CyberSynapse: Online Journal

To the evil forces of fear, loathing, hate, ignorance, and HYPOCRISY behind Proposition 8

2008-11-06T18:47:19Z


	Proposition 8 Challenged It would not be an "amendment" to the constitution, it would be a vicious DELETION & RE-WRITING of the basic principles of equality enshrined in our constitution. The forces of fear, loathing, and ignorance cannot simply pick the latest group they hate, and then put that group's human rights up for majority vote. We have seen where that road leads before; now we cannot sit idly by while evil leads us down that road to hell again. NEVER AGAIN.
	“If the voters approved an initiative that took the right to free speech away from women, but not from men, everyone would agree that such a measure conflicts with the basic ideals of equality enshrined in our constitution. Proposition 8 suffers from the same flaw. That’s too big a change in the principles of our constitution to be made just by a bare majority of voters.”
	"The California Constitution makes clear that a major change in the roles played by the different branches of government cannot be made by a simple majority vote through the initiative process, but at the very least must first go through the state legislature. Changes to the underlying principles of the constitution must be approved by two-thirds of both houses of the legislature before going to voters. That didn't happen with Proposition 8, and that's why it's invalid. This would not be the first time the court has struck down an improper voter initiative. In 1990, the court struck down an initiative that would have improperly attempted to strip the state's courts of their role as independent interpreters of the constitution. “If the voters approved an initiative that took the right to free speech away from women, but not from men, everyone would agree that such a measure conflicts with the basic ideals of equality enshrined in our constitution,” says Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Jenny Pizer. “Proposition 8 suffers from the same flaw. That’s too big a change in the principles of our constitution to be made just by a bare majority of voters.”"

	“The magnitude here is that you are effectively rendering equal protection a nullity if a simple majority can so easily carve an exception into it. Equal protection is supposed to prevent the targeting and subjugation of a minority group by a simple majority vote.”

	Prop 8 Facing Uphill Legal Challenges
	"...The key argument challenging the legality of the measure is that the proposition was so sweeping that it effectively represented a revision of the Constitution, not a simple amendment, as voters were told. The state high court twice before has struck down ballot measures as illegal constitutional revisions... [F]ormer California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin... a Prop 8 opponent, said he believes the challenge has legal merit. ...Jennifer Pizer, a staff lawyer for Lambda Legal, told The [Los Angeles] Times that the initiative met the test of a revision because it had far-reaching magnitude. "The magnitude here is that you are effectively rendering equal protection a nullity if a simple majority can so easily carve an exception into it," she told The Times. "Equal protection is supposed to prevent the targeting and subjugation of a minority group by a simple majority vote," which is all that Prop 8 required. The measure Tuesday received 52.5 percent of the vote, compared to 47.5 percent opposed."

	WHO IS NEXT? Who is the next "group to hate" that the forces of evil will target? Are they going to put the human rights of Jews up for a majority vote? How about the human rights of other religious, or ethnic, or racial minority groups? Are their human rights going to be tested at the ballot box now too? Are YOU next? Can you only sleep in peace if you're a blonde Mormon or a far-right religious extremist? But this is America in the 21st century, not World War II Germany. WE DON'T DO THAT HERE. RIGHT?

	To all the monsters WHO LIED, WHO MANIPULATED, WHO FED FEAR AND IGNORANCE, WHO FUELED THE FLAMES OF HATRED: You may have tricked 52.5% of California voters, BUT YOU DID NOT TRICK 47.5%. THIS IS NOT OVER. If you were serious about "saving marriage," you wouldn't be funded by POLYGAMIST MORMONS, and you would do something to help people STAY MARRIED. Our divorce rate in California has been sky-high since AT LEAST THE 1970's, so why didn't you try to make straight/hetero divorce more difficult, or try to ban Las Vegas style drive-thru marriages, or create laws seriously addressing adultery or spousal abuse? I'll tell you WHY, because you DON'T GIVE A FLYING F-CK ABOUT "SAVING MARRIAGE." What you DO care about is HURTING PEOPLE, DESTROYING MARRIAGES, AND ROBBING PEOPLE OF THEIR FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS WHILE YOU SPIT ON THEIR HUMAN DIGNITY. But you polygamist in-bred Mormon hypocrites picked the wrong fight. Watch-out you religious fanatics and evil extremists. WE WILL DEFEAT YOU. YOU WILL NOT STOP PROGRESS.

Life After Capitalism

2008-10-14T23:49:19Z

	Life After Capitalism by David C. Korten (November 1998)
	"Under global capitalism the world is ruled by a global financial casino staffed by faceless bankers, money managers, and hedge fund speculators who operate with a herd mentality that sends exchange rates and stock prices into wild gyrations unrelated to any underlying economic reality. With reckless abandon they make and break national economies, buy and sell corporations, and hire and fire corporate CEOs (the heads of corporations) -- holding the most powerful politicians and corporate managers hostage to the speculators interests. When their bets pay off they claim the winnings as their own. When they lose, they run to governments and public institutions to make up their losses with cries that the financial skies will fall if they are forced to suffer the market's discipline."




	"...capitalism's relationship to democracy and to the market economy is much the same as the relationship of a cancer to the body whose life energies it expropriates. Cancer is a pathology that occurs when otherwise healthy cells forget that they are part of the body and begin to pursue their own unlimited growth without regard to the consequences for the whole. The growth of the cancerous cells deprives the healthy cells of nourishment and ultimately kills both the body and itself. Capitalism is doing much the same to the societies that it infests."




	"Another way of characterizing our situation is that we find ourselves unwitting participants in an epic contest between money and life for the soul of humanity. And it comes down to a fairly literal choice as to which we value more -- our money or our lives. And as you suggested, in many ways it is fundamentally a spiritual issue as much as a political issue."





	"The very vocabulary of finance and economics is a world of double-speak that obscures such essential distinctions. For example, we use the terms money, capital, assets, and wealth interchangeably, leaving us with no simple means to express the difference between money -- a simple number -- and real wealth -- which includes such things as trees, food, our labor, fertile land, buildings, machinery, technology -- even love and friendship -- things that sustain our lives and increase our productive output. It leaves us prone to the potentially fatal error of assuming that when we are making money we are necessarily creating wealth."



	"Similarly, we politely use the term investor when we speak of the speculators whose gambling destabilizes global financial markets. Indeed we favor them with tax breaks and special protections. Language makes a difference. If we called them by their real names: speculators, gamblers, and thieves, they would be subjects of public outrage -- as they appropriately should be."

Sarah Palin witchdoctor "exorcism;" "believers" to "infiltrate" banking, government, education

2008-10-12T19:32:40Z

You need to understand, when it comes to Sarah Palin: She has been a member of an EXTREMIST group of FANATICS for over 20 years. These people do not just believe in the "end times." These people believe that it is their duty to actually CAUSE the world to end. And if she becomes vice-president, she will LITERALLY be 1 HEART-BEAT AWAY FROM CAUSING NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION. It sounds CRAZY, it seems RIDICULOUS. It IS hard to believe. But this is the state of America today, this is how absurd, how perverse, how pathetic, and how dangerous things have become. Your gut reaction upon facing this, your psychological defense mechanism, will be to turn away, to go into denial, to shrink back into apathy... but is nuclear obliteration really the way you want your life, and all life on Earth (not just human life), to end?

CAPITALISM: DESTROY IT, BEFORE IT DESTROYS YOU NEXT

2008-10-12T07:54:06Z


	CAPITALISM: DESTROY IT, BEFORE IT DESTROYS YOU NEXT


	STOP following capitalism down its dead-end road. You are MORE than a consumer. You are MORE than a wage-slave. A job does NOT define you. A car is NOT a reflection of who you are. Clothes do NOT make you. Diamonds are NOT "best friends." Your value does NOT depend on how much money you have.
	YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING. AND THERE IS A BETTER WAY:
	LIFE AFTER CAPITALISM.


	International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director (October 11, 2008)
	"Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown."



	Capitalism Without Rules by James Keye (October 11th, 2008)
	"The appeal of capitalism exists largely in its making acceptable the concentration of wealth and in its religion-like faith in a common, generally negative human attribute as a positive guiding principle: human greed. Capitalism is a social and economic design that gives great freedom to the most greedy. Greed and wealth concentration are intellectually supported under the argument that the invisible hand of greed will design the best possible distribution of wealth based on the most efficient use of resources. And it denies that humans have the power, or should have the power, to control wealth and resources. This ‘leave it to the market’ argument overtly suggests that we should not trust other people to control the process of wealth distribution while hiding the fact that the very most acquisitive and ruthless of us are doing exactly that under the cover of ‘the market.’ Trillions of dollars of wealth have been taken by the tax and credit system over the last 8 years (and for many years before) and “redistributed” to the economic elite, a polite term for the greedy sociopaths at the core of these economic actions. This is being done primarily with war, the healthcare (sic) system and the credit system. The “bailout” of Wall Street is not a bailout at all. Embezzling is slow. To get big bucks in a hurry requires a robbery and a robbery requires the hold-up note. All the planning can be done in secret, but with a robbery there comes the moment when intentions must be made clear: “Fill this bag. I have a gun in my pocket.” We have just been through such a moment, with the note written in all capitalism, so most people missed its true meaning. “Fill this bag. If you don’t your lives will be ruined and children’s lives will be ruined.” In capitalism the note reads: “The Market has been damaged by excessive attempts of foolish people to regulate it and so trillions of dollars must be given to the managers who are guided by the True Invisible Hand to save us from a great depression, social unrest and civil war.” What this boils down to is that capitalism, as an economic process, seeks to remove the rules that guide economic behavior, and as economic capitalism melds into political capitalism, what ever form of governance was in place is replaced with fascism."




	Financial Tsunami: The End of the World as We Knew It by F. William Engdahl (October 1, 2008)
	"The Great Depression in Germany in 1931 began with a seemingly minor event—the collapse of a bank in Vienna, Creditanstalt, that May. ... Today, in 2008, some 77 years later, a German Finance Minister stands before the Bundestag announcing the end of that American Century. Today the German government encourages a fusion of Dresdner with Commerzbank. Today Deutsche Bank, which some years ago acquired Bankers Trust in New York in a merger wave, appears to be in a stronger position than its American counterparts as Wall Street investment banks, some more than 150 years old as the venerable Lehman Bros., simply vanish in a matter of days. The American financial Superpower crumbles before our eyes."




	Beyond Capitalism to Post-Capitalism: Conceiving a Better Model of Wealth Acquisition to Supersede Capitalism by Peter Baofu (June 30, 2005); Author link 2
	"Contrary to conventional wisdom about capitalism, the pervasive norm to acquire wealth and the zealous mission to fight poverty have their double sides often unsaid, in that there is no wealth without poverty, just as there is no poverty without wealth, such that more wealth also creates more poverty. Consider, for instance, America, which is regarded by many as the “wealthiest” country on Earth at the turn of the 21st century. Yet, this “wealthiest” country on Earth is also the most hated one around the world, as a soul-searching question after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is, Why do they hate us so? Isn't it paradoxical, Dr. Baofu asks, that this enormous accumulation of wealth ends up creating more hatred and violence around the world, instead of contributing to a more prosperous, humane one? Is there something fundamentally wrong in this seductive idea of wealth acquisition in capitalism? The wealth paradox disappears, as Dr. Baofu goes to great length to explain, if it is understood that a civilization which prides itself on acquiring wealth as the central focus of life meaning is too inadequate to fulfill fully the domains of life on material, relational and spiritual concerns. It is so, since capitalism, as a historical contingency to fight the material impoverishment of pre-modernity, overdoes itself as a historical solution to the problem of poverty and will not last, to be superseded by what Dr. Baofu originally proposed as its successor, “post-capitalism.”"



	Why is Capitalism Failing Us? by Doug Page (June 14th, 2008)
	"Capitalism as it existed in the days of Adam Smith no longer exists in the Twenty First Century. Capitalism has mutated so as to cause the merger of corporate power with state power so that we now have corporate state capitalism whose powers are exercised solely to benefit of the global elite at the expense and starvation of the rest of us."



	Rejoice: The Impending Collapse of Global Capitalism? by Bill Hansen (October 01, 2008)
	"Hang on to your hats, boys and girls, we might be in for one helluva ride. Nearly two decades ago, in the aftermath of the much deserved implosion of Leninist communism in the then Soviet Bloc, there was nearly universal celebration in the West. We had won the Cold war: ideologically, economically and militarily. Hurrah!!! The American philosopher, Francis Fukuyama, penned a triumphalist essay in the neo-con journal, The National Interest. He entitled it “The End of History”. The essay was later turned into a book and Fukuyama was hailed as the post-communist philosopher of the future for his encomium to liberal democracy and free market capitalism. The essence of Fukuyama’s argument was that the end of the Soviet Union marked the end of any plausible challenges or alternatives to the hegemony and moral superiority of free market capitalism and liberal democracy. THERE WERE NO CONCEIVABLE HISTORICAL ALTERNATIVES. We had arrived at the end of history. History’s aftermath hasn’t lasted all that long. Long before Fukuyama, a far more prescient observer of the history of political economy asked the question: “What is the modern state, but the executive committee of the bourgeoisie?” As one watches modern capitalism cooperate with the modern state in extricating capitalism from its own excesses, one is reminded as to how extraordinarily correct Karl Marx was…and remains."



	Could Globalization Fail? by Thomas Palley, YaleGlobal (April 13, 2006)
	"Business has a private incentive to escape the system to countries with lower costs. Yet, it still needs mass consumption. The system needs a solid middle class, but is also driven to hollow out that middle class. This contradiction has been papered over by consumer borrowing provided by deregulated financial markets and a 25-year asset price boom. The problem is that such borrowing risks prove unsustainable if incomes are hollowed out, and that could stop the economic merry-go-round. If that stoppage produces an economic crash, globalization may crash, too."



	Today's Capitalism Has Run Its Course by Bashir Goth, PostGlobal (October 7, 2008)
	"...it is vital that the current capitalism system should change course. Instead of propping up the pillars of an aging system, the world should come up with radical economic reforms based on holistic views and diversified structures instead of the current orthodox uniformity. ...The current man-made financial crisis heralds a new age for the capitalist system; it [signifies] a precipice of a great change. And it must be clear to all by now that any system that doesn't value the economic welfare of every individual and not only the wealthy few will be doomed to the same destiny."



	International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director (October 11, 2008)
	"Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown."

Internal Collapse

2007-09-24T14:14:04Z

We here in metropolitan Los Angeles live in a filthy and overcrowded city. Of course, there are small pockets of beauty and order, but don't let these fool you: even then, filth, pollution, and squalor are only a short walk away.

By and large, the number one problem is overcrowding. We simply have too many people living and working in too small an area. From this basic fact of overcrowding stem virtually all the other ills that choke our city, our streets, our lungs, and even our minds.

And so I am confused. I am very confused.

This morning I went out for a walk, very, very early. Originally I'd intended to walk in a nearby park, but I couldn't find parking -- yes, there were plenty of free spaces along the curb, but every single spot around the park's entire perimeter was marked with some sort of parking prohibition (another symptom of the overcrowding here).

Frustrated, I drove home and decided I would just go for a walk around my immediate neighborhood. I don't know why, but this seemed somehow vaguely strange to me.

My walk, to my great surprise, turned out be beautiful -- for the most part. At that early hour, cars and people hadn't yet taken to the streets en mass. In that pre-dawn darkness, the air remained crisp and not yet completely choked with petrochemical reactions catalyzed by the sun. Interesting and nearly forgotten scents -- a variety of flowers, dewy leaves, eucalyptus trees, moist grass, wet construction wood, saw dust, damp bricks -- wafted all around.

(It became easy to understand why a morning walk might be such a delight for super-olfactory powered canines.)

I also found surprising the order all around me -- the neatly trimmed and artfully shaped bushes, the meticulously manicured lawns, carefully painted walls, archways, doors, windowsills -- precise landscaping and artistic architecture. Everything well-maintained, everything interesting -- whether big or small, opulent or understated -- everything charming in its own way.

So why are we so unhappy?

That isn't a rhetorical question. I'm serious. Why are so many of us unhappy? Why are millions of us miserable? Why are millions upon millions of us seeking escape in psychiatric medications, illegal drugs, and/or alcohol?

Everything LOOKS so picture perfect, at least on the outside. Why are so many of us miserable?

Why has the teen suicide rate shot-up through-the-roof? Why does the ridiculously high divorce rate make marriage seem like a joke or a bad gamble? Why are most of us just sitting back passively while the middle-class disappears, and our society becomes further divided into a tiny privileged class versus a huge underclass abandoned to fight for the leftover crumbs?

We have an exploding autism epidemic, yet still no real answers as to what's causing it. We're importing food for ourselves, for our pets, and things for our kids that are "enriched" with poisons -- bought from and made by peasants in other countries who've just discovered their fever for get-rich-quick no-holds-barred every-devil-for-himself style capitalism. The American "citizen" is encouraged to be "productive," and above all, consume, consume, consume. Meanwhile our infrastructure rots, our bridges are collapsing, levies have burst, highways and roads slowly crumble. Our elderly have been made promises that our current medical and social security systems cannot keep. Fifty million Americans -- 50,000,000 people -- live without health insurance. Fewer and fewer can afford a college education. And for all we know, the harm done to the environment has gone past the point-of-no-return. The list can go on and on, and on, and on, full of examples, but the long and the short of it is: Our society is crumbling.

One day -- not so many years ago -- the world awoke to discover that the former Soviet Union, once a feared global superpower, had collapsed from within. The overwhelming majority of government and academic experts in the United States did not see the disintegration coming.

History is repeating itself, this time right here at home.

Our society is crumbling.

One day, very soon, we will awaken to find our society has crumbled.

Open letter to obnoxiously loud neighbor

2007-09-21T14:38:00Z

G-d, you bitch banshee hyena from hell. For the sake of fuck, please tell me: have you experienced a psychotic break this morning? You've been laughing like an escaped lunatic since 6:30 a.m. today.

It sounds like you're hosting some sort of medieval banquet, hosting pirates and coked out Beverly Hills Persian chicks. What the fuck is going on?

Have some g-d damned decency please, and SHUT THE FUCK UP.

It's too g-d damned early for this.

I wouldn't find your obnoxiously loud morning antics even half so disturbing if they weren't punctuated by randomly issued snippets of high decibel conversational phrases and assorted onomatopoeia.

You sound SCARY.

Please, please, please, shut up you freak, and tell your friend(s) or whomever you have over to shut the fuck up too.

Carry on your freaky-scary psycho conversation punctuated by demented-sounding laughter... just do so MORE QUIETLY.

Save that kind of shit for late nights... FUCK.

It's barely 7:35 a.m. now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You bitch!!!

Joseph Schumpeter on the demise of capitalism

2007-09-21T12:02:10Z

An excerpt from Wikipedia's entry on Joseph Schumpeter, that glows with personal and political truth.

Beautiful.

Schumpeter and capitalism's demise
Schumpeter's most popular book in English is probably Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. This book opens with a treatment of Karl Marx. On the surface level, this piece seems to support socialism. Schumpeter's reasoning was that an overt defense of capitalism would prompt the book only to be read by those who already supported capitalism. Therefore, he believed that he must masquerade as a supporter of socialism to entice the young socialist to read his work. In the end, he hoped to awaken self-recognition in the reader to the flaws of socialism. ^[2] Schumpeter is sympathetic to Marx's conclusion that capitalism will collapse, although Schumpeter concludes capitalism will be replaced by socialism for non-Marxist reasons. It is in this book that Schumpeter characterized capitalism with the famous phrase "creative destruction", in which the old ways of doing things are endogenously destroyed and replaced by the new.
Schumpeter thinks that the success of capitalism will lead to a form of corporatism and a fostering of values that are hostile to capitalism, especially among intellectuals. The intellectual and social climate needed to allow entrepreneurship to thrive will not exist in advanced capitalism; it will be replaced by socialism in some form. There will not be a revolution, but merely a trend in parliaments to elect social democratic parties of one stripe or another. He argued that capitalism will collapse from within as democratic majorities vote for the creation of a welfare state and place restrictions upon entrepreneurship that will burden and destroy the capitalist structure. Schumpeter emphasizes that he is analyzing trends, not engaging in political advocacy. Some contend that John Kenneth Galbraith was influenced in his The New Industrial State by Schumpeter's views on corporations. In Schumpeter's vision, the class of intellectuals also contributes to the demise. The term intellectuals denotes here people who are able to express opinions on societal matters they are not directly responsible for. They can stand up for the interests of strata, that they themselves do not belong to. It is a great advantage of capitalism, that more and more people can acquire (higher) education, compared with pre-Capitalist eras, when education was a privilege of the few. The jobs of executive personnel are limited, however, and discontent rises with unemployment. The intellectuals are able to organise protest among the population and, naturally, develop critical ideas.

"The Grey Zone" (film)

2007-09-21T06:36:45Z

Yes, it's a film about the Holocaust.

It's a very emotional topic, but rather than relinquish any power to that emotionality, I'm going to keep this short and straightforward.

In essence, there is nothing "grey" about this subject.

One of the legacies of the Third Reich... of the Shoah... is that humanity can never be trusted. Institutions cannot be trusted, particularly military and government institutions. Their power must be checked and re-checked, and re-checked some more.

Humanity is essentially amoral, stupid, and monstrous. That is humanity's default state. Therefore, vast, powerful, and numerous safeguards must be put and kept in place in order to prevent humanity from lapsing into its default state.

By default, human beings are disgusting and barbaric, and must be trained and controlled in order to prevent that repugnant and destructive nature from expressing itself.

There is a latent sociopath in nearly everyone.

G-d does not figure into this topic.

Awesome...

2007-09-12T08:01:48Z

I've heard about this developing technology before, I didn't realize that Israel was/is the incubator. Where do I sign?

Israel's Brainsway stimulates a magnetic remedy for depression
By Nicky Blackburn February 19, 2006

Approximately 18.8 million American adults suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability in the United States. Yet only about half the patients who take common medical treatments like antidepressant drugs actually see a therapeutic effect. Moreover, they suffer a broad range of undesirable side effects including weight gain, sexual dysfunction and even suicidal behavior.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has a far higher success rate, with some 80% of patients responding positively. ECT, however, is a highly invasive treatment involving general anesthesia, with many serious side effects ranging from dizziness and headaches to temporary or even permanent memory impairment.

Now an Israeli company, Brainsway, has developed a new non-invasive deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment that it claims can effectively treat depression without any of the negative side effects of drugs or ECT. The treatment, which Brainsway's founders believe could revolutionize the whole psychiatric care market, does not require anesthetic. Instead, users describe the experience as a gentle shaking or tickling of the scalp. "A bit like a massage," Dr. Abraham Zangen, one of the inventors of the device, told ISRAEL21c.

Economics quick note

2007-09-12T07:40:55Z

Just making a quick note for myself about some things I heard recently that I want to explore later... super-capitalism... the other interview.

The Universe, made self-aware.

2007-09-06T00:48:00Z

You are floating on a sphere.

The sphere is spinning around its axis.

And while it spins it's orbiting around a star.

All happening within a galaxy that itself is spinning.

Contained in a Universe that's spreading outward, creating time and space.

And though you know the nuts and bolts of how you were made, you aren't quite sure.

So you sit or you stand there, upside down, or maybe sideways, or maybe those spatial references simply don't apply.

And you think.

But you're captive to the limits of your senses, equipped only to sense energy in certain forms, at certain wavelengths... While so much else of what is happening all around you, inside you, through you, goes on usually unnoticed.

You're a slave to the neurochemistry that filters and translates your perception of what you call reality, though in fact your biological apparatus, your neurochemistry, provide only an approximation toward what you actually mean by the word "reality."

You're a slave to your anatomy, to the drives of your physiology and psychology, and the constraints of your culture, the limits of your technology, the laws of your society, and your concept of mortality.

There are organisms that you kill, pieces of others that you wear, and still others pieces of which you eat.

There are organisms that you observe, some for study, others for play.

You can close your eyes and imagine things which never were, or hear things that have never made a sound, and you do not think it strange that you simultaneously occupy two realms of existence -- one of substance, the other abstract.

You came from nothing, or so it seems, and fear you will return to nothing, or so sometimes it might seem.

You are a piece of the Universe, made self-aware, and you wonder, "Why?"

Can you rebel? And if so, how, if you can't even leave? Is this a home or a prison?

You are energy and you are matter, and supposedly they are one in the same, both indestructible, merely interchangeable.

Are you immortal? If so, is that a punishment or a blessing?

Are you one permutation of countless others, in a multiverse? And if so, does that lend any of it any more or less meaning?

And in a Universe without design or purpose, without any ultimate good nor any ultimate evil, where the only certainty is uncertainty, where time stretches without limit forward and backward... where the only real givens and constraints are cycles, rings, spheres, orbits, globes, pi... Are you trapped?

And what would it mean to be free? To truly be free?

Arrogant + Stupid = Deadly = Iran's current leadership

2007-03-30T19:23:13Z

Arrogant national leaders are dangerous to their neighbors, dangerous to their own citizens, and dangerous to the international community.

Stupid leaders are even more dangerous.

But leadership that is both arrogant AND stupid is deadly.

Iran's leaders are behaving with arrogance and stupidity.

IRAN
IS ALREADY
OUT OF CONTROL

IMAGINE WHAT THEY
WOULD DO WITH
NUCLEAR WEAPONS

J.J.: Again

2007-02-05T07:39:11Z

Suddenly the memories came back to me in my
Mind

How can I be strong I’ve asked myself
Time and time I’ve said
That I’ll never fall in love with you again

A wounded heart you gave
My soul you took away
Good intentions you had many
I know you did

I come from a place that hurts
And God knows how I’ve cried
And I never want to return
Never fall again

Making love to you
Oh it felt so good and
Oh so right

So here we are alone again’
Didn’t think it’d come to this
And to know it all began
With just a little kiss

I’ve come too close to happiness
To have it swept away
Don’t think I can take the pain
No never fall again

Kind'a late in the game and my heart is in
Your hands
Don’t you stand there and then
Tell me you love
Me then leave again
Cause I’m falling in love with
You again

Hold me
Hold me
Don’t ever let me go
Say it just one time
Say you love me
God knows I do
Love you
Again

General Public: Tenderness

2007-02-05T04:05:40Z

I don't know where to start or where to stop

My lucks like a button
I can't stop pushing it

My head feels light
but I'm still in the dark

Seems like without tenderness there's something missing

Tenderness

Where is the
tenderness?

Where is it?

I don't know where I am but I know I don't like it

I open my mouth and out pops something spiteful

Words are so cheap
but they can turn out expensive

Words like conviction can turn into a sentence

Catherine Wheel: Black Metallic

2007-02-02T08:39:08Z

I've never seen you when you're smiling
It really gets under my skin
You say it's easy when it's faster
I still can't guess what you're after

It's the colour of your skin
Your skin is black metallic
It's the colour of your skin
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic

I think of you when you're sleeping
Of all the secrets that you're keeping
You can't stay all day under the covers
'Cause under there you'll discover

It's the colour of your skin
Your skin is black metallic
It's the colour of your skin
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
You're turning black metallic...

It's the colour of your skin
It's the colour of your skin...

Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
You're turning black metallic

It's the colour of your skin
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic
Your skin is black metallic

Jimmy Eat World: "In the Middle"

2007-01-14T00:32:07Z

Hey, don't write yourself off yet.

It's only in your head that you feel left out
Or looked down on.

Just try your best, try everything you can.

And don't you worry what they tell themselves
When you're away.

It just takes some time,
Everthing, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright,
Alright.

Hey, you know they're all the same.

You know you're doing better on your own,
So don't buy in.

Live right now.

Yeah, just be yourself.

It doesn't matter if it's good enough
For someone else.

It just takes some time,
Everthing, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.

It just takes some time,
Everthing, everything it'll be just fine
Everything, everything it'll be alright

Hey, don't write yourself off yet.

It's only in your head that you feel left out
Or looked down on.

Just do your best, do everything you can.

And don't you worry what the bitter hearts
Are gonna say.

It just takes some time,
Everthing, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.

It just takes some time,
Everthing, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.

Promiscuous People & Casual Sex as distancing behavior.

2006-12-08T20:53:10Z

"When a guy goes to a hooker, he's not paying her for sex, he's paying her to leave."
~Author Unknown

Just came across this quote, and found it thought-provoking.

I've long suspected, and often heard, that promiscuity is not a search for affection.

Promiscuity is a way of creating distance between one's self and others, not closeness.

Casual sex is -- and does -- the opposite of intimacy.

Taming of the Evil Elephant (Gajasura Mardaka)

2006-11-08T15:48:24Z

Why?

2006-10-31T02:16:49Z

Seven years is a long time. But more than that, they were seven years full of so much change, good and bad, that any couple -- even platonic friends -- would feel the stress.

Why quit now, when things were finally settling down?

Everyone says they're surprised, but under the surface no one really is -- it was expected. In truth, those who were rooting for you, were hoping you'd be the exception to the rule.

But this isn't about other people, it's about you and your lives. And yes, it's hard, but maybe it's worth more effort? Not just for the kids, not just for your careers, not just for your public image. But for you, each of you, both of you.

Some things worth having are worth fighting for.

And if success were easy, everyone would be successful.

I hope you find the strength to reconcile, learn, and grow together.

You've each got what it takes, the question is, will you use it?

Sincerely wishing you both the best.

FUCK YOU FOLEY

2006-10-05T00:33:38Z

FUCK YOU FOLEY.

Quit trying to hide behind "I was abused," I'm a drunk," and "I'm gay."

WOW you ugly fat FUCK.

How CONVENIENT that you suddenly decided to vomit your personal details right after you get caught with your digital hand down some teens' pants.

Guess what, fatso?

GAYS DO NOT WANT YOU -- YOU GIVE THEM A BAD NAME.

CHILDHOOD ABUSE VICTIMS DO NOT WANT YOU -- YOU GIVE THEM A BAD NAME.

DRUNKS DO NOT WANT YOU -- YOU GIVE THEM A BAD NAME.

You disgrace ALL you affiliate yourself with -- QUIT GIVING ALL THOSE FOLKS A BAD NAME.

Instead of trying to so OBVIOUSLY hide among good honest folk, why don't you just stand up for once and admit what you really ARE:

A HYPOCRITE, A LIAR, and A COWARD.

Where the fuck was your "gay" side Foley, when you voted to legislate bigotry against REAL, good, honest gays?

FUCK YOU FOLEY.

You are no gay -- YOU AREN'T MAN ENOUGH TO BE GAY.

But you are a PATHETIC FAT FUCK. And your fucking career is OVER.

5767

2006-09-23T03:42:24Z

Wishing the Children & the Friends of Israel
a Happy, Healthy, & Sweet 5767

LAID-THE-FUCK-BACK

2006-09-23T01:04:04Z

What the fuck does "LAIDBACK" ACTUALLY MEAN?

And how is it different from LOBOTOMIZED or symptoms of an excessively high dosage of SSRI's?

I mean, I know what "CHILL" means... I also get the concept of "RELAX"... but "laidback"?

Yes, I know it's supposed to conjure up the idea of some exceedingly mellow person "laying back" on a divan... fainting couch... bed... what-the-fuck-ever.

I am "LAIDBACK" ... *AT TIMES*.

I mean, is it really reasonable or realistic to expect someone to BE "laidback" as a matter of course? Day in, day out, minute by minute, breath to breath... LAID-THE-FUCK-BACK?

No, my dears. We call that LOBOTOMIZED... we call that CHEMICALLY SEDATED... we call that near catatonia... we call it many, many things... but we do not call it NORMAL or HEALTHY or REAL.

So, my 420 addled pals, get real. Anyone who claims to BE "laidback" is doing just that... claiming. The devil's in the details, but if you want someone real, honest, and multi-dimensional... expect more... ASK FOR MORE... than a human accessory for furniture.

Don't Change (INXS)

2006-09-22T08:03:40Z

"Don't Change" (INXS)

I'm standing here on the ground

The sky above won't fall down

See no evil in all direction

Resolution of happiness

Things have been dark
For too long

Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me

I found a love I had lost

It was gone for too long

Hear no evil in all directions

Execution of bitterness

Message received loud and clear

Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me

I'm standing here on the ground
The sky above won't fall down
See no evil in all directions
Resolution of happiness
Things have been dark for too long

Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me

Make-up

2006-09-20T15:21:59Z

The night before last, I was speaking with an old friend, someone whom I'd fallen out of touch with for a few months. As we were catching up somehow the subject came up (I think simply through his random kvetching), and he half laughed and half bemoaned the fact that he's a multi-millionaire but drives an eleven year old car. In case you're curious, it's a small Asian economy car (I think maybe a Corolla? possiby some sort of Honda?). Anyway, he followed up his comment with, "of course I'd like to drive a Mercedes, but I can't afford it."

At the time I didn't think much about it, none of it was news to me, and the banter went on. But yesterday, while I was about to research detergent online (don't ask), I digitally stumbled upon an interesting survey conducted by Forbes magazine, a list of the cars driven by the world's top ten billionaires (yes, that says billionaires with a "B").

To be honest, there's nothing very surprising on that list, at least not surprising to me. If you think about it, the facts are consistent with the personalities. For example, billionaire number 3 on the list (the founder of Ikea) reflects his sensible, practical, and economical approach to furniture, and drives a 1993 Volvo station wagon. In fact, the only person on the list who might be said to drive anything exotic and lavish is a Saudi Arabian prince -- which, of course, is in itself not surprising and is also consistent with what we might expect.

But all this got me thinking.

My friend whining a couple nights ago about his 11 year old econo car -- actually, he wasn't quite being accurate when he said he couldn't "afford" a Mercedes. Technically, he'd have no problem buying one, certainly no problem on credit, and in all likelihood no problem in cash if he so chose. Also interesting was his word choice: he said, "I'd like to drive a Mercedes." A fine line, perhaps, but that is not the same thing as him saying he'd like to buy a Mercedes.

This same guy lives in a modest and small condo, and has slept on a single bed for decades (yes, those narrow ones that fit only one person).

On the other hand, he maintains a subscription to the Opera, and to the Symphony, and is a regular at all manner of theatre performances.

Obviously, what he drives or doesn't drive must then reflect a choice he's made; to be more specific, it reflects his priorities. Whatever we spend the most money on is whatever we personally value the most. All his whining aside, if he really cared that much about what he's driving or not driving, he would have already replaced his practical car with the deluxe mobile du jour.

All this makes me think of other examples that I know: a young doctor friend that still gets around in the cheapy Dodge jalopy he's had since college. Not so long ago, I remember him marveling aloud at the fact that he drives the most modest car of anyone working at his practice; he said, "The receptionist drives a better car than I do."

It's interesting. The things we complain about, I wonder if sometimes we complain because we think we ought to, and not because we really care. Clearly these two friends, and so many other people, could upgrade to their status symbol of choice -- yet they don't.

Why not?

Is it thrift? Is it irrational emotional attachment to their existing cars? Is it a quasi-political anti-consumerism statement? Is it simply apathy towards what most people regard as status symbols?

Of course, for everyone it'll be a different answer, but no doubt for most the answer will include some combination of all those reasons.

And as for those other people that love their status symbols, be they cars, jewels, or whatever else, there's nothing wrong with their love affairs.

But I think for me, I'm coming to realize -- or I've come to realize -- that status symbols are a little bit like make-up: very helpful, very commonly used, but not always by or for everyone; and all too often the products are cumbersome, expensive, and sometimes just a tad bit too obvious.

Don't get me wrong, they can make for a beautiful, handsome, or glamourous presentation -- they can even make people look more healthy and youthful... and that is truly fantastic.

Yet there are some lucky people whom either have natural beauty, or whom regardless of how they look to others are personally happy with their own appearance. So they either don't need the make-up, or they simply don't want it.

Oh, and leaving that metaphor aside, to conclude about the cars -- not to get too philosophical about this or anything -- but I guess the question, "What am I driving?" probably isn't as important as asking, "What's driving me?"

=========================================

Top 10 Vehicles Owned by Billionaires
by Nate Chapnick
Forbes; March 14, 2006

If your pockets were as deep as Bill Gates’ what would you drive? A new Porsche or a seven-year-old one? Each year, Forbes magazine compiles a list of the world’s wealthiest people. Now, ForbesAutos.com gives you a look at the vehicles driven by the billionaires at the top of the 2006 list.

The cars and trucks driven by those in the Top 10 of the 2006 Forbes list was, in short, shocking. You won’t find a Bugatti, Ferrari or BMW driven by these billionaires. But you will find a Lincoln, a Mazda, even a Dodge and a Ford. It seems that for the super-rich, a vehicle is seen not as a status symbol, but as a means to an end in which to get from point A to point B. Status is something that these billionaires need not prove to others. In many cases, the people on our list prefer to live inconspicuously, avoiding the limelight at all costs. This might explain why many of their vehicles cost less than your own daily driver.

To compile our list, we obtained motor vehicle registration records from each billionaire’s respective state. For those not residing in the U.S., we relied on interviews with company representatives or past interviews with the billionaires themselves. Their net worth was taken from Forbes.com’s 2006 World’s Billionaires List.

1999 Porsche 911 Convertible
Bill Gates' daily driver — a 1999 Porsche 911 Convertible — is ripe for replacement, especially considering that Porsche totally redesigned the latest 911, the 997, for 2005.

2001 Lincoln Signature Series Town Car
With a license plate that reads “THRIFTY,” it could belong to no one other than billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The car behind the license plate is also relatively thrifty: a 2001 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series.

1993 Volvo 240 GL
Founder of the Swedish furniture and home goods company IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is the proud owner of a 13-year-old Volvo 240 GL. Though he may own a Volvo, Kamprad still takes the bus and even uses his pensioners’ discount card.

1988 Porsche 959 Coupe
Billionaire Paul Allen can be found cruising the autobahn in his 1988 Porsche 959 Coupe. Originally, Allen planned to drive his Porsche on American soil, but stringent emissions standards and crash-test ratings kept it impounded in customs.

2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom
A glimpse inside Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud's garage reveals a vehicular absurdity: Parked next to two Daewoo Matizs are two Rolls-Royce Phantoms.

2005 Hummer H2
When the weather turns nasty, Michael Dell enjoys the comfort and security of his latest toy: a 2005 Hummer H2 SUV.

2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur
Lawrence Ellison prefers the finer things in life, like the British luxury, style and refinement found only in a Bentley. As the most powerful luxury sedan, the Bentley Continental Flying Spur provides him with the perfect balance of driving exhilaration and four-door practicality.

2002 Dodge Dakota Pickup
For Jim Walton, vehicles are a means to an end. This might explain why his daily driver is a 2002 Dodge Dakota pickup.

2006 Ford F-150 King Ranch
Alice Walton has a 2006 Ford F-150 King Ranch, which provides her with an ideal blend of luxury and towing capacity.

1998 Lincoln Continental
Steven Ballmer stays true to his Detroit roots by driving a 1998 Lincoln Continental.

Credits
Author
Nate Chapnick

Assistant News Editor Christina Medina
Designer Greg Williams
Editor Mary S. Butler

Most people forget something very basic about viruses...

2006-09-18T01:18:51Z

Viruses never stop evolving.

The HIV/AIDS virus was infecting (and killing) people LONG BEFORE it was ever even known to exist, long before it was even given a name.

What's my point?

My point is that in a very real sense viruses spring up and start infecting people seemingly out of nowhere.

I see all this casual sex happening, oral this, naked this on naked that, deep kissing, fluid exchanges of all sorts, and even unprotected penetrative sex.

People are so naive. Even if we came up with a vaccine for HIV, even if we came up with a CURE for HIV, that in no way would stop NEW viruses -- and new mutations of old viruses -- from springing up and killing people.

As I see all the frenzied sexual activity happening all around, sure, I wish I was having more "fun" -- but I also recognize that the party can't last forever.

It's no coincidence that HIV/AIDS began silently infecting people and spreading widely during the "wild" 1970's, when people were at their (then) most promiscuous, during a time of extensive international travel (with the bugs hitching a ride), a time of wide-scale drug use (resulting in millions with compromised immune systems, thus susceptible to all sorts of infections).

Nature saw its chance and took advantage of an opportunity. The HIV/AIDS virus was born.

Today, the socio-biological conditions are ripe for breeding a new virus yet again.

The present-day orgy can't last forever, not without some new or newly mutated viral strain hitching a ride during all the careless romps happening throughout the world.

This is not about morality, it's not even about sociology, this is about basic microbiology. This is about epidemiology.

Whatever the "new" virus will be (or already is), it will without a doubt come as a shock and painful surprise to all those who learn too late that they've been recently infected.

By the time this "new" virus is given a name, chances are that many of those reading this will have been killed by it, or will know someone who was.

Oh people, do you really think most of those casual sex revelers in the 1970's had any idea that there was an invisible killer lurking in their midst? Think, my horny, stupid, suicidal friends.

Think while you still can. Think.