Monday, December 29, 2008

Some Happiness

Usually when I write it's about something I'm passionate about. Therefore, usually it's also to complain about something as it is now. Of course that's not all I am, but it does tend to be the most vocal part in this forum. After all, I'm rarely inspired to take the time to write about things that I like or that are going moderately well. And more so, rarely do things go so absolutely well that I feel compelled to write. Understandably, I come across as angry or cold or argumentative from time to time. Thusly then I would like to break up the unpleasantries... Enjoy.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Day 8 of 37

So I just tabulated the number of days for the first time this vacation and since I'm heading home (back) on the 25th, that'll be 29 more days. Not too too bad considering that summer consists of some 101 days. Oh well, I got outside today so at least now I'm in a bit of a better mood. When I'm not in a good mood, I tend to sulk and that doesn't help. So getting out into the real world helped. In the very least it was a change of scenery and that helped as well. Sunlight is always a positive in my book. Unfortunately I may not be seeing much more of it this break, other than the Wednesdays this month that I'll be heading back to tutor. (High school is still in session and I promised I'd help during finals period.) I've got to create my US History I curriculum for next semster as well as start on my US History II stuff as well. It'll be fun to finally teach but the work beforehand is sort of interesting and sort of irritating. Other than that I get to stress about applying to grad school. Of course, to teach one needs their M.Ed. (Masters of Education) and I do want to continue working with the program that I have been working with as an undergraduate. Of course, I have to apply and of course they could say no. That's particularly stressing me out, but I hope that if I get one more reference, when they get back to me, that I should be okay. It's the waiting time that is so stressful! If I don't get in here then I won't be very happy at all. Plus I'd have to go look for a job for next year, which I don't want to do, preferring rather to continue and finish completely my education before I turn into one of those older people wafting about the halls trying to recapture their youth. Frankly, I'd rather keep going at in now and then move on to the "real" world after if I can. Here's to hoping!

Cheers,
FFF
(29 more days!)

Friday, December 26, 2008

So, yup. Vacation, if I can call it that, is turning out just about the same way I thought it would. Fucking boring and fucking depressing. Oh yes, I'm going to bitch tonight. Fair warning. Here's what my day consists of here at "home": Get up around noon. Do nothing all afternoon except eat meals and watch TV. After dinner relocate to my room and surf the web until about 3 in the morning. Fun huh. Yeah right. There's nothing I want to do. No one here I'd want to be here with. And only about a half dozen people in the world that would make my life enjoyable. I know. Me me me. Well that's all that's here. Me. So it's not like I'm being dramatic or selfish. To be dramatic there has to be an audience and to be selfish there have to be other prospects. Quite honestly if I could sleep the next four weeks and if I didn't have things I needed to do in that time, I would do it in a fraction of a heart beat. Home sucks. Family sucks. Everyone else is doing their own things and I'm stuck here. I even have my car. Just no where to go. What a lousy way to spend my vacation. I shutter to think what life will be like after I graduate. Holy crap. This better not be all in the cards for my life. Talk about lonely! Goddamn it! That's all for tonight. I'm not in a writing mood.


FFF

Monday, December 15, 2008

Friday, December 12, 2008

Quite Possibly the Most Offensive Facebook Ad...

Facebook uses keywords from your profile to decide what ads you see in the ad bar. I saw this one today. Is there a single reason why I should find this funny? I think not.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Misadvertisement...

So Facebook is stupid... Here are the ads I've gotten lately on the righthand banner that I think are idiotic and clearly not meant for me.

Enjoy...



And my absolute favorite so far...

So, It's THAT Time of Year Again...

Undoubtedly there isn't a person alive who harbors more hatred to vacation than I do. I'm finished with my work. I get to go home, see my family, relax without a care... Except that there are cares and they revolve around my family. I am not myself at home, and I use that term loosely. Home that is. I have to be something else because what I am inside and out isn't quite welcome. Maybe it's only in my head. Maybe I imagine looks of grief and dismay when the perfect son doesn't turn out to be perfect in its accepted definition.

I gave up long ago the things that they value. I don't care about traditionality. I am not proper. I am not conservative. I do not believe that I should shun parts of what I am because others believe them to be wrong or incorrect or foolish. In many ways I am everything that they dislike. I am an atheist. I am gay. I am utterly liberal. I am brutally capable at defending myself in argument. And I do not respect them. They'll live with the atheism, it can be ignored. My family does a superb job at ignoring that which they don't like. They could even dismiss liberality if carefully worded. But bringing another man home to meet the family? I would be treated to a fight of Armageddon magnitude. But you know what, I'd still like to do it eventually. It's a price I'd pay gladly. I would lose my inheritance, which would do wonders for a teacher's salary. I would turn away and never look back. But most of all, I'd know I won. That they couldn't break me, that something good and pure came out of that accursed gene pool at least just once.

Theirs is a home of traditional values and of traditional solutions to traditional "problems". Theirs is a home of crippled emotion and scathing commentary. Going home is entering combat where every word is a bullet and every stare is a knife. And worst of all, on the surface remains the sugarcoat of love. Because we love you we want you to change. Because we love you, you must be wrong. Because we are looking out for your best interests you must obey. Love, just enough to keep you coming back. Just enough to make you feel bad about yourself. Just enough to make a good person love in return. But it is saccharin, a false sugar. Playing with your emotions it tears you between the person you are and the person that they want you to be.

Three and a half years ago I left that life behind, but every year I return and every year I must endure weeks and months of combat. Survival means the suppression of that which is different and strange to them. It hurts more and more every time -- fitting back into that mold as I have grown so much these few years. There I am alone because in the time I've taken to find myself, everyone I cared for have moved on. To grow into the person that I am becoming I grew away from them. Such is life. At any rate, they are reminders of the life I left behind.

So for me, the end of a semester always brings about a long dark shadow and what amounts to nothing less than a sickening, sulking sadness. It will assume control of my mind for most of January and not relent until I have returned back here again. I only fear that soon there will be no return and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself then. It's not that I fear losing what I am. That will not happen, I don't believe. But what will happen is unending misery, an everlasting searing burn that would continue to scar me deeper and deeper.

I need to create a life for myself and I will soon have to move on quickly. I don't know how to, but anyone who is understanding of my situation and anyone who values love and friendship, the full expression of oneself, and above all a tenet for which I hold much respect: be true to oneself and one another, then you are most welcome to walk with me. For the rest, I have said before and I will said it again: You are welcome to continue to live your life with liars and hatemongers, but you will see me no more.

Excuse me for my dreary rant, but its soothing.

Peace and FLYFREEFOREVER

Friday, December 5, 2008

Spongelike

It's funny sometimes how the things that I want to talk about hit me. Sometimes it's completely out of the blue and I have to find a pen and paper to leave myself a note so that I can push it from my mind and focus on whatever I need to do first. Ideas seem to come in spurts, two, three, six at a time. Sometimes I'll write something down and completely forget what it means later. I can't begin to tell you how annoying that is. Other times pressure builds in my mind. It builds and builds and I can't do anything at all. Like a foot asleep I cease to function until I post something.

When I began this endeavor more than three years ago, I didn't plan anything. I didn't think it would get this large or this far. I didn't think it wouldn't either. It never really crossed my mind. It was a stream of sanity in a sea of nonsense. I have to attribute the longevity of my postings (as I tend to be reasonably disinterested about doing things that don't have a clear cut end or goal) to an unending and many times irritating wonder. I wonder about things. This and that. Why is the most powerful question one can ask and many times it seems my mind gets stuck on that, for better or worse.

The next week will likely be devoid of postings, at least until I finish a bunch of work I need to do before I go on vacation. Vacation. Now that's something I can do without. But I'll leave that to another post sometime. This year has gone so fast, especially the last half. I can't believe it's almost over. It feels so unfinished, that there was so much potential to it, but time and way too much work takes that away. I don't know. This Fall hasn't been kind to me. Hopefully winter can help get my head back in place. Doubtful, but I'm rambling. So let's leave it at that. Here's to 2008: I hardly knew ye.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

How We See Things...

Just a quick one for tonight...

We see things based on how we feel (good, bad, or in between). There is a sliding scale of responses that we could have to each thing that occurs in our life. If we're happy we have one response. If we're unhappy or even slightly less or more happy, we have a different response.

The key to happiness is to be happy. When we are happy, we make good decisions and have good experiences. Therefore we are more happy. Sadness is self defeating. Sad people make bad decisions and thus become sadder. Sad but true. Happiness and sadness (as well as all other emotions) are self fulfilling and cyclical.

So be happy. There's something to be happy for, I'm sure. Personally, I'm thankful for good friends this Thanksgiving. Truly they make my life much more happy and I am grateful for that. What are you happy for?

Peace, love, and Happy Thanksgiving,
FFF

Monday, November 24, 2008

The Economic Cluster Fuck...

Allow me to demonstrate...

We are presently in a period of no job creation. Employers are laying off workers and no jobs are being created to replace them. If the auto industry fails, as it very well could (and perhaps rightfully should if only the CEOs would be affected) that would dump another 3.5 million or more unemployed people into the system on top of the 6.5+ million now collecting unemployment and countless million others who have now run out of it. This massive number of unemployed (likely over 15 million) equates to 5% of the ENTIRE population of the US, INCLUDING CHILDREN, INCLUDING those collecting Social Security. With approx. 151.4 million working Americans that equates to 1 in 10. Decreased buying power results of this, first from those who can't afford to spend for more than necessity anymore (the unemployed) and soon thereafter by those who still have jobs that, realizing the crisis at hand, stop spending as well. This has already begun to happen. Look at the auto industry. People have stopped buying cars. Look at the housing industry. People have all but stopped buying houses. Look at any major asset industry and you will see the same. People are waiting to buy or cannot afford to buy luxury items. When 10% of the population is out of work, something else begins to happen. The affect of penny pinching on the economy ripples again and more businesses have to close thus increasing the number of unemployed, thus increasing the number of penny pinchers, thus increasing the number of unemployed... It is cyclical and terminal.

FDR's programs under the New Deal revitalized the economy as did WWII by getting people back to work so that they could consume again. The 1950's boom was the result. We NEED to do this now. Bailouts are temporary fixes. It is cash to keep companies on their feet. They are a stop gap alone. We must create jobs. We have a crumbling infrastructure. Bridges, electricity grid, roads, the spread of broadband Internet, any number of things will do, just make the jobs. Likewise, those who claim that the bailout, no matter how big, is wrong, are WRONG. It is a temporary measure that must be taken UNTIL people have money again and begin to spend again. I have no love of big business, but they do employ millions. For the economy to rebound, these people need to remain in jobs. Otherwise, the gov't will have to subsidize that much more industry to make that many more jobs to kick start the economy again. The infrastructure already exists in big business, maintaining that on life support is the best alternative now while creating new jobs. The true economic kick start is one that spurs spending by the general population. Jobs are needed. Bailouts are only a lifeline.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Strong Atheism... And A LOT More

It's been a while since I've touched on the subject, of which I am a full participant (as much as you can participate in atheism at any rate). I would like to delve back into my old arguments and try to make my position as clear as possible.

The following statement is some four years in the making and so far as I can now tell, it is complete -- proof that atheism is the one true belief (or is it non-belief...).

. . .

Time and space are inextricably linked, both mathematically and logically. Einstein and his followers have delved into this field deeply and all knowledge points at present to a dualism of time and space. Physicists use space-time and the curvature thereof to explain many things, but I will use space-time (which is proven to exist) as an argument against the necessity of a "creator god(s)".

If matter exists, time will exist if or when there is a change in that matter. If time does not exist, matter will go on unchanged in every sense forever. Clearly, in the universe, time exists, as things change. A basic explanation of time is that it is simply that if two or more phases of matter exist - that by definition a change must occur - then there was a TIME when it was one thing and a TIME when it was another. Likewise, there is (by human perception) a quantitative number of TIMES in between phase 1 and phase 2.

For example... Take a rock and place it in an empty room. Remember that there was a point BEFORE the rock was in the room, a point DURING the process by which you put the rock in the room, and a period AFTER you had stopped putting it in place.

The movement from Stage 1 to Stage 2 is TIME. It is progression from one clear point to another clear point - from no rock to a rock. In a linear universe, one in which everything has a beginning and an end, "god" is resembled by you putting the rock in place. The problem is that the universe is NOT LINEAR. It does not have a beginning and an end. It is cyclical. We have cycles on Earth that we can observe. The carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and dozens of others whereby the build up of one form triggers an action which transforms some of that build up back into the original form. Stage 1 causes Stage 2 which in turn causes Stage 1 again, and so on.

For example... Water vapor builds up in the sky, forming clouds, and when heavy enough - the build-up becomes massive enough if you will - it condenses and falls to Earth as rain. An imbalance between Stage 1 and Stage 2 triggers the transmission of some Stage 1 into Stage 2. Then, even in absence of sun or heat of any kind, water will evaporate and turn back into vapor if the air becomes dry enough to create an imbalance again, this time heavy towards Stage 2 causing a transmission of H2O to Stage 1.

This very same process works within the universe when it comes to energy and mass. In the universe as we see it - though we do not see the whole picture - everything experiences entropy. That is, mass is continuously turning into energy, but as far as we can tell, not that much if any back in the opposite direction. We are decidedly in stage two as there appears to be much more "dark matter" or as I will call it dormant energy than there is matter in the universe.

The nearly infinitesimally small instant in which the Big Bang occurs is the turn from Stage 2's completion (from mostly or all "dark matter" / "dormant energy") back to where most of the universe is made up of matter. We are moving from that point to another point in our future where entropy will turn all (or most) matter back into dormant energy. There will be a coalescence of that dormant energy culminating in another Big Bang. And everything starts again. (Remember the laws of Conservation of Energy; nothing leaves the universe.)

Thus the universe is cyclical and nothing ever enters or leaves it. The rock does not get placed in the room by "god" because it is self-fulfilling that a rockless room will tend towards rockiness in the same manner that dry air tends towards evaporating liquid water or sublimating solid water.

Now why does this matter when we talk about "god"? It means that there is no linear beginning or ending of the universe. It is cyclical and as nothing ever needs to enter or leave it is fully self sustaining. God is simply not necessary in the process. It didn't begin at any point and won't end at any point. It will continue moving perpetually forever.

. . .

In the end, the idea of "god" or "gods" is simply a placeholder for a lack of understanding. When mankind does not understand something, it is "god" or "the gods" who do it. Eclipses, volcanism, earthquakes, death, birth, fire, existence, and an unknown number of other things too. They are all done by "god(s)" because mankind cannot (yet) understand what really causes them. Of course, we know now that eclipses involve the alignment of the sun, Earth, and moon, that volcanism involves internal processes of the subterranean mantle of the Earth, etc. etc. I've described now for you that the universe is not linear (timewise) and therefore put logic in place of god in knowledge of that topic.

In doing so, I can further restrict the metaphorical existence of "god(s)" further as I shine a light deeper into the darkness that is the knowledge unknown by mankind. In short, "god(s)" equal nothing more than ignorance.

There remains yet one place that I can banish "god(s)" or otherwise named "ignorance" from life:

Slow down time. It is as I said the progression from one phase or "Stage" to another and back again when need be. How does something go from not doing something to clearly doing something? It is simple. Well, theoretically simple. The universe is made up of something, some tiny little thing that all life is made up of, smaller than atoms. Many scientists today call these basic forms "strings" and they are the basis of String Theory.

I propose that these strings interact continuously and that the interactions that they make have only one function: "YES" Compare them to a computer which has 0 and 1, or YES and NO. At any rate, they will always do something, either yes or no, 0 or 1. They can't do nothing or they cease to exist at all. If there isn't a 0 or a 1 in computer code then there is no code. Strings, the basic building block of mass, can only do YES. Otherwise they do nothing. NOTHING isn't NO (1) it is a lack of doing, like a empty program waiting for code. Strings can wait until they find another string or strings that they can work with in a YES function. The first one(s) that they find will occur as there is no "NO" and therefore they do not have a choice. Two YESes cannot present themselves at the same time because a string can only do one YES and therefore no two things can happen at exactly the same time.

This micro-microscopic process creates the illusion of randomness because we cannot observe it happening. As anything else that seems random, it is impossible to observe it and have it remain "random". Yet so long as we don't observe it - or in this case cannot - it will always seem random.

So how does this apply back to the DURING that I mentioned earlier? It explains it. DURING happens because of complex processes between strings that cannot not do something when something can be done. In this way, the universe is ALWAYS moving between energy and mass. The H2O cycle is always moving between vapor and liquid and solid. And so on. DURING must happen because if it doesn't happen it doesn't exist. Since it exists it must be happening.

And thus, god/ignorance is moved back again and replaced by knowledge and understanding. Of course, "god(s)" are just an understanding for people who don't want proof and don't want to think of logic. That is why there are so many versions - exactly one for each believer in fact - because each person knows and doesn't know different things and needs their god to placehold for that knowledge that they don't yet have.

Knowledge is the end of deism and deism is the end of knowledge. It too is a cycle.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Cryptic...

What a tangled up mood I must have been in... ten minutes ago... Hmm... lol (for lack of a less tired phrase). Oh well, enjoy trying to figure that one out.

Regardless, have a riddle...

I am to anyone else empty,
but to you or I -- a King.
I am easily born but hard to kill,
A wily, creative and destructive thing.

I can be false or I can be true,
But in the end you will see,
That the world is nothing at all
If by chance it is devoid of me.

-Anonymous

Semper Vexo

Boy oh boy have I been busy lately. And boy oh boy am I glad that this political season is finally over. The way the MSM drones on and on and on... It makes me want to puke. I just sit there and hope that the talking heads all explode one by one, yet to no avail. Anywho... I'm bored with politics now, so I'm going to stop talking about them for a while.

This has been a very strange couple of months for me. Very strange. And very fast too. I can't believe that the year is almost over. 2008 still seems so fresh. I don't know. 2009... It doesn't seem like a good number just yet. We'll see. A month til Christmas, holy crap! If you've got a bit of money this year, I'd definitely go looking for a deal or two; there are bound to be many good ones. We'll see. After having to buy a new computer (I spilled garlic sauce on my laptop) I'm not in the spending mood. Still in the getting mood though. ;)

. . .

It's been a strange couple of months. Hopefully this holiday season does not add any complexities to my already packed bag of stupidity. For if I don't have enough money this holiday season, I certainly have enough stupidity to give around. Let's hope I don't get any in return I've got plenty for sure.

  • "But those that understood him smil'd at one another, and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me." Julius Caesar Act I, Scene II, Line 279

Of course, that's all I seem to get lately is stupidity. Or intentions. Or potential. Or some other meaningless buzz word or phrase saying to me nothing less than I'm going to fuck with you a bit more, dig a little deeper, extract whatever I can from that, and then say screw you and ask why you're not in a pleasant mood.

  • "Et tu, Brute? - Then fall Caesar!" Act III, Scene I, Line 77

I'll just wait for the knife in the back and a woeful speech by a two-faced rat bastard be they family, friends, strangers or the economic market. Hey, let 's be realistic, why not all four.

  • "If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." Act III, Scene II, Line 18
To be a bit Orwellian... LIVING IS DEAD.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

New...

I've added a links page to lessen the clutter on my main page and also allow people to see past links that I've used. To get to it click on the "Links" tab on the header.

My Take After Prop. 8 (Revised)

I figured since everyone else was going to voice themselves, I might as well too and here it is.

The purpose of Constitutions and laws in the United States was as a protection against a dictator king figure arising in the United States and taking power for him or herself. The only time at which the Constitution or federal law delineated the removal of rights it was the removal of rights that belonged to the federal government. There is no instance at this nation's inception that either of these founding systems was meant to restrict the rights of American citizens. Quite the opposite in fact. The Bill of Rights for example.

In the case of Proposition 8, Californian citizens voted on whether or not to allow same-sex couples to marry. They chose not. Regardless of the fact that this flies in the face of the founders of this nation in regards to the intents of the systems used to remove such rights from said people, it is what it is today and that which it is is oppression. Like racism before it, like gender bias in the workplace post World War II, like preconceived notions regarding the activities of youth in the inner city, to remove a right from a selected group of people is oppression.

The action of one group in removing the rights of another group is nothing short of a means to control the behaviors of that group of people. Of course, they are fooling themselves if they believe that such actions as taken in Prop 8 will stamp out alternate sexualities (in their eyes homosexuality particularly). The results of their oppression are physical, the lack of a paper granting equality. They are emotional, the lack of societal approval. And most insidious of all, they are mental, manifested in the disgustingly high levels of depression and suicide within the non-heterosexual community. Take a look at these symptoms. And then take a look at your history books. Look at the mental well being of slaves, some who'd rather kill their own infant child than to see them enslaved, some who'd risk death for a chance at freedom, some who'd kill themselves, some who would rebel. Look at the mental well being of American Indians, past and present. Look at the psychological effects wrought on women as they are pushed back into the home after World War II like water back into a faucet.

Time and time again historically and presently, we see the symptoms of oppression and the nature of the group being oppressed does nothing to change the fact that they are in fact being oppressed. A slave is a slave is a slave is a slave, be it to a plantation owner, a husband, poverty, or heterosexual America. The oppression is real and California's display of open and vehement bigotry is astounding even by this nation's standards for truly appalling and disgusting atrocities committed against its minorities.

Certainly, at some point in the future this orientationism will fall by the wayside, perhaps for another bigotry, but I can only wonder how many people will be screwed up along the way. How many people will not live to see the day when the American Dream serves them as well?

. . .

We also have to understand that this issue is not a reason to argue whether or not marriage should exist in government at all. But, on this issue, I'd like to put the whole religion/government argument to rest. It is in some opinion that marriage is a religious institution and because they don't like religious institutions (as I don't) they believe that marriage should not exist in government because it is a violation of the separation of church and state.

The fact of the matter is that marriage existed well before Christianity, which is the religious affiliation with which most people have a problem with. Marriage existed in Ancient Rome and Greece, hundreds of years before the Christian Church's inception. Likewise, marriage existed in places other than the later Christian Europe. It existed in East Asia, a place with no connection to Christianity. It existed in the Americas, a place with no connection to any of the modern big religions. It crosses all religious barriers because it predates all of them. Why? Because people like to feel loved and they like the security of knowing that they will continue to be loved.

So, to say that marriage should be done away with is a capitulation of a natural human desire to the powers that be in the religious communities of the world. Sounds a lot like the idea of getting rid of same-sex marriage rights in the first place. Hmm... How ironic.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The 44th President of the United States of America

For these last 22 months we've gone back and forth trying to elect a competent person to the presidency and now it is all done. Thank heavens. What a race!

While the numbers aren't all tallied yet, it is clear. We have a new president. I have called the election officially at 8:24pm as NBC calls PA for Obama. In the immortal words of the immortal Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- which will be no doubt recited ad nauseum in the coming days and weeks by pundits and laymen alike --

Free at last! Free at last! Thank god almighty, we're FREE AT LAST!


Allow me, with no undue pleasure, to introduce you to the 44th President of the United States:




Barack Obama.

Yes We DID,
FLYFREEFOREVER

Monday, November 3, 2008

Politically Incorrect

In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty crass for a liberal. You know, a wimpy, limpy, namby, pamby lib-bib-bib-eral. Well to be perfectly honest, I think that political correctness or "pc" is quite possibly what caused Reagan to take hold as strongly as he did. And we did it to ourselves. Now, starting tonight, I'd like to set the record right, beginning with team mascots with American Indian icons.

The Washington Redskins. The Cleavland Indians. The Atlanta Braves. The Cincinnati Reds. And dozens if not hundreds of more at other levels in sports right down to school mascots and team names. So what's the big deal? It goes without saying that most of these names stem from a period of time when such names were used as a derogatory statement towards American Indians. By the way, it's American Indian -- as in American Indian Movement -- not Native American, as that's not only not preferred, but also historically inaccurate to boot. Regardless of when or by who, the name of the team, simply by existing hearkens back to certain notions of racism, suppression, and even extermination.

In addition to American Indian derived names, we have teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Oakland Raiders, and the Pittsburgh Pirates all of which are used to compare their teams to some sort of dark raw aggressive behavior. That's all these names stand for, visceral manhood in it's 1950's textbook definition. The Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texas Rangers. The Indianapolis Colts. The Seattle Mariners. All of these team's iconography reach for power and masculine qualities. It's competition after all, at least they're not trying to fool anyone. They want to win and they decorate their houses as such.

If one wants to debate the morality of such a desire, be my guest, but this isn't the time or place for such an idiotic argument. Mankind is strong -- mankind equals both men and women for the record, if you didn't realize that already (words are a means to meaning and nothing more -- so mankind it is) -- As I was saying, mankind is strong because of conflict. The idea that everyone is a winner is damaging to the health of mankind for once you are inevitably knocked down, how will you pick yourself back up unless you know how to? You won't. You'll flounder and fail continuously.

Like with those who declare everyone should be a winner all the time, miss out on a key point that those who complain about teams names and iconography also miss out on. They look to remedy the symptom and not the disease. In the case of team iconography, the symptom is that at some point in the past, American Indians were seen as savage and therefore viciously and viscerally powerful -- perfect to iconograph a sports team with for the aforementioned reasons. They would be powerful and dominant. The disease is racism.

If we change all the names of the teams worldwide who use iconography such as I mentioned, it wouldn't change a damn thing about racism towards American Indians. Not one thing, except now you have a bunch of resentful sports fans. What we have here is an opportunity to own up to the past. Acknowledge it. And move on to cure the problem today. Nothing can be done by suppressing or lamenting ashamedly the past treatment of American Indians. That won't help them any more than changing team names. What you can do however is realize that such treatment is still going on today and is fixable. We need to learn to accept our brothers and sisters as equals at long last, different from us in skin color, but similar in many other ways too. And besides, acknowledging differences in skin color is not bad or wrong and has no inherently evil or racist connotation, it is those who use it for nefarious reasons -- suppression or extermination for example -- that tarnish skin color. Be proud to be white. Be proud to be black. Be proud to be brown, or red, or yellow, or any other skin tone moniker. Be proud that here and now you harbor no ill will towards another because of their skin color. And, please, leave sports teams alone. Maybe the Braves are VALIANT! Maybe the Indians are HARD WORKING! Maybe one man's buccaneer is another's HERO! Maybe the X City Redskins are just as PROUD as the Y City Eagles! Maybe the Jaguars PROTECT their families!

Such iconography doesn't need to have a negative connotation. And besides, while we instill these good values in place of racism and oppression, what's to stop us from teaching our children the meaning of such good values and the folly of bad ones.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Rantings of a Mad Man XXI: Irked Edition

So I've been in a funk for most of this year so far -- bitch / rant warning -- and I have no idea why but let's take a look at a few possibilities.

Reason number 1: John McCain
This country must be really, and I can't stress enough, really stupid if the race is still as close as it "appears" to be. Need I threaten to move to Canada again? Does anyone else realize, and apparently not, that he has NO PLAN. None. He's just going to fix this and that. But he doesn't have a plan to do so. You just have to trust him. Sound familiar? Sounds like the last 8 years to me. Think about this when you go to vote on the 4th (or before): The next president will likely be replacing three liberal judges on the Supreme Court. IF we don't elect Obama, we could be feeling the effects of a Bush presidency for twenty to thirty YEARS! We as a nation are almost bankrupt after 8 years of this blind so-called leadership. But, I'll tell you want. IF McShame is elected, you get what you deserve.

Reason number 2: Polling
All of the major networks now are showing Barack Obama winning the election based on their polls. Why then do they keep citing how tight these polls are showing the race? An eight point lead is an eight point lead is an eight point lead. The media is out to show anything that even seems close, and feigning that anything that is getting closer. Now we're talking about Arizona and North Dakota as well as Missouri and the tightening in Ohio (by 1 point might I add) and Florida which is at least 8 points into Obama territory. My my, they'll do anything for ratings. Leads me to wonder how much one has to be winning by for them to start saying that they are winning. 25%? 30%?

Reason number 3: Don'cha Know?
If I see Sarah Failin' McPalin one more time, I swear I'm going to start burning her in effigy. Do you know who she reminds me of? Mom from Futurama. Enough said.

Reason number 4: Me
So guess what I did for Halloween. Laundry. Yup, I washed my laundry. Fun times huh. Well, with all the shit that I have to do: Work two jobs and technically a third but for college credit, finish my BA, shower, eat, and sleep, there's very little time left for me to be merry right now. Hell at this point all I'm looking for is a good night's sleep. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently so.

Reason number 5: Snow
I saw snowflakes on the 28th. That's the 28th of OCTOBER for those keeping track. And for those of us who don't live in the tundra (and spend $150,000 on winter clothes), I for one am pissed. But I know what the cause is. Confusion. Winter is confused. Each year Christmas season begins earlier and earlier and it's got Winter confused in his old age. For fuck's sake the leaves aren't even off the trees left, up until yesterday Halloween hasn't even happened yet, and Thanksgiving is almost a month away still, and we're still already seeing Christmas stuff coming out! No wonder Old Man Winter is coming early! (Oh and remember, don't vote for his brother John McInsane on Tuesday. We need a president capable of abstract thought.)

And finally... Reason number 6: Socialism et. al.
Let me remind everyone that socialism, Marxism, communism, Cuban socialism, Venezuelan socialism, and socialized medicine are all VASTLY different ideas and NONE of them are interchangeable and most importantly NONE of them describes Barack Obama or John McCain. This nation can't decide that women have equal rights yet never mind something so terribly abstract as total equality in a variety of areas. Communism and Capitalism both suffer from the same problems in practice... lack of regulation. Either Big Business decides the rules or gov't decides the rules. What we really need is a system of checks and balances between the two so that both systems serve the people of this nation and the people of the world. Checks and balances... where have I heard that before? Hmm...

That's all for now...

Cheers,
FFF!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Busted Computer...

So I poured something onto my computer and now it's iffy at best... I've got some things in mind for posts, but I am trying to lock down a bunch of issues right now. Hopefully, I don't need a new computer.

FFF

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sox Fans... I Figured That This Was Fitting...

"It's A Hard Life"
by Queen

I don't want my freedom
There's no reason for living with a broken heart

This is a tricky situation
I've only got myself to blame
It's just a simple fact of life
It can happen to anyone

You win - you lose
It's a chance you have to take with love
Oh yeah - I fell in love
And now you say it's over and I'm falling apart

It's a hard life
To be true lovers together
To love and live forever in each others hearts
It's a long hard fight
To learn to care for each other
To trust in one another right from the start
When you're in love

I try to mend the broken pieces
I try to fight back the tears
They say it's just a state of mind
But it happens to everyone

How it hurts - deep inside
When your love has cut you down to size
Life is tough - on your own
Now I'm waiting for something to fall from the skies
And I'm waiting for love

Yes it's a hard life
Two lovers together
To love and live forever in each others hearts
It's a long hard fight
To learn to care for each other
To trust in one another - right from the start
When you're in love

Yes it's a hard life
In a world that's filled with sorrow
There are people searching for love in ev'ry way
It's a long hard fight
But I'll always live for tomorrow
I'll look back on myself and say I did it for love
Yes I did it for love - for love - oh I did it for love


----------------------------

PS... Go Phillies!

-FFF

Monday, October 13, 2008

A Note to Our Viewers...

Less than an hour before the latest McShame speech, someone visited this site from where he was speaking, Virginia Beach. Coincidence, probably. But it is certainly ironic. Click on the photo capture for a clearer image.


FFF

So... The New McShame Doctrine

John McCain spoke this morning trying to settle his campaign down. He said nothing new and insisted it was new. He said that "yes we will" as Hillary said in that embarrassing pre-loss move. I almost died laughing. They say that we have to have "hope" and that "yes" we will do this and that. "Yes, yes, yes." Sounds sort of like "yes we can." It sounds like McCain is trying to latch onto the wave of Obama's support and in doing so using tired old tactics of "fear, fear, fear" and now a new stupidity "mine baby mine". Yet again I have to laugh. Yet again he claims to be able to fix everything but cannot figure out where the money is coming from. Lower taxes, but give all sorts of money for education and healtcare, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this new Main St. bailout that he promised even as he abused Obama for suggesting the same thing (that extra 1 trillion dollars comment).

John McCain proves time and time again that he is nothing but doublespeak and that he will do and say anything to win the presidency as if he stresses the winning over the presiding and fixing this nation. He seems to have such a powerful desire to become president but carried on his campaign's back are a bunch of empty promises and strawman arguments. He's going to be for smaller government but expand the power of the federal government. He's going to be for Reaganomics when it's deregulation is what caused this economic crisis in the first place. He claims to be against porkbarrel spending and the bailout for Wall St., but voted for it which contained pork spending. He claims he will break the grip of the special interest lobby groups in Washington, but he has hired many of them for the top seats in his own campaign.

UPDATE:

Likewise, he injects fear into the hearts of Americans. He brings up the spectre of our doom, of what will happen if he is not elected. He tries to claim that Obama is foreign and scary and that he (McSame) should be voted for at all costs. Finally in this second speech today he tells the crowd that they need to "stand up!" "Stand up and fight!". Sort of sounds like Kucinich's "wake up America" speech at the DNC. I see that they're truly out of ideas. They don't have a plan. They just steal catch pharses from others and parse them into their own straw man arguments and empty promises. Simply put, for the McCane camp, the numbers just don't add up. When it comes to John McCain, it still remains true, he's just more of the same.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

End All and Be All

Throughout the years I've spoken on a vast number of issues. Political issues, social issues, economic issues, and just plain people with issues (like myself some have said). But I want to set the record correct here and now. What I say on a given topic is not the end all and be all of my belief on that subject. Many times I'm simply being facetious. Other times I am poking fun or pointing something out. Still other times my opinion will change. It happens. Flipping and potentially flopping back to the original is not a sign of weakness, it's the sign of an open mind and an accepting mindset.

More so, I usually don't spend too much time on a single article, although there are some exceptions. And I don't go back to see what I previously said on something to make sure that nothing I say contradicts something I am going to say. Modesty aside, that would take forever. So, the best thing to do would be to trust my most recent words on a particular topic (if not meant as a wise crack or the like) as what I believe on it and give lesser weight to older posts. Maybe I believe both. Maybe I believe neither anymore. I couldn't begin to guess. My point here is not to create a compendium of topic-based articles, but to talk about what's bothering me at a particular point. And, those things change from time to time, as does my point of view. Sometimes I will update an article usually with a "(revised)" label on it, although not always. I tend to update my Highlighted Topics more than others. Sometimes I'll delete old entries. Sometimes I'll move stuff around. It's really up to me and that may be a scary thing for those looking for order.

That's all. Nothing all that enlightening yet tonight. We'll see what else I'll get out. Incidentally, I've got about a half dozen things I have bouncing around that I may get to this weekend. Particularly, religion and the origin of Christianity are on the chopping block. Enjoy. That is, if I get to it.

FFF

Sean Hannity

I felt it necessary to share a gem describing Sean Hannity. It was written by John Cleese and read last night by Keith Olbermann on Countdown. Enjoy.


"An Ode to Sean Hannity"
by John Cleese

Aping urbanity
Oozing with vanity

Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity

Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity

Fox Noise insanity
You're a profanity

Hannity.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Spin Them -Or- What to Do When Even the Shit Stops Hitting the Fan?

What is the McCain Campaign to do when all else fails?

Lie.

Lie out of their asses. Lie and say that they're not lying. Lie and say that Barack Obama is lying. Lie and say that they never lied even if it's on film. Lie about lying. Lie about lying about lying.

Just plain lie.

The John McCain Campaign has moved into desperate mode. Now that most major polls have McCain well below Obama in their surveys, they've decided to pull out all the stops. And, instead of sticking to their proverbial guns and staying the course in their campaign for the White House, they've dug deeper into the Rovian handbook.

Lie.

Distort the truth. No. That hasn't worked. Don't mix up numbers and fool with wordplay making what you say technically true by intently inaccurate. No, that hasn't worked. Push it one step further. Just lie. Call Obama a terrorist. Tell him that he wants to raise taxes for the middle and lower classes. Tell him that he waffles on the economy. Tell him that the surge worked (because working doesn't mean we have left, it just means that we're still there) and that his position on it was therefore wrong. Tell the public that they don't know Obama. Who is Obama? WHO IS OBAMA? (Sometimes it helps to yell.) He's "that guy" from the debate. He's that Hussein terrorist fellow. He's Obama Bin Laden. He's unpatriotic. In short, he's everything but a child rapist at this point. But who knows, there are four weeks yet to this campaign season and they've got to do something to keep in the news. The McCain Campaign has to do something to push the economy and his history of deregulation (the self-anointed "Reagan foot soldier") from the headlines and the punditry.

They have to do something to keep relevant. Shock and awe doesn't work anymore. That damned "liberal media" debunked that foolish tactic last week, and besides it's so August and this is October. The fact of the matter is that they are going down with the Rethuglican ship. They've made their beds and now they have to sleep in them. And all those other stupid cliches. Buh-bye Johnny. Bye-bye.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Politicking and the Ends of Means

Okay, before we begin let me point one thing out that's really been bugging me. You know that $700 billion in "taxpayer" money that's going to be used at some point to "bail out" the financial industry? Well, guess what. It's not taxpayer money, unless you're talking about the taxpayers who own Chinese and Western European banking conglomerates. They will be giving the US government the money to "bail out" or otherwise entitled buy out parts of the financial industry. This isn't money that has ever come from the taxes of you or I. If we had that kind of money, why are we financing two wars with foreign money? Why is the national debt expected to hit $11.4 TRILLION (that's $11,400,000,000,000 for those keeping track) because of this buy out? Because it's not money that we own. It's money that own us to them. That's all.

-----------------------------------------

And on to what I really wanted to talk about tonight...


Politics is a polarizing entity. It fashions large divides out of tiny differences and makes issues out of differences that can coexist. It seems now that we are more polarized than ever. Yet this may not be true. A particularly insidious aspect of politics is that we things are happening for the first time every time. Or that there have never been such political gaps between the people of this nation. I beg to differ. We forget things too quickly and cannot accurately make such determinizations.

There is another interesting aspect to politics. When one is getting their way, they always claim that the other is a radical. Day to day as polls change each side of this election process alternates accusations of radicalism. In fact, on a larger scale for much of the past decade we've been calling the radical the Republican Party and through its "Rovian" techniques, it gained power for the first time in decades in Congress and the first time in 8 years in the Oval Office. As they gained power, the left ascribed their techniques as being radical.

Now the tide is turning again. Barack Obama is leading the Democratic ticket and gaining power in this nation. He proposes change and a new style of politics, and so it seems to his followers, because he is winning. Likewise, his opponents assail him as a radical, because they are losing.

It must be asked then if this "radical" ends justify the means (or "Rovian") mentality that each losing side claims the winner uses even exists at all. On the contrary, if one can only gain power by actually using such techniques then perhaps their followers are only blind to its usage.

-----------------------------------------

In politics does the end justify the means? To the aggressor, yes, to the loser, no. The same rings true for everyone in every aspect of discord. I believe that in all realistic applications getting my way does justify my means. In politics I will smear and I will go for the jugular. Why? Because I can't live with myself if I don't try every avenue. To me this is war and I intend to be on the winning side. I cannot accept the policies of Bush II. Such acceptance would be more destructive to me than would be my means to my end.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Reagan, Deregulation, and the Fruit It Now Bears

President Reagan had an idea about how the world should run. He deregulated Big Business. That is, he removed the restrictions put in place that kept companies from cheating. He removed, primarily economic oversight. He said that it was unAmerican that in this capitalist society that such oversight, such restrictions should exist. To him, these concepts flew in the face of that illusive, figmentary idea we like to call freedom. He wanted Big Business to have the freedom to do what it will and believed that in doing so, said companies would check themselves. They would check themselves because it was in their best economic interest to do so.

Yet, what he didn't realize is that what was in the best interest of Corporate America could be unknown to Corporate America itself! That Big Business could be akin to a compulsive gambler who as they fall further and further into the hole panic and begin making riskier and riskier bets, thus then subjecting themselves to even more debt at an ever increasing rate relative to the riskiness of the debt.

Second, he either did not realize or did not care that Corporate America would not run lockstep with Small Town America. In periods of financial instability, those with the least wiggle room to begin with will be the first to feel its impact. Those people are inevitably the poor, then the middle class, then the rich. The soul of America is hollowed out from the inside and when the outermost shell comprised of Corporate America (those with the most wiggle room) crumbles, we find that there is nothing left to this country at all.

For the last seven years, and certainly before that, minus the Internet boom of the 1990's (of which no one person can claim credit), a war has been raged on the poor and middle classes of this nation. In the past two years, such war has bore fruit. The housing bubble burst. The mortgage market fell into crisis. Lending has tightened, further alienating millions of this nation's people. The soul continues to erode. And erode it does to this day.

Now large corporations are falling. AIG is the next among them, but likely not the last. Lehman is done. Merrill Lynch is done. Bank of America bought out the latter. Watch them next. If they fold up, the market will slide into free-fall. One that interest rate cuts will not stave. One that inflation will not absorb.

Reaganomics worked to a "t". Market deregulation, finished under W. Bush, and book-cooking and ethics violations ignored by a Republican controlled Congress who, like Reagan, believed that the market would sort itself out, have both succeeded too. And Big Business didn't know when to cut it's losses. It dug deeper and deeper. And we're not finished yet. As the noose slowly tightens around the necks of Corporate America and the wiggle room disappears, this nation's economic infrastructure will hang itself on the fruit born from its greed. And all that will be left is nothingness, because the economic soul of America, antecedent from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, will be finished.

Reagan thought that he could make the rich richer, make himself and his friends richer and richer, off the work of the poor. However, there came a point where their greed defeated the poor and soon will come a point where it defeats the middle class too. The rich are the last to fall, the ones who will go down with the ship. Reagan's error was that he believed that the market would know when it's squeezed enough from the poor, when to stop before crushing it completely. But it didn't. And now we may be too far gone.

Much can be said of a man who set Big Business on the poor and middle class like a vampire bat on cattle. Or of his Junior partner George W. Bush. But in the end it won't matter. We will all have to live with the results. This next decade may be difficult indeed.

If the market crashes as aforementioned one of two situations will play out. The crash could affect all markets equally as a percent of each index's national or international value. Then at least, the US, although hit hard, will not lose its place as the last remaining superpower (or at least what entrails remain of such a title). However, this is unlikely to occur. Most of the market trouble comes from the US, therefore it seems most likely that it will be hit if not the hardest, then at least close to the hardest. It would be the hardest hit of the first world nations.

In this case, a matter of degree will make all the difference. The US may take a a body shot, forceful, but recoverable from. Or it may KO. In which case another major problem arises for the future of this nation. China. Logically, the nation with the greatest % national growth now, if close to equal to that of America in economic power, were to, as it is, presumably be hit hard by a US market crash, then that nation, China, will be likely to get back on its feet first. It will begin to recover first. It will recover first. And it will be the biggest world power, if not the only world power, of the next century, even if only by the market's crippling or elimination of the US as a superpower.

Stemming from this potential eventuality lies another problem. The United States has spent much of the last 15-20 years in a position of consumerism as it pertains to the Chinese economy. Therefore, it poses no great leap to think that China would want to continue that relationship, but in a more lopsided arrangement. The end result would be the United States, an imperialized colony of China. Spheres of influence, a Western tactic used against China during the 19th Century, they will make a return but with opposite roles. Western society will be the forced consumers of Chinese goods.

We can take it a step further even. US citizens begin to see the writing on the wall as China makes the US more and more its lapdog. US industry chugs back into motion to free us from the confines of imperialism. China invades and ceases control of the US government. The invasion may not even be physical. Perhaps the heads of corporations, desperate not to lose their positions in a new and frightening world, strike a deal with China, they lobby, then win political power.

One way or another. This scenario does not bode well for those of us who, even if we don't enjoy where we are now, will certainly crave that very same status, when the rug is pulled out of under our feet.

The world market is faltering and whether or not it will fall can not be said yet. Years from now historians will remark that we should have seen the writing on the wall as they do then. That it was obvious. Only two questions remain. What language will those historians be speaking. And who will they think was the good guy.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Abstinence Only Education, Teen Pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS

The greatest victim of George Bush's abstinence only education program are the children that he claims to be protecting. Teen pregnancy is the highest in the western world with 53 pregnancies in every 1000 girls aged 15-19. That's a little over 1 in every 20 girls. The number of teen pregnancies in the United States is almost three times that of Canada, England and France (about 20 in a 1000 or 1 in 50) and 17 times that of the Netherlands (3 in a 1000 or 1 in 333). All are western nations and all except the United States provide comprehensive sex education in public schools.

Now let's move on.

One half of all new STD cases are in people between the ages of 15-24. HIV leads all other STDs in % increase between 2000 and 2004 at 42% amongst teens. It, unlike many other STDs, becomes almost immediately re-transmittable and yet can show no symptoms for years. It may not even show up on blood tests for six months or more. It is transmittable and affects people of all races, all colors, all creeds, all relations, all ages, in all types of sex, at any point during sex, and the odds of getting it from a carrier remains the same regardless whether you have sex with them once or a hundred thousand times.

If you take condoms out of the hands of our young people, this is what happens. Through almost no fault of their own they will die. They may, and very likely will, infect others causing them to DIE. The spread of HIV is COMPLETELY stoppable. Condoms are cheap and 100% effective in this if used properly.

The Bush Administration has taken comprehensive birth control out of high school health class. It has taken condoms out of public schools. It has contributed to the stigma held by many teens about acquiring birth control. And silence only makes it worse.

Just imagine that a piece of latex about a millimeter thick can save your life.

I'll leave you with this to chew on...

Friday, August 29, 2008

This is All I Have to Say


Oh, and this.... HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! McSame is suffering from advanced dementia! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Ahh, now I feel better.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Heading Back

Well, as you can tell from my last post, I've been feeling very random tonight. But, I think, in randomness there is a lesson to be learned. That lesson? I'll make sure to get back to you on that when I figure it out.

Regardless, or perhaps irregardless of that, I'm heading back tomorrow. That should be fun. A couple of days of rest and relaxation before getting back to the daily grind. I always find this time of year interesting. Not this year. So I suppose I should say that I nearly always find this time of year interesting or that I used to find this time of year interesting but now I don't. Damn, I need to digress.

I did a lot of new things this summer and they were a lot of fun, but I never really got around to thinking about myself, which is something I believe that everyone should do at least for a week every now and then. It's unfortunate too because I need to free up some more space in my active memory if you will. There's too too much bouncing around in there, as opposed to too much which upon retrospection seems about right. I'm not trying to be funny, I'm just being "funny". That's funny weird and not funny ha ha. Funny ha ha is running around the stage at graduation completely naked. Funny weird is doing it at a preschool. Isn't it odd that something that is funny weird upon thought is very funny ha ha. Go figure.

When heading back I like to think that I've accomplished something, and I have. But, this year the something that I have accomplished is not so much for the mental me as it is for others and in truth also the future me. That is to say, what I've done will benefit me in my future endeavors but not as much now. My mind is running a mile a minute and I don't like going into new things (or old things anew) in such a state. Hopefully over the next couple of days before everyone else arrives I can get my mental affairs in order. A sound mind is as much if not more important than a sound body.

Now I'm not saying that I'm unstable, not in the least. What I am saying is that I'm wandering aimlessly. For instance, it's 3:43 AM and I'm typing this for no reason instead of sleeping.

So, as I said way way back up at the top of this rambling mess, I'm heading back tomorrow. I'll enjoy a couple of days of quiet and hopefully be able to commit to stuff for more than ten minutes at a time afterward. We'll see.

FFF

A Word

Well, for this whole thing to be effective, and yes pointed, I'm afraid that I must in fact use more than just one word. The idea of "one word", not taken literally, as it never is, is in fact a stand in for I'd like to speak shortly or frankly about something. Honestly I'd love to walk up to someone, and you should try this too, tell them that I want to have a word with them, pull them to the side, say "ducksauce", and walk away. I think it would provide a powerful insight into the idea that much of language is based on inferred meaning and not on the actual literal content of its words. But I digress, to a completely different topic might I add.

I don't do "observational" pieces; I do however often do observational pieces. See the difference? No? Then it's a good thing I'm still here and in such a flaky mood. (Corn or frosted, I can't decide...) "Observational" pieces talk about events or settings or people. They are firmly rooted in the occurrences of my every day life. And, as I'm sure you would agree, my every day life is not something that makes good bedtime reading. Although, granted it would likely put you to sleep.

I do observational pieces. The no these things " " kind. I muse on life and the questions and answers that flow freely from the bored mind of a thoroughly randomesque mindset. For instance, I could talk about what I think about the DNC so far, as I have watched it extensively these past three nights. Hey, when it comes to life, I figure an informed person is an alert person. But the problem is that I don't think that's interesting at all. I don't care if you think along the same lines as me in such mundane areas. Oh it went well. Oh, it could've gone better. Oh, I don't know. Tra-la-la. Who gives a fuck. This sort of thinking is better left to tabloid news networks like Fox who kept interrupting their coverage for equally mundane things like weather reports and mindless and baseless commentary. Now that would be something to talk about. Something interesting. But, I've already said everything that I'm willing to say about that for tonight so I'll move on.

Tomorrow or the next day, or sometime in the near future, however I will speak about something that came to mind after listening to the DNC speeches tonight and that is HIV/AIDS. But again, I'm not going to go into that here and now.

So, what am I going to say?

Ducksauce.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Rantings of A Mad Man: Oh Shit! It's Part XX

If silence is golden then is noise leaden?

Why is it that when we're alone for long periods of time we begin to sense impending attack? Or is it just me?

Have you ever noticed that in a box of Fruit-By-The-Foot that the Strawberry flavored ones will always be left to last? Surely after the box is long since gone, there will still be a few Strawberry ones left over.

Isn't it a bit ironic that all those who think that Ron Paul is the best candidate (or that libertarianism is the best ideology) are those people who believe that if the government removed all support systems that they above all others will rise to the top of the pyramid. Isn't it just ironic that some how they believe that removing all government assistance will catapult them above those people who already don't use it. Ironic. No?

From what I can tell fans (ceiling, floor, desk, etc.) all rotate in the clockwise fashion. Are there any that buck the trend?

At what point does one become a veteran? I'm not talking about those in the armed services, that conveyance of veteranship is clear, but of ball players, journalists, legislators, and the such. Is there a day in which one second they are not and then they are a veteran? Are there laws legislating such a title? I for one hope not.

Who designed the pattern on a baseball? Seriously, I'm curious.

What is so special about Egyptian cotton? Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me.

Martin Van Buren was the only truly bilingual president. He also spoke Dutch at home.

Roman numerals really fuck up alphabetical order.

When I was in pre-school we did a project where we dipped our feet in paint and printed them on a single white piece of paper. For some reason thereafter I denied having done it barefoot. I haven't the slightest idea why.

Support the Troops! I question if they really mean that. Surely they mean "support OUR troops". The very idea of supporting ALL troops seems very unlike them. Likewise, "support the troops" is a verbal cue. Proportionally, it's seen more in speech than in writing. So maybe just maybe, they mean "support the TROUPES" as in the actors guild or something. Could it be that a bunch of war-raging, stick branding, red necks could have a secret penchant for musical theater? Mm, your right, probably not.

If a typist types what do dentists and racists do?

If a tree falls in the woods and no one's around to hear it is George W. Bush still paranoid that it might be harboring weapons of mass destruction?

While you should pay your income and property taxes each year, sometimes you can get away with not doing so. At least for a little while. Is it possible that we can do the same for sales tax? Can we ask the cashier to wave the charge and let you deal with the IRS later? I think what we really need to ask is: "What can we do as individuals to make this nation more bureaucratic?"

And finally:

If you don't give a shit, you should at least take one.


Cheers!

FFF

My Everything Philosophy

I hate philosophers. They make the world needlessly complicated. Read some of their ramblings and you'll understand what I mean. All of them needlessly complicate life and needlessly complicate the language that they use to convey it to give their position more assumed importance. You don't need to be a master linguist to be a philosopher. Isn't a philosopher just an observer who makes reasoned guesses? I think so. Will it sink or will it float? Autumn leaves--float. Check. ...Grandma in a Buick--hmm... sink. Who'da thunk it? ...Erm... excuse me a second...

...Where was I? Oh right. My philosophy about everything is that everything is blatantly simple. Sometimes things are so simple that we don't even realize them for what they are. Like for instance, George W. Bush is a braying jackass. Had we realized in 2000 that the desire to have a beer with one is synonymous with buffoonery, we would've saved ourselves a lot of trouble. Go figure.

In the end, the world is complex, but each piece of it is simple. If we look at the world simply we will find more answers, more accurately, than if we blow hot air up our own asses -- or vote for George W. Bush.

I Do Enjoy the Vagaries of Life

Whenever it rains on a sunny day,
Whenever night sweeps noon away,
Whenever your dreams are delayed,
And fate lets come whatever may,
Remember that it happened -- my way.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Monopoly Part 2: What Would Life Be Like If It Were a Game of Monopoly?

Now that I think of it, I think I've stumbled across a Bill-O talking point. That's Bill-O not Jell-O, although I hear that they are both comprised primarily of bone dust, corn syrup, and food coloring...

Regardless, let's take a look at Monopoly. It's a very socialist game if you think about it. You start out with $1500. Imagine that. $1500 for nothing. It's just given to you, by the bank, the central governing authority. And everyone gets the same amount! Wow-wee! What a deal!

Then there's GO. Every time you pass GO you collect ANOTHER $200! For what? Don't ask me.

And just when you need it here comes Community Chest! A local slush fund for your spending needs!

What about Luxury Tax and Income Tax! Profit sharing! 10% or $200 for Income Tax. $75 for the Luxury sort! It's criminal! And you know that everyone lands on Income Tax more often. They plan it that way some how! They must! Who ever lands on Luxury Tax? Only the rich! Of course! Who's ever heard of a poor person losing their last cents on Luxury Tax? Doesn't happen!

Then there's Free Parking and it's bastard cousin Just Visiting! Who's ever heard of free parking. It's almost communist to me! Imagine a government run facility interfering in your private lives. Fuck no! And Just Visiting! Imagine! Criminals getting cordial visiting rights! NEVER! It's not about rehabilitation. It's not about fostering the desire to turn one's self around and become a part of society again. NO! It's about seclusion and punishment!

Then there's all the railroads! They all cost the same! How could they? Surely not in a real society. We can't have poor railroads subsidized by government! It's an unnecessary tax on the wealthier stops! The property values aren't worth the same! Who would want to travel through the Purples and Light Blues! Honestly one's Chinese even! They should just knock down all of those tenement houses and make room for my new mini-mall! Eminent domain! It's for the good of society!

And to cap it all off, look at the subliminal message that Monopoly gives to our kids! When you get all of one color or utility the rent DOUBLES! Imagine the audacity that these people have telling us that prices would go up if someone holds a corner on the market! BAH! Prices would surely go down with greater export capacity, streamlined ventures, and greater centralization! Only a fool would say otherwise!

So that's what it is. Monopoly! A bunch of SOCIALIST PROPAGANDA!

Where's it going to end! Won't someone please think of the children!

Monopoly Part 1

It's hard sometimes keeping faith in mankind, but you know that every now and then if we look hard enough we can find something that sort of proves to us that no matter how fucked up this world gets somewhere someday everything will be alright.

Monopoly is one of those sort of universal experiences that we all have and something therein I believe is very bolstering in the faith department. Say we've been playing for a while and most of the properties are out. And you know, some of the players have houses and hotels by now and others are just barely hanging on, playing the dice version of Russian Roulette every time they turn the corner after Marvin Gardens.

It's a really cutthroat game too sometimes. An "in it to win it" mentality if I do say so, but I digress. Very competitive. Sometimes dangerously so in fact. But you know after the dice are rolled and your fate is set in stone, Pacific Avenue and that big old red roofed inn, you don't balk out of your responsibility. I sure don't. So we lose everything. Whoop-dee-do. There will be other games. It's not that important after all.

I'm not going to launch a stealth attack on their Light Blues. No one does. You pay the person. There's no debate. There's no bullshitting Mr. Moneybags. It doesn't work that way.

Imagine... A board game doesn't work that way. Wouldn't it be nice if real life worked that way from time to time. A little honesty in practice. A little responsibility. Even a six year old cops to having rolled that seven and landing on your hotel. They don't deny it. They don't pretend to miscount. They don't threaten you. Or bully you. Or otherwise try to convince you to otherwise drop your rental fee. It doesn't happen.

Oh what would life be like if we played it a little more like Monopoly?

Friday, August 8, 2008

Requiem

I don't know how to begin to describe the impact that George Carlin had on my work and on my life. I suppose that's as good a start as any come to think of it. Regardless, he taught us to laugh at all the bull shit that society was founded on and to tear it down piece by piece. Politics, religion, social mores, the whole lot. He taught us that laughter was as powerful a weapon as any and that to live life successfully one must not take it all too seriously. It's the serious ones that you have to look out for. The serious people are the ones that cause all the trouble in this world, if I may borrow a concept. He taught us that when life kicked you in the balls to kick it back in kind.

His was a labor of love. What good is it to live if one does not love what they do? And, his observation will be missed by the fringe Left. His foresight was a burden that he bore for more than 50 years, 22 albums, hundreds of television appearances, and thousands of shows. He taught us to look at the world differently, to escape from vested interest and see society for what it is, for the most part self-serving and viral. His words spoke to generations. They transcended age. It will be a cold dark day when his message finally disappears into the void.

If there is anything at all that he has taught us it would be to question. Question law. Question religion. Question tradition. Question life. Why do we do this? Why do we think this? What is in it for you? What do they really mean? Read between the lines. Politicians and liars are not mutually exclusive of one another, the opposite is closer to the truth. Everyone has a means to their end and executes on this means to the best of their ability.

I wonder though what he thought as he lay in the hospital bed fighting to remain conscious, a coma and then death quickly on the horizon. What could he have thought? I suppose questions of mortality are best left to the dead. How could we know anything about the action.

In the end what matters is that we know that society is presently fucked. In George's own observation we must change two things if society is to come to anything close to a happy ending. We must abolish religion, which makes us feel unworthy and makes us feel others unworthy. And we must rid ourselves of consumerism and materialism. We are the diggers of our own graves through pollution or nuclear war; we drive ourselves into poverty buying lotto tickets and cable TV; we kill each other in the name of primacy. With these two concepts, mankind is doomed. He said it. We know it. And yet, it continues.

All hail one of the greatest philosophers to ever have lived.

George Carlin you will be missed.

-FFF

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George Carlin died at 5:55pm on June 22nd 2008 of a pre-existing heart condition. Before now I didn't know how I wanted to address this issue and now that it is done it seems so inconsequential. It's difficult to describe the concept behind George Carlin and his life's work. Perhaps, it is just better to proffer an example of it. It is to him that I dedicate this blog and all of my work therein.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

I Was Bored

In the past weeks I had been getting very bored with my old design. It seemed too drab. I stumbled across this new one. I hope everyone likes it. As I said, I've redone the format. I know I can here you cursing now, so shut it and get back in line. Anywho... Elsewise I will also be introducing a Photo Album feature. It is currently up and running, but seriously lacking content. I'll get on that soon enough. Likewise, I have a new Guestbook. Mostly, it's because I've lost the link to the old one, and it may change again as I don't like ads on my pages. Sigh! And I'm sure I'll think up a few other new things down the road.

As usual with this process... it is a work in progress. So, if all the features don't work just yet, bugger off until I fix everything!

Alrighty then. No complaints.

FFF

Friday, July 11, 2008

Wikipedia-ism and Bias

Wikipedia-ism is the idea that some information services are unreliable because the content of such sources cannot be controlled by the establishment.

What is fact but truth as it is accepted by the establishment? 2000 years ago, the fact that the earth was flat was undeniable, yet people knew and could prove otherwise.

The idea that doctrine and even thought could be fluid and not a controllable entity scares the establishment, be it governments, religion, or the local 4-H Club. They fear losing control over what we believe. This control is their power and the free exchange of informational "non-fact" can and does threaten the existence and power of the status quo.

Wikipedia-ism will continue for as long as there is someone in power who does not want to share it with others. That power is the ability to choose fact. In my opinion, we should all be able to choose fact for ourselves. Of course, we will not always get it right, but then again neither do they now get it right all the time. Quite the contrary it seems. So, let us all decide for ourselves what is fact and then let us keep it to ourselves. Do not go out and try to convert others. Do not belittle them. Or threaten them. Do not start wars over your beliefs. Do not kill for your ideals.

If you want to say the world is flat, so be it. But if you hang the next three people to disagree, we're going to have a bit of a problem. Do away with doctrine. If you want to live in a monarchy then do so. You are the monarch and you are your sole subject. If I want democracy then let me have my democracy. I will not try to conquer you and instill my values on you. All I ask is that you do the same.

It is high time that we as a nation learn to leave each other well enough alone. If you want to hate me then go on hate me. But leave me well enough alone. Keep your hate to yourself. Let it fester and rot and make you miserable. It is your right to be miserable if you want. But it is not your right to make me miserable. Life is a two way street. Get the picture?

Saturday, July 5, 2008

The Tale of the Tape on the Human Species

Mankind thrives on conflict individually. Without challenge or inspiration, we fade into complacency and melancholy. We do not live up to our creative potential and many times even take our own lives.

Why then should it be any different for mankind as a whole? History is dotted with complications, with challenge, and with inspiration. Dissent from Church doctrine and the ensuing counter movement led to the creativity of the Renaissance period. The wars of Western Europe led to Western European dominance of the world market for some five hundred years. And the U.S.-Soviet Cold War feud spurred the onset of the Space Age.

The future will likely continue in such "chaos"; if the species is to survive, I believe, it must. Utopia, in a traditional sense will never happen except to be followed swiftly by the end of a section or of the whole of mankind. Man like a flower must continuously stretch to a light source for food. Remove that light and the plant will wither and die. So too will mankind.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Predatory Lending

Predatory lending is one of two major causes of economic distress in the United States today, the other of course being oil. It is the idea that mortgage companies have in the past decade given out unwise loans, particularly for mortgages, to people believing that they could assume the debt incurred if they client defaults on the mortgage. Simply put, these mortgage brokerages would take the house from their client, and since the value of the housing market had been increasingly seemingly without end, it was obvious that even if they were to temporarily assume a debt, that debt would be erased, with profit, when they next sell the house and possibly pick up another unstable mortgage loan.

They made money off of giving loans to people who could not feasibly pay them off. Many would default on those loans and the lenders would actually make money off the process, off the pain they generated.

The second type of predatory lending I wish to speak of is one in which lenders provide so called "variable rate" mortgages. These are mortgage loans in which the interest rate is not fixed at a certain percentage. Generally, they are given at a lower starting rate, thus enticing people who wouldn't normally qualify into the process. Then at some point in the foreseeable future, the interest rate will rise nationally and thereby the interest rate, not fixed, will rise on the mortgage, thus making monthly payments on said mortgage more expensive for the client. Of course, as this happens those who cannot any longer pay their mortgage will inevitably foreclose and the lender will own their house, which they can then sell again and perhaps pick up another mortgage, but in the very least profit on the booming price of the housing bubble as aforementioned.

The problem lies herein... that they knew that they were doing what they were doing. These companies knew that many people would not be able to pay their loans back, but offered them anyway. They knew that once the interest rates began to rise, which they inevitably would, that hundreds of thousands of people would begin to lose their houses. AND, so long as the housing market held strong, the mortgage lenders would continue to turn a profit off of this predatory lending process. However, because of the downturn in the economy and the soaring of unemployment, inflation, and the consumer price index, the housing bubble burst. Prices fell significantly for the first time in 30 years. And now, mortgage lenders, whose incurred debt was paid off by the resale of homes foreclosed upon is now not being paid off in full because they cannot turn a profit on housing sales, are turning belly up.

These lenders sought out the federal government to bail them out. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates slightly to ease the burden on these companies. Doing so lowered the number of foreclosures, in theory (if the economy hadn't kept going south), and thus lowered the amount of debt still being incurred by lending firms that cannot resell their foreclosed properties for a profit or even to break even. As more foreclose, more debt racks up and companies need to be bailed out further. The US prints more money and gives it to federal banks that offered these predatory loans as a stop-gap measure to insure that the banks will not crash, causing essentially a national economic crisis leading to a new depression. The problem is that inflation is caused by the printing of more money. The consumer price index (how much things cost in relation to what they once did) rises and yet again people begin to foreclose on their homes because they cannot afford to pay their mortgages.

We're back to square one. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. A bad economy causes foreclosures which lead to brokers looking for help which leads to the federal government printing more money which leads to inflation which leads to more people not being able to afford their houses leading to foreclosures. And the cycle continues.

It all began because lending firms were greedy. They believed that they could feed off of the American people (internationally as well, i.e. England specifically). But, as is a fundamental law of the universe, that with every action comes an equal but opposite reaction. Unfortunately, as everything is connected and everyone is connected, so too will the pain wrought by this greed continue to suffer itself upon everyone: lenders, regular Joe's, and the economy alike. We are in a period of deflation. Not economically so, yet this should too be watched intently for, but metaphorically. Our collective growth over the last decade or so in the housing market is checking itself. Greed is it's weight and suffering it's counterbalance.

What can we do? All we can do is remember not to overreact or to panic. There will be pain because of the housing market bubble bursting for much of the next decade. But, to overkill is to swing the pendulum to the same distance in the opposite direction. Squeezing credit stifles growth which in turn hurts the economy, which in turn stifles growth. It too is cyclical. We must find a happier medium whereby credit is still available but not carelessly given. Laws must be put in place to prevent predatory lending and they in turn must be enforced harshly. To counter the actions of greed we must use only the necessary counterbalance.

We must be watchful and not panic.