From Mistakes

If my dad were not a cheat
I would not breathe
If I was not lost
I would not type

If the Spanish didn't conquer
my wife would not breathe
If she did not get scammed
she wouldn't have found me

good things come from everywhere
you really just have to chose
what do you want to see
and what do you want to help others see

Diverticulitis

I just found out that my grandma has Diverticulitis today, a disease which tends to be common in people who have low fiber diets. My mom created a Diverticulitis Diet blog to keep track of what my grandma is eating and helping to share information about Diverticulitis with others.

I really need to see my mom and grandma again soon. It has been almost 2 years.

Costumes

Late night at Denny's a security guard told a kissing couple "you need to cut that out. this is a family restaurant." I didn't know most family restaurants had security guards.

Yesterday two kids came over to ask me if I wanted to play basketball, but they were also trying to intimidate me by not talking. Hint...you can't walk over to others and ask them to "play a game" with you while being silent and still look intimidating.

In Iran they are now allowing girls to wear new costumes. From the AP:

Parts of Iranian beaches are reserved for women, where they can remove their headscarves and wear swimming costumes.

If you were a dirty man, what better location could you have than a girl only tourist island of scantly clad women? I wonder how long it will take before a man is found on the new Women only tourist island. And when he is found there, will he get in trouble, or will a woman be blamed for tempting him into it.

It is hard to make self sufficient tourist locations that create significant economic activity without someone really trying to get rooted into it. And one of the last things they would want would be to show that women may not need men. That would screw up their social structure pretty bad.

One of the Smart Ones

Who believes in an elite ruling class while also believing that they themselves are one of the dumb ones in need of help?

What's Borken

Of your flaws, and the flaws common to those around you, what percent of those flaws do you think are a function of inherant human nature? And what percent of those are due to business entities and powerful social structures trying to force their view of the world onto it?

Personal Resource Management

Are people generally good natured? Sure. But capitalism is broken. And, in general, most people are not the ones that will give you your dreams. The world has too much opportunity and we are far too selfish for that.

The average person will not make you rich or poor. They won't be the ones doing your marketing for you. And they won't be the ones helping you create ideas worth spreading. Capitalism treats most people like a bug waiting to be stepped on.

Most are in debt to a ponzi scheme so large that nobody considers it. And those who do must have something wrong with them. But for some reason it is the flavor of the moment value system. A measuring stick for how hollow your products are and how far you depart from your ideals.

To be successful you either need to treat some people like shit or need an enclave to hide in. Daily I get fake charity requests, refund requests, and people trying to goad me into giving them my work for free ... from people who proved they don't respect either me, my work, or themselves based on their communication.

And if you ever change the pieces with which people identify, many will try to destroy your sense of identity rather than changing their own or move on to other things. Life is too short to spend time shoring up the emotional stability of possessive people trying to manipulate you, unless you want to buy into their value systems, which put you at the bottom of the ladder.

Christian Identity Crisis

Evangelical leader quits amid male escort's allegations:

The president of the National Association of Evangelicals resigned Thursday after accusations by a male prostitute that the pastor paid him for sex over three years.

The church official who temporarily has assumed Haggard's post said late Thursday that there has been "some admission of guilt," but not to all of the allegations.

That reminds me of part of my Animal Farm poem:

what you fought against
is what you became
still, you kept fighting
to protect your name

When you teach people to hate or judge others you are actually teaching them to hate themselves. And it is ironic when that is just a reflection of your own self hatred.

We are all flawed, just in slightly different ways. Why let hate consume our lives? Is any religion or position of power so valuable that you are willing to hate yourself to accept it?

Someone should make a fake religion based on self-hatred and hatred of the world and humanity... just to show how well aligned it would be with the cut up cult-like religions dominating our culture.

How Insignificant Are You?

I always feel better about myself and even being alive in general when I experience anything that puts my role in the universe in its true perspective.

People are People

I like the idea of those promoting strict family values and trying to legislate their morals on others getting it broke off.

The great thing about the web is that people are people and will do stupid stuff...but now there is a written and graphical record of how hypocritical the moral values people are, and when they change their stories they get caught on that too.

Once Google (or another internet company) has enough content and knows people well enough to recommend stuff to the average person eventually a small % of people are going to control what most people see and are recommended. The part that is going to be shitty for corporations and politicians is that people like you and I will likely be the ones who are controlling what people find.

Invariably, unless they destroy the web (they being government or the commercial interests tied to Google), the cost of being dishonest (and overcompensating to make up for their own flaws) is going to increase year over year and even day over day.

Imagine how much better the world would be if we didn't have to create false enemies to blame our own faults on...and if people didn't follow or elect those who do.

It's Always Discouraging...

to find out that your own family members have become radicalized, and compare other groups of people to multiplying rats that should be shot on sight, without questioning weather or not there are faults to that philosophy, or if that philosophy is what is causing the multiplication of the "rats".

Maybe it is.

Saudi and Israeli studies show that most foreign fighters were not terrorists before Iraq war.

Let someone kill some of my family and see if I don't send some of that pain right back where it came from. If I did that, would I be reduced to a "rat" status? What is the difference between a rat and an exterminator? The country they come from? Or the scale of murder that is permissible and just?

Hitler was a fairly successful exterminator. Not sure why any human alive today would want to fall into that same group though (unless they fell for brainwashing false patriotic bullshit used to exploit them for votes and/or corporate profits).

Yet another reason I will never believe in any mainstream organized religious institution that teaches people to become radicalized hypocrites.

Because we are human we all have errors and are all hypocritical, but to think that you should be the judge and jury on the worthiness of living of another human you know little about is at best ignorant. It certainly is not something you should teach your children.

Where the hell is the tolerance in that? What religious book did that shot on sight just extermination philosophy come from? I would love to read that section of your Bible / Koran / etc so I could debunk it.

Bartering Emotional Support and Social Interaction

Sad but true. For as many people as technology helps and enables (like me) there are probably at least a couple other people who are growing increasingly isolated (like me).

Recent studies have shown that in the US people are growing increasingly isolated.

As taxes become easier for the rich to squirm around or to pay without burden beyond money then access to simple things like parking are not just going to be a regulating inconvenience tax, but more just a measure of raw capital. Given that the most profitable business models are often the most scummy ones I don't like the sound of that.

I also have seen money applied in relationships as a means to show love, and to me it never has. More often than not when I think about it money usually ruines relationships more than helps build them because it creates some arbitrary value set surrounding worthless paper. Human emotion is worth so much more.

I send some people money every month. Does it mean I care for them? Nope. It just means I send them money. I do care for some of them (and try to show that care in other ways too), but sometimes I donate just because I feel it is a responsibility. Money is overvalued, I have more of it than I need, and my government is quite scummy, fostering a world where they can exploit other countries to keep them forever poor. I should probably increases how much I donate soon too because it is not enough. If I have enough courage maybe I will move to a country that is less scummy on the foreign and domestic policy front.

A few years ago I wrote my mom a nastigram about money not mattering because I just believe money shouldn't matter. I think I hurt her with that, but I think I had to write it to try to make her understand who I am. Caring is another level well beyond anything money does. I believed this when I was dirt dirt dirt poor, and I still believe it now that I make more money than most people do.

I believe the world should give people the opportunity to see the greatness that exists in each of us. Those who (generally) block others for personal profit are pieces of shit. Those who inspire people or spread opportunity are great even if they never become all that wealthy (in terms of dollars).

If / when:

• the concept of intimate friendship is a relic
  
• software knows you better than your best friend
  
• food has no nutritional value
  
• pills replace physical activity, healthy dieting, and emotion
  
• money says I love you

Have we lost out on the real bottom line?

When will capitalism fold? Humanity and the world deserve so much better.

Well It's Just Right for Me

Who gives a shit if you are uncomfortable. t is perfect for me, and that is all that matters. Oh and you are rude, asshole.

Don't ever ask me to do anything without being mr. happy manners polite, and I will bitch you out while you are promptly doing what I ask you to.

Totally reasonable. Almost.