The Done List

I have struggled with procrastination for most of my life. I am still struggling now, as it so happens. I was outside taking a smoke break, after narrowly avoiding starting another game of Starcraft, when I started thinking about strategies for dealing with my procrastination.

Life and Logistics
The Oxford Dictionary defines logistics as: the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. I can assure you, Life is a complex operation. The more we desire (desire to do, desire to be) the more complex it gets. It seems that resource management skills are vital to our success in this complex operation, and that makes life a logistics problem.

Thinking on how to tackle my procrastination from a logistics viewpoint made think of doing some research into time management techniques. As I did not feel the urge to start doing so right away (procrastination vs. hey, I am in the planning stages), I thought about adding time management research to my to do list.

From To Do to Done

This got me thinking about to do lists, and how often in the past I have tried to use them for the same purpose with poor results. The thought of adding time management research to my to do list seemed like work. The time management research seemed like work. I never really look forward to doing work. That might be why to do  lists have never really done anything for me.

So, I asked myself "what would I look forward to?"

Being Done.

The supposed magic that makes a to do list works is the warm and tingly sense of accomplishment you get when you cross something off the list. That's what I was after. I am not looking forward to a long to do list. What excites me is the prospect of having a nice long list of things I have done. 

I have decided to make a Done list rather than a to do list.  See, a to do list is meant to be full of things that are not yet done. That is its natural state of being. If you have a to do list with everything crossed off, there is something wrong with it. It is a needful thing, that needs you to add things to do in order to function. A Done list on the other hand, is designed to be completed. If there are uncompleted tasks on it, there is something wrong with universe. 

Adding a task to a Done list throws the universe out of balance. Then, I can do something to bring balance to the universe. This will work for me. Look, it already is:

Write Today

Mirror Neuron/Global Consciousness Experiment

In some places, it's already 12.21. That's relatively irrelevant, because this post is from a scientific perspective. However, there are most that believe in nothing, some that believe it's the end of the world, and some that believe it is the dawning of a new age. Those are the conditions in which the experiment is to take place, and for that reason the date may be relevant.

Information regarding the the Mirror Neuron aspect of the experiment can be found here:

starting at about 50 seconds in.

Information regarding the Global Consciousness part of the experiment can be found at Princeton's Global Consciousness Project, and is also neatly explained here:


The Experiment
Based on mirror neurons as explained in the first video, it seems reasonable that observing joy will create joy within our brains, as a function of mirror neurons. If the Global Consciousness Project can detect major variations in our thought, and we all experience as much joy as possible over the next 24 hours, there should be a spike in the data the GCP records.

So, to participate in the experiment, simply experience and cause as much joy as possible for as many of the next 24 hours you can. We can come back in a few days and see if our efforts were detected by the GCP. Worst case scenario, we have a joyful end of the world.

For me, watching this causes Joy - probably because of mirror neurons. So this is what I'm doing to try and make the world more joyful for the next 24 hours. Even watching this video would be participation in the experiment. 

Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me.

Genesis

Imagine, if you will, it is a dark and stormy night. Not too stormy. No lightning or heavy raining, but it's definitely raining and a little bit windy. Kind of like it is outside in the Pacific Northwest right now.

Now Imagine a guy in trenchcoat and hat out in the dark and stormy night. Imagine the wind blowing his jacket back as he walks along the street. What color is the jacket? Is the hat a fedora or something else? Don't worry, there are no wrong answers. What do you see?

Now keep watching. Watch him until he does something. Let your conscious mind just sit back and observe. He's walking in the dark, and wind, and rain. Just watch, don't think. Observe, experience.

How many of you not only did as I asked, but also did so while reading? That is the amazing power of your consciousness. It can separate. We live in a tiny little box of ego that has convinced us that it's the biggest and most important part of what defines us. That's it's job.

The ego is a portion of your conscious mind that you've tasked with sorting through the evidence and constructing a sense of self. Being the bright person you are, you used the truth create your separation. You separated a portion of your consciousness and called it ego. Ego then did the same thing, and you can watch it like looking into a mirror of a mirror, the same thing over and over again towards infinity.

YOU, the you that you consider you on a daily basis - the you pouring the coffee, the you taking a shower, the you sitting in front of a computer. Everything that makes up all of that - is just your ego. To you, it looks like just a little piece of your mind - because you are inside of it, and it has a scale representation in there that is truth, one dimension removed.



So. Let's check up on the man in the trench coat. Let's keep him in real time to keep things simple. That means he's been up to stuff while you did whatever you did since the last time you were watching him. Where's he at now? Is in is a private eye's office? (He is in mine).

What's he been up to? The possibilities are infinite when you don't observe. Was he acting on his own free will? If you flip through some of those possibilities and pick one, you can make his reality, shape the rest of his surrounds to have been affected by whatever he chose to do. You can know what he chose to do, or you can choose not to know.

Alright, this next part is going to be heavy. I hope you're sitting down. Watch the guy for a while. Give him a little nudge if you have to, shape his circumstances (but hands off watching as much as possible) in such a manner that he ends up in an interrogation room. Imagine the interrogation room anyway you like. Fix on some mesh of all the interrogation rooms you've seen on bad television over the years - but pick details. See the room, decide what it smells like.

Have old whatever you imagine his name is come into the room, fold his jacket over the back of a chair, and tilt his hat forward to hide his eyes. Have him sit down and have him prepare himself to have a serious discussion with him.

Now rip the entire room out of the building, letting everything fall away. Just the interrogation room and ole whats-his-name. Such a tiny thing, isn't it? Surrounded by all this nothing.

Now imagine it getting larger and larger, until it surrounds you to scale. Imagine this computer screen and all of your surroundings giving way to the reality of this room. Look ole whats-is-name right in the eye.

Look into his mind. What does he think of this person sitting in front of him? How does this person in front of him affect his life, his job, his city, his state? Does he even know that you created him? Does his mind work like yours? Did you create him in your own image?

I think you should tell him. He's probably got a lot of questions for you. He'd probably really like to get to know you.

Insomnia

Disclaimer:  Reading this may cause Insomnia

There was a time when I was peacefully oblivious. I went to work, came home, played video games, watched TV. Those were the good ole days. Now, I'm less asleep in my daily life and for the life I've me I don't see any way of going back.

What I present below is just a small percentage of what is preventing me from "sleeping"/why I can't dream the American Dream any more. Make of it what you will.

There's plenty out there indicating that such a chip was including in the Obamacare that was recently passed, but as in this Snopes article:

Passages cited from HR 3200 are therefore irrelevant as that bill was never signed into law, and the cited wording did not appear in the replacement bill (HR 3590) eventually passed as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Irrelevant? Personally, I don't think so, as to me the notion that they're already trying to work it into legislation is significant, whether or not they've managed to get away with it yet.

White Matter

Although gray matter (composed of neurons) does the brain's thinking and calculating, white matter (composed of myelin- coated axons) controls the signals that neurons share, coordinating how well brain regions work together. - R. Douglas Fields

Your Fractal Nature
Fractal: A curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole.

Though the composition of various wholes will vary, there is benefit in the recognition that one is part of a whole. For example, you are part of a whole family. If your family consists of 6 people, you are 1/6th of your family. Similarly, as a human you are one part of the whole of humanity. There are democrat, republican, Christian, Muslim and Atheist subdivisions of that whole, but at the end of the day you are an equal part of the whole of humanity. 

Your Neuronal Nature

As you are capable of thinking and calculating, it is not unreasonable to understand your relationship to the whole as based on the model you carry around with you inside your skull. Thoughts, ideas, definitions that have originated within a single person/neuron have been transmitted to other people/neurons throughout the course of human history. You are capable of generating an idea that alters the consciousness of the entire globe - so long as the white matter is there to transmit the idea to the world around you.

Recognizing White Matter

If one examines history from this perspective, the white matter nature of our advancements in communication technology becomes self-evident. Seen from the whole, the white matter of spoken language formed the initial connection between clusters of neurons/groups of people. Written language extended this exponentially, as did the telephone, television, and eventually the internet.

As the internet continued to evolve, networks of white matter continued to form and facilitate the exchange of ideas. With the recognition of the white matter function the internet serves in relation to the global consciousness of humanity, we become capable of maximizing the efficiency of its function as white matter by developing ways to improve the signal to noise ratio. We can begin to develop ways to ensure that solutions connect to the problems they can solve.

Image source: http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org/gallery/

Manifestation, Reflection, Iteration

With some trepidation, I have decided to once again change the title of my blog. I see this to be a good sign, however, as I've struggled with an imbalance favoring trepidation most of my life. From my current perspective, trepidation seems to be a manifestation of resistance.

According to Wikipedia, the term resistance may refer to:
Electrical resistance: A measure of the degree to which an object opposes an electric current through it
Friction/Drag: Fluid or gas forces opposing motion and flow.

According to Google's new Augmented Reality Game, Ingress:
Opposition to the Enlightened.

As evidenced by my choice of Ingress faction, I'm not siding much with resistance these days. So, trepidation by damned, the blog title gets changed again.

Evolution
The exposure I've had to the software industry over the last 20 years or so is what first allowed me to make the connection between iteration and evolution. It allowed me to see the relationship between iterations of software programs and iterations of biological entities. Biology iterates through reproduction, software through revision. Software is the electronic manifestation of an idea, and while the program itself may die, the experiences of the users contribute a portion of the idea's DNA into the creation of future software programs. There's really not all that much difference between a germinating flower and the software manifestation of an idea. One has the assistance of a bee, the other the experiences of a user, to carry the seed where it needs to go. It seems to be the process of manifestation, reflection, and iteration, embedded into life everywhere around us. 

The Life Cycle

For me, each previous change in the title of this blog is a good delineation mark for the beginning of the manifestation of the latest iteration. To continue the flower perspective, each iteration is an attempt at a fuller, more beautiful bloom. Perhaps I'm pulling them out by the roots too soon and the previous would have been their own blooms if given enough time, but above all I want to be honest. As I better understand what this blog is actually meant to offer potential readers, I have found myself compelled to relabel it in an attempt to more accurately reflect its contents. 

The Answers was the first manifestation. During the formative iteration process, that is what I wanted to offer. That's still a major goal of mine. I thoroughly enjoy solving problems - generating possible solutions, trying them out, going back to the drawing board - the whole process. 

Over time though, during the manifestation phase, the results seemed to be something altogether different. As content was created, the limitation of addressing specific problems was too restrictive. Other thoughts demanded a voice, and Answers were no longer even the majority of what a reader might find here. These things became apparent during the reflection phase.

There was at least one other life cycle, short-lived, as I got swept up in this possibility or that. A sad stunted iteration, ill-suited for the harsh realities it would find itself manifesting in. 

Grim's Issue:, the current manifestation, was conceived in no small part to bury the memory of the prior and the stench of failure and decay that dominated its reflection page. It also more honestly described what a reader might find here. My personal favorite part during the iteration phase was the multiple meanings of the word issue, and that even though the meanings were very different from each other, all accurately described the blog from the right perspective. I also liked that one of the meanings was "dirty."

Reflections though, is far more honest about what a reader can find here, and this post is part of that phase of this blog's life cycle. At this moment, I'm somewhere between with the boundary between reflection and iteration. Having reflected on the current title and having assessed it as lacking, I've decided that there will be another iteration. 

Reflections works from the truthfulness angle, because what I post here is the product of reflecting on my life experiences and the world around me. I started writing this with that new title in mind. Those few moments ago, I thought that would be the title of the next iteration. Somewhere between "trepidation be damned" and this paragraph though, Reflections has become not good enough. 

The iteration process is not complete, and the beginning of the new manifestation phase is thus postponed. While more accurately reflecting my movement away from compensatory egotistical tendencies, Reflections isn't distinctive enough. From a business perspective, it presents unnecessary branding challenges. 

So, the Iteration process continues....

Suggestions and discussion are both welcome and appreciated.

The Truth About Marijuana

Don't Take Anyone's Word for It.
That's the best advice I can give anyone. This is not the same as trust-no-one, because there's a possibility that everything you've ever heard will be similar for you. From both sides.

As weed has taught me, our existence is entirely subjective. There is Truth. However, it too exists subjectively for each individual. You've likely been taught differently. That reality is reality and this is the way it is by god, by science, whatever. That was subjectively true for you at the time. For most of you, it's still subjectively true. That's your universe, live in it. I will too.. sort of.

My personal experience was to wait until I was an adult. I recommend it. I'm wary of altering a mind while it is still in development. It might alter the development for the better for all I know, though. Mine was fully developed before I did any experimentation for myself, so I wouldn't know firsthand.

Here's the truth of my experience experiment:

IF
there are infinite parallel realities,
THEN
there are numerically plenty to go around. There is no particular reason that we don't each have our own.


BUT
We are separate entities.
THEREFORE
If I am separate I cannot be in control of anything outside of myself. I have these 5 senses. That must be my way of determining the nature of the things that are outside of me. I cannot manipulate anything outside of myself other than in ways sensed by my 5 senses. THAT is reality. I am a thing inside reality. Just a tiny little part of all that is, and I can only affect this tiny little part.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IF
there are infinite parallel realities and we are separate entities
THEN
we must exist throughout all possible realities in one form or another, as separate individuals for the particular chosen experience of each individual.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IF
We are separate entities that exist in infinite manifestations throughout infinite parallel realities
AND
We are somehow connected to but denied access to our infinite selves whilst manifesting in another's reality.
THEN
We should be able to choose to place our finite awareness in whichever of the infinite possible realities we want.
---------------------------------------------------

IF
We can choose our reality and we make ourselves begin our existence in a reality in which we are denied access to our infinite selves...
THEN
We can maximize our experience through surprise - by hiding our infinite nature from ourselves, we get to experience the realization of our infinite nature.

AND
We are the universe experiencing itself infinitely. Choosing to experience awakening is a choice. If you have not chosen to do so, there is a reason you have chosen to not do so.

THEREFORE
I am very interested why you've chosen the experience you have, because I haven't figured out what I'm supposed to get out of living in the reality where you've chosen what you have. If this reality is my choice, I can't figure out why I've chosen one with so much rape, murder, and other things I don't like. The only thing I can think of is so that it will make the experience of global awakening that much more awesome.

If So.....
Get your shit together universe. I'm ready for the awesome and I'm learning how to choose it.

An Enlightened View of #Ingress

You can count on the Enlightened to speak the truth. Sure, we're free to lie, but when you're Enlightened you find you have very little reason to.

Ingress is a notgame/game
Leaning heavily on the side of notgame, that's why 'notgame' is on the left of the slash. You can boil something down to a particular aspect to better understand it, but nothing is ever 'just' something. That whore is never just a whore, she's also someone's daughter. There's always more to the story.

Good News/Bad News for the Resistance

First, the Bad News. The existence of the game portion means the war is already over. You've lost. Look at the good the resistance did to stave off the fall of the Roman Empire. 

Here's the good news though. The fact that you've become involved in the game is a good sign for you personally. It's certainly a bigger step toward Enlightenment than sitting on the couch watching talent shows. You'll get there. We're here for you. We went first, when it was harder - when there was less reason to. We're the pioneers, blazing the trail for you - and you've taken the first steps. Take your time, the journey is yours. We could use the help though, when you're ready.

Smoke and Mirrors

Ingress is an education system designed by the Enlightened. The Resistance has been in power for quite a long time. You've been conditioned to pliable, and thus we are aware that you can be reconditioned out of slavery and into freedom. The game will teach you that things are going on at a layer not visible to the naked eye, how all of this has been under your nose the whole time. After all, You Can't Handle the Truth... unless we slowly raise the temperature.

The game will help you learn how to look for these things. The resistance will tell you the game causes mental disorders. If you've played it, you'll know better. There will be those that can't see past the disguise and be drawn in too deep down an errant path. The mainstream media will hop on these tragedies (and likely fabricate some) to discourage the uninitiated. It will be easy for those just beginning their awakening to hit the snooze button. They don't want to let you go. They'll hold onto power as long as they can. They are human after all. 

As you step away from duality you'll find compassion and forgiveness, but it's not uncommon for there to be much anger at them as you awaken. The Kubler-Ross model applies in ways other than grief. Everyone has been stuck on the denial stage for a long time. We'll reach them one-by-one, through their families and friends, on a person-to-person level. 

I think you'll find the efforts at Niantic Project quite enjoyable.

Enjoy the game.
Enjoy the reconditioning.
Enjoy your awakening.

The Election Show

Of course, I can't speak for all voters, but I'm not all that different than a lot of them. So, consider this to be the voice of all the ones that do feel this way.

Reality Television
When I was a wee lad, I enjoyed me some World Wrestling Federation. It helped that there was actually a cartoon version of all the Wrestlers back then; Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Albano. Good guys, bad guys, all very exciting.

Of course, wee lads grow up, and I eventually learned that it was scripted. As I got older I realized that people would buy tickets because they like this wrestler or that wrestler, but that no matter which wrestler they voted for, the owners got the money and wrote the script. 

As I got even older, I began to notice the pattern applied to other areas of life. I don't know what woke me up to the fact that the "wrestling" was scripted. It's likely someone I trusted told me so and I believed. I do know what woke me up to the fact that World Politicking Federation was scripted though. Occupy. Regardless of whether you think _they_ were repulsive or admirable, the simple fact of the matter is that American citizens were so fed up with the bullshit they took to the streets. All over the country.

The Two-Party System, the Election Show, is scripted and we know it. We've outgrown it. We need a much more sophisticated show now, or the truth. 

I know a lot of you have a belief system that indicates a different perspective. A lot of those belief systems are hindsight for me. I've been there. I grew up in the same society as you. The adults in my life had me believing in Santa Claus, and one day I woke up. I thought professional wrestling was unscripted, I woke up. I thought my party was the good guys and the other party was full of idiots, I woke up. On none of these issues will I go back to sleep. 

If you find yourself disagreeing with the scripted nature of American politics - if you still believe your party are the good guys and the other party is full of idiots, and you mentally balk at the idea because it damages your current belief structures - you can stop reading now and come back when you wake up to this level. You can hit the snooze button, it's not like it's 2012 already.

The Election Show is a Game Show

and everyone is a contestant

There's a little bit here for everyone. The poor and those lacking sufficient social status (like those aren't synonyms) to play in the higher levels get a vivid spectator experience, but with our country's global influence, everyone has a stake in the outcome. The players that happen to live in Western Culture, and especially those that are American Citizens also get a part of the show that lets them think they can affect the outcome. Poor/Societal Leper type American Citizens are in the part of the studio audience on the Price is Right that the contestants have a chance to "come on down" from. 

Some of them _do_ get called down. They get to play the bidding part on the Price is Right. Not only do they believe their vote counts, they think they can help convince the rest of the audience to vote one way or the other, i.e. knocking on doors, campaigning, arguing on the internet, contributing to candidates in four-digit dollar amounts or less. These guys, the ones on contestant's row, they've definitely chosen a side by now. They'll self-label as republican/conservative or democrat/liberal. You can tell people are getting bored of the show, they've added a new character tea-party/libertarian now that social networking allows people to play from home.

A layer or three up on the money/power social hierarchy, the contestants are essentially betting red or black and spinning the roulette wheel. They give to Super-Pacs that buy the ads that try to shape the minds of the lower caste people, and if the ball lands on their color they get lawmakers trying to make them happy so they'll place a bet next election.

The Super-Pacs feed the mainstream media all of the donation money. The people that run the Super-Pacs are the same that are selling tickets to the Election Show, so they know all the production costs will be covered in ticket sales. The mainstream media doesn't bite the hand that feeds it, unless the hand wants them to as part of the show.

Let's change the channel

Watching these latest episodes of the election show - and (more importantly) watching the behavior of all the fans the show has on social networking sites, its plain to see that fear motivates a lot of decision-making in this country. Fear of al-Qaeda (henceforth The Foundation), fear what a President from the OTHER party would do to this country, fear what's happening with this country, fear the economy, fear fear fear fear fear. 

My personal preference would be that we choose our president based on his ability to do the job of a President, thrusting it upon some unsuspecting qualified person instead of giving it to people begging for the job. However, that'd be a big change and change is scary. So, I thought I'd pitch you this idea for a pilot episode of a new show instead.

Election Show: Pool Party

A 'pool' is a thing a lot of Americans do at work. It's probably slightly illegal, but tends to stay within the _no harm, no lawsuits_ category of illegality and is considered very low risk. They take any event considered inevitable and bet on when it is going to happen. Everyone puts their bet in a 'pool' or 'pot' and the person who purchased the closest time to the actual event wins it all.

Let's free up our media to tell the truth. Does anyone like those damn commercials anyway? Let's just have all the money that goes to support a particular candidate go on _red_ or _black_. Every citizen can then bet with their vote. If you vote for the winning candidate, you're included in the payout of all those campaign funds. You'll have to be associated with your vote if your candidate wins to receive payment, though. Who doesn't want to be associated with picking a winner though?

The voters will as ever be the roulette ball, and the upper caste still gets to pick the candidates and everything. I don't want to shake things up too much.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: If you're going to gamble with the fate of the world, the citizens of the country should get to actually play too. 

First Draft #csbookoption1

I Had a Daydream

True story. The other day I was driving and listening to NPR when they mentioned drones. You know, the way the American president seems to prefer to kill people these days.

It is my understanding that these aren't terribly selective, and often result in unintended casualties. It occurs to me, probably because of the given justification for drone targets, that their use is accepted by the majority of the American people as part of the War on Terror.

Personally, I think fighting a War on Terror by using Terror is counterproductive if the supposed goal of the War on Terror is ending terror. I think blankets and teddy bears would be much more effective weapons against Terror. Imagine that, locating a terrorist leaders and air dropping hundreds of blankets and teddy bears on every house in the area. It'd be like saying "Hi. We know you're there. These could have been bombs, but we're tired of all the killing and fear and death. So, have a teddy bear. Go hug someone you love."


Anyway, those are current thoughts. At the time, I had a daydream wish. In the daydream, with the intention of enough people, said people could gift Obama with a dream. He sleeps, right?

In the daydream, Obama went to sleep one night and had a dream that he and his family were over there. In the dream, he was still the father of his two little girls, but instead of being President of the United States, he was some Pakistani goat farmer or whatever. He was tucking his two girls into bed at night, and the younger was scared of the drones flying overhead because she had witnessed some of the carnage and devastation those drones had caused. Maybe some people she knew had been incidental casualties.

Somehow, I think if he had to calm the fears of his own daughter, at least in a dream, he'd have a much better understanding of Terror and know much better how to put an end to it - instead of ordering more of it.

Frustration

I had an epiphany the other day. My friend is re-flooring the living room and hallway with some kind of panels or another. When it's finished it's pretty nice. The living room is done.

We were planning on working on the hallway over the weekend. So, when the weekend came, we laid out which one of the parents would watch the children, and which one would help me. We had plans on when we'd start.

When that time came and we got started, I came to the woeful realization that the children were going to be "watched" in the floored living room while we worked on flooring the adjacent hallway. Of course, in my mind I had envisioned the watching of the children taking place far away from where I would be working. I quickly became increasingly frustrated.

It was then I had the actual realization of the source of my frustration. I saw the experience as a wave form, running along the x axis. The x axis was my expectation, and reality was the wave. My frustration level directly correlated with the value y. The greater the amplitude of the wave, the further reality was from my expectation, the greater my level of frustration.

Our minds like to predict the future. When those predictions tend to be negative, we call it worry or fear. When those predictions tend toward positive: calmness, control, hope. Our minds go to great lengths to try to accurately predict the future to form our expectations. When reality varies from our expectations, our mind finds out it's wrong.

I think our minds have a natural tendency to hate being wrong. What chemicals spurt out when you know an answer to a question and the answer is confirmed? What chemicals spurt out when the answer we've provided turns out to be wrong? Frustration is just our brain punishing itself for being wrong.

The realization that frustration was born simply because my mind failed to prepare for the correct possibility for the future was forgiveness.

Have you heard of Enlightenment?

According to a random online dictionary:

A philosophical movement of the 18th century that emphasized the use of reason to scrutinize previously accepted doctrines and traditions and that brought about many humanitarian reforms.

If you then go to the wikipedia entry and scrutinize accepted doctrines and traditions, you can see how dualistic the entry is.

Its purpose was to reform society using reason (rather than tradition, faith and revelation) and advance knowledge through science. It promoted science and intellectual interchange and opposed superstition, intolerance and some abuses by church and state.

Does a movement truly need to support this and oppose that?
Can a movement not go upward rather than right or left?
Is the entry Separatist propaganda?

---

DISCLAIMER: I'll be using Separatist to indicate the psychological preference for adversarially structured social interactions and institutions from here on out.

An Open Letter to Oregon Public Broadcasting

Got an email from OPB today "Can we end it today?"  Apparently its come down to threatening listeners now. We'll keep interrupting everything you want to hear to ask you for money until we get as much money as we need/want, capiche?

I'm not giving them any money this time around, and here's why:

They're too into the two-party system. 
At least 50% of this is because they're merely a re-broadcast of NPR or other public radio most of the time. Back when we were still watching the Republican Candidates self-destruct to give Romney the nomination, I took to counting the number of times OPB/NPR mentioned Ron Paul vs. Santorum vs. Romney, and unless you were listening at just the right time, you wouldn't have known Ron Paul was running, despite how many states he had actually won.

They're already hyping the Romney/Obama debate tomorrow. I had to find out Jill Stein exists through Google+, and I certainly wasn't going to hear about her debate with Gary Johnson (the other person people don't know is going to be on the ballot, despite the Colbert bump).

The Sustaining Circle 

Before the turn off of candidate coverage, I joined the sustaining circle/subscription program. Ten bucks a month to support my favorite station. Hell, its worth it just to hear 'This American Life' on the weekends. Got my girl at the time a nice tote bag for doing so.

Of course, the next fundraiser I didn't get anything and I still had to listen for a week while the stuff I wanted to hear was interrupted with panhandling attempts. 

Here's an idea:

Starting months before financial crunch time, start mentioning 'becoming a member' and 'the sustaining circle' in little commercial-size bits. Tell us how much more money needs to come in through sustaining circle members to avoid the next round of fundraising. I'd help pay for that. Chipping in and then still getting penalized (by having to listen to fundraising instead of programming) is a big turnoff.

So are the fancy gifts, actually. The sustaining circle is a perpetual subscription. It's better to make a one-time donation every year so you can get fresh OPB swag every year. How bout a yearly gift of swag to the sustaining circle. Give us a reason to keep sustaining other than convenience. If you're going to be giving away stuff, don't you think your subscribers deserve it? After all, they can quit sustaining at any time. 

The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory

They teach you to mock anything people high say when they are high through public ridicule. I've seen it on television, Stephen Colbert, specifically. I felt betrayed.

They program you to disregard what high people say. Haha, he's just high. He's not in his right mind. He's not thinking straight. The truth of the matter is that they teach you to do this because when you're high, you see things from above. High isn't just an altered state. It's an elevated state. When you see things from above, it's easier to see how the system works. It's easier to see what system of beliefs you're a part of. That makes it easier to see the truth of existence.

They do this because by seeing the truth of existence, you see that material shit is material shit. They don't like that. They prefer it when you buy things. When seeing things from an elevated perspective allows you to realize how silly and harmful that is, you suddenly don't care about buying that new sports car anymore. That makes you a poor consumer, and cuts into their profit margin. They don't like that.

In order to prevent you from making these realizations, in order to keep you in the dark, they have to control the flavor of the altered mental states you're allowed to experience. It's okay if they numb you physically (hydrocodone) and emotionally (Prozac). It's okay if you get accelerated (ADHD meds, Provigil, Nuvigil). It's okay if you get sideways (Alcohol). All of that's okay, if they can make a profit off of it, but no... not the elevated mental state. They don't want you to see things from a "higher" elevation. So, they outlaw marijuana.

You mock the conspiracy theorists for not being able to name names or provide "facts to convince you". You think you're more "right" because the conspiracy theorists can't tell you who They are. That's because They is a single thing. A living organism, much like a society of people is a living thing. Like any form of life, They is trying to reproduce. If you're not careful, you'll unwittingly be the offspring of They, by believing what They want you to believe.

They is the manifestation of a thought distortion. The name we give that thought distortion the name "materialism". Everything They do isn't about bad people in powerful places... It's about materialism in the minds of people in powerful places. It's not the bankers, it's the manifestation of the materialism thought distortion in the bankers.

As another manifestation, you've been conditioned to believe materialism is inherent in the human mind for evolutionary reasons or spiritual reasons. It's not. Like all other beliefs, it is a choice. You were raised in a society where that choice had been made, the choice to value material things, to maximize the length of time alive, rather than live the maximum no matter how much time you might or might not get.

And....even if you do wholeheartedly voluntarily embrace materialism, there's still no reason weed should be illegal when alcohol is not.

You could use a little Rmnce in your Life

To truly understand something, you must be able to consider it from infinite perspectives. Every 'thing', every 'concept' can be described from a variety of perspectives. Some will resonate more closely to the perspective you already hold, some will be from the polar opposite side's perspective. Limiting yourself to one perspective blinds you to other facets of the concept.

In this manner, there are several perspectives from which I can describe Rmnce to you.
- It's the first book of four in Gabriel Fitzpatrick's modern romance stories.
- It's available at Amazon for $2.99.
- It's fiction.
- It's a tale told through the communication between two people, chiefly their text messages.
- It's an exercise program.

The perspective I've chosen to tell you about what it is, though, is from the perspective of the mind is a muscle, with it's well known implication of 'use it or lose it'.

From this perspective, all works of fiction serve as opportunities for mental exercise, but here's what differentiates Rmnce from the rest.
- It's a quick read. Unlike the more pondiferous works of fiction, Rmnce will be done with your external attention in a few hours, allowing your mind to start to play with it right away.
- It's full of blanks. Our human minds naturally fill in the blanks, which the title proves to you. The blanks in Rmnce are what goes unsaid, the details of the couple's life they don't rehash via text. These become a playground for your imagination. You and all of your friends can read the story, and then have unlimited mental images of what happened with the couple in the space between (cue Dave Mathhews).
- It allows role playing. While reading Rmnce, you can take on various roles for yourself. In most fiction, this is limited to the role of one of the characters. Rmnce being observed private communications, however, allow you to be the jealous partner, having snatched up the suspected lover's phone - the paralegal or private investigator, combing through for evidence of character flaws in those communicating. Not only can you escape your circumstances through opening a book with Rmnce, you can also try on other circumstances.

These mental exercise benefits aren't found in most fiction these days, and everyone I know could use with a good short workout :)

What they won't tell you about Clint's Speech

People are already making a big deal about Clint Eastwood's speech at the RNC.
Hell, George Takei is already tweeting about it

But if you pay attention, at about 8m and 40s, he stops giving a speech to the RNC and starts giving one to America. Look at what he's actually saying here emphasis mine, (parenthesis me).

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentleman. Something that I think is very important.
It's that you, we.. we own this country.
Yes, we own it, and it's not you owning it and it's not politicians owning it.

Politicians are employees of ours. 

(not leaders, not Gods)

So, they're just going to come around and beg for votes every few years. It's the same ole deal.
I just think that it is important that you realize that you're the best in the world.

(I disagree with that. For the view I agree with, see the youtube video at the bottom of the post)

Whether you're a democrat or whether you're a republican or whether you're libertarian or whatever, you're the best, and we should not ever forget that.
When somebody does not do the job, we gotta let 'em go.
Just remember that, and I'm speaking out for everybody out there.
It doesn't hurt, we don't have to be
*gets heckled*
*plays along*
What I'm saying is that we don't have to be mental masochists and vote for somebody that we don't even really want, in office, just because they seem to be nice guys.

(I'm sorry, but try and describe Mitt Romney as anything but the candidate none of the Republicans wanted to back until they took away the other choices.... just try).

Here's a reality check for the Best in the World belief:

)

People of Earth

Atheists, rationalists, reasonable thinkers, scientists and philosophers,
When is the last time you let your mind play?

Republicans & Democrats:
I know there's an election on, but deep down you know we're screwed whoever wins..so, you have no reason not to.

Libertarians, Tea Partiers, Occupiers:
You know on the surface we're screwed whoever wins..so, you have no reason not to.

Consider this:
It's the year 2012.

In a little over 4 months, all that is over. In that time, one of three things is going to happen:

1. Absolutely Nothing
Most rational people will tell you, most professionals will tell you, hell, most recently homeless and unemployed will tell you (and I guarantee the main stream media, your 'actually concerned about your welfare' governments, and all the bankers will tell you): Nothing is going to happen.

2. OMG it's the End of the World!
We'll all die. It doesn't matter, what we do. We're all worm food.

3. It's the End of the World (as we know it)!
The New-Agers say that we're entering a period of awakening and consciousness expansion. That we'll move to a mental level where the status quo will fall away like a dream fading in the morning. That'd be nice.

Regardless of who you are, this is your last best hope to consider the possibility of something other than #1, and there's motive to do it. Number 1 is pretty shitty. Watch the news. Tumbling economies in the US and Europe, nasty ass drought that's going to make food prices go up, oil prices are still going to go up. Why would you not want something to happen?

Can you change the world for the better in the next 4 months? Can you do more than cast an arguably meaningless ballot? Then by all means - keep rooting for #1.

If all you can do is vote, do you honestly think there's enough people that haven't already picked a side?Is paying attention to the polls and the latest gaffs really going to change the outcome?

Knowing full well, that #1 is the most likely scenario, I say let's seriously investigate the other options. Let's not jump on the first counter-argument we read, or worse, just go off what we already believe. Let's seriously consider the evidence the conspiracy theorists put forth, rather than assume it's bullshit just because it's coming from a conspiracy theorist. It's 2012, the most rational time to investigate the unlikely. Come January we won't have ancient calendars pointing to possible significant events. What if our solar system is coming into a once-in-thousands-and-thousands-of-years alignment? Let's do the homework before we call bullshit for a change. It is 2012 after all, it's the year for conspiracies.

It's only for 4 months. Be extra open minded, on purpose, even if you know better...put it in the back of your head and play along. Last chance.

Wordless Thought

Do you have an inner monologue?
Is it incessant?

It literally just occurred to me that there can be thought without language. Well, it was more of a realization, as everything I've thought that didn't pertain to movement has constantly been translated into language by my brain until that point...as far as I was paying attention. Perhaps to facilitate understanding, perhaps to facilitate storage, but perhaps mainly as a precursor to potential sharing.

We think before we move, but it's fast. Is that speed because we just think, without translating it into language? We don't think: I'm going to grab that cup of coffee and lift it to my mouth, open my mouth slightly, contract this muscle or that to tip the cup. We might monologue, "I could use a drink of coffee," but we just do it. Thought precedes motor function, but it is typically without conversion to language.

If we have no intention of externally communicating our thoughts to another, there is no reason to translate it into language. Will it be beneficial? Have we been slowing our amazing minds down via useless translation?

 It's something I'm going to try practicing - and according to neuroplasticity, anything we practice/do our minds reshape themselves to be better at. Hopefully it will result in faster thought - and less lopsided thought favoring the left hemisphere.

The Everything Hypothesis

Once Upon a Time...
There was One.

One was a fourth dimensional intelligence. The fourth dimension is consciousness. He didn't know where he began and where he ended, and he didn't really have a gender it's just a convenient pronoun.

There was nothing but One and void. He was alone. Being consciousness, he knew this. He was without language, but being consciousness had thought.

One day, he thought:

"What if I wasn't alone?"

BANG. The Universe happened.

Fuck Labels

Political labels are a box. Why do people put themselves in a box? Does it make them feel safe? Is it so they can generalize and pretend they have it all figured out.

Do you believe what you believed 10 years ago? 5 years ago?

Has your beliefs not grown and changed? Was new evidence not introduced that changed what you believe enough for you to put yourself under a different political label?

Oh, everyone else is labeling themselves too... must conform or label myself a nonconformist.

Labels bind you. You're telling people what you believe and it creates a fixed self-image that you're socially pressured to maintain - Willfully enhancing your cognitive bias by tying it to your own self worth.

#fucklabels

2012: The End of Western Civilization

There is no shortage of apocalyptic prophecies for 2012, but my favorite isn't what most people would consider when toying with the word apocalypse. There are those that see the end of the Mayan calendar as the beginning of something new - the end of a galactic night, a time when our level of consciousness will increase much the way wakefulness creeps over us after a long sleep.

It occurred to me today, that with one tiny change in our ability to perceive, Western Civilization as we know it would fall down around us like a house of cards. If a tiny change in our perception gave us all the ability to tell a lie from truth, in person and on television, and less likely via written word, nothing would ever be the same.

True Christians Support Gay Marriage

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,'" 
- Dan Cathy, the president and COO of Chick-fil-A

Okay. So then, what is God's judgment?

God's Judgment

Revelation 20:11-12 -King James Version (KJV)

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Matthew 25:31-34

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

I mean, true Christians WANT Jesus to return, right?
Judgment Day, Inheriting the Kingdom.... those are things true Christians look forward to, right?

So why would true Christians stand in the way of things that invite God's Judgment?

As for me, I say:

Bring it Yahweh
I'm tired of seeing all the suffering. 
Step forward and judge me, oh Lord. 


If you're real, that is...




Sources:
[1] http://www.christianpost.com/news/chick-fil-a-president-says-gods-judgment-coming-because-of-same-sex-marriage-78485/#Pm5gt1s6cvC4Lfms.99
[2] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelations%2020:11-12&version=KJV

The First Step

I am becoming whatever it is I'm becoming, and I think it's in the right direction. Time will tell. If it does turn out to be the right direction, I know there are lots of people where I used to be - oblivious in the dark, unable to even see how unhappy they are with themselves. Scarier is still is the situation of those who are happy with themselves, who have settled. The Broken.

In the event that this is a good direction, I thought I'd share the first step I took. There are plenty of self-help books and videos, etc. out there that offer help. I don't think those will work for most. If they did, there probably wouldn't be so many of them. I think they will work though, as soon as you take the first step.

The first step is simply stopping yourself, replaying your internal dialog, and asking yourself "Why did I think that?" The first step is learning self-reflection.

Immediately thereafter, when you're pondering "Why did I think that?" is to identify if the thought has its roots in fear or in love. I guess that'd technically be step two, though. So you get a bonus for reading this far :)

Calling the President's Bluff

Good ole Barack Obama was in PDX today (Portland, OR for the uninitiated). I got to see the rare site of Coast Guard helicopters flying around, that must have been why. On the way home I heard he was here for a fundraiser. Nothing like the leader of your country asking for money, much like the guys on the virtually every on ramp in the city.

I got home in time to watch his televised speech, in which he said something along the lines of 'I can promise you this':

"I will always tell you where I stand. I will always tell you what I think."

Well, I'm hereby calling your bluff, Mr. President, and I encourage all Americans to do the same. I'm even going to start a hash tag to make it easier for you to find, since you're on twitter (@BarackObama) and all: #callingthePresidentsBluff

So here goes Mr. President, I would very much like for you to tell me where you stand and what you think about the following:

• Where do you stand on the indefinite detention of American Citizens, as included in the 2012 NDAA? What do you think about an American Citizen's right to Due Process?
• Where do you stand on the military serviceperson's oath to defend the Constitution from domestic enemies? Do you think that signing laws removing rights protected under the Constitution is an attack on the Constitution? Do you think that people that attack the Constitution are enemies of the Constitution?
• Where do you stand on the illegality of marijuana? Do you think that marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol? Do you think it continues to be illegal in no small part due to the lobby power of pharmaceutical companies? Do you think senior citizens should have to buy prescription medication that would have no need of if marijuana was legal?
• Where do you stand on the issue of public servants (like the President, for example) intentionally misleading the public for political gain? Do you think the people of the United States deserve public servants that tell the truth? Do you think the people of the United States deserve the truth?
• Where do you stand on broadcast media's role in government? Do you think that by buying millions and millions of dollars worth of campaign ads, political parties ensure favorable coverage of their activities? Do you think media companies would be foolish to 'bite the hand that feeds them' by portraying their customers in a negative light?
• Where do you stand on the internet? Do you think that higher education should be available for free online? Do you think that every American should have access to use the internet to peaceably assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances?
• Where do you stand on capitalism? Do you think the government should protect the people from being taken advantage of for the sake of profit?

That should do, as I'm probably wasting my time anyway. I think you were bluffing in your speech, Barack. I don't think you're brave enough to tell the public what you really think. I don't think you're brave enough to veer from your talking points. Coincidentally, that's also why I don't think you deserve to be President of the United States. Luckily for you, everyone knows the other guy isn't any better.

Okay, one more:

Where do you stand on politics? Do you think a country should have to choose its leaders based on which one is the lesser of two evils?

Possibilities - Raw

I thoroughly enjoy imagining the possibilities. There was a nice quote in that ENTP piece I posted not long ago:   (he references hoping someone will care enough to look at after reading this)

ENTps are constantly seeking the pure potentialities of the unseen.

I guess I should have used the word potentialities. I'll change it later. This is the raw brain dump version of this post, and know that I publish it knowing that I'll change it later. I choose to publish this anyway, rather than presenting you with the finely polished version, without the messy shit all over it. I do so imagining the potentiality and likelihood that this level of honesty will be a major turn off for most of my fellow man - expecting that potentiality, in fact. Waiting to be proven wrong, really.

That's what I came here to confess. Back to the actual post:

Hate Pop-Ups? Cancel your Netflix

This ad popped up after a visit to The Oregonian. Yes, I could use a pop-up blocker. That's not the point.

If you do business with companies that do things you don't like, you're supporting companies doing things you don't like. You are responsible for who you choose to do business with.

Dear Rest-of-the-World

ENTps are constantly seeking the pure potentialities of the unseen.

Why aren't you?

They naturally see the big picture as others see it, while actively comparing their own beliefs without bias and consideration to their own personal belief. 
Why don't you?

ENTps have little loyalty to personal belief and tend abandon old inferior beliefs for newer ones with better potentialities. 
Why don't you?

ENTps crave great emotional attention from others.

They do not like to have their independence threatened by unnecessary rules, and they can appear expedient and out-of-place in a society that values any various forms of unnecessary subjugation.
Why would you value unnecessary subjugation?

They do not readily tolerate intentional subjugation to any type of rule or method that they consider to be out-dated or harmful to the well-being of individuals. ENTps tend to look down on people who do so, considering them to be childish.

Play nice. Don't hurt your brother.

ENTps are the intuitive protectors of society. They do not want to see people being exploited out of ignorance or to see the unmerciful destruction of individuals for the gain of a chosen few.
We could use some help with this you guys....

ENTps really want the best for others, even in a world that does not really understand them or really cares to for that matter.
This is why we need moar hugz.

Their minds can play connect the dots. If a dot is missing, their subconscious fills it for them without telling. However, they tend to often be right more than they are wrong.
It's probably Aliens.

Unless circumstances prove it necessary, they rarely find reason to think negatively about people. They seek to accept and to understand people for who they are inside. They do not like to condemn people for their personhood, and they can often be sought out by others for matter of practical solutions to common every day problems. People typically have respect for the intuitive understanding of ENTps towards them and appreciate their loyalty in personal matters. It is not like an ENTp to betray a friend in need.
Just because we tell you ways to improve doesn't mean we don't love you for who you are.

Sincerely,

ENTPs Everywhere

Source: http://personalitycafe.com/entp-articles/12768-socionics-description-best-entp-guide-ever-written.html

The Event

Start:
11:08 p.m. Pacific - Spike TV in the background, alternating between Repo Game and World's Worst Tenants.
11:46 p.m. - Main Composition Begins
12:10 a.m. - Decision to multithread made
12:14 a.m. - This post begins, second G+ opened, YouTube loaded

12:22 a.m. - 

12:26 a.m. - Drafting 'You've Just Won'
12:30 a.m. - 'You've Just Won' posted, main entry work resumes


12:32 a.m. - How my mind works part II beings, internally referencing the first video while stopping to type this.
12:41 a.m. - HMMW part II posted

1:00 a.m. Smoke Break; Notes:

   HMMW part III - sticks as ideas

   Don't forget resonance

1:17 a.m. Finish Santa Claus, Begin HMMW part III - accept that resonance is going to be back burnered again.

1:24 a.m. HMMW III posted
How My Mind Works: Part I - Part II - Part III

1:25 a.m. on to main - deciding between 2012 and the one I can't remember at the moment, decision made.

1:51 a.m - Main posted.

1:53 a.m. - Insanity, America, television, Children - that's the one I forgot. Maybe next time, probably prior to resonance, as the resonance one might take some actual research.

1:59 a.m. - Game of Perspectives posted

2:00 a.m. - This posted.
2:05 a.m. - Editing in Links.
2:09 a.m. - Clicking update.

Game of Perspectives

The game perspectives is based on the following principles:

1. A belief is merely an idea treated by its bearer as truth.

2. Most ideas have a perspective bias - influenced by ones currently held beliefs.

3. If you look at a cube from a certain perspective, it's a square. 

4. Reality is subjective, as eloquently explained here.

First, you have to acknowledge your current beliefs.
Then, you let them go.
Next, you think about various ways other people might view the subject matter.
Finally, you pick the one you like best.

Utopia as I see it

I think we can redesign human society for our mutual benefit and still shut up all the naysayers. I have stuff ready for the naysaying I've already encountered, but let's start fresh. I'll lay out the basics, and if there's a specific hurdle to it working that you see - tell me, and I'll find a solution if I don't already have one.

The Minimum Human Existence -
- Start with Maslo's hierarchy and see what we can pull off as far as meeting the bottom of the hierarchy, and satisfying those basics can fall on the government.

- To receive those benefits and raise a child, you must have a parenting degree (and quite possibly use birth control/agree not to have more than X children).

- Then, put the capitalism crap we're used to on top of that.

- Publitize education completely - if it's something you can learn that can be verified as true, it's available for free.




Anyone have a problem with any of those?

There are no Christian Capitalists

²⁵And one day an authority on the law stood up to put Jesus to the test. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”²⁶What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you understand it?” ²⁷He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength and with all your mind.’(Deuteronomy 6:5) And, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ”
²⁸“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do that, and you will live." - Luke 10:25-28

Treat others like you want to be treated. Boil down desired treatment, let the bullshit steam off. You want to be loved. Love is the heart of the Golden rule. Be the change you want to see in the world. Be Love to Be Loved. Period. The End. 

Capitalism violates the golden rule because it is a system that doesn't reward golden rule behavior. For example, guy A and guy B a seed for an apple tree. They clone it and have identical orchards, identical products. 

Guy A - ascribing to the Golden rule sells his apples in such a manner as profits are sufficient to live. Let's say that turns out to be $1 per apple. 
Guy B does the same, at first. Both believe $1 per apple is a fair compensation of their labor - the true value of the apple.

Then it simultaneously occurs to both that with 'good salesmanship' (deception) could allow them to sell their apples for $40 each. 

Guy A cannot sell his apples for $40 each - Love won't allow it. He is capable of imagining himself being his own customer and also carries the knowledge that $1 per apple is fair. He refuses to cause the feeling resulting from deceit in others because he feels unpleasant when he is deceived.

Guy B on the other hand is incapable of imagining himself in the shoes of his customer - or he refuses to, focusing on the fact that he is NOT the customer and imaging such would be an irrelevant waste of time.

With Capitalism, Guy B gets rich. Rich enough to hire people to burn down Guy A's orchard.

Some would say that no one would buy Guy B's apples at $40 per apple. I would say you don't know people very well. Some would say that overtime, Guy B's business would fail as with $1 apples on the market Guy B will have severe too much supply and not enough demand for his apples (that's why he burns Guy A's orchard, incidentally). 

That's not how it plays out in reality though. By the time the general populace realizes $40 is a ridiculous price for apples. Guy B has made his fortune. (One day Guy B goes on to buy the government in order to control education, because stupid people are more likely to buy $40 apples).

Stage 1: Breaking Down

The following is posted as a guest post by permission of the original author: Dorian Trent
You can find the original on Google+: here

---

I had a very somber revelation; a very trying night. 


I gained, inadvertently, perspective as to my own inability to communicate. Both due to my own ignorance of the language and of the inherent limitation of the human form. My thoughts are purely based in perspective, my observations tainted by a personal scope of reality. Even objective truths are encompassed by my subjective perceptions. The secure frame is passed through the insecure frame - and all contents are contaminated. My understanding is only a pale imitation of the truth. 


With that realized, it is impossible to connect with someone in the intimate way we all pretend we do. Our words represent ideas that are personal, the dictionaries are subjective and warped by perceptions. The verbal art isn't touching the heart! It's merely vague enough to allow for our own projections. Our ego pleased with our echoed self-aggrandizement makes us love it. 


I was crushed, absolutely. Can you even imagine all the constructs we build on the faulty foundation that our words and conversations have some coherent meaning? How many actual relationships have you had? How many could you have without any real understanding? None. 


She doesn't love you - she might love the idea that she's assigned to you, but it's entirely subjective! You could be curled up in your lover's arms, happy -- just to realize that you're both experiencing separate realities. They might share a physical manifestation, but they're entirely perverted mentally. 


You're isolated within the mind. You are - in the most grand and cosmic sense - completely alone. And I felt alone. I, for the first time, felt the reality of how isolated I am -- inside my head.


Author's Note: Many of the ideas here are both inspired, and touched more eloquently by +Elaine Barlow. This is derivative of her work.

Win-Win Campaign Reform

And on election night I'd go down to city hall in El Paso, Texas and cover the election. In those days, of course, we didn't have exit polls. You didn't know who had won the election until they actually counted the votes. I thought that was exciting too. - Sam Donaldson

How It Works Now
Corporation people buy loyalty from our political parties by making large "campaign contributions" through Super-PACs, who then use the money to place TV ads. The income from these ads makes TV networks dependent on the government, and unlikely to bite the hand that feeds them.

How it Should Work
Voting receipts. Rather than making donations through secretive Super-PACs, corporation people should make large donations to a 'voter reward' program.

After a voter votes, a receipt with a unique QR code is printed for each voter. When the voter scans the QR code with his or her smart phone, it registers the voters vote with the voter reward program and credits the voter his or her portion of all the money in the voter reward program - which he or she will then spend, spurring the economy forward.

According to this here website, as of March 31, the Obama campaign had raised $196 million. According to this here website, the population of the United States is about 311.5 million.


Under the proposed system, and assuming:
- the election taking place April 1, 2012
- a 60% voter turnout
- and Obama getting 50% of the vote
Everyone who voted for Obama would receive about $2.

While that is a low figure, remember that there are still 7 months of fundraising between March and November. According to this here website, in 2008 Obama raised $745 million. If that is repeated this election, under the proposed system and the above assumptions, everyone who voted for Obama would receive about $8.

If our politicians are going to be bought and sold, we should at least get a Starbucks before we vote, and a shot of something stronger afterward.

How to Fix America

Since American citizens took to the streets in protest nation wide last year, with special thanks to Anthony Balogna's pepper spray, I have taken a closer look at what's going on in our country. Those observations have lead me to the conclusion that the root cause of our nation's problems are ignorance and apathy. I've also observed that many American's are terribly interested in the outcome of sporting events.

So, I've developed the following step-by-step guide to solving America's problems:

Facebook is your Pimp

Your personal information is your orifice
Let's think of your personal information as your orifice of choice. Your likes, dislikes, the things you share on Facebook, all that stuff combined is your orifice. You could be selling it yourself, but since you're not sure how to market it and profit from it, you don't.

A corporation is a John and the ads are its penis
Corporations want to use your orifice so they can deliver their product. They want to use your personal information to get their product inside.

Facebook is your Pimp
Facebook let's corporations get the benefit of your orifice, but control their access to it and take the profits from it's use.

Bad analogy, or close enough?

The Woes of Being a Moral Agnostic

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.” -Frantz Fanon

Beliefs, Waste, and Daydreams
It seems to me that the avoidance of cognitive dissonance is a major cause of many of the woes of humanity. The problem that activists and atheists face is finding a way to loosen the hold people have on false core beliefs.  I consider myself agnostic as I don't hold a core belief on the existence of soul, afterlife, or deities. I'm open to new evidence in either direction. However, as atheistic beliefs tend to be far less harmful than theistic beliefs, there's much less benefit from shaking them from their certainty of nothing.

Our current state of affairs is a horrendous waste of potential. Think how awesome life on this planet could be if we overcame this bullshit. If you can't imagine it, you haven't watched enough Star Trek. For starters, I still can't speak in plain language to my computer and have it draw up the schematics for a whale tank. As I both loathe and embody wasted potential, I sometimes daydream trying to think of ways to free people from their false beliefs.

What follows is one such daydream, something I'd never do - but might just make a point: