yet be considered well dressed? A tie is a cross between a bib and a leash. They only look good if they're not taken seriously. (Check out Tommy: http://rws-blog.rhapsody.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/25/motleycrue_4.jpg) If you have a dominatrix fetish put your tie/leash in the same box as her do-me pumps and keep it to yourself. And why are men afraid of color? You walk into a men’s clothing department and you see white, brown, khaki, blue, grey and black. Is there something about your one-legged chromosome that lends toward Chromophobia?
Why do many men bitch and whine about losing their hair but keep it cut super pubic-hair short even when they have a head full? If you like it … let it grow a bit; if you don’t … let it go. Personally, I think head hair is one of the potentially attractive things about humans. It’s a mystery as to why only women and some creative types grasp that. Men, that’s a clue.
As we are constantly reminded, you can’t regulate taste. You can make dress codes in exhaustive detail and some people will still look boring and shabby even when they try to follow the fashion experts’ seasonal advice. (How can a color be “new” this season?) That’s the problem though. Creative, independent people don’t follow. Naughty wolves.
In the words of Keith Richards regarding cool: “It just is, or you ain’t.” (Rolling Stone May 31, 2007) Wolf.
“Hair must be clean, neat and styled traditionally. Only natural colors are allowed. No unusual or radical hairstyles. Boy’s hair should not touch the shoulder or hang in the eyes. No facial hair is allowed. No more than two necklaces may be worn at one time. No more than two bracelets may be worn on each wrist (for girls). (One bracelet per wrist for boys.) No more than two rings may be worn on each hand (for girls). (One ring per hand for boys.) Earrings will be limited to two per ear and must not be oversized (for girls). (Boys could not wear earrings.) Makeup must look natural (girls only). Black, brown, or dark blue nail polish and lipstick are not acceptable. No tank tops.Hooded sweatshirts may be worn to school (as an outer garment), but not in school. The cuff of the pants may not touch the ground, but must touch the top of the shoe. Shirts must have collars. Tailored dress shirts must be tucked in. No writing on shoes. Shoelaces must match.”
Do you think they police belly button lint or halitosis? There’s your visual on the dress code of the sheeple. Only someone willing to sell their soul could agree to such a wing clipping. “If you can't get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?” – General George S. Patton.
Dress codes have nothing to do with learning. Dress codes are about control and conformity. It states “whatever you do… don’t think for yourself.” Dress codes are yet one more common practice that gives the finger to the Golden Rule.
“The Fashion Police” is a show where beautiful people with (often) beautiful clothes are critiqued by people who are not. How does that work? Can’t Joan Rivers find a better outlet for her acerbic wit? There’s plenty in this world that needs some criticism. Joan is talented and looks pretty (artificially) good until she opens her mouth on that show and then suddenly she looks like a bitter old crone. No plastic surgery can fix that.
It’s like the show “What Not to Wear.” You can watch two shows and you’ve seen it all. You can check that off your list. It’s the same shit over and over. The only thing that changes is the mannequin. The “after” pictures all say “Even though I said at the beginning of the show I want to be different and express myself, I’m more comfortable dressing like everyone else. I do what I’m told because otherwise I couldn’t be on TV.” I think they’ve been brainwashed by $5,000 and two fashion slaves. I haven’t seen anything original in fashion for over 20 years (at least). The fashion industry is a dog chasing its own tail and they think we don’t know. Their “seasons” are about as surprising as nature’s seasons. It’s like a twenty-something criticizing some out-of-favor fashion from the 80s when she’s standing there looking like a Marsha Brady clone.
Ok, here’s my wake-the-hell-up speech to Stacy and Clinton:
* Most floral prints look like bed sheets. No one wants to look like a walking mattress.
* Flip flops are not half as ugly as most of those pointy pumps you tell just about every woman is flattering.
* Most people’s flannel Wal-Mart pajamas are better looking than the majority of the things you two wear. (Especially Clinton – sorry dude, but argyle sweater vests are for girls.) As long as people are covered, clean and comfy who gives a shit if they wear their pajamas out in public? They’re just clothes. Is your underwire push-up bra and butt-floss thongs bothering you so much that you just can’t stand to see someone comfortable in public? A fit body looks good in almost anything. An un-fit body doesn’t look good in anything. I don’t care how much money you wrap it in.
* Small fitted jackets look good only on very small/thin people (like elementary kids). Stop putting women in them. They look like they stuffed themselves into something they outgrew 30 years ago.
* Princess cuts are cute on toddlers and pregnant women. No one else. No, it’s not sexy.
* If “everybody” is wearing a particular style then it’s not cool. So all those people on your show striving (usually unsuccessfully) to look cool obviously fail miserably when you put them in the same flavor crapola you put the last 50 people in.
Here’s some basic, universal fashion sense: If a body part is not beautiful – cover it up. If it jiggles cover it up. Men, unless you are ripped, hot, and lean (like Duff [http://www.myspace.com/duffsmckagan]) then don’t say a word about a woman needing to lose weight. Some of you guys run around with your “awnings” and have the nerve to talk about a woman’s cellulite. I don’t think so. Go critique your convex self in the three-way. And what is it about our culture that thinks women should show off their bodies while men are covered and generally comfortable? Women, take a hint – no tits and ass revelation at work unless you are willing to do the boss and then we’re all clear on that. Women aren’t considered well dressed unless they are showing off their bodies. (If they are beautiful that’s inspirational and you go girl, but most are not.) Bulges, bulges everywhere waving at us through fitted fabrics! It’s one thing to have them, it’s another thing to let us all in on your little muffin-top secret. I don’t want to see cleavage. I have my own, thank you. I’m not impressed with yours. If you don’t have visible quads then you don’t have nice legs … cover them up. And women with their sky high, pointy, screw-me pumps. Geez! Really? Save it for a special occasion like an awards ceremony or a pole dance on Valentine’s Day. They’re the modern equivalent of corsets … except corsets look better. Why are women willing to be in pain half the day in an attempt to look attractive but your average guy would scoff at the very idea? If you want to be in pain to look good channel that effort into something that works. (It requires sweating and persistent self-denial.)
Men’s suits: How is it that men get away with wearing something that literally has been around for centuries and yet be considered well dressed? A tie is a cross between a bib and a leash. They only look good if they're not taken seriously. (Check out Tommy: http://rws-blog.rhapsody.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/25/motleycrue_4.jpg) If you have a dominatrix fetish put your tie/leash in the same box as her do-me pumps and keep it to yourself. And why are men afraid of color? You walk into a men’s clothing department and you see white, brown, khaki, blue, grey and black. Is there something about your one-legged chromosome that lends toward Chromophobia?
Why do many men bitch and whine about losing their hair but keep it cut super pubic-hair short even when they have a head full? If you like it … let it grow a bit; if you don’t … let it go. Personally, I think head hair is one of the potentially attractive things about humans. It’s a mystery as to why only women and some creative types grasp that. Men, that’s a clue.
As we are constantly reminded, you can’t regulate taste. You can make dress codes in exhaustive detail and some people will still look boring and shabby even when they try to follow the fashion experts’ seasonal advice. (How can a color be “new” this season?) That’s the problem though. Creative, independent people don’t follow. Naughty wolves.
In the words of Keith Richards regarding cool: “It just is, or you ain’t.” (Rolling Stone May 31, 2007) Wolf.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Recording industry specializes in boring with a capitol Z
I was looking at a top 10 list of music. As has been the case for about 20 years I don’t find any of it vaguely interesting. I’m not faulting the people who actually like that music. Yay, you. But there is a virtually ignored market of millions of people who are not being reached by the record companies. So they, as middlemen, have become obsolete. Good riddance.
Most of those millions of people who bought hard rock and heavy metal albums in the late 70s and 80s and filled the stadiums for concerts are still here and we’ve reproduced a new generation that likes much of the same type of music. Think "exponential."
A little elementary research revealed that an estimated combined 1.66 trillion albums were sold by some of my favorite bands which are all rock, hard rock and heavy metal. I do not, nor will I ever, own a Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carrey, pick your pop princess, wake-me-up-when-it’s-over-even-this-list-is-boring ….CD. Yes, I know they have talent as do thousands or possibly millions of undiscovered people. They can do chromatic vocal runs… zzzz. No, I do not find them entertaining. Ever.
What I see is predictable, artificially-(i.e. Disney) created pop stars. Figured out a formula, have you? Got a cycle planned? A little T&A, a little sickly sweet, and then when they want to announce themselves grown up they put on a televised bump and grind (dance pole optional). Wow, didn’t see that coming… yet…again. Lame with a capitol suck. It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet of Little Debbie snack cakes.
Where is the adrenaline? Where is the testosterone? Oh yea, they’re touring the smaller venues because the recording industry is run by neutered morons.
Do the record company suits not like our money or maybe they can’t quite figure out the new paradigm? They talk about needing big star money to find new talent when they’re ignoring what is right under their noses. Do they think that 40- and 50- or even 60-somethings are not appealing as rock stars to people who love hard rock music? Joe Perry, Slash, Duff, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Phil Lewis et al are infinitely cooler and rock harder than most others regardless of age. Keith Richards, even at 66, is the epitome of cool. As a business how do you turn your back on people who’ve bought 1.66 trillion albums and are wanting more?
The demise started with Nirvana. I actually liked Nirvana but I still can’t figure out what it was about them that prompted an industry-wide head-up-ass response by the recording industry. When I bought “Nevermind” I didn’t stop liking Motley Crue or L.A. Guns or Guns ‘N Roses or Def Leppard or Skid Row or Cinderella or Ozzy or Metallica. (Would they freak at being clustered in the same sentence?)
Once Nirvana hit we were inundated by posers copying the Nirvana bi-polar formula (starting out soft and them slamming you with the heavy follow up). You know what? That worked for, oh, maybe a decade … let’s move on, shall we? And what’s with the whining – OMG. STFU already!
You know what I’ve been listening to lately? “Waking the Dead” by L.A. Guns released in 2002. It kicks ass. I’m also very impatiently waiting for a new Velvet Revolver or Buckcherry CD. If I could find more music like this I’d buy it and I’d keep buying it and then I’d buy it some more. Is there an MBA out there in some record company who remembers the basics? Do the math.
I guess what is going to happen is the hard rock musicians and fans will just have to go around record companies treat them like the obsolete pieces of shit they once treated us. Thanks to the Internet we can just buzz market and buy online.
Izzy, I’m on my way with my debit card.
Most of those millions of people who bought hard rock and heavy metal albums in the late 70s and 80s and filled the stadiums for concerts are still here and we’ve reproduced a new generation that likes much of the same type of music. Think "exponential."
A little elementary research revealed that an estimated combined 1.66 trillion albums were sold by some of my favorite bands which are all rock, hard rock and heavy metal. I do not, nor will I ever, own a Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carrey, pick your pop princess, wake-me-up-when-it’s-over-even-this-list-is-boring ….CD. Yes, I know they have talent as do thousands or possibly millions of undiscovered people. They can do chromatic vocal runs… zzzz. No, I do not find them entertaining. Ever.
What I see is predictable, artificially-(i.e. Disney) created pop stars. Figured out a formula, have you? Got a cycle planned? A little T&A, a little sickly sweet, and then when they want to announce themselves grown up they put on a televised bump and grind (dance pole optional). Wow, didn’t see that coming… yet…again. Lame with a capitol suck. It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet of Little Debbie snack cakes.
Where is the adrenaline? Where is the testosterone? Oh yea, they’re touring the smaller venues because the recording industry is run by neutered morons.
Do the record company suits not like our money or maybe they can’t quite figure out the new paradigm? They talk about needing big star money to find new talent when they’re ignoring what is right under their noses. Do they think that 40- and 50- or even 60-somethings are not appealing as rock stars to people who love hard rock music? Joe Perry, Slash, Duff, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Phil Lewis et al are infinitely cooler and rock harder than most others regardless of age. Keith Richards, even at 66, is the epitome of cool. As a business how do you turn your back on people who’ve bought 1.66 trillion albums and are wanting more?
The demise started with Nirvana. I actually liked Nirvana but I still can’t figure out what it was about them that prompted an industry-wide head-up-ass response by the recording industry. When I bought “Nevermind” I didn’t stop liking Motley Crue or L.A. Guns or Guns ‘N Roses or Def Leppard or Skid Row or Cinderella or Ozzy or Metallica. (Would they freak at being clustered in the same sentence?)
Once Nirvana hit we were inundated by posers copying the Nirvana bi-polar formula (starting out soft and them slamming you with the heavy follow up). You know what? That worked for, oh, maybe a decade … let’s move on, shall we? And what’s with the whining – OMG. STFU already!
You know what I’ve been listening to lately? “Waking the Dead” by L.A. Guns released in 2002. It kicks ass. I’m also very impatiently waiting for a new Velvet Revolver or Buckcherry CD. If I could find more music like this I’d buy it and I’d keep buying it and then I’d buy it some more. Is there an MBA out there in some record company who remembers the basics? Do the math.
I guess what is going to happen is the hard rock musicians and fans will just have to go around record companies treat them like the obsolete pieces of shit they once treated us. Thanks to the Internet we can just buzz market and buy online.
Izzy, I’m on my way with my debit card.
Sheeple, gotta love 'em; but they need a bitch slap from the wolves
Anyone who reads my blog knows that I continuously bemoan the stupidity of people. It’s expected that some find this offensive. Obviously if you make a blanket statement to a room full of people it will be only the people to which the statement actually applies who will be offended. The great reveal so to speak.
It’s not that I think most people are born with a deficient brain. I think that every human born has great potential and great worth – every single one of them. The problem is that people are not using their brains. They are not thinking clearly and are not being honest even with themselves. They continue through pre-programmed motions and as long as there is not a major disaster in their lives nothing changes. They need a reality bitch-slap because we’re all in this sinking ship together.
Our species is so spiritually handicapped that most of our decisions and behaviors are directly influenced by artificial marketing and PR. The real priorities of love, health, peace and compassion are not forces reckoned with. Instead, our lives are directed by and entrenched in the materialistic and superficial and we think that’s ok, because we’re ok. Some think they’re even exceptional.
While we are all aware that we are inundated with marketing messages most of us don’t realize the extent to which it influences us.
* Why do certain people get hired while others don’t? Marketing.
* Why do people go to college? Marketing/PR.
* Why do people date and marry the people they do? Marketing.
* Why do people drive the cars they drive, buy the houses they live in or the clothes they wear? Marketing/PR.
* Why do people get the credit cards they use, pick the banks they choose, eat the food they eat, and shop where they shop? Marketing.
* Even the non-profits you contribute to reach you through marketing.
* You watch the TV programs you do primarily because of marketing. Including buzz.
Big deal?
The people who are successful are good at marketing. The ones who are super successful not only have a talent for marketing and hire the accomplished in marketing but have flexible ethics and morals. They’ll play dirty if it means more leverage for them. Human laws are not the yardstick for right and wrong. The 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule are. You don’t have to be religious to see how they so succinctly state universally accepted good behavior. Quite in contrast to a single 20,000 page bill before Congress. (More proof that people are stupid.)
Some common samples of legal but wrong acts:
* Underpaying employees because you can get away with it is wrong.
* Tripling the price on something because other people are either a) undercharging you because of desperation, or b) overpaying you because of stupidity, ignorance, or lack of a fair alternative is wrong.
* Selling people GMO grain doused in sugar and chemicals with virtually no nutritional value that’s worth a few cents packaged in an over-inked pressboard box for $4 and proclaiming it a healthy breakfast is wrong.
* Overfishing the ocean because you think you have a right to or that your family has done it for ___ generations is wrong.
* The system that requires spending millions of dollars to get elected to public office is wrong. It's an incestuous career for the wealthy.
* Charging people bankruptcy-inducing, home foreclosure amounts when they have a serious injury or illness is wrong.
* Foreclosing on someone’s home when they are three months late on payments after paying on time for a decade is wrong.
* Charging someone a $39 overdraft fee or late fee on a credit card is wrong.
* Giving someone a ticket for going 10 miles over the already artificially low speed limit is wrong.
* Basing public financial assistance on charts that don’t consider financial reality is wrong.
* Lack of competition for local electricity, gas, phone, water, etc. is wrong.
* Putting cell phone towers every fucking where without getting permission from the people who live and work in that area affected is wrong.
* The oil industry suppressing inventions that would either greatly reduce or eliminate the need for gas in cars is wrong. The technology has been available for decades.
* The cosmetic/cologne industries legal use of literally hundreds of known toxic chemicals that soak right through skin is wrong.
* The use of chlorine and fluoride in public drinking water is obviously wrong.
* That there are dirty, cold, hungry, homeless people in a nation full of expensive churches, sprawling malls and dumpsters full of untouched food is a disgrace.
* That those who care for and teach children are some of the lowest paid and least respected people in our culture is wrong.
* The blatant double standards between men and women are wrong.
* That medications are patented and vaccines pushed with the sole goal of enormous financial reward is wrong.
* That natural remedies are demonized by the FDA and allopathic medicine is wrong.
* That your long distance bill is $14 and you didn’t even make a phone call is wrong. (And every other bill that consists of fees and taxes.)
* That murderers, rapists, and child molesters ever hurt a second person is a national failing.
* That CEOs of American companies are rewarded with millions of dollars while taking jobs away from American workers is wrong. Daniel Pink wrote in “A Whole New Mind” that in one decade an estimated $136 billion in American wages is expected to shift overseas. If you can't make an American business profitable in the U.S. then you are a failure as a CEO.
It’s all legal. They get away with it because the sheeple are brainwashed by marketing, PR, custom and tradition – none of which requires thinking. Thanks in large part to public schools and institutional religion.
Here’s a brief national I.Q. test: 1) Were you surprised by Katrina’s damage to New Orleans? 2) Were you surprised by 9/11? If you said yes to either question you have failed the test and you are not using your brain.
#1. I am a Louisiana native. When I was 12 years old and taking a Louisiana History course I remember reading that New Orleans was built below sea level right smack on the coast. I vividly remember realizing right then and there (an “oh, shit!” moment) that one day a massive hurricane would one day devastate New Orleans. And if they rebuild it another hurricane will eventually destroy it. Yea, I know that being below sea level is not the primary cause of Katrina’s destruction. I know it’s because the levee broke. Just believing that you can build a man-made whatever that will protect your below sea level, coastal city indefinitely from nature is ludicrous. I used to live close to a levee. Anyone with any sense knows you just have to cross your fingers and if you get any hint of a hurricane you get your ass out. Anyone who lives in a coastal city needs to look reality in the face and KNOW that there is the strong possibility – maybe it is even inevitable – that nature may kick your cleverly engineered ass. And don’t be an idiot and use the last century as your gauge of what will or will not happen. It’s not personal. It’s nature. It’s not negotiable. I’m not saying coastal cities should be deserted. People will live where they want no matter what; but please have the intelligence to not play chicken with a hurricane and the dignity to refrain from whining about the end result especially on television.
#2. My surprise at 9/11 was zero. Yes, it was a tragedy. Yes, it pissed me off. But no, it was not surprising. The U.S. is like an old lady (perceiving herself to be a self-righteous matriarch) who loves to gossip and manipulate – just can’t keep her nose out of everybody else’s business. That pisses people off – some more than others. If you keep pissing people off someone will eventually give you a bloody nose. It’s inevitable. What’s with the shocked expressions? Were the Twin Towers not previously targeted? Hello? What do we need? A singing telegram? And how can people be so horrified at the deaths of 2973 innocent people but yet casually rationalize the deaths of millions of innocent people at our own hands? The FDA approved Vioxx that killed about 50,000 innocent people. 50,000 dead people (with families who loved them just as much as the people in the World Trade Center) in the name of profit with the federal government’s nod of assent. Are you horrified? Crying over the loss of innocent American lives? There’s much more where that came from. Doctors in the U.S. cause about 225,000 deaths per year. (See http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/07/30/doctors-death-part-one.aspx) Just imagine what that number will look like with national health care. (Ever been to a veterans’ hospital?) Are you disturbed? Shall we start a victims' fund? What about the near-genocide of the Native Americans? (The Native Americans were the source for many of the ideas of liberty in the Constitution. Our treatment of them inspired Hitler’s death camps.) Everybody feeling ok with that? How exceptional are we? And then there’s the estimated 50 million babies (and counting) killed by abortion. But some people are disposable – just as long as they didn’t work in the World Trade Center, right? Maybe they were large enough to matter. Is it the TV cameras that make a difference? “There’s no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” – Howard Zinn, American Historian.
It’s not about what’s legal or illegal. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about reaping and sowing. It’s not about artificial marketing messages. It’s about whether you and your loved ones deserve respect and liberty and if you/they do (and I believe they do) then so does everyone else on this planet. God bless Earth.
It’s not that I think most people are born with a deficient brain. I think that every human born has great potential and great worth – every single one of them. The problem is that people are not using their brains. They are not thinking clearly and are not being honest even with themselves. They continue through pre-programmed motions and as long as there is not a major disaster in their lives nothing changes. They need a reality bitch-slap because we’re all in this sinking ship together.
Our species is so spiritually handicapped that most of our decisions and behaviors are directly influenced by artificial marketing and PR. The real priorities of love, health, peace and compassion are not forces reckoned with. Instead, our lives are directed by and entrenched in the materialistic and superficial and we think that’s ok, because we’re ok. Some think they’re even exceptional.
While we are all aware that we are inundated with marketing messages most of us don’t realize the extent to which it influences us.
* Why do certain people get hired while others don’t? Marketing.
* Why do people go to college? Marketing/PR.
* Why do people date and marry the people they do? Marketing.
* Why do people drive the cars they drive, buy the houses they live in or the clothes they wear? Marketing/PR.
* Why do people get the credit cards they use, pick the banks they choose, eat the food they eat, and shop where they shop? Marketing.
* Even the non-profits you contribute to reach you through marketing.
* You watch the TV programs you do primarily because of marketing. Including buzz.
Big deal?
The people who are successful are good at marketing. The ones who are super successful not only have a talent for marketing and hire the accomplished in marketing but have flexible ethics and morals. They’ll play dirty if it means more leverage for them. Human laws are not the yardstick for right and wrong. The 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule are. You don’t have to be religious to see how they so succinctly state universally accepted good behavior. Quite in contrast to a single 20,000 page bill before Congress. (More proof that people are stupid.)
Some common samples of legal but wrong acts:
* Underpaying employees because you can get away with it is wrong.
* Tripling the price on something because other people are either a) undercharging you because of desperation, or b) overpaying you because of stupidity, ignorance, or lack of a fair alternative is wrong.
* Selling people GMO grain doused in sugar and chemicals with virtually no nutritional value that’s worth a few cents packaged in an over-inked pressboard box for $4 and proclaiming it a healthy breakfast is wrong.
* Overfishing the ocean because you think you have a right to or that your family has done it for ___ generations is wrong.
* The system that requires spending millions of dollars to get elected to public office is wrong. It's an incestuous career for the wealthy.
* Charging people bankruptcy-inducing, home foreclosure amounts when they have a serious injury or illness is wrong.
* Foreclosing on someone’s home when they are three months late on payments after paying on time for a decade is wrong.
* Charging someone a $39 overdraft fee or late fee on a credit card is wrong.
* Giving someone a ticket for going 10 miles over the already artificially low speed limit is wrong.
* Basing public financial assistance on charts that don’t consider financial reality is wrong.
* Lack of competition for local electricity, gas, phone, water, etc. is wrong.
* Putting cell phone towers every fucking where without getting permission from the people who live and work in that area affected is wrong.
* The oil industry suppressing inventions that would either greatly reduce or eliminate the need for gas in cars is wrong. The technology has been available for decades.
* The cosmetic/cologne industries legal use of literally hundreds of known toxic chemicals that soak right through skin is wrong.
* The use of chlorine and fluoride in public drinking water is obviously wrong.
* That there are dirty, cold, hungry, homeless people in a nation full of expensive churches, sprawling malls and dumpsters full of untouched food is a disgrace.
* That those who care for and teach children are some of the lowest paid and least respected people in our culture is wrong.
* The blatant double standards between men and women are wrong.
* That medications are patented and vaccines pushed with the sole goal of enormous financial reward is wrong.
* That natural remedies are demonized by the FDA and allopathic medicine is wrong.
* That your long distance bill is $14 and you didn’t even make a phone call is wrong. (And every other bill that consists of fees and taxes.)
* That murderers, rapists, and child molesters ever hurt a second person is a national failing.
* That CEOs of American companies are rewarded with millions of dollars while taking jobs away from American workers is wrong. Daniel Pink wrote in “A Whole New Mind” that in one decade an estimated $136 billion in American wages is expected to shift overseas. If you can't make an American business profitable in the U.S. then you are a failure as a CEO.
It’s all legal. They get away with it because the sheeple are brainwashed by marketing, PR, custom and tradition – none of which requires thinking. Thanks in large part to public schools and institutional religion.
Here’s a brief national I.Q. test: 1) Were you surprised by Katrina’s damage to New Orleans? 2) Were you surprised by 9/11? If you said yes to either question you have failed the test and you are not using your brain.
#1. I am a Louisiana native. When I was 12 years old and taking a Louisiana History course I remember reading that New Orleans was built below sea level right smack on the coast. I vividly remember realizing right then and there (an “oh, shit!” moment) that one day a massive hurricane would one day devastate New Orleans. And if they rebuild it another hurricane will eventually destroy it. Yea, I know that being below sea level is not the primary cause of Katrina’s destruction. I know it’s because the levee broke. Just believing that you can build a man-made whatever that will protect your below sea level, coastal city indefinitely from nature is ludicrous. I used to live close to a levee. Anyone with any sense knows you just have to cross your fingers and if you get any hint of a hurricane you get your ass out. Anyone who lives in a coastal city needs to look reality in the face and KNOW that there is the strong possibility – maybe it is even inevitable – that nature may kick your cleverly engineered ass. And don’t be an idiot and use the last century as your gauge of what will or will not happen. It’s not personal. It’s nature. It’s not negotiable. I’m not saying coastal cities should be deserted. People will live where they want no matter what; but please have the intelligence to not play chicken with a hurricane and the dignity to refrain from whining about the end result especially on television.
#2. My surprise at 9/11 was zero. Yes, it was a tragedy. Yes, it pissed me off. But no, it was not surprising. The U.S. is like an old lady (perceiving herself to be a self-righteous matriarch) who loves to gossip and manipulate – just can’t keep her nose out of everybody else’s business. That pisses people off – some more than others. If you keep pissing people off someone will eventually give you a bloody nose. It’s inevitable. What’s with the shocked expressions? Were the Twin Towers not previously targeted? Hello? What do we need? A singing telegram? And how can people be so horrified at the deaths of 2973 innocent people but yet casually rationalize the deaths of millions of innocent people at our own hands? The FDA approved Vioxx that killed about 50,000 innocent people. 50,000 dead people (with families who loved them just as much as the people in the World Trade Center) in the name of profit with the federal government’s nod of assent. Are you horrified? Crying over the loss of innocent American lives? There’s much more where that came from. Doctors in the U.S. cause about 225,000 deaths per year. (See http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/07/30/doctors-death-part-one.aspx) Just imagine what that number will look like with national health care. (Ever been to a veterans’ hospital?) Are you disturbed? Shall we start a victims' fund? What about the near-genocide of the Native Americans? (The Native Americans were the source for many of the ideas of liberty in the Constitution. Our treatment of them inspired Hitler’s death camps.) Everybody feeling ok with that? How exceptional are we? And then there’s the estimated 50 million babies (and counting) killed by abortion. But some people are disposable – just as long as they didn’t work in the World Trade Center, right? Maybe they were large enough to matter. Is it the TV cameras that make a difference? “There’s no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” – Howard Zinn, American Historian.
It’s not about what’s legal or illegal. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about reaping and sowing. It’s not about artificial marketing messages. It’s about whether you and your loved ones deserve respect and liberty and if you/they do (and I believe they do) then so does everyone else on this planet. God bless Earth.
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