The epic journey of a guy who thought he had it all figured out.
I’m on vacation today, so I actually had time to put together a little Youtube video. It’s about politics, or the ineptness of the political system rather. The problems of our society are technical, not political, and they will only be solved once we liberate ourselves from the obsolete and primitive system that we call politics. We don’t lead leaders, we don’t need alphas… we need to grow up, and take control of our destiny. Hope you like it!
I am trying really hard to word this post so that I don’t sound like Ebenezer Scrooge. I like getting gifts, and I enjoy giving them even more. In fact, I believe in sharing and giving as a way of life. So don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. The good will and giving spirit of humanity is one of our best traits, but the corporations and marketing industry have perverted this wholesome attribute. Let me explain.
Today at work we had our yearly Angel Tree event. The Angel Tree is a Christmas tree that has a lot of cards attached to it with the names and wishes of local underprivileged children. People take a card, and buy whatever the child wants for Christmas. Seems good enough. However, as I stood there and marveled at the mountains of Walmart bags, it suddenly dawned on me… most of this stuff (if not all of it) was made in China by people who work at near slave labor wages. Hell, a lot of these little plastic trinkets were probably manufactured by children working in sweatshops. We purchase this stuff with little thought of where it comes from, and certainly no thought of where it will ultimately end up. Not only are these “toys” the fruits of suffering on the other side of the planet, but they are also going to be completely wasted in the end, and be added to the unfathomable hoards of trash in a landfill somewhere. No one recycles this shit… no one.
When I was a kid, I begged my parents for whatever useless piece of shit that the marketing industry was pushing at the time. GI Joes, Tonka Trucks, and Transformers were all the rage when I was growing up. I begged and pleaded, and I even wrote letters to the fat man at the North Pole. In the end, I usually got what I wanted, but did I every really want it? Looking back on this time in my life I can honestly say that I don’t think the desire to have this junk every really originated with me. I was programmed. I was a little purchasing machine… a tool that could easily be programmed to drive my parents crazy until they gave in and got me what I was crying for, but I never really ‘wanted’ the stuff. I played with the toys for a short season, grew tired of them, and now they are sitting in a landfill somewhere – poisoning the earth.
We are all trapped in this twisted game of cyclical consumption. We work and slave to buy things that we don’t need and don’t even really want. We only want the stuff because the marketing industry tells us that we have to have it. So, we but it, but it doesn’t last. Nothing can actually ‘last’ in this system. If it lasts, then we won’t need to buy the next useless piece of junk that is pumped out by the Chinese junk machine. No, it must fall apart (usually by design) or be made obsolete. It has to be this way because if it isn’t then the whole system would collapse. We have made our dwelling on top of a house of cards that is trembling beneath us.
I’m not saying don’t celebrate Christmas. Do what you want to do. I just want you to be aware of the true cost of all this mindless consumerism. I want you to know that while you are trampling over people to get your copy of Call of Duty 3 at Walmart… about a billion of your fellow human beings are on the brink of starvation, and are going to go to bed tonight without the basic necessities of life. If you want to get the Christmas spirit and really get into the giving moode… then we have some real work that needs to be done.
Bah Humbug! (Just kidding)
I just got through watching this ten minute video of Peter Joseph being interviewed on Russia Today about the current social and economic problems that we are all facing. As always, Peter cuts straight through to the root of the problem – the inherent flaws in our social and economic systems. As I always say, when the rules of the game are screwed up, no one wins.
Peter Joseph is the creator of the Zeitgeist film series and the founder of the Zeitgeist Movement. The goal of the Zeitgeist Movement is to bring awareness to the fundamental flaws in our thinking that have brought us to the bleak place that we now find ourselves in. Most people just live in the paradigm that we are in and seldom think about the possibility of a better way. Like in the movie The Matrix: we get up, go to work, pay our taxes, buy lots of junk, and repeat the process tomorrow. The only problem is that this system has brought us to the point that we are about to run out of ‘tomorrows.’ The economic paradigm of infinite growth is on a collision course with reality and the very finite natural resources that make our existence possible.
Another interesting thing in the video is when Peter talks about the “1 percenters,” you know… those we call wealth – the ones who push the buttons. Peter says that it is a mistake to demonize them. They are basically just the best players in a twisted game that was already here. Everyone knows you don’t hate the player… you hate the game. I think that is important to understand. It doesn’t really matter how the game got here, it simply needs to be fixed. People can get along, and work together to solve our common problems. We must. Like it or not, we are at a crossroads. Change is coming regardless. We will evolve our culture or we will suffer the consequences.
Today is the day. Today is the day that I have decided to stop being continually “in transition.” Today, I am a Vegan. I have been seduced by the power of the Green side. No more Cheeseburgers, no more steaks… no more suffering of my fellow sentient creatures to satisfy my twisted appetite.
From this moment on I vow to never knowing eat anything that had its oringin in the body of a living, breathing, animal. I’ve made this decision primarily for the benefit of my own health. The best research that I’ve seen overwhelmingly points to the consumption of animal products as being the foundation for a host of diseases, including but not limited to: obesity, diabetes, heart and cardiovascular disease, and cancer. At the time of this post, I am 5’8″ tall and weigh 265 pounds. I am definitely obese. Tomorrow I am making an appointment to get a physical with a complete blood workup to reveal what other conditions may be lurking under the surface.
I have high hopes that this change will improve my overall physical condition. I know there are a lot of people out there that are probably going to think that I’ve drunk the vegan coolaid. Well, I have. You have to understand though, I am playing the probabilities, and relying on the best information that I have. Of course, like always, there is a possibility that I could be wrong. All I can say is keep watching the blog and my Youtube channel (I’m going to be doing day-to-day progress reports there). If in a few months I am weak and deficient, then we will all be a step closer to understanding what really works and what doesn’t when it comes to nutrition. I don’t think that’s how this will play out, but only time will tell.
I’m still working on my ‘Sharing the Pants’ post. It turns out that I think I need to write a book on this relationship stuff. It seems that every day that I’m with Denice, I learn something new. Anyway, I think I’m going to make Sharing the Pants a larger project, so here’s a quick DITL.
Denice and I have had a great Thanksgiving. We joined my mom, her parter, my sister, and my aunt for Thanksgiving dinner. It was good to get together with the family. Before we ate, we all took turns stating exactly what we were thankful for. That was rather easy. First and foremost I am thankful for Denice. My life would be empty without her. I am also thankful for many, many other things, but they are too numerous to list.
After dinner, we came home and watched the documentary ‘Forks over Knives’ on Netflix. I know, seems kind of strange to watch a moving documentary about the many health benefits of not eating animals… after eating considerable parts of a turkey and a pig. I think I’ve gotten to the point where I am ready to make the switch and never eat another animal again. I have fully bought into this. I have drunk the coolaid. And just to demonstrate how serious I am, I am scheduling a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to get a physical in order to see just how terrible my health is. I think I’ve been in denial about it for a while. I don’t feel bad, but the fact is that I am 265 pounds at 5’8″ tall, and I eat like a hog. It is highly probably that I have serious health problems lurking under the surface, and I intend to find out what they are. This is a big step for me. I don’t like doctors and their poking and prodding ways, but I am going to endure it because I intend on making whatever changes are necessary for me to be healthy and strong for a long time to come.
In other news, we’re now tossing around the idea for constructing a geodesic greenhouse in our backyard to grow organic vegetables year around. We are tired of having to rely on the overpriced, not always fresh veggies from our local supermarket, so the geodesic dome approach seems to be a viable solution. We don’t know all the much about construction, but the GD is said to be much simpler to construct than it looks. I hope this is the case, because the last thing that we attempted to build was a dog house, and it didn’t turn out so great.
That’s all for now. Sleep well my fellow mammals.
I’m getting back in the swing of things again here at home. We had a good time in Colorado. I love that state. The Rocky Mountains are beautiful, the sky is big, and the country is vast. The Appalachian Mountains will always be my home, but Colorado is a nice place to visit.
Things are going pretty good here. We finally retired our 1990′s model, beast of a big-screen TV for a sweet 40 inch LED. Man, hasn’t television come a long way in the relatively short time since it was invented. Anyway, with our new TV, we also got a subscription to Netflix. I have to say, Netflix is awesome. This is how entertainment should be – you watch it when you have time, not when ‘it’s on.’ We have gotten addicted to a series we found on Netflix called, ‘Breaking Bad.’ It’s about a high school chemistry teacher who gets terminal cancer, and decides to cushion his family financially after his death by cooking crystal meth. Now that’s one way to put chemistry to a practical use. It reminds me a lot of the movie, Falling Down.
Well, it’s late, so I’m going to get to bed. It’s good to be home, and I plan on getting down to some more serious blogging very soon. I’m planning one for the weekend about how to have a relationship that works and will last. I’m going to call it, “Sharing the pants.” For those of you who don’t know, Denice and I have been living the dream for six years now, and I think I’ve picked up a thing or two about how to live in an co-equal relationship. So, tune in. At the very least I’ll have some funny stories that are sure to embarrass Denice and possibly even myself.
I didn’t get any media from Denver’s Museum of Nature and Science. They have policies against recording their exhibits. Yet another downfall of the monetary system. Instead of educating the public about science and nature, their main focus has to be making a profit. In this system it is nearly impossible to do anything for the betterment of mankind unless you can make money at it.
It was a good trip though. Their space exhibit was pretty decent. We watched an I-Max movie on black holes. It was interesting. The dinosaur exhibits were pretty neat too. I think the best exhibit they had, believe it or not, was their Health exhibit. It was cool because all of their human body displays were real. They had numerous tissue samples, organs, and even full cadavers that had been preserved by a process called plastination. The preserved bodies take on an almost plastic look, and can be arranged in all sorts of life-like poses. The skin had been removed so you could see the inner workings of the muscles and tendons. I understand that all these exhibits were the result of people who had donated their bodies to science. It was a wonderful gift.
Today, I’m just hanging out with Denice and her family here in Canon City Colorado. It’s a beautiful area. Nothing much is going on today, so I’ve been catching up on my reading. I just finished a book called, ‘Forks over Knives.’ It was based on the popular documentary film of the same name. It was about nutrition, specifically plant-based nutrition. I have been accumulating information on nutrition in order to formulate the best possible diet for Denice and I. It seems overwhelming now that the best diet for human beings is a whole-foods, plant-based one. Anything else seems to lead to poor health and disease. We’re doing our best to transition to this way of eating. It’s not easy. The typical American diet of meat, fat, sugar, salt, and heavily processed foods has many addictive properties.
On a side note, I have discovered that the first few days of being at a higher altitude will cause a great increase in urine production. I’ve been peeing like a race horse ever since we got here.
Denice and I cut it pretty close, but we made our flight. There were some casualties along the way though. We asked a good friend of ours to pick us up and drop us off at the airport. There was a slight miscommunication however. We neglected to tell her AM or PM, so instead of picking us up at 4:00 in the afternoon, she showed up at 4:00 in the morning. She was a good sport about it though. We felt really bad, so we got her a card.
The flights were interesting, ok, not so much interesting as they were cram-packed like a can of sardines. We had to fly up to Chicago first to catch our flight to Denver. The plane we took was very small. I nearly couldn’t fit in the seat. I guess that’s a sign that I need to decrease the mass of my rear-end. Anyway, we finally made it to Chicago, but we were late getting there. We only had a few minutes to traverse the massive Chicago O’Hare airport. People there are a little different from people in the South. While boarding the next plane, which was much larger by the way, this one fellow war trying to go against the flow to get back to the entrance and there was a guy in his way. It didn’t look like he was going to make it past the guy and his large carry-on, so he politely asked him to, “turn his shit sideways.” The other man complied, and that resolved the situation. It thought it was funny.
We are getting ready right now to head to Denver’s Museum of Nature and Science. I’m very exited. Places like this are like my church now. I’ll get lots of media for you all. Till then.
I grew up in the backwoods of Tennessee, smack dab in the middle of the Bible-Belt, where beating your kids is as normal as getting greeted by elderly people as you enter a Walmart, but the beating in this video nearly brought me to tears.
Texas Judge William Adams has now admitted that he is indeed the person in the viral Youtube video of a father and mother savagely beating their sixteen year-old, disabled daughter. In the video, Judge Adams curses at and beats his daughter for nearly seven minutes with a belt, for file sharing on her computer. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill spanking either. He tears into her with a furry and savagery that I have never witnessed in a parent disciplining their child. At one point he even uses the phrase, “I’m gonna beat you into submission!”
Apparently, this fellow has some severe aggression problems. I would be willing to bet that he was abused as a child himself. You mix that with a little bit of the book of Proverbs from the Bible (“spare the rod and spoil the child”), and you have yourself a perfect storm of sadistic furry. This man should have no place in a position of authority. The video is bellow. Be warned, it is bad.
I have to say, it takes a lot to make me angry at the faceless machines that are our corporations. It’s kind of pointless, like getting mad at a Tacobell burrito for giving you the runs – it’s just what it does. This case in Hawaii, with the Safeway supermarket calling the cops on a pregnant lady and her little girl for forgetting to pay for a sandwich has genuinely infuriated me. If you haven’t read the story, go read it: Pregnant mom says sandwich arrest was ‘horrifying.’
Safeway has gone the path of all big corporations… they have gotten so big that they have allowed their corporate policies to override their brains. Take a look at the picture here of Nicole Leszczynski and her little girl. There isn’t a mom-and-pop store out there that would think these two were criminals, especially after they just purchased $50 in groceries from them. This whole situation is over the top insane, and Safeway needs to do a little more than “review the incident.” They need to start letting their employees THINK before they mechanically follow a policy and scare a little kid and family half to death.
I know I shouldn’t get mad, but I am. This is ridiculous. If this had been Denice, I promise you, I would have someone’s ass.